THE ED SHOW
November 11, 2013
Guest: Jim McDermott, Shannon Watts, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Eric Boehlert,
Larry Cohen
ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans, and welcome to the Ed Show,
live from New York. Let`s get to work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARAH PALIN: They promised that they would do everything in their power to
fight against socialized medicine, against Obamacare.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She does for the GOP what Jar-Jar Binks did for "Star
Wars: Episode I." She distracts the easily amused.
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS: I am your father.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS: So that`s pretty delusional.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the Tea Party, over and over again, we`re hearing
the words no, defund, delay, repeal.
PALIN: Right on, absolutely.
(CROSSTALK)
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS: Because this gets to one of the key points.
JAY LENO: They describe you as aggressive, arrogant and abrasive.
Accurate?
CRUZ: I don`t know that you can believe everything you read.
I`m going to read it to you. Sam I am.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To quote Rush Limbaugh.
RUSH LIMBAUGH: It feels like we`ve lost a war to a communist country to
me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there will be another war over Obamacare.
ALEC GUINNESS: These aren`t the droids you`re looking for.
BILL O`REILLY, FOX NEWS: And the winner of that war will be the side that
tells the truth and states the facts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHULTZ: The winner of the war is going to be the person who tells the
truth. Say, Billo, you better tell that to your buddy at 10:00 at night
because he`s been lying better than anybody in the business when it comes
to health care of this country.
You know, last week on this program, I started the segment on this program
asking you who do you trust, who do you trust and when it comes to your
news and then I told the story about how when I was growing up. Walter
Cronkite said that my mom and dad holy smokes. That`s just the way it was.
And 60 minutes was kind of the same way. Boy, have -- times really change.
Question is, "Who do you trust when it comes to ObamaCare?" All the lies
and the misinformation have now infiltrated the Sunday talking heads.
That`s right on Sunday Fox News took their misinformation campaign to the
next level with their signature Sunday talk show, Fox News Sunday. Heck
Kennedy could`ve been anchoring it.
Chris Wallace interviewed two business guys, two businessmen who recently
got cancellation notices on their health insurance. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS SUNDAY HOST: Stephen Curry joins us from Chicago.
Cade Joiner is in Atlanta. They`re both businessman who have lost their
health care plans.
STEPHEN CURRY, LOSING HEALTH PLAN: My out of pocket for my family is $3500
and then everything else is paid at 100 percent. The closest thing I could
find that`s comparable as they say was a $12,000 out of pocket for my
family. So there`s a huge difference in there and I looked through all the
different plans.
CADE JOINER, LOSING HEALTH PLAN: I thought I had my policy in effect for
every three and a half years and receive the letter in the mail stating
that it was going to be canceled. I called around and found out that same
policy would cause me almost $500 a month. And I just found out that non-
acceptable. I`m a small business owner, I have 8 employees, I have to make
a payroll every week and that sort of increase is just hard to manage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Now, let me give you the entire story. These two guys, they have
clear agendas. Let`s take the guy on the left.
We have here now Stephen Curry. He is a Certified Financial Planner. Good
for him. But hidden at the bottom of his bio on his company website is the
real reason he appeared on Fox News Sunday.
It reads "As an undergrad, Steve spent a great deal of time studying the
alternatives of universal health care."
Really, you mean he`s not a fan? Curry isn`t exactly what you would call a
fair and balanced guest.
Then you got this other dude over on the right, turns out that Cade Joiner,
well, he used to be the Chairman of the Georgia College Republican Party.
How about that? That makes, I guess, you could say two fair and balanced
guests to talk about ObamaCare, question mark?
Steve Curry and Cade Joiner are Republicans with agendas who have always
hated the Democrats and ObamaCare from day one. This type of reporting is
far for the course for Fox News. I just want to make sure we all know it`s
either on the Sunday Show or it`s supposed to be all journalism.
Few weeks ago, Sean Hannity interviewed five people. Count them, five
people with real stories about ObamaCare causing them tremendous harm.
Salon.com did some actual reporting on the real stories and it turns out
ObamaCare would`ve saved these people thousands of dollars if they enrolled
in ObamaCare. The guest with the uninsured child due to a preexisting
condition would receive coverage at a lower cost. Then of course, we have
the kids on the curvy couch. Their lies and misinformation takes the cake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a special guest with us here. She is
actually -- her breast cancer`s in remission.
DR. KRIS HELD, BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fantastic news but you say this -- if you were
diagnosed a year from now, your story might be different based on the care
that is going to be provided by ObamaCare, correct?
