The Ed Show for Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

THE ED SHOW
January 28, 2014

Guests: Bernie Sanders, John Garamendi, Zerlina Maxwell, Brad Woodhouse,
Scott Paul

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, (R) MINNESOTA: This isn`t income inequality, it`s
income opportunity. Reject these policies of growing entitlements and
dependency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You might think that paying people enough to live is so
self-evident that even crazy people could understand it, but you would be
wrong.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: Do you believe in raising the minimum
wage?

BACHMANN: What I`m saying is I believe.

SANDERS: Do you believe in wage.

BACHMANN: . in economic opportunity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you said back in 2005 that taking away the minimum
wage could potentially and actually (ph) wipe out unemployment. Where`s
the evidence for that?

BACHMANN: Calm down.

SANDERS: Let me tell you one more time.

(CROSSTALK)

SANDERS: $10.10 an hour.

BACHMANN: . Australia and they have leading jobs in Australia.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN REPORTER: I`m just asking if you believe that there
should be an increase in the minimum wage.

BACHMANN: No, I don`t.

BLITZER: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you`re saying that the minimum wage is one of those
regulations you take a look at, you try to eliminate it?

SANDERS: So that employers in America can pay workers $44 an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These economic debts viral where workers get paid next
to nothing. So they can only afford to buy (inaudible).

SANDERS: Can I finish this one?

(CROSSTALK)

BACHMANN: You say that it isn`t true.

SANDERS: Can I finish the point (ph) please?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The worst record of making false statements appears
(ph).

BACHMANN: They`re losing (inaudible).

BLITZER: She doesn`t want.

SANDERS: . I want to talk about that.

BACHMANN: I want job growth.

SANDERS: Most Republicans.

BACHMANN: I want opportunity and I want people`s wages to go up.

SANDERS: Yeah, I know. We all do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Well, at the age of obstruction, does Michele
Bachmann speak for the Republican Party? No, she doesn`t, but she does
represent a mindset that this country has really had to force upon for some
time.

The American people tonight are going to find out just how aggressive
President Obama is going to be. In four short hours from now, President
Obama will be entering the House chamber for his Fifth State of the Union
address.

The president has made it clear. He`s going to be talking about bypassing
Congress with executive orders in tonight`s speech. This says Republicans
are already hinting of possible impeachment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE KING, (R) IOWA: I think that is a constitutional violation. We
have a minimum wage. Congress has set it. For the president to simply
declare "I`m going to change this law that Congress has passed," is
unconstitutional. He`s outside the bounds of his Article II limitations.
And I think that goes to court and he knows that it takes a couple of years
to get this thing to work and actually have any effect and he`s going to
run at that way.

This threat that the president is going to run the government with an ink
pen and executive orders, we`ve never had a president with that level of
audacity and that level of contempt for his own oath of office.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he really is abusing his constitutional powers, some
would say that`s ground for action against the president, maybe even an
impeachable offense. Is that what you`re saying?

KING: You know, I`ve stayed away from that word, although it does come to
me on the streets of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Really? It goes -- you hear it all of the time out there in the
middle of Iowa? I find that hard to believe congressman. Quit making
stuff up. You`re losing (ph) a corn field.

President Obama is planning to sign an executive order that will raise the
minimum wage for federal contractors to a mere $10.10 an hour. That`s not
a whole lot either. The increase will only impact future federal
contracts. Now, the president will highlight the executive action in
tonight`s State of the Union address, and supposed to be a big highlight.
It`s something liberals have been fighting for, for a long time.

But wait a minute, and there`s House Speaker John Boehner. He`s already
crying thaw. They`re given reaction of the speech before the speech.
Here`s what Boehner said about the increase earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R-OH) HOUSE SPEAKER: Let`s understand something. This
affects not one current contract. It only affects future contracts with
the federal government. And so, I think that question is, how many people,
Mr. President, will this executive action actually help? I suspect that
answer is somewhere close to zero."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, the speaker is flat out wrong again. Someone should inform
the Speaker of the House. This executive action is estimated to impact
250,000 workers in the future. Boehner also said Republicans are not
pleased with the president using executive actions. The speaker said that
there are options available for Republicans to fight the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOEHNER: House Republicans will continue to look closely at whether the
president is faithfully executing the laws as he took an oath to do. Now,
I think dealing with federal contracts in the minimum wage, he probably has
the authority to do that, but we`re going to watch very closely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, what do you do? Do you sue the president and say
that he`s overstepping legal authority?

BOEHNER: There are options available to us. We`re going to have a
discussion about that as well our victory (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, Republicans haven`t used the word impeachment. Not yet.
But I`m willing to bet it`s not far off. It depends on how the president
does tonight.

Aside from executive action, the president will again pressure Congress to
send him a minimum wage increase in tonight`s speech. If there is a
national minimum wage increase, it could impact up to 28 million workers.

