dheem. [ ♪ theme ] >> bill: friday, here we go. friday, august 2. good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is good come to the end of this week. on the "full court press." welcome to the program. we've got one more day here to bring you up to date on what's happening before we let you slide into the weekend. we'll tell you what's going on, of course, and give you a chance to tell us what it all means to you. that's what the "full court press" is all about.

join us by phone at 1-866-55-press. send us your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. well, the big breaking news is edward snowden is finally out of the airport! yep, he was allowed to leave yesterday because russia granted him an asylum for just one year. that means he can live and work there. meanwhile, president obama, because more and more members of congress are concerned over the extent of nsa's spying on us, as we vealed by edward snowden, president obama convened a meeting of republicans to discuss how we can get the proper balance between national security and our right of privacy. and you can look for some

legislation which will restrict nsa's spying. we'll tell you all about it right here 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.

>> did anyone tell the pilgrims they should self-deport? >> no, they said "make us a turkey and make it fast". >> (laughter). >> she gets the comedians >> that's the best! >> that's hilarious. >> ... and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there is wiggle room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> ya, i consider you jew-talian. >> okay, whatever you want. >> who plays kafka? >> who saw kafka? >> who ever saw kafka? >> (laughter). >> asking the tough questions. >> chris brown, i mean you wouldn't let one of your daughters go out with him. >> absolutely not. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me? >> absolutely! >> (singing) >> i take lipitor, thats it. >> are you improving your lips? >> (laughter). >> when she's talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. >> it looks like anthony wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. >> his what in the ring? >> his hat. >> always outspoken, joy behar.

>> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: well, what do you know? edward snowden is finally out of the airport. wow! big, breaking news. everybody's so excited about it. hey, what do you say, everybody? would you know, would you know, would you believe it's a friday! ♪ alleluia >> bill: it's friday, august 22nd. ♪ alleluia >> bill: our favorite day here

around the "bill press show." ♪ alleluia >> bill: we love to see the fridays coming. we work hard to get to a friday, man. pounding it out. four days a week then one more day before we head into the weekend. we deserve a break. not your congress but they're going to get a big one today because it is the last day congress will be in session before they take off for the entire month of august. not even the french do that anymore. but members of congress do. and what a joke. they have passed exactly -- in the last seven months, 23 bills, half of them naming post offices or bridges. that's what they've gotten done. for that, we're paying them $175,000 a year and giving them a month's vacation in august during which probably half of them will take some government trip, some congressional

delegation or co-del at our expense. it gets worse and worse and worse. don't get me started. hey, good morning, everybody. great to see you. you know how to do it. if you want to join the conversation, we would love to hear from you. get your voice on the air at 1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. join us on twitter at bpshow. easy enough at bpshow and on facebook, become our friend on facebook, facebook.com/billpressshow. the team here, five days in a row, we've been all together, peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey, hey. >> bill: alichia cruz on the phones. good morning, guys. cyprian bowlding here on the video cams. gets a big wave. he can wave to all of his fans out there. >> he has a lot of fans, too, ya know. >> bill: oh, cyprian? oh, more than any of the rest of us. >> he gets mail more than the

rest of us. >> bill: keeps it going. so we have a great subway system here in washington. it's called the metro. i use it all the time. that's how i get down to the white house and back every day. and almost anywhere i go, we use our car in washington probably one day a week. for one thing. otherwise, it is all metro or walk. walk in the neighborhood or metro. but something happened yesterday at metro that never happened before at the la font plaza station which is one, two, three stations, three stops from our subway stop here at eastern market on capitol hill. a lady was very, very pregnant, stepped off the train and wow, the baby said mommy, it's my time. she delivered and she said you know, when it comes -- there was an emt happened to be there off-duty right on the same train with her.

got off, delivered the baby. here's the mama and a bystander. >> the baby's ready to come out, you just got to be ready. >> i've never seen anything like it. baby being born, not even my own children. i was really nervous, kind of scare and concerned about the baby's health and just a blessing the emt was here. >> popped right out like she was a quarterback. >> bill: there's the ball. catch it! how about that. good for her. good for the baby. everybody is fine but boy! what an event. blessed event on the metro. have you ever heard -- you've heard of them being born on airplanes or in cars on the way to the hospital. >> that's wild. >> bill: she was just out shopping. >> you see it in movies when they say my water just broke or whatever and in real life, the two babies that i'm responsible for helping create, bring into this world, didn't quite happen that way so i just figured this

was sort of -- >> bill: it was a lot longer process for carol and me, too. and i happen to be going through l'enfant plaza. she was on the yellow or green train that goes north, south. i was on the blue or orange which goes east west. so i was down level below that one. we have a lot of excitement today. bill de blasio is one of the candidates for mayor in new york. he's been on the show several times with us before. of he'll be here again this morning. leo gerard is the president of the steelworker's union. big news this morning that manufacturing jobs are actually on the way back in this country. we'll talk to leo about that. susan page from "usa today" joining us for a little hopscotch around the news with her at the end of this hour and what do you think about a new move to outlaw smoking in this

country? make it illegal? should we? but first... >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this friday. anthony weiner is not too damn high. jimmie miller ran for governor a couple of years ago endorsed weiner for mayor yesterday. he tells the new york observer that we're all freaky and weiner just expose his freakyism in the wrong way. someone needs to tell weiner don't be afraid to go get help if you need it. >> wow. >> bill: i just want to hear him back on the campaign trail. too damn high. too damn high. anthony weiner is going to bring the rent down. >> it would be an asset. >> in nothing more than a -- a p.r. stunt, the president of syria joined instagram yesterday. bashar al-assad postingself

photos of himself with his wife. by looking at them, you would have no idea there is a civil war. he's got 30,000 followers. the state department called it despicable. >> bill: over there, they put a gun to your head and say follow me or else. >> expect lines to grow today and tomorrow at lottery retailers again. no one won powerball on wednesday so tomorrow night's jackpot, $290 million. the cash option on that is only $168 million of then you'll take home half of that if you win. all in all, you're only look at about $80 million if you win. >> what a hassle. >> bill: that will probably be a beach house in hawaii. there is the note to buy my powerball. stop on the way back from the

gym. good morning, everybody. what do you say? here we go. yes, indeed. so the latest -- you know, i'm almost feeling -- starting to feel sorry for smokers now. i've never been a smoker. never in my life, not even as a teenager. i've puffed on a cigarette now and then but never had the habit. never bought a pack of cigarettes. never bought a cigarette. but i'm starting to feel sorry for smokers because -- and you know, the number of smokers has gone down. more and more people have kicked the habit. and it is a habit. it is an addiction for some people. and you can't now -- i think this is great. and i totally supported this. got a lot of grief from smokers at the time but it's now the law of the land, just about -- i think everywhere, you can't smoke in restaurants, you can't smoke in bars. you can't smoke in public parks. you can't smoke in public places. this is all good. you can't smoke in airplanes.

you can't smoke on buses or trains. this is all good. but some people are still not happy with that. the latest poll, gallup poll just out this morning, one in five americans now say that smoking should be completely illegal. 22% say smoking should be completely illegal. 55% of americans say they would support such a ban if congress were to enact it. and it differs in various parts of the country, by the way. 25% of people in the western and eastern parts of the u.s. say they would support making smoking illegal. only 23%, in the south which is still pretty high, in the south, 12% in the midwest.

and 82% of americans now say they recognize that smoking is very harmful for adults. >> that actually seems a little low. i mean at this point. >> bill: what's wrong with the other 18%. where have they been? the word has gotten out there. all of the campaigns about how dangerous smoking is. so what do you think about this? making smoking illegal. 1-866-55-press. never smoked. i'm not here to defend smokers but i don't think we ought to make it illegal. what are we going to do? make alcohol illegal as well? i don't know the stats or the numbers but i'm sure i would be willing to say as many people die of alcohol either drunk driving or overdrinking as smoking and as many people die of drug overdoses. as die of lung cancer anymore.

so i wouldn't want to make alcohol illegal. we tried that once, didn't we? i don't think we ought to make smoking illegal. i think we continue to dell people, here are the consequences of smoke and it is up to you and put every -- i don't care how many tax you put on cigarettes or how expensive you make them. >> i agree. you know, we've come to a point where -- if i've seen anybody smoking, i immediately judge the hell out of that person. in this day and age, you've got to be -- you've got to have a screw loose to smoke. to be a daily smoker. i say that as a person who used to smoke. >> bill: or have an addiction. >> sure. i understand that. but you know, given the treatment that's out there and given the facts that are out there, that this will do something bad for you. but that being said, one of the things that make this country great is you have the ability to do dumb things to our body if he

he -- if we want to. to ban smoking outright, i don't think it will work and i don't think it's smart. >> bill: i am very hesitant to go in the direction of banning things, making things illegal. in fact, i'm on the other train which is let's make more things legal like pot. the idea that pot is illegal is just crazy. i would even make the hard drugs today legal and -- >> regulated and taxed. >> bill: regulated and tax it and bring it into the market system somehow and get away from all of this illegal traffic and illegal activity and so much attention, law enforcement officers on that busy. that could lead to the idea of smoking. i'm shocked, particularly when i

see young people smoking. i want to say what the hell are you doing? you of all people, older person smoking all of their lives, they haven't been able to kick the habit, okay, right. going to die anyway soon. see young people. i see them on the streets here in washington, you know, walking by with a cigarette. >> every time i go back home to south carolina, i am stunned at how many people smoke just out in the open, young people, parents, middle-aged people, old people, it's stunning how it is such a way of life for some people. >> bill: back in 2007, only 12% of americans said that smoking should be illegal. today, 22%. one out of five americans. >> that's a big jump. short period of time. >> bill: big jump in a short period of time. is this the answer?

not just continuing to restrict the areas in which smokers can actually take a puff but make it illegal and illegal substance. 1-866-55-press. good way to start this friday morning here on the "full court press." >> announcer: like politics? then like the "bill press show" on facebook. this is the "bill press show." >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war, you must be high. >> only on current tv.

