Transcripts For CURRENT Full Court Press 20130306

Victory in colchester, connecticut. Success. Centerville, utah. Victory. Harrison, new jersey. An antiwalmart slate was elected to city council in deptford, new jersey. Voters rejected walmart in lebanon, pennsylvania. The walmart man . Defeated. In glendora, california. Walmart beaten in medford oregon. Billy zane stars in barabbas. Coming in march to reelz. To find reelz in your area, go to reelz. Com 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. [ theme music ] announcer broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv. This is the bill press show. Bill and the dow hits a new record high. The obama economy marching back. Hey, good morning, everybody what do you say . It is wednesday. Wednesday march 6th, so good to see you today. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the full court press here on current tv on your local progressive talk radio station, and on sirius xm for this hour only. Its good to have you watching and coming in out of the storm, in fact thats what were having here in washington, d. C. With the big storm that hit the midwest yesterday now making its way to the washington new york area, and washington has responding bying even before the first snow flake fell by shutting down. Because we cant handle it. Give us a call join us on twitter bpshow and on facebook at facebook billpressshow. Back here, im telling you the federal government may be shut down, the smithsonian is shut down, the full court press made it, every Single Person the whole team in here today. Hello, guys. How were here. I was a little nervous. You were nervous . Because some of us had to come from a couple of hours away. Some of us had to come from las vegas to get here. So i was a little nervous. Bill i did have a longer commute than usual, though. Yeah. Phil has the phone and siprion bolling on video. But yeah i must my commute last night i arrived at 1 00 am this morning, arrived home at 2 00 am this morning, and the alarm went off at 4 00 am this morning, and here we go. So if i fall asleep in the middle of any particular story ill just reach over there and poke you with a stick if you start to nod off. Bill were always embarrassed by our reaction to snow here in the national capitol. I v been in las vegas the last couple of days with the American Council of life insurers for a refocus conference 2013. At least you were in a place like vegas where you could get a lot of rest. Bill yes. I had a chance to interview alan simpson, he is a very funny guy. And a very serious guy. But he is the first one to say that john boehner is out of his gourd when he thinks that we can solve our deficit problems by spending cuts alone. So i tweeted out a picture with alan simpson yesterday, but back here for the snow. I mean buses are running this morning is the metro running . Oh, yeah. They are cancel it if they get they have a policy in place. Its Something Like above 8 inch on the ground. Bill all right. So i was booked on a red eye here landing an hour from now before the storm even started, us air canceled that flight. Its just like they canceled the federal government today even though the streets are so far clear. Yeah, the streets are totally clear. But soon they wont be. Bill maybe. Maybe. They go with the prediction and by the time people are starting to commute bill you cannot defend washington east policy. Look at chicago, look at freaking fargo right . Yeah, chicago is a perfect example. Bill its a big major city. They dont shut down at the first warning, but i tell ya yesterday, big big day. The dow everybody says this economy is rocky well, its not coming back as fast as we hoped but one good indicator is the dow is booming, and yesterday closing bell and the dow hitting an alltime high of 14,254. Woe. Never been that high before. It is a good time to sell. Its a bfd. Bill that is a bfd. Well talk to Eliot Spitzer a little bit later this morning in this hour well be joining us. We have a reporter in from the atlantic to talk about what is happening with dow too. And medicaid and yes, tsa trying to make it a little easier for you to fly. Well tell you about that. But first. Announcer this the full court press. Overhead lines on this tuesday, jon stewart is taking an extended leave of absence this summer. He is going to direct his first movie. He is set to direct the film rose water. It is not a comedy. It talks the true story about a journalist who was imprisoned in iran for 118 days. He has been on the daily show as a guest several times. And john oliver will fill in for stewart for four months beginning later this spring. Naturally thats the movie he would do. Thats what i want the funniest people in my life to do. Bill yeah. John oliver . Is he a daily show correspond dent. Bill thats risky. It is. Bill he could lose a lot of audience that way. Yeah. Secretary of state john kerry clearly not impressed with Dennis Rodmans basketball diplomacy in north korea last week. He said rodman was a great basketball player and as diplomat he was a great basketball player and thats where ill leave it. Bill yeah. Like Jesse Jackson with his oneman diplomacy. The first lady was spotted at a popular pizza joint meeting with a group of friends for about an hour. Took some time to say hi to others in the restaurant. One would assume she ate pizza, but she could have had a solid. Its not health food there. Bill no. And its right next door to good stuff, which is another favorite place of hers. I have seen here there at good stuff leaving there with her mother and the two girls. Yeah, she knows her way around capitol hill. Good place to eat as we know. Yes, indeed. I love this story, having gone out to san diego, and then las vegas, and back here last night. Experiencing tsa some of you might have seen i tweeted on friday when i went to san diego, there was three long lines at dellas to get checked in for the flights. The first line where you show your pass port or whatever, and there were three lines, and one tsa agent. The sequester has arrived. But tsa we know what a pain in the ass it is to fly these days when you get to the Security Check point because of course you have to take out if you fly enough you know the rules by now. And the worst thing you can do is get behind somebody who has never flown before, or doesnt fly often, but even with experienced fliers and i am one, it is a royal pain in the ass. You have to take out your laptop, take off your belt take your jacket off, take off your shoes, you cant have any liquids or gels over three or four ounces whatever it is. And of course you cant have a gun. You cant have a pen knife. You cant have a pair of scissors. I used to take a pair of scissors, because i used to love to clip articles from newspapers, not anymore. You can buy bottled water on the other side but you cant take it through security nor sodas. Yesterday when i was checking in in las vegas, there were through two tsa agents who were giving this woman and her baby she had her baby in her arms a Royal Treatment because she had bottles of baby formula. I didnt follow the whole thing, but it was obviously stuff for the baby. Its such a pain. Well, tsa now has relaxed the rules a little bit. They have said that you can bring on pen knives. Here is what is now aloud get this to carry on the plain with you pen knives as long as the blade doesnt lock and as long as they are not any longer than 2. 5 inches. All right. Bill all right. You can also bring in toy bats like whiffle bats as long as they are less than 24inches long. Okay. Bill you can bring in i love this. Billiard cues. Why would anybody fly with a billiard cue. You can bring in ski poles on the aircraft with you. Hockey sticks and lacrosse sticks. Those babys are long right . Yeah. Bill they are. And you can bring two golf clubs. Not the whole set two golf clubs because they could obviously fit the sticks in the overhead. You must be really good at golf if you only need two golf clubs. Bill maybe you have one special yeah, your driver or your putter. Bill earlier they let you bring in fingernail clippers a year or so ago. So you would think maybe some people would say, oh goody i can bring my lacrosse stick on now. The flight attendants are not happy tsa says we dont need a ban on those little knives anymore, because the cockpit doors are secure because you cant cut the pilots throat but of course you can still cut the flight attendants throat or anybody else on the plane. Bill yeah. So here is the head of the flight attendants association. We dont want to get into the business of reintroducing weapons or letting more weapons on board. Its ridiculous were going backward with weapons on aircrafts, and to allow knives on airplanes doesnt make any sense. To take a step back in time and reintroduce weapons on aircrafts makes zero since. Bill i think they could find other ways of relaxing things. For example, the bottled water, which is nuts. Come on, what are you going to do with that, right . Or a diet coke. Yeah, exactly. Bill yeah recognizable brands. So i can bring a knife on or the family with the brat behind me can bring a whiffle bat on but i cant bring toothpaste on an airplane bill as long as its little yeah. They havent really thought this threw. Bill i dont think they have either. But i got tell you so when i was in vegas one of the guys at the conference was from switzerland and he had brought a friend a present and he had this box, and it was a box of swiss army knives. Okay. Bill there were like six of them, and i looked and i said oh, my god, how the hell did you get that on the plane . They were candy bars. But you think a Swiss Army Knife you still cant get that on because the blade is too big. Im not sure what this does and taking your shoes off . Nonsense. Yeah, lets tackle some of that stuff before we get people bring hockey sticks, golf clubs and knives on this the plane. Bill yeah, what do you think . Tsa got it right or wrong . 86655press. Announcer this is the bill press show. 