The Ed Show for Thursday, September 12th, 2013

THE ED SHOW
September 12, 2013

Guests: Eugene Robinson, Steny Hoyer, William Bell


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s time for you to tell us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ObamaCare is a disaster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s time for you to tell him.

REP. ERIC CANTOR, (R) HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: This atrocity of the
law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The atrocity of ObamaCare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot take our eyes off what it will mean to
the devastation of health care in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You wanted just half of ObamaCare. Do you want
half of it? How about a fourth of it? How about we defund the whole damn
thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Living in America. You know, the House of
Representatives is supposed to be the people`s house. The people`s house
has turned into a waste land, because nothing gets done, nothing gets done.
And it`s all because of Republican leadership, I made the case on this
program last night that there are votes, after votes, after votes that get
voted down, issues that get voted down because this is the way they want to
run the country, it has nothing to do with where the majority of Americans
are.

So here we are again, we`re going to take another vote on ObamaCare to
get rid of it when there`s not one poll across this country delivered by
any service that will say that the majority of Americans want to get rid of
the signature legislation in the Obama Administration and their success,
which is ObamaCare.

Now, what do you do with you money? Do you put some money on mutual
funds? If you look up mutual funds and see where there is any kind of
medical services, you will see that there`s a pretty good return on
investment year to date. Why is that? Well it might have something to do
with the fact that there`s going to be 30 million customers coming into the
system. You could make the case that these guys right here are voting
against the economy. Because when you look at insurance companies, you
look at drug companies, you look at manufacturing, you look at everything
from band aids to plastics, all of a sudden there`s a lot of things
happening, because the industry is preparing for what? 30 million new
customers and maybe even more?

And so what do the waste land directors want to do? Well John Boehner
and the Republicans in Congress are concerned with only one thing, they are
hell bent for election and they are trying to repeal ObamaCare and hurt the
economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: We`ll
continue to do everything we can to repeal, dismantle and defund ObamaCare.

CANTOR: This law is not ready for prime time and will never be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I also heard about what the speak -- what the
leader talked about, the atrocity of ObamaCare.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need to repeal this law, we need to defund
this law.

BOEHNER: And we`re going to continue to do everything we can to
protect Americans from this harmful health care law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: And I`m going to continue to do everything I can to protect
the Americans from these harmful Republicans who we`re trying to vote
against the economy. Bottom line here is this, if you look at those mutual
funds that deal in medical services, you`re looking at any thing from 20 to
a 33 percent return on your money. Is that a good thing? It`s a very good
thing. More people are going to get covered, more goods and services are
going to move and they are against it. And they have nothing on the table
right now that will replace it.

Republicans have already voted 40 times to vent 30 million Americans
from gaining health care. And I`m glad to say that they`re spending the
taxpayer money so wisely as of late, who knows maybe President Obama will
repeal he`s signature law for the 30 -- after the 41st vote. That`s how
stupid this whole thing is. They have no power to do it. It`s all about
showcasing.

Meanwhile Boehner has two weeks to pass a budget before the government
shuts down. Fringe (ph) Republicans want to do simply a no vote on the
budget in an effort to defund ObamaCare. They are trying to win in the
arena of public opinion by continually voting on ObamaCare in the House to
make low in formations voters think, "Gosh, this must be a really, really
bad."

Here`s the President.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There`s a certain
faction of my good friend in the other party who`ve been talking about not
paying the bills that they`ve already run up, who been talking about
shutting down the government if they can`t take away health care that we`re
putting in place for millions of Americans.

Now those are not ideas that will grow our economy, they`re not going
to create good jobs, they`re not going to strengthen the middle class nor
weaken the middle class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: And that`s exactly right, Boehner is listening to half of
what the President is saying. Boehner knows that if Republican shutdown
the government in an attempt to defund ObamaCare, it`s going to be widely
unpopular. And there`s going to be some outrage. By the way where is the
March right now to get rid of ObamaCare, I don`t see it? Every time they
all -- rallies outside the Capitol, there`s about 50 tea party and nut jobs
out there and that`s about it.

So the Speaker has decided to do this, let the budget stand on its
own. What? With an amendment to defund ObamaCare. Republicans claim this
would put senators on record about ObamaCare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANTOR: We will sent to the senate the provision which says up or
down are you for defunding ObamaCare or not? The House has taken a stand
numerous times on its opinion of ObamaCare. It`s time for the Senate to
stand up and tell their constituents where they stand on this atrocity of
the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Where representatives and senators stand, but where
do the American people stand? Nice try Cantor.

