Guests: Sen. Bernie Sanders, Marianne Kasarda, Laura Flanders, Jonathan Alter
ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans. And welcome to THE ED SHOW, tonight from New York.
Al Qaeda has released an audiotape of Osama bin Laden. It praises revolutions in the Arab world. But, of course, no thanks to him. Last time I checked, he‘s still dead. But we‘ll get to that later and just what does it mean.
Right now, Republicans continue to protect big oil profits instead of helping the American people. And if you want proof—tonight, we have Eric Cantor caught on tape selling out to speculators.
And later, anybody another governor from Texas to be president? Now that‘s “Psycho Talk.”
This is THE ED SHOW. Let‘s get to work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
SCHULTZ (voice-over): Unbelievable flip flop from the Newtster. He keeps running from his own position and running from voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don‘t you get out before you make a bigger fool of yourself?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Tonight, he can‘t run from me.
The most amazing birther development since Orly Taitz and Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: I‘m starting to think that he was not born here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Jonathan Alter has details.
And my colleague Martin Bashir on the latest revelations in the Arnold Schwarzenegger scandal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHULTZ: And this is the story that has me fired up tonight. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor caught on tape red-handed, telling a bunch of oil speculators the Republicans are focused on stopping regulations on the very same day that Senate Republicans filibustered a bill to cut breaks, tax breaks, for the big five oil companies.
My friends, Washington, in my opinion, is totally broken. If there was ever a vote to pay attention to—it is this one. And this number says it all -- 74 percent of the American people support eliminating tax credits for big oil and gas companies.
Now, think about this. You make record profits and you get some help from the government. In these economic times, is it necessary? We‘ve got a real divide here.
The Democrats say, no, it‘s not necessary, because America is about fairness. America is about equality. And America is about opportunity.
This isn‘t about opportunity. This is about fairness. And it is wrong for our treasury to be in the situation that it is in and for you to be forking out tax dollars every time you fill up at the gas tank.
Now this survey was done by NBC News and “The Wall Street Journal” poll back in February. And this is 74 percent support eliminating tax credits for big oil and gas companies.
What do you think that number is right now? Because gas has gone up since February.
Last night, the Senate failed to pass a bill that would have stripped big oil companies of multibillion annual tax subsidies. The vote, of course, fell short of the 60 votes needed because of a Republican filibuster.
And let me say this with emphasis—and also because of three worthless Democrats, because there‘s nothing liberal, there‘s nothing progressive about turning on the American people with this vote.
A little history here: a couple of years ago, Dick Durbin told me on the 6:00 show when I used to do that, that the banks own the Senate. Well, I guess you can say, the oil companies—this is their turn to own the Senate.
Center for American Progress finds the 48 senators who sided with big oil received over $21 million in career oil contributions while 52 senators who sided with the American people received only $5.4 million in contributions. Big difference, isn‘t it?
Now, you see? If the Republicans had not taken this money, they would have seen it on a 30-second commercial when they were running for re-election, because that money just would have been going to some candidate, now that we‘ve got the Citizens United thing that came down from the Supreme Court. That money would have gone elsewhere—to defeat anybody who would get in their way.
The oil companies own the Senate. You can trot these guys out and they‘ll give you a catchy sound bite from time to time, and we‘ll all feed on that for a while. But nothing is going to change. It‘s all about the money.
President Obama spoke about this shameful Senate vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That‘s why I was so disappointed yesterday when Republicans in Congress voted to keep handing $4 billion a year in taxpayer subsidies to oil and gas companies at a time when they are making tens of billions of dollars of profits each. Huge profits while you are struggling to fill up your gas tank. It has to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Is it about fairness? You‘re damn right it is.
The Senate bill would have made the top five oil companies give up $21 billion in tax cuts over the next decade. Remember, big oil doesn‘t believe in shared sacrifice. They told us that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN WATSON, CHEVRON CHAIRMAN AND CEO: I don‘t think the American people want shared sacrifice. I think they want shared prosperity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: He doesn‘t think the American people? You mean to tell me the oil companies have just got the real pulse of the American people every time we fill up at the gas tank? They know exactly what we think and how we think about all of this rip-off that‘s taking place.
Let‘s take a look at oil company prosperity. You see? Over the last decade, the top five oil companies, they have raked in some big bucks—
$900 billion in profits. The number one profit-taker is ExxonMobil, coming in at a cool $309 billion.
