we'll see you monday. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer, and this is "viewpointfter months of bloodshed in syria, the u.s. could be close to recognizing the country's rebel coalition. cairo's tahrir square is once again the scene of angry protests and as the islam mist dominated constituent assembly pushes you through the draft constitution. yes, the middle east is living down to its reputation as the world's leading source of turmoil. we start tonight in syria. the damascus airport was reopened friday following fighting that saw international flights canceled thursday republics say they destroyed regular syrian army vehicles near the airport while syrian military jets bombed damascus suburbs that are the strongholds for the rebellan. the rebels have enjoyed a series of tactical successes in the recent weeks capturing air bases and military supplies. the rebels have also scored on the diplomatic front, as britain, france, turkey and the gulf cooperation council recently recognized their umbrella group the national coalition of syrian revolutionary and oppositiona

. >> eliot: good evening, i'm eliot spitzer. this is "viewpoint." the president caved after months of republican attacks led by senators john mccain, lindsey graham and kelly ayotte on u.n. ambassador susan rice focusing on her scripted television appearances following the benghazi tragedy today ambassador rice withdrew her name from consideration to be nominated for secretary of state. in an interview with brian williams, rice pointed to the distraction the republican attacks have caused. >> today i made the decision that it was the best thing for our country for the american people that i not continue to be considered by the president for nomination as secretary of state because i didn't want to see a confirmation process that was very prolonged very politicized, very distracting and very disruptive because there are so many things we need to get done, as a country. and the first several months of the second term president's agenda is really the opportunity to get the crucial things done. we're talking about comprehensive immigration reform balanc

"the young turks," see you tomorrow [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer and this isewpoint." it has been five days since the tragic shooting at sandy hook elementary school where 26 people were murdered, including 20 innocent children. today the bodies of daniel barden, charlotte bacon and caroline previdi were all laid to rest as victoria soto who was shot and killed as she attempted to shield her students when when the shooter adam lanza open fired. >> obama: the fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing. the fact that we can't prevent every act of violence doesn't mean we can't steadily reduce the violence. and prevent the very worst violence. that's why i've asked the vice president to lead an effort that includes members of my cabinet and outside organizations to come up with a set of concrete proposals no later than january proposals that i then intend to push without delay. this is not some washington commission. this is a team that has a very specific task, to pull together real reforms right now. that those of us who were

. >> eliot: good evening. i'm eliot spitzer. this is "viewpoint." first it was wisconsin. then indiana. now michigan is the latest midwestern state where republican governor is eviscerating the pouf of the unions. michigan today became the 24th state to enact so-called right-to-work laws. much like the michigan senate last week, along party lines the house approved right-to-work legislation which prohibits unions from requiring members to pay dus. without hesitation earlier this evening, governor snyder signed the bill into law. there is a simple reason that laws like the one signed earlier are bad policy and bad economics. there's nothing wrong with a tough negotiation between a governor and labor unions or between a ceo and his workers. economic reality has to drive such negotiations. when i was governor, i negotiated hard but change the rules so workers cannot be effectively represented by a union takes away a fundamental right of workers to be represented on matters central to their economic well-being. it is one thing to be tough in negotiations, it is quite another t

." >> eliot: good evening. i'm eliot spitzer. this is "viewpoint." it has been four days since the tragic shooting at sandy hook elementary school where 26 people were murdered including 20 innocent children. the tears continue today as the coffins of james mattioli and jessica rekos were carried from st. rose of lima roman catholic church to their final resting place. on capitol hill, the pressure continues to mount for legislators to pass meaningful gun legislation. today the brady campaign to prevent gun violence held a press conference in front of the u.s. capitol featuring families whose lives have been affected by gun violence in an effort to make the emotional case for gun control. one of the speakers was a father whose son was in the hallway of sandy hook when the shooting began and was fortunately saved by heroic teacher. >> i'm andre i'm father of bear nikachuk, my son miraculously survived the shooting. every time something like columbine, virginia tech or aurora are happening i would avert my eyes and i will still think something will be

