Guest: Frank Sharry, Debbie Stabenow, Walter Hang, A.B. Stoddard, Stephanie Miller, Cecil Roberts, Tom Tancredo
ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW
from the nation‘s capital tonight. Great to have you with us.
These stories have gotten my hot buttons going tonight.
President Obama says there may not be an appetite in Congress to
tackle immigration reform? What? The Democrats should be gunning to take
this issue on, and I mean head on.
More on that in just a moment.
The oil spill off the Gulf Coast is much worse than originally feared.
The busted rig is leaking—get this -- 200,000 gallons of oil a day. The
Coast Guard is in a frantic race against the clock to contain the damage.
We‘ll touch on that.
And Tom Tancredo thinks the White House is actually fueling the
birther conspiracy theories. He has no clue where Obama was born. I‘ll
put him in the hot seat later on in the show.
But this is the story that‘s gotten me fired up tonight. Radical
racist immigration reform is sweeping across this country. It‘s one state
after another.
Our friends over at Think Progress point out that seven states are
following Arizona‘s lead. Every one of these states is currently working
on or ready to start their own brand of Arizona justice.
President Obama needs to cut them off at the pass, in my opinion. He
didn‘t sound very optimistic on board Air Force One last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We‘ve gone through a
very tough year, and I‘ve been working Congress pretty hard. So I know
there may not be an appetite immediately to dive into another controversial
issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, come on, Mr. President. America wants something done on
illegal immigration now.
And I‘m kind of disappointed that the president has taken this
opportunity to kind of stand down to fundamentally change this generational
crisis. He can do it. If there was ever a time, isn‘t this it?
The whole country is focused on it right now. I mean, if you don‘t
address this now, you know what‘s going to happen. The “hell no” “Mr. Tan
Man,” the minority leader, is going to win.
Boehner responded to the president today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER ®, MINORITY LEADER: There is not a chance that
immigration is going to move through the Congress. Even the president last
night admitted that this wasn‘t going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Such a positive guy. I know John Boehner doesn‘t want to
read another bill. There‘s too many pages in it. But the real reason is,
look, he doesn‘t want this, OK, because it will kill his chance to become
the next Speaker of the House.
Just listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: I‘ve been around here for a little while and know that in
the middle of an election year, after we‘ve had bills like health care
shoved down our throats, and the process twisted, tortured, pressured,
bribed, you cannot do a serious piece of legislation of this size with this
difficulty in this environment. And it‘s nothing more than a cynical ploy
to try to engage voters, some segment of voters, to show up in this
November‘s elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Did he say twisted and tortured? They‘re torturing people
up there on Capitol Hill for the health care bill?
I‘ll get to that later
Boehner is just another Republican that is addicted to cheap labor and
scaring the hell out of his constituents about race. If President Obama
and John Boehner are going to throw cold water on this issue at the federal
level, it will open the door for the radical Republican governors like Jan
Brewer to enact racist laws.
The real leader of the Republican Party, here‘s what he had to say
today.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The left, the Democrats, Obama
recognize that this notion of proving one‘s identity is a lethal blow to
their agenda. You know how? Exactly right. It regards the vote. Illegal
voting, illegal voters is the only hope the Democrats have of retaining
power.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: If I had a bucket I‘d throw up right now. But I‘m holding
off on that.
You know, I have told you all along, folks, on this program that it‘s
all about hating the president of the United States. The conservatives
just have a thirst for it in the Congress, and it‘s led by that guy right
there.
The righties know that if President Obama wins on this issue, it will
be their Waterloo this November, because the country wants this. Senate
Democrats are expected to come out and speak about this at any minute.
And, of course, we‘ll let you know when they do that.
But this bill that has to happen, I don‘t know what piece of
legislation is going to be put out by the Congress that is going to make
the Mexican folks not want to come to the United States anymore. It has to
be done on our soil.
They‘re going to have to, number one, guard the border a heck of a lot
more. That means more resources. That means more money, more manpower.
We‘re going to have to go after employers that are signing the checks that
really sets the table, the bait to bring these folks in.
And then, of course, it‘s the cheap labor issue. If we were to pass
the Employee Free Choice Act, oh, yes, it all ties together. If we were to
pass the Employee Free Choice Act, the landscape of workers would change in
this country and the economy would change.
And, of course, we‘ve got to have amnesty. I have taken phone call
after phone call after phone call from citizens in this country who have
relatives who want to be here. Can‘t we have some kind of a program where
you stand up for somebody that is of your blood, that is of your family and
wants to come to America?
You know, it‘s going to take hard enforcement. It‘s going to take
tough security. And it‘s going to have to take an amnesty program that
streamlines the process.
