Transcripts For CURRENT Full Court Press 20130402

give us a call at 1-866-55-press. or follow us on twitter. give us your comments on twitter at bpshow or on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. major league baseball is underway so you know, things are pretty good with the world especially since the nats won their opener over the marlins 2-0 thanks to -- and the red sox clobbered the yankees 8-2. in big news of the day the united states has moved warships into the waters off north korea just in case that nutty president kim jong-un decides to try any funny stuff. connecticut has passed the toughest gun control laws in the nation in the wake. newtown but you know, you have to ask if the connecticut state legislature do it, why can't the united states congress? president obama set to announce today a major new research initiative to map the human brain. watch out. that and more right here coming up next on current tv. 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 vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern (vo) current tv is the place for compelling true stories. 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(vo) true stories, current perspective. documentaries. on current tv. nounce broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: good news, we're not at war with north korea. yet. crazy guy's going to do later in the day. hey, good morning everybody. what do you say? welcome, welcome welcome. to the "full court press." great to see you this tuesday morning. april 2nd. and here we are. coming to you live from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill just down the street from the united states capitol building. where they can see the congress, the library of congress, can't see the cherry blossoms yet. everybody came here a week too soon because it's been so damn cold. come on to washington and see us any time here and until you get here we'll just tell you what's going on as we do every morning and takes your calls at 1-866-55-press. we will also welcome your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. as long as there's a current tv, the current tv chat room continues. of course, if you go to current.com, click on the chat room. you are in with all of your "full court pressers." hail hail, the gang's all here this morning. the team is back. peter ogborn and dan henning. hello, guys. all back in our regular spots here with stevie lee webb keeping his ear on the phone and cyprian bowlding, his eyes on the camera. he's happy. >> cyprian is wearing his football team hat. his basketball shirt. but he's not wearing nationals gear. >> bill: come on right? >> come on, cyp. >> bill: coming through for the home team. bryce harper came through for the home team. and so did strasburg. they put out the two stars yesterday and they delivered. wow. harper won -- harper -- >> he single-handedly beat the marlins. >> bill: two home runs, two runs 2-0. >> he's a total freak. >> bill: 20 years old. >> the thing that's so interesting -- >> bill: what's he out of high school? two years? seriously. >> last year, he was a rookie. had an amazing rookie season. you don't usually see baseball players get this good so young. you usually -- the step up from college ball to major league ball is a pretty big step. >> bill: he skipped college ball didn't he? did he ever play college ball? >> i don't think he ever played college ball. >> bill: how could he? he's only 20. graduated from high school when he was 18. >> it is a huge step up to get to major league baseball. and so i mean -- he's clearly doing okay. >> bill: what a career ahead of him. i'm telling you. somebody else got off to an early start. he is president of the united states. he's only 9 years old. >> i love this kid. >> bill: we're talking about the kid president. he showed up on the balcony as an april fool's joke by being the president of the united states at the easter egg roll. before that, he was in the briefing room of the white house. i didn't see him there yesterday. he did a little video earlier in the day which is up -- now the latest, he was already a youtube sensation. now he's a new youtube sensation at the podium in the briefing room. robbie novack. >> you look like you were expecting somebody else. but april fools on all y'all. i hope everyone has an awesome day. >> i'm here! peace! >> bill: he's just like about this high. >> he's so funny. >> bill: he is funny. god knows where he goes from here. it was fun for them to bring him in at the white house yesterday. and i have to tell you, i was able to go in, the regular northwest gate, go to the briefing room and you could not tell that there was pandemonium on the other side of the door. it was just another briefing for us. but all the reporters are saying i would rather be in here than out there. >> did mark knoller wear his bunny ears? >> bill: he didn't see him. he might have been in the bunny suit and stealing kid's easter eggs. >> he's well-known for that. >> bill: we have igor volsky, our good friend from think progress coming in as he does every tuesday for a half hour with us. we'll talk to reporters from "national journal" and politico and then michael tomasky from the "daily beast" in as a "friend of bill." and the republicans have sunk to an all-new low with their attacks on -- yes the obama daughters. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> on this tuesday other headlines making news, florida gulf coast university caught the nation's attention in its cinderella run to the sweet 16 of the ncaa basketball tournament last week and now they're looking for a new coach. and he led the team but his style has been tapped by the university of south carolina to take over the trojans basketball team. according to "usa today." it is a big step up for enfield. he's only coached for a total of two years. >> bill: quite a record there. i hate to see him leave. >> it would have been great to see him stick it out to see what he could do with one more year but they were the darling of the tournament. >> bill: southern california that's a huge jump, ya know. >> harrison ford is heading to the white house today to host a workshop with michelle obama for dcu. the hill reports the actor is in town to talk about his upcoming movie "42" about jacki robinson. he plays an executive in the movie with the dodgers. jacki robinson's widow and other stars will be at the white house today as well. >> bill: i've seen trailers for the movie. it looks pretty good. >> the 2013 baseball season opened yesterday and many fans of the game found they're paying more for beer and food at the ballpark this year. cnn conducted a survey to find the highest and loews lowest price. the priciest beer is right here in washington, d.c. at nationals park and at yankees stadium in new york, they start at $9 for a beer whereas at an arizona diamondbacks game, you can get a beer for $4. hot dogs aren't cheap at mets game $6.25. in cincinnati, you can still get a hot dog for $1. >> bill: only reason to go to a ball game. hot dog and a beer. >> it is $9. i went to the exhibition game on friday and i bought one. $9. >> it was like $8.50 last year. you can do that when you win the national league. >> i usually like to sneak my own alcohol in. >> bill: you're not allowed that. here we go. yes, indeed. i have to tell you look, i've really had it with the republican lowlifes who have decided that there's a new -- a new line of attack on president obama and on his family. i'm sure it burns you as much as it does me. gotta start there this morning. first of all, on the policies, absolutely fair game. i blasted george bush for the war in iraq. blasted george bush for continuing the war in afghanistan. blasted george bush for a whole lot of policy reasons and trying to drill every square foot of public lands in this country on and ond and on. kaying in to the extremists in his party on immigration reform. on torture, on the wiretapping i mean, you name it, right? policy that's who we are as americans. we stand in front of the white house and say the president on this this, this, he's all wet. he's wrong. he ought to be impeached because of this or whatever. that's total fair game. and so if republicans want to take on president obama because they don't agree with his policies on gun control then vote against it. on climate change, work against it. vote against it. on immigration reform, absolutely. totally fair game. but here's where i draw the line. when it comes to personal family attacks and that's exactly what the republicans have resorted to. have you noticed lately, it started with michele bachmann at cpac where she suddenly talks about the lavish lifestyle that the obamas are leading at the white house. citing a book, by the way which has just been published -- let's hear michele bachmann first. >> there is a problem. a new book is out talking about the excess and perks of the $1.4 billion a year presidency that we're paying for. this is a lifestyle that is one of excess. now we find out that there are five chefs on air force i. >> bill: wrong. >> there are two projectionists who operate the white house movie theatre. >> bill: wrong. wrong, wrong wrong wrong. then she goes on to say they don't just have the chefs. they don't just have the two projectionists -- that is so ca ca that they have two projectionists in the white house theatre who are sleeping there in case the president comes in and says "i would like to see a movie." only an idiot like michele bachmann would believe that. she goes on about dear bo. >> we are also the ones who are paying for someone to walk the president's dog, paying for someone to walk the president's dog. now, why are we doing that when we can't even get a disabled veteran into the white house for a white house tour? >> bill: what a colossal embarrassment. we'll get back to what's right and what's wrong about this. that's michele bachmann. to show you what's happening here. michele bachmann is followed by another nut cake, steve king from iowa, who on a radio interview there takes on -- are you ready for this? the president's daughters. first of all the president because he's not showing an austere -- echoing bachmann, he's not practicing an "austere lifestyle." >> he needs to show some austerity himself. instead, he seemed to want to tell america how bad it is going to be. >> bill: then, oh, my god the daughters dared go on a spring vacation? >> and so we've got the president doing these things. he sent the daughters to spring break in mexico a year ago. that was at our expense too. now they're at bahamas at one of the most expensive places there. that's the wrong image to be coming out of the white house. >> bill: steve king is the wrong person to tell people about having the right image. that's number two. number three the drudge report yesterday. in a column by one of the managers, if you will, of the drudge report, guy named joseph curl, he writes a big column talking about the obamas living the 1% life down at the white house. oh, boy. in fact, he reports that they have taken -- are you ready for this? three vacations already in 2013. three months three vacations. then you look and see what they're talking about. one is their christmas break in hawaii because it went into the new year. that counts as one vacation for 2013. they were celebrating christmas. jesus. the second is presidents' day. weekend. i'll bet you took the weekend off, right? most americans did. but the obamas did. and wait, the daughters and michelle went to aspen. the president remember, went to florida. that counts as two. so it is ha waii, aspen and florida, three vacations in march. this is so sick. first of all they're wrong on their facts. michele bachmann is wrong wrong, wrong. not five chefs. not two projectionists. $1.4 billion is what it costs to keep up the entire white house. that's the entire white house budget for all the grounds all the buildings all the 18 acres and half of that is secret service and guess what. the bush presidency during george bush's time cost $1.6 billion. $200 billion more. they get knocked for not doing more parties and more entertaining. of the president goes out to andrews air force base and plays golf. when they go on vacation, they pay their own way. the only thing we pay for is the secret service protection which we do for every freaking president of the united states. >> it is outrageous. >> bill: we want the president to protect us. i wanted george bush and laura and their daughters to be protected. never attacked laura bush or jenna or barbara bush. the first family ought to be out of bounds and always used to be out of bounds but these guys, they can't beat them on policy so now they're trying to beat him on his policy. >> i'm not sure what his point is. is he saying the president should have less security? >> bill: michele bachmann seems to think so. >> less security? it is stupid. >> bill: i think bishel bachmann -- i think michele bachmann wants them to have a one bedroom apartment. the president of the united states lives in the white house. i don't care who is it is. i don't care if freakin' crazy michele bachmann were ever elected president, she would have the right to live in the white house and be protected by the secret service and those missiles that are on the roof and guys around there. the family attacks a personal -- the personal family attacks i think are below the belt. somebody in the republican party -- isn't there anybody in the republican party in a position of leadership who would say hey, wait a minute. knock it off. go after the policy. leave the family the hell alone. it businesses me off. let's talk about it. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. today's the day of the big runoff in south carolina. will mark sanford bounce back as the republican nominee for congress down there? it sure looks like it. peter, it is your home state. >> it is indeed. >> bill: it is getting personal around here against the obama family. personal on the part of these republicans who i guess have given up trying to beat president obama on policy matters. now they're trying to destroy his family. >> on twitter at bpshow is where you can find us. blue ghost says bill, how many vacations have congress been on? kathleen says i love it. the creeps that have bitching are the ones that don't even work three days a week. and teamster says on michele bachmann -- >> bill: they have probably been in session six days in the last three months. >> exactly. teamster says michele bachmann doesn't need facts or reality because the people listening to her don't care about them. >> bill: i think the people in minnesota do and will throw her ass out the next time around. michael is calling from jonesboro, georgia. >> caller: good morning bill. >> bill: thank you for joining us. what's up? >> caller: i listen to your show every morning. it is so crazy to me that michele bachmann and other republicans are showing such high levels of racism and denigration toward this president for him trying to do a good job. my question is to michele bachmann is where were they then bush and cheney put our people at two wars. why weren't they standing up there? why weren't they standing up every time george bush took a vacation? >> bill: george bush took more vacation than any other president in the white house. peter? >> i spent 32 months at his ranch. 490 days at his ranch or camp david. >> bill: he spent about a year and a half of his presidency at his ranch right? >> caller: michele bachmann is spending more time at home instead of doing the job they've been elected to do. as a matter of fact, somebody needs to give them -- they should be working on a solution to get this country back to where it needs to be instead they're out -- talking about this president and what he's not doing. they're not giving him credit for what he's trying to do. >> bill: amen, amen, brother everything you say absolutely right on. i appreciate the call so much. george bush, more vacation than any other president and now they're attacking barack obama. where were they four years ago? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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 there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's 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" live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour on a tuesday morning. tuesday, april 2nd. great to see you today. thanks for being part of the program and this morning's program is brought to you by the international association of sheet metal air rail and transportation workers. good men and women of the smart union, they call sthems under president joseph nigro giving a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. you can find out more information about this newly merge and much bigger union at the web site smart-union.org. we welcome our good friend from think progress, igor volsky in studio and to our conversation this morning. he's the managing editor of think progress. igor, good to see you as always. >> what an honor to follow the conversation about michele bachmann. it can only get better now. >> bill: we have been talking about michele bachmann steve king and the drudge report and others who have now shifted -- >> yesterday. >> bill: they've shifted their attacks from the president's policies obamacare or whatever now to his family and to his lifestyle and we were just commenting before the break about where were they when george bush -- as i recall, george bush took at least one or two days off. >> he took a couple days off when he was president. in fact, he took -- i didn't believe this when i first read it. 1,020 vacation days in his eight years in office. which is almost three full years. >> bill: i was doing quick math in my head. >> it is like two years and eight months. almost three full years. of vacation time. in fact, he infamously took a five-week vacation that he cut short two days short so he could deal with hurricane katrina which, you know, he did such a great job on that. >> reflective of the country over the last eight years. and the economy and everything else. >> bill: absolutely. >> i mean three years of vacation out of eight years! that's insane. >> bill: unbelievable. now they're accusing president obama of taking -- already three vacations in 2013. one of which was the first two days of the year when he was still in hawaii, usually christmas vacation goes to new year's so then you're into the new year. on president's weekend he went golfing and michelle and the daughters went skiing in aspen. that counts as two. because one group was there and he was down here. that's unbelievable. >> now they're going out to the daughters, counting how many vacations they're going on. >> bill: how dare they take a spring break! why didn't they chain them to the white house fence? >> my favorite saying in that bachmann speech from cpac is the concession she made, we can all agree that the president deserves to live in the white house. well, thank you wow! bipartisan. [ laughter ] >> bill: the dog walker, totally, totally wrong. i know well, he's a good friend of mine, the person he's talking about. he is the superintendent of the entire white house grounds. he's in charge of the north lawn the south lawn, the garden, every tree there. he knows he's always out at nurseries selecting new trees. he happens to have a -- like dogs. he has personally taken care of every white house dog since richard nixon! >> oh, my goodness. >> bill: so the idea that he hangs out with bo once in awhile and i do with him sometimes he's done that for every president. as a hobby. >> the "daily beast" said she believes the last person she spoke to and that's usually a web site. that's where all of that information comes from. >> bill: remember during the campaign she talked to somebody walking out of an event about a vaccine. she went on national television and said this is killing children across the country and she was dead wrong. pretty dangerous. all right. let's talk about something elsewhere we're getting a lot of wrong information and that is on the -- an unbelievable reaction. that's on the subject of marriage equality which was of course, the focus of two days of arguments in front of the supreme court. last week. prior to the supreme court e. >> al:, there were democratic senators falling over themselves to flip from opposition to same-sex marriage to in support and there were like six or seven, mark begich, mark warner, claire mccaskill. >> we have pennsylvania. he's a pro-life democrat. of course, he isn't up for re-election until 2018 so he has a big buffer. he just won. >> bill: pennsylvania is a blue state but it is not a real liberal state. it has a reputation for being more -- >> they elected rick santorum to the senate multiple times and to the house. good for him. there are now only eight democrats left in the senate who still oppose american equality. eight democrats, 44 republicans. so we're making progress. >> bill: one republican, rob portman. all but eight. >> all but eight of the democrats. >> i said yesterday on twitter it is so great we finally have this momentum that lawmakers are finally recognizing that gay and lesbian people should have equal right to marriage. wouldn't it be great if we can funnel all of this enthusiasm toward an employment nondiscrimination bill saying employers across the country can't fire people for their sexual orientation for their gender identity. this is the time. there is all of this kind of good feeling around the issue. there's little federal government can do on marriage except for get rid of doma but on the state level this is where a lot of gay and lesbian people face inequality in the workplace that there might be some space to get something done. it is a bill introduced, the employment nondiscrimination act introduced time and time and time again and maybe now is the time to actually do something. >> bill: amen. i think you may be right. just for the record, the eight democrats who are not yet on board are -- and we have to keep the pressure on them. i'm sure you at think progress, will. joe manchin bill nelson, heidi heitkamp north dakota, mary landrieu, louisiana. tom carper, delaware. why, i don't know. tim johnson south dakota. mark pryor arkansas. that i got from your web site. so thank you. speaking -- of rob portman rob portman, of course i don't blame him for this but his conversion, if you will, was triggered by the fact, this evolution by the fact that his son came out to him as a young gay man with a partner and rob portman started thinking about this and said i can't deny my son this opportunity. to be with the one he loves for the rest of his life. that's not true of all republicans, is it? as we discovered yesterday and you reported. >> well, right after the portman came out for marriage. we went to cpac and we asked a couple of republicans, how would you react if your son came out? and a couple of them said we would still oppose it. we asked some of the attendants at cpac. they said certainly we would oppose it. now we have a case in point where you have the son of a republican congressman representative matt salmon from arizona, came out as gay. and matt salmon is still against marriage equality which means he's against marriage equality for his son who is gay. it may not have sunk in yet. that may be the problem. here, he said in an interview that it doesn't mean that i don't have respect. it doesn't mean that i don't sympathize with some of the issues. it just means that i haven't evolved on that station. i don't know what station means. but he hasn't evolved. he still has time. i think the story is rather embarrassing. it is embarrassing if you're a guy who doubts around family values and family principles. >> bill: the idea he would deny his son equal opportunity under the law i find just mind-boggling. >> it is shocking. i don't think this is going to play well for him. if you don't want and believe and can advocate for equality and fairness within your own family what does that mean for you as a lawmaker representing groups that you're not personally familiar with. >> bill: we have matt salmon and then maybe his stupidity is matched only by congresswoman sue everhart from georgia. >> she's the chairwoman of the georgia republican party. when i saw this story yesterday i thought -- >> bill: state chair. >> not congresswoman yet. still time. when i saw the story yesterday i thought oh, my goodness, this must be an april fools joke. made sure our deputy managing editor at think progress researched it time and time again. it was confirmed. this is a real thing. well she said now with all of the momentum building toward marriage equality, she has the concern that with gay people marrying people of the same sex marrying that you're going to have straight people who are just friends get together, pretend they're gay to take advantage of the tax benefits of marriage. >> bill: no! [ laughter ] >> all of the fake marriages -- >> honestly, dude, seriously that does sound like an april fools day joke. >> doesn't it? >> 100%. >> bill: straight people are going to pretend to be gay and get married because of the taxes. >> the windfall that marriage brings. the movie chuck and larry. >> that's right. the adam sandler fat guy from king of queens. i never saw the movie. amen. i got a great idea. how about you and me get married. >> i now pronounce you chuck and larry. [ laughter ] >> she also had this great quote. this is why i thought it may be an april fool's joke. if it was natural, they would have the equipment to have a sexual relationship. [ laughter ] >> sue everhart. >> bill: i think we should all chip in and send sue everhart and matt salmon and michele bachmann and who else, on a cruise right -- >> we could get some benefits out of that. >> bill: on a cruise that will never come back to port. [ laughter ] >> just call carnival. >> bill: back with igor volsky and your comments on twitter at bpshow and your calls at 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." (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 jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm 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: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> bill: all right. 