s the problem is the cyprians don't have good alternatives. the europeans are not going to provide them with more than a 10 bib you're -- billion euros they've offered. they need 17 euros total. the russians would be unlikely to give them the loan they need and the terms of the loan would almost certainly be onerous. if you're not going after the high end depositors who are you going to tax. regoing to reduce pensions and lay off public sector workers. all of these choices unpalatable and will go after larger deposits and will -- as a offshore banking center. >> rose: what's the next step. >> the next step is to come up with a new plan. the plan is probably going to entail what tom was just discussing is you got to get a new line in the sand. the question in my mind is whether you do pursue a greater form of austerity against pensioners and things. there's something very attractive if you're in cyprus to say look there are these other people by the way don't live here but they do power our economy, theussis, this is. les just te that money. th

union has proposed would accelerate dhea of sherry's ation which would do significantly hurt the cyprian economy even more which is based on foreign money and it's not only a russian money which is there in cyprus it's also money which came from other countries like china and japan and if a domino effect begins this could alternately lead to the collapse of the syrian economy. could russia be one of the reasons the he wasn't willing to for cyprus that's the baited in today's cross talk with peyton avast. the germans only agreed to this bailout if the russians depositors which is a lot there's about thirty billion dollars worth of russian money in those banks they don't get away scot free but it's because of deposits overwhelmingly the people who are getting burned by this tax on depositors' are cypriots. and the notion that. russian oligarchs and so on are being bought this is really put about in germany in order to justify the very harsh treatment of cypriot savers. barack obama is heading to a key ally israel for the first time as u.s. president obama's previous term in office was mark

parliament has just rejected the european union's controversial bailout plan is happening as the cyprian finance minister is currently in moscow and is set to meet with his russian counterpart on wednesday and all this is happening despite angela merkel's direct calls on the country not to even consult with anyone about his current economic problems except for brussels and the so-called troika of investors what we're witnessing here now apparently is that cyprus is turning to russia and it's no wonder why since billions of euros which came from russia are clearly a lying on cyprian bank accounts there is speculation that the origin of a part of this money is not really clear but the majority of these funds billions of euros are clean money which were brought there by pretty much all layers of russian businesses from small ones to giant corporations talks about a deal of stories asian have been continuing in russia for quite some time and the measures similar to what the european union has proposed would accelerate dhea of sherry's ation which would do significantly hurt the cyprian econo

we jacked it to the controversial european union bailout package which it did on tuesday then the cyprian banking system could be facing a default and the country's finance minister is currently in moscow or waiting for the outcome of his meeting with his russian counterpart and there is speculation that while he may ask russia for a loan before the end of the day all this is happening despite handler merkel to direct calls on other current we not to even consult with anyone about its current economic problems except for brussels and the so-called troika of key investors despite these calls will lead on tuesday the cyprian brizard and personally called for it which and told him that his country's parliament had just rejected the bailout proposal which suggested introducing a one time general tax which could have affected the nearly all bank accounts in the country and to the tax could have reached nearly ten percent when it came to counts exceeding one hundred thousand euros russia holds a billions of euros in cyprian bank accounts earlier officials including the president said that such

russia and it's no wonder why since billions of euros which came from russia are clearly a lying on cyprian bank accounts there is speculation that the origin of a part of this money is not really clear but the majority of these funds billions of euros are clean money which were brought there by pretty much all layers of russian businesses from small ones to giant corporations talks about dhea of stories asian have been continuing in russia for quite some time and the measures similar to what the european union has proposed would accelerate dhea sure ization which would do significant we hurt the cyprian economy even more which is based on foreign money and it's not only russian money which is there in cyprus it's also money which came from other countries like china and japan and if a domino effect begins this could all tingly lead to the collapse of the syrian economy. that could russian roubles be one of the reasons the e.u. wasn't willing to fully bailout cyprus that said the baited into days cross talk with pay to live well. the germans were already agreed to this bailout if the russia