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. 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 this is the bill press show, live on your radio and current tv. Bill here we go. Twentysix minutes after the hour from Storm Central here. What did they call it where we used to work, peter . Oh, the oh geez. Im forgetting. The snow stern or the storm center. Bill all right. Well call it the storm center here in washington, d. C. Feel sorry for us because we have had maybe a half of an inch of snow. Maybe. Maybe. It doesnt take much to shut down this government or this city indeed. And tsa, they say they are making it easier arent you glad now you can bring your lacrosse sticks on the plane. And pen knives as long as they are this long. Were on twitter at which time bpshow. Phil says anyone who brings a hockey stick on to a plane should be beaten with it. It is a bigass stick. Bill yeah, and somebody comes along and they want to put their bag up there. Yeah. And greenwood says maybe they wont let you bring your water bottle on, bill because we know what you keep in your water bottle. Bill so what if my water bottle is full of gin . [ laughter ] bill sacaria out in chicago, what do you think of this . Caller its quite absurd and what i have read in regards to the issue basically they are saying is the closer you are to the cockpit doors the safer you are. We have been through so much in regards to rebuilding basically the mental security of being safe enough to actually fly since 9 11, and to aweapons what message is that putting out there . Bill yeah, and you know who the people are that are close to that secure cockpit door . Right . The people flying first class. [ laughter ] bill so once again the wealthy are taken care of. Announcer this is the bill press show. To the fire. Are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night . Is this personal or is it political . A lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. Staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. Not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. But we do care about them, right . Vo the war room tonight at 6 eastern announcer chatting with you live at current. Com billpress. This is the bill press show, live on your radio, and current tv. Bill all right. Were talking about the pretty significant new changes by tsa and what they will allow you to bring on a plane. I think they made changes where it doesnt make any sense, and they didnt make changes where they shouldnt by allowing you to leave your shoes on. Our first topic this morning, 86655press is the toll free number of course. Back to your calls and comments. We have been talking to you first, though about Identity Theft and how its not just strangers but some members of your family. A woman has been charged with identity left the and she admitted she used her exhusbands name and Social Security number to apply for a new phone line. You have to be protected like i am with lifelock protection. It even includes monitoring your Bank Accounts but it cant protect you or your bank account if you are not a member. Call now and you can get 60 free days. If you are not happy call lifelock within 60 days and you will get a full refund. Call them now at 18003565967. The other thing that i find kind of silly about tsa is they now have this new policy that you youre subject to all this your shoes right. You have to take your shoes off unless you 75 years or older. Now what does that do they think that so figure out when that person would have been born, right . 1935 or whatever. Yeah. Bill does that mean that anybody there are no terrorists who were born before then. Why that particular year . And dont you think the terrorists could figure that out. Thats the thing, you are right. My whole problem with this its not that hard to figure out a way around these types of things. If we announce that thats what our policy is then fine. Terrorists will figure out how to get around that. Rippa says why did it take so long to realize that alqaeda hates hockey and lacrosse . Bill i must say in tsas defense, i have never seen an alqaeda hockey team. Good point. We should give tsa credit for that. Bill or lacrosse. Bobby says this is incredibly stupid, what is next, no pants but you can bring a gun . Find out bpshow. Bill there was that naked airline oh, god, i have pushed that out of my mind. Bill heater is calling from Stone Mountain georgia. Good morning. Caller good morning. Hey, i think if knives which have certain length i think they said two inches long and half inch wide should be allowed on board, shouldnt box cutters . Bill well they say box cutters are smaller than that right . That they are sharper, and a pen knife isnt that sharp. So you couldnt as easily cut someones throat with a pen knife. Caller the flight attendants better go ahead and get some higher Life Insurance policies. Bill yeah, the flight attend attendants are not happy, because tsa is saying we protect the pilots, the flight at ten at attendants you are on your own, babe. Yeah, a pen knife is not as sharp as box cutter but you can sharpen it, and number 2 it is sharp enough to kill. Bill a pen knife . Sure. Lets just arm the flight attendants. Thats the nras answer. The only way to stop a bad guy a box cutter is to arm a good guy with a box cutter. Bill good morning. Caller good morning. If im in a suit i still put my crocks on because you know bill they resy to take off, right . Caller you want to check these rubbers, here take them off. I am floored pen knifes are pen knives. I have to check myself because i have to take mine out. I use mine to clean my fingernails. I dont understand how they can go from being so absurd of allowing one little item, and not make it easier to as dress the issue of getting through the gates. Bill i dont either. Hey, stewart always good to hear from you. Stewart if you are sitting next to me on the airplane dont pull out your pin knife to clean your fingernails. Bill yeah, i think he means he just keeps one with him. Outto the mile high city mark how are you . Caller good morning. I take a marshall art called ascreama, its a filipino marshall art that deals with knife fighting. Bill mark you are banned from flying period. You stay off any airplane im on. Caller yeah and theres a Company Called spiderco and they make thumb blades that are as long as your thumb, and they are razor sharp. Bill what is the purpose of this knifefighting drill that you are doing . Caller bell, to be able to defend yourself from someone that has a knife. Bill isnt without the knife oh thats the idea behind them, but you dont have a weapon in your hand, right . Caller correct, but it becomes much more difficult to defend yourself if you have no knife and the other gentlemen does. First rule of knife fighting is have a knife. Bill yeah, guess so. I know at the risk of boring you all with my stories of troubles of life, a funny story about taking my golf clubs once to a national airport. Okay . So i knew that i didnt have time to check a bag, and i had my clubs but this was i was going so i figured i would check them at the gate. So i went right to tsa, to security, and they said, oh no, no, no. You have to check those upstairs, and i said i dont have time. They said you have to check them in upstairs. I went back up stairs to check them. And they said you dont have enough time to get them on your flight. So im carrying this is not just two clubs, i have my whole damn set of clubs. Had them in the bag and everything. I went back downstairs and they said you have to take them back up stairs and i said no no no. They said bring them down here. So she said you cant. And i said this is what they told me. Somebody else comes over. I said i need to speak to your supervisor. The supervisor comes over and looks at them and they said he wants to take these golf clubs through. And the supervisor looks, and i explained i had taken them upstairs, da, da, da so finally the supervisor says all right take them threw, so i start through, right. And the other people are looking at the supervisor saying wtf, and the supervisor says dont worry, hell never be able to get them under the seat in front of him. That was his logic. Oh, man. Bill so they just you know. Its certainly not a science how they run that whole thing. Bill no, and i think its safe to say, painting with a brood brush, i understand they are not the smartest people in the world that get the jobs at tsa at the airport. Im going to go buy a pen knife. Thats what im going to buy. Test the system. All right, Eliot Spitzer when we come back. Announcer heard around the country, and seen on current tv this is the bill press show. So i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. laughter . Watch the show. Only on current tv. [ rosa ] im rosa and i quit smoking with chantix. 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Use caution when driving or operating machinery. Common side effects include nausea trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. It helps to have people around you. They say youre much bigger than this. And you are. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. 