"the young turks," we'll see you tomorrow. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer ands is "viewpoint." it has been three days since the tragic shooting at sandy hook elementary school where 26 people were murdered including 20 innocent children. it was a heart wrenching weekend of memorial services, a weekend where the entire nation wept for the 20 children whose lives were stolen away. yet another weekend where the country was forced to come to grips with a horrific gun tragedy. today the awful process of burying the child-victims began. snow with aer pozner and jack pinto were buried. last night in an interfaith memorial service for the victims, president obama delivered a touching eulogy, while at the same time saying it is necessary to take a hard look at our current gun laws. >> obama: in the coming weeks i'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators. in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this. because what choice do we have? we can't accept events

coming, young turks. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer. this is "viewpoint." syrian forces continue to fire scud missiles at rebel fighters. >> we made a decision that the syrian opposition coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the syrian people in opposition to the assad regime. >> eliot: this recognition by the u.s. is a major step forward for the syrian rebels even though the president was quick to say they do not support the chaos in the country. >> there is a small element of those who oppose the assad regime that are, in fact, affiliated with al-qaeda and iraq, and we have designated them as a terrorist organization. >> joining me now to help us understand what this means in syria and the larger context of the middle east, from the hoover institution, one of the most astute observers of middle eastern politics. thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much, governor. >> eliot: is this recognition by president obama

we'll see you guys tomorrow. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer and this is "viewpointith 22 days left until we go over the so-called fiscal live, and even after president obama and speaker boehner met for the first time in over a month we still appear to be no closer to a deal. but over the weekend, for the first time both sides did seem to be softening the edges of their ideological swords. today in detroit the president continued his campaign-style push for congress to pass tax breaks for those below $250,000 and allow tax breaks for the wealthy to expire. >> a lot of people are putting forth a theory, and i actually think it has merit where you go and give the president the 2% increase that he's talking about, the rate increase on the top 2%. so there is a growing body. i actually am beginning to believe that is the best route for to us to take. >> in my view we all agree that we're not going to raise taxes on people who make less than $250,000. we should just take them out of the discussion right now. >> i think if it got to the floor it would carry. >> eliot: as t

. >> good evening, i'm eliot spitzer and this is "viewpoint." the status quo rarely lasts more than 24 hours. just ask jim demint. he has done everything in his power to perpetuate the grid lock between the white house and capitol hill, including support for some far right candidates who won office in the conservative wave election of 2010 and for con turf as i haves like richard how are dock who may have cost the tea party many seats. he announced he was leaving for a lucrative post as one of the presidents of the heritage foundation. he explained. >> chad conley told the hill: >> this morning, house minority leader nancy pelosi was asked what it meant to her. the congressman reflected on his role. >> that was one of the saddest days so anyone who was a party to that, well, i wish them well wherever they are going. >> while we always wanted to wish someone well while they go on, i will not miss his often bizarre views or tea party rhetoric that defined his view on every issue he took. i'm delayed to be joint any congressman debby wasserman-schu

we'll see you tomorrow. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer and this is "viewpointou wouldn't think that it would be difficult to ratify an u.n. treaty that is based on existing u.s. law. but then again you might not have met the modern republican party where ideological zealots rule. on july 26 1990, president george bush sr. signed the americans with disabilities act. the bill passed the house and the senate with only 34 legislate34legislators total opposing it. yet today 38 republican senators voted no on the u.n. treaty that would extend the ada to the rest of the world. inclusion six who had voted yay on the bill in 19 ott. this was sufficient to block it. the treaty was adopted by the united nations six years ago and has since been ratified by 126 countries, just not the united states. even a last-minute appeal by former senator bob dole himself a disabled veteran, as well as every major veterans group and even the chamber of commerce could not sway senate republicans. but this is what has become of the republican party. a party whose views often dissend to th

