Transcripts For CURRENT Full Court Press 20130205

[ theme ] bill my fellow americans what do you say . Good morning. Great to see you this morning and welcome to the full court press here on current tv this tuesday, february 5. Great to see you today. We got lot and lots to talk about and lights out at the super bowl. We were told yesterday you cannot blame beyonce. It was not her fault. Her show hits own generator. She did not turn the lights out. In other news, john mccain says hes still not sure how hes going to vote on chuck hagel but he opposes a filibuster for chuck hagel and karl rove is forming yet another super pac to take on fellow republicans. Would you buy a used car from this man . I dont think so. Why anybody would trust him with a dime after he blew 400 million the last time around. Well also take a look at president obama yesterday in minneapolis saying people have to decide do they stand with cops or kids. All of that coming up right here on current tv. 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 Jacksons life was out to use him. vo no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. Stop looking at car interiors. Get inspired by other stuff. Yep. Yep. Ok. Sure. Why not . Woah. Touchscreens. Put that in your dash. Now, luxury stuff. Make your seats like that. That thing has wifi, why doesnt your car . You cant do that. Ignore that guy. Give it wifi. Yes make it fit 5 people. No, 5 actual sized people. Give them leg room, good. Destroy boring car interiors forever. And thats how you do it. Easy. [ voice of dennis ] allstate. With accident forgiveness, they guarantee your rates wont go up just because of an accident. Smart kid. [ voice of dennis ] indeed. Are you in good hands . 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 Jacksons life was out to use him. vo no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. Alright, in 15 minutes were going to do the young turks. I think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. They know that im not bsing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. When the democrats are wrong, they know that im going to be the first one to call them out. They can question whether im right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. You know who is coming on to me now . You know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials . Those types are coming on to me all the time now. vo she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. Ok, so theres wiggle room in the ten commandments, thats what youre saying. You would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. Absolutely. And so would mitt romney. vo shes joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . Announcer broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv. This is the bill press show. Bill president obama says in minneapolis that the cops should not be outgunned on the streets of america. Theyre the ones who good morning, everybody. Great to see you today. This is the full court press. Welcome to the program. Whether youre listening on your local progressive talk radio station, thank you. Dont forget your progressive talk radio station. Youre lucky if youve got one. All three hours of course on current tv. Were coming to you live from our Nations Capital and our studio on capitol hill. Just hop skip and a jump up the street from the United States capitol building. Weve got our eye on them. We can see them from here and they can hear us from where they are and they can hear you too. As we talk about the issues of the day here in our Nations Capital, around the country and the globe there is lots going on. Karl rove starting out another super pac. The numbers are in on the super bowl and they are huge and a very scary memo out of the Justice Department this morning saying we have every right to use drones to kill people anywhere we want, including americans around the world, even if theyre not planning an attack on the United States. Boy, thats going to stir things up. So well get into all of the issues of the day and of course get your comments at 186655press. Thats our toll free number. Or you can send us your comments on twitter at bpshow on facebook. Facebook. Com billpressshow. Join the chat room. Find a way to participate. Other than just sitting back and listening and watching and enjoying. I may be getting pissed off at some things were talking about but you can join the chat room. Go to current tv. Click on the chat room. Youre in to talk about the issues with your fellow full court pressers around the land. Well the team is entire today. All back together. Everybodys recovered from the super bowl. Peter ogborn and dan henning. Good morning. Bill phil backert is back and cyprian bowlding. Some of us were here yesterday. We had a real test of manhood yesterday. A real man can watch the super bowl and still come to work the next day. Thats the rule. Good for you guys. Hey he said it, not me. Good for you guys. I have to tell you bill were not going to say anything about chefs who throw their own Super Bowl Party and then get Food Poisoning from their own let me say first of all the thing that i got sick from, i didnt cook at all. I had a plan. I had a menu. I had everything ready to go. I went to the store to get some lastminute items and i had made bloody mary mix earlier in the day. I said oh, there are some oysters. Ill get some oysters. Well have some oyster shooters. Bill you got them at the market . It was at a respectable bill Seafood Market . Yes. Ive gotten oysts from this place before. Bill were they live . They werent in a jar. They were out of the counter. Bill are they in a jar . No. Theyre live, fresh oysters. I shucked them. I turned them into oyster shooters. I hadself of them. I had several of them on the evening of the super bowl. If youve never had the experience of being wildly hungover and have Food Poisoning at the same time, i was in hell yesterday. It was the worst oh, my god. But im here now. I wont be having any oysters or alcohol any time soon. Bill sounds like college. Whatever. I guess youre too mature to have a good time. Bill welcome back. Thanks. I did stick up for you yesterday. I made it clear you did not cook what made you sick. I cooked a ton of food. Nobody got sick but me. I got a bad oyster. If you eat enough raw oysters it happens. It is bound to happen. Bill welcome back. John kerry yesterday taking over actually, he worked all weekend in his new job as secretary of state. Yesterday, he greeted the employees of the state department and he did recognize that theres one thing very unusual about his tenure as secretary of state. As the saying goes, i have big heels to fill. Bill indeed. And look back at secretaries of state. What about him . Heres the big question before the country the world and the state department after the last eight years. Can a man actually run the state department . He might have asked can a white man run the state department where conde rice, it was before hillary, it was conde. Hes the first white male since warren christopher. Thats remarkable. Bill under bill clinton. God bless america. Bill what a team coming up here. Among other guests, were going to be talking with joe courtney, good congressman from new york. Igor volsky no . Connecticut. What am i saying . Dont tell him i said that. Igor volsky from the center for American Progress and think progress will be here as he is every tuesday. Frank rich, great columnist for new York Magazine will be here as well and yes the department of justice saying drones away but first this is the full court press. Other headlines making news on this tuesday the nfl and officials at the superdome in new orleans have officially ruled that beyonces highpowered halftime show had nothing to do with the super bowl power outage. Some had speculated she used too much electricity in her performance but usa today reporting the halftime show was run completely on generator power, not stadium power. In fact, the stadium lights were turned off during that show so they were using even less energy in the stadium. The issue still being blamed on an energy surge from a substation outside of the stadium. Bill i just thats a lame excuse. I still cant believe that the power of the super bowl went out for over 30 minutes. Thats incredible. Hawaii has some sympathy for celebrities and is making a move for their privacy. The state is set to act on a bill that would prosecute paparazzi for invading celebrities personal privacy. It is dubbed the steven tyler act because the legislature recognizes that people like him come to vacation in the state and with that, come a lot of benefits for the state but they shouldnt be mobbed by prying eyes with telescoping lenses while theyre just trying to avation in private. Bill im so glad to hear that. I think now i will go back to hawaii again. Because it was such a pain in the neck last time. The paparazzi following me to the beach and the restaurants. All right, hawaii, thank you. Ill go back. Neil abercrombie, good job. Mcdonalds is offering its first new happy meal item in ten years. Along with the hamburger cheeseburger and chicken mcnuggets choices, kids can get fried pieces of fish in a box being released to coincide bill that will be popular with kids. Fish sticks. Same meat in the fillet o fish sandwich. It is the same meat in the filetofish sandwich, in other words, horse meat. The fast food chain film is offering it temporarily to see how successful it is. Bill they put it out there. Theyve tried it out. Kids like fish sticks. Bill in the day when i would go to mcdonalds which i wouldnt anymore the fish fillet sandwich was my favorite. Same thing except now in little nuggets. Ive never had a filetofish sandwich. It is alaskan pollock. We do fish sticks at the house for the kids. Theyll eat that. Bill hey, folks, every morning we and every day right, always a choice now where do we start . Whats the Biggest Issue of the day. Wewere all set to go today. There is a lot of available topics this morning. Karl rove starting a new pac yet another pac to take on republicans with sort of our favorite, president obama and what he had to say about guns and what minneapolis had to say about guns. What the mayor of minneapolis is telling gun manufacturers we buy a lot of guns for our cops, and if you dont support the assault weapons ban were going to stop buying guns from you. Were going to buy guns from somebody else. Real leadership on the part of mayor rhinebeck out of minneapolis. I tell you what just caught our eye in the last couple of minutes. Breaking story at the top of drudge. It is at the very top of Huffington Post this morning. Headline on huff post, memo, the government can kill americans with no plans to attack the United States. Let me put this in context. I was walking by the capitol yesterday. I ran into senator ron wyden. Were talking about drones here, of course. Ran into senator ron wyden from oregon. Basically said so, senator what are you up to . He said im on a crusade. He said im on a tear. Im out after john brennan. Of course, the president s nominee to head the c. I. A. I said on what issue . He said on drones, of course. On drones. This is this guy is the architect of our whole drone policy. I told him. This is something that ive talked about on the show. Im very concerned about the use of these drones. Im torn about it but very concerned about it. And i said to him you know, i think this is an issue thats going to blow up in our face. He said you bet. We havent seen a copy of it yet. He told me he was releasing a letter yesterday signed by i think he said 16 senators, republicans and democrats to the president saying we need the information on exactly what were doing with these drones. What the policies are. What the guidelines are and who decides. Now, this story has broken. All these questions about drones and now the Justice Department has just released a memo. It is a confidential memo, a copy of it has been obtained, story again just breaking this morning, a story the memo, copy of it has been obtained by nbc news, 16 pages. Let me just give you the bottom line. From this is from nbc news, michael, Investigative Reporter has been on our show many times reports a confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the u. S. Government can order the killing of american citizens if they are believed to be senior operational leaders of alqaeda or an associated force heres the key line even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the United States. So that policy is that we believe Justice Department is saying it is perfectly legal to use drones, not just to go out and kill people that we think might some day plan an attack against the United States who are not friendly to the United States. But also to kill americans anywhere on the planet whom we think are traitors or may some day, plan something against the United States even if there is no evidence that they are now engaged in an active plot. Raises the whole question about drone warfare. Im torn about it because its a different kind of warfare. I mean, certainly, i would like to know what you think about this. 186655press. The problem i believe is weve got this technology. We are using it. We are using it more than anybody has ever used it before. I mean i forget how many you know, this story broke. I have to go back and look at the research ive done. Ive written about this. How many hundreds of people have been killed in pakistan, afghanistan, in somalia with drones. Weve got this technology. Were using it. We are killing not just suspected terrorists but civilians. Were not making any effort to round them up to put them on trial. Were just targeting them with drone strikes. Were killing them. And again, there is a lot of Collateral Damage, some at least evidence of 45 civilians including children who have been killed by drones in the last year. Reports the new york review of books. Were using this technology but congress has not decided. The white house has not released what are the guidelines. Who decides when to use it. What rules do we follow if any . And is this really legal under International Law to do it . The Justice Department now says it is. But the idea that somebody and you know where these drones are controlled, youve got Somebody Just like cyprian sits here and runs his cameras with a joystick, youve got somebody out in mclean at c. I. A. Headquarters or at the Defense Department who is sitting there just like playing video games. This is real time. And theyre sending the drones over villages in pakistan. They make the decision and boom, they blow up a house or blow up a warehouse or whatever and kill a dozen people and then they just hop in their car and drive home and have dinner with their kids. Theres no risk at all to any american life. Is this the warfare of the future . Is this something we ought to be doing . Serious question i think for us americans. The idea that we can kill americans anywhere on the planet with no plans to attack the United States, what if george bush had done this . Thats my question. What if george bush and dick cheney had done this. What would we be saying . 