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 heard around the country, and seen on current tv, this is the bill press show. Bill hey, let it snow let it snow let it snow. Thirteen minutes before the top of the hour. The big snow storm may have shut down the federal government but it hasnt shut down the full court press, and it hasnt shut down Eliot Spitzer. Hey, eliot good morning. Good morning as always, great to chat with you. Bill what is the weather situation in new york. Is it snowing there . I dont know because im in new orleans, i will confess. Bill oh, all right. Not a lot of snow there, i would imagine. It is gorgeous 70plus degrees yesterday. I ran along the river in a tshirt and shorts yesterday, it is gorgeous bill all right. I was in las vegas, so back at ya. It was shorts and tshirts during the day. The dow closing at 14,254, an alltime record. What does it mean . Not a whole lot. Im down here to i was invited by James Carville to join him in his class so we were talking about this. It is great news for everybody that holds equity but the problem that we all understand right now in our economy is that those that control capitol are doing extraordinarily well workers who are being paid by the hour are still in the throws of the recession, and that bifercation in the economy is the biggest hurdle we have to overcome, both from the perspective of our political future as democrats and the future of the middle class. Bill yeah, the atlantic reporting this morning, while the dow at record high there are still fewer working americans today than there were at the start of the great recession. Thats exactly. As the productivity of workers has increased over the last 30 years, virtually all of the increased output the wealth created has gone to folks at the top 1 or 2 because of technology, and changes in our legal system that have made it harder for workers to organize and negotiate collectively all of those things have combined and coalesced. It is a great thing the dow is doing well. Profits are up. But what were not doing effectively is distributing that gain across society, and we have to think about that. Its distribution issue that is deeply important us to. Bill its also interesting to remember how many people particularly on wall street predicted if president obama were reelected the dow would just dive and only by electing mitt romney could you save you and i have scratched her heads since the beginning saying why doesnt wall street love president obama . So put that aside, we know theres some deep idealogical divides on that. Bill again being in las vegas on a work trip there, i wasnt following things as closely as i normally do but the swiss people just voted 63 approved a referendum to limit corporate compensation corporate salaries. It is kind of remarkable. They limit the bonuses to essentially the salary you cant have bonuses i maybe be a little off on the details, but you cant have a bonus that is seven or eight times the salary and this is switzerland which has been the most hospitable to the packages. There was a package that was going to pay a man 78 million merely so he would not share what the company knew with the companys competitors. And it is like wait he has fiduciary duty to do that anyway. Bill if we have such a thing like that in this country, it would pass too, dont you think . Absolutely. Bill the sequester is maybe just five days old. How long do you think before it really kicks in in the sense that people say holy mackerel what are we doing to ourselves . Im not sure it ever does. Politically i think thats why the white house has put itself in bathe of a corn because this is the slow pain that builds up so slowly that you never know where it is coming from. It may not be that the public ever wakes up and says this is a disaster. Bill you have Little Things like they have shut down all white house tours. That will impact a lot of people but its not enough to get people out in the streets. There are a lot of people who are saying im not feeling any pain, they are cutting some excess, im for it. The president tried ahead of time to paint that picture that i dont think the public feels or sees right now, so theres a little bit of a credibility gap right now between the claims of pain and what accurated. Bill what i hear is 85 billion, fine. Yeah, and that math isnt terribly wrong, theres no organization in the world where you cant cut a few percentage points, the real problem is were cutting it in the wrong places. Bill exactly. Thats an argument that is hard to communicate sometimes. Bill its certainly going to take time to play out. Oh, yeah. Bill it certainly was not an immediate impact. While you are in new orleans, hang out, great food great fun. Well, for better or worse, im flying back to new york this morning. Bill oh, damn. Thank you eliot. All right. Eliot spitzer former host here of the war room no of viewpoint. Right here on current tv and a good friend. Announcer this is the bill press show. Also available scalpicin® 2 in 1, itch relief plus dandruff control. Irene, drop the itch. We dropped the itch, you can too. With maximum strength scalpicin®. Its not a shampoo so you can stop intense itch fast wherever you are. I dropped the itch. Free yourself from embarrassing scalp itch. Drop the itch with maximum strength scalpicin®. Also available scalpicin® 2 in 1, itch relief plus dandruff control. 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 anytime, this is the bill press show, live on your radio and current tv. Bill all right. A lot of you up sweat tsa, but some of you upset robert says shouldnt you have a card to show rather than be subjected to body searches. But ray beth says you guys are unbelievable and completely typical of leftwing idiots. The reason both bottled water and sodas are planned is because of the threat of liquid explosives. Yeah, bill. Bill jesus, ray best is as dumb as those tsa agents you show me one bomb ever made of a diet cocacola. Okay. Or spring water. Announcer this is the bill press show. [ theme music ] bill hey, good morning, everybody, friends and neighbors all across this great land of ours welcome to the full court press this wednesday morning on current tv. Good to see you today, and this is current tv. We are experiencing i guess maybe a half of an inch of snow and it has shut the entire city down. The federal government is closed today. The United States congress is closed today. The smithsonian museums are closed today. The city of washington, d. C. Governments, closed today. Schools are all closed today as well. The only people working today are your brave members of the full Court Press Team, all of us here on duty. And were so well tell you what is going on today including one thing we have been talk about so far, tsa has changed the rules. Now are now allowed to bring pen knives, lacrosse sticks and two golf clubs on board a plane through security. Jeb bush is in a little hot water, he publiced a new book on monday. On tuesday he had to come out and repudiate his new book saying he no longer agrees with the book he just published. Not a great start to his campaign for president. And sequester is already hitting home. White house tours have been canceled. All of that and more coming up here on current tv. High. Cenk uygur i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. I think the audience gets that i actually mean it. Michael shure this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. Joy behar you can say anything here. Jerry springer i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar your mistake was writing a check Jerry Springer she never cashed it vo the days events. Four very unique points of view. Tonight starting at 6 eastern. Lobsterfest is the king of all promotions. Theres nothing like our grilled lobster and lobster tacos. The bar harbor bake is really worth trying. [ male announcer ] get more during red lobsters lobsterfest. With the years Largest Selection of mouthwatering lobster entrees. Like our delicious lobster lovers dream, featuring two kinds of lobster tails. Or our savory, new grilled Maine Lobster and lobster tacos. My favorite entree is the lobster lovers dream. Whats yours . Come celebrate lobsterfest and sea food differently. [ male announcer ] visit redlobster. Com now for an exclusive 10 coupon on two lobsterfest entrees. 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. [ theme music ] announcer brood costing across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the bill press show. Bill and the dow ended yesterday at a record high. Obamanomics is work. What do you say . Hello, everybody, great to see you today. It is wednesday, wednesday march 6th, and this is the full court press. Were booming out to you all across this great land of ours from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d. C. Coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station, and on current tv. We have a lot to cover, well bring you up to date on the latest here in our nations capitol, snow central, also what is happening around the country and around the globe. And here is what is unique about this program, as far as anything else, is you get to cooperate to [ laughter ] yes, you can cooperate. You get to participate is the word i was looking for. They better cooperate. Bill i have an excuse right . We all had tough compute muting today. Bill right. I arrived at dwi 1 00, got up at home at 2 00 and got up at 4 00. Luckily you were traveling from a place where you got a lot of rest and relaxation. Bill yeah. I can smell the casino still on you bill. Bill what i was saying is you get to participate. Give us a cal at 86655press. Or send out a tweet or join us on facebook at facebook billpressshow. Well have Alexandra Jaffy from the hill. A great publication. Alex thanks for coming in. Thanks for having me. She braved the storm of the century. There is nothing out there. Dont ruin it. This is theater of the mind. Peter ogburn and dan henning, phil on the phones and siprion bolling. Peter you have the longest commute . Siprion and i are about the same. All roads are clear this morning. Nothing is sticking. Bill but they shut down the government in anticipation of that. It may change. Another big event late yesterday afternoon we got the news that hugo chavez after three, i think, different serious cancer operations in cuba finally succumbed to cancer at the age of 58. There was one something about him i always liked in the sense he was sort of a revolutionary and for the pour people of venz venz venz way la, but he was antiUnited States. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here. Its the best. Thats fantastic. Yeah, thats great. Love that. Bill yeah, didnt exactly endear himself to the american people. Washington still kind of smells like sulfur even though george bush left like five years ago. Bill well always take your calls, and well be talk about the big showing of the dow yesterday, and what that means for our economic recovery. Its not necessarily all good news for all americans, and well be talking about medicaid and the fact that more and more republican governors say you know what, in obamacare aint all that bad. How about it . But first overhead lines making news on this tuesday. Fox sports announced yesterday it has plans to try to take down espn as the nations tv sports leader. They will have a new 24hour sports channel called sports one. They will include a daily show hosted by regis philbin. Usa today reports fox executives know the tax will not be easy but they hope to take espn off of its top ratings perch in just two to three years. Bill yeah. All i have to say is how is cnbc doing these days . Pretty good, right . Yeah. Bill fox business channel launched three or four years ago the whole thing they announced, they were going to kill cnbc. Nobody watches the fox business channel. And if you are going to be the number one name out there . You want to come at it with new fresh exciting ideas. Regis philbin aint it. The maker of budweiser has taken out fullpage ads all across the country fighting the claim it waters down its beer. The Company Donates cans of Drinking Water at the red cross and they maintain the alcohol content listed on its beer labels is absolutely correct. How do you water down a beer that is already pretty watered down. There is this Class Action Lawsuit sitting out there, and they say the claims are baseless. Well see. A Bipartisan Group of lawmakers has been pushing since 2004 for a posthummus pardon for johnson who was wrongfully convicted of violating the human act and that scattered his career. Johnson died back in 1946. Bill i dont know anything about that story, but if john mccain is for it, im against it. [ laughter ] bill alex good to see you. Thanks for coming in. Thank you. Bill were gearing up of course for 2014 and 2013, some important governors races this year. The senate races are all next year, right . Exactly. It is a little bit far away but they are already thinking about them. Bill they have been thinking about them for sometime, and raising money, and some that we hear most about i guess number one kentucky, because Mitch Mcconnell is up he is in cycle, and he is afraid of a challenge in the primary, correct . A challenge from both sides. And there is evidence there is already a challenger that is emerging. We talk a lot about ashley judd and of course from kind of the right the tea party is considering fronting a guy named matt blevend who is a bell manufacturer. [ bell chimes ] there it is. Exactly. They make bicycle and cow bells, but he would be a self funner and you need to be able to raise that kind of money to go up against mcconnell. Bill i havent heard a cow bell forever. I heard them in switzerland, but not here. What do they use them for in switzerland . Their cows. Bill yeah, you hear them all the time. That sounds lovely. I saw a Bumper Sticker and it says i got a fever and the prescription is more cow bells. Ill let him know. Bill obviously the more senior republican senator are worried, but ben hasnt announced yet . He hasnt announced. He is currently abroad working on some sort of humanitarian project, he sent an email saying i am interested but i havent decided yet. Bill thats important one to watch. Ashley judd she is certainly flirting with it, right . Absolutely. Bill but she doesnt even live in the state. She grew up in kentucky and made a big effort to talk about kentucky as much as possible. She was in d. C. And made a speech and she was very aware of our presence to say the least. She called us the elephant in the room. Bill oh. Yeah. Bill and what did you think . Does she look like she would be a good candidate . She is very charismatic. As any celebrity is. She is very good one on one. She was great with the crowd, but there are still issues. There has been a lot of Opposition Research popping up about her. She has issues with coal miners in kentucky, and she is very liberal. She stumped for president obama who lost that state by double digits, so and dont forget as the daily caller reported she showed her boobs in movies a couple of times you said it not me. Bill but the idea that they are already going out and trying to knock her down means they seem to be afraid of an ashley judd celebrity candidacy, right . It could mean that it could mean that they want her to think they are taking her seriously, because they think they have the best shot against a candidate like her. Bill there is no other big name thinking about running there . Yeah. The secretary of state is considering it, but the impression i get if ashley judd is willing to take that bullet, nobody else wants to at this point. Bill lets talk new jersey Frank Lautenberg retiring and cory booker announced even before Frank Lautenberg decided to retire, right . Yeah, he ruffled some feathers. Bill is this a republican seat . Any candidates they did front would have to be a self funder and have a deep well of fundraising opportunities, because in new jersey there arent that many fund raisers. Bill and christie is definitely not going to run, right . Exactly. Bill so do the republicans even have a candidate at this point . Not at this point. Right now they are focusing on the gubernatorial race. Bill we had the people in from emilys list yesterday. They are very, very excited about barbara. They are. Bill and they really think that the poll numbers for christie will start to go down but they also recognize that it is an uphill battle for sure. And then there is massachusetts. Massachusetts on the for the john kerry seat, right . It looks like a democrat will take that seat the question is which democrat. But before we get that to the republicans have a candidate there . They have three actually. Bill is anyone a real candidate . Well, when scott brown came on the scene, he came out of nowhere speaking about elected officials who got naked in public. Exactly. Theres three. Theres local businessman gabriel gomez, who has a lot of romney staffers on his team. So he is seen as a front runner right now. Despite the fact that he has romney staffers working for him. That could be an advantage or disadvantage. Bill and ed marquee, he has picked up a lot of endorsements. A lot of endorsements. Kerry himself endorsed him. And he has more money thanking steven lynch and he is more liberal. The only thing that lynch is really banking on is union support, labor support. And there were a couple of unions that decided against endorsing, so at this point it really depends on how they fight it out at the base. Bill yeah its a big tradition. And Elizabeth Warren is now the senior senator from massachusetts, which we love. Right. Bill if you are from one of those key states or some of the other senate races, we welcome your comments 86655press full court press here on a wednesday morning, march 6th. Announcer this is the bill press show, live on your radio, and current tv. 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. We have a big big hour and the 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. Announcer this is the full court press, the bill press show, live on your radio, and on current tv. Bill in the next segment well get back to the economy, taking a look at the record high of the dow yesterday, and what it means, and why theres still so much unemployment in this nation when corporations and corporate profits are so high. Right now were talking politics particularly the u. S. Senate, and some Important Senate races that are up in 2014 with the control of the United States senate, and in many ways president obamas second term agenda on the line. Alex jaffy covers the senate for the hill, in studio with us alex again, welcome. Next cycle, 2014, how many total senate seats are up . 23. Bill democrats again like they did in 2012 have more seats to defend. Exactly. And there are a few more democrats in red states that obama lost last election cycle, so they have to play a lot more defense than last time but at the same point, last cycle people were kind of predicting the demise of the Democratic Party in the senate. Bill exactly. The common wisdom in washington, d. C. Last time was that republicans can pick up senate seats. These are people who usually get things right. Right. Bill it looked like republicans had an excellent chance of holding on to the senate, and i mean regaining control of the senate. But the democrats picked up five seats, right . I think they picked up four . Bill four or five. So are the republicans likely to get the senate this time in 2014 . No one is predicting anything now, because of how it was flipped on his head at the end of last cycle, but it looks better for them than the democrats. Bill well we didnt get to talk to some of the other important states, so youll have to come back. Thanks, alex. Announcer this is the bill press show. Criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. Are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night . Is this personal or is it political . A lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. Staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. Not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. But we do care about them, right . Vo the war room tonight at 6 eastern announcer chatting with you live at current. Com billpress this is the bill press show, live on your radio, and current tv. Bill here we go, thirtythree minutes after the hour, it is wednesday march 6th, this is the full court press. You got us on your local progressive talk radio station, and you have got us on current tv, and i know you are all feeling sorry for us and you probably tuned in just to see what we look like in our parkas and big snow boots and everything this morning. But you know what its okay. Were going to be okay. We all made it to work this morning here in washington, d. C. Its raining more than snowing, and some of the outlying areas around washington may have a little bit of snow, but here in the heart of