Meanwhile, Speaker Boehner is already slamming a national increase.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOEHNER: When you raise the cost of something, you get less of it. And we
know from increases in the minimum wage in the past that hundreds of
thousands of low-income Americans have lost their jobs. And so, the very
people the president purports to help are the ones who are going to get
hurt by this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHUTLZ: Lawmakers in 30 different states across America are pushing
minimum wage legislation because the feds have been so slow to move for
workers. The American people do not agree with Republicans on this issue.

A recent poll shows 71 percent of Americans support a minimum wage
increase.

On Monday, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Senator Bernie Sanders had a
debate on minimum wage increase. In the debate, Congresswoman Bachmann
from Minnesota represents absolutely everything that is wrong with House
Republicans. She is a microcosm for a much larger problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: Do you believe in raising the minimum wage?

BACHMANN: What I`m saying is I believe in economic opportunity. Let me
tell you what happened in Australia.

SANDERS: Do you believe.

BACHMANN: The minimum wage in Australia is $20 an hour. They`re losing
the Ford plants, they`re losing the G.M. plants.

SANDERS: I have assume that needs.

(CROSSTALK)

BACHMANN: They`re losing the.

SANDERS: (Inaudible) I want to talk about that.

BACHMANN: I want job growth.

SANDERS: Most Republicans.

BACHMANN: I want opportunity and I want people`s wages to go up.

SANDERS: Yeah, I know. We all do.

BACHMANN: And (inaudible) under President Obama`s power.

SANDERS: Most Republicans, by the way.

BACHMANN: This is under President Obama`s policy.

SANDERS: Excuse me.

BACHMANN: People`s wages have gone down 8 percent in seven years.

BLITZER: I just want to clarify. Do you believe that the minimum wage
would be increased?

BACHMANN: What I think is that we need to create jobs and I think we need
to look at the example of Australia. You want to check about raising the
minimum wage.

BLITZER: That`s going to be a major issue in the president`s speech
tomorrow and he`s going to call on Congress to raise the minimum wage.

SANDERS: Can you answer his question please.

BACHMANN: So, do you think that it should be raised to $20.

BLITZER: I`m just asking.

BACHMANN: . an hour?

SANDERS: Over $10.10 an hour.

BACHMANN: . and they are.

BLITZER: . if believe that there should be an increase.

BACHMANN: . drops in Australia.

BLITZER: . in the minimum wage?

BACHMANN: No, I don`t.

BLITZER: All right. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So that`s what the president`s up against. That mindset.
Senator Sanders will be here in just a moment who was advocating for a
position of 71 percent of Americans.

Now, Bachmann finally admitted that she has no problem blocking the
president`s agenda. Hello? She hesitated because she knows where the
American people stand on this issue. This is why President Obama, is got
to making a move that he`s going to make tonight. He`s going to bypass the
Republicans in Congress and do something.

Republican obstructions have done nothing but block President Obama`s
agenda since day one. The American people know it and they are doing
everything they can to stop the agenda the American people voted for twice.
By using executive actions, the president is simply going along with the
will of the American people.

Here`s how I see tonight`s State of the Union address, whereas the
Republicans talk about tone, the White House to the president, they`re
talking about action. OK. We`re ready for action.

Last year, the president asked for tax reform -- corporate tax reform. He
wanted to move on climate change, wanted to move on immigration. He didn`t
get any of that. So this year, it`s unemployment benefits to be extended.
It`s also the minimum wage and there`s something about jobs in there
obviously.

With this, beyond all of what the president`s wish list is going to be
tonight in this speech, I view tonight as someone who is an ardent
supporter of the president as someone of a breakout moment for this
president. Number one, I believe that the president has to realize and
liberals have to realize, who support the president as I see it, that you
just can`t continue to try to lead people that simply are never going to
follow, never. How much never do we have to have in never?

The bottom line is, the president concept a tone for this year can motivate
the base. And leading people is going to be very easy because the American
people are against everything the Republicans are for.

The question is, has President Obama been infected by this bad government
process in Washington or is he ready to dance with the people that took him
to the gig?

The bottom line is, the president has the people behind him in the vast
majority. He needs to move on it. And I think he will. I think tonight`s
tone is going to be a lot steeper. I think tonight`s tone is going to be
different from what we`ve seen in the other State of the Union speeches.

Remember a year ago this time? We had a raging debate in this country
about gun legislation on the Hills of Sandy Hook. 90 percent of the
American people wanted background checks. We didn`t get that either.

So what`s an uphill battle? It`s time now for the president to turn to
those folks on the other side of the chamber and say, "You`re at odds (ph)
with the American people. The American people are with me and this is
where we`re going." And if you want to see the base get motivated after a
statement like that, you will see the Republicans shaking in their boots
for the midterms in 2014. Tonight is a night for leadership.

Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think tonight`s question.
"Will Republicans try to impeach President Obama over executive actions?"
Text A for Yes, text B for No to 67622. You can always go to our blog at
ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring you the results later on in the show.

For more, let`s turn to Senator Bernie Sanders tonight, Independent from
Vermont. Senator, good to have you with us.

SANDERS: Good to be with you.

SCHULTZ: Thank you for your time. How important is tonight`s speech?

SANDERS: Exclusively important. You make, I think, the important point.
And that is on issue after issue. The vast majority of the people are in
strong disagreement with Republican priorities. Republicans want to cut
social security, Medicare and Medicaid. They want to abolish the
environmental protection agency. They want to give more tax breaks to
billionaires and large corporations. Nobody believes that.

What do the American people want? When you talked about it, they want to
raise the minimum wage. They want a jobs program which puts millions of
people back to work. They want to change in our trade policy so we`re not
exporting jobs to China. And they want to deal with this issue of the
income and wealth inequality which is moving us in the direction of keen
Kochracy (ph) and deal with Citizens United so the Koch brothers and others
cannot put hundreds of millions of dollars in electing their friends.

The American people, not just Democrats, not just Republicans,
Independents, vastly support that agenda. The president has got to make
the issues as clear cut as possible, rally (ph) the American people.

SCHULTZ: When does the president stop trying to lead people that are never
going to follow and always going to obstruct? When does that moment
happen?

SANDERS: Well, Ed, I mean, this is an issue that drives me a little bit
nuts because I think the president should have learned that lesson years
ago. Human nature is -- that we try to work together. You reach out to
people. You`re prepared to compromise. But after people catch the left
off and they catch the right hand off and they punch you in the stomach,
you got to finally catch on that these people do not want to work with you.
They want to destroy you. They want to obstruct every single initiative
(ph) you bring forth.

And what`s the alternative? The alternative is to give the Republicans an
offer they can`t refuse. And that is rally (ph) the American people and
let them know what the Republican stands.

SCHULTZ: So, if the president goes out tonight and someone of a dogmatic
style which is not his style -- he`s not a guy that points fingers too
much. At least he doesn`t in public. There`s no downside, is there? I
mean, aren`t the people that put the president in office ready for somewhat
of a breakout moment from all this obstruction because we know the
Republicans aren`t going to change? There`s nothing that president is
going to say tonight.

SANDERS: Are they ready? Are they ready? I would say that they are more
than ready. You know, they are frustrated that the president has not been
tough. Look Ed, we have made progress in the last five years. Remember,
five years ago, we`re losing 700,000 jobs a month?

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: Now, we`re gaining some jobs. But let`s not kid ourselves. The
middle class, the working class of this country is hurting. People on top
are doing phenomenally well. One out of four corporations stay zero in
federal income taxes. How do the American people feel about it? They are
angry. They are frustrated. They want action. They want leadership for
the White House.

SCHULTZ: Okay. So, executive actions, what are your expectations of what
can be accomplished that would change this dynamic?

SANDERS: First thought, and I want to applaud the president because this
is an issue that a number of us have been working on. I want to give him
credit for doing the right thing after saying that you -- if you are an
employee of a federal contractor, you should earn at least $10.10 an hour.
That will impact about 250,000 people. And you know what it also does? It
gives us some momentum in the fight to raise the minimum wage for all
workers in this country. That is a good start.

SCHULTZ: All right. What do you think the reaction of the Republicans
will be of any executive order?

SANDERS: Well, you heard some of it. All of this is unconstitutional.
All -- he`s being too bold. We`re going to have to even obstruct more of
what he does and who cares? Who cares? What we can expect is what we`ve
seen in the last five years, obstruction, obstruction, obstruction. The
question is we have got to rally the American people so that in every
congressional district in America, they know if folks are going to -- not
support raising the minimum wage, not support a jobs program, if they want
to cut social security and Medicare. The American people got to know that.
If they know that, the Republicans are going to be in serious trouble.

SCHULTZ: Unemployment extensions, is that a possibility at this point?

SANDERS: We are continuing the fight. We just had a caucus today that if
it continues. You have 1.6 million Americans who have worked long periods
of time, now, have no income coming yet from unemployment benefits. It is
a real crisis. We have to continue that fight.

SCHULTZ: Okay. I would imagine the president tonight is going to be
talking about the debt ceiling coming up. How much time does he have to
spend on that?

SANDERS: Not a whole lot because you have a situation where our Republican
colleagues are suggesting that for the first time in the history of the
United States of America, they do not want to pay our bills, what we owe.
And in doing that, perhaps, drive the entire world into a depression.

This is kind of a no-brainer. Even the business community fully
understands. You got to pay your bills. That`s it. No negotiating.