186655press. You know what . We would be raising hell and i think we ought to raise hell now with the Obama Administration doing it and demand some answers. What is the policy relating to drones . Announcer this is the bill press show. Have the data and i want them to have the passion. Show, to be able to come away armed with the facts, and the arguments to feel confident in their positions. I want them to have the data and i want them to have the passion. Alright, in 15 minutes were going to do the young turks. I think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. They know that im not bsing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. When the democrats are wrong, they know that im going to be the first one to call them out. They can question whether im right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. Announcer heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the bill press show. Bill talking about this latest Justice Department memo saying the United States has the right to kill americans. Even if they are not planning an eminent attack against the United States. The aclu calling this a chilling document. And that letter i mentioned sent by the chief author is senator ron wyden of oregon. 11 senators signed it. They call on the Justice Department to release all memos about drones. The senators acknowledge that there will clearly be circumstances in which the president has the authority to use lethal force but it is vitally important that the American Public have a full understanding of how the executive branch interprets the limits and the boundaries of this authority. Peter in the social media . Lot of mixed reaction on twitter. Were tweeting at bpshow. Whats next with drones . Random people . Fred wilder says the obama and Justice Department has proven it is useless to enforce existing laws but great at justifying the government breaking laws. Kathleen says im sorry but i would rather see a drone on the battlefield than on my nephew, a marine. Mama for obama says damn straight drones away if it will keep boots off the ground. Iraq has cost my family enough. No more. Bill of course, john brennan, the president s nominee to be c. I. A. Director is the architect of the drone policy. Gavins calling from chicago. What do you say gavin . Caller thanks for having me on. I agree with the no more boots on the ground, man. It is just an advance of technology. I think were getting a little bit hysteric because its something new but if were saying hey these people are highlevel operatives, 20 years ago it would have been a halo dutch by some military operators going in and killing these people. Now we dont put man at risk and we kill them. Bill we dont put men at risk. Thats true. Thats the good side of it but the other side is we throw the Justice System out the window. Theres no risk. Theres no need to prove that these guys are really guilty. You just kill them before anybody can ask any questions. No fingerprints. Announcer this is the bill press show. Guys that do reverse mortgage commercials . Those types are coming on to me all the time now. vo she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. Ok, so theres wiggle room in the ten commandments, thats what youre saying. You would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. Absolutely. And so would mitt romney. vo shes joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . Announcer chatting with you live at current. Com billpress, this is the bill press show. Live on your radio and current tv. Bill hey 33 minutes after the hour. We remind you at least once a week, really want to stay up to date on all of the many issues of the day here in our Nations Capital and around the country no better way to do that than to make think progress your home page. At least one of your home pages. On one of your computers. Or make it your what do they call those things . Bookmarks. Bookmark it so you can easily get to it and check it out several times a day because they keep updating. Thinkprogress. Org. For all of that good work, we thank Deputy Editor igor volsky. Not only for that good work but for getting up early and coming in every morning. Thanks for being here. Were starting off with this break news about the Justice Departments memo saying its okay for the United States not to just kill americans but even if theres no evidence that theyre planning an imminent attack against the United States. I first saw this in this weeks new york review of books david cole has written a book, 13 questions for john brennan. Brennan, the president s nominee to head the c. I. A. , is the architect of the drone policy. And brennan told the Washington Post i think the rule should be that if were going to take actions overseas that result in the deaths of people, the United States should take responsibility for that. You would have to agree with that right . Yeah. Bill but the question is so what are the rules . And who decides and when itss appropriate to use these drones or not. And just one final question, david cole asks what kind of precedent are we setting for other nations by killing in secret . Precisely all of these reports leave a lot more questions than they do answers. How serious do the plots have to be . How imminent do they have to be . How senior does this person have to be and who approves the decision. Its obviously in the executive branch to use an attack. Is there any independent review. It doesnt look like there is which is particularly troublesome because if this falls into the wrong hands i think america will be in a lot of trouble. Bill if george bush and dick cheney did this, liberals would be raising holy hell. You sort of i have no problem with at all with going in getting osama bin laden. Clearly, clearly the architect the person who put together the attacks on september 11th. But some of these people, i wonder that were killing that we could make a case in a court of law and find them guilty. Do we have enough evidence to do that . I doubt it. Thats one of the comments brought up on twitter barkway says this isnt just about having no evidence that there is a plot. Bark way says it is also no trial, no opportunity to surrender, and theres vague language about cant capture. A lot of this conversation circles around Anwar Alawlaki because he was bill american cleric who was killed with a drone strike. Alawlaki is no loss but the u. S. Is a nation ruled by due process, is. Bill we can use the technology. We know it works. We know it doesnt put american lives at risk. There aint nobody in that drone and the guy who is running it or girl whos running it is out at mclean in c. I. A. Headquarters in mclean. And doesnt even work up a sweat doing so. So those are all features of it. But still this is a killing machine. Who decides when and where and what rules apply . It doesnt come without consequences bill. You use the technology. Youre going to have innocent civilians die. We already have seen it. You have to worry what the blow back will be. The blow back from the policy. In the 80s and now the blow back from this kind of approach. Youre not going to be able to do this with impunity. Thats why you need an oversight to minimize the risk. Bill weve seen the blowback in pakistan. 186655press. We have a lot of other issues to talk about but on this drone issue, lets say hello quickly to dan calling from the great wcpt in chicago. Good morning. Caller good morning, sir. Im a first time caller and im a truck driver so i pulled over to the side before i called. Bill good for you. Welcome to the program. Dan, what do you have to say . Caller well, basically, im making the comment that im amazed at how fearful our country has become to where we think we can shoot someone on the basis of what they might be doing versus what theyve been proven to be doing. The simple fact is that even world war ii, americans encountered the concentration camps, they did not because they thought they might be ss soldiers or Something Like that. There was also a process. And here, there is no process according to this memo. If you think youre responsible or part of it, you can be shot and killed. Im also a veteran. I dont agree with that. What happens if you take a shot at someone and theyre in the mountains in afghanistan or Something Like that and all theyre doing is theyre going looking for sheep or something but you think theyre part of alqaeda and shoot them. Bill those are all valid questions, dan. I think theyre serious questions. And particularly on that the aspect one thing the memo says that it is perfectly legal in cases where they suspect could be a member of some organization. And where their capture is infeasible. Well again you know, who decides that . Have to define those terms. Bill is it really infeasible . There are so many questions about this. We have rushed into the use of these drones. Ive said before that if the first time that some other country uses a drone, i dont care whether its france, germany or north korea. The first time, some other country uses a drone to kill other people in another country that we have not theyve not declared war against which is exactly what we are doing we will raise holy hell. You know we would raise holy hell. If brazil used a drone to kill somebody in paraguay or whatever. Extreme example. But were using them to kill people in pakistan. To go into that country and tell them not to do that, right . Bill very serious issue that i think we progressives have to be at the front of resolving in a rational, fair way. Before it gets taken over by the other side and god forbid that george bush and dick cheney were still in power. God knows what they would be doing with the drones today. Igor, at the center for American Progress at think progress, youve been youre gun runners now right . [ laughter ] hey now. Bill everybody out there is trying to buy ar15s and so are you. I read about it on your site. It is easy. You go online. You go on these web sites the craigslist like web sites that list all of the guns available. You can buy all kinds of assault weapons. The kinds used in the Aurora Shooting as one of our reporters looked into and discovered there were more than enough people i think five different contacts he made of folks ready to sell him these assault weapons without any background checks. Bill online. Online. And just said hey i take you at your word youre a great guy. Youre not going to use this weapon for stupid purpose as some of them called it. You dont have any history of mental illness. Heres the scary part. All of that is legal. They didnt break any laws. They followed all the regulations that are currently on the books. And you know, theres someone bill did he buy one . We didnt buy any. I was going to say this was just to demonstrate that look, this is a huge, huge loophole. These online sales that are unregulated, 40 of the gun sales in this country are not from the federallylicensed vendors that have to run the background checks. We dont know whos getting the guns. They pass no background check. It is just that easy. Bill right. So these online sales again no criminal background check. And he went on just existing list right . Existing list, craigslist for guns and found an array of menu, people eager to sell these guns. They negotiated prices to make it more affordable. They were willing to throw in all of these features which are the kinds of features theyre talking about banning. The features that make it easier to hold the gun, shoot