"the young turks," see you tomorrow. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer ands is "viewpoint." who is afraid of the big bad so-called fiscal cliff? maybe it should be termed the nice gradual fiscal slope. we've certainly heard a lot of ceos and other financial cassandras in recent weeks prove size doom if it a deal isn't cut by year's owned. but washington, both side have dug in their heels, and the answer may be that suddenly the sliding down the fiscal slope does not seem that bad. maybe that's why the republicans leaders like speaker of the house john boehner were able to put off making a counter proposal to the president's offer until today. crossing the red line on the talks by rejecting the demind that the republicans accept a hike in the marginal tax rate for those with income over a quarter million dollars a year. my view? obviously i agree with the white house on the substance and as i have said before, their hand gets stronger over time. but sometimes a new idea can change the dynamic. here is an idea that has been around for a long time, supported by

. >> eliot: good evening. i'm eliot spitzer and this is "viewpoint." it has now been six days since the tragic shooting at sandy hook elementary school where 26 people were murdered children. funerals continued for the victims as today grace mcdonnell, benjamin wheeler allison wyatt, catherine hubbard and jesse lewis and teacher annemarie was laid to rest. the task force met for the first time today. at the top of the meeting, joe biden stressed the task force will look at all factors contributing to gun violence including mental health and cultural issues. a balanced approach the democrats see as a way to garner republican support for modest gun control. >> gun control in reasonable ways, yes but also mental illness, violence and those kinds of things, when i talk to my republican colleagues in the senate who are pro nra in the last few days, they express that over and over again. but even a balanced approach to curbing gun violence may not be enough to sway house republicans. >> vice president's recommendations come forward we'll certainly take them

i think-- >> eliot: am i outvoted? not sure that i like this. >> it's a distinction without a difference in the first two groups, and i don't think there is a third group left not with any power. do i think boehner is trying to rein in his caucus by sending a couple of rookie pitchers down to aa? if john boehner wanted control of his caucus he could discipline paul ryan whose crazy economic inside are ideas are the hill that they're willing to die on. if john boehner wants to discipline somebody, let him get paul ryan out of the negotiation. >> eliot: i agree with you. i don't think that's likely to happen. only a few seconds left. dick army leaving freedom works with a mere $8 million self republicans pay. >> he's getting paid $400,000 year for the next 20 years for not coming in to work. his salary was $500,000 a year. so he's getting four-fifths of his salary just not to show up. i think there is something else going on. >> eliot: that is perhaps take another interpretation on it. maybe they don't value him that muc

eliot. [laughter] it was with iambic pentameter and i know it was a blow but not to worry your still the greatest poet from missouri. [laughter] how faint that praise is. to be judged by the fact the other poet from misery is me. sometimes i say t.s. eliot and i are the reserve school of poetry. [laughter] we do have differences. i am from kansas city which during my childhood was known in as the gateway to the west. he was from st. louis and the government builds the arch okhotsk and proclaimed themselves gateway to the west and we called them mound city. we think of st. louis as the exit to the east of. [laughter] there's similarities between t.s. eliot and me. we both use foreign languages in our poetry. he tends to use more sanskrit. actually don't know much of it. i was a kid who'd got dreamy during sanskrit class in kansas city, missouri. [laughter] to look out the window. i use some yiddish. [laughter] it is fair to say that t.s. eliot was not partial to yiddish. my shortest poem uses

>> well, eliot engel and i work together to make certain that we have the resources there. i think it is important to note that on the particular account that addresses personnel for embassy security, those agents that we deployed, congress actually increased the number of agents, the funding for those agents, over the administration request, over prior years. regardlessef whether it was republican or democrat. we increased that number. what was decreased at one point was a program, computer program account, but in terms of the type of personnel we're talking about, which is the time that would be deployed in a situation to protect the embassy, that was actually increased. and i think going forward we have to make sure the security needs are met. but during the hearing that we had last month in testimony, senior state department personnel said that that was not the problem. in this particular case, it was the decisions, the wrong decisions being made in management that caused the problem. >> eliot engel, you say earlier you don't want to talk about who's to blame, and yet t

