The Ed Show for Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Guests: Ken Vogel, Wayne Slater, Bill Burton, Katrina Vanden Heuvel

ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans. And welcome to THE ED
SHOW tonight from New York.

The president is hammering Republicans on jobs as Republican primary
-- well, it`s turning into a circular firing squad. The pizza man, he`s
got big problems.

This is THE ED SHOW -- let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK BLOCK, CAIN CHIEF OF STAFF: Rick Perry and his campaign owe
Herman Cain and his family an apology.

SCHULTZ (voice-over): Explosive new allegations from the Herman Cain
camp that Rick Perry`s campaign dropped the dime on sexual harassment
charges. Now, the Perry campaign is pointing at Romney. "Politico`s" Ken
Vogel broke the story. He`s here tonight.

Democrats are gearing up for the fight with Mitt Romney.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everything corporations
earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes?

SCHULTZ: Bill Burton of Priorities USA is here.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Construction workers,
they want to do their jobs. We need Congress to do theirs.

SCHULTZ: The president hammers Republicans again on jobs. And new
polling shows the country is responding.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Are you kidding me?

SCHULTZ: Katrina Vanden Heuvel of "The Nation" is here with the
latest.

And Republicans in Ohio are fear-mongering about your children. You
won`t believe their latest ad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight, folks.

There are four new developments on the Herman Cain story tonight.
For the first time, Herman Cain says the Perry camp was behind the leak.

But the biggest problem for Herman Cain, a third woman has now come
forward saying she considered filing a workplace complaint against him when
he was president of the National Restaurant Association back in the `90s.
She says Herman Cain invited her to his corporate apartment. She spoke
with the "Associated Press" today on condition of anonymity, fearing
retaliation.

Remember, Herman Cain has said he knows of no other accusers, but now
this third one surfaced. His campaign is still fighting back on the first
two accusations and now it`s pointing the finger at the Perry camp. Herman
Cain says this man, Curt Anderson, is responsible for leaking the story to
"Politico." Mr. Anderson was a consultant to Herman Cain when he was
running for the Senate back in 2003 and he knew vital information about
Herman Cain which he could have given to the Perry camp.

Well, Herman Cain`s campaign manager, Mark Block, said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLOCK: The actions of the Perry campaign are despicable. Rick Perry
and his campaign owe Herman Cain and his family an apology. In 2003,
Herman Cain ran for the Senate. He hired a general consultant, Curt
Anderson. Mr. Cain divulged the NRA claims at that time to his general
consultant --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: National Restaurant Association.

BLOCK: Exactly. Mr. Anderson. So the campaign at that point would
be prepared if the issue surfaced. It did not. Approximately two weeks
ago, as you know, Mr. Anderson went to work for the Rick Perry campaign.

What else happened about two weeks ago? "Politico" began this smear
campaign citing anonymous sources claiming Mr. Cain acted inappropriately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Mr. Anderson told "Forbes" he was not the source of the
leak. A Perry spokesman told NBC news tonight, no one in our campaign was
involved in the story at any way. Perry`s camp pointed the finger at Mitt
Romney, saying, I wouldn`t have put it past them.

And a Perry spokesman said this, "There are blog postings around as
well discussing that Cain`s successor at the restaurant association is a
big Romney donor and some of the board members. There are much closer
connections between the restaurant association, Cain and the Romney camp
than there are with us."

But there is another Republican consultant tonight giving Herman Cain
another headache. His name is Chris Wilson, and his firm has done polling
for a Perry presidential PAC.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CHRIS WILSON, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: I was the pollster for the
National Restaurant Association when Herman Cain was the head of it. And
I`ll tell you, I was actually around a couple times when this happened.
And it just -- anyone who was involved with the restaurant association at
the time knew that this was going to come up. I know the woman that is now
being talked about. She wants to come forward now and talk.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Wilson also says he thinks Herman Cain broke the
confidentiality agreement.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

WILSON: And so, you`re probably going to se her on TV and I`ll tell
you at the time, she was a very lower level staffer. I think she was maybe
two years out of college and this all occurred at a restaurant in Crystal
City. And everybody was very aware of it, and so it is -- it was only a
matter of time because so many people were aware of what took place. So
many people were aware of her situation and the fact that she left after
this.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Wilson told "Politico" the situation at the restaurant was
very uncomfortable.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

WILSON: I don`t want to be drawn into it specifically, but if she
comes out and talks about it then it`s, like I said, I think it will
probably be the end of this campaign.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Wilson denies being the source of the original "Politico"
story.

Get your cell phone out. Tonight`s question: will Herman Cain`s
campaign survive this scandal? Text "A" for yes, text "B" for no to
622639. Or go to my blog at Ed.MSNBC.com. We`ll bring you the results
later on in the show.