washington, d. C. Nothing nothing is sticking, streets are clear, sidewalks are clear, however the federal government is closed, City Governments are closed congress is going home is shut down, the smithsonians are all shut down including the zoo, what else . Nothing is working, except us right . To be fair even if it doesnt snow, it is still raining out, and i wouldnt want to go to the zoo in this weather anyway. Bill and god forbid that federal employees would have to to bring some people in from chicago and say here is how you handle snow. Chicago is booming. Its at work. I cant tell you how many pictures and comments i have seen on twitter this morning of people just taking a picture of streets and sidewalks with no snow on them and sort of saying this is how d. C. Handles show we cancel everything for no weather. Bill but the show goes on. We have Matt Phillips from quarter quartz. Identify theft even when somebody is behind bars you think they cant get to your id not to fast. An ohio woman was sentenced to 24 months in prison, because she helped a county jail prisoner to access ids behind bars. Lifelock cant protect you or your bank account, of course if you are not a member. Call now and mention press 60 and get 60 free days of ultimate lifelock protection. See lifelock. Com for details and then give them a call 1803565967, that number again, 18003565967. Yes, on the political front, two or three stories we want to bring you up to date with. First of all we have told you about cpac coming up this month. They have their big rightwing carnival here in washington, d. C. , where they feature the leading conservative candidates across the nation. We found it very funny that they invited sarah palin to be their keynote speaker. They have also invited mitt romney. So were going to start calling this, i think, the losers convention, and speaking of losers, the latest person they have invited peter is none other than donald trump. Bill there he is donald trump. The best and brightest of the gop. Bill the guy with a fox on his head. Again, convention of losers. The one republican who could win something the one republican who is not invited to cpac is Chris Christie the governor of new jersey. This just shows you how out of touch basically cpac and the tea party are one in the same right now, right . So there you go. Who in their right mind will look at and im talking about conservatives will look at Chris Christie and donald trump side by side and say if i had to pick one of those two men to address the future of the Republican Party, and to represent the Republican Party on the national stage, im going to pick donald trump. Who does that . Bill yeah. The idea that they still give trump any credibility or exposure god knows he will go out and get himself enough publicity, but for anybody connected with the party to give donald trump publicity is idiotic. And jeb bush is in a little bit of hot water of his own making for sure. He you know, hes hes considered now this is his turn. He is 60 years old. Everybody said he is the smartest of the bushes and he should have been the one who ran for president and elected president , but we got the wrong we picked the wrong puppy out of the litter and got the little brother, but now jeb people are saying it is his turn, and he certainly wants to run. And remember he speaks spanish fluently, so it is considered that he would be great on immigration, right . Particularly. So he has written a new book. And the book came out on monday. Yesterday he went on television and repudiated everything he said in his book that was published on month because in his book he says that if you are here illegally if you came here illegally, it doesnt matter how long you have lived here, you have to go back to mexico and start the process from mexico no matter how many years it takes you. Thats what he sayses in his book. Now we know after republicans lost the latino vote 7127 oops. Bill to barack obama republicans are now coming around and saying no, no no now we are for Immigration Reform, and we all agree maybe the details havent been worked out, but for all of those 12 Million People that are here illegally, we have to have a path to citizenship for them. And once this bill passes they will be in sort of a circle of immunity. Then they have to pay back taxes, pay a fee, learn english but they dont have to go back to mexico for sure. So now jeb bush comes out and says i was wrong on that book. He just published the damn thing. And what is his excuse . He essentially says he is a victim of bad timing, that this book was written before the election, and he hadnt learned the lessons of the election of 2012 where we saw the gop lost a huge number of latinos, hes going oh crap. Thats when the book had been written bill first of all that was the wrong position even before the election. Yeah right. Bill but the other the point is i dont buy that argument, and ill tell you why, because his brother, george w. Bush had a damn good Immigration Reform plan, which included the same thing that president obama is asking for today in terms of how to handle those 11 or 12 Million People who are here illegally. And i would be willing to bet that jeb bush endorsed his brothers plan whenever it was at it or ten years ago. I bet you are right. Bill so jeb bush looks a little silly here, i think. Yeah, he really does. So much for leadership. Bill and the other republican well take a break and come back and talk about the other big political issue, which is bob menendez so did he or didnt he take advantage of the opportunity down in where was it . In the Dominican Republic. Bill yes, to use the services of prostitutes there. The daily caller says he did. The Washington Post says he didnt. Its a big battle between the media giants near washington, d. C. Its the full court press here on wednesday morning, march 6th 17 minutes now before the top of the hour. Well be right back. Announcer on your radio, and on current tv this is the bill press show. vo no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. Youre invited to take the lysol wipes challenge. Try lysol dual action wipes and see the cleaning power. Lysol dual action wipes have two sides instead of one. A scrubbing side that cleans tough stains better than clorox. And a smooth side for everyday touchups. All while killing 99. 9 of germs. Now you can take the lysol wipes challenge for free. Check for coupons in this sundays paper. [ male announcer ] to many men, shaving can be a sensitive issue. But take comfort. It may not be you; it may be your razor. Upgrade to gillette fusion proglide. Our microthin blades are thinner than a surgeons scalpel to put less stress on your skin by gliding through hair. Switch to fusion proglide. Number one dermatologist recommended on sensitive skin. And now introducing new fusion proglide sensitive shave gel. Gillette. The best a man can get. Current tv, its been all bill shares his views, now its your turn. I know youre going to want to weigh in on these issues. Connect with full court press with bill press at facebook. Com billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. I believe people are hungry for it. Announcer heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the bill press show. Bill fourteen minutes before the top of the hour here on the full court press on the big blizzard of 2013 hits washington, d. C. Yeah, big deal. So on the political front, bob menendez, news broke a couple of weeks ago now, that first of all he was supposedly having sex with underaged prostitutes down in the Dominican Republic and then just with prostitutes in general, and there was a video out about one men who said she serviced bob menendez took his picture, the whole thing. That was run by the daily caller. And there were allegations he was putting legislation in and doing favors to help a buddy of his, a doctor down in florida whos records have been seized by the fbi. So you have the financial hanky panky, and the prostitute hanky panky panky, but the Washington Post came out and said that the daily caller was wrong. Saying that this woman had been paid. Now the daily caller is saying you talked to the wrong prostitute. When the Washington Post reported that another lawyer in the Dominican Republic had paid this woman to come forward bill yeah, with a lie. With a lie. To fabricate this story, and basically given her a script to read because this report matthew boil had run with other various rumors he started the rumor that john boehner was going step down as speaker because there was a small throat his leadership, so he runs with these rumors and puts them out as fact. So it is possible. Bill so then the daily caller says no the Washington Post has the wrong prostitute. Because theirs was 23 years old, and ours was 22 years old. Has anybody else confirmed this story in any any other l. A. Times, new york post, anybody else confirmed this story . No. Bill the daily caller is the only one reporting it. Joey what is going on . Caller everybody used to go to the philippines to get their prostitutes, now they go down to the obama. Thats exactly what Rush Limbaugh does every time he goes down there. Its the new philippines, buddy. Bill how do you know caller thats why businessmen go down there, im telling you, bill. You should know this. Bill how the hell would i know it. [ laughter ] bill how do you know so much about this joey . Because my bosses go down there, they have a compound down there, and go party down there. They used to go to the philippines but now all of the businessmen go to the dominican. Im sure you know some shady people, bill. Bill i have never been to the Dominican Republic you have never been to the philippines bill nor have i been to the philippines. But the dr is now known as the place to go i guess. So they say. Bill right. Hey, before we get off the politics is fun, but i do we didnt get our guest Matt Phillips, maybe well talk to him tomorrow. But we got to comment on this dow. Because first of all it is good news to see the dow hit that