I have to share this with you. My wife and I, this winter, we
purchased a Canadian fishing lodge because, well, I‘m addicted to fishing.
I just love it, you know? And this has been a real education for us,
trying to do business in another country.
Now, I am convinced—I have nothing against the Canadians, they are
wonderful people. But, folks, we‘re supposed to get along. And we treat
each other, the Canadians and the United States, folks, like we‘re
criminals. We do.
I know. I‘m starting to feel how the Mexican folks right now. And
there‘s so much red tape, and there are so many hoops you have to jump
through, it‘s almost easier to do it illegally.
I know why they‘re coming across the border, because there‘s just so
much stuff you‘ve got to do to work with America, there‘s so much stuff
you‘ve got to do with work with Canadians. Can‘t we have some
international summit or, should we say, a summit of countries in this
hemisphere because we‘re all connected?
It is amazing how many families are connected between the countries.
And you know what we want to do? We just want to get on the border and we
want to play “Johnny Bad Ass.” That‘s really what we do, because as soon
as the United States passes a law, then the Canadians and the Mexicans say,
well, wait a minute, we‘re tougher than them. And then they pass a law,
and it just builds up and builds up, and then you have this stack of
paperwork that you have to do, and then you finally come to the conclusion,
how do I get around this?
It‘s exhausting. It is exhausting.
Tell me what you think in our telephone survey tonight. The number to
dial is 1-877-ED-MSNBC.
My question tonight is: Do you think immigration reform should be
Washington‘s number one priority? Press 1 for yes, press 2 for no. We‘ll
bring you the results later on in the show.
I‘m just trying to do business.
For more, let me bring in Frank Sharry, founder and executive director
of the pro-immigration group America‘s Voice.
Good to have you with us, Mr. Sharry.
FRANK SHARRY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICA‘S VOICE: Ed, great to be
here.
SCHULTZ: I‘m a little frustrated tonight, obviously.
SHARRY: I hear that.
SCHULTZ: I hear the callers. I‘m experiencing some things.
SHARRY: Right.
SCHULTZ: I really do think that we‘re going to have to streamline the
process. There‘s a lot of ways to find out that somebody‘s not a terrorist
and not a threat to the government by doing it in a very simplified
fashion.
Do you think the Congress can pull it off?
SHARRY: I do. Actually, the Democrats are going to roll out—the
Senate Democratic leadership is going to roll out a plan tonight that is
common sense and will eliminate illegal immigration.
SCHULTZ: Will it be tough at the border?
SHARRY: Very tough.
SCHULTZ: OK. Will it go after employers who hire undocumented
workers?
SHARRY: On steroids. It has a hardened Social Security card that
will only be used for employment purposes, but it will have biometric
identifiers. The Democrats are so serious about turning off the jobs
magnet that draws illegal workers, that they are actually going to risk the
wrath of civil libertarians on the right and left.
SCHULTZ: And how are we going to round up 11 million, 15 million, 20
million? I don‘t know what the number is. I mean, we hear so many numbers
being thrown at us about, you know, folks in this country that shouldn‘t be
here.
What are we going to do with them?
SHARRY: Well, one side says let‘s make life so miserable that they
leave or that we drive them out.
SCHULTZ: That‘s not good.
SHARRY: Not going to happen. We‘re not going to throw a net over 11
million people and suddenly make them disappear.
Look, most of these people have been here for a decade. Most of these
people are in families. When people say these folks should go home, they
are home.
So what do we do? What the Democrats are going to propose is, you
meet certain criteria to get in the citizenship line. You pass background
checks, you study English, you pay your full and fair share of taxes, and
you can work your way towards citizenship if you keep your nose clean.
SCHULTZ: In America, you have to have so much money in the bank if
you want to come into the country. Most of these folks that are coming
into the country, they‘re not wealthy folks.
SHARRY: No.
SCHULTZ: They‘re looking for a job. They want to be part of the
economy. They‘re trying to find a better life.
And here we are, we treat them like, well, we have a class system in
America. You have to have so much money.
These are folks who are married. OK? These are folks who are not
criminals.
There‘s got to be an easier way.
SHARRY: I mean, most of the folks here illegally want desperately to
do it the right way, but there is no line to get into. There‘s no—you
can‘t go to some post office and fix your papers here.
SCHULTZ: Do you buy into the theory that the Democrats don‘t want to
do immigration reform because, of course, it‘s going to push people to the
polls if they keep saying, yes, yes, we‘re going to work on it? And then,
of course, the Republicans, they are syringed (ph) on cheap labor and
they‘re never going to—they love the idea that they can get somebody
under the table for a few extra bucks.
