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The Ed Show for Monday, January 20th, 2014

Read the transcript to the Monday show

THE ED SHOW
January 20, 2014

Guests: Gordon Johnson, Linda Greenstein, Annette Taddeo, Mitch Ceasar, Diane Ravitch, Angela Rye

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DAWN ZIMMER, (D) HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY: The fact is that, you
know, lieutenant governor came to Hoboken, she pulled me aside in the
parking lot and she said, "I know it`s not right, I know these things
should not be connected, but they are and if you tell anyone I`ll deny it."

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR KIM GUADAGNO, (R) NEW JERSEY: And I deny
wholeheartedly those allegations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then also it`s over. So shut up.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: Politics ain`t beanbag, OK? And
everybody in the country who engages in politics knows that.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Clearly, this is a very,
very well-orchestrated Democratic kind of organizational effort to try to
hurt Governor Christie, Benghazi, and it clearly is a partisan witch hunt.
My goodness, Benghazi?

CHRISTIE: Guys, we all work that well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forget about it.

GUADAGNO: I am sure, absolutely sure, all of the facts will come out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good to have you with us tonight, folks.
Thanks for watching. Kind of a busy weekend, was it?

Let`s see now, we have a serious allegation, we have a serious denial,
no, a wholehearted denial. We got a liar in the House. This is getting
really interesting, isn`t it? The plot thickens I guess you could say.

While Chris Christie was fundraising in the great state of Florida,
maybe he took in a little fishing as well. Another situation was brewing
back in Jersey, if you know what I mean.

This one could make Bridgegate look like a real walk in the park,
folks. Hoboken, New Jersey Mayor Dawn Zimmer is the person in question at
this hour. Is she really telling the truth? She claims that Christie used
Hurricane Sandy relief funds as leverage over a development project the
governor desperately wanted to see happen.

Now you might remember this scene from late October 2012, Hoboken New
Jersey was absolutely devastated by Super Storm Sandy. It was over $100
million worth of damage done to Hoboken, 80 percent of the town was
flooded. I`ve seen floods in the upper Mid-west. When they come, they
take everything.

Hoboken covers just over one square mile of land, but it`s more
densely populated than New York City. Now over a year later, the city of
Hoboken still hasn`t fully recovered from the storm?

Here`s what Mayor Dawn Zimmer said about a meeting she had with New
Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIMMER: The fact is that, you know, lieutenant governor came to
Hoboken, she pulled me aside in the parking lot and she said, "I know it`s
not right, I know these things should not be connected, but they are and if
you tell anyone I`ll deny it."

And so they -- I mean the bottom line is it`s not fair for the
governor to hold Sandy funds hostage from the city of Hoboken because he
wants me to give back to one private developer. And it`s important that --
I know it`s very complicated for the public to really understand all of
this.

But I have a legal obligation to follow the law, to bring balance
development to Hoboken. We have one square mile, we have, you know, we`re
the fourth largest densely populated city in the country. So we need to
look very carefully at these things. The Rockefeller Group, they owned
four acres, there`s another property that owns nine acres so I cannot give
a windfall to one property owner because the governor wants me to in
exchange for the Sandy funds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, you might call that a shot over the bow. No. No. I
call it a direct hit.

Earlier today, the Lieutenant Governor came out and said, "Zimmer`s
claims, totally false."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUADAGNO: Mayor Zimmer`s version of our conversation in May of 2013
is not only false but it`s illogical and does not withstand scrutiny when
all of the facts are examined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Illogical. Interesting word there. She wouldn`t take any
questions from the media.

Christie`s office also said that Hoboken had received $70 million in
Sandy aid. Zimmer claims this $70 million was mostly from flood insurance
purchased by residents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIMMER: The $70 million that the governor is taking credit for, the
majority of that is from the flood insurance program that residents and
businesses have paid themselves. They`re paying premiums and they`re
getting those flood insurance program.

So that has nothing to do with the $70 million and the bottom line is
we applied for over $100 million and we got just, you know, a little bit
more than $300,000. Those numbers stand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: You know, what interesting about this is that money should
be very easy to follow. We have some discrepancies here as far as who`s
telling the truth when it comes to the money and where it went. It should
be an easy thing to do, just an accounting practice.

Zimmer said Hoboken has received only $342,000 in aid from the
governor out of the $100 million that she requested for Hoboken.

Christie`s office also, well, they kind of changed direction here.
Here we go. Attack the messenger saying that this network, MSNBC, is a
partisan network that has been openly hostile to Governor Christie.

Rather Nixonian don`t you think? I believe it is. To attack the
messenger, that`s their first line of defense after she comes out on
Kornacki`s program over the weekend?

