The Ed Show for Thursday, October 03, 2013

THE ED SHOW
October 3, 2013

Guests: Matt Cartwright, Jonathan Alter, Patrick Murphy>


ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good evening, Americans, and welcome to "The
Ed Show." We begin tonight with breaking news of another shooting in
Washington, D.C. It all unfolded shortly after 2:00 p.m. this afternoon.
A woman attempted to ram her car through a gate at the White House at 15th
and E Streets. The Secret Service pursued the suspect roughly 12 blocks to
1st and Constitution, where the suspect hit a police car. The chase then
went on for another two blocks, where shots were fired at 2nd and Maryland,
near the Senate Hart Building. At that point, the woman was shot and
killed by US Capitol Police. This afternoon, Vermont Senator Bernie
Sanders described the situation near the Hart Senate Office Building.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D) VERMONT: I`ve heard what seem to be about
(inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. You were also -- went to -- Senator, have
you ever been in the Capitol when it (inaudible)

SANDERS: It`s about all we know. I don`t take risk and she want me
to do some follow up. (inaudible)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So that four or five shot, do you remember how
it went?

SANDERS: I`m still (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, well very quickly so say (inaudible).
Your words.

SANDERS: I`m not a great kind of (inaudible) but it`s not that you
may walk out (ph) in the up state in few rounds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then you had to do and they get (ph) to follow
the woman inside so .

SANDERS: Please suggest that you come back.
(END OF VIDE CLIP)

SCHULTZ: A small child was reportedly found in her car. The United
States Capitol was put on locked down shortly after 2:20 this afternoon.
The lock down was lifted around 3 p.m. One Capitol Police officer was
injured in the crash but no police were reportedly shot. Police say this
is an isolated incident and there is no current danger to public safety.
President Obama was briefed on the incident numerous times this afternoon
and is being updated. Capitol Hill Police are expected to give a briefing
at 6 p.m. We`ll bring that you live here on MSNBC.

Let`s go on now to NBC`s Capitol Hill correspondent, Kelly O`Donnell.
Kelly, what`s the latest? This has been an afternoon of confusion. The
backdrop, a heated political debate in America and all of a sudden security
takes the front stage for a few hours. What is the latest?

KELLY O`DONNELL, CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: It has been quite a day
here, Ed. As you can imagine, there had been so much tension in the air of
purely the political kind and then so abruptly it turns into this crisis
where people did not know the extent of this violent act. We saw police
activity, we heard police activity.

And right now, I can tell you that there is calm returning the work of
-- the business of Congress is returning. But there are many questions
that need to be answered and investigators from the US Capitol Police, the
Secret Service, National Park Service, and the Washington DC Metro Police
Department are all working on that. And we expect in about an hour or so
to get another briefing, an update on information but the pictures have
been extraordinary.

This is a place that welcomes the public end. So, on a daily basis, I
come to work here everyday, we see hundreds if not thousands of tourists
who come here from around the country and around the world who are welcomed
here. And so, at a time when this police activity took place, they were
obviously in sort of harm`s way so to speak being ear witnesses -- eye
witnesses to what took place. Senators themselves had been ear witnesses
to what took place describing hearing the popping sound of gun fire. The
US Capitol Police have been working here during the shutdown not being
paid. It remains to be seen if when this is all over with politically if
there will be a legislation to provide them for their salaries during this
interim period but they`ve been on the job and obviously performed with all
of their tactical experience today.

We see them day in, day out. And I`m always struck by how they have,
I think perhaps different than almost other law enforcement. They interact
with the public in some of the happiest of times directing tourists,
talking to people, answering questions in a very friendly manner. And then
they are also the same individuals who are called upon to respond when
there is a true genuine, life threatening crisis.

So it has been a tensed afternoon. We can say that officials are
telling all of the people who work on Capitol Hill and there are some who
are still here even though many have been furloughed that the business of
Congress can return to normal. The investigating now fills this gap to try
and provide more answers. Ed?

SCHULTZ: Kelly, where did this all start? Did it start at the White
House?

O`DONNELL: What we`re being told is that there is an incident near
the White House as well, a chase in which the vehicle that you`ve seen on
camera came here toward the Capitol. It`s only about a mile down
Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the Capitol. This occurred on
Constitution Avenue which veers off from Pennsylvania Avenue. It was on
the Senate side of the Capitol Complex blaring pass two of the venerable,
older institutions, the Russell Senate Office Building and the more modern
Hart Senate Office Building.