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 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!

♪ smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette ♪ ♪ smoke, smoke, smoke ♪ you gotta have another cigarette ♪ >> bill: you may not be able to have one if 22% of americans have their way. they're saying make cigarettes illegal. what do you say? 1-866-55-press. to your calls, to your comments in just a second. but again, we want to tell all of our listeners and our viewers what's going to happen once current tv goes away. very quickly. we're going to be there with you on radio and on television. first of all on radio, nothing changes at all. we're solid. you're solid. everything goes forward. on tv, no more current tv as of august 15 but starting september 3rd, you'll be able to watch us on your tv if you have a dish. on dish tv.

or directv. dish network channel 9415, directv, channel 348 or you can watch us online at freespeech.org. or on your satellite dish. for more information, go to freespeech.org. >> any questions, go check it out because even if you don't have dish, you might be able to get us on some cable channel locally. you will be able to find that out at freespeech.org. they have everything you need there. >> bill: we'll be continuing on radio and television, just a different television outlet. now we go, peter, comments on smoking? >> one quick comment about the electronic vapor cigarettes that you see more and more these days. they don't have secondhand smoke and that's how she said she quit smoking. those are legal everywhere. >> bill: are they expensive? >> they're not cheap. and to be perfectly honest, i'm

not sure how they work but you buy these electronic things and you're basically inhaling water vapor which i'm not sure how healthy that is either but i'm sure it is better than nicotine. >> bill: bert is calling from irwin, texas. make it illegal? >> caller: no, because prohibition doesn't work. this is a person that has smoked heavily until 1980. i was smoking three and a half, four packs a day. i quit and have been since. but prohibition just like with drugs and everything else, doesn't work. >> bill: i think we've proved that. let me ask you this, worth, how much is a pack of cigarettes today? >> caller: $3.10, something like that. >> no. >> maybe per cigarette. >> they're anywhere from $6 to $10. >> bill: that's what i was thinking. bert, if you had that habit

today, you couldn't afford it, right? >> caller: right. when i quit it was 40 cents a pack. >> bill: imagine if you were paying $30, $40 a day. >> like in new york, they probably have the highest cigarette prices in the nation. >> bill: here's christopher from new york to tell us about it. what do you say? >> caller: hi, bill. i think that you know, i used to be a smoker and i feel like the middle-agedded and older smokers probably wouldn't care if it was illegal because all of them want to quit anyway. it is really only the younger smokers, you know, they started out smoking and they might feel like they want to smoke. anybody who's been smoking over a period of time wants to quit but can't. all of the solutions to quitting, the patch and the gum and this and that don't work very well. >> bill: but you know, if they've really got the habit and you make it illegal, that doesn't mean they're going to

stop. they'll get them somehow. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." (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.

>> announcer: connect with the "bill press show" on twitter. follow us at bpshow and tweet using the hashtag watching bp. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. 33 minutes after the hour now here on the "full court press" on a friday morning. we're coming to you live from our nation's capital and we're brought to you today by the american federation of teachers. you bet, the good men and women of the aft under president randi weingarten making a difference in america's classrooms every

day. you can find out more about their good work at aft.org. edward snowden out of the airport. we'll move on to that and a couple more comments about smoking here. but first, something very important to consider. if you think about it, what if you were in an accident and you were knocked unconscious, paramedics arrive and they can't get any information out of you because you cannot communicate with them. that could make the difference between life and death. one way to prepare yourself for such an emergency is emergency link i.d. it is a small tag you attach to your key ring or put in your wallet or purse that will tell emergency responders everything they might need to know. your medical history, your meds, allergies, doctor's contact info and most importantly, whom to notify again. could make the difference between life and death. do yourself a huge favor. sign up for emergency link's emergency response service today. it is only $10 a year and you'll receive your i.d. kit free. it is $10 a year.

your i.d. kit free. you have to sign up now. limited offer. go to emergencylink.com and enter press. >> we are on twitter at bp show. you mention the free speech. if we get more news about it, you want to find more information, you can follow us at bpshow. we're constantly giving information there. that's one way to stay in touch. also join the conversation on the smoking ban that we're talking about. irish boy says this is just an observation but smokers can smoke a pack and still drive safely. alcohol drinkers can't say the same thing about their vice. and honey bear kelly wants to let us know in new york city, a pack of cigarettes costs almost $12 now. to which i say at that point you might as well be smoking crack.

it is not much difference pricewise. >> bill: when i think of people saying they smoke two or three packs of cigarettes a day? you can feed your family on that. >> two packs a day in new york city is like $1,000 a month if i did the math right. it is like $1,000 a month. >> bill: insane. harry in barnesville, mississippi. >> caller: yes, sir. >> bill: how are you doing? what do you say? >> caller: i'm doing fine. thanks for taking my call, bill. on the smoker's issue, you know, i'm totally against people that are against people smoking. i smoked for 15 years, 1979, i quit for 30 years. and i just picked them back up about three years ago. and i never had an issue with

people that smoked whenever i quit smoking. all of my friends smoked. most of them -- i'm just not against -- if people want to smoke, let them smoke. >> bill: i'm with you. here's the deal, why did you pick it up again? you know it's not good for you. >> there are a lot of things aren't good for me. i'm going to die of something some time. it is a freedom of ourselves to do what we want. >> bill: peter, you made that point earlier. living in this country, we are able to make some dumb decisions. >> i respect his decision to do something very dumb and i always hate to hear someone say well, you're going to die of something. yeah, you're going to die of something but if you decide you're going to decide to just all of a sudden start juggling chainsaws on a whim, your chance of dying of that just went up. >> bill: i'm not going to make

harry's habit illegal. >> i agree. >> bill: josh from chicago. hey, josh, what do you say? >> caller: good morning, bill. >> bill: good morning. >> caller: they're $9.50 a pack and with the unemployment the way it is, how can people afford to buy cigarettes? they go up $1 every year. i smoked for 15 years and just by me saving the money, i can put my 5-year-old through college just off cigarette dollars. >> bill: i think you could. i agree. it is economics of this. don't make them illegal. make them more expensive. people will kick the habit. i really think that's a better way to go. make the market work. i know i'm a liberal. maybe i ought to be for it. banning stuff, making it illegal is the wrong way to go. don't want to do it for cigarettes and while we're at it, let's make pot legal, too. gotta tell you about this though because at the very top of the

hour, i mentioned edward snowden out of the airport, russia finally -- he got a piece of paper that he needed to leave the airport and to live in russia and work in russia for a year only. but even though it was only a year, jay carney at the white house telling us yesterday he is -- that the president is very, very, very, very disappointed. >> we're extremely disappoint that the russian government would take this step despite our very clear and lawful requests in public and in private to have mr. snowden expelled to the united states to face the charges against him. >> bill: but you know, the white house had to see this coming. this was a moment that vladimir putin relished, the chance to stick it to the united states. he knew how badly we wanted to get snowden back and he knew he had this opportunity. you knew -- they had to know.

they had to know at the white house the way this was going to turn out. but jay carney again, speaking for the white house, saying that this undercuts all of these years of good feelings and good cooperation that we've had with putin. really? >> this move by the russian government undermines a long-standing record of law enforcement cooperation, cooperation that has recently been on the upswing since the boston marathon bombings. >> bill: of course, nobody expresses this outrage more on any issue than senator chuck schumer from new york. stabbed us in the back. >> russia has stabbed us in the back. and each day that snowden is allowed to roam free is another twist of the knife. >> bill: twisting that knife. i love what jim moran had to say. congressman from northern virginia, democratic congressman from just across the river here. he basically said to chuck schumer hey, chill, chuck.

>> i think highly of chuck schumer but no, he's overreacting. this guy is not a hero but i don't want to make him a martyr either. i hear from a number of people like that in my own district who are passionate but imbalanced in their perspective and immature. i think living in russia will be a very maturing experience for mr. snowden. >> bill: good boy. good boy. we haven't had jim moran in the studio for awhile. >> great reason to have him in. >> bill: he's great. >> a very maturing experience. yeah, i'll say! >> bill: i've been to russia. i wouldn't want to live there. i'll tell ya. the real deal is this. and by the way, check out my column at billpressshow.com today if you have a chance because i've written a column about bradley manning which relates to edward snowden. i bring snowden into the column as well. and basically, the point of the column is we're having a very important conversation today.

it went all the way to the white house yesterday. we're having a conversation about this national security state that we live in today. this police state almost that we live in today. and about our right of privacy and whether there's any left and how we protect what little right of privacy we may have left. we're having that very important conversation today. you know why we're having it? we're having it because of edward snowden. i'm not saying he's a hero but he's no traitor either. what we really ought to be focusing on is not what i know the media is going to be covering which is where did edward snowden have dinner today and where is he living and what kind of an apartment and is it a walk up or is there is an elevator, all of that kind of crap we'll be hearing about edward snowden. forget that. what we ought to be focusing on is what he revealed about what nsa is doing and the fact that they are collecting information on every phone call you make and every phone call i make, on

every text we send, on every e-mail we send, on every web site that we check out or every blog we check out. this is a massive violation, overreach of our national security state and we should be up in arms about it. and more and more people are. and that's why the president had this meeting today. so we've got to focus on that issue, i think, is how can we, yes, keep ourselves safe and protect ourselves against terrorism without abandoning our basic constitutional rights. that is an issue john conyers spoke to us about here in studio yesterday. ron wyden is out there on this issue. dick durbin is on this issue. mark udall. sheldon whitehouse and republican justin amash from michigan. rand paul. this is the focus. not the fact that edward snowden

happens to be out of the airport. when we come back, susan page from "usa today" joins us on the other important news of the day. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

(vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> she gets the comedians laughing... >> that's hilarious! >> ...and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there's wiggle-room in the ten commandments is what

you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> and current will let me say anything. >> only on current tv. >> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour on a friday. friday, august 2nd. president obama convening, big meeting at the white house yesterday with members of congress. house and senate republicans and

democrats on very important issue of balancing. how to balance national security and privacy issues. all brought about, of course, by the information leaked by edward snowden. who got his reprieve yesterday by the russian government, allowed to stay there, granting him asylum for a year. lots going on. we love to check in on a friday morning with our good buddy, washington bureau chief for "usa today" susan page. >> good morning, bill. >> bill: it should not have come as a surprise to the white house that vladimir putin gave edward snowden asylum, right? >> they had done everything they could to encourage him not to do that. they're still leaving out the possibility he won't go to moscow next month as he's expected to do or planned to do to meet with putin. that would be a pretty strong -- that sounds like -- maybe not such a big deal i think in the world of diplomacy, that would be a pretty big snub.