House Republicans don`t care about putting senators on record. They
are just about trying to say face and avoid a shutdown because of
uncontrollable tea partiers in their party. The defunding ObamaCare
amendment can easily be stripped to help by the Senate. This really has
fringe (ph) Republicans in Congress like Louie Gohmert calling Boehner
weak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Representative Gohmert from Texas. Thanks again
we`re going to give your own segment on the Tea Party news network.

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT, (R) TEXAS: Well, I always love talking to you
because I know you and I believing in the same things with a similar
hearts. So I appreciate your activity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, our whole goal is to support you in your
fight and right now we`re looking ObamaCare. What are the chances we have
in the House right now of getting ObamaCare defunded.

GOHMERT: Well, unless our leadership is willing to take more of a
strong stand and not separate out the funding of ObamaCare from the CR then
the chances are not good at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Some reality kicking in. Government shutdown lover and
Canadian senator who resides in Texas, Ted Cruz hates this idea. He and
the rest of the government shutdown crew in the Senate know if this measure
passes ObamaCare will be funded. So what`s happening? Times running out
on these guys. Fringe (ph) Republicans are running out of all kinds of
options to kill this landmark legislation and then frustrated. They know
once the law is fully implemented, it will be widely popular and impossible
to repeal and that`s take us to where? The midterms. But wait a minute,
come on, liberals, come on Democrats, we`re going to think beyond 2014.

There`s this person out there that`s got a lot of experience and is
thinking about running for president, I think her name is Hillary Clinton.
She is all about universal health care. And so, the Republicans know that
there`s a political juggernaut that`s on the way and if they don`t stop
ObamaCare right now, if Hillary gets in it`s going to be phase II in I`m
all about it, and you should be to.

We are going to be taking the first step out of the wasteland towards
universal health care. You have eight years of Obama and I`ll get
optimistic. You have eight years of Hillary Clinton or some of like-
minded. You got a real good chance America to end up with universal health
care and then there would be any other industrialized countries in the
world that have for-profit. That`s where we`re going, that`s what these
guys are scared about. This is why they are trying to win in the arena of
public opinion take vote, after vote, after vote, after vote, after vote,
after vote to make you think that it`s really bad.

But what`s going to happen a year from now when all this positive
stories are coming in through the mainstream media about how life were
saved. And how lives were change and there is signature isn`t going to be
on it, and they`re trying to figure out how they`re going to deal with
this. So the hour glass has been turned on the wasteland. We`re going to
get there, stay confident. We`re going to get there.

Keep your cellphones out and give him to him right now and I want to
know what you think. Tonight`s question, "Will republicans ever stop
trying to repeal ObamaCare?

Text A for Yes, text B for No to 67622. You can always go to our blog
at ed.msnbc.com. We`re bringing the results later on the show.

Got to bring in my friend. Democratic House Whip Steny Hoyer
Congressman from Maryland, welcome, do you know I`m right? That you know
I`m -- they are scared to death about this, aren`t they?

REP. STENY HOYER, (D) MARYLAND: Ed, you are on a tear tonight. You
are on a tear tonight, but this crowd is obsessed. As you saw we have 40 -
- the 41st vote on the repeal of Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare today.
Notwithstanding that, we didn`t do anything else that bill won`t have any
future and we did not do what we need to do and that is ensure the
government doesn`t shutdown on October 1st. But all they`re focused on is
repealing ObamaCare. I told the -- Mr. Cantor today, look we have an
election in November of 2012, the issue was whether we needed more revenues
to make sure we could balance our budget and we wanted to keep the
Affordable Care Act. That`s was what the election about. We won.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

HOYER: The American people said, "Yes". And notwithstanding that
they`re ignoring the election returns, walking away from the American
people and not exercising their responsibility to fund the government ...

SCHULTZ: Congressman is this.

HOYER: . they had the kind of corporations bills.

SCHULTZ: These constant votes on ObamaCare by the Republicans, do you
think it`s helping Democrats with the case?

HOYER: I think it clearly shows that the Republican Party is a party
out of touch. It`s in the control of the most radical elements. And they
cannot focus on their responsibilities. So that and from that standpoint,
sure I think it`s helping us.

