The Ed Show for Monday, February 20, 2012

Guests: Joy-Ann Reid, E.J. Dionne, Howard Fineman; Michael Eric Dyson, Alan Grayson, R.T. Rybak, Terry O`Neill

ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans. And welcome to THE ED
SHOW from New York.

Rick Santorum said he did not compare President Obama to Adolf Hitler.
Well, I`ll show you the tape and let you decide.

This is THE ED SHOW -- let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Maybe he`s not the best
guy. After a while, you found out some things about this guy over in
Europe and he`s not so good of a guy after all.

Some phony theology. Oh, not theology based on the Bible. A
different theology.

SCHULTZ (voice-over): Rick Santorum is riding a radical wave to the
top of the polls. His surrogates aren`t helping.

ALICE STEWART, SANTORUM CAMPAIGN: He`s referring to radical policies
in terms of the radical Islamic policies the president has.

SCHULTZ: Tonight, former Congressman Alan Grayson and Minneapolis
Mayor R.T. Rybak on the latest radical remarks from Rick Santorum.

Protesters in Virginia delay a vote on the state`s radical anti-
abortion law. Now, President Terry O`Neill will have the latest.

In Arizona, a sex scandal involving a Romney state co-chair could cost
the candidate big time. Howard Fineman is here with the latest.

And outrage over a racist Jeremy Lin headline, and on air comments at
ESPN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there is a chink in the armor, where can Lin
improve his game?

SCHULTZ: Professor Michael Eric Dyson is her with reaction.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

The more radical Rick Santorum is, the better he seems to do in the
polls. Santorum now up by 10 points nationally according to Gallup. He`s
beating Mitt Romney 36 percent to 26 percent. Santorum, what he is doing
is mobilizing social conservatives. And along the way, he has said
questionable things.

Last night in a church in Georgia, Santorum compared our current
political climate to the build-up to World War II. He said America sat on
the sidelines for too long in 1940.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: We are a hopeful people. We think, well, you know, it will
get better. Yes, he`s not -- I mean, he`s a nice guy. I mean, it won`t be
near as bad as what we think, I mean, you know, this will be OK. Oh, yes,
maybe he`s not the best guy -- after a while, you found out some things
about this guy over in Europe, and he`s not so good of a guy after all.

But you know why what, why do we need to be involved? That`s sort of
optimistic spirit of America. But sometimes -- sometimes it`s not OK.
It`s going to be harder for this generation to figure this out. There`s no
cataclysmic event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Santorum didn`t mention games but talked about a nice guy
and talked about this guy over in Europe.

If he was comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler, this is shocking.
Country western singer Hank Williams, Jr. made the comparison -- same
comparison last year and he was quickly fired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANK WILLIAMS, JR., MUSICIAN: Come on, come on. It would be like
Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: But Santorum says he wasn`t pulling a Hank Williams, Jr.

A reporter asked Santorum if he was making a comparison between Hitler
and President Obama, and Santorum said this:

"Of course not. The World War II metaphor is one I`ve used 100 times
in my career."

Well, if he wasn`t comparing President Obama to Hitler, I think he
should explain just who in the hell he was talking about.

Senator, could we have a name tonight? Can you get one of your press
people to put out a press release and tell us exactly who you were talking
about?

But Rick Santorum rarely takes responsibility for extreme rhetoric.
Last month at a town hall meeting, an audience member called President
Obama a Muslim. And Santorum had nothing say in response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is an avowed Muslim. And my question is why
isn`t something being done to get him out of our government, he has no
legal right to be calling himself president.

SANTORUM: Well, I`m doing my best to try to get him out of the
government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Just like today, Santorum avoided any responsibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: I don`t think it`s my responsibility. Why don`t you go out
and correct it? It`s not my responsibility as a candidate to correct
everybody who makes a statement that I disagree with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: And meanwhile, Santorum`s campaign staff could use a little
coaching. His press secretary Alice Stewart made a very strange comment on
MSNBC earlier today to Andrea Mitchell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: There is a type of theological secularism when it come to
the global warmists in this country. That`s what he was referring to. He
was referring to the president`s policies in terms of the radical Islamic
policies the president has.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Stewart later said she meant to say radical environmental
policies, but kind of messed up and said radical Islamic policies.

Ask yourself the question, do they sound similar to you? It might be
a happy accident but this kind of rhetoric really fires up the ultra
conservative base of the Republican Party, just like it did in 2008.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That guy gets elected and hangs around with
terrorists.

REPORTER: Who is the terrorist?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama is a terrorist, folks. Do you know that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama is Muslim. He`s a terrorist himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Rick Santorum can deny specific comparison President Obama
to Adolf Hitler, his spokesperson can say she meant to say environment when
she said Islamic, but the Santorum campaign knows the power of language.

