Transcripts For CURRENT Full Court Press 20130624

if the phone is too old-fashioned for you, join us on twitter at bp show or on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow here in washington, d.c., this is the last week before congos on its extended july 4th break. the senate busy trying to get the immigration bill passed. the house meanwhile with nothing else to do will probably hold another hearing on benghazi pass another abortion bill and who knows they might even repeal obamacare for the 38th time. in florida the trial of george zimmerman gets underway today with opening arguments. and meanwhile has anybody seen edward snowden? he has disappeared from hong kong. popped up at moscow. apparently spent the night there and is already on his way to havana cuba. and from cuba, he will be going on to ecuador where he has sought asylum. we'll tell you about it right here on current tv. at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. 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. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv. if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> i think the number one thing that viewers like about "the young turks" is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. >> you're putting out there something that you're proud of. journalists want the the story and they want the right story and the want the true story. >> you can say anything here. >> i spent a couple of hours with a hooker. >> your mistake was writing a check. >> she never cashed it! >> the war room. >> compared to other countries with tighter gun safety laws our death toll is just staggering. >> the young turks. >> the top bankers who funneled all the money to the drug lords, no sentence. there's just no justice in that. >> viewpoint. >> carl rove said today that mitt romney is a lock to win next pope. he's garunteeing it. >> joy behar: say anything. >> is the bottom line then that no white person should ever, ever, ever use the "n" word? >> yes! >> only on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: monday morning. june 24. welcome to the "full court press." what do you say in hello everybody. great to see you this monday morning. good to be back with all of you. hope you enjoyed the weekend. had a chance to kick back, recharge the batteries, have a little fun along the way. a beautiful weekend here in our nation's capital. and i hope you're ready to tackle the big issues of this new day this monday. i forget what they call it but i was just walking over here this morning, this is a time of summer, the one time when the moon is the closest to the earth. it's only 221,000 miles away at this time. it is closer than it ever is and it is like -- it looks 1/3 bigger to the naked eye than it does normally. that big full moon. >> super moon. they call it the super moon. >> bill: over the united states capitol this morning was just spectacular. great to see you this morning. take a look at the moon. give yourself a treat this monday morning. and also give yourself a treat by giving us a call. you get to talk about the issues any time you want. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. join us on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. well, you know, it is the summer. we never have the full team here at any one time it seems. i'm the only one who never gets a vacation. peter is back. hello, peter. missed you last week. >> i missed you, as well. it was a wonderful time. >> bill: we followed with you the spurs. >> i don't want to talk about it. i still have a bad taste in my mouth over that. >> bill: well, if you had stayed here and cheered them on it might have been different. >> good point. >> bill: dan has a couple of days off. alriche sha cruz has the week off. so we brought back stevie lee webb. >> hello, bill press. i'm very well. is this going to take long? i've got to get back to wimbledon. i'm a ball boy. >> bill: nice to bounce across the pond for us this week. cyprian is here. >> talk about a guy who never gets a day off. man! >> bill: he's got a big two weeks coming. >> that's right. >> bill: he's already warned us. good to have you all here this morning. there's another member of our team who was missing this morning. paula deen couldn't make it this morning. >> valuable member of our team. >> bill: looks like she's out of a job. she's usually here preparing breakfast for us. she got in a little trouble last week. she belatedly came out with a video begging forgiveness -- here she is. >> i've made plenty of mistakes along the way but i beg you my children, my team, my fans, my partners i beg for your forgiveness. >> bill: oh, god lay it on. right? mmm, boy. so, do you think she was unfairly fired? >> no. look, you know, her -- everyone's harping on this idea and this thing that the worst crime she committed was that she confessed to using the "n" word -- >> bill: by the way you grew up in the south. i grew up in the south. delaware was -- delaware city was a segregated, southern town. so yeah, i admit too. but that's the era we grew up in. in the part of the country we grew up in. >> even today, i still have family in south carolina and every time i go back to south carolina, i hear that word. it's in my family. so, i mean, there is a real conversation to be had about -- >> bill: if she had said that and moved on -- >> there is a real conversation to be had about race and that word but it goes so much deeper than that. >> bill: this whole wedding ceremony that she was -- yeah -- show she was trying to put together no, no, no, no. so, do you think her career is done? maybe her restaurant continues. >> i think she has some real problems. i think that, you know, people will stop going to her restaurant even because the thing is, knowing some people who live in savanna where her restaurant empire resides, it is not that popular with the locals. savanna has some great restaurants. it is a tourist destination. a lot of people will come there to eat at her restaurant. >> bill: i'll take ina garden over paula deen. reid wilson from the "national journal" who often joins us on the phone will be here in studio with us. cindy boren our favorite sports columnist will be here with us the next hour. and then julie mason from sirius x.m. p.o.t.u.s. channel will be here as a "friend of bill." and edward snowden is on the run. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> here are some other stories making news, last night bill, wire walker nick wallenda made history as he became the first man to tightrope across the grand canyon. in a special that aired live on the discovery channel wallenda took just under 23 minutes to walk 1400 feet across a wire that was suspended 1500 feet above the floor of the canyon. wallenda spent the entire time -- they had a microphone on him and cameras. he spent the whole time talking to jesus and begging and praying. >> bill: he did the right thing because he got to the other side. >> jesus got him across. after the stunt he announced his next big stunt is he wants to talk between two skyscrapers in new york city which is a stunt that's been done before. >> bill: that's been done before. between the twin towers at one point, it is a great -- wired. >> there is a great documentary. man on a wire. >> bill: that's the book and that's the documentary. >> apple one is ready to go on sale for $300,000. the apple one computer, one of the rarest of all computer platforms goes on -- will go on the auction with a starting bid of $300,000. the computer isn't even in its original form. the owner picked up the computer three years ago and has added a monitor, keyboard and a very up-to-date tape deck for additional storage. the main mother board of the machine is authentic, however and this is the original configuration built by steve wozniak and steve jobs -- >> bill: in their garage. >> indeed. bill, i know you were wondering why kim kardashian and kanye west named their child northwest. they say it was not inspired by a compass when they named the child north. the name is meant to be inspirational, more inspirational than directional. sources close to the couple told tmz they chose the name because they see it as a metaphor for up telling friends what is north of north? nothing. translation, in their mind, nothing better than this child. are you kidding? >> bill: look, they wanted to be cute. north west. far west. >> bill: the big story of the day, edward snowden on the run. that dominated the sunday talk shows yesterday even before word got out that edward snowden had escaped hong kong and ended up in moscow which made for some interesting commentary on the sunday shows. david gregory sort of stepped in a little bit on "meet the press." he is a journalist. did a good job covering the white house for nbc news. as host of "meet the press," he sort of fell, i think into a right wing trap here with glen greenwald who is a reporter -- investigative reporter from "the guardian" who broke this story and is the one who revealed that edward snowden went to greenwald, wrote the story and then also did the interview with edward snowden when snowden revealed himself as the source. so david gregory has this question for glen greenwald yesterday. >> to the extent you have aided and abetted snowden even in his current movements why shouldn't you, mr. greenwald, be charged with a crime? >> i think it is pretty extraordinary anybody who would call themselves a journalist would publicly muse about whether or not other journalists should be charged with felony. >> bill: good point. even the use of that phrase, aided and abetted. yeah, that's like the fbi call ing james rosen a criminal co-conspirator just because he asked a question of somebody in the state department, glen greenwald accused of aiding and abetting the enemy. just because he did an interview with edward snowden. come on, david gregory what's wrong with you? meanwhile, general keith alexander, head of the nsa continues to try to defend his program. he was on this week with george stephanopoulos yesterday talking about all of the damage that edward snowden has done. >> snowden has revealed has caused irreversible and significant damage to our country and to our allies. >> bill: i would like to know what the irreversible damage is. he didn't tell us about any of the phone calls. he didn't tell us about the content of the phone calls. there were no names revealed. he just said snowden told us that the nsa is tracking and keeping and storing information on every single phone call made in the united states of america. how did that do irreversible damage to our national security? i think keith alexander is crying wolf one far too many times. but to give you some idea of the mixed feelings on edward snowden, you've heard me say i think he did us a public service by revealing this information, i think we have a right to know what our government is up to. nancy pelosi appeared in front of net roots nation out in california over the weekend. she said look, snowden broke the law which he did by the way was not very well received. >> he did violate the law in terms of releasing those documents. we don't know. i just meant -- i just meant -- and the fact is -- and the fact is that, that -- >> boo! it wasn't quite that bad. >> bill: it was june 9 that snowden did his interview with "the guardian" and we learned he was in hong kong. people called him a traitor and said we're going to bring him back. i was told at the time by a friend of mine in law enforcement. his goose is cooked. we have an extradition treaty with hong kong and the state department will revoke his passport. in fact, that's the first thing they would have done. they have probably already done it. i was told on june 9. i figured that, in fact, his goose was cooked indeed for those two reasons. last week, we learned that the justice department had filed charges against snowden three charges, each of which -- for each of which he can get ten years in jail and so we expect him -- i did you probably did too, to be brought back here, put on trial and yet, this weekend, over the weekend he escaped. he fled the coop. he left hong kong, off to moscow. spent the night at moscow at the airport. now on his way to havana, we think. i haven't heard the confirmation of that. from havana, he's expected to bounce through ecuador where in fact the ecuadorian government said he has sought asylum, the same country that's given asylum to julian assange the head of wikileaks. the reason get this, i gotta tell you, it seems to me whatever you think about edward snowden, whether you consider him a pay patriot or a traitor you have to admire the guy's moxie. he was up against the entire united states government. he's up against the mighty justice department. and he escaped right under their noses. why? well, hong kong says that the extradition request that the united states filed was flawed. there were some mistakes in it. they didn't get it right. they lost some time. and two the state department did not revoke his passport until june 22nd. so he left with a valid passport. they could have revoked it on the 9th of june. they didn't until june 22nd. department of justice at it again. another good reason to fire eric holder. my question to you is do you think snowden is doing the right thing by running? 