the gun to kill more people with the gun. Nobody asked him what do you need the assault weapon for exactly. Bill what do you plan to do with it . Thats pretty scary. What about so have you tried any buying at any gun shows . Well, no. I dont think were going to be buying any weapons. We have some reporting coming up on just highlighting the existing loopholes. This is something if you talk to gun owners, they would agree. If you talked to the sellers they would agree that they want their products in the hands thy dont want them in the hands of mentally incapable people. They dont want these products in the hands of people who will go up into schools or other public spaces and kill people. They want to do it responsibly. Thats why were calling for a federal bill i think gun dealers would agree to that. Obviously not all gun owners or else you wouldnt be able to have so much success online. Presumably, you can go the extra mile, i presume if you want to be extra careful. Youre a gun dealer and you can you know, maybe have some additional verification, absolutely. But the overwhelming majority of gun owners, even many of the dealers say lets run a background check. It is an instantaneous check in a matter of minutes. The great majority of people are approved. Bill it takes about a minute. Igor volsky here from think progress. Thinkprogress. Org. Big news. Youve been reporting. Your calls welcome on anything we talked about at 186655press. Also i want to tell you about john kasich having a change of heart when it comes to expanding medicare in ohio. Maybe he knows how popular obama care really is. Announcer this is the bill press show. Inside. vo from the underworld, to the world of privilege. Everyone in Michael Jacksons life was out to use him. vo no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. These talking points, that the right have, about the heavy hand of government. I want to have that conversation. Really . You know id like to arm our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table. Announcer this is the bill press show. Bill 12 minutes before the top of the hour. Susan page is the Washington Bureau chief for usa today and joins us at the top of the next hour. Were talking about a variety of issues. Most important of which the Justice Department releasing a memo saying it is okay for the United States to order the killing of american citizens anywhere in the world. If theyre believed to be senior operational leaders of some organization like alqaeda unfriendly to the United States, even if theyre not engaged in any specific activity or to an active plot against the United States. Igor volsky is with us from think progress. Thinkprogress. Org. Peter, before we get back to lot of really good conversation going on across social media. You can interact with us on facebook. Com billpressshow. Also on twitter at bpshow. On the drones, chef taz says as soon as your kid is deployed, then come speak to me about fing drones. But sandra, i think puts a good final comment on this issue. She says im not condoning whats going on nor do i think we should ignore it. Even as we support obama he needs to be scrutinized. Bill well, you see the idea that this is better than putting boots on the ground avoids the central fact that you dont put boots on the ground unless you have either declared war which only the congress can do under the constitution and hasnt done since vietnam. Since korea actually. But also even if theres no congressional declaration of war, the president has to make a case to the people why this is in the National Security interest of the United States. So it is very tough to send boots on the ground. There aint no requirement at all to send this drone out. Or made easy. Bill to kill 60 people or more. Do it. War made killing easy. I do want to ask you about john kasich but jen has a quick word from tampa florida. Hi jen. Caller hi, good morning. Bill whats your thought this morning . Well, i just think you need to have a little faith in the people who are using the Drone Program because i mean were all human beings working up a whole chain of command. There is an approval process. Bill what is it . What is the approval process . What are the guidelines . What are the rules they have to follow . Caller let me finish real quick. These people spend all day every day putting together these layouts of you know, terrorists chains of command whos talking to who and it is using pieces of information from things that have already happened. As for picking them up and how hard it would be, we dont have boots on the ground in a lot of these places where this is happening. If we do, it is small groups of boots on the ground. You know how many people it takes just to put in special operators to go in and pick up people . You have to have all of the support, all the way around in order for that to happen. And the approval process i dont know if thats public or what. Bill its not. No, its not. Thats why senator wyden wrote this letter. Jen, i appreciate your call. Listen, i think we always have to have a healthy distrust of government even when our guys are in charge. I want to ask you about john kasich. Yes. Bill now has a change of heart. One of the biggest critics of obama care. Yesterday he announced here he is, saying he wants to expand medicaid in ohio. The fact is that extending medicaid is going to significantly allow our local providers of both Health Services and Addictive Services with some space and some opportunity to begin to rebuild that safety net. So that we dont find as many of our mentally ill in our jails today because they receive no care. Bill well, it is about time kasich. Medicaid is a great thing. Healthcare is a great thing. He loves it. Ever since the Supreme Court decision, states have been in this limbo. Do they expand medicaid or do they not because now, it is a choice. The federal government has been arguing look, for the first three, four years we pay 100 of the expansion. We finance it. After that we pay for 90 of it. This is a really good deal for you. You guys get to cover your sickest, low income population. They dont go into the Emergency Rooms which is very expensive. They get the care they need at the first point of contact. This is a great money saver. For a long time, particularly during the election when kasich served as a big, big sur gate for romney ryan, he said no way. It is going to bankrupt the state. Well have to pay all of this money. It is going to be governmentrun governmentcontrolled. We dont want it. We want ohio solutions. Yesterday, he released his budget, came to his senses and says this is going to help Emergency Rooms, this is going to help hospitals. It is going to increase their reimbursements. Well have money left over in the budget for things like Substance Abuse and helping our community. Bill yeah. This is the right decision by john kasich. You gotta give him credit. It still stupid of him to oppose this for so long but also another case, parallel almost when they offered him money for highspeed rail in ohio. He said no, we dont want it. So that money went somewhere else. That was the fifth republican to accept the medicaid dollars. Bill number five. Well, you know, it takes them awhile. Theyll get there. Bill theyll come to sayre senses. Igor volsky on it as always at think progress. Thinkprogress. Org. Thanks igor. Always good to see you. Announcer this is the bill press show. [ voice of dennis ]. Allstate. Really . I was afraid youd have some cutrate policy. Nope, ive got. [ voice of dennis ] the allstate value plan. Its their most affordable Car Insurance and you still get an allstate agent. I too have. [ voice of dennis ] allstate. [ normal voice ] same agent and everything. Its like were connected. No were not. Yeah, we are. No, were not. Ask an allstate agent about the value plan. Are you in good hands . I think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. They can question whether im right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. Announcer taking your emails on any topic at any time. This is the bill press show. Live on your radio and current tv. Bill hey Stephanie Palmer makes a good point about the latest on drones. She says i understand the controversy about drones. But how is this any different from the government being able to pick citizens up off the street in the United States and hold them incommunicado without benefit of habeas corpus. Nobody says anything about the patriot act which essentially takes all of our rights away. Well stephanie, we said a lot on this program about the patriot act. It is very also, very, very scary. It is also the patriot act is the domestic version of what were doing with drones overseas. Both of them, we ought to be upset about and asking a lot of questions about. Bush did the patriot act. President obamas doing the drones. Announcer this is the bill press show. [ theme ] bill good morning everybody. Welcome to the full court press this tuesday february 5. Coming to you live on current tv. All across this great land of ours. Every little nook and cranny of america, coasttocoast. And bringing you the news of the day, giving. Chance to sound off about it. Our toll free number if you want to join the conversation. We invite your comments any time at 186655press. Lots to talk about today. And you know those lights out at the super bowl, you cant blame it on beyonce. We were told yesterday she used a lot of electricity during her act but it was fueled by her own generator. Shed not make the lights go out. In other news, john mccain says he will not filibuster and would not approve of the filibuster against chuck hagel and karl rove has created yet another pac. This one to take on Republican Tea Party candidates. All that and more coming up on the full court press. But first well take a minute out to get all of the latest, todays current news update from Lisa Ferguson out in los angeles. Hi lisa, good morning. Good morning, everyone. President obama is meeting with a group of progressive and labor leaders today talking about Immigration Reform and how that fits into his larger economic agenda and a balanced approach to the deficit. On that list of attendees for that meeting include Marshall Fitz from the center for American Progress. Ben jealous from the naacp and richard from the aflcio. Later in the day the president is meeting separately with a group of Business Leaders. That includes lloyd from goldman sachs, from yahoo and kent from cocacola. Congress has the next three and a half months to run up the deficit as much as it wants. The house and senate extended the debt ceiling. President obama has signed the no budget, no pay act of 2013. Not only does that put off the nations debt obligations until may 18th, it also withholds pay for a number of congressmen and womenless women unless they pass a budget by april. Eight senators have voted to block the violence against women act. That bill would protect victims of Domestic Violence and this particular version extends that care to illegal immigrants, native americans and lgbt members. Senators who voted against considering that bill include ted cruz, marco rubio and rand paul, all republicans. More bills up next. Stay with us. To me now . You know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials . Those types are coming on to me all the time now. vo she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. Ok, so theres wiggle room in the ten commandments, thats what youre saying. You would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. Absolutely. And so would mitt romney. vo shes joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . Announcer broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the bill press show. Bill yes the department of justice saying the United States has the right to kill americans anywhere on the planet with a drone even if those americans have no plans to attack the United States. New territory friends. And scary good morning, good morning, good morning it is tuesday february 5. Good to see you today. Welcome to the full court press coming to you live right here on current tv, right here on your local progressive talk radio station. Well bring you up to date on breaking news, the latest news of the day and of course, give you a chance to tell us what you think it means to you and to your family. 