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The Ed Show for Tuesday, October 1st, 2013

Read the transcript to the Tuesday show

THE ED SHOW

October 1, 2013

Guests: Steny Hoyer, John Larson, Cecile Richards, Wendell Potter, Dr. Rani
Whitfield, Aqualyn Laury, Corey Herbert, Stacie Ritter

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Healthcare
Act is moving forward. You can`t shut it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good to have you with us tonight, folks.
Thanks for watching. I`ve been just walking around the office all day long
saying, "I can`t believe they did it." Well, they actually shut down the
government. They actually have decided to hurt people because they didn`t
legislatively get their way. Elections don`t matter. Oh, it`s the money
that matters. You know, the backdrop of this is is that the Republican
Party always says that, "Oh, they`re for the private sector."

The private sector. They are the champions of small business yet
today they`re hurting small business. They are the champions of the
entrepreneurs out there. You know what folks, I come from the private
sector and you can`t eat PR, OK? And if you don`t do the work, you don`t
get paid.

So, a lot of Americans I think around there wondering, well, if the
government has shutdown why are Congressional members still on the payroll?
Oh, wait a minute, they got this essential -- nonessential thing going on.
What do you think, health care essential to you? Oh, but there`s a few out
there that don`t want to take the money. Lo and behold, unspoiled from the
prairie one of them is newly elected Senator Heidi Heitkamp who says that
she will not take the money. Her money is going to go to charity. I
believe Ted Cruz said something about that. Here, we get into the trust
but verify his money`s probably going to SarahPAC.

Why are they on the payroll? That`s the sidebar issue, but I think a
lot of Americans are kind of sorting this whole thing out because we know
last night the Republicans for the first time in 17 years shut down the
United States government because they didn`t like the way it was all
unfolding. It is truly a radical attempt to crash ObamaCare and these are
the bad guys. These are the guys who want to hurt Americans. ObamaCare
went into effect today. Let me see if I can remember the number. 1-800-
318-2596. See how easy that is? Don`t be confused.

The government shutdown impacts real Americans, average workers, your
next door neighbor. 800,000 of them across America and the economy will
slowly drip. Average Americans, you know, I just -- I`m not convinced that
they`re sitting at home and saying, "What`s the next amendment?" It`s the
day to day minutia that people aren`t paying attention to. They`re not
into this legislative ranking. I believe this is where Americans are right
now. They`re sitting home wondering, "OK, what does shutdown mean to me?
How long is that going to last? Who the heck is going to fix it?" You
know, they`re really serious about us not having a functional government.
The conservative mission all along has been to torpedo the economy and now
we know at all cost.

The first step of course is obstruction. The second step, this is
phase two, shutting down the government. That`s what this is all about.
President Obama is playing it exactly the way he has to. He`s not
impressed with House Republican`s reckless behavior and he placed the blame
earlier today right where it has to be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: At midnight last night for the first time in 17 years, the
Republicans in Congress chose to shutdown the federal government. Let me
be more specific. At one faction of one party in one House of Congress, in
one branch of government shut down major parts of the government all
because they didn`t like one law.

I urge House Republicans to reopen the government. Restart the
services Americans depend on and allow the public servants who have been
sent home to return to work. That`s only going to happen when Republicans
realize they don`t get to hold the entire economy hostage over ideological
demands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: But they support the troops. Guys like this have been
running around for years saying that they support the troops. They`re all
about the troops. But today, disabled veterans are being told that their
checks won`t be there on time. There will be some services that are cut
and in the long run don`t ever forget these people don`t give a damn about
the troops. They`re just a damn good prop. These antigovernment extremist
Republicans, well, they got their wish. Their mission has been
accomplished. They shut down the government, aren`t they huge?

I guess you could say that Sarah Palin`s America is finally being
realized, but the American people are rejecting it. 72 percent of
Americans oppose shutting down the government to stop ObamaCare and
Congressional approval is it a whopping 10 percent. Barely double figures.

We now enter the next stage of what you could call the assignment of
blame. The blame game is going to be upon us now. I make no mistake.
This man right here, he is responsible for the shutdown. John Boehner
could have brought the Senate bill to the floor funding ObamaCare and the
government could have brought it up for vote but he refused to do it.

