brendan ayanbadejo. >> you got it right! >> you got it, boss. >> bill: linebacker for the ravens going to be in. he raised a little dust last week when he said what we need is a gay jackie robinson in professional football so everybody can get over it. >> he's a super bowl champion. >> bill: absolutely. looking forward to that. he will be in with us in the studio as well. president obama says it is time to raise the minimum wage. guess what john boehner says. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> other stuff you need to know as you head out the door this morning, a big protest against the keystone xl pipeline in front of the white house yesterday resulted in 48 people getting arrested. politico reports that robert f. kennedy jr. actress daryl hannah bill mcgibbon and leaders of the sierra club were among those locked up for attaching themselves to the

. >> super bowl champion and equal rights advocate brendan ayanbadejo weighs in tonight. >> thanks for being with us. bed of rights in america is under attack, and the attack is coming from the highest court in the land. the 1965 voting rights act is being challenged by those who say you know what? it just no longer serves a purpose. got to get rid of it. in reality, they want to go back to the bad old days, the days of jim crowe laws. well, the supreme court heard oral arguments today in a case brought by shelby county in alabama. during the hearing, a key provision of the voting rights act came under attack. it's section 5. section 5 gives federal authority over voting rights in states with histories of racial discrimination. it has been reauthorized by the congress, my friends, on four different occasions. we've been down this road. recently section 5 was invoked to block discriminatory voter id laws in texas and in south carolina. although conservative supreme court justice antonin scalia dismissed the protects of the voting rights act as a perpetetuation of racial entitlement. it

99% of you say yes. 1% of you say no. >>> coming up, super bowl champion brendan ayanbadejo will joine new controversy swirling around the national football league combine. [ female announcer ] switch to swiffer sweeper, and you'll dump your old broom. but don't worry, he'll find someone else. ♪ who's that lady? ♪ who's that lady? ♪ sexy lady ♪ who's that lady? [ female announcer ] swiffer sweeper's electrostatic dry cloths attract and lock dirt, dust, and hair on contact to clean 50% more than a broom. it's a difference you can feel. swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning. and now swiffer wet and dry refills are available with the fresh scent of gain. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer. ♪ they hatin' ♪ patrolling they tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty ♪ ♪ tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty ♪ ♪ tryin' to -- [ woman ] hi there. why do we always have to take your mom's car? [ male announcer ] th

their linebacker, brendan acken baday hoe -- ayanbadejo published an op-ed yesterday saying that we are, as he puts it, just moments from before history is made as we await the arrival of the first openly gay man in major u.s. team sports. he said he would welcome it. we need a jacki robinson type figure to come on and to be an openly gay professional sports player. >> bill: but he's not naming someone. >> he's not naming someone. he is not -- >> he's not outing. >> he's not a gay man himself. he says we need, as a culture professional sports, as a collectively, need to welcome that person, whoever it is, when that person shows up because we're -- >> bill: that's a lot better attitude than that jerk from the 49ers last week. >> that's pretty big stuff. brave. >> as he says in his op-ed in "usa today," this is our time and our cause. it is a gesture, it is a pledge. it is solidarity at its most

and brendan ayanbadejo who is, of course, the baltimore ravens linebacker, thank you.n't the quarterback:here about the latest questions the nfl may be raising about the sexual orientation of some of the new players. all of that coming up. president obama today gets the daily briefing then he has lunch with the vice president. those are the only two public events on his schedule. press briefing at 12:30 with jay carney in the briefing room and i will be there representing all of you. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning,er. good to see you today. it is thursday, february 28. welcome to the "full court press," coming to you to every corner of this great land of ours. taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. it is a big day. a big day for several reasons. it is a big day because this is the last day for benedict xvi to be on the job as pope. today is the first day for jack lew to be on the job as treasury secretary. today is the last day before the sequester kicks in and looks like, for sure you just heard donna edwards tell us, co

brendan ayanbadejo, great to have you on "the ed show" tonight. thank you for your answers. i appreciate it very much. and that is "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. "the rachel maddow show" starts right now from washington. big day today, rachel. >> a big day today. i was at the supreme court today, ed, and it was the sort of thing you can't prepare yourself for. we talk about this stuff all the time, but being there, it is amazing. appreciate it. and thanks to you at home for joining us for this hour from washington, d.c. as i said to ed there, the reason that we have been doing the show from washington these couple of days is because i went to the supreme court today in person to hear the arguments over the voting rights act, the cornerstone of american civil rights law. it was kind of an amazing experience. here is a little of what it looked like outside the court before the arguments started. watch. >> last year the voter id laws and the long lines and the ending early voting and the stopping sunday to the polls showed that jim crowe's son, james crowe jr. esquire, is still

brendan ayanbadejo has been a tremendous advocate as chris clucl kluitt of the minnesota vikings. another player of the vikings came out in opposing gay marriage. if you have an issue and engage in it civilly that's one thing but if you defame a member of the group there has to be zero tolerance. the nfl should be embarrassed, horribly embarrassed by this. if it were jews or blacks or any other group, he would be fired from the team. that's what they need to do in terms of taking a strong stance. >> michael angelo, sirius xm radio radio and "huffington post" contributor thank you for joining us. >> thank you, carol. >>> baltimore fans are crazy! >>. ♪ oh, oh, oh, oh >> we're in drinking town with a football problem. ♪ oh, oh, uh-oh >> it's raven-sanity, a 4/7 condition.  >>> i know san francisco fans are crazy for the 49ers but there's something different about the fans in baltimore. when i say they love their ravens, i mean they adore them. and when you meet them, you'll understand exactly what i mean. it's early morning in sbalt more and the city glows ravens purple. >> it's