THE ED SHOW
October 7, 2013
Guests: Jon Tester, Tom Perriello, George Miller, Asean Johnson, Rodney
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) OHIO: If congress chose to default. I`m a
reasonable guy. I`m a reasonable guy.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Don`t tell me democrats that John Boehner is
a nice guy, because nice guys don`t do this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: The president is risking default by not having a
conversation.
CAMERON DIAZ: 24 hours a day, I live with this aching possibility
that you might call me.
BOEHNER: I`m ready for the phone call. I`m ready for a conversation.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I cannot do this, under
threat that if republicans don`t get a 100 percent their wage (ph), they`re
going to either shutdown the government or they are going to default on
Americans debt.
BOEHNER: I`m a reasonable guy. I`m a reasonable guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh God, I need eye contacts.
BOEHNER: It`s time for us to sit down and have a conversation.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: This is selfish, it is self-centered, it is outrageous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: I`m pretty emotional guy.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Nice people don`t do this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: I`m ready for the phone call.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What am I supposed to do? You won`t answer my
calls, you change your number.
BOEHNER: I`m a reasonable guy. I`m a reasonable guy.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: What a nice little package that was. Are you believing now
that Boehner is a nice guy? That he is a reasonable guy that all the
president has to do is pick up the phone and say, "Come on down, let`s make
a deal."
You know words matter. And I could tell you as a broadcaster when you
say something, people pay attention then you can get a hot water in a
heartbeat. You might not a minute that way but that`s just kind of how it
came out ever been there. Words matter and how they are interpreted are
very, very important and what this man is saying to the American people
right now is we might not pay the bills. Let me go on record tonight, I
think that we are headed for default. Absolutely, no question about,
they`re republicans, you can`t trust them, you`ve never been able to trust
them. All they care about is themselves and we will default in 10 days, I
believe that.
It`s all part of their mission to take down the president, to ruin his
legacy and they don`t care about the economy, they care about power, and
they care about position, they care about winning. So the interpretation
right now really isn`t all that important because they`ve got this mission.
Let me talk about absolutes for a moment. If you`re the Giants and
you`re 0 and 5, you`re not very good. If you`re the Broncos and you`re 5
and 0, you`re pretty damn good. And that`s a number. Conservatives love
to talk about absolutes. They think they have a lock on the market when it
comes to absolutes. I think this is one of the reasons why sports is so
popular now, because the only thing we count on because we actually get a
number. We know the Giant suck, we know the Broncos are pretty damn darn
good. That`s an absolute.
What`s the absolute here? The absolute here is that this man has a
lot of power. This man can make a decision to make sure that we pay the
bills as a country and we don`t default, Boehner says, he has absolutely no
problem using the debt limit as a bargaining tool to reduce spending.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: We are not going to pass cleaned up (inaudible) increase. I
told the president, there`s no way we`re going to pass when the votes are
not in the house to pass and cleaned up (ph) limit. And the president is
risking default by not having a conversation with us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So under no circumstances will you pass a clean
debt?
BOEHNER: We are not going down that path. It is time to deal with
America`s problems. How can you raise a debt limit and do nothing about
the underlying problem. George, we spent more than what we brought in for
55 over the last 60 years.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Interesting, interesting, interesting. He says he doesn`t
have the votes. Well, the only way you and I would get an absolute on that
is that we put it on the floor for the voting. We got that number.
Earlier today, President Obama called out House Republicans on holding the
debt limit hostage. He warned their actions could have grave consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The second thing congress needs to do is to raise the debt
ceiling next week, so the treasury can pay the bills that congress has
already spent. That`s what most Americans do if they buy something. They
buy a car. If they buy a house, if they put something on a credit card,
they understand they got to pay the bills.
This is something routine, it`s been done more than 40 times since
Ronald Reagan was president. It is never before been used in the kinds of
way that the republicans are talking about using it right now. We can`t
threat an economic catastrophe in the midst of budget negotiations.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: I think there are some Americans out there were saying, "Well,
gosh, I think Boehner talks a little bit better than Obama. Well, Obama,
the President really wasn`t on his game today. Well, he said it but he
really didn`t say it as strong as Boehner. So Boehner must be telling the
truth.
Let`s say we don`t pay our bills, you know what? You know where we
are? We don`t any maps. That`s an absolute. We don`t have any maps.
We`re in uncharted waters. There are no experts that we can turned to and
bring in studio and say, "Do you know for certain what is going to happen
if the United States of America doesn`t pay it`s bills?"