HELD: Well, they really worked well. ObamaCare takes a disproportionate
hit on cancer patients.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Really? Saying ObamaCare could have killed a cancer patient is a
scare tactic. It`s dangerous and it`s flat out wrong.
ObamaCare ends cancer being a preexisting condition. It also provides free
preventive care including annual mammograms and the lies are just
absolutely endless on Fox News.
Meanwhile, here on the Ed Show, of course, we brought you stories of people
who ObamaCare will impact in a very positive way, which, of course, we
don`t see too much of in the media.
These people don`t have political agendas. They just got some real health
issues. They are real people with real stories who need help. Twenty-five
year old lymphoma survivor, Dan Seco told me ObamaCare will be a life
changer for him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: So now, with ObamaCare getting in, what are you going to be able
to do?
DAN SECO, FOUGHT CANCER WITH NO INSURANCE: Well, I`m going to be able to
get health insurance with my preexisting condition.
SCHULTZ: And, is that a life changer for you?
SECO: Oh, absolutely answer to that question.
SCHULTZ: I mean it takes the pressure off?
SECO: There`s a pressure up me and everyone else and I mean, it gives me a
second chance at life. I get the health care that I need to get better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Real basic stuff. He`s in. He`s covered. I also spoke with
Stacie Ritter. She is the mother of twin girls who were diagnosed with
cancer. Stacie told me without ObamaCare, her daughters would be in real
trouble.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STACIE RITTER: My identical twin girls are cancer survivors. They had
bone marrow transplant from they were four years old and it required a lot
of expensive medical treatment. It`s very expensive. We cut now our
coverage and we file bankruptcy. Had these provisions been in placed that
wouldn`t have to happen. Now that we`re protected from that, my girls can
no longer be discriminated against for having a preexisting condition.
Thanks to ObamaCare. My daughters have access to preventative care that
they need as cancer survivors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: And finally, I spoke to one of Congressman Elijah Cummings`
constituents, Aqualyn Laury. She told me ObamaCare would have her
protected from this greedy insurance companies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AQUALYN LAURY, HELPED BY OBAMACARE: I started my business. I got sick and
I was not on a corporate plan anymore and my insurance company dropped me
after I`ve been ill, $50,000 of bills later within my source here business.
I was speechless. I didn`t know what else to do. It was extremely
difficult for me. I wish ObamaCare and/or the Affordable Care Act actually
have been there for me because the insurance wouldn`t have had the
opportunity to do that kind of thing to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Now, I think Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday should get our
three examples and put them on the Sunday show. Of course it`s positive
news that these people are being helped. The facts are very clear.
ObamaCare has saved lives and provides higher quality health care for all
Americans. Higher quality health care for all Americans, your policy has
to have standards.
You can hear from real Americans here on the Ed Show or you can listen to
the Republican operatives over on Fox News. All of the folks that we have
put on this program are just average Americans who have got some health
issues and now they`re just getting a heck of a lot better. They`re being
given a fighting chance now that there is ObamaCare.
I want to talk about President Obama`s interview with Chuck Todd last
Thursday where it was reported in the media that the President has
apologized to all of those people out there who are losing their insurance.
Really? He`s apologizing? That`s kind of not how I saw the interview.
The way I saw the interview is the President was apologizing for the
inconvenience that people are having to go through to actually go to a
policy where they`re going to get some real coverage. The apology should
be coming from the conservatives.
The conservatives should be apologizing for having no plan and no option
for any other people that you`ve just seen illustrated on this program and
they should be apologizing to the 50 million Americans who have been
without insurance because, damn it, they`ve been sick. The Republicans
continue their ruthless tactics of lying about ObamaCare and they are so
strong and so influential, they have even infiltrated the Sunday Talk
Shows. You know what you get on Sunday Talk Shows now? A bunch of
conservative crap. You get the truth here on the Ed Show with people who
are out on the workplace telling their stories about what is happening to
ObamaCare.
I challenge one of the Sunday shows, go to Frankfort, Kentucky and find out
just how the heck is working out. Go there on the ground, talk to the
people, see what`s happening across America. Now, a warning again, this
would be a positive story.
Get your cellphones out. I want know what you think tonight`s question.
Can you trust Fox News Sunday to report the truth on ObamaCare? 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 this show.
Now, full disclosure, the very first show I ever did on MSNBC was about
health care. And I pulled out my health care policy because rates are
going up. Let`s see, that was 2009. We have had eight years of Bush
Administration where rates were going up, 10, 12, 15, 18 percent. So that
was the first show I ever did on this network. I pulled out my policy and
showed exactly what we were be in chargedand where these rates were going.