SCHULTZ: What a waste of time, what else do we call the people`s
House is a wasteland right now?

HOYER: It is a shame that we have been so unproductive in the last
Congress and this Congress. And it`s hurting our economy. It`s hurting
the growth of jobs. You know we`ve already cut, they talk about cutting,
very substantial sums of trillion dollars over the next 10 years to reduce
capita (ph) spending. They want to go further. And they`ve got in place
this sequestration which is irrational common sense to find harmful. And
the CBO says it`s going to cost us a million jobs if sequestration stays in
place.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

HOYER: I had a (inaudible) with Cantor today and he said, "I think
the sequestration does not makes sense, well fun (ph) then let`s repeal
it." We have an alternative to the sequester that will help bring down the
deficit, balance our budget and yes get some additional revenues. But they
reject that and they won`t even allow us to consider it on the floor."

SCHULTZ: Yes.

HOYER: So, we`re going to be here next week, they`re going to try to
figure out how they can get their Republicans to vote for anything that is
not simply a repeal of Obama Care.

SCHULTZ: John Boehner, Speaker of the House knows that shutting down
the government that is a death nail for the Republicans. There`s no good
outcome for them politically. So when does he .

HOYER: He said that.

SCHULTZ: When does he -- yes he has, when does he turns to the tea
partiers and say, "You know what, we can`t stop ObamaCare. We can vote all
day long but this -- we`re making fools of ourselves." When -- Is that a
rocket a hard spot or the reality of it all?

HOYER: Well, you know what, I think the Speaker needs to act in a way
that shows leadership and responsibility. He knows that shutting down
government is bad for the economy, bad for our national security and bad
for his party. But the issue is whether or not he can get his party to
come along. And my advice to him, "If you can`t get your party tell that
faction of your party that won`t go along. And tell the moderates in your
party, however small that may be." But I think there are a lot of
conservatives in his party who understand that they need to be reasonable
and rational.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

HOYER: Hal Rogers of Kentucky, conservative Republican, Chairman of
the Appropriations Committee in the House of Representatives has said, "The
sequester makes no sense. It cannot be implemented and it ought to be
abandoned." Frankly, John Boehner the Speaker ought to take his chairman
of the Appropriations Committee`s advice and pass the CR without the
sequester and let us move on. He said immediately after the election that
he believed this is just after the November 12 election.

SCHULTZ: Sure.

HOEYER: Well that resolves the health care issue.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

HOYER: Now, unfortunately it didn`t.

SCHULTZ: Congressman.

HOYER: And they continue to be obsessed by.

SCHULTZ: Congressman quickly, I want to switch gears on you.

HOYER: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: The Putin Op-Ed in the New York times, I want your reaction
to that.

HOYER: Hypocrisy. Nobody in the world has been more involved in
undermining the ability of the United Nations to involve itself in a
positive way in resolving conflicts and carrying out the resolutions of the
United Nations than Russia. And therefore, when Putin writes the letter to
the American people essentially in Op-Ed and said, "Look you guys got to be
for peace." If he would cooperate, in my view had Russia cooperated in a
resolution and enforcement in Iraq, we would not have had the war in Iraq
because we would have sent you and inspectors in, they would had full
access because Russia would have been up behind it. Saddam was saying that
though (ph) as long he have Russia covering for him he was OK.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

HOYER: The same things happened in Syria where Assad thought as long
as he had Russia covering for him, he was OK. Russia has been the
supporter of the terrorist of the world for a long period of time now.

Now, I am hopeful that the offer they have now made there is true. I
think it`s a positive alternative. I think that we want to get those
chemical weapons out of the -- Syria, we want to have them stop being used.
And if we can do so through this .

SCHULTZ: Sure.

HOYER: . negotiations with Russia and with Russia itself, that`s a
positive step forward.

SCHULTZ: All right, Congressman Steny Hoyer, good to have you on the
Ed Show tonight, thanks so much for joining us.

Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the
screen, always share your thoughts with us on Twitter @edshow and Like us
on Facebook. We appreciate that. We always want to know what you think.
I love your commentaries.