>> bill: it is. carney was saying we were very disappointed. it seems to me they had to see this coming. putin delights in showing his independence, i think from the united states. >> absolutely. it probably does him some good with russians. he looks like he's standing up to the united states. gives him -- just gives snowden a year to try to figure out what in the world is going to go on with him. >> bill: meanwhile, there have been -- the house last week almost voted, came close to voting to defund the nsa program. the senate judiciary committee, day before yesterday, very critical voices for republicans and democrats about what nsa was doing. the president convening this meeting yesterday. so i ghes conversation he called for seems to be taking place, susan, right? >> it is interesting in that way, snowden is getting what he hoped. i'm a little surprised at the support in congress, not for snowden himself, you know, people condemn him.

but of concern about the surveillance program that he revealed. you know, it is going to result in changes in the way they operate. >> bill: yes, in fact, john conyers was in the studio with us yesterday talking about james sensenbrenner, the author of the patriot act, is preparing legislation to make very, very clear that section 215 of the patriot act does not endorse what nsa is doing. i think jay rockefeller has legislation or dick durbin in the senate as well. so i think there ought to be some limits. it looks to me like there will be some limits placed on what nsa is up to. >> interesting thing about the politics of this is that the whitehouse and republican leadership are in one place on this. it is really liberal, democrats and libertarian republicans, people on the wings of their parties that are getting together to force changes in this area. >> bill: right. i understand you had breakfast with the new director of the

omb. i don't even know her name. >> her name is sylvia matthews burrell and she was a top aide to bob rubin when he was treasury secretary. she's been -- had various big jobs in the administration before and she's got a big, tough job now because if you can tell me how this budget fight is going to resolve itself before the october 1 deadline, you're smarter than i am. >> bill: i was going to ask you how she was going to resolve it because this is -- this is the clash that's coming when congress comes back from its recess, no doubt about it, right? >> you know, there is clearly no consensus in the house or the senate. we saw the house have to pull back the funding bill for transportation and housing that would have cut spending. we saw the senate yesterday reject the transportation and housing bill that would have increased spending. i think it is very hard to see the past -- she was saying maybe this is an inflection point that makes everyone reconsider.

that's the optimist view of what may happen on the budget. >> bill: it does look like armageddon. republicans want deeper cuts than the sequester they say if they're to increase the debt ceiling. ted cruz, make no bones about it, he wants to shut down the government if they don't defund obamacare. seems to be a lot of ultimatums out there, i guess. >> no unity on the republican side about what the party should stand for, what direction they should go. there was a pew research center poll that came out yesterday that saw -- that said a majority of americans either think -- either have no idea who leads the republican party or say no one does. and i think there are a lot of people in washington who feel the same way. >> bill: now, related is an issue -- something i've never seen before. i've never seen an open competition and campaign for who's going to be the new chairman of the federal reserve. right?

and here you've got larry summers, his supporters out there. the president even talked about it. janet yellen, her supporters led by nancy pelosi then this dark horse, donald krone reports. >> first of all, do you have a candidate in this race? >> donald cone i should say. not really. i would lean toward janet yellen. i think larry summers would be a disaster. no one i know around town likes him. >> one person in town likes him. that would be president obama. >> bill: right. >> who actually defended him this week at a meeting knowing the meeting wasn't open. he knew it was going to be reported. it looks like president obama would like to name larry summer but he's such a contentious, divisive figure that everybody else in town is organizing on behalf of janet yellen. so i mean this will tell us something about whether president obama is willing to

make the appointment he wants for whatever reasons or whether he'll kind of bend to the public will. i think he will get some blow back if he names larry summers. >> bill: it brings the fed out of the closet, isn't it? never talked about this before about who ought to get this job. of course, rand paul thinks we ought to -- ron paul thinks we ought to get rid of the fed all together. susan, good to see you the other night. >> thanks, bill. >> bill: susan page, great job for the "usa today" as our washington bureau chief. usatoday.com. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: in the next hour, robert schlesinger with "u.s. news & world report" joins us at the top of the hour in studio. we'll be joined by leo gerard, the president of the united steelworkers. meanwhile, robert says tobacco's the filthiest bit of vegetation i'm aware of. however, banning the use of tobacco would be an invitation to the criminal element. good point. jen gooding says so happy to get the news about your moving to free speech tv. i think that will be a great fit! i used to listen on sirius x.m. then found you on current tv and now she will continue with us on free speech tv. thanks to jan and all of our

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[ ♪ theme ] >> bill: good morning. great to see you this morning. it is friday. probably know that. friday, august 2nd. thank you for joining us here on the "full court press." we're coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours on current tv. and bringing you the news of the day, giving you a chance to comment about it as well. that's what we do for three hours every morning here on current tv. you know, you can join the conversation by phone at

1-866-55-press. you can send us your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. the big breaking news this morning, edward snowden has finally left the moscow airport. he is -- he's got a year of asylum. granted him by the russian government to live and work somewhere within russia. the white house says it is very disappointed that vladimir putin did that. meanwhile, more and more members of congress are concerned about what nsa has been doing in terms of spying on our phones and spying on our e-mail traffic. they've expressed the desire to limit what nsa is doing. so much so that president obama convened a meeting at the white house yesterday with republicans and democrats to discuss how to get and maintain the proper balance between keeping us safe

and preserving our constitutional liberties. all very important conversation right here this morning on current tv. 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?

we have a big, big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>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. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: well, what do you know? edward snowden finally freed from the moscow airport. got a year to live and work in russia. then he will probably be begging to come back to the united states. good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is friday, august 2nd. good to see you today. and welcome to the "full court press." we're coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv.

glad to have you with us. whether you're listening or watching, join the conversation here on the news of the day. big events of the day and tell us what it means to you. what you think about it all. you can do so by phone at 1-866-55-press. we tell you at the top of every hour by -- we want to hear from you on twitter at bpshow or on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. our team here assembled this friday morning. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> good morning. >> bill: with alichia cruz. she has the phones covered. cyprian bowlding, our videographer keeping us looking good on current tv. cyprian, thank you. and to help us get through the news of the day, i think his first time visit in the studio, robert schlesinger, managing editor of "u.s. news & world report." robert, good morning. >> good morning, bill. >> bill: good to see you.

"u.s. news & world report" still out there. >> still in existence. >> bill: usnews.com. indeed. yesterday they were trying to get work done. the congress has worked so hard this year. >> they deserve their five-week vacation. >> bill: yeah, right. this is the last day before they go off on a five-week vacation. the month of august plus. and they were trying to get some work done in the senate yesterday. senator heidi heitkamp from north dakota was presiding. she was having a hard time getting the senators to pay attention and get down to work so majority leader harry reid had to step in and help her with a very blunt warning. here's how it sounded. >> the senate is not in order. the senate will be in order. >> madam president, madam president -- >> majority leader. >> sit down and shut up, okay? it is unfair. >> the senate will be in order.

>> it is just not polite. of -- the senate will be in order. >> bill: finally got them calmed down with his help. >> you know he's been dying that to say that for months now. >> totally. >> bill: when harry says shut up, man, you shut up. >> sounds like our preshow meetings here on the "bill press show." >> shut up! shut up! >> bill: all right. a lot coming up here. robert schlesinger with us this half hour. leo gerard, president of the united steelworkers will join us at the half. in the next hour, bill de blasio, he is, yes, a candidate for mayor of new york. not the one we hear the most about. which is probably okay by him. we'll find out what he's up to and what he thinks about his competition. but first...

>> other headlines making news on this friday, despite several retail outlets not selling at "rolling stone" magazine's boston bomber issue sold well. the august issue features zog ar tsarnaev -- dzhokhar tsarnaev on the cover sold more than double the magazine's average newsstand sales. over 13,000 copies sold at 1400 retailers. normally only about 6,000 copies are sold at those newsstands. that figure is only about 5% of the magazine's total circulation. >> bill: you know, they should have known. >> of course. >> bill: of course people are going to go out and buy it. >> that was the point, right? that's why you do the cover because you know it will draw controversy and boost sales. >> bill: we were talking earlier about newsstand sales. what was it? 13,000? >> yes. >> 13,000 copies sold at 1400 retailers, this is what ad week looked at.