SCHULTZ: Income inequality is going to be an overriding theme of tonight.
It`s long overdue. Obviously, you and many other progressives have been
talking about this for a long time. Can the president through executive
order do something to change all of these when on the other hand he`s
pushing the TPP which is in total contrast to what middle class families
are going to be facing when it comes to economic pressures? I hope the
president tonight talks about the TPP and explains the upside because so
far we haven`t seen it.

SANDERS: Well, in my view is, somebody who was voted against NAFTA and
against CAFTA and against Permanent Noble Trade Relations with China who
does not like the TPP, what you have had is corporate America and the big
money interest of reaching out the Democratic president and Republican
presidents to get that to pass this disastrous trade agreements. So I`m
not a great fan of these agreements.

I think it just makes it easier for companies to lay off American workers,
move to China, Vietnam. But second of all, I think the president does have
to make the point that the American economy is not sustainable when so few
have so much and so many have so little. It`s a moral issue and it`s an
economic issue because the people don`t have money to spend. You don`t
create jobs.

SCHULTZ: Senator Sanders, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so
much. Appreciate it.

MSNBC`s primetime coverage of the President`s State of the Union address
begins at 9:00 tonight. I will be in the chamber and reporting on this
network later on this evening.

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

Coming up, some underwater Super Bowl productions plus force the crowd for
tonight`s Republican response to the State of the Union.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders. The Ed Show social media nation has
decided and we are reporting. Here are today`s top Trenders voted on by
you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not now. Get up, stupid.

SCHULTZ: The number three Trender, one deflection.

TOM PERKINS: I talked through to the head of the anti-defamation league
apologizing for the use of the word "Kristallnacht". It was a terrible
word we have chosen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did someone that glitteringly stupid becomes so
monumentally rich?

SCHULTZ: Tom Perkins apologizes, but can`t shake his 1 percent perception.

PERKINS: Why does any man need a Rolex watch as I could buy a six-pack of
Rolex for this (ph)? But so what?

CHARLIE CHAPLIN: Gosh, we`re all really impressed down here, I can tell
you.

PERKINS: To demonize the rich who spend and buy things and stimulate the
economy is crazy.

SCHULTZ: The number two Trender, animal instincts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are they?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re manatees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sea cow, have you ever seen that animal?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before you place those badge for the Super Bowl, you
may want to hear which team and pairs (ph) Manatees` picked because one of
them has picked the winning team the last six years in a row.

SCHULTZ: Florida Manatees make their Super Bowl picks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hugh, who has picked the winning team only four of
the last six times went to the Seahawks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They really are brilliant creatures.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Buffet who seems to know his football pretty well
picked the Broncos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s time I stop letting this Prima Donna Manatees.
Tell me what to do.

SCHULTZ: And today`s top Trender, fight for the spot light.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Republicans` response will be from Congresswoman
Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Mike Lee will deliver the Tea Party response.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, she will give the official Spanish
language version.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Rand Paul, giving his own response.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And nobody get time for that.

SCHULTZ: Four Republicans will carry on the GOP`s Host State of the Union
tradition.

BACHMANN: Good evening. My name is Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you staring at?

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL, (R) LOUISIANA: There`s something called "Volcano
monitoring."

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) FLORIDA: Nothing has frustrated me more than false
choices like the one that President has laid out (ph).

SANDY: If you all need water, you should ask.

JINDAL: It`s kind of monitoring volcanoes or congress should be monitored
as the eruption of spending in Washington D.C.

BACHMANN: No. Who can say that we won`t see a miracle again?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining me tonight, Congressman John Garamendi of California.
John, good to have you with us tonight.

It`s almost comical the number of people that the Republicans are going to
be rolling out to respond to the president`s State Of The Union Address
tonight. What does that say? It didn`t say much about unity, does it?
There`s a lot of factions that have to speak up tonight. Your thoughts on
that.

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI, (D) CALIFORNIA: My thought is I want to talk to that
Manatee because the Republicans are not going to make much sense tonight.

It`s really, I think, a symptom of the disunity and the kind of problems
that we`ve been faced with the last two to three years here in the
Republican caucus. It is badly divided. And the result is we`ve not seen
any real policy come out of the House of Representatives controlled by the
Republicans that would actually create jobs.

SCHULTZ: Well, it`s pretty clear they`re trying to be all things to all
people. They`ve got an identity crisis. They don`t know where to go.
They`ve had no agenda. In fact, tonight, the president`s whole theme is
going to be about this chart that we have made famous, the Vulture chart,
the income inequality in this country, what has happened to the middle
classers, the flat liners, the blue liners right there, and where the top 2
percent has gone in this country.

In an age of obstruction, how is the president going to bring these two
lines closer together and get some economic fairness in the system? Your
thoughts on that.

GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, he has to make the case. He`s been working
towards that. He`s been following your lead, Ed. And he has been working
towards making that case. He needs a full-throated argument tonight about
income inequality, about the fact that the working men and women have --
who got to work everyday are not making it in America, in part, because
American manufacturing isn`t here anymore. We need to bring that back,
another issue that you`ve made over these many, many months.

But he needs to make out argument. We need to follow up with pieces of
legislation, continue to hammer away on the theme that the middle class
needs its time in America. The vultures, those who are at the top of the
heap, they`ve had their share. Now, it`s time for the rest of America to
share in the great wealth and the great opportunity that this nation does
continue to have.

SCHULTZ: Congressman Garamendi, Boehner and the Republicans are saying
that they`re putting all options on the table in response to the
president`s use of his executive authority. How do you take that?

GARAMENDI: Well, I take that`s what`s happened over the last three years.
And that is to take the options off the table to literally do nothing to
create jobs. The president put a jobs bill before the congress two years
ago. It was simply rejected, not even heard in any committee. It was a
bill that would call for infrastructure investment, education investment,
research, rebuilding the manufacturing sector in America.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: All the things that we know we must do and Republican Congress
has simply refused to do it.

SCHULTZ: But could this use of the executive authority walk the country
into a big impeachment conversation. I think that`s where -- that`s what`s
being implied by some members on the right. I mean, how does that hit you?
How does that strike you?

GARAMENDI: Well, that`s again foolishness. The president cannot do
anything that`s not allowed by law.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: His action today dealing with the minimum wage in contract,
that`s -- excuse me Ed. There was just a big downfall.

SCHULTZ: Sure.

GARAMENDI: The -- it was all authority that he has under law to set the
standards for federal contracting. That`s what he did.

SCHULTZ: Sure.

GARAMENDI: He cannot do anything that is not allowed by law.

SCHULTZ: OK. And finally congressman, what about the tone tonight? Does
this have to be someone of a little different President Obama? Does he
have to be somewhat more pointed, more direct, more dogmatic, or what would
be the term you would use? What would be -- what are you looking for
tonight? Aggressiveness, where is it?

GARAMENDI: Well, I think he needs to be as he has been in the past, very
hopeful about this nation, very optimistic about what we can become if we
undertake certain policies. I`m sure he`s going to layout those policies,
the policies of economic growth for the working men and women where the
great wealth that we generate in this nation is available to the men and
women that go to work, eight hours a day, 12 hours a day. And I think he`s
going to do that.

He doesn`t have to be aggressive. It doesn`t have to be compensational,
but it needs to be strong, it needs to be clear and he needs to make that
argument very forcefully, but not in an aggressive or ill-mannered way to
the American people.

SCHULTZ: Never has been that way. I`m just -- I`m thinking in a sense
that this is a turning point to say that we`re leaving Republicans behind.
We`re going to run the country. They`ve been in the way too much.

Congressman John Garamendi, great to have you with us tonight. And with
that, I don`t really think that there is any kind of a downside if the
president does that.

Coming up, sealed with a Chris. Find out how little trust Americans have
in Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey these days. Still ahead, the push
for manufacturing ahead of the State of Union address, where is it and
where are we going?

But next, I`m taking your questions, Ask Ed Live, just ahead. Stay with us
on the Ed Show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Love hearing from our viewers.
Lots of questions. We can only pick two every night, but thanks for
bringing them tonight in our Ask Ed Live segment.

Our first question is from Reg. "Will Republicans agree with President
Obama on anything he says tonight?"

That`s a shorty. Hell no.

Next question is from Lenora. "If you could ask the president a question
what would you ask him?"

Mr. President, thank you for joining me tonight, Ed Schultz here on MSNBC.
Why do you support the TPP when all indications are that it is an absolute
job killer for the American people and in our job market? And will you
explain what the upside of the TPP is that would bring you to the point
that you were such an ardent supporter of it? Mr. President.

Stick around, Rapid Response Panel is next.

HAMPTON PEARSON, CNBC ANCHOR: I`m Hampton Pearson with your CNBC Market
Wrap.

Stocks and with gains, falling positive earnings report from Pfizer and
Ford. The Dow rallies 90 points, the S and P adds 10, the NASDAQ is up 14.

Another bright spot, rising consumer confidence. The conference board
says, its index of sentiment came in ahead of estimates. Meanwhile, a
report from S&P/Case-Shiller shows home prices rose more than 13 percent
over the past year.

And Yahoo shares a lower after hours following its latest profit report.

That`s it from CNBC, first in business worldwide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Thanks for staying with us tonight.

Well, the numbers don`t lie. Americans are losing trust in New Jersey
Governor Chris Christie. It makes sense. There are currently
investigations looking into Bridgegate and an investigation looking in to
accusations Christie`s administration with held Hurricane Sandy relief in
Hoboken, New Jersey.