Now, Rex Tillerson is the CEO of ExxonMobil. Last week, he made a stunning statement about just how much oil speculation is adding to these record prices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D), WASHINGTON: Could you comment about speculation and excessive speculation in the market, and what effect you think it‘s having on today‘s prices? What do you think the price would be today if based on fundamentals of just supply and demand?
REX TILLERSON, EXXON-MOBIL CEO: Well, again, if you were to use a pure economic approach, the economists would say it would be set at the price to develop the next marginal barrel, OK?
CANTWELL: What do you think that would—what do you think that would be today?
TILLERSON: Well, it‘s—it‘s pretty hard to judge, but it would be -
you know, when we look at it it‘s going to be somewhere in the $60 to $70 range.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Thirty percent to 40 percent of the price of oil is because Wall Street gamblers are playing games with numbers?
Now, think about what he just said there. He can say it because nobody is going to do anything about it. And if the oil companies know that they‘ve got the Senate bought—hell, they can go up there and say anything they want. It has nothing to do with supply and demand or the wars that are taking place in the Middle East.
This program has repeatedly shown you how oil speculators are truly the problem. Tonight, I‘m going to show you exactly who is aiding and abetting this activity against the American consumer.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor spoke to the CME Group in Chicago yesterday morning. CME Group is the world‘s largest owner and operator of private exchanges for derivative products. You know, it‘s a fancy name for saying speculators.
Think Progress obtained this—pay attention—unbelievable video and admission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), MAJORITY LEADER: We want to help you continue to lead for America. That means we‘ve got to do our part when you see the implementation of Dodd-Frank coming at you like a barreling train. We want to help control that and so that we can get some sensible, sensible follow-up to that legislation that‘s very troubling.
But we‘ve got similar instances and much of and a lot of other areas. It‘s not just financial services where the federal bureaucracy has run amok. And so, the Republicans, in our growth agenda, are very focused on stopping regulations that negatively impact people who want to create growth and value. And whether it‘s the EPA, the FDA, the FCC, the SEC, the CFTC, you name it, there is a—there is an acronym for a federal agency that‘s out there causing harm right now. We‘re trying to pull that in.
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SCHULTZ: They are trying to pull that in. Well, that means you have to repeal Dodd-Frank. Either that, Mr. Cantor, or you would be advocating breaking the law.
Now, Cantor, this guy, he is a master when it comes to doing town hall meetings. He did another one today. We‘ll show you that later on in the program.
But I remember during the health care debate, Mr. Cantor, when he was questioned by one of his constituents basically told the lady to go get charity. And now, he is telling the oil barons that, hey, we‘ve got your back side because you are a lot more important than any constituent out there.
Get your cell phones out. I want to know what you think.
Tonight‘s question: are Republicans and certain Democrats looking out
for you or for big oil? Text “A” for you, text “B” for big oil to 622639 -
and, of course, you can always go to our new blog at Ed.MSNBC.com. We‘ve got the result coming up later on in the show.
Let‘s bring in independent senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. This is truly, I think, a sad moment for America. What has happened in the last 24 hours, we have seen the Senate cash whipped by oil companies and disregarding what the majority of the American people think is fairness.
Bernie, put it in words for us tonight.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: Well, it‘s an outrage. As you‘ve indicated, in the last 10 years, the largest oil companies in this country have made almost $1 trillion in profit. During that period, some of them have paid no federal income taxes, in fact, have gotten rebates.
Meanwhile, the whole theory, Ed, as you well know, about oil prices is supposed to be about supply and demand. Well, the reality is today, we have more supply than we did two years ago. We have less demand today than we did two years ago, which should tell us that oil prices should go down. Yet the reality is, is that oil prices have almost doubled.
Why is that? Well, number one, it‘s the concentration of ownership and the power of the big oil guys and the influence that they have on the Republicans and some Democrats. But the second reason is, as you‘ve indicated, the role of speculation.
And it is very interesting, I think, that the CEO of ExxonMobil tells you that 30 percent to 40 percent of what we pay at the gas tank comes from speculation. Now, how do we deal with that issue?
Well, I was on the phone today with a fellow named Gary Gensler, who is the chairman of the Commodities Future Trading Commission. They were given the authority to regulate excessive speculation. They are not doing what the law says they should do.