Republicans would have voted for it and the government would have been
funded. Instead he caved the Canadian Senator Ted Cruz and the rest of the
tea partiers in the House caucus and Boehner actually have the nerve to go
on the floor just couldn`t say we`re not going to do it, he mocked the
President of the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH) HOUSE SPEAKER: I talked to the President
earlier tonight. I`m not going to negotiate. I`m not going to negotiate.
I`m not going to do this. Well, I would say to the President, this is not
about me and it`s not about Republicans here on Congress, it`s about
fairness for the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: What? Fairness to who? This is anything but fair.
ObamaCare is the law of the land. Congress has voted for it, the American
people, voted for it a couple of times in reelecting the President, the
Supreme Court has ruled on it, they upheld the law that the Rightist hate
saying it was constitutional? President Obama is exactly right not to go
back and negotiate with the likes of Boehner.

All these Republicans want to do is crush Obama, that`s right, the
President and his signature legislative accomplishment which is ObamaCare,
tarnish his legacy and just drop him right into the ground. That`s really
what they`re all about because you see, they don`t like him.

Last night, Congressman John Larson took the House floor. He had no
problem giving Republicans a piece of his mind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN LARSON (D) CONNECTICUT: The American people in the greatest
land, the greatest country in the world deserve to have their government
open. And they deserve to know whether members stand, he has stand with
your country, he has stand for your country or you want to take it down
this evening, still not for your country. Stand up for America. Stand
with us this evening and keep this government going in the name of
fairness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: No such thing as fairness anymore. It`s all about winning.
Just wean baby, just wean. The driving force behind all of this and nobody
is really pointing to it as much. May be we can`t see the force because of
the three since Citizens United. Republicans special interest groups who
got this -- they`ve got this web around these guys. They got this
protectional for -- protectionary force around them called huge freaking
money. These groups are calling the shots. There are literally hundreds
of special interest groups out there just shoving up big bucks to these
Republicans and giving them cover, controlling him like puppets.

And of course, we`re talking about well-known players, big oil which
you subsidized, big farmer crossroad`s GPS, the heritage foundations out
there, Americans for Prosperity, (inaudible) and oh by the way, let`s not
forget the co-brothers (ph). They`ve never seen a liberal they wanted to
see in office.

Citizens United has given them the muscle and the guts to do whatever
they want to do and don`t pay attention to what the American people want or
the election. This is all about election rejection. Polls, who knows
anything about polls? How they know about polls? 95 percent of the
American people wanted something done on gun legislation and background
checks. That didn`t matter to the Republicans, they`ve got Citizens
United. They have all of this money behind them, all they have to do is
vote the way the big boys want them to and to hell what the American
people.

They are giving these wacko politicians cover and license to
circumvent democracy in this country. And you know who is trying to save
this? The Democrats. The Democrats holding their caucus together is the
key right now. And I could tell you, as the showdown unfolds, somebody`s
going to lose. You and I are losing right now. We`re just the taxpayers,
but somebody`s going to lose.

We know that polls don`t move the Republicans, only big money does.
The big loss is going to be definitely for the progressives if the
Democrats move, they the -- Republicans think that while the game is over
and we lost but we want to -- we want another settle downs. This is
election rejection. That`s all it is. They don`t care about democracy,
they only care about power and all of us liberals out there are just
kicking ourselves that when we have the White House, the House in the
Senate, we didn`t go for the jugular the way these guys do.

Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question, are Republicans` special interest groups dangerous for democracy?
Text A for Yes, text B for No to 67622. You can always go to our blog at
ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring you the results later on in the show.

For more, let me bring in House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland.
My sources are telling me behind closed doors, this is the man that is very
responsible for holding the Democrats together. There have been no breaks
in ranks for the Democrats. And it`s almost like it`s a moment of real
severity for the progressive movement in American. They cannot allow
ObamaCare to be taken down in any form or fashion.

Congressman, great to have you with us tonight.

STENY HOYER, (D-MD) HOUSE MINORITY WHIP: Good to be with you Ed.
Thank you.

SCHULTZ: Is there anyway Democrats are going to let Boehner chip away
at ObamaCare?

HOYER: No. This bill was hard fought. We now see the first day in
my state, a literally tens of thousands of people were signing up early
this morning. They were so excited about having at finally access to
affordable, quality health care and have insurance.

So that Democrats are going to stand strong on this bill. We think
it`s good for America. We think it`s good for the people. We think it`s
good for our families and children, and we`re not going to allow this to be
turned around and to be repealed. I might say, Ed the irresponsibility
that we`re seeing on the other side of the aisle, shutting down government,
taking hostage a bill which as you pointed out, supported by the President
of the United States, the issue in the last presidential election was this
very Bill, Obama was reelected, but elections apparently don`t make a
difference to this crap.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. They don`t care.