What Rick Santorum said last night in Georgia to me was very clear.
He compared the challenges the country faces today with the peril the world
faced in 1940. To bring up any discussion of this guy in Europe about our
modern day political environment, I think is absolutely outrageous, and he
should be called on it.

Senator, former senator from Pennsylvania, give us a name. Who were
you talking about?

Get your cell phones out, I want to know what you think.

Tonight`s question, do you think Rick Santorum was comparing President
Obama to Hitler? Text A for yes, text B for no, to 622639. You can always
go to our blog at Ed.MSNBC.com. We`ll bring you results later on on this
show.

I`m joined tonight by former Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida, who
is running for the seat one more time after some redistricting.

Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.

ALAN GRAYSON (D-FL), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: You`ve heard this kind of rhetoric before. Do you believe
Rick Santorum needs to be held accountable and give us a name as to who he
was talking about in Europe back in the `40s, and comparing it to President
Obama?

GRAYSON: Of course, but Rick Santorum says things like that almost
every day. In the very same speech, Ed, he said among other things that
President Obama is the worst president we`ve had on security -- the very
worst. The worst president on the economy and he said that President Obama
wants higher gas prices.

This is part of the vilification and demonizing of the president that
you hear all the time on Glenn Beck, you hear all the time on Rush
Limbaugh, you hear all the time on Sean Hannity`s show and he`s simply
articulating that for that same audience, the Tea Party fanatics who
determining the Republican primary.

SCHULTZ: I mean, in that speech, wasn`t he drawing a parallel as to
what Europe and the world faced back in 1940, and what we as a country face
and what the world is looking at right now and said, well, you know, he was
a nice guy but kind of made a mistake -- and it was very clear to me he was
talking about Adolf Hitler and making the comparison to the president of
the United States.

Is that a deliberate strategy in your opinion?

GRAYSON: It`s a deliberate strategy to vilify the president, to make
it seem that he`s an illegitimate president. We`ve seen this since before
he was elected, and it won`t work, because 67 million Americans voted for
him last time, more than 67 million are going to vote for him this time.

But what he`s doing is playing to that particular paranoid audience,
and the paranoid style of American politics and trying to make them angry
and fearful of Barack Obama to the point they will support him. That`s
what he`s doing and I think he is doing it consciously.

SCHULTZ: And we`re talking about the man who now leads in the
national poll by 10 points over his closest challenger, and that would be
Mitt Romney. What do you make of that?

GRAYSON: Well, only a tiny fraction of the populace ever has anything
to do with the Republican primaries. The turnout in Maine last week was
less than one-half of one percent of the population -- 1.3 million people
live in Maine, 5,000 voted in their primary to choose the next president.

And we`re talking about the absolute fringe, the absolute radical
fringe. And these are the people who are going to generate the opponent to
Barack Obama in the next election -- God help us all.

SCHULTZ: Why would Santorum`s spokesperson say Islamic policies when
talking about environmental policies?

GRAYSON: Again, it`s no different from what you hear all the time on
FOX News and on hate radio. Rick Santorum, like millions of other
Americans, has been immersed in hate radio and FOX News for years, for
decades. And now, this is the result of it.

He`s the Tea Party candidate. He`s the one that they really want and
this is what you see. But there is a gaping chasm between the Tea Party
and the rest of America, and they`re going to generate the next Republican
candidate whether we like it or not.

And I think people would love to see an honest debate between two
honest people with different points of view. But you`re not going to see
that because the Tea Party is going to choose a candidate that spews
nothing but hatred. That`s exactly what Rick Santorum is doing, has done
and will do.

SCHULTZ: Alan Grayson, great to have you us tonight. Thanks so much
for joining us.

Now, let`s turn to R.T. Rybak, who`s the mayor of Minneapolis and vice
chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Mr. Rybak, what do you make of what you`ve just heard, what you`ve
seen in these radical turns that we`ve seen Rick Santorum take openly on
the came trail in the last week?

MAYOR R.T. RYBAK (D), MINNEAPOLIS, MN: Well, it`s really extreme, but
it`s nothing new for Santorum. Since the beginning of his career, he`s
been addicted talking about sex, religion, or anything that can divide the
country.

But the goodness is we have a president who`s been listening to this
kind of baloney for years, and has been able to stay focused on creating
jobs -- 23 straight months of private sector job growth, OK, that you can
drill it in their head. That`s what we should be talking about.

And the fact of the matter is, can you imagine a President Santorum?
Can you imagine what he would do with extremists in Congress? Can you
imagine how he would shut down a government?