12 minutes before the top of the hour. in studio with us, igor volsky, the managing editor of think progress. thinkprogress.org. back to our conversation about the stories big issues of the day. but we mention this is the day of the runoff in south carolina, the republican party primary. here's another story in south carolina. federal officials down there are investigating a security breach that allowed access to personal information of at least -- are you ready for this? 12,000 environmental management workers in south carolina. they have been warned that your identity may have been stolen. watch out for any sign of that. they wouldn't have to worry if they had the protection like i do of lifelock. lifelock ultimate, the most comprehensive i.d. theft protection ever made. even monitors your bank accounts for takeover fraud but of course lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you're not a member. call now. if you mention press 60, you'll get 60 risk-free days of lifelock ultimate identity theft protection. if you're not happy with that, call lifelock and cancel within 60 days and get a full refund. give them a call at 1-800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. >> bill, i wanted to throw this story in. it sounds like it could be an april fool's day prank but late last week we saw the fec filing from sarah palin's political action committee. she was going to try to get all of the tea party candidates elected to office. her pac raised $5.1 million in the last election -- >> bill: amazing anybody would give money to that idiot. >> over $5 million is what she raised. she spent $298,500 to candidates. >> bill: wait a minute. >> the rest of the money more than $4.8 million went to consultants. >> it is almost as if she's a hypocrite. >> it is almost like that, igor. >> she says one thing to cpac and then does the opposite. >> over 90% of the money she raised for her pac they raised on -- they spent on consulting. >> bill: was the name bristol palin? the final on this, bill crystal of course, publisher of weekly standard, seen all the time on fox, fox and on the fox news sunday and then on the evening show, he says these republicans like rob portman who are switching -- that's terrible. all they're doing he says, is trying to placate 26-year-olds who don't know anything. honestly. pathetic and distasteful that republican -- which is interesting. we're going to talk about this later in the show. some of the social conservatives now are starting to fight back saying the republican party faiz there's a flood of republicans like rob portman right? so far there's one. one. right? >> give me another name of republican. >> no one that's in sitting office. >> rick santorum and mike huckabee have come out and said the republican party is going to hell in a handbasket. >> them and a whole bunch of other social conservatives saying they just wait, you republicans wait, you establishment until the pendulum swings in the other direction. they're still thinking it is going to go the other way. but right -- i'm waiting for some republican to say that republicans have to stop giving gifts to young people, to gay people by letting them marry. that's the next obvious bridge for them. >> bill: immigration because you reported on this, too. we have seen the republican party say we need outreach to the latrine know community. we have to be for immigration reform. some republicans in fact, are on board for that. but not all. we heard don young last week talk about the wetbacks that his dad used to hire. now we have another republican who's stepped on it here. >> the outreach isn't going so well for them. representative lou barletta from pennsylvania who you'll remember in january said republicans will never win the hispanic votes because we'll never give them the kind of gifts the democrats give. he's back. and told "the new york times" that look, we can't do immigration reform right now because the country's like a sinking ship. and since the borders are unsecure, all of the water is coming in and we first have to plug the leaks and then we'll figure out what to do with the water on board. so the country is the titanic. immigrants are the water. we're all sinking. i suppose. >> bill: sinking ship. no matter how reince priebus tries to say we'll reform this republican party they're incapable of doing it because deep down, too many of them are pureesists, i believe. against blacks and latinos. igor volsky, we just scratch the surface every time but it is great for you to come in again. folks, it is thinkprogress.org. we always give igor the gift of saying make it your home page. >> bill: i will be back and check into the e-mail scene for you. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. this show is about being up to date, staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. >> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right we talked yesterday about that pipeline spill in arkansas. becca says what? again? how many times do we have to see disaster after disaster before congress and the president realize the keystone pipeline is a disaster of megaproportions. on all of the lies about president obama and his family, laura says we're paying for these whack jobs to spout these lies. robert says i would ask the tea baggers which is better? taking three vacations in three months or showing up for work for four years and doing nothing. and wayne b says they're still mad because there's a black man in the white house. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning everybody. what do you say friends and neighbors, good to see you on this tuesday april 2nd. thank you so much for joining us here on the "full court press" on current tv. booming out to you in every corner of this great land of ours from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. just down the street from the united states capitol building, washington, d.c. which is crammed with tourists all here to see the cherry blossoms which haven't come out yet. too bad for them. thanks so much for joining us here and give us a call. let us know what you think about the issues. our toll free number is 1-866-55-press. you find us on twitter. get to us on twitter at bpshow. friend us on facebook. it is facebook.com/billpressshow. major league baseball got underway yesterday so all is right with the world especially when the nats win their opener 2-0 and the red sox clobber the yankees 8-2. in the news of the day, united states has moved warships into the waters off north korea just in case that nutty president over there tries some funny stuff. the state of connecticut has passed the toughest gun laws in the nation in the wake of sandy hook elementary school and the tragedy again and president obama today at the white house will announce a new research initiative, a new medical research initiative to map the human brain. $100 million worth of mapping. we'll tell you all about that and a whole lot more on current tv. alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. 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(vo) true stories, current perspective. documentaries. on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: the state of connecticut passes the toughest gun control laws in the nation. if connecticut can do it, why can't the united states congress? good morning, everybody. what do you say? great to see you today. thank you for joining us. it is the "full court press" right here on current tv. right here on your local progressive talk radio station. this tuesday morning. where we will wake you up and get you to work. get you started on the day by telling you what's going on in the world. in our nation's capital in this great country of ours and around the planet. tell you what's going on and give you a chance to sound off about it. love to hear from you at 1-866-55-press. that's what distinguishes us from any other show on cable television this morning. you get to talk. you get to sound off at 1-866-55-press. or on twitter at bpshow. facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. what do you say for a tuesday morning here. peter ogborn and dan henning in studio. good morning friends of bill. not officially friends of bill. stevie lee webb has the phones and cyprian bowlding as always bringing us on the video cam on current tv. everything good? >> yes sir. >> everything's great. >> i had yesterday off which was nice. >> bill: i know. >> it felt like spring yesterday. >> bill: we were glad you weren't here only so you could not crow about your bracket. because you had syracuse in the final four. >> dan has unofficially won. >> how about that. >> there's really no way for us. >> bill: when do we pay up? >> i didn't put money in. >> oh, get out of here. this is why we were so happy he wasn't here yesterday. >> okay, thank you. >> bill: there is a feud between jay leno and nbc. is there a real feud between jay leno and jimmy fallon? jay wanted to test it last night. at the end of his show, of course followed by jimmy fallon he called him up, said hey, are we still friends? >> hey jay. >> hey kid. how you holding up? >> oh i guess. >> you? >> yeah, a little. i've been through this before, you know. getting a little sick of all of this. >> jay, can i ask you something? we're still friends right? >> yeah. of course we're still friends. >> bill: yeah, they're still friends so the two of them, they've got a routine planned. they break out into song. ♪ ♪ i like you you like me ♪ >> bill: they're not bad. they harmonize there. >> he sings on the show often. ♪ >> that to me encapsulates why i don't like jay leno. it is so fake and phony and it gives a real interesting story going on there. why not have a real conversation with jimmy fallon. >> bill: i love the fact that he continues to knock the nbc -- >> i do like that. >> bill: i love it. jay leno, i gotta tell you used to listen to my radio show when i was out in l.a. he's my friend. >> your lifelong fan. >> bill: michael tomasky will join us as a "friend of bill" in the next hour. in this hour, we'll be talking with reporters from "national journal" and politico and "the washington post" starting with mike catalini from the "national journal" but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> check of other headlines making news on this tuesday. in sports, washington nationals star outfielder bryce harper made history at opening day yesterday. the 20-year-old and rookie of the year hit two