I`m going to do that again. And I`m going to lay out what we have paid for
health insurance and I want to warn you that it is a cadillac plan or as we
do have residency in Minnesota and also in New York City, I can go to any
hospital I want to.
When my wife got cancer, we could go to any hospital we want to. We pay
for and I`m going to be touched on that. Good. Bring it on. Because I
believe that the 50 million people in this country who don`t have health
insurance should have it, and a bunch of wealthy guys need to pay a little
bit more too damn bad.
Let`s talk about all the people who are being deprived by the conservatives
for a moment. For more, let`s bring in Congressman Jim McDermott of
Washington. Congressman, good to have you with us tonight I was
captivated. A little over a week ago in your House hearing about all of
the states that have decided not to set up an exchange and all of the
residence across American in the states who are being deprived of an
opportunity to get coverage. Congressman, good to have you with us
tonight.
REP. JIM MCDERMOTT (D) WASHINGTON: It`s good to be here, Ed.
SCHULTZ: You know, we played some of the clips. It`s a war. The
conservatives are saying that this is a war. Is it a war? Is this the
ideological pinnacle of a fight at America, this ObamaCare?
MCDERMOTT: This is the furthest that we`ve gotten in developing a social
safety net for Americans. We have unemployment insurance. We have Social
Security, we have welfare programs of people who don`t have money, and now,
we`re going to get a health care system for everybody, we`ve had one for
senior citizens and for children. And the Republican establishment, the
Tea Party people are bound and determined to drive us back. And they are
starting with health care and they`re trying Social Security and they`re
trying on Medicare, they simply do not want Americans to have a safety net
of security. They want to have always to be anxious so they`ll be glad to
work and keep working for minimum wage jobs and they will never have to pay
many pension or anything else. That`s the whole goal of this operation.
ObamaCare is just one piece of it, it`s the most prominent piece of it.
SCHULTZ: And Congressman, there`ll be a lot anywhere, anytime, any place,
anyhow, are the Democrats going to have to devote their time to debunking
these lies? I mean, this kind of takes you off the trail of actually
trying to help people with good government in this country. Your thoughts
on that.
MCDERMOTT: Well Ed, it really does. It`s very difficult what all you`re
doing is dealing with Fox News. I was laughing as I was listening to you.
I don`t know. The people can`t tell the difference during Fox News and the
insurance companies. They`re both telling lies about what`s happening.
The President did not take health insurance away from them, said you could
keep it if the insurance companies kept the program the same, but the
insurance companies want to make more money. So they cancel the policies,
raise the prices, give a few whistles and bells, and say this is what we
now have. It is all fabricated to destroy the safety net.
SCHULTZ: Last week, as I reference in interview that Chuck Todd had to sit
down with the President of the United States and he apologized. It was
spun in the media that he was apologizing for ObamaCare. I took it as him
apologizing for the inconvenience of people who are having to go through to
actually have their policies upgraded. People are getting cancellation
notices because they`ve got lousy policies and because they don`t deliver
the mail for people, so to speak, when it comes to good health care
coverage in America. How frustrating is it for you who`ve been on the
ground floor of this revolutionary type legislation that`s going to save
American lives to listen to the spin that is out there when you know it`s a
lie.
MCDERMOTT: You know, and one of the problems here is that the insurance
companies have not only had to upgrade the bad policies but they have
canceled the good policies they had in the individual market and they left
a lot of people in the individual market in worst sort of shape than they
were before. They have used this as an opening to drive a mech truck
through it and have really destroy the individual market again. We`re
going to be faced with this problem as we put this thing together because
the insurance companies want as much money out of a stone as they can get.
They`re squeezing it as hard as they can and the middle class is paying the
price. It is really reprehensible what they have done in this period as
we`ve rolled into the enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act.
SCHULTZ: Do you agree with the blanket statement that those states that
have taken on the exchanges aren`t experiencing anywhere near the problems
that the federal exchange is saying.
MCDERMOTT: I think that`s absolutely correct. It`s very easy to see
California, Washington, Oregon, Kentucky, New York, Connecticut, places
where you had a democratic governor and a legislature that was democratic
or was willing to face the facts have taken the needs of the people
seriously and then put together a program. In Washington State, we`ve had
a few bumps in the road. I won`t say it`s perfect.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
MCDERMOTT: But I would say that we`ve got way less problems than they`ve
got in Tennessee, in Alabama, and all these places where the governments
have just -- the governors just put their head in the sand and the
legislators who stood right next to them and junk (ph) and drag their hole
and put their head in the sand. They will not face the fact. They say,
let the federal government do it.
But, when you do it all from Washington DC it`s not as good as what`s it`s
crafted by people who know the local scene and know the local situation.
