THE ED SHOW
November 25, 2013
Guest: Chris Van Hollen, Tommy Vietor, Jack Jacobs, Dan Kildee>
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- have halted the progress
of the Iranian nuclear program.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think this an attempt to change the subject?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, maybe because they`re trying to change the subject,
ObamaCare not working out. We`ll have a fair and balanced look at the
media coverage. Why now?
OBAMA: Simply put, they cut off Iran`s most likely paths to a bomb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a legacy thing which is Iran deal. You would
think that he would be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good to have you with us tonight folks. Thanks
for watching.
Well, it`s Thanksgiving Week. We have a lot to be thankful for. Maybe, we
can be thankful that we`re not going to be exchanging nukes with the
Iranians, huh. Eat some turkey over that one.
You know, what does it take for the Republicans to say, "Good job Mr.
President?" Are they even capable of doing that or is the hate just so
deeply seated they can`t bring themselves to it?
I was stunned by the news over the weekend, the reaction by the Rightist.
Saturday marked another foreign policy victory for the Obama
Administration. It`s a step forward but of course, the Republicans, they
can`t stand it. In fact, they are so upset. They`re just making stuff up.
You see, they reached the tentative temporary deal to curve Tehran`s
nuclear program for six months. Can you at least give that a shot? And of
course, we`re going to have to allow the sanctions to be lifted some of
them.
It is the first time in a decade that Iran`s nuclear program has been
halted. Is that positive? I think so. It`s also the highest level of
contact in 30 years between the United States and Iran. President Obama
gave a rare Saturday night press conference to announce the deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: For the first time in nearly a decade, we have halted the progress
of the Iranian nuclear program and key parts of the program will be rolled
back. These are substantial limitations which will help prevent Iran from
building a nuclear weapon. Simply put, they cut off Iran`s most likely
paths to a bomb.
Meanwhile, this first step will create time and space over the next six
months for more negotiations to fully address our comprehensive concerns
about the Iranian program.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: OK. So we`re going to find out if the Iranians can be honest
brokers. In fact, the world`s going to find out. I mean, if it`s a win
for President Obama, be assured that Republicans are going to be out raged,
sure enough.
Republicans are already coming out and slamming the deal. In fact, it took
only just a few hours. Texas Senator, John Cornyn, really surprised me.
He immediately tweeted out amazing what White House will do to destruct the
tension from ObamaCare.
Really? Senator, did you do this or did one of your interns or low level
staffers? Think about that. Our people have been meeting with their
people for months on end. So they think it`s a distraction from ObamaCare?
Can you imagine that conversation? President Obama picks up the phone and
calls John Kerry, Secretary of State. "Johnny, I`m getting killed by
ObamaCare? Do you got it? You got to get a deal. Get a deal with the
Iranians."
It is amazing, the level of rhetoric that they`ll throw at the American
people, but not to be outdone. Mike Rogers, who happens to be the Chairman
of the House Intelligence Committee said, "It`s almost like it`s a deal
just to get a deal." Really? It`s a deal just to get a deal. So can you
imagine that conversation? President Obama saying, "We got to get
something with the Iranians because this ObamaCare website`s a little bit
slow."
Well, maybe the Republicans said it because they knew some broadcasters on
the Right would take the bait none other than the folks across the street.
On Fox News Channel, Steve Doocy jumped on the ObamaCare distraction
bandwagon. He wasted no time spreading the absurd idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE DOOCY: Oh, in that curious timing, out of nowhere, you know, at the
midst of ObamaCare not unrolling correctly, the President`s poll numbers
never been lower, then look, John Kerry pulls a rabbit out of his hat and
changes the subject.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: That`s absolutely amazing. Do you cubodoos (ph) saw it too he
said, "Hey, let`s get a promo running for their ObamaCare distraction
special report coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, look over here. Is the Administration trying to
distract America from ObamaCare? Where do they want your attention?
Herman Cain on a can`t-miss, Your World.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: There`s an expert. If you need an expert advice on foreign
policy, there`s nobody smarter than the pizza man. Herman Cain was at the
top of his game when it came to international issues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN: I`m ready for the got-you questions and they are already
starting to come and when asked me who`s the president of becky, becky,
becky, decky, decky, stan, I`m going to say, "You know, I don`t know. Do
you know?"
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, I kind of think that`s where this whole distraction idea
came from you becky, becky, becky, stan, stan, whatever where.
This is utterly amazing but it also shows how desperate the Right Wing is
to develop any kind of narrative they can in the media so people will pick
it up and say, "Yeah, this Iranian thing is all about ObamaCare." I mean,
that`s outrageous. Give me a break. ObamaCare, I know it doesn`t show in
the polls right now, but I think that the people are a little bit behind
this one.