The reality is we have a president who has listened to the most
extreme things, calling his wife, his baby mama, I mean, we can go on and
on.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

RYBAK: But Barack Obama has not been distracted. And that`s an
incredibly powerful thing about this amazing person who is running our
country. And the fact of the matter is, he is running against people who
have run so far to the extreme that they`ve ruined the Republican Party and
those moderates somewhere out there are complicit because they`re letting
these people with these extreme thoughts take over their party. That`s
their problem.

Because the reality is America right now will support a president who
is going to be focused on jobs and that`s exactly what the president is
doing.

SCHULTZ: Yes. Well, R.T., I`m not meaning to hang this you on
tonight, or who`s in charge of communications at the DNC -- but why does it
take a cable host to ask Rick Santorum who the hell he was talking about?
Where are the Democrats?

Why aren`t the Democrats coming out and demanding that he clarify
exactly what he meant so everybody in this country will know this story,
that this is who the Republicans are apparently endorsing right now? He`s
picking up more endorsements all the time, Mr. DeWine from Ohio. That was
a big story the other day. The Christian conservatives are out behind Rick
Santorum.

Really? Is this the kind of rhetoric that you`re going to support?

Why isn`t the DNC going after this?

RYBAK: Well, it`s a good question, Ed, and it`s one of those things
that we wrestle with. But the fact of the matter is, we can either, you
know, jump to attention every time Rick Santorum says something nutty or we
could actually try to make sure we get the message out about what the
president is doing on the economy.

You know, the president can either run the country or try to respond
every time Rick Santorum says something crazy that would take way too much
time.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHULTZ: This one definitely goes out of bounds from any of the stuff
that we`ve heard before.

RYBAK: Yes.

SCHULTZ: Mitt Romney has Donald Trump on radio attacking Santorum.
Here it is.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, BUSINESSMAN: I see some of his views which are so out
there that he`s never going to win. He cannot win the general election,
cannot win it. There`s no gift, no Christmas gift that could be given
better than Rick Santorum to the Democrats. They are just salivating at
that.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Do you agree with Donald Trump tonight, R.T.?

RYBAK: Well, I got a little (INAUDIBLE). I think it`s kind of
exciting to think about that kind election, but I don`t love the fact that
some how we`re going to go back into the slime fest that -- look, the
Republicans want to do this to each other, that`s cool, right?

SCHULTZ: Yes.

RYBAK: But if they want to inflict it on the rest of us, not just
Democrats but the rest of the country, let`s look at an America that needs
to be brought together, that`s had a president who`s listened to every
distracting thing in the world and has stayed focused on keeping us safe
and creating jobs.

SCHULTZ: No doubt.

RYBAK: That`s what we need.

SCHULTZ: All right. A new poll shows 55 percent of Republicans wish
a different candidate was running for the nomination. Who knows, you might
see a totally different name out there when it`s all said and done.

R.T. Rybak, great to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your time
here on THE ED SHOW.

Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the
screen, and share thoughts on Twitter @EdShow. We want to know what you
think.

Up next, more highlights from Rick Santorum`s radical weekend. Oh,
yes, there`s more.

Joy-Ann Reid and E.J. Dionne will be here to discuss Santorum`s
extreme attacks against President Obama`s faith and public education.

Mitt Romney has a brand new problem on his hands. His Arizona co-
chaired has abruptly resigned amid a scandal. Howard Fineman with me on
that story.

Stay with us. We`re right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Coming up, Rick Santorum is walking back yet another
ridiculous statement. He said the president has a different theology and
it`s not biblical. Now, he wants us to believe he wasn`t talking about
religion. I`ll ask MSNBC contributors Joy-Ann Reid and E.J. Dionne what
they think.

And you will not believe what is going on in Virginia. Virginia is
the new battlefield for the Republican war on women. And today in that
state, women were fighting back.

The president of the National Organization for Women is here to
explain.

And an ESPN anchor is suspended after racist remarks about Jeremy Lin.
Michael Eric Dyson joins me later.

Share your thoughts on Twitter using #EdShow.

We`re right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.