cyprian bowlding has the video cam -- >> cyprian has his lights off. >> bill: oh, no! >> okay.k. >> bill: well, that is great. glad that he -- he's of course referring to the fact that yesterday we had a blackout. the lights went out. we were off the hair for the last hour but so far so good this morning. >> me knocking on wood. >> bill: exactly. a lot coming up this morning. congressman david cicilline from rhode island will be joining us at the top of the hour. alan st. pierre from normal about the restriction of pot legislation in the state of maryland. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> bill: dan has the big stories of the day. >> other headlines making news on this thursday, president obama was asked yesterday about his march madness bracket as the sweet 16 gets underway today. even though on paper he's doing fine, the hill reports he said his bracket was busted because he did not pick florida gulf coast, la salle and wichita state, all of those upsets -- >> who did! >> that being said, seven of the president's eight elite eight teams are still alive. his e

cyprian back here again. phone. cyprian back here again. on the video cam. hey, cyprian. thank you for your good work. all eyes on rome. i am telling you. i think this is a little over reaction, too much attention to what's going on rome. not everybody in the world is a catholic, but you would think everyone american was a catholic based upon the attention that the election of a new pope is getting in the american media. diane sawyer is going to be broadcasting live from the vatican tonight. i bet you brian williams and scott pelly will be there as well. i haven't seen any announcement. i would be willing to bet all of the cable networks have representatives there and have had for the last two weeks. it's not going to be a american but the one getting attention is cardinal dolan of nyew york. he was out yesterday glad handing like a politician. >> campaigning. what a time they are having in rome? >> the only feeling i have is one of immense serenity. the last week has been filled with apolstolic fraternity a real sense of trust and confidence? >> that's not why i go to ro

. >> there is a split in cyprians society. they realized it could have been worse, but they're not happy with either. this house to be renegotiated. even though they realize what the dire consequences would be if it's not approved, they seem to agree they should not take a levy on a bank accounts. they do not have the public support and will not have the support of ministers on less this is changed to go to parliament. we understand the parliament meeting will go ahead 6:00 tomorrow night. >> the drama over the bailout continues. political leaders have a meeting in berlin to talk about making the european union more competitive. angela merkel says they will do "what is necessary" to ensure the future of the euro. both had much to talk about. the european commission president says europe must continue with reforms while paying attention to the social consequences like the unrest in cyprus. >> before more, let's go to our parliamentary studios. this is a top level meeting of euro's top-level. can you fill us in? >> the meeting i

. >> stevie lee web on the phones and cyprian boulding. what's sip ran do? does his best to make us look pretty and he is on the phone every time the camera goes to him. people want to know who he is talking to. we don't know. >> there he is keeping us looking good on current tv. coming to you live to current tv on your local progressive talk radio station and on sirius xm this hour only. march madness started up this last night. yes realize i was talking to friends, some of these gaze are being played at the verizon center in washington, d.c. >> yeah. >> i still have louisville to win all the way. how are we doing on our brackets? >> peter: here's the little deal. the three of us, you, me, and dan all have louisville winning. >> last week we were tied. >> we were tied for first. >> bill: okay. >> peter: that has changed. it is neck and neck. dan has 49 points. you and i are tied at 48 points. >> bill: whoa! >> the difference is that you and i both pick indiana, and indiana lost to syracuse last night. >> that's who the president picked to win it all. the pr

on the ones and twos is cyprian bowlding. guys i appreciate you all being here., are you ready for the snowstorm that's coming? >> i'm so excited. we have been gypped of a winter here in our nation's capital. we're about to get slammed anywhere from three to eight to 12 inches. >> a couple of things about the snow. so we're going to be hit with a big snowstorm here in washington, d.c. couple of things. number one i'm not going to call it the snow quester. >> that's what everyone is calling it. >> peter: everyone's not calling it that. i'm not calling it that. >> we'll have to give cindy boren flak for that. i think "the washington post" is credited with starting it. >> peter: i'm not going to call it that. then there's the weather channel. this is saturn. we had nemo in new york and this is saturn. lie call it that either. i'm just going to call it the storm that's coming. we managed to make it for so long. i don't think there's any issue. it's march. it should not be snowing a foot in march. >> absolutely it should be. winter is not over yet my friend. >> peter:

germany and others have concerns that cyprian banks are involved in tax evasion. people in switzerland voting to impose curbs on executive pay. 67% of voters backed a proposal giving them the right to veto executive pay as well as banning big rewards for managers. a clear majority was unusual from a corporate lobby group. they said it would damage their competitiveness and scare away international talent. now for the response from frankfurt, conrad is standing by. we're talking about some global giants that could be effected. what are traders saying? >> there is no direct impact on prices today, but they are heavily discussing this topic and the people i talk to say that we should not overestimate the potentially negative impact on this. we should put a stress on the boost that corporate governance of the companies might have if the owners of a company, the shareholders, have more to say when it comes to the payment of executives. that means most people here are convinced that in the long term, investor confidence will be getting a boost by all this. >> what is dr