1-866-55-press or should he stay and face the music? 1-866-55-press. now, i don't know about you but if my ass was grass and i know the full weight of the united states government is coming after me, and i'm going to spend the rest of my life in a federal prison and i got a chance to get to ecuador maybe fish and lie in the sun for the rest of my life, i don't know about you but i'm heading to ecuador baby. what do you think? 1-866-55-press. edward snowden on the run. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." anything. (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. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything. cenk off air alright in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks! i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. they know that i'm not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know i'm going to be the first one to call them out. cenk on air>> what's unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. cenk off air i don't want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they can't buy our politics anymore. cenk off air and they can question if i'm right about that. but i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts! narrator uniquely progressive and always topical the worlds largest online news show is on current tv. cenk off air and i think the audience gets, "this guys to best of his abilities is trying to look out for us." only on current tv! >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. waking up to the fact that where snowden has escaped u.s. authorities in hong kong outwitted them, in fact, and seems to be on his way to asylum in ecuador, the foreign minister of ecuador has acknowledged that through the assistance of wikileaks and remember, julian assange had a wikileaks for a couple of years now, has been hiding out in the ecuadorian embassy hiding out in full sight in the ecuadorian embassy in london and apparently they arranged a special permit for him to get out of hong kong and to ecuador via moscow and havana. here's don out in albany, oregon. what do you say? >> caller: good morning, bill. how are you doing? >> bill: i'm great. how are you? >> caller: it is probably edward snowden's safest bet right now. i don't know why intelligence communities can never seem to face the fact that everything sees the light of day. even if it is ancient history. just imagine how much was written down that was never supposed to see the light of day but still ended up doing so just the same. >> bill: yep, no exactly. had to come out plus, again i made this point before. it seems to me if this program is really so vital to our national security, then they should have just told us about it. if i know that they are keeping a record of every phone call i make, i'm still going to make -- i'm not going to stop making phone calls. the fact that this thing was kept so secret that bothers me. that's why i thank edward snowden for releasing it which is a point that valerie plame made. doris is calling from flint michigan. what do you say? >> caller: hi, bill. good morning. i wanted to say that when i've been here watching keith alexander and the others say you know, if he really believes that he's right let him come back and make his case and whatever. well, because we're a nation of -- much of the time or some of the time we are but if we look at what happened by our military, if you look at what happened in guan -- guantanamo in the past and with the prisoners and you look at what happened with bradley manning why would anybody trust they're going to be fair because they'll want to make an example of him like they always do for the little countries we beat up like we're going to show them, like cuba. cuba stood up and that's why we don't like them. >> bill: doris you make an excellent point. look at what they've done to bradley manning. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. 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. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go. 33 minutes after the hour. how about it on a monday morning, june 24. great to see you today. hope you enjoyed the weekend. ready to tackle the big stories of the day today. which we do now with the help of a good friend who we normally talk to on the phone this early in the morning. but we found out that he lived close enough to the studio that we can roust him out and get his butt in here, reid wilson is the editor-in-chief of the "national journal" hot line. good to see you. >> good morning, bill. how you doin'? >> bill: thanks for coming in. >> no worries. >> bill: since we're neighbors, let's be friends. what a great neighborhood. >> it is. everybody thinks that washington is just this corridor between the white house on one side of pennsylvania and the capitol on the other but just a couple of blocks behind the capitol it is this great neighborhood that we call home. >> bill: the oldest residential neighborhood of the city. and because this is where it all started. >> mm-hmm. you can still see the narrowness of the streets sort of evokes the horse-drawn carriages here in the 1800s and this is where d.c. gree up. >> bill: a lot of people don't realize that -- we'll get to the news of the day. to see a neighbor and a friend. washington did not exist. washington was created from nothing. so there were no roads here and the way -- only way to get here initially was by boat, landing at the navy yard, right, at the end of this eighth street block from here. and so that eighth street became -- they call it america's -- washington's first main street. >> by the way the statue of freedom doesn't face east -- excuse me, it faces east. it faces our neighborhood. this is where they thought the city would grow up. >> i love it. >> bill: we've been talking reid about edward snowden. i was just checking my twitter feed here before i walked in. and not only are there 20 journalists and photographers who have apparently gotten on this airplane and -- >> bill: to havana including a "new york times" reporter. >> i parent he has not -- apparently he has not showed up. they're paging him over the system there at the airport in moscow. >> that has to be interesting. it could be a trap. >> it could be. it is a long flight to havana. >> bill: first of all he could be in disguise. i read this morning that whole thing about the havana flight could be a total ruse. to throw journalists off because journalists were scrambling to buy tickets on that flight. >> what a bizarre -- >> bill: keep a watch on this. >> this is a robert ludlum novel. it is not a terribly interesting one. nobody has died yet but usually those books somebody dies in the first page. >> bill: i wrote a column where i compared it to a daniel silva novel. >> at any rate. silva is a better writer. >> bill: international thriller. and the fact that so -- i double checked last night. june 9 when he came forward. that's when we learned about the nsa and we learned who the source was. june 9. i was told by a friend who works in law enforcement that this guy's not gonna -- he's never going to get away. they're just going to revoke his passport. they didn't revoke his passport until june 22nd. >> that's surprising. >> bill: what were they waiting for? >> apparently he was traveling on travel documents supplied by wikileaks. so it is not as if he's completely trapped because the u.s. government revoked his passport. also friendly governments along the way russia, hong kong big story this morning on the chinese involvement and they don't want to be too hands on because they don't want to app -- they don't want to damage the u.s. relations they built at the summit out in california. they let him go to russia. >> bill: hong kong is saying the justice department denies the fact the application for extradition was not properly filled out. >> who is the lawyer who screwed that one up? >> bill: the thing is he got out from under their noses. >> has to be a big embarrassment for the united states foreign policy wise, this is not something we'll look back on as one of our finest days. >> bill: my fear is that all of the -- here's what -- i guess we're approving right now. all of the talk now is going to be about edward snowden. where is he and what's going to happen? and people are not going to be talking about the nsa program and whether still you can justify that program defend it. >> remember the i.r.s. scandals we talked about? those are gone from the front pages. the nsa story the nsa programs were a big deal for a couple of days and snowden became the big deal and his flight to south america. we're distracted by the shiny objects. you're right. there is this huge debate. i keep hearing the white house and the administration officials saying they're glad this big debate is happening. i'm not hearing the big debate. the debate on privacy has not really happened. because we're all really obsessed with this robert ludlum novel playing out in "the new york times." >> bill: number two i think the debate on privacy hasn't happened because you and i are really willing to debate this issue, the administration keeps saying oh, no, that's top secret. we can't tell you about this. if they're not forthcoming -- if all they can say in response to our request to say answers to the questions like how long have you been dealing with this information, what have you learned? and all they say is can't tell you. can't tell you. can't tell you. >> there's a buddy of mine who works for the white house who has been working on this issue a little bit and he was told that he couldn't talk about this particular program because it was classified. and he was sort of flabbergasted. he said i think the fact it showed up on the front page of the "new york times" declassified it. they're still not talking about some of the larger issues this brings up. this is a huge conversation and debate that needs to happen that the administration will all always have the upper hand on. they can say this has stopped terrorist attacks. i think they've released information about four different plots that it has actually stopped. that's a pretty good start to the conversation. now, it is the opponent's turn to have that -- their thoughts. >> bill: reid wilson in studio with us with the "national journal" hot line, nationaljournal.com. president is making a big speech on climate change. is this really a top priority of his or is it just something he -- >> i feel like there are -- >> bill: excited about every once in awhile. >> i feel like there are a lot of priorities of this white house that don't get a lot of legislative umph. let's be very clear. there's going to be no legislation on climate change going through the 113th congress so long as the republicans in the house of representatives have 230 234 235 seats. if they have more than 218 no legislation is going through. practically speaking by the way there are 20 or 30 democrats who aren't going to allow the legislation to go through either. so this is a nice -- there are some things that the president can do through executive fiat by executive order or various priorities various parts of the budget he can play with without congress but there won't be a serious legislative push because they don't have the votes. and by the way it does not go -- it should not be unnoticed that he's making this speech during one of the busiest weeks in washington of the year. week before the july 4th recess. it is usually a heavy legislative week. we've got immigration going through. a farm bill to deal with. it is a big difficult legislative week and here's a speech on climate change that seems like it was designed to be -- to come out during this week. >> bill: by the way, not to mention we should be hearing from the supreme court on some hugely important issues. three of them on voting rights and on affirmative action. of course, on marriage equality. >> it's going to be a very, very busy week here in washington. it feels like the speech is going to get drown out. >> bill: you mention the farm bill. talk about embarrassments, right? here is, for the second year in a row the senate has passed a fairly decent farm bill. the leadership in the house republican leadership, john boehner and eric cantor went to their caucus and said we've got to do this. right thing for america. right thing for the republican party. they could not get enough republican votes to get it passed. what does that say about boehner's leadership? >> i think it speaks to the whole -- it tells us a lot of stories about how washington works right now. first of all let's talk about the -- the leadership that exists at the moment. i'll say this delicately. the fact is you don't put a bill on the floor that you know you're going to lose. let me say it a different way. you don't put a bill on the floor that you don't know you're going to win. if you're the leadership of the u.s. house of representatives you should be whipping every single vote and know where every single voter is on everything from the smallest procedural motion to the largest bill like a farm bill. this has happened now four or five times in which republicans have had to either pull a bill from the floor because they didn't have enough votes or simply straight up lose a bill. that should not happen. it didn't happen under nancy pelosi. didn't happen under denny has stert. remember -- >> bill: pelosi had steny hoyer. he was a great whip. he knows every single vote. >> there you go. the interesting part of -- remember, there was a prescription drug -- medicaid expansion part d under george w. bush, the republicans held a 15-minute vote trying to twist the arms and they got it passed. say what you will about the legislative business, that's how the business works. this is clearly a whip team that doesn't know where its votes are. that can't get itself in order. there's sort of the side note of that is that the republicans who are -- who are voting consistently against leadership are the ones for whom it is good politics. it is good politics because it gets them more with the constituencies back home. than it does say for leadership to be able to offer them something. no more earmarks. >> bill: just have to interrupt you. we have to take a quick break here. all of that, when we come back, i want to ask you how that -- what that means for the looming immigration vote which has got to move from the senate through the house. reid wilson here from the "national journal" hot line is in studio with us. you're welcome to join the conversation any time. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv. (cenk) it's go time! it's go time! it's go time! go time. you know what time it is. go time! it's go time. it's go time. what time is it rob? here comes the young turks go time! it's go time. oh is it? oh, then it's go time. anybody? anybody? what time is it? oh, right. it's go time! >> bill: we learned during the break that the flight from moscow to havana has departed. and there is an empty seat. empty seat. the name of mr. edward snowden. reid wellson is in studio with us. where the hell is he? >> your guess is as good as mine. probably somewhere in moscow. >> bill: moscow airport because he didn't have a visa. >> he couldn't leave the airport. and hey what other flights does that airline take to the western mem -- hemisphere. i was look up flights from hong kong straight to ecuador and venezuela. here's why he went through russia. all of the flights from hong kong go through the u.s. san francisco or l.a. or something like that to get on to caracas or kito. >> bill: you did point out to me, i just love this. that the flight path to get to havana from moscow, they actually cross over some u.s. territory -- i don't know why they would. because you wouldn't have to. >> but the long flights they all go over the arctic. the shorter routes. so you're not going to fly a straight line. so yeah, that would be interesting. >> bill: if he were on that plane and they were crossing u.s. territory could they force him down? >> i think that would cause a pretty large international incident if that were to happen. i feel like a lot of this has been the u.s. avoiding more diplomatic -- over the last couple of days. we'll see. 11 and a half hour long flight. >> bill: must be another way to get from moscow -- >> i'm sure there is. you would have to -- >> you would have to take a lot of little stops. 11 and a half hours. maybe eight or nine hours from now, listeners in ohio, kentucky tennessee georgia look up, you might see the aeroflot plane. >> bill: if you see edward snowed anywhere, give us a call. we want to know where he is. i love the fact all of the journalists bought tickets on the flight. immigration reform first of all, what's going to happen in the senate? it is clearly going to get through the senate. we don't know in what shape. there a clear whip count. 54 democrats in the senate. 50 are guaranteed yes. if you take a look at the red state dems like joe manchin, kay hagan, mark pryor probably mary landrieu, they might be for the bill. right now, they're not saying they are. let's call it 50 for the sake of argument. four republicans in the gang of eight. cokier and hoeven just passed this big security, they'll be for this bill. then the two who have come out and said they're in favor of it, kelly ayotte from new hampshire mark kirk from illinois, that brings you up to 58 votes. you get a couple of guys who have laid out very clearly what they need in op-eds in their home states, dean heller from nevada and rob portman from ohio, all of those boxes have been checked so that's -- they're going to get to yes. that's 60 votes right there. that's what you need to pass this actual bill. you've still got the four democrats, the four red state dems. there is a group of 10 to 15 republican legislators republicans in the senate who are eyeing each other who will be in favor of this bill. if a lot of their colleagues are. there was that famous line during the healthcare fight when chuck grassley was asked if you get everything in this bill but you're the only republican to vote for it, will you be for it and he said no. he couldn't be the only republican there. in this case, it is the same situation. you've got 10 or 15 guys eyeing each other who would really love to be the 70th yes vote on this and hate to be the 61st. it is a lot harder to get to yes when there are fewer republicans on board. but i think at the end of the day, there are, at the moment only six hard no votes against this bill. probably another 12 who were getting there or you know, going to be no-no matter what happens. >> bill: we can come out of the senate with 70 votes. >> the absolute maximum you can get is 80. it's not going to happen. but there is a window there between 70 and 80 that i think we'll end up getting to. but probably between 70 and 75. >> bill: and then, the theory is with that much momentum, the house is going to have to pass some kind of an immigration bill but of course, as we discussed on the farm bill, what should happen doesn't always happen. >> momentum from senate votes doesn't translate into house votes. it got 66 votes in the senate. >> bill: reid wilson, now you know where we are. come by any time. >> sounds good. >> bill: i'll be back and tell you -- take a look at some of your e-mails when we come back. >> on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. 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. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! 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. 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: take your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: hey, a lot of sports in the next hour. cindy boren from "the washington post," chris kluwe from the raiders has a new book out and then we'll also talk with jeff messer from our good friends down at 880 the revolution in north carolina about moral monday. on edward snowden glenda says bill, just one word. three syllables i'll give you two of the three syllables. chicken. you can add the third one yourself. wayne b. wants us to point out we talked about self-driving cars on friday. he said they don't drink coffee, don't text, don't put on makeup, don't shave don't talk on cell phones, don't reach in the backseat to get stuff and don't break speed limits. i still don't trust them. >> bill: what do you say? it is monday morning june 24. great to see you this morning. welcome to the "full court press," right here on current tv. we are coming to you live coast-to-coast from our studio on capitol hill in washington d.c. bringing you the news of the day and giving. >> chance to comment on what it all means to you. to your work, to your life, to your family. 1-866-55-press. our toll free number. that's how you join the conversation by phone. or you can weigh in, just send us your comments on twitter at bpshow or on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. well today, here in washington, d.c. it is the last week before the july 4th break. the senate will be working hard to get the immigration bill off the senate floor and over to the house. meanwhile, in the house with nothing better to do, they probably will hold another hearing on benghazi. they'll probably pass another anti-abortion bill and they'll probably repeal obamacare yet again for the 38th time. in florida the george zimmerman trial gets underway today with opening arguments. and by the way has anybody seen edward snowden? he was supposed to be on a flight. right now from moscow to havana. that flight has left. 22 journalists are on board but no edward snowden. where is he? find out when current tv continues. democrats are wrong, they know i'm going to be the first one to call them out. cenk on air>> what's unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. cenk off air i don't want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they can't buy our politics anymore. cenk off air and they can question if i'm right about that. but i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts! narrator uniquely progressive and always topical the worlds largest online news show is on current tv. cenk off air and i think the audience gets, "this guys to best of his abilities is trying to look out for us." (vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. john fugelsang: if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: the aeroflot flight from moscow to havana has departed moscow. there are some 20 journalists on board. it's a flight that's 12 hours and 17 minutes long. they don't serve any alcohol. everybody's on board except edward snowden. didn't make the flight. he outwitted them once again. wonder where he is. we'll try to tell you before the end of the program. we're tracking him down here. monday june 24. it is the "full court press." good to see you this morning. thank you for joining us on the "full court press" as we come to you live from our nation's capital, bringing you the news of the day taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. your comments on twitter at bpshow. your comments on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. pardon me, peter ogborn is back! >> i am indeed. >> bill: back in the pilot seat this morning. now it is dan henning's turn to have a couple of days off as well as alichia cruz, she's off at the beach this week. stevie lee webb, thank you stevie. here to man the phones. cyprian bowlding never takes a vacation, here on the video cam. for current tv. >> cyprian has been getting some fan mail here recently. >> bill: he has. people don't like it if we don't give cyprian attention in a big way. the business event at the grand canyon. willie geist from morning joe to host it on discovery channel right and was there when nick wallenda actually made it, winds whipping up to 50 miles per hour. he made it across the grand canyon on that wire with the help of jesus. >> nick wallenda, ladies and gentlemen, has made history. he's the first human to ever cross the grand canyon. on a wire. nick congratulations. >> thank you. >> bill: i don't think he's just the first human to cross the grand canyon on a wire. i mean has any nonhuman? a giraffe. i normally don't fall into watching stunts like this. i watched that last night. i feel a little dumb that i watched an hour and 45 minutes of build-up leading up to the actually walking because they had the whole background and the set-up and all of that. but it was incredible. what they did the way that they had, you know, a helicopter in the canyon so you can get a full shot, they had cameras attached to his shirt so -- they were pointed down. so you could -- they say don't look down. we could look down. it was terrifying. it was absolutely terrifying. >> bill: yeah. you know, i would rather be a talk show host. little less dangerous. it is dangerous. >> you're still working without a net. >> bill: we've got a lot of fun this hour. chris kluwe punter for the oakland raiders has a new book out. cindy boren covers sports for "the washington post" will be here as well. jeff messer, host of the revolution down in asheville north carolina. will tell us about the moral mondays in the north carolina capital to try tho get the legislators to do the right thing. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> bill: what have you got peter? >> there are a few other stories making news. poor poor, paula deen. we learned over the weekend that paula deen's contract with the food network would not be renewed because of her history with racist language and behavior. now things might get worse for her culinary empire. qvc issued a statement over the weekend saying they share the concerns being raised around the unfortunate paula deen situation. they haven't officially ended their agreement with paula deen. they do currently sell her cookware and tools. the goal is to get on qvc to sell your stuff. soon, all she'll have left is her restaurant in savanna. >> bill: the fans are lined up outside the restaurant in savane and a half over the weekend. >> "new york times" said they were and then after the first wave it got much quieter which apparently there is a line around the clock there usually. it has tapered off. we'll see. we will see. you know that other sport hockey, that's still going on. the stanley cup finals resume tonight with the chicago blackhawks leading the series 3-2. a win by the blackhawks would end the scrappy series. it has been a very brutal, physical series so far. the bruins enter tonight's game without one of their star players, patrice bergeron. he was injured in game five. puck drops at 8:00 this evening eastern time. >> bill: didn't know it was still going on. >> it could end tonight. look up in the sky. it's a super moon. anybody who looked up might have seen the moon was a little bigger and brighter than usual. the science community calls it a perigee full moon, the closest full moon of the year. it occurs on a different date each year. next year's super moon will take place in august. even though the moon was at its closest point to the earth all year, don't worry. it is still 221,000 miles away. >> bill: i saw it this morning. it is beautiful. all right. you got it. just bringing you up to date on the story that we are tracking today. the whereabouts of edward snowden. this does read like a good international thriller. but he -- he was in moscow. had fled there from hong kong. he was boarding an aeroflot flight to go from moscow to havana and the flight -- the journalist -- 20 journalists immediately booked tickets and they got on the flight. they tweeted the doors closed, there was one empty seat. mr. snowden did not make -- either he overslept unlikely, at any rate, he's not on the flight. we'll keep you up to date on that throughout the program this morning. but shift gears a little bit here to the world of sports. chris kluwe, you know him. he's the renowned punter for the oakland raiders. out with a new book called beautifully unique sparkle ponies. on myths morons, free speech, football and assorted absurdities. great title. haven't had a chance to read the book yet. great title. chris kluwe, thank you for joining us. >> good morning. how's it going? >> bill: early on the west coast, man. are you in oakland area? where are you? >> no. actually i took a red eye into new york. i just got in. big day of publicity stuff. >> bill: all right, good for you. thanks so much for joining us. i have to ask you a dumb question to begin with, what the hell is a sparkle pony? >> so, when i wrote my original letter to delegate burns it kind of got a bunch of attention. the phrase that a lot of people latched on to were the sea monster. it actually stood for something else. so in the censored version i replaced that with beautifully unique sparkle ponies. since barnes & noble wouldn't stock a book called -- monsters, i called it beautifully unique sparkle ponies. >> bill: i can't read most of the letter on the air here. >> understandable. >> bill: so this is a guy -- tell our audience a little bit about delegate burns in the maryland legislature and why you took him on. >> so, delegate burns had written a letter to the ravens essentially asking them to stifle the free speech of one of their employees brendan ayanbadejo. he had recorded a youtube video promoting the same sex ballot initiative on the maryland ballot for that year. and so delegate burns wrote this letter essentially saying the ravens needed to shut brendan up. no one wanted to hear this. unfortunately for him he decided to write it on official maryland state stationery and refer to himself and his constituents which is a clear first amendment violation. so i did not take that too kindly especially when i was working at the time to do something similar. in minnesota, there was an initiative there to ban same-sex marriage to make it constitutional amendment. and so i wrote a letter to delegate burns pointing out why violating first amendment is not a good idea and why limiting -- it is not a good idea especially as an official of the united states government. it blew up after that. >> bill: it did indeed. brendan ayanbadejo has been in studio with us, great guy. the two of you are really leading voices in the nfl for acceptance of marriage equality and same-sex marriage. you're married with two kids. why is this such an important issue to you? >> well, because it gets the fundamental human right of equality. it gets to do you treat other people the way you would like to be treated. right now in our country we have american citizens who pay their taxes who serve in the military, who are not allowed to benefit under the same laws as everyone else. and in my eyes, i'm pretty sure in the eyes of the law and everyone else, that's discrimination. you can't tell citizens they're not allowed to benefit under the same laws. especially if they do everything else required to be a citizen. and you know, it is something that both brendan and i we just approach it from that human rights that, civil rights perspective that this is not equal. and it needs to change. >> bill: yet, good for you by the way. i'm with you 100% on that. as you know, there are some environments where still today it is uncomfortable to be out as an lgbt person. do you think the league is ready to accept gay players? >> i think it is. i think teams are moving more and more in that direction because teams are noticing that you know, this is a way that society is noted. eventually, as a society we're going to address this. we're going to get it right. while football is regarded as kind of this sort of macho dumb jock stereotype, there are a lot of very smart guys in the nfl. the thing is you generally don't hear about them because it is the guys doing stupid stuff that make the news. you know, i've actually had a very good reception in the locker room when i was with the vikings and you know, also with the raiders that guys will come up and say hey we appreciate what you did. we appreciate that you wrote that letter. we think you're doing the right thing. i've had that from guys from other teams. they've said the same thing. i really think that the acceptance is there. and it's changing more and more each year. it is just a matter of someone -- someone has to take the first step. >> bill: i'm reminded of barry goldwater about gays in the military. it doesn't matter whether you're gay or straight, what matters is whether you can shoot straight. i would imagine your feeling would be about the same for an nfl player. it doesn't matter whether they're gay or straight but delivering for the team or making that tackle or throwing that pass. >> exactly. can you show up on sunday and can you help the team win games? because that's ultimately what it comes down to is can you help a team win games because if you can't, we're going to lose our jobs because they're losing. >> bill: when do you think we're going to see the first players actually -- or player come out? openly? in the nfl? >> i don't know. that really just depends on the player. how comfortable they are with being themselves and you know, really how they feel it might impact their employment opportunities because the window to make it in the nfl is so small and there are so many guys vying for positions that i'm sure for a lot of guys, they look at it like i'm going to hide who i am for three, four, five years. i'm going to make my money. once i'm done then i can be, you know, i can be openly gay. and that's something that i think you know, it is a tough decision to make. it is not a decision, you know, that i would feel comfortable making because it is your job when it comes down to it. hopefully what me and brendan and other guys who are working for this can do is make the environment more welcoming. >> bill: with your support it makes it easier for them. peter ogborn is our executive producer here. >> i wanted to throw in if you're not following chris on twitter, it is at chris warcraft. it is hilarious. it is great. it is insightful, funny. and i just want to ask you sort of as a professional -- >> bill: the pope is on twitter. >> you might as well. it is a slightly different twitter feed between chris and the pope. >> bill: i would hope. >> chris, as a professional athlete, i want to ask you how social media and technology plays into what you do because you seem to have really grasped the concept well whereas a lot of people haven't. >> well, the great thing about social media is it allows you to interact with people you would not have the chance to interact with. for fans, that can be amazing because if you looked at 10, 15 years ago, the only interaction fans had with players was by watching them on sunday and by possibly going to training camp in the fall. maybe getting a quick autograph. now with twitter and facebook and other social media, you can interact with your favorite athletes on a real time basis. if you're smart as an athlete you can use that to build up your fan base. all it takes is talking to people. just get to know people. >> bill: that's great. so good of you to do that. chris, i'm from california and was visiting with a friend from california the other night who is from the oakland area. he said that the oakland raiders are definitely moving to san jose and san jose is going to build a stadium for you. is that going to happen? what do you hear? >> i have no idea on that one. i just got there a couple of months ago. that will be as much news to me as it is to everyone else. >> bill: as you know, there is a lot of politics involved in that, of course, right? >> of course. >> bill: big movement to get the raiders down to san jose. wherever you end up, wherever the team ends up, the book is beautifully unique sparkle ponies. he holds back on absolutely nothing. he is way out there. chris kluwe. hey, chris, good luck with all of your tour today and thanks so much for starting off with us. >> yeah, no problem. thank you for having me on the show. >> bill: we'll have a link on our web site to the book. it is a good, fast read. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv. we have a big, big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: okay. 26 minutes after the hour. cindy boren sports blogger for "the washington post," up in the next segment of the "full court press" here on a monday morning. well, all eyes on moscow and edward snowden. but the plane left for havana and he was not on board. right? >> he wasn't there. no. there were reporters on the plane and he didn't show up for a fight. he was an empty seat. he's not on the flight. >> bill: amazing. >> it is pretty awesome. in terms of how bad they punked all of these people. the journalists got flights on to that plane. >> bill: it was a total ruse that they said this was the flight he was taking. that was a smart thing to do if that's, in fact, what happened. >> yeah. >> bill: i could see the movie. yes, indeed. while snowden is on the run at any rate, keith alexander the head of nsa yesterday appearing on the sunday shows. he was on this week talking about all of the damage that snowden's leak has done. >> snowden has revealed has caused irreversible and significant damage to our country and to our allies. >> bill: alexander says even though, as a result of what he revealed they've made important changes. >> we're now putting in place actions that would give us the ability to track our system administrators, what they're doing, what they're taking. two-man rule. we've changed the passwords. but at the end of the day we have to trust that our people are going to do the right thing. >> bill: oh, yes. >> good luck. >> bill: there we go again. the ultimate fallback. i'm from the government. i'm here to help you. trust me. trust me. i don't trust them one bit. 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'm given to doing anyway, by 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. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. 