>> bill: just wonder how that ranks. that's not a lot. >> that's not a lot. for magazine circulation. >> bill: for them, it's double but it's not a lot. >> trayvon martin's hoody might end up in a museum. cbs reports the folks at the smithsonian national museum of african-american history and culture will be interested in displaying the famous hoody that he was wearing the night he was killed but they understand the sensitivity around it -- surrounding it. it is currently in the possession still of the sanford police department. trayvon's family will likely have the right to re-claim the property soon. >> yeesh. >> bill: that will be tricky. that museum is going to be huge. >> massive. >> bill: yeah. >> in sports, the start of college football is right around the corner and "usa today" is out with its first coach's poll of the season. no surprise, last season's bcs

champion -- >> roll them tide. >> overwhelmingly, interesting to note that alabama has never won a national title after being preseason number one in this "usa today" poll. >> oh shut up. >> ohio state is second in the list. >> bill: can't believe we're already talking about college football. i can't figure out this republican party. right after the election, they do this -- i love the title. post-mortem. we've had a lot of jokes. you don't do -- you don't do an autopsy on people you expect to come back, right?

but they did this autopsy and college republicans came out with a report that basically said the same thing. we're seen as a bunch of old, white farts who don't relate to people. we've got to reach out to women, young people, minorities and what have they done? they keep retrenching. >> you wouldn't know that there had been a 2012 election if you beamed down from mars and watched the g.o.p. from january 2013, forward, you would have no idea that there had been an election or that they had lost the election pretty soundly. >> bill: what are they up to? so they repeal obamacare. they passed the toughest -- 40 times. they passed the toughest abortion restrictions in decades. they oppose comprehensive immigration reform. they let student loans double, right? walk away. i mean what are they up to? >> it is the head and the heart. the head knows they have problems and that they need to

rebrand themselves or go deeper and change their policies. but at the heart, at the base of the party, the people animating the party don't like the idea, they reject the idea, they want to double down on things that got them in this position in the first place. >> bill: where are -- first of all, let me ask, where are the wiser heads in the party who would say, you know, we gotta do more than this. >> they're out there. you can see them. it's not so much a split between moderates and conservatives in the party as much of a split between realists and fanatics really. when you have someone like tom coburn who is this really conservative senator from oklahoma who is second to nobody in opposition to government spending and big government, when he is saying hey, wait a second. this talk of either defund obamacare or shut down the government is crazy and actually

hurts the conservative cause, that shows you that this isn't some northeastern, moderate rhinos who are sort of rebelling against the conservative majority. this is a different kind of split. this is a split between people who you know just are out of touch with reality and people who -- you and i might disagree with them but they actually want to have -- actually have some sense of what it's going to take. >> bill: if you had to put names on those, i love that distinction, realist and fanatics. realist would be a tom coburn. a fanatic -- >> a karl rove even. >> bill: the fanatic is the ted cruz. >> ted cruz, mike lee. you know, it's funny. then you get marco rubio who moved integration reform forward and is now scrambling to get back into the fanatic camp because he wants to run for president. he's at the forefront along with mike lee and ted cruz, at the forefront to shut down the

government over obamacare. >> bill: so the question then is who do the fanatics believe they're serving? and how many times can you suck up to the base and where does that get you? >> that's the problem with the g.o.p. >> bill: it doesn't get you very far, right? the base has got to be there. where are they going to go? >> the problem for the republicans right now is if you look at the polls, poll after poll, issue after issue, immigration reform is a great example. defunding obama care is another great example. and more broadly, the whole question of whether you should compromise and try to move something forward or stand by your principles. there is this gap, this huge gap between the republican base and the rest of the country. and where it gets into this trap where they now can't please both sides and straddle the catch. you said you don't understand the republican party? susan page mentioned in the

earlier segment in the pew poll, the republicans don't understand the republican party. >> bill: they've got to decide if they're going to grow -- >> right. the way conservatives try to -- the fanatics try to square the circle, they say this is fundamentally a sceshtive country. we need to double down and people yearn for a really hard core brand of conservatism which both poll numbers and actual election polls like 2012 show is not actually the reality. >> on the obamacare front and charles krauthammer's piece in "the washington post" this morning, on obamacare, on repealing obamacare and shutting down the government, he says this is nuts. 36% of americans favor repeal. >> again, this is charles krauthammer. >> bill: this is nuts. >> it is. there's no scenario. it is a three-step process. this is a point conservative

bloggers made. step one, they passed this -- somehow get through the senate, this bill that would defund obamacare. step two, something magical happens. step three, obama signs it. it requires this -- there's no realistic scenario where obama gets a sharp blow to the head and wakes up as john boehner. it's like how does this work? >> free sitcom idea by the way. i really love that idea. >> bill: then in the middle of all of this, you've got one republican -- broken out in the public between chris christie and rand paul over a very important issue i think which is this whole nsa thing. so they've squabbled -- i think chris christie started the fight. rand paul jumped up. chris christie of course, rand paul's dangerous because he's questioning the use of drones and what nsa is up to, rand paul says no, you're the dangerous

one because you're spending too much money on silly stuff like hurricane sandy. i think they're both wrong. at any rate. so rand paul invites chris christie to a beer. here's the latest, the two of them spatting back and forth. rand paul first and then chris christie. >> we're going to have to patch things up. if we can sit down, i'm inviting him for a beer. >> he suggested the two of you sit down and have a beer and bury the hatchet. >> i'm running for re-election of new jersey. i don't have time for that at the moment. >> bill: time to sit down with that rand paul. >> that's the charming chris christie. that's a perfect answer. looks i got better things to do. >> bill: right. so what -- does this reflect two sides of the republican party? >> this is, again, another reflection of the civil war that's going on in the g.o.p. and actually the atlantic magazine produced a chart of the g.o.p. civil war because now there are so many aspects and

facets of it, you need a complicated chart to keep track of who's angry at who. >> bill: this is between the libertarian, if you will. >> the libertarian -- specifically on foreign policy, the libertarian view and the view of -- >> bill: the bush cheney national security. >> and the libertarians who say less drones, less sort of -- empowerment of the big government, national security state but also less engagement eyebrowed generally -- abroad generally. he said let's defund our -- stop giving foreign aid to egypt and very cleverly, use the money for infrastructure spending here at home. this is another aspect of that civil war and i think we'll really see it play out more explicitly as 2016 gets closer. >> bill: this could be -- this is the g.o.p. primary. to really, really divide that

part, right? talking about the travails of the g.o.p., they split the civil war within the republican party. which way is it going? who's right, who's wrong. robert schlesinger is here from "u.s. news & world report." it is usnews.com. conversation continues. we want you to jump in at any time at 1-866-55-press. for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries... on current tv.

we have a big, big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>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.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. leo gerard, president of the united steelworkers in the next segment of the "full court press." we're visiting here, talking which way is the republican party going? does it know? robert schlesinger with managing editor of "u.s. news & world report" here in studio with us. robert, good to have you on board. peter, a quick thing? >> public poll policy polling has a new poll out in kentucky. on the mitch mcconnell senate seat. and not very good news for him. right now, he is down one point to allison lundergan grimes, 45% for her. 44% for him. what might be even worse is his disapproval rating is 51%. 51% disapproval for mitch mcconnell in his home state of kentucky and sort of twisting

the knife a little bit, yesterday ted cruz was asked if he's going to back mitch mcconnell over the tea party challenger of kentucky, matt bevin. ted cruz says that's a decision for the people of kentucky to make. so mitch mcconnell might have his hands full. >> this is like a mirror universe where it was the party leader in 2010. he was not popular in his home state. the difference is -- this gets back to what we've been talking about is democrats are actually running a viable candidate whereas the republicans ran a marginal tea party person. harry reid didn't have to go way to the left. mitch mcconnell -- if this tea party challenger is at all legitimate, he will have to hue further to the right which, in kentucky, isn't as big a problem as it is in other parts of the country. it still won't help him. >> bill: that gets to the question i wanted to start. has the tea party piqued? has it seen its day or is it

still -- are we still going to see a lot in 2014 and 2016? >> i think we'll have a turning point in the next few months where you have these senators, especially, people in the white house call them the caucus of common sense. who are willing to -- again, it is not necessarily moderates but people who are pragmatists and are willing to make deals and they're tired of being run -- their party being run by the tea party and driven off into the fringes by the tea party. it may be that they start to step up and they start to stand up to the tea party and that emboldens other people. we start to see a real decline. >> bill: i think we're seeing that. we're out of time here. we're seeing that in the senate. i have yet to see much of it in the house. if it moves to the house that, will change things around. robert, great to have you in studio. thanks for coming in. get you back in soon.

>> absolutely. >> bill: leo gerard coming up next. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." they should self-deport? >> no, they said "make us a turkey and make it fast". >> (laughter). >> she gets the comedians laughing. >> that's the best! >> that's hilarious. >> ... and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there is wiggle room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> ya, i consider you jew-talian. >> okay, whatever you want. >> who plays kafka? >> who saw kafka? >> who ever saw kafka? >> (laughter). >> asking the tough questions. >> chris brown, i mean you wouldn't let one of your daughters go out with him. >> absolutely not. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me? >> absolutely! >> (singing) >> i take lipitor, thats it. >> are you improving your lips? >> (laughter). >> when she's talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. >> it looks like anthony wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. >> his what in the ring? >> his hat. >> always outspoken, joy behar.

>> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> announcer: like politics? then like the "bill press show" on facebook. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. here we go. 33 minutes after the hour. it is the "full court press" on a friday morning, august 2nd. how about it. very excited to see the weekend roll around as always. we're coming to you live from our nation's capital. whoa. and our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. and brought to you today by the united steelworkers and their international president, leo gerard, very colorful, very

outspoken indeed. he will be joining us shortly. the united steelworkers, north america's largest industrial union representing over 1.2 million active and retired members and you can find out about their good work at usw.org. we're proud to come to you on your local progressive station and nothing changes as far as that goes. radio stays the same. all the way through. don't have to worry about that. on tv, it is going to be a big change. current tv disappears august 15 but as of september 3, you can watch us, not just listen to us, you can watch us two ways. online at freespeech.org. and on television on your

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set it up. >> bill: he's tough, colorful, he's outspoken, the fearless president of the united steelworkers, leo gerard joining us on our news line this morning. hello, mr. president. good to talk with you. how are you doing? >> good. >> bill: we're waiting for the job numbers for the month of july. don't know what they're going to say. we'll be watching but what does your gut tell you? how are we doing out there? is it the economy getting better? jobs picking up? >> my sense of it from watching the sectors that we represent workers in is it's kind of flat. there's not a lot of job loss but there's also not as much job growth as there should be. and large part of that is the continuing frustration of the job market by the republican

party. the fact of the matter is that the president's doing everything he can but there's this uncertainty when you hear people talking about holding up the debt ceiling and all of the stupidity they talk about. a lot of employers are saying we'll wait to see what happens. >> bill: you know what gets me about that? they're the ones, the republicans who say there's too much uncertainty. there's too much uncertainty. they're the ones causing the uncertainty. >> exactly. exactly. and if it wasn't for that, they would have done their job of working with the president to help -- it goes all the way back to when he was sworn in, right? from that point on, he and the democrats have had to try to fix this economy on their own. if they had jumped in, if, at the state level, they hadn't tried to beat up on public sector workers for the fun of

beating up on public sector workers, the economy would be a lot better, the unemployment rate would be down. if we were doing the work on infrastructure that everybody knows has to be done, all you have to do is go to the damn airport and see how lousy that is. >> bill: right. you know, there is one story this morning that caught my attention. the headline is u.s. manufacturing grows at the fastest pace in two years. not a big jump but it does say that there have been new orders, new production, new hiring in the manufacturer sector. i know a lot of your people involved in that sector. have you seen that? >> the credit goes to the president. i read that article. a lot of it comes as a result of selling automobiles and if it wasn't for the president, again, we have to go back, if it wasn't for the president, we wouldn't

have a car industry. a lot of what's come from that is the automobile industry is coming back. it stayed back. and it certainly is helping all the way down the supply chain. >> bill: that was the auto bailout which, again, republicans in congress oppose and criticized him for. but it saved -- at least we're making cars, right? >> that's right. and the other thing the president's trying to do is he's trying to restart the renewable energy sector which i can remember we had 1200 member bees in one factory that made wind turbines. we went down to less than 200 because we lost the federal discussion about climate change because the republicans filibustered that and then they filibustered the renewable energy standard the president was pushing through so now there's no standard and the renewable energy sector doesn't

know which way that's going and we're losing ground to china. china's now the largest producer of wind turbines on the planet. we keep giving up our economic strength to china. >> bill: this is one area where, as the president has made this very clear, if we're moving -- it seems if we're moving into renewable energy, which we are, and the potential there is enormous, right? somebody's going to be making these wind turbines and somebody will be making the solar panels and it ought to be us. >> we invented, by the way, in sandusky, ohio, we invented what would be considered the modern wind turbine. most efficient wind turbine. it was actually developed by a nasa facility in sandusky, ohio. so we had the leading edge. we were at the front end of that manufacturing. >> bill: i didn't realize that.

>> now, we've given that up. so when you say to me, how is the economy? i say it's flat. we're not getting the growth that we should get. the president is doing the right thing. i think he's going out into the field and talking about what should be done and be the republicans have to work. >> bill: last week -- earlier this week, down in chattanooga, tennessee, offered the president -- the republicans a grand bargain. he said you've always wanted lower corporate taxes and what i want is to get people back to work in this country. let's make a deal. i'll give you your lower corporate taxes and you give me the money to rebuild our infrastructure and get our -- get americans back to work. you think that's a deal that's going anywhere? >> no. i don't think that deal is going to go anywhere and to be honest,

i'm a little hesitant about it myself. i would want to see what kind of -- what kind of lower corporate tax rate and how would we get there and how would we make sure that we're getting the money and how do we make sure it goes in the right place. i can remember when there was a repatriation of offshore dollars, i call it, couple of -- i don't know, maybe 15, 20 years ago. time runs by. when those dollars came back, what happened is they went and built plants offshore. >> bill: oh, really? >> wow. >> in fact, the pharmaceutical industry used those dollars to move much of the pharmaceutical industry to puerto rico, the dominican republic. i remember the big kerfuffle about that. >> bill: so -- the other side of it, we had a guest on the other day that if you lower the

corporate tax rate, i think it would be from whatever it is, 35 down to 25 but still corporations said they're only paying about 12%. >> the effective -- they'll argue that the tax rate is the highest but when you go to the effective tax rate, it is amongst the lowest. it depends on what you would do on the deduction. you might lower it to a lower number but not reduce enough or eliminate enough of the deductions so instead of getting 12, you might get 8 so you would be short on the revenue side anyway. but i think the president is doing those things to show how uncooperative, how hell bent they are in the republican side to try to frustrate the economy. >> bill: absolutely. >> they're still trying to do mitch mcconnell's, i'm going to do everything i can to make this president be a one-term president. mitch, you failed the first time and you're failing the second

time. >> bill: isn't it amazing how many things they may be for until barack obama proposing that then suddenly, they find out they're against it only because it comes from him. leo -- >> the laughingstock of the whole democratic world should have been when mitch mcconnell filibustered his own bill. >> bill: i know. well, he's going to have his hands full in kentucky these days, too. leo, get back in studio with us one of these days, soon. always good to talk with you. >> i'll do that. >> bill: thanks for joining us this morning and thanks for your sponsorship of the program. president leo gerard. you can follow their good work. we'll give you the web site at usw.org. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: like politics, then like the "bill press show" on facebook. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go. 12 minutes before the top of the hour. it's friday, august 2nd. how about it. into the weekend we go. soon. not quite yet. in the next hour, at the top of the next hour, very excited to welcome bill de blasio back. he is, of course, the controller for the city of -- not the controller. he's the public advocate for the city of new york. and a candidate for mayor of new york. not one we always hear about. but very excited about that. guess what. it's friday. ♪we'll also talk about jobs in

the next hour. and on a friday, we like to look back at our favorite sound bytes of the week, bring you the top five. we start the bottom, work our way up to the top. today, appropriately so, we have an all carlos danger anthony weiner clip segment this morning, peter. starting with carlos himself with a video he put out saying people want me to quit. they just don't understand what new york is all about. >> number five. >> quit isn't the way we roll in new york city. we fight through tough things. we're a tough city. there are people all around new york city who get up in the morning with a pretty tough day ahead of them and they don't quit. >> bill: yeah. that's not the way we do it in new york. this is not the way we roll in new york. of course, that hasekcos of september 11th and john olver, the guy filling in for jon

stewart on the daily show says no, no, no! you're not going to go there, are you? >> number four. >> no, no, no, no, no! you are not doing this! you are not 9-11ing your [ bleep ] no, no! there is a line! you just went over that line! [ cheering ] >> bill: there is a line. you just went over the line. >> good way to do it, too. >> bill: thomas roberts on msnbc talking about sidney leathers. sidney leathers is -- well, she's just one of the girls that -- women, i'm sorry, that anthony weiner was sexting with. she's the one who's come forward and been the most outspoken, talking about her ambitions to become a porn star. >> good luck with that. >> bill: where did anthony weiner find her? sidney leathers is her real name. she's given so many crazy interviews that thomas roberts means to say she's like a little

wacky but maybe he forgot he was on tv. >> number three. >> meanwhile, this chick is so bat [ bleep ] but leathers reportedly considering a porn deal now. >> bill: yeah. well, we beeped it out here. it was not bleeped out on msnbc. it got out over the air. sidney leathers did go on howard stern's show and say how disappointed she was that anthony weiner didn't immediately admit to what he had been up to. >> number two. >> i think i am a little bit angry with him because i feel like he lured me into this situation and he didn't want to own up to it. what pissed me off is him on the campaign trail saying i've changed and he has this perfect marriage now. >> the hypocrisy got to you. >> i said bull [ bleep ] i'm proof you have not changed. >> bill: where did he find

her? she posed for a bikini shoot and now she's putting herself out there. if she gets a porn deal, she won't have to change her name. >> that's true. that is true. no one is going to accuse her of making up a fake porn name. >> bill: this is not in defense of anthony weiner. this woman is no prize. she's also signed a deal. she's doing some advertising now for a leather company. and finally, jimmy fallon, you know carlos danger, where did the nickname come from? >> number one. >> hola. [ laughter ] i am carlos danger. and today i would like to officially announce my candidacy for mayor of the new york city. anthony weiner may not be running anymore but do not fear. carlos danger never pulls out.

>> bill: have we heard every last anthony weiner joke? >> i think it's official. we've heard all of them. >> bill: yes, indeed. bill de blasio coming up at the top of the next hour. and timcology ender here to walk us through the job numbers for july. it is the "full court press" on a friday, august 2nd. >> no, they said "make us a turkey and make it fast". >> (laughter). >> she gets the comedians laughing. >> that's the best! >> that's hilarious. >> ... and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there is wiggle room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me.

>> she's joy behar. >> ya, i consider you jew-talian. >> okay, whatever you want. >> who plays kafka? >> who saw kafka? >> who ever saw kafka? >> (laughter). >> asking the tough questions. >> chris brown, i mean you wouldn't let one of your daughters go out with him. >> absolutely not. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me? >> absolutely! >> (singing) >> i take lipitor, thats it. >> are you improving your lips? >> (laughter). >> when she's talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. >> it looks like anthony wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. >> his what in the ring? >> his hat. >> always outspoken, joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv.

>> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war, you must be high. >> only on current tv.