And the vehicle was moving toward the direction of the US Supreme
Court where it ultimately came to a stop at what is a very small sort of
guard station on a little island within the intersection of a few roads
here. It is right in the midst of the campus that is the Capitol. And
certainly, there -- it was steps away from where lawmakers were at work,
staffers were at work. And again, visitors from here and around the world
who come to the Capitol were all potentially at risk as this played out on
the city streets here.

There are lots of barricades that can be put up quickly when there is
a crisis and at times they`re put up at different hours of the night. It
kind of -- sometimes in a random pattern, that kind of thing just try and
control traffic in this area.

It is for example, big buses are not permitted to drive right up next
to the Capitol without being checked, various things like that to try to
prevent a vehicle with some violent or evil intent from just getting on to
the Capitol grounds. And so, certainly when a vehicle at a high rate of
speed was heading this way that would put lots of officers on alert.
They`re in both vehicles, they`re on bicycles, they`re on motorcycles,
they`re on foot. They have many different sort of postures around the
campus to be able to respond when something happens.

SCHULTZ: We know very little or nothing about the driver of the car
who is now deceased and has been shot by Capitol Police. It`s been
reported that there was a child in the back of the car. And if you can see
that video tape again, it looked like police had guns drawn at one point
very close and the driver drove off. And then, there was this chase that
we`re seeing right now. And then, there were shots fired which took the
life of the driver. All of these being sorted out. It all happened in
just a few moments` time but, Kelly, the words spread quickly in Capitol
Hill I understand shutdown within seconds. Is that correct?

O`DONNELL: Exactly. We had an overhead alarm and announcement that`s
part of the training that goes on here. There are drills from time to
time. And I will tell you, it was sort of that vibration that goes through
your body when say, "Oh, this isn`t a drill." There was an overhead loud
speaker. All of the TVs that we have, that we use in our workplace here
are connected into an internal system. They all began flashing a message
of shelter in place, locked down. Obviously, then, word spread very
quickly, word of mouth, via Twitter, other social media.

We found out within moments there was also frantic energy around the
building as the people where getting to their offices to go into that
shelter mode. As journalists, we, you know, tend to go toward the activity
as do officers and it`s just one of those things where the words spread
quickly. People took appropriate steps I would say and then at some point
later maybe it was about a half hour or so just from memory, we got the all
clear after they said that it was an isolated incident, there was no
greater threat to the campus at large.

The House side which is about a farther distance from where this
occurred was able to get the all clear first and then on the Senate side.
And I`m in the US Capitol itself, the main Capitol, it was the last part to
get that all clear but we certainly got the emergency warning quickly and
it was responded to quickly as well, Ed.

SCHULTZ: All right. Kelly O`Donnell, NBC News Capitol Hill
correspondent with us here on the Ed Show tonight. Thank you for that
report, Kelly. Now, let`s turn to Clint Van Zandt, former FBI profiler and
NBC analyst. Clint, they`re all sorting this out. There`s going to be a
press briefing at about 52 minutes.

CLINT VAN ZANDT, FORMER FBI PROFILER, NBC ANALYST: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: It will be a joint press briefing. We know very little
about the driver of this car but certainly motive -- one only has to wonder
what would drive someone to try to breach security, someone obviously very,
very mad at someone.

VAN ZANDT: Well, let me offer you two potential scenarios, Ed.
Number one is as you suggest, it could be a very futile effort to breach
security. You know, we all know it`s just been 17 days since we saw that
horrific mass murder at the Navy Yard by a psychologically, emotionally
challenged individual.

So that could be the case or Ed, the second, and I would keep this on
the table. This could be a terrible incident of road rage. This could be
somebody who made a wrong turn, who hit her car, who is in a hurry, had her
baby in the back sit, got frustrated, wasn`t going to listen to law
enforcement no matter what they said, and thought she could push her way or
drive her way through. And there`s two doors at end.

You know, that`s a weapon, Ed. She was in a weapon. She injured not
wounded, but she injured a police officer. And I, you know, I can tell you
as an FBI agent, when somebody is driving at you with a car, you may not
have any choice, either dive out of the way or if you had to stop her, you
try to shoot the tires out or in this case it looks like they shot the
windows out to include hitting the driver and fortunately not the child.

So the motive, some -- there`s going to be some aspect of an
emotionally challenged individual but whether it was an actual attempt to
breach White House security or just some terrible incident of anger,
frustration, and rage, that yet to be determined.

