Show: THE ED SHOW
Date: February 2, 2015
Guest: Ruth Conniff, Bill Rhoden, Paul Douglas, John Garamendi, Leo
Gerard
ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good evening Americans and welcome to the Ed Show
live from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.
Let`s get to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is at the top of the
list for...
GOV. SCOTT WALKER, (R) WISCONSIN: It`s part of the exploratory process
here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From Madison, Wisconsin...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scott Walker, what do you think of this motto?
WALKER: I wouldn`t bet against me on anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $10,000 bet...
WALKER: I think, a fool`s bet.
MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC NEWS CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: How do you
stand out in that enormous field of GOP hopefuls?
WALKER: A lot of confident.
SCHULTZ: That`s what this is been all about in Wisconsin
WALKER: I wouldn`t bet against me...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight folks. Thanks for watching.
We start tonight with the aftermath of the Mitt Romney decision not to run.
Romney closing the door on another run for the presidency leaves the field
wide open.
So folks in Iowa are saying, what about Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker?
He ain`t D.C.
This was the scene four years in Madison, Wisconsin. Thousands of
protesters rallied against Walker`s anti-union radical legislation. That
started it all.
Walker`s bill took away the ability for public-sector workers to
collectively bargain. The move caused outrage around the country.
Now the Ed Show, we were on the ground in Madison reporting on the action
back 2011. Walker`s radical bill put him right smack dub the media
spotlight. And since then, Walker has been on the national scene as a
Reagan disciple and a corporate darling.
Every move walker made since 2011 has been under the microscope, who is
this guy? Can he really get it done? That`s where the country has been on
Walker.
The Ed Show has been there covering it for four years. And later, now,
Walker has his eyes set on the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: 99 percent chance you`ll run?
WALKER: I don`t know that I`d take the odds. I just would tell you one
thing. After three elections for governor in four years in a state that
hasn`t gone Republican since 1984 for president, I wouldn`t bet against me
on anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: If you got swagger use it. It looks like Walker actually has a
shot when you look at the numbers. The latest poll out of Iowa, with
Romney out of the mix has Scott Walker in first place in 16 percent.
Now, what`s interesting about this is it`s almost like a, who`s this guy
Bush? Jeb Bush is in fifth place with folks in Iowa at 9 percent. There`s
no shortage of name recognition there, so what`s going on?
Walker is early front runner in Iowa, and walker no doubt impressed Iowa
voters in Steve King`s Freedom Summit a week ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: We need leaders in America who understand who ultimately
understand the measure of success in government is not how many people are
dependent on the government. The measure of success in government is how
many people are no longer dependent on the government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: I mean that is just raw meat to righties, ain`t it? A talk like
that is going to get Walker a lot of praise.
Now the -- same day that that unfolded, conservative thought leader Byron
York who slammed Sarah Palin, he wrote this about Walker. "You can match
his achievement staring down the mighty public-sector unions and then
winning a recall -- and recall election in a blue state as the campaign
begins, Walker`s record means GOP voters will cut him a little slack in the
charisma and oratory department. It`s fair to say that Walker does not
electrify a crowd. But his GOP cred as the man who took on the unions and
the armies of the left means that he can win over an audience even if he
can`t speak like Ted Cruz."
I would agree with that. Now, if Walker runs, there`s no doubt things are
going to get little tougher. Not everything is going to about attacking
unions in slashing budgets, that`s the easy stuff. How is he on foreign
policy?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: You talked about big, bold, fresh ideas, what`s you big, bold
fresh idea in Syria?
WALKER: Well, I think I go back to the Red Lion, I think...
RADDATZ: Don`t -- let`s not go back, let`s go forward. What`s your big,
bold idea?
WALKER: I think aggressively, we need to take the fight to ISIS than any
other radical Islamic terrorist in and around the world, because it`s not a
matter of when they attempt an attack on American soil, or not if I should
say, it`s when, and we need leadership that says clearly, not only amongst
the United States but amongst our allies, that we`re willing to take
appropriate action. I think it should be surgical.
RADDATZ: You don`t think 2,000 air strikes is taking it to ISIS in Syria
and Iraq?
WALKER: I think we need to have an aggressive strategy anywhere around the
world. I think it`s a mistake to...
RADDATZ: So what does that mean? I don`t know what aggressive strategy
means. If we`re bombing and we`ve done 2,000 air strikes, what does an
aggressive strategy mean in foreign policy?
WALKER: I think anywhere and everywhere, we have to be -- go beyond just
aggressive air strikes. We have to look at other surgical methods. And
ultimately, we have to be prepared to put boots on the ground if that`s
what it takes, because I think, you know...
RADDATZ: Boots on the ground in Syria? U.S. boots on the ground in Syria?