ObamaCare has been on the roll over the last couple of weeks. Nobody wants
to report it. The federal exchanges working better on a day to day basis,
day after day it`s getting better, the state exchanges are booming. The 14
state-based exchanges, oh-oh, bad news here, doubled the enrollment in the
first half of the month of November jumping from 79,000 to 150,000 in just
14 days. How in the heck did they do that? Let`s face it, if that that
train keeps up. Republicans can say goodbye to the bogus talking points.
But meanwhile, there is another major reason Republicans are really
trashing this Iranian deal. It flies in the face of the NeoCon Agenda.
What did President Obama do? Well, he`ll never convince these guys but he
did take out Osama bin Laden. In fact Hannity said he wasn`t sure if Obama
wanted to do it. What else did he do? Well, he ended Gaddafi`s rule of
terror with an international coalition. You mean, we got rid if Gaddafi
without invading him? Yeah, we did that. Americans were kind of high on
that. And then of course, end of the war in Iraq. We`re not killing 4,000
people anymore on faulty intelligence. I mean, things are winding down in
Afghanistan and also the President has managed to start dismantling serious
chemical weapons program without any military action.
And now, for the first time in a decade, there is progress with Iran. You
simply can`t compete with this list of foreign policy accomplishments.
They`re not victories, they`re moving in the direction where maybe we can
overt confrontation. But the Republicans, they don`t buy it. It drabs and
absolutely crazy. Another reason Republicans are losing their mind is that
this guy right here. The fact that John Kerry -- he is a part of it?
Really? We`ve never liked this guy. John Kerry helped reach a deal just
put salt in the political wounds of the Republicans. He should have beaten
Bush in 2004.
Remember everything they said about him? Remember all the foreign policies
suggestions he had. Now, they`re coming to fruition in 2013 setting
impossibly a new direction? This is not a cave in, this is an opportunity.
But you see, everything has to be against Obama. Everything. No matter
what the subject. It could be a pipeline. It could be immigration. It
could be taxation. It could be health care. It could be public education.
Obama has never done anything right.
Earlier tonight, President Obama, well, this tough talk is bad for our
national security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We cannot commit ourselves to an endless cycle of conflict and
tough talk and bluster may be the easy thing to do politically but it`s not
the right thing for our security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: That`s just common sense that will never be accepted by these
guys, but I`m absolutely amazed that this Senator right here tweeted out
what he tweeted out. I thought that Rick Perry was the dumbest guy in
Texas. Well, we got another candidate on our hands.
Look, doesn`t matter what the subject is, President Obama`s wrong all the
time on the Right. He can`t do anything correct. Here is how we should
look at this. Trust but verify. I think one of their heroes did that at
one time. Why not give it a six-month opportunity and why not move forward
with the Iranians and let them prove to the world that they`re honest
brokers. They would have to have the most secretive facilities on the face
of the earth to get away with this and I don`t think they`ve got that.
Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think tonight`s question.
In Republican minds, can President Obama ever do anything right? Text A
for Yes, text B for No to 67622. You can always to our blog at
ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring you the results later on in this show.
For more, let`s bring in Congressman Chris Van Holland of Maryland.
Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D) MARYLAND: Good to be with you Ed.
SCHULTZ: John Cornyn, Texas Senator said that this whole thing with the
Iranians was a manufactured destruction away from ObamaCare. I`m curious
what you`re reaction is to that.
VAN HOLLEN: Well, Ed it`s either the most incredible display of ignorance
we`ve seen in a long time or it`s purely political. Ignorance in the sense
that anybody who`s been following the Iranian talks knows that after the
election of President Rouhani last summer, we`ve been engaged in these
negotiations with the Iranians. So, to even suggest that somehow the
timing of this is related to ObamaCare is ridiculous.
I suspect that this is more about politics. I think Republican pollsters
have told every republican politician to make sure you say ObamaCare in any
sentence that you`ve got. If there`s a hurricane somewhere in the country
or the world, I`m sure it`s somehow going to be related to ObamaCare. And
so, when it came time to discuss these issues well, they just have it say
ObamaCare.
Now, I agree with you that as we get the chinks and problems out of the
system, the marketplace sign up system, people are going to begin to like
what they see, but obviously, we`ve got a -- I get to that point.
But in the meantime, Republicans as I said are just going to -- are trying
to play politics with this.
SCHULTZ: Now, some Democrats are critical of this Iranian deal. What do
you think of that? I mean, now, there`s no deal that`s ever going to be
perfect. I guess, I view this as an opportunity to find out if the
Iranians really want to be serious about brokering some kind of peaceful
settlement with the rest of the world and it will vet them out on their
intention.