SCHULTZ: Clint, we are told by authorities tonight that police said
all of the shots fired in the incident came from law enforcement .

VAN ZANDT: Yes.

SCHULTZ: . not the woman in the car. What do you make of this?

ZANDT: Well, again, you know, Ed and it`s a terrible analogy. And my
hat is off to the police who had to deal with this, the Capitol Police.
But in law enforcement there`s a tendency when you`re involved in a
situation like this everything closes down.

You`re looking at the vehicle. You`re looking at the situation.
You`re looking at the personal threat to you and perhaps others and all of
a sudden you`re functioning as an individual trying to survive, trying to
get yourself out of the line of either fire or being run over.

And in this particular case when you hear a shot go off, there maybe a
tendency you don`t know of that shots from another police officer or it
could be coming from the vehicle. So whether each of these officers made
an independent decision to fire, whether it was just one officer, because
I`ve listen to the tape Ed, there`s at least seven shots that go off in a
string.

So could that be one semiautomatic pistol or multiple individuals. I
think each officer is going to have to recount for his and her actions.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ZANDT: But the video tells it all. These officers felt threatened
and they responded in that way.

SCHULTZ: What do you make of this videotape clip where the officers
encountered the car had it surrounded, guns were drawn, no shots fired at
the first opportunity in the car drove off and then the chase took place?

ZANDT: You know, there`s a tendency Ed to believe that people .

SCHULTZ: And here it is. Here`s the tape we`re showing. We`re
showing this tape right now. These are the police officers. They could
fire right now and they`re not doing that. What do you make of that?

ZANDT: Well, there Ed, you have five officers with their guns drawn,
every officer I`m sure believe that woman would respect what they were
saying, "Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Let
me see your hands." These are the things that a police officer would yell
at somebody in a situation like this. And when you look inside you see a
woman in the front seat, you see a baby in the back seat. You assume
they`re going to listen to you and respect that.

I think all of these officers were probably shocked that they didn`t
get the response they expected and when this woman took off, then they have
to question what is her alter motive? Could that be a car bomb?

Ed, you and I know in the Middle East, you see woman that are involved
as bombers, car bombers wearing a bomb on their body a fake pregnancy bomb,
whatever it is.

So all these officers hear those story and they have to question, are
we up against a distraught person? Or are we up against the terrorist
driving a bomb?

SCHULTZ: And this is a female solo driver with a baby in the car.
This is rather odd, isn`t it Clint?

ZANDT: Well, very much so. Again, this is something we don`t see in
this country. We don`t see, you know, how a terrorist driving a bomb
vehicle trying to do something like this. However, of course in the Middle
East they see that all the time.

So I think every officer in the back of his or her mind know that potential
is there. And Ed I think what`s very interesting, a very positive too is
that again, two and a half weeks since the Navy Yard shooting, there was
tremendous law enforcement response in a matter of minutes.

It`s -- Everybody in the DC area, everybody in law enforcement, Ed is
leaning forward in the saddle, waiting for that next shooter drop. For
them this could have been the next show (ph) and that`s why we saw this
massive response to what may turn out to be a terrible case of the
distraught person who just couldn`t handle the emotion of the time.

SCHULTZ: All right. Clint Van Zandt thank you for joining us tonight
on the Ed Show. I appreciate it. We`ll have more on the Breaking News out
of the nation`s capital after this.

I`ll talk with a lawmaker who was on the Hill when the incident took
place. You`re watching the Ed Show on MSNBC. We`re right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: . I heard that seem to be about (inaudible) to (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So a lot of police cars then we heard shots and
then the police told us to go back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: An extremely tense afternoon in Washington DC after an
attempted breach to the White House led to a car chase and gunshots being
fired outside of the Capitol. Shortly, after 2 p.m. Eastern, Capitol Hill
was placed in emergency lockdown. Capitol Police raced to lock the doors
at the Speaker`s office and lobby where members were gathered to vote and
members were rushed inside from a balcony of the lobby.

In the Senate Press Gallery, an emergency radio feed blared warnings
to stay inside, TV screens warned shelter in place, gunshots and told
people to avoid windows and locate emergency supplies. That lockdown
obviously has been lifted that came at about 3:00 this afternoon. The
Senate reopened and the House is reconvened, the Senate has been adjourned
until tomorrow morning and the driver of the car was shot and killed by
Capitol Police.

Congressman Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania joins me now.
Congressman, thanks for your time tonight. Where were you? How close were
you? Describe what you saw and what happened.

