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The Ed Show for Monday, February 17th, 2014

Read the transcript to the Monday show

THE ED SHOW
February 17, 2014

Guest: David Flessner, Bob King, Brian Schweitzer, EJ Dionne, Angela Rye,
Tiernan Suttenfeld


ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good evening Americans and welcome to the Ed Show
live from New York. Let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A major blow to union organizers in the South.

SCHULTZ: If workers don`t stand up for themselves and fight, they`re not
going to have any rights.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee will
remain without a union.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga,
Tennessee voted against being represented by the United Auto Workers.

SCHULTZ: I have never witnessed a United States senator inject himself
into the voting process against workers.

SEN. BOB CORKER, (R) TENNESSEE: It`s about money. And it`s about power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friday night`s vote is a major win for Republican like
Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The UAW says, "Corker has been slaved by special
interest groups."

JONATHAN WALDEN, CHATTANOOGA VOLKSWAGEN WORKER: For some reason Senator
Corker thinks he needs to tell us exactly what we need to do.

SCHULTZ: That is intimidation.

CORKER: We`re just concerned about the impact an outside and impact.

SCHULTZ: It`s the Republicans who are concerned about power and money.

CORKER: It`s about money and it`s about power.

SCHULTZ: If something is good for workers, I guess, we can say that we
know that the Republicans are against it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight folks. Thanks for watching.

I`ve always said, "You only have to win by one vote." Well, they won by a
little bit more than that. And have you ever heard the saying, "Well, this
guy wrote the book on that." How do you write a textbook? Well, you have
to experience something and you have to have measurable success.

I give credit to Senator Corker from Tennessee for writing the book on how
to "Get out of the box, get out of the car and go do something that is
unprecedented and successful."

You can say it`s below the belt, you can say it`s low-rent. There`s a lot
of comments coming to me about what I should say tonight about Senator
Corker.

No, wait a minute. He won. The governor won. The legislator that
threatened legislation, they win. They are absolutes. You hear me talking
about it a lot. All you got to do is win by one vote.

But let`s be real about this. The Right Wing propaganda machine worked in
Chattanooga, Tennessee. This is how it works. You see, the Republicans
and their allies here, they have this win it all cost attitude and maybe
the Democrats just have to get a labor team together and have the same
attitude and approach. Do whatever it takes.

Little football story, Chuck Noll, the old coach of the Pittsburgh
Steelers, they were in the championship years back in the `70s, he got in
the locker room with the team and they were kind of going through some
turmoil and he put D-W-I-T, Dwit, nearby the locker rooms and what`s that
all about? Dwit. Do Whatever It Takes to get the title. They did. They
won it that year.

On Friday night, employees at the Chattanooga Volkswagen Assembly Plant
voted against the United Automobile Workers Union. They rejected the
measure by 87 votes, close vote, very close, but no cigar.

Despite the outcome, Volkwagen said it may still institute a workers
council so employees could get a seat at the table. That`s good. It`s not
the same as union representation but it is a step on the right direction
and could be good for the plant.

Unfortunately, this vote is a major set back for the United Auto Workers.
It would have been the first foreign owned plant to unionize at the United
States. The UAW still has plans to organize other foreign plants in the
South, but, of course, because of what unfolded here, it`s going to be a
heavier lift at these other plants.

Make no mistake. The textbook has been written on how to defeat them.

The outcome of the vote was influenced by these guys right here, Senator
Bob Corker of Tennessee and he got a lot of help from Governor Bill Haslam.
They were pressuring employees to vote no.

This was a flat out Republican anti-union media blitz is what it was. Paid
off. Just win, baby. Just win. Al Davis used to say that.

Workers were swayed into voting against their own self-interest when you
look at it.

Here`s what Republicans were saying leading into the vote. Put yourself in
their position if you heard stuff like this from an elected official.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORKER: The officers, a month ago, talking about fighting and combat, and
all those kind of things. If that`s the environment you want, UAW
certainly is the people for you to -- are people to choose.

GOV. BILL HASLAM, (R) TENNESSEE: There is no question that if UAW comes in
there, it will impact our ability to improve our business in Tennessee.

STATE SEN.BO WATSON, (R) TENESSEE: And I believe any additional incentives
from the citizens of the state of Tennessee for expansion or otherwise will
have a very tough time passing the Tennessee Senate.

CORKER, (R) TENNESSEE: So they can`t help with the wages, you got a
facility that is the most advanced environmentally sound facility in the
world right here in Chattanooga, Tennessee. So what`s this about? It`s
about one thing. It`s about money and it`s about power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Absolutely, Senator, it is about money and it`s about you keeping
power. But let`s go back to what couple of things that Senator Corker
said. He talked about fights.