Well, when Boehner opened his mouth, boom. This is just kind of tip
of the iceberg. The market goes down. We`re below 15,000. The psycho
analyst now we`re saying, we`re below 15,000, the economy must be thanking
(ph) now. We`re below 15,000. We`re down 136, the S&P off, the NASDAQ,
well, look at this.
We really don`t know what would happened if we don`t pay our bills
because in the history of the country, we`ve never been there before. Get
ready. That`s where the republicans are going to take us.
You know, when I think could be the saving grace and all of this, our
allies. Is there room for the Canadians, the Germans, the Brits? We
borrow a hell of a lot of money from the Japanese. Could we get some Asian
countries to step up and say, I really don`t think you want to do this, you
see right now, this is America`s problem.
If we don`t pay our bills, it`s their problem and there are no experts
our there that can guarantee us that we`re going to stay above 15,000 that
investors, not a problem at all. Paying the bills, well, that`s really not
all that important. Credit, what are you talking about?
We have a broken political system and you know what? The four
fathers, they missed this one. They have no frame that can control this
kind of thinking, Washington is totally wacko right now. And so I`m hoping
that maybe there might be some foreign advice out there, maybe we can have
lunch over freedom fries or something, maybe an economic summit. So the
rest of the world can tell the United States of America, you better get
your act together because this is what`s going to happen. And in the
meantime, you and I where held (ph) a hostage.
I can`t pick up the phone and call Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, the city
and say, "I`m not paying my utility bill this month." Because if I do
that, they`ll shut out my water and sometimes it gets really cold up there
in the winter time and I don`t want to have my family freeze their ass off.
There are absolutes.
What are the absolutes here? Let me give you the absolutes. Show me
Boehner again. This man, John Boehner, has the power to do something about
it. This guy just getting away of Cruz, but he has the power, he has the
gabble. He is very powerful right now. He can absolutely call for a vote.
We can find out if he`s got the votes. He can absolutely turn the American
people and say, "Don`t worry, I have confidence in my ability, I`m going to
go over and get in the face of the president and we`re going to sit down
and do a deal." Like, you know, the gipper (ph) and tipper (ph) or
whatever we used to do, remember that? Remember these guys? I think
somebody wrote a book about that. Good reading, I must say. Good job
Chris Matthews.
This guy has -- that`s an absolute. This is an absolute. He has the
power to do it. Meanwhile, there is French-Canadian Senator Ted Cruz, his
loving life. He`s going to up deep end. Cruz said on Sunday, the debt
limit debate should be used in an effort to defund ObamaCare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: In my view, the debt ceiling, we should
look for three things. Number one, we should look for some significant
structural plan to reduce government spending. Number two, we should avoid
new taxes, and number three, we should look for a ways to mitigate the
harms from ObamaCare. You know, since 1978, the debt ceiling has been
raised 55 times.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I just stop you? So you think that some
facet of the president`s health care plan should be attached to an increase
in the debt ceiling?
CRUZ: The debt ceiling historically has been among the best leverage
that congress has to rain in the executives (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So yes?
CRUZ: Yes, yes.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Yes, yes, yes. Notice how the list is growing. You can
always trust Republicans. Nothing has been more crystal clear than right
now in our history, they don`t care about the success of this country has
made and they just care about political power, they want that grab. USA
today reports interestingly enough that the demand overwhelmed
HealthCare.gov, this is another they hate.
The government expected decide to draw 60,000 simultaneous users,
instead it`s was drawing 250,000 users at the same time more than 8 million
people who apparently weren`t sold (ph) on ObamaCare just happened to hit
that website. They visited the site Monday through Friday of last week.
So I guess, the administration did a pretty good job with all the messaging
after all. ObamaCare is of to a great start, Fox News hates it. And the
people signing up for health care are doing it and they love it.
And they`re finding out, damn, that`s really not all that expensive,
this is a deal. The fact republicans want to use the debt limit to take
your health care is down right dangerous. The Republican mission for years
has been to privatize the Big 3. This is why they are freaking about
ObamaCare. The popularity is killing them. This is why they`re talking
about default. They can`t let this happen. They want to privatize Social
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They want to streamline everything into
the private sector. They don`t want any government involvement whatsoever,
and they will shutdown the government, and they will not pay the bills to
get their way. The word is treason, the treasonous John Boehner.
The United States is at risk right now and I hope that there will be
some foreign folks that will step up and say, "You really don`t want to do
this." Keep in mind, they are big picture. They want the Ryan Plan.