Is there much division in the Democratic camp about this?
VAN HOLLEN: I don`t think so and I really hope everybody will sit down and
really take a close look at this agreement. This is not about trusting the
Iranians. There`s very specific requirements that Iranians have to meet.
There`s a very comprehensive verification regime, in fact, daily
inspections are allowed and at the end of the day, the reality is under
this agreement which is an interim agreement, Iran has to actually
neutralize its most highly enriched uranium. Uranium enriched at 20
percent and freeze the rest of their enrichment activities.
And the fact to the matter is people have to ask themselves the question,
"What`s the alternative?" So folks who are being critical have to explain
why they want the Iranians to be able to accelerate their nuclear
enrichment activity during the six-month period which they would be free to
do in the absence of agreement and then they have to explain what their
response would be to people who want to skip diplomacy and go straight to
military action and war. If that`s their position, they should come clean.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, I want to play a clip from the Chairman of the House
Intelligence Committee, his reaction to the deal. Here`s Republican
Congressman Mike Rogers of Michigan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE ROGERS, (R) MICHIGAN: I think this was a deal for the sake of a
deal and I think that`s dangerous. It makes the next six months even more
difficult to get to a place where we need to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Deal for the sake of a deal. How do you read that?
VAN HOLLEN: Again, I think that that`s politics because I think, Mike
knows better. As I indicated before, if you don`t have an agreement during
the six-month period, then Iran is free to actually accelerate its nuclear
enrichment activities. Under this agreement, it will be harder for them to
break out. We`ll have more lead time if there was any effort by the
Iranians to break out.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
VAN HOLLEN: So again, people who are against it, they need to explain why
they believe that Iran would just sit on its hands and do nothing in the
six-month period.
In my view, it`s very naive to think that if we do nothing, Iranians are
just going to, you know, pack it up and end their nuclear program. At
least, what this does is puts constraints on it and inspection regime and
during the six-month period, we will negotiate with them for a fuller
agreement.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, where is the political gamble here? What is the
downside for people in the Congress who vehemently support this
opportunity?
VAN HOLLEN: Well, the only somebody who believe that we are going into
this process, somehow, saying, "Well, we`re going to trust the Iranians,"
and Iranians` expectations very high, they could certainly be disappointed.
I think those of us who look at the parameters of this deal and think the
pros vastly outweigh the cons are not going into it thinking that somehow
there`s been this personality change in Iran.
SCHULTZ: Sure.
VAN HOLLEN: But what we believe is that there are very clear measurements
that we can -- progress points, benchmarks .
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
VAN HOLLEN: . that we can measure against and if you look at what the
Iranians got, they got relief over a very small slither of sanctions. If
they don`t comply during this six-month period, those sanctions will not be
relieved and if at the end of the six-month period, we`re not satisfied
with next steps. We can reverse those sanctions.
The overwhelming architecture, the sanctions, remain in place throughout
the six-month period.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, Chris Van Hollen, good to have you with us on the Ed
Show. Have a great Thanksgiving. Thanks so much.
VAN HOLLEN: You too, Ed. Happy Thanksgiving to you and all.
SCHULTZ: You bet. Remember to answer tonight`s questionnaire at the
bottom of the screen. Share your thoughts with us on Twitter at Ed Show.
Is it a good deal? I think it`s a great opportunity. And, of course, also
share your thoughts in Facebook. We always want to know what you think.
Coming up, ObamaCare naysayer, John Boehner, really has something to cry
about now. Plus Right Wing pundits blow up over the Senate`s nuclear
options. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders. Social media this is where you can
find us, facebook.com/edshow, twitter.com/edshow and ed.msnbc.com. And on
the radio, Monday through Friday noon to 3:00 p.m. channel 127 Sirius XM
and liberal talk stations across the country.
The Ed Show social media nation has decided and we are reporting. Here our
today`s top Trenders voted on by you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN BOEHNER, (R-OH) SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES: ObamaCare is the
law of the land.
SCHULTZ: The number three Trender, critical care.
BOEHNER: The problem with ObamaCare isn`t just the website.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s must be an on button somewhere. Press that
apple thing.
BOEHNER: It`s the whole law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It stinks.
BOEHNER: ObamaCare is like a wet blanket over our economy.
SCHULTZ: Boehner`s ObamaCare stunt backfires.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, HealthCare.gov`s rollout has driven a lot of
people in tears.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They just have a lot of felling?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But for one thing his career, one great man will not
be kind over it.
SCHULTZ: Speaker John Boehner has enrolled in the D.C. exchange.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Boehner said, standing up to the federal website was
not a smooth process.