Rick Santorum ramped up his radicalism this weekend big time. In
addition to comparing President Obama to Hitler, Santorum said he wants the
federal and state government out -- I mean out of public education. And on
Saturday, he said this about President Obama`s agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: It`s not about you. It`s not about your quality of life.
It`s not about your jobs. It`s about some phony ideal, some phony
theology, oh, not a theology based on the Bible, different theology, but
none -- no less a theology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Later in the day, Santorum doubled down, focusing on the
president`s mandate for birth control coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: President has reached a new low in this country`s history
of oppressing religious freedom that we have never seen before. And if he
doesn`t want to call his imposition of his values a theology, that`s fine.
But it is an imposition of his values over a church who has very clear
theological reasons for opposing what the Obama administration is forcing
on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: But by Sunday, Santorum had developed a new explanation for
his theology comment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: I wasn`t suggesting the president is not a Christian. I
accept the fact the president is a Christian. I was talking about the
radical environmentalists, that`s why I was talking about energy. This
idea that man is here to serve the earth as opposed to be husband its
resources and be good stewards of the earth. And I think that is a phony
ideal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Phony is a good word directed at the wrong person. I`m not
buying it.

You heard the tape. Santorum said President Obama was imposing a
theology not based on the Bible. That is a direct attack on the
president`s faith.

I am joined tonight by Joy-Ann Reid, MSNBC contributor and managing
editor of "The Grio," and E.J. Dionne, MSNBC contributor and senior fellow
at Brookings Institution and columnist for "The Washington Post."

E.J., is Santorum going after Obama`s faith, President Obama`s faith
to make sure that he locks up the radical social conservatives and has this
big separation between both he and Mitt Romney? What about that?

E.J. DIONNE, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: You know, that looked like what he
was doing, and then he wanted to say that wasn`t what he was doing.

What I would like to see, actually, if Santorum gets the nomination,
let`s have a fourth debate -- let`s have a fourth debate dedicated to
theology. I mean, Rick Santorum has every right if he wants to, to talk
about his own theology. President Obama actually knows quite about
theology, his hero is Reinhold Niebuhr, one of the great theologians of the
20th century.

Let`s have him duke it on theology. But I cannot leave that Hitler
metaphor.

I hope Rick Santorum when he says he didn`t mean to do it, I hope
that`s right because I like to put a ban on Hitler metaphors in American
politics.

The only people who should be compared to Hitler are people who commit
genocide against millions of people. Every politician, when they are about
to go down that Hitler road ought to have something in their heads that
says "don`t go there."

SCHULTZ: Yes, it`s not just President Obama`s faith Santorum is
calling in question. Here is more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: The left in America has their own moral code in which they
want to impose on this country. You can call it a theology, you can call
it moral code, you can call it a world view, but they have their own moral
code that they want to impose on everybody else while they insist and
complain that somehow or another, people of Judeo-Christian faith are
intolerant of their new moral code that they want to create.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So, Joy-Ann Reid, is Rick Santorum implying the left in
America is not Judeo-Christian? Is this also designed to help him with
evangelicals, which he knows he has to have to win?

JOY REID, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: You know what? I have trouble believing
that anything Rick Santorum is doing is planned, because it seems like he`s
so unused to being the front-runner that he`s literally just sort of
letting forth with the sort of untested campaign rhetoric, because he`s
just not used to speaking before the nation.

And I got to tell you, every time I listen to Rick Santorum, all I can
think is projection. This is a guy who quite plainly has a goal of
imposing his own sort of theology in a certain moral code that he thinks is
tied to the Founding Fathers, but is really uniquely his and a small group
of Christian evangelicals, and he really does want to impose it on the
nation. He feels the country should be governed in a sense by the rules of
the Catholic Church.

SCHULTZ: E.J., do you think Rick Santorum truly believes what he`s
saying? Or is he just trying to get people to draw distance between him
and Romney?

DIONNE: No, I think Joy-Ann is exactly right. I think this is
exactly what Santorum believes. He`s always believed this.

And he can`t get used to the fact that when he says things like this,
it comes off differently because he`s subject to the scrutiny of a
presidential campaign.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

DIONNE: And I think he`s actually helping Mitt Romney catch up with
him in Michigan. But it does bother me when he seems to suggest that to be
an environmentalist somehow puts you outside the Christian orbit.

Rick Cizik, a great Christian former head of the National Association
of Evangelicals has talked about Creation Care. He cares about global
warming because he thinks that God gave us stewardship over the earth and
we have to be responsible about it. That is a Christian view. It`s not
outside the framework of Christianity to be an environmentalist.

SCHULTZ: That is a great point.

Santorum`s radicalism on education was also on display this weekend.
Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: The idea that the federal government should be running
schools frankly much less that the state government should be running
schools is anachronistic.

I think public education should be a dynamic process that`s locally
run, that works with parents to provide the optimal opportunity for each
child in America to get the education that they need, not what the federal
government or state government says that you should have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: And in impoverished neighborhoods, just where is the money
going to come from, Joy-Ann?

REID: Right. Yes, exactly. And here, I`m so glad you played that
clip, Ed. I have been wanting to talk about that since I saw it Sunday. I
wish Bob Schieffer had a chance to follow-up.

