The Ed Show for Thursday, June 12th, 2014

THE ED SHOW
June 12, 2014

Guest: Dr. Frederick Haynes III, Sarah Slamen, James Peterson, Bob Shrum,
Ana Rivas Logan

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, MSNBC HOST: Good evening Americans. Welcome to the Ed
Show all the way live to from New York. I`m Michael Eric Dyson in for Ed
Schultz. Let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN MURRAY, PRESIDENT, PEW RESEARCH CENTER: You see these negative
motivations that are really driving politics today.

JON STEWART, THE DAILY SHOW HOST: Oh no. Congress` current golden age of
cooperation and productiveness is over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The polarization .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The annual polar plungs .

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: AS a matter of fact .

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Literally .

STEPHEN MOORE, CHIEF ECONOMIST, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: A primal scream by
conservatives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, yes.

MOORE: We`re just angry about everything.

JOHN BOEHNER, (R-OH) HOUSE SPEAKER: Hell no, you can`t.

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, (R) MINNESOTA: Let`s love people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DYSON: My fellow Americans, before I get into my sermon and trust me, I
want to preach as well as I can today. You must think that this is a bleak
and dismal time. You get up everyday, you`re trying to feed your kids,
you`re trying to go to school, you`re trying to tell the truth as best as
you can, you`re trying to share your life with your loved ones, yet that
doesn`t seem to be much good news. Here you are dealing with waking up in
the morning and seeing more trouble in Iraq and discovering that Eric
Cantor is dipping out and discovering that the world around you is
crumbling and yet, in the midst of that bleakness and that seeming
hopelessness, nothing to lay on your bed and nowhere to hang your hat comes
the news that a bunch of rich, and wealthy, and elite, and otherwise
gifted, and talented people are exalting in the fact that there is a huge
lacuna, a great gulf, a big divide in this country.

A new poll by the Pew Research Group has Beltway Insiders and culture
elitist are like climbing a self-righteous high horse today. Pew found 27
percent of Democrats believe the Republican Party is a threat to the
nation`s well-being. The same poll shows 36 percent of Republicans believe
Democrats are a threat to the nation`s well-being.

For some reason, those numbers have shocked people who are stuck in the
Washington bubble. Ron Fournier tweeted out today, "The fact that one-
third of partisan voters view other side as a threat to the nation`s well-
being is a threat to that nation."

If you agree with Fournier, tonight is going to bust your bubble. It`s
easy to look down on people`s hardships if you never feel them. For the
last century, people have gone broke or needlessly died due to inadequate
and sometimes, fraudulent healthcare coverage and treatment.

Republicans have made it to their -- made it their mission to keep that old
system in place. That is a threat to this great nation, not partisanship.
There has never been such a divide between rich and poor in America.
Republicans have made sure working women and men have to scrape for every
penny as they bend over backwards to make sure the ultra rich get every
single advantage and tax break and exploit every tax loophole possible.
That is a threat to the nation`s well-being.

Republicans think people who make minimum wage are earning too much money.
Poor people have to work two and three jobs at a time to make ends meet and
I know what I`m talking about, I had to do it, that more than anything else
has destroyed the traditional family unit. We talk about family values and
then value all families including those who have to work extraordinarily a
lot just to make ends meet, who have to work 40 and 50 and 60 hours a week
just to make it up to the poverty level. It hurts men, women, and
especially children. That`s another threat to the land that I love.

Republicans have tried to strip reproductive rights for African and all
women for almost 50 years. If Republicans have their way, women would have
to go to dangerous extremes. Remember back-alley abortions to make
personal decisions about their own bodies. In the past, that`s been a
deadly mix that does tremendous harm and damage to this nation. Does that
sound like a threat to you? Republicans have voted time and time again to
make sure women get paid less than men. That`s an economic threat to the
gender which is the majority of America.

Republicans have done everything in their power to make it harder for
Americans to vote. The vote is the only weapon average people have to make
a difference in this country. Taking that away is a threat to this country
and to democracy itself.

Just this week, we have had our 74th, 74th school shooting since 20 small
children were murdered in cold-blood at Sandy Hook. Republicans have been
paralyzed by their puppet masters at the NRA. Republicans have ignored the
problem and pray for it to go away.