186655press is our toll free number. If you want to give us a call. Well give as many of you a chance to talk on the air. If you dont have time to call or if you prefer the social media, you can join us on twitter of course at bpshow, at bpshow. On facebook at facebook. Com billpressshow. Busy day today. So we assembled the entire team. Everybodys back from super bowl hangover, Food Poisoning just taking the day off. Peter ogborn and dan henning hello, guys. Hi, there. Good morning. Bill and phil backert has got the phones covered. Cyprian bowlding with the video cam as well. Our videographer extraordinaire. So its nice to know we cant blame beyonce for the lights out. I was worried. Bill i was worried too. She did a good job. She did. Im not a huge beyonce fan but i think shed a very good job. Bill shed not lipsynch. We know that for sure. Almost as big a deal as beyonce at the halftime was Chris Christie showing up last night on david letterman. I think they reinforced the stage. Chris christie could make his appearance. And he knows that he is the butt of jokes. And there are some of them he actually enjoys like this one. A billion dollars will be spent on potato chips for super bowl and thats just to cover the christie family. [ laughter ] bill that was a letterman joke. The friday before the super bowl. And as far as is he healthy enough to run for president or run for reelection as governor, Chris Christie no problem. Dave, my cholesterols normal, believe it or not. Thats pretty good. And what about your blood sugar . Blood sugar also normal. Basically, im the healthiest fat guy youve ever seen in your life. Bill its nice he can joke about it. By the way there are a lot of fat guys who will make that claim. Ive met many fat guys who are like im healthy as a horse. Im the healthiest fat guy youll want to meet. Hes not the only person to use that. Bill to use that line. Yeah. Bill he also needs to lose some weight. He could lose some weight. Bill we got a great lineup for you today. Among other outstanding guests, susan page will start off this hour Washington Bureau chief usa today. Frank rich from new York Magazine, one of our favorites. And congressman joe courtney from the great state of connecticut will be along. But first announcer this is the full court press. On this tuesday other headlines making news, it has been a huge week for joe flacco, the Baltimore Ravens quarterback winning the super bowl sunday night. He was named the games mvp. Went to disney world yesterday. He has a parade in baltimore today. In his after party in new orleans after the game late sunday night he flew out 60 of his closest friends and family for the game. He and his wife dana informed everyone that she is expecting. According to usa today, 28yearold quarterback becoming a father for the second time later this year. He was able to tell both his parents and inlaws in person after winning the super bowl. Bill hes riding high hes on a roll bill some people find out this is the last year of his contract. So i hope hes got a good agent because he can demand his price baby and hes got a brand new 2014 corvette. Thats what you get for being the super bowl mvp. Bill drive that around baltimore. A new study says when hetero bill see him on the beltway cruising around. A new study says when heterosexual men watch pornography, it helps boost their support for samesex marriage. But folks at Indiana University found when men who are opposed to gay marriage watch porn, they become more open to the concept because it opens their minds accepting nontraditional sexual situations. This was especially true for lesseducated white men watching lesbian pornography which opened acceptance to gay marriage than any other type. What kind of a study . Bill that is a stupid study. Indiana university. Bill were looking for volunteers to watch porn. Well do it the second time is not the charm for ricki lake. After hosting a successful talk show for 11 years in the mid 90s in early 2000, she came back to host daytime tv again. Shes not returning her selfhelp show being scheduled for low ratings. Usa today reports she averaged just over 900,000 viewers compared to katie couric who averages 2. 4 Million Viewers and steve harvey also a new show averaging 1. 8 Million Viewers. Both of those have been renewed for a second season. Bill sorry ricki. Whos that . Its been a long time since ive heard that name. Bill yes president obama out in minneapolis yesterday appearing with the mayor and with many members of Law Enforcement community out in minneapolis. Saying among other things that cops should not be outgunned on the streets of america and calling again on the American Public to get behind measures. Some comments, measures on gun violence. Thats been keeping the president busy as well as Immigration Reform. We wanted to check in on generally the news of the day with our good friend, Washington Bureau chief for usa today otherwise known as david jacksons boss. Susan page. You know, bill, i would say no one is david jacksons boss. Bill ill tell him you said that. He does kind of march to his own drummer there at the white house. He does indeed. Bill how are you susan . Havent talked to you in awhile. Im doing well, bill. I see youre doing well, too . Bill absolutely. The president , lets start in minneapolis. He had Law Enforcement officials behind him. And he said look, i need to support the American People but then he said a particular challenge to i need the congress too. Obama take some steps through administrative action. While these steps are important real and lasting change also requires congress to do its part and to do it soon. Bill is he going to get any help in that area, susan . I think the conventional wisdom has been gun control is going to be a very uphill fight this year. In congress. And yet hes not clearly not given up on it. This trip in advance of the state of the union, well see how much he emphasizes it in the state of the union too. There are some bipartisan there is some bipartisan action taking place. Expect an announcement today from two democrats and two republicans in the house who have a bill that would tackle gun trafficking and strong purchases of guns. The idea of an assault weapons ban, i think most people think thats a bridge too far this year. The idea of expanding background checks making background checks universal, that has a real shot over the objections of that nra. Bill yeah. And we have seen people willing to take on the nra for the first time. Joe manchin and others. Well, you do although i think as the nra continues to be very powerful and weve heard from a few people who are strong nra supporters in the past who are talking about gun control but theres a lot of silence too. So i interviewed david keen, the president of the nra last week. He thought there was less than a 50 50 chance that even the universal background checks actually gets passed this year. Bill really . I think its going to be a fight but its been interesting that president obama has stuck with it even though we know he has some other priorities this year like immigration. Bill yeah. This is an issue that he walked away from the first four years. Hes certainly not doing so now. On another issue susan im sure youve seen this morning breaking news weve been talking about this. A department of justice memo on the use of drones saying the United States has every Legal Authority to use drones to kill americans anywhere in the world if we think they might be a member of some terrorist Organization Even if theres no evidence that they plan an attack against the United States. This comes at a particularly awkward time with john brennan the architect of the drone policy up for confirmation as c. I. A. Director. Is this going to be a problem for the Obama Administration . You know, this is one of those issues that i think has really alarmed civil libertarians and some of president obamas most natural allies, groups that tend to support him on almost every other issue. Its interesting i think americans generally approve of these drones because it means youre not endangering american servicemen. In battles. The idea of attacking you know, its the way the Political Landscape changed with 911. That theres just a lot more tolerance for that kind of thing. But it has put president obama and his administration at odds with his most natural allies, that is the interesting thing to watch on that. Bill as we were saying earlier this morning, if george bush and dick cheney had done this, i mean progressives, liberals, would be raising hell about it. Yeah. Do you hear objections about it. And you know, if you travel abroad or read the foreign press, you hear enormous resentment about the use of drones in afghanistan and pakistan and elsewhere. But it does not seem to me to really inflame broad passions here in the United States. Bill senator ron wyden and ten other senators and republicans democrats and republicans saying we need to know what the rules are. What principles are followed in the decisions to use a drone. Decision to use a drone which we dont know. Theyre saying theyre not saying get rid of drones, right or the president never has the authority. But the American People should know what the guidelines are. The use of drones and most particularly the use of drones against american citizens. Bill karl rove, irrepressible like the energizer rabbit, he had such a lousy record in 2012. You thought he might slink away. He announced yesterday hes forming yet another pac this one, susan to take on republicans, republican tea partiers, in particular, in republican primaries because they set up candidates who end up losing the general. You know, republicans do not seem to like the republicans do not like democrats but at this point republicans dont seem to like other republicans. Bill no. Youve got the karl rove group blaming the tea party for some of the setbacks, especially. You had Tea Party Groups firing back, too at karl rove. Bill at the establishment. At the establishment. So you know, democrats are accustomed to this phenomenal phenomenon right. Thats what the republicans are doing. Bill it is fun to see the republicans acting like democrats. It is fun if youre a democrat. Bill karl rove, his two pacs spent 290 million in 2012. They lost romney. They lost ten out of 12 senate races they were in. I just wonder why anybody would give him any money anymore to invest, right, in candidates. It was a terrible year. And some of it some of those senate races we think that its a more moderate republican had won, the outcome might have been different in places like indiana, missouri, in delaware two years earlier so on. Bill right. Sharon ingle out in nevada, too. Chuck todd made a good analogy. Republicans are doing now reminds me of when ron brown was head of the dnc and bill clinton was head of the dlc and you remember ron brown criticized the dlc as not true democrats and all of that. That worked out all right for democrats but it took a couple of years for it to happen. Bill it did. Ive got to ask you speaking about senate races, republicans in massachusetts got a big shocker this week when scott brown announced he is not going to run for senate after all. So who is up there . Well, we know tagg romney isnt. Thats a rumor that lasted about an hour and a half yesterday. You know, kerry healey, the former lieutenantgovernor might be a strong candidate. Wouldnt it be surprising if democrats didnt win that senate seat . Wouldnt you be surprised . It is massachusetts. Pretty democratic state. Bill particularly now. I think republicans they havent given up on the seat but they clearly did not have a strong second best, right. They were counting on scott brown and he just he had one race and another race. He would have had to win this time and then run again next year. It was just too much. We do think hes going to run it next year. We think it will be for governor. And you know, massachusetts really has a history of electing moderate republican governors like mitt romney and bill weld. So he would have, i would think be a pretty strong contender for that job. Bill i think he would have a better shot at governor after losing by eight points to elizabeth warren. Top democrat strategist told me i think scott brown saved the senate for democrats. Another bad break for the republicans. Susan, a lot of ground to cover. Weve covered a lot. It is always good to have you with us. Thank you. It is great to be with you. Bill ill see david later at the white house and ill say hello. All right. Bill susan page, Washington Bureau chief at usatoday. Com. Announcer this is the bill press show. Converstion started next. Im a slutty bob hope. You are. The troops love me. The sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. vo only on current tv. 