alltime record yesterday. It is certainly good news if you own stocks, if you own equities if you have a little portfolio, then you are worth more today than you were yesterday. Its not good news in the sense that what that means is that people that own stocks and the corporations are making more money, holding on to more money, and they are still not investing that money or hiring. So as the atlantic points out this morning, despite the dow and corporate profits being at a high, there are still fewer working americans today than at the start of the great recession. For those at the very top things are going great. For those in the middle class, those who are still struggling those who lost their jobs are not going so great, and with the sequester, it is going to get even worse. The Congressional Budget Office again report, the sequester is going to cost 750,000 jobs. 750,000 people losing their jobs, and on top of that 800,000 people who are civilian employees of the Defense Department, they have already been notified these are middle class families these are people making 30, 35 40,000 a year, they have been notified they are going to have to take one day a week off. The wealthiest can absorb a 20 cut. If you are making 35,000 you cannot afford that but people are going to have to. The job situation is bad. Its going to get worse. Thats the dark under belly, if you will, of the fact that the dow hit an alltime record yesterday. Its a good news and bad news story. All right. Well be back and tell you what the president has on his schedule today or at least had on his schedule. Announcer this is the bill press show, live on your radio, and current tv. Look like new, longer. Viewpoint digs deep into the issues of the day. Has the time finally come for real Immigration Reform . With a distinctly satirical point of view. If you believe in states rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. Only on current tv. Announcer radio meets television, the bill press show, now on current tv. Bill all right. In the next hour well be talking about defense issues and how the sequester is hitting the Defense Department, and also talk about medicaid and republican governors around the country. On the president s schedule today, here is what is posted i dont think this is going to be changed so much because it is really not bad. A little correction i said earlier, the smithsonians are closed even though the medical government is shut down the smithsonians are open, but the zoo is closed. At 11 00 the Daily Briefing at 12 30 their weekly lunch, and then this afternoon they will meet with the new treasury secretary, jack lew. Jay carney has a briefing scheduled for 12 00 noon. And peter was event was canceled . Yeah, the president was going to welcome the Alabama Crimson Tide Football Team that has been canceled. Bill but theyll set a new date. They will reschedule. [ theme music ] bill hey good morning, friends and neighbors, it is wednesday, march 6th. Good morning, good morning, and welcome to the full court press here on current tv coming to you live all across this great land of ours from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d. C. It is snow central, at least its supposed to be this morning, but the storm has turned out to be more of a rain storm than anything else. However, you know we cant handle snow in our nations capitol, in anticipation the federal government has shut down, the City Government has shut down, all schools are closed, the smithsonians are open, but the zoo is closed. And congress is check out today. They will stay home as well. So there you go we just dont know how to handle the snow. Only the brave members of the full court press have come to work for you today. Were here to bring you up to date on the big stories of the day. Jeb bush publiced a book on month about Immigration Reform saying everybody had to go back to mexico to start the process legally. Jeb bush yesterday repudiated the book that he just published on monday. Not a good start to his 2016 campaign. All of that and more coming up right here on current tv. 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. [ male announcer ] its red lobsters lobsterfest our Largest Selection of lobster entrees like lobster lovers dream or new grilled lobster and lobster tacos. Come in now and sea food differently. Visit redlobster. Com now for an exclusive 10 coupon on two lobsterfest entrees. They think this world isnt big enough for the both of them. But we assure you it is. Bites. Little greatness. 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 broadcasting across the nation on your radio, and on current tv this is the bill press show. Bill 14,254 make that a new record for the dow. If you own stocks it was a good day yesterday. Not necessarily all across the economy, but still a good day. Good morning, everybody. What do you say . Good to see you this wednesday, march 6th, 2013, and this is the full court press. We are coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station. Were coming to you live on current tv bringing you up to date. About the dow, about the fact that there was a drone spotted near jfk airport, and nobody knows where the hell it came from, but it sort of got close to a plane, so the fbi is investigating. And john kerry continues his firstever mission as our new secretary of state. Lots to talk about this morning, including the big though storm here in washington, d. C. , not. As it turns out. Well give you a chance to comment by giving us at call at 86655press, or by joining us on twitter bpshow or on facebook at facebook billpressshow. The whole full Court Press Team made it in through the snow this morning. Yeah, a rough couple of hours. Bill peter ogburn, dan henning, good morning. Phil becker on the phone, siprion bolling on the video. We have no more snow outside on the ground now than we did when we first came in this morning. Bill so the sidewalks and streets are still clear. Still clear. Its still moving into the area. I think dan were going to start calling him a snow birther. No, it is going to get hectic. We dont get a foot of snow like they were freaking out about yesterday. In lobbies all across the region, people are falling over and slipping. We nearly lost tim. Yeah, i nearly wiped out in your lobby. I almost dropped my coffee. I had to do a gymnastics flip. Lawsuit. Exactly. Bill tim mak in studio with us as our guest. And last night it got at little heated on fox news. Bill oreilly invited allan combs used to be a partner with sean hannity, but they keep him around fox news so they can beat up on him. But bill oreilly yesterday. Hold it. Because im getting teed off at you. Give me one damn program he has cut he has cut entitlements why do you want to yell at me because you are lying. Dont call me a liar you dont like what the president is doing but dont sit there and call me a liar. I am. Thats not necessary. You are lying. Aim not lying. There is difference between having a disagreement and calling me a liar. Bill why doesnt alan combs just quit that job. He was like a pinata. Bill yeah. What a horses ass bill oreilly is. I got to tell you, right, cross fire, six years . No. Did you ever scream at anybody . Bill i never called bob novak a liar. It is outrageous. Roger ailes puts up with that . They think thats good tv . I dont think it is. Ten minutes after the hour now. So well talk sequester and the Defense Department sequester and the government. Somebody decided hey, you know what this obamacare aint so mad. But first announcer this is the full court press. Overhead lines making news jon stewart is taking an extended leave of absence from the daily show this summer. He is going to direct his first movie. He will are direct rose water. This movie obviously will not be a comedy and john oliver the british comedian and contributor to the show will fill in for stewart on the daily show for those three to four months. Bill i wouldnt dare take a three to four month break from this show. There would be no show when i came back. Its a weird move but you know bill pretty ballsy move on his part. For the First Time Since 9 11 you will soon be able to bring pocketknives on board again, along with golf clubs, hockey sticks and other similar objects that have been banned until now. Tsa hopes to speed up the security process in doing so saying these small objects are no threat to airplane operations because of the reinforcement cockpit doors. Bill im so glad ill be able to bring my lacrosse sticks on board now. Its a pain in the ass that you have to check them and everything. An american bill just let me keep my shoes on. Yeah. The limits on liquids remain firmly in place yeah i still cant bring toothpaste on but they can bring hockey sticks on to the airplanes. And blades. And americans have less trust in athletes now bill but they protected the pilots behind closed doors. The flight attendants you know fair game i guess. Americans have less trust in athletes now than ever before. Bill oh, duh. A new poll finds that 42 of americans believe athletes are good roll models for children. Back in 1982, 72 thought athletes were good role models. Bill what it is today . 