WALKER: I don`t think that is an immediate plan, but I think anywhere in
the world...
RADDATZ: But you would not rule that out.
WALKER: I wouldn`t rule anything out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: I mean the neocons are going to love this guy if they give him a
chance. He`s talking about international intervention. He is taking the
same philosophy that Bush had. That only think he didn`t say in that
interview is freedom on the march.
Walker knows how to stay in the spotlight. He`s a FOX News regular and can
easily grab the headlines.
Just last week, here we go. Walker proposed $300 million in cuts to higher
education in the state of Wisconsin. Walker did not campaign on this and
it really is a move that`s blindsided everybody in Badger state. And at
the same time, walker wants to provide $220 million in bonds for a
building, for the Milwaukee Bucks because they got new owners for the
Milwaukee team? OK.
This is what Walker does you see. He`s all about big business and he never
backs down on the face of adversity to Democrats who challenge him.
He`s Koch brother favorite. He is a Governor. He is not a D.C. insider.
Walker is consistently moving forward with the radical agenda to attack
unions and the middle class, he is a corporate darling and Walker knows how
to fund raise. He`d proven that.
He out raced Tom Barret at seven to one in the recall election and was
smart enough to run against the recall. Walker ramp through a radical
voter I.D. law, and he wants to drug test welfare recipients. Walker know
who he is, you got to give him credit. And he makes no apologies.
This is why I think he posses a real danger as a Republican candidate. He
will be a better candidate than Mitt Romney. Number one, he won`t waffle.
Number two, he knows who he is. They can school him up on foreign policy
and he`s a corporate brotherhood.
I mean, this guy will be a better candidate than Mitt Romney. And Mitt
Romney is going to be the benchmark in all of this. Where were we in `12
and where can we be in 2016?
It`s going to be interesting. And I think this early poll out of Iowa is a
good indication that Walker has a real chance to get off to a great start.
He has fought the workers, he has fought the liberal and the progressives,
face to face in Wisconsin which is traditionally a blue state. He`s got
street cred, he knows how to campaign. Who else has this?
Oh, but wait a minute, there is that John Doe investigation. That`s the
interesting thing about Walker. He could be surrounded by a lot of
controversy yet it seems like its water off a duck`s back. He maybe their
answer.
Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question, "Can Scott Walker win the Republican nomination?" Text A for
Yes, text B for No to 67622, you can go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com, leave
a comment there. We`ve got results coming up for you later on in the show.
For more, let me bring Ruth Conniff, Editor-in-Chief of the Progressive
Magazine, also with us tonight, Joy Reid host of the Reid Report here on
MSNBC.
Great to have both of you with us.
RUTH CONNIFF, THE PROGRESSIVE MAGAZINE: Thanks Ed.
SCHULTZ: I`m not trying to cheer lead here for Scott Walker, not at all.
I`m looking at solid record of where he has been on issues where the base
is always been with him. And this time it goes back to the Bush and Cheney
philosophy. You got to have the base with you if you`re going to get
anything done. He`ll gather the social conservatives later on. But right
now, it`s the fiscal hawks and it`s the international interventionist that
he`s going to appealing to.
Ruth, your reaction to what`s unfolding now that Romney is out of the race
and these polls are coming out in Iowa in the favorable showing that Walker
had, how do you unpack it?
CONNIFF: Well, you know, Ed, you`ve been on the story for a long time.
And I think that what`s really important about Walker is he is a real
right-wing radical. And he is a right-wing radical not just, you know, his
attacks on unions and his destruction of Wisconsin`s K-12 public school
system and the effort to privatized that, to slash its budget to historic
level. He`s recent attack on the University of Wisconsin which is, you
know, a great university that is going to see a lot of to tier professor
leaving with their grant money and a real hit to our economy because of
that attack, but he is radical on that.
But in Iowa, he also advertised his social conservative cred. He comes out
to the any abortion movement. He bragged that he`s close Planned
Parenthood clinics all over our state. He has a whole package as far as
right-wingers in Iowa are concerned. And even better from their point of
view, he presents better than Romney who`s a caricature of a rich guy. He
might as well wear a top hat.
Walker sounds really folksy and down to earth, and he`s able to sort of
appeal to people as a regular guy at the same time that he is really
pushing these most radical austerity policies favored by the very rich.
I mean, if you look at what`s left in Wisconsin when he`s done with this.
You`re going to see a really scary picture, if you live in the rest of
United States of America...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
CONNIFF: ... and think about what this really means of the middle class
and regular people.
SCHULTZ: And you know Ruth, it`s out of character isn`t it for a governor
to propose $300 million to be cut out of the University of Wisconsin higher
education system. I don`t believe he campaigned on this. This is kind of
coming out of nowhere, isn`t it?