SCHULTZ: Well, you‘ve got Eric Cantor out there telling the speculators, “We‘ve got your back. We‘re going to do everything we can to circumvent the law.” That‘s really what he was telling them. We‘re going to do what we can to circumvent Dodd-Frank.
Your reaction to that.
SANDERS: Well, that‘s outrageous. I mean, this idea that deregulation, getting the government off of the back of those wonderful oil companies, getting the government off of the back of Wall Street because we trust them. We know that left alone, they are going to do great things for the American people.
Now, after the crooks on Wall Street caused the recession that we‘re in, which caused so much misery, so much job loss, so many—loss of homes -- can you believe that anybody believes that we should leave Wall Street alone to do what they want to do? I think that that is just incomprehensible.
SCHULTZ: Well, between this and the Ryan budget, there‘s plenty for the liberals in this country to run on if we can find some liberals.
There‘s nothing liberal about voting with the oil companies. There‘s nothing progressive about voting with the oil companies. And this is a classic example of how some Democratic senators who claim they are Democrats, Landrieu, Nelson, and also Begich, have been shaken down by the oil companies. And they‘re saying they‘d lose 5,000 jobs.
Give me a break. What do you mean 5,000 jobs? This government—this country, entrepreneurs, if they had the money through small businesses, and through lending—hell, they‘d be able to create 5,000 jobs overnight. But that‘s the bogeyman that they throw out at the American people and some people just buy this stuff hook, line and sinker.
It‘s a shakedown of the Senate. That‘s what it is. It‘s a sad day for America.
Senator, good to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your time so much.
And, of course, the Republicans, they always talk about small businesses. They are so concerned about small businesses.
What do you think small business is going through right now in this country?
Well, let‘s turn to a small business owner from Ohio, Marianne Kasarda, who runs a television production company there.
Marianne, good to have you with us tonight.
Tell us what these high gas prices are doing to your company.
MARIANNE KASARDA, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: Well, it‘s having a devastating effect on the company business because the cost to go from location to location has doubled and sometimes tripled depending on the cost of gas at the moment. So, it‘s having a very bad effect on the business. Not to mention a devastating effect on my family because they are having a hard time making ends meet since they are trying to raise a family, and the cost of gas has gone from $100 a week to $200. And they just can‘t seem to make ends meet.
SCHULTZ: Well, there‘s no tax cut that you have been able to get your hands on as of late that would make this up, is there?
KASARDA: Not at all. Nothing at this time.
SCHULTZ: Who do you blame as a small business owner? From what you know of this story and what‘s transpired in recent times, where do you point the finger?
KASARDA: I put it on Wall Street speculators. I remember back in January, they were talking about the price of gas for the summertime would escalate to $5 a gallon.
And I thought how could they possibly know that? There was no unrest in the Middle East at that time. There were no national disasters at that time to cause a terrible increase in the oil prices. So how could they possibly know what the price of oil should be in the summer unless it was speculation driving the price?
SCHULTZ: Marianne, forget liberal, Democrat, Republican, conservative
forget all the labels, forget all the leanings. You know, the Senate voted to allow these tax breaks to continue on for the most profit-making industry on the face of this earth. How do you feel about that?
KASARDA: I feel that‘s disastrous to the whole economy because it‘s affecting every one of us who are trying to make a living in this world. And we can‘t seem to get ahead no matter what we do. And the cost of the gasoline is just so outrageous that it‘s just devastating our families.
SCHULTZ: And what about the shipping costs that you have incurred? I know in television production, you ship things out from one part of the country to the next. I mean, I know some shipping companies have increased their rates like four times in the last 60 days. Is that correct?
KASARDA: Well, that‘s true. But the problem with escalating the cost of doing business, you are driving away the person that‘s wanting to purchase your products because they can‘t afford it either. So, it‘s causing a downturn in that respect.
Not to mention it‘s costing the average consumer almost double at the grocery stores. Every time you go to the store, prices are up because they are raising the prices due to the cost of the fuel.
SCHULTZ: Marianne Kasarda, you speak for millions of Americans out there tonight. I appreciate you being on THE ED SHOW and telling the story exactly what small business is facing these days. Thanks so much.
KASARDA: Thanks.
SCHULTZ: So the next time you hear Mr. Boehner and Mr. Cantor talk about how they are really on the side of the American people and they love to quote the American people, there‘s an American person in business right there—proof positive that what we‘ve been talking about on this program is absolutely 100 percent correct.