. >> cyprian's are stunned. they never dreamed they would be affected personally, that money would be taken from their accounts. they feel like they have been very hard done by, and they desperately oppose this bailout agreement. many of them are urging the government to say no, let's renegotiate. >> thanks very much. >> thanks. >> the new pope francis the first has made his first sunday appearance at the vatican, more than 100,000 gathered to hear the prayer that he delivered from the window of his office. the argentinian born pontiff who was elected on wednesday also asked the faithful to pray for him. he emphasized his spiritual ties to italy and his italian heritage. hundreds of thousands are expected to turn out for his inauguration mass this tuesday. china's newly elected leaders say fighting corruption remains a top priority for the country. he is facing a wave of public discontent, widespread corruption scandals involving government officials have eroded confidence in the country's leadership. the growin

i know cyprian is not. >> cyprian is like 50. >> ooh. >> i think this is a piece of it, you know, that it's not necessarily has the hard of hard in and hard out. it's defined by the commonality of experiences. i think there is a big difference where, you know, in terms of the people who came who got -- who came of age, you know in the early 2000s. we have the advantage of not having had all of the wonders of smart phones and digit al technology. we did our first research projects in lineraries. we had these formative experiences without this incredibly powerful technology which i think actually allows us to be more effective in the world of technology because we understand how the old works. >> i haven't had a chance to read the entire book. i read the first chapter and the introduction. but isn't it true that every generation thinks they are the best generation that's ever been born? >> every generation thinks that they are special. this is, you know, history. >> they re-invented the wheel. or invented the wheel. >> the title of the book is fast future. the reason i called it that is

country, and how can we justify investing european tax payer money into helping separate banks -- cyprian banks that have had a very good system they have been running with very and little supervision?" >> a lot of good questions that need answering. thank you very much. let's take a look at market reaction. european shares fell further amid the ongoing uncertainty about just how the separate bailout debacle would be resolved -- the cypriot bailout debacle would be resolved. we have this summary of trading action at the frankfurt stock exchange. >> what is happening with cypress was the outcome of this drama -- what is happening with cypress -- with cyprus. traders did not exclude any more the bankruptcy of this country, putting pressure a second day on the german market, but investors also got a little relief from positive data. the economic index of german investors rose to the highest level in almost three years. spain could easily collect fresh money at the lowest interest rate since the beginning of the euro crisis. the problems in cyprus did not spread yet to other countries. analys

cyprian, didn't i win last year?you might have. >> bill: at least i did pretty well. >> you know what? you did. you did the best of us. >> bill: there you go. >> none of us had one person left. >> bill: i won among this crowd. >> yeah. >> bill: out of this bunch of losers, i was the winner. >> we'll pull the tape. >> bill: okay. no doubt who the big winner and loser was yesterday in new york city. what happened there has ripple effects around the country because one of the things we talk about a lot even as liberals and as progressives is government can go too far. and it often does. and we always have to be, you know on our guard against that. and step in. and we think, we talked about it when it was first proposed, that mayor michael bloomberg of new york is the classic politician who tends to go too far in terms of the nanny state. we know that it was you know, six months ago or whatever that he announced his latest. he's the guy who got rid of msg in the restaurants he stopped smoking in bars, stopped smoking in

. >> bill: phil backert has the phones and cyprian bowlding, the video cam. thank you cyprian.ical of this, right? now, this is yesterday afternoon. we talked about this yesterday morning that we were supposed to come to work in the blizzard and there wasn't any. it is still going to get worse and worse. i think i remember dan saying that. >> absolutely. >> i just want to say first of all, dan i accept your apology for ridiculing me on the air when i said we weren't going to get any snow and we were going to get a bunch of rain. it takes a big man to apologize and i accept your apology. >> what apology? >> bill: and then i must say he's not the only one that has to apologize. let's start with the stupid weatherman. how could they all get it wrong? just so you know. there was some snow in the outlying suburbs where it is like hilly. >> out west, they got hit hard. >> bill: b.s. but in the city, nothing. yet they closed all the schools. they closed the federal government. they closed the city government. i mean it was just ridiculous. so yesterday morning we said still could get

