Trayvon Martin's family reacts to 2nd-degree murder charge for George Zimmerman
Michael Skolnik of GlobalGrind.com talks to Cenk about the second-degree murder charges against George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin shooting. "The mother is breathing much easier," Skolnik says. "This is a moment that is a long time coming for this family. We can all take a deep breath -- but as we all know this is just the beginning." As for Zimmerman reaching out to Fox News and speaking to Sean Hannity, Skolnik says, "I think he knew this was coming." http://bit.ly/HzdOKF
Power Panel: Rep. Allen West's 'Communist' comments are 'straight trolling' plea for attention
Rep. Allen West told a Florida crowd that there were between 78-81 members of the Communist Party in the U.S. Congress -- a misfired slam at the Progressive Caucus. "I think he's straight trolling us," says Tim Dickinson of "Rolling Stone." Raw Story's Megan Carpintier says, "You're talking about an environment in which conservatives have been calling the president a communist [and] a Muslim who's not from this country. At that point, calling 81 members of Congress Communists actually is kind of sane by comparison." http://bit.ly/HMmS9R
Newt Gingrich stiffs a small business owner -- who still says he'd vote Gingrich over Obama
Newt Gingrich won't drop out of the Republican primary, but his campaign bounced a check to get on the ballot in Utah, his think tank declared bankruptcy and Michael Shure talked to a small business owner from Las Vegas who's owed $7,500 from the Gingrich campaign. "I'll try to scrape some money together to get you paid," Larry Scheffler says Gingrich personally told him. Still, Scheffler says, "Even if I don't collect it, I still would have to vote for him if he's the Republican nominee over President Obama." Cenk and Michael talk about the GOP's bait and switch on being "job creators." Cenk says, "It's as if Republicans said, 'Okay, what do we suck at? Now let me accuse liberals of that -- and we'll hope that nobody every finds out the facts.'" http://bit.ly/IEijPS
With Santorum gone, who will speak for voiceless blah people in this country?!
Cenk Uygur says goodbye to Rick "Church Lady" Santorum, and his sweater vest, for good. Though it does leave one obvious gap in the field of candidates: "Who else will speak for the voiceless blah people in this country?" Game on? Game over. http://bit.ly/Iqlmyq
Koch Brothers Exposed' Part 2: Stopping a campaign to re-segregate North Carolina public schools
Filmmaker Robert Greenwald joins Cenk for the second of three segments on "Koch Brothers Exposed," a new documentary from the Brave New Foundation that examines a Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity campaign in North Carolina pushing for "local schools" -- in other words, re-segregation of public schools. Cenk asks, "Why go back towards re-segregation? Forced busing? That's what George Wallace used to say!" http://bit.ly/HqObbG
Bobcat Goldthwait's 'God Bless America' is a feel-good movie about killing people you disagree with
Bobcat Goldthwait tells Cenk about his new film "God Bless America," a satirical take on gun violence and the lack of "civil discourse" in our country. A number of familiar looking characters make an appearance, including one who bears an eerie resemblance to Bill O'Reilly. Goldthwait says, "I'm not condoning violence in any way, but how else are you going to point out that things have gone too far? I could make a doc that would just be whiny about how uncivilized we are, or I could make a movie where we just start shooting people from 'Jersey Shore.' It's a movie about our own appetite for nastiness... You can't hug Glenn Beck into reason. My conservative friends are going, 'Yeah, I get this movie, you get a gun and shoot people.'" http://bit.ly/IfGvsG
[WEB EXTRA] Media Watch: Hannity still trying to link President Obama and New Black Panther Party, despite debunking
In this extended "Media Watch," Cenk and Michael Shure talk about Sean Hannity's support of George Zimmerman and his insistence that President Obama has a deep connection to Malik Zulu Shabazz, the leader of the New Black Panther Party. The two were both at a 2007 march in Selma, Alabama -- if you count a grainy photo-bombed picture showing they were vaguely, briefly near each other. "They have no connection whatsoever, unless you're watching Fox News," Cenk says. http://bit.ly/Hz3bXy
Hastings: Obama campaign telling donors, 'Nobody's perfect, but we need your support'