Remember to answer tonight‘s text question. I want to know what you think.
Newt Gingrich is still trying to back away from his moment of truth on Sunday when he correctly said the Ryan Medicare plan was radical and extreme—because it is.
And more dirty details emerge about the Governator. You won‘t want to miss my conversation about the Arnold affair with MSNBC‘s Martin Bashir.
Stay with us. You are watching THE ED SHOW. We‘ll be right back.
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SCHULTZ: And thanks for watching THE ED SHOW tonight.
It makes me sick every time I hear Republicans say that they are really concerned about job creation, and it is their top priority. Here‘s Eric Cantor explaining their multi-tiered growth plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANTOR: We‘ve got sort of a multi-tiered piece of the growth agenda. Taxes is certainly central to it. But we also have a regulatory relief program.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, yes, that‘s a multi-tiered agenda with two tiers. Less regulation, cut taxes. Even though we‘ve lost about 3 million jobs since the Bush tax cuts went into effect.
Today in Richmond, Virginia, Cantor held another one of his famous job forums. And he took some heat.
Sandy Delano (ph), a regional organizer from MoveOn.org from Williamsburg, Virginia, asked the congressman if jobs are the most important thing, why have you spent five months attacking women‘s health, Planned Parenthood, NPR, why? And Cantor responded with this answer, “I don‘t think that‘s where we‘ve been focused.”
Really? She forgot about trying to kill Medicare, should have asked him that.
And how about every single Republican voting against the loan to save the auto industry? Where were the Republicans with their jobs agenda? And it‘s good to see them get called out on it.
Coming up, Newt Gingrich, the disaster continues. I love it.
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SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.
Poor Newt Gingrich, he says he was the victim of gotcha journalism. He says he misspoke when he dissed the Ryan Medicare plan six ways from Sunday.
The very latest is the Newtster saying he would have vote for the Ryan budget if he were still in Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH ®, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would have voted for the budget.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You would have? Would you still?
GINGRICH: Sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Of course, Gingrich also applied—apologized to Paul Ryan.
But the Newtster also kissed up to the Tea Party. From Iowa, Gingrich held
two conference calls with Tea Party leaders scattered throughout the nation
one on short notice Monday night and another on Tuesday morning. It was quick mop-up.
And the Newtster tried to sell this garbage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRICH: Any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood. And—because I have said publicly those words were inaccurate and unfortunate. And I‘m prepared to stand up—when I make a mistake and I‘m going to on occasion, I‘m going to stand up and share with the American people that was a mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, it was a bad place to make a mistake, Newtster. You see, the fact is, it was inaccurate.
So, then why did Newt Gingrich denigrate Ryan‘s Medicare plan several different times?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GREGORY, NBC NEWS: Turn it into a voucher program where you give seniors some premium support and so that they can go out and buy private insurance?
GINGRICH: I don‘t think right wing social engineering is any more desirable than left wing social engineering. I don‘t think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: And, of course, Gingrich shouldn‘t stop there. A few minutes later, this happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGORY: Not what Paul Ryan is suggesting which is completely changing Medicare?
GINGRICH: I think that that is too big a jump.
(ENDVIDEO C LIP)
SCHULTZ: Too big a jump? Those weren‘t the only times the Newtster misspoke. He did it again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRICH: I am against Obamacare, which is imposing radical change, and I would be against a conservative imposing radical change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: And later the same day, Gingrich spoke with “The Wall Street Journal” and stood by his remarks. So, let‘s get this thing straight, folks.
Gingrich called the Ryan Medicare plan radical and extreme because it is. Then he was scared into supporting it because of if he doesn‘t, he‘s not going to get Republican support.
He did not misspeak. The GOP Medicare bomb got him. You see? If you oppose the Paul Ryan Medicare plan, the GOP turns on you. But if you support it, you sure as hell won‘t get the general electorate on your side.
So—and then he literally tries to run from Republicans. Run from Republicans. Watch this tape when an Iowa voter questioned him in the hallway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you just did with Paul Ryan is unforgivable.
GINGRICH: I didn‘t do anything to Paul Ryan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you did. You undercut him and his allies in the House. You are an embarrassment to our party.
GINGRICH: I‘m sorry you feel that way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don‘t you get out before you make a bigger fool of yourself?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Look at Newt. Look at this videotape. Now, if you are in public service, and you want to win, you focus on what this gentleman is saying to you. You know, you want to serve the public. You want to turn his opinion around.