Coming up, the hunt is over. Florida Governor Rick Scott`s big idea
gets shut down. Still to come, crazy talk Ted Cruz says he is a fan of one
infamous conservative senator. That`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders. This is where you can find us in
the social world. We appreciate the interaction. The Ed Show social media
nation has decided and we`re reporting. Here are today`s top Trenders
voted on by you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our number three trender, later gator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Florida Governor Rick Scott has called off a
private alligator hunting trip to raise funds for his 2014 re-election
campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Florida Governor Rick Scott`s gator hunting
fundraiser gets shut down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I must say that alligator`s owner (inaudible) take
that all them teeth but no toothbrush.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number two trender, burning man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A pick up truck with its dead loader with Qurans
behind in the smoker like the kind you`d use to flavor meat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then he took kerosene and doused the Qurans in
the parking lot of Mc Donald`s. So, he was potentially driving up on down
the road had there been a crash.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A radical pastor`s latest stunt lands him in hand
cuffs. Jones` followers insist they`re rights are being trampled.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is that? It`s America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is America? I`m sorry. I thought this is
America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can burn a bible, I can burn a Quran, whatever
I want to do. Thank God for the first amendment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We told it clearly, if you violate the law, we
will arrest you and put you in jail. And he did, and we did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And today`s top trender, Ted Talks.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: It`s every bit as true now as it was then.
We need 100 more like Jessie Helms in the US.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Texas Senator wants to turn back time in the
Senate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They called him Senator No after a lifetime of
opposing racial quotas, abortion, so many UN programs and gay rights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You needed that job and you were the best
qualified, but they have to give it to a minority because of a racial
quota. Against racial quota is Jessie Helms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Helms said, "Martin Luther King`s outfit is
heavily latent at the top with leaders of proven records of communism,
socialism and sex perversion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anti-ERA, anti-abortion, anti-welfare and. ..

CRUZ: And we need a hundred more like Jessie Helms.

SCHULTZ: Joining me now is Eugene Robinson, Columnist for the
Washington Post and an MSNB political analyst. OK, into the world of
Willy, son of a gun, does Ted Cruz know what Jessie Helms stood for or did
he just say this just to provoke and get a response.

EUGENE ROBINSON, COLUMNIST, WASHINGTON POST: You know, I have no idea
he`s supposed to be so smart, right? Everybody says Ted Cruz, he was a
really smart student at Harvard, but Ed has -- does he actually -- has he
read anything about Jessie Helms, does he remember anything about him. You
know, this is a great advance, right, in the Republican Party`s outreach to
minorities. Ted`s going to say we need 100 more Jessie Helms who was as
the intro said he was -- that he was starting (ph) segregation as he was
the best friend to the white apartheid regime in South Africa. You can go
on and on about Jessie Helms.

SCHULTZ: Well, you can also make the case, looking at the current
GOP`s record on voting rights, their war on women, their fight against
equality when it comes to marriage and voter suppression, I mean all of
these things, this really the Republican Party is full of Jessie Helms
already, aren`t they.

ROBINSON: But they`re not supposed to say it out loud, Ed. If that`s
upon where the (ph), you know, it`s just, we`re not supposed to know their
positions have that much in common with positions that Jessie Helms might
have taken back in the day. I mean, and in between the day of Jessie Helms
and today, the Republican Party wasn`t always like that. I mean it was --
it became a more modern party for awhile but it really seems to have gone
back, back in time to really resemble, in many ways of the Helms Era.

SCHULTZ: What would the United Senate look like if there were 100
Jessie Helms, what would America be like? This is what Ted Cruz said at
the Heritage Foundation and he was as serious as a heart attack.

ROBINSON: Well, it`s unimaginable, I mean, you imagine that the
Senate would not only be repealing ObamaCare and they`d also be repealing
the entire voting rights, the entire civil rights act but you thought that,
you know, you name, I would gather, we would consider that majority
government in South Africa are our enemy or our adversary if it such a
Senate had its way. I mean, it would be actually turning back the clock in
unimaginable way.

And you can imagine that Ted Cruz actually knows -- realizes what he`s
saying. And if he does, then he`s a different guy from the way a lot of
people think of him.

SCHULTZ: So, if no one comes out and condemns what Ted Cruz says,
there`s no one in the Republican Party that said, "Wait a minute, society
has changed, social mores have changed, we`re moving forward as a society,
we`re in the minority on a lot of our issues, we have to make some
adjustments," doesn`t Ted Cruz become somewhat of a tire around the neck of
traditional Republicans if there are any of them left?

