Guests: Jonathan Taylor, Ben Cardin, Hilary Shelton, Bill Press, Karen
Hanretty, Heidi Harris, Joan Walsh
ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC ANCHOR: Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW tonight from New York.
These stories hitting “My Hot Buttons” and on the table at this hour.
Well, what do you know? More violence breaks out at a Republican campaign event. A Democrat was manhandled and arrested just for showing up at a public event for Congressman Eric Cantor.
Now, the tape is absolutely unbelievable. I‘m going to show it to you. And the victim will tells us the whole story in just a moment.
Well, Glenn Beck attacked me on his show last night, along with labor unions and unemployed Americans, who at one time he called un-American. Well, I‘ll return the fire to “Beckster,” and we‘ll get reaction from the NAACP in “The Battleground” story tonight.
And “The Tan Man” is pretending that he‘s got principles? You‘ve got to be kidding me.
This guy is going to stump for a Nazi re-enactor. It is the campaign season and it is goofy.
But this is the story that has me fired up tonight. Republicans, basically, this is the landscape. They are manhandling any Democrat who gets in their way. You‘ve got to think the way they do or you‘re a real problem.
Now, this gentleman, this taxpaying Virginia voter, has quite a story to tell. He was forcefully taken down to the ground and arrested by three police officers because they thought there was a possibility he may disrupt a campaign event for House Minority Whip Eric Cantor.
His name is Jon Taylor. And he‘ll tell us his side of the story in just a moment.
Well, here‘s what happened. Taylor, his wife and son and another person, they basically RSVP‘d to an Eric Cantor event. I mean, he‘s their congressman. It‘s a public event.
It was going to be held at the Solid Grounds Coffee House in Luisa, Virginia, pretty normal. This all happened Monday.
All right. So Taylor and his party walk in, drank a cup of coffee, and then of course all hell broke loose.
You see, someone recognized Taylor as a Democrat over there. Then the owner of the coffee shop asked him to leave. When Taylor refused, of course the cops got involved.
Take a look at how this all unfolded. It‘s pretty shocking video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands—
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do it now!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It‘s not a legal arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is an illegal arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, is he really—
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can‘t if you‘re holding him.
JONATHAN TAYLOR, DEMOCRAT ARRESTED AT CONVENTION: Ow. Ow. You—
(EXPLETIVE DELETED) you. You (EXPLETIVE) my arm. I can‘t believe you guys did this. I can‘t believe you did that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were resisting.
TAYLOR: How was I resisting?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: How was he resisting? Did I hear that?
Well, Taylor was charged with trespassing, creating a public disturbance, and resisting arrest.
Now, let‘s go back to the videotape. This is getting kind of pretty commonplace here on THE ED SHOW.
All right, so the guy, he‘s a big dude, all right? He‘s told the cops, you know, “You‘re going to need a couple of pair of handcuffs here because I can‘t connect my arms to the back.”
Oh, here comes another bubba. He‘s got a—look at bubba, pulling him down to the ground. What is he doing wrong?
Look at this disturbance he‘s creating. Look at all the people that just can‘t believe what‘s going on. There‘s one guy watching.
This is just a terrible public disturbance. We‘re going to take care of this Democrat right here. He‘s not a Republican. We‘re going to sit on him.
This is embarrassing for law enforcement. That‘s what this is.
This is America. You mean to tell me that this guy was so threatening, that he had to be taken down by three cops when he was cooperating and saying all along, “I‘m not resisting”?
His son was standing right there, his wife was right there,. And oh, by the way, law enforcement is well equipped in the state of Virginia, because 12 cops were called on that one.
I‘m asking this question every night on THE ED SHOW now. What in the hell is going on in this country? Whatever happened to talking to people?
Taylor just wanted to ask Mr. Cantor to debate his opponent, Rick
Waugh. Cantor‘s campaign, they put out this statement, very accusatory:
“This is a pattern with Rick Waugh of disruptive and frankly, thuggish behavior. And frankly, he needs to get control of his campaign.”
Thuggish behavior? Taylor didn‘t do anything wrong. He just wanted to go to a public event, RSVP‘d do to do it. Just wanted to ask a question because his tax dollars pay Mr. Cantor‘s salary. At least I think that‘s kind of the way it goes.
Well, Cantor‘s staffers, they just couldn‘t handle the risk, so they the cops get involved and tackle him. You know this event, ironically, happened on the same day that Rand Paul‘s thugs did this to a woman.
Tea Partiers disrupted Democratic town hall meetings, if I can remember the news stories correctly, during the health care debate. Remember all that shouting and intimidation that was going on?
I don‘t believe anybody got kicked or thrown around or arrested or any of that kind of stuff, or taken to the hospital. So now we have Democrats getting assaulted for what? Well, hell, they‘re practicing free speech. We can‘t there the happen.