But wait a minute. And now, there is a new development tonight. According
to a story in today`s Star-Ledger, "Governor Chris Christie helped channel
$6 million in federal Sandy recovery dollars to a project conceived years
before the storm in Belleville, New Jersey. This town was not particularly
hit hard by the storm. The funding was announced less than two weeks
before the town`s Democratic mayor formally endorsed Chris Christie for
reelection as governor." There is no doubt the mighty media darling has
fallen.

According to the latest NBC news Wall Street journal poll, 29 percent of
Americans now have a negative view of Christie. Just 22 percent view the
governor favorably. It`s an 11 point drop from a poll done just three
months ago when Christie had a 33 percent favorable rating. It probably
has something to do with the fact that 44 percent of those polled in this
survey believe Christie is not telling the truth when it comes to
Bridgegate and then of course tonight`s development.

Christie has a lot of ground to make up if he`s interested at all in 2016.
Adding insult to injury, Fort Lee mayor, Mark Sokolich is set to attend
tonight`s State of the Union address as a guest of New Jersey Congressman
Bill Pascrell.

Joining us tonight for our Rapid Response Panel, Brad Woodhouse, President
of Americans United for Change, and Zerlina Maxwell, Contributor to
"theGrio".

Zerlina, you first tonight. Another shoe seems to be dropping in the
Christie investigation and now this story about funding going to a project
where a mayor -- Democratic mayor was favorable to the governor. What do
you make of it?

ZERLINA MAXWELL,"THE GRIO" CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think that the narrative
that Chris Christie is a take charge kind of guy that has a control over
his office. That media created narrative is O-V-E-R, over for Chris
Christie today.

And I think that the, you know, certainly the news in the Star-Ledger about
the money that went to the town of Belleville versus the money that did not
go to the harder hit town of Hoboken, it shows you what happens when the
governor`s office and the governor`s administration is endorsed by someone.
So .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MAXWELL: . you can see sort of the opposite side. What happens when they
do something the governor likes to get the money? When you do something
the governor does not like? Then, you don`t get the money even though that
you are entitled to it and need it after such a horrific storm like Sandy.

SCHULTZ: You know, Brad Woodhouse, if this governor is such a trusting
guy, why doesn`t he come out and explain this story? Does he have to be
under oath? Does he have to get a subpoena? Does he have to count on
people around him? All the governor has to do is come out and clear the
air about this most recent story. Your thoughts. Why didn`t he do that?

BRAD WOODHOUSE, PRESIDENT AMERICANS UNITED FOR CHANGE: Well, I think he`s
not doing it because there probably more shoes set to drop. And here`s the
problem for Chris Christie is that he thought one press conference was
going to solve his problems. And what he did was he promised cooperation.
And what he`s done since then, he`s gone to Florida and campaign for a
Republican governor down there who didn`t want to be seen with him. He
came back and he had his office attack one of the Democrats investigating
Bridgegate.

And now, he`s basically gone underground. He`s not saying anything, he`s
not doing anything. Ed, I think he`s bigger worries now or whether or not
he can survive his governorship, more so that whether or not he can be a
presidential contender.

SCHULTZ: Chris Christie has never gotten a free pass on this program. I
just want to point that out. I have been covering his assault on the
working class for years. And this is what I had to say last summer. Let`s
check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Tonight, we are going to expose the real Chris Christie, the
media darling of New York City, the media darling of the main street media.
He`s done nothing wrong. He`s one of -- he`s really a moderate. No. He`s
a wolf in sheep`s clothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: One of the first things he did as governor was to go after 6,000
educators in New Jersey. Now, you can`t tell me that those 6,000 bad
teachers in one state anywhere. It was a budgetary move. It was attack on
public education. And this was back in 2009 and this is why I have just
been on this guy`s trail all along, long before any traffic problems. And
now, this is all starting to uncover.

But Zerlina, why has he been such a media darling? Is it his moxie, is it
his style, is it his off-the-cuff? And how fast is that wearing thin?

MAXWELL: You know, I certainly think it`s part personality but part of it
also is that Republicans right now have no one who can challenge, you know,
the potential candidacy of Hillary Clinton in 2016. And so, part of it has
to do with the fact that you don`t want, you know, a blow out in the 2016
election. You need somebody who you can build up and create hype around to
challenge a potential Hillary Clinton candidacy.

And Chris Christie fit that bill before. Now, he does not, right? So the
same NBC Wall Street Journal Polls shows that he`s down 20 points, 20
points among independents. That is killer for his potential .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MAXWELL: . as a general election candidate which is really the only reason
Republicans would have voted him out of the primary.

WOODHOUSE: That`s right.