HOYER: So we`re going to fight to make sure that the Affordable Care
Act goes into a fact, gives the kind of protection and security that people
in this country need. I want all Americans healthy because we`ll be a
better, stronger country and our economy will grow, and will create jobs,
if that`s the case.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, is this John Boehner`s fault?

HOYER: It`s certainly the fault of the Republican leadership of which
John Boehner is one.

SCHULTZ: OK.

HOYER: He has the ability to put on the floor, the continuing
resolution which funds government and by the way, Ed and this is important
for your viewers to know at the levels set by the Republicans.

SCHULTZ: Yes, the sequester.

HOYER: They won`t take the yes for an answer.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

HOYER: The sequester level and by the way, in the next few months we
have to change the sequester because it will undermine the national
security of our country, undermine the economy, and undermine job creation.

SCHULTZ: And so, is this the pre-game show? I mean the big play is
going to be, you know, the debt ceiling coming down the road and the budget
and whatnot. So is this just going to be the way the country is going to
be running? I mean, what`s the solution here Steny?

HOYER: Well, the solution is the reason together and to stop simply
following unreasonable ideological courses that says my way or the highway.
That doesn`t work in a Democracy. In a Democracy, we come together and
reach an agreement. Realizing that some were elected by Republicans, some
were elected by Democrats, some were more independent, but the fact and the
matter is the American people expect the democracy to work.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Congressman .

HOYER: And the only way our families work and our democracy work is
if we work together.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, keep that caucus together. That is the real
key. I hear it on the radio all day long, progressives in this country are
concerned that there`s going to be a break in the ranks and that the
Republicans will get something on ObamaCare. It`s great to hear you say
that`s not going to happen tonight. I appreciate what you`re doing.
Thanks so much.

HOYER: We`ll keep working that. Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Thank you, sir. Congressman Steny Hoyer with us, he`s the
Minority Whip for the Democrats in the House.

Keep in mind, it is Citizens United. It`s the big money behind all of
this polls don`t matter. We can throw out 72 percent all day long. The
thing that`s going to make a difference right now as I see it are
progressives and liberals in this country who were going to get behind the
people that have stood up for them all along.

And that is President Obama, I thought the President was very strong
yesterday. Let`s bring in Congressman John Larson of Connecticut who told
it like it is last night on the House floor. Congressman, good to have you
with us.

REP. JOHN LARSON, D-CONN.: Always good to be with you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: No one could have done it any better that you. You laid it
right there. It`s about the country why can`t they realize that?

LARSON: Well, you know, it is about the country, and it breaks my
heart both as a student of history and to know that this is totally
preventable. And, you know, when you have one person in a small minority.
When you have Ted Cruz, that ideologically is driving this train, it`s got
to be confounding. I know there are a good Republicans that are out there,
Peter King and others who have been quite vocal. We need that part of the
caucus, the moderate wing, however, many of them are left than the
Republican party to stand up ...

SCHULTZ: You think they`ll do it?

LARSON: . and recognize that we can`t take this country this way.

SCHULTZ: You think they`ll do it?

LARSON: I hope so, they keep on saying they will, but you pointed out
on your show, money has a lot to do with this and the influence .

SCHULTZ: And do you agree with that?

LARSON: . of money putting into this. Yes I do. I think that money
and threats of primaries against so many moderate Republicans if they go
against the grain, if they do anything other than what Ted Cruz tells .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

LARSON: . them to do. Right now Cruz is both Senate Minority Leader
and Speaker of the House.

SCHULTZ: Well, I want to play a clip from Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell on the floor this morning here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Democratic leaders in
Congress finally have their price for government shutdown that no one seems
to want but them. Shall we know the Democrats who shut down the government
we yell and point fingers they`ve already started that particular routine.
They all say it was the mean old Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Congressman what`s your reaction to that?

LARSON: Well, you know, Ed I`m an old history teacher and I remember
George Washington`s farewell address and in that address his admonition to
the country was as follows, he was concerned about excessive party spirit,
but most of all concerned about what would happen when a small group within
the government was at war with its own government. That`s what we`re
witnessing. Mitch McConnell, the traditionalist is trying to fend it off,
John Boehner an institutionalist is trying to fend it off, but Ted Cruz is
what`s driving this train, they are at war with their own government, and
they`re seeking to take it down.

SCHULTZ: And John Boehner .

LARSON: And that is a shame.