That`s a threat to every child who walks into a classroom in America.
Republicans have whooped up an anti-government sentiment in this country,
the likes of which we haven`t seen since the Civil War. A gun battle
between militia and federal agents was narrowly averted in Nevada two
months ago. Just this week, two anti-government people shot and killed two
police officers and a civilian as they screamed about the start of a
revolution. This is a major threat to the well-being of America.

Just this morning, Americans saw images of Iraq spiraling off into a
sectarian Civil War. This comes 11 years after a Republican President of
the United States led us into a preemptive war based on false intelligence.
A war that killed over 4,000 of America`s fighting men and women. Not to
mention to the over 100,000 Iraqis who lost their lives.

The same people who lied to this country into war are back this morning
pushing President Obama to get back into the same mess. Republican
President George W. Bush put us in, in the first place. This is a
completely dangerous threat to the well-being of America.

The list of Republican policies that have damaged this country could go on
and on for hours. Let me show you why Democrats think Republicans are
dangerous for the well-being of Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BACHMANN: Let`s repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills
children, kills senior citizens. Let`s not do that. Let`s love people.

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT, (R) TEXAS: I wish to God she had had an M4 in her
office locked up so when she heard gun fire, she pulls it out and she
didn`t have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands, but she takes
him out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids.

MCCONNELL: Our top political priority over the next two years should be to
deny President Obama a second term.

SEN. RAND PAUL, (R) KENTUCKY: I`m not against having unemployment
insurance. I do think, though, that the longer you have it, that it does
provide some disincentive to work and that there are many studies that
indicate this.

FMR. REP. TODD AKIN, (R) MISSOURI: For what I understand from doctors,
that`s really rare. If it`s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to
try to shut that whole thing down.

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) WISCONSIN: We`re coming to a country where we`re
getting more and more takers than makers in America. And we need to have
more makers and less takers in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are 47 percent who are with him, who are
dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe
that the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that
they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to -- you name it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DYSON: My friends, this time, the fault leaders in Washington and the
mainstream media wake up and realize regular Americans have had enough.
The basic dream of going to college, getting a good job, marrying the
person that you love, buying a home, and building a better life for your
children has fallen out of the reach of average Americans.

The new American dream is surviving to your next paycheck. That`s no way
to live. What is especially damaging is the false equivalence made between
both sides, left and right, as if they are equally responsible for the
suffering of the masses, as if a bitter partisanship is the problem and not
a bitter battle over the values of our democracy. But it ain`t an equal
fight nor can the responsibility for the hurt endured by most Americans be
laid at the feet of both parties in a delusional belief that it`s both
sides` fault, that the partisan bickering is the problem, not the true
plague which is a party that takes every time it can, every incentive to
hurt the poor, that cares very little for the masses of folk in our
country.

Those folk are the true victims of so-called partisanship. Those who
struggle with the $7.25 minimum wage are the victims of partisanship.
Those who are chronically unemployed and constantly underemployed, they are
the victims of partisanship. Those who barely subsist on food stamps are
the victims of partisanship, of the SNAP decisions that cut their funding
to the bone. Those who have their reproductive rights challenged and the
victims of partisanship are there clear before our eyes. Those whose
voting rights are vulnerable to rebuff and a clueless supreme court are the
victims of partisanship. Those who don`t enjoy the benefits of marriage
equality are the victims of partisanship. Those who still can`t get
adequate healthcare are the victims of partisanship. Those whose loved
ones, especially, their children are heartlessly cut down by guns because
we still can`t generate a same gun control policy, they are the victims of
partisanship. And those who are stuck in warehouses and paralist (ph)
borders because our failed immigration policies are not working are the
victims of partisanship.

And the truth is that so-called partisanship is in fact a one-sided love
affair with privilege and prosperity for the few while the masses are made
poorer and more vulnerable day by day by policies enacted by super rich and
uncaring wealthy people. It`s time we call it for what it is. It`s not
partisanship. It`s the provincial practices of a party that could care
less about the middle class, the working class, the working poor, and the
poor. And when we wake up and realize this truth, we`ll all be better off
as a nation. So this is what I want you to do. Get up out of your seats
right now. Go to your windows. Open them up and holler out, "enough is
enough."

Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question, "Do Republican policies threaten America?" Text A for Yes, text
B for No to 67622 or go to our blog @ed.msnbc.com. I`ll bring you the
results later in the show.