One thing we should ask tonight. What`s the limit here? How many
women have to come out and talk about Herman Cain before the Republican
Party or somebody shows some leadership saying, you know, guy, maybe you
better step out of this whole thing?

Let`s bring in Ken Vogel, chief investigative reporter for
"Politico," who helped break this story earlier this week. And Wayne
Slater, senior political writer for "Dallas Morning News" and co-author of
the book, "Bush`s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential."

Ken, good to have you with us tonight. I want to start with you.

The "A.P." is reporting a third accuser. What do you make of it?

KEN VOGEL, POLITICO: Well, it sounds kind of consistent with some of
the things that we`ve heard, that this is an association, the National
Restaurant Association, that by definition is centered around the
hospitality industry.

We`ve heard a lot about some of these after-work gatherings, some of
the gatherings at the National Restaurant Association convention. There
was a lot of alcohol involved. And there are sort of tales that have come
out of that. We`re trying to track them down.

"The Associated Press" in this case with this particular woman has
tracked down a particular tale in which the woman says that Herman Cain
invited her back to his apartment, his corporate-paid apartment in Crystal
City, Virginia, and made her feel extremely uncomfortable that she thought
about filing a sexual harassment -- formal sexual harassment complaint but
decided not to because she began to have less dealings with him at the
National Restaurant Association.

So, we are also working on details, trying to flush out some details
of an earlier incident that we reported, a National Restaurant Association
convention in Chicago in the late `90s. I think there are a number of
media outlets that are working on similar lines of reporting.

SCHULTZ: So, would you draw the conclusion as a reporter, there
seems to be a pattern of behavior here, Ken?

VOGEL: Well, certainly, we are aware of two instances. "The
Associated Press" reported a third. So, we have at least three and will
just have to see where it goes from here.

SCHULTZ: One other question for you. Herman Cain says that Curt
Anderson, he`s the guy that leaked the story to. You what`s your response
there?

VOGEL: Well, we don`t have to respond because Curt Anderson, in
fact, has come right out and said he was not our source.

SCHULTZ: OK.

VOGEL: We`re not going to go down the road of identifying people who
are not our sources because that could close in. We think that the
information stands on its own. If the information is false, they can come
out and say it`s false. Thus far, though, it`s proven accurate.

SCHULTZ: Wayne Slater, Herman Cain says it`s the Perry camp behind
all this. What do you make of it?

WAYNE SLATER, DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Well, apparently, based on what
we know in the last 24 hours, everybody knew about this, everybody in
Washington and Texas and Boston, but nobody did it. Nobody gave "Politico"
the information.

Look, there are a lot of arrows pointed right to the Perry campaign.
Chris Wilson, the one guy you mentioned, working now with a super PAC, run
by Perry`s former chief of staff, which will spend, it thinks, a budget of
$55 million, has gone up on the air in Iowa and South Carolina this week.
He obviously has a direct connection with the super PAC, which operates
across the street here in Austin from the campaign itself.

Wilson was a former executive director of the Texas Republican Party
and he left that job back in the mid `90s to go to work for Tony Fabrizio
and worked on the presidential campaign of Bob Dole where they were accused
among other things of some dirty tricks.

Now, what happened this week? Tony Fabrizio joins the Perry camp at
the same time that Chris Wilson is handling the polling for the political
action committee.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

SLATER: And not just him, but this Curt Anderson. Lots of ties,
lots of connections.

SCHULTZ: Well, you got Herman Cain out there saying there`s no other
accusers. Now there`s a third one. It continues to spiral.

And now you have a source in this guy that used to work for him on a
Senate campaign saying, well, yes, I was told about this problem. So, I
mean, Wayne, is Herman Cain trying to drag down the Perry camp with him?

SLATER: Well, I think Herman Cain probably thinks it was the Perry
camp. I think they`re probably -- they`re probably pretty logical about
that.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

SLATER: At the same time, the connections with the Romney people are
amazing, too. What I find amusing, of course, is on talk radio where Rush
Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham and others are accusing the liberal mainstream
media for doing something that very clearly is a fight within the
conservative Republican Party, itself.

SCHULTZ: Well, I find it interesting that the right wing talkers are
giving support to Herman Cain. They don`t even have all the facts.
They`re rushing to judgment that he`s a clean gene and has no problems at
all.

Ken, Ken Block -- Mark block, should I say, is calling for the Perry
campaign and "Politico" to apologize. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLOCK: The Perry campaign needs to apologize to Herman Cain and his
family and America for this despicable actions, and quite frankly,
"Politico," too. "Politico" won`t release any documentation or will they
even admit they spoke to these two women? Why? Because they have nothing
and cited unnamed sources.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Ken, "Politico`s" reporting this. Herman Cain told a
meeting of Georgia House Republicans, a report was coming out and he would
be vindicated. So, we`ve got a new line from Herman Cain saying that
there`s a story going to be coming out, going to vindicate him. What about
that?