SHARRY: Yes. I‘m really proud that the Senate Democrats are stepping
up. I also think Speaker Pelosi has been very brave on this issue.
The Democrats want to do this not because—look, this cuts both ways
politically. Yes, it is a defining issue for Latino voters. But, with
Independent voters, it can cut both ways.
More of them want Washington to solve problems and play politics as
usual. It also makes the right go crazy.
SCHULTZ: Yes. Well, what did you make of President Obama‘s comments
last night? He says, you know, don‘t have the appetite for it.
Are you surprised at that?
SHARRY: I was surprised.
SCHULTZ: Because the country—the president can easily focus the
country on illegal immigration because these laws are being passed, all
these different states are getting on board doing the same thing Arizona
was doing. If you‘ve got the attention of the country this is the time to
pass it.
SHARRY: Yes. I‘m hoping he misspoke, but we‘re going to find out
tonight. If they embrace this Senate proposal and put some political
capital into it, we‘ve got a shot at a breakthrough.
SCHULTZ: Do you think he did misspeak on the issue?
SHARRY: I‘m hoping. Look, I heard him—I was in the Rose Garden.
I was invited to a military naturalization ceremony. Twenty-four veterans
who got citizenship fast-tracked as a result of their service to the
country before they were citizens, and he spoke about reform powerfully.
And he‘s very upset about Arizona, as most of us are.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Sharry, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so
much.
SHARRY: Ed, thanks for having me.
SCHULTZ: Appreciate your time
Coming up, Sarah “Barracuda‘s” “TIME” magazine love letters to “The
Beckster” will give you the shivers. She says he‘s America‘s professor of
common sense. Really?
I‘m going to school both of them in “Psycho Talk” on that one
And labor delivered a loud message to Wall Street today—Main Street
has had enough of the greed and the reckless risk-taking that has gone on.
Thousands are marching.
More on that with Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow in just a moment.
Plus, breaking news. Florida Governor Charlie Crist just left the
GOP. I‘ll tell you why.
And holy smokes. That oil slick is five times the size we were told
it was. Isn‘t that always how it is? You know, it‘s always worse than the
way it‘s first reported.
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. Thanks for joining us tonight.
Thousands of union workers took it to Wall Street today, literally.
The nation‘s largest union, the AFL-CIO, rallied supporters outside of the
big banks in downtown Manhattan this afternoon.
They say they don‘t want to get rid of Wall Street firms. They just
want Wall Street to contribute something real to the economy.
The protesters also called on Congress to pass financial reform, but
they want a bill that‘s stronger than the one being considered in the
Senate right now.
For more, let‘s go to Capitol Hill and Senator Debbie Stabenow of
Michigan.
Senator, good to have you with us tonight.
SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D), MICHIGAN: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Labor is big in your state. They want a tough bill.
Are we going to see the Democrats negotiate against themselves as we
kind of saw in health care? And are we going to get a watered-down bill,
or do you think we‘re going to get something with some teeth in it that is
going to favor Main Street and middle America?
What do you think?
STABENOW: Ed, we‘re going to get a tough bill. I think we have a
tough bill.
There‘s things we can do, and amendments as well. But we believe that
working families deserve a cop on the beat. Even Wall Street. And that‘s
what we‘re fighting for.
And it‘s very clear we‘ve wasted a whole other week of wasted time
with Republicans blocking us from even debating the bill. Very clear whose
side they‘re on—big banks, big bonuses. We‘re on the side of working
people who either lost their job, their pension, their 401(k) as a result
of what happened. Manufacturers in my state that have really taken a hit
because they couldn‘t get the capital they needed, including bankruptcies,
I mean, this is pretty serious.
SCHULTZ: Yes. It is very serious, and it‘s about jobs, it‘s about
fairness.
STABENOW: Right.
SCHULTZ: But the two things it‘s really about is trust and
transparency. And a lot of Americans are nervous that this is going to
happen again, that the Congress won‘t go far enough.
What element do you think is in the Democratic proposal that offers
and guarantees transparency and trust?
STABENOW: Well, Ed, there are a number of things.
First of all, there‘s an early warning system that we‘re putting in
place so that people will be able to react before something happens. But
on transparency, we‘re talking about everything being in the light of day
so you can see what the trades are, how much they cost, what the pricing
is, what‘s happening.
That wasn‘t occurring. I mean, when this happened before, no one knew
exactly what the risk was, how much the exposure was to taxpayers and to
consumers. All of this now is going to be put in the light of day, and
that‘s very important.
SCHULTZ: Senator, do you favor a criminal investigation on Wall
Street?