Critics say it`s odd that Mayor Zimmer waited eight months to come out
and tell her story. She addressed this issue this yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIMMER: I had to, you know, basically almost set aside what she said
to me because I, you know, it is unbelievable but it`s true, it`s true and
I`m coming forward and, you know, I just didn`t -- I didn`t feel that we
were going to be able to get the funding, I was concerned that people
weren`t going to believe me. I mean it`s stunning, it`s outrageous, but
it`s true and I stand by my word and like I said, I`m willing to testify
under oath.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: That`s pretty good one right there, don`t you think folks?
I wonder if anybody in Christie`s office is going to do that.

Look, we`re all going to make a personal judgment right now. I happen
to think that the mayor of Hoboken, Ms. Zimmer, is telling the truth.
There has been a culture of intimidation from Christie`s office and anyone
would have a certain level of hesitation when it comes to speaking out.

On top of all of these, Mayor Zimmer said she met with federal
prosecutors on Sunday. She said that she provided a full account of what
happened along with her journal and other documents.

If Zimmer made false statements to prosecutors, she could face
criminal charges. I`ll get back to that in a moment.

Mayor Zimmer also said she thinks Lieutenant Governor Guadagno would
crack under oath.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIMMER: I believe if and when she is asked to testify under oath, the
truth will come out because I believe she will be truthful and she will
tell the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: This could end up being way bigger on the Christie
administration and of course Bridgegate.

Now, Lieutenant Governor Guadagno, she says she wholeheartedly denies
what the mayor is saying. Wholeheartedly.

What about Christie? Governor, do you wholeheartedly align yourself
with your lieutenant governor? Time now for another press conference,
don`t you think? I don`t want any statements about MSNBC. I want to know
where you stand on this, dude. You can clear this up right away.

And don`t you find it rather interesting, folks, that Dawn Zimmer says
that she`ll go under oath but we`ve heard no one from the Christie
administration say the same thing. She also, what could she possibly gain
by putting herself out there in front of federal prosecutors just to do
what? Get -- politically get the governor?

Who the heck`s going to do that? It ain`t that big of a deal. She`s
a mayor of a town in New Jersey. Why in the world would she disrupt her
life, put herself -- inject herself into the legal arena, put her out there
making statements to prosecutors all because she doesn`t like Christie? I
find that really hard to believe. But again, Christie probably doesn`t
know anything.

Get your cell phones out, I want to know what you think tonight`s
question. "Do you believe Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer?" 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 on this, let me bring in New Jersey Assemblyman Gordon
Johnson and also New Jersey State Senator Linda Greenstein. Great to have
both of you with us tonight.

Assemblyman, let me ask you first, Mr. Johnson. Do you believe the
mayor of Hoboken?

GORDON JOHNSON, (D-NJ) STATE ASSEMBLYMAN: I believe the mayor of
Hoboken has -- actually I do believe her. And as stated before, what does
she have to -- she has nothing to gain and she`s representing the people of
Hoboken. And when you look at the different -- the -- what ties this thing
here together with the bridge, what ties together with the bridge?

First of all, you have people who are represented by individuals, who
didn`t do what they were asked to do by someone, the people they represent
are punished. In the Fort Lee, with the lane closures. Now, we have this
incident now with the money being denied the city of Hoboken for hurricane
relief. So that`s a similarity there and it`s a tie there.

Also, you have a major redevelopment project in Fort Lee, how about a
billion dollar project going on injects (ph) to the bridge, and you have
redevelopment going on in Hoboken, another tie there.

So this committee I`m sitting on to investigate this, that`s where
I`ve been looking to find out when this information comes back from the
subpoenaed documents.

So I feel that there`s some similarities right there on -- as I`ve
said on this investigation.

SCHULTZ: Senator Greenstein, how serious are these allegations being
made by the mayor in your estimation?

STATE SEN. LINDA GREENSTEIN, (D) NEW JERSEY: Well, I think they are
very, very serious if proven true.

I am on a community that`s just starting work on Wednesday and when we
begin work, we`re going to be very objective, we`re going to look at all
the facts as they come to us and we will certainly investigate and look at
what`s going on here. But I`m inclined to believe her only because she has
absolutely no motivation to come forth at this point.

I think the common -- except what is going on right now with the
bridge and other factors, I think the common thread here is the tremendous
abuse of power and the fear of intimidation and retribution that people
feel.

SCHULTZ: Do you have a problem with the timing? I mean, I don`t know
since when an hour glass is or a moratorium has been put on the truth in
this country but this is the defense that Christie defenders are using
saying that her timing for coming out with this allegations are
questionable? Your thoughts on that.