That`s really what they want. Get your cellphones out, I want to know what
you think. Tonight`s question, is John Boehner, is he playing Russian
roulette with the American economy? Text A for yes, text B for no, to
67622. You can leave a comment at our blog at ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring
the results later on the show.
I`m on record tonight saying we will default. It`s the Republican
plan. They want to tarnish President Obama. They want him going down in
history as being on his watch that he is the first president to see this
country default. They love that history book.
For more, let`s bring in Senator Jon Tester of Montana who serves on
the Senate Finance Committee. Senator, your thoughts on the environment in
Washington and where we are right now. Good to have you with us tonight.
SEN. JON TESTER, (D) MONTANA: It is good to be with you, Ed. Well,
we got long ways to go. And it`s unfortunate because, you know, the debt
limit is literally playing with fire. And I hear what you`re saying,
hopefully some our allies will come in but the fact is this, Ed. We need
to get together and increase the debt limit and then deal with the debt and
deficit after that point.
We`re dealing with the full faith in credit of this country. And if
we don`t increase the debt limit, we saw a little bit of what can happen
back in 2011 when our credit rating was decreased. I think if we do that,
if we move forward and don`t increase the debt limit, you`re going to see
this country some pretty dramatic, bad economic things happen.
And you`re right, when it comes to the blame game and they can turn
back and they can blame the president or they can blame Harry Reid, but the
fact is my father once told me don`t point a finger, there`s three pointing
tight back at you. And, if the debt limit isn`t increased, the people who
are responsible for this need to be to be held totally accountable.
SCHULTZ: Senator, I have a theory that what they`re trying to do is
rope the democrats into a big play that would make major cuts to
entitlements, and the way to do that is to default or right to the edge of
default and get the Democrats to the table for a big deal. Your thoughts
on that? I mean, this is not really what they generationally really want?
TESTER: I (inaudible) what they really want. They`ve been talking
about that for a long, long time. And I`m not seeing all of my -- I think
minority of them but I think the bottom line here, Ed, is that if we`re
forced into a big deal, it won`t be a good deal for the American people and
for American business.
I talked to a bunch of business people just this afternoon about the
debt limit and I can tell you that without exception, they are all very,
very concerned about what some of this hard-right (ph) folks want to do to
the economy. And, it`s going to hurt working families, it`s going to hurt
small business, big business, it`s going to hurt entrepreneurs, it`s going
to hurt the folks that are in agriculture. It`s not a good thing. And we
need to get together and fix the problem and we need to minimize the
minority that`s created this problem.
And, you talked about Speaker Boehner. Speaker Boehner needs to show
some leadership and get the continuing resolution on the floor and get the
debt limit on the floor. I know they will both pass. And if he doesn`t
think so, let`s get it on the floor and find out differently.
SCHULTZ: Well, that`s all we would have to do is put it on the floor.
We can get that absolute. We can get that hard number. We can find out if
we`re beaten or undefeated. I mean, that`s really we heard said (ph). I
mean, if you want a hard number, if you want to prove your case and put it
on the floor and let`s see how this whole things votes, and to clear the
air but he wouldn`t even do that.
Senator, what are business people telling you? Are we going to see
belt tightening like we have never seen before? Are we going to see double
digit interest rates? Are we going to see almost the impossible for middle
class families to be able to borrow money? What`s going to happen? We
don`t have any experts on this.
TESTER: I think at a various starting point, I`m not an economist,
I`m a farmer but the economist I talked to say, you can look for
substantial increase, increase in interest rates, not only on our national
debt but for those folks out there that go out (ph) borrowed money. In any
time you see those kinds of interest impacts, you`ll see contraction,
you`ll see people get laid off, you`ll see more pressure put on employment
insurance. Look, if they follow through with this and don`t increase the
debt limit, it`s going to increase our nation al debt significantly.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
TESTER: We`re starting to see -- because of the recession that we had
four years ago, we`re starting to see their economy bounce back and we`re
starting to see the deficit being reduced. We`ve got to do more. No
mistake about it. But you don`t it do this way with holding the gun to
your head on the debt limit issue or with the continuing resolution.
SCHULTZ: All right, from the Senate Finance Committee Jon Tester from
Montana, good to have you on the Ed Show tonight. Thank you, sir.
Appreciate it.
TESTER: Good to see you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: I want to bring in former Virginia Congressman Tom
Perriello, the Head of the Center for American Progress Fund. Tom, one
question for you tonight. Liberal groups in this country right now that
wanted to see the democrats hold the line, what role do they play in
keeping the president strong right now?