For more, let me bring in Doctor Frederick Douglas Haynes III, Senior
Pastor of the Friendship West Baptist Church and Doctor Jacqueline Jones,
Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the
author of "A Dreadful Deceit: The Myth of Race from the Colonial Era to
Obama`s America."

Reverend Doctor Haynes, I`ve been doing a poor job preaching you the real
pastor, you`re the real preacher. Tell us. These 27 percent of Democrats
who think Republican policies threaten America, where are they coming from?
Are they wrong about that?

DR. FREDERICK HAYNES III, FRIENDSHIP WEST BAPTIST CHURCH: Oh no question
that the Republican policies are what is wrong. And again, let me just say
to the sermon you just gave, Amen and Hallelujah, let`s pass the offering
plates so that we can begin to enact policies that benefit the least of
these policies that benefit the poor.

The Republican drama kings and drama queens evidently in their civics
lesson, they`ve missed the suffix of American values expressed in the
pledge allegiance to the flag. They wear the flag, but they don`t believe
in liberty and justice for all. And so as a consequence you have the have
gots who are getting more, you have the have nots who are getting less and
of course, the greedy right-wing Republicans do an amazing job of
vilifying, of demonizing those who are poor. They do an amazing job of
acting as if somehow the poor are taking from them.

And the sad thing is they have a theology disguised as ideology that
basically says that we are doing this in the name of our faith. In a real
sense, their faith must have edited it out, that portion of scripture which
said "I was hungry and you fed me." First, you gave me something to drink.
I think I`ll remix it for you. I was hungry and you cut SNAP food
programs. I was thirsty for knowledge and you cut my access to
opportunities and a head start as well as Pell Grant funding. And so,
their value systems are in a real sense, vilifying and making victims of
the have nots.

What about that wonderful Statue of Liberty there in New York or right
there between New York and New Jersey that says "Give me, you`re tired,
you`re poor, you`re huddled masses yearning to be free." It`s as if they
have forgotten the values that helped to shape and form America and in the
process, they are destroying America. And so if anybody is threatening the
America that we love, the land that we love, it`s that kind of nasty
partisanship that vilifies and demonizes the have nots where the have gots
to get more.

DYSON: That`s a great sermon. Doctor Jones, I apologize for two baptist
preachers bringing this kind of furious rhetorical power here tonight. But
you have, of course, along with that kind of insight, your analytical
acuity as a scholar. So people are saying that these progressive thoughts
that Doctor Haynes brilliantly articulated are too dangerous for America.
Give us a sense historically of why people are afraid of progressive ideas
that can really unseat some of the unfair and unjust practices that have
characterized too much of American history.

JACQUELINE JONES, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-AUSTIN: Well, let me say first that
as a historian, I`m struck by the fact that a substantial segment of the
population today seems to have no sense of the common good, the collective
welfare, the fact that we`re all in this together. There`s a kind of
rampant selfish individualism that prevails.

And we see that with skeptics about the public school system which is
really one of the fundamental institutions of this country. We saw it with
the debate over healthcare, the notion that well, you have to be able to
pay and pay a lot for anything you want or need whether it`s an education,
whether it`s good health insurance.

You know, Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate used to say that the more
unequal American society, the better. He said it was a measure of the
country`s progress that the gap between rich and poor was widening in the
late 19th century. He thought the rich should get richer, it would provide
an example to the poor, it didn`t bother him at all that people were
working hard and making very little.

So in a way, I think we see today an echo of the views that, "The richer
the rich get, the better it is for the United States." And it`s an
incredibly mean-spirited point of view as I said and no sense there of the
common good .

DYSON: Right.

JONES: . the collective welfare.

DYSON: Right. Absolutely. Dr. Haynes, in light of that brilliant and
epiphany summation that Dr. Jones gave us, don`t you think that these
policies that hurt poor people really then obviously hurt America because
Mr. Carnegie was absolutely wrong. The widening gulf between the have gots
and the have nots only reproduces the pathology of social distress and
dysfunction that supposedly good citizens want to get rid of.

HAYNES: Right. And of course the same persons who talk about national
security in no way are concern about the security of the least of these, no
way concern about the security of those who are trying to get some of the
American dream. And so with that being the case, we are hurting not just
ourselves, we are compromising our future. And my plea, my prayer is that
we will come together with the common cause of the values that help to
shake the principles that help to shape America, but the same time look for
-- look out for the children. So there must be a cause-centered America
when it comes to our politics, but also a focus on making America better
for our children. That does not mean widening the income gap.