STABENOW: Well, I think after the hearings this week, it‘s very clear
that we need an investigation. And it may lead to a criminal
investigation. I think that it‘s very clear that there are a lot of folks,
folks that were testifying, just didn‘t get it.
To not come here with any sense of remorse about the role that they
played, the impact of the recklessness, the gambling—you know, if you
want to go to a casino, Ed, and gamble with your own money, that‘s fine.
But they were gambling with people‘s pensions, with people‘s 401(k)s, with
their jobs, with small businesses. And, again, manufacturers in my state,
and that‘s what we‘re going to stop.
SCHULTZ: All right.
Senator, you‘re on the Democratic leadership team and have been for a
while, on the inner circle on the next move Democrats will make. And I
want to get your take tonight on what is transpiring down in Florida with
Governor Charlie Crist stepping away from the Republican Party and is going
to run as an Independent.
What do you think this does to the race, and how does the Democratic
leadership team view this move?
STABENOW: Well, we are strongly supporting Kendrick Meek for that
seat. He is terrific, a former police officer, talking about having a cop
on the beat. This is somebody who is a terrific House member, and I think
that this does nothing but help his chances.
SCHULTZ: So you think that Crist going Independent is going to help
the Democratic candidate? No doubt about it?
STABENOW: I do.
SCHULTZ: OK.
STABENOW: I think that that‘s a pretty likely scenario, although I
will say we have a strong candidate who is doing great on his own anyway.
But I think that this enhances his chances.
SCHULTZ: Senator, good to have you with us. Thanks so much.
STABENOW: Thanks.
SCHULTZ: You bet.
Coming up, Glenn Beck and Al Sharpton had quite an exchange the other
night. Beck‘s not the professor of history all you righties think he is,
and I‘ll show you in the “Zone” coming up.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in “Psycho Talk” tonight, Glenn Beck.
Well, he‘s faked his way on to the “TIME” magazine‘s list of the most
100 influential people for 2010. Sarah Palin wrote the article that
praises him. What a pair. She‘s also on the list, by the way.
She writes about Beck, “Glenn has become America‘s professor of common
sense, sharing earnestly sought knowledge with an audience hungry for the
truth.”
Wow. It sounds like she‘s returning the favor from the interview she
did with Beck in January where he fawned all over her like a love-sick
teenager.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS: Sarah, I want to read what I wrote last night
in my journal because it‘s about you. “She is one of the only people that
I can see that can possibly lead us out of where we are.”
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: And if that didn‘t make you lose your lunch, Palin also
calls “The Beckster” an “inspiring patriot.” She compares him to Ronald
Reagan. And to top it all off, she calls him—a history buff?
Glenn Beck can boo-hoo about our founding fathers all he wants, but he
is not a history buff. He can‘t even remember recent history. He doesn‘t
have that straight.
Here‘s Beck interviewing Reverend Al Sharpton—pay attention—just
a few weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: I was thinking about this today with you. You were at Martin
Luther King‘s elbow.
REV. AL SHARPTON, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: No, I was after King. I
worked more with Jackson—
BECK: You were not walking with—
SHARPTON: No.
BECK: Oh. I didn‘t know that.
SHARPTON: Mrs. King and Martin—I‘m only 55. I was 13 when King
was killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Got that age thing kind of screwed up. It might be a little
history factual stuff that kind of got screwed up.
Saying that Glenn Beck has common sense and calling him a history buff
when he thinks that Al Sharpton actually marched with Martin Luther King,
that is “Psycho Talk.”
Coming up, speaking of “Psycho Talkers,” Tom Tancredo has got one heck
of a conspiracy theory. He thinks the president is deliberately hiding his
birth certificate just to drive these righties nuts. He‘ll get scorched
when he gets in the hot seat
And Rielle Hunter just told Oprah Winfrey that she lit John Edwards up
like a Christmas tree. Well, ‘tis the season in my “Playbook.”
All that, plus I tell you who thinks it‘s a great idea to plant
microchips into the bodies of illegal immigrants so we can track them like
dogs. Here‘s a hint—he‘s a Republican.
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. Thanks for watching tonight.
The massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico is now just three miles from a
wildlife reserve on the coast of Louisiana. And officials say it could
reach shore in a matter of hours. Meanwhile, oil is still pouring out of
the rig that exploded last week, and it‘s worse than officials originally
thought.
The government is now saying the oil is leaking out at a rate of 5,000
barrels a day. Previous estimates were around a thousand barrels a day.
And it could be three months—three months before a relief well can be
drilled to stop the leak. Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet
Napolitano called it a spill of national significance, and said the Obama
administration is preparing for the worst case scenario.
The president has authorized the use of all available resources to
combat the oil spill, including the Department of Defense technologies.
Joining me now is Walter Hang, an anti-drilling activist and president of
Toxic Targeting, and a database firm that specializes in tracking and
mapping environmental hazards like oil spills.
Well, this is one for the archives, and it‘s one that no one thought
it was going to be this bad. Mr. Hang, can we stop this? How bad is this
going to get? What‘s your take at this at this hour?
WALTER HANG, TOXIC TARGETTING: I mean, it‘s incredibly bad. We have
no idea how bad it‘s ultimately going to become. There‘s no question it‘s
a catastrophe. The only question is how many miles of shoreline are going
to get impacted, how many people‘s lives are going to get ruined, what‘s
going to be the long-range impact on the environment and the public health?
And we have no idea how to gauge that.
SCHULTZ: Now, Secretary Salazar called for an immediate inspection of
all deep water rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, and also other rigs—other
oil-producing countries require a remote control shutoff valve, and the
United States does not. Is this going to push us in a direction of
regulation that‘s going to prevent stuff like this? What do you think?
HANG: I doubt it. I mean, they basically have been inspecting these
facilities—they inspected this one just before it caught on fire, sank,
created this incredible problem. Norway and Brazil require these remote
acoustic triggers, when all else fails, to try to shut off the oil.
But the bottom line is, accidents occur. It‘s all a matter of money.
The reason the American authorities don‘t require this automatic shutoff,
this last failsafe device is because it costs 500,000 dollars. It‘s all
about money. The oil industry, the coal industry, the natural gas
industry, they‘re all the same. They just want to make money. They don‘t
care about the environment. They‘ll say anything. They‘ll do anything.
They just want to drill, baby, drill.
And we have just got to come to grips with the reality that once these
problems occur, you can‘t clean them up. You‘re going to have to live with
the consequences, and that‘s how come the president should put back on the
shelf his plan to open up 167 million acres for offshore drilling. We
obviously are not prepared to prevent these kinds of problems. Once they
occur, we‘re doomed.
SCHULTZ: This is Secretary Napolitano talking about who is
responsible for this. Here‘s what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET NAPOLITANO, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: As the president
and the law have made clear, BP is the responsible party. It is required
to fund the costs of the response and clean up operations. We will
continue to push BP to engage in the strongest response possible. We will
continue to oversee their efforts, to add to those efforts where we deem
necessary, and to ensure, again, that under the law, that the taxpayers of
the United States ultimately are reimbursed for those efforts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Mr. Hang, do we have the technology to contain this if they
can‘t shut this valve off for weeks?
HANG: I mean, it‘s just pouring out of the bottom of the Gulf of
Mexico to the tune of 200,000 gallons a day. It‘s just going to be
incredibly hard to stop that flow. They‘re going to have to drill these
relief wells that could take months. So the consequences are just
incredibly severe. And regarding the secretary‘s statement, that‘s a
hollow promise, frankly. They never cleaned up the Exxon Valdez. BP has
hundreds of spills in New York of gasoline that they‘ve never cleaned up.
They are a responsible party for a 30 million gallon spill in Brooklyn that
will never be cleaned up.
Once these immense problems occur, you just can‘t put the genie back
in the bottle. That‘s the reality of the situation.
Again, whether it‘s coal, natural gas, oil, we need better
regulations. When these problems occur, they just got to have insurance.
They got to have a bond that kicks right in so there‘s no delay.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Hang, great to have you with us tonight. I appreciate
your time. And certainly your voice needs to be heard in Washington.
Thanks so much.
Now, let‘s get some rapid-fire response from our panel on these
stories. Governor Charlie Crist quits the Republican party and announces
he will run as an independent in Florida‘s Senate race.
The anti-immigration rhetoric is reaching a new level of hate. A
Republican House candidate in Iowa says he wants to microchip immigrants to
keep track of them in the United States.
And Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter thinks we should deport the
U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. He doesn‘t think those American
citizens apparently are American enough.
With us tonight is Stephanie Miller, nationally syndicated radio talk
show host. Also with us is A.B. Stoddard, associated editor and columnist
for “The Hill.” A.B., let‘s talk about Charlie Crist first, if we can.
How big a move is this? Does this better his chances of winning forward?
A.B. STODDARD, “THE HILL”: That‘s really going to depend what happens
in a three-way race. He was not going to win that Republican primary. He
was more than 20 points behind. All the momentum is with Marco Rubio and
he really had no choice. He is going to have to make a serious play for
Democratic voters in Florida. But he‘s going to lose Republican
consultants, Republican staff, Republican donor, Republican donations. And
the next couple of weeks will tell whether or not he can be enough of a
force to peel votes away from the Democrat.
SCHULTZ: This is Governor Crist making the announcement earlier
today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV CHARLIE CRIST (I), FLORIDA: My decision to run for the United
States Senate as a candidate without party affiliation in many ways says
more about our nation and our state than it does about me. I was never one
who sought to hold elective office to demagogue or point fingers. For me -
for me, public service has always been about putting the needs of our
state and our people first. I haven‘t supported an idea because it‘s a
Republican idea or it‘s a Democratic idea. I support ideas that I believe
are good ideas for the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: And, of course, the DSCC had something to say about Mr.
Crist‘s move today. It said “Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio were the two
latest casualties of a divided Republican party cannibalizing itself. As
usual, Charlie Crist is putting his political ambition first, and Marco
Rubio is threatening to impose his extreme philosophical agenda.” That was
Senator Bob Menendez, his statement late this afternoon, after that
announcement.
Stephanie Miller, what does this do for the Democratic candidate, Mr.
Meek, who is a House member who doesn‘t have anywhere near as much money as
the other candidates? What does this do?
STEPHANIE MILLER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I think it‘s nothing
but good news for Kendrick Meek, Ed. And I think it‘s kind of hilarious
that, you know, the Tea Bag candidate, Marco Rubio, could get Tea Bagged by
the Tea Baggers for not being against this Arizona law enough. After
Charlie Crist got Tea Bagged out of the party—
You know my dad ran with Goldwater in ‘64, Ed, and I have to tell you,
this is what I‘ve been saying over and over again. This is not my dad and
Goldwater‘s party anymore. Barry Goldwater would be spinning in his grave
tonight over how far right this country or this party has gone to drive out
a Charlie Crist, and also about this mean-spirited law in Arizona.
SCHULTZ: A.B., isn‘t it just a matter of what the independent voters
are going to do at this point? What do you think?
STODDARD: I do. I actually think that Kendrick Meek is—he could
have a steep challenge. Charlie Crist is the governor of Florida.
Kendrick Meek is an unknown congressman. Charlie Crist was once a very
popular governor. He now has the teachers‘ unions loving him, after him
vetoing this bill that would have tied their promotions and pay to student
performance.
He has a long-standing relationship with African-Americans in Florida.
He is a lifelong member of the NAACP, very active in the United Negro
College Fund. He has been an independent Republican all along. He has
voted with Democrats. He‘s supported Democratic legislation and
initiatives. And he has taken health forward. I think there are Democrats
in Florida who will prefer him over Kendrick Meek. I think that it‘s too
early to say that this helps Kendrick Meek.
SCHULTZ: And on the anti-immigration front, immigration reform, I
tell you what, the rhetoric is unbelievable. This comes out of the state
of Iowa, and this GOP candidate told the “Cedar Rapids Gazette newspaper” -
- his name is Pat Bertroshi (ph) -- “I think we should catch them. We
should document them, make sure we know where they are and where they are
going. I actually support micro-chipping them. I can micro-chip my dog so
I can find it. Why can‘t I micro-chip an illegal?”
Stephanie Miller, what has it come to? Your thoughts on this?
MILLER: As usual, Ed, the apology worse than the original statement.
He said, I don‘t know why anyone would think I was comparing illegals to
dogs. Maybe because you just did. I hope I‘m not going too far out on a
limb, Ed, by saying that I have dogs, as you know, and I would like to fix
some Republican candidates so that they can‘t reproduce. Oh, I‘m sorry. I
didn‘t mean to compare my dogs to Republican candidates.
SCHULTZ: And Duncan Hunter, congressman from California, takes the
cake again today. He says we‘re not being mean, we‘re just saying it takes
more than just walking across the border to become an American citizen.
That, of course, after he said that he is willing to deport newborn babies
of illegal immigrants in this country. What‘s happening here, A.B.?
STODDARD: Well, I really can‘t comment on which policies are going to
win the day in the immigration battle. I can tell you this about the
politics: this year, this battle helps Republicans in a midterm. Next year
and the year following, it helps Democrats in a presidential election.
SCHULTZ: Why does it help Republicans?
STODDARD: Their base is going to turn out this fall. The Democrats -
pro-immigration forces on the Democratic sort of side are very concerned
about this being brought up in the Congress, Ed, and failing. They know
that that would just delay real reform. They want it to come up when it
really stands a chance,. And they don‘t think in the time that they see,
and all the polarization in the Congress, and the nervous moderate,
centrists and conservative Democrats, who were tired after the health care
bill, they don‘t see this passing this year. And they don‘t want a couple
of procedural votes just to just look good. That‘s not going to energize
them and turn them out this fall. They want real reform. I think it has a
better chance in 2011.
SCHULTZ: Stephanie, what about the midterms for the Democrats on
immigration reform?
MILLER: Ed, once again, I think the country is leaving the
Republicans behind. As you know, the Hispanic population is growing and
growing and they are only alienating them. I‘m a little torn on the anchor
baby thing. Again, it‘s an incredibly mean-spirited Republican thing. On
the other hand, Michelle Malkin is an anchor baby. So if some people have
to go, I guess they have to go.
SCHULTZ: Stephanie Miller and A.B. Stoddard, great to have you with
us tonight. Thanks so much.
Coming up, another tragic mining accident has taken the lives of two
brave workers. The mine where it happened had dozens of safety violations,
if you can believe it. Those violations coming just this year. Washington
had better listen up. This has got to stop. That‘s next on THE ED SHOW.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. We knew it was going to
happen. We just didn‘t know it would happen this soon. Another mining
community is in mourning tonight. The roof of a mine in Western Kentucky
collapsed late yesterday, killing two miners. Making matters worse, the
mine has a long history of unsafe conditions.
Since 2009, January 2009, it received 75 safety violations from the
Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing; 31 of those were severe
enough to close down parts of the mine or shut down equipment. And federal
inspectors have issued 214 citations and two closure orders already this
year.
This tragedy comes just days after a Senate hearing addressing mine
safety issues. The president of the United Mine Workers of America, Cecil
Roberts, testified at a hearing. He joins us now this evening on THE ED
SHOW. Mr. Roberts, thanks for joining us. Unfortunately, it‘s becoming a
habit to have you here talking about this.
We knew this was going to happen. We just didn‘t know it was going to
happen this fast. When are we going to turn the tide on worker safety in
this country?
CECIL ROBERTS, UNITED MINE WORKERS PRESIDENT: Well, I believe the
Senate on Tuesday at a committee was very adamant about doing something
about this problem. And let me just say, Ed, if I might, hearts and
prayers of all the UMW members across the country go out to the families of
these two miners who lost their lives tragically today. All the coal
mining community mourns their loss.
SCHULTZ: Well, it is such a sad moment to see this ever happen, but
to have it happen again. Does—your take on this? What has to happen
immediately? Is there anything—is the industry not willing to budge on
the way it operates inside these mines?
ROBERTS: We have to have a number of things, Ed. And I said this at
the hearing on Tuesday. We have to have good laws. Those laws have to be
obeyed. Those laws have to be enforced. If we‘ve got people who won‘t
obey the laws, they need to be put in jail, Ed. One of the best things
that could happen here over the course of this week—and I appreciate
everything that you‘ve done to protect the coal miners in this country.
You‘ve been a real champion here.
But we need a public hearing on this Upper Big Branch situation. The
Upper Big Branch Mine is going to be investigated and there will be a
hearing. It should be a public hearing where the families can be there.
The union can be there. The communities can be there. And let‘s find out
what happened there and let the whole country know. And let‘s prosecute
whoever is responsible for this.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Roberts, I guess the question begs, can these mines—
can this industry operate under the regulations that are put forth? Or do
they have to operate outside the regulations to make a profit?
ROBERTS: Let me tell you something, Ed—I said this at Tuesday‘s
hearing. I said 95 percent of the CEOs in this country make sure that
their mines are in compliance with the laws. You don‘t need a federal
inspector there 24 hours a day, depending on the federal government and the
state government. These companies will make sure their mine is safe.
We‘ve got five percent of the CEOs and the mines in this country who are
not complying with the law. It‘s time for the full power and force of the
United States government to come down on these people.
And, quite frankly, when you are responsible for a tragedy like the
Upper Big Branch Mine, you should be held accountable. There‘s no place
else in our society where you could get away with this, and you certainly
should not be able to get away with this in the workplace.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Roberts, good to have you with us tonight. Thank you
for speaking up. And we should point out that both those miners that lost
their lives married and fathers of young children.
ROBERTS: It‘s tragic.
SCHULTZ: It certainly is. Thanks for joining us.
On a lighter note, here‘s what‘s in my playbook tonight. Today, Oprah
Winfrey aired her interview with Rielle Hunter, John Edwards‘ former
mistress and mother of the two-year-old daughter. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, “OPRAH”: How did John Edwards react when you told him
you were pregnant?
RIELLE HUNTER, MISTRESS OF JOHN EDWARDS: He was—he was very
gracious.
WINFREY: Come on.
HUNTER: He was.
WINFREY: Was he in or out of the campaign at the time.
HUNTER: In.