SCHULTZ: . and John Boehner won`t bring it to the floor for House
because he know it will pass but that would be bad, bad stuff for the
Republicans, right?

LARSON: John Boehner is either going to go down in history as one of
the courageous speakers or he`s going to go down as one of the worst based
on how he handles this going forward. I have great respect for him, he is
a decent person and I know this must really drive him crazy at its core .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

LARSON: . because he is an institutionalist, but it`s his
responsibility. He is the speaker of the entire house.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Congressman John Larson good to have you with us
tonight, I appreciate your time.

LARSON: Always a pleasure.

SCHULTZ: Thank you for your passion and it motivated me. Thank you.

Coming up, Fox News stages a glitch watch on ObamaCare and the big
rollout today. Plus women`s health is under attack by Republicans again.
That`s right. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders, the Ed Show social media nation.
This is how you connect with us and we appreciate how you`re doing.

And you have decided and now we are reporting. Here are today`s top
Trenders voted on by you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out here panda jerk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number three, trender, shuttered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About a month ago, a baby panda was born at the
National Zoo. A government shutdown will slash the zoo`s operations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the victims of a possible US government
shutdown is going to be? Well, the panda cam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s right. The panda cam as you`ve heard.
That is shut down 4200.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They let it go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pandas overshadow the real victims of the
government shutdown.

OBAMA: Vital services that seniors and veterans, women, and children,
businesses, and our economy depend on would be hamstrung.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The shutdown is already impacting services
nationwide leaving hundreds of thousands of Americans without paycheck.

OBAMA: The longer this shutdown continues the worst the effects will
be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number two trender, cheer hypocrisy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A major news network confused of crossing the line
from objective reporting to cheer leading when it comes to ObamaCare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This NBC news during the Obama Administrations
work for them, is the lame stream, main stream media is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I watch some of their segments, they`ve
already been running some of them on the air. There are just pure
propaganda.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fox news, heckles NBC health care reports while
promoting more lies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, nobody knows what`s in this law. Nobody
knows how it`s going to get enacted. This is a hideously complicated law.
The best advice today is don`t sign up yet because these exchanges are just
not ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s your job now, Louise (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re supposed to get fair and balanced news
and a place you can find it is Fox.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And today`s top trender, Billy Jean (ph).

SEN. BARBARA BOXER, (D) CALIFORNIA: Now they`ve added a new target,
the Republicans had a group that they frequently punish. A group called
women.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Republicans attach to their list of demands over
the budget, something called the content clock (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Republicans use the shutdown to attack women`s
health again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s now again a provision, one more time
that specifically target women of this country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They want any employer to be able to deny women
health coverage because they don`t think it`s moral.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are choosing to want to delay health care
for women in this country.

BOXER: The war on women continues. They cannot seem to stop
themselves.

(END OF VIDEO OF CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining me now is Cecile Richards, President of the Planned
Parenthood Federation of America. Cecile, great to have you with us
tonight.

CECILE RICHARDS, PRESIDENT OF THE PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF
AMERICA: Good to see you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: What does this signal that the Republicans, even after 2012,
and the demographic breakdown of exactly how the election went that they
are relentless. What does this signal that they continue to attack women`s
rights?

RICHARDS: Well, I think the concern is that there is an extreme
faction on the House of Representatives. They just can`t let this go when
it was extraordinary to see in the midst of everything else, Saturday
night, they took yet another vote to strip out women`s benefits in the
Affordable Care Act. And the incredible thing is, you know, millions of
women are already benefiting. We hear Planned Parenthood from so many
women everyday who were now getting their birth control covered for no co-
pay, for the first time have insurance, have preventive care.

So this is actually one of the most popular parts of the Affordable
Care Act, it doesn`t make any sense -- political sense or health care sense
to me.

SCHULTZ: It seems like they are operating as if that there will be no
political ramifications because of this. That they`re -- based in their
morality and their ideology and they`re not going to budge from that.

What is the downside here? It`s going to hurt a lot of women
obviously.

RICHARDS: Right.

SCHULTZ: But politically there has to be a kickback on this in some
way, your thoughts.

RICHARDS: Well, and certainly politically we saw in the last election
where the Affordable Care Act was a huge issue, women`s health care was a
huge issue, the biggest gender gap ever in a presidential election. And
actually we`re seeing even today, and to say to Virginia where we have a
governor`s raise in which these issues are very much on the ballot.