FORMER REP. TOM PERRIELLO, D-VIRGINIA: Well, I actually think that
the President is holding strong but only strong after already conceding the
budget points to the Republicans. So I think it`s important for
progressive groups to make clear and moderate groups to make clear this
should not be a game, we should have a clean C.R. We should have a clean
raising of the deficit ceiling and get this thing done. I think people
need to understand that.
SCHULTZ: And, what about Boehner? The Speaker seemed to have
hardened his position before he went in front of the media on the talking
heads yesterday. He wasn`t talking like this last week. He was much more
direct. He was much more in the President`s face much more saying, "This
is going to happen and it`s not our fault and he doesn`t have the votes."
He said he doesn`t have the votes, we didn`t hear any of that last week,
what do you make of that?
PERRIELLO: Well, you know, I think there`s a somewhat dangerous
narrative that emerges every time we had into one of these crises that
Boehner is secretly a moderate or secretly a statesman. And I am more than
welcome to see that, we would welcome it with open arms. But that`s not
how even the fiscal cliff deal was reached at the end of the year. That
was much more Mitch McConnell than John Boehner.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
PERRIELLO: So I think we need to understand that this is going to be
a serious fight for the next 10 days. You saw such radical publications as
Bloomberg in Business Week coming out this -- today, making very clear how
serious this issue of the debt ceiling is. Now that we start to see these
debt ceiling truthers (ph) out there suggesting it wouldn`t really wreck
the American or global economy. So, I think we need to focus on the facts
and the stakes here and eventually we do need some folks to rise up in the
Republican Party and do the right thing.
SCHULTZ: Tom Perriello, good to have you on the Ed Show. Thank you
so much. I appreciate it.
PERRIELLO: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Remember to answer tonight`s question at the bottom of the
screen. Share your thoughts with us on Twitter at Ed Show and on Facebook.
Like us on Facebook, we appreciate that. We always want to know what you
think. Coming up, Miley Cyrus in the SNL cast make the Republican Party
the bud of a joke. Actually, that was pretty easy. Plus, Marsha Blackburn
tries to appeal to President Obama`s sweet tooth (ph)?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Right now for the Trenders, the Ed Show social media nation
has decided and we are reporting. By the way, this is where you can hook
up with the Ed Team 24/7, thank you so much. Now, you have reported -- we
have reported, you have decided so this is what we love to do on our show.
Here are today`s Top Trenders voted on by you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut it down.
SCHULTZ: The number three Trender, Republican parody.
Saturday Night Live does a take down of the shutdown.
The number two Trender, Kitchen conspiracy.
GLENN BECK, THE GLENN BECK PROGRAM HOST: It`s called a progressive
dishwasher. You would think of your dishwasher, you`d think maybe it would
be the new conservative dishwasher. Conserve water.
SCHULTZ: Glenn Beck pushes progressive paranoia.
BECK: I`m looking for some paint. I`m not kidding you, the
progressive paint. So now, it`s progressive paint on progressive
appliances. Look at how they are just embedding this everywhere to make
sure that you always understand that progressive is a good thing because
you know that`s crazy talk.
SCHULTZ: And today`s Top Trender, C, is for compromise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: C, is for cookie that`s good enough for me.
SCHULTZ: Marsha Blackburn makes a sweet deal with President Obama.
WOLF BLITZER: But you just heard the President say he wants to
negotiate, he wants to work with you .
REP.MARSHA BLACKBURN, (R) TENNESSEE: Come on down.
BLITZER: Are all of these issues but not .
BLACKBURN: I`ll back him cookies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not sure about these cookies.
BLACKBURN: We are greeting him with open arms and an invitation.
OBAMA: I`m pretty partial to those (inaudible).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Joining me now is Congressman George Miller of California.
Congressman, great to have you with us tonight.
REP. GEORGE MILLER, (D) CALIFORNIA: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: If we can start from this position, the republicans say that
the democrats will not negotiate. What does that mean to you?
MILLER: It means they are living in a dream world. It means they are
living in denial of everything President Obama has tried to do to
negotiate. It means that they deny the fact that we`ve come down on the
continued resolution budget number from 998 to 996. It means that they
refuse to put their budget into play to see if we can negotiate. They were
so proud of their budget when they passed it months and months ago. And
yet, they refuse to go to a conference committee with the Senate to work
out the differences between the budget in the Senate and the budget in the
House. So they wanted to stay away from any resolution of this issue in
any place.
SCHULTZ: Aren`t they putting the democrats in a defensive position
though? The law is the law. Healthcare is here to stay. They`ve used
this as the bargaining chip to open the door to a greater discussion about
the debt limit and of course the grand bargain which they want, which will
go after the big three. I mean, this is where I see it evolving, your
thoughts?