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? >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey, here we go. 33 minutes after the hour. it is monday, june 24. so good to see you today. and we want to talk a little sports here. the ultimate sports event of the day, of course, is the marathon. the marathon that one man is running. his name is edward snowden. it is more than a marathon. more than 26 miles. he started in hong kong. made his way to moscow. he was supposed to leave moscow today for cuba. just bringing you up to date on this. 20 some journalists rushed to buy tickets on that flight so they could be on the plane with edward snowden and aeroflot flight. they got on board closed the doors. the plane left moscow. it is 12 hours and 17 minutes to get to havana. there's an empty seat on board. edward snowden did not make the flight. >> fascinating. >> bill: where he is, nobody knows. on other sports events of the day, however she knows everything, cindy boren our good friend, "washington post" sports blogger joins us on the phone this morning. how are you? >> i'm great. >> bill: peter ogborn is still in mourning over the spurs. >> it hurt. it honestly hurt. because they came so close. >> they did. >> they came so close then they lost. >> bill: it was but -- i was at the white house last week and jay carney said the president watched the final game and he was sorry it was over. there was such a great series. and it was. >> everybody wanted -- it did have to end at some point. the spurs looked a little bit tired maybe at the end there. i think it was remarkable they were able to play as well as they did after being so deflated. i'm sorry peter after being so close in game six and having it slip away. traditionally, if you look at sports when that happens in a game six, game seven is anti-climactic and isn't quite as close as you might think because the team is so deflated. they came out and gave the heat a good game. >> what killed me about game seven is that tim duncan had a chance to tie it up on a shot that he's going to go to the hall of fame for. the turnaround jump hook and he missed it then he missed the putback. i was so mad. >> i wasn't going to say that because i thought perhaps that would be painful to you but yes. it was right there. they had it. and you know, although, all credit to lebron james and those guys who played great. >> bill: so speaking of somebody who looked a little tired and not necessarily up to their best game, carol and i went to the nats game on saturday. sat there through that 7-1 loss. yesterday, 7-6. they're not going to make the playoffs this year, right cindy? >> it's not early anymore, i'll say that but it's always dangerous in -- it is still june to make the proclamation. however, you know, there is just a lot of -- there's so many injuries. then you've got bryce harper and davie johnson at odds over when he'll be coming back. there's all of this sort of behind the scenes drama but then happen string or groin yesterday. it is one thing after another. >> his annual injury. >> yeah. he's played in very few games since they acquired him for all of that money. i'm not quite ready to write him off yet. but i'm beginning to think it is not their year. >> bill: you know, i have one answer. they have to start winning some games. >> well, yeah, hmm. do you know how to do that? they almost did yesterday. they came back and then fell one run short. >> they almost won yesterday? >> no, no, no. i mean they rallied. that's remarkable for them. it is like the kid -- remember the kid at the heat game, good job, good effort. that's what i'm saying. good job, good effort. it is like a moral victory. >> bill: so you were mentioning, we were talking about the nba thing that seemed like it might have gone on forever. we would have liked to have seen more. stanley cup which is going on forever. they just decided this is never going to end? >> because of the lockout everybody knew the stanley cup would go late, particularly if it was a 7 game series. >> bill: the blackhawks look strong. >> it looks like fun doesn't it? >> yeah, they do. i thought the bruins, really into it. i kind of like the bruins because they had the momentum. i'm going back now to the blackhawks. at this point i'm sitting back and enjoying it. i don't have a dog in this hunt one way or another. >> bill: i couldn't believe when peter told me that he actually spent like two hours in front of the television last night watching nick wallenda walk across the grand canyon. did you, too? >> well, yeah. >> it's okay. >> bill: there weren't any reruns or games you could be watching? >> no. because the cardinals/rangers game didn't start until after 11:00 p.m. due to a rain delay. so i had nothing and i was waiting for mad men and you know, peter was tweeting about it. so i thought okay, i'll go over and look and it was just mesmerizing. the pregame for the super bowl was just incredibly unwatchable. boy, oh, boy this reached a new height in pregame. >> it was awful. >> bill: it was an hour and -- >> almost an hour and 45 minutes before he actually got on the wire. >> yeah. which, by the way, it included footage of his grandfather falling to his death from when he tried a wire stunt. >> yeah. and -- >> it was weird. it was very weird. >> it was kind of mesmerizing especially once he got up on the wire and he watched him dance across and he stopped a couple of times on the cable which was pretty cool. >> bill: i didn't realize he was miced and that they had cameras on his clothing. >> on his discovery t-shirt. as peter and i were noting that he actually stopped at one point and thanked the lord his savior and the discovery channel. >> the whole way across, he kept saying thank you jesus. thank you, jesus for this beautiful view. lord god please calm this line down. lord god, calm the winds down. thank you, jesus. thank you, discovery channel in the same breath was rattling off sponsors in jesus. >> bill: willie geist was the host. >> i guess it was sort of like -- i thought the macy's thanksgiving day parade. hideous assignment. this might be right up there. it was really difficult to watch. and yet impossible not to because of -- >> bill: suckered the two of you in. >> it is pretty clear both of us will watch anything that's close to being a sport. if there were squirrels water skiing, we would watch that. >> absolutely. >> bill: what's going on with this erin hernandez thing up in boston? i can't tell whether he's in serious trouble or not. >> i think we know that much. i think he is in serious trouble. they keep going back. the forensic people keep going back with search warrants. >> bill: do they suspect him of murder? or knowing something or what? >> well, they don't know yet. all they know, i believe for a fact, at the moment, "the boston globe" is reporting this that he was with the guy who was murdered hours before his death. and possibly at his house. and then he -- someone whether it was hernandez or someone destroyed all of the surveillance equipment at his house. destroyed his cell phone. they handed it over to the cops in pieces. so you know, i think -- i don't think they know yet. i think they are still in the process of gathering evidence. there's been various reports that a warrant has been prepared but it hasn't been served yet. >> bill: the guy who was murdered was found not far from the house. >> at an industrial park about a mile from hernandez's home. >> it was is a very, very weird story. >> supposedly, he had a connection to hernandez's fiancee, i think he was dating the fiancee's sister. >> yeah, that's right. that's what i read. >> and you know, i'm reluctant to get into too much about hernandez's past because i don't want to smear the guy. i'm not going to get into his past unless it appears that he's under arrest or implicated in some way more so than this. they keep going back and coming back. >> bill: we'll leave it there. he certainly is in some serious trouble. cindy, nice to cover the ballpark with you this morning. thank you so much again. >> my pleasure. >> bill: look forward to seeing you back in here again% soon. >> all right. >> bill: cindy boren, sports blogger for "the washington post." follow her at washingtonpost.com or on twitter at cindyboren. when we come back, lots of important stuff going on, as always, down in north carolina. we're going to go down to the revolution and talk with host jeff messer when we come back here on the "full court press." >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." current tv, it's been all building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it. 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." >> bill: hey, you got it. 13 minutes before the top of the hour. how about it on a monday morning, june 24. i got a good idea. peter, let's go to asheville. >> we'll do it. >> bill: damn straight. i love me some asheville. can't get down there enough. our good friends brian hall and crowd at 880 the revolution. we want to check in asheville this morning particularly because of a big event going on in the nation's capital called moral mondays. now, we're proud to be the early morning show on the 8890 revolution in asheville and proud to be on the team led by afternoon host jeff messer on from 3:00 to 6:00. you can hear our show and jeff's show at 880 the revolution.com. jeff, good to talk to you. how are you? >> hey bill, i'm great. how are you doing this morning? >> bill: good. good to join us. i first heard about the moral mondays down in north carolina at the capital last week. tell us when did all of this get started and who's involved and what's it all about? >> well, you know, the moral monday movement got started late april. been going on now for about seven weeks. this will be the eighth. they took memorial day off because you know, there was no one there. >> bill: i would hope so. >> but they've been going for this is the eighth week. and the movement is growing. people are -- more people are turning out. more people are getting arrested. very well organized. and one of the smartest protest movements i think i've seen in years -- >> bill: these are -- the name soft implies but there are a lot of priests and ministers, people of faith-based organizations involved in this, right? >> yes yes. it is being led by local naacp leaders. a lot of clergy who are in charge of this movement. and you know, they're just very smart about the way they're doing it. they show up every monday. it is not like something like say occupy -- the occupy movement. where it takes a real force of will to actually go and pitch a tent and to say hey we're never leaving. this is different because these folks, they show up. they meet several hours earlier. they have a long discussion about how they're going to behave. what they're going to do and then at 5:00, they march to the capitol. they know how many people could be arrested. it is all very very peaceful. very well done. and they go home and then next monday, you know, i made a joke, it is a little bit like the old episode of m.a.s.h. with 5:00 charlie. look out your window and then there he is. 5:00 on a monday, here they come down the street. it is brilliant what they're doing. >> bill: it was tom perriello from virginia who was in studio with us last week. was telling me about this. he said that they know who's going to get arrested. i guess there's some rule or something, you can't get arrested -- if you're arrested, you can't come back to the capitol for a certain number of weeks or something right? they come in waves right? they decide who's going -- who's going to get arrested one week and the next week. it is all organized. >> absolutely, bill. what they do is they meet beforehand. they have a discussion. they wear certain color wristbands so they know who's who in the crowd. the police will come into the capitol and say we're asking you to leave and everyone will leave except for a predesignated number of folks who volunteered to stay and they will stay. they get the zip ties put on them. at first, they were zip tying their hands in front of them. they thought we need to discourage this. they started zip tying the hands behind them to make it less comfortable. >> bill: what are the issues people are raising and protesting about in the state legislature in north carolina? >> well, you know, north carolina is a unique situation here. in 2008, we trail blazed and became one of the tipping states turning blue from red. we've gone from being a progressive trailblazer to rejoining the deep south. a quick dissent into chaos for us here. and a lot of that has to do with the 2010 midterm elections a lot of tea party influence and then 2012, you know, full republican control but it is not even republican control anymore. you may have heard of this gentleman named art pope who is funding the movement here. he's like the frankenstein monster between the koch brothers and karl rove. and that's really the driving influence. under pat mccrory who ran as a moderate but decided he wanted to be a puppet instead of a leader he has basically imposed what i think equates to medieval policies. cuttings federal funding basically refusing federal funding for medicaid, for the unemployment, so there are a lot of folks being hurt. it seems like the republican plan in north carolina is hurt as many people as humanly possible as quickly as possible. the entire population except the people who are like them. >> bill: it is a great movement. jeff messer again. we're talking to. the afternoon host on 880 the revolution in asheville. you can hear our show, the "full court press" and jeff messer's show at 880 the revolution.com. jeff, final question. i understand today there is a big contingent from asheville that's actually going to the capitol for the protest today correct? >> yes, there is. there are several busloads, asheville is well represented as far as the moral monday movements go. a lot of people from asheville have gone and have been arrested. and, of course, the state's trying to take the water system from asheville. basically, tim mover et, a local representative has said he wants to bankrupt the city. asheville is a beacon of hope, a blue island in a sea of red. they want to take asheville down we've got a pretty big dog in this fight. folks from asheville are supporting it, showing up every week. >> bill: good for you. jeff, you do great work down there. thank you for joining us this morning. i want to organize -- i want to organize another little field trip down to asheville pretty soon. >> we would love to have you back, bill. any time. >> bill: but i want to make it clear, i'm not coming back to get arrested, okay? >> that's all right. we'll hang out in asheville and have a few drinks. >> bill: i want to go to michael's restaurant so i want to be free in the evening. see you soon. 880therevolution.com. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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. (cenk) it's go time! it's go time! it's go time! go time. you know what time it is. go time! it's go time. it's go time. what time is it rob? here comes the young turks go time! it's go time. oh is it? oh, then it's go time. anybody? anybody? what time is it? oh, right. it's go time! >> bill: julie mason from p.o.t.u.s. channel as a "friend of bill." we'll also be joined by "new york" magazine's chris smith talking about the kind of very crowded mayor's race up in new york city. president obama today at the white house. got a round of golf in over the weekend. by the way on saturday, pretty hot day. he was out there playing golf. he got the daily briefing today at 11:00. at 11:45 he will be meeting as he does every week with secretary of the treasury jack lew. this afternoon he's meeting with business leaders in the roosevelt room. pardon me. to talk about immigration reform and try to get their support for the gang of 8's plan in the senate. jay carney holds his daily briefing today in the brady press briefing room at 12:00 noon. and i will be there. pardon me. representing all of you. edward snowden still no news. but wikileaks has scheduled a news conference for 10:00 this morning. maybe that's when we'll find out where the hell edward snowden is. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning everybody. what do you say? it is monday morning. monday june 24. here we go in the "full court press" this beautiful monday morning. picking up the news of the week. coming out of the weekend, of course, getting a whole new fresh start. bringing up to date on what's happening today and of course giving. >> chance to sound off tell us what you think about all that's going on. what you think about edward snowden on the run. 1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. on twitter, you can follow us at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. here in washington, d.c., this is the last week before congress takes their extended july 4th break. in the senate, they'll be working hard to get that immigration bill off the floor of the senate. with the big vote. in the house with nothing better to do they'll probably have another hearing on benghazi. probably pass another anti-abortion bill and repeal obamacare for the 38th time. down in florida the george zimmerman trial gets underway today. and yes we are trying to keep track of edward snowden. we know he got from hong kong to moscow. he was supposed to be on a flight at this hour from moscow to havana and then on his way to ecuador. that's what they told reporters. but the plane left moscow with 20 reporters on board for the 12-hour, 17 minute flight but no edward snowden. where is he? find out on current tv. that viewers like about "the young turks" is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. >> you're putting out there something that you're proud of. journalists want the the story and they want the right story and the want the true story. >> you can say anything here. >> i spent a couple of hours with a hooker. >> your mistake was writing a check. >> she never cashed it! >> the war room. >> compared to other countries with tighter gun safety laws our death toll is just staggering. >> the young turks. >> the top bankers who funneled all the money to the drug lords, no sentence. there's just no justice in that. >> viewpoint. >> carl rove said today that mitt romney is a lock to win next pope. he's garunteeing it. >> joy behar: say anything. >> is the bottom line then that no white person should ever, ever, ever use the "n" word? >> yes! >> only on current tv. this show is about analyzing 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'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. 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? >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio an and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. the aeroflot flight left moscow for havana. the only one problem edward snowden's not on board. where the hell is he? what do you say? it is monday, june 24. so good to see you today. thank you for joining us here on the "full court press." coming to you live from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill in washington d.c. bringing you the news of the day from washington, d.c. from around the country and around the globe. and giving you a chance to talk about it yourself. we want to hear from you on the phone at 1-866-55-press. we'll take your comments any time on twitter. love to get your twitter comments at bpshow. that's our twitter handle. all of our friends on facebook, tell us what you think about the news of the day. and you can agree or disagree with julie mason because she's used to it. she's a pro. she's host of p.o.t.u.s. -- on the p.o.t.u.s. channel sirius x.m. every day from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. east coast time. julie. >> bill! >> bill: how are you? >> it is immoral monday, i heard. that's why i came in. >> she's balancing out the moral monday. >> i'm not having it though. >> bill: we went from moral monday to immoral monday. what a transition here. >> it is only 8:00 a.m. >> bill: how's it going? >> great. how are you doing? >> bill: i used to get up early. >> i used to be on at noon, bill. i don't want to enginedder your hostility. now i'm on at 3:00. i sleep at noon. >> i go to bed at noon. these are fun days though, aren't they? >> the news never stops. >> bill: i know. there's lots going on. you've got all of the important stuff at the capital. and then you have just -- you know, like a gift from heaven when paula deen gets in trouble and she's forced to come out with this video over the weekend. here she is. >> i've made plenty of mistakes along the way. but i beg you my children, my team my fans, my partners -- >> my diabetes. >> i beg for your forgiveness. >> bill: down on her knees begging for forgiveness. she's lost the food channel and now qvc says maybe we're not going to sell her stuff anymore. >> she's got big commercial endorsements, too. those are probably going away. >> bill: yeah. she didn't handle it very well. i think we were talking about this earlier. she had just said yeah, i grew up in the south. guess what? i and everybody i know use the "n" word and sorry and will never again. >> it is a nonrecoverable error. >> bill: i never liked her food anyway. >> i thought she was a disgrace to chefs from the south. there are some wonderful things going on in the south. there's some wonderful fresh produce that's grown there. and she -- >> bill: you wouldn't know it from her restaurant. she's telling people how to make burgers on doughnuts instead of a hamburger bun. literally. deep fry everything. >> well, i like the contrarian streak but at the same time, yeah, your point is taken. >> bill: all right. julie mason here as a "friend of bill" this entire hour. how excites. we're going to talk to chris smith from "new york" magazine about that mayor's race up in new york. i think there are more candidates than there are voters in new york in this race. and of course anthony weiner is one of them. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> a few other stories making news today. apple one is going on sale. the apple one one of the rarest of all computer platforms will go up for auction. the very first apple computer is going -- >> bill: i thought it was in the smithsonian. >> very good point. they're going to auction one off for $300,000. it is a computer that was built by steve wozniak and designed by steve wozniak and steve jobs. it is not even in its original configuration. the owner picked it up three years ago and since then, added a monitor, a keyboard and the also current tape deck for additional storage. the main motherboard of the machine is authentic and original and so they're going to try to auction it off with a starting bid of $300,000. >> yet my original ipod is worth $7. >> bill: this isn't the one invented by al gore. >> no, not that one. no. i know bill, you're very concerned about kim kardashian and kanye west. they named their first child north. making the child's name north west. they were not inspired by a compass. the name, believe it or not is meant to be more inspirational than directional. sources close to the couple say told tmz they chose the name north because they see it as a metaphor for up saying what's north of north? nothing. so there's nothing better than their child. right? >> i just lost three i.q. points. i can't afford to lose anymore peter. >> i look forward to a grounded, cool, child that will come out of that. >> it will be a republican. >> yeah, right. thank you jesus. wire walker nick wallenda became the first man to tightrope across the grand canyon. it was a special that aired live on the discovery channel it. took him about 23 minutes to walk 1400 feet across a wire that was suspended 1500 feet above the floor of the canyon. he was wearing a microphone and he spent almost the entire time talking to jesus. thank you, jesus. he was asking god to calm the wire down. he also thanked the discovery channel in the same breath as he was thanking jesus. the jesus endorsement deal didn't work out well for him. he was equipped with cameras on the front of his shirt that looked straight down at the wire and straight down into the canyon. which was horrifying. it was absolutely horrifying. so after the stunt wallenda said his next event would be to walk between two sky scrapers in new york city. >> bill: good luck getting permission for that. you would never get me out on% that wire. somehow i ended up -- i would be thanking jesus too. >> yeah. >> bill: julie! >> bill. >> bill: so this, to me is one of the greatest stories ever. so everybody -- edward snowden first of all it is a total i think embarrassment that the guy -- we know where he is. he's in hong kong. he's broken the law. we're going to go get him. and he escapes. what an embarrassment right? >> he's making monkeys out of them right? i'm not wrong about that, am i? that's what it feels like. >> bill: yeah. so june 9 is when he comes -- a friend of mine is a law enforcement -- i was arguing debating this thing with him on june 9 that day when we found out about it, he said you know, this guy his goose is cooked. you have to worry about him. i'm paraphrasing because they'll revoke his passport. they probably already have. they didn't revoke his passport until two days ago. until saturday. saturday. >> why? >> bill: meanwhile he's on a plane to moscow. i told you. i said they should have fired eric holder. all i can say is i told you so. [ laughter ] >> bill: i think he has made monkeys out of both justice department systems. he ends up in moscow. now he's making monkeys out of all of the rest of us. he's booked on this flight. we were told he's going to be on the flight from moscow to aeroflot. reporters all went out bought tickets, 20 some reporters. they close the doors to the plane. he's not on it. the plane is now on its way to havana with all of them and no snowden. >> have they checked the cockpit? who knows where he is. he could be down in the cargo hold. >> bill: he could be or he could be on another flight. >> biggest head fake ever. >> bill: i know. i think they did this deliberately to try to get reporters on a wild goose chase. i love it. i love it. >> great story. >> bill: who knows where he's going to stop up. he has requested asylum in ecuador. in ecuador which has given asylum to julian assange who will probably give him asylum, too. >> wikileaks trying to piggyback on this is one of the least savory aspects of the story. >> wikileaks made it possible -- we'll find out. there is a news conference in an hour and a half. >> i'm sure they'll take credit for everything. >> bill: apparently they did get him a diplomatic pass enabling him to get out of hong kong to moscow. >> is ecuador worth living in? i've never been. >> bill: i haven't either. from what i know and have heard good seafood. great climate. you're not far from the galapagos. >> are they ever going to get him? is northwest going to be working on the sixth jail term and snowden will be apprehended and everyone will have to review who he was? >> bill: my guess is he lives the rest of his life in ecuador and never go to federal prison. one thing whatever you think of him, seems to me he wrote patriot or traitor you gotta admire his moxie. he's smart. right? >> wily. >> bill: he is. made monkeys out of them. is this whole nsa -- i don't want to call it a scandal but controversy -- what impact does it have on the obama administration? it is a distraction for sure. >> it is. i'm so dismayed by the sort of casual dismissal of americans that their own government is spying on them and lying about it. i'm sad about it. i'm sad about how casual and offhand and blase and cynical people are being about this. if president obama wasn't president and learned about this, he would be the first one screaming but now he keeps saying it is transparent cool. trust me. if you're okay with this program, because president obama is a pretty good guy you gotta be okay with president sarah palin doing the same thing or president ted cruz