Our governor, and our legislature have been working on this for a couple of
years, and they were ready to go and we got thousands of people who are
already enrolled.
SCHULTZ: And this is what the conservatives wanted, they want local
control. Now they`re the obstructionist. Congressman Jim McDermott,
Washington, good to have you with us tonight. Sir, thank you so much.
Remember to answer tonight`s questions there at the bottom of the screen,
share your thoughts with us on Twitter at Ed Show and on Facebook. We love
to hear from you, coming up, Governor Chris Christie, New Jersey makes the
rounds on the Sunday morning circuit and makes an unconvincing claim about
his goals plus Senator Mike Lee makes his eye Iowa debut and says something
the Republicans just don`t want to hear. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders, social media nation. This is where
you can find us facebook.com/edshow, twitter.com/edshow and ed.msnbc.com
and on the radio SiriusXM Channel 127, Monday to Friday, noon to 3:00 p.m.
and oh look out, we`ve got a big announcement coming up pretty soon. The
Ed Tour 2014, bump for it.
The Ed Show social media nation has decided and we are reporting. Here are
today`s top Trenders voted on by you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris Christie, the Governor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On our number three Trender, Gov love.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The governor may have his sight set on higher
offense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you play in places Iowa and South Carolina.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, we`ve got a situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor how interested are you in running for
president in 2016?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris Christie hit the Sunday shows and skips the 2016
talk.
CHRIS CHRISTIE, REPRESENTATIVE OF NEW JERSEY: What I`m interested in doing
is being the governor of New Jersey.
I`m the governor of New Jersey. What I`m focused on is doing my job in the
state of New Jersey.
I`m the governor of New Jersey.
I`m the governor of New Jersey and my job is to run the state of New
Jersey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number two Trender, no doubt.
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: Mike Lee, I am your father.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lee called for a conservative evolution toward pushing
conservative ideas and not just saying no to everything.
SEN. MIKE LEE, (R) UTAH: We must become the party of Main Street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Mike Lee moves away from the GOP just say no
politics.
LEE: It is every bit is important to identify those things that we`re for.
The poll unapologetic, unqualified repeal of ObamaCare.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.
LEE: We will continue to say no to those policies that we oppose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not in my heart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And today`s top Trender, bully.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gun control is a controversial topic nationwide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The second amendment says we shall not be infringed and
in Texas we take that seriously.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Texas gun lovers use intimidation to scare gun control
supporter.
SHANNON WATTS, FOUNDER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA: We
have got to have stronger gun control laws in this country. There is no
reason to wait. As a mom I demand action.
SCHULTZ: Joining me now is Shannon Watts founder of Moms Demand Action for
Gun Sense in America.
Shannon great to have with us tonight. I appreciate your time. I want you
to explain what intimidation your members are going through and what it is
like being a member of this new organization that want some sensible gun
legislation in this country. What happened?
WATTS: Saturday our moms met for lunch, four unarmed moms, peacefully
gathering and exercising their right to assemble and they all of a sudden
looked at the windows and 40 armed people showed up, pulling long guns out
of the backs of their trucks and in their trucks.
So, you know, they were threatening our moms and they were bullying our
moms and they were using guns to do so. And we see this all around the
country. This is just one example of it happening.
SCHULTZ: Who are these people?
WATTS: It`s a good question. I mean these are people who don`t respect
the law. They don`t respect their fellow citizens. They don`t respect law
enforcement. And they think they are the final arbiters of what is
constitutional.
SCHULTZ: So, four moms who are member of this organization show up for
coffee and these guys just show up? I mean was this coffee meeting
announced in the media or was there a press release put out that you`re
going to be -- what happened here?
WATTS: No, this was a private meeting that they discussed on Facebook and
a member of Open Carry Texas pretended to be a member of our organization,
so they could find out where and when we were meeting.
And our moms look out the window and suddenly all of these people were
standing outside and they were armed and it was because of our moms. And,
you know, same people intimidate you with guns. I mean that`s something
the Taliban would approve of. Not our founding fathers. That is not what
the second amendment is intended to do.
SCHULTZ: So, I don`t want to misuse the term here, but my instinct tells
me that these people are trying to disband your organization. I mean they
don`t want you to have meetings anymore. How else do we interpret that?
WATTS: Absolutely. You know, we are not anti-gun. We`re not against the
second amendment. We support people who want to follow the second
amendment. But it needs to be more regulated that`s clear and the out of
the control gun violence epidemic we have in this country.