(cenk) it's go time! it's go time! it's go time! go time. you know what time it is. go time! it's go time. it's go time. what time is it rob? here comes the young turks go time! it's go time. oh is it? oh, then it's go time. anybody? anybody? what time is it? oh, right. it's go time!

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey, it is four minutes to go before the top of the hour. again with bill de blasio from new york city. mayoral candidate at the top of the next hour and then we'll talk job numbers from july. you tell me what the president is up to today. i don't know. all we have on the schedule today is he and the vice president get the daily briefing at 10:00 and then nothing. nothing before, nothing after. no briefing scheduled today. is the president on his way to afghanistan? or maybe an early trip up to martha's vineyard. he wanted to check out the house maybe before he brings the family up and the dog. >> that's not a bad idea. do a little recon. when you're the president, do you think that stuff. >> i have a feeling today is a golf day. >> bill: he wouldn't play golf

on a work day. >> it is friday. >> friday is still a work day. >> bill: it is still a work day, right. although around this town -- but i tell you what, maybe he ought to check things out with edward snowedden in moscow. he did just to bring you up to date, he did receive a year asylum yesterday from vladimir putin, chuck schumer not happy about it. >> russia has stabbed us in the back and each day that snowden is allowed to roam free is another twist to the knife. >> bill: yes. edward snowden is out of the airport, free to live and work in russia. meanwhile, he's started a conversation in this country about the balance between national security and privacy. that conversation yesterday reached all the way to the white house. at least they have edward

snowden there.

[ ♪ theme ] >> bill: good morning, friends and neighbors. happy friday. it is friday, august 2nd. here we are on the "full court press." welcome to the program. good to you have with us today as we boom out to you all across this great land of ours from our studio on capitol hill right here in washington, d.c. where the members of congress so tired after all of the hard work that they've done this year. they are going off for a five-week break.

and before they go today, the house of representatives expected republicans expected to vote yet one more time, number 40 to repeal obamacare. which, of course, is never gonna happen. we'll tell you what's happening today, take your calls at 1-866-55-press. your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. yes, the big news of the day, edward snowden has left the moscow airport. he is free under asylum granted him by russia. free to live and work in russia for one year. the white house says it is very disappointed that vladimir putin gave him that permission. meanwhile, more and more members of the congress are upset over nsa's massive spying program. so much so that president obama convened a meeting at the white house yesterday to discuss how we maintain the proper balance

between protecting this country and also protecting our constitutional liberties starting with the right of privacy. that and more coming up next hour on current tv. 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?

(vo) current tv is the place for compelling true stories. (kaj) jack, how old are you? >> nine. (adam) this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. way inside. (christoff) we're patrolling the area looking for guns, drugs, bodies ... (adam) we're going to places where few others are going. [lady] you have to get out now. >> lots of terrible things happen to people growing marijuana. >> this crop to me is my livelihood. >> i'm being violated by the health care system. (christoff) we go and spend a considerable amount of time getting to know the people and the characters that are actually living these stories. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

>> occupy! >> we will have class warfare. (vo) true stories, current perspective. documentaries. on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: he's out of the airport. hey, how about it. yes, edward snowden, able to leave yesterday under a grant of asylum for one year, given him by the russian government. good morning, everybody. white house says it is extremely disappointed but they should have seen it coming. it is friday, august 2nd. great to see you today. we are coming out to you live on

your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. right down the street from the united states capitol building. so good to see you today. and thank you for joining us here on the "full court press" as we let you know what's the latest. what's going on here in washington. around the country and around the globe. we'll tell you what's going on and then give you a chance to tell us what it means to you. at 1-866-55-press. on twitter, join us at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. it is a pretty big day here in washington because it is the last day the congress is in session before they take a five-week break. they have worked so hard these last seven months. they passed 23 whole bills.

>> oh, my god. >> bill: half were naming bridges or post offices at any rate but they've got to go off and take a big break. wouldn't it be nice if all of us would look forward to five weeks' vacation on top of all of the other vacations. >> don't forget, bill, they did a lot of good work trying to repeal obamacare. >> bill: that's right. 39 times and may do it the 40th time before they take off. so don't look for much out of this congress for the next five weeks. although to tell the truth, you won't be able to tell the difference over the next five weeks because they didn't get anything done while they were here. our team though, we will be in place the whole time here. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> yes, indeed. >> bill: what do you say, guys. here with alichia cruz. she has the phones covered and cyprian bowlding's got us looking good. about as good as possible.

on the video cam. there is -- you know, democrats are famous for forming the circular firing squad. well, this time, it is the republicans who are up to that. and the biggest spat among republicans, the one that's gotten the most attention lately is between governor chris christie of new jersey and senator rand paul from kentucky. they've been fighting over nsa funding, over drones and over funding for hurricane sandy. rand paul at least had the -- as a gentleman, said maybe we could just sit down and have a little beer summit and clear this up. but on a talk radio talk show in new jersey yesterday, chris christie didn't want anything to do with that. here's that exchange. >> we're going to have to patch things up. if we can sit down, i'm inviting him for a beer. >> he suggested maybe the two of you sit down and have a beer and bury the hatchet. >> i'm running for re-election in new jersey.

i don't have time for that at the moment. >> bill: i don't have time to have a beer with rand paul. yeah. here we go. >> that's going to be exciting. >> bill: this is. i do hope both of them run in 2016. that will be fun to watch. classic chris christie. bill de blasio from the -- he's the public advocate for the city of new york, running for mayor of new york will be here himself to tell us all about it. that very important race and stancology -- stan collender will talk about the job numbers for july. >> quick check of other numbers. simon cowl is getting another try on american television. fox has renewed "the x factor" for another season even though it hasn't gotten the ratings they hoped for. the grand prize is smaller. now a $1 million recording contract for the first two years. it was a $5 million recording contract. the show has been a big hit over

in england but never gained popularity that "american idol" and "the voice" have here. >> bill: simon cowell, new daddy. >> he jumped around the bush yesterday. a lot of questions asked and he wouldn't answer any of them. >> that is amazing they openly say we're going to give you a $5 million contract. >> $1 million. >> bill: ratings are pretty low. >> we'll never see a life story published by casey anthony, the mom acquitted two years ago of killing her 2-year-old daughter. "usa today" reports anthony who has kept a low profile has agreed to pay $25,000 to her bankruptcy estate to avoid having to sell her story. the estate trustee wanted to sell her story to pay off debts but doing so would have basically given him all the rights over anthony for the rest of her life which she did not want. >> bill: i was looking forward to reading that book. and trayvon martin's hoody might end up in a museum. cbs reporting the folks at the

smithsonian national museum of african-american history and culture would be interested in displaying the famous sweatshirt that he wore the night he was killed but they understand the sensitivity surrounding, asking his family for it. it is still in possession of the sanford police department but trayvon's family will likely have the right to re-claim the property soon. >> bill: that new museum under construction here in washington, d.c. long overdue. i must say. thank you, dan. yes, indeed. this is sort of an off-election year for most of the country but certainly not for new york city. a wide open race in the democratic primary. bill de blasio, good friend of the program has been on several times with us. public advocate for the city of new york. one of the leading candidates for mayor joins us on our news line this morning. hey, bill, good to talk with you again. >> always good to be here, bill. thanks. >> bill: thank you. let me ask you first of all, what are the -- what do you see the issues in this, the most important issues in this race?

>> i think right now, the question of inequality in new york city is really the core issue. the fact that particularly in the third bloomberg term, the one that a lot of us think he shouldn't have had -- inequality has been rampant. we have the highest income inequality since the great depression. housing costs have become unacceptable and unsupportable for so many working families. lately, we've had, you know, declining accessibility to healthcare because of the possibility of hospital closures. really sharp, sharp differences coming up in new york city that have to be addressed. obviously the question is stop and frisk and the very profound unfairness that's happening in the way communities of color are policed. so all of this adds together to be an election about how fair a

city are we going to be? how inclusive a city are we going to be? i think if you said we'll narrow it to specific issues, i would say very much, stop and frisk issue and the future of our schools, whether our schools want to start to serve, kids left out in many neighborhoodens all over the city. those are some of the core issues animating this discussion. is it a -- >> bill: is it a geographical thing? is it manhattan versus the rest of new york or is it inequality in each of the boroughs. >> very good question. i would say the first reality is manhattan increasingly for the wealthy, used to be a much more economically diverse place. a lot of folks being pushed out of city. that's one piece. even within the boroughs, you still see my borough, brooklyn, you see equality. the bottom line is the city of

new york can address this issue. i think bloomberg had his successes, particularly in the first term. as his administration wore on, he increasingly ignored this growing rift. five years of an economic crisis. people have been hurting more and more. amazing statistic the other day, 46% of all new yorkers are near or below the poverty level. 46%. >> bill: new york city? >> 46%. that was at new york city government report. and this is the effect of five years of a horrible economy. you know plenty about the downward pressure on wages and benefits all over the country, the walmartization of the country. it has happened here, too. we have lots of service jobs, lots of fast food jobs, but they're low paying and they're low benefit and i think the bottom line is that bloomberg

decreasingly was willing to address these issues, a lot of us fought for paid sick days. bloomberg would never accept that strenuously, oppose it. as my opponent christine quinn, a lot of us have been fighting for expansive use of living wage legislation. there is a lot of real capacity here in the city government and the city government as large as this to make a difference. but bloomberg never wanted to extend the city government toward those in need. >> bill: bill de blasio is our guest. he is the candidate for mayor in the city of new york. recognize and i think in general accepted as the one real true progressive in this race. and the last poll that i saw, bill, shows you in second place or at least tied for second place with bill thompson. in fact, i saw one story, the "wall street journal" is calling this the battle of the bills.