because they're going to have the same powers. because nobody cares. >> bill: or president george w. bush. >> yeah. >> bill: i agree with you. the thing that offends me as a progressive -- i must say, i was consistent. i raised hell when george w. bush was doing it and i've been raising hell when president obama has. for democrats or progressives or whatever to say well, i trust president obama right. no. this is the same big government, the same -- i think infringement on our inalienable -- whatever happened to that word? what happened to that word inalienable. as you point out most americans today have replaced it with inevitable right? inevitable government intrusion into our private lives. >> there is a difference between google reading our e-mail to target ads and the government collecting information on us with no justification at all and stockpiling it on the offchance they need it later. this is not -- it is un-american >> bill: the reaction that i get from friends of mine back to where you started is like either -- do you really think anybody is interested in your reading or listening to your phone calls? do you really think anybody is interested in reading or didn't you already know, didn't you really know, didn't you suspect -- >> lazy. >> bill: i think it is a time when democrats liberals, conservatives, ought to be raising hell. >> congress sitting there, shrugging because people don't care and it is giving them a path to do nothing. >> bill: and to me, that's the risk of all of the focus on edward snowden. it is easy. as we just did to start off talking about where is he? they're going to get him. and talking about that and then ignore the 800 pound elephant in the room which is what nsa is doing. whether or not that makes sense. it is general then, what's going on with the second-term obama term? it's been a pretty rocky road. >> it really has. >> bill: this is the latest bump in the road. >> it is only -- it is june. i mean yeah. >> bill: you're one. june. where are we going to be this time next year, bill? who is going to be under indictment? it is terrible. >> bill: it has been a series of which not all that i would argue are scandals. we have benghazi. we have the i.r.s. we have the department of justice with "associated press" and james rosen which i think was a real scandal. now we've got nsa. whatever you think about those i don't think the white house has really handled them well and so consequently, they end up playing defense. >> right. getting off message president obama tomorrow will give a big speech on climate change to regain momentum. but then he's off to africa for a week. you know, all of the foreign travel doesn't help. takes him out of the game. >> bill: does he -- he's good but right now he's lost his mo. >> definitely. the messaging from the white house isn't great. they don't do well in a crisis. they do well when they're confident, when they're sure. that's when they do very well. when they're back on their heels, they don't know how to deal with that. >> bill: i want to come back to edward snowden. so on "meet the press" yesterday, this is where we've come to this. here's david gregory. i'm sure you know where i'm going with this question to glen greenwald, the investigative reporter from "the guardian" who wrote the story and interviewed edward snowden. >> to the extent you have aided and abetted snowden even in his current movements why shouldn't you, mr. greenwald, be charged with a crime? >> it is pretty extraordinary that anybody who would call themselves a journalist would publicly muse about whether or not other journalists should be charged with felony. >> bill: i've got to say, good for greenwald for jumping back on that -- >> what's up with david gregory? he's a fine journalist, bill. you and i both know him. he's tough. i hope, giving david the benefit of the doubt that that was just a question in the moment and not something he thought up ahead. aiding and abetting. >> bill: what is the phrase. aiding and abetting. >> terrible question. i was glad that glen responded in that way. i hope that was a terrible question. broadcasting is sometimes on the fly. >> bill: glen greenwald was doing this job. >> where did he aid or abet? >> bill: aid or abet the enemy. it reminded me of the fbi calls james rose an criminal co-conspirator. talking to somebody in the state department. >> i've heard a lot of sour grapes from other journalists directed at glen greenwald. people who are sour about having missed out on the scoop to cover intelligence. that's not the right way to handle it. >> bill: give him credit. he broke the story. julie mason here every afternoon on sirius x.m. she's here in studio with us. we're covering the waterfront this morning. you're welcome to join us at any time at 1-866-55-press. agree or disagree. we don't care. we still like it. we'll be right back. >> connect with the "bill press show" on twitter. follow us on bpshow and tweet using the hashtag watching bp. this is the "bill press show." >> 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. we have a big, big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. 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. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 27 minutes after the hour. julie mason's here in studio as a "friend of bill" from sirius x.m. every afternoon, monday through friday 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. p.o.t.u.s. channel. julie, as we go to a break just about a minute and a half, the big news will be supreme court. >> yes! what are they going to do? so much. >> bill: big -- >> affirmative action. gay marriage. voting rights. >> bill: do we have any idea what day they'll release? >> no. it could be today at 10:00. a lot of reporters were going to go be waiting for the rules but then it could be thursday. could be next week. >> bill: usually mondays and thursdays they come out with. so if -- i guess -- all three of them are big. >> potentially huge. >> bill: affirmative action, university of texas. that will apply nationwide. whether or not universities can use race as any one factor, right? in considering the admissions policy. voting rights, whether the state's in the south. >> i worked in texas. section five is important. you know, those terrible maps the legislatures drop. there have to be some checks and balances on the hyperpartisannation of voting. >> bill: maybe the biggest of the three marriage equality and defense of marriage act. i get the sense that the defense of marriage act is going to go down. >> that's the heavy speculation but they're going to make it very limited ruling on california's prop 8. maybe just leave what the lower court did intact. >> bill: when we come back what's going on in new york city with the mayor's race? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." young turks! i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. they know that i'm not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know i'm going to be the first one to call them out. cenk on air>> what's unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. cenk off air i don't want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they can't buy our politics anymore. cenk off air and they can question if i'm right about that. but i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts! narrator uniquely progressive and always topical the worlds largest online news show is on current tv. cenk off air and i think the audience gets, "this guys to best of his abilities is trying to look out for us." only on current tv! >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour. no we do not know where edward snowden is. stop asking! all we know is he's not on the plane he was supposed to be on from moscow to havana. we don't know where he'll pop up. julie mason popped up in the studio with us here this hour. as a "friend of bill." you hear her every day on sirius x.m. p.o.t.u.s. channel 3:00 to 6:00. has a great show. you love politics. >> love it. the good, the bad the ugly, we have a lot of laughs. >> bill: you do. you get into it. great job. >> thank you. >> bill: maybe the biggest political story -- we have -- the senate race in massachusetts tomorrow. after that it's got to be the new york mayor's race. it is so colorful with such a bunch of colorful characters. so much at stake too. chris smith covers the mayor's race for "new york" magazine as a contributing editor. julie joining us on our news line right now. chris, good morning. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: so you need a program up there, kind of, to keep track of all of the candidates in this race. how many? >> well, you know, the big five so to speak the democratic contenders. then two peripheral democratic candidates then we've got three more on the republican side. you know, who could very well be contenders come november. the city has elected republicans at least in name for the past 20 years. so yeah, it's not only a colorful field but the stakes are enormous running a city of eight million plus with blooming serious budget problems. and add that to the fact that it is a real jump ball. it is a real unpredictable contest. we've got a front-runner, christine quinn the current city council president. her lead is very shaky and the real action isn't going to happen probably until late august, early september. >> bill: september 10 is the primary, correct chris? >> yeah, exactly. >> bill: in the primary will they select the two top front-runners or is it one democrat and one republican? how does it work? >> yeah, just to make it even more eccentric and interesting and give us more to write about. you need to get 40% in the primary to avoid a runoff. with any -- predicting anything with any degree of certainty is foolish but right now, given the math, given the candidates, given the polls it is as close to certain as we can get. no one's going to achieve 40%. they will -- there will then be a runoff on the democratic side two weeks after that on september 24th. >> chris, what does it cost these days to run for mayor of new york? >> well, there's what it costs according to the campaign finance laws here in new york which will give everyone about the same $6 million to spend. one of the interesting things about this campaign is it's the first one in 12 years without a multibillionaire. michael bloomberg spent hundreds of millions of dollars to win three times. but this time, the field -- playing field is quite even in that respect. one of the things we're watching and haven't seen much of just yet are outside groups, you know. supposedly unaffiliated groups spending money. that's very likely to happen too. that will boost the cost as well. >> bill: you said $6 million. is that public money? in other words is this a publicly-financed campaign? >> yeah, essentially, it boils down to about $4 million raised by the candidates plus another $2 million in public matching funds. >> bill: i didn't know they had that in new york city. so the big five, julie and i during the break chris i just want to make sure we've identified them right. christine quinn you mentioned. bill de blasio bill thompson, anthony weiner and john lew, are they the big five? >> big being a relative term here. hilarious story last week on yahoo! that christine quinn had only sold about 100 copies of her memoir. what if you wrote a memoir and nobody bought it? how depressing. >> did your life really happen? she's got an interesting story to tell. whether it is worth $19.95, i don't know. but yeah, she's from a kind of hard scrabble classic new york long island blue collar union family background. you know, has talked about how she went through a period of alcohol abuse and bulimia and you know, is gay and married would be both the first woman mayor if elected and the first gay mayor if elected. you know, she's also been extraordinarily close to bloomberg the past seven eight years, which is both her greatest political strength and liability. particularly in a democratic primary where the electorate is going to be considerably left of center. there are a lot of people sick of bloomberg. >> bill: i did see that the -- one of the teacher's unions at least has come out and endorsed william thompson. is labor all -- does he have labor support or is labor split all over the place? and how important is labor in a new york mayor's race? >> it is quite important particularly close race like this where you know, the party apparatus doesn't really exist in any meaningful electoral way. people have county endorsements but those really don't turn out many votes. labor which has both the money and the infrastructure is enormously important. bill thompson who is democratic nominee four years ago who came extraordinarily close to upsetting bloomberg was endorsed last week by the united federation of teachers, the biggest teacher's union here in the city. and they hate bloomberg. you know the head of the union is vocal and vehement and blunt about that and want to do everything they can to repeal the changes he's made and thinks thompson is the guy to do that. how much they can actually sway voters is a question mark because they haven't endorsed a winner since the late '90s when