REP. MATT CARTWRIGHT, (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Ed, it was about quarter
after two, we had finished the first votes series for the afternoon. And
when you look on the inside of the House of Representatives, at the Speaker
right behind where the Speaker is the next chamber behind that is the
Speaker`s lobby as you know. And as you perceived further south along the
building, the southern most edge of the building is a balcony where members
can go and relax, that`s exactly what I was doing, I was having a chat with
Congressman Gerry Connolly from Northern Virginia.

The two of us were chatting quietly for about five minutes when the
shots rang out. And I have to tell you, Ed, first, it sounded to put me in
mind of the first salvo of a 21-gun salute. It was a little ragged, they
weren`t altogether. And then when I put it together, I realized these were
shots and it lasted -- it sounded like at about seven, eight, maybe nine
shots but lasting in total, less than a second.

SCHULTZ: The e-mail sent to all House offices said to take go kits in
escape hoods. Where were you at? Were you all concerned what this might
have been more of a widespread attack?

CARTWRIGHT: Yes, I didn`t hear that. What we did, Congressman
Connolly and I jumped up immediately and we ran to the balcony edge. Right
to the railing and we looked to our southwest over toward, you`re familiar
with this, with the Rayburn House Office Building which is the southwest of
the southern edge of the Capitol building.

In fact, what we saw was Capitol policemen and women running toward
that area, running toward the danger and I don`t need to tell you Ed, these
are people who are not being paid right now. They were running toward the
danger between 12 and 20 of them that I saw it with my own eyes.

SCHULTZ: We know very little about the driver, the woman who was shot
by Capitol Police. There is a unified police briefing, numerous agencies
gathering at the top of the hour. We will cover that for you here on MSNBC
and we`ll get a full briefing from the police on exactly what happen, very
little information has come out to this point.

This is the second shooting, Congressman in Washington DC in less than
a month. Your thoughts on this. Do we need more resources? I mean I`ve
been in Washington many times there`s cops all over the place. And today
things seem to happen in a matter of seconds.

CARTWRIGHT: Well obviously the story is unfolding slowly. We`re
getting bits in pieces and watching your show tonight you can see that it
sounds like it was a troubled woman. And obviously the shooting 17 days
ago was a troubled gentleman.

We`re talking about people who are not entirely stable and who could
use psychological help. This is the time in this country when we should
not be cutting back on the psychological resources available to these
people. We should be beefing them up and not only for the general public
but in particular for veterans of our Armed Forces.

SCHULTZ: And of course, Congressman the backdrop of all of this is --
this incident today is the politics that is rather toxic right now in
Washington.

What happened today, of course the President met with Congressional
leadership last night obviously no deal. What happened today on the floor
and what do you think is going to happen in the coming days?

CARTWRIGHT: What we`ve been seeing for the past several days, Ed is a
series of attempts to start the funding of the government backup in a
piecemeal fashion.

SCHULTZ: Are you for that?

CARTWRIGHT: Absolutely not. Because what does that say? When you
started up, for example VA workers or Social Security workers, when you
started up for them what are you saying to kids and head start.

SCHULTZ: So were all the Democrats onboard in that position,
Congressman? There will be no piecemeal support coming from the Democrats?

CARTWRIGHT: Almost all Democrats onboard. You know, you always have
some Democrats in very difficult swing districts who may not join in. But
I would say out of the entire Democratic caucus of 201 members, I would say
about 185 are dependably against the idea that we can do anything piecemeal
and that anything other than an unconditional restart of the government is
acceptable.

SCHULTZ: All right. Congressman Matt Cartwright, thank you so much
for joining us on the Ed Show tonight and of course Congress going right
back to the floor sign of strength and resolve in Washington not to be
deterred from the work that they`re at least trying to complete.

You`re watching the Ed Show on MSNBC. We`ll have a lot more coming up
after this, stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. We`re following the Breaking
News at Washington DC at this hour, shortly after 2 p.m. today, a woman
attempted to breach security at the White House by ramming her vehicle into
a security barricade and was stopped by the Secret Service. The woman then
led police on a car chase that ended in a crash. The woman was shot and
killed by Capitol Police. An officer was injured in the crash. It`s also
reported that a child may have been in the car. Police say this was an
isolated incident and not terrorism.

Capitol Police are expected to give a briefing, a united briefing. At
the top of the hour, we`ll bring that to you live here on MSNBC. And two
sources have told NBC News that the woman was unarmed. This is new
information that we`re reporting. The woman was unarmed according to two
sources telling NBC News.