Now, this guy is a righty. He says that Newt is an embarrassment to the party. See what Newt—I thought Newt was caring about the American people. I thought he really loved debate in the arena of ideas.
There‘s your chance, Newt. You are running like a scared rabbit. Go right back to that guy and say, you know what? I respect your opinion, but I want to set the record straight with you because your vote counts.
He doesn‘t care about that.
Let‘s bring in host of GRITtv and Free TV Speech, and that is Laura Flanders.
You know what? The thing that gets me about this, Laura, is if Newt Gingrich was going to vote for the Ryan plan, why didn‘t he just say it on “Meet the Press” when he had the opportunity on Sunday?
LAURA FLAUNDERS, GRITTV: Well, that‘s a different audience. I mean, he‘s saying one thing to one audience and another to another. We saw it with Boehner, we saw it with Kyl, we saw it—well, we‘re seeing it now with Scott Brown.
The surprise about Gingrich, though, let me just remind you, Ed, this is the guy that tried to get his marriage annulled. I think his second marriage. Tried to get the illegal GOPAC contributions ignored and he‘s now saying that what you said if you quote him, it‘s dishonest.
SCHULTZ: It‘s a falsehood.
FLANDERS: That‘s right. And he told his second wife, I think it was his second wife, Marianne (ph), that it wasn‘t what he did. It‘s what he said, so if it‘s not what he did and not what he said, he‘s not left with a whole lot.
SCHULTZ: You know, seriously, we really don‘t have to go down the personal road. And you can. I‘m not trying to tell you what to say. But there‘s so much on the table with this guy.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: Well, the GOPAC. I mean, obviously, what he did there and, of course, he tried to word smith everybody into denigrating their opponent and talking about their demise. He introduced modern day negativity into politics. There‘s no question about it.
And now, he‘s trying to talk back to his own party and he‘s having a hard time. Senator Chuck Schumer today said, of course, Democrats are going to use Gingrich‘s words against other Republicans. “Gingrich was saying what everyone knows to be true. The plan is extreme.”
Do you think that Gingrich thinks the plan is extreme but he‘s just out of plan (ph)?
FLANDERS: I think it depends entirely who he‘s talking to. I mean, this is guy earlier said Medicare should wither on the vine. I mean, he‘s had a mountain of opinions about Medicare and on this occasion, I think he said he thought—he said what he thought would please that audience. When he got the kickback from the tea parties like so many Republicans today—well, I‘ve got to straddle this fence somehow.
SCHULTZ: All of a sudden, you have Newt Gingrich who has been a conservative icon, the intellectual debater of the Republican movement for the last 25 years, and he is calling Paul Ryan to tell him that he‘s sorry.
FLANDERS: But let‘s remember that --
SCHULTZ: This had to be a rough day.
FLANDERS: -- Gingrich has also been an embarrassment to the Republicans long before that gentleman in Iowa. He was the guy who they had to get to resign back in the ‘90s because of the ethics violations. He was an embarrassment then. He‘s an embarrassment now.
SCHULTZ: Finally, can he recover and get the nomination in your opinion?
FLANDERS: I don‘t know. I think this is a week for listening to the women. Marianne Gingrich, his second wife, said this is a guy who will redo his history so many times that there is no chance in hell he can win. We should listen to the Schwarzenegger tell-all. We should have listened to the—we did listen luckily to the IMF woman.
In this case, we should be listening to her. She‘s got it right. He doesn‘t stand a chance.
SCHULTZ: Laura Flanders, great to have you with us tonight.
Republicans are scraping the bottom of the barrel for 2012. Some of them are even backing Texas Governor Rick Perry. Supporting another governor of Texas sounds like “Psycho Talk” to me.
And you know that movie “Throw Mama From the Train”? Now, it‘s throw grandma off a cliff. The debate over Medicare rages on. We‘ll tell you what this political ad is all about, next.
Stay with us.
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SCHULTZ: Great to have you with us tonight. You know, we‘re just a few days away from a special election in New York‘s Congressional 26th District. Now Republicans are defending their own turf in this one. And it is all about Medicare.
Republican Jane Corwin supports the Ryan Budget. No way around it. She supports the Ryan Budget, which ends Medicare as we know it. That position, well, it‘s not going over too well with the folks in upstate New York.