VOGEL: Well, we`re not aware of what this story is that he`s
referring to there. I would say this sort of parlor game of trying to
guess who the source was really misses what we think is the crux of the
story which are these allegations, these settlements which he initially
denied and is now admitting, which we have seen in documentation, that, in
fact, proves that there was at least one settlement. And you have now the
lawyer for the woman who signed this settlement urging the National
Restaurant Association to release her from the confidentiality portion of
it to allow her to talk about this to defend herself because she feels as
if Herman Cain: A, has violated the confidentiality agreement by talking
about the settlement, and also is smearing her by saying these are baseless
charges.

Well, if the National Restaurant Association comes out and releases
her from this confidentiality agreement, which we understand there is a
great deal of pressure within the association to do, then I think we`re
going to be able to put that face to some of these allegations and he`s
going to have a harder time brushing them off as anonymous.

SCHULTZ: Well, the organization you`re talking about, the National
Restaurant Association, is very well connected in Washington -- 90 percent
of their dues go to lobbying. I mean, they`re well-connected in the city.
I would imagine a lot of people knew this was going on.

Now, I want to ask you, Mr. Slater, what`s the limit here? How many
women have to come out and complain about Herman Cain to keep this story
going day after day before somebody in the Republican Party steps up and
says, you know, make Herman Cain`s not the right guy? What`s the right
strategy politically here you think?

SLATER: Yes. I mean, it`s not really the number of women,
obviously, if there are more allegations, then that`s worse and worse for
Cain. It is the quality of that. Everything that Ken said was right. It
really doesn`t make any difference where the story came from. It`s that
the story, so far as written by "Politico" turns out to be absolutely true
or not significantly rebutted by anyone else.

If one woman emerges and she is credible and the details of whatever
allegedly happened are known, then Herman Cain is toast. You don`t need
four, five, six women. This is a real, real problem.

Of course, the political implications of this is: who wins? Romney
doesn`t win if this happens. Perry wins, the person who`s going to be the
anti-Romney in the race. It`s too soon to say that`s going to happen, that
Herman Cain won`t be vindicated.

But at the moment based on reporting from "Politico" and other
sources, Herman Cain has failed from the beginning to get ahead of this
story, to say everything he knows and is suffering as a result.

SCHULTZ: Ken Vogel, Wayne Slater, great to have you with us tonight.
Thanks for your reporting.

Remember to answer tonight`s question at the bottom of the screen and
share your thoughts on Twitter @EdShow. We want to know what you think.

Herman Cain is the front-runner in many polls. But a new ad by a
pro-Obama group shows who the Democrats think the president will be facing
next November. President Obama is asking the top 2 percent to serve it up
to rebuild America. I have a big Eddie chart you won`t want to miss.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Coming up, the Cain campaign is imploding. Rick Perry`s
campaign is a mess. Democrats are betting Mitt Romney will be the last man
standing. Bill Burton`s group, Priorities USA, has a new ad you won`t want
to miss.

Later, MSNBC`s Martin Bashir will join me to discuss the GOP field in
disarray.

And today, President Obama got a double-digit boost in approval
ratings and he`s out promoting his jobs act, calling out Republicans by
name. I love it.

Stay tuned. You`re watching THE ED SHOW.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.

The Herman Cain story is affecting the Republican presidential field
in a big way. Herman Cain`s campaign is blaming Rick Perry. Rick Perry`s
campaign is blaming Mitt Romney. And Mitt Romney -- well, he`s quietly
going about his business to secure the Republican presidential nomination.

Washington Democrats are taking Mitt Romney very seriously. In a new
ad from a pro-Obama political action group, gives us an idea of how the
president will run against the former Massachusetts governor.

Joining me tonight is Bill Burton, former deputy press secretary
under President Obama and senior strategist for Priorities USA Action, the
group responsible for the new ad.

Bill, good to have you with us tonight.

First off, does the Cain situation change the game plan for the
Republicans as you see it?

BILL BURTON, PRIORITIES USA: Look, I don`t think he was ever that
serious of a candidate. His policy prescriptions weren`t that serious.
His base of support I don`t think was all that serious.

What it said more than anything was how nervous Republicans were
about having Mitt Romney as their nominee.

Now, I have no doubt that they`ll all rally around someone at the end
of the day, but I think people have been so desperate in the Republican
Party to find somebody who is not Mitt Romney that they even settled on
Herman Cain for a little while. But I think that`s probably very short
lived.

SCHULTZ: So you`re saying that Herman Cain has never been a
primetime player? And I mean, I think it`s evidenced in the ad that you
focused have put out. I want the viewers to see your ad. Here it is.