Ken Cuccinelli who wants to get rid of Planned Parenthood wants to
overthrow (inaudible), get rid of birth control benefits and insurance
plans. He is now losing women by an 18 percent to 24 percent gap.

And so to me, I think women and men are paying attention in saying,
actually we can`t elect people who want to rollback women access to health
care.

SCHULTZ: What does the Affordable Care Act mean to women in this
country?

RICHARDS: This has been -- this the most extraordinary leap forward
for women that we`ve ever seen in terms of health care. Millions more
women covered as you`ve heard preventive benefits covered now for no co-
pay. Women don`t have to pay more for health insurance than men which is
historically they have had to do, they can`t be denied health coverage.
That`s why I think we`re seeing at Planned Parenthood today.

Everyone knows that the Affordable Care Act is going into effect
today, the enrollments beginning. In the State of New York, 2 million
people in the first 2 hours went to the website about how can they enroll,
what does this mean for them.

So this bill, Ed now law is being enacted and people who haven`t have
any health care coverage particularly women who have been missing coverage
for years are very excited.

SCHULTZ: Well, I have to ask you at your home state of Texas. All
right. Wendy Davis does she have a chance and are there any women in Texas
that would even vote Republican after this kind of radical stuff has been
put up there?

RICHARDS: Well, I`d say Wendy Davis absolutely has a very good
chance. Of course my mother when she ran for governor, people kind of
counted her out and she became the governor.

SCHULTZ: And the world changed a lot since your mom.

RICHARDS: It absolutely has.

SCHULTZ: And the attack on women it`s on a scale one to ten it`s a
9.9.

RICHARDS: Absolutely. So I want to see on Thursday what Wendy Davis
announces where everyone is waiting with anticipation.

But I do think and -- but I think the point, Ed is it not just women
in Texas it`s men in Texas as well who don`t want their wives, their
daughters, or granddaughters to have fewer rights than the women who came
before them.

So I`m very optimistic. I think these issues are good for women,
they`re good for our health care and -- but they are politically a winner
as well.

SCHULTZ: All right. Cecile Richards, great to have you with us.
Thanks so much for coming in.

RICHARDS: Good to see you.

SCHULTZ: Coming up Fox New is the definition of an ObamaCare day one
debit (ph) downer.

And it`s running out of lies and myths to spread. We`ll break it down
with our Rapid Response Panel, coming up.

But next I`m taking your questions, Ask Ed Live is just ahead. Stay
with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. I love this segment. So we
got a lot of questions tonight. I love hearing from all of you.

Ask Ed segment Live, our first question comes from Michael Schaeffer
(ph). He wants to know, "How long do you think the shutdown will lasts?"

With this crowd you never know. I would say weeks, because they`re
going to want to make it effective and it will be interesting to see if any
Republicans break. I believe that the Democrats are going to hold strong.
I believe the President is going to hold strong. I think it`s going to go
on for some time. I`d be really, really surprised if this was a short-term
shutdown.

Our next question comes from Lana Williams. She wants to know, "Is
the situation just a show of power?" No. These folks are ideologically
bent. They are on a mission. Here we get in the conversation with the
Conservative they`re going to tell you, "Well, the one thing about the
Liberals is there are no absolutes." Oh, yes. There are absolutes on our
side. On the Conservative side, they love to think that they`re all about
absolutes. Well, I think in many cases they are.

They`re absolutely for deregulation. They`re absolutely for tax cuts.
And they absolutely hate this President and they`ll do anything they can to
stop him. And they do not want anything to do with universal health care
down the road so they`re doing everything they can to stop it right now.
They believe that this is a fight worth fighting. So this is not about a
show of power, this is all about a goal, a generational goal.

And they`re sitting there thinking, "How in the world can we change
voting rights? How can we go after women`s rights? How can we redistrict
things? How can we have all of this power if we let ObamaCare slip
through? We can`t do that. We got to go to the firewall."

Stick around. The Rapid Response Panel is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Good to have you back with us. Thanks for watching tonight.
Well, this is really been the day that millions of people have been waiting
for, health care is now available for a lot of Americans, a lot more.

And the six-month open enrollment for the health insurance markets
kicked off this morning. But rather than focusing on the positive, the
Republican groups are just grasping at straws and it`s all negativity. The
National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out this tweet within hours
of the marketplace websites going live, don`t worry big tech projects
always have some hiccups, high tech volume causes delays.