GREENSTEIN: Well, if you`re asking me, I don`t have a problem with
her timing because I believe that she was in great fear and she thought she
wouldn`t be believed early on and she continued to try to get money for her
town. She`s a very dedicated mayor who really wanted to help her beleaguer
town, 80 percent of which was affected by this flooding and the storm.

Now, she`s in a situation where everybody else is speaking about
issues and she realized that what she experienced is not unique.

SCHULTZ: Senator, you .

GREENSTEIN: So I think we have to take it seriously.

SCHULTZ: OK. You have a legal background. What would motivate Dawn
Zimmer to inject herself into the legal system and jeopardize her future by
making false statements? I mean, that she`s gone the distance on this
about as far as anybody can go.

GREENSTEIN: I think there`s absolutely nothing that would motivate
her. There`s no gift that she can get that`s big enough to motivate her to
get involved in this and to inject herself and put herself at risk by
talking to authorities and potentially lying. There`s no motivation
whatsoever for her to not tell the truth.

SCHULTZ: Mr. Johnson, couldn`t the governor shed some light on this
by making another personal statement to the media? I mean, if he were to
come out and make a statement instead of hiding behind spokes people and
throwing accusations at the media about how this is getting covered. I
mean, he would know ...

JOHNSON: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: ... you have a statement by a mayor who`s willing to go
under oath ...

JOHNSON: Yes. Yes.

SCHULTZ: ... willing to testify and you have a denial by a lieutenant
governor. It would seem to me that Governor Christie could really shed
some light on this.

JOHNSON: I believe that governor and the governor`s office should not
print around this around this issue, OK.

The mayor, Mayor Zimmer, made some damning allegations and willing to
testify under oath. So let`s bring both sides in, let`s put them under
oath, and collect some testimony whether the US attorney does it or the
Special Investigative Committee does it.

The truth needs to come out. And that`s the bottom line. It`s about
the tax payers. It`s about the residents of New Jersey and about the
truth.

SCHULTZ: Well, that`s an interesting point because if I lived in
Hoboken, Senator Greenstein, I want to know -- show me the money. Where`s
the money? Don`t the tax payers deserve absolute full accounting of every
dollar that`s coming to New Jersey and every dollar that the governor`s
office has put out? This is a simple accounting procedure. They ought to
be able to provide that within 24 hours.

GREENSTEIN: One would think so and I know the governor`s office put
out some sort of a paper that throws around loads of numbers. But what
they`re doing in the paper is mixing together federal numbers, state
numbers.

At this point, it really needs to be discussed and analyzed because
they`re trying to say that Hoboken was given lots of money and that Mayor
Zimmer is mistaken.

It is not at all clear to me that she is mistaken because I see the
number she`s describing in their paper.

Most importantly, what she thought was that her town was going to be
penalized. And the reason I think that`s important is the culture of fear
that`s created in the state. People are afraid of retribution so whether
the numbers are true or not true, this is what she thought because of the
tremendous fear that`s created here.

SCHULTZ: And, Mr. Johnson, what do you say to those who are calling
this a political witch hunt?

JOHNSON: Now, the committee that`s been formed is a bipartisan
committee, number one. We are formed to get to the truth, to get to the
bottom of what happened here.

Initially, we felt that this lane closure was a traffic issue. We now
know it came out of the governor`s office and it goes beyond that now.

And as I said before, we have the three common threads in this thing
here. We have redevelopment that occurs -- that`s supposed to occur in
Hoboken, redevelopment in Fort Lee, that`s a billion dollar project in Fort
Lee. We have individual mayors who when they did not do when they were
requested to do their constituents were punished. The people of Fort Lee
are punished by the traffic lane closure. And now, the people of Hoboken
now are sort of subject to this allegation here.

SCHULTZ: And .

JOHNSON: And the third is the Port Authority who`s involved in both
of this.

SCHULTZ: And finally, Senator, would it be appropriate to subpoena
those who own the land that`s in question on this potential deal and have
them under oath to make sure that there was no deal or any type of a wink
and a nod with the governor`s office for any kind of development. What
about that?

GREENSTEIN: Well, right now, we have everybody denying that they know
anything but when you put people under oath that becomes a whole different
story.

So I think that we absolutely need to bring in all of the parties
involved here and listen to their stories and decide on credibility.

Now, one other thing that`s very important. Mayor Zimmer has a
contemporaneous writing as we say in the legal profession. She has a diary
or a journal. And that`s very important because she recorded at the time
exactly what was going on and I think that will mean a lot to the U.S.
Attorney`s Office.

SCHULTZ: OK. Gordon Johnson, Linda Greenstein, great to have you
with us tonight. I appreciate your time .

GREENSTEIN: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: . on this story.

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

There`s more. Coming up, Chris Christie`s superintendent suspends
several public school principals. Why?