REV. AL SHARPTON: Congratulations Speaker Boehner. You`re now one of
millions of Americans who are benefitting from ObamaCare.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number two Trender, meow playing.
MILEY CYRUS, SINGER: I`m came in like wrecking ball.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. Winston (ph). Well there he is.
SCHULTZ: Miley Cyrus goes soft for her wrecking ball performance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh yeah, oh no .
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was a cat thing .
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: . we`ve got our own list.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we put that cat in a hat.
SCHULTZ: And today`s top Trender, busted.
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: I`m always amused by the
nuclear option debate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You like I`m a clown may have used you.
KRAUTHAMMER: It is without a doubt, the most spectacular display of
congressional hypocrisy.
BILL KRISTOL, NEOCONSERVATIVE POLITICAL ANALYST: I think we`re being too
nice here.
SCHULTZ: Right Wing pundits blast the nuclear option.
KRAUTHAMMER: Once you`ve change the rule. That means there are no rules
now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rules? There ain`t rules.
KRISTOL: Leaves (ph) behavior majority leader did pretty amazing.
KRAUTHAMMER: The means in which -- this was a, it was a rather low down
ways.
KRISTOL: The Republicans were not confirming every -- a panel of court
judges quickly easy as the Administration liked, and were holding up some
executive branch appointees longer.
COKIE ROBERTS, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: A lot of the executive branch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
KRAUTHAMMER: It`s not unconstitutional or illegal but it`s
constitutionally indecent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: We`re joined tonight Eugene Robinson joins us MSNBC Political
analyst and columnist for the Washington Post. Eugene great to have you
with us.
So, the big fear here now is, oh the Democrats voted on something really,
really bad for America. What do they have to fear politically at this
point? I realized that average Americans don`t know all about Senate rules
and I wouldn`t think if you did a man on the street you might not have
people explain exactly what the filibuster procedures are and whatnot. And
I`m kind of thinking that this is what Right Wingers are thinking with Bill
Kristol goes out there and says that Senator Reid is responsible for the
record number of filibusters. It just amazes me. Your thoughts on all of
this, capitalize it.
EUGENE ROBINSON, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST AND COLUMNIST FOR THE WASHINGTON
POST: Well, look you`re right. Average Americans indeed and most
Americans average or exceptional really don`t care about Senate rules, Ed
because who cares about an organizations parliamentary rules who studies
that stuff except the people in the organization.
So, it`s very difficult for them to get traction on this without this
hyperbolic rhetoric. You know, it sounded from that intro was if Bill and
Charles really should try to decaf and just get down off the ceiling a bit.
SCHULTZ: But what are they talking about when they say these rules are
going to ruin the Senate. I mean, they are presenting the picture to the
American people that the United States Senate was running as smoothly as
possibly could.
ROBINSON: Right. And the United States Senate was in fact paralyzed.
That -- Look there was this set of rules in the Senate that had functioned
in the past because parties in the minority had basically recognized that
they were indeed in the minority. And so, they used the filibuster
sparingly. They used it when they really cared about an issue. They
really cared about the nominee and it had great impact.
But this Republican minority under Mitch. McConnell has use the filibuster
over and over again, day in and day out, time and time again to block a
record number of executive and judicial appointments. And to the point
where it was affecting the function of the government, you can`t run the
government if you can`t put anybody in charge of an agency.
SCHULTZ: Now, Republicans blocked major pieces of legislation everything,
you know, from jobs to fairness in the workplace, what should the Democrats
make of -- what would -- how far should they push on this? I mean this is
just for the executive and it`s also for judicial appointees, but what
about legislation?
ROBINSON: Well, you know, they`re not at that point, yet. And I think
Harry Reid believes that would be another big step to essentially take away
the filibuster for legislation.
Look, you could argue about policy. I think you can make an argument that
policy is different from appointments which after all should be the
President prerogative. If the President doesn`t get every single piece of
legislation that he wants.
And then, now Republicans the minority should be acting much better than
it`s acting now.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
ROBINSON: And perhaps it gets to that point, but Harry Reid clearly
decided and hadn`t gotten to that point yet.
It`s interesting to do this thought experiment, however, if the shoe were
on the other foot. If there are Republican president, if there are
Republican minority, majority in the Senate that was being supported by the
Democratic minority time and time again. Do you think it would take longer
than in New York minute for them to get rid of the filibuster in any in all
circumstances? I don`t think so.
SCHULTZ: Well, they were using the term obstructionist on time dash old
(ph) back in what, 2002, 2003 because they didn`t get everything they
wanted.