. >> eliot: we're beginning to see with regularity maps of what coast lines will look like when ocean lines rise three feet, five feet. it may not happen in the next five years unless we change our trajectory of science. >> this is something that leadership needs to talk about. as a storyteller i know we have to get the story out there. climate change is happening. we immediately have to start transforming our economy to renewable energy. that's totally duible. we can run everything we have right now off existing technology from the wind and the sun and renewable energy. the second thing, it's an incredible economic benefit and

well certainly just to talk about eliot spitzer because i do think that you know he acted with a lot of brave worry and it's certainly the case that a lot of people on wall street including you know quite liberal people people who have served in the cabinets of democratic presidents absolutely despise eliot spitzer so it's absolute the case there has been tremendous hostility there towards him in terms of me you know a few people have yelled at me have. i used words that were not so nice when i you know when i told my father about a few of the reactions my dad is a farmer in northern alberta and is quite you know a. he would i think himself call himself a redneck proudly and i told him he said all the tell me who that is you know i'm going to beat him up they can't talk to my daughter that way but you know on the other hand i have had some reactions which have surprised me in a positive way so there was one guy who i quote in my book of goldman sachs executives and he sent me an e-mail and it said plutocrats in the subject line and i was i don't know if you ever get those emails that

>>i think that's an understatement, eliot. u>> i'm not prone tot. understatement, so explain to me why that is. i think the mob learned from wall st., not vice versa. >> there are so many unintended consequences. and for a country that's been at civil war for 4.5 decades our drug policy has been causing a lot of these peasant farmers to become alienated from the state. >> the sacrifice colombia does from fighting drugs is inordinate. the social damage is terrible. and most of the time destroying the life of people who are not criminals who are just trying to survive. >> now it is my pleasure to call on his excellency, don juan evo morales avmer, president of the republic of bolivia. >> at the peak of forced eradication, coca eradication became very, very violent. and with the passage of this and with the shift of the use of the armed forces as the key eradication force, and what there was, was troops coming on forcibly to their land and ripping out every bit of the family's coca leaf. d.c. columnist and emmy winner bill press is now on current tv weekday mornings. >>welcome to the bill

thank you for joining us. >> thanks, eliot. >> eliot: that's "viewpoint" for tonight. have a great [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, hey, hello everybody. it is tuesday. >> >> bill: hey, everybody. wednesday morning, december 19th. good to see you today. welcome to the "full-court press" here on current tv coming to you live from our nation's capitol with all of the big stories of the day all of the big news of the day on the fiscal cliff front and on the gun control front as well as what's happening in syria and other news around the current tree and around the globe. we will take your calls at 866-55-press. the president has made a big compromise, raising the tax cuts to the first $400,000 dropping the payroll tax holiday and, get this cutting social security benefits. wait a minute. i thought social security was not going to be on the table. he promised us that. has the president sold us down the river already? 0, man. lots to talk about. but first, we get the latest. today's current news update from lisa ferguson standing buy in los angeles early this morning. good morni

. >> eliot: well i thought we won power ball. john fugelsang, thank you for your time. >> you're welcome. >> eliot: that's "viewpoint" for this week. have a wonderful weekend. i'll see you back here on monday. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> hello and thanks for watching the show. tonight we're back with my favorite subject innovation. you'll meet brilliant entrepreneurs with one thing in common improving the way we live our lives. carl bass is at the epicenter of new ideas. you'll hear how we can replicate anything on his 3-d pinters. and chris anderson was so enamored with this technologies that he just resigned his journalist job to become ceo of the 3-d robotics. we'll have his take later on in the show. then we'll take a look at what is happening in not talking about black friday or cyber monday. the founder of joyous.com has a new way to attract shoppers online. and finally if you need to leave your desk and go somewhere there is an app for that.% slick car service for everyone and here to tell us how it works. but first we start wi