CONNIFF: That`s right it really is a shock that people are absorbing here
because the magnitude of that cut and what that`s going to mean for people
whether it`s working families who are going to face a tuition hike, not
immediately because Walker has cleverly frozen tuition until 2017. But
then, he`s a got a board ready that`s going to take over governance of U.W.
and they have plenty of power to hike tuition, which they`re likely to do
given the huge funding crisis.
It also a great research institution, a lot of industry, a lot of
biomedical research that goes on in Wisconsin which our former Governor
Tommy Thompson was a huge booster of and soft pedaled his pro-life
positions because biomedical research here is such a big deal for our
economy. That is going to take a hit.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
CONNIFF: I mean a lot of our economy is bound up in our university system.
And middle class families are going to see college become unaffordable. It
is a major blow to our state, just huge.
SCHULTZ: Yeah. Joy, nationally, it seems like the Republicans have figure
out they`ve got to connect somewhere with the middle class. I think some
people behind closed doors told Mitt Romney, Mitt you`re Wall Streeter,
you`re a outsourcer. Here comes Scott Walker, he is not Washington D.C.
and he comes from a modest background, he doesn`t come from wealth.
What`s that connection going to do for him? And if he can connect with
those types of middle class income earners in this country, could he be a
tough national candidate?
JOY REID, HOST OF THE REID REPORT: Well, you know what Ed? And I`ll start
will the caveat that I think any Republican is going to start with a
deficit because of the demographics, because of the ethnic of, you know,
the black and Hispanic vote. It`s going to be very difficult because their
not going to get -- they won`t get much of it with the candidates that I`m
seeing so far. But that said, I think that Ruth is right. Scott Walker I
think has a very strong chance at the nomination or getting on the ticket
because he present so bluntly.
I think in a way he`s bluntness actually works to his favor. He is just as
far to the right in terms of being evangelical as Rick Santorum. But he
doesn`t come across as scary to secular people. He is just as much for
political critic (ph) wealth as Mitt Romney for slashing the taxes of the
very rich and doing all of those things that turn people off about Romney.
But he himself as you said comes from the middle class or at least
presented that way.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
REID: So I think that he is actually one of the candidates whose stock
should be probably higher than it is in terms of his ability to get the
nomination. I think that he would be attractive to the Republican base on
all three of those fronts. He will attract the very rich, the Koch Brother
remember they have a lot of leg into Wisconsin. And there`s a lot of money
that`s going to be swirling around Wisconsin when Bradley foundation that
does it through vote...
SCHULTZ: So...
REID: ... from Koch, he`s going to have money...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
REID: And he`s going to have the regular guys of the Republican Party.
SCHULTZ: So Joy, what does he do with this good start in Iowa? Move to
Iowa? What`s his next play?
REID: I think what he`s going to probably do next is start to show a
little bit more leg on his evangelical background, in terms of being 100
percent antiabortion even in cases of rape, incest, and life of the mother.
He`s going to start to show more of that...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
REID: ... because he`s going to have face down Huckabee. Mike Huckabee is
his real only competition in terms of evangelicals.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
REID: Once he does that I think it adds to his appeal for the base.
SCHULTZ: I mean nobody on the Republican side in 2012 or in 2008 had a
good ground game. I mean, nobody had the infrastructure. Nobody had the
moxy of President Obama or the campaign that they run. And so, maybe
Walker will be smart enough to outflank everybody in that regard. But Ruth
how is this John Doe investigation going to play if Walker runs for
president?
CONNIFF: Well, I think people are going to look into his background and
there are going to find that some of his closes aids and associates are
serving time for corruption, that there are picture of them in orange
jumpsuits.
You know, this is a story that was huge in Milwaukee when he was county
executive there. There`s some really unsavory stuff, I means his right-
hand man his closest advisor went to jail for stealing money from the
widows and orphans or Iraqi War veterans. The rest of national media
doesn`t know that yet. You know it, Ed, because you`ve followed that story
I mean, there`s a lot of really shady stuff going on around Walker. But in
Wisconsin he has been able...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
CONNIFF: ... to slide on by and it hasn`t hurt him that much.
SCHULTZ: That is amazing. Ruth Conniff, Joy Reid, great to have both of
you with us tonight. I appreciate your time here on the Ed Show. Thank so
much.
Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the screen,
share your thoughts with us on Twitter @edshow and like us on Facebook
@EdShow and also @WeGotEd. We appreciate that.
Coming up, fresh reaction over last night`s nail biter in Arizona which was
a massive television audience on NBC.
Plus, Republican double talk on funding the programs that matter to you and
your family. Keep it here, we`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Thanks for watching tonight.