A record number filibusters across the board no other presidents had to put
up with this kind of obstruction. So, this is a minor change when it comes
to executive appointees and Kristol is trying to say that Senator Harry
Reid is the problem. I mean, clearly he`s banking on the stupidity or the
naivety of the American people.
Now, I want to talk about this Iranian deal politically. How do we measure
how big this Iranian deal is when Republicans are all about everything the
President does is wrong?
ROBINSON: Well, that`s the position of Republicans are going to take. But
it will be very interesting, Ed to see some polling of actual people on
this issue because we`ve saw from the question of Syria and I`m convinced
we`re going to see on the question of Iran.
Again, there is no appetite in this country for going to war again in the
Middle East especially if you can achieve as much as has been achieved in
this agreement by negotiation.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
ROBINSON: They`ve shut down of the Iranian nuclear program for six months
to give time for permanent negotiation or permanent agreement in fact the
nuclear program moves backwards, you have to stockpile and dilute some of
the Iranian they`ve already enriched.
This is a sort of thing that people would be the delighted. Republicans
will be delighted if you got this after a strike. So, why aren`t they
delighted if you got it after negotiation?
SCHULTZ: Yeah, the NeoCon world we`d have troops in Syria, we`d have
troops in Egypt, we`d have troops in Libya and it`s just been a different
play under President Obama, very eye opening I think and enlightening and a
real slam to the NeoCon agenda. No doubt.
Eugene Robinson great to have you with us on the Ed Show. Thank you so
much for joining us.
ROBINSON: I`m great to be here, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, Republicans are threatening new sanctions that could
derail a major foreign policy victory for the Obama Administration. Should
we call it just a start?
Plus Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker is back out. He walks a very thin
line on marriage discrimination. But next I`m taking your questions on Ask
Ed Live. Stay with us we`ll right back on the Ed Show on MSNBC.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Well, I love to hear from our viewers here on the Ed Show. Love
this today segment Ask Ed Live. I love your tweets too.
All right. Our question is from first tonight Timothy Jacob and he wants
to know "Do you think Obama`s approval ratings will bounce back?"
Yeah, I do but I don`t think the President cares about his approval
ratings. I think he cares about your health insurance. This of course his
approval rating is down, everybody is equating it to, you know, the success
of ObamaCare and the rollout of the website and of course the polling is a
little bit off on ObamaCare. But the fact is that more and more people are
getting signed up and those numbers will turn and yes I think his numbers
will come back. But I think at one thing that we have missed.
Why do you think President Obama is so passionate about health care reform?
Well, it might have something to do with the fact that his mother died of
ovarian cancer and maybe he doesn`t want to see your mother go through that
if he can`t help it as President. I think that`s a big part of his
motivation.
Our next question is from Johnny Bear. He says, "Do you think people
should boycott shopping on Thanksgiving Day?" No, I don`t.
Thanksgiving Day is just a good old American Holiday. It doesn`t violate
anybody`s faith or diss anybody`s religion, so why not? Shop until you
spend all your money. I mean, what the heck, Bush told us to go shopping.
Why stop now?
Stick around the Rapid Response panel is next.
SEEMA MODY, CNBC MARKET WRAP CORRESPONDENT: I`m Seema Mody with your CNBC
Market Wrap. The DOW added seven points, S and P 500 lost two and the
NASDAQ added about three points.
Lending failed for existing homes for a fifth straight month in October
down 0.6 percent. Oil prices dropped to settle just above $94 a barrel
this after ironically to a deal to curve its nuclear program in exchange
for sanctions released. Twitter fell nearly 5 percent today just below
$40. It`s still trading up more than 50 percent from its ideal price of
$26. That`s it from CNBC first in business worldwide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Now, the really hard part begins, and that
is the effort to get the comprehensive agreement which will require
enormous steps in terms of verification, transparency, and accountability.
We know this. We are determined to work together. We will start today
literally to continue the efforts out of Geneva and to press forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Don`t sound like anybody`s spiking the football to me. Welcome
back to the Ed Show.
Now, the hard part begins. After more than three decades of diplomatic
gridlock between Iran and the West. We`re witnessing possible breakthrough
but Secretary of State John Kerry made it clear, there`s still lot of work
to be done. The historic diplomatic agreement signed early Sunday morning
in Geneva sets new boundaries for Iran`s nuclear program and loosens the
choke hold of international sanctions to an extent on Iran`s economy.
It was signed by Iran and the P5+1, the five permanent members of the U.N.
Security Council plus Germany.
The new six-month deal halts all enrichment of uranium above 5 percent.