And Open Carry Texas and other gun advocates who think that they are the
final arbiter of the Constitution they don`t even want us to have those
discussions. They don`t want us to talk about how we can protect the eight
children and teens who are shot and killed in this country everyday.
And I`m telling you, you know, I have five children so I`m familiar with
temper tantrums and this does not faze us. This is not going to stop our
conservations. This has to happen and change will come and it`s
unfortunate that they feel they need to use guns to try to intimate and
bully.
SCHULTZ: Well, now that you know that they follow you on Facebook, there
are I think some viewers out there that might view this is a form of
stalking.
So, your thoughts on that? I mean are these people stalking your members?
WATTS: I think that that`s an interesting question. You know, the police
did not arrest them. The police are called. They were following Texas
law. But I can tell you as a number of this organization I get death
threats and threats of sexual violence against myself and my daughters on a
daily basis.
And, you know, this is an under bill of America that all citizen should
understand is out there and that they do not want any kind of regulation of
the second amendment whatsoever.
SCHULTZ: Yeah. I think the word intent comes into play here. What is
their intention? Their intent must be to intimidate, send a message. Now,
they were also kind of making fun of the four women and of course we --
these ladies don`t want to talk on camera. They are intimidated. They`re
afraid of where this could go and what does that this going to do to your
organization.
WATTS: You know, I can`t tell you that a lot of us just feel strongly that
regardless of what is said and what is done, we`re going to fight this.
It`s endearing -- many women is that .
SCHULTZ: How are you going to fight it? How are you going to fight it?
WATTS: We`re going to fight it with our words. I mean, there are three
ways to go after this. Through Congress, our state legislatures, and
corporate business policies and we`ve won.
You know, Starbucks changed their business policy. We had many states pass
fantastic new strong gone legislation. We believe, we can get a Congress
to act on this when we get the right Congress in place. We are a growing
grassroots movement of over 100,000 members and that`s how we`re going to
get it done. We`re going to have to, you know, fight their bullying and
intimidation. This has happened throughout history and moms have been on
the front lines and we`re going to do it again regardless of what they do.
SCHULTZ: Shannon Watts, have you ever been an activist before or is this
is really your first project. I`m curious.
WATTS: Never in my entire life. I became an accidental activist on
December 15th, 2012 after Sandy Hook, the day after and I will never go
back until I know all five of my children and the rest of America are safe
from gun violence.
SCHULTZ: All right, Shannon Watts, I appreciate your time to night.
Thanks for telling the story. I appreciate it so much, we`ll do it again.
WATTS: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, 60 Minutes makes a non-apology apology for fueling the
-- and I mean, fueling the Right Wing noise machine. Plus Sarah Palin`s
self-promotion turns politically incorrect at Iowa`s Faith and Freedom
Coalition.
But next a special tribute on this Veteran`s Day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: On this Veteran`s Day, we want to give a special tribute to the
four surviving members of the Doolittle Raiders. On April 18th, 1942, in
response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 80 men in B25 Bombers took
off from an aircraft carrier in the Pacific on a secret mission to bomb
Japan. James Jimmy Doolittle was the leader. The group became known as
the Doolittle Raiders.
This weekend, three of the four surviving raiders met for what is believed
to be their final toast of cognac to their comrades at the National Museum
of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DAVID THATCHER, STAFF SARGEANT.: It`s really surprising that the public
could remember a raid like that so many years ago because it was just part
of the war effort.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: The Doolittle Raiders have kept this tradition for more than 50
years. The raid is seen as a turning point in the war and boosted the low
morale of America and forced the Japanese to reevaluate their strategy.
The Ed Show would like to show gratitude today for all the brave men and
women -- who have served this country.
SEEMA MODY, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Seema Mody with your CNBC Market Wrap.
The Dow hit a new record high of 21 points, the S and P 500 gained one, and
the NASDAQ added their share (ph) of 1 point.
Oil price has jumped $0.54 cents to just about $95 a barrel this after
talks with Iran over its nuclear program failed. Gas prices hit their
lowest in nearly three years. AAA says the average price of regular is
down $0.15 from a month ago to $3.19 a gallon.
And Amazon has partnered with the US Postal Service to deliver online
orders on Sundays. That`s it from CNBC, first in business worldwide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARA LOGAN, 60 MINUTES CORRESPONDENT: On Thursday night when we discovered
the account he gave the FBI was different than what he told is we realized
we have been misled and it was a mistake to include him in our report. For
that we are very sorry. The most important thing to every person at 60
Minutes is the truth, and the truth is we made a mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Big time. Welcome back to the Ed Show. 60 Minutes,
correspondent Lara Logan finally apologized on Sunday for an October 27th
report which featured a false witness account of the Benghazi terrorist
attack, but a 90-second apology buried at the end of the broadcast won`t
undo the actual damage already caused by the false report.