MILLER: Well, I think that it shows how out of touch with reality
they are. The Affordable Care Act has left the station, hundreds of
thousands of people all across the country, millions of people in fact
across the country are trying to find out how they can get the benefits of
the Affordable Care Act for their families, for themselves, for their
employees, and that`s the fact. But they -- what they said was they were
prepared to burn down the House to stop the Affordable Care Act. That
didn`t happen, but now they keep trying to bring it back into the
negotiations. They still want to overturn it.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
MILLER: They want to repeal it. They want to nullify it. They`ve
lost touch with reality except that they`re holding our economy hostage as
they lose touch with reality.
SCHULTZ: Do you take issue with what Boehner says? If he puts it on
the floor, will the C.R. have the votes?
MILLER: I think the C.R. would have the votes to clean C.R. because
we know there`s 20 to 22 to 23 Republicans out there that have said this.
He wants to .
SCHULTZ: So he`s lying?
MILLER: . support that effort.
SCHULTZ: So he`s lying?
MILLER: He`s misrepresenting his caucus. He`s going back. He`s
going back and sticking with the Tea Party faction of his caucus even
though they are minority, he is empowering them.
SCHULTZ: All right. Congressman, you said this last week. Here it
is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILLER: The gentleman from Montana yesterday came to the floor and
said it`s hurting the local economy. The gentleman from California came
and said the towns around Yosemite, was he thinking about that when he
voted eventually to shut down the government? He was prepared to sacrifice
the local economy. He was prepared to sacrifice the towns around Yosemite
when he was on a Jihad against American citizens getting access to health
care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: You regret those words at all, Congressman?
MILLER: Not at all. What they were doing was sane that unless you
were prepared to repeal the ObamaCare, they were prepared to shut down the
government of the United States and to put the economy into a tail spin and
even threaten the debt limit of this country. And the point was this, the
point was this. They`ve sensed now, come to the floor and try to relieve
the pressure around the national parks, try to relieve the pressure among
the national institutes to help, try to make sure that they didn`t know
that they were going to be denying food to new born, low birth weight
babies. So, the point of the matter is they thought it was simple to
shutdown the government.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
MILLER: And all of a sudden, they have to focus on the reality and
the reality is very tough for them. So now, they`re trying to do a
patchwork opening of the government. Why don`t they sit down, pass a clean
C.R. until November 15th. We have 200 democrats that are going to sign
that C.R., bring us 18 republicans and do your negotiations but don`t do it
by holding the government hostage or the recipients of government services
hostage.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, what are the chances of a discharge petition?
MILLER: Well, the fact is every discharge petition had 218 signatures
has been brought to the floor. And the fact is in many instances, a
discharge petition with less than the majority have been brought to the
floor. We have 200 democrats ready to rock and roll over this next week
and sign a discharge petition.
We know that there`re 20, 22 republicans out there who`ve told us
personally that they want this over with, that they want get a bipartisan
effort. They`re -- we`re making this opportunity available to them and we
hope that they will join us in that effort and we can restore the economic
growth in this economy, and we can restore the sanity to the government.
SCHULTZ: And who`s the best democrat to knock on republican doors to
get that done in the House?
MILLER: We all have different relations and we`ve all been talking to
them and they`ve been talking to us .
SCHULTZ: And you think it`s a chance? You think it`s a real
possibility?
MILLER: Those votes are there if the leadership will free them.
SCHULTZ: OK.
MILLER: That`s the test. That`s the test.
SCHULTZ: Congressman George Miller, great to have you with us
tonight. I appreciate it.
MILLER: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Thanks so much. Coming up, NBC News kicks off Education
Nation and we have an Ed Show Exclusive with the remarkable young man.
Still ahead, a Florida man`s random act of kindness is helping a classroom
full of children this school year. But next, I`m taking your questions on
Ask Ed Live. Stay with us. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ED SHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show, love the segment, love
hearing from our viewers. And our Ask Ed segment tonight, our first
question comes from Sheila Friend, and she wants to know why does most of
the mainstream media keep trying to blame the shutdown on both political
parties when the GLP owns 100 percent? Well, they do own 100 percent.
I can`t speak for any other show but I do think that we must
profoundly point out the president can`t spend a dime. He can`t spend a
dime without authorization of the congress. So the responsibility is for
John Boehner to pay the bills. Why do people can`t understand that? I
don`t know.