This is embarrassing to this country. There are other nations watching Americans act like this. It is embarrassing. It is not the moral high ground.
And some of these countries that we‘ve invaded that we‘re trying to say, bring freedom and democracy to these other countries that we‘ve invaded, they‘re saying, hey, they shut people down at political events in America when they speak up. They have cops gang-tackle guys right there that aren‘t even threatening.
Well, it doesn‘t stop there.
Out there in Washington, oh, yes, there‘s another event. Down in Washington State, the “Walla Walla Union-Bulletin” is reporting more Republican violence against liberals. Can you believe it?
Now, this girl, she‘s a threat. She‘s a 23-year-old ass-kicker right here—Christi Storter (ph). Well, you know what? A 72-year-old angry man hit her when she was protesting Republican Senate candidate Dino Rossi outside the Republican Party office in Walla Walla.
Honey, you can‘t do that in America anymore. The Republican Party doesn‘t like that.
The Republican Party is running away from the media and beating up liberals who get near them. If they take control of the Congress next week, I think this is only going to get worse.
Republicans are under the delusion that, you know, they don‘t have to answer to anybody, and they don‘t have to debate anybody because they‘ve got all this corporate money behind them, and they can just steam-roll their way right over the taxpayers, right into the Congress. And the low-information voters, they‘re going to carry those folks right on their back all the way to the halls of Congress.
Guys like Eric Cantor and John Boehner, you know what they are? They‘re gutless. They‘re gutless because they will not debate their opponents.
On this program last night, we had Justin Coussoule, who‘s running against Boehner in Ohio. And for the third time, the third interview, Mr. Coussoule told us that Boehner won‘t debate him.
Is that fair? Is that fair to you? As much as—of course, you Republicans are always complaining about how much you pay in tax. Well, hell, don‘t you think you deserve at least one debate?
Now, they know they‘re wrong on all the issues. If they grab power next week, they‘ll destroy this country and manhandle anybody who gets in their way.
And I was—tomorrow, I‘m going to try to make contact with the supervisor of those cops, because I think that gives law enforcement a real bad name. I thought that was horribly unnecessary.
And Mr. Taylor was no threat. Mr. Taylor could had been conversed with easily. But you see, the cops, they don‘t want a congressman getting pissed off at them. No. Heck, no, they don‘t want Eric Cantor. Hell, you know, he‘s—he could be in the leadership, because it looks like they might take over the House.
So these cops, you know what they‘re doing? They‘re in lockstep.
I invite any one of those three officers in the videotape to come face to face with me on this program and tell me why that was necessary to manhandle that American like that?
Why, because he wanted to speak up? He wanted to go ask his congressman a question?
If you‘re in Iraq tonight and you‘re watching, we‘ve got a lot of problems over here, too.
Tell me what you think in our telephone survey. The number to dial is 1-877-ED-MSNBC.
My question tonight is: Is it OK for Republicans to ban Democrats from their political events? Press 1 for yes, press 2 for no. We‘ll bring you the results later on in the show.
Now, this gentleman is going to get about six minutes to explain exactly what happened.
Joining me now is Jonathan Taylor, a Democrat. He‘s a Democrat now.
He was arrested at the event for Congressman Cantor.
Mr. Taylor, good to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your time.
What happened when you walked into the cafe?
TAYLOR: Well, when I walked into the cafe, the first thing I did was just sat down at a table with some other Democrats. Then later I went back and got some coffee with my son. We sat back down at the table, and we were sitting there conversing amongst ourselves, just waiting for Eric Cantor to show up, and hopefully get the opportunity to ask him a few questions.
SCHULTZ: Were you carrying a sign? Did you have stickers? Were you disruptive in any way?
TAYLOR: No, we had nothing—we had nothing of the sort. We were all dressed in street clothes. I mean, I had my teenaged son with me.
One of the ladies had a granddaughter and the other one had her daughter with her. And we were just sitting at the table, drinking the establishment‘s coffee, minding our own business.
SCHULTZ: So what happened? Who ID‘d you as the dangerous Democrat to have the cops get involved the way they did?
TAYLOR: Well, you know, I don‘t want to speculate too much, but, you know, there was appeared to be an event security person for Eric Cantor. I mean, you know, when you have the squiggly tube hanging out of your ear, it‘s pretty obvious who you are.
The man was talking actively, not only the two police officers who‘d arrested me, on and off for half an hour. Numerous other police officers, and was in and out of the restaurants talking back and forth to other Republicans, and you could see by the Republicans‘ stickers. Back and forth, nailed to his BlackBerry.
So, obviously, at one point when I went outside of the restaurant just to say hi to other Democrats who were starting to arrive, he asked me to move my car, which is parked on a public street. You know, I said, look, it‘s a public street. I put my quarter in. I have a right to have it here.