I asked some folks some questions today about that like Dennis Williams who
is the Secretary-Treasurer of the United Auto Workers. I had him on the
radio show today. I said, "You know, Senator Corker made this comment
about fights and intimidation on how you guys operate and what not." He
said, "Ed, you know what that`s all about? I gave a speech in Washington
and I was talking about fighting for healthcare. I was talking about
fighting for the middle class. That`s how Corker twist it." But that`s
how they play the game, folks.

Senator Corker wants less wages and benefits for the workers. He thinks
that they shouldn`t have a seat at the negotiating table. Republicans
influence this vote by intimidating workers. They injected themselves into
the process to the point where Tennessee States Senator Bo Watson even
threatened legislative retaliation against the plant. It is truly
unbelievable, never been done before.

UAW officials told me that today. They`ve expected fights and discussions,
you know, back and forth and the give and take and what not but they`ve
never seen anything like this. They were caught blindsided.

So on Friday, workers at the Volkswagen plant told me that they felt
intimidated by Senator Corker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: What do the workers think of some of the statements from
Republicans like Bob Corker?

WALDEN: The majority of them that I`m around have been angered by them.
They do not want to be threatened. They do not want to be told what to do.
A lot of people have felt it. Their intelligence was insulting.

SCHULTZ: Justin, do you think that that`s a form of intimidation? Do the
workers feel that way? Is that in conversation?

JUSTIN KING, CHATTANOOGA VOLKSWAGEN WORKER: Absolutely. I`d say a lot of
Corker statements to get laughed off and ridiculed inside the plant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So what happens here folks is -- let`s be honest about news
consumption. Not everybody is a news junkie. Not everybody`s a novice
news consumer. Sometimes people only follow the information when it really
affects them. And when they hear an elected official come out and say that
you`re not going to get production, you`re not going to get better wages,
this is all about power and money, then you`ve got wives, and then you`ve
got spouses, and then you`ve got kids, and you`ve got grandkids, and you
got people talking to the community, then you get business people worried,
and they don`t know what to believe so the safe thing to do is well they
are union, let`s vote no.

It wasn`t just Republican politicians getting involved. An anti-union
group under Grover Norquist put up billboards around Chattanooga warning
folks about unionization.

This billboard crosses out "Auto" and reads "United Obama Workers". Of
course, you got to throw President Obama in there. That`s always good.

It says the UAW spends millions to elect politicians including people like
Barack Obama. The billboard, this billboard, Detroit brought to you by the
UAW, the media campaign clearly had an effect on workers at the plant.

One worker said, "Look at what happened to the auto manufacturers in
Detroit and how they struggled. They all shared one huge factor: the UAW."

Now that is a low information voter.

The United Auto Workers believe that outside influence had an impact on the
outcome of the vote. The union released a statement saying that, "While we
were outraged by politicians and outside special interest groups
interfering with the basic legal right of workers to form a union, we`re
proud that these workers were brave and stood up to tremendous pressure
from outside."

The Chattanooga plant is now one of three Volkswagen facilities in the
world that aren`t unionized. The other two are in China. I think it`s
fair to say that Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee and the Republicans in
that state support labor practices that are used in China.

These guys don`t care about workers. They don`t care about the fate. They
don`t care about the security. They don`t care about the pension and the
healthcare. They care about profit and if that job will actually stay in
that community and if they can make enough guarantees to them: cheap labor,
cheap wages they got a better chance of keeping it. That`s what it`s all
about. Pound the living tar out of the workers. They care about their own
political self interest and it`s a shame Republicans and outside interest
groups succeeded in having these workers vote against their own special
interests.

So has -- have these changed a little bit when it comes to these kinds of
cultural wars? Who stands up for who? In the midst of all of this of what
we have seen, I remember two people that I think would have stepped to the
plate and said something about these antics that were taking place in
Tennessee.

Former Senator Ted Kennedy and Former Senator Paul Wellstone, I think that
they would not have stood for some of these folks standing up and saying
what they said about the Tennessee vote, I think they would`ve injected
themselves into it to fight for the workers and that is something the
Democrats need to figure out because you know what? Corker has written the
book on how to beat unions. Corker has written the book to just go as low
as you can, say whatever you can, get people to believe it, that is the
bottom line. Inject yourself into it even after the company said, "No.
Stay out of it.", even after the company signed an agreement with the UAW
saying that, "Nobody`s going to say negative stuff in the media." They
don`t have to if you get these people doing it.

There has been an attack on workers in this country for 30 years. We show
you the chart from time to time. There has been a media campaign to get
people to vote against their own special interest. The Democrats are going
to have to come up with some kind of a strategy. They`re going to have to
put together a worker labor team that`s what they`re going to aim. And
whenever there`s a vote like this and when politicians on the other side
decide to support the corporate interest, somebody, I don`t care if you`re
from that state or not, you`re going to have to pull the Kennedy, you`re
going to have to pull a Wellstone and you`re going to have to inject
yourself into the policy and into the process.

