climatologist pat michaels of the cato institute has estimated 40% of his funding has come from fossiluel interests. >> ...of politics getting into science. >> hockenberry: exxon at one time was one of heartland's most generous donors. >> there were a lot of corporations, including oil companies, that objected to the kyoto accords in 1997. but most of them lobbied against the treaty on economic and fairness grounds. but exxon did something that i think was fairly radical, which was that they chose to go after the science. >> and as for carbon dioxide, it isn't smog or smoke; it's what we breathe out and plants breathe in. >> hockenberry: borrowing tactics used on behalf of the tobacco industry, advocacy groups were enlisted to confuse the issue and shut down new federal regulations. >> they call it pollution, we call it life. >> a lot of these groups were run by economists, litigators, lawyers and public policy specialists-- people who specialized in getting a message out. >> hockenberry: this group may not have been scientists, but they were really good at this sort of thing. >> well,

. >> michael: that was pat we're accustomed to seeing as candidate not the president. >> and what hasng for him is the emotionalism of the issue. clearly it was a shocking thing that happened in newtown, there was a lot of momentum for some sort of gun legislation. he was in denver last week aurora, the site of another horrific hooting. >> michael: but didn't he also have gabby giffords as a colleague? he mentioned gabby giffords in that speech. didn't he have that already with gabby giffords? why now? >> that was like a couple of years ago or something? there was something qualitatively different about newtown. look at john hooken looper, there was that horrific shooting in july and he said now is not the time. and he changed his mind after newtown. and i want to be very clear, i'm not diminishing the horror of any of those shootings, but there was something different about newtown. >> michael: i think congress is moving a direction they haven't. but do you think that harry reid is going to be able to take this to the floor and have enough votes to see at least background checks whic

> michael: after months of turmoil in washington today actually brought a moment of calm and bipartisanship. senators announced that they had come to an agreement on guns. finally. joe manchin, and patmey announced the deal. >> we have an agreement on a [ inaudible ] to prevent criminals and the mentally ill to be prevented from getting firearms. >> michael: the plan closes the infamous gun show loophole. this is big news. it will be the first major piece of legislation on gun control to come to a vote on capitol hill in nearly decades, and both men have an a grade from the nra. chuck schumer was nowhere to be seen as the press conference. toomey thought having him there would hurt their cause. schumer and others had been working with manchin for weeks, but coburn wouldn't agree with a paper trail of gun sales. once he was gone the group added toomey instead and the new coalition was able to come up with a moderate plan that pleased everyone. and that seems to be enough for the 14 republican senator who just yesterday had been sheiking about filibustering any gun bill that came to the floor. ted cruz actually cancelled a press conference this morning on the filibuster that he had sc

as i said yesterday, original classic crossfire bob november ac, pat buchanan me, michael kingsley, great that old gong show they turned crossfire into, forget about it. that was a joke. bruce says i was a big fan of the original crossfire. i can only imagine what the new version would look like. i see justin bieber and kim kardashian. as the cohosts. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning friends and neighbors. and welcome to the "full court press" coming to you live on current tv. everywhere in this great country of ours, we're there with you this morning to tell you what's going on in our nation's capital. around the country and around the globe. we're coming to you live from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. just down the street from the united states capitol where the house and senate came back yesterday to meet a fired up president obama. he was up in hartford, connecticut, yesterday. speaking at the university of connecticut, an impassioned plea recognizing the great work the connecticut legislature did on the issue of gun safe

. >> pat gerber adam (inaudible) and nick (inaudible) we already had. and michael sanbrono and gina luna and aaron stomreston and tom mcduna. >> good morning, and thank you again, mr. supervisor. my name is adam sherman and i am also a member of the san francisco state university of fossil free divestment and i am the chairman of the under graduate committee which is to put simply is to preserve the integrity in the impending graduation of the senior members and first of all i want to commend everyone for showing up and you are showing an incredible amount of support what i want to say is that a lot of the activities that happen on the san francisco state campus are often concurrent, recent report within our environmental studies says that we are on track for within the next five to seven years, both the city and the university to achieve 0 waste, this is incredible and shows how the great minds are thinking alike and i highly, commend it and i urge that this continues, both parties are doing an incredible job. there is also a clause in the sfsu foundation policy t

as long as he the name is out there michael jackson will always be a huge attraction. >> wow. patd mark, want to you stick around because we're going to be talking about jurors with agendas, other behind the scene things that happened that you write about in your book mistrial, all involving some of those most highly publicized cases. so...how'd it go? well, dad, i spent my childhood living with monks learning the art of dealmaking. you've mastered monkey-style kung fu? no. priceline is different now. you don't even have to bid. master hahn taught you all that? oh, and he says to say (translated from cantonese) "you still owe him five bucks." your accent needs a little work. and i'm here to tell homeowners that are 62 and older about a great way to live a better retirement. it's called a reverse mortgage. [ male announcer ] call right now to receive your free dvd and booklet with no obligation. it answers questions like how a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money, and more. plus, when you call now, you'll get this magnifier with l.e.d. li