BURTON: OK. Thanks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, PRIORITIES USA ACTION WEB AD)

BRIAN WILLIAMS, NBC NEWS: Governor Romney, are you a member of the
Tea Party?

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hey, I`m for the Tea Party.
I believe in a lot of what the Tea Party believes in.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS: Governor Romney, you`re campaigning as the
man who can fix the economy. Let`s look at your record, sir. You bought
Dade International. Two U.S. plants were closed, 2,000 workers were laid
off. Laid off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, they`re not.

ROMNEY: Of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately
goes to people. Where do you think it goes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Upper income Wall Street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re with Romney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Romney.

ROMNEY: Don`t try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it hit the
bottom.

Let it try to go bankrupt. Bankrupt.

WALLACE: When you were governor, Massachusetts ranked 47th in job
growth.

ROMNEY: I would have favored justices like Scalia and Thomas.

They can invest in things like our stock market or the world stock
market.

There are a lot of reasons not to elect me.

It`s not a very pretty picture, is it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Bill Burton, it`s pretty easy to come to the conclusion
that you think Mitt Romney is the guy President Obama is going to have to
beat. What do you think?

BURTON: It does look like Mitt Romney is probably going to be the
Republican nominee. He`s in the strongest position in the polls. He`s the
strongest position in money. He`s had a very stable campaign.

But here`s the thing about that ad is that even though it`s very
specific on Mitt Romney and it paints a picture of what America would look
like if his vision were to be able to come to life, a lot of those things
that Mitt Romney says that he`s for, all the Republicans are for. All the
Republicans put the wealthiest Americans ahead of the middle class. All of
the Republicans would want to stack the Supreme Court with justices that
would put corporations first, that would take away a woman`s right to
choose.

All the Republicans stand the same, for the same kind of right wing
ideology that is so far outside of the American mainstream that we felt it
was important that we get out what the contours and choice are going to be
between the president and whomever the Republican nominee is going to be.

Right now, it looks like it`s going to be Romney but will be ready
for whomever in case it`s somebody else.

SCHULTZ: Well, you`re putting a lot of resources to this right away.
Are you jumping the gun? I mean, is there a chance that somebody else
could get it other than Romney in your opinion?

BURTON: There`s certainly a chance somebody else could get in. It`s
interesting. One of the most important things about this Republican
primary in 2011 so far is that it looks like right now the dogs just won`t
eat the dog food.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

BURTON: Romney has been running for president five, six years, spent
$100 million. In Iowa he`s at 23 percent. Five years and $100 million
ago, he was at 29 percent in Iowa. So, it`s not a great return for a
business guy.

But even so, it does look like Romney`s in the strongest position,
even though 75 percent to 80 percent of Republicans are nervous and not
totally comfortable with him being at the top of the ticket.

SCHULTZ: I know you`re not too high on Herman Cain. He has the 9-9-
9 plan.

Here`s Mitt Romney`s economic plan. Extend all the Bush tax cuts.
Cut corporate taxes. Eliminate estate taxes.

I mean, it would seem to me that none of this would fit very well
with the 99 percent movement. Or will it? What do you think?

BURTON: No, I don`t think that it would. There`s a lot of anxiety
in the middle class about student loans, about mortgages, about a whole
host of things.

And the fact of the matter is if this kind of economic policy worked,
tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the middle class, then right now
we`d be chiseling George W. Bush into the side of Mt. Rushmore. It doesn`t
work.

So, what we need is a new direction.

SCHULTZ: So, are the Republicans going to be stuck with Mitt Romney
at the end of the day? I mean, Newt`s down at 10 percent. You know, he
just hasn`t been taken seriously by enough conservatives. Romney, does he
still have problems with the conservative base? I would answer that
question, yes, he does. I mean, is this the best of the worst? What do
you think?

BURTON: I think that Romney probably is not as solid with
conservatives as Rick Perry or Herman Cain or Michele Bachmann or Rick
Santorum. I think that`s definitely the case.

But if he`s the nominee, you can bet conservatives will circle the
wagons and they`ll be behind him in second. I`ve seen polling that
suggests that even Tea Party conservatives think that Romney would be an
acceptable candidate. That`s why we thought it was important to let folks
know what a country with Mitt Romney as president would like in that ad on
our Web site.

SCHULTZ: Bill Burton, good to have you with us. Thanks for your
time tonight.

BURTON: Thanks, Ed.

SCHULTZ: If Herman Cain can`t get past his alleged sexual harassment
problems, he still has a world of trouble ahead. He`s open to war with
Iran? And he doesn`t know China has nuclear weapons. That qualifies him
for the "zone."

Ohio Republicans are telling voters that they have to vote yes on
Issue 2 or their kids will leave them. The righties are getting desperate
in Ohio. We`ll talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in "Psycho Talk" tonight, Herman Cain`s problems keep
piling up. His foreign policy expertise has never been anything to write
home about. It`s getting worse.