. >> angry separates -- cyprian -- separates -- cypriots gathered outside the parliament building here the latest reports say cypriot officials are mulling a special fund as contributions coming reportedly from the island's wealthy orthodox church, from pension funds, and the central bank's gold reserves. the governor of the island's central bank was confident a solution would be found. >> i expect there will be a program of support for cyprus until monday. >> as the politicians tried to come up with a last-to address you, the mood on the streets debt is to spur a panic. earlier in the day, police clashed with angry bank employees after rumors spread that the island's second-biggest lender was to be shut down. the central bank denied those reports. with atm's paying out 680 euros per person per day, cypriaots ae increasingly despondent. >> it is too late to salvage anything. we've lost our credibility as a financial center, and whatever the final plan of the government is today, the damage has already been done. >> and time is running out. the european central bank has given the govern

the cyprian parliament has rejected this e you deal, but what are their options now -- the supreme it -- supremecypriot parliament.iot >> that is the question. there will be a lot of frantic negotiations and frantic talks going on between cyprus and brussels to try to come up with a credible alternative. tomorrow at 9:00 in the morning local time, political party leaders will convene with the president to try to come up with a credible alternative, a plan b. there has been a very clear message sent from cyprus to brussels, and it is this -- the bailout, the whole deal has had severe miscalculations. if anything comes back to a plan b, a to have to be radically different. >> i remember speaking to german officials, and they kind of shrugged off the idea that cypress, of all european countries, could cause a problem, but that is exactly what it is doing. and at exactly. this is the third smallest member of the eurozone, the third smallest economy in the eurozone. nobody expected this to be the center, the crux of the eurozone financial woes, but now it is. many say cypress sleepwalk int

[ laughter ] >> cyprian does have a phone. >> bill: he's always got it in hand.which is mine off? no. [ laughter ] >> you did yell at me once about that. my mom told me to turn my phone off. >> is your mom watching right now? >> i don't know if she's watching now. she might be watching later on tivo. she tivos it. >> bill: yesterday the big news. of course, congress is out of town. the president was out of town last week. he's back. the supreme court is still in business today. first of two days. biggest news in washington. first of two days, hearing arguments on the issue of marriage equality. there have been people, evan, camped out in front of the supreme court for the last five days and we just had our first snowstorm of the year. we waited until spring to have it snow. washington can't get the seasons right. but you know, the people out there camped out. here is a clip from one of them. doesn't matter to them there. >> our sleeping bags got wet you know. we got a little snowed over. but you know, we're here to stand up for equality so you know, a little snow

assistance and he is in moscow there's speculation that the country is going to ask russia for a loan cyprian finance ministers already met with his a russian counterpart and he said that he's satisfied with the negotiations but at the same time he added that no official offer has been made so far and he's now set to meet with the russian first prime minister and it well we already know that cyprus also russia to have billion euros this was another law and given to the country back in two thousand and eleven and helped it stayed afloat the big question now is is cyprus going broke and is it going to ask for a full bailout package this is all happening despite and going merkel's course on the country not to even consult with anyone on its economic problems except for brussels and the troika of keen masters you've got a piece going to live in moscow thank you very much for that so the club is the taking of all aside praise which could run out of money within a week the banks are still closed across the country amid widespread public anxiety over savings tessa cilia report out from nicosia. all

. >> cyprian boulding made it a long distance. stevie lee web was here to fill in for the late departed phil backert, on a ditch as far as we know, in trouble? he spun out this morning. >> hopefully he will be making it in. haven't heard. have we heard? >> i texted stevie a little while ago to see where he was. i am happy to say he didn't text me back because he would be driving? >> that means he is driving one would hope. >> this is a crazy thing about this city. you know when we have the no snow, we treat the hell out of the roads. we have snow plows lined up. >> i didn't see one snow plow this morning. >> we get a lot of snow. roads were a nightmare coming in this morning. they were -- hadn't been touched. >> i had no idea it was going to snow. i got up and looked out on the deck and table was covered with snow. must have snowed during the night. then i you looked out and then i saw, it's snowing like mad right now. >> it was coming down this morning. >> there we go. anyhow, welcome the rest of you and a lot of good basketball