What Rick Santorum is essentially saying, and he didn`t go further and
continue it, is that the federal government and the state government
shouldn`t be involved in education because people of his particular
ideology believe that parents should individually be able to teach
creationism, not have to teach evolution, not have to teach on things like
global warming, which our kids learn about the environment. They don`t
want their kids to learn. They want to have this individualized education
where they can decide not to teach their kids about science.

SCHULTZ: But you would have such a -- we`d have a major gap between
the haves and have-notes. We would be creating the have-nothings.

REID: Or we would have a system like they do in the Third World,
where student have to pay to go to school because they`re also in that
ideological camp. They believe in privatize education where you either
home school or you have pay for it.

SCHULTZ: E.J., I can`t go without having you comment on this, because
I know it`s morally near and dear to your heart. But how in the world
could we have a public education system in this country if there was no
federal money, if there was no state money?

DIONNE: If you pulled all the federal and all the state money out of
the schools, you`d be breaking the nation`s promise to every poor kid that
you`ll have a shot at going to a decent school and that if you work hard
and study hard, you have a way to advance. Of course, the public schools
aren`t perfect everywhere. Of course, we have to reform them.

But pulling out state and federal money is exactly the opposite of
what we need to do because our public system, forget the private schools,
our public systems are so unequal, even with that money coming in.

SCHULTZ: Joy-Ann Reid, E.J. Dionne, always a pleasure. Great to have
you on THE ED SHOW. Thank you.

The GOP`s war on women, you won`t believe it. The war on women`s
health care is now in Virginia as a series -- and I mean, a series of
radical measures await legislative approval, the governor says he`ll sign
them. Terry O`Neill, president of the National Organization for Women will
join me for the discussion.

David Koch says he`s helping Scott Walker in Wisconsin. How much help
is he giving the union-busting governor? Stay tuned.

You`re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. We`re right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sound of feet crunching on the icy road. And
the powerful language displayed on shirts, cheeks and arm bands. All
greeted state lawmakers on Monday walking to their meetings on the capitol.
Conversation was no visibly absent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes you think it`s more what you don`t say
than you do say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: The Republicans war on women has reached the battleground
state of Virginia. Today, more than a thousand men and women gathered
outside the Virginia state capitol protesting right at legislation that
would dramatically impact women`s health.

A personhood bill would define embryos as humans. Another bill would
require women seeking abortions to receive a highly invasive trans-vaginal
ultrasound first. Right wingers see no issue with the state mandating this
type of procedure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA LOESCH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Wait a minute they had no problems
having similar to a trans-vaginal procedure when they engaged in the act
that resulted in their pregnancy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: The ultrasound bill has already passed both Republican-
controlled houses in the state of Virginia. Here`s how one legislator
described women`s reproductive rights last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hear the same song over there, the very tragic
human notes that are often touched upon involve extreme examples. But in
the vast majority of these cases these are matters of lifestyle
convenience, Mr. Speaker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Lifestyle convenience? The majority of Virginians opposing
the ultrasound legislation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m trying to remind I am a legal person I have
a vote and opinion and a body which is my right to control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Let`s turn to Terry O`Neill, president of the national
organization for women.

Terry, good to have you with us tonight. This is essentially, as I
read it, the government mandating to a doctor that he must perform a
procedure on a woman. Do I have that right?

TERRY O`NEILL, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN: Yes, a
medically unnecessary procedure on a woman. In fact, Ed, a number of women
have been posting on blogs and on comments that their own experience with
this procedure because sometimes in rare cases it is medically warranted,
even when your doctor is doing it for your own good, it`s an unpleasant
experience, often. It is often painful. It is not pleasant.

To take that experience and make it state mandated, even when it`s
medically inappropriate, you know, there are a number of women who have
begun to say let`s look at the state definition in fact the new FBI
definition of rape. And that would include vaginal penetration against the
will without the consent of the woman. Now --

SCHULTZ: Is it rape in your opinion?

O`NEILL: I think it is.

SCHULTZ: You do think its rape?

O`NEILL: Yes. I think it is, Ed, I do. I do.

SCHULTZ: Well, clearly it`s something that a woman would be forced to
do so she would lose control of her body.

O`NEILL: Right. It`s non-consensual. If it`s non-consensual
penetration of her vagina, I don`t know what else you call it but rape.
And this is - this is where we have come and the extremist effort to
criminalize all abortion. It is a -- it really I think rips the mask off
the intention of the people and it`s almost -- it`s really mostly men who
are trying to criminalize abortion.