Cain went on O`Reilly`s show last night looking out for everybody and
said he didn`t have a problem with Iran attacking American ships?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would double the number
of ballistic missile defense capable ships that are warships and
strategically place them in the world. Iran understands only two things:
economic pressure and our military might.

BILL O`REILLY, FOX NEWS: All right. You`re going to put the
warships in the Persian Gulf? Because they`ll attack them. You know
they`re going to try to do something if you do that, put them there.

CAIN: That would be perfectly all right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Ooh, Herman Cain`s war mongering gets even scarier. The
man has no clue. It seems like he`s trying to outdo John McCain. He wants
to take a shot at China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You view China as a potential military threat
to the United States.

CAIN: I do view China as a potential military threat to the United
States.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what --

CAIN: Yes, they`re a military threat. They`ve indicated that
they`re trying to develop nuclear capability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Bingo. Hold it right there. China`s not trying to develop
nuclear capability. China already has nuclear capability. In fact,
they`ve had nukes since 1964. In 2008, China had an estimated 240 nuclear
warheads. Herman Cain makes Sarah Palin`s foreign policy sound smart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: As Putin rears his head and
comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go?
It`s Alaska. It`s just right over the border.

You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, maybe not smart, but when Herman Cain says it`s
perfectly all right for Iran to attack American ships, and when he doesn`t
know China has a nuclear program, he`s spouting some pretty scary "Psycho
Talk."

President Obama is kicking tail and names on the jobs bill. The
American people responding big-time. That`s next.

And later, the Republican blame game continues. Will Herman Cain
survive this scandal? Martin Bashir will join me to sort it out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: President Obama is on the offensive against the Republican
do-nothing Congress for sabotaging the economy. The House of
Representatives still hasn`t voted on President Obama`s jobs act and
probably never will.

On Tuesday, the House found time to pass a measure to reaffirm "In
God We Trust" as the national motto.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RANDY FORBES (R), VIRGINIA: There are a number of public
officials who forget what the national motto is, whether intentionally or
unintentionally. There are those who`ve become confused as to whether or
not it can still be placed on our buildings, whether it can be placed in
our school classrooms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Today the president nailed Republicans for wasting the
taxpayers` time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: See, construction
workers, they want to do their jobs. We need Congress to do theirs. In
the House of Representatives, what have you guys been debating, John?
You`ve been debating a commemorative coin for baseball?

You had legislation reaffirming that "In God We Trust" is our motto.
That`s not putting people back to work. I trust in God, but God wants to
see us help ourselves by putting people back to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Senate Republicans get another chance to put the American
people back to work when the Rebuild America Jobs Act is voted on tomorrow.
The $60 billion package would create 170,000 construction jobs and another
150,000 jobs in related industries. President Obama named names to
pressure Republicans to pass the bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I can`t imagine that Speaker Boehner wants to represent a
state where nearly one in four bridges is classified as substandard.

The Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell visited that closed
bridge in Kentucky that I was talking about. He admitted, look, roads and
bridges are not partisan in Washington. That`s a quote from him.

Paul Ryan, the Republican in charge of the budget process, recently
said, you can`t deny that infrastructure does create jobs.

What`s holding us back? Let`s get moving and put America back to
work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So let`s do the numbers. There are 308 million Americans,
the infrastructure bill will be paid for by, get this, a 0.7 percent tax on
all income over $1 million. Who`s it affect? The tax is going to hit
345,532 millionaire taxpayers. That means, folks, only 0.2 percent of
Americans will be affected.

Just these folks right here, all of these folks right here, 99.8
percent of the American people would not have to pay a single penny to pass
this jobs bill. But you know the chart that I love to show, with the blue
line down here with the middle class Americans and the red line where all
the top 2 percenters are and where they`ve been the last 30 years? Some of
them might get away with it at the red line. It is 0.2 percent.

Come on, serve it up, will you?

I bet the Republicans don`t. Not one vote.

Let`s bring in Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of "The
Nation" magazine.

Katrina, great to have you with us tonight.

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL, THE NATION: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: I tell you what, have we seen the president this strong? I
mean, he was strong today and this is a formula for success. What do you
make of the --

VANDEN HEUVEL: You`ve got a Congress which has achieved --
Republican Congress -- which has achieved the remarkable fete of making
itself less popular than the bankers and Wall Street. The president is out
there talking in feistier ways. He`s got his mojo on. America can`t wait.

It reminds a little of "yes, we can," and I think he needs to stay on
this message and he needs to expose a do-nothing Congress, especially
around what you just showed, this jobs bill. I mean, Ronald Reagan was for
an infrastructure bill, taxpayer-funded infrastructure bill. I think, you
know, the vast majority of Americans want jobs and want relief.

SCHULTZ: Why are his poll numbers going up?