Plus, a Tea Party candidate`s goofy campaign ad for governor of
California. Stay with us. You`re watching the Ed Show on MSNBC. We`ll be
right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders social media action. This is
where we can find this. My fingers were getting sore during the football
game yesterday. Tweet away, Facebook.com/edshow, Twitter.com/edshow and
Ed.MSNBC.com. We`re on the radio noon to three, every afternoon Monday
thru Friday, Channel 127 Sirius XM and we got ed.com as our radio website.

All right, the Ed Show social media nation, very active weekend I
might add and we are reporting on the top issues. Here are today`s top
Trenders voted by you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM DONNELLY, (R) CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLYMAN: I want a gun and
every California is gun safe.

SCHULTZ: The number three Trender, weak tea.

DONNELLY: I want the government out of our businesses and our
bedrooms.

SCHULTZ: A California Tea Party candidate releases a bizarre ad.

DONNELLY: I want to make California the sexiest place on the planet
to do business.

SCHULTZ: The number two Trender, on the wrong track.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a fight about jobs in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The middle class is being off shored.

SCHULTZ: Advocacy groups are asking Congress to stop the Trans-
Pacific Partnership and fast track.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even the Korea Trade Agreement that is supposed to
bring new jobs, in fact we`ve lost 40,000 more jobs since its passage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to do something about this economy
growing and raging equality? Then you have to stop sending our jobs
overseas.

SCHULTZ: And today`s top Trender, suspension tension.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`ve been quiet for too long and the
administrators and the people at Newark (inaudible) we were making it
happen for our children.

SCHULTZ: Five Newark public school principals are punished for
opposing a plan to close schools.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m sick and tired and we`re sick and tired.
That`s right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I`m trying to get my staff throughout the .

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: . (inaudible) because that is the only way that
they will listen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Diane Ravitch who is the Research Professor of Education
from New York University joins us tonight. Also Author of the book "Reign
of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to
America`s Public Schools" there it is "Reign of Error."

Diane, thank you for joining us tonight. I want to ask you about this
situation obviously in Newark.

Four public school principals suspended indefinitely on Friday after
speaking out against this proposed changes in the schools. What do you
make of it?

DIANE RAVITCH, RESEARCH PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION FROM NEW YORK
UNIVERSITY: This is all about an effort on the part of the state of New
Jersey Governor Christie, State Commissioner Cerf, the superintended who is
appointed by the state to close down public education school by school and
hand them over to privately managed charter.

To be able -- these four principals spoke out at a public hearing and
they were indefinitely suspended. Their keys were taken away, their
computers were closed down, they were told they couldn`t go back to their
schools. There was actually a fifth principal suspended on the same day.

So it`s part of the privatization that`s going on city after city.

SCHULTZ: What did they do wrong?

RAVINE: They didn`t do anything wrong. They said don`t close our
schools, they were not insubordinate, they disagreed with the -- this plan
which will turn many kids over to private schools.

Newark has not had any local control, any Democratic control since
1995. They`ve been under state control for almost 20 years. And parents
there and citizens are very angry. They want to have something to say
about their public schools.

SCHULTZ: We interviewed Melissa Tomlinson, an elementary school
teacher on this program who Governor Christie had yelled at and publicly
scolded.

Are these firings or suspension should I say more bullying tactics? I
mean the Governor denies he`s a bully? What do you make of it?

RAVINE: Well this -- the privatization is going forward in a bullying
fashion. These are principals being bully. They are being treated as if
they were in corporate America and tell to clean out your desk and get out
of here and we`ll let you know some day.

And this is part of a plan that`s been laid out saying we`re going to
close your schools down and turn them over to privately managed charters.
Now the charter is -- some of the charters don`t take kids with special
needs, some of the kid charters don`t take kids who are English language
learners. And the local community is not being consulted, they don`t have
a voice.

Now, it happens that the citizens at Newark, actually have a piece of
legislation where they`re saying don`t close any schools without the
support of the community board. There is a Newark elected board that has
no power and they`re asking the legislature to give them the power to say
no.

SCHULTZ: Certainly, this signals a message to any of the
administrator in a school system across New Jersey if any kind of executive
orders are coming down or decisions made that this is what you face. If
you speak up and you go to a public meeting and you advocate for kids which
you are professionally trained to do.

I find that absolutely amazing. We reached out to the Newark
teacher`s union for a quote. Here is what the President said "This is
trickle-down bullying, plain and simple. Unfortunately, it`s what we`ve
come to expect to New Jersey politics it`s made it`s to Newark schools.
Superintendent Cami Anderson and Governor Chris Christie are on a mission
to privatize Newark Schools. And now we know the lengths that they are
willing to go achieve that goal."