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 inside the headlines, way inside. vo from the underworld, to the world of privilege. Everyone in Michael Jacksons life was out to use him. vo no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. Announcer this is the bill press show. Bill hey, its 25 minutes after the hour here on the full court press. Tuesday morning february 5. Good to see you today. And lots going on. Were spending a good part of the morning talking about the department of justice memo which was leaked, by the way to nbc news, which gives the United States, in terms of drones, use of drones, gives the United States a green light. Perfectly legal for us to use these drones against to kill americans. Anywhere on the globe if we think theyre part of an unfriendly organization. Even if theres no evidence theyre planning on attack on the United States. Peter, the social media han has gone crazy. Lots of reaction on twitter at bpshow. Since when did we stop being a nation of laws . George w. Bush did atrocious acts in our name. They should have stopped with barack obama. And matt says so were fighting terrorism by becoming terrorists. Drones are the new terrorist organization. Again, find us at bpshow. Bill im not totally against the use of drones. I think they can be effective selectively but i think as a nation, we have a right to know what the rules of conduct are and we do not know. So were killing in secret. According to because it is in secret, we dont really know how many. The bureau of Investigative Journalism says that we with drone attacks in the last four years, weve killed from 1600 to 2500 people of whom between 400 and 800 are civilians. Thats Collateral Damage, they call it. And 160 of them being children. So this is this is serious stuff. Just want to a quick word i mention to susan page about karl rove forming this new pac. Its called the conservative victory fund. And last year, karl rove had such a disastrous record that he spent 400 million lost the presidency they lost ten out of 12 senate races. They lost four out of nine house races. All of that money spent against democrats so now hes going to form yet another pac and spend this money in the republican primaries against republicans that he doesnt like, particularly Tea Party Members he doesnt like. I love satisfying republicans eat each other alive. But i think this does pose a couple of important questions. Number one after his record of blowing 400 million last year, why would anybody trust karl rove with a dime . And two, i want to know i want to know, damn it, how much money is karl rove making off these super pacs. You know hes not working for nothing. Ill get hes getting 10 . Ill bet he got 40 million out of that super pac last year. Now he wants even more. Announcer this is the bill press show. Armed with the facts, and the arguments to feel confident in their positions. I want them to have the data and i want them to have the passion. But its also about telling them, youre put on this planet for something more. I want this show to have an impact beyond just informing. An impact that gets people to take action themselves. As a human being, thats really important. This is not just a spectator sport. Announcer chatting with you live at current. Com billpress. This is the bill press show live on your radio and current tv. Bill 33 minutes after the hour here on this tuesday february 5. The house is back in session. Joining the senators who were here last year and you know, theres actually some important work being done on Immigration Reform on gun safety. On major appointments that the president has put in front of the congress. And of course, the looming battles over sequestration and potential disastrous defense cuts. Were trying to cover all of that this morning. Taking your calls at 186655press. Were joined by a man whos right in the middle of all of it, a member of the House Armed Services committee. Congressman joe courtney. Good friend of the program from connecticut. Good morning, bill. Bill good to see you again. Three sub joe. Two sub joe. [ laughter ] bill i just remembered your nickname. Good to see you this morning. Same here. Bill ive got to ask you about a breaking story this morning to get your general thoughts. Nbc news obtained a copy of a memo that the department of justice had given the white house on the use of drones saying its okay for the United States to use these drones to kill even american citizens anywhere in the world. If we think theyre a member of some terrorist organization, even if theres no evidence theyre planning an attack against the United States. Do we know what the policy is regarding the use of drones and who makes the decisions and when and where . It actually this is a pretty big deal with the release of this memo because this issue has been sort of you know, circulating below the surface for months. Actually years. But the response of the administration is were working on it. Were working on it. Were going to get you something. And obviously now we get a chance to see in black and white, what the rationale is. And at first blush i mean my reaction is pretty shaky. I mean the concept of you know, preemptive war under bush, you know, now were seeing this new kind of phrasessology of imminent threat. This is slippery slope stuff for our country constitutionally and as a matter of policy. Bill it is interesting the reaction weve been getting this morning from our listeners and viewers is not entirely but a lot of people just saying hey wait a minute. This is better than putting boots on the ground. It doesnt put our sons and daughters at risk so why not. Well, and i understand that appeal. We saw it frankly in terms of the way the president conducted u. S. Operations in libya where again, he drew a very a strong, red line. Kept forces out of there. I give him high marks for how he handled it. Also, i think it was pretty transparent in terms of his interaction with the congress. Frankly, i think the partisan resistance and blow back that he received was ridiculous. But having said that, it was very they did not attempt to avoid answering questions. The drone attacks which again i think you know, the country has the right under the war powers act and selfdefense concepts to you know, do what has to be done but again it has to be i think better than this. I guess it is sort of my initial reaction. Because this is a very sort of broad brush thats being painted here. Bill we want to know. I made the point earlier that if some other were doing this right now. We dont know how many people weve killed. We dont know what the rules of engagement are. Some other country were using drones to enter the airspace of a second country killing people citizens or noncitizens in that country, we would be raising hell about it. We would certainly be raising questions about it. Talking about here, it is not something that will be forever unattainable for countries around the world. So this matters in terms of establishing precedent. Bill indeed. It does come at a time when john brennan who is the architect of our drone policy is up for confirmation. As the next director of the c. I. A. So congressman, weve talked about this before. December 14, well never forget what happened at sandy hook elementary school. Will the congress remember and act on some common sense gun Safety Measures this year . I do think they will. I think that you know, this event, you know, i think is just really continues to resonate in a way that even some of these other horrible Mass Shootings hasnt. My roommate down here in washington is ed from aurora, colorado. Just seeing up close in terms of that horror that, in fact, it did kind of fade a little bit from the countrys consciousness. What happened at sandy hook does have a lot more power and you know even at the super bowl, to have the children up there singing. And the conversation does seem to be getting a lot of help from the president who i give him credit. Hes not sort of let this thing you know, sort of lapse in terms of his own appearances like yesterday in minneapolis. But this is going to be hard. Theres no question that you know, even getting it through the senate is going to be a challenge and then obviously you know if we can get to that point, then the house is going to really have another one of these do or die moments. Bill right. I was just going to ask you about that. It does seem difficult but at least some measures will be able to get through the senate. Theres been bipartisan support in the senate. The question is the House Republican caucus. It has been has become the graveyard for it seems any good legislation lately. Again, if a background check law gets through, if some of these illegal or shady gun transaction rules draw purchasers gets through i just think that you know, theyre going to be in a really bad place if theyre going to be seen as the obstructors in terms of getting them i spent last week talking to police chiefs, Law Enforcement the frustration level with what they see as a background system thats shredded with gaps and holes is sky high. And to me, you know, thats where thing falls into Public Safety and you know, outside of the scope, in my opinion misleading Second Amendment arguments that are thrown out there in opposition. Bill the Law Enforcement presence in this issue i think is so important and president obama met with Law Enforcement officials yesterday in minneapolis. Had them stand behind him. And the mayor i saw last night on jennifer granholm, i was on with her on current tv right before i was on, mayor rye rhinebeck of minneapolis theyre leading efforts around the country going to get the gun manufacturers saying we buy a lot of guns, particularly glocks for their police officers. And if we if you dont drop your support for the nra and if you dont support a ban on military rifles and assault weapons, were not going to buy your guns anymore. Which i think is a pretty bold move. Something the gun manufacturers if enough mayors do it there is an example of what i think is going on out there is different than the past. This sort of i think pressure that people are now starting to look at other lesters in terms of trying to get this issue moving. You know, you just didnt hear that in the last ten years really. But again this is going to be something thats going to have to require continued pressure by the president and certainly the public. Bill so youre a member of Armed Services in the house. You dont have a vote on who might be the next defense secretary but you know the issues really well. Would you vote if you had a vote for chuck hagel . Absolutely. I think you know, his command of the subject matter is very solid both in terms of obviously his own personal experience in the military and his service in the senate. You know, he obviously has the confidence of the president which you know to me is just a huge issue that anyone voting on these has to consider. And i think that you know, the sort of president s approach to interventions around the world which we saw again as we talked about libya you know, and now even in syria where were seeing stories about how secretary clinton and general petraeus had been pushing for interventions into syria and the president was the break on that effort. I think hagel will be a Great Team Player in terms of a new Foreign Policy for this country where military force is going to be something that people want to know how does it end to use petraeus famous quote before we sort of plunge in to problems and conflicts around the world. Bill what happened to him at the hearing last week . I think he was a little rusty. This town has changed for even people who have been gone for a short period of time. That was the one thing that i did scratch my head a little bit is prepping for these hearings now has become obviously like getting ready for the super bowl. And he looked like he was frankly a little bit unprepared for what were pretty obvious questions coming at him. Bill someone said the right answer to the question about Lindsey Grahams question, name one dumb senator or name one dumb thing whatever, thats happened as a result of your coming on the pro israeli lobby hagel could have said 90 of this hearing. [ laughter ] you know whats amazing. He had one question on afghanistan. Bill oh, no. The things they didnt ask him about moving forward including the defense cuts and Defense Budget and sequestration which i want to ask you about when we come back from this break. Congressman joe courtney from connecticut here on the full court press. Tuesday morning. Announcer this is the bill press show live on your radio and current tv. Going to do the young turks. I think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. They know that im not bsing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. When the democrats are wrong, they know that im going to be the first one to call them out. They can question whether im right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. vo she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. Ok, so theres wiggle room in the ten commandments, thats what youre saying. vo shes joy behar. Current will let me say anything. Announcer this is the bill press show. Bill 13 minutes before the top of the hour here with congressman joe courtney in studio with us. Back to our discussion about the important issues facing the congress this week. Or these days, i should say. But first, heres a little hopeful hopefully a reminder to you those of you who are having a hard time making ends meet at the end of each month looking to earn some extra money each month check out incomeathome. Com. They are americas leading work from home business. Doing business in over 80 countries today. They know what theyre doing. By giving you an opportunity you can take advantage of no matter your Age Education or experience. This is something you can do literally earn money on your own computer from your own Kitchen Table and do it 24 7. So if youre sick of living paycheck to paycheck, worried about job security or retirement and if your goal has been to earn some extra money from home, parttime or even full time, heres where you ought to go. Incomeathome. Com. Theyre adding my listeners in record numbers. Even giving away 1,000 to Somebody Just for checking them out. That lucky somebody could be you. Visit incomeathome. Com. Thats incomeathome. Com. The one thing that secretary of defense leon panetta pointed out, congressman in chuck hagels confirmation hearing is that there was very little discussion about the Defense Budget where its going, should it be cut and whats going to happen if sequestration kicks in. Lets start with that. Sequestration which comes up march 1st. Whoa. Okay. Whats Congress Going to do . Well, what we