Look, the -- like these websites, so like Facebook, and Twitter have
had plenty of glitches. What is a glitch? Does a glitch mean that someone
is not going to get health care? No. It does not mean that the law is
flawed in any way, shape or form. The Obama Administration acknowledged
the long wait times on Twitter saying this, "Thanks for all your comments
and updates as you enroll. We apologize that wait times on the site and
hotline are longer than expected." That`s positive.

Still, Fox News is moving full speed ahead on marketplace enrollment
negativity train. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the glitch that we`ve seen so far include
things like a calculator that people were supposed to be able to use to
figure out what their premiums would be for different policies doesn`t
work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These websites are not really functional on
October 1st. That`s another thing that`s likely to drive young and healthy
people away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The law gave people six months to sign up so the
government left itself plenty of leeway, John, just in case it needed it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, that`s kind of a smart thing, isn`t it?

Right Wing media outlets have consistently height (ph) myths about the
Affordable Care Act during the lead up to today has started the open
enrollment program. Here are some of the top myths and false claims that
you should be aware of.

Let`s start with number three.

Navigators will abuse private information.

Number two of course is people will be able to commit subsidy fraud on
the exchanges.

And one of the big ones out there, the top myth about open enrollment
on the marketplace is ObamaCare narrow networks will constrain health
choices. That`s right. Give me a break.

Joining me now our Rapid Response Panel Wendell Potter, Center for
Public Integrity Senior fellow and author of the "Deadly Spin", also with
tonight the hip-hop doctor, Dr. Rani Whitfield, Medical Director of the
National Association of Free Clinics, and Dr. Corey Herbert CEO of
BlackHealthTV.com and Professor at LSU Health Service Science Centers. All
right, gentlemen, great to have you with us.

Wendell, you first. Republicans were trying for a long time using
these scare tactics and misinformation. Was today a good day?

WENDELL POTTER, CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: Well, today was a great
day for Americans because we`re finally able to see that the law is
working. I would have been disappointed if there hadn`t been a question to
the system because it would have signified that people were not interested.
But what we`re seeing is just pinup demand for health care insurance to get
them access to care.

SCHULTZ: Well, we saw 2.8 million people have visited healthcare.gov
since midnight, 81,000 people have called 1-800-318-2596, and 60,000 people
have requested live chats. So Fox News, the spin that they`ve got they`re
expecting a low enrollment doesn`t hold much weight at this point at all.

Dr. Whitfield, have your patients, the people that you have seen at
these free health clinics, have they been talking about ObamaCare? Have
they been asking questions, is this a day they`ve been looking forward to?

DR. RANI WHITFIELD, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FREE CLINICS: Questions
all day, it has been a great day. It`s a major step in our quest for
healthier nations. So we`ve been in questions all day.

You know, Ed, I want to see some of those Congressmen put their money
where their mouth is to those that are going to hold their checks they say
instead of holding their checks why don`t they donate them to the National
Association of Free Clinics. But it has been a wonderful day, patient
asking questions, young people I hang out with young people they`re using
Twitter, Instagram, they know that glitches in the system mean that is has
been overload. So many people are very interested in trying to get on line
so they can inquire more about the system.

SCHULTZ: Dr. Herbert, six months, I mean this is where progressives
have got to go to work and stay on point. We`ve outlined some of the miss
about the rollout today. But moving forward, I mean in explaining that
these narrow networks simply don`t exist. Your thoughts.

DR. COREY HERBERT, BLACKHEALTHTV.COM: Well, I tell you what. I`m
wearing red, white, and blue today because I`ve never been more proud,
excited, and irritated to be an American. I can`t even believe that this
is happening.

Narrow networks? Come on man, all we know is that there is six months
for people to enroll. We know that there are glitches in the system but
there were glitches when the iOS7 came out, nobody cared about that.

This is saving life. It is what it is. I mean if people are coming
around even Blue Cross Blue Shield it has availed (ph) federal contract,
they`ll be offering over 150 new HMO and PPO plans for people all over the
United States, 30 states and the district of Columbia.

So narrow exchanges, narrow networks, please, no way.

SCHULTZ: Mr. Potter tells us about Florida. They are making the case
that they could do it on their own and that`s where stage should go. I
want you to take on that.

POTTER: Well of course that`s not true, because the Florida
politicians have been doing all they can to make it hard for people to get
information about the Affordable Care Act and to make it hard for them to
know how to sign up. That`s just not true.

Thank goodness for the federal government and for the fact that this
is a program that will be available to people regardless of where they
live, whether they live in a red state or a blue state. Everyone will have
equal access to marketplaces.