What`s your reaction to that?

RAVITCH: They are absolutely right. I mean Cami Anderson and Chris
Cerf who is the state commissioner and Governor Christie have a plan to
advance privatization not only in Newark but in Canada and all these
impervious (ph) districts. And they also try to move in to the suburbs and
on the suburbs they`ve getting pushback because these are affluent parents
in many cases, middle parents and they`re able to pushback in the poor
districts where the parents are mostly black, mostly powerless because
their districts have been taken over by the state years ago.

They`re getting pushback now, but they`re just going -- this message
we can fire four principals indefinite suspension. That`s a message to say
you can`t fight us. We have the power.

So, the only hopes that Newark has and Canada and then all these other
districts and Patterson is this legislation now moving forward in the state
legislature to say you can`t close schools down without consulting the
local community. I think that`s a great idea.

SCHULTZ: You -- in your book, I have not read it, you`ve just handed
to me "Reign of Error". Does -- this is a new developing situation. Does
this parallel what you`ve written?

RAVITCH: This is exactly what`s happening in Philadelphia, in Kansas
City, and Saint Louis, and Chicago, and Chicago were 50 schools were closed
down by Mayor Rahm Emanuel at one fell swoop.

I mean this has never happen in American history that 50 public
schools were closed. It`s happening in Indianapolis. I mean you can
hardly think on urban districts where schools not are not public schools
are being closed down and replaced by privately manage.

SCHULTZ: One of the first things Governor Christie did when he got in
as governor was he fired 6,000 educators? How can you tell me that there`s
6,000 bad teachers in a state?

RAVITCH: Well, obviously he didn`t evaluate them. No one evaluated
them.

I mean all the teachers in New Orleans were fired at one fell swoop
and now this has been years and years since Hurricane Katrina. And just as
last week, the courts in Louisiana said they were unjustly terminated and
they all are going to get back pay. This is after they were thrown out
without any evaluation.

I think right now we are seeing a war in public education, a war in
public school teachers.

And an effort to say we don`t need experienced teachers. Well, this
is ridiculous because we know what makes good schools. Good schools
require experienced educators .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

RAVITCH: . then community support. The great nations of the world,
the one that we look to they don`t have charters, they don`t have
bachelors, they have the public school systems.

And we have this -- keep moving on to hand our public dollars over to
and some case for profit operations.

SCHULTZ: It is a movement. There`s no question about it. It`s
across the country. It`s epidemic. No question about it.

Diane Ravitch, thank you for joining us tonight. I appreciate it very
much.

RAVITCH: Good.

SCHULTZ: Coming up, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie tried to shake
up scandal in the sunshine state this weekend.

Our Rapid Response Panel will dissect how that all went down.

Still ahead, post game analysis. The Seahawks defense back Richard
Sherman`s interview ignites a Twitter in social media inferno.

But next, I`m taking your questions live on Ask Ed Live right here on
MSNBC. Stay with us we`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. I appreciate all the
questions, love hearing from our viewers tonight in our Ask Ed Live
segment.

Our firs question comes from April Thompson, "Do you think President
Barack Obama`s support of the TPP is reverse psychology to get it axed?"

I certainly hope so. The president has pretty much a habit of saying
"make me do it." He loves activism. He loves people that gets involved
and maybe this is his way if he takes a stands against -- or for the TPP
that it will motivate a lot of people to speak up and do something about
it. Pretty serious issue to take on and I think that that would be a good
way to get it done, but I hope you`re correct on that.

Our next question is from Judy. "What would Dr. King -- Dr. Mark
Luther King say about the climate of union busting today?"

Be totally against it. He was in Memphis, Tennessee before he was
assassinated, fighting for the garbage workers who are in the midst of a
strike. So, when it comes to worker`s rights, equal rights, women`s
rights, voter`s rights, income inequality, I think Dr. King would have a
full play or full scheduled if he were still with us today.

Stick around, Rapid Response Panel is next.

MILLISA REHBERGER, CNBC ANCHOR: I`m Millissa Rehberger and here`s
what`s happening.

Emergency officials in Omaha, Nebraska say people have died in the
explosion and collapse to the feed processing plant, but they have not yet
said how many. Rescue experts have described has ended. Crews are now
trying to recover victims.

And sources for NBC News, the Russian security officials may be
looking for up to four women known as "black widows" who have been sent to
carry out attacks targeting the Olympics in Sochi.