home runs that makes him the youngest player to ever homer twice on opening day. the nationals beat the miami marlins 2-0. he did respond to a curtain call after a standing ovation from fans after his second shot. >> bill: what a way to start the season. how do you follow that? hit three the next game. >> just hit two home runs every game from here on out and we'll be all right. >> you get 300 and some odd home runs for the season. >> president obama may love basketball but he wasn't very good at it yesterday. while playing with kids at the white house easter egg roll, he made 2 baskets out of 22 attempts. he didn't make his first shot until his 18th attempt. >> he missed a lay-up. he brought it inside and tried to lay it up. and missed horribly! >> bill: i know. >> horribly. >> bill: do we have video? >> oh, yeah, there's video. >> somebody has put together a montage of all of his bricks and a couple of air balls. it was awful. >> he's spend, too much time on his golf game. >> bill: that's what it is. jay carney said well, you know, he doesn't have much of a chance to practice his basketball. he plays basketball -- he plays a decent amount. he had a bad day. >> several companies rolled out april fool's day pranks that went viral. scope mouthwash introduced a new bacon flavored mouthwash which would make your mouth sisel and google introduced a new product called google nose. an app that lets you smell things through your computer or smart phone and there was a british company that introduce advert cal bathtub to fit in small bathtubs and small houses so you can take your bath standing up. >> that was probably the best one because it is believable. >> bill: i saw it. i didn't read it. but i did think to myself who the hell wants bacon mouthwash? >> i believe that. i would have believed that. >> google should stop. their april fool's jokes aren't funny. >> bill: there are certain members of congress who make a little more noise than their colleagues in the house. and get in trouble for it. in fact, michael catalini in the "national journal" suggests they might even form a politically incorrect caucus. mike catalini, reporter for the "national journal" joins us on our news line this morning. hey, mike, good morning. >> good to have you with us. >> the politically incorrect caucus. has anybody volunteered us a chair? >> that's a good question. the repeat offenders on this list. for example louie gohmert the congressman from texas is seen on c-span. he takes the floor after everyone else has gone home and talks about whatever he wants until they turn the lights off on him. he's sort of a regular -- michele bachmann -- >> bill: slow down here. i want to talk a little bit about each one. >> sure. >> bill: louie gohmert just last week, he got himself in more hot water right? >> yes last week, he tried to park near the lincoln memorial. there was a space. he put his member of a congressional delegation tag in the front window. that wasn't good enough for a park service police officer who ticketed him anyway. gohmert takes the ticket, puts his house of representatives business card on it and says he's a member of the subcommittee that oversees the park service police and that he's not paying the ticket. so he's -- he's not only colorful in language but also indeed. >> bill: by the logic right any of us who gets a speeding ticket can say wait a minute, you -- i pay my state taxes right. you're a state trooper so therefore you can't give me a ticket because i pay your salary. >> exactly. his office defended him saying that's a congressional privilege. apparently not where he parked his car. no word yet on whether he's going to pay the ticket. >> bill: of course, michele bachmann, you started to go there on the list. if anybody deserves it, what's her latest? >> well, her latest, i try to limit it to things that were recent. she recently said that the president has $1.4 billion in perks and excess. she got that number from a pew report and that actually is the total cost of the presidency including secret service and protection and everything. she tried to paint it as though it were -- a dog walker and the white house gardener and the ten executive chefs that work in the white house galley as part of the perks and excess. she sort of politically opportunistic so that's why she made the list. >> bill: she's got this habit of hearing something and without checking it out or anything, just running out and running with it. as pure fact. as you point out she's received more liar, liar pants on fire than anybody else from politifact. she doesn't c.a.r.e. >> exactly. >> one reporter chasing her down trying to ask her about her facts, she is not too keen on those conversations. >> bill: there is a guy here i don't know from texas steve stockman is on your list. >> steve stockman is interesting. he won election to congress in 1996, i believe. then lost. so this is actually his second term. he's not a freshman. >> bill: then he came back. >> he's the guy who invited ted nugent to the state of the union. >> bill: oh, yeah. >> when the gun debate was sort of in full bloom. earlier this year. and he is -- he's sort of -- he has lit other fires. he said if -- he was making a political statement, it helps literals but he also went on to call transgender people change gender and said they shouldn't be protected. sort of really out there politically. the thing about all of these people is that they might seem a little bit unhinged or politically incorrect. as i suggested in the piece. but they -- they win at home. the folks in the district, they say he might be -- he might sound like an idiot sometimes but he's our idiot. [ laughter ] >> bill: no, that's great yeah. you just wonder though they must know their districts because they know what they can get away with which seems to be a lot. the list would not be complete without steve king, of course from iowa. who is thinking of running for the u.s. senate and his latest. tell us about him. >> well, steve king has -- there's a lot to work with. one of my colleagues compiled a whole list of sort of research, if you will, about the things steve king has said over the years. that's on nationaljournal.com. i think probably the latest or the highest profile thing he said was he waded into the todd akin remarks about legitimate rape saying he hadn't heard of a circumstance of a 12-year-old being raped and it didn't affect him in a personal way. he would have to be open to discussion about permitting or legalizing abortion for cases of rape and incest. so it is just sort of -- head scratching comments that -- and and -- >> bill: we talked it was steve king who attacked the obama daughters also for going on a spring vacation. taking spring break. how dare they. they should have stayed in the white house in their bedrooms. >> exactly. >> on the taxpayer's dime. >> bill: to be fair, are there only republicans on your list? >> no, no. there is one democrat. i tried to limit this to members of the 113th congress which is why there's not a joe biden mentioned on the list. as particularly to the house. the democrat on the list is alan grayson. democrat from orlando. also back for his second term. he lost in 2010. first elected in 2008. and he's the guy that famously insulted rush limbaugh who is a right left hate -- i forget who it was conservative commentator said if all democrats -- if all republicans lose the house and senate in 2012, it would be a victory if alan grayson was the one democrat who lost. most recently, talking about the paul ryan budget. he said that he wants paul ryan wants americans to die. he wants the poor people to work until they get so sick they can't see a doctor. he sort of is a similar flamethrower on the left. >> bill: again as you point out, they get re-elected. or if they lose, if they lose, they come back, right? >> congress's approval rating according to the latest gallup poll is something like 13%. when you look at how these numbers poll in their home districts, they're in the 40s or 50s. they're pretty popular at home. >> bill: yeah. that's a reality a lot of people don't understand that while the overall rating of congress can be so low individual members can pull high in the district which is why despite their nonperformance the incumbents keep getting re-elected. >> i think what explains that is the willingness of members they see their member as one of them but it is not their number. >> bill: good stuff, michael. thank you so much. thank you especially for your time joining us this morning. it is "national journal." nationaljournal.com. mike catalini. talk to you again soon, mike. >> thanks, bill. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv. 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 there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's 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." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: clintoniates from "the washington post" express joining us here in studio in the next half hour here of the "full court press." this tuesday morning. good to see you today. thank you for joining us. we, last week, spent a lot of time talking about the issue of marriage equality since the supreme court spent two days hearing arguments. one day against -- on rather california's proposition 8 and the other on the defense of marriage act. and just as the court was ready to consider those two cases there were several democratic senators who suddenly up and switched sides from being opposed to same-sex marriage to now supporting it. those senators including mark warner, mark begich, kay hagan claire mccaskill richard blumenthal from connect and jay rockefeller. one more, bob casey from pennsylvania. very significant because casey is no flaming liberal. i like him. but he's a pro-life democrat from pennsylvania. not exactly the most liberal of states. but he has said again he has evolved on the issue like president obama did. like hillary clinton has done. from being for civil unions only to full-fledged marriage equality in support of same-sex marriage. bob casey making that announcement yesterday. and if you're keeping score and we are that means there are eight democrats left. only one republican senator by the way and we talked about him rob portman from ohio because he admits, because his son came out to him as a gay man he started to rethink this issue and has seen the light. no other republican has done but there are all but eight senators, democratic senators now support same-sex marriage and i want you to know who they are so you can give them a little tap maybe a little pressure. joe manchin, west virginia, still on the no side. bill nelson, florida. heidi heitkamp, north dakota. mary landrieu, louisiana. tom carper, delaware. tim johnson south dakota. joe donnelly, indiana. and mark pryor from arkansas. that list compiled after checking with their offices by think progress. for whatever reason, whether they think this is such a political hot potato, they can't get near it or they just think the time is not right or it is premature or whatever. they are wrong. each one of them. wrong on the issue. we have to keep the pressure on until they do the right thing. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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 jackson's 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. [ laughter ] >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour. [ laughter ] >> bill: you know, it sneaks up on you when you're doing live tv. it is the "bill press show." the "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capital. brought to you today by the international brotherhood of teamsters, good men and women of the teamsters union under president jim hoffa. we live better because of their good work. you can find out more about all of the many things that they're into at teamster.org. teamster.org. good to see you today. welcome to the "full court press." we welcome back in the studio, a good friend, he covers the local beat here for "the washington post" express clinton yates. hey, clinton nice to see you. >> how are you bill? >> bill: what's all of this baseball garb all about? >> yesterday was a heck of a day in terms of america in general. pretty exciting day if you're into baseball. big one for the nats. >> bill: it is something -- you feel like everything is okay in the world when we're back into baseball season. >> i feel silly saying it but it really officially felt like spring yesterday. was the first day it really truly -- i was like okay. sun was out. everybody was talking about baseball. spring it really felt like it was on us. >> totally agreed. it is the first day of renewal. everybody's got a chance except royals and the pirates but other than that, everybody feels like they have something they can achieve. >> bill: i'll tell you how significant it was first time i've ever seen at the white house briefing yesterday jay carney started the briefing by apologizing for having us there rather than being free to go to the nats game or whatever, right? and then about halfway into the briefing he stopped and he said does anybody have an update on the score? >> which would have been an update because bryce went nut the and hit two homers, bryce harper the left fielder. he had -- the kind of game you think to yourself if you were writing a story about a baseball game that was fictional that actually happened yesterday. one swing one bomb. second at-bat. he gets another one and my favorite moment of the entire game was in his third at-bat, after he swang through the first pitch on an 0-1 count he turns around shows bunt after the first pitch. takes it back and ended up flying out. the pitcher is like are you kidding? he just hit two into the stratosphere and you're showing bunt? my favorite part of the whole game. >> bill: i didn't see it. it was a great moment. we were talking earlier, how do you follow that? how do you follow that act? >> a no-hitter? >> how good is he? he's remarkable. >> bill: strasburg too right? >> bryce, he put on some 15 odd pounds of muscle in the off-season. he's in the discussion for mvp. you gotta understand, this guy is not just a great hitter. he's a great baseball player. in his previous career leading up to the big leagues not just he has the athletic tools. you have to know what's going on in terms of controlling the field and controlling the pitchers. the guy is a smart baseball player and his technique is impeccable. i think the ceiling is extremely high for bryce and i'm pretty excited about it. >> bill: again when you're sitting in the briefing room of the pressroom of the most powerful nation on the planet and you're talking about the issues that are most important and the press secretary interrupts to wonder what the ball game is. you know then you've got something going. >> made an impression. >> something important going on here. >> bill: it is not just baseball. it is beer. you've been writing about kraft beer. >> the kraft brewer's annual meeting was in town last weekend. >> bill: these are microbrews? >> it is basically other than big beer. there is a specific way that brewers define themselves. less than 60,000 kegs -- there's some number officially there. i learned a ton at this conference. what i like most about craft brewers -- when he says he learned a ton he drank a ton. a lot of research. >> you know, i didn't. they had the brew expo. that's basically a big toy show for different beer manufacturing parts and distributors and all of this other stuff. listen, i didn't realize that i was as big a kraft beer fan as i was until i got to this conference. i thought i can't even remember the last time i bought, you know, big beer as they call it just because at this stage of the game, they're so available in d.c. there are so many breweries in the area and nationally in general that if that's the route you want to go, you know, you're completely able to do it without going out of your way. again, the craft brewer's conference is coming to d.c. said a lot about the beer culture in this city specifically. it is not quite like getting a world cup or an olympics. you've got a culture worthy of some attention. >> bill: i spent a lot of time in -- i spend a lot of time in oregon. we have a son who lives in bend, oregon. >> northwest is a trailblazer. >> bill: he used to live in portland. portland was the beer capital of the world, of the country in terms of again microbrews and everything. and just so many there. it is exciting. but now -- and then i also -- one of my favorite places on the planet is asheville north carolina. our great affiliate down there asheville is now the beer capital of the country. they took it over from portland. so i mean, this is a great culture here. >> the last time we were in asheville, we were at the hotel lobby area and i went up and i saw that they had bud light out. i grabbed a bud light. i was drinking a bud light. one of the listeners mccray came over to me and said hey man, i want to let you know if anybody cease you drinking that bud light, you will be in big trouble. he took me to a different bar. they had 12 different local beers on tap there at the hotel bar. >> i have a buddy that just moved down to asheville. he's a chef. i was there last summer seeing the tourist play by the way. great beer at that stadium but the microbrew scene and the craft beer scene in america is really becoming -- really becoming a movement. part of the reason they came to d.c. was because they had lobbying to do. >> bill: there's so much here. there is a great one from delaware dan remind me? >> dog fish head. there's d.c. brow. charlottesville, virginia has one. >> d.c. brow was the first in d.c. >> that was part of the story i wrote is that d.c. is a legit beer town now. you've had baltimore on the map obviously philly, boston. but d.c. is legit. three breweries in town. two more to open. one by the ballpark. in addition to gordon beers. so there is going to be a lot more on the scene in the city. and in general what i was saying is they're lobbying to change the excise tax because it is hampering a lot of the small beer businesses to be able to grow from small to medium. but you know, big beer obviously doesn't have a problem with it because they've got tons of money. that was part of the reason they came here to get their lobbying efforts rolling. >> bill: east coast is catching up to the west coast? >> i would say a little bit. there were a lot of people here from australia canada, i talked to a ton of people. i talked to one lady from seattle who said i'm impressed with what i've seen so far from d.c. >> bill: i'll tell you what i'm most excited about is green hat gin. >> i'm familiar with it. >> bill: they were in studio with us. we were drinking green hat gin at 8:30 a.m. and it is a good stuff. we had friends over this weekend. what did i serve them? green hat gin. i keep a bottle in the freezer. it is a local brew. it is the only -- hard liquor distillery in the district but they're going to make more. but it's good gin. >> pretty cool to think -- you don't want to go that far. you can source all of your alcohol needs in town. >> forget eat locally. drink locally. that's a movement i can get behind. >> nothing wrong with that. >> bill: i'm blanking on the name of the other high-end gin we had. >> we had hendricks. >> with a cucumber. >> bill: i think green hat is as good as hendricks. >> hendricks to me is creme de la creme. the bottle looks so cool. >> what? >> hendricks. >> bill: i think the green hat bottle is cool. so i guess we could make a transition here from baseball to beer to gin to guns. >> america. >> bill: that's what it is. and this is of particular relevance to washington, d.c. which is not as bad as chicago but suffered still a lot of gun violence. connecticut yesterday passed the toughest gun laws in the nation. of course, you might say of course connecticut would because that's where newtown happened. other states haven't who have had similar tragedies. you have to do it at the national level don't you? >> i think do you. my theory is that it is beyond just banning assault weapons. that is step one in a concept of decoupling this notion that gun ownership is somehow linked to freedom. and getting us away from an overall culture of violence in this country that seems to make it acceptable to shoot people. that's really what we're talking about here. if you understand that, listen, guns are tools to be used by professionals. in scenarios that are frankly worse case and not simply toys to be used by adults when they feel like it. that's a personal stance but listen, they kill people. they are weapons. that is the name of their classification and to me, until you can make a first step in letting people know that hey, these things are not safe. you're never going to get to a scenario in which it is reasonable that people aren't getting shot daily on a regular basis and oftentimes fatally. >> bill: we were talking about this yesterday. this horrific case out in texas now where law enforcement is being targeted. it appears to be by gang members who were in prison and didn't feel they were treated right or god knows what. or people who were getting even with these guys because of friends of theirs who were in prison. but these are law enforcement people who have guns. in their homes. and still are victims of gun violence. the idea that you give everybody a gun that's the answer. >> it is bogus. >> more guns equals more violence. >> i just think this very simple equation on that front and if we want to live in a world where we say, you know what, the fear we have as human beings is therefore -- so big that we have to arm ourselves to the teeth. i'm sorry. that's not a world i want to live in as a human being. i don't understand where that mentality comes from. >> clinton yates is at clinton yates on twitter or at the "washington post." washingtonpost.com/lunchline. >> that's me. >> bill: lunch line. we'll be right back. we'll tell you what one town in georgia is doing about guns when we come back on the "full court press." >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're 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. this show is about being up to date, staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour here on the "full court press." on a tuesday morning. august -- april 2nd. what's up today? >> i'm telling you -- that's filled with green hat gin. >> bill: it is ice tea. in studio with us, local news editor of "the washington post" express, clinton yates. always great to have you here. >> great to be here. >> bill: before we move on, peter, you have a couple of comments. >> we were just talking about guns and we're tweeting at bpshow. you can find us there at bpshow. phil says the easiest way to make money is to prey on fear. a lot of people will pay a lot to feel a little safe. and story for "60 minutes" on twitter says blows the nra theory of good guys with guns stop bad guys with guns. but not a whole lot -- >> bill: in the case of texas these were good guys with guns as wayne lapierrre says, the answer is to give the good guys guns. >> every 12-year-old -- good guys and bad guys? >> that's how we're qualifying the gun discussion in america? >> bill: along these lines the town of nelson, georgia they've got the answer. nelson georgia they said we want to be sure our town is safe. so they have passed 1300 residents -- just about the size of delaware city, delaware where i grew up. they passed an ordinance that requires everybody in nelson, georgia, to buy a gun. you have to buy a gun. here, member of their city council, duane kronic says this is what it's all about. >> an ordinance to tell potential criminals you might want to go on down the road a little bit before you come kicking down a door with a family in nelson. >> bill: you don't want to do that in nelson. >> wyatt earp. again, i don't understand this. >> bill: idiotic thing to say. >> it is one thing to have gun education. but requiring everybody to buy a gun, you can just see the obviously capitalistic nature. the nra does not care about your safety. they care about you buying their product. it is pretty basic and capitalistic math. >> bill: and the gun manufacturers. >> it is obvious to me. just as a society, you would think i'm smarter than this. these people are clearly trying to get me to buy a tool that will only hurt somebody. >> bill: you know, obviously they can't get away with this. if it is worth challenging. but they can't