Our next question is from Oscar Medina, how badly do you think the
shutdown will hurt the republicans in 2014? At this point, if there`s
resolution between now and we default, I`m not really convinced that that
will bother the republicans of 2014, they might loss a few seats, I`m not
convince that they will loss the house over.
If we default, I think it could really destroy the republicans. But,
you know, this is not about political gain, this is gain -- this is about
serious business about this country paying its bills and being able to
function to give stability to its citizens. Stick around there`s a lot
more coming up on the Ed Show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Today kicks off NBC News
Fourth Annual Education Nation Summit. Now, for the next two days, policy
makers, business leaders, educators and students will gather here in New
York City to participate in sessions exploring what it takes to achieve
student success? Here on the Ed Show, we fought against the widespread
attack on teachers and public education on how they have defunded it around
the country. A few months ago, I was fortunate enough to meet this young
man. Asean Johnson, back in May, when the Chicago Board of Education voted
to close nearly 50 schools in the city, this young man spoke up. At nine
years old, he made headlines standing up to Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
(BEGIN VEDIO CLIP)
ASEAN JOHNSON: You should be investing in these schools, not closing
them. You should be supporting these schools, not closing them. We shall
not be moved today. We are going to City Hall, we`re confronting Rahm
Emanuel. We are not toys. We are not going, not without a fight.
(END VEDIO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: After becoming an internet sensation, Asean and his family
joined me at the Essence Festival in New Orleans.
(BEGIN VEDIO CLIP)
JOHNSON: No matter how big we make a difference, we all need to come
together as united as one, so he can hear the message and everybody in
Chicago, well, everyone that`s getting school closes, you need to come
together as a unity to stop those school closings, wherever you at.
(END VEDIO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: And then he joined our team in Washington D.C. for the 50th
Anniversary of Martin Luther King`s March for Jobs and Freedom March.
Asean, was the youngest speaker at that event.
(BEGIN VEDIO CLIP)
JOHNSON: Every child deserves a great education. Every school
deserves equal funding and resources. I encourage all of you to keep Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.`s dream alive.
(END VEDIO CLIP)
SHULTZ: All voices must be heard. I think he has taught this country
a few moves. He taught me a few moves with (inaudible). I`m still getting
comments on that, by the way there big guy. Joining me now is Asean
Johnson and his mother Shoneice Reynolds. Great to have you with us
tonight. We couldn`t have education nation in this country without talking
about the activism and the role that you have played and shining a light on
exactly what is so terribly important school districts around the country,
and that`s resources. What is it been like going back to school this year
with that conversation about resources?
JOHNSON: Well, it`s been very sensational because, as you know, our
school stayed open, and every time I head that everybody is saying like,
everyday, like, yes, our school is saved. And, of course, on the first day
of school, my teacher (inaudible) was a very (inaudible) because our school
stayed open, so where we have our resources like we have our iPads now and
that`s one of the resources that we use a lot lately because it helps us
out like with the all the stuff that we need, that we can do and everything
else.
SCHULTZ: What is it been like for the students knowing that the
school was saved?
JOHNSON: Well, it`s very pretty exciting for them and they are very
happy. I`ve seen a lot kids who was talking about like -- like I heard one
of my friends, he was like, "You know what Asean it just seem like
yesterday our school is open -- closing and now it`s open, back open."
SCHULTZ: Asean, let me ask you this, I`ll go right to our intro
tonight what does it take to achieve student success? I want you to answer
that question. What do you think it takes to achieve student success?
JOHNSON: Well, I think it means to achieve doing success is to do
your best, never give up and always do your homework and stay on point of
everything, on everything that you need to do for school work.
SCHULTZ: So, you got to be responsible, nobody is going to give it to
you, right?
JOHNSON: Yes.
SCHULTZ: All right, Shoniece, this has been an interesting ride,
hasn`t it?
SHONIECE REYNOLDS: Yes it has.
SCHULTZ: What has really culminated from all of this as you see it?
REYNOLDS: I see a lot of youth standing up and fighting back for what
they deserve and that`s the resources. I`m seeing a lot of students stand
up all over the Chicago, all over the city for what they deserve and that`s
the more resources in their schools. I`m looking at the student`s organize
and speaking about my school does not have these things, we need to get
together and fight for these things. I`m looking at walk outs, boycotts of
days.
The students in Chicago boycotted the third day of school because they
felt that they wanted to be heard and that the budget was going to be
announce of them cutting 3,000 positions, 3,000 teaching positions. I`m
looking at students speak up and say how they don`t want to do art classes
online. They don`t want to do P.E. classes online that they want actual
certified teachers in front of them, instructing them in those classes.