>>i think that's an understatement, eliot. u>> i'm not prone tot. understatement, so explain to me whyhat is. i think the mob learned from wall st., not vice versa. [ male announcer ] lifts to clear obstacles. ♪ ♪ lowers to cut drag. rises to every challenge. the class exclusive air suspension in the new 2013 ram 1500. engineered to move heaven and earth. guts. glory. ram. (vo) now, it's your turn. (vo) connect with the young turks with cenk uygur. >> it's go time. >> cenk: some had hopes that in a second term president obama would be more progressive because he wouldn't have to face re-election. i thought that was very unlikely. color me surprised. because it turns out president obama is more progressive! and a little tougher negotiator--so far. now apparently i'm not the only one surprised. when he gave his new storms on the fiscal cliff negotiations, well apparently john boehner was a little bit surprised. >> tim geithner sit there like we are here and presented this to you. what did you say? >> flabbergasted. >> cenk: flabbergasted. well, what went wrong? where do you think we are

thank you eliot.rd to it. >> thanks. >> cenk: when we come back, we'll talk about richard >> cenk: you know, i often go after the establishment media and call them out when they are not doing the right things. there are great reporters too we give credit to them. on television, richard engel o of nbc news is one of the stellar reporters, risking his life to cover stories abroad. he's done a wonderful job. i worked with him at msnbc. he really cares about the news and does a great job delivering it. he got captured in syria. he's now finally been released and has part of that story to tell. >> we were with some of the rebels and as we were moving down the road, a group of gunmen jumped out of the trees and bushes. there were probably 15 gunmen wearing ski masks heavily armed. they dragged us out of the car. >> cenk: imagine how scary that is. >> they kept us blindfolded bound, we weren't physically

. >> cenk: "viewpoint" is up next with eliot spitzer. what do you have for us?ar, you made it. it is a great show. we love watching it. i have to correct you on one thing. you were quaking in your boots after that first debate. i was with you. we both said it. we were both sort of shaking but you were right. that's the good news. we have dick blumenthal with us, he'll be talking about the republican purfidy how they stopped the treaty protecting civil liberty liberty. great show coming up. >> cenk: thanks. we're looking forward to it. when we come back, the elbow of the day. that's always fun. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: hunting deutsch was the job star in florida for governor rick scott. something we found out about him. he was taking unemployment before he got that job. now his job is to oversee people taking unemployment. from 2009 to may of 2011 he took unemployment. let me give you the specifics on that. he maxed out at $275 a week over 91 weeks. that's over $25,000 in government benefits. now if he really needed it, okay, fine. but it turns out he didn't.

congressman eliot engel of new york, the fact that we cannot pass sensible gun control in this congress is a blot on her reputation. and congressmen jerry nadler saying that now is not the time to have a serious discussion about and control, if not now, when would it be? at least 20 members of congress reacting with calls to restrict constitutional rights to bear arms. all over those calls coming from members of the democratic party. here is the number who chose to talk about mental illness. the disaffection of the mentally disturbed and ill. the importance of a strong family and how better to protect our schools, the burnable and helpless children with in those classrooms. those who threaten the safety of her children while at school. we begin with a september 11, murder of four americans in benghazi. susan rice yesterday withdrew her name from consideration to be secretary of state. the move comes after weeks of criticism over comments that she made regarding the attack in benghazi, and an interview with brian williams, ambassador rice was asked if she was blameless for the controvers

eliot spitzer will join us toward the end of the hour from current tv, of course. hoffa, president of the hemster's union, in michigan, mad as hell. he will tell us all about it and kitty kelly, great historian, biographer, great all-around person. he has a great new book about john f. kennedy in studio with us but first. >> this is the full court press. dan: other headlines making news on wednesday, in sports the suspicions of the new orleans saints in the bounty head program has been overturned, the former n.f.l. commissioner who has handled the appeal of the participators for a reward program for hard hits and games. he said the entire case has been come tamnated byt sot the suspensions are being vacated. two of the three players have been allowed to play while their appeals have been pending roger goodell not happy. dan: williams is gone. yesterday we brought you the story to charlie sheen giving money to lindsey lohan but to a better cause. anger management star is giving away $75,000 to a 10-year-old girl fighting cancer. this, after he met her father, who is