VANDEN HEUVEL: Because he`s speaking, he`s using his executive power
and, listen, there`s always concern about overuse, abuse of executive
power. We saw with George W. He`s using it to talk about trying to give
relief to homeowners with mortgages, student debt relief -- on a whole slew
of things. And he`s showing himself to be a man of action. Because for
too long, this GOP Congress has achieved what was once mission impossible,
which is to increase distrust in government.

We need to recapture and reclaim government. But he`s showing,
President Obama, that he can speak in a way that can relate to people`s
lives. The danger, Ed, is the supercommittee. It is coming upon us, and
the danger is the shift back to austerity and cuts away from jobs.

And President Obama needs to stand firm in terms of what vast
majorities of Americans say, protecting Social Security and Medicare,
investment in jobs, ending two wars and bringing that money home to
reinvest in this country and higher taxes on the wealthiest.

SCHULTZ: The president`s gone up six points in the last month. He`s
talking about jobs. He`s been out on the road. He`s connecting with the
99 percent.

VANDEN HEUVEL: Ninety-nine-point-eight -- you did that chart, 99.8
percenters, Ed.

SCHULTZ: You can`t deny it. The same poll shows the president
beating everyone in the Republican field. It`s almost --

VANDEN HEUVEL: It`s early. It`s early. I mean, is this a sustained
surge or is it a blip? And much of that will depend on a president
responding to the movements of our time, and "Occupy Wall Street" and those
around it have been speaking about these issues for a long inequality,
reinvestment in America, jobs and finding ways to make sure those who
created this mess paid for it.

SCHULTZ: John Boehner was asked if Americans are better off than
they were four years ago. Here it is.

VANDEN HEUVEL: Yes, he wouldn`t know.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOEHNER: Are you kidding me? Ask the 14 million Americans out of
work why they`re better off today than four years ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Katrina, President Obama has the Republicans where he wants
them. He`s got them backed into a corner. He has set up the scenario of
how good this would be and how selfish they are. I think it`s a scenario
he`s going to play out and a pattern he`s going to play out all the way to
November 2012.

VANDEN HEUVEL: Stay on it with deeds and continuing to expose people
like Boehner and what they stand for. Your chart just showed it. Their
base is the 0.2 percent.

President Obama needs to speak about what he would do if he could get
through the unprecedented abuse of the filibuster in the Senate and a do-
nothing Congress. Run against -- it`s not a new recipe. He`s got to show
who he stands with, Ed, because for too long in this country, in these last
years, people have felt this government is rigged against working people
and those, the most vulnerable, don`t balance this budget on the backs of
those.

SCHULTZ: Do you think the Democrats in Congress are doing enough to
help the president? I`ve always thought -- everybody talks about
infrastructure and everything else. At the end of the day, when you build
a bridge, you got something to show for it.

You not only have a job, you have something to show for it. You
built a school, you built a bridge, you built infrastructure, you got a
highway, you got -- you make America better and it affects only a fraction,
a very fraction of the population. So are the Democrats in the Congress
doing enough to help this president right now?

VANDEN HEUVEL: Well, I think there are a lot of people in the House,
Ed, you know them, in the congressional progressive caucus, who want to do
more in terms of investment than this president has. I think it`s a two-
way street. What we really need to look out for are the people like Mitch
McConnell whose state has fallen bridges in Kentucky. And yet he gives a
politics to it, because their first priority is to bring down a president,
not to bring relief to their citizens in their state.

But I think this president needs to work more closely with those in
the House and in the Senate who want to see a different America. And he`s
beginning, but nothing moves without pressure from outside.

SCHULTZ: Back to the supercommittee for just a moment. Where`s the
president going to come down on this? I mean -- this is huge. If he does
not --

VANDEN HEUVEL: This is a defining moment.

SCHULTZ: If he does not protect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,
if he doesn`t keep the big three off the table, none of those Democrats
were sent to Washington by the voters to chip away at the big three.

Of course, the Republicans are going to be looking for big cuts.
They`re saying go big. The blue dogs are out there saying we have to go
big. Go big means hurt the old people, hurt the poor.

VANDEN HEUVEL: You know, I`d like to see this anti-Democratic super
committee disbanded. If it`s not disbanded, jobs first. Jobs first. And
don`t get into a bidding war with the Republicans because they will take
you down.

SCHULTZ: "The Nation`s" Katrina Vanden Heuvel -- thanks so much for
being here tonight.

Desperations are setting in for Ohio Governor John Kasich and his
allies. A new ad tells Ohio voters their kids will leave the state and
never come back if they vote no on Issue 2.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: These are not just the original "Occupy Oakland"
protesters. These are folks who are part of unions and city businesses who
say they wouldn`t be anywhere else today. A number of people here actually
told me they decided to pull their children out of school today because
they felt this was something historic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: That was the scene out in Oakland, California, earlier
today. Thousands are taking to the streets in hopes of shutting the city
down. Oakland hasn`t seen a citywide strike like this since 1946. The
goal is to shut down banks, corporations and the country`s fifth largest
port. The 99 percenters are out there in full force.