According to Media Matters on October 28th, "Fox News devoted more than 47
minutes over the course of the 13 segments on 11 different shows to the
flawed CBS news report."
Even Republican lawmakers use it to push their Benghazi scandal narrative.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 14 months into this, after the 60 Minute story, how can
I indeed conscious go back to South Carolina, talk with the families and
tell them, you`ve been told all there is to know about Benghazi when we
never been able to talk to the people who live through the attack itself,
how can I explain to the people in my home saving throughout the country
that the story they told us about Benghazi scandal holds water after the 60
Minute story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, it should be a hell of a lot easier now, Senator. Back in
2004 the conservatives wouldn`t stand for questionable sources because it
threatened one of their own. That year a 60 Minutes 2 report claim to have
documents that proved President George W. Bush received preferential
treatment during his Vietnam era service in the Texas Air National Guard,
those documents were called into question, CBS Evening News anchor Dan
Rather was made into scapegoat and eventually stepped down.
Three news executives and one producer were also fired, my question is,
where is the conservative outrage now? Because Benghazi has been the focal
point of conservative senators to bring down this President and also ruin
the reputation of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This has been the
focal point of what they have tried to do and now that we have a vetted
story for disclosure, "Oh, the guy was a fraud, we`re sorry." Every price
should`ve put him on. How about doing some checking or if they fired all
the interns over there?
Joining me now is our Rapid Response Panel Katrina Vanden Heuvel of The
Nation Magazine, and Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow of Media Matters for
America.
Journalistic justice, Katrina has it been done?
KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL, THE NATION MAGAZINE: No, it hasn`t been done. We
saw on a pathetically inadequate apology the other evening and we`re
witnessing egregious double standard in terms of handling this. I mean, do
conservatives have an egregious double standard toward truth? Does truth
have a reality, have a liberal bias? In this case the bashing of "liberal
bias makes no sense at all" Ed, what does makes sense is that an
independent review is needed.
If there wasn`t independent review as there was in 2004 for a story that
Dan Rather was part of -- which by the way the commission later said that
they couldn`t decide if these documents were forged. There was no partisan
consideration on the part of CBS then, but we need an independent
investigation because let`s face it, the media is on trial here too. I
mean, people have a right to their opinions, but not to their own facts and
they -- CBS put an impostor to the truth on television and I`m not bearing
responsibility for it.
SCHULTZ: Impostor is the correct word. Eric your take on this.
ERIC BOEHLERT, MEDIA MATTERS: Yeah, if you look at the National Guard with
CBS they are so spooked by the conservative attack, it was the Right Wing
media, it was the Bush campaign, it was the RNC, they were under the gun.
Appointed a special independent review they took three months, interviewed
66 people, issued a 220 paid report, as you said four employees fired, Dan
Rather demoted 60 Minutes to cancel, and for Benghazi we get a 90-second
correction? That is such a blatant standard.
If CBS wants to get to the bottom of this they need to do outside review,
any kind of review. There`s no indication, they`re interested in how did
they spend a year on a story that turned into a colossal embarrassment.
How the guy get on the air?
VANDEN HEUVEL: It`s a crisis, I mean it`s -- its like journalism 101
failure. I mean you -- did anyone check with the FBI? They spend a year
on it. And by the way the other egregious double standard is Dan Rather
basically came on to anchor the report, he wasn`t deeply involved in the
reporting of it. I think one of the things we have to remember is CBS is a
major corporation, Ed. It has regulatory work to be done, in Washington it
needs favors to be done. And there, you know, the CBS 60 Minutes is a cash
cow for them.
CBS 60 Minutes 2 was not at the time and I think there was a clear effort
to get rid of Dan Rather, by the way, I would just say, I think it`s very
shameful that CBS has decided to exclude Dan Rather from it`s 50th
anniversary Kennedy coverage 44 years of a life with a network and that the
vindictiveness should be not deployed on Dan Rather but should be aimed not
vindictiveness, but the search for truth -- do we need a lap dog (ph) media
in this country or do we need a watchdog media?
SCHULTZ: The political implications of this erroneous report reflecting on
the President .
BOEHLERT: Right.
SCHULTZ: . and then being picked up by the network that wants to see him
fail and senators who want to see him fail. I mean the damage is done in
many respects.
BOEHLERT: Yeah, absolutely, I mean, you know, and Lindsey Graham can say
even 60 Minutes, you know, when Republican senators were saying, well, even
CBS news agrees, you know, that the Benghazi, there`s been a cover up or
things like that.