. >> michael: yeah so, grace, you see these two senators working together. how important is pat toomey he is entrance into this conversation? >> oh, i think it's tantamount importance. i think pat toomey signing on to this agreement the filibuster was looking like it wasn't going to work anyway, but this basically killed it. now this will be the first amendment that they offer. it's a stronger, you know, a background check system that republicans can get behind that might have a chance of passing the house. so i think toomey is a tea party republican. he has an a-rating from the nra. no one can question pat toomey's conservative as bona fide. they'll be able to formulate a bipartisan agreement around this. if they can't then they were never going to be able to any way. >> michael: that's a great point. there are just some people you're not going to get through. background checks got 86% on a poll from yesterday. 86% support. that's astonishing. then you move to the nra. the nra is reacting to this by saying they are a not going to grade this vote. that's a huge burden on the bac

congress ma'man michael grimm w here early with pat who lost her daughter in that storm. >> a lot hass still so much more to do. and in many ways we're really just starting major aspects of the recovery. >> new jersey residents and business owners have until wednesday may 1 to apply for disaster assistance from fema or for a loan from the small business administration. >>> a lesbian teacher fired from a catholic school in ohio is fighting to get her job back she was let go after 19 years. listen to former students reacting to the students. >> feel sad it had to happen this way. feel sorry that it was so publicized and that she doesn't have a job anymore. but i also don't think the school or the diocese had a choice. >> it goes against everything the catholic church preaches on hoe know next allity. yes, they don't believe in marriage, but they preach love and compassion. >> the diocese says staff that publicly mentions relationships that contradict church teachings cannot work for the church. and online petition supporting her has nearly 95,000 signatures. >>> now time to take today's

about the real crossfire, the one of that lasted for 19 years with bob novak and pat buchanan and john sununu and michael kinsley and me i say it is a great idea. that was a great show for a long time. bring back the crossfire that they moved over to washington university that was a gone show, terrible, horrible, that's the one jon stewart went after. if they are talking about the kiddy crossfire, forget about it. the real crossfire, right on, and i am ready. >> this is "the bill press show."

michael, welcome. and pat brady back at our table tonight. her biography of rachel jackson is called "the french your love story of rachel and andrew." how do people understand the change that andrew jackson brought to the white house? >> was the first westerner. we have virginia presidents from the old south before that. he grew up in the frontier. the change is enormous. socially, the change is enormous. he is not of the old planter class of the south that previous presidents had been from. he was not like a newly linder either. he brings different values and the french ambitions to the white house. >> even though he was a widow the president, the ghost of his wife, over the white house during his years there. why is that? >> she was the woman of his life. he loved her. when she died just a few months before he was inaugurated, he was a rest. he spent all of his time thinking about her and her memory and having her portraits in his bedroom so he could think of her. it really changed the way the first administration wins. >> we need to go in

. >> and i would add quickly, michael bloomberg, who spent lots of money on ads, was running ads urging pat toomey to get on board. they took the ads down once pat toomey got on board. there's a little of the carrot-and-stick going on. >> i talked to pat toomey, he is a fiscal guy, he did not want to be in the guns debate. but he said he was concerned something bad would get passed or nothing at all. he felt he could step forward and maybe help to bridge this. >> i would say in 2016 he's got to win those philly suburban voters. >> yes. >> joining me to discuss the political hurdles facing gun control and immigration legislation is utah republican congressman jasys chafitz. we were talking about the hurdles that still exist on guns and immigration. let's start on guns, that's the action, a lot of it on the senate side. the toomey mansion amendment on expanding background checks, though not to individual private sales, is that something that you and your republican house colleagues could be supportive of if it makes its way to the house? >> it's being offered as an amendment. as you do it as

pennsylvania, two leading local democrats say pennsylvania's conservative senator pat toomey is supportive to gun legislation. michaelhem to get away with murder. >> the nra will oppose it not because they care about gun owners but they care about gun manufacturers and gun manufacturers like the seller of any product -- look, soda companies honestly don't care, can't care, won't care about whether the soda is being sold to a diabetic who will be pushed over the edge to the point where they have an attack and i don't of insulin shock because they've had one too many sugary sodas. they don't care and neither does the gun industry. as soon as they go out the door, they don't care how they're used or for what purpose. whether they're used by a cop or on a cop. if a 4-year-old shoots a member of their family as happened with one of the school guards that was going to be assigned to carry a gun in a school, he was showing all of his guns on the bed, his 4-year-old ran into the room and shot his wife and killed. another 4-year-old shot a 6-year-old in the head a couple of days ago. as far as gun manufacturers go, that's a s