42 , down from 75 30 years ago. Bill thank you lance armstrong. Yeah. Bill thats a long list. Yeah, there are a lot of people you can put on that list. Bill absolutely. So tim mak, before we get to the sequester, yesterday a big move in the National Security area that president obama got another at least one of his nominees got another big vote yesterday, right, with john brennan. Yes the president s choice for cia director got a vote out of the committee 53. That will move to the senate floor this week, and harry reid has said he wants this off the plate by the end of the week. Bill looks like no doubt he will be con officialed right . It looks that way. Its very difficult to mount the 41 votes that you would need on the republican side in order to to stage a filibuster or delay the nomination. If you have such strong bipartisan support coming out of the committee. Bill what happened to the big battle over drones. Several said they were going to hold up this information until they got all of the information they needed about drones. Right. Its pertinent given the story you mentioned earlier about drones over american skies bill yeah. There are two major questions. One question is drones be used on american soil to target american citizens. Bill on that point eric holder yesterday in the letter said yes indeed under emergency circumstances, right . Not something we would do every day, but that it would be perfectly legal for the United States government to use a drone to kill an american citizen on american soil. Right. Bill thats a big deal. Its a huge admission, and its a very important admission to rand paul who has been pounding this issue for a very long time. The chair woman, Dianne Feinstein was saying these kinds of circumstances we can only imagine in the context of a severe terrorest attack that if a drone strike were to be used it would be used in a 9 11 kind of scenario and thats the kind of circumstance in which bill it is still pretty scary stuff, but in any event, all of that dronerelated opposition to brennan doesnt seem to have materialized. Well, just hours before the vote, Dianne Feinstein announced that she had made an arrangement with the white house for the white house to bring in these legal memos. So the white house brought in these memos. Didnt allow them to take any notes and then took them away. Billion oh, really . So members got to take a look at the legal briefing that formed the backbone bill and reporters didnt get to see them. We were not even allowed near the room. Staff members werent even allowed to take notes. Bill all right. So brennan is going to get confirmed. Chuck hagel was confirmed by a much more narrow margin than will be for john brennan. Hagel has now taken his place over at the pentagon. How has he been received over there . I think the question is whether senator will be able to mend fences with chuck hagel. Because chuck hagel will have an influential say if there is another round of base closures i mean almost every Single Member of congress has some sort of hand in the defense industry. Bill sure. And now they are going to have to come to him. Now they are going to have to ask him for help and so a lot of the senators who bugged him or tried to delay his confirmation hearing are going to be trying to making amends now. Bill is is he accepted at the pentagon do people like him as a new leader. He has been there for such a short amount of time its hard to say. He has never been in charge of a bureaucracy that large. So he will have to settle in. Bill and now with the sequester, its only five days old, have we seen already any impacts at the pentagon . They canceled white house tours, right . And tsa changes, you know, fewer and fewer guard at the border but what about at the pentagon . Even before the sequester was triggered they already put into motion things to try to cut costs, because they knew it would be so disproportionately on defense. So they have been reducing Pilot Training hours reducing special deployments in the future so there is a real effect on combat readiness. Not today, probably, but maybe a few months down the line. Bill the training they are cutting back on training for people who are headed for afghanistan, right . Which means that some of the people who are in afghanistan are not going to be able to get redeployed as fast, right . If that training slows down . One of the things that is so absurd about sequestration, is that in many ways it would actually increase costs. If you cancel the contract to build a ship you will end up paying more than you would if you just bought the ship. When it comes to training pilots, their training lapses and they have to be trained all over again at greater expense. Bill the pentagon predicted head of the sequestration if it kicked in 800,000 civilian employs would be furloughed. Has that snapped it hasnt happened yet, but it is certainly expected. A lot of people are taking a look at their personal finances if you are a pentagon civilian employee, you are going to be looking at your personal finances and be very, very concerned. There is a great quote about a pentagon levelian employee saying this is the end of fun for me. Bill yeah these people are probably taking 25 30,000 a year, and thats a big bite out of their pay. Yeah. Bill no one fun. Always fun with tim mak here. Your calls are welcome at 86655press. Well be right back on todays full court press announcer this is the bill press show. 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. [ male announcer ] shaving can be a sensitive issue. Upgrade to gillette fusion proglide. Our microthin blades are thinner than a surgeons scalpel to put less stress on your skin by gliding through hair. Fusion proglide from gillette. The best a man can get. Break the ice with breathfreshening cooling crystals. Ice breakers. John fugelsang if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. Cenk uygur i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. I think the audience gets that i actually mean it. Michael shure this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. Joy behar you can say anything here. Jerry springer i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar your mistake was writing a check Jerry Springer she never cashed it vo the days events. Four very unique points of view. Tonight starting at 6 eastern. Announcer radio meets television, the bill press show, now on current tv. Bill twentysix minutes after the hour. Tim mak is in studio with us you can follow his work at politico. Com politico. Com. Peter you had a quick yeah we were talking earlier about jeb bush who put out his book on immigration. For years and years jeb bush said we need a path to citizenship. His new book contradicts the old jeb bush where he was saying they need to go back to their country of origin and start the process legally. And he is making the rounds kind of saying well, i didnt exactly mean that in my book because the book was written before the election of 2012 that saw the latinos flee the Republican Party, so he is saying he is basically a victim of bad timing however, dan says jeb bush is just suffering from romneshia. Bill yeah, indeed. Tim back to the pentagon for a second. I read one other impact the Harry S Truman was headed for the persian gulf i believe, and still in still in dock. Bill right. This is a huge development, actually because its an Aircraft Carrier, and usually in the persian gulf, the u. S. Maintains two Aircraft Carrier groups. And were talking about a strike force that supports a number of ships. And were looking at a symbol of american power. You cant look further than to say the aircraft is the ability for the United States to send humanitarian aid send strike targets overseas, and it is stuck in the persian gulf. Bill so were already seeing a lesson in military readiness, right . I think that is arguable. Usually there are two out there. Bill so were half prepared. All right. Out of time but good stuff. Tim mak come back and well talk more later. All right. Announcer this is the bill press show. 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 heard around the country, and seen on current tv, this is the bill press show. Bill here we go thirtythree minutes after the hour happy wednesday. Wednesday march 6th, 2013. Were coming to you live from our nations capitol and our studio on capitol hill in washington, d. C. , where were all prepared for the big snow storm that is going to bury us all, the federal government has already shut down in anticipation of that. I can update. We havent seen much yet. I must say we all made it in this morning with no problem at all. It is legitimately snowing now on capitol hill. It is coming down hard. So, its snowing. Yes. Bill the fact of it is, we cant handle snow in washington so they shut down everything yesterday in anticipation of maybe a half inch of snow today. All right. Maybe we wont be here tomorrow. Well get a couple of inches of snow, probably and its not that cold outside, and by the weekend it will be gone because it is not going to be that cold this week. So there you go. There is our big snowquester. Bill right. We want to get back to the other issues of the day. As we reported last week Chris Christie made a little news last week on the heels of rick scott governor of florida making some news when both republican governors embraced at least the Medicaid Expansion part of obamacare, as a result of which, you dont hear republicans talking anymore about repealing obamacare, do you . The house of representatives vote as you recall in the last congress, voted 33 times to reveal obamacare. And now a total of eight republican governors have said a that like that portion at least and they are accepting 100 of the medical money. One state that is still a holdout is the state of mississippi among others. Martha bergmark who is working on this issue joins us in studio. Good morning, bill. Bill you made it all the way up from mississippi. How about that . Bill i think you give in the washington area. You sound like you might have spent some time in mississippi. Nice to have a fellow southerner here. Bill some people would say Mississippi Center for justicing sounds like a contradiction in terms. Were working hard to change that, bill. Bill why would medicaid who is the governor of mississippi phil bryant. Bill and he has not signed on yet. He has not. Bill why . The Medicaid Expansion is a feature of obamacare that really is the part that helps lowincome, lowwage workers these are folks who were not previously eligible for medicaid. Its that component of the population that most needs help and is the least insured and mississippi as our poor estate in the nation has the most to gain from helping about 300,000 of our citizens who otherwise would be uninsured. Bill so you would think that mississippi would be first in line. Thats right. And certainly economically and