Well, below the level needed to make the nuclear fuel for a weapon. Iran
must dilute or convert any its stockpile that stands near 20 percent before
the end of the first phase. Iran can keep its centrifuges but new
centrifuges cannot be installed. And those not currently operating cannot
be started up. Folks, these amounts to some significant concessions by the
Iranians. Why did they do the deal?
In return the United States has agreed to provide $6 to $7 billion in
sanction relief. This is like hitting the pause button on Iran`s nuclear
program while we take time to arrive at a more comprehensive agreement. We
still have a ways to go.
So, let`s be clear here. This is an opportunity not a guarantee. But it`s
the best opportunity we have had in decades.
Joining me now, our Rapid Response Panel, Medal of Honor Recipient and
MSNBC Military Analyst for Colonel Jack Jacobs and also Tommy Vietor with
us tonight former NSC Spokesman and Co-founder of Fenway Strategies.
Colonel Jack what`s the upside for the Iranians? Why do you think they did
this?
JACK JACOBS, MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT: Well, they`re on the run. They`re
in big trouble, they have more than a $100 billion, they`ve got tied up.
They can`t trade the Riyals in free fall at the economy domestically inside
Iran is a mess. And the Mullahs need to do something. They`re really on
the run. They`ve got to work some kind of deal that gives them enough
breathing room and to kick start the economy again, if they don`t do that
they are in real trouble.
SCHULTZ: They`re in approving stage right now in a big way.
JACOBS: Well, we don`t believe anything that they say. They always
obfuscated, procrastinated, lied and so on. So, they really have to prove
to everybody that they mean business.
SCHULTZ: And of course Netanyahu is very critical of the whole deal that
to be expected.
JACOBS: Well, you can`t expect anymore. He`s not the only one, so as
Saudi Arabia, quite frankly anybody in the region is very fearful of what
might happen if the choke hold comes off. And they properly should be --
don`t forget that Iran is threatening to destroy Israel and so on. But,
you have to understand also that Netanyahu has a domestic responsibility,
so some of that is policy.
SCHULTZ: So, as a military expert with your long career. How would you
view this? Is this an achievement? Is it a big step forward? You know,
what is it?
JACOBS: Well, it`s both. There`s no doubt about the fact that it gives
everybody an opportunity actually to make a change inside Iran without
having to change the regime. You could change the economics.
The leadership has changed there. I don`t believe for a second that
Rouhani has much more than the six months he`s been given by us. I think
he`s been given six months also by the Mullahs. He`s going to produce
otherwise or that will be the end of that.
SCHULTZ: Tommy Vietor, Republicans are calling this a distraction from
ObamaCare. ObamaCare just how desperate are they at this point?
TOMMY VIETOR FMR. NSC SPOKESMAN: Yeah. Those are one of those ridiculous
to each side I`ve seen out of a serious U.S. Senator. I think this deal is
a result of years of work by the international community. Years and effort
by the Obama Administration to begin a painstaking dialogue with Iran to
see if we can get them to the table to come to an agreement and the reason
is very simple, Barack Obama will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,
period.
So, if we don`t solve that problem with negotiations it will be through a
military strike. Nobody wants that, that`s why the President has put so
much effort into this diplomatic track and this is an important
accomplishment.
SCHULTZ: Is this not so much a political gamble for the President? He`s
not running for reelection.
VIETOR: Yeah. I mean look I don`t think the President views national
security issues that way. This isn`t about an election for him. He
doesn`t have another one coming up. This is about solving one of most
pressing challenges to our national security.
And so, if we do not give diplomacy a chance so what`s our other option,
it`s war. And I think, you know, this is a far better outcome for the
American people for United States for the world. This deal, if they could
get through the six months and get to a final agreement that the
international community was comfortable with would re-shape the entire
Middle East.
SCHULTZ: Does this push President Obama`s -- well, let me put it this way.
What -- Is the President, in your opinion, going to be abound on six
months? I mean would he really do something if the Iranians don`t live up
to this?
VIETOR: I think he`s going to hold him to the still. I mean the -- the
relief that they`re getting from the Obama Administration is time limited.
And they are going to try to get them to come to the table during that
period of time. The important thing to remember though is all the other
sanctions are still on. There`s a whole international set of sanction
through the U.N. and through the U.S. that will keep the pressure on Iran.
So the food is not coming up the gas here. There`s simply a pause in some
of those lines of sanctions. And in return, the Iranians will roll back or
freeze their program for six months in an effort to come to a comprehensive
agreement.
SCHULTZ: All right. Colonel Jack, what does a comprehensive agreement
look like?
JACOBS: Well, not like this looks quite .
