The Bill Press Pod

The trial of Paul Manafort continues. On Monday, Rick Gates testified against Manafort and admitted to committing crimes with and against Manafort. The case is a must-win for Robert Mueller and it looks like his case is very strong. But remember.... Paul Manafort, the man who ran the Trump campaign, has NOTHING to do with Trump (wink wink) Big election night tonight. Can Democrats stun the GOP aga...

A couple of weird twitter rants from Donald Trump this weekend. He appears to have ADMITTED to colluding with the Russians. He says it was to get opposition research on Hillary Clinton and there's nothing illegal about that. WRONG. You cannot work with another government to sway an American election. He's admitted it! And the Republicans will let him get away with it. We talk to Larry Cohen from O...

Being funny in the age of Trump is not an easy business. Comedian Lewis Black has raged against politicians on both sides of the aisle for a long time. Producer Peter Ogburn sits down to find out how he can find humor in these dark times. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

After a series of disturbing events against the media, Donald Trump called the free press the "enemy of the people." When Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about those comments, she did not walk back his attack. What does this mean for the American press moving forward? Guest host Peter Ogburn talks about how bad it could get. We talk to Sara Fischer from Axios, Addy Baird from Thinkprogress and Ma...

Donald Trump went on a tweet tirade on Wednesday morning. He demanded that Jeff Sessions end the Russian investigation, which comes close to, if not crosses the line, of obstruction of justice. Don't worry - Republicans will do NOTHING about it. Midterms are heating up! We talk some polls and races around the country and also how these new candidates are learning how to run their campaigns. Kelly...

Donald Trump went down to Florida to campaign for Ron DeSantis. In typical fashion, he spent the entire rally rambling about the media, the war on Christmas and said that you have to show an ID to buy a carton of milk. Has he ever shopped for groceries ever? It's clear that he hasn't. Amazingly, the Trump administration thinks that the richest of the rich need another tax cut. Andrew Schwartz, pol...

First, they said there were no meetings. Then, they said there was no collusion. NOW, they're saying that collusion isn't a crime! They keep changing their narrative of what Trump did and how much trouble he could be in! Now, they're in cleanup mode and embarrassing themselves (again). Plus, Trump doubles down on a government shutdown just weeks before the midterm elections. No one wants it, but T...

Donald Trump took a victory lap about good GDP numbers. Does he deserve the credit for that? We look at the numbers and what they mean. Also, it's Rudy vs Michael Cohen. Both are bad guys, but Cohen could be the key to taking down Trump. We talk to Stan Collender from TheBudgetGuy. Blog, Anisha Singh from Center for American Progress and Emily Stewart from Vox. See Privacy Policy at https://art19....

CRUSH THE MIDTERMS! That's what progressives hope to do in a few months. If you want to get involved and aren't sure how, CrushTheMidterms.org is a great new way to find resources and outlets where you can devote time/money to help Dems win back the House and Senate. Marisa Kabas is with Crush The Midterms and she tells us all about this exciting new tool! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/p...

It's becoming more and more apparent that Michael Cohen is flipping on his former boss/BFF Donald Trump. The latest report says that Cohen confirms that Donald Trump not only KNEW about the Russian meeting that took place in Trump Tower with Don Jr, but that he approved it. If Cohen spills his guts, that could be very bad news for the Trump presidency. The family reunifications are supposed to be...

After Republicans went after Trump for his tariff plan/bailout for farmers, he's reversed course. What that means... we don't quite know yet. He gave no details and no plan, but he says that he's reached a deal with the EU on tariffs. Mike Pompeo gets grilled in front of the Senate over the Putin meeting. Donald Trump cancels his invitation to Putin and the White House is banning reporters. What a...

Michael Cohen released the first taped conversation that he made with Donald Trump about his payment to Karen MacDougal. If there was any doubt about whether or not Michael Cohen was going to flip, it looks like he has. This could be just the beginning of what we learn from Cohen's relationship with Trump. Buckle up... We talk about the chances of Democrats taking back the House and Senate in this...

In an unprecedented move, Donald Trump is threatening to strip security clearances from his political enemies. James Clapper, John Brennan and others who have been critical of Trump, were threatened by Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday. Will the White House follow through with this blatantly political act? Don't be surprised if they do it. We talk to Dan Lippman from Politico, Ben Wikler from MoveO...