DYSON: Right.

HAYNES: It does not mean ensuring that the have gots to get more, and the
have nots to get less, and we demonize them in the process. It means that
we look out for, as our brilliant professor has said, "The common good".

DYSON: Right.

HAYNES: The common good is when all of us can go to higher ground.

DYSON: There. There it is. And, Dr. Jones, we`ve seen some of the
horrible things in the last few days. We`ve seen arm standoff, just
recently the killing of two police officers because of anti-government
sentiment. That seems to me to be a serious threat to America, that kind
of anti-Americanism that is not rooted in the kind of critical engagement
with traditions of progress, but really believing that the state is
deserving the very people who are advantaged by it historically.

JONES: Yes, certainly this anti-government attitude is not new in the
United States but what might be unprecedented is the number of guns that
are available today. And I think when you pair that with certain right-
wing talk show media that really egged people on to these views, as
Reverend Haynes said, these views to demonize the poor. It`s really a
lethal combination. It`s a lethal combination.

DYSON: Right. Absolutely right. Well, thank you so much to both of you
for being on the show. Dr. Frederick Haynes and Dr. Jackman-Jones, thank
you so much for your time tonight.

HAYNES: Thank you.

JONES: Thank you. Thank you.

DYSON: Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the
screen and share your thoughts on Twitter at EdShow and on Facebook. We
really want to know what you think.

Coming up, a Florida lawmaker celebrate the new bill that Rick Scott signed
into law, but the Governor is nowhere to be found. The Rapid Response
Panel weighs in on why Rick Scott is hiding out.

But first, voting rights victory in Ohio, a federal judge strikes down Jon
Husted`s efforts to suppress the vote.

Trenders is next. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DYSON: Time now for the Trenders. Keep in touch with the Ed Show on
Twitter at EdShow and on Facebook. And you can find me on Twitter at
MichaelEDyson.

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: That`s why we`re here for guys, to win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our number three Trender, the putt stops here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York was on the brink.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need this, you know. We got a lot of loses but .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, we got a lot .

HENRIK LUNDQVIST, ICE HOCKY GOALTENDER, NEW YORK RANGERS: We didn`t want
to see the Cup coming out on our home ice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: LA`s quest for the Stanley Cup gets iced at MSG.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Martinez run away and throw it, and Lundqvist has got
it, has grappled it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to see how close this came to be at the tying
goal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The putt got through Lundqvist legs and you see all the
snow there .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need some sort of good luck and we definitely had it
tonight.

ALAIN VIGNEAULT, NEW YORK RANGERS HEAD COACH: They threw everything they
had at us and our goaltender stood tall.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give me your best shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number two Trender, loan chance (ph).

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: Today is a really good day for
billionaires.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m wealthy. Yahoo!

WARREN: For the 40 million people dealing with student loan debts, it
wasn`t such a good day.

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: Help me. I`m poor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Republicans sink (ph) Elizabeth Warren`s
student loan bill.

WARREN: Despite bipartisan support to this bill, the Republicans voted to
block it.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) KENTUCKY: Why would we want to get on a bill
like that? It clearly is not going anywhere.

WARREN: We still have 40 million Americans out there who are trying to
deal with $1.2 trillion in student loan debt.

BARACK OBAMA, 44TH AND CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It pays for
itself by closing loopholes that allow some millionaires to pay a lower tax
rate.

WARREN: Who does Washington work for?

OBAMA: More tax bills for millionaires or lower student loan bills for the
middle class. This should be a no-brainer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And today`s top Trender, the buckeye ballad, Ohio, the
quintessential swing state .

STATE SEN. NINA TURNER, (D) OHIO: Our vote is our voice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think you`re about to go kick the football and they
pull the football away?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A federal judge calls for early voting to be restored
in Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A federal judge is restoring voting in the buckeye
state on the three days before Election Day.

REV. AL SHARPTON, POLITICS NATION HOST: Ohio`s Republican Secretary of
State Jon Husted has been trying to limit voting in his state for years.

BRIAN ROTHENBERG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PROGRESSOHIO: The legislature is
constantly playing with the date here, the date there.

TURNER: The greatest equalizer that we have is the ballot box.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DYSON: Joining me now is James Peterson, Director of Africana Studies and
Associate Professor of English at Lehigh University and an MSNBC
Contributor.

Dr. Petersen, is this a big victory for voters there in Ohio and indeed
across the nation?