Here`s the report from NBC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Oakland`s shutdown grew by the hour. Nearly 400 teachers
marched to protest the closure of city schools. Nurses demanded access to
better health care for all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Health care is a right, a human right.

REPORTER: Local labor unions encouraged their members to walk off
the job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see the people on the street, this is just
beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Demonstrations have been largely peaceful, although some
vandalism has been reported. This is a broken window at the Chase Bank
with a sign stating, "We are better than this."

Tonight, the "San Jose Mercury News" reports that protesters have
shut down the port of Oakland. Thousands are now gathered at the port`s
gates.

Coming up, we`re less than a week away from the election day in Ohio.
So what does Governor John Kasich have up his sleeve? We`ll tell you next.
Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: By joining together, we will get people
back to work. After all, we want our kids to chase their dreams right here
in Ohio.

ANNOUNCER: Vote yes on Issue 2.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: You can smell the desperation of Ohio Governor John Kasich
and supporters of Issue 2. Polls show voters are prepared to repeal Ohio`s
union-busting law next Tuesday. So Kasich is going across the state
telling people to vote yes on the Issue 2 for the kids.

A new ad by Building a Better Ohio, a pro-Issue 2 group, is pushing
the same message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: You give them life. You give them love. You give them
hope.

But as Ohio fails to give our children opportunity, they`re chasing
their dreams far from home. By voting yes on Issue 2, we`ll improve our
economy and our kids can find work and success here in Ohio. Because if we
don`t offer our children a future here, they`ll have to make their future
somewhere else.

Give them a better Ohio. Vote yes on Issue 2.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: You know, the only thing missing from that ad is a mushroom
cloud at the end. Issue 2 supporters want to scare Ohio voters into
thinking that their children will leave them and never return? Like the
rest of the country sucks and nobody`s ever left Ohio before?

I mean, the ad literally makes it look like these kids, who are no
more than 9 or 10, will get up and leave today unless you get out there and
vote yes on Issue 2. Give any a break. I mean, the group is trying to
defeat Issue 2 doesn`t have to rely on fantasy fear-mongering. Reality is
on their side.

We believe Ohio is not afraid to show the real people who are
targeted by the Senate Bill 5 -- firefighters, teachers, nurses, police
officers, librarians. These are real people who are affected by real law.
If Issue 2 goes down, it will be a major victory for workers` rights.

Don`t forget, THE ED SHOW will be live in Columbus, Ohio, next Monday
and Tuesday to cover this very important vote. It will have national
ramifications.

And a little pep talk in the locker room tonight if I may. You know,
it`s up to us as liberals, as those who care about workers and the middle
class in this country to get our team ready. This is no time to pay any
attention to any poll. This whole vote is about fairness, it`s about
safety, it`s about quality of life, and it`s about what`s just doing right
by communities and by families.

And, really, I think that ad that Kasich is supporting is somewhat of
a cheap shot. Fear-mongering, telling families that their kids are going
to leave and they`re never going to come back because firefighters,
teachers and hardworking Americans in Ohio are going to have a chance at a
little bit more safe conditions at work and also they`ll have a voice at
the bargaining table. That`s going to drive a lot of kids out of Ohio,
don`t you think?

Next, how do we keep track of the growing scandal surrounding Herman
Cain? Now, I got a flowchart you`re just not going to want to miss. I
mean, it`s a dandy. Martin Bashir is with me. He`ll tell you all about
it, too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Survey tonight on THE ED SHOW. I asked you, will Herman
Cain`s campaign survive this scandal? Seventeen percent of you say yes, 83
percent of you say no.

Coming up, the GOP 2012 field, it is falling apart. With Herman
Cain`s scandal and Rick Perry`s dropping poll numbers, who will Republicans
turn to? Martin Bashir and I talk it over next.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.

Well, it was a bad day for the Republicans. Herman Cain is at the
center of a growing scandal and he`s trying to bring others down with him.
It`s difficult to keep track. I mean, it is difficult to keep track of all
these moving parts.

So, to help you out tonight, we`ve created an ED SHOW flowchart.

First, women accuse Cain. Cain accuses Perry. Perry accuses Romney.
Romney, of course, awaits issue polling results.

Ron Paul accuses the Fed. Michele Bachmann slams Cain. Right wing
talkers accuse liberals.

Liberals say, party! We love this stuff.

And the finger-pointing gets worse. Seriously. Breaking news at
this hour: we just find out the "Washington Times" reports the following.
A friend of the Cain campaign believes a National Restaurant Association
employee out of the Chicago office leaked the story to the Perry campaign
via information and influence from Mayor Rahm Emanuel`s office.