Michael Hastings talks to Cenk about covering President Obama's reelection campaign for Buzzfeed and the dangerous line between being confident and being cocky. "They're having to go to donors and say, 'Look, nobody's perfect, the president isn't perfect, but we still need your support,'" Hastings says. "There is definite a cockiness out there. They don't necessarily fear Mitt Romney. They think he's a very vulnerable candidate. They don't really take him seriously in many ways." http://bit.ly/IxD1n5
Koch Brothers Exposed' Part 1: Think tanks attacking Social Security
Filmmaker Robert Greenwald joins Cenk for the first of three segments on "Koch Brothers Exposed," a new documentary from the Brave New Foundation. Koch Industries' support of think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute create a layer of support for the echo chamber's right-wing talking points. "I think a lot of people has this misconception, 'These are really smart people -- they're at a think tank! They must be thinking all day long!'" An attack on Social Security has been very successfully waged using exactly this strategy. Greenwald says, "Here's an incredible program run by the government, literally saving people's lives...and they want to undercut that program." http://bit.ly/Hvl8s5
Honor Mike Wallace by 'asking the toughest possible questions'
Cenk and David Sirota talk about the true legacy of pioneering journalist Mike Wallace. "Why does no one follow his example and instead just pitches softballs to politicians time after time?" Cenk asks. Sirota says, "You can't say that Mike Wallace is the icon of American journalism and be somebody who's in the media world who doesn't live Mike Wallace's ethos. Mike Wallace's ethos was to ask the toughest possible questions." http://bit.ly/HtOZjn
Fracking now uses more chemicals, is linked to more earthquakes
The amount of chemicals used in fracking -- a method of drilling for natural gas -- have increased, and so have the number of earthquakes. "You think that might have something to do with pumping in those millions of gallons of toxic chemicals?" Cenk asks. http://bit.ly/HoRZel
Power Panel: 'Of course there's a war on women -- just ask Mitt Romney,' whose numbers have been hit hard
Cenk asks his Power Panel -- Cliff Schecter and Doug Johnson -- who is best poised to win women's votes in November. Johnson, a conservative who doubts studies showing women are still earning just 77 cents on the dollar, still concedes, "People should be paid the same amount for the same amount of work." Schecter says, "Of course there's a war on women -- just ask Mitt Romney," pointing to a massive drop in Romney's polling against Obama as right-wingers piled on to reproductive rights debates. http://bit.ly/IeM0Xq
If you're not watching 'TYT' on Current TV, you missed Lupe Fiasco, Kevin Eubanks and more
If you're not watching "The Young Turks" on Current TV, you missed Cenk Uygur with Lupe Fiasco, former "Tonight Show" bandleader Kevin Eubanks and a full week of climate change coverage in the series "The Heat Is On." Watch "TYT" every weeknight at 7/6c on Current TV, and find Current on your TV at current.com/GetTYT. http://bit.ly/HkUP22
Ayn Rand is a sociopath, Glenn Beck a prostitute & Scalia regurgitates Fox News and Rush Limbaugh
Thomas Frank, author of "Pity the Billionaire" and columnist for "Harper's Magazine," talks to Cenk about Ayn Rand devotees -- Tea Party acolytes who continue to represent themselves as the populist response to impending economic doom. "This is the really crazy thing -- they've done this successfully," Frank says. Cenk says, "When you get to some of the personalities like Glenn Beck and Fox News -- they're basically prostitutes for the big banks... And Antonin Scalia is regurgitating what's on Fox News and Rush Limbaugh in the Supreme Court" during Affordable Care Act hearings. "We've replaced opportunists with true believers," Frank says. "Look at the Ayn Rand caucus in Congress -- it's large and it's scary." Cenk says, "Ayn Rand is a bit of a sociopath...so good luck with that strategy." http://bit.ly/HlKAwr
We must stop ALEC and its founder's efforts to disenfranchise minorities: 'I don't want everyone to vote'
After pressure from ColorofChange.org and others, Coca-Cola and Pepsi both pulled out of ALEC -- the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative organization that drafts business-friendly laws that are then fed to legislators. At the heart of ALEC's work is the effort to require voter identification. "They don't want minorities to vote because they vote Democrat!" Cenk says, and if we don't fight back, "Mission accomplished. Corporations win. They get more of their guys in, and of course those legislators are overwhelming Republican. They write their laws, some of which get us killed, some of which get us imprisoned." http://bit.ly/Hk924P
If Exxon Mobil will stand up to oil speculators, why can't Democrats?