JAMES PETERSON, LEHIGH UNIVERSITY: It`s a huge victory, Doc. I mean
obviously, you know, early voting, disproportionately impacts African-
American communities of voters, elderly voters and many people I`ve heard
has talked about the "Souls to the Polls" movement which cuts across states
but gets people out to the voting booth.

So this is a decision, Doc, that actually expands our democracy or re-
expands our democracy. Remember, they`ve been trying to cut days here and
there since the 2008 Presidential Election. And has a rich history of
state sort of secretaries being involved in the voting processes. You
remember from 2000 where Secretary of State of Florida Katherine Harris is
the one who ratified George Bush`s election as the president and now is
contested in then was (ph) the Supreme Court.

Ken Blackwell in 2004, the Secretary of State in Ohio was involved in some
issues and questions about voting in Ohio in 2004. So this is a key
position which is why State Senator Nina Turner has so much support for
this position because the key position when it comes to voting both at the
state level as well as the national level.

DYSON: And doesn`t it focus attention again on, you know, not the
presidential races and the big ones for the Senate and the Congress in
terms of the House but also local elections which make a huge impact on
people`s lives in local municipalities and state level stuff really has a
big impact because this decision today if replicated across the country
could have a huge -- set of huge legal precedent but it also encourages
people to pay attention to the local and not just the national.

PETERSON: It sets a good precedent for the upcoming 2014 elections which
are going to be a key. And the precedent here is that as states try to
make all these renew versus shrink our democracy to reduce access to the
polls, it`s important that federal judges make these kinds of interventions
to ensure voting rights for all Americans as much as possible.

Remember, anything that`s expanding access to the polls is expanding our
democracy and virtually anything that`s trying to shrink that is trying to
shrink our democracy. And again, in the 2014 or the so-called Off-year
election years, it`s important that these processes are open, Doc, because
we don`t have the same kind of turn on those so we don`t want to diminish
people`s capacity to get to the polls particularly in an -- so-called off-
year election.

DYSON: Yeah, great point. So do Ohio voters face other challenges to get
to the polls besides the one that was addressed in today`s decision?

PETERSON: They do. Well, one, they`ve cut days in previous weeks in Ohio.
They used to be able to vote even earlier and some of those days have been
cut and that`s not an issue here. But also, you remember from Presidential
Election, some of the longest waiting times are -- and some of the more
densely populated counties and areas throughout the state of Ohio and
because it`s such a swing state that`s why it draw so much attention around
Presidential Elections, well remember those long waiting lines are also
deterring people from voting in the off-years. And so we have to figure
out just more modern ways of getting people to the polls and getting their
votes across the nation that Ohio is a particularly important state because
it`s a swing state and probably be the pivotal swing state in the next
upcoming presidential election.

DYSON: Well, you`ve mentioned Secretaries of State Harris and Blackwell,
do you think this is a blow to the Secretary of State Jon Husted?

PETERSON: Well, it`s certainly a political loss for him. This is
something he`s been working on. Remember, this is not just his issue.
This is the issue of Republican legislatures at the state level across this
nation in number of different states, not just swing states either.

So he`s working something for the RNC here. But it still -- it`s a loss
for him. Anytime a federal judge overturns something you`ve been working
on for several years, it`s a political loss. I think what they should show
the state -- the people of the state of Ohio is that there are a lot of
folks working both against and for access to the polls and you`ve got to
figure out who`s side you`re going to be on.

DYSON: All right. Well, we know what side you`re on and we`re glad you`re
there. Dr. James Peterson, thank you so much my friend.

PETERSON: Thanks, Doc.

DYSON: Still ahead, a flip-flop from Florida Governor Rick Scott has local
lawmakers celebrating, while Scott skirts the limelight. The Rapid
Response Panel weighs in.

Plus, a Texas lawmaker caught on tape making racist accusations doubled
down.

But next, I`m taking your questions, Ask MED Live is just ahead. Stay
tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DYSON: Welcome back to the ED Show. We love hearing from our viewers.
Tonight in Ask MED Live, our question is from Lenora. "Do you think
President Obama will be dumb enough to get involve in Iraq again?" Well,
I`ve known Obama since 91 and I`m going to tell you from day one he`s been
an awful smart men. He made his political bones on contesting that war,
the first time around when he was in the State Senate, made an aliquant
speech in defends of his position.