This was a clear attempt to legitimize that story for CBS to play into that
Right Wing noise machine. They got a booster ratings, all the Right Wing
media talk about as the next day, and now, they have a colossal
embarrassment and they refused to get to though bottom of it. The way they
got to the bottom of the national (inaudible).
VANDEN HEUVEL: And also possibly, if there wasn`t independent review. It
may emerge that their -- CBS`s imprint, the Simon & Schuster conservative
imprint threshold run by former trainee adviser Mary Matalin, may have
said, "Hey, I have someone who has a great book," and there was a
commitment perhaps, and this is what an independent .
SCHULTZ: That`s right.
VANDEN HEUVEL: . investigation would reveal and with that agreement made,
in essence pain someone to go on 60 Minutes which is a violation of news
shows, they won`t do that, but these things need to be explored because
again, these companies today are not just news organizations, they have
vast operations and this imprint is a measure of a corporate self-interest
dealing.
SCHULTZ: Well .
VANDEN HEUVEL: Conflict of interest.
BOEHLERT: I know the conflict of interest that CBS did not disclose in the
original report.
SCHULTZ: Another element here, Hillary Clinton.
BOEHLERT: Oh yeah.
SCHULTZ: I mean she has always been a political target back in service,
had she had not been Secretary of State, would they have gone that far? I
mean, it looks to me like this guy was a total plot in the story and people
around him knew that this was happening. I mean that`s what it looks like.
VANDEN HEUVEL: But Ed, you know, there is a rule for real national
security reporting. This was not it by any measure.
SCHULTZ: Right.
VANDEN HEUVEL: And in the absence of watch dog accountability national
security journalism, you get, this kind of lap dog stuff and by the way, to
end this up, will you start relying on whistleblowers .
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
VANDEN HEUVEL: . and resource for the news you need.
SCHULTZ: Yeah. Yeah. Well, is this is going to put an end to the
Benghazi witch hunt?
BOEHLERT: I think no, for the Right Wing media, this will -- you`d say,
because it`s tied to Hillary Clinton if she runs for president 2016, all of
that is going to be played out. The question is will sort of the
mainstream media in the legitimate media, stop trying to sort to dip their
toes into the conspiracy waters which is exactly what CBS was trying to do
and will they deal with it what it is which is, the sort of Right Wing
rhetoric.
SCHULTZ: And what`s the restitution at this point?
VANDEN HEUVEL: Oh, I think an independent investigation and I think the
media as a whole put aside left and right, this is about the integrity of
the media, and I think there need to be a campaign to push, not just, you
know, CBS becomes the model right now to have an independent investigation
.
SCHULTZ: OK.
VANDEN HEUVEL: . for the sake of journalism.
SCHULTZ: Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Eric Boehlert, great to have you with us
tonight, I appreciate your time.
Coming up, a trade agreement being work on in secret poses a major threat
for labor and veterans in this country, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight, optional reality Sarah Palin, Sarah
barracuda. Spoke at Iowa`s Faith and Freedom Coalition. She didn`t need
to write on her hand this time but she did try to rewrite how our national
debt works.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, (R) FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: Our free stuff today has been
paid for by taking money from our children and borrowing from China. When
that note comes due -- and this isn`t racist so yes, you can try it and try
it anyway. This is not racist but it`s going to be like slavery when that
note is due, right? We`re going to be beholding to a foreign master.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Palin has never been shy about using slavery analogies with our
first African-American president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: He is bringing us back, Sean (ph), to days that -- you can harken
back to days before the civil war when unfortunately, too many Americans
mistakenly believed that not all men were created equal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: No, Palin isn`t racist. She would never dream of exploiting our
nation`s troubled history with race to back up her warped agenda and wrong
facts. Palin isn`t trying to make sense. She`s trying to make a profit.
If Sarah Palin thinks she can pass racially charged inaccuracies as
anything with self-promotion, she can 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. And on this Veterans Day I thought that we would
do this story tonight because the veterans are out there protecting America
and what kind of job market are they coming home to? We honor our vets.
Do we really?
A trade deal being negotiated behind closed doors will have major negative
impacts on wage earners and veterans in this country. The Trans-Pacific
Partnership or TPP is aimed at establishing a free trade blocks stretching
from Vietnam to South Korea, it would cover about 1/3 of the world trade in
nearly 40 percent of the global economy. Got your attention yet?
The TPP is about making rules to favor big business at the expense of wage
earners and the rest of the population or the countries. The pact has been
deliberately negotiated by multinationals in secret and Vietnam is a major
focus. Manufacturing jobs are already moving from China to Vietnam because
big multinational corporations are looking for places with lower wages and
fewer environmental regulations. They don`t know what regulations are in
Vietnam.