ought to do is come up with a reasonable bill so it is a trillion dollars across the board right . The way it actually plays out, it is a little bit heavier on defense than a little bit. But i mean just to make the point, i was at a school, Largest School district in my district back home yesterday. Basically, they would shut down four head start facilities if this goes through. So this is you know, nih gets clobbered. You know, airtraffic controllers, border patrols ironically, patrol agents get cut. It is an indiscriminate chainsaw that goes through the government and defense obviously is a big part of that. So secretary of the navy has basically said that theyre sort of Contingency Planning is to cancel 55 of takeoffs or landings on aircraft carriers, 23 ships wont get maintenance or repair work. Bill so in terms of preparedness, right, this would be a disaster. It is. That was panettas point. Were really bill why do republicans want this . I was on the floor yesterday rattling off all of the statistics. Speaker boehner actually followed me and you know, went off on this sort of gimmick bill that theyre talking about. The president has to come up with a balanced budget within the next ten years. So you know, sequestration, as you know a mechanism back in the 80s, graham ruddiman, the language is also verbatim and it was never intended to actually go into effect. It was to force people to compromise and negotiate. Bill which is what we thought it would be over the fight over the debt ceiling. When youre talking about a trillion dollars of deficit reduction over the next ten years, the fact is that you could do this on the back of an envelope right now. But obviously you know, tax breaks for Oil Companies hedge fund carried interest. All of these loopholes that mitt romney said he was open to closing. Theyve got to be part of this discussion. And there are smart changes in terms of medicare savings which dont affect benefits and age of eligibility and all of that that can easily get dealt with and by the way the word afghanistan after 2014, if you close the door on combat troops with a measure, cbo will tell us that creates huge savings. This is so avoidable. It is just shocking. Were 20 days away. Bill so with sequestration, what are the options . Can Congress Just cancel . They could. Bill we were just kidding . Well, yes. What i would say is that when Vice President biden negotiated the fiscal cliff and came and spoke to the caucus, he actually, at the time of the negotiations, said okay, were passing a measure 700 billion in new revenue over the next ten years, lets turn off sequestration for a year or two and we could sort of finish it all off. The republican position was basically to treat that new revenue as not applicable to the budget control which shows how the thought process down here is just so divorced from you know, any kind of budget making that a state legislator or mayor or your own personal life makes. Bill but there do have to be the one thing about sequestration which what some people have said may not be all bad, it will require cuts in defense where there should be some cuts in defense correct . I think you can include you know no auditable books in the pentagon. Panetta, thats the one agency of government that has never submitted an audited set of books in history. Bill wow. Not one and frankly by itself, that would i think provide an ability to really see where were throwing money away. And again, secretary panetta, to his credit, has got a mandate within the four branches to basically say 2014, weve got to do this. Frankly, it is going to be interesting to see if they can hit this goal. The size of the pentagon is bigger than 90 countries gdp. So but again so yes theres definitely smart savings that you can do there. Again, i would go back to the afghanistan expenditure 2 billion a week were spending over there. No one thinks were going to have a combat mission after 2014. So you know, thats money that were not going to be spending. And so really, the opportunities are there to avoid again by the way, the bipartisan policy center, New York Times yesterday, said a million jobs will be lost if sequestration goes through. Cbo says 1. 4. Bill congressman, a lot of battles to fight. Were glad youre there fighting them for us. Thanks for coming in this morning. Thanks, bill. Bill see you soon. Announcer this is the bill press show. vo current tv gets the converstion started next. Im a slutty bob hope. You are. The troops love me. The sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. vo only on current tv. Announcer on your radio and on current tv, this is the bill press show. Bill all right. Here we go. At the top of the next hour, from talking points memo, Evan Mcmorris santoro and then frank rich from new York Magazine. President obama today gets a briefing with the Vice President im sorry, Vice President is in europe. The president gets his briefing at 9 45 this morning. 11 00 this morning a big meeting with progressive and labor leaders on Immigration Reform. Ben jealous from the naacp will be there. Artie rodriguez, the president of the united farm workers. Then this afternoon at 3 20, the president will be meeting with Business Leaders regarding his efforts to get some sensible budget and deficit reduction passed. Jay carney has his press briefing today at 1 00. Ill be there. Announcer this is the bill press show. Pile good morning, everybody. Welcome to the full court press. Were coming to you live here on current tv from our tv radio book factory on capitol hill. Right here in our Nations Capital. Good to see you this morning. Thanks for joining us. Lots to talk about. Lots youre going to want to sound off about. Give us a call at 186655press big lights out at the super bowl. We learned yesterday you cant blame it on beyonce. No no, no. Her show was entirely powered by its own generator. She did not turn the lights out. In other news, john mccain has said that he would oppose any filibuster on the nomination of chuck hagel. And karl rove who blew 400 million in a losing streak in 2012 has decided to form yet another pac to take on fellow republicans. Can you believe it . That and a whole lot more here on the full court press today. But first, lets get the latest. Lisa ferguson standing by in los angeles with todays current news update. Hi lisa, good morning. Hey bill, good morning everyone. More than 50 nations played a role in a global torture scheme backed by the United States. That is according to a new report from open Society Foundation scheduled to be released today. In the years following 911, the u. S. Quietly moved terror suspects to secret prisons overseas where they were often tortured. It is a process known as extraordinary rendition. The osf data is the first wholesale public report on this top secret program and finds 54 nations either hosted c. I. A. Black sites interrogated or tortured u. S. Prisoners or otherwise took part in extraordinary rendition. The Bush Administration widely expanded the program after september 11th and it had been heavily criticized and condemned in the years since. When president obama came to office, his administration relied on diplomatic assurances that other countries were not torturing u. S. Prisoners. But the osf report finds the decision offered no accountability and only helped continue the program. Two more things, senators have signed on to repealing marylands death penalty. John haskell and ronald young both democrats are supporting a bill abolishing capital punishment. Democratic governor Martin Omalley is backing the measure as well and this should give it more than enough votes to clear the chamber. More bill press is up after the break. Stay with us. 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 Jacksons life was out to use him. vo no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. Announcer broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the bill press show. Bill indeed. John mccain says he will oppose a filibuster on chuck hagels vote for confirmation in the u. S. Senate. At least thats some progress on the part some sign of sanity on the part of john mccain. Wonder if he can get Lindsey Grahams vote. Hello, everybody. What do you say . Its the full court press on this tuesday february 5. Great to see you today. Thanks for joining us for our little roundtable every morning here where we take a look at all of the news of the day and give you a chance to weigh in. Sound off on the news of the day. You can do so by giving us a call at 186655press. Thats our toll free number. You can follow us, we invite you to on twitter and give us your comments there on bpshow or on facebook. Facebook. Com billpressshow. Any way you join us, youll be joining the entire team here. Peter ogborn and dan henning. Hi, there. Bill phil backert has the phones. Cyprian bowlding has the video cam as always. Joining us to our survey of all of the news of the day the man who covers it all for talking points memo, evan mc mcmorris santoro. You guys have so much going on today. Bill thank you. There is a lot going on. One of the things i love about this time is were not just talking budget deficits, right . Obama is on the road talking guns and immigration. The bully pullity is being used. Bill meetings at the white house on the tame same topics. You couldnt have this in any other city in the country. New york saying goodbye to ed koch the threeterm governor. Did you ever meet him . Mayor. Ran for governor, lost. I think i met him once at a conference briefly. He was a force of nature. He just knew how to he was just he knew how to command a room. Very entertaining person. When i was working for jerry brown, jerry brown would never go to official meetings of mayors or governors or whatever. We used to send me. And i think it was during one of the conventions in new york that the mayor then, mayor koch, had a reception for the governors at gracey mansion. Jerry brown refused to go. So he sent me. And i would i was in my 20s. I introduced myself. To the mayor. He was so glad to see me. Oh jerry brown. Then he took me around personally and introduced me to every governor who was there. That was the kind of guy he was. Just took me under his wing. It was just great. Thats funny. Bill yesterday everybody there was 2500 people at this service. At this reform synagogue on the upper east side. Mayor bloomberg spoke and said you know, ed koch, nobody represented the city like he did. No mayor i think has ever embodied the spirit of new york city like he did and i dont think anyone ever will. Tough and loud, brash and irreverent, full of humor and bill tough loud, brash irreverent full of humor and hutzpah. Just think about it. A polish jew in an episcopal graveyard in a largely dominican neighborhood. What could be more new york or even more ed koch. Bill yes and by the way they said that ed koch, was reading this morning he went over every detail of his ceremony. He knew bloomberg was going to speak. He was delighted with that. He didnt know bill clinton was going to also speak which would have put him over the moon. But all of the details, in fact, one of the details why he chose the cemetery, he wanted a cemetery across the street from a subway stop so people could visit his grave. Easily visit his grave. Good planning. Bill isnt that great . Thats pretty cool. It is pretty cool. Bill he got it all. There he is. He was absolutely one of a kind and a talk show host for awhile. Peoples court judge for awhile. Thats right. He arbitrated very important disputes. Thats true. I forgot about that. Bill he did. Always involved in politics. He would always whatever he was saying about a candidate or about obama he went back and forth on obama bill he ended up supporting obama, very helpful to obama. When clinton was president clinton held up a stack of papers yesterday and said no these are not my notes, these are the letters as i received as president from ed koch on all kinds of different issues. Weve got lots to cover today. Evan mcmorris santoro. Well be joined by the greatest columnist in the country today, frank rich, expanded columns great articles for new York Magazine. But first this is the full court press. Other headlines making news on this tuesday. The Parents Television council is not happy with cbs after allowing celebratory swearing from Baltimore Ravens quarterback joe flacco to go on the air uncensored after his super bowl win on sunday. He dropped the f bomb after another player dropped the f bomb. The ptc is calling on the fcc to punish cbs saying those words have no place on tv where children are watching and the nfl and broadcast networks have not improved their standards since Janet Jacksons nipple gate now nine years ago. Bill i must tell you im shocked. I am shocked beyond belief that two Football Players on the field, one used the s word and the other used the f word. After winning the biggest game of their careers. Im shocked there were kids still awake after the blackout. The nfl bill im shocked if there are kids who havent heard the same word from their parents. Probably during that game. [ laughter ] the nfl and officials at the superdome in new orleans have officially ruled that beyonces highpowered halftime show had nothing to do with the super bowl power outage. Some had speculated she used