And of course he traded for Bergdahl. Why? Because he believes in
democracy predicated upon diplomacy and believes in finding alternative
routes to trying to negotiate peace rather than trusting us into a
preemptive war. He`s a very smart men, highly intelligent, morally intone
and I do not believe that he`s going to get us into another war in Iraq.

Our next question is from Tom (ph). "Has this week prepared you for the
crazy or Friday the 13th tomorrow?" Oh Tom (ph), all the movies I love.
All the music I love, I mean I`m thinking of Michael Jackson. Is close to
midnight and something evil`s lurking in the air. How about old trailer
for you? Stick around. The Rapid Response Panel is next.

MORGAN BRENNAN: Hi I`m Morgan Brennan with your CNBC Market Wrap.
Disappointing data and worries about Iraq weigh on stock. The DOW slides
109 point, the SNP is off 13 and the NASDAQ falls 34 point. The number of
Americans filing for jobless benefits grows unexpectedly last week and
claims increased by 4,000 to 317,000.

Meanwhile retail sales gain the ground for 4th straight month, but the
readings did come in below estimate. And Intel raised at second quarter in
full year outlook, sending shares higher after hours. That`s it from CNBC,
first in business worldwide.

(COMERCIAL BREAK)

DYSON: Welcome back to the ED Show. Florida Governor Rick Scott has
apparently had in election year change of heart. The Republican governor
quietly sign the bill extending instate tuition to children whose parents
brought them to the U.S. illegally. Scott had opposed some illegal
legislation before. Rick Scott raise to the GOP nomination in 2010, was
fouled by his promises to crack down on illegal immigration but with
Hispanic voters playing a key role in the 2014 election, Scott is trying to
change his tune to beat Democratic opponent Charlie Crist.

Rick Scott shows not to hold the public bill signing but he did kickoff a
state wide college affordability tour and release this statement attacking
Charlie Crist. "We got rid of his 15 percent increase. We also said that
if you grew up in your state, in this state of Florida, you`re going to get
the same tuition as your peers, something that wasn`t happening in our
state."

The bill lowers tuition for student across the board in order to qualify.
The students who are commonly called dreamers must have attended the
Florida high school for at least three years.

Republican law makes who back the legislation are angry Rick Scott block
their opportunity to publicly celebrate the legislation. Joining me now is
our Rapid Response, Ana Rivas Logan, former Florida state representative
and Bob Shrum, Democratic Strategist and Warschaw Professor of Politics at
USC.

Mrs. Logan, Rick Scott kickoff the state why college affordability tour on
Monday after signing the measure. Is he trying to shield the fact that
this bill has a huge tie immigration reform and he doesn`t want to get
tight up with that and then suffer the political consequences?

ANA RIVAS LOGAN, FRMR. FL. STATE REP.: Absolutely. He`s trying to play
both sides of the IO (ph) here. He`s trying to apace to his based which is
the Tea party and then he`s also trying to apace the, you know, the illegal
immigrants who are trying to get a college education here, the Hispanics.
Hispanics is a huge coding block here in the state of Florida. They do
swing. They will vote both sides of the aisle. So he`s trying to play
both sides of the aisle.

But many people have not forgotten that he ran in 2010 with his Tea party
credentials saying that he was going to crack down on an Arizona style
immigration bill and now, today he`s had to change his heart but yet his
priority legislation which was the streamer bill. They had to do all kinds
of maneuver to get it out of the senate. He`s trying it quietly and then
the legislators who carry this bill had to have the ceremonial bill finding
without him there.

It says to me, he`s trying to, you know, remain low but at the same time he
want something to show for at the general election when he`s going to need
those Hispanic voters.

DYSON: Yes. It`s kind of wizard of odd movement there in his part. Bob
Shrum, are the table`s turning now with big name Republicans like former
Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Scott trying to
act like they can do something on immigration reform? I mean what`s the
insight over here?

BOB SHRUM, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, if you`re in a general election
which Scott is, an anti-immigrant position is toxic. But if you got to do
Republican primaries like Jeb Bush, if he wants to run for president may
do. He`s going to be push to the right. Look, it`s not clear that what
did Eric Cantor in was he is kind of weak Tea position on immigration. He
was an attentive to the district. He was apparently disconnected to the
district. But House Republicans have decided, that was it, they`re going
to put the final nail on immigration reform. And as John McCain says,
that`s a democratic disaster in 2016.