SCHULTZ: At this point, Brad Woodhouse, would he be doing the Republican
governor`s association a favor by stepping aside?

WOODHOUSE: Well, I certainly think so. And he had -- I was on program on
another network last week where a fellow Republican called on him to do
that.

Consider this, he was in the State of Florida, he was raising money for
Rick Scott who at some point in the past few years has been the least
popular governor in the country. Rick Scott didn`t want to be seen with
Chris Christie. He`s a problem for the Republican Governors Association.
In fact, he`s a problem for the Republican Party generally right now.

SCHULTZ: What do you make, Zerlina, that they have combined the
investigative committees in New Jersey and streamlined a lot of this?

MAXWELL: I think -- I really think this is big trouble for Chris Christie
mainly because, you know, anyone who`s writing an e-mail should learn the
lesson that the E in e-mail stands for evidence. And so, whenever you`re,
you know, you have a situation where you`re getting 20 subpoenas or
documents, you know, clearly from the first batch of documents we saw that
they do not have the appropriate level of discretion when using their Gmail
accounts. And so, I think that the, you know, like we`ve said before,
there is many, many more shoes that will drop.

And I think that Chris Christie really is in big trouble. And like Brad
said, really need to be concerned about keeping his job as governor and
should really just ignore any talk about the presidential campaign.

SCHULTZ: Well, now that this story is out about Belleville, New Jersey and
an alleged, you know, kickback for political favor of support, it would
seem to me that this is going to make other people who are going to be
subpoenaed really nervous that this is -- I mean it just continues to drip.
And people are going to be playing with their careers and their lives if
they don`t come forward and tell the absolute truth.

And do you think, Brad, that we`re going to find out that Chris Christie
knew a heck of a lot more than what he`s saying?

WOODHOUSE: Well, I do think we`ll probably find out that he knew a lot
more than he`s saying. But, you know, Ed, there`s an issue here about what
he should have known or what was willful ignorance. I mean, you know, why
was he not more curious about what happened in Fort Lee? Why didn`t he do
something about it at the time? And the truth here is is that I think
we`ll find out that he at least promoted a culture that encouraged this
stuff to happen and had his tacit approval or he was directly involved of
it -- involved in it right from the top.

SCHULTZ: All right. Brad Woodhouse and Zerlina Maxwell good to have you
with us tonight on the Ed Show. Thanks so much.

Coming up, music man Rush Limbaugh lands in tonight`s Pretenders, the
family man.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight face the music, Rush Limbaugh. The
right wing talker is in a twist over the Grammies.

Queen Latifah officiated 33 straight and same sex marriages at the award
ceremony earlier this week. The radio host sees the display of equality as
an open attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO HOST: Gay couples were married to this long same love
and that song openly attacked right wing Conservatives and Christians,
because we have sound principles and guardrails, if you will, and we have
definite beliefs in right and wrong and good and evil and how to best raise
families and live life, and it just doesn`t comport with anything they
believe, and so it is just -- we`re a big threat. We are just a huge
threat to these people, and this is them striking back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Rush Limbaugh is only a threat to someone who`s arms aren`t quite
long enough to reach a radio dial.

The talker knows a thing or two about marriage. He`s had four.

So, Rush as you say we, we -- which family are we talking about? One, two,
three or four? If Rush Limbaugh believes he`s in authority on sound
principles, 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.

Millions of Americans are going to be listening to the president tonight in
the State of the Union address. And they`re looking for a strong, clear
message about manufacturing, a very important part of our economy.

President Obama is calling this a year of action however funding,
innovation, and job training to meet demands is a major concern in this
sector of the economy.

Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio says a number of bipartisan bills aimed at
establishing support for job creation, obviously, installed in Congress.

Now, President Obama has vowed to use his executive powers to expand his
vision for American manufacturing. I`m curious about that without help
from Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Where I can act on my own without Congress, I`m going to do so.
And today, I`m here to act to help make Raleigh-Durham and America a magnet
for the good high-tech manufacturing jobs that a growing middle class
requires and that is going to continue to keep this country on the cutting
edge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: There is a problem. Growth, job growth in manufacturing in the
United States is way off target.

During his reelection campaign, President Obama pledged to create one
million new manufacturing jobs by the end of his second term. More than
25,000 new jobs a month would need to be created until 2017. And reaching
that number will take more than an upward swing in the business cycle.

Joining us tonight, Scott Paul, President for the Alliance for American
Manufacturing joining us here in studio in Washington, D.C.

You know, there`s good things out there, Scott. I mean consumer confidence
is up, home values up 13 percent, the market again today is scratching
16,000, 47 months of private sector job growth. I mean all without any
bipartisanship in Washington. But why is manufacturing being left? Why
are we not seeing the gains in manufacturing?