This is not about protecting women. This is shaming women, this is
about physically abusing women, anything they can do to keep this sort of
political football of women`s health. It`s really outrageous. And when
you consider that one in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime,
the dreadful willingness to put women through an unnecessary invasive rape-
like procedure is just astonishing in the 21st century.

SCHULTZ: Yes. Republican governor Bob McDonnell says that he will
support the legislation and will sign it. But what is happening in
Virginia clearly is a broader attack of what is happening on women`s
health.

Here`s Rick Santorum what he had to say about pre natal testing. And
the affordable health care act.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the things that you
don`t know about Obamacare, one of the mandates is they require free pre-
natal testing. Why? Free pre-natal testing ends up in more abortion and
therefore less care that has to be done because we cull the ranks of the
disabled in our society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Yesterday Santorum tried to clarify his comments but doesn`t
pre-natal testing identify really a wide range of issues?

O`NEILL: You know, yes. And frankly, the United States needs a
leader, a president who is both well-informed and honest. And we would not
get that with Rick Santorum it`s very clear.

Pre-natal testing is an integral part of pre-natal care for women.
Women are two to three times more likely to die in child birth if they
don`t get pre-natal care and infants are six times more likely to die
before they reach the age of 12 months if their moms didn`t get pre natal
care. And here is a man that wants to be president who doesn`t think that
women should get basic pre natal care. It`s just takes your breath away,
right?

SCHULTZ: We will be talking more about it later on the in the week.

Terry O`Neill, thank you for your time tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL BABEU, ARIZONA SHERIFF: These were photographs that are mine
that I sent to an individual that was meant only for their observation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: A sex scandal in Arizona involving a Romney state co-chair
means trouble for the Mittster.

Howard Fineman has the latest.

David Koch is freely admitting he`s spending time and money to help
Scott Walker fight his recall election. We`ll have the latest.

And ESPN comes under fire for a flat out racist Jeremy Lin headline
and comments made on air.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: If there is a chink in the armor, where
can Lin improve his game?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: MSNBC political analyst, Michael Eric Dyson, is here with
reaction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to "the Ed Show." Mitt Romney has a brand new
problem on his hands. Remember Romney is now the candidate who is supposed
to be so great at running things and organizing things and surrounding
himself with the correct people.

Well, Romney`s Arizona co-chair, sheriff Paul Babeu abruptly stepped
down after allegations he threatened his Mexican boyfriend with deportation
if the boyfriend revealed the relationship. The sheriff Babeu has now
admitted that he`s gay but said he didn`t know the man was here illegally.
This is the same sheriff who has railed against illegal immigration and who
made this political ad for Senator John McCain`s reelection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Complete the dang fence.

BABEU: It will work this time. Senator, you`re one of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: This is about the last thing Romney campaign needed, Romney
spokesperson said they supported the sheriff`s decision to resign as co-
chair. In the latest Arizona polls, Santorum is closing in. He is just
three points behind Mitt Romney. Santorum and Romney are still close in
Romney`s home state of Michigan.

Now, a veteran GOP senator told politico if Romney cannot win
Michigan, we need a new candidate. A close advisor to Indiana governor,
Mitch Daniels, says the knocks on Daniels` door have become fist pounding.

Let`s turn to Howard Fineman, NBC News political analyst and editorial
director of "the Huffington Post" media group. Howard, good to have you
with us tonight.

HOWARD FINEMAN, NBC NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Ed.

SCHULTZ: It`s been two weeks tomorrow since the Minnesota, Missouri
and Colorado, Rick Santorum had the lead in the polls for a couple weeks.
And now this for Romney, sort it out, what does it mean? Who has the
problems here?

FINEMAN: Well, let`s start with Arizona. I think that is a close
race. I think Mitt Romney by all rights should win it in part because
there is a strong Mormon population there. And he has ties in that part of
the country.

But the fact that it`s close as it is, is significant. And while the
people in the Santorum campaign are staying away from the sheriff`s story,
they say look, the guy wasn`t part of Romney`s campaign in any active way.
Let`s not jump to conclusions. And let`s not go there.

In my cynical interpretation, that means they think it`s having an
effect they don`t need to say anything. And it is true that in these other
primaries, conservative voters turn out, social issue voters turn out.
Evangelicals, culture conservatives, it is going to hurt Romney. Whether
it`s a killer, I don`t think so. But it`s certainly nothing he needs at
this point when his campaign and all his endorsers and surrogates seem to
have no power to get in trouble.

Don`t forget in South Carolina, Nikki Haley, the governor endorsed
Mitt Romney meant nothing. In Minnesota Tim Pawlenty, the former
Republican governor endorsed Mitt Romney it meant nothing. So the
endorsements have been no big help and this wasn`t one.