they threw that out the proposed tax on all the bank accounts including deposits so outrage cyprian's and cause widespread condemnation for going against the principle that ordinary citizens should not have to paid for bank fees without the five point eight billion euros cyprus can't access an additional ten billion euro rescue package that's being dangled out there by the e.u. the european central bank has said it will continue to provide liquidity to separate banks in other words euro's until monday but they're only going to consider funding and beyond that if cyprus can resolve its differences with other eurozone nations and with the international monetary fund over how to fund a rescue when all is said and done and if the cypriot economy ever recover since financial crisis cypriots hopefully will have a newfound awareness of the banks and will implement better oversight and regulation over their financial industry by the way that's exactly what they did in iceland and it's working wonders for that small island nation in two thousand and eight when the global financial crisis began

. >> and cyprian. >> cyprian has his hat on. >> he does indeed. >> we all have one.h. >> i was going to wait until we get into it. >> nice. >> you can put your hat on now. >> cool. okay. sure. yes. yes. yes? >> for your radio listeners, you have to tell them what these hats are. these are cool. >> bill: yes. >> all of the cool people wear one >> bill: we are all going to wear our doctor seuss, cat in the hat hats. right? green eggs and ham, that's a different book? >> different book. same author >> bill: everybody knows the doctor seuss cat in the hat. i mentioned the sequester. this is the day it kicks in. some point today before 11:59 today, pompom will sign that, has to sign that executive order to the in the of management and budget. these are the cuts that are required by law now. they have to kick in. i keep calling her speaker but leader pelosi yesterday said here is what the sequester really means. >> sequester, one of my colleagues who is a latin sklar told me means really to hold hostage. >> that's exactly what this does. it holds hostage, the future, the g

when we did this huge debt restructuring on the greek sovereign debt, the cyprian banks were hurt as the greek banks substantially. at this point it would be up to the ecb to step in. i would strongly encourage the authorities in europe. >> will they? that is a key point? >> i think they may have to. the structure of their support remains unclear. i think -- let's face it. cyprus is a small economy. the smallest thread can unravel the entire tapestry of the euro zone. the size of cyprus is not the point here. the point is the principle, precedent and risk of contagion spiralling out of control. >> that's how we see it here. thank you, charles dallara. now it's time to ask the money question. will cyprus and the eu woes kill our economic optimism? we'll debate that next up. the real loser could be crooked russian billionaires whose money-laundering operations in cyprus run the country. that's why vladimir putin is so angry about this bank tax. feel like capitalism may be the best bet to prosperity, but there is not one ounce of free market capitalism in this cyprus story. i'm larry ku

. >> with stevie lee web on the phones this morning and cyprian boulding. do we have -- the lids are off all of the cameras? >> he has us on the air. >> bill: want to make sure. we put the cover over them after the show. >> that's right. we don't want to see. >> you have to take the lens cover off when you go to take a picture. right? how about it? before we get to the serious stuff of the day david pet traypet pet giving the first stephenraeus pet giving the first stephen. former head of our forces in iraq or afghanistan or iraq? afghanistan. >> yeah. >> david petraeus. and i guess this is the beginning of david petraeus's apology tour. >> please allow me to begin my remarks this evening by reiterating how deeply i regret and apologize for the circumstances that led to my resignation from the cia and caused such pain for my family friends and supporters. >> bill: you know what? i have sinned against you, 0 lord. >> jimmie swag art he is not. who caresgart, he is not. who cares. just shut up. shut up and stop talking about it. it's hardly the first man in p

this deposit levy is really a way for the cyprian government to tax not just cpriates but foreigners ebanks. they will have gotten 15% of gdp in tax revenues from nonresidents. this is money that's going to come not out of the pensions of cpriate retirees or other cuts in government expenditures. while it is a shock right now it actually in my opinion represents the best they could hope for. >> what about the fact that they hit depositors below the insurance threshold. that has been the most controversial part. would you agree the execution of this was clumsy. >> personally, while i had predicted there would have been this kind of deposit hit i certainly would have expected depositors below 100,000 to go free. seemingly it was the government who insisted on affecting also insured depositors because they were initially not willing to impose the losses only on uninsured depositors. seemingly the alumsiness is largely on the part of the cypriate government. >> we're extremely frightened of the russians for some reason because they hold such a large part of the deposits. why? >> i wouldn