Cenk asks his Power Panel -- "Epic Politics Man" Michael Shure and Politico's James Hohmann -- why we're not hearing more about oil speculators driving gas prices sky high. "Democrats aren't messaging on that. I haven't heard the President out there blaming the speculators. I think that they're really nervous about looking like they're declaring war on Wall Street, and the result is they're not talking about the elephant in the room." Cenk says, "How the hell else are they going to win?" Shure talks about a bill from Sen. Al Franken and Sen. Amy Klobuchar that would restrict how securities are managed -- which even has support from Delta Airlines and Exxon Mobil. Cenk says, "The banks are making so much money off that speculation, and it's costing all those guys." http://bit.ly/HsWUYV
[WEB EXTRA] This week in the right wing's 'War on Women': Wisconsin attack, caterpillars and barnyard animals
Ana has an update on the right wing's "War on Women." RNC chairman Reince Priebus said a "war on caterpillars" is about as real as any war on women by the GOP. Insulting, sure, and also untrue. It was almost as offensive as a Georgia state representative arguing against abortion rights by speaking on the house floor about his experience delivering still-born farm animals. Plus, the man charged with attacking the Wisconsin Planned Parenthood says he did it because "they're killing babies there." http://bit.ly/I06FQb
Republican strategist: 'We're heading for a society where 90% of the public pay almost nothing in taxes'
Republican strategist Jack Burkman defends the Paul Ryan budget plan, relying on the old "millionaires create jobs" argument to explain why the top 1 percent need more tax breaks. Burkman says, "People who make half a million dollars a year or more are the only people who have the resources to invest in start-up companies." Cenk says, "Once again, not a fact. I didn't have anywhere near $500,000 dollars, and look where [The Young Turks are] now." http://bit.ly/HfNBwa
Rick Santorum says his campaign is at halftime, but our Power Panel says it's over
The Daily Beast's Michael Solomon and Politico's Ginger Gibson join the Power Panel to debate whether Rick Santorum should pack up the campaign and go home. Solomon thinks it's best to end before Pennsylvania. "If [Santorum] really wants to challenge Romney in Pennsylvania, the Romney people are just gonna throw at him, and try to humiliate him, and essentially end his career," Solomon says. Gibson says, "[Santorum] could be looking at 2016. A lot of people say he's got enough delegates to come back and try again in four years." http://bit.ly/HgiCUn
Questioning judicial activism and the Supreme Court is 'incomprehensible' -- unless Republicans want to do it
Republicans are outraged that President Obama has said the Supreme Court overturning the Affordable Health Care Act would be an unprecedented case of "judicial activism." Cenk says Republicans -- including GOP presidential hopefuls Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich -- "complain about judicial activism all the time. Now that President Obama's warning about it, they've flipped completely." http://bit.ly/HOVwVv
Democrats should never have abandoned the 2nd Amendment to conservatives -- we need gun reform
Cenk asks his Power Panel -- David Pakman and Ben Mankiewicz -- whether it's time for Democrats to take on the NRA and demand reform of gun laws. Mankiewicz says that liberals were too cavalier about ceding gun issues to Republicans. He says, "We're going to give the gun guys the Second Amendment if they'll give us the other nine -- and that was almost certainly the wrong decision." Pakman says, "Conservatives are very quick to say that progressives are way too open in interpreting the Bill of Rights and the Constitution -- except when it comes to the Second Amendment, where the founders clearly had 30-round clips and automatic weapons when they put that in, right?" http://bit.ly/HeQP8X
Lupe Fiasco on Trayvon Martin, peace in the Middle East and who exactly is helped by Democrats
Musician and activist Lupe Fiasco joins Cenk to talk about Democrats, politics in the Middle East and Trayvon Martin. "There's too many opinions out," he says of media coverage on the case. "I think it's really doing a disservice to finding the truth. I think we're jumping to conclusions and everybody's giving their opinion as a fact. At the end of the day I just say my prayers for Trayvon and his family -- and whatever justice will come out of it will come out of it." On the Israel-Palestine conflict, Fiasco says, "I think there has to be a recognition on both sides of the humanity. Too many people have been bastards about it and that's why it's stuck in the same place." Cenk points out, "For a rapper, you're inordinately careful." http://bit.ly/HSs5Pb
Feds shut down Oaksterdam and medical pot clubs, even though Obama & Holder both promised not to
DEA and IRS agents raided Oaksterdam University and affiliated cannabis clubs this week -- despite campaign promises from President Obama and pledges from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that they would not prioritize enforcing federal law in states that had legalized medical marijuana. "This is a perversion of what we're supposed to be doing," Cenk says, but it makes sense given Obama kept DEA head (and President George W. Bush appointee) Michele Leonhart. "You're wasting our time. You're wasting our money. Let people smoke pot. We're not going to win that war on drugs." http://bit.ly/HeGRjt
Travyon Martin shooting witness says Zimmerman never wiped blood from his allegedly broken nose
Cenk talks to two eyewitnesses in the Trayvon Martin shooting, Mary Cutcher and Selma Lamilla. "If you have a broken nose, there's an extremely large amount of blood, and [George Zimmerman] never once was wiping or cleaning himself," Cutcher tells Cenk. "I never saw him with the movements of cleaning or holding his nose." http://bit.ly/HbffzX
Call Wisconsin Planned Parenthood bombing by its true name: domestic terrorism
Cenk talks to Laura Bassett, political reporter for "The Huffington Post," about a bomb that exploded in a Wisconsin Planned Parenthood. "I can't think of anything less pro-life than putting a bomb outside of a health clinic," Bassett says. "This happens all the time." Cenk says, "It's domestic terrorism, and legislators are encouraging it when they do things like publishing information about those doctors, like 'go get them.'" http://bit.ly/HgsDQk
The Heat Is On: Right wingers want 'freedom of education' -- to not teach kids science
Cara Santa Maria, senior science correspondent at "The Huffington Post," joins Cenk for the first installment of "The Heat Is On," our series about about climate change. Santa Maria talks about how right-wingers at the Heartland Institute are fighting for "freedom of education" -- to not teach kids science -- and how some media still cover climate change as if it's just a hypothesis, not a theory supported by scientists around the world. http://bit.ly/HbE2QP
[WEB EXTRA] Vote now in Ultimate GOP Madness Moment finals, Sarah Palin vs. GOP debate audiences
Our Ultimate GOP Madness Moment is down to our finalists: Sarah Palin saying President Obama wants to go back to a "pre-Civil War" America versus GOP debate audiences booing -- well, everything, but especially a gay soldier. Vote now at current.com to determine the ultimate craaaazy, as Cenk's dad would say. http://bit.ly/Ha36ZZ
Drone porn' videos of strike deaths may teach us to disconnect from reality of U.S. Attacks
Cenk and a special extended Power Panel -- Stephanie Miller, Michael Hastings, Ana Kasparian and Michael Shure -- talk about the hidden truths of drone strikes. Hastings, who is working on a "Rolling Stone" investigation into drones, says, "As a country, are we doing more harm than good when we accidentally wipe out five, 10, 15 people who aren't going to come to our shores and attack us?" But "drone porn" -- videos that show the strikes and their lethal result -- may actually be teaching us to distance ourselves from the deaths, objectifying them almost as porn can do for sex, Hastings argues. "I worry about what that does to us as a nation," Cenk says. "We know some children are being killed in these attacks." http://bit.ly/H3Yu65
Win Mega Millions, become a 1 percenter like Mitt Romney!