Well the Patriots prevailed in last night`s Super Bowl and of course it
came down the wire, you have to living underneath the rock not to know what
happened. Seahawks wide receiver Jaimaine Kearse made a crucial catch with
the ball deep in territory of the red zone, trailing by four. They had to
get a touchdown. But the game changer, game clincher happened with less
than 30 seconds on the clock.
On second and goal, Russell Wilson good quarterback, great year, his pass
was picked off by Patriots quarterback Malcom Butler who made a hell of
play at the goal line. It was Butler`s first career interception and what
a time for it to happen. The Patriots rundown the clock, won their 4th
Super Bowl title and after the game, Seahawks Coach Peter Carroll took
responsibility for the botched call.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER CARROLL, HEAD COACH SEAHAWKS: I told those guys, that`s my fault,
totally. You know, everybody`s just, why don`t you just run it? You know,
that`s a real good thought. We are playing for third and fourth down, give
them no time left, (inaudible) but didn`t worked out that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson weight in on Twitter saying,
"I won`t allow one play, or one moment to define my career. I will keep
evolving."
I will keep evolving, he wrote. Interesting, he knows his a young
quarterback, he knows he`s got a lot years left and he`s just going to have
to put this one behind him. But I also think it shows tremendous
discipline on Russell Wilson`s part that the play was called and he run it.
And as he gets on in his career he`ll be at point where, no wait a minute
this is a commonsense department, this is a no-brainer. I`m going to call
off the sideline. We`re not going to throw it. We`re going to ram our big
guy Lynch in there. We`re going to win this thing.
Here is what I think happened. Every team goes into a game with a ready
list. This is what we`re going to do on our territory on first down. This
is our short yard each game. This is our red zone best play calls.
In tight, inside the five yard line, every team goes into a game with a
real good idea of what they think is going to work on the goal line. They
believe in their ready list, they used the ready list and they call off the
ready list.
And I think in 25 seconds, you get so wrapped up into a play after a big
catch and then a run to get your close. All of the sudden, there`s a play
call and you don`t think anything of it, well it`s on the ready list.
Let`s go ahead and do it.
They had their goal line defense in there. Well, they thought that Lynch
was going to get the ball. So what a play by Butler, what tremendous
recognition.
You know what this was? This was preparation on the part of the Patriots
that a young defensive back recognized the formation, knew they were going
to come with the pick. You can`t argue with the call folks, and you really
can`t.
Throwing the slant on the goal line is one of the safeness passes you can
throw. It`s also one of the most practiced. But it look to me like the
wide receiver didn`t come out of his cut fast enough and give the D.B. just
enough room to get it on the inside shoulder and make a play.
Great recognition by Butler, no question about it. Was it a dumb call?
Yeah, 9 out of 10 times the Seattle Seahawks would have punched it in but
you know what? They called it pass play.
The other team practices too. The D.B. made a play on the inside cut on
the slant route. He recognized it and closed it quickly. It was a just a
great play.
I think if they had to do it all over again they will probably rammed it in
there. If you wanted to throw the football, why not call time out and make
sure you got the right pass play?
It just seemed like Seattle wanted to win so bad. They were almost like in
a hurry up offense to get this playoff instead of recognizing the moment,
realizing that, you know, your offensive line knows what`s on the line,
they`re going to move their guys up front as best they can with Lynch
behind them we got this thing won.
It just -- it`s unfortunate and if you`re a Seahawks fan and it`s one
you`re going to playback in your mind over and over and over again. If
that pass had been complete, it would have been one of the greatest calls
of all time. But you know what?
And the sad thing of it is it looks like Wilson was trying to hug the hero
and hug the headline.
Here he is. He drives the team down. Brady is at the heck of the game.
Brady has got a great career, unbelievable almost unmatched in NFL history
and here comes this young quarterback taking him down to repeat his super
bowl champion. He throws a touchdown pass boom. He gets the spotlight.
I don`t think that was that case but that`s what it look like. That`s what
it look like. But what really happen is that they got a group of plays
that they`re confident in and it doesn`t matter whether it`s run or pass.
Damn it, this is how they can win the game and they happen to call pass
play and it looks so ugly.
You sit there and say, how in the world did you do that? And I could tell
you that every offensive line coach in high school, every offensive line
coach in college and every offensive line coach who was watching the game
of the professional ranks were saying, what? My guys could have got it in
there.
Joining me now Bill Rhoden, of the New York Times, Sports Columnist who is
very close to NFL. Bill, great o have you with us.
Any -- I mean, what did you think of Pete Carrolls answers after the game
and the way he unpacked why they called this play.
Good to have with us Bill.
BILL RHODEN, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Hey, how you -- you know, you hit so many
but first of all there is nothing that you can say that with suit anybody`s
feelings, I mean, everybody was sick.
I think at that particular moment you had half of Patriots` nation was sick
because of the game had turned like that and then you had half of the
Seahawks` nation was kind of -- they`ve been sick. Now, they were sort of
elated because it was like a miraculous situation.