ROBINSON: Well how many are left but I think he`s moving in that
direction. I mean this is -- this does demonstrate a real ear (ph) for
politics because, you know, even, even among the Tea Party, even in today`s
Republican Party, Jessie Helms is not the model that they want to publicly
follow. And, Ed -- so, what I assume he`s going to have to walk that back
in some way and if he doesn`t, it takes the party in a direction that is
going to make it smaller, wider, more regional and ultimately less relevant
to the political life of the country.

SCHULTZ: And that`s where it`s going, Eugene Robinson, always, great
to have you with us on the Ed Show. Thanks so much.

ROBINSON: Great to be her Ed.

SCHULTZ: Putin`s Op-Ed, we`ll dig through the Russian`s President`s
New York Times column. Still to come, Chris Christie hits into the front
of the class in tonight`s Pretenders. But next I`m taking your questions,
Ask Ed Live, my favorite segment, coming up next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. We love hearing from our
viewers. We love the questions. Tonight in our Ask Ed Live segment, our
first question comes from Fred Christian. He wants to know -- oh look at
this, if Rush Limbaugh ever got the GOP nomination for President, would you
run against him?

Absolutely not but I sure pray that he does run for president. It`d
be an easy takedown believe me. Give me some competition dude, come on.

Our next question is from Jay Stan, do you think Putin is hinting for
leadership role in the Republican Party?

I`ll tell you what, all of a sudden Putin is the new hero for the
Republican Party, have you noticed that? Have you noticed how many right
wing talk show hosts across the country all of a sudden are just embracing
this former head of the KGB? I mean they hate Obama so much, they`ll even
embrace the head of the KGB. Puty (ph) -- Putin is their new hero.

I guarantee there are Republicans right now in Congress thinking,
"Damn, Puty (ph) is doing us a favor. He`s going after Obama making them
look bad. Stick around, Rapid Response panel coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. If there`s one thing
legislators on both sides of the aisle can agree on is their reaction to
Putin`s Op-Ed in New York Times.

The Russian President`s article titled, "A Plea for Caution from
Russia" sent folks on Capitol Hill rushing in front of the cameras to
respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ, (D), NEW JERSEY: And to be honest with the
dinner and I almost wanted to vomit.

SEN. JIM INHOFE, (R), OKLAHOMA: And I could hear Reagan turning over
in his grave.

UNIDENITIFED MALE: I think he just looking for an excuse to show off
his (inaudible). He used to have (ph) super bowl ring.

BOEHNER: I was insulted.

REP. KELLY AYOTTE, (R) NEW HAMPSHIRE: I have to say, I think it`s the
height of hypocrisy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well in the article, Putin speaks directly to the American
people and the political leaders urging the United States not to strike
Syria. He writes, the law is the law and we must follow it whether we like
it or not. Under current international law, force is permitted only in
self defense or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is
unacceptable under the United Nations` Charter and would constitute an act
of aggression.

If you don`t know who is writing this, it might sound reasonable but
when you read this article aware of Putin`s role in everything that`s been
going on, it takes on an entirely new level of hypocrisy. Putin never
wants to acknowledge his part in enabling the violence. Putin has supplied
weapons to Assad. Putin has protected Assad from international action. So
the way I see it, Putin cannot be the mouthpiece for any message about
international law.

Putin definitely doesn`t hold himself to the same standard as the
President of the United States. Putin expects America to work within the
system of the United Nation although he fails to mention that he would veto
any Security Council action that would even condemn Assad`s attacks on
civilians or the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Let alone take action, and we don`t need any opinions on democracy
from a leader who once was the head of the KGB. And now throws political
activists and dissenters in the jail and kind of picks on gay people.

I`m guessing you wouldn`t see many Op-Eds from those who disagree with
Putin in Russian newspapers especially the gay community. Yet, in writing
this, he gets to exercise his first amendment rights guaranteed by our
constitution. After 72 hours of diplomatic promise, Putin has done a
masterful job of poisoning the will and raising skepticism among American
decision makers.

Joining me on our panel tonight`s Rapid Response, Vice President
Executive Director of MSNBC.com Richard Wolffe, and also Medal of Honor
recipient, MSNBC Military Analyst Colonel Jack Jacobs. Gentlemen, great to
have you with tonight.

Colonel, what was Putin`s mission? We`ve seen this dance before?

COL. JACK JACOBS, MSNBC MILITARY ANALYST: Oh sure, and we`ll see it
again too as long as we let him do it. Look, I think that Putin in
particular in Russia generally has no interest whatsoever in any assistance
to the opposition.