why you over bill thompson? >> bill thompson, someone i respect. but i disagree with him on some core issues. i think we need to tax the wealthy for our schools, for example. back in october, i proposed a tax on those who make a half million or more so that we could actually address the core problems of our school system. we need to do a lot more on early childhood education. propose full day pre-k being guaranteed to every child. propose after school programs for middle school kids who really need them. who need safe quality after school. we can only do that if we're willing to tax the wealthy. bill thompson is very much opposed to taxing the wealthy. he's close to the real estate industry. i've challenged the real estate industry because there's no way we can build affordable housing if we don't change the rules of the real estate industry. it is a powerful industry in this town but they have to be legally required to create a lot more affordable housing and finally, bill thompson, he's a

good man but he's wrong on the question of how we address stop and frisk because he opposes the legislation to ban racial profiling and he opposes the legislation to create an independent inspector general. we just can't fix the damage done by overuse of stop and frisk. we don't have those kind of tools. >> bill: strange thompson would take that position. that's the key difference. of course. and how about christie, you alluded to her earlier. christine quinn who has been sort of up and down in the polls but generally, the front-runner although we still have six weeks to go. why bill de blasio over christine quinn? >> christine quinn has been michael bloomberg's chief ally. in terms of the many ways in which he did not address the inequalities in this city, strenuously opposed proposals for the government to step in and help people, you know, she was right there with him. as i said on paid sick days, the

legislation was something we desperately needed. it waited three years for a vote in the city council because she would not bring it to a vote even though there was a supermajority in favor of it. she's obviously got to account for the fact she cut the deal with bloomberg to give him the third term and the vast majority, literally, the vast majority of new yorkers, 87% of new yorkers, the week before the vote on term limits adamantly opposed bloomberg getting a third term. quinn gave him the third term. i think there is obviously a host of issues she also opposes taxes on the wealthy. a lot of people believe her administration would be bloomberg for and that we would not get the changes we need and we would not get the efforts to help folks for being left out right now. that would be, i think, unacceptable for the city. >> bill: there is another candidate -- >> i don't know who you you're referring to. [ laughter ] >> bill: quick comment on. here is mr. weiner's comment

yesterday about those who still are calling on him to drop out of the race. some of the challenges have been pretty tough. i'm facing tough challenges now. one thing all of my opponents agree upon is they would rather i wasn't running. well, tough. >> bill: anthony weiner. he's in there for the long haul, bill. but have new yorkers had enough of this circus? >> they have. they clearly have. you can see it in the poll numbers. you can see it in how people respond. i talked to -- obviously every day new yorkers. every day. and i can tell you they -- they're fed up. they want to get back to the issues. people are realizing we're about six weeks away from a major, major decision here on the future of the city. and more and more, people want to take it seriously. stuff i talked about. income disparities, schools failing kids, stop and frisk. these are big issues. anthony is the kind of distraction that makes it incredibly hard to get to the

issues and decide the future of the city as more and more people don't want to live that way. they want to get on with the serious discussion. >> bill: i think you're right about that. we've had enough of the circus from people. when we get to the serious issues, bill, you stand out. very excited about your campaign. i saw howard dean was up there giving you good support last week. we're glad to show you on the show. i loved reading about your wife in the new yorker this week, too. >> thank you, bill. she's extraordinary. i think she will be a great first lady, may i say. >> bill: good luck to you, bill. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> bill: bill de blasio, candidate for mayor of new york. he would an great mayor of new york. i gotta tell you. >> announcer: connect with the "bill press show" on twitter. follow us at bpshow and tweet using the hashtag watching bp. this is the "bill press show." the sweatshirt is nice and all,

but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

>> did anyone tell the pilgrims they should self-deport? >> no, they said "make us a turkey and make it fast". >> (laughter). >> she gets the comedians laughing. >> that's the best! >> that's hilarious. >> ... and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there is wiggle room

in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> ya, i consider you jew-talian. >> okay, whatever you want. >> who plays kafka? >> who saw kafka? >> who ever saw kafka? >> (laughter). >> asking the tough questions. >> chris brown, i mean you wouldn't let one of your daughters go out with him. >> absolutely not. >> you would rather deal with >> absolutely! >> (singing) >> i take lipitor, thats it. >> are you improving your lips? >> (laughter). >> when she's talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. >> it looks like anthony wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. >> his what in the ring? >> his hat. >> always outspoken, joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv.

>> announcer: like politics? then like the "bill press show" on facebook. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we are. 26 minutes after the hour. friday morning, august 2. we're waiting for the jobs numbers for july. they'll be out in about four minutes and then we'll talk about them with stan collender, manager financial communications over at corvis communications. and get your comments, as well at 1-866-55-press. peter, quick story here. >> the mayor of san diego, bob filner, we've seen his sort of public battle against the sexual harassment -- >> bill: what a creep. just get out of there.

>> he's in the middle of a lawsuit with his former communications director. she's suing him and in a letter that his attorney, a man by the name of harvey burger sent to san diego, he said that the city failed to provide bob filner state-required sexual harassment training and therefore, should pay to defend him in his lawsuit against the woman. [ laughter ] >> bill: this is so outrageous. look, first of all, he's been mayor for a year, right? he's 70 years old. he ought to know by now, right? if you're 21 years old, you ought to know by now how to be respectful to women. >> just because you don't get sexual harassment training, i don't think dha that means -- >> bill: i don't think that gives you a green light. >> i don't think that's how it works. >> bill: unbelievable. what a putz, i'm telling you. quickly, updating or waiting for the job numbers, edward snowden out of the airport yesterday on

a one-year asylum grant by the russian government. the white house not happy. here's jay carney at our briefing yesterday. >> we are extremely disappointed that the russian government would take this step despite our very clear and lawful requests in public and in private to have mr. snowden expelled to the united states to face the charges against him. >> bill: but they could not have been surprised. pretty clear that vladimir putin was going to seize this dew point and also we're not surprised that chuck schumer seized the opportunity. >> russia has stabbed us in the back and each day that snowden is allowed to roam free is another twist to the knife. >> bill: there they go. >> have mercy. >> bill: look, after a year, snowden will be begging. ?oand will be begging to come back to the united states. jobs numbers for july when we come back here with sam

collender on the "full court press" this friday morning. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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 buz 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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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go. it is a friday, august 2nd, the "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capital, brought to you today by the international order of machinists, the men and women of the machinist's union under president tom buffenbarger, sharpening america's edge on the global economy. you bet. and you can find out more about their good work at their web site, goiam.org. speaking of jobs, we've got the

numbers now for july. 162,000 new jobs reported for the month of july and the unemployment rate dropping from 7.6% to 7.4%. stan collender, communications manager for financial communications over at corvis. stan, great to see you this morning. it has been awhile since you've been in studio. >> two months, yeah. but i think it has been two. no, we were on the phone one time, that's right. >> bill: we always like to get you in right as the jobs numbers come out. 162,000 unemployment right down to 7.4%. what's your take on that? >> the 7.4%, the drop is a little surprising. actually both numbers are surprising. going down to 7.4% is something no one expected. the consensus forecast was 7.5%. so that's significant. it is good news.

>> bill: drop down. it stayed the same as i recall the last time. >> right. look, 7.4% is still higher than you would like it to be. it is going down federally. a couple of years ago, we were talking about 9%, 9.5%. the 162,000 jobs is a little disappointing. the consensus was for about 185,000, 183,000. my guess is that will be revised upward. we had a report that the private sector added 200,000 jobs over the last month. so what it tells you is a lot of the republican attempts to cut back spending sequesters and things are having an impact. government is still continuing to cut back. let me state that again. federal spending is actually going -- is not rising as fast on the appropriations side. it is actually going down. we're lowering unemployment. that's having an impact on the overall job numbers. >> bill: no doubt about it. this 7.4% would be -- it is good

news but still too high. but it would be a lot lower if it weren't for the fact that cities, counties, and federal agencies are not hiring. right? and in fact -- >> and going down. no, no, absolutely. this is misguided austerity over the last couple of years. the economy would probably be growing -- instead of 1.7%, probably close to 3% had it not been for sequesters. unemployment would be below 7%, maybe close to 6.5% at that point. we've had the wrong fiscal policy in place for the last couple of years. that's deeply disappointing. >> bill: look -- i'm look ahead to the budget battles coming up. september and october. but i mean what the republicans want is more cuts, more sequester -- deeper sequester, sequester is not enough. they want more cuts which means -- things will get worse. >> for republicans who were continuing to run against the

administration and the economy that gets worse, even if they're technically to blame for it, that works to their advantage politically. they just keep saying the obama economic policies failed. the real failure of the economic policies are the house republicans in particular who have been forcing spending cuts at a time when the economy couldn't handle them. >> bill: so when you contrast contrast -- well, when you pair these job numbers that we just heard for july, again, 162,000 new jobs for the month of july, yesterday, the dow and the s&p 500, record high numbers. i think, if i recall correctly, this is the 29th day this year that there have been -- that the dow hit a new record. dow closing at 15,650. all-time high. s&p 500 over 1700. >> 1706. >> bill: first time ever. >> when you and i first started talking about this, the dow was

at 6500. this was at the beginning of the obama administration. it was just -- you know -- >> bill: more than doubled. >> more than doubled. this is one of the largest bull markets, fastest bull markets in american history. and it looks as if there's more to go here. i know there are some people saying get out now but when you see the amount of cash that's on the sidelines that corporations are holding on to, that investors are still starting to hold on to, you see some of the merger, and acquisitions and other things going on, there is a lot of economic activity still to go and consumer sentiments as well. so i would say there's more to go here. in fact, let me go out on a limb, i'm not going to do the jim glassman -- 36,000 which he said ten years ago. but dow 16,500 in the next year is not unreasonable. >> bill: dow is how many companies? >> you've got 500. >> bill: s&p 500 is -- >> don't know exactly. >> it is a lot broader.