Get your cellphones out, I want to know what you think tonight`s question.
"Is it unethical for politicians to intimidate people from joining unions?"
Text A for Yes, text B for No to 67622, you can always go to our blog
@ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring you the results later on in the show.

For more, I want to bring in David Flessner. He is the Business Editor for
the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

David, good to have you back with us tonight. I just want your
professional take on how the community is reacting to this vote, how is it
coming down?

DAVID FLESSNER, CHATTANOOGA TIMES FREE PRESS: Well, it`s a great
disappointment, Ed, as you can imagine by the UAW. I think they were
surprised and disappointed that they didn`t do better. They thought they
had a majority of cards that had been collected in the card check process
last year. That didn`t work out. They went to election and I think the
anti-union forces were pretty effective in putting the UAW in a bit of a
box because to someone -- on the one hand, if they were too successful for
the workers they were able to argue that could be bad for business, for
Volkswagen for their effort to bring suppliers into the region.

On the other hand, others saw them as not being successful enough in terms
of helping the workers when the UAW they had their two tiered wage system a
few years ago, their wage levels are not that much different from
Volkswagen. So the ability for UAW to promise big wages increases wasn`t
as great as by then.

Now, legacy employees, you know, that continue to work for the UAW years
passed that make $27 an hour but the rates for those that are being hired
now at UAW facilities are more comparable with Volkswagen.

So there really wasn`t that cost advantage and so I think for some workers
it was simply a pocketbook issue and they didn`t see the great advantage of
the UAW could bring .

SCHULTZ: Is there much .

FLESSNER: . not withstanding the fact that, you know.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

FLESSNER: Go on.

SCHULTZ: David, is there much reaction from the folks down there about
Senator Corker`s comments in his role and his involvement in all of this?

FLESSNER: An awful lot of workers are very distressed. I think that those
that were with him in the camp, you know, the governor and some of those
that were against the union I think Bob Corker made a real difference and
Dennis Williams as you said indicated that might have tipped the scales at
the very end.

The fact and I think they`re able to paint UAW as a Detroit-style union,
one that you see that the bankruptcy of that city versus the expansions
that are going on with UAW plants in Spring Hill or in Louisville or other
Southern cities, you know, I they`re able to effectively .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

FLESSNER: . paint a portrait of decline by the union, not the opportunity
that may exist.

SCHULTZ: OK. David Flessner .

FLESSNER: And this was an extraordinary race because, you know, Volkswagen
didn`t even oppose the race and UAW never said anything negative about
Volkswagen and Volkswagen never anything about UAW. An extraordinary,
unusual race.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Well, there was an agreement signed by both parties that
they weren`t going to go negative and it wasn`t going to get dirty and
nasty in the media and the accusations flying back and forth.

The UAW officials told me today that they were somewhat blindsided by this
and they do think that Corker`s involvement had a lot to do with it and
they`re telling me that all options are on the table.

David Flessner, I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you so much. I do
want to bring in .

FLESSNER: Good to be with you.

SCHULTZ: You bet. I want to bring in Bob King, President of the United
Auto Workers.

Bob, good to have you with us tonight. I know you`re disappointed, but
what is your reaction to Senator Bob Corker being so outspoken on this
issue?

BOB KING, PRESIDENT, UNITED AUTO WORKERS: Well, I think he was 100 percent
wrong. I think he had no business interfering with the worker`s choice.
You know, IRB tries to setup an ideal situation where workers really make a
choice without threats, without intimidation and Senator Corker entered
into the fray just to intimidate workers. I mean I`ve never seen a
campaign or politicians have threatened workers and have threatened the
company.

But I`ll tell you the workers have a deep resolve that they`re not giving
up this fight that they believe in representation. They want to work
together with Volkswagen and works council.

The great principles that Volkswagen and the works council and (inaudible)
operate around the world that workers need representation, a company
stronger when workers have representation. There are a lot of folks who
believe in that strongly, obviously we had a majority at one point Corker`s
intimidation and Haslam and the others threaten to take away incentives
against the company that really hurt workers and hurt us.

SCHULTZ: OK. Do you think that turned the tide?

KING: I say yeah. I think that had a huge impact.

SCHULTZ: OK. What are your options at this point? Is it over with? Do
you move forward? And what about his involvement as -- are there possible
ethical issues here for a United Senates senator?

KING: Yeah, I think there are. There are a number of different legal
actions that we have that we`re talking about internally. We`re obviously
communicating with our great allies and Volkswagen and works council,
Volkswagen management in (inaudible) in Germany. So we`re looking at a
number of different options where -- I mean workers don`t want to take this
line down, workers -- it`s a huge disappointment to the pro union, pro UAW
workers.

In fact that they picked themselves up the next day, they are not giving up
the fight for representation. We`re going to be there supporting them,
helping them in every way we can.