They have a point. I mean Putin`s been arguing for some time that the
guys in the opposition include people that nobody wants to see in power.
And that includes elements of the Al-Qaeda and other jihadist. So he has
interest in making sure that Assad stays in power for no other reason than
that, and there are plenty more. And the argument is that we should also
have an interest and not seeing Assad go under precisely because of that.
And so it`s a poke in the eye, and it`s an attempt to make sure that we
don`t do anything stupid.

SCHULTZ: What do you think, Richard what Putin was trying to
accomplish here? A stick in the eye no question about it, but poisoning
the well when we`re on the road to doing something constructive here for
the globe.

RICHARD WOLFFE, VICE PRESIDENT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MSNBC.COM: Look,
he`s being wily here, he knows that there is political discord and
differences here and he is trying to exploit them and drive them apart. He
also has this domestic agenda there`s history here. He`s not just talking
about Al-Qaeda and Syria. He has taken a brutal approach to suppressing
the Chechen Separatists and that that Muslim fighters who were part of
that. Remember, we stoked (ph) up the Mujahedin in Afghanistan against
Soviet troops.

There`s a long history of the Soviets do no like their Muslim
separatist, they don`t like the radicals, they find common course in that.
So he`s trying to say under the guise of being realistic and reasonable,
"Just let us, you know, bomb our own people as we have in Chechen, let the
Syrians do the same, and you don`t have anything to do with this."

JACOBS: They also have no interest in our having any influence
whatsoever in the Eastern Mediterranean, and that some of that midst (ph).

SCHULTZ: In the article, he has searched the rebels used the chemical
weapons. There`s no intelligence that we have received that it would lead
us to believe that. The other thing he is -- he agrees that Assad must
give up the weapons, but what does it say about the proposed deal at this
point, Richard?

WOLFFE: Well, what it suggests is that it`s going to be the cat and
mouse game that we saw for many years in other situations, you know.
Unless the inspectors have free reign to go in, chase this stuff down,
unless the government of Syria is actually willingly giving this up -- to
give it this up. The Russians aren`t going to guarantee this process at
all. And they will string this out and continue to plan out across the
world that anything else will ever work

And, you know, Iraq, before we actually invaded was actually pretty
impressive system where the UN was in close control and then no-fly zones
were largely working. This is a situation which doesn`t even have that,
and everyone was worried pre the invasion that the UN system was breaking
down. If the Russians are in charge here, we`ll know it get going.

SCHULTZ: Your thoughts Colonel on John Kerry`s role right now. I
mean he was pretty dogmatic today. I mean he`s got to be the enforcer on
all of this as Secretary of State. I mean he is the guy that is going to
have to continually keep the pressure on to make sure that, number one,
it`s out in front of the public and everybody is aware of the possible
obstruction that`s taken place and the lack of cooperation. It`s a tough
role isn`t it?

JACOBS: Yes, and an impossible one. He`s an idealist there`s no
doubt about that, but he`s also a realist and he understands that this is
all wallpaper. And he`s not actually going to be able to produce anything.
He knows who he`s dealing with and he knows this is an impossible task.

I`m not so certain he`s particularly happy with the situation he has
been put in, and that he has put himself in. And I think going forward,
he`s going to be more and more frustrated with his role and not very happy
with the lack of progress.

SCHULTZ: We don`t expect any presidential response to Putin. I mean
that`s not President Obama style whatsoever.

WOLFFE: I think there`s -- it`ll (ph) already active debate about
whether he should have done his presidential address. Does the President
going to respond to Putin? No. He`s not punching at the same way.

SCHULTZ: No, he`s not. And he also wrote in this, he took a shot at
Americans and how we are, and how we believe as capitalist. And he said
that, "I would rather disagree with the case he made on American
exceptionalism stating that the United States policy is what makes America
different. It`s what makes us exceptional. It`s extremely dangerous to
encourage people to see themselves as exceptional whatever the motivation.
There are big countries and small countries reaching for those with long
democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy.
Their policies differ too. We are all different but when we ask for the
Lord`s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal." Now this
is a man who has cracked down on a certain portion of society, the gay
community who has also controlled the press in a big, big way. And then
send some bad stuff as the leader of Russia. Who is this guy?