Stay with us, we`ll have the latest on the rest of today`s news coming
up after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Well, we`re back at it.
They`re all so happy together, aren`t they? The Republican inmates are
running the asylum that is the United States Capitol at this hour. Both
Democrats and Republicans are holding their ground on the shutdown. What
is going to give anything? It looks like the government shutdown is going
to be here for a while so get used to it. And Republicans, well, if you
listen to them, they couldn`t be happier.

Radical Republicans in the House have gotten their wish. The
government`s not working and they want the American people to know it`s not
working. And so are 800,000 federal workers who had been furloughed.
Safety and security issues are now at hand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID, MAJORITY LEADER, (D) NEW YORK: The 72 percent of
people working our intelligence agencies at home, watching TV, reading a
book, they`re not at work protecting us from the bad people around the
world and there`re lots of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So can we come to the conclusion that Republicans are
putting our security at risk in attempt to take away your health care? I
would say, that`s beyond disturbing. We all know Republicans, they can`t
stand government, they hate it. Government shutdown it looks like
Christmas to them. Christmas morning, yes, the Tea Party. Just take a
listen to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. She can`t get enough of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, (R) MINNESOTA: Now, the Conservatives, they
are going to work together to make sure that we can push back ObamaCare.
We`re really very energized today. We`re very strong. This is about the
happiest I`ve seen members in a long time because we see that we`re
starting to win this dialogue on a national level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: How can they be so happy that people aren`t getting jobs?
Michele Bachmann just attempted and admitted that Republicans are happy
about the shutdown, Republicans are happy 800,000 people are out of work
and critical factions of the government are not running. It is
unbelievable. I thought Michele Bachmann was a Christian?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BACHMANN: As people of faith, I`m a born again believer in Jesus
Christ and I believe that it`s part of my duty as a believer in Christ and
what He has done for me that we should do for the least of those who are in
our midst. That`s my personal belief and my personal conviction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, if Michele Bachmann is a Christian, she would be
really upset about the fact that 800,000 Americans are out of work. It`s
not just Bachmann, her partner in crime Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of
Tennessee thinks that "Americans, we`re going to be just fine."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN, (R) TENNESSEE: But states people are probably
going to realize they can live with a lot less government than what they
thought they needed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: One Tea Partier from Texas is taking it one step further.
Republican Congressman John Culberson said this, "It`s wonderful. We`re
100 percent united." I`m glad Culberson thinks that 800,000 Americans out
of work is just so damn wonderful. And now on the flip side of this,
obviously, the Democrats are pretty upset about the whole thing and they`re
upfront about it, about this government shutdown, it`s not their fault.
They`re not happy, and they don`t think this is wonderful at all. And
President Obama made that very clear today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Right now, hundreds of
thousands of Americans, hardworking Americans suddenly aren`t receiving
their paycheck. Right now, they`re worrying about missing the rent or
their mortgage or even making ends meet. Veterans, seniors, women, they`re
all worrying that the services they depend on will be disrupted too. This
isn`t happening because of some financial crisis. It`s happening because
of a reckless Republican shutdown in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: And that is the bottom line. The differences between the
Democrats and Republicans on the shutdown, very clear, Republicans are just
thrilled that this is all taking place and they can illustrate in the
American people that we really don`t need those 800,000 workers.

They`re happy that the Environmental Protection Agency is out of
business. They are happy that 800,000 federal workers aren`t getting to be
paid. They`re anti-government dream, well, it`s all come true.

Democrats are on the complete opposite side of all of this. They are
fuming mad about the Republican-caused shutdown. It is this crowd right
here. This is American conservative leadership, they hurt people, they
want people to have health insurance and they want, the 800,000 thousand
workers to come back, that`s the Democratic side of all this.

Joining me now is Jonathan Alter, MSNBC Contributor and author of "The
Center Holds". How does it feel? How does it make you feel when
Republicans say, Jonathan that they`re happy about the shutdown, I mean,
can we take at their word?

JONATHAN ALTER, POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah. They call it on Fox, they
call it a slim down not a shutdown. This is as you indicated, Ed this is
their, you know, their plan, their dream come true, that we can all live
without government in the 21st century, I don`t know who they think is
going to cure our diseases. A lot of this are on government, part of
government programs, government funded research, I don`t know who they
think is going to look out for the bad guys as Harry Reid indicated.

But at a deeper level, what is so troubling about this is that, they
don`t have regard for the rule of law, ObamaCare is a law.