thank you eliot. thanks. >> cenk: when we come back, we'll talk about richard engel a harrowing experience. we'll tell you all about it. fraud on wall street. things everyday exploding around the world that leave no shortage for exciting conversations. at the end of the show, you know what has happened, why its happened and more importantly, what's going to happen tomorrow. >> cenk: you know, i often go after the establishment media and call them out when they are not doing the right things. there are great reporters too we give credit to them. on television, richard engel of nbc news is one of the stellar reporters, risking his life to cover stories abroad. he's done a wonderful job. i worked with him at msnbc. he really cares about the news and does a great job delivering it. he got captured in syria. he's now finally been released and has part of that story to tell. >> we were with some of the rebels, and as we were moving down the road, a group of gunmen jumped out of the trees and bushes. there w

. >> our guest on "newsmakers" is congressman eliot engel, democrat of new york. thanks for being here this week. >> let me introduce our two reporters. tim mak is a staff writer for "politico." josh rogin is a staff writer at "foreign policy" magazine. >> senator kerry will be nominated to be the next secretary of state. i went to get your first reaction to this and whether you think he is a better nominee than susan rice. >> i think in the world of john kerry -- i supported him for president. why wouldn't i support him for secretary of state? he is knowledgeable of foreign policy. he has chaired the foreign relations committee in the senate, knows all the issues. he understands the politics. he understands the electoral politics as well. i think it is an excellent choice. i think he will be very good secretary of state. susan rice withdrew from the nomination. i do not think it is fair to compare it the two. i think john kerry will be an excellent secretary. >> why you think it is not fair to compare the two? >> the rumor was that she was his first choice, but w

uncovered i would imagine right connected to busy library mess so yeah i mean this is this is sort of an eliot ness situation where you have to bring somebody from outside chicago to clean up the mess of chicago. which is what it sounds like to me right so you need the untouchables they come in and somehow they're going to growing this all up but i want to ask you we've got about thirty seconds left so this is actually more of a pitch do you get to consider a story maybe you've already written it but this is how right as the two thousand and eight meltdown was occurring apparently the h s s b drug money laundering scandal and other banks. with the cambia attached in mexico they actually there was a moment when the only cash circulating in the entire global system. after the credit freeze was the drug cash from from drug cartels apparently only six months later only after they called off the serious fraud office called off the investigation the drug cartels turn the spigot back on what the actual cash did a crisis begin to abate now is that a story from the table you know what i mean it's defin

>>that's an understatement, eliot. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: hey, how about it. 25 minutes after the hour. here on this tuesday. john boehner mucking things up yesterday by putting out a proposal that's not serious at all. laughed out of the room. he ought to be. you know, republicans just gotta understand house republicans have to understand we had an election. elections have consequences. peter ogborn, what's happening in the social world? >> we're tweeting at bpshow at bp show. you can find us there. we've already given out speaker boehner's twitter handle and phone number and web site if you want to get in touch with him. if you want to find him on twitter, it is at speaker boehner. >> bill: this is another time -- this is the time to repeat our call from yesterday for boehner saying this is a classic example of boehner refusing to lead. if you're not going to lead, resign, let somebody else lead. >> let him know how you feel. you can call the speaker's office. you can go to their web si

not exactly known known what occurred with that bill at the eligible meeting however the you know eliot taskforce she. presented a bill and it was c.e.o. of the safety elections task force on which corrections corporation of america sent you know it's a very interesting thing to note given the fact that she see a earns well over a billion dollars revenue year large part of that is derived from the you know detention of immigrants or illegal immigrants yeah i want to break down some numbers for our viewers regarding this part of president a story as i mentioned already and as you just mentioned this is a billion dollar in industry and their revenue comes mostly from taxpayer funded government contracts in which they're paid per day per prisoner and i know in pinellas county arizona alone there are six c.c.a. own correction facilities so it's the only c.c.a. own facilities in a total of twenty states plus washington d.c. we're talking ninety two thousand beds for prisoners in immigrants and last year again reported one point seven billion dollars in gross revenue so the more people that a