SCHULTZ: Well, and Mr. Potter same with you what do you think the
insurance industry is going to do next? How is this -- is this negativity
going to continue on or is that all up on the Right Wing talkers and Fox
News? What will the industry do as this unfolds?

POTTER: You know, I think so many in the industry will -- in fact
they already are trying to help people understand because some insurance
companies want this new business and they had -- they realize the
importance for their -- for more people to have access to coverage.

Some of the big ones like the ones I used to work for are not to keen
on it because it`s going to disrupt the way they do business and it will
strain their profit margin.

So some of the big insurance companies willing to throw some money and
trying to continue to confuse people.

SCHULTZ: Dr. Whitfield do you feel like people are confused? Do you
come across a lot of people at there wits and not understand again?

WHITFIELD: Yeah, I mean the bill issue just complex. But if you
break it down and tease up those things that are very important that your
child can stay on this insurance until they`re 26 years old, that were
providing more preventative service for women. Many people are wanting to
learn more and get more information, that`s why we have the navigators,
that`s why we have the website. And again, the glitches were there, but
that`s why people win, because they`re really interested in self care
there.

So they`re maybe some confusion there, but many people want to know
more than they want to learn more about this law. (inaudible)

SCHULTZ: So, Dr. Whitfield how equipped are these navigators?

WHITFIELD: Navigators are very equipped and also they`re unbiased.
So they`re not going to be there and tell you what plan you should choose.
They`re going to educate you and tell what plans are available, whether you
want the silver, gold or platinum package. There`s a catastrophic
insurance line of business who don`t want to have a higher cost.

Again, Americans want affordable, high quality health care and they
want things, hence we know the insurance says as is and this is what we
need. The navigators are unbiased. They`re going to be to help navigate
you through their process, so you get enrolled and get what you need to
save your life.

SCHULTZ: Dr. Hebert I want to ask you. There has been a guest over
on Fox News saying that cancer patients are not going to be treated
properly, that there are some provisions in the health care law that in a
sense discriminate and really pick and choose the care that cancer patients
are going to be subjected to or have available to them.

I want your response to that.

HEBERT: Nothing could be more preposterous. Right now, cancer
patients are out there not being able to get health care at all because of
preexisting illness. Now, they actually be able to get insurance and keep
their insurance throughout all of it. So absolutely not, that is untrue.

SCHULTZ: But when it comes to the actual care and procedures that are
going to be covered what about that?

HEBERT: The care and procedures for all patients including cancer
patients will not only be what they have been but augmented because all of
the exchanges that are out there, you can tailor that particular health
care plan for you.

So if you have cancer and you have a preexisting illness such as any
of the cancers that actually can be a part of this, you know that you will
be taken care of all the procedures will be taken care of that. It`s just
smoke screen.

SCHULTZ: All right. Wendell Potter, Dr. Rani Whitfield, and also Dr.
Corey Hebert, great to have you on the program on this historic day as the
exchanges open up.

And New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says the shutdown in Washington
is the President`s fault. Coming up Christie outlines how he would have
handled it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s not what (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Because apparently that`s how things are taking care of in
Jersey.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight, one of my favorites, the grand
sounding (ph), extraordinary himself. It is Governor Chris Christie of New
Jersey. He`s blaming President Obama for the government shutdown.
Christie says that he would have had the muscled to work this thing out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, GOVERNOR (R) NEW JERSEY: No matter where the
partisanship is, the failure is in people not bringing people together to
get it done. My approach would be, as the executive, is to call in the
leaders of the Congress, the legislature, whatever you`re dealing with and
tell them we are not leaving this room until we fix this problem because
I`m the boss, I`m in charge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: He`s the boss, man. He just bring him and say, "We`re not
leaving this room because I`m the boss. We`re going to get a deal."

You know, campaigning starts early. Christie is not the Commander-in-
Chief, just the opportunistic man-in-chief. He thinks, "Tell us, Mr. Boss,
what`s the problem? We have a health care law which passed Congress and we
have a hatred for the President of the United States that surpasses any
true concern for the American people." OK? So Christie believes he`s
immune to reality. But if he thinks heckling from the stands his leading,
he could just keep on pretending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show, this is the story for the votes
who take a shower after work. 4-6-9, that was our first show at the Ed
Show here on MSNBC. That`s right, 4-6-9, April 6, 2009 and the first show
I talked about health care and I made it my mission that this was going to
be theme that I was going to cover health care in the public option and
universal health care and of course we ended up with something a little bit
different, but today is a big day for America and it has been a focal point
of this show and I`m proud of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

The point of reform is to lower the cost and make health care
affordable not impossible for the middle class.