is the better number. but they're both headline numbers here. the market is going great guns. you know, a lot of people are make -- a lot of individuals are making a lot of money. you're not quite at the wealth effect because -- you that felt during some of the years the bush administration when there was unrealistic growth in the stock market. but people are starting to feel better about it. >> bill: as those -- as investments in those companies represented do better and better and better, is that trickling down to use the phrase in the economy in general? >> well, look, you've got a lot of people who hold mutual funds or holding it for retirement purposes so yeah, they may not be resulting in immediate spending but it's making people feel better about the future and let's bring this back. if you're a democrat and you know, you're thinking about 2014, polling numbers show 73% disapproval rating for house

republicans but if the stock market is doing better and people are feeling better about the obama administration, a lot of this election will be the referendum on the white house, this actually improves the democrat's chances in 2014 in both the house and the senate. >> bill: one big -- so much we want to talk to you about this morning. so much on the economic front that's been -- that's been in the news. i am fascinated by the fact that we are having an open campaign competition for the next chairman of the fed. >> fascinating. you used exactly the right word. usually these things happen in the dead of night. arthur burns gets selected and no one knows how or why. >> bill: i think most americans don't know what the fed does. >> most members of congress don't know what the fed does. >> bill: yeah, right. they don't know who the head of it is. now, suddenly, larry summers or janet yellen or if you want to vote on the dark horse, donald cone. why is it so important, all of a

sudden? >> because what's happened with fiscal policy being at a stand still with the stalemate in washington, monetary policy has been the only game in town. that since the economic downturn. the bush administration. that's put the fed and the fed chairman out in front. ben bernanke has not just done some extraordinary monetary things, he's gone out in front, held press conferences, financial planning sessions around the country at fort hood and other place. he's tried to communicate over the heads of congress which has made that person, you know, probably more prominent of anyone in that job since paul volcker. >> bill: he's taken an active role in keeping the economy going by -- >> not an active role. the fed monetary policy has been the only game in town. had it not been for his willingness to lower interest rates to the low levels, historical low levels, the economy would be in terrible shape. >> bill: and buy the bonds. >> that's monetary policy.

so -- >> bill: he basically has taken the place of congress? is that what you're saying? >> he's substituted monetary policy for fiscal policy because congress has been unable to come together on anything. what they have come together as we talked about has been the wrong fiscal policy. >> bill: where would we be without the fed? >> still in a recession. i don't think there's any doubt about that. the austerity that has been imposed by house republicans has, you know, has hurt the economy desperately and it was the wrong economic policy. don't forget, they're more interested in getting themselves re-elected than they are in getting the economy growing. >> bill: so this -- this shows why this choice of the new chair of the fed is so important because of the emerging role, the emerged role and importance of the fed. when you look at larry summers, you either love him or hate him. >> or both.

you know, it's interesting. let's put don cone aside for a moment. for everyone who doesn't know, he's been a staffer at the fed and he was on the fed board. he's been there for 40 years. one of the most accomplished monetary people but he would clearly be a caretaker until there was a consensus, kind of like pope john paul 23 was. back then. but janet yellen was a communicator, former instructor at the university of california, my alma mater, by the way. summers is obviously known as just ask him, being one of the smartest people on the planet. it was part of that group. with bob rubin who saved the planet. remember the famous nict "time" magazine, both would be extraordinary choices but they have very different styles. yellen, as i said is a communicator. did a great job at the san francisco fed. larry tends to rub people the wrong way. they're both strong. >> bill: he's got a reputation as a bull in a china shop. made the famous speech at harvard where he said there is a

good reason why men have most of the top jobs in the sciences and engineering because women don't have the same aptitude. >> i don't know if those are his exact words but he created a firestorm. >> bill: force to the resign as president of harvard. president bill clinton said larry summers gave him bad advice by not regulating derivatives. >> he has a lot of baggage whereas janet yellen has been behind the scenes working at the feds, building consensus. i have no idea how this is going to shake out. the other question is does the administration think larry summers can get confirmed? don't forget, this is not just a presidential appointment. >> bill: good question. i must say, i was stunned the other day in our briefing when, after president obama went out of his way to defend larry summers, when members of congress raised questions about him, the president said good things about larry summers. we tried to get jay carney to say good things about janet yellen. he said i will not comment on any potential appointee but the

president just finished praising larry summers. >> that may be like a baseball owner saying i have 1,000% confidence in my manager the day before he gets fired. >> bill: talking all things economic about the job numbers in july here with our good friend, stan collender. you're welcome to join the conversation at 1-866-55-press. always save a seat at the table for you. we'll be right back. >> announcer: go mobile with bill press. download pod costs at billpressshow.com. listen any time, anywhere. this is the "bill press show."

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>> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour. we're almost there to the weekend. and what a way to go here with stan collender from corvis communications. talking about the economy in general. propelled by the new numbers for july that came out adding 162,000 new jobs. this is like 30 some months where it has been positive job growth. >> we'll take it. you remember when we were down? >> bill: i sure do. >> when every day the only question was how many hundreds of points would the dow drop that day? things are not as good as we would like but they're much better than they used to be. >> bill: taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. before we move on, peter. >> quick story because our friends at the charleston post and courier in south carolina are reporting that lindsey graham will have a challenge from nancy mace. i remember the name nancy mace because she's one of the first

two females to graduate from the citadel, the military school in charleston, south carolina, i was working down there whenever they had the whole debate whether they were going to allow women into the citadel. she's expected to make her announcement. she's going to get in. she's a real contender. mike allen jumping on that story in today's playbook. >> so lindsey graham has a challenger in the primary. mitch mcconnell's got a challenger in the primary. does anybody really think the tea party is not alive and well? >> bill: tea party lives. >> not in the general. in the primary. that's where they have their -- doesn't say much for budget debates going forward. >> bill: one other story, stan, the front page of "the new york times" today, former trader from goldman sachs found liable in a fraud case. this is the -- to my knowledge, the first wall street executive since the collapse of 2008 who

has actually been brought to trial and found guilty. >> from a big bank. >> i'm not sure you can call a trader an executive. but a big guy -- absolutely. and it may be that -- >> bill: why did it take so long? five years. yet you say this is not one of the top guys, right? >> first of all, he may be take the fall from some people above him. i'm not saying he didn't do anything wrong because he clearly did. he's now been convicted of it. but these are incredibly difficult cases to prove. they're difficult cases to present to a jury of nonfinancial experts. >> bill: he was selling stuff that he knew was phony, right? >> yeah. >> bill: big mortgage derivatives. >> probably a conspiracy back there. he was working with other folks. lie mention their names over the air to put this together on their behalf so they could bet against what he was selling. >> bill: do you think there will be other people? is the s.e.c. going to finally bring some of these people to

justice? >> they've lost some of their cases. my guess is they'll be very careful. we've got mary jo white and head of s.e.c. and is a little bit more aggressive on this. so, you know, hopefully, we would like to see some of the folks who betting with our money, taxpayer dollars, at least brought to justice. at least be made accountable for it. and you would also -- just so that there is a disinsent ev to doing that behave again. that's the big thing. you can't let them get away with it. they'll do it again. >> bill: all of this happened. they knew what they were doing was wrong. i read a couple of books banking on the name the great book about this. but people -- nothing ever happened. finally, we see somebody brought to justice. >> it is a little bit. it is a little bit like roger clemens or anybody else taking performance-enhancing drugs, the incentives for doing so for performing well are so great --

>> bill: how did you know that's where i was going to go next because you're a big yankees fan. how bad is a-rod going to get hit? or should get hit? >> well, as a yankee fan, i gotta tell you, i hope they throw every book at him they can possibly throw. >> admirable of you to say. >> well, for two reasons. one is i want to get rid of the guy. he's never going to perform at that level and it is not clear he ever performed at that level before without some help. but two, i want to provide that kind of disincentive to others. do not do this again, right? this ban or whatever punishment he's put up to has to be significantly strong so others don't do it. it is time for the -- time for the -- the sport to police itself that strenuously. if someone is hitting home runs, you know it is not because he or his bat are juiced. >> there aren't many stars bigger than a-rod. >> were bigger. >> but in terms of marquee players, if you ban him or life,

you're sending a message. >> the idea the yankees could get out of that contract. sorry. there is a certain glee in my voice. >> bill: an honest man and an honest fan. stan collender, great to have you with us. covered a lot of territory. a lot of fun. i'll be back with our parting shot for the day. >> announcer: starting live on free speech tv on september 3rd, learn more at billpressshow.com. 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?

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(cenk) it's go time! it's go time! it's go time! go time. you know what time it is. go time! it's go time. it's go time. what time is it rob? here comes the young turks go time! it's go time. oh is it? oh, then it's go time. anybody? anybody? what time is it?

oh, right. it's go time! this show is about being up to date, 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. >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go. edward snowden is finally out of

the moscow airport. actually he would rather be anything i think in russia than on a plane back to the united states, living the rest of his life in an american prison cell. the white house says it is very disappointed that russia granted snowden asylum but they had to have seen that coming. back here at home, things have changed dramatically since snowden first blew the whistle on the nsa. at first, leaders of congress defended the nsa. now more and more members of congress, republicans and democrats are raising serious questions about nsa's spying on all americans. and even president obama is saying that we need a national conversation on how to balance national security and our right of privacy. that conversation started at the white house yesterday but here's the point. we would not be having that conversation today without edward snowden. think about that. have a great weekend!

[♪ theme music ] >> oh, i have been here waiting for hours for jacki. good morning, everybody. good morning, current tv land. >> you know what works, steph is i have a little bird in my ear that tells me when you are there or not there. so you can pretend -- >> cobwebs. i have just been waiting and waiting. >> you literally