They can`t win the presidency without about 40 percent of the Hispanic
vote. I think he have Republican party here which longer term, well
however Scott tries to maneuver in Florida which longer term could be
competitive because of gerrymandering in off year elections, you know, as a
congressional party could become a kind of ideological, anti-diversity,
anti-gay, anti-Hispanic cult that can`t win the White House.

DYSON: Yeah, absolutely true. Sister Logan, Scott vetoed a measure last
year that would`ve allow some young undocumented Floridians or dreamers to
get their drivers licenses. What do you think is behind this reversal?

LOGAN: Well, it`s obvious. It`s and election year. He`s in the tough
battle for the election with, you know, the presume nominee which is going
to be Crist.

DYSON: Right.

LOGAN: And so he`s got to win the I-4 Corridor in the state of Florida is
key, it`s a swing voter and its heavy Hispanic and they will swing. So
Scott realized that this, you know, we have to go back to his 2010
election. He was a huge Tea party favorite. He ran on the Tea Party. He
barely won his election. So now, he`s having to run for reelection again
and he`s got to pull some rabbits out of the hat. He`s not going to win
with his Teat party credentials, you know, I mean he`s pretty much turn on
a Tea party, you know, the rail, now the immigration.

So everything that he ran on, he`s pretty much back track on. So now he`s
got to go and try to get those other voters. I don`t know if he`s going to
be able to do it. I`m not sure that the voters are that stupid. I think
they remember. And they`re going to remember that Rick Scott was a
different person in 2010 and now months before the election he`s changing.

DYSON: Yeah. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Brother Shrum, the WFLA news channel, a latest poll has Democrat Charlie
Crist back with the 4 point lead over Republican Governor Rick Scott. Can
he keep that momentum up?

SHRUM: Look, it`s going to be a hard far race the whole way. There`s been
a huge amount of negative advertising that`s already been dumped on Charlie
Crist but Ana is exactly right. I think people are going to see through
this guy. I think they`re going to see through Scott. I mean when you
hear that he vetoed the bill to allow these kids to have drivers licenses
that he signed a bill to let them go to college, at instate tuition rates.
What`s he wants them to do? Takes a bus to college campus? He doesn`t
want something to drive there. I mean this is so transparent. It is so
fraudulent that it actually pretty much fits a guy who back when he was in
private business had a company that engaged one of the biggest Medicare for
odds in history.

DYSON: Yeah, no doubt. Mrs. Logan, when you think about the fact, you
mentioned a couple of times here that Latinos are swing voters, they`ll
swing both sides. So if they`re not being inspired by Rick Scott`s
maneuvers here what exactly will it take for them to be able to vote
Republican and think that their interested are involve there?

LOGAN: Well, I do think that -- although perhaps the immigration won`t
swing a lot of them, because a lot of them are illegal immigrants in the I-
4 Corridor. You know, they do see that as a very racist legislation, the
Arizona style. So, you know, somebody who tout that kind of agenda is seen
by the Hispanic committee and somebody who frankly doesn`t launch in
Hispanics and doesn`t care for them. So that will definitely hurt
somebody. So he is trying to change his tune here.

He realizes that -- we`re talking about Rick Scott here. He realizes here
that he`s got a huge democratic that he needs to win over and it`s just not
happening. But the Hispanics care more about, I mean there`s other things
they care about besides immigration. They care about the things that every
American cares about. They care about education. You know, they want to
make sure that their children have a good education, that they have a
future. They care about health care. They want to make sure that their
family has appropriate health care. And they also care about making sure
their children have a future, that there is an America.

They want to live the planet in good shape, just like everybody else does.
So the very things that everybody else wants for their family, Hispanics do
too.

DYSON: Right.

LOGAN: But the issue here with the immigration is that they do see, you
know, I`m not Hispanic, so I wouldn`t to say, I see it as well.

DYSON: Right.

LOGAN: Somebody who touts this Arizona style immigration, is somebody who
frankly does not like Hispanics.

DYSON: All right. Well said. Ana Rivas Logan, Bob Shrum, thank you so
very much.

SHRUM: Thank you.