SCHULTZ: Were you harassed by law enforcement? Were you harassed?
TAYLOR: Up until the time—
SCHULTZ: Go ahead.
TAYLOR: Up until the time I was put on the car, no. I mean, that‘s when the whole thing went south.
I, you know, left the place willingly. They basically gave me a choice of, you know, you have to leave because the owner believes you‘re going to be disruptive.
And I said, “Now, let me see if I get this right. You believe I‘m going to be disruptive, yet I‘m sitting here drinking coffee, talking calmly with my friends?” I said, “How does that weigh against my constitutional rights to listen to my congressional representative and have the opportunity to talk to him?” I said, “I‘m sorry that‘s not a choice.”
SCHULTZ: Mr. Taylor, what did you do? Let‘s show the videotape again. What did you do to have these three gentlemen put you up against the car, and then have bubba right there take you down the way he did?
TAYLOR: I‘ll be honest, I don‘t know. I mean, like I said, everything was going fairly smoothly until they got me up against the car.
The officer on the right pinned my shoulder up against the car and started moving my arm in directions Mother Nature never intended. The other officer was—you know, he knew what he was doing. And then, boom, you know, and then when that big guy arrived, it all went to hell in a handbasket.
SCHULTZ: Were you resisting arrest?
TAYLOR: How could I resist? I mean, I literally could not comply with their request.
I mean, you know, they were trying to—you know, it‘s like my arms were moving in opposite direction. The one officer was doing everything right and the other one‘s yanking my arm practically—you know the only way it would have gotten into position was to physically break it off.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Taylor, you are now facing what situation? What do you have to do? What‘s the next move here?
TAYLOR: Well, I am facing, let me see, trespassing, resisting arrest, and creating a public disturbance, which, you know, couldn‘t come at a worst time. I‘ve been laid off for the last six months. And in a cruel twist of fate, I get a job—a phone call with a job offer that I start in two weeks. Well, I mean, if my security clearance goes out of the window, I can kiss that good-bye.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Taylor, thank you. Mr. Taylor, I want to thank you for speaking up tonight on THE ED SHOW. I think that this is dangerous stuff that‘s happening in America, and I want you to know that I‘m going to follow up with those law enforcement officials, and I want to get their response to all of this.
Mr. Taylor, good to have you with us tonight.
TAYLOR: Sure.
SCHULTZ: Speaking about all this violence, the Kentucky Democratic Party is turning the tables on Rand Paul. They released a new commercial using video of the infamous head stomp. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the cops! Get the police. Get the police.
Get the police. Get the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, no, no. Come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the cops.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the cops!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the police. Get the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, no, no. Come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the police. Get the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, no, no. Come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Only in America, right?
Coming up, Glenn Beck just picked a fight with me, the unions, and millions of 99ers.
Buddy, this is not a fight you‘re going to want to have.
Well, I‘m taking “The Beckster” down in “The Battleground” story tonight.
“The Tan Man,” John Boehner, vows not to compromise his principles if Republicans take over the House. What principles, I ask? This guy is stumping for a guy who dresses up like a Nazi?
Plus, President Obama gets his backup on “The Daily Show.”
And Joe Miller flip-flops. And Sarah Palin‘s—well, she‘s talking about the presidency?
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW, and thanks for watching tonight.
Well, the midterm election could radically reshape the United States Senate. At least five Tea Party extremists are on the verge of victory at this hour. It‘s close, and too close to call—Ken Buck in Colorado;
Sharron Angle in Nevada; also Marco Rubio in Florida; Rand Paul in Kentucky; and Joe Miller, slipping in the polls, but still a factor in Alaska.
Joining me now is Maryland Senator Ben Cardin.
Senator, if these Tea Partiers get in, it is going to be a struggle within the Republican Party because it takes only a few to screw it up. And the conventional wisdom is that these Tea Partiers, these constitutionalists, would push the moderates further to the right.
Your opinion, how tough would it be to compromise with them on anything?
SEN. BEN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND: Well, Ed, first, it‘s good to be on your show.
I think the voters are angry because we haven‘t done enough to help middle income families. They want their legislators fighting to make college more affordable, to keep jobs here in America, and not ship them overseas, to deal with protecting their homes and their jobs.
So I think there‘s going to be a responsibility on those that are elected to come up with ways to help our country grow. And just saying no is not going to help America.
SCHULTZ: If they take over the House and some of these Tea Partiers get into the Senate, they‘re not going to fund health care. Then what?
CARDIN: Well, quite frankly, I think trying to go back to the policies of George W. Bush is not what this nation needs, it‘s not what the voters are asking for. So I think with elections come responsibility, and you have to come up with ways that try to make college more affordable and keep jobs here in America.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
CARDIN: I just think what they‘re suggesting of going back, or privatizing Social Security, or doing these things that would repeal health care, that‘s not what the people want. And their policies, basically, are trying to block progress in this country.