Nevertheless, the GOP, I tell you what, they are pulling out all stops to ensure a Corwin victory. Congressman Alan West, well, he‘s recording robo calls. What‘s he doing getting into it.
Karl Rove‘s group is buying more ads, while Corwin herself has lent her campaign more money. Earlier tonight, Corwin debated Democrat Kathy Hochul. It will be broadcast tomorrow. But Slate.com‘s Dave Weigel gives us a sneak preview, saying basically every question at the Hochul-Corwin debate is about Medicare.
You think they are concerned about it? You are dog gone right. Looks like no matter how much money the Republicans put in this race, they just can‘t escape the reality.
Which brings me to this political ad from the group the Agenda Project. Here you have a Paul Ryan look alike taking grandma out for a spin. That‘s when things get just a little bit dicey. Let‘s take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: So what are the Republicans expect to see? They have their senator from Iowa up on the stump during the health care debate saying that, well, the Democrats are going to pull the plug on grandma. Well, now the Democrats and the liberal groups are saying the Republicans are going to throw grandma off the cliff.
Beats the heck out of getting run over by a reindeer.
More dirty details emerge about the governator. How did he keep a secret for so long? I‘ll talk with MSNBC‘s Martin Bashir next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC ANCHOR: Should we change our Constitution, which we believe is divinely inspired, to allow men like Mel Martinez and Arnold Schwarzenegger to stand here some night.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN ®, ARIZONA: Depends on whether he endorses me or not? He and I have many similar attributes, so I have to seriously consider it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oops. You might want that one back, Mr. McCain. Hard to believe that was just a few years ago. I remember when Republicans were just falling all over themselves to pave a way for Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for president of the United States. In fact, no one is reporting the fact that the GOP even introduced legislation that would have amended the Constitution. And that‘s why Chris asked the question during that debate. That would allow foreign-born citizens to become president of the United States.
Meanwhile, more gory details about the Arnold affair. Well, they are trickling out. Turns out Schwarzenegger‘s wife, Maria Shriver, and his mistress, a household employee, they were pregnant at the same time. Schwarzenegger‘s sons, now teenagers, were born less than a week apart.
Now there are pictures out there of the mistress. Some news organizations are reporting her name. I have to tell you tonight, folks, I have no interest in doing that. I don‘t care who she is and I wouldn‘t do that to the kid.
Here‘s what interests me. What if Californians had a different choice
made a different choice back in 2003 during the recall effort? What if voters hadn‘t have been lied to? Would they have made the same decision?
“Mother Jones Magazine” speculates on what would have happened had Democratic Governor Gray Davis remained in office and not been recalled. The car tax would have stayed in place. No bonds would have been issued to make up for it. And California‘s deficit problems, well, they would have been less than half as bad as they turned out to be under Governor Schwarzenegger.
Pretty tough stuff when California is dealing with a huge economic crisis and people are suffering out there. But to the personal end of it, I want to talk more with MSNBC‘s Martin Bashir.
My colleague, Martin Bashir, has a program here on MSNBC at 3:00 in the afternoon eastern time. He‘s been reporting on this story since it‘s broke and has done reporting today on it, and made a lot of phone calls and what not.
This is a classic of a man living a lie. There‘s such tremendous sadness to this. What do we know now? What do you know now that we didn‘t know 24 hours ago?
MARTIN BASHIR, MSNBC ANCHOR: If you want to understand Arnold Schwarzenegger, don‘t look at his political career. Don‘t look at his acting career. Look at his body building career.
What you discover is that from the ‘70s into the ‘80s, into the early ‘90s—and I‘ve spoken to two people today—Arnold Schwarzenegger was taking vast amounts of steroids. As you know, the illicit use of anabolic steroid for sport and for winning is completely ruled out. But we know now that so many people were using these sorts of things.
Why is that important? It tells you two things. First, Schwarzenegger always talks about fulfilling the American dream. But he fulfills it by cheating and lying, because that‘s what he did by taking steroids.
But also, imagine how much testosterone was in that man‘s body as a result of loading this stuff into him. That explains, perhaps, his voracious sexual appetite. I spoke to Victor Conte, who was at the center of the Balco drug scandal. He said this to me: nobody would ever have won seven titles—and, remember, Arnold was Mr. Olympia seven times—without some of the best pharmacology that money can buy.