SCHULTZ: And what is it mean to have students speak up? Do you think
it`s had a profound effect the way the school districts has been handled?
I mean there are still schools that have been shutdown and there are
neighborhoods that have been deprived, but is this been somewhat of a
turning point in the voice of those?
REYNOLDS: It`s been a turning point, they hear us. They hear us. We
have them boycotting the meetings. We`re having our own people`s meeting
instead of going to the board meeting because they don`t listen to us in
the board meetings. So, we have our own people`s meeting where we elected
a board so, they can hear our issues because as, you know, in Chicago we do
not have an elected school board.
So, that`s one thing that we are pushing for, for people that we vote
for to make those decisions.
SCHULTZ: What do you think is the key to student success? I mean
this is -- you`ve got some of those influential people in the country here
in New York having this big discussion but yet it still comes down to the
money and if you don`t financially support schools how do you expect kids
to have an opportunity to learn?
REYNOLDS: Exactly. I -- I worked at different schools all over the
city and I`m looking at the disinvestment in each different school that I
go to from the North side, to the South side, to the West side, to over
East and the schools are not equally funded, all students do not have the
resources that Asean might have at Marcus Garvey versus the school right
down the street. We`re looking at a disinvestment in public schools all
over the city of Chicago and an increase in charter schools.
This is really waking up everyone with the city school closings and
then an announcement of more new schools coming in without investing in
schools that are already in existence. For students success, when our
students especially an African American community, they need to see someone
like them. We don`t have -- right now we make up like maybe less than 40
percent of the population at CPS but our educators are less than 20 percent
and that 20 percent were let go. Most of those were high ranking teachers
so, with the new student based-budgeting that we have now in Chicago where
they pay per pupil versus then allocating the certain amount of funds that
come to the school. A lot of those teachers who have been teaching for 20
years were laid off and a lot of those were African American teachers and
Latino teachers as well.
So, we`re looking at a disinvestment. We`re looking at educators that
are not looking like some of our students, and we need an elected school
board, we need a school board that we can vote for, people that have our
interests at heart and not the plan of the Mayor.
SCHULTZ: Fairness.
REYNOLDS: Fairness.
SCHULTZ: That`s what it comes down to.
REYNOLDS: And it all comes down for the resources. We don`t have a
fair tax.
SCHULTZ: And there can be absolutes in fairness.
REYNOLDS: Yeah.
SCHULTZ: When it comes to the number of teachers, when it comes to
the teacher student ratio, when it comes to the amount of resources in a
classroom, there are some things that can be equally met...
REYNOLDS: Yeah.
SCHULTZ: ... For every school district or every portion of the city.
All right. Now, earlier this summer I asked you if you played
football and you said, "Yeah, I`m kind of all over the place". But we
don`t have videotape of this but I`m going to get this on my website.
Now, I am told, you have to correct this report. I heard that you made a
big touchdown yesterday so you`re team can make the playoffs. I got to
hear narration of this.
JOHNSON: Well, yes. I did make me a big touchdown, but that was in
the first -- like the first quarter of the game.
SCHULTZ: OK.
JOHNSON: It was like after I got hit with my arm with a (inaudible)
hell headshot (ph) to my right arm.
And after that it was a 47. It was a 47 flat so that means he`s going
set me in motion. I was going run, grab the ball and then I was going have
two people blocking. So, one gets the outside man and the other gets the
corner.
SCHULTZ: Okay.
JOHNSON: And then that means -- that means if everybody else is
blocking that means everybody doing what they`re supposed to do and it was
a pretty good play because when you can tell that their linebackers all
going to blitz, because you could -- you`ll hear what they say. They say -
- we say attack, attack but they are have like man over 20, man over 20,
like all the people was on the line. There`s three linebackers so they`ll
make blitz in. So that was a pretty good play for us because when you say
put it in motion, I get the ball and it was all blitzed in.
But when that happened I get -- the man got off, he tackled me. He
tried to tackle I broke off and then.
SCHULTZ: You know, when I think about NBC Sports, you know, you
really I think have a future there. 47 flat, happy birthday 10 years old
Asean Johnson, thanks for coming in New York.
REYNOLDS: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Thanks Shoniece. I appreciate it so much.
Coming up Virginia Governor candidate Ken Cuccinelli lands in tonight
pretenders for a photo up gone wrong. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Responding the criticism, MSNBC has turned to a man who will
address the great issues of our time while keeping his emotions in check.