force you to buy a car. they can't force you to buy a house. they can't force you to buy -- you know, an 80 inch flat screen tv. they just can't do it. >> i can't imagine -- what do you do there? you get into a traffic dispute next thing you know, everybody is pulling guns because everybody has to have them? that's just weird. >> bill: you're on to another favorite issue of mine, that is security cameras. they are everywhere. in washington, d.c. we're not talking traffic cameras now. we're talking security cameras. >> do you think they make you feel safer? >> bill: no. >> i don't feel safer with them. >> bill: they make me feel spooky because they're everywhere. >> i tend to agree. that's why this metro move -- they're looking to triple the number of cameras and i think this is a good move on one front and not so effective move on another. >> bill: not just in washington. it is all over. >> putting them in parking lots is a smart idea because there is a lot of crimes that happen when people aren't there. but on the day-to-day, i'm not going to feel any safer if there is a camera. a cop or a guy or a woman an officer rather. that is going to make me feel safer than some camera. i don't know. i just don't think that spending that much more money on surveillance is always the only option. i think that manpower is also a good idea when it comes to safety. >> bill: but there are cities now, i think new york has just about reached that point where anywhere in a public area in new york, you're on camera. >> i think this might be a generational thing. that doesn't freak me out that much. it is something we've grown up with which is, you know what, the likelihood you're recorded at every single moment of your life is high. i know there are some civil liberties there and personal rights that make a lot of people uncomfortable but to me, the safety issue is a bigger one. i don't know that it makes anyone feel any safer than.they otherwise would. >> as soon as we start hearing stories about people who might duck out into a back alley to smoke a joint and they get caught on camera and the cops use that as evidence, then i will be annoyed with the whole process. then i'll really feel like that's an invasion. >> people just watching people for no other reason. >> bill: all right. i hate to go here but here's where i'm going to go, okay? first, they brought in the cameras and nobody said anything and then they bring in the drones. >> oh, man. >> bill: that's where we're going. >> it is a relatively slippery slope. i don't think that's a ridiculous stance. i feel the horse is out of the barn. >> bill: the drones will be worse. they'll get places that the cameras never could and then there you go. >> scary concept. >> bill: it is. oh man. clinton, great to see you. thanks for coming in. >> good to be here. >> bill: all of your good work. clinton yates local news editor of the "washington post" express. we'll tell you what the president is up to today. >> heard around the country seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show." to like a thousand bees that were just stinging my feet. 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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: it is tuesday april 2nd. this is the "full court press." welcome, welcome to the program here on current tv. good to see you today. thank you for joining us as we tackle the big stories of the day wherever it is happening we're there with you. not only to tell you what's going on but to hear your comments about what's going on. what it means to you and to your family. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. follow us on twitter and give us your comments at bpshow. how about on facebook. friend us on facebook, you can get to us at facebook.com/billpressshow. looking around the globe today major league baseball is underway! so everything is all right with the world especially when the nationals kick off the season by beating the marlins 2-0. bryce harper two home runs. and one man home runs obviously. and the yankees losing to the red sox. red sox clobbering the yankees 8-2. in the news of the day, the united states has moved warships into the waters off north korea. just to make sure that that wacky president over there doesn't pull any funny stuff. connecticut, the state of connecticut passing the toughest gun laws in the nation yesterday. hey, if the state legislature in connecticut can do it, why can't the congress. president obama today set to announce a new initiative spending $1 -- investing $100 million to map the human brain. pretty exciting stuff. all of that and more coming up right here on current tv. >> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. 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(vo) true stories, current perspective. documentaries. on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: the good news is we're now at war with north korea. yet. but the warships are nearby. just in case crazy guy does something crazy. what do you say? hello, everybody. great to see you today on a tuesday, april 2nd. it is the "full court press" and we're coming to you live from our nation's capital and our little radio factory tv factory, book factory right here on capitol hill in washington d.c. where we bring you up to date on the news of the day and give you the opportunity to tell us what it means to you. and your family. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. follow us on twitter at bpshow. so exciting. and also be our friend on facebook. facebook.com/billpressshow. covering the big stories of the day. we love to turn to our friends who do this for a living. we just do it for a hobby. michael tomasky is columnist for the "daily beast," back as a "friend of bill" for this hour. hey, michael, always good to see you. thank you. >> likewise. >> bill: looking nice and casual this morning. ready to go. joining our team here, peter ogborn and dan henning. >> we're all looking nice and casual this morning. >> casual tuesday. >> i like the santorum vest, too. [ laughter ] >> i have three or four of them. >> bill: i wore it before rick santorum. stevie lee webb has the phones. cyprian lee bolding i keep calling him. >> he's going to snap one of these days. >> bill: cyprian bowlding on the video cam. michael, things are good? >> yes great. >> bill: i write also for the new york review books and you public your own magazine "democracy." >> our new issue launched a couple of weeks ago interesting articles about voter suppression. interesting stuff. >> bill: i read that article. one of them at least. >> really good stuff. >> bill: not enough people are writing about that. >> democracyjournal.org. it is a nonprofit. >> i would also point out that michael tomasky is known for being a hit with the ladies on this show. always get the tweets. >> bill: get ready. >> i want to hear them all please. >> bill: just include your home numbers. so you've been writing a lot about immigration. yesterday at the briefing, the first subject raised was immigration because over the weekend, on the sunday talk shows, chuck schumer lindsey graham were out there talking about progress with the so-called gang of eight. jay carney says it sounds like good news to us. >> i would say broadly that we are encouraged by the continuing signs of progress that we are seeing in the senate. as a group of eight and the senate more broadly works on comprehensive immigration reform. we're encouraged by reports as you note of an agreement or progress at least between chamber of commerce and labor on that particular aspect of immigration reform. >> bill: but you have been sort of a skeptic huh saying not so fast, not so much. where are you now? >> well, i'm a little less skeptical because of the news that broke over the weekend. the afl-cio deal on the low-skilled workers as they're called, and the good vibes from schumer and from some republicans like lindsey graham. i'm a little less skeptical. i read in this morning's "washington post," adding to that that there's an ad campaign starting on christian radio stations around the country in support of reform. >> bill: no. >> yeah, including path to citizenship. that's a big change. that might mean that those kinds of eruptions that happened the last time in 2005 or 2006, whenever this was when kennedy mccain was working its way through and rose up in fury and said no way this is amnesty. it might not happen this time but still, i think we don't really know and won't know until the time comes and obviously marco rubio doesn't know and that's why marco rubio threw a little cold water on the whole process over the weekend and said slow down because he wants to be seen simultaneously as the champion of this if reform passes. but if it fails if that base does rise up and it fails he doesn't want to have his fingerprints too heavily on it. >> bill: he does seem to be trying to straddle the fence here right? >> yeah. >> bill: in that yeah, i'm part of the gang of eight but i'm also a tea partier. >> he's trying to get it both ways here and it is -- you know, any time you say let's have all of the amendments offered that senators want, everybody knows that that's how you kill something in the senate. loads of amendments. >> bill: jim menhoff yesterday said not so fast on me. it won't be automatic. i want to see what's in the bill. which is not a crazy statement. i would hope every senator would want to see what's in the bill before they vote on it. from him, it is an indication he's not going -- we saw one member of the house yesterday i'm forgetting now which -- the name of this guy. who said that immigrants are like -- this is like a sinking ship. they're sinking our ship, right. ware like a ship -- >> stockman from texas. >> bill: that's water pouring in. all of the immigrants, pouring across the border. they're going to sink the ship. so not all republicans are on board i guess is what i'm getting at. >> you mention the house. it is like let's talk about the house for a second. even if it gets through the senate, what are the chances it will get through the house. i think the last time i was on here angie kelly was here as well and we were talking about the issue. and it might end up that john boehner has to bring it up into different pieces, you know. a border security piece and a path to citizenship piece and then the question would be can a path to citizenship piece get enough republican support combined with the democrats and can boehner, again, break the hastert rule and before ing it up under those conditions. >> bill: the bottom line is yes, the prospect of comprehensive immigration reform is good but by no means certain right? you mention this earlier, get back to that. the path to citizenship, that path can take, you know, many ways through the forest, right? it can be a direct path or it can be something that's 10 or 12 years away with a lot of stuff burdened on it. we don't know what that path will be. >> we don't know exactly what that will be. we don't know whether it's going to be predicated on this trigger of having the secure border first. you know, janet napolitano said last week, no way. we're not going to have that. >> bill: if you look at the numbers, i think we have a security border today. inflow of people coming here illegally from mexico is as low as it has been in the last 10 or 12 years. >> the number of people deported from this country every day? 1,000. every day. there are a hell of a lot more going out than coming in. >> bill: there are not 1,000 people coming across the border every day. >> that's a good question. >> bill: the numbers i've seen. so we've got a net outflow right? >> guess so. >> bill: you have also expressed some skepticism to show i do read you about the much wanted republican plan to renew, refresh reform, change the whole image of the republican party. is this just a p.r. tactic or are they serious? >> you know, i think reince priebus is serious in his mind that something has to be done. and i think most republicans if you talk to them, one on one privately, they would acknowledge they have an issue here and they have a problem. the question is can that -- you know, can that huge machinery can the ship, this massive tanker called the republican conservative