In a late-night tweet, Donald Trump lashed out and threatened war against Iran. Will this follow his pattern of other world leaders he has threatened? Will he have a summit with Iran? Michael Cohen has tapes on Trump. He secretly recorded Trump talking about his settlement with women he slept with. What else could he possibly have? Will he spill his secrets? We talk to Democratic strategist Capri...

During the MLB All-Star game, while Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Josh Hader was on the mound, people went back and found several tweets that he wrote when he was 17 and 18 years old. They were racist, misogynistic and sexist. But we've already moved on from it. SB Nation's Tyler Tynes joins Peter Ogburn to talk about racism as a "rite of passage" and how quickly we move on when white athletes make a...

DNI Dan Coats was surprised when he learned that Trump invited Vladimir Putin to the White House. But he hasn't left his job... yet. Will he? Will other members of the national security team watch as Donald Trump goes it alone? Guest host Chris Lu hosts to talk about the WIL D week that we saw with regards to foreign policy. He talks to Foreign Policy Advisor to the Clinton Campaign, Laura Rosenbe...

Donald Trump walked back the walk back to the walk back. He once again said that he doesn't believe that Russia is still meddling in our elections. The White House and Sarah Huckabee Sanders lies for him AGAIN. The press stood up to the White House yesterday and backed her into a corner. How long can they keep this lying up? We talk to Asawin Suebsang from The Daily Beast, Hunter Walker from Yahoo...

Donald Trump tries to walk back his comments from the Helsinki summit, but makes the situation worse. He tried to say that he misspoke, but then essentially doubled down on his comments. Will Republicans accept his walk back? Will they stop with their criticism? And where do we go from here with our relationship with Russia? We talk to Politico's Lorraine Woellert, WaPo's Eugene Scott and Rep Ted...

An absolutely stunning display by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at their press conference in Helsinki. An American President threw the country under the bus. How can Republicans defend his actions and comments? Bill breaks down what this all means moving forward. Can we function as a democracy with a President who can't stand up to a dictator? We talk to USA Today's Ray Locker, Rep Dan Kildee (D...

Just take a look at Trump's comments from the past several days. He's contradicted himself on multiple issues and it's clear that he's either lying or can't remember what he said. Trump and Putin are meeting and the world is watching. How badly will Trump screw this up? He's bungled his European visit and will certainly bungle his meeting with Putin. On top of all that, the Justice Department anno...

Sabrina Siddiqui (The Guardian) guest hosts for Bill Press on a Friday show. From a 10 hour long testimony by FBI Agent Strzok, immigration, Kavanaugh and the religious right's response to his nomination, and general news of the day, Siddiqui covers it all. She is joined by guests Jack Jenkins (Religion News Service), Dara Lind (Vox), and Jen Bendery (HuffPost). Rate, review, comment! See Privacy...

NATO talks are going just as expected, fairly well minus the fact that Trump is there misrepresenting the entire United States of America. Bill Press sits down with Addy Baird (ThinkProgress) to get the latest on NATO, Jim Jordan, and more. Next up: Joel Payne, Democratic Strategist, to discuss everything from superdelegates to Ocasio-Cortez, and Rebecca Leber (Mother Jones) gives us the latest on...

President Trump has officially touched down in Brussels, preparing for his NATO meetings, and eventually, his one on one chat with Putin. And surprise, surprise: things aren't going so well abroad or at home for the president. Bill Press sits down with Rebekah Entralgo (ThinkProgress) to get an update on immigration, Cate Martel (The Hill), and Jordan Fabian (The Hill) to talk about SCOTUS and NAT...

Everything is at stake with Trump's far-right SCOTUS nominee, Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Democrats will need to stick together and convince one Republican Senator to oppose the nomination, or else everything is at stake: healthcare, women's right to choice, immigration rights, civil rights, and environmental protections. Bill Press chats with Alayna Treene (Axios), Igor Bobic (HuffPost), and Nikki S...

It's a big week for Trump and the USA at large: an impending SCOTUS nominee, plus an upcoming visit to our (former?) friends across the Pond, and a meeting with none other than Putin in Helsinki. Plus, some of the Thai boys stuck in a cave have been rescued. Bill Press digs into the news of the day with Drew Courtney (People for the American Way), Jennifer Williams (Vox), and Daniella Gibbs Leger...