SCHULTZ: Martin, how is the family doing? I mean, four kids.
BASHIR: Horrendous. Absolutely horrendous.
SCHULTZ: Maria Shriver. How are they holding up?
BASHIR: It‘s interesting. If you look at the statements that have been issued—she herself issued a statement saying it was painful and heartbreaking. Her son Patrick, who is only 17, changed his surname on Twitter and on Facebook yesterday from Patrick Schwarzenegger to Patrick Shriver.
But here‘s another interesting thing. Think about Maria‘s parents. Sargent Shriver, responsible for founding the Peace Corp, responsible for creating something called HeadStart, which is a global program to focus on children who may be in dysfunctional, criminal families, and seeks to prevent that from damaging their futures.
And here‘s Eunice Kennedy Shriver, her mother. I had the great privilege of meeting her in the late 1980s. I had a brother who had muscular dystrophy and he died, as all children with that condition, prematurely and in very difficult circumstances. I will never forget meeting her.
You‘ll remember that in 1968, she was responsible for creating the Special Olympics. The Olympics—they were known as the paralympics for people with physical and mental disability.
Imagine how Maria Shriver compares her parents with her husband.
SCHULTZ: But Arnold Schwarzenegger had to know that he was with such quality people in their family. And it didn‘t faze him a bit. He still had this behavior. It‘s like he had ice in his veins.
BASHIR: Sure. And he knew—he says this throughout, if you read his books and his publications and his interviews. He says America is fabulous because you can be what you want to be. You can do anything.
Of course you can if you cheat. That‘s the American dream that he was wanting to fulfill.
SCHULTZ: And how did he keep this secret so long? And there‘s a lot of reporting going on different websites that he had deals cut with media people that were going after him that they would back off. What about all of that?
BASHIR: I haven‘t been able to confirm any of that. But I spoke to somebody today who said that they think there may even be another child in the background. These are the kind of rumors that are spreading about this man.
Why? Because, as you know, when he was running for governor, there were all kinds of allegations about him groping people on set, inappropriate behavior with women. And it was his wife. It was his wife who stood up for him and said, no, no, that‘s not the man that I‘m married to.
SCHULTZ: “True Lies” and “the Terminator.” he played it in real life.
Will he go back to Hollywood? Does he have a career left?
BASHIR: Well, that‘s an interesting question. He‘s working on a film apparently called “Cry Macho,” which I guess is the right title. But here‘s another interesting thing about him. When he became governor, he broke a record. He was the first first generation immigrant to be elected to that position.
But when he left, he also broke a record. What did he leave? A deficit of 28 billion dollars -- 28 billion dollars. I went through just before I came on this evening to look at the last budget he passed. Do you know what he cut? Two hundred fifty six million in child care for low-paid workers recently off welfare., 80 million dollars cut for investigations into child abuse and neglect, 133 million cut for mental health services for special education students.
I wonder what Maria‘s parents would have thought of a governor like that.
BASHIR: Martin Bashir, great to have you with us tonight. I‘m honored. Thank you so much. You can catch Martin Bashir at 3:00 p.m. Eastern right here on MSNBC. Thanks so much.
Rush Limbaugh and his righty buddies think Tea Partying secessionist Governor Rick Perry should run for president. I think that belongs in Psycho Talk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in Psycho Talk tonight, the 2012 Republican presidential field is so dog gone bad, some people in the party are resorting to another neo-con governor from Texas, George W. Bush‘s successor, Rick Perry. Rush Limbaugh is one of the righties who is getting excited about the idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Texas Governor Rick Perry is lurking out there. And he has—he has the potential to light this up. Rick Perry stands in opposition to inside the Beltway Washington elites. I don‘t care what party they are. And he‘s got great hair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: That‘s about the extent of it. Even though Rick Perry may have the hair for the job, he‘s a little short on qualifications. In fact, that‘s where it ends.
He‘s a hard-core Tea Partier who suggested Texas might secede from the union. So the guy, get this, who didn‘t want to be part of the United States now wants to lead the country.
What‘s more, Rick Perry is no stranger to Psycho Talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY ®, TEXAS: I say it‘s time to make Tea Parties twice as big as what they were.
Social Security is a Ponzi scheme.