The Ed Show continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, (D) FLORIDA: It`s not everyday that we have
a governor who visit Florida whose scandals burn so brightly that they
outshine even those of our own scandal-plagued Governor Rick Scott. It`s
interesting that while Chris Christie is spending the entire weekend in
Florida with Governor Scott, they won`t have a single public appearance.
Either Chris Christie doesn`t want to face the press or Rick Scott doesn`t
want to be seen publicly with him. It`s probably a little bit little of
both.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. So what does it take to make
New Jersey governor and make the State of New Jersey the focus -- the main
focus for Governor Chris Christie? Apparently, a heck of a lot more than
an escalating political retribution scandal because there were something
else going on this weekend.

This weekend, Governor Christie took a break from the scandal back
home in order to step into his national role as Chairman of the Republican
Governors Association. Governor Chris Christie headlined the series of
events in Florida, organized help, raised money for Republican Governor
Rick Scott who is seeking reelection. The trip was scheduled weeks ago
before the scandal broke with the hope Christie`s appeal with independence
and established Republicans could help Florida`s own scandal-plagued
governor.

This weekend, even Rick Scott who was involved with the biggest
Medicare fraud case in U.S. history figured it was best to keep his
distance from Christie. There were no public events and no pictures of the
two governors together. It`s hard to fund raise when you`re in the hot
seat.

Joining me now on our Rapid Response Panel, Annette Taddeo, Chair of
the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, and Mitch Ceasar with us tonight Chairman
of the Broward County Democratic Party.

I think I must point out those weather cold temperatures in South
Florida this past weekend. How warm was the reception? Annette, did this
help Governor Scott, Mr. Christie showing up down in Florida?

ANNETTE TADDEO, MIAMI-DADE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, he needs all the
help he can get. But this didn`t help. I mean, it was easier to see Big
Foot in Florida than to see Governor Christie and Governor Scott this
weekend. But I can tell you that Governor Scott has been doing everything
of his power to try to get reelected. And this is really, really bad. I
mean, he even went as far as -- this past week to pick a Hispanic
lieutenant governor after his last one had to resign because she was being
investigated. So, scandal just follows these two governors everywhere.

SCHULTZ: Why won`t they be pictured together, Mitch? I mean is there
a real downside. I mean, if you`re a Republican and you`re going to give
money, did they still stink standing together?

MITCH CEASAR, BROWARD CO. DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, you know, it`s
interesting because Governor "Gridlock" of New Jersey came down to visit
Governor Scott to Florida governor 1 percent. You know, it`s interesting.
We all know from Republican Party history, a public embrace is an absolute
no-no in Republican Party.

What`s interesting is that as you said, this was in effect a victory
lap for Governor Christie after his elevation in the Republican Governors
Association his own reelection. Instead, what it ended up is between Scott
and Christie, almost as if they were in the witness protection program.
You never saw them individually. You never saw them collectively. And in
fact, the best you can ever do is those cars running around.

And the prompt for Chris Christie is after his recent reelection, this
was his on-trade to America not only to a key primary state for the
Republican nomination, but this, in effect, was his introduction to
America, and instead, in trying to control the narrative and when haywire
has proven to be very negative.

These are two guys who have a lot in common and obviously, Florida,
New York, New Jersey, because that`s both ends to the George Washington
Bridge...

SCHULTZ: Sure.

CEASAR: ... and America, are not any better for these two conspiring
in effect.

SCHULTZ: Well, Mitch, does it help the Democrats and Florida to see
these two together?

CEASAR: Well, I think it does. Because clearly, what`s occurring is
if Rick Scott, who is always been one of the most unpopular governors in
the United States, getting help from a guy who is now being buried in
subpoenas everyday. You know, one of the things the two of them have in
common and you just reference that, is the fact that they have a lot in
common in lawyering (ph) up. Obviously, Governor Christie has had a lot of
new scandals each in everyday, and of course Rick Scott, as you mentioned,
was a head of a company that was, at the time, found to be -- perpetrate
the largest Medicare forward in the history of the United States. And when
in effect, he was asked to testify, Rick Scott took the Fifth Amendment 77
times.

SCHULTZ: Despite the scandals, some Florida Republicans are
continuing to rally around Governor Christie. One donor was quoted to
saying, "He`s an amazing guy. I believe he is going to be the solution for
tomorrow for us, and solve all our problems."

Now, I think that`s wishful thinking, but, Annette what does that say
about the state of the Republican Party?

TADDEO: The Republican Party is in disarray and our own governor
can`t figure out how to get reelected. He is so desperate that he actually
picked a lieutenant governor that`s Hispanic because they`re bleeding
Hispanic voters, and his new mantras, it`s working. But yet, there are no
jobs. He promised that 700,000 jobs and the jobs haven`t showed up
anywhere and he doesn`t believe in taking any money from the federal
government. So I have three words for the governor, (Foreign Language).
It`s just not working.