JACOBS: He`s a KGB agent and what you see is what you get. He ain`t
fooling around. And he`s an atheist on top of it. Invoking God is really
quite astonishing. Russia has not changed in 1,000 years. And whether
it`s run by the czars or run by Brits (ph) never run by Putin, you`re not
going to see very much difference in the result. You know, you got to take
it with face value and I think it`s -- he quite properly ignored.

SCHULTZ: All right. What`s Putin`s goal in saying that America isn`t
special? Does he -- he`s trying to gather allies around the world to say
that, you know, "Give us an option." I mean America`s not right on
everything. They`re not exceptional.

WOLFFE: He`s speaking to his own audience. It`s kind of weird right?
He`s out there trying to exploit his political differences in America, he`s
writing in the New York Times, but he cannot resist just sticking one to
the Americans. It counters his own argument, right? You know, until that
point I bet you, all of those Republican members of Congress out there well
they, "Yeah. Of course why would we want to go into this? I supposed that
Obama`s wrong," right up until that point where he manages to rally
everyone around the President. And so, I think that`s where his political
genius has failed and because he`s really speaking to people back home.

JACOBS: Yeah. And he is operating in an environment in which that
sort of stuff works and of course it doesn`t work here.

SCHULTZ: Well, speaking of rallying people, Senator John McCain
tweeted out "Putin`s New York Times, I bet is an insult in the intelligence
of every American." I think probably deleted on the back of it would be
"Damn it." I think the Republicans have been using politically propping up
Putin to make the President look bad.

WOLFFE: Sure. Or they want to say, "Oh, look. Putin`s really in
control here and that makes the President look smaller." But actually, you
can`t say that Putin`s looks big when he`s pulling stunts like that.

SCHULTZ: All right, Colonel Jack Jacobs, Richard Wolffe, great to
have you with us tonight at the Ed Show.

Coming up, 50 years after the Civil Rights Movement, we`ll hear how
Birmingham, Alabama is working to advance equality for all. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight, we got a big pretender here. The
teacher`s pet Chris Christie. The New Jersey Governor released his first
re-election. And today, it tells a nice story, just not the real one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Senate couldn`t be done. New Jersey was too
broken, two partisan, but they never met Chris Christie. A champ on
property tax has spend some working. The best job growth in a decade and
the most education funding ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Time out on that one. Stop right there. The most education
funding ever? Chris Christie would love you to believe that he`s a big
friend of education. In his first budget, Christie cut $1 billion from
education aid causing massive lay offs and eliminating resources across the
board in the classroom. I wonder why he`s ad didn`t highlight just how
well he works with all the New Jersey educators.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re not compensating me for my education and
you`re not compensating me for my experience, that`s all.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: Well, you know what, then you
don`t have to do it. I mean, the simple fact no matter is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Teachers do it because they love it.

CHRISTIE: It`s simple--the simple factor to matter is this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Teachers do it because they love it.

CHRISTIE: Well, that`s good. Well then .

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s the only thing and I do it.

CHRISTIE: Well, and you -- and listen, and teacher`s going to act
knowing what the pay scale is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s right.

CHRISTIE: Teachers going to knowing all that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: In other words, you`re not worth it. Christie`s education
funding is damaged control at best. If Chris Christie thinks, we`ll
believe he`s an education booster, he can just keep on pretending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. This is the story for the
folks who take a shower after work, things that affect you. Economic
equality, racial tolerance, worker`s rights, voting rights, a strong
educational system, we as a nation should care about all of these things,
it`s the foundation of a great country. Well, mayors across the country,
in cities from across the country are gathering in Birmingham, Alabama
today to discuss those very topics.

They are capping off a week commemorating Birmingham`s 50th
anniversary of the 1963 Civil Rights Movement including the deadly bombing
of the 16th Street Baptist Church. This meeting will highlight the need
for resources in schools which will give every child, every single child, a
chance to fulfill his or her dream but that simply not happening. A few
weeks ago, I hosted a town hall meeting -- a radio town hall meeting down
at Birmingham, Alabama where one of the teachers stood up and told us
what`s really going on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What breaks my heart is to say the lunch room
workers who make $13,000 a year working in a heat with no official
regulations, no workers cap in the state for any of our public employees.
The bus drivers driving for nothing having to put water on the buses so the
kids won`t die in the heat, and guess what, they don`t give a royal whip
(ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: When we start picking and choosing neighborhoods as in who
gets the resources, separating resources and restricting rights we lose the
mission of this country. We lose the vision of diversity and if
strengthened, we lose the opportunity for equality to move all people
forward.