SCHULTZ: Senator, do you think that they‘ll be as radical in the Senate as they have been on the campaign trail? Are we getting the real deal out of these people?
CARDIN: Well, first, Ed, I hope that the election results are a little bit different than you‘re predicting.
SCHULTZ: Absolutely. I do, too. But, I mean, I think the American people need to know—visualize what it would be like if these nut jobs got in. What do you think?
CARDIN: I think there‘s been positions taken by these candidates that I find very extreme, whether it is to privatize Social Security and Medicare, whether it is to get rid of the Department of Education. These are areas that concern me.
We‘ve got to make college more affordable. We need to have a priority of education at the national level.
We‘ve got to keep jobs here in America. And this next Congress is going to have to fight to keep jobs here in America.
So I am concerned by the statements that they‘ve said. I‘m concerned by their beliefs. But I hope that whoever‘s elected, they understand that we‘ve got work together, we‘ve got to work across party lines and get things done.
SCHULTZ: Yes. Senator, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
CARDIN: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Maryland Senator Ben Cardin with us here on THE ED SHOW.
Coming up, Joe Miller is flip-flopping on Sarah Palin for president.
Yes. The psycho pair from Alaska in “The Zone,” next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in “Psycho Talk” tonight, we continue to countdown to Halloween, don‘t we?
Now, we‘ve got crazy Alaskan dude—the duo, should I say, of Joe Miller and Sarah Palin. What a dandy couple.
A couple of weeks ago, Miller, well, he dodged a question about whether Palin was qualified to be president of the United States. But after facing an angry backlash from Palin‘s husband Todd, well, he‘s done a 180. Here‘s the new answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is Sarah Palin qualified to be president?
JOE MILLER ®, ALASKA SENATE CANDIDATE: Of course she is. I mean, you look at who we have in office right now and compare the two, there is no comparison.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, you better believe that. There is no comparison. You‘re comparing a person who was editor of “The Harvard Law Review,” an Illinois state senator, a United States senator, to someone who is, let‘s see, a small-town mayor, a half-term governor who quit, and a vice presidential candidate who was a total flop, failure on the campaign trail, never had her story straight. But she is reading now, I think.
But Joe Miller knows what side his bread is buttered on. He‘s sticking with Palin.
And Sarah Palin herself seems to be on board for 2012 if no one else step says up. She explained it to “Entertainment Tonight.”
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN ®, FMR. ALASKA GOVERNOR: It‘s going to entail a discussion with my family, a real close look at the lay of the land, and to consider whether it—there are those with that commonsense, conservative, pro-Constitution passion, or whether there‘s nobody willing to do it, and to make the tough choices and not care what the critics are going to say about you just going forward, according to what I believe the priorities should be. If there‘s nobody else to do it, then of course I would believe that we should do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, stop it. I can only take so much of that. Thirty-three seconds is enough!
Yes, there‘s nobody else that wants to do it. You know, everybody in the United States Senate dreams of being the president of the United States, Sarah. Just a little Washington inside thing.
So, if there‘s no one out there as extreme as Sarah Palin, she‘ll take a break from her speaking tour filled with bendy straws, give the presidency a shot.
For Joe Miller to imply Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Barack Obama, that is, my friends, “Psycho Talk.”
Coming up, this is what political discourse has come to in America—a man slammed to the ground for showing up at an Eric Cantor event. I‘ll get “Rapid Fire Response.”
False prophet “The Beckster,” well, he just took a cheap shot at me and everyone fighting for the unemployed in America. Hilary Shelton from the NAACP sounds off ahead on that.
Plus, Sharron Angle stays hiding. And a new David Vitter ad down in Louisiana, ooh, this commercial links taxes to hookers.
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. The “Battleground” story tonight, well, the Beckster is spinning wild conspiracy theories, well, about me, union workers in this country, and of course now the unemployed. Last night on his show, Beck attacked the 99ers claiming they‘re organizing an army to advance left-wing socialist‘s interests. He played this old clip from this program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Senator Debbie Stabenow proposed an unemployment extension for the 99ers. She announced it on TV, the reaction that is the group is “for sale.” Listen to this.