I think George W. Bush will go down as a very, very good president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: That‘s a dandy, isn‘t it? Given the current state of the Republican party, maybe Perry can get the nomination. But for Rush Limbaugh and his buddies to think a secessionist loose cannon like Perry should be leading the country, I guess you‘d just have to say it‘s Texas-sized Psycho Talk.
President Obama shut down the Birther mania by releasing his birth certificate. Now he‘s turning the tables and capitalizing on their conspiracy theory. You won‘t want to miss it, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Thanks for staying with us tonight here on THE ED SHOW. I think this is brilliant. President Obama is turning the tables on the Birthers. For the past couple of years, we‘ve had to endure a string of whackos hell bent on painting the president of the United States as un-American.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where‘s the birth certificate?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like the president to produce his birth certificate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not an American citizen. He is a citizen of Kenya.
DONALD TRUMP, “THE APPRENTICE”: I am starting to wonder myself whether or not he was born in this country.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I think this is odd that they won‘t produce the birth certificate.
It‘s beginning to get odd to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, he‘s got a president for all of them. President Obama cut those folks off at the knees by releasing his long form birth certificate. And now he‘s taken the publicity the Birthers generated and using it to his own advantage, and America‘s.
The president‘s re-election campaign is selling t-shirts with Obama‘s picture on the front and the words “Made in the USA” on the front. His long form birth certificate is on the back of the t-shirt. And you can get a birth certificate mug right along with it.
President Obama has done a masterful thing here in my opinion. He‘s outsmarted the Birthers by successfully turning their ridiculous conspiracy theory into a complete joke and a fund-raiser.
For more, let‘s bring in MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter. I think we‘re seeing President Obama‘s personality here, which I think is pretty cool.
JONATHAN ALTER, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, I mean, I‘m not sure that he‘s behind the t-shirt. But you could see at the White House Correspondents Dinner that, you know, at a certain point, he said, enough of the carnival barkers. That was the word he used to describe Donald Trump and the others a couple of days before. We‘ve got more important things to do.
So that one week where you had him slam dunking the Birthers, humiliating Trump at the White House Correspondents dinner with funny jokes, and then all the while killing bin Laden, that was where—you know, it doesn‘t put the election on ice for him, Ed. There‘s too much time between now and then for things to go wrong and the economy, too many ways to lose.
But what it was a kind of a character moment for him to put a different stamp on his presidency.
SCHULTZ: I also think it signatures, all right, we won this thing.
It‘s over, OK? We‘re going to have—it really diss them in a big way.
How is it going to be received?
ALTER: Oh, I think it‘s already been received, you know, very well. I mean, people are kind of amused to see the whole thing turned into a joke. They were amused to see the Birthers humiliated. The base likes it. The Republican party in general is kind of chagrined over the whole thing, now trying to run away from the Birthers.
So you see people like Michele Bachmann, oh, Birther, no, no, that was never me. So it turned out to be a net positive for him.
SCHULTZ: And he‘s taken a number of different issues and turned it on the Republicans, has he not? He‘s got a real knack for that.
ALTER: I think he likes to bide his time and then hit the three-pointer at the buzzer. We‘re not quite at the buzzer yet. We‘re in the third quarter, but he has to get some things done there, too. And, yeah, I think he‘s—I think he‘s capable of the thrust and parry of politics even though he doesn‘t really enjoy it the way some politicians do.
SCHULTZ: Let me switch subjects quickly. Next week in New York, the 26th district. This traditionally goes to Republicans. The debate tonight was all about Medicare.
ALTER: Right.
SCHULTZ: How is this going to play out? Is this really a signature of a sea change in America?
ALTER: It‘s a huge, huge deal. And this week was huge. You know, the day after the Ryan plan came out, I wrote a column to Republicans, be afraid. Be very afraid. You are slitting your own throats.
Now we‘re seeing that happen. All of those Republicans except four ran—are going to have to run on the Ryan plan. And the Democrats are going to make them pay for it.
SCHULTZ: Jonathon Alter, always a pleasure. Good to have you with us tonight. Tonight in our survey, I asked are Republicans and a few Democrats looking out for you or for big oil? Three percent of you said they are looking out for you; 97 percent of you said looking out for big oil.
That‘s THE ED SHOW. I‘m Ed Schultz. You can listen to me on Sirius XM radio channels 127 on both networks, Monday through Friday, noon to three. “THE LAST WORD” with Lawrence O‘Donnell starts next. We‘ll see you tomorrow night.
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