michael bloomberg. late monday bloomberg's gun safety group released a new ad pressuring pennsylvania's republican senator pat toomey. potentially a key player in these negotiations, to support background checks. >>> now the u.s. senate can pass comprehensive background check legislation that will stop criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from kwlusing loopholes to get guns. senator toomey understands how important that change is. >> i'm in favor of making changes to a background system. >> in pennsylvania almost 90% of us support comprehensive background checks. call senator toomey. tell him it's time to take pennsylvania's solutions to washington. >> as we reported, democrats have been trying to get toomey onboard for a deal. a hill source with knowledge of the negotiations says the compromise would require background checks for purchases at gun shows and the internet but not person-to-person sales. it is not clear if the compromise is going forward. schumer's language in the original democratic bill includes record keeping on all gun sales including those between private individuals. bloomberg's grou

dick rubio, chuck schumer, durbin, john mccain, pat leahy, lindsay graham, robert menendez, jeff flake, michaeleck, as united states senators, representatives of the people, where have you been for the last four years? what have you done to prevent political appointees at ice from ignoring all of congress? what have you done to stop these same political appointees from manipulating pressed data and misleading the american public and members of congress? what have you done to prevent dangerous criminals from being released back into american communities by the thousands? what have you done to protect america's law-enforcement officers who now not only placed their lives at risk to force our nation's loss, but their careers as well as they struggle against political appointees who ordered them not to enforce the law and who ordered them to place the public at risk? of course the answer is you have done nothing. he sat on your hands and watched it happen for four years. i guess it should come as no surprise that you have done nothing in the gang of eight's proposed new legislation to address any o

michael, i want to start with you. you guys have been upset by what you've seen pat toomey's done, somebody who's an ally for you guys onot of fiscal issues. why is this gun action so important to heritage action? >> i think this is a pretty good example of everything that's wrong in washington. we don't need pat toomey and joe manchin going behind doors and drafting up this legislation. there's all sorts of problems in this bill. there's the potential that employers will be able to use the database to do background checks without the permission of somebody applying for a job. that's not what we want. what is this going to do to the privacy safeguards that are in place between an individual and a psychotherapist? there's all sorts of stuff that needs to be looked at. we were looking at it last night. we should have an open process where people know what they're photoing on and know what the implications are. it's not going on here. >> there is going to be an open process now. >> over the course of the next week. we'll put lots of information out there about what's going on. i think you'll see very different votes as we

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backed by new york city mayor michael bloomberg, will unveil a new scoring system for lawmakers, similar to what the nra does right now. a new ad is specifically targeting pat toomey, the conservative senator working with democrats on a background checks deal. >> senator toomey understands how important that change is. >> i'm in favor of making changes to a background system. >> in pennsylvania, almost 90% of us support comprehensive background checks. call senator toomey, tell him it's time to take pennsylvania's solutions to washington. >>> newtown families will be on capitol hill today lobbying lawmakers. they flew to d.c. aboard air force one with the president after he delivered a speech in connecticut. he said congress should put politics aside and do what's right. >> connecticut, this is not about me. this is not about politics. this is about doing the right thing for all the families who are here that have been torn apart by gun violence. it's about them, and all the families going forward, so we can prevent this from happening again. >> but resistance to even having a vote is growing. now mitch mcconnell will join 13 other senators who have pledged

michael leiter, thank you very much. we will be following this. >>> other news. bipartisan bill to expand the current background check takes place this afternoon. pat to pass the measure but the bill suffered a setback when republican senator jeff flake of arizona and alaska senator murkowski said they would not support the bill. according to the huffington post 52 yes votes and 40 senators are opposed all of whom are republicans. three members of the gop senators toomey and kirk and collins are breaking with their party. two other republicans senators mccain and ayotte are reportedly on the fence along with six democrats. >> steve schmidt, we, obviously, are focusing on the republican party. marco rubio and 90% of the state believe criminals should have a background check before buying a bush master on the internet you have to scratch your head and democrats as well. i should direct this to david and harold next. i don't know how any democrat, any democrat in this national democratic party votes against background checks to make sure that violent rapists or violent child molesters or terrorists don't have to go through a background check before bu

michael steele, what is it? and who are the members of the republican party that really can do -- at this point, cannot do anything? >> i think the game-changer here has been patves and for republicans in the senate certainly, but even around the country in terms of giving voice to a way forward on this issue. as we talked about a little bit earlier, mika, on the right you have, i think, still a legitimate concern that all of this activity around some type of bill doesn't lead to somewhere down the road a national registry, some form or manner in which the federal government can come in and check your ability to own a gun and if they don't like the way you own that gun, take it from you. short of that, and i don't think anyone -- and sam was mentioning earlier appropriate protections in whatever bill comes out that touches on. but i think someone like pat toomey has brought this thing along, along with joe manchin. >> and mention tom coburn. >> a whole group of them have really in very quietly in the background without being part of a gaggle or a gang or group have been working to move this forward. >> i want to put cold water on this. >> why can't we be optim