SCHULTZ: The rumor out there is—some people have mentioned to me, that the 99ers are going to become very politically active and tell one party or another saying we‘re up for sale right how. I mean, they want someone to step up legislatively and do something for them and I think that you‘ve disarmed them tonight. You have proven that the Democrats are the party of the people but also the party of jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Now, Beckster you as a talker you need to know that that‘s a figure of speech and you know it, and when he went on to preach about hiring and pretended to care about the unemployed, all of a sudden he says they‘re decent people being used as political puns by unions and Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: People are good and decent and they just want a job but they‘re going to be used as political puns by politicians, unions, and political groups. Why would you organize this group unless it helped you with power?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Give me a break, Beck. This is a guy who called the 99ers un-American. Then he attacked the one nation rally saying it was dangerous?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: One nation, the rally held 10/2/10. Instead of unions creating jobs, they have gone in and swooped down and organized the unemployed. This is extraordinarily dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Dangerous, it‘s dangerous to want a job. How about Beckster, is it dangerous to outsource all of those jobs? You never addressed that. The only thing that‘s dangerous are the psycho conspiracy theories that the Beckster cooks up every night trying to get people to watch him, and by the way, his audience is slowly diminishing. Talk about that, Beckster. I think it‘s absolutely disgusting that a person who has made so much money by verbally spitting on the unemployed is now using them to advance an anti-democratic agenda.
For more let‘s bring in Hilary Shelton. Senior vice president for Policy and Advocacy, the NAACP. What‘s your response to this, that the unemployed in this country, if they mobilize to vote their interests, that they are lesser Americans?
HILARY SHELTON, PRESIDENT, NAACP: It is ridiculous. First, Ed, it‘s great to be with you. We haven‘t been together since the 10/2/10 rally, one America, working together, to try to create jobs. It is outrage out to suggest that those who are unemployed that actually have the courage to get out of bed after being unemployed for so long, to work, to help create jobs not only for themselves but for their neighbors are somehow un-American. What‘s more American than all of us working together? Regardless of whether you‘re working or not. Regardless of whether you work for the government or not. Elected officials are not. But working together to make sure that everyone that wants to put in a good, hard day‘s work for a fair day‘s pay should be able to do it.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Shelton, do you think it‘s important to respond to this kind of garbage that‘s on FOX?
SHELTON: It is important to respond to it. It is so outrageous that so many people watch it, that there has to be some sensibility. There has to be someone to bring some sanity to the conversation, to make sure that we can see this more than one side to it. But he talks about, only those who are not part of the government, though we all contribute our moneys through taxes to the government to help provide just these kinds of services, but then to say, the government shouldn‘t do these things, someone needs to explain that to people. And as a matter of fact, somebody needs to explain it to Mr. Beck.
SCHULTZ: Well, it sure seems like Mr. Beck is treating unemployed people like second-class citizens in this country. And of course, he never addresses the issues of outsourcing and how it is destroying the middle class in this country. Mr. Shelton, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
Now, let‘s get some rapid-fire response from our panel on these stories. I‘ll get their take on the democrat who was pushed to the ground and arrested at a public Eric Cantor event, and all of the violence exploding at campaign events around the country.
And President Obama went on “The Daily Show” and got serious. I think he is a little frustrated with the base when it comes to health care reform.
Joining us tonight, nationally syndicated radio talk show host Bill Press, and Karen Hanretty, republican strategist. Great to have you both with us tonight.
We‘re going to play this videotape, Bill, and you respond to it. You heard the interview earlier with Mr. Taylor. What‘s happening in this country that taxpaying Americans can‘t go to where their congressman is going to be holding a town hall meeting in a cafe with only 30 or 40 people there, what do you make of this?
BILL PRESS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Let me tell you something, Ed, I think this is disgusting and it‘s dangerous. And this is not just politics getting passionate toward the end. This is a direct result of the intolerance and the hateful rhetoric that we hear from the Tea Party people sanctioned by the Republican Party. And what I want to know is where is, with all of these incidences, Cantor and Rand Paul and the one out in Washington State, where is any leader of the Republican Party to condemn this violence? Instead, they blame the victims. Every time. Blame the other sides.
SCHULTZ: Karen, your response.
KAREN HANRETTY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I don‘t think that you have a constitutional right to go into a private business, create a disturbance, be asked by that small business owner to leave the premises, create a disturbance and expect that you‘ll suffer no consequences. You‘ll be, I think.
PRESS: He created no disturbance, Karen. You didn‘t hear him. You didn‘t hear the interview. He created no disturbance. He got a cup of coffee. He was asked to leave and he left.
HANRETTY: The business owner—the business owner asked them to leave. That is the right of the business owner.
PRESS: That‘s not a disturbance. That‘s not a disturbance.
HANRETTY: You don‘t—Bill, you and I weren‘t there and I‘m not going to take the word of the business—of this gentleman who created this disturbance.
PRESS: Oh, why not? He did not create a disturbance. You keep saying that.
(CROSSTALK)
HANRETTY: Then you should take it up with the police. Then you should take it up with the police to say that he didn‘t create a disturbance.
PRESS: Ed will tomorrow night. Ed will tomorrow night.
HANRETTY: Well, then you can do that, then absolutely do that but I think there‘s a lot of hyperbole on this show tonight and I‘m going to tell you something, Ed, your hyperbole is no different than Glenn Beck‘s. Glenn Beck is calling people dangerous, you probably used that word 10 times tonight.