SCOTT PAUL, PRESIDENT OF THE ALLIANCE FOR AMERICAN MANUFACTURING: Ed,
that`s a good question. There`s a couple of reasons for it. One, we
really don`t have a strategy to enhance the manufacturing base in the
United States. One that focuses on the innovation, the president was
talking about in Raleigh-Durham, we`re doing very small amount of what
other countries do, another is investing in workers and perhaps most
importantly, Ed, it`s about our trade policy. We have a huge imbalance
trade relationship with China, $315 billion trade deficit in 2012, that
translates into a lot of missed job opportunities, downward pressure on
wages.

And so you don`t see that in the service sector because there`s not as much
competition globally. But in the United States, our workers, our
businesses really don`t feel like they have the support from Washington
going after them for having a strategy and for getting trade right.

SCHULTZ: So when the decision is being made by a job creator, OK. I`m
going to invest manufacturing in this country versus somewhere else. Where
are we losing? Is it wages? Is it regulation? Is it tariffs? What is
it? Where are we losing in this whole issue?

PAUL: There`s a lot of myths that folks like to put up like, "It`s too
expensive to manufacture in the United States, the wages are too much,
energy cost." But when you look at it globally, you combine the
productivity of our workforce, you look at natural gas becoming more
abundant and more available driving the price down. We can be very
globally competitive in terms of a price basis.

But what we lack is what I would call the ecosystem for manufacturing.
That trade policy that says, "If you want to sell here, you got to make
some of it here in the United States." That tax policy that says, "You can
invest in America. We`re going to give you a tax break. If you send your
jobs overseas, we`re going to hit back at you."

I think those are important elements that too many forget. I hope the
president will talk about it tonight a little bit. It seems that the trade
agenda has been tilted towards opening markets but not nearly enough on
trade and force.

SCHULTZ: So making in America by American doesn`t have the "oomph" so to
speak. Legislatively doesn`t have the legs that it needs to resonate.

PAUL: That`s right, Ed. And it`s a very popular policy both among voters
where it gets over 85 percent support with an extraordinary .

SCHULTZ: But nothing happened on it on Washington, right?

PAUL: Right. Not enough is being done. In fact, we have to fight every
year just to keep what we have. If we had good by America policies on tax
trade and procurement, we could create that million jobs that the president
so desperately wants .

SCHULTZ: OK. We`re looking at this trade agreement, the TPP. How
dangerous is it in your opinion?

PAUL: It could be very dangerous. I mean there`s a lot of things we don`t
know about it because it`s being negotiated behind closed doors. What we
do know about it should give anyone pause whether you`re right, left, or
center. You have the auto companies in the United States very concerned
about how we`re going to treat Japan on market access. It`s very hard to
sell a vehicle in Japan and it`s not because Japanese consumers don`t want
to buy American vehicles. We have to look at currency manipulation.

And the TPP, we`d be competing against countries that heavily subsidize
their own businesses, in fact own them. It`s not very fair to ask a
private sector American firm to go up against that state subsidize
competition. So there`s a lot of questions that have to be answered on
TPP.

SCHULTZ: So it would affect, just off the top of my head, plastics, they
would affect glass .

PAUL: Absolutely.

SCHULTZ: . steel, rubber, all of the things that go .

PAUL: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: . into automobile manufacturing? Now, we have revived with the
automobile alone, the automobile industry in a big, big way. They`ve got
numbers that a lot of people didn`t think we`re ever going to be reached
again. But now, we`re seeing the Chinese saying that they`re going to come
after our automobile parts industry.

So what`s our counter strategy to that? I mean they`re reacting to our
recovery, are they not?

PAUL: They certainly are and they see the United States successfully got
our car companies, our workers back on their feet. The auto sector has
created an outsize number of jobs. One out of every nine manufacturing
jobs is related somehow to auto production. You pointed out the glass, the
steel .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

PAUL: . all of that. The challenge is that we`re not pushing back against
these unfair trade practices. We haven`t been willing to standup to the
Chinese and say, "If you want access to our market . " and believe me they
have plenty of access .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

PAUL: . you just have to look on your shelves at any big box store. We`re
going to threaten to cut that off unless we can get in to market and unless
you`re competing fairly so that our private sector firms have a chance and
that your government isn`t subsidizing it, and polluting in a way that
hurts their own people isn`t keeping their workers down. That`s really .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

PAUL: . had been a big detriment to our economy. It costs us millions of
jobs.

SCHULTZ: Scott Paul, Alliance for American Manufacturing good to have you
with us tonight. Thank you so much.

PAUL: Good to be with you, Ed. Thank you.

SCHULTZ: And that is the Ed Show. I`m Ed Schultz. I will be in the
chamber tonight for the State of the Union reporting later on our primetime
coverage here on MSNBC. That`s the Ed Show.

Now it`s time for Reverend Al Sharpton in Politics Nation. 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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