We will continue to update the Ed flowchart as developments warrant.

I mean, everybody`s coming onboard here, Martin. Great to have you
with us tonight. What do you make of this circus?

MARTIN BASHIR, MSNBC HOST: Well, it`s Herman the hunted becomes
Herman the haunted -- haunted by allegations not from one, not from two,
but reportedly from three different women.

And these allegations against a man who said the following: that we
should have a moat with alligators in that will repel illegal immigrants.
The blacks have been brainwashed into voting Democratic. That the
unemployed should blame themselves for the fact that they don`t have work.
And that U.S. Naval assets should be placed in the Persian Gulf and we
should provoke a war with Iran.

Now, I ask you, a man who says those kinds of things, is it possible,
is it just possible that he may have said something inappropriate to a
woman?

SCHULTZ: Pretty good chance. Pretty good chance.

BASHIR: Very good possibility.

SCHULTZ: Do you think the Perry campaign was involved in this?

BASHIR: It`s looking that way because of the connections, but it`s
hard to follow. There`s a guy by the name of Curt Anderson who worked for
Cain`s 2004 failed Senate campaign who apparently was debriefed about these
allegations. He now works for a pro-Perry super PAC and alleged to leak
the things. Now, Ray Sullivan, a Perry spokesman says, no, no, it`s team
Romney because they have a Perry backer who apparently has a connection
with the NRA.

The whole thing is -- it`s a kind of web. It reminds me of the great
Tony Montana from "Scar Face" who says I always tell the truth even when I
lie.

SCHULTZ: The Cain campaign is saying this has everything to do with
race. What do you think?

BASHIR: That is an amazing claim. Here`s the reason: Herman Cain,
throughout this campaign, has done everything to render that defense
impossible. He says that despite the disproportionate effect of poverty
among African-Americans, the disproportionate number of black African-
American men in prison, he says the virulent racism in America no longer
exists. He says that.

He describes himself in his book as being equivalent to the acronym
ABC, American, black and conservative. And throughout the campaign he
crushes his identity between those two.

And yet now, he wants to claim racism. Isn`t that amazing?

SCHULTZ: He`s raising money. The best fundraising he`s had in the
past few days. Is his campaign going to survive this?

BASHIR: Elijah Cummings -- Congressman Elijah Cummings has said
voting and spending money on Herman Cain makes the far right feel
comfortable about being non-racist and supportive of a black man.

SCHULTZ: So, where do Cain voters go if he doesn`t make it? Is
Perry getting the upside of it?

BASHIR: Look at the Quinnipiac poll today. He sunk. Romney is
still at 23 percent. As Jon Stewart said, that`s been the case for eight
years.

So, where are the voters going to go? I`m not so sure.

Here`s an important thing to consider, though, Ed. Republican
primary voters hearing the mainstream media has been pursuing Herman Cain,
and the way we saw pictures earlier today, are going to laugh this off.
They`re not going to believe anything that you or I report. They are going
to rush to his defense.

So, actually I think these allegations might well benefit him.

SCHULTZ: This breaking news just in from "The New York Times." they
are reporting that the woman accusing Herman Cain of sexual harassment will
not go public. She did meet with her attorney late this afternoon. So,
obviously, there has been a decision made. "The New York Times" reporting
tonight that the woman accusing Herman Cain of sexual harassment will not
go public.

Ninety-nine-point-nine-nine-nine percent of the American people don`t
know who she is. She`s still has a great deal of anonymity to it. Will
this back the media off?

BASHIR: I don`t think so, because remember, there`s not just one.
There are three women concerned.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

BASHIR: Also there are other people, like, for example, a guy called
Chris Wilson who alleges that he actually saw and witnessed this kind of
thing going on. So there are other witnesses around.

SCHULTZ: Is Cain arrogant enough to stay in race no matter what?

BASHIR: Oh, absolutely. He`s selling a book. He`s raising funds.

Everybody knows when you ask him questions about serious policy,
whether it`s economics or foreign policy, he flounders. But he`s loving
this -- it`s been a tough day today. I think he`ll stay in.

SCHULTZ: Martin, great to have you with us tonight. After I do the
radio show at 3:00 in the afternoon, I`m locked in watching your A block.
I`m hooked.

BASHIR: Now you`re lying.

SCHULTZ: No, I`m not. No, I`m not. I`m not.

Great to have you with us. Always a pleasure.

BASHIR: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: That`s THE ED SHOW. I`m Ed Schultz.

You can listen to me on Sirius XM Channel 127, Monday through Friday,
noon to 3:00 p.m. Follow me on Twitter @EdShow and @WeGotEd.

"THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW" starts right now.

Good evening, Rachel.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END

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