movement, you know, can it change direction? you know, that's a much harder thing. there are a lot of moving parts to it. there is a lot of complication to it. there is just not a lot of will to do it. on immigration reform, maybe there is. on other things, i don't know. how is the republican party going to become pro woman? in what specific ways? how is the republican party going to embrace same-sex marriage? well, they're not. they're just not. >> bill: priebus has said that. >> they're just not. there are 279 republicans on capitol hill. 232 in the house. you know how many support same-sex marriage? actually three. two in the house and -- >> bill: one senator. >> ileana ros-lehtinen and a guy from upstate new york named hannah and portman. that's three out of 279. i don't see the dominoes falling any time soon. so no. the republican party is a party largely white largely older. and largely let us say you know suspicious of certain other types. and that's not going to change quickly. >> bill: and the internal conflict in the republican party seems to be between those who say we need to change even some of our policies and those who say no, we need just to have a better -- deliver the message better right? it is a classic pizza or the pizza box. and i thought that was very clear at cpac when rand paul says look at this party, it is covered with moss and it is stale and marco rubio says we don't need any new ideas. but that's a fundamental difference. >> it is yeah. it is. >> bill: the pizza box people are just kidding themselves. >> if you look back at when the democrats were in a similar situation, you can love or hate or whatever the democratic leadership council. i know all -- actually i agree with some of their stuff. disagree strongly with other of their stuff. but they did undertake a very thorough re-examination of policies and positions. it was not pizza box stuff. and the democratic party had to go through that. i think the republican party has to go through something similar. >> it worked for the democratic party. >> it led to bill clinton. >> bill: i don't think they can continue with the same -- the republican party with the same policies and expect to get the results that they're looking for. >> people won't be fooled by a different pizza box. >> bill: on the issue of same-sex marriage, interesting -- i was reading that bill crystal publisher of the weekly standard, of course, all of our fox news -- regular on fox news, he was critical about the republicans who have switched sides on same-sex marriage as if there's a flood. as you pointed out i thought it was one. now it's three. critical, all they're trying to do is pander to 26-year-olds who don't know anything anyhow. this is an attitude of a certain generation of republicans right? don't be fooled. >> it is really weird. >> bill: 781% of people -- 81% of people between the ages of 19 and 27 support marriage equality. they don't know anything anyhow. >> odd position for an insider and an elite -- a member of the elite because most of those folks actually do support same-sex marriage. people like david brooks. david fromme, obviously. most of those pundits and people who write for the national review and so on and many, i think who write -- a lot of those kinds of people do support same-sex marriage inside the beltway. so it is a strange position from crystal but not the first or perhaps not the last. >> bill: one of the architects of the iraq war for sure. if he had his way, we would be at war against iran. no doubt about it. >> of course. >> bill: and north korea. you name it. >> syria too. >> bill: 1-866-55-press is our toll free number. on the issues we've been talking about. from immigration to republican party reform. oh really? we're going to get into all of that and more with michael tomasky. continue our conversation from the "daily beast" coming up here on this tuesday edition of the "full court press." >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." what you're saying. 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(vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> 24 minutes after the hour. james coleman from politico will be joining us in the next segment. michael tomasky columnist for the "daily beast" in studio with us. the dailybeast.com. covering the issues of the day. everything from immigration to republican reform. we want to talk a little sequester, a little guns, too. peter, what have you got? >> bill, what do you do when you lose your seat in congress on your way out the door? >> bill: you run again. >> well, some people do but in the case of todd akin and several other republicans, what they did is they doubled the salary of their staff on their way out the door after their defeat. >> bill: staff doesn't still have a job. >> after the election, they continue to serve. so in that time, todd akin gave his staff a 98% increase in pay. alan west was the fourth biggest giver to his staff. and basically all -- out of the top ten nine of them were republicans. of who gave the most to their staff. they just cranked up their salary on the way out the door. >> bill: now are these -- these are congressional employees, we're not talking campaign -- >> congressional employees. >> bill: so we all -- you and i, we pay for this, right? >> government spending is evil, bill, except for when it's not. >> except for when you have to give a couple of bonuses to your staffers. >> bill: plus i thought there were categories, i thought there was a ceiling if you're a legislative director in a congressional office i thought there was -- but to double it. >> 98%. i don't have the actual numbers of what they were making and what it came out to. >> presumably only for a few weeks. >> exactly. >> but still. >> bill: nice little bonus. >> damn right. >> walking around money as they call it. michael, the sequester you know, a month ago sequester is all we talked about. the sequester happened. now nobody talks about it. so it is real or it's not. what is it? >> it's real but it's not bubbling back to washington. it is real out there across the country. i've had people send me lists of new stories from every state almost that this facility got closed down or you know, huge number of people got furloughed at another facility or grants at universities. research universities, medical schools. things like that. ended. important research cut off. so it's being felt out there around the country but it's not being felt yet enough when members of congress go back, they're getting screamed at. i guess that's not happening yet. as soon as that starts happening, then we know we'll start talking about it. >> bill: this is the most underreported story today. because i've seen stories too and people have sent me stories about -- you know, this many nurses, this many teachers, head start students or whatever, indiana, they had a lobby to see which kids get thrown out of head start and which ones stay. the impact is being felt at the local level but here in washington, you just don't see the signs of that yet. gotta get to the point as you point out, where people are marching in the streets almost. >> i guess it does. democrats aren't choosing to make a big deal out of it. for whatever reason. they've got other things to do. but you know, they're just not choosing to. >> bill: and jay carney told us -- people have been asking well what impact -- is this going to have any impact on the white house? we're a federal agency like any other. there will be cuts here. yesterday was the first time he was actually specific, pointing out to us that there were 480 people in the office of management and budget which is part of the white house. >> yeah. >> bill: omb director works for the white house. they are white house staffers even though they're in the old executive office building. 480 have been told they're going to be furloughed. that's a 20% pay cut. that's a real impact. >> i don't know 480 out of how many. it must be a hefty percentage. omb, even if it is 3,000 people, that's a pretty big chunk. >> bill: it is a big chunk. i think more and more impact of the sequester is going to kick in as we move along until finally, the you know what hits the fan. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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(vo) only on current tv. >> 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 how about it. 33 minutes after the hour already here on a tuesday morning, april 2nd. michael tomasky from the "daily beast" and democracy magazine and new york review of books in studio with us. as a "friend of bill" with our regular team, just reading this morning, today is the day of the runoff for the republican primary down in south carolina. it is expected mark sanford will win, former disgrace -- former disgraced former governor facing elizabeth colbert bush. she's the sister of stephen colbert. and reported this morning by politico that stephen, the sister and brother will be holding two fund-raisers for his sister, two high-end fund-raisers costing as much as $10,000 a person. one here in washington and one in new york city. not in south carolina. because the money is here. >> there's more money here. >> bill: the atms are not found for the democratic party, are not found in columbia, south carolina. i guess, right? peter? >> no. i don't think the money's there. >> bill: or charleston. one here in washington on april 15 and one in new york on april 23rd. he said he was going to help the sister do whatever he could. i imagine he will go down there and campaign for her too. >> i would think so. >> bill: the last time we saw him campaigning in south carolina, he was with herman cain. >> i was there that day. >> bill: were you there, too? so we hope he doesn't go back with herman cain. that won't necessarily help. >> herman cain didn't quite get the joke. >> no, he didn't. >> bill: he thought it was all about him. you're right. he thought it was a serious event. that was really funny. also republicans are a little shaking these days because one of their -- number, rob portman actually publicly came out senator from ohio and said that he had evolved on the issue of same-sex marriage from opposition to support. that has led michael, as you have reported, as james hoffman has reported -- i'm sorry james homan has reported that, has caused the conservatives to be -- upset. huckabee and santorum said we can't let the republican party go to the dogs like this. james homan joins us on our line this morning. >> good to be with you. >> bill: santorum and huckabee are striking back, huh? how dare you mess with our social conservative issues. >> they feel that republicans would have done better last year if they would have fought the culture war. they think romney made a fatal mistake by focusing on jobs and trying to make it a referendum on president obama and warning us that if republicans move away from social issues, the g.o.p. will become the party of the wigs. >> bill: well, semipat buchanan. that was his message. >> we're part -- you can't ignore us. our people will turn out. very reminiscent of buchanan. before that, jerry falwell. ronald reagan won the presidency in 1980 by building a coalition of conservative democrats who are a lot of evangelicals and it is hard to imagine people voting for democrats, if the republican party moves toward the middle. but i think the argument of social conservatives people like ralph reid is that this is the base of the republican party. the activist, the people who actually do the work and do the volunteering. that's how you win elections. >> bill: michael let me ask you, you've written about this, too. do you think the republican party can ever shed the evangelicals or do they want to? at what price do they pay for keeping them? >> i think the republican party is going to have to shed them. maybe not in 2016. i think they'll embrace same-sex marriage. they'll lose a lot of evangelicals. >> bill: where are they going to go? >> they're going to stay home. not en masse, not all of them but their participation in electoral politics will be reduced. people think that everything that exists now is some kind of permanent thing that has existed forever. evangelicals have only been involved in american politics since