SCHULTZ: Source told me that internal polling for the Republicans in
Michigan, Rick Santorum is doing well with the social conservative. He is
doing well with the tea partiers and surprisingly, he is doing well with
union members. Those Reagan Democrats are still alive. Is that what will
close it out for him in Michigan?

FINEMAN: Well, that will certainly help. And I happen to be from his
hometown of Pittsburgh. I know how he worked the unions in Pittsburgh. He
had pretty good relationships with the steelworkers. He was not a right-
to-work guy in that state, because he was in Pennsylvania.

I think some messages from the union people out there are look, if
we`re going do have a Republican nominee let`s have one we worked with in
the past. So, I don`t know there is the vehement opposition to him among
young union people. And he can talk the blue collar talk instead of
manufacturing plan that they`d attention to.

SCHULTZ: Howard, do you really think the Republicans are going to go
try to find somebody else if Mitt Romney can`t win his home state? How big
a deal is this and is Mitch Daniel a player?

FINEMAN: Well, there are several players here. A couple things, I
have been talking to a lot of the same senior institutional Republicans
here in Washington around the country. I think if Mitt Romney loses
Michigan, it doesn`t mean that those people are going to embrace Rick
Santorum. That is the first thing.

I asked a couple senior people including a couple former Republican
senators, do you embrace Rick Santorum if Romney loses the next round, they
said no. I said does that mean you double down on Mitt Romney one last
time? One guy said yes, the other guy said no.

I predict what happens is that the establishment such as it is, will
make one more bet on Mitt Romney that he somehow will use his money and
clout to do well on Super Tuesday. If he doesn`t do well on Super Tuesday
on March 6th, then forget it. The race will be on to find somebody else,
whether Mitch Daniels, whether it`s Chris Christi in New Jersey or even
though he said he a million times her is not interested, Jeb Bush in
Florida. Jeb Bush is the one that the insiders here really want. That is
the one they dream of, Ed, whether they could get him, I don`t know.

SCHULTZ: I was in Florida this weekend and I heard that a few times
as well.

Howard Fineman, great to have you with us. Thanks so much.

FINEMAN: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: Right-wing billionaire David Koch confirms his involvement
in war on workers in Wisconsin. And it is an involvement. We have the
details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Up next, billionaire David Koch says if Scott Walker doesn`t
win his reelection in Wisconsin, the unions will take over.

And the big finish tonight, Jeremy Lin keeps winning basketball games
but he has keep putting up with racist remarks as they keep coming.

Later, Professor Eric Michael - Michael Eric Dyson will join for Lin-
sanity.

Don`t forget to tweet us using #edshow, we`re right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, FAKE DAVID KOCH: Well I`ll tell you what, Scott,
once you crush these bastards I`ll fly you out to Cali and really show you
a good time.

GOVERNOR SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: All right, that would be
outstanding, thanks for all the support and helping us move the cause
forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: That was a blogger posing as oil billionaire David Koch,
prank calling Wisconsin governor Scott Walker last year, very entertaining.

At the time the real David Koch told The New York Times that he didn`t
know who Scott Walker was. Well, that no longer is the case. In a new
interview, the normally secretive right winger praises Walker`s union
busting efforts, Koch tells the Palm Beach post, quote, "what Scott Walker
is doing with public unions in Wisconsin is critically important. He is an
impressive guy and very courageous. If the unions win the recall, there
will be no stopping union power."

Let me point out not one union dime right now is being spent on radio
or TV ads in the badger state. But that hasn`t stopped David Koch and his
brother, Charles, from providing Walker some financial support.

"We`re helping him as we should. We`ve gotten pretty good at this
over the years. We`ve spent a lot of money in Wisconsin, we`re going to
spend more."

The Koch brothers group, Americans for prosperity, which spent
millions on ads attacking president Obama is now spending $700,000 on anti-
union ads in Wisconsin. Despite his deep pockets and enormous influence,
Koch is perplexed by the media coverage. "They make me sound like a bully,
do I look like a bully?" Do I have to answer that?

Another major screw-up by people covering the Jeremy Lin story. There
is a big learning curve on racial insensitivity that needs to take place in
America.

Michael Eric Dyson joins me next. .

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Ed show survey I asked to you think Rick Santorum was
comparing president Obama to Hitler? 98 percent of you said yes, two
percent said no.