DYSON: Coming up, Rick Perry`s addiction to ignorant statements lands him
in Pretenders tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DYSON: In Pretenders tonight rickdiculous (ph). Rick Perry the Texas
Governor traveled to the center of the Gay Right Movement and compared
homosexuality to substance abuse. Perry says the LGBT community can simply
decide to up (ph) out of their lifestyle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY: I may have the genetic coding that I`m inclined to be an
alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the
homosexual issue as the same way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DYSON: The Texas Governor equates a destructive disease with sexual
orientation. This is just one drop out of Perry`s gazer of absurdity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: Why does Texas continue with abstinence education programs when
they don`t seem to be working? In fact, I think we have the third highest
teen pregnancy rate in the country among all the states.

Absence works. I think we`re going through those difficult economic times
for a purpose and that to bring us back to those Biblical principles.

You don`t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know that there`s something
wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our
kids can`t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DYSON: Rick Perry may have lost the bid to Grand Marshal, San Francisco`s
pride festivities. But he`s still the drum major in his own personal
parade of the ignorant. If Rick Perry thinks he can take the gay out of
the bay he can keep on Pretending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DYSON: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Last week Texas Republicans unveil
their temporary 2014 platform, in it they urged that "the Voter Right Act
of 1965 codified and updated in 1973 be repealed and not reauthorized."
They meant to reference the voting rights act. But Texas GOP can`t even
correctly identify one of the most important pieces of legislation to come
out of the civil rights movement. That`s because the Texas GOP doesn`t
believe we need protections against racial discrimination in voting.

The reality is racism is alive and well in Texas. Just listen to this
recording, made of two terms La Marque City Council Member Connie Trube,
discussing problems with the local school district.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONNIE TRUBE LA MARCUS CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: She really turned black.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yeah.

TRUBE: I mean she used to be, she used to be sociable with everyone ad had
a level head and then she got on the school board with the rest of the
blacks and they all just ganged up and that`s why the school system has
gone to hell. You`re not going to -- it`s not going to get any better
until you get those blacks off the school board.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DYSON: When the audio leak city officials launched an investigation but
Trube only double it down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are your words.

TRUBE: Yes they are. And all you have to do is see the condition of the
school district is in right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a black-white issue?

TRUBE: I think so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DYSON: Trube was formally censored by the city council. The council also
approved city founding for an investigation by an outside law firm. But
Trube still doesn`t see the problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUBE: What is on the type is nothing more than me saying my honest
opinion. And I don`t back down from that, I never deny what was on the
tape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DYSON: Trube`s comment serve to illustrate just how out of touch the Texas
GOP is. Trube`s refusal to resign is simply unacceptable. Joining me now
is Sarah Slamen, field director for the Fort Bend County Democratic Party
in Texas. Ms. Slamen, Trube doesn`t deny she made the comments, she`s
unapologetic, what purpose does an investigation serve into her comments.

SARAH SLAMEN, FIELD DR. FT. BEND DEMOCRATIC PARTY: You know, it`s stage
dressing, to protect all the racist that are around her. I think everyone
can look at this situation and see that Connie Trube needs to be out on her
butt, immediately, that, you know, 13,000 people are serving in La Marque
deserve better than Connie Trube.

Texas deserves better than a GOP who can`t even name the historic
legislation that`s seeking to correct the structural racism that people
like Connie Trube represent.

DYSON: Yeah, well do. Twist Jack Nocholson (ph) Trube, you can`t take the
Trube. So what actions could the Department of Justice you think take
against her and bring some sense of balance to this situation?

SLAMEN: I think the DOJ is going to find here, like they`re finding in our
voter ID case, the clear violation that, you know, Texas legislators are
trying to impose on minority voters and that there`s no way that Connie
Trube in district see can adequately or with honor represent the some 35
percent of people that live overall and who are African-American in La
Marque. She can`t serve those people and she certainly can`t help the city
address the problems that they are having with their school district.

You know, in that case, in that racist tape that Ms. Trube made, she try to
delineate the Dems for being stupid and ignorant. Here the difference, the
(inaudible) is blaming the failure in our Texas schools on melanin in
people skin. The failure in people`s schools due to education reformers
and that`s usually people with white skin, Bill & Melinda Gates and are
even Senator John Cornyn, who came up with the efficiency outcomes.

The melanin in people skin has noting to do with why our schools are
failing, the structuring of how we fund our schools and how Republican
state right leadership has failed to adequately fund those schools, like
when they cut $5 billion from the school budgets in 2011. That is why La
Marque ISD is failing.

DYSON: Sister (ph) Slamen, tax dollars are being spend on investigating
racