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The Ed Show for Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Read the transcript to the Wednesday show

Guests: Martin Luther King III, James Clyburn, Leo Gerard, Ron Christie, Bill Press, Betsy Gleick, Tarryl Clark

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC ANCHOR:  Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW tonight from New York.

These stories on the table and hitting “My Hot Button” at this hour. 

The Tea Partiers are laying out their invasion plans for Washington, D.C. 

They‘re coming to town with a rally. 

Glenn Beck is pushing this phony rally.  OK?  Phony rally.  He‘s making a mockery of Dr. King‘s “I have a dream” speech. 

I‘ll have commentary on that coming up in just a moment. 

And also, I think the Democrats have got—well, they have got a confidence problem.  I really wish the Democrats would stop telling me about President Bush, and I wish they would start telling me, just what are you going to do if you keep the majority?  They don‘t have plain. 

I want to know what your plan is.  And just drive it home to the American people. 

And also, Michele Bachmann.  She‘s got this war chest out there and, of course, this war chest is trying to take down her challenger, Tarryl Clark.  Tarryl Clark will join us tonight to talk about that. 

But this is the story that has me fired up tonight. 

Glenn Beck is distorting Martin Luther King‘s dream and his Tea Party followers are on edge.  You know, I just sense that we are going down a very dangerous road right now when a political organization like the Tea Party has members trying to intimidate elected public officials. 

A Tea Party blog in Maine listed the D.C. home addresses of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle; White House former communications director Anita Hill—Anita Dunn, and also her husband, White House counsel Bob Bauer. 

Can somebody tell me why?  What is the usefulness of this?  Do they actually want people to show up outside their door, maybe help them get the morning paper? 

Folks, this is what the Brownshirts did in the 1930s in Germany.  They used to target businesses, target people, target families, list names, attack their businesses. 

This isn‘t about protesting.  This sets the table for intimidation and harassment. 

Hate-mongering leaders of the Tea Party are endorsing this behavior with their silence.  Their silence is deafening on this issue. 

Now, Sarah Palin, if I remember the news, went nuts when a reporter moved in next door to her and she was complaining about her privacy being invaded.  Yet, she remains silent when members of her Tea Party publish the home addresses of the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader. 

For Glenn Beck, you see, it‘s just not good enough to have a successful radio and TV show.  He has to whip up the crazies to the point where they are encouraging each other to intimidate and instill fear.  This could set the table for stalking, because no one can tell us where all of this ends. 

Dr. King, did he ever do this?  Did he ever preach against those who didn‘t agree with him?  Did he ever publish any names?  Did he ever publish any possible places where people would go to protest? 

No, he didn‘t do that.  He didn‘t preach intimidation.  He fought for ideals like social justice. 

In 1963, in a speech at Western Michigan University, Dr. King said this: “I think with all of these challenges being met, with all of the kind of work and determination going on, we will be able to go this additional distance and achieve the ideal, the goal of the new age, the age of social justice.”

Well, that‘s exactly what Glenn Beck is trying to destroy.  Take a look. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS:  Both the communists who were on the left, they say—you know, there‘s a communist—and the Nazis are on the right.  That‘s what people say. 

But they both subscribe to one philosophy and they flew one banner.  One had the hammer and sickle, the other was a swastika.  But on each banner read the words here in America of this: “Social Justice.”  They talked about economic justice, rights of the workers, redistribution of wealth, and surprisingly—I love this—democracy. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Oh, yes.  Dr. King also fought for economic justice.  Glenn Beck calls the unemployed in this country un-American.  Dr. King‘s “I have a dream” speech was a call for racial unity. 

Here‘s Beck‘s way of promoting racial unity. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK:  This president I think has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for White people or the White culture.  I don‘t know what it is. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  The fact that this clown is going to be standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with Sarah Palin I find offensive.  There is no honor in the way these two Fox employees have acted. 

And I‘m honored to get the opportunity to speak with the people who really honor Dr. King‘s dream.  I will be part of Reverend Al Sheraton‘s “Reclaim the Dream” rally on Saturday morning at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. 

And I think that we should also just do a little fact-checking here. 

Why was Dr. King in Memphis, Tennessee, before he was assassinated?  He was there because there was a garbage strike that was going on, and he was there for the workers.  He was there for the AFSCME workers, the union workers, the social justice, the economic justice of it all. 

He was true to his word throughout his entire life.  And I think what they‘re doing on Saturday in Washington, D.C., on the Lincoln Memorial is repulsive.  This is all about dissing a leader that this country looks up to. 

Joining me now is Martin Luther King III.  He is the president of the King Center, and I will be joining him at Reverend Sheraton‘s “Reclaim the Dream” rally on Saturday. 

Mr. King, thank you for joining us tonight. 

MARTIN LUTHER KING III, PRESIDENT, THE KING CENTER:  Thank you for the opportunity. 

SCHULTZ:  How do you feel about this rally?  How do you feel about the upcoming event on Saturday? 

KING:  Well, the question first is which rally? 

SCHULTZ:  Well, the one that‘s going to be at the Lincoln Memorial. 

KING:  Well, you know, I think that my father always fought for everyone to have a voice, but a voice of civility, a voice for inclusion, not an exclusionary voice.  And what I hope is that out of this demonstration and the demonstration that Reverend Sharpton also—constructive demonstration that Reverend Sharpton and others, including myself, will be participating to, I hope that civility is the order of the day. 

I mean, we‘ve got to really focus on how we work through the differences that we have in America, not be destructive and have destructive behavior.  And I‘m not suggesting—certainly Glenn Beck and all who follow Glenn Beck, certainly my father would have been the first to fight for them to have a voice.  But he would hope that all of us would engage in constructive dialogue, not necessarily negative rhetoric. 

SCHULTZ:  Is it constructive for the Tea Party to put out a directive to those coming to Washington to stay out of certain areas of Washington, D.C., a map, a zone where to go in Washington, D.C.?  Your father, of course, was al about ending segregation, and here, where we are coming up on Saturday, they want to segregate. 

KING:  Well, certainly, if that is being done, you know, I would certainly not embrace that necessarily, that philosophy.  The philosophy of nonviolence, the philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr., is the philosophy of inclusion.  And that means everyone.

That means we have to go everywhere.  And those of us who purport to be Christian, which my father was a Christian minister, not necessarily was he against anyone.  But he was willing to go anywhere and everywhere. 

SCHULTZ:  Are you offended that Beck and his Tea Party cronies are going to be on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, and many people are taking this as a real shot at what your father stood for, the social justice, the economic justice, the fight for workers, civil rights, all of that? 

KING:  Well, I don‘t know—offended is a very strong word.  Again, I think all Americans have the right.  They petitioned to get the particular space.  And none of us own that space. 

That‘s a space for Americans.  And all of us purport to be Americans. 

So my dad didn‘t own the space.  He just made a very powerful speech there. 

SCHULTZ:  Also, you have written in the past about the work of your father.  And I can‘t help but ask you this question—if he were alive today, what would he say about the political climate in this country and the way President Obama has been treated? 

KING:  Well, I think he would say that we have to learn how to be—we have to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable.  And I don‘t think we‘ve learned that message in this nation. 

We know how to be divisive.  We know how to throw torpedoes.  We know how to be disruptive. 

We need to all be focusing, as Democrats and Republicans, on how we can find constructive ways to rebuild this economy in this nation so that the nation can continue to be the great nation that it always has been. 

SCHULTZ:  Martin Luther King III, look forward to seeing you on Saturday in Washington.  I appreciate your time tonight.  Thanks so much. 

KING:  Thank you so much.

SCHULTZ:  I want to get your take on this subject in tonight‘s text survey question.  Do you have a problem with Glenn Beck holding a rally where Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech? 

Viewers can text your answers.  Go to 622639, text A for yes, text B for no to 622639.  We‘ll bring you the results later on in the show. 

For more on this, let‘s bring in South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn, the House Majority Whip. 

Jim, good to have you with us tonight.  Appreciate your time. 

Part of this rally that --  

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA:  Well, thank you so much for having me. 

SCHULTZ:  You bet.

Part of this rally is going to have Sarah Palin involved in it, who recently, in a sense, praised Dr. Laura for using the N-word.  Sarah Palin, she said that she should reload, that Dr. Laura should reload and celebrate her liberty. 

Your thoughts on that, and knowing that she‘s going to be a part of this rally?

CLYBURN:  Well, you know, thank you so much for having me again. 

I cannot understand exactly what it is that these people are trying to do here.  The fact of the matter is all of us, as Martin said earlier, have a right to petition for—to redress our grievances. 

The question I would like to ask, what are their grievances?  What are they grieving about?  They have not laid out any real issue for which they are proposing to petition the leadership in Washington to include those whose addresses they‘re now sending out via e-mail. 

Dr. King was there to talk about bringing the United States of America into the fullness of the American dream.  I would like for them to tell us exactly what it is that they are petitioning for, and maybe some of us might find some value in it. 

Right now, I see very little value in what they‘re doing unless they think that being divisive or destroying the solemnity of a march, of a petition, of a tremendous speech, is worthy of the attention that they seem to be garnering here. 

SCHULTZ:  Well, in—Congressman, in the promotion leading up to this, they say they want to restore honor, and they‘re talking about values.  And obviously, Beck has broadcast it many times, about how he‘s against social justice, compared it the to communists and the Nazi party.  And we all know that Martin Luther King was all about social justice. 

Your thoughts on that? 

CLYBURN:  Absolutely.  And nobody ever was more pro-democracy than Martin Luther King, Jr.  The only question was whether or not everybody in our society was experiencing the fullness of that democracy.  And that‘s what it was all about. 

His death came, as you said earlier, trying to work on behalf of garbage workers, allowing them, or hopefully helping them to bring—move into the mainstream of American society.  And he always talked about it not in terms of class. 

He said if you‘re going to be a street sweeper, be a good street sweeper.  Whatever is that you are going to be, be good at it.  And he wanted people to be justly rewarded for their hard work. 

SCHULTZ:  No doubt about it. 

CLYBURN:  And that‘s all that petition was all about. 

SCHULTZ:  Congressman Jim Clyburn, good to have you with us tonight. 

Thanks so much for joining us here on THE ED SHOW.  Appreciate your time. 

Coming up, Vice President Joe Biden has taken the lead in slamming “The Tan Man” and the Republicans.  Today he promised to fight like the devil to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.  My commentary on that in “The Battleground” segment tonight.

And Mitt Romney, one of the top prospects to run against President Obama, is looking for Rocky Balboa‘s position as he was going on, “Hey, Adrian.” 

We‘re going to knock him right into the “Zone.”

All that, plus Elin Woods breaks her silence, Bachmann‘s opponent is in the house, and you will not believe what Alan Simpson has to say about Social Security. 

You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC.  Stay with us. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  Welcome back to THE ED SHOW and thanks for watching tonight. 

The base is coming to the rescue of congressional Democrats.  We think.

The AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union are teaming up to launch an $88 million coordinated campaign to help pro-union candidates in the midterms. 

Now, I want to make a point here.  The Republicans love the Citizens United ruling that allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts in our elections.  The Republicans claim, well, that‘s what the unions do. 

That is total garbage.  Union money comes from workers making small contributions to help their own cause. 

Joining me now is Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers. 

Leo, I guess it‘s the suits versus the boots.  Eighty-eight million dollars versus what? 

LEO GERARD, UNITED STEELWORKERS:  Well, look, Ed, the hypocrisy of this from the suits, as you call it, is astounding.  The Chamber of Commerce was just in The Associated Press story just a couple of days ago saying they‘ve already spent $190 million and they‘re going to spend another $90 million. 

We‘ve got the Koch brothers that are spending God knows how much money, secret money.  We‘ve got this new ruling by the Supreme Court that allows foreign companies even, corporations that are registered in America, to contribute to issue campaigns. 

So you‘ve got these corporations running issues against things that Democrats have voted for like health care, like saving the jobs, like trying to extend unemployment insurance, running ads against doing that.  So yes, the labor movement is coming together.  Our amount of money is small compared to what corporations spend. 

SCHULTZ:  How small? 

GERARD:  I would say probably at 20 percent of what corporations spend, if on a good day.  But the reality is that we‘ve got member to member.  We‘ve got our members talking to people, and what we‘re saying to them is, look, we didn‘t get everything we wanted in the first two years, but you‘ve got to understand that this economy was in the ditch.  And these Republicans have done everything they could to stop progress from happening. 

SCHULTZ:  All right.  Now, this ruling that the Supreme Court had, the righties are saying, well, it‘s freedom of speech.  Do you agree with that? 

GERARD:  Absolutely not.  What freedom of speech is when every person gets an equal voice. 

What this Supreme Court decision has said is the more money you have, the louder your voice is.  So you take some of these people that have been unemployed—close to 29 million people, Ed, are unemployed, underemployed, or giving up looking for work.  Who speaks for them? 

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  Well, that‘s a good question.

President Obama devoted his Saturday radio address to this issue about how our elections are going to the corporations.  It‘s unidentified money.  The righties are saying that hey, the Democrats invented this. 

What do you say to that? 

GERARD:  Well, look, it‘s just not true.  The fact of the matter is, from the point of view of the labor movement, we‘ve got to solicit our members and have the members sign up for voluntary contributions to be able to take that kind of money. 

SCHULTZ:  So you don‘t shake them down at the office? 

GERARD:  Absolutely not.  Now, we do have some money that we can spend on issues, but when you talk about the money we‘re going to spend on talking to workers or making contributions, that‘s money that our members have voluntarily signed up to contribute. 

Corporations should at the very least have to go to their shareholders and ask their shareholders if they can spend $190 million in an election trying to stop progress.  But they get to have a free ride, they get to have secret money, they get to have corporate money, they get to have foreign companies‘ money in our election program, and that‘s just wrong. 

SCHULTZ:  So how tough is this going to be on progressives?  How tough is it going to be on the working folk of America?  I mean, the unions can only pony up so much.

GERARD:  Look, I think that what we‘ve got is our members are seeing some of the stuff that‘s being said by people like Mitch McConnell and Boehner and Sharron Angle.  And they‘re seeing that this thing that they‘re coming out is going to be more of the same. 

They don‘t have a new idea.  They haven‘t had a new idea in 20 years. 

The only thing they‘re saying is cut taxes, cut taxes, cut taxes. 

Let me tell you this, Ed, and to listeners.  If cutting taxes created jobs, with all the tax cuts Bush gave, we should have full employment.  All that they want to do is cut taxes for the super rich.  That super rich tax cut that they‘re trying to prevent would put $200 billion or $300 billion over an extended period of time back into job creation. 

SCHULTZ:  No doubt.

GERARD:  Anybody who is opposing that is opposing workers getting back to work.  And this is the fight we‘re having.  It‘s about going forward, making progress, or more of the same.  And I think our members are going to respond. 

SCHULTZ:  Mr. Gerard, good to have you with us tonight.  Thanks so much. 

GERARD:  Thank you so much, Ed. 

SCHULTZ:  Coming up, Mitt Romney is turning to Rocky Balboa for foreign policy advice.  They think America apologizes too much. 

I‘m making no apology for throwing both of them in the “Zone” next. 

You won‘t want to miss it.  Stay with us. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And in “Psycho Talk” tonight, “The Mittster” is getting foreign policy ideas from Rocky.  Sylvester Stallone was on O‘Reilly‘s show plugging his new movie and let his political expertise shine through. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O‘REILLY, FOX NEWS:  Do you have a secret agenda in the movie? 

SYLVESTER STALLONE, ACTOR:  No.  I wish I was that clever.  No. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  After some more hard-hitting questions from O‘Reilly, Stallone, he weighed in on U.S. foreign policy. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STALLONE:  Some people read that I was maybe putting a focal point on American intrusion into other countries.  You know, we tend to overextend our boundaries. 

I don‘t believe that at all.  I think America apologizes too much. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  So the United States apologizes too much.  Sly wasn‘t kidding about the whole clever thing, but Mitt Romney, “The Mittster,” he‘s taking him seriously.

On Twitter, Romney wrote, “Stallone is right.  The U.S. does apologize too much.  Hope he doesn‘t get into trouble with his Hollywood friends.” 

The Democrats may not have much to worry about in 2012 if one of the Republican presidential front-runners is getting his talking points from this guy. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, “ROCKY”)

STALLONE:  I can‘t believe this has happened.  I can‘t. 

Yo, Adrian!  I did it!

(END VIDEO CLIP, “ROCKY”)

SCHULTZ:  Yo, Adrian. 

Mitt Romney saying Sylvester Stallone is right about foreign policy, you‘ve got it, that is “”Psycho Talk.” 

Coming up, Vice President Biden, he‘s getting after it.  I‘m loving it.  He‘s calling “The Tan Man‘s” economic plan a bunch of malarkey.  Now I want the rest of the White House to get after it and do it the same way he‘s doing it. 

The Tea Party queen, Michele Bachmann, will stop at nothing to slam her opponent, Tarryl Clark.  Tarryl Clark will be here to punch back. 

All that, plus Elin comes out of the woods. 

And you won‘t believe what Alan Simpson just said about Social Security.  People are calling for him to be fired.  And he should be. 

You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC.  Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.  The Battleground story tonight, the president‘s number two, Joe Biden, he is stepping up the fight against the Republican attacks on the economy.  Vice President Joe Biden slammed House Minority Leader John Boehner‘s sham of an economic speech yesterday and today, he stayed on the offensive with some real retail politicking, telling voters at a pizza parlor in D.C.  The Republicans have been lying about the Bush tax cuts for the rich. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  The only argument that our colleagues, our republican colleagues can make is, well, this is really going to hurt small business.  If you don‘t extend the entire Bush tax cut.  Here are the facts.  Three, not three percent of the small businesses in America who have benefited one single solitary pen from extending that top two percent tax cut.  So this is just a bunch of malarky. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  You know, I love what Vice President Biden is doing.  He‘s just hammering the message it seems to be day after day, getting the folks on his side with this.  I wish we would see the president and the democrats do more of this on a day to day basis going to the mid terms.  Maybe, they are, maybe I‘m missing it, but I don‘t feel it. 

Americans are angry, the economy isn‘t getting better faster.  There was more tough economic news today.  And the housing market, existing home sales fell 27 percent last month.  This is a record drop.  Are we going to get a double dip recession?  Now, I think the president‘s economic team needs to get with the program and get with Biden and get out there on a daily basis.  It‘s a war zone out there.  It‘s an ideological fight for the country.  It‘s time to hammer the Republicans for having absolutely no plans at all.  And voters need to be reminded of that.  But beyond that, I think the democrats need to stop talking to us, the base, and I‘m a liberal, I‘m a baser, I know about Bush.  I know all about Bush.  I don‘t need a history lesson about Bush. 

What I want to know from the Democrats is if the base comes out and keeps you in the majority in the House and in the Senate or maybe even gain some seats and goes against all the experts, if we do that, what are  you going to do?  Is it going to be more of the same?  Hey, let‘s see if we can get Olympia Snowe to do health care a little bit more with us?  Or are we going to be negotiating with ourselves again?  Is it going to be the same old stuff?  I think the base in this country when it comes to the Democrats, they want fire and brimstone because they didn‘t like the first two-year show.  They thought there was too much negotiation going on when all they wanted was waterloo over there.  So, tell me, what are you going to do?  I got a list here tonight. 

Are you going to guarantee that you‘re going to protect Social Security?  You going to do that?  You going to guarantee that the taxes are going to go up on the top two percent and get some guts and make the rich people pay their fair share again in this country, until we get our fiscal House in order?  Are the Democrats are going to do that?  Tell it me that.  Tell the base that you‘re going to go to the fire wall.  How about the employee free choice act.  There‘s a dandy.  We going to get back to that, we got to do something?  We just had Leo Gerard on the air tonight saying, well, you know what?  They‘ve got $88 million and they‘re going to bust ass for the democrats.  Where are you going to do back for them?  Where is the Obama White House on labor?  Can you define what you‘re going do for labor going into this midterm that if you hold the majority, this is the way life is going to be for the Republicans and you‘re going to stomp them on every issue or are you going to be nice guys again? 

What about more additions to the health care bill?  It was a small step.  Do I dare bring up public option?  Do I dare say that gosh, maybe since we got the majority, we should just keep on moving.  How about campaign finance reform?  Is that going to be on the table for discussion?  In anyway, shape, or form or are we going to let these corporations run over everybody?  Is there going to be a place for the little guy in America when it comes to American politics and speaking for the middle class?  So, I think the democrats, what you need to do is re-establish the mission to motivate the base.  Tell us what you‘re going to do!  Don‘t tell me about Bush.  All the bases in this country we know all about Bush.  We know all about Cheney.  We know all about the tax cuts.  We know all about the fact that they don‘t have a plan but telling us that they don‘t have a plan, I don‘t think is enough. 

Tell us what you‘re going to do if you keep the majority.  Take us to January.  Tell us you can‘t wait to get to January because A, B, C and D is going to get done.  To go around the country and say that well, you know what?  You have to vote for us because we‘re better than the other guys because they don‘t have a plan that ain‘t going to cut it.  That won‘t cut it.  That isn‘t going to motivate anybody.  I believe the base in this country wants to know exactly what you‘re going to do with this majority in the House and the Senate if you hold on to it. 

Joining me now is Bill Press, nationally syndicate radio talk show host and Ron Christie, republican strategist and former advisor to George W. Bush.  Gentlemen, stay with us for just a moment. 

I want to get some rapid fire on these stories tonight.  These stories, a shocker in Alaska‘s Republican Party.  Primary.  Joe Miller, a Sarah Palin endorsed Tea Party candidate is now beating incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski but the votes are still being counted. 

Alan Simpson, former Wyoming senator and now the co-chair of the president‘s debt commission made an outrageous comments about Social Security suggesting that  Americans are just milking the entitlement system.

And a new poll shows nearly three-quarters of Republicans are opposed to the Muslim community center near Ground Zero and more than half of them don‘t like Islam, period.  Gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight.  

RON CHRISTIE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST:  Always a pleasure.  

SCHULTZ:  Ron Christie, I‘ll give you the first shot at this Muslim issue.  Why don‘t Republicans like Muslims?  What‘s happening here?  Where is the disconnect?

CHRISTIE:  I think this is absolutely ridiculous.  I looked at this poll and I looked at this finding and I don‘t believe it.  I don‘t know who they talked too.  I think that we as Americans have to be very tolerant of each other based on our race, best on our ethnicity and based on a religion.  I also was very disappointed looking at this poll, Ed, where it said that nearly a third of the democrats don‘t have a favorable view of Islam.  This is ridiculous.  We are Americans.  Our diversity is our strength.  Our strength is our diversity.  These are very, very, very serious allegations that we hear from people talking to the pollsters.  And I think people need to shut up, they need to take a deep breath and recognize stop being intolerant based on people‘s religion.  This has to stop.  

SCHULTZ:  This has been the hot button issue in this country for the last several weeks.  The pew poll unfavorable view of Islam, 54 percent of Republicans are in that camp, Independents 40 percent, Democrats at 20 percent.  Bill Press, your thoughts on this.  

BILL PRESS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST:  But I got to tell you Ed, this poll was taken in the last two weeks.  What have we been talking about in the last two weeks?  The mosque at Ground Zero which is we know, it‘s not a mosque and it is not at Ground Zero.  I‘m not surprised at the results of that poll.  This is a direct result of the inflammatory ugly hateful language that we heard from a lot of republicans, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Roy Blunt today comparing the people who want to build this Islamic cultural center to Dr. Laura using the “n” word on her radio show.  I think, look, I know Ron opposes this building of the center.  I‘m for it.  We can differ on that.  But I think the language we‘ve heard has become more and more inflammatory, more and more dangerous.  It is inciting hatred against one of the world‘s great religions.  I think it‘s despicable.  

CHRISTIE:  Let me stop you right there, Bill.  Here‘s what I disagree with, I think they absolutely have the constitutional right to build it there.  I‘ve never had any problem with that.  I‘ve always said, is this the right thing to do?  In these climates with the wounds so raw after 9/11, is this the right thing to do?  And what worries me Bill, what worries me here is that this was supposed to be a religious freedom center for tolerance.  Well, the group seems to be very intolerant.  They have blown off the governor of New York who‘s tried to find  an alternate site to House this center, this seem very unwilling to move anywhere other than a two-block radius away from Ground Zero where people are still very concerned and very shocked in the aftermath of 9/11.  

PRESS:  Let me just say Ron, this is an existing mosque, four blocks from Ground Zero, I‘d like somebody to explain to me the difference between two blocks from and four blocks from.  Let me finish.  Ron, the other thing is the idea that we believe in the constitution but only where we say the constitution applies is absolutely a horrible argument.  Because, like you‘re saying is I will decide where you have freedom of religion and where you don‘t.  

(CROSSTALK)

CHRISTIE:  As much as I respect you, Bill, as much as I respect you and like you personally, that is absolutely not what I said.  

PRESS:  That‘s what you just said.  

CHRISTIE:  What I said was they have a constitutional right to build their mosque wherever they want to build it.  What I said, that‘s not the right thing to do because the 9/11 families, it‘s still very rough for them, it‘s still very painful.  This building, you asked for distinction.  What‘s the difference between this building and one that‘s four blocks away?  The difference is as I told you two weeks ago and I‘m surprised you didn‘t listen, this building was hit by the landing—and the wheels of a plane.  

PRESS:  That‘s crazy. 

CHRISTIE:  OK. 

(CROSSTALK)

PRESS:  Wait a minute.  Just slow down.  Slow down.  There‘s a hotel right across from Ground Zero, I‘ve been there, that was damaged on 9/11.  That hotel is now open there.  Guess what Ron, they‘re serving drinks in that hotel.  People are having sex in that hotel.  That argument that the wheels dropped on that clothing store doesn‘t count at all you.  What you‘re saying is, you don‘t want them to build it there because it‘s the sensitivity.  Sensitivity is not in the constitution. 

SCHULTZ:  Well, gentlemen.

PRESS:  Go ahead, Ed.

SCHULTZ:  Let‘s look further at this pew poll.  Objecting to Muslims center near Ground Zero in New York City.  The breakout is interesting.  Why are so many Republicans against this, Ron Christie?  Seventy four percent, 50 percent Independents, 39 percent Democrats. 

CHRISTIE:  Well, I think a lot of Republicans and a lot of conservatives say, we have our constitution.  We have our constitutional freedoms but are we really this close to 9/11?  Are we really in a position where we‘re trying to heal as a nation, where we‘re trying to pull ourselves together, is it really the right thing to do right there?  Can‘t we move it a few blocks away?  That‘s why I think, so many Republicans are that concerned.  And again, it‘s not just the Republicans, Ed.  Also, it‘s the surprising number of Independents.   

SCHULTZ:  Now we‘re getting into zoning.  We‘re going to zone freedom of religion in America.  Freedom of activity in America?

CHRISTIE:  It‘s funny to me, you guys want to take religion out of the schools. You want to take crosses out of our country.  

PRESS:  No, no, no.  Come on.  

(CROSSTALK)

CHRISTIE:  But now that we have this mosque issue—of course you do. 

And the hypocrisy that‘s being displayed by the left is ridiculous.  

(CROSSTALK)

PRESS:  You believe in the first amendment or don‘t you?  Do you believe in freedom of religion?  If this were a Christian church, there would be no doubt about that building church.  

SCHULTZ:  Let me just throw this in for conversation.  Why aren‘t the Republicans so upset that the monument to those who lost their lives on 9/11 hasn‘t been built yet in New York City?

CHRISTIE:  I will agree with you on that, Ed.  

SCHULTZ:  What about that?

CHRISTIE:  I think it‘s pathetic that the city of New York, that the mayor, they bear a lot of responsibility for not having their act together, for not of course, deciding that this is a sacred ground, this is a hallowed ground and we should put that memorial up.  It‘s pathetic leadership.  

SCHULTZ:  They‘re so sensitive, they can‘t get the memorial up in time but all of a sudden when the Muslims come along and want to put up a community center and mosque combination of, there‘s all this uproar.  It‘s a divisive issue, Ron.  Just admit.  It‘s a divisive issue Ron, just admit, it‘s a divisive issue to try to go after Obama.  

PRESS:  That‘s exactly right.

CHRISTIE:  Oh, I am not going after Obama.  This has nothing to do with Obama.  The problem with the president is the president waded into this issue.  First, he was for the mosque before he was against it.  The president‘s flip-flopping on this issue has led directly to his decline in the polls.  You guys both know it.  

PRESS:  There is no flip-flop of Obama on this issue.  I was there with him in Panama City (ph) when he spoke about this mosque.  He supports the first amendment.  He supports their right to build that mosque in that location.  As does Mayor Bloomberg.  Don‘t put words in his mouth.  

(CROSSTALK)

SCHULTZ:  All right gentlemen.  We‘ve got to go to this subject now.  Quickly, we‘ve got to get in, you know, the Tea Partiers are taking down their own kind.  You possibly have an upset in Alaska.  Bill Press, what do you make of it?  Joe Miller, a Sarah Palin endorsed candidate ahead of Lisa Murkowski.  We might not know the results until September.  What do you think?

PRESS:  I‘ll tell you two things quickly, Ed.  One is Lisa Murkowski I think was asleep at this switch unlike John McCain, she didn‘t realize that they were coming after her.  I don‘t think she ran a tough enough campaign.  She took it too much for granted.  The second thing is you‘re right.  If you look at Florida, you look at Utah, you look at Colorado, you look at Alaska, I mean, and Kentucky, the Tea Partiers are taking over the GOP.  And these extremists I think are really going to hurt the Republican Party.  

SCHULTZ:  What about that, Ron?

CHRISTIE:  Well, I agree with the first part of what he had to say.  I think that Murkowski was asleep at the switch.  She didn‘t get back to Alaska.  She didn‘t really make the case as to why she deserved re-election.  I mean, don‘t forget of course that her father appointed her to that Senate seat and that lead a lot of people raw back in Alaska.  And I think that she didn‘t make the case.  They can‘t make the case to the voters, they‘ll going to send you back home.  But this notion that we‘re under control of the Tea Party when the left wing, the unions, the Democrats are pursuing a far out of touch agenda, I can hardly wait.  November‘s coming, my friends.  

(LAUGHTER)

SCHULTZ:  I‘ll tell you what.  Damn those hard-working Americans, those hard-working union folk of America.  

PRESS:  Those un-American 99ers, Ed.  

(ALL TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)

SCHULTZ:  Gentlemen, great to have you with us tonight.  We could go for an hour but the boss won‘t let us.  Great to have you on. 

Coming up, Tiger‘s ex-wife, Elin speaks out for the first time since the infamous car crash.  And a pro golfer oversleeps, misses his tee time and gets disqualified from a big tournament, it‘s in the Playbook coming up.  Stay with us.      

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And it‘s not too late to let us know what you think.  Tonight‘s text survey question is, do you have a problem with Glenn Beck holding a rally where Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech?  Text A for yes, text B for no to 633639.  We‘ve got the results coming up. 

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And in my Playbook tonight, Tiger Woods‘ ex-wife Elin is speaking out for the first time and only time about her divorce.  She spoke exclusively to “People” magazine and Elin wants everybody to know three things.  She never beat Tiger with a golf club.  She didn‘t know he was sleeping with half of the women in North America and she believed her marriage was forever.  For more on that, let‘s bring in the executive editor of “People” magazine, Betsy Gleick.  Betsy, good to have you with us tonight.   

BETSY GLEICK, PEOPLE MAGAZINE EXECUTIVE EDITOR:  Thanks a lot.  

SCHULTZ:  Quite the coup to get this exclusive by “People” magazine, no doubt.  And I was curious that the interview lasted some 19 hours.  

GLEICK:  Yes.  Elin was very reluctant to speak.  As, you know, she‘s been incredibly private, she has given no interviews ever.  So it took her awhile to decide she wanted to do it and then once she did, she really spent some incredible time with our reporter. 

SCHULTZ:  Was she vindictive in any way?  Is she ready to move on? 

What was the sense?

GLEICK:  Absolutely not vindictive.  She spoke very frankly about how hurt she was, how painful these last months have been, how she‘s gone through the stages of grief.  And how she‘s working towards forgiveness. 

SCHULTZ:  And how is the couple going to get along and move forward from here?  Do you get a sense that they‘re both committed to be good parents?

GLEICK:  Yes, yes.  During this time that our reporter was there, Tiger himself showed up dropping off the children and they had two very ordinary—they had ordinary conversations as two parents would about when the baby last had a nap and that sort of thing.  

SCHULTZ:  And how hard was it to get this interview?  Did you have to convince her to do the interview?  Were there any parameters at all?

GLEICK:  You know, she was reluctant to do it for a long time.  Obviously, the entire world made media approaches to her.  But she really, really just wanted to say her piece once and be done with it.  

SCHULTZ:  Do you think this is it?  Do you think she‘ll ever do another interview again?

GLEICK:  She said that she has no interest in launching of some sort of public life.  Will she ever do an interview again?  I don‘t know.  

SCHULTZ:  Did she ever mention the money?  I mean, $100 million?

GLEICK:  Yes, what she said is money can‘t buy happiness and it can‘t put my family back together.  

SCHULTZ:  And she also said she hasn‘t watched one minute of golf.  Is it just too painful or she has no interest?

GLEICK:  I‘m not sure.  I think, you know, she has really tried to tune out as much of the media around this event as possible.  Although she did say that she has seen the South Park and “Saturday Night Live” parodies of her.  

SCHULTZ:  Betsy Gleick, “People” magazine, thanks for joining us tonight.  

GLEICK:  Sure.  

SCHULTZ:  A couple of final pages in the Playbook tonight.  The biggest error in last night‘s rangers game in Texas came of came off the field.  A parachuter from the army‘s Golden Knight‘s team never made it to his target on the field.  He got stop stuck on flag pole at the top of the scoreboard.  By the way, it is the highest point of the stadium.  He was dangling for a while until workers came to help him down.  Hell, that‘s better than buying a ticket, isn‘t it?

And professional golfer Jim Furyk overslept this morning and it‘s going to cost him his cell phone alarm clock lost power, and he was five minutes late for a tee time on a tournament in New Jersey.  The PGA disqualified him.  Furyk said, he‘s kicking himself.  You got to feel for the guy rights.  Wait a minute here.  There‘s a sponsorship opportunity and a commercial opportunity here somewhere.  Get a good alarm clock. 

Coming up, psycho talker Michele Bachmann is going down into the gutter to slam her opponent in a new commercial.  Bachmann‘s target?  Tarryl Clark.  She‘ll sound off next on THE ED SHOW.  Stay with us.            

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And finally tonight, Michele Bachmann‘s re-election fight is the most expensive House race in America this year.  Bachmann and her democratic challenger Tarryl Clark have set Minnesota fund-raising records and Bachmann dropped a chunk of that cash on a new attack commercial.  She‘s trying to bring everyone down to her level.  

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM, THE ELECTION GUY:  Hi, I‘m Jim the election guy.  I‘ll be around to help sort things out during this upcoming campaign.  Know her?  That‘s Tarryl Clark.  Candidate for Congress.  She‘s got a huge record for us to check out.  I‘m just getting started but one thing‘s obvious.  Tarryl Clark loves taxes.  She supported raising them every year she‘s been in office.  And there‘s a lot more we can learn about “Taxin‘ Tarryl” here.  I‘ll be back soon. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Joining me now to respond, Michele Bachmann‘s Democratic opponent State Senator Tarryl Clark.  Great to have you with us tonight, Tarryl.  Is that ad true?  Did you vote to raise taxes when you‘re in the state Senate in Minnesota?

TARRYL CLARK (D), MINNESOTA HOUSE CANDIDATE:  You know what I did in the state Senate, I worked hard to balance our budget, something that that we had to do because of our budget crisis and I worked hard to keep taxes down for 95 percent of Minnesotans.  At the same time, Michele Bachmann voted against tax cuts for the very same families.  

SCHULTZ:  You sent out an e-mail saying that Michele Bachmann could be a presidential candidate in 2012.  Do you believe that?

CLARK:  Well, it seems like that‘s what she‘s at least out there been talking about.  And you know, our district isn‘t very big.  It takes about an hour and a half, hour and 45 minutes to travel in the Pontiac we drive in.  Instead, in the last couple days, when she hasn‘t been around at all, she‘s rented a big bus with her picture on it costing $48,000 for 48 hours.  I guess you judge.  

SCHULTZ:  Sixty percent of her money according to a University of Minnesota researcher says that 60 percent of her money has come from out of state.  How much have you taken from out of state donations?

CLARK:  It‘s a fraction of that.  Certainly Michele has made this a national race.  And we want to make sure because of what she‘s doing to our families and to our country.  

SCHULTZ:  Tarryl, what do you mean she‘s made it a national race?

CLARK:  She‘s made it clear by spending more time out of our state, in places like California, Texas, New York, others, 39 places as best we‘re counting instead of being in the district.  I live in the district.  

SCHULTZ:  I want to get back to that ad.  You told me today on the radio, you told me today on the radio that that ad is a lie.  Is that right?

CLARK:  You know, what it is a typical Karl Rove play.  It absolutely misrepresents what we‘ve done.  We‘ve balanced the budget, something that Congress and Michele Bachmann haven‘t done, period and we had to cut the budget and we wanted to make sure that we were not hurting our working class families.  

SCHULTZ:  So, is the ad a lie?  She says, you voted to raise taxes all the time. 

CLARK:  I did not vote to raise taxes all the time, no, but I did think that the people who had benefited the most by the Bush tax cuts, our highest earners could go ahead and contribute some while we were keeping taxes down for everyone else.  

SCHULTZ:  And I want to be very clear.  The DNC, the DCCC has got more money than the Republicans.  Have you gotten any money—have you gotten any national resources from them to compete against Michele Bachmann?

CLARK:  You know, I‘ve got something more important.  We‘ve got over 30,000 voters. 

(CROSSTALK)

SCHULTZ:  No, I want to know about the money.  I want to know if the DNC or the DCCC has helped to take down Michele Bachmann financially, yes or no?  

CLARK:  You know, the DCCC is putting us on read to blue list, they are helping us out.  The DNC doesn‘t really work that way, they work to make sure that we have other kinds of resources and they‘re doing that.  

SCHULTZ:  So, they really haven‘t given you any money?

CLARK:  Not direct cash.  If you want to go work on it, that‘s fine. 

SCHULTZ:  All right.

CLARK:  But certainly, we‘d love to take money from Independents and Republicans, anyone who wants to make sure Washington is working for us. 

SCHULTZ:  I understand that.  I think you‘re a great candidate.  I think, the DCCC should help you out.  That‘s just my opinion.  Tarryl Clark, good to have you with us.  Text question tonight, I asked, do you have a problem with Glenn Beck holding a rally where Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech?  Sixty nine percent of you said yes, 31 percent of you said no. 

That‘s THE ED SHOW.  “HARDBALL” with Chris Matthews starts right now. 

We‘ll see you tomorrow night.

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