Many Americans are in desperate need of health insurance, it is
literally a matter of life and death.

You don`t do something Washington to help the majority of Americans
who were seeing their insurance premiums go through the roof, who have got
a pre-existing condition and can`t see a doctor because they can`t get
coverage. If you don`t fix that Washington all of you will be gone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

It was interesting traveling the country and listening to people,
seeing their stories at the free health care clinics and meeting people and
getting into their lives and seeing what they were really facing when it
comes to health care in America. Just to go visit a doctor.

Earlier today President Obama highlighted the stories of several
people who thinks --who thanks to enrolling today will be able to get
started with some real health care.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Trinace Edwards was laid off from her job a year ago today.
Six months ago she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She couldn`t afford
insurance on the individual market so she hasn`t received treatment yet.
Her daughter, Lenace, a student at the University of Maryland is
considering dropping out of school to help pay her mom`s bills. Well,
starting today, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Trinace can get covered
without forcing her daughter to give up on her dreams.

So if these stories of hardworking Americans sound familiar to you,
well, starting today you and your friends and your family and your family
and your co-workers can get covered too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: And that is something this President has never forgot.

I`m joined now by two people whose lives have already been greatly
improved by the Affordable Health Care Act. Aqualyn Laury, and also Stacie
Ritter they join me tonight.

Aqualyn, can you just tell us your story, that`s what America wants to
hear. What does this law done for you?

AQUALYN LAURY, HELPED BY OBAMACARE: This law has been a lifesaver and
I`m not just saying that. This law has truly saved me. As a youth, as an
18-year-old, I fell very ill at our college, Belmont College, had a stroke
resulting in open heart surgery. But from that point on I became a
preexisting condition.

So years went by, I went to college, I started working for a great
company with great insurance. I decided, you know, it`s time to start my
business. I did that, got sick my first year. And shortly thereafter, the
insurance that I had which was no longer corporate dropped me.

It was a devastating experience and I went on for the next two years
fighting them to try to win back my coverage which I did not do.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

LAURY: I eventually .

SCHULTZ: Stacie -- yes, and Stacy Ritter in Harrisburg Pennsylvania,
this has really been a gut-wrenching time for you and to see this, what`s
it mean?

STACIE RITTER, INSURANCE ABUSE SURVIVOR: It means that we`re on the
right side of history, Ed. And like you, I`ve been fighting for health
reform for several years now because I don`t want things like what happened
to Aqualyn to happen to my children. I have three girls, two that have
preexisting conditions, also like Aqualyn and -- but that shouldn`t happen.
They shouldn`t have to fear, we shouldn`t have to worry, and thanks to the
Affordable Care Act we don`t anymore.

SCHULTZ: And what is -- you Stacie -- what has your family gone
through? I understand a bankruptcy, some really hard times.

RITTER: We had and we had full employer-based insurance too at the
time of our bankruptcy, so don`t be fooled even people with insurance can
go bankrupt on it. And eventually this -- once things go into place here,
we`re going to see the leveling out of the cost and people aren`t going to
have to fear bankruptcy anymore. That girl -- my girls had stem cell
transplants when they were four years old for a rare kind of leukemia and
they will forever have preexisting condition, but now they`re protected
under discrimination for having a preexisting condition through the
Affordable Care Act.

I think we also leave out a very important part of the Affordable Care
Act it`s called the Patient Protection in Affordable Care Act .

SCHULTZ: Yes.

RITTER: . that Patient Protection is key.

SCHULTZ: Aqualyn, is the pressure off, I mean is it -- what is it
like to have this security blanket at a chance and knowing that your life
is not going to unravel if you get sick.

LAURY: I`ll say, the pressure is off to some extent. Anything can
happen but, you know, at least now when I walk out the door once upon a
time I was concerned and fearful of practically anything could happen, and
I didn`t have insurance. The fact that I have it now thanks to the
Affordable Care Act and specifically, I have that Patient Protection that
Stacie just mentioned.

It`s just so incredibly calming and is it`s very, very -- I`m very
thankful to have that and to know that there is an option for that.

SCHULTZ: And many more stories to come.

Aqualyn Laury and also Stacie Ritter thank you for joining us tonight.
I appreciate it so much.

LAURY: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: There`s millions of stories out there. Today is a big day
for America. That`s the Ed Show, I`m Ed Schultz.

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

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

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