the 1970s before the 1970s, politics was beneath them. politics was this life. their job was to think about the next life. jerry falwell gave a famous sermon criticizing martin luther king -- >> bill: gary changed -- jerry changed, too. >> started fall into satan's clutches. but i just think that they've been in politics since the 1970s. roe v. wade is still legal. assuming it stays legal assuming gay marriage is legalized, i think a lot of them -- and the republican party embraces same-sex marriage which i think it will, as i said. i think a lot of them are going to be -- they're going to leave politics. >> bill: james on their basic premise that people care about the social issues or the cultural issues more than economic issues, what is your polling show? i don't think that's reflected in the polls is it? >> it gets back to that point bill, where no, it is not reflected. ask you people what's your top concern. even hard core evangelicals will tell you jobs, the economy the debt. but it is the activist. it is the people who actually -- it is the difference makers. mitt romney won 3/4 of the regular church attending evangelicals but it was actually down slightly as a percentage from mccain in '08 and from bush in 2004. and you know, that 5% difference at the margin is actually a fair number of votes. and that's -- that matters then it is the energy. it is the activists the people actually knocking on doors who believe that the election is a life or death thing because the winner will get to appoint supreme court justice who might be able to overturn roe v. wade or roll back whatever happens on gay marriage. if those people aren't enthused, there is an impact on the party. you're walking a fine line. the other thing we haven't mentioned yet is the fastest growing part of the republican coalition is the libertarian sides. we think of it as the rand paul wing. rand paul is very careful in how he talks about marriage and abortion. but they -- they totally de-emphasize those issues. they don't think that's what the federal government's job is philosophically. and they are on the -- they think that they're going to have a lot of candidates running in future elections people we've never heard of. and they're going to be trying to appeal to young people and independents and women by very much ashooing the issues. there won't be a time when they say we're done with social conservatives. you'll have the fight litigated in house races then in the 2016 presidential campaign, you'll have a libertarian candidate jeff flake, the arizona republican senator said on the sunday shows that he can imagine republicans nominating a pro gay marriage nominee in 2016 and he would support him even though he still opposes gay marriage. that's a remarkable thing for someone to say and that really shows you, you know, that it is going to become much more acceptable over time, you know, at least from the republican elite perspective to move that way. >> bill: michael the libertarian wing certainly so many of the cultural issues involve government interfering in your private life. they want to interfere because they don't like what some people may be doing behind closed doors in their bedroom. but it is an thetical to the movement. he may say i'm for same-sex marriage but he won't say the government should be snooping around. >> he is against same-sex marriage. that's his official position. he knows that yet that has to be his -- >> bill: borrow the phrase, evangelical. >> he's not, you know, hell fire and brimstone on this issue. if it comes down in 2016 to between him and rubio, that will be -- >> bill: so, here's what i get. michael, same question. it seems to me a little bit of panic here in the sense that so far, by our count and michael and i were talking about this morning, let's say just the issue of marriage equality, you've got one one one united states senator and two republican members of congress. this is hardly a tidal wave, right? maybe huckabee and santorum -- what's their real agenda? >> well, their real agenda is they have their own political base. they feel that they speak for the evangelicals and the social conservatives in the party. what they're concerned about isn't the position. it is the tone and the emphasis and i think that they're very frustrated, for example, by that rnc autopsy report. it says -- comprehensive immigration reform. let's do all of this and then it doesn't mention any of the social issues at all. they feel like it is not so much the party is changing the position but that they're abandoning them. >> bill: wow. >> again the party -- they think that it is the guys in washington. the consultant class. if you put them on truth serum basically everyone on romney's senior staff would be pro gay marriage. they're kind of boston, new york, d.c. elites. and there is a big disconnect between that class of republicans and the republicans who actually decide the winner of the iowa caucus and the primary. >> bill: it is a fascinating story, i think. personally as a liberal democrat i hope the ralph rhode islands and the rick santorums and the mike huckabees continue to dominate the republican party. i do think their influence is fading. for a lot of reasons. i think generationally and also because as james pointed out people care about the economy and they care about jobs. >> they'll have their shot in 2016. nothing stopping rick santorum from running or mike huckabee. >> bill: you couldn't stop santorum if you tried. he's going to be ready. >> cab i ask a question? there's not a first tier republican '16 contender is for same-sex marriage. is there? is christie? >> no. >> there's not. jon huntsman isn't going to run again. huntsmannesque could emerge. but at this point, it is very hard to see christie change his position. he has enough problems. that is what's interesting. it goes to bill's point. we're talking as if there is this tidal wave when there are three republicans in congress. and it really irks the senate democrats. i can tell you every story we wrote last week, ten senate democrats still oppose marriage equality. nine senate democrats. 44 senate republicans who do. it drives them nuts. >> bill: only eight democrats and tomorrow it will be seven. >> bob casey changed. >> bill: james so great to talk to you. thank you so much for joining us. good work. great story. appreciate it. politico. politico.com. with james hohmann. michael tomasky still with us here as a "friend of bill." >> 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 he i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. he >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go. 11 minutes now before the top of the hour. it is the "full court press" on current tv. and ond your local progressive talk radio station. great to see you this morning. and great to have you in studio with us. michael tomasky columnist for the "daily beast" and good friend of the program. peter, what's going on. >> quick story had to throw this in because in south carolina, a launchpad to many presidential campaigns -- >> bill: yes. >> has been the republican's silver elephant dinner. >> bill: yes. >> they have -- most of the time at least being rumored to be a candidate for president give their big speech there. it has been announced and confirmed this morning their speaker will be... senator ted cruz. from texas. he is going to south carolina. >> bill: oh, god. >> he's going to headline this event that a lot of presidential contenders have spoken at. his name is already being mentioned as a possible candidate for the g.o.p. in 2016. >> bill: ted cruz. i guess it gets back to our question who are they going to get to run on the social conservative issues. he's a tea partier more than a social conservative. maybe you can't distinguish the two. i don't know. >> if the question is how do you distinguish yourself in your early days in the united states senate to the conservative base, the answer is act like joe mccarthy. >> yeah. we talked about that a lot. how he's handled himself in this first couple of months as senator. >> of course, when people like us talk like that, it makes it more -- >> bill: michael, i want to get your take on what is happening on the gun safety front because a lot of people are making the point that it looks like the congress has lost interest the subject has changed. it has been 100 days almost. tomorrow is when the president goes to newtown. 100 days after the murder at sandy hook elementary school. and yesterday the state of connecticut passed the toughest gun control measures so far of any state in the nation. senator richard blumenthal from connecticut pointed out what is contained in that package. >> the measures in connecticut will ban not only the sale of assault weapons but possession of the high-capacity magazines and other weapons of war. >> bill: so good for connecticut. but it can't just be done state by state by state can it? >> of course not. people can drive arms up from florida to virginia or connecticut. you can't block the highway. >> bill: so what is the hesitancy -- you know, you would think it would be the other way around i guess is what i'm trying to say. this is such a huge issue. congress would act right? but the states might be slow to follow. now we've had new york -- i forget a couple of other states have acted too. and now connecticut. and what's wrong -- is it just nra? >> yeah. but i would say, you know, something is going on in the senate. schumer's trying. tom coburn is the key player here on the republican side and if he does agree to some kind of provision on federal background checks, that will be a pretty big deal and it will come to the vote. and if he agrees, i would bet that at least five or six republicans would also follow his lead. and so it would get 60 votes in the senate and it would pass. now, the house of course, nothing was ever going to happen in the house. people are laboring under some weird illusions here and tricks of memory about -- like there is this idea if obama had moved fast and had struck while the iron was hot this would have all -- no. you could have put a bill before the house of representatives this house of representatives you know while they were burying those poor children and the sad fact is it wouldn't have passed. >> bill: so you're saying unlike what most other people are saying in washington today there will be no gun control legislation. >> not out of the house of representatives, not this time but if they get something through the senate and if they get a vote in the house, it will be progress. maybe next time. >> bill: wow. you wonder just what it will take. i hate to think we have to wait for the next time. michael, we covered the landscape, just about. it was good to have you in this morning. thank you. come back again soon. >> pleasure is always mine. >> bill: you can find him at dailybeast.com. i get the final word with our parting shot today. i will be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." (vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm 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: all right. well, you know, another day another senator in support of same-sex marriage. how about it. yesterday, it was pennsylvania's bob casey. becoming the latest to flip-flop from opposition to support. add him to the list of democratic senators mark warner, mark begich, kay hagan jay blumenthal and rockefeller who announced their change of position. among democrats that, leaves eight not yet on board. joe manchin, west virginia. bill nelson, florida. heidi heitkamp, north dakota. mary landrieu, louisiana. tim carper, delaware. joe donnelly, indiana and mark pryor, arkansas. now, look, each of them must fear that coming out for same-sex marriage would be bad for them back home politically. but they're dead wrong! every opinion poll shows that the american people overwhelmingly support same-sex marriage. except for religious conservatives and they're not going to vote for any democrat anyway. so we gotta keep the pressure on those eight senators until every democratic senator is in support of marriage equality. that's my parting shot for today. we'll see you with eliot spitzer back here again tomorrow.

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