WINFREY: He was still in the campaign.
HUNTER: He was in.
WINFREY: And you‘re telling me that he was gracious when he finds out
that you were pregnant?
HUNTER: He was gracious.
WINFREY: So he was fully supportive of you having—
HUNTER: I wouldn‘t say fully supportive. I think that he had a lot
of issues with the timing, and it created a lot of conflict within him. It
was not great timing from our perspective.
WINFREY: Meaning he was running for the president.
HUNTER: He was married to someone else. He was in the middle of
running for the presidency. It‘s not great timing.
WINFREY: Were you hoping you would get pregnant with his baby?
HUNTER: I don‘t know consciously if it was—was it hope—I was so
in love with him. When you‘re in love with him, that gets activated.
WINFREY: Were you using birth control?
HUNTER: No, we never used birth control.
WINFREY: Well, then. You knew it could happen at any time?
HUNTER: I would have been fine if it happened. I was in love with
him.
WINFREY: Did he think you were using birth control?
HUNTER: Oh, no. He knew.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: All of that and what a loss for the Democrats and hard
working folk of America. Where is John Edwards today?
Coming up, the last time our next guest was on this show, he begged us
to put him in Psycho Talk. Well, we‘re doing better than that. We‘re
putting him in the hot seat, Tom Tancredo. He thinks the president is
hiding his birth certificate? All right, Tom, you‘re in the hot seat next
on THE ED SHOW. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And welcome back to THE ED SHOW. In our final segment
tonight, I‘m putting former Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo in The Hot
Seat. I want some straight answers on this one. In a recent interview, he
said he thinks the Obama administration is just egging on the Birthers. He
thinks that maybe the Obama team is releasing the president‘s birth
certificate because they like making the opposition absolutely look crazy.
Well, here he is on the Hot Seat. Former Congressman Tom Tancredo of
Colorado with us. Congressman, we‘re putting up on the screen now—you
can‘t see it—but this is a certificate of a live birth. Now, this is
all over the Internet. This proves, first of all, that President Obama was
actually born. And it also has the stamp of Hawaii on there.
What is -= your point here is you think that they are actually—the
White House is keeping the story alive just to infuriate the other side?
Tell me about that.
TOM TANCREDO, FMR. CONGRESSMAN: Well, we‘ve got two choice, just two
choices. Either he doesn‘t have a birth certificate. And by the way, what
you just showed if it‘s that, you know, certificate of live birth, means
absolutely nothing. You pull that off a computer any time. It‘s not
absolutely not in any way, shape or form proof that born—not born, but
born in Hawaii.
So my point is you have a document. It‘s called a birth certificate.
On it there‘s a signature of a doctor. It‘s the place you were born.
Everybody—most people have one in the United States. And so it‘s a very
simple task to end this—all this rigmarole and the ruckus over whether
he was born in Hawaii and—
SCHULTZ: So but you think that—
TANCREDO: -- a natural born citizen.
(CROSS TALK)
SCHULTZ: You think he‘s actually holding on to his birth certificate
to keep this rhetoric going, to make the other side look like a bunch of
crazies?
TANCREDO: Well, like I say, you got two choices. It‘s either that or
he wasn‘t born in Hawaii. So, I mean, what have I got to pick from?
SCHULTZ: All right.
TANCREDO: There aren‘t any other choices, Ed. What can I tell you?
SCHULTZ: Here‘s Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary.
TANCREDO: Show us the actual birth certificate.
SCHULTZ: Here‘s Robert Gibbs commenting on it at a press conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Given the predominance of the socialist rhetoric,
comments like Tom Tancredo‘s weekend—he said something about the
president should be sent back to Kenya.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I could fill the better
part of my afternoons responding to the general lunacy of somebody like Tom
Tancredo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Got to have you response to that, Tom. What do you think?
TANCREDO: I heard it when he first said it. Well, first of all, the
person asking him the question didn‘t get it all out. And, secondly, what
more do you expect from a guy like him? His whole task is to try to defend
the president. All I‘m saying is—look, I quoted the president‘s wife.
She said that Kenya was his home country. So I‘m just quoting her. She
knows better than I do where he was born.
Sit down. I got a little buddy here I‘m baby-sitting.
SCHULTZ: Tom Tancredo, good to have you with us.
We won‘t convince some people this the country.
TANCREDO: Just a minute, ed. I want you to see—
SCHULTZ: I asked what you think of immigration reform. Should it be
Washington‘s number one priority? Sixty five percent of you said yes; 35
percent of you said no.
That‘s THE ED SHOW. I‘m Ed Schultz. “HARDBALL” with Chris Matthews
starts right now.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
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