practically we think its a no brainer to do this. If this is the one feature of obamacare that was made optional by our Supreme Court last summer, so we saw Many Republican governors make very strident comments about no never, but as soon as the election happens then now we have seen several as you said, at it governors so far say well ideologically i might not have supported this, but this is the thing that is going to help our hardworking citizens at the low end of the economic spectrum. Bill so medicaid is available for family at 138 of poverty. Were talking a very low level of income. Bill and this was provide health care for them and their families . Correct. Thats right. Right now medicaid in the past has been primarily focused on children and the disabled, the elderly, but the way the reform was constructed, was to expand that component to reach more people, and to reach that sort of lowwage worker who isnt covered on insurance on his job and is not able to afford health care. Bill when you look at okay. So Chris Christie one could say Chris Christie is a moderate republican, he even praised obama on the fema effort after sandy, but by the way i think that Chris Christie is a real conservative, so its too easy to dismiss him that way, but when you look at rick scott from florida, john kasick of ohio and jan brewer from arizona, these are real redneck conservative governors, and they have embraced the expansion of medicaid for their states. Why . What is so good about it . I think pressure is coming in part from the Health Care Industry. Hospitals have here to forgotten a certain form of compensation to help out with emergency room care. And that is going away. So the drum beat is building from not just folks who need the insurance and the help but really from the Health Care Industry, so youre looking at a real pressure on all of the governors and all of the states to accept this part of the program. Bill but expanding that coverage in a state is going to cost a state more money, right . Not for the first three years. It is completely paid for by the federal government for the first three years, and then it slowly decreases to 90 . So a state like mississippi, our pour estate Worst Health Care outcomes all of those chronic diseases, terrible outcomes there, as well as one of the highest percentages of folks up to that 138 . So were looking at a situation where we have a tremendous amount to lose if we block this and probably the most to gain of any state if we accept it. Bill yeah, it seems that this program, good for the state, good for the people of the state and the federal government paying 100 of the freight, and 90 after that, right . Its a nobrainer. It is a nobrainer. Bill why does governor bryant said he doesnt want it . Well bill is there any time deadline . There is not a deadline. We could opt in at various points along the way, but we need to go ahead and do it because otherwise were leaving folks uncovered. Bill sure. Sure. And his argument again for saying i think there was a strong idealogical opposition obviously to obamacare, that was full frontal assault up through the election bill sure, right. And now there is our first legislative session since the election, so i think people are making their adjustment to reality, i hope. Our case and the case of the medical in the state is that this is a nobrainer this must be done, and please lets get on board. This is the sensible thing. Were really going to be shooting ourselves in the foot as a practical matter, if we block this. Bill ill say. And its not just mississippi, there are other States Holding out. Only eight republican governors so far. I would imagine without double checking martha that all democratic governors have accepted i believe thats correct. They are the states that have mixed government with governor one way and legislature another, and those folks are sorting it out, but the number of states moving to this is is growing by the week. Bill i spent some time with governor jerry brown from california, last week, and we talked about this and with his health and Human Services secretary, and they are still negotiating some details with the federal government, but there are a lot of other states still to sign up if you want to comment on this 86655press, if its happening or not in your state, or if you happen to be from mississippi martha do you have then legislation in the mix to accept this . Is that what it would take . Yes. The legislature needs to adopt this, and our legislature is in session for another month and a half or so so this is front and center on their agenda right now. The recognition is that medicaid has to be reauthorized all together in mississippi this year, so expansion is part of that consideration. Bill and so far the governor has not yet said whether he would sign such legislation. So far he is saying he would not. He has pretty well staked himself out unfortunately, and he has made statements that reflect, really, a lack of understanding of how the Health Care System works. His statement is all mississippians have access to health care because they can go to the emergency room. The hospitals are the ones most forcefully saying no, sir, thats not the way to treat the kind of chronic illnesses that we have, and money is going to go away from the hospitals unless we accept the medicaid. We had the ceo of our biggest hospital on the mississippi gulf coast come out and forcefully urge the governor to change his mind. Bill all right. We have some work to do here in mississippi and other states as well. Join the conversation at 86655press. Well be right back on todays full court press. Announcer this is the bill press show. Going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. Not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. But we do care about them, right . Vo the war room tonight at 6 eastern current tv is the place for true stories. With Award Winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. Real, gripping, current. Documentaries. On current tv. Announcer this is the bill press show. Bill all right. Twelve minutes before the top of the hour Martha Bergmark with us in studio, from the Mississippi Center for justice. Peter . This time yesterday we were talking to john stanton from buzzfeed. And he did buzzfeed bruise last night. Reported that she drink her budweiser faster than john stanton drank his d. C. Beer. And john is a big dude. She also said in the interview, she has a goal in mind to make congress, 51 women. Thats what she would like to see. Because she talked of life as one of 21 women in the senate. She wants to see a female majority. Bill you go girl. Martha what other Southern States is florida showing the way . Yes, florida is showing the way. The rest of the deep south states are not yet on board. Bill so you have got more to work than just mississippi. We do. But were working hard in mississippi. We feel like if mississippi can really show the way for the rest of the deep south that would be a great example to set. Bill laura is calling from sea breeze florida. Caller good morning. My comment is right now in sea brink, there issing only one doctor that accepts medicaid. What happens when this goes through, do more doctors have to come aboard if you have a certain problem, you have to drive like a hundred miles just to go go to tampa to get a doctor that will cover you. Bill thats a good question, martha, do you know . It is a good question. It is a problem across Rural America and certainly in the deep south. Our belief is with Medicaid Expansion, with federal dollars coming in to really treat and care for more people thats going to help with that that issue. We our senior state economist did a study and showed that 9,000 jobs are likely to come out of Medicaid Expansion in mississippi. Those are all Health Care Industry jobs. Bill uhhuh. Who is the clientele here . Who are some of the people that dont have med Health Care Coverage now that would be covered with this expansion of medicaid. The Mississippi Center for justice represents people across the state, low income usually lowwageearning people, including in the last couple of years, we have been representing folks injured in the bp oil disaster. We have represented across the four gulf states about 7,000 oil claimant claimants. And those are the very folks that stand to benefit from the expansion. They are primarily lowwage workers, just approve the previous eligibility standards for medicaid. Adults that were not previously covered at all, but not earning enough to be really helped by the exchanges that are the next tier up of obamacare. Bill right. So this is really the heart of it in terms of serving that population that are living at or around the poverty line. Thats right. And in mississippi thats some 3 300,000 people. The folks in that category above deep poverty but still making a low wage and eligible for this expansion live in those six coastal counties. Bill its an important battle not just in mississippi, but in other states across the south and the country. You can find out more at their website mscenterforjustice. Org. Martha, good work, a lot of leadership on this issue. And thanks for coming in this morning to tell us all about it. Thanks for having me. Bill go after that governor. Were doing our best. Bill i know you are. And well be back with a quick parting shot on this wednesday morning. Announcer this is the bill press show. Everyone wants to be the cadbury bunny. Cause only he brings delicious cadbury creme eggs, while others may keep trying. Nobunny knows easter better than cadbury 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 and on this wednesday, march 6th, my parting shot for today, all of you who fly often, you all know that Airport Security is a royal pain in the ass, when you get to tsa, and out comes your laptops, liquids, and off go your belts and shoes and no battled water or soft drinks. There has got to be a better way. And yesterday tsa came up with some changes. Maybe you give them credit for trying, but it