they got -- since '89 when they got behind david finkens they sat it out the last time around thinking they could gate better contract deal from bloomberg. so they're huffing and puffing and they have the money and the membership, whether they have the effective organizations to actually move votes is an enormous question mark. >> chris how is anthony weiner doing? >> bill: we had to get around to it. we were dancing around it. everybody wants to know. >> no question. yeah. no he's doing great in a variety of respects. what we all pretty much knew absent the whole scandal stuff is he's the best natural campaigner of this bunch. >> bill: no doubt. >> and he's very quick on his feet. and that combined with the celebrity notoriety however you want to characterize it, he's dominated the coverage and much of the race for the past month since he officially got in. >> he's quite combative with reporters, isn't he? >> yes and no. he's combative in a sort of playful, sarcastic new york way which i think earns him even more fans. he's been polling at pretty consistent, you know, 15% to 20% which puts him in second place. solid second behind quinn. how much of that is name recognition because you know, because of the whole twitter scandal, he's got close to 100% name recognition, one that a lot of the guys don't. >> he's got the howard stern vote locked up. >> no doubt. so that's one of the things we're watching closely as the summer goes on. that kind of burn off. does the initial -- celebrity curiosity, name recognition dwindle because he's both been really good as a campaigner but kind of lacking in substance to this point. he's got to put a little more meat on his campaign. if he's going to really sustain it into september. >> chris the clintons have been really hands off with him and have denied him any support. does that hurt him at all in new york? >> no, i don't think so. you know, certainly bill and hillary are popular here but the fact that they're staying away from him you know, they're at a distance when it comes to local politics. yeah, it would be a huge boost if they were somehow out campaigning with him or someone else. i don't think it is the opposite. >> bill: they certainly won't be campaigning with him. >> no, no, no. >> bill: he had better consider himself lucky if they don't campaign for somebody else. kind of against him. it is -- i gotta tell you. it is fascinating. it really is. it is hard to follow. because there are so many candidates. that is soon going to win know down. -- win know down. >> all of the polls say that the support the candidates have is very fluid. there's something like 30% in the most recent poll i saw even if they've said yeah, i vote for x today are quite willing to change their mind. so you know, there is a lot of persuadable votes out there. bill de blasio the public advocate who is best known for having an african-american wife who used to be gay is a contender, if only because he's the furthest left in this field and that's a place to be in a democratic primary in new york city. >> bill: what fun for you to be able to follow this. i mean that will keep your summer -- keep you happily employed during the summer. occupied. especially fun to have you join us this morning and tell us all about it chris. thanks so much. appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: chris smith is a contributing editor for "new york" magazine which, of course is the home of the one and only and great frank rich. >> a regular on my show. i'll fight you for him. >> bill: we can't get frank rich on often enough. >> love that guy. listeners love him. he's great stuff. >> bill: he is. chris smith is good, too. julie mason is the best. she's here as a "friend of bill" on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. (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. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage 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." >> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour, monday, june 24. president obama one more day here in the white house before he takes off for his trip to africa with the family. julie mason's in studio from sirius x.m. p.o.t.u.s. channel. we're talking about the news of the day, all of the various hot political news going on these days. we'll get back to our conversation in just a second. this story caught my attention. here's the town in upstate new york. they posted on their web site, get this, the social security numbers of 78 ambulance workers and beneficiaries. that information was up there on the town web site for five days. you know what that says, identity theft. makes it certainly -- those people run the risk of it. i was the victim of that once. it was hell. i hope you never have to go through it. one way to avoid it is to get the protection of lifelock ultimate. the most comprehensive i.d. theft protection available. but of course, lifelock services can't protect you or your bank account if you're not a member. so i encourage you to visit lifelock.com and enter the promo code press 10 or you can call them up and mention press 10 and you'll get 10% off your lifelock ultimate membership. number to call, 1-800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. you know, julie when i was talking about senate race tomorrow, first of all in massachusetts. what's going to happen? >> boy, i don't know. you know, the republican candidate has been putting forward polls showing about 3 percentage points behind which is -- you know -- >> bill: ed markey. >> gomez is three points behind markey according to the republican candidate gabriel gomez. that's such a tactic. that's so his voters won't get worried, won't get complacent. so they'll turn out. >> bill: when you say according to his polls that says it. >> it seems like mark canky's going to -- markey's going to win. >> bill: there is that race and then a new york mayor's race. let's not forget two important governor's races. >> huge. >> bill: a lot at stake. in two -- one blue state and one purple state. blue state of new jersey. >> great race. chris christie, you know. out of position with his own party. but repositioned to win. he's going to be head of the republican governor's association, bill. which is going to give him another national platform. >> bill: i didn't realize that. >> oh, yeah. >> bill: plus, he's not only toured the beach with president obama twice. he's out in chicago last week with president clinton. he actually in talk about his favorite sports teams last week, i don't know whether you saw this said his favorite football team was the dallas cowboys. for somebody from new jersey you gotta be ahead in the polls to say -- >> you gotta be pretty confident to take a position like that in new jersey. >> bill: almost impossible to stop it. >> they'll kneecap you for that. >> bill: the question is are republicans smart enough to nominate him in 2016 because i think he could be a formidable candidate in terms of his appeal nationwide. but they seem to always want to go to the most extreme right wing and get some -- >> they're cross with him. they're very cross. and they don't -- but i think democrats who think he's great. who think he has position. when you look at his positions he's off the mark for democrats too. >> bill: no doubt about it. >> i know. personality. personality. i think republicans are not going to forgive and say well, this guy is a good chance for us to win the presidency. >> bill: let's go with somebody safe like mitt romney. the other thing -- >> which brings me to the other governor's race. bill if ken cuccinelli wins this, i think he will be looking at 2016. >> bill: you bet. we're talking virginia a purple state. two democratic senators, obama has carried it. but republican governor. ken cuccinelli, their lieutenant-governor is running and he is -- we thought that he was as far right as you could get until they nominated their candidate for lieutenant-governor. >> w. jackson. >> yoga is a path to satan. that guy is bonkers. but cuccinelli, man he's like rick santorum with a better haircut and new vibe and i think when conservative republicans go looking for their candidate in 2016, ken cuccinelli won't be able to resist if he's governor of virginia. >> bill: let's get back to whether or not he's going to be governor of virginia which is the real question, correct? what do you think? >> well, the polls show he and terry mcallifer pretty locked up. it is early days but still you know, for republican to be doing that well in a state that president obama won twice, you gotta take a look. >> bill: terry mcauliffe did not make it through the primary last time. cuccinelli and e. w. jackson this is his shot. >> also with governor mcdonnell's ethics problems creates a problem for the whole republican party. >> bill: what fun. julie mason we'll find you and listen to you and see you on sirius x.m. p.o.t.u.s. channel this afternoon. every day monday through friday, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. thank you for start your day off early. >> thank you bill. you're the only guy i get up for. immoral monday. >> bill: okay. i'll be back to wrap it up with today's parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." the middle class over. cenk off air i don't want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they can't buy our politics anymore. cenk off air and they can question if i'm right about that. but i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts! narrator uniquely progressive and always topical the worlds largest online news show is on current tv. cenk off air and i think the audience gets, "this guys to best of his abilities is trying to look out for us." 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. we have a big big hour and the 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. >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. on this monday, june 24, my parting shot for today. he is, for the moment, a man without a country but it looks like he may find another one soon. one thing for sure, edward snowden is not going to be invited back to the united states. certainly not as a free man. he made it from hong kong to moscow yesterday. we don't know where he is at the moment. reportedly he's headed to ecuador where he's seeking asylum. apparently snowden was able to escape hong kong only because the department of justice's request for extradition wasn't filed on time. another screwup for eric holder. here's the problem. snowden's fate is no doubt going to be hotly debated in the weeks and months ahead. and that's a legitimate topic for debate. but it is also dangerous in this sense that debate over what should happen to snowden could overshadow debate over what the nsa is doing. so let's stick to the real issue. must we sacrifice every shred of our privacy we have left? whatever happened to the word "inalienable." come back and see us again tomorrow morning. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> hal: here we are i can't believe they left me alone in the studio. i'm hal sparks filling in for steph and the mooks while they're away on vacation and i found out this morning as i roll in that i'm going to be filling in for the lovely and talented jacki schechner as well she will be in studio with us the rest of the week. right now i'm going to do a tad of news for you. there was no sign that former u.s. spy agency contractor edward snowden was on board a russian plane bound for cuba as it prepared to take off on

Related Keywords

Nevada , United States , Turkey , Delaware , Minnesota , China , California , Russia , Washington , District Of Columbia , San Francisco , South Carolina , Massachusetts , Havana , Ciudad De La Habana , Cuba , Delaware City , Ecuador , Chicago , Illinois , New York , Moscow , Moskva , United States Capitol , New Hampshire , North Carolina , Oakland , Texas , Asheville , Florida , Boston , Virginia , Oregon , Michigan , London , City Of , United Kingdom , Caracas , Distrito Federal , Venezuela , Tennessee , New Jersey , Hong Kong , Maryland , Pennsylvania , Ohio , Capitol Hill , Dallas , Americans , America , Chinese , Russian , Turks , American , George Zimmerman , Terry Mcauliffe , Atlantic Ocean , Barry Goldwater , Julie Mason , Sha Cruz , Michael Bloomberg , John Boehner , Al Gore , Keith Alexander , Christine Quinn , James Rosen , John Lew , Jay Carney , Glen Greenwald , Julian Assange , Eric Cantor , Reid Wilson , Pat Mccrory , Michael Jackson , Jeff Messer , George W Bush , Tim Duncan , Gabriel Gomez , Anthony Weiner , Kim Kardashian , Patrice Bergeron , Kay Hagan , Steny Hoyer , Robert Ludlum , Brian Hall , Bradley Manning , Erin Hernandez , Dan Henning , Nancy Pelosi , Mary Landrieu , Ken Cuccinelli , George Bush , Walker Nick Wallenda , Pacific Ocean , Chris Smith , Chris Christie , David Gregory , Steve Wozniak , Edward Snowden Glenda , Chuck Grassley , Rick Santorum , Bryce Harper , George Stephanopoulos , Kelly Ayotte , Jerry Springer , Stevie Lee Webb , William Thompson , Lebron James , Joe Manchin , Jack Lew , Chris Warcraft , Valerie Plame , Stephanie Miller , Nick Wallenda , Edward Snowden , Sarah Palin , Daniel Silva , Paula Deen , Cindy Boren , Ted Cruz , Willie Geist ,