SCHULTZ: The Latino vote isn`t going to shift that all to the
Republicans. Do you think the majority of it, just because he has done
this with his ticket, Annette?

TADDEO: Absolutely not. I mean, we know that all of his policies
have not worked. And I guess he`s trying to see how to make him look like
he actually likes Hispanics and let us forget that he actually wanted to
pass an "Arizona style" law in Florida or that he took away the driver`s
license from the dreamers. So, this is a guy that actually has done
everything possible to be anti-Hispanic. Now, he picks a Hispanic
lieutenant governor to try to pretend he likes Hispanics, but he doesn`t.

SCHULTZ: You know Mitch, Florida is not the only staff on the map for
the head of the Republican Governors Association nationally. I mean, when
does he become baggage? I mean, do all of these -- is this going to be
standard operating procedure that wherever he goes to any other state to
try to raise money with Republicans that the city governor goes to the
other end of the state or certainly doesn`t show up at the same location?

CEASAR: Well, you know, he`s had very, very few defenders in the
Republican Party establishment. I don`t know if they`re still trapped in
the car in the G.W. Bridge or not. But he`s had very, very few people
looking forward. I do...

SCHULTZ: Who has got Rudy Giuliani who seems to come out and look for
some exposure. Rudy Giuliani, and I see today this morning that the former
governor of Mississippi had a comment to say about it but I don`t see any
elective Republicans. Where there any elected Republicans down at Florida
that were willing to step up and say, "Hey, Christie is really a stand up
guy. He`s doing it all right. We can`t wait `till he comes back." What
about that?

TADDEO: Slight (ph) that opposite happens. Actually, we had some of
the Republicans. Even the chair of Mitt Romney`s campaign came out and
said that this was crazy. He shouldn`t come to Florida and this does not
help.

SCHULTZ: Interesting. Well, and...

CEASAR: I think what`s.

SCHULTZ: Go ahead Mitch.

CEASAR: I`m sorry. I was just going to say I think he is becoming a
political liability everywhere. I think is this unravels more and more
from a legal perspective and I`m not surprised Rudy Giuliani defended him,
not only looking for his extended 15 minutes of fame, but also because they
belong to a very exclusive fraternity. They`re both former U.S.
attorneys...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

CEASAR: ... and have had issues, as we say. So, I think as he goes
on, he sort of ravels more. He`ll travel but I think it`s to become more
problematic everywhere in the nation.

SCHULTZ: All right. Mitch Ceasar, Annette Taddeo, thanks for staying
with us tonight. Appreciate your time.

Coming up, Tom Corbett cuts class. The Pennsylvania governor lands in
tonight`s Pretenders. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight, well, he`s all schooled up. Tom
Corbett. The Pennsylvania governor agreed to visit some of the schools he
cut over a billion dollars in education funding from. Well, protesters
came out to confront the governor, but Corbett decided to cut class. The
governor was asked why he was a no show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TOM CORBETT, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: My answer to that is, I don`t run
from anything. I take decisions ahead on. But, I was not going to be a
distraction to the school date, to school students. I was not going to
engage in the theatrics of what the adults wanted to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Leaving school children without resources is the real
distraction from education, Governor. Tom Corbett couldn`t even look the
children he is depriving in the eye. If Governor Tom Corbett thinks
cutting education is governing, he could keep on pretending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Leaving school children without resources is the real
distraction from education, Governor. Tom Corbett couldn`t even looked at
children he is depriving in the eye. If Governor Tom Corbett thinks,
cutting education is governing, he could 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 or after the game. This is the
interview everyone is talking about. Last night, all pro defensive back
with the Seattle Seahawks, he plays the corner. Richard Sherman sealed the
Seahawks spot in the Super Bowl. Great play at the end of the game, no
doubt.

Sherman was understandably fired up when Fox Sports Erin Andrews
caught up with him just seconds after the play.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN ANDREWS, FOX SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Final play. Take me through
it?

RICK SHERMAN, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS CORNERBACK: Well, I`m the best corner
in the game. When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree that`s
the result you are going to get. Don`t you even talk about me.

ANDREWS: Who was talking about you?

SHERMAN: This Crabtree. Don`t you open your mouth about the best or
I`m going to shut it for you real quick. L-O-B.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, those remarks sparked a Twitter firestorm and sent
Richard Sherman trending worldwide. Now, a lot of the response was
shockingly hateful and downright racist. People called Sherman a thug, a
monkey, in many use, racial slurs. Richard Sherman is a 25-year-old
Stanford graduate who majored in communications. Sherman just made the
play of his life on the biggest stage of his career.