SCHULTZ: Well, I guess, I have the videotape to back it up, Karen.
PRESS: That‘s right.
SCHULTZ: You know, I‘m not making this up. I‘m not making up what happened in Kentucky. I‘m not making up the arrest. I mean this is all because republican—a republican congressman does not want to hear from one of his constituents. Now, come on, Karen, be fair about this. Is that the way we could.
HANRETTY: No, Ed, you be fair about this.
SCHULTZ: Is that—would you like to be treated like that? Karen, would you like to be treated like that?
HANRETTY: Ed, you have taken the story and you have completely distorted this story.
SCHULTZ: I have not distorted.
HANRETTY: Ed, you have distorted the story. You are blaming this on Eric Cantor, despite the fact that all this happened.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: His people alerted the cops.
HANRETTY: .prior to the fact that he arrived.
SCHULTZ: Karen, his people alerted the cops.
PRESS: Hey, wait.
HANRETTY: You are completely distorting this. You‘re taking one side of the story.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: This isn‘t working out very good. Karen, let me ask you a question. From what you saw on that videotape, did you think that that man was resisting arrest?
HANRETTY: I have no idea what that man is doing.
SCHULTZ: OK, OK. All right. Would you like to be.
HANRETTY: But you know what, he‘ll get his day in court. He gets his day in court.
SCHULTZ: He‘ll get his day in court. Now, if you were to go a democratic congressman‘s cafe meeting, would you expect to be treated like this, you know, what would you do? What would your response be to this?
HANRETTY: First of all, I wouldn‘t create a disturbance if I went to.
PRESS: He did not create a disturbance. Stop saying that.
HANRETTY: And if the business owner asked me to leave, I would leave.
PRESS: He did. He did.
HANRETTY: You don‘t have—no he didn‘t. He did not leave.
PRESS: Karen, back up.
SCHULTZ: No, he did leave Karen.
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
HANRETTY: He did not leave.
PRESS: Karen, you‘re wrong, you‘re wrong.
HANRETTY: And that‘s why they call the police.
PRESS: Karen, slow down, slow down, slow down.
HANRETTY: How do you have more facts than I have? You don‘t know anymore about this than I do.
PRESS: Slow down, OK, I just want to go come back to the word hyperbole.
HANRETTY: Sure.
PRESS: Ed, I wish we had time. Show the tape again of Rand Paul. When you see that foot on that woman‘s head, that‘s not hyperbole. When you see this guy thrown to the ground with bubba on top of him, that‘s not hyperbole. Karen just face the facts and say it‘s wrong to treat people that way. I would if it happened to you. You should when it happened to them. Period.
SCHULTZ: Final response, Karen.
HANRETTY: If you want to talk about—if you want to talk about the Rand Paul incident, that‘s a different topic. But as far as what happened with Eric Cantor, no I‘m not going to defend this man. You don‘t know the facts anymore than I do. And from what I know, the business owner asked him to leave. He refused. The business owner called the cops.
PRESS: Believe it or not Karen, I believe him over you.
SCHULTZ: OK. Good to have both of you with us tonight. Bill Press and Karen Hanretty here on THE ED SHOW. Another spirited debate.
Coming up, Sharron Angle is ducking the press, how amazing. She only wants to talk to the media after the election, I think she‘s hiding something. Reaction from Las Vegas, next on THE ED SHOW, here on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And it‘s not too late to let us know what you think. The number to dial tonight is 1-877-ed-msnbc. Tonight‘s telephone survey question is—is it OK for Republicans to ban Democrats from their political events? Press the number one for yes. Press the number two for no. Again, the number to dial is 1-877-ed-msnbc. We‘re right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in my “Playbook” tonight, Sharron Angle has gone to I think all extremes to dodge the media. But there are a couple of ways, I guess you can get her to talk. You could probably luck out and bump into her into the airport, the way I did last week when we were down in Nevada, or I guess you could be just a conservative talk show host like radio talk show host Heidi Harris. Sharron Angle was on Heidi‘s show yesterday and she was asked if her relationship with the press would be different with and if—when and if she gets elected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARRON ANGLE ®, NEVADA SENATE CANDIDATE (voice-over): Well, certainly it will be because as you know, the lame stream media or the left leaning progressive press are, are really very much in Harry Reid‘s camp, they promote him as much as they can and certainly that‘s not their intent when they come to interview me.
HEIDI HARRIS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Of course not, right.
ANGLE: It‘s not to promote me.
HARRIS: Right, they don‘t, right.
ANGLE: And I‘m hoping that as we get into this once I get elected senator that they will be much more civil and, and we will have a very civil discourse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: All very interesting. For more, let‘s bring in Heidi Harris, who did that interview yesterday. Great to have you with us, Heidi.