SCHULTZ: What would force you to take legal action if you could against
the Senator, or the Governor, or the State? I mean I have been told that
this is never happened before that this is unprecedented that any union has
ever seen elected officials inject themselves into the process like that.

KING: Yeah, that`s certainly true in my lifetime and my career in the UAW.
I`ve never seen anything like this and I think he was way out of bounce and
I think that the public in general feels that he should not have been
threatening workers that they weren`t going to get product unless they`ve
voted no. I mean that`s outrageous.

SCHULTZ: So do you think he violated some labor laws?

KING: You know, we`re going to attorneys or experts in this area having
them review it all. I think there are a number of legal options that we
have the option of taking or not. We`re reviewing all that now having the
internal discussions about what`s the most effective way to support those
workers, protect those workers .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

KING: . to give those workers the right to choose without outside fear
tactics to stop them from having representation.

SCHULTZ: And finally, Mr. King, Corker the Senator from Tennessee made
this claim. He said that, "I`ve had conversations today based on those am
assured that should the workers vote against the UAW, Volkswagen will
announce in the coming weeks that it will manufacture it`s mid-size SUV
here in the Chattanooga". Is he lying?

KING: Well, you know, I don`t know who he talked to. I don`t know what
people said to him. I just know that the works council, the supervisory
board of Volkswagen is a joint process. It is a codetermination process
where the works council union members have an honest, equal voice with
management. They work together for the better of the company. What a
great opportunity this was to United States of America to really try our
first experiment with the works council.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

KING: I believe in labor management working together. I believe of
workers having a full voice.

SCHULTZ: All right.

KING: And Senator Corker interrupted that great opportunity.

SCHULTZ: Bob King, we`ll have you back. The story isn`t going to away
anytime soon. UAW President Bob King with us tonight here on the Ed Show.

Remember to answer .

KING: Thanks, Ed.

SCHULTZ: . tonight`s question there at the bottom of the screen. Share
your thoughts on Twitter at Ed Show and on Facebook. We want to know what
you think.

Still ahead, Rand Paul can`t seem to get over the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Our Rapid Response team will join me to discuss why is personal attack --
what is personal attack does for the Democrats and puts them in favor?

But first, Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer weighs in on the
largest -- the latest Bridgegate developments.

Trenders is up next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders social media. This is where you can
find us, Facebook.com/edshow, Twitter.com/edshow. I`d love to get a
comment from you on Twitter on that last story, and also, ed.msnbc.com. On
the radio, we`re there Monday through Friday, noon to three, Sirius XM
Channel 127. You can get my radio podcast on my radio website at
@wegoted.com.

Social medial nation has decided. We are reporting. Here our today`s top
Trenders voted on by you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: The number three Trender, the Iceman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S.A. versus Russia matched up easily, lived up to
the height.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A 2-2 tie, overtime, and then it went to a sudden
death shootout.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that some in our audience don`t know the finer
points of hockey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Americans play with grit, they play with art, they
played with character an TJ Oshie, when he didn`t (ph) shoot all the time
after time after time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four golds on six attempts.

SCHULTZ: Team U.S.A. lead by TJ Oshie puts Russian hockey hopes on ice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That he`s a five-year veteran in the National Hockey
League.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oshie, right here baby. Best game ever.

TJ OSHIE, ST. LOUIS BLUES, NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE: Once the puck hits your
stick, everything kind of goes away. So leading up to it, it was -- I was
shaking al little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was amazing. What a game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I met TJ Oshie. He`s my boy.

SCHULTZ: The number two Trender, passing the torch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From New York City, the National Broadcasting Company
presents Tonight.

JIMMY FALLON, LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON SHOW HOST: When I was a kid, I
used to stay up late to watch Johnny Carson.

It`s been a great institution for six years. I`m so glad I got to be a
part of it.

It doesn`t bigger than the Tonight Show.

SCHULTZ: Jimmy Fallon brings the Tonight Show back to the Big Apple.

FALLON: We`ll bring it back to New York and it hasn`t been here for over
40 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A new set will be in the same 30 Rock studio where the
Tonight Show began.

FALLON: And we`ll bring it to a new level and we`re going to come -- it`s
going to be a party.

SCHULTZ: And today`s top Trender, pile up.

GOV.CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: And some people who worked for me made
some significant mistakes and judgment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When David Wildstein surveyed the chaos caused by the
lane closures, his tour guide was apparently a Port Authority Police
Lieutenant who had known Chris Christie since his childhood.

Chip Michaels, who along with his brothers, grew up with Christie when his
brother was a New Jersey power broker with deep connections to Chris
Christie.