SCHULTZ: They`re just .

ALTER: . not just proposal Ed, this is .

SCHULTZ: . not paying attention in any of that. It was like that --
It`s like a different world they`re living in, they don`t -- they`re
disconnected from reality, they`re trying to invent a new way to legislate,
but we just redo stuff over, we don`t fund things that they -- it`s
election rejection.

ALTER: It reminds me of the way things work in undemocratic
countries, that`s where what Harry Reid was right to call them Banana
Republicans. It`s like they`re politicians out of a Banana Republic who
don`t have respect for the basic way that we`ve done things in this country
for a very long time.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ALTER: Starting with John Boehner, not putting this bill on the floor
of the House. They don`t have a filibuster in the House. He really is
under an obligation to do as the President today .

SCHULTZ: Well .

ALTER: . to have an upper down vote, let people be counting, we live
in a democracy with majority rule. Let`s see what the majority is.

SCHULTZ: What is this obligation? Other than immoral obligation of
leadership, if he has any, I mean he is the guy, this is now down to one
person.

ALTER: Right, it`s about .

SCHULTZ: Yeah. There`s one person blocking this entire thing.
Everybody else is onboard, they`ve got Republicans, if there`re any
moderates left or at least a step to their census for a little and say
there`d be about 12 to 17 that would go ahead and vote for this a clean
bill, Boehner says, he`s not bringing it to the floor. What`s his
obligation?

ALTER: Well, I mean legally, he doesn`t -- his not under any
obligation.

SCHULTZ: Exactly.

ALTER: Except basic -- a basic sense of patriotism, you know, that
show respect for people who are serving this country, not everybody works
for the government is a lazy bureaucratic as the Republicans are led.
These folks are doing something for all of us, they`re not being paid,
they`re at home. Even though ones who`d go to work are, you know, not
getting a paycheck.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ALTER: So -- but -- you focus on Boehner, I think it`s important to
understand as we hear a lot about the Senate filibuster and .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ALTER: . instructions, that is nothing to do with this (inaudible)
Boehner.

SCHULTZ: No, no, no. It`s all this all by.

ALTER: . and what happened was this is the key history to understand.
In 1998, John Boehner was the 4th Ranking Member of the GOP leadership in
the House. He was dumped, he was booed at. And he lost his leadership
position. He spent 10 years clawing his way back to power. He was
humiliated, and he wants to avoid being humiliated again. And if he does
the right thing, he could very possibly be dumped as Speaker of the house
by the radical Republicans.

So he`s looking to save his own skin here. That`s what this is about.

SCHULTZ: All right. Jonathan Alter, thanks for joining tonight.

ALTER: Thanks Ed.

SCHULTZ: I appreciate it.

SCHULTZ: Next up. We`ll tell you want today`s trenders are. This is
the Ed Show on MSNBC. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders. The Ed Show social media nation
this is where you can connect with us. We appreciate that. You have
decided and we are reporting. Here are today`s top Trenders voted on by
you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am the legit queen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number three trender, cold blooded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here with (ph) I`m good friend ObamaCare.

I`m watching you. Is it absolutely really reasonable to have the
government run your health care?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alex Jones launches a slimy attack on ObamaCare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is unreasonable system being set up, it would
make Adolf Hitler, Henry Dama (ph), and Joe Stalin absolutely proud. Torch
America.

And they`ll do it as I say a reason (ph). Well, that concludes this
transmission.

UNIDENTIFIED MAL: The number two, trender, Warlord.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no way our Republican last much long, it
may not last through Obama`s second term.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Right Wing talker calls on God for an armed take
over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re headed for serious tyranny (ph) appeal to
the Lord, don`t let us be totally destroyed, please raise up those who will
save us. I believe our only hope is a military take over, Marshall Law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And deliver us from evil with your mighty sword
and falcon. Forever and ever and ever. Amen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And today`s top trender, getting served.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nearly a 100 World War II veterans made the trip
from Mississippi. They were greeted by this barricade set up by the
National Park Service.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not necessary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an upfront (ph) to all military members.

UNIDENTIFIED: What`s more, a senator was in the park service.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are the members of Congress hear them
saying, America doesn`t shutdown?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Republicans put a photo op in front of Veterans
Aid (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Republican National Committee has put aside
enough money to keep the World War II of memorial open for veterans and
visitors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: VA by the way has announced that they are
running out of money.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Benefits would stop with the government shutdown
and lasts at least a month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our nation is better, deserve better.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: And we`re joined tonight by MSNBC Contributor and former
Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy. Mr. Murphy good to have you back
with us.