And then of all the plays that could have been called, I mean all of the
plays that could have been called, all the things you have -- you talked
about a ready list. Well, you got "Beast Mode". "Beast Mode", I asked him
question last year about getting ready, he said, "ISR". So what that
means?" "I stay ready."
So, he was ready. So, you know, there`s nothing that Pete could say, could
have said, will ever say to justify that call. I think you`re absolutely
right in that there will come a point in Russell Wilson`s career -- and I
like Russell Wilson`s a lot. I like him as a quarterback...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
RHODEN: ... I like him as a -- but there will come a point of his career
when he gets that kind of play, he`ll send it back. You know, we`re not
running....
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
RHODEN: ... we`re not running that play like, you know, like editors who
edit your column. But at the end the day my name is on it.
So but...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
RHODEN: ... it`s a great, I mean, a great game and let me just say this.
Tom Brady is one of the greatest clutch performers in the history of the
National Football League. I mean, just absolutely clutch.
SCHULTZ: There is no doubt about that. I mean, he is right there with you
name any of them. I mean his record is unparalleled in the way he comes
back and wins is just absolutely amazing.
I think that Russell Wilson showed a great deal of discipline by doing what
the coach has wanted and trying to execute the offense.
I think you gave him two or three more years or maybe next year, he`ll have
a lot better awareness about what to do and how to do it and that you
entered the no-brainer, the common sense department and you just give it to
the best running back in the league.
RHODEN: Right. Right.
SCHULTZ: I also think, you know, it...
RHODEN: A great defensive play by the way...
SCHULTZ: It was a great play by Butler. It was a...
RHODEN: It was a good play.
SCHULTZ: I mean Butler, if you look at the replay, you saw instant
recognition. He at trigger, he said the slant pass is coming. I`m there.
RHODEN: Right. Right.
SCHULTZ: And you know what? The receiver could -- that was a real gamble
on Butler`s part because the receiver could have cut behind him.
RHODEN: Yeah. You`re right though. You`re right though. I thought when
I look to that it didn`t look like that receiver really made -- I think he
could have protected the whole play much better. It seemed like he was a
little too casual going into it.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
RHODEN: You know, I mean, you know, we can second guess it but I just --
the first time...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
RHODEN: ... I saw it that once you going to do that, you might like, you
know, (inaudible) or somebody would have been a beast...
SCHULTZ: Well...
RHODEN: ... and going after that, you know.
SCHULTZ: Well, you come out of a cut because you want to leave the
defender. You come out to the cut...
RHODEN: Exactly.
SCHULTZ: ... because you want to create separation.
RHODEN: Right.
SCHULTZ: If you come out to the cut and you slow down just a little bit
you close the gap for the help of the defender and so...
RHODEN: Yeah.
SCHULTZ: ... look, it was unbelievable play by the defensive back Butler.
There`s no -- Butler did it I mean there is no doubt about that.
RHODEN: Give all defensive backs...
SCHULTZ: I mean, he made the play.
RHODEN: ... of America give him some.
SCHULTZ: No doubt about it. Bill Rhoden, always good to visit (ph) with
you, great to have you on the Ed Show. Thank you so much. It was
definitely one for the achieves, no doubt.
Coming up. If winner potholes have you frustrated, you want to hear this.
Republicans have thrown a road blocks to the President`s plan to fix the
nation`s roads and bridges.
Story ahead, but first a check on the forecast, as another storm batters
the northeast.
Ed Show. Stay with us. We`ll be right back here on MSNBC.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snow isn`t going anywhere. And by the time we`re done,
it certainly looks like we`re going to have the highest amount of snow for
a seven-day stretch that we`ve ever had here in the city of Boston.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Here we go again. It`s Groundhog
Day and residents of Boston are getting a repeat of winter weather.
Last week, the area was battered by blizzard that dumped three feet of snow
in parts of New England. Now, they`re facing up to another foot and a
second winter storm is burying down the Beantown and its happening all
thanks to the storm that dropped record amount of snow through the Midwest.
The area could see up a three inches of snow an hour with freezing rain
adding to the mess this evening. Boston area schools were closed today and
will remain close Tuesday tomorrow but government offices remained open.
Governor Charlie Baker urged people to take public transportation if
possible. Logan Airport remains open but half of all incoming and outgoing
flights have been canceled. Travelers, of course, are urged to contact
their carriers to check for delays or cancellations.
And the storm will rain on the Patriots` parade. The Mayor`s Office says,
the team`s victory parade has been delayed until Wednesday. Don`t they
deserve good weather?
Joining me now Paul Douglas, Senior Meteorologist at Media Logic Group at
Minneapolis Minnesota. Great to have you with us Paul.