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
JACOBS: . frankly. It`s going to be far-ranging, wide-ranging. It would
mean -- I think in the end that Iran is going to have to force where the
development of nuclear weapons and continue to submit to inspections that
the most notable sites like Ab-Ali, Natanz, Al-Bashir, and now Iraq maybe
even dismantle Iraq. And there`s also has -- going to be have some sort of
public concession about the existence of Israel. I think without that
there -- the American Congress is not going to pull out.
SCHULTZ: Can we verify the percentages that are being put out there?
JACOBS: Oh sure. I think they`re easily verifiable. One of the things
that`s going to have to happen, however, is that in this period, the next
six-month period, the Iranians is going to have to permit unrestricted and
unannounced access to all their sites and the -- and to permit the
observation of the reduction of the stockpiles from 8,000 to 7,000.
They`re going to have to permit the observation of the reduction, the
elimination of the -- all the 20 percent enrichment down to 5 percent. So
.
SCHULTZ: Is it easy to cheat in a deal like this?
JACOBS: Yes. Because there -- we know that there are some sites we don`t
know about.
SCHULTZ: Well, that`s the point. They would have to have prepared
themselves to do a deal like this to be able to cheat on it. I mean, they
would have to have facilities that we wouldn`t know about or the world we
know about.
JACOBS: We don`t know. We don`t know. We`re going to base a lot of it on
intelligence information if we`re going to get from outside the United
States. And quite frankly, if we get to the six-month period and it turns
out that everything looks OK and we start working toward a comprehensive
agreement and we get information that is not all that`s rough, all the
restrictions go back on again. And I think Iran will be in more shape than
it is now.
SCHULTZ: Tommy Vietor, is it politically safe for Democrats to embrace
this?
VIETOR: Absolutely. I mean, the American people overwhelmingly want a
deal with Iran a negotiate agreement and not another war. And that`s what
this deal is in effort to bring about. The last thing in the world we want
to see is another Iraq-like war over intelligence that is fuzzy at best.
And to your point earlier, one of the great things about this deal is it
actually increases access from the IAER, IAEA. It increases inspections.
And so, we can have more confidence in the picture of Iran`s nuclear
program and that` a very important thing for the international community.
SCHULTZ: All right. Tommy Vietor, Colonel Jack Jacobs, greet to have both
of you with us tonight.
JACOBS: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Thanks so much. Coming up, Congressional gridlock, could you
view a reason to cry over spilled milk? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight tongue tied Scotty Walker from
Wisconsin. The Governor tried to tap dance his way out of marriage
discrimination in Wisconsin. Walker only sees it as a limited problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KOCH, POLITICAL ACTIVIST: The Senate with some Republicans support
passed a bill banning discrimination against gays. Should the House do the
same?
REP. SCOTT WALKER, (R) WISCONSIN: Well, again, I haven`t looked at that
particular bill. I can`t tell you in Wisconsin, we`ve had anti-
discriminatory laws that are every similar to that for more than 30 years
and they worked quite effectively. So a state that has a constitutional
amendment to define .
KOCH: So it`s similar to the Wisconsin Bill at House Bill should be
something .
WALKER: Yeah, I mean, we may not had problems with that.
KOCH: OK.
WALKER: We`ve got no problems. I shouldn`t say no limited problems with
that at the same time we still have a constitutional amendment that defines
marriage is a healthy balance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Walker`s version of a healthy balance is nothing but heartless.
Walker`s discrimination didn`t have any limits when he actively worked to
block same sex couples from gaining hospital visitation rights.
Walker can dress up his presidential bid and his run as a book tour, but if
he thinks he can dress himself up as a champion for gay rights. 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. People all over the country are crowding in the
grocery stores, getting ready for Thanksgiving and Hanukkah later this
week.
But for millions of Americans, these celebrations are a struggle. Nearly
48 million people participate in the food program called SNAP which stands
for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at a cost of almost $80
billion a year.
Now, the program has become the biggest hurdle for congressional
negotiations on a new Farm Bill. Republicans in the House want to cut the
food stamp program by approximately $40 billion of the next 10 years.
The deep divide between Democrats and Republicans is having a direct impact
on consumers in the economy. The average cost of a full turkey dinner for
10 people will be about $49 this year. It might not sound like it`s too
steep but if the House and Senate don`t come to an agreement on an updated
Farm Bill. The sticker shock is going to get a heck a lot of worst in the
New Year.
For instance, if Congress does not pass a new Farm Bill or extend the 2008
Farm Bill before January 1st, some experts are saying that a gallon of milk
could cost $8.
Congressman Dan Kildee of Michigan joins us tonight. Congressman, good to
have you with us on the program.
REP. DAN KILDEE, (D) MICHIGAN: Thanks Ed. It`s good to be out.