A man who values reason over passion and provides a soothing voice for this
troubled times.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And then our Pretenders segment tonight exits stage right.
Ken Cuccinelli, the Virginia Gubernatorial candidate spoke at the
beautifully named fund raiser Senator Ted Cruz, This American Moment.
Unfortunately, the moment was cut short with Cuccinelli run out of the
event to avoid being seen with this guy.
CRUZ: The moon might be as intimidating as Obamacare. Eight White
Castle restaurants a year, I like their little burgers. I will credit my
father; he invented -- this wasn`t for the restaurant, but he did it
anyway, he invented green eggs and ham.
SCHULTZ: Well, a photo up with Ted Cruz is just too risky these days,
instead Ken Cuccinelli remains united with a more respectable sidekick E.W.
Jackson.
E.W. JACKSON, POLITICIAN: Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal
to black lives than the KKK ever was.
Homosexuality is a horrible sin. It poisons culture. It destroys
families, it destroys societies.
It is time to end the slavish devotion to the Democrat Party.
I know their people say, well, you know, "It is unfair to associate
homosexuality with pedophilia or some of these other perversions," but I
believe that there is a direct connection.
SCHULTZ: Ken Cuccinelli was right to dodge the senator, but he
believes that Canadian Cruz is more damaging that E.W Jackson, he can keep
on pretending.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show this is the story for the folks
who take a shower after work. It`s time to invest in our children`s
education. I think everybody agrees on that because schools are fighting
cost cutting measures which calls for limited supplies and resources in the
classroom and of course we`re seeing force closures of schools in many
districts across America, teachers need help. Even a small random act of
kindness can make a huge difference in the classroom.
We like this story, a man near Tampa, Florida took matters into his
own hands before the school year even started. Rodney Burton is his name.
Mr. Burton was in line at a Staple Store when he saw a woman with the
shopping cart full of school supplies. Mr. Burton asked the woman if she
was a school teacher, when she said, "Yes." Burton paid for everything in
her cart. This gentleman, this Good Samaritan joins me tonight Rodney
Burton great to have you with us tonight Mr. Burton. Got to ask you, what
was your motivation? What brought you to the point where you felt like you
had to do this and you`re honorable for doing it. It`s amazing how many
school teachers in this country dig into their own pocket to make things
happen in the classroom when it comes to resources, what was your story on
this?
RODNEY BURTON: Well, Ed, God was speaking to me that day when I was
in Staples and he said, "There`s someone in here that needs your help."
And I kept thinking in myself, who is he talking about? So, as I was going
down the aisle as I was looking into every cart that I passed just to try
to get an idea who I was suppose to be helping. But as we got closer to
the register I noticed there was a lady in front of me and she had a cart
full of stuff. I was like, "That`s got to be the person he`s talking
about."
So, I asked her, I said, "Are you a school teacher?" And she said,
"Yes." He said -- I said, "Today is your lucky day. I want to buy
everything in your cart." And she said, "But I have a lot of stuff in my
cart." I said, "That`s fine I`m going to pay for all of it today."
SCHULTZ: Mr. Burton what is -- you have any connection to education
anybody in your family or background, have you heard the story about how
teachers oftentimes fork money out of their own pocket to make things work
in the classroom?
BURTON: Yes. I`ve run into a quite a few teachers as times passed to
realize that they spend a lot of their hard-earned money and in fact that
they don`t make that much as it is to actually make sure that the school
have the supplies in order to get the kids what they need. And to be
honest we don`t even have any kids. So, this is an investment to help the
others, you know, step up to the plate, and pay it for and just never
understand that, you know, you have an opportunity that can change people`s
lives and teachers have that opportunity. They not only change the kid`s
lives but they can impact the parent`s lives just by what they do day to
day.
SCHULTZ: Salary for a teacher in Florida, their average salary is
less than $46,000 a year, a lot of teachers as I said had dig into their
own pocket. What do you think of that that number is that being underpaid
for the responsibility they have?
BURTON: Yes. I think that`s truly underpaid. I think they should be
the highest paid people out there for the simple fact that they give an
opportunity to kids that may not have a lot but they can actually change
what their view in life and have the power to change the way people feel
inside about education and about the growth in their lives.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Burton you`ve done your part, Good Samaritan, great to
have you on the Ed Show, congratulations for having compassion and, a
heart, and willing to step forward and to show some leadership. All the
best to you sir, thank you so much.
That`s the Ed Show. I`m Ed Schultz. Politics Nation with Reverend
Allen Sharpton starts right now. Rev., good evening.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END
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The Ed Show for Monday, October 7th, 2013
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