PATRICK MURPHY, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks Ed.

SCHULTZ: We are at really at a critical point when it comes to
shutting down the government and how we`re going to hurt disabled veterans.

MURPHY: Yup.

SCHULTZ: Now the memorial obviously is very important, but the human
element to all of this is very real as time goes on. Now this stunt that
was played out today by RNC Chair Reince Priebus, here he is holding up a
check to fund the World War II Memorial, of course they love to privatize
everything. In the meantime, House Republicans were introducing a bill
that would have cut $6 billion from veterans affairs, go figure.

MURPHY: Yeah, yeah. It`s unbelievable the hypocrisy Ed, you know,
Reince Priebus, as you said, he was, "Look we have this check," how about
the check of the voucher (ph) laying off from the VA, how about the check
when the VA runs out of money and 3 million veterans will not get their
disability paychecks at the end of October? How about the fact that
everyday because they can`t pay overtime now because of the shutdown that
they`re going to be 1,000 veterans whose claims are going to backlog, 1,000
veterans per day. Where are those checks from Mr. Reince?

SCHULTZ: Well, you mentioned that about the VA running out of money
at the end of the month. What happens after that?

MURPHY: Well, hopefully, that will happen. Hopefully, they come to
their senses and realize that the American people were not with them. No
matter what their stunts are because, you know, Ed, it was really so
disingenuous, the folks respond for shutting down the government to show up
there for a photo op, and say we don`t shutdown our government at the --
they just shut it down themselves, I mean to use these World War II heroes
as political props is disgusting.

SCHULTZ: All right. Now, the disabled vets that are out there, I`m
told that most of them that`s there -- those are their living expenses.
They live on fixed incomes.

MURPHY: That`s right.

SCHULTZ: What`s the hardship ahead?

MURPHY: They can`t buy groceries. They can`t get their supplies if
they need, they maybe sometimes can`t pay their rent or their mortgage. I
mean to think about what`s going on right now, and that`s just our
veterans, how about the military personnel. You know my brother does
search and rescue right now in the Air Force. He`s on a title Air Force
based down in Florida, he`s a thousand miles away from his wife and five
daughters in New Mexico. He`s not sure -- he`s a nonessential employee
considered even though he`s a .

SCHULTZ: That means you`re going to get cut?

MURPHY: Right. And, you know, he does search and rescue, he saves
lives, 16,000, I mean it`s just .

SCHULTZ: OK. What about the backlog though? The VA has got backlog
at a historic number, I understand.

MURPHY: Right.

SCHULTZ: I mean, you`ve got posttraumatic stress disorder, you`ve got
war injuries from Iraq and Afghanistan, you`ve got a lot of mental issues
that these veterans need help. What`s going to happen to the backlog?

MURPHY: As you know, General Shinseki and President Obama have made
that backlog a priority. In the last six months, Ed they`ve cut that
backlog 33 percent and now because they`re shutting the government down,
it`s going to increase a thousand veterans per day, day after day after day
after day.

SCHULTZ: Which is going to cost more money in the long run?

MURPHY: Right. And Ed .

SCHULTZ: The President pointed that out today. There is no saving of
money with the shutdown.

MURPHY: Right, right. And I understand it`s not a sexy photo op for
Reince, but let me tell you something, it`s going to affect our veterans
lives.

SCHULTZ: Are you offended by Reince Priebus standing up there holding
a check?

MURPHY: I think it`s disgusting, and I`d love to tell to him to his
face, to be nice with you Ed, because he knows better, he knows better and
he still do this stunt even Michelle Bachmann.

SCHULTZ: How long will this shutdown last? Former Congressman you
have a sense of what`s going on there?

MURPHY: Yeah. I talk to my Republican colleague yesterday. They`re
not sure. Did they know that the endgame wasn`t good? They -- There`s
just trying to -- the honorable way out, exactly. I -- Hopefully sooner
rather than later because peoples` lives are stake.

SCHULTZ: All right. Former Congressman Pat Murphy, great to have you
with us tonight. Thank you.

MURPHY: Thanks Ed.

SCHULTZ: And thanks for standing on the veterans issues. I
appreciate it.