too much electricity in her performance but usa today reports the halftime show was run completely on generated power, not stadium power. In fact, the stadium lights were even turned off during the show so the stadium was using less energy than during the game. The issue is being blamed on a surge from a substation outside of the stadium. Bill poor beyonce. Shes blamed for lipsynching and now shes blamed for turning the lights out. Wants to generate your own power. That was one of the most amazing things. When the power went out. Then just watched how bad these sportscasters really are. Because they had 34 minutes to fill and they didnt know what to do. Nobody was pressing and saying what the hell is going on . This is the biggest event maybe that americans will have all year far be it for me to tell other reporters what to do. I think it is odd they have all of the cameras and microphones, they didnt go into the stands. It seems like there was a lot of stuff you could do well, if the 49ers come back, it will be a better game. Indepth analysis. Bill yeah, but whoever made the brilliant decision anyhow after katrina to hold this event in the superdome. The one thing you say about superdome, it treats rich and poor equally badly. The president of iran wants to go to outer space. Mahmoud ahmadinejad i vote for that bill can i send a check . Are we sure its not a john mccain tweet . No. Thats coming. So ahmadinejad said yesterday he would volunteer to be the first iranian in space in the name of science. Cnn reports he was joking but the comments come after that country allegedly sent a monkey to space and backs and senator john mccain has taken some heat from making a joke on twitter about ahmadinejads comments yesterday tweeting so he wants to be the first iranian in space . Wasnt he just there last week . It was a link to the monkey article. Republicans criticizing mccain for that . I saw that. Bill i dont know. I know im supposed to be politically correct. I think its okay to make monkey jokes about ahmadinejad. Youre going to get letters. Bill peter ogborn. Okay. Im going to start evan, with you, with a story i didnt know about until this morning. Broke late last night. And that is about american drone policy. Weve been wondering nobody knows how many people weve killed. Who makes the decisions with drones, how many americans, how many nonamericans, how many civilians, how many were really guilty. It is all a big, dark secret. John brennan is the architect of this policy. His nomination as director of c. I. A. I ran into senator ron wyden yesterday from oregon. And he was really on fire about you know, this is the time with brennan we ought to get some answers on drones and then this department of justice memo is leaked to nbc news, michael Investigative Reporter reporting late last night the department of justice has told the white the is perfectly legal to use drones to kill americans in other countries, anywhere on the planet if we believe that theyre members of some terrorist Organization Even if theres no evidence they have any plans to organize any attack against the United States. Is this just a green light to kill for the Obama Administration . Well, you know, i think that this this issue has always been so controversial for the Obama Administration. Sometimes the reason that things are kept secret and you can tell so incendiary. The idea that without trial without even any real association with upcoming terrorist attack bill without capture i look at these things differently because im a National Politics reporter so everything gets put into the political box. This morning, i was watching twitter about this a bit and some of the early responses to it and it is interesting because conservatives right now are sort of upset because they feel like whats going to happen is that you know if bush had done this, there would have been a huge outcry, media would have gone crazy. Bill i would have been leading the pack. Theyre saying obama is going to get away with it because the media is in obamas pocket. What i find interesting about this is this is a hard thing for the right to politicize i think as much as they would like to because you had susan page on earlier. People like the drone attacks. They like the use of the drones in general. By in large. I think there are a lot of very, very important questions. Im an american citizen. You dont want to have a drone come knock you out. But in terms of the politics of it it is hard because i think that a lot of people on the right wing side of things, on the conservative base, they probably support this policy too. Bill watching the show earlier, you probably realize a lot of our listeners and progressives liberals, listening to the show, watching the show have said made exactly your point. It is better than putting boots on the ground. It is better than putting my son or daughter in harms way. Yes, it is. But on the other hand, if we send boots on the ground, we know where theyre going when theyre going why theyre there. Hopefully how long theyre going to be there and what the mission is. We know nothing about that with these drones. By the way we also know whos making the decision. It is the president make the decision. Explains to the American People why hes sending troops to wherever. Syria or whatever we might do. It is not the case with drones. We dont know. It is a big black box right . Such a key component of obamas Foreign Policy has been were going to slip in across borders, were going to do covert actions kill who we need to kill as we view that. It is extremely you know, these kind of things, the way these things operate the machinery behind it when you read this memo, i mean this is what you would call, you know, a barnburner scoop. This is actually amazing stuff to see this written down in black and white the way the government does this. Bill again i think liberals progressives, would be raising holy hell if george bush and dick cheney if this were their policy demanding at least to know what the guidelines are. I think we should be equally strong, i believe in making that demand. Even if its president obama and joe biden. Their policy. Because this is a big deal. And you know if you think guys likewidedo that . Wyden will do that . Bill he wrote letters saying we want to see all of the memos on drone policy and we want to see what the guidelines are. What rules you are following. And i think the American People deserve to know that. Peter, i know were getting a lot of comments on the social media. Well check in with you and back to Evan Mcmorris santoro when we come back here on the full court press. Also, youve been following the gun issue. Saw you at the gun hearing last week. Lets talk about president obama in minneapolis yesterday. Lots to talk about. Announcer this is the full court press. The bill press show, live on your radio and on current tv. Argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table. Right have, about the heavy hand of government. I want to have that conversation. Really . You know id like to arm our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative alright, in 15 minutes were going to do the young turks. I think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. They know that im not bsing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. When the democrats are wrong, they know that im going to be the first one to call them out. They can question whether im right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. Bill Evan Mcmorris santoro in studio with us from talk points memo. Talking points memo. Com. Weve been talking about the story on drones and this department of justice memo. So far this morning peter whats happening in the social media. Weve been flooded this morning with comments. Lot of comments on twitter. You can find us at bpshow at bp show. Aria says it would be nice to stop the drones completely because it kills a lot of civilians. Mark says theres no evidence. No trial by jury. Basically extralegal execution. No different than a drive by shooting. Danny sums up the feelings of a lot of progressives. Im in favor of using drones to root out terrorists and other bad guys as long as rules of engagement are defined. That is the problem. Bill i think thats enough. Because so far there may or may not be rules of engagement. We have no idea what they are. And some day there will be some International Law. Whatever try bunal decides that this on this issue. What happens when other countries develop their own drones and they start droning . Bill watch out. A final point on this. We do not know how many people weve killed by drones. The bureau of Investigative Journalism has tried to find out. Their estimate is that the total number is between the last four years under president obama, between 1600 and 2500. Of whom between 400 and 800 those are wide ranges are civilians. 160 were children. There is a lot of Collateral Damage too. I do want to ask you speaking of violence, you have been out in front on this, covering the gun safety issue. President obama went out to minneapolis yesterday but he didnt just pick any old city to go to. He went to minneapolis for a purpose. What was it . Thats right. Minneapolis is a place with a it was known as murderapolis. They took some steps to reduce gun violence. They were successful. The mayor is a strong obama supporter was out on the trail for him a lot. Obama talked with those folks and talked with Law Enforcement folks. Which is such a key part if you ask gun control proponents how to get gun control done. Getting Law Enforcement on the side. Listening to Law Enforcement. Doing what Law Enforcement wants, characterizing your desire for reform is something that Law Enforcement wants to do. It is such an important part of winning the public over and helping to win over congress. So i think that what you saw with obama highlighting policies that have worked which is something this urban crime element is always huge part of what he talks about. He always adds it in. Also a chance to show this is what i wrote about it. A chance to show that theres a lot more union animity on guns and gun control than i think the nra wants people to think in washington. Because of polling and things like that. Thats what obama was saying. There is a lot we agree on. The things like background checks. Bill we are going into a break. I think thats true, people outside the beltway. You and i did not see that unanimity at the Senate Hearing last week. Well talk more about that. Well be joined by frank rich, new York Magazine next, columnist extraordinaire coming up in the next segment. Announcer this is the bill press show. Guys that do reverse mortgage commercials . Those types are coming on to me all the time now. Laughing and the thinkers thinking. Ok, so theres wiggle room in the ten commandments, thats what youre saying. You would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. Absolutely. And so would mitt romney. vo shes joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . Announcer this is the bill press show. Bill here we go. 33 minutes after the hour. Tuesday, february 5. The full court press coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station. And still on current tv, were not al jazeera yet here we go. I have to tell you you know, i read a lot and fiction and nonfiction. Presently enjoying a fun little novel called the mayors tongue. And the author of that novel is nathaniel rich. I would like to welcome to the program now nathaniels dad frank rich. How do you like that, frank . I love that youre reading nathaniels book bill. It is a wonderful novel and he actually if i may get in a family plug, he has a second novel coming out in april called odds against tomorrow that is about a risk evaluator who works in a bureaucracy in new york and what happens when a huge storm hits new york and actually affects them. It was in galley before Hurricane Sandy happened. It is pretty great. But anyway, im thrilled youre reading my flesh and blood here. Bill im enjoying it. It has Gabrielle Garcia marquez quality to it which i very much appreciate. Frank rich, of course, one of our favorites writer atlarge for new York Magazine. Frank, welcome welcome. Well, thank you. Bill yesterday was such a quintessential new york moment with the service for ed koch. Theres never been and never will be another mayor like him right . I agree. Maybe there was once before our time. I often thought that ed koch borrowed some style for from him. For those who dont know, la guardia was a mayor toward the tail end of the depression going into world war ii. He was everywhere ubiquitous, he was an italianamerican, not a jewishamerican but gregarious and a complete publicity hog. He would follow, you know, fire trucks to a fire and also famously, when there was a newspaper strike in the late 30s, every morning would go on wnyc radio and read all of the funny pages on the air to new yorks kids. So every little orphan annie installment. And koch, you know, could be authority guy. Sometimes a controversial guy. But he was just such a a loveably irascible character. For the heart and soul of a certain kind of new york. Bill i thought mayor bloomberg summed it up yesterday when he talked about the fact that he had asked to be buried in this episcopal cemetery, right. A