HARRIS: Thanks.
SCHULTZ: What is Sharron Angle afraid of? Is she hiding something? I mean, are there any objective journalists in Nevada. What do you think of this?
HARRIS: Well, I don‘t think that there are a lot of objective journalists in Nevada. She‘s been on my show of course numerous times, she‘s done other shows. You know, Harry Reid is not doing any press.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: Wait a minute, this isn‘t about Harry Reid. I want to talk about Sharron Angle not Harry Reid. This is a strategy by Sharron Angle. She has dodged media people, reporters, from local television stations, hiding, using decoys, why? What is she afraid of, Heidi?
HARRIS: Well—well the reason I was trying to make about Harry is not to change the subject but because it‘s interesting to me how the press only focuses on how Sharron won‘t talk to them, because they can get Harry to talk to them even though he doesn‘t talk to them much because they‘re on his side. So, you know whether you want to agree with or not, that‘s what her campaign people I guess believe is that the press is out to get you. They‘re trying to get you that gotcha.
SCHULTZ: Heidi, you‘re broad brushing. You‘re making an assumption that every reporter with a microphone in Nevada is against Sharron Angle. You mean to tell me you can‘t find one beat reporter in television or newspaper that would be fair to Sharron Angle unless you‘re a conservative talk show host?
HARRIS: Oh no, I‘m sure there are some who would be fair to her. I know there are some who have been following the political race and that kind of thing.
SCHULTZ: So why doesn‘t she work with them? So why doesn‘t she work with them?
HARRIS: Well, maybe she figures if she—maybe if she talks to them, the others will be insulted. I don‘t know. I‘m not in the inside of her campaign. I don‘t understand it because it wouldn‘t be a strategy that I would employ. But by the same token, if all they‘re doing is trying to do is catch you saying something that they can trip you up on, what‘s the point, Ed? These couples of days out why even bother taking a risk.
SCHULTZ: OK. Well, she has a jaded opinion towards the media. I mean, in the sound byte that she gave you on that interview, she used the word “civil.” Have beat reporters like the CBS, the ABC or the NBC affiliates there in Las Vegas or in Reno or other cities, have they‘ve been not civil to Sharron Angle?
HARRIS: Well, they haven‘t have a lot of chance to talk to her but if you watch their TV reports, every single byte, most of those stations will go on and on about Harry Reid and if they say anything about Sharron. it‘s a little bit snarky. You have to be out here and see it every single night, Ed, but there‘s a clear bias. Not every reporter, I know a lot of them personally. A lot of them are not necessarily liberals but I‘m talking about the stations in general.
SCHULTZ: OK.
HARRIS: And so, so many of them are on Harry‘s side, it‘s tough for her to get a fair shake, that is what she‘s saying.
SCHULTZ: So there are no objective reporters in Nevada, but it‘s interesting, because the same strategy she‘s using with “Meet the Press” on NBC “Face the Nation” in this week. I mean, she‘s treating the networks the exact same way, so my—quickly—my final question to you is, are Nevada voters, are they OK with this?
HARRIS: Well, I think some of them don‘t really care. I talked to listeners about it, a lot of my listeners. And I have left leaning and right leaning listeners who is say, hey she‘s employing the right strategy.
SCHULTZ: OK.
HARRIS: A couple of weeks ago, I had an event where I had 600 people come out in a public place without us checking their voter cards to hear me talk to Sharron about the issues. We talked for an hour and a half. No notes. No teleprompter. She had no idea ahead of time what we‘re going to ask about and she did it in public.
SCHULTZ: OK, I admit.
HARRIS: Well, but I asked her all the questions that you would have asked her, too. Every question. I covered every single issue with her. We didn‘t check anybody as far as their voter affiliation and she talked to the public. It was great.
SCHULTZ: So, she trusts you because you‘re a conservative but she‘s not going to trust anybody else. Interesting strategy. I mean she‘s blanketed both network and local reporters this way.
Heidi, good to have you with us tonight. It‘s good that you‘re getting an interview with somebody that nobody else can get an interview with. One final page tonight, campaigns are getting very ugly down the stretch. The negative campaign commercials are all over the air, but this one in Louisiana, Senate candidate Charlie Melancon, this one might take the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Our tax dollars pay David Vitter‘s salary and he used it for prostitutes. You‘re welcome, senator. Our money paid for Vitter‘s serious sin, phone calls to prostitutes during official votes and tax dollars to help defend an aide who violently abused his girlfriend. In return, we got a disgraced Senator, ranked among the least effective in Congress. The real sin is that David Vitter‘s still a senator. I‘m Charlie Melancon and I approve this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, heck. That is just Louisiana politics, right? That is hardball on steroids. We‘ll see if it works.