You know, here we go again. What can New England expect from this latest
storm? How severe, how long and how damaging?
PAUL DOUGLAS, SENIOR METEOROLOGIST, MEDIA LOGIC GROUP: It`s going to be
winding down over the next few hours. It`s moving fairly quickly. It`s
going to be bad up until about midnight. But during the wee hours of the
morning the snow will quickly cut off to flurries.
But the damage has been done. Boston has been transformed into the super
bowl of snow closing in on 35 inches of snow in seven days from two storms
making it the snowiest week on record for Boston. And keep in mind, these
records go back hundreds of years in Beantown but Boston isn`t the only
city, Ed.
Detroit picked up about 17 inches of snow, third biggest snowstorm for the
Motor City. Chicago 20 inches of snow in a blizzard yesterday, fifth
biggest storm on record for the Windy City. You would think intuitively as
time goes on, it would get harder and harder to set records. And yet the
treadmill of records keeps increasing.
We`re seeing more precipitation records and I have a graphic from climate
central. New England has seen the biggest increase in extreme
precipitation events. We`re talking the most extreme 1 percent of all
precipitation events.
Summer rains and winter snows. A lot of skeptics, contrarians and deniers
say, well it`s snowing, the planet can`t possibly be warming. And yet it
turns out that a warmer atmosphere and a warmer ocean means more water
vapor, more fuel for these storms.
We aren`t seeing more storms Ed, but the storms that do spin up have a
greater potential to set records and that`s what we`re seeing...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
DOUGLAS: ... in the data.
SCHULTZ: Well, on that chart that you had, 71 percent increase in the
Northeast, that`s near the oceans obviously, 37 percent...
DOUGLAS: Right.
SCHULTZ: ... increase around the great lakes. You just mentioned Chicago
and Detroit. I mean it`s, you know, it`s 17 and 20 inches of snow, what is
it with the water? Is it the warming temperatures and just the conditions
are unlike anything we`ve seen before?
DOUGLAS: Well we`re seeing the steady warming over the past 15 years, the
majority -- the vast majority of the additional warming has gone into the
world`s oceans. Its also have gone into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Atlantic is about two degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it was for most of
the 20th century. And again, last week we showed you the incredible Gulf
Stream temperatures 12, 13, 14 degrees warmer than average just east of New
Jersey. So you have this fire hose of water and that is actually producing
more water vapor. About 10 percent increase...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
DOUGLAS: ... in water vapor. So that is turbo charging some, not all but
some of the storms and there`s new research from the University of
Minnesota, Ed, during the summer months, we aren`t seeing more storms but
we`re seeing a greater period between storms but when it does rain, watch
out head for higher ground, the rain is falling much harder than it did and
I keep telling people -- and even farmers now are acknowledging something
is changing. It`s not your grandfather`s weather.
We`re seeing more and more...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
DOUGLAS: ... of this super size storms.
SCHULTZ: No doubt, Paul Douglas. Always great to have you with us.
Thanks for you time tonight. I appreciate it.
There`s a lot more coming up on the Ed Show. Stay with us. We`ll be right
back here on MSNBC.
JOSH LIPTON, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Josh Lipton with your CNBC Market
Wrap.
Stocks posting solid gains today. The Dow soaring 196 points, the S&P up
25, the NASDAQ adding 41.
Apple will spend $2 billion building a new global command center in Mesa,
Arizona. It will employee about 150 full time workers and be totally
powered by renewable energy.
And meanwhile RadioShack is reportedly considering selling off half its
stores and closing the rest with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy file expected at
sometime this week.
That`s it from CNBC, first in business worldwide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Thanks for staying with us tonight.
The GOP has been trying to rebrand itself as the party of the middle class.
Republican reaction on President Obama`s 2016 budget proves its all talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) WISCONSIN: What I think the President is trying to do
here is to again, exploit envy economics. This top-down redistribution
doesn`t work we`ve been doing it for six years. Look, it may make for good
politics. It doesn`t make for good economic growth.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Envy economics? Let`s take a look at the basics. Let`s be
brilliant on the basics, the numbers.
In the $4 trillion budget would expand and extend child care tax credits
and the earned income tax credit. What`s wrong with that?
The budget supports universal pre-school. It proposes two years of tuition
fee community college for responsible students. And there`s $478 billion
six-year surface -- resurface transportation reauthorization proposal.
This would finally allow us to repair existing roads and bridges and
modernize our infrastructure with new investments.
You know what folks? This is the jobs bills America has been waiting for.
But we got a problem here Houston, its Republicans.
They want to have it both ways. They won`t side with the middle class if
big business, banks and wealthiest Americans have to come up and pay their
fair share.