Birmingham, Alabama`s mayor William Bell joins us tonight here on the
Ed Show. Mr. Bill, thank you for your time. When I was down in
Birmingham, Alabama if I heard it once, I heard it 100 times that the
resources aren`t there and it`s going to take educational reform. I want
your thoughts on that, thanks for joining us tonight.

MAYOR WILLIAM BELL, (D) BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: Well, Ed, you`re
absolutely correct. You know, one of the biggest issues especially for
urban school system is not enough resources coming from the state
government. Part of the problem is political. You have conservative
Republicans that control the state legislature that really don`t believe in
public education. And I`m glad that Birmingham is acting as a backdrop for
the US Conference of Mayors to discuss those issues and really stand up and
speak out about getting more resources to educate our kids.

You know, 50 years ago, that was the same issue that divided our
country especially here at the south, limited resources for African-
American kids. And now, we`re faced with some of those same issues but I
am proud to say that Birmingham is not the city that we were 50 years ago.

When you came here, you saw that we are not defined by the host pipes,
and dogs, and the black and white footage that you often times see. But
there are still major issues that confront us, Ed and I want to thank you
for speaking up for the working class and the poor.

The only way we`re going to be able to progress as a country is to
educate our children. If you have children that are undereducated, you`re
not going to productive citizens and we`ve got to get the public to
understand you cannot hold on to that conservative rhetoric. We`re all in
this boat together, and we must empower all of our citizens to be
productive.

SCHULTZ: You know Mr. Bell, you touched on something early in your
answer there. It`s the legislative process on a state level when it takes
a conservative turn, it seems in this country not on in Alabama but public
education takes a real funding hit.

Do you believe that there should be some type of federal mandate that
will guarantee that equal dollar resources goes to every kid in this
country? I don`t know how else you`re going to close this gap when you
have ideologically bend people on the state level deciding that they`re
going to pick and chose neighborhoods. You`re thoughts on that.

BELL: You know, we often times, we criticize the North East and the
West Coast for having outstanding educational system, but we`re finding
that they`re under attack also. And any time you prohibit a US citizen
from reaching their fullest potential, then, you`re doing harm to our
country. And we`ve got to let those citizens who live in those red states
understand that if you continue to hold back citizens because of lack of
resources, you hold back our country and we must work to overcome that.

SCHULTZ: Looking at the role of the mayors as you see it that a lot
of mayors have converged on Birmingham Alabama this week to talk about the
equality, and how to achieve equality. What do you think? What can be
done?

BELL: Well, I think what we must do is to continue to speak out, and
speak up. Most mayors are under the thumb of the state legislature. You
can see that problem up in Detroit. It`s plain and clear that many of the
problems that Detroit is having is not because of the city of Detroit
itself. But because of the oppressive nature of the legislature and the
laws that they`ve been acted that restrict cities from really being
prosperous.

We`ve got to get back to moving our cities forward and the US
Conference of Mayors understand that, and they know that we`ve got to
overcome those prejudices, those intolerances that are holding our
communities back to let every citizen regardless of race, religion, creed,
sexual orientation we all have something to contribute. But we must have
the resources to build our country, and any time that enact laws that holds
citizens back is holding our country back.

SCHULTZ: And also the Supreme Court Justice has decided on June 25th,
the Voting Rights Act toughest remedy against racial discrimination no
longer is justified.

I`d like to get your quick take on that. What do you think of that
and how has it affected Alabama? And how will it affect Alabama?

BELL: Well, you know, Alabama is still, you know, while Birmingham is
the major city in the state you still have a lot of small rural areas that
sometimes it`s tough to overcome past prejudices, to overcome political
preferences, and things of that nature. What the Supreme Court did was
give those individuals who want to hold a certain segment of the community
back from voting the tools necessary to do that. And I think that you may
not see it immediately, but over the next 4 or 5, 10 and 15 years you`re
going to have that issue on citizens not being able to exercise their
votes.

SCHULTZ: Birmingham Alabama Mayor William Bell, Mr. Bell, great to
have you with us on the Ed Show tonight. I appreciate you joining us.
Thank you so much.

And that is the Ed Show. I`m Ed Schultz.

Politics Nation with Reverend Al Sharpton starts right now, Rev.

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