Will have another update from the nation`s capital with Michael
Isikoff and Clint Van Zandt after this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show we`re away to get a joint press
conference scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern when we`re expected to receive
updates from the United States Capitol Police, Metropolitan Police
Department and the US Secret Service. As we reported earlier two sources
have said the woman who hit a White House barricade triggering the police
chase on Pennsylvania Avenue did not have a gun. All shots fired in the
Capitol Hill shooting incident came from law enforcement not the woman in
the car.

Now, at this hour a home in Stamford, Connecticut believed to be that
of the driver is being search. You`re looking at shot outside of that home
in Stamford, Connecticut and there was also a robot in front of that
vehicle. For more on this we`re joined by NBC News investigative
journalist Michael Isikoff and also NBC analyst Clint Van Zandt, Clint the,
what is that tell you as they`re going in to search this believed to be her
home?

VAN ZANDT: It tells us they`re not taking any chances, Ed on the off
chance, is there any explosives, or anything else there they want to make
sure they`ve got every base covered. That`s one of the reasons to have the
robot and Ed there are reports now that this is a 34-year-old woman who
lived in that residence with significant past health mental issues.

So, as we discussed at the top of your show it may very likely be that
type of issue that drove her or allow her to drive to Washington for
reasons yet unknown.

SCHULTZ: Michael Isikoff the latest in your reporting what can you
tell us tonight?

MICHAEL ISIKOFF NBC NEWS INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Well we did --
we`re the first to report that she did not fire any shots, that it all came
from a law enforcement.

Now, that is going to raise some questions people`s minds were these
justifiable shootings, one law enforcement source I spoke to this evening
says, she was using the car as a weapon and so, therefore those shots were
justified.

Now, obviously there`s still a lot. We don`t know about precisely
what came down here, but as best we can make out is begin with our -- her
attempt to breach security at the White House 15th and E (ph) and he -- I`m
told she then backed out when she couldn`t get into those gates, and then
made her way down to the Capitol with the police chasing her.

I think the mental health issues if in fact she`s got them are going
to be front and center here because, you know, the big question everybody
asks right from the get go is was there some motivation here? Does it have
anything to do with the politics and what`s going on Capitol Hill right
now? If it is in fact something that can do what took place at the
Washington Navy Yard then that becomes something else entirely.

SCHULTZ: Michael what else can you tell us about the first contact
she had with authorities? I mean did it appear that she truly was trying
to get through the barricade? Or was it a mistake in a turn and not
knowing what to do in a panic? Give us some insight on that.

ISIKOFF: Right. We don`t know at this point. The reports from the
scene that we`ve seen is she did try to breach that gate at 15th and E (ph)
by the White House. It`s not exactly adjacent to the White House, because
of course Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House has been close
off since 9/11. But when -- then she couldn`t do it, so she then put the
car in reverse and then backed in and possibly hit another officer or
cruiser. It`s not clear yet. Nobody was injured at that point, but that
did provoke the chase.

So is there some scenario by which this was some sort of horrible
mistake on her part? We don`t know, but given the fact that she was
pursued for 12 blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue or at least from the White
House to the Capitol is suggested that she -- that there was -- she was
acting consciously at some point or it wasn`t just the wrong turn she made.

SCHULTZ: Clint Van Zandt give our audience tonight a sense of what
kind of investigation this is going to be internally for police that an
unarmed woman was shot.

ZANDT: Well, again I agree that even though she didn`t have a hand
gun or a riffle or a bomb in her car, she had a 2000 pound weapon that
obviously injured at least one police officer, could have injure others.

I think law enforcement is going to have to look at the number of
shots fired, who fired the shots, did they feel their life was threatened
or they did feel an immediate need to stop that vehicle?

But again Ed, this is a 34-year-old woman with mental health problems,
the exact same age as Aaron Alexis the shooter at the Navy Yard just 17
days before.

So mental health, should this be the case, one more time has played
into a terrible tragedy right in our nation`s capital.

SCHULTZ: And within an instant the security was all over were they
not, Michael, I mean today things unfolded quickly in Washington.

ISIKOFF: Right. And we reported earlier on some of those e-mails
that went out from the Capitol Police to all Capitol Hill staffers telling
them to stay inside their office, stay away from windows. I mean this was
a pretty unnerving situation for everybody on Capitol Hill at the time.

SCHULTZ: All right. Michael Isikoff, Clint Van Zandt, thank you for
joining us tonight.

And that is the Ed Show. I`m Ed Schultz politics nation starts now at
Reverend Allen Sharpton and of course the press conference coming up, a
joint press conference very close of that here at the top of the hour.
Rev?

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

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