SCHULTZ: There are more traffic troubles for Governor Chris Christie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s also no evidence that Chip Michaels ever
discussed the closure with the governor or with his brother, but it does
makes you wonder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly fuels the skepticism that many have had about
the governor`s timeline and when he knew.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it just gets me -- this is in rebacks (ph) and
rebacks until we get to the point of understanding the beginning of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining me tonight, Brian Schweitzer, Former Governor of Montana
who knows a few things about politics, winning elections, and moving
forward with policy.

Governor, what do you make of this? This story just continues to drip. It
doesn`t come out in full. It`s just a little bit this week, that week, the
next week which has to have some kind of downside effect although the
Republicans continue to raise big money around Christie. What do you make
of it?

BRIAN SCHWEITZER, FMR. GOVERNOR (D-MT): Well, look, the chair of the
Republican Governors Association really has two functions. They are to
lead the fund raising effort all over America and they`re the one more than
anybody who goes in and helps to recruit who these new governor candidates
will be and stand next to those candidates and be able to say to the people
of that state, whatever state it might be, that this is the model of the
governor if you choose the Republican in the state.

The problem Christie has is the same problem that Sanford had in 2009. I
think you remember in 2009, Sanford went down to Buenos Aires and had a
mistress and was getting paid by the state to go down there and kind of
denied it. Well, Sanford did the right thing. He stepped up and he said,
"Look, this is too much smell for the Republican Governors Association. I
am the chair but I`m stepping aside." and Haley Barbour came in and swept
up the mess."

Well now, you have active Republicans who are calling for Christie to step
aside. They don`t want that smell coming to their state. There are 36
states this year, 2014, they will choose a governor and which of those
states? A, wants Chris Christie to come to their state and campaign with
their candidate and B, to raise money that`s going to be spent.

I think if I were a Democratic candidate or a Democratic Party in anyone of
those 36 states, I would challenge the Republican running in that state not
to take a dime from the Republican Governors Association because this smell
coming out of New Jersey is going to spread across all 36 of those races.

Now, look, there are Republicans calling for him to step down. The former
head of the Republican Party in South Carolina is worried about Nikki Haley
down there and has said, "Listen, we know a thing about this or two and we
watched Sanford stepped down. You should step down." Cuccinelli who just
had $8 million spent by the Republican Governors Association in Virginia,
Governor Tracy said, "You should step down."

And Christie? Well, he went out to Illinois and none of the four people
running for governor as Republicans in Illinois would even meet with him.
Now, you have New Jersey newspapers saying he ought to step down, you have
some 75 percent of the people in New Jersey in a recent poll have said he
ought to step away from the Republican Governors Association.

He really ought to spend some time at home .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SCHWEITZER: . to fix this problem before he goes out spreading it around
the country.

SCHULTZ: So, Governor, how many of these candidates you think are going to
stand side by side with Christie? We have seen Rick Scott didn`t do it.

SCHWEITZER: Well, Scott didn`t do it. Now, Walker and Jindal, interesting
enough have said, "Well, if nothing else comes out, you know, we`re going
to stand with Christie."

But, look, they`re in a tough situation because both of them are, you know,
probably going to run for president and Christie is going to run for
president. And so it would seem self serving if they were the first ones
that were calling for his resignation. But I`m going to tell you this,
they`ll be the first one smiling when he does resign.

SCHULTZ: All right. Brian Schweitzer Former Governor of Montana here on
the Ed Show. I appreciate your time Governor. Thank you so much.

Coming up, the Republican Party can`t stop talking about Monica Lewinsky.

The Rapid Response Panel will weigh in on the not so secret shadow campaign
against Hillary Clinton.

Still ahead, Secretary Kerry, John Kerry drops a bombshell on climate
change. What it could mean for the Keystone XL Pipeline debate.

But next, I`m taking your questions, Ask Ed Live just ahead here on the Ed
Show on MSNBC.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Love the questions. Thanks so much
for participating and do it all the time. Ask Ed Live.

Our first question comes from Aria. She wants to know, who is your
favorite president?

President Obama. In my lifetime, he is my favorite president. I respect
him immensely for what he has done with the economy which I think
absolutely is amazing. He`s been obstructed more than any other president
in American history. He brought us health care. He could have turned his
back on the automobile industry in this country but he stood with the
workers. I could go on and on why I like this guy.

And also, I`m sad of not having an interview with me. That doesn`t matter.
When my wife had cancer, he wrote a personal note to Wendy. That goes a
long way.

Our next question is from Jaime. Have you been rethinking your stance on
the Keystone XL Pipeline?

Well, facts matter. Maybe I didn`t have all the facts. I`m going to be in
Nebraska later this week and I will be reporting from Nebraska coming up on
Friday. And yes, I`m open to change because I do think facts matter.

I feel like I don`t have a dog in the fight because I drive car and fire
planes and all that kind of stuff. So climate change, I understand it. I
think a big story is what Secretary Kerry said this weekend which we will
talk about coming up in this next segment of the Ed Show. Stay with us.
Sick around. Rapid Response Panel coming up.