The TPP will devastate service and manufacturing jobs in the United States
since NAFTA passed 1994 President Clinton, Bush, and now President Obama
have all said US exports will grow, but an estimated 5 million
manufacturing jobs have been lost and over 60,000 factories have been
closed. It doesn`t add up instead of prioritizing US workers rights living
standards, wages, and environmental standards as a whole big corporations
are asking Congress, "Give us the stamp of approval on the TPP." We`re
being forced to choose between cutting pay or exporting our jobs on lower
waged nations.
The standard of living in America will go down if this big trade deal goes
through. I just thought I`d mentioned it to the Democrats if they`re
paying attention to this. Democrats in Congress need to tell the President
they oppose the TPP. I don`t know how the Democrats can go home and say
that they are for the middle class and they`re for the workers, and they`re
for working families, and then give a stamp of approval on something like
this.
These cuts to the guts and the heart and soul of our economy, we will never
rebuild the middle class in this country if we rubber stamp deals like
this.
Larry Cohen, President of the Communication Workers of America joins me
tonight, Mr. Cohen great to have you with us.
Why this angle about veterans. How does this really apply to veterans in a
big way when they comeback and want a psycho back into the economy after
serving the country.
LARRY COHEN, PRESIDENT COMMUNICATION WORKERS OF AMERICA: Well, first of
all, the unemployment rate for recent veterans those who served since 2001
is 50 percent higher than the population as a whole, and it`s over 10
percent. Secondly, you know, the question is, when it comes to food stamps
or health care or anything else, do we really care about veterans or do we
just give him free tickets to ball games.
So this is about really squaring up, where is our commitment to our economy
to working class families which is where most veterans come from including
the majority of our members and what we`re really doing versus what we`re
saying.
So we say one thing, veterans come first, we do another. As we cut the
standard of living, ship out service sector, IT and manufacturing jobs by
the tenths of thousands every month.
SCHULTZ: What would you say to an elected official who advocates
supporting the middle class, and then would give a stamp of approval on the
TPP?
COHEN: I`d say that they`re talking at the both sides of their mouth
frankly, and I`m glad report though that more than 150 Democrats in the
House have signed a letter to the President saying, we don`t support TPP in
this form and not seeing it and we don`t support fast track which means
that we`ll never really going to look at this and we can never really
change it.
So I applaud them and there`s also Republicans with their own letter, I
don`t know the count on that one. And we say to the White House, and this
President, we need to go back to where you where in 2007-2008 on that
campaign trail and let`s see trade agreements that put worker`s rights,
environmental rights, food safety first and not the profits of
multinational corporations who what they`re supposed to do. They maximized
profits for their shareholders. We need to do what we`re supposed to do.
Look out for the American people and fight for trade policy, not just
foreign policy. That`s the other element here.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Cohen.
COHEN: Foreign policy versus trade policy.
SCHULTZ: Yeah. There`s a trip coming up, the Vice President Joe Biden who
has been a real friend of labor. His entire career he`s going over to Asia
to push this trade deal. Your thoughts on that, what would you say to him?
COHEN: I`d say to him, Mr. Vice President, we agree on many things but we
couldn`t disagree more on this one. Please don`t keep telling us about
exports and not measure imports. Since the Korea Trade Agreement was
passed only two years ago, two years, the deficit with Korea has doubled.
In the last 20 years, our trade deficit is up almost 500 percent.
These deals are not working for America, they don`t work for working
families, and we will fight these deals as hard as it takes and as long as
it takes.
SCHULTZ: So the big corporations re the only ones who are going to benefit
from this pact?
COHEN: Yes. And they benefited from everyone of them because as they say
to their shareholders, we make our profits anywhere in the world we can,
and then we keep those profits right now overseas, we don`t bring them back
and we don`t invest them in this country. We are way off the mark here and
we need to correct this, we need to stand up, and say to lawmakers
regardless of their party. We`ve had enough of these trade deals, we are
fighting back.
SCHULTZ: Now between the end of the year is the critical time, is it not
Mr. Cohen?
COHEN: Yes, fast track is the key. We have to change fast track. So the
Administration does not get a blank check and up or down vote. That will
happen in the next few months.
SCHULTZ: OK. Larry Cohen, President of Communication Workers of America,
good to have you with us tonight.
COHEN: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: This affects every wage earner in this country. I hope
politicians are paying attention to it, the lawmakers need to.
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.
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The Ed Show for Monday,November 11th, 2013
Read the transcript to the Monday show