Sherman didn`t use any profanity, whatsoever. He just maybe wasn`t as
polite as maybe some people expected -- not low volume. In a post game,
sometimes we get a lot of problem. We`ve got some real passion from this
guy last night. Man, this is the biggest play this guy ever made. I`m
sitting home watching. It`s like, "No, no. No, no. No F bomb. Be cool,
be cool, be good."

He didn`t swear. I mean in the heat of the moment, OK, he was
passionate. Whether or not you think his statements were over the top,
there is no excuse for folks turning this into an issue of race. But, of
course, the rude and violent world of Twitter and the impulse that people
play with in the electronic media and the social media can take over.

Joining me now is Political Strategist and ardent Seahawks fan, Angela
Rye. Angela, good to have you with us tonight.

ANGELA RYE, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Thank you Ed and go hot.

SCHULTZ: Well, they better go. They got tough one now. There`s no
question about it.

What`s interesting here is that this guy just filled every sports talk
show for the next two weeks and he`s coming on the biggest stage, going to
be played in New Jersey right across from New York and the number one
market in the world, Media Wise, is going to get a lot of attention.

But I just want to take this point of view with you this angle.
Today, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King. What is this type of reaction
say where we stand as a country in regards to race when that becomes a
focal point in the Twitter world after the guy just made an unbelievable
play, showed some emotion? Anybody has been following Sports News and
there`s been a give and take, back and forth between the wide receiver he`s
talking about. Break this down for us Angela.

RYE: Well, I think first, we still look no further than his own
words. Richard Sherman wrote a column today for a sport illustrative blog
and he talks about how we was passionate in the moment, but he also talks
about the response that he saw. He says that he got over 80 text messages
from family and friends congratulating him but then he couldn`t believe the
racial slurs that he saw, and he`s mentioned from Twitter.

So to be in 2014, to be at the peak of your career, and such an
amazing moment, it was hurtful to him. And it was hurtful to so many of
us, not just Black folks, but people all over this country who know what
it`s like to talk trash in America`s favorite past time, Ed.

He had every right to be that excited whether or not we like what he
said. He`s neither here nor there. He says in his blog, he personally
does not even like Crabtree. He has an issue with him. There`s something
that started off season in Arizona last year.

Oh, well, you know, he`s been complimentary of the Bronco`s. He knows
that they have the number one office. This is an all team guy. He`s
amazing. He was articulate. There was no reason for the slurs nor the
attacks. They should have let him have his moment.

SCHULTZ: As you said, he responded in a blog post for Sports
Illustrated today. He wrote, "To those who would call me a thug or worse
because I show passion on a football field, don`t judge a person`s
characters by what they do between the lines. Judge a man by what he does
off the field, what he does for his community, what he does for his
family."

What`s your response to that?

RYE: My response to that is a couple of quotes I pulled for you.

"It`s hard to be humble when you`re as great as I am. I`m not the
greatest. I`m the double greatest. Not only do I knock them out. I pick
the round. If you ever dream of beating me, you better wake up and
apologize." And that is not from Richard Sherman. That is from the
greatest Muhammad Ali.

SCHULTZ: And we -- the NFL has put together some promotional
vignettes about this athlete. I mean, he obviously has -- he`s a big
personality. The fans in Seattle absolutely love him. He`s all pro. But
does this make a statement that, you know, if you go over the top and
you`re the wrong color in this country, you`re going to get criticized. I
mean, I felt America lost a little bit last night.

RYE: Well, Ed, it`s also funny because just last week, when he did
the same thing or in another games when he`s done similar thing, it`s not
been a big problem. So what you really have are a bunch of sore losers. I
think maybe we have a little more, you know, 49ers today (ph) than we
thought. Perhaps, folks are saying that everybody`s going to be Bronco`s
fan now because the only folks that love Seattle that are left are just
Seattleites. So, I can attest to that. I`m born and raised there and I
have my Seahawks Blue on. But, I think that people understand this trash
talking. It`s all in a day`s work and it`s just a lot of fun. So
hopefully, we can get pass this or he can continue to be the person he is.
Maybe we can be a little nicer and we can just have a good Super Bowl game.

SCHULTZ: Well, I think that it speaks volumes that, you know, he did
not, you know, use any foul language that he presented himself as, "Look,
respect me. I`m up against this guy who I`ve had a feud with. You don`t
talk like that." That`s the way he handled it.

We do know one thing. The 10-minute cooling off period in the NFL
apparently isn`t -- it isn`t in the rule book anymore. It`s just how about
it after the game.

Angela Rye, good luck to your Seahawks. It`s going to be interesting.
I`ll make a pick later on when we get closer to the game. Good to have you
with us tonight. Thanks so much.

RYE: Thanks Ed. We`ll get to it. Sure.

SCHULTZ: All right.

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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