MILISSA REHBERGER, MSNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Milissa Rehberger. Here`s
what`s happening. All passengers are safe after an Ethiopian Airlines
flight to Rome was hijacked by the plane`s co-pilot and flown to Geneva.
The co-pilot said he was taking asylum.

A U.N. report says North Korea is guilty of crimes against humanity. It`s
says Kim Jong-un maybe held accountable for acts including torture and
starvation. And after punishing the Midwest, more snow is on the way for
the Northeast. Some areas could see half a foot tomorrow morning.

Those are your headlines. The Ed Show continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL, (R) KENTUCKY: The Democrats, one of the big issues is they
have concocted and says Republicans are committing a war on women.

One of the workplace laws and rules that I think are good is that bosses
shouldn`t prey on young interns in their office.

And I think really the media seems to be -- have given President Clinton a
pass on this.

There is no excuse for that and that is predatory behavior, and it should
be something we shouldn`t want to associate with people who would take
advantage of a young girl in his office.

DAVID GREGORY, TELEVISION HOST: Right. But does that mean that Hillary
Clinton should be judged on if she were a candidate in 2016?

PAUL: Yeah. No. I`m not saying that. This is was with regard to the
Clintons and sometimes it`s hard to separate one from the other.

ANDREA MITCHELL, TELEVISION ANCHOR: Is that a legitimate issue, rehashing
the `90s, if Hillary Clinton becomes a candidate for president?

REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I think
everything is on the table. I mean, I don`t see how someone just gets a
pass on anything, I mean, especially in today`s politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show.

Senator Rand Paul, the Democrats, I think, a favor when he brought up
Monica Lewinsky to attack Hillary Clinton.

Paul was trying to make the case Hillary Clinton doesn`t have the moral
high ground on women`s issues because of a 16-year old scandal involving
her husband. The only thing Senator Rand Paul accomplished was exposing
who the Republicans really are.

Paul never mentioned the actual policy. Senator Paul didn`t seem to
understand the irony in claiming to defend women while saying it was hard
to separate Hillary Clinton from the activities of her husband. It was an
empty personal attack in a cheap shot despite time`s call for -- desperate
times call for desperate measures.

But, what`s amazing here is even Mitt Romney seems to be warning
Republicans to steer clear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, FMR. GOV. MASSACHUSETTS: I think Hillary Clinton, if she
becomes a nominee, will have plenty to discuss about her own record. I
don`t imagine that Bill Clinton is going to be a big part of it. He
embarrassed the nation. He breached his responsibility, I think, as an
adult and as a leader and his relationship and I think that`s very
unfortunate but I don`t think that`s Hillary Clinton`s to explain. She has
her own record, her own vision for where she would take the country and I
think that`s something which we debated extensively during the 2016
campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Clearly, this is a strategy. Mitt Romney had to get his cheap
shot in there. President Clinton embarrassed the country. They can`t let
it go, can they?

Joining me now on our Rapid Response Panel, Political Strategist Angela
Rye, and also E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post, great to have both of you
with us.

I mean, I think that there is truly a Republican strategy here because they
know Bill Clinton was effective with Terry McAuliffe in Virginia. They
know Bill Clinton was effective with helping President Obama get reelected.
The Clinton Global Initiative, what on earth could parallel the positive
work that Bill Clinton has done there? He`s a powerful politician. E.J.,
I think that they are trying to disarm him before they get rolling into the
campaign. Your thoughts?

E.J. DIONNE, WASHINGTON POST: Oh, I think that`s right. First of all Ed,
I want to thank you for that report on the UAW in Chattanooga at the
beginning of this show. That is a really important battle and it isn`t
over yet. But on this story, I think this is a kind of perverse compliment
to the Clintons, particularly to Hillary Clinton. They are genuinely
afraid of her because by all the accounts of the poll, she is the strongest
candidate in the next elections. So they want to undercut her. They saw
what Bill Clinton did for President Obama during the last campaign
particularly in that speech at the Democratic Convention. But I think a
lot of Republicans know this won`t work.

And what is Hillary Clinton supposed to have done about it, it`s not her
scandal. Should she have divorced Bill Clinton that`s exactly the opposite
of what pro-family conservative say you`re supposed to do. She kept her
marriage together. So, I think this is not a winning path for them.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

DIONNE: . and I think they`ll figure it out. But they`re just trying to
wicked (ph) her a little bit as we go on.

SCHULTZ: Angela, do you think it really makes Hillary Clinton stronger at
this point? I mean, people know that it`s something but one cheap shot
after another and it`s collective from the right.

ANGELA RYE, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Well, not only that. I just have to say
get back to their GOP autopsy report. This was supposed to be report where
they are learning how to reach out to women and people of color and the
disenfranchised, and yet, they are attacking or what we call often blaming
the victim. This woman suffered harms. She was hurt. That`s the time in
her past where she probably doesn`t really want to revisit that and it has
absolutely nothing to do with what she would do as the president of the
United States.

She had a successful tenure as the Secretary of State despite the ways in
which they try to tarnish her with Benghazi. And she had a successful
tenure as the first lady and as a senator of New York. So, I`m wondering
why they can`t focus on the policy issues that matter, it`s probably
because Ed, as you said, they`re not going to be able to win on those.

SCHULTZ: So, is this an admission that Hillary is so strong. They`re
looking for anything they possibly can.

RYE: From the fundraising standpoint with the Super PAC ready for Hillary
to her policy record, absolutely.

SCHULTZ: So, what should be the Clinton response to this? Nothing? Let
the public decide? I mean, I can`t imagine what undecided female voter
would be, you know, inclined to say, "You know, they`re right on that
issue. I think I`m going to go ahead and support the Republicans."

RYE: No, I think that`s why I think that both Bill and Hillary Clinton
should remain silent on and let other women who perhaps may have been
cheated on by a spouse but still went on having successful career should
speak up and say that there is a future after you fall, that after you`ve
been hurt, and suffered harm from a spouse.

SCHULTZ: E.J. Dionne, it seems that the hot interview now on the right is
the guy who lost the last election Mitt Romney. He`s the only one that
doesn`t have any subpoenas, he`s the only one that doesn`t have a terrible
jams (ph) record because he hasn`t been governor for a long time, but oh,
by the way, his healthcare model is now national. So, I guess it might as
well go talk to Mitt Romney, yet he throws the cheap shot in there. He has
to dig at Clinton. What do you make of that?

DIONNE: Well, first of all, I think the right response to this is to say
nothing because what happened in the 1998 midterm elections -- sure, the
country was mad at Bill Clinton for getting involved in this, but when
impeachment came up, and when this came to dominate the news -- and by the
way, Rand Paul said Clinton was let off the hook. He must have been on a
news fast all during 1998. But the public said, "No. We don`t want to be
talking about this stuff. We want to be talking about jobs and employment
and job training and education and how to reduce inequality." So I think
the more of this, you know, penetrates through the system the worst it is
for them.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

DIONNE: . and there are Republicans who do know that. I`m not surprised
Mitt Romney took that little shotty (ph) Clinton, but I think there are a
lot of Republicans who agree with him on the front end that this isn`t
really damn (ph) tactic.

SCHULTZ: I think Romney is thinking about running again. I do.

DIONNE: I do too.

SCHULTZ: I think he`s looking.

DIONNE: I think with this.

SCHULTZ: . at and will be saying, "You know what, how do I look now?" All
the -- because what they have done is that they came out of this Republican
strategy meeting and the word that they`re using is trust. These ads are
running now on radio in the Midwest and they`re going to start going all
over the country.

And Angela, what can you trust the Republicans on? What can women in
minorities trust the Republicans on? They`re saying that you can`t trust
the Democrats on healthcare. You can`t trust the Democrats on the federal
budget and helping workers. So, what can the Republicans be trusted on?
In simple thing (ph) that pick that word?

RYE: It is interesting Ed, particularly when you are the least productive
Congress in history. So, they certainly cannot trust the Republicans to
enact any type of agenda and send any legislation to the president for
signing.

SCHULTZ: Angela Rye, E.J. Dionne, great to have you with us tonight at the
Ed Show. Thanks so much.

RYE: Thank you Ed.

DIONNE: Good to be with you.

SCHULTZ: Coming up. You bet. Coming up, Secretary of State John Kerry
made waves with his warning of global climate change. We`ll talk about
what his statement could mean for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight. Marsha, Marsha, Marsha Blackburn.
The Tennessee Congresswoman was invited to discuss climate change with Bill
Nye "the Science Guy." Instead, she stuck her fingers in her ears and
hummed her favorite tune (ph) of denial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN, (R) TENNESSEE: There is not agreement around the
fact of exactly what is causing this. There is not consensus. Let`s say
everything that Bill says is wrong is wrong. Why should I say that? There
is not consensus there. You don`t make good laws -- sustainable laws when
you`re making them on hypothesis or theories or unproven science.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, Bill Nye through the facts that Marsha harder than Peter
Brady`s football.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: This is unscientific. It`s not logical. You
don`t need a PhD in climate science to understand what`s going on. That we
have overwhelming evidence that climate is changing that you cannot tie any
one event to that is not the same as doubt about the whole thing. There is
no debate in the scientific community.

And I encourage the congresswoman to really look at the facts. You are our
leader. We need you to change things not deny what`s happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Bill Nye is right. We need a leader. Not a laughing stock. If
Marsha Blackburn believes our climate policy will be as embarrassing as her
backwards logic, 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. We continue our discussion on the XL Pipeline.
Interesting speech over the weekend, Secretary of State John Kerry warned
about a danger as severe as weapons of mass destruction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, (D) SECRETARY OF STATE: Climate change can now be considered
another weapon of mass destruction perhaps even the world`s most fearsome
weapon of mass destruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Secretary Kerry spoke to a group of college students in Jakarta,
Indonesia and he just criticized climate change deniers saying a few loud
interest groups shouldn`t be given the chance to misdirect the
conversation.

Secretary Kerry`s comments come at a very interesting time. Kerry is
expected to make a recommendation to the president on the Keystone XL
Pipeline. The public comment period ends on March 7th all though some
Republicans are demanding approval for the pipeline. And the State
Department released a study on the proposed pipeline which said it would
not substantially worsen carbon pollution.

Environmentalists are still strongly against it. Eight federal agencies
will also comment on the State Department`s work before it gets kicked up
to Secretary Kerry, then the President Obama for the final critical call.

Tiernan Sittenfeld is the Senior Vice President of the Government Affairs
for League of Conservation Voters. She joins us tonight. Tiernan, great
to have you with us.

Secretary of State John Kerry, when he was in the Senate, I don`t know if
there was a stronger voice on climate change. Has he shown all of his
cards? How could he be for the pipeline and recommended to the president
after a speech like that? Your thoughts.

TIERNAN SITTENFELD, LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS: Hi Ed. Thanks so much
for having me back and I just want to first say, how delighted I was to
hear you said that you are open in changing your mind about this risky
dangerous pipeline.

Regarding Secretary Kerry`s remarks, we were absolutely thrilled with the
speech. They were -- the speech was powerful. It was inspiring. And he
really made crystal clear that we face a very important choice when it
comes to our energy future. Are we going to double down on the failed
energy policies of the past or are we going to love the new clean energy.

He has actually voted against the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline when he
was in the Senate. He -- no one as you noticed has really done more over
many decades to site the climate crisis. And we are absolutely confident
that as Secretary Kerry looks at the information as he delivers speeches
like that on the world stage that he will ultimately have no choice but to
find that this pipeline is not in our national interest that is all risk,
it`s no reward and has to be rejected.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. He has some other speeches plan. I mean, I don`t know how
he could be that forceful in showing leadership on climate change and then
get a hold of the president saying, "You know what I think, we got to build
this pipeline because of diplomatic interest or because of, you know,
prices might come to whatever it might be.

The State Department final environmental impact study on the pipeline
project said that it does not significantly alter the level of greenhouse
gas emissions. Does that give Secretary of State John Kerry an opening to
go ahead and approve the pipeline?

SITTENFELD: That`s a good question. Secretary Kerry actually has all the
information that he needs to reject this pipeline. There is a process
underway as you know and we were glad to hear him in his speech call out --
call for the public to weigh in with their elected officials and with the
public people like him. So we definitely encourage people to go to
actually to our website to lcv.org/kxlcomments to submit a comment to
Secretary Kerry urging him to reject this dirty.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SITTENFELD: . and dangerous pipeline. But, we think that this report
again provides all the information that he needs to reject this pipeline.

SCHULTZ: OK. Secretary Kerry also said we should listen to ideologues
when it comes to climate change. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY: We should not allow a tiny minority of shoddy scientists and
science and extreme ideologues to compete with scientific facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Is he talking about the oil industry there?

SITTENFELD: I think, unfortunately, he`s talking about the oil industry.
He`s talking about the Koch brothers. He`s talking about all too many
members of Congress. There are actually more than a hundred members of the
House of Representatives today who denied the existence of climate change.
97 percent of scientists agreed that climate change is real. It`s
happening. It`s caused by human activity, things like burning coal and
oil. It`s time for us to get serious. We could not be more thrilled with
the speech.

SCHULTZ: OK.

SITTENFELD: . of Secretary Kerry gave wherein so pleased of what President
Obama is doing to help lead the way, but this pipeline is clearly the next
thing that needs to happen and that they need to reject.

SCHULTZ: And quickly, activists from your group have vowed to risk arrest
to oppose this pipeline. What are they planning for the reminder of this
public comment period?

SITTENFELD: This issue has really captivated people across the country not
just traditional environmentalists but Republican land owners in Nebraska,
in Texas, people of all ages, of all walks of life are coming together
saying enough is enough. We need to draw a line in the sand. We need to
keep this dirtiest oil on the ground.

SCHULTZ: OK.

SITTENFELD: It`s time to reject the Keystone Pipeline.

SCHULTZ: All right. Tiernan Sittenfeld, thank you for joining us tonight
from the conservation of -- League of Conservation Voters and I will be in
Nebraska talking to those land owners coming up this Friday and we`ll have
a report all next week on the Ed Show.

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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