Now this new budget proposes raising the capital gain stocks, imposing a
new tax on inheritances, limiting corporate tax deductions, that needs to
be identified. Taxing overseas profits held abroad, money offshore, and
levying a tax on those two big to fail banks.
We`re talking about stratospheric income here. Now, this is a clear
challenge to Republicans on middle class issues and a rallying cry for the
Democrats. So where is the line in the sand for the Democrats?
Joining me tonight, Congressman John Garamendi of California.
Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. Let`s talk...
REP. JOHN GARAMENDI, (D) CALIFORNIA: Good to be with you.
SCHULTZ: ... infrastructure.
GARAMENDI: Sure.
SCHULTZ: You bet. Do we have to cut a deal with the Republicans to get
$478 billion to get done into the budget to do what has to be done for the
country? Where is the deal here, John?
GARAMENDI: Well, I don`t know where the deal is but I do know that we
absolutely have to build our infrastructure. There are 63,000 bridges
across America that are subject to failure.
I still impose (ph) many of those are in Republican districts. Certainly,
there`s a big one right in Mr. Boehner`s district across the Ohio River
that is not in good shape at all. We call that the Boehner disaster. It`s
going to happen.
We`ve seen that happen up in Minnesota. We know that up on I-5 in
Washington State. The bridge collapsed, shutdown the economy there for a
long, long time. We need to build our infrastructure.
You`ve mentioned potholes earlier on. Oh yeah, we got potholes. We`ve got
drain. We`ve got sanitation systems, water systems, we have the need to
build high-speed internet into our schools and by the way, we need to
rebuild our schools.
This is about building for America, the foundation for economic growth.
This is not envy economics. This is the envy of America to build the
infrastructure.
SCHULTZ: What`s your response to Congressman Ryan? He`s the chairman of
the Ways and Means Committee calling it envy economics.
GARAMENDI: Well, he`s got the wrong envy. We want America`s
infrastructure to be the envy of the world.
Right now, we look to China, we look to Japan, we look to Europe and we
envy their infrastructure.
No, No, this is America, we`re the best, we`re going to build the best,
we`re not going to be second to anybody. Let them envy us. As to the
envy, he must be talking about trickle down economics.
Now, I`m sure Americans want to be rich and wealthy and they can be if we
actually create the jobs here in America, if we stick to the buy America
theme.
By now, Amtrak must have waved the buy America so that some 30 train sets
for high-speed rail on the east coast are not going to be built in America.
No, no and no.
This is America. We`re going to spend our tax money on American build
systems so that Americans can become the envy of the world, our
manufacturing and our infrastructure.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, last week when the Democrats got together in
Philadelphia, what kind of resolve came out from that?
It would seem to me that the Democrats are going to have to draw some lines
in the sand that say, look if you want this, this is what you have to do.
And put it on the Republicans, it`s their turn. They have a legislated
power. What came out of Philadelphia?
GARAMENDI: Well, just that. The President has proposed middle class
economics. He`s proposed those tax deductions for middle class from
childcare to education and forgetting the job.
All of those things are the middle class economics, build the
infrastructure, educate our kids, do the research, and pay for it by
changing the taxes and so the American corporations -- the big ones, not
the little ones but the big ones cannot escape American taxes. Probably a
quarter of...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
GARAMENDI: ... America`s corporations don`t pay much if any corporate
income tax.
SCHULTZ: Well, getting the Republicans to even mentioned that. It would -
- is quite a chore.
They`re still in the mood of saying no to everything. It`s going to be
interesting.
Congressman John Garamendi of California, always great to have you with us.
Thanks Congressman.
GARAMENDI: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, oil workers` biggest strike in over three decades.
They don`t make a habit of this stuff but they`re pushing to market now.
We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And tonight in the two-minute drill, experience as the voice of
reason.
One commercial which aired during the Super Bowl really stuck with me. An
ad titled, "Wisdom" showed 11 centenarians giving advice for living life to
the fullest. The commercial ends with a twist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m 100-years-old and I want to tell the world what I
have learned.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Live for now because life is good. You make it good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will learn not to cheat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are miracles all around you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay young.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Always tell the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep your eyes open and sometimes your mouth shut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t complain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell him like it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hesitate and you lose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put the pedal to the metal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Live fast
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And never, ever, forget where you came from.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: You know, too often in America we disregard the voice of
experience. I like that ad.
We always simply go for the next hot thing. Well, Dodge is still pretty
hot. Dodge connected its 100 years of being in business to the people who
have lived to be 100 years old. I thought it was pretty unique and
interesting and wise.
The punch out, they`re on strike. Why? That`s next on the Ed Show. Stay
with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. This is the story for the folks who
take a shower after work.
U.S. oil workers are staging their biggest strike in 35 years. United
Steelworkers are on their second day of work stoppage at nine refineries at
chemical plants around the country.