Coming up, just days away from the election and the tan man, well, he‘s taken time away from the golf course to stump for a guy who‘s dressed up as a Nazi and World War II reenactments. Joan Walsh, editor in chief Salon.com sounds off on that and other election strategies, next on THE ED SHOW. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And finally tonight, the tan man is showing what kind of speaker he‘ll be if the Republicans take over the House. He went on Hannity‘s radio show yesterday and said this, quote, “this is not a time for compromise, and I can tell you that we will not compromise on our principles to the extent the president wants to work with us, in terms of our goals, we‘d welcome his involvement.” Did he say principles?
Boehner is also planning to campaign for Ohio House candidate, Rich Iott this weekend. Now this is a guy who used to dress up as a Nazi in World War II reenactments. It sounds like Boehner‘s doing all he can to appeal to his Tea Party and colleagues. He may be getting worried he‘s losing support in his bid for speaker. Earlier today, Michele Bachmann, she‘d wait and see who is running before she decides whether she would vote for Boehner as speaker if they win the House. Let me bring in Joan Walsh, editor in chief Salon.com. Lots going on, lots of anticipation.
JOAN WALSH, EDITOR IN CHIEF, SALON.COM: A lot.
SCHULTZ: Joan, what do you make of Boehner, all of a sudden taking a hard line? Do you think this could hurt the Republicans? I mean, the American people, I think, I‘m guessing, do want some type of compromise. And he says, they won‘t do it. What do you think?
WALSH: It‘s not going to hurt him. He‘s immune from the sympathies or the thoughts of real decent Americans. He‘s pitching to a base that doesn‘t want to see any compromise with this president, so he‘s doing what he has to do. And I think it‘s really fascinating and kind of tragic, Ed, that you know, he really, really wants to be Speaker Boehner and he‘s not going to let a little Nazism stand in his way, you know? Other people have come out and denounced Iott, you know, Eric Cantor who happens to be Jewish did so. Boehner is going to be out there on the stump with him and I really—you know, I think that we have to pause and take in what this means. That this is acceptable and they‘ve kind of dismissed it. Well, you know, we are interested in history. And we, you know, -- I don‘t know, you could go out here. If you‘re interested in World War II history, you could like reenacted-day or play French resistance. I don‘t see why anyone would get off on putting on Nazi uniforms and reenacting that particular political movement. It‘s a little creepy.
SCHULTZ: It is rather strange, no doubt. The Iott invitation for a rally read like this, “calling all Iott volunteers. Please join us for the very special pre-election rally with House Minority Leader John Boehner. What a great way to start off our pre-election weekend.” Just wear any Iott gear you may have. Now, what kind of gear are they talking about?
WALSH: You‘ve got me with that one. I didn‘t see that. I missed that one. That‘s a good line. Any gear, you know, any gear. I won‘t make the swastika joke. I take that back. You know, they‘re shameless. They know who their base is.
SCHULTZ: Exactly.
WALSH: They‘re playing with their base and you know, if all of this stuff creeps people out, well, there‘s one thing to do. Work on get out the vote this weekend. Go out and work for the people that you think espouses the principles that will make the country better and not divide us. These people are dividers. They need to be stop, it‘s going to be a rough Tuesday for some of us but got to keep fighting.
SCHULTZ: All right, now what about Michele Bachmann‘s comment about -
she‘s not going to throw her support behind Boehner until she sees who exactly is running and of course we know she has no small ego. You never know it could be her.
WALSH: Right. It could be her. You know, I think it‘s fascinating, I think that the silver lining for Democrats, you know, after Tuesday I don‘t think that the losses will be as catastrophic as many people say but you know, it will be tough. The silver lining is going to be watching these leadership battles if there is one over there, even if there isn‘t, watching how well the Tea arty does and how they exact, you know, revenge or get more concessions from the leadership that they proceed as being not sufficiently pro-Tea Party.
SCHULTZ: Sure.
WALSH: You know, Boehner and Mitch McConnell as crazy as it to us have not bent over backwards in quite the way that people like Bachmann wished they had. And so, you know, it‘s not going to be a fun day after the election for them either. There‘s going to be a lot of people looking for revenge.
SCHULTZ: I think Eric is just pores off John Boehner getting back to that, this is no time to compromise comment. I mean it just violates all of the ethical principles of going to Washington and working for the American people. I think American people understand that compromise‘s all part of being a strong statesman for the good of the country and for him to say that, I just think the arrogance just wreaks—it just pores off of this guy. Joan, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
WALSH: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Tonight in our phone survey, I asked is it OK for Republicans to ban Democrats from their political events? Here are the results. Interesting.
That‘s THE ED SHOW. I‘m Ed Schultz. “HARDBALL” with Chris Matthews starts right now. We‘ll see you tomorrow night from Minneapolis. Have a great one.
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