Coming up "Saturday Night Live" and my guest, Michael Eric Dyson, take
on racial insensitivity in the media, that`s next, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to "the Ed Show." The big finish, racially
insensitive comments about Jeremy Lin have unfortunately reached a new
peak. After the loss to the New Orleans` Hornets Friday night, an ESPN
anchor said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE ANCHOR: He`s handled everything very well as you said
unflappable, but if there is a chink in the armor, where can Lin improve
his game?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: ESPN`s mobile Web site showed a headline Saturday morning,
for 30 minutes before it was taken down. The ESPN employee responsible for
the headline has been fired. The ESPN anchor has been suspended for a
month.

He has apologized, on twitter, he said "my wife is Asian, I would
never intentionally say anything to disrespect her and that community."
ESPN now says the same offensive phrase was used on ESPN radio here in New
York, but the commentator is an employee of Madison square garden and its
being evaluated. The problem is raising awareness. It was cleverly
lampooned on "Saturday Night Live."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He turned Kobe in to Kobe beef.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was like "hey, I ordered fried chicken."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought we were having that kind of fun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apologize to the viewers at home, they were Lin-
insensitive and politically Lin-correct. He has been fired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Let`s turn to MSNBC political analyst Michael Eric Dyson,
also professor at Georgetown University and author of the book "can you
hear me now"?

Well, that is an appropriate title for this subject, can you hear me
now, we have a learning curve that has to get straightened out. Sort it
out for us, professor.

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: It`s steep, brother, Ed.
The reality is Jeremy Lin has taken the NBA and world by storm. There is
global awareness, international acceptance, there is profound Asian pride,
and yet it seems to be this stingy refusal among some people to acknowledge
that this is a phenomenon all should embrace and some of these ugly
stereotypes reassert themselves.

And they are more vicious because they are unconscious, I don`t doubt
the people crafting those phrases or who talk about that offensive phrase
used by ESPN, meant anything intentionally harmful but that is the point,
it`s so deeply steeped in our own traditions, that if we`re unconscious
about it and we are not even aware, which also points to the fact we need
to have more people of color not only in front of the camera but behind it
as well making decisions.

SCHULTZ: Well, the commentator is an employee of Madison square
garden and being it`s being evaluated? What do you make of that?

DYSON: Yes. That`s, you know, that`s I guess that is one way of
saying look, because we don`t directly have responsibility for him, we
cannot fire him, but MSG is going to evaluate him. What is the evaluation?
He made an offensive statement. You can`t hide behind personal, you know,
relationships to defend your public prejudice.

Look. The man who put a plunger up the behind of an African was
himself dating a black woman. So, your personal predilection for a
particular race doesn`t mean you`re not guilty of certain king of
prejudicial and racial commentary or behavior. So, I think that they need
to be more aggressive. How about a lot more aggressive and just deal with
this one rightly, suspend him as well. And then when he returns he will be
conscious of what he can and can`t say.

SCHULTZ: So, what has the Jeremy Lin story done for America when it
comes to straightening out conversation when it needs to be straightened
out, and non-offensive and correct? I mean we have seen social mores
change over the year, a level of acceptance change over the years. I think
we`re going through one of most moments right now and a big wake-up call.
Your thoughts?

DYSON: It is a big wake up call. You put it brilliantly. The fact
is that, you know, people say we`re being politically correct. One
person`s political correctness is another person`s wounds and the assault
on their pride. So, I think Asian pride is extraordinarily enhanced by
this. We found an American hero, an unlikely story, a Horatio Alger in
this young man who took the world by the horns so to speak and now, here he
is riding the wave of popularity and we need to examine the kind of vicious
bigotry that exists, the kind of racial symbolism and racial rhetoric that
we need to challenge ourselves on. And we can`t be casual and lazy, we
have to be more aggressive about it.

SCHULTZ: And quickly professor, when does Jeremy Lin become a tool of
healing? I mean, he`s throughout to play basketball. He`s doing his job.
He`s doing what is expected of him but does he play a role in America
understanding more?

DYSON: Absolutely he does. Whether you intend to or not. The fact
he`s a young Asian man, Yao Ming was a great hero but in a different way,
this guy was not expected to be what he is. So yes, he`s a tool of
awareness, of consciousness, of raising our tolerance for those who are
other, those who are not the same as, he`s a minority within a minority
dominated game. And so, he brings attention to this and helps us
understand that we have to be sensitive to many minorities, not just one.

SCHULTZ: Michael Eric Dyson always great to have you with us here on
"the Ed Show." Thanks, professor. Appreciate it.

That is "the Ed Show." I`m Ed Schultz. You can listen to me on the
radio Sirius channel XM 127, Monday through Friday noon to 3:00 p.m. and on
progressive talk stations around the country. Follow me on twitter @edshow
and like "the Ed Show" on facebook.

"The Rachel Maddow Show" starts right now. Good evening, Rachel.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END

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