SCHULTZ: In order to qualify from food stamps an individual has to make
less than $15,000 a year. Why is it that the Republicans are hell bent for
elections to make sure that these people suffer even further? And how will
those people that I just talked about and the income level that there at be
able to afford a gallon of milk at $8 bucks.
KILDEE: Well, they won`t be able to and that`s the thing that`s so sad
about this is that it seems as though many in the Republican conference
just don`t seem to understand what it`s like to be poor in America.
Most of the people who are receiving food stamps, sure, you have to below
130 percent of the poverty line but a very big percentage of those families
live at less than half the poverty level.
And yet, the way that Republicans would choose to try to balance our budget
would not be deal it -- to deal with our tax policy. Not to look at ways
to trim the cost of defense programs but to actually cut programs that take
food out of the .
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
KILDEE: . mouths of the hungriest people in this country.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, is this the hang out for a new Farm Bill or is it
the corporate welfare in the cuts that are out there that are trying to be
starved off.
KILDEE: Well, I mean obviously, this is a big part of it. And initially,
they came with $20 billion of cuts over .
SCHULTZ: Then they went to 40.
KILDEE: . next decade, and then they went to 40. So I mean, I think this
is a big issue for them. I think there are many that simply don`t support
many of the provisions that not only help those who need assistance but
actually help the growers that are so important.
I mean, the Farm Bill is really a food bill. It supports many of the
growers that produce the products that are made available to our economy
and then also supports the tens of millions of people who are at poverty,
who without the kind of help that the food stamp or the SNAP program
provides them would actually be going hungry .
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
KILDEE: . in the richest country in the world. It`s just heartless.
SCHULTZ: Well, the Republicans seemed you almost doing it -- be doing a
P.R. war against the poor. I mean, what don`t they understand about 87
percent of the people on the stamp program are households with children,
seniors or people with disabilities or veterans.
The Republicans really want to take funding away from them. I mean, is it
the money or is it they think these folks in this portion of society is
nothing but a bunch of takers.
KILDEE: Well, I think, many of them simply believe that government should
have no role in creating some level playing field, some equality and that
there should be no floor of decency.
There are basically some that are just pure free market ideologues that
genuinely believe that we are all on our own. Now, most Americans don`t
feel this way and I think that`s why we have to make sure to help them
understand what`s at stake here because I don`t think most Americans in the
week of Thanksgiving would sit idly by and watch members of Congress, take
food out of the mouths of 4 million people, like cutting good stamps by $40
billion.
SCHULTZ: That is what they want to do. All right. Congressman, I want to
talk about the Iranian deal that is giving us a six-month window of
opportunity. Where do you stand on this? Is this progress and is it
something that we could build on?
KILDEE: I think it`s a very important step forward. I think we should be
naturally skeptical of the Iranian government but look, the sanctions have
worked has brought the Iranians to the table. Sanctions should not be a
long-term punishment, but an inducement to better behavior.
And then the next six months, we will see the Iranian -- Uranium Enrichment
Program stalled, practically stopped and it gives us a chance to negotiate
an agreement that makes the region and the entire planet safer. It is a
step in the right direction rather than patting ourselves on the back for
how tough we are which is what I think some people are doing. We have to
be straight with the American people and tell them, "Look, this is what we
have to do to make the world safer" .
SCHULTZ: I mean .
KILDEE: . and I think the President was right.
SCHULTZ: What`s your response to John Cornyn of Texas, the Senator, who
says that this is just a destruction away from ObamaCare and that narrative
is already out there with the Right Wing talkers and broadcasters saying
that President Obama needed a different headline that this is just a big
distraction. Your response to that?
KILDEE: Well, I`ve seen this even in my own financial services committee
where no matter what the question is, the answer is ObamaCare. They are on
a one-note program right now.
Here`s the thing, being President of the United States or Member of
Congress, you have to deal with the entire spectrum of issues and we can`t
ignore what`s happening in Iran in order to make points over the Affordable
Care Act. You know, this is a serious question and it requires serious
people who are willing to take on the question of the safety of our planet.
And dealing with the situation in Iran is not a distraction from our
responsibilities. It`s a part of our responsibilities.
SCHULTZ: Congressman Dan Kildee, good to have you with us tonight. I
appreciate your time. Have a great Thanksgiving.
KILDEE: Thanks.
SCHULTZ: You bet. Thanks so much.
And of course, we`ll have more on this on my radio show tomorrow. That`s
the Ed Show. I`m Ed Schultz. Politics Nation with Reverend Al Sharpton
starts right now. Good evening Rev.
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, November 25, 2013
Read the transcript to the Monday show