polish dan do you have that quick byte . Just think about it. Polish jew in an episcopal graveyard in a largely dominican neighborhood. What could be more new york or even more ed koch . Its so true. By the way if youve seen pictures of his grave site, it is almost empire state buildinglike. [ laughter ] in its dimensions. Because he did have an ego. Bill yes indeed. He also he loathed loathed Rudy Giuliani so to see giuliani there soaking up part of the limelight was priceless. Bill front page picture of the New York Times, giuliani saluting him. He wrote a whole book, koch did, attacking giuliani called Something Like nasty man i cant remember bill wow [ laughter ] one of like 45 books he wrote. The other thing that koch did that was hilarious he churned out an Endless Supply of restaurant and Movie Reviews in retirement. If you were on his email list, you get his views on everything from hunger games to the new dim sum parlor down the block. Bill ill bet a lot of free meals too. Frank, Evan Mcmorris santoro from talking points memo is here in studio with us. Thats delightful. I happen to have lunch with Josh Marshall yesterday. Bill your boss, right . Thats right. I hope you talked about raises, for me specifically. We wrote it out in a napkin. He will be reporting back to you about it this afternoon. Bill you were watching the big event of the week last week here in washington d. C. The confirmation hearing for senator hagel it was not its finest moment. No. Im generally a hagel admirer. Was kind of a disastrous appearance. I dont know if it is going to derail him. It was almost as if it was an ambien moment. Maybe not. But he seemed overprepared, overcautious. Under caffeinated. But on the other hand, the behavior of some people, of some inquizters was ridiculous starting with mccain and lindsey graham. Bill absolutely. We think first of all no talk really about the war in afghanistan which americans are fighting in. And a lot of it was about mccain trying to still justify the war in iraq that he cheerled and hagel at least turned back that the surge won the war when all the surge did was allow us to get out. Bill with mccain, one thing to mccains credit this morning said he would oppose any filibuster of hagel. At least thats one breath of sanity. But otherwise and for lindsey graham, i mean, there was no talk about what hagel might do as defense secretary right. In terms of budget. Necessary budget cuts or any of that. No. In fact, the budget cuts is a very good point. Thats what he mainly will be engaged in doing. Hes not setting Foreign Policy. He is going the president is going to set Foreign Policy and of course, john kerry will have a bigger role than secretary of defense would. But yeah, thats the big issue thats going to be addressed particularly with the sequester and Everything Else around the pike. It is Just Congress deserves every bit of the Approval Rating it has. It is off the point off the subject. I guess mccain, you know, opposing a filibuster penetrate him at least that they more of this bogging down and grit lock just further antagonizes everyone in both parties. Bill amen. Frank you mentioned that evan, here you mentioned that you think that some of this had to do with hagel being either overprepared or poorly prepared. Sort of looking at what happened with susan rice and then into if you blame the white house Preparation Team somewhat for hagels performance, do you feel like the white house is just not they have it together on the nominees yet . Should they take the blame for the hearings and how hagel came off . Yeah, i think they should. I wouldnt turn it into a blanket condemnation. I think it is a one off susan rice case was somewhat different. That was a mistake that had nothing to do with preparing her to be confirmed for secretary of state. How they handle or failed to handle stuff around benghazi. When that happened. Yeah, the hagel thing seems to be a failure of staff work and presumably uncorrected. Bill frank i want to take you back to your theatre critic review days, slight variation. Movie critic review days because youve written about the current selection and i thought a surprising choice for what you think is the best movie out there. Not argo . Really good movie. I wrote for new york this week about four american movies. Argo zero dark thirty, and django unchained. Argo is a good movie. Wonderful performance by alan arkin, by the way. Hilarious. To me though, it was a really good thriller. Was it a thriller for the ages . Was it north by northwest or something . No. But it was good. The movie that really, really got to me was django unchained. And i think its a really daring movie thats haunting and deals has a lot of things to say about race and the state of play race can play now even though it is a fantastical view of what was going on before the civil war. And itss a very tough interesting movie. I like tarantino fine. I dont come from a standpoint of being a tainer tarantino fan at that fanatic. I think it is an interesting movie. Takes people up. All of these movies are hits. It is the only one of these four american movies that are sort of topical that actually has a large, black audience as well as a large white audience. Lincoln doesnt. Certainly argo and zero dark thirty dont because it speaks to both white people and black people about and implicitly about things like Voter Suppression during this last election. My view. Bill we have three people here. Peter ogborn, our producer and Evan Mcmorris saner to re, both have seen django but im going to have to see it now. They loved it. It makes me happy that people can still make movies like this because it is a daring movie. Theyre tackling issues that dont get tackled very often in big pictures. It is incredibly daring and yet youre absolutely right. And yet it doesnt lecture you. It is all done through essentially a spaghetti western story. A certain amount of humor. One of the most interesting things about it is it has although it deals with racial issues one of the nastiest characters in it is black. Played by samuel jackson. In fact, it may be one of the most dem on inblack demonic black characters ever in a hollywood movie which is gutsy. There are plenty of demonic white characters in it, too including a plantation owner played by Leonardo Dicaprio who is terrifying. Bill we started on a note about nathaniel your note. One of the reasons i must admit frank, i didnt go see django is because i have a grandson by the name of django who is only 2 1 2 years old. I thought you know unchain him [ laughter ] i dare say do not take him to see django unchained. Bill i will not do that. Frank, youre on it as always. Thank you so much my friend. Great talking to you. Bill frank rich, writer atlarge for new York Magazine. Nymag. Com or follow him on twitter at frankrichny. Announcer this is the bill press show. Iq will go way up. vo current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. Im a slutty bob hope. You are. The troops love me. vo tv and radio talk show host Stephanie Miller rounds out currents morning news block. Youre welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. Just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. The sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. vo only on current tv. I want the people who watch our show, to be able to come away armed with the facts, and the arguments to feel confident in their positions. I want them to have the data and i want them to have the passion. Bill 12 minutes before the top of the hour. In studio with us from talk points memo. Com, National Political reporter Evan Mcmorris santoro peter whats up . Mike alan from politico has alerted to senator marco rubio has released his track list. These are the songs that marco rubio is currently listening to. So here are some of the bill no longer ipod now. You could put the play list on your ipod or computer. You could build little play lists. Bill this is breaking news. They always ask president s whats your Favorite Song or people running for president. Whats your Favorite Song . Bill with obama they always ask him. Heres what rubio is listening to. Good feeling by flow flo rida. Where the streets have no name by u2. Vive la vida by coldplay. Im not sure if i think marco rubio is listening to tupac. He has been a rap fan for a long time. He talks about it a lot. Dont you worry child by Swedish House mafia. Bill theres no Frank Sinatra . Theres no Frank Sinatra. Theres newsboys. Bill theres no mozart . Whats the world coming to . It is the end of western civilization as we know it. Mariachi music. Hes not true to his roots. Tito puente or Something Like that. Social club. Pitbull is on here. Carlos vivas. I dont know who that is. Bill if i may please, back to dan president obama yesterday in minneapolis, we were talking with the Law Enforcement officers, he said the American People, this gun safety measure, not going to happen without the support of Law Enforcement which hes got. Without the support of American People which hes got. He also said i need somebody elses sport. Obama been able to take some steps through administrative action. While theyre important real and lasting change also requires congress to do its part and to do it soon. Bill will you and i saw last week again hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans and democrats making the same arguments and there was no joining of forces there at all. Is there going to be on this issue . Well, you know, at the hearing, it is extremely partisan committee. One of the most partisan committees there are. Tv cameras are on. Everyone is setting putting their pictures of guns up and talking about you know, when they rescued when someone rescued themselves with a gun and all of that. There are some signs that sort of outside that sphere of something that partisan, there is some chance that some of the stuff like universal background checks may have some bipartisan support. Tom coburn certainly not a moderate, certainly not who you consider is supposedly working on universal background checks legislation with you know, manchin and some of the other moderate democrats. So theres a chance that some of this stuff will happen. Universal background check is a big deal. This is the main focus of what the gun control people want after newtown. Bill the brady campaign, theyve been here in studio and thats their number one priority. Background checks. That would be a huge victory for them. But also it speaks to the fact that you know, even david keen from the nra has said there is a 50 50 chance. I think is taken by some as suggesting theyre very, very powerful still but it also suggests they think that they dont know whats going to happen. Theyre not really in control of whats happening on capitol hill. It is possible that some stuff could happen, barring an assault weapons ban. It will not happen. Bill the nras position i think is we can buy the fact that they supported universal background checks as recently as three years ago. Their members support them. Bill finally on the gun issue, the white house released a photo of president obama skeet shooting at camp david. Why did they feel they had to is the nra so powerful they feel they had to release a photo of the president with a gun in his hand . You know, what the white house said yesterday was that they dont want to do this sort of thing. They want to keep this soft thing private at camp david but there was controversy about it that they released a photo. As has been proven for obama so many times releasing the evidence doesnt necessarily eliminate the controversy. Bill like a birth certificate . It was immediately immediately there was some very serious skeet shoot trutherrism that popped out. The photo was doctored. Hes not shooting at the right angle. Hes not really skeet shooting because you cant see traps or buildings around him. So you know, it is one of these things where its hard for this president sometimes to prove his point to some of his critics. We saw what happened with the birth certificate. Not for some of the diehards. The gun issue bill i thought it was silly for them to release that photo. Didnt prove anything. But its so much fun to cover all of these issues. A lot of fun. Good having fun together. Evan mcmorris santoro, thank you for coming in. Talking points memo. Bookmark it. Check it every day and well be back for todays parting shot. Announcer radio meets television. The bill press show. Now on current tv. vo current tv gets the converstion started next. Im a slutty bob hope. You are. The troops love me. The sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. vo only on current tv. Announcer the parting shot with bill press. This is the bill press show. Bill hey and on this tuesday, february 5 my parting shot for today this story is almost too good to be true. After blowing 400 million last year, trying to defeat democrats and losing, karl rove has decided hes forming another pac this year to fight republicans he doesnt like in republican primaries. Now, i love seeing republicans fight other republicans, eat each other alive but i think this poses two important questions. Number one after he blew 400 million last year, why would anybody trust karl rove with their money again to get involved in Political Races . Why trust him with