Now, the Union workers want adequate pay raises but most important, they
want safe working conditions.
Walkouts are happening at nine facilities from Texas to California. The
plants account for 10 percent of U.S. refinery capacity, contract
negotiations broke down early Sunday morning. A new deal could affect
30,000 workers coast to coast.
United Steelworkers represent over 200 refineries terminals and pipelines,
a fall strike of the USW workers could disrupt 64 percent of U.S. fuel
production.
Oil prices hit record loss over the past year. The price of crude still
under $50 a barrel but smaller profits are relative for big oil.
Money is still flowing and workers are fighting for what they believe
should be fair treatment.
Joining me tonight, Leo Gerard, International President of the United
Steelworkers of America.
Mr. Gerard, good to have you with us tonight.
LEO GERARD, PRESIDENT, UNITED STEELWORKERS: Good to be with you.
SCHULTZ: What`s the stumbling block -- you bet, what`s the stumbling block
here, Leo? What`s it going to take? What`s happening here?
GERARD: Well, the stumbling block is really the elite company Shell
refusing to negotiate on some of the fundamental issues.
As you`ve said, wages are piece of the puzzle. We`ve been talking about
that. They don`t seem to be the difficulty. We`ve been talking about
training. We`ve been talking abut the ability of workers to have
meaningful occupational health and safety. We talked about the fatigue
standard.
Let me just give you a -- I don`t know only read on your show, Ed, but let
me give you a statistic.
Refinery fires, this is a fire in the refinery that has self-reporting. So
these are the self-reported fires in refineries. In 2007, there were 52.
In 2008, 41, 2009, 45, 2010, 53, 2011, 47, 2012, 41, 2013, 42, and the
numbers aren`t in yet for 2014 or 2015.
So what we`ve been talking about is shift schedules that allow people to
have safe working conditions, shift schedules that where the company won`t
manipulate the schedule to deny people overtime. Sitting down and
negotiating a meaningful fatigue standard so that people go to work and are
full of their needs. We`ve been talking about process safety officers.
These are all things that companies so far has refused to talk about.
They`re willing to talk about money but they`re not willing to talk about
fundamental issues.
The other thing is that...
SCHULTZ: OK, so...
GERARD: Go ahead.
SCHULTZ: Go ahead. Well safety is the issue here and you think these
fires could be prevented if they were to change our operational procedures?
GERARD: Well -- look, I imagined that it`s kind of industry where things
happen. But I think what we want is process safety. We want to be able do
the best safety standards. We want shift schedules where people aren`t
getting manipulated so they`re treated on their premium pay.
We want to make sure that we`ve got training going on. So if somebody
leaves the workplace, somebody from -- within the workplace can get train
so they don`t bring people from outside who don`t know the facility.
We`re not trying to take the job of the building trades who come in when
there`s a big job to do. What we`re talking was our maintenance...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
GERARD: ... forces need to be replaced.
And Ed, there`s a big issue in our...
SCHULTZ: Sure.
GERARD : ... there`s a big issue on health care. This is the riches
industry or one of the richest industries in America.
The fact is that, our members are -- what`s called an 80-20, where they pay
20 percent of their premium. So if we have $12,000 premium for health care
for the year, our members pay 12 times 200, $2400. Then there`s a 7,500
out-of-pocket maximum.
So if you`re coming from a family whether you`ve got a sick child for a
long time or you`ve got lots of need for your health care, you can end up
having $21,000, $22,000, $23,000 of other pocket expenses during the life
of a collective agreement.
SCHULTZ: So this is -- this is a middle class fight all over again, isn`t
it?
GERARD: Absolutely. And when we said -- let me tell you why the tax broke
off. When we said that we really -- we`re serious about wanting to talk
about health care, the employer through Shell said to us, if you don`t
withdraw that from the table we`re going to propose that you have to pay a
higher premium. Instead of 80-20 we`ll go to 75-25. And they threatened
us with that...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
GERARD: ... and when we said that`s unacceptable, they left the table.
We`re still there. We want to negotiate. We think that our positions are
fair. We think that having safety standards and training and -- are going
to improve productivity. Having safety standards is more important for the
community because if there`s something happens, the community is at risk.
It`s more important for the country. It is more important for our members.
SCHULTZ: All right.
GERARD: We`re going to fight for the middle class here.
SCHULTZ: All right. We will see if big oil will budge and we`ll follow
the story.
Leo Gerard, President of the International Steelworkers, good to have you
with us tonight. I appreciate your time.
That`s the Ed Show. I`m Ed Schultz.
PoliticsNation with Reverend Al Sharpton starts right now.
Good evening Rev.
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BE UPDATED.
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The Ed Show for Monday, February 2nd, 2015
Read the transcript to the Monday show