Cenk and a special extended Power Panel -- Stephanie Miller, Michael Hastings, Ana Kasparian, Michael Shure and Jayar Jackson -- talk about the Mega Millions lottery, now up to $640 million. If you win and take the prize as a lump sum, you might have as much money as Mitt Romney. Time to celebrate almost being a 1 percenter! http://bit.ly/GYHnSk
Romney's ridiculous riches, daily Trayvon Martin updates & other stories you missed this week on 'TYT'
If you weren't watching "The Young Turks" on Current TV this week, you missed Cenk and crew taking on the Supreme Court's hearing for the Affordable Care Act, a ton of updates and discussion about the Trayvon Martin shooting and a detailed inspection of Mitt Romney's ridiculous riches. Be sure to tune in every weeknight at 7/6c for "The Young Turks" on Current TV. http://bit.ly/H8CC6Z
Jack Abramoff on oil subsidies vote and how Congress is broken, lobbyists just taking advantage
Michael Shure talks to reformed lobbyist Jack Abramoff about the influence of industry pressure on the vote to keep oil subsidies. "If I'm an oil lobbyist, I'm basically going to say, this is a tax increase...and will drive gas prices up," Abramoff argues. "It's a very tough gig for the other side." On working now to reduce that influence, Abramoff says, "Congress is the actual problem -- the lobbyists are just taking advantage of it." http://bit.ly/HlTmay
Power Panel: George H.W. Bush's tepid Romney endorsement 'looks like a hostage video'
Michael Shure asks the Power Panel -- David Shuster and Craig Crawford -- whether former President George H.W. Bush's lukewarm endorsement of Mitt Romney really matters at all. "Romney's just worn everybody out," Crawford argues. "There's nothing that's going to grab today's voter like a Kenny Rogers lyric," Shure says. Shuster adds, "It looks like one of those hostage videos!" http://bit.ly/Hpym8g
[WEB EXTRA] War on Women: Rick Perry's anti-abortion battle with feds leaves Texans without cancer screenings
Ana Kasparian adds two new stories to the GOP's extended "War on Women." If the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act -- or even just the individual mandate -- then in most states we'll continue to see "gender rating," in which 92 percent of women pay more for private insurance than men of the same age. In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry is proud to have banned "third tri-semester abortions," whatever those are, and is too busy suing the federal government to care that more than 100,000 low-income women may now be without basic reproductive care, including cancer screenings. http://bit.ly/HlSKlp
It was a similar crew of conservative justices on the Supreme Court that decided that their long-held beliefs on states' rights were irrelevant and made George W. Bush our next president in 2000. Now, they're back!!! And they might decide yet another presidential election.
Like Bernie Goetz, if Zimmerman can prove 'reasonable' fear of black men, he could be acquitted
Cenk talks to USC law professor Jody David Armour about the Trayvon Martin shooting. Citing the cases of Rodney King and Bernie Goetz -- the vigilante acquitted after the 1986 shooting of four black youth who were running away from him in the New York City subway -- Armour hypothesizes that a fear of black men in hoodies might be found a reasonable justification. "The only question is, does the jury sympathize with the defendant?" Armour says. "If they feel sympathy and empathy with [George Zimmerman], they'll acquit." http://bit.ly/H1HVEt
Should Romney give back money Marriott made in part from PPV hotel room porn?
In one day, both Arlen Specter and Jay Leno talked about Mitt Romney and porn. But Romney has sat on the board of the Marriott hotel chain, a company that has raked in huge profits from in-room PPV viewing of adult titles. "Just as Mitt Romney is about to run," Cenk points out, he quits the board and Marriott announces a plan to pull porn titles -- within five years -- and donates $1.5 million to Romney's super PAC. (Romney's legal first name "Willard" is actually in honor of the chain's founder, a family friend.) Richard Eskow and Zaid Jilani weigh in on Romney's hypocrisy and whether he should return the Martiott money. http://bit.ly/GZf6fp
Pennsylvania law may keep doctors from telling patients about dangers of fracking chemicals
Cenk talks to "Mother Jones" reporter Kate Sheppard about a gag order on Pennsylvania doctors that may block them from discussing research about the hazards of fracking, in which chemicals, waters and sand are pumped into shale in order to extract gas. "I guess it's so dangerous that they don't want anyone to find out -- perhaps even including the patients," Cenk says. Pennsylvania officials told Sheppard that it shouldn't prevent doctors from talking to patients who may have been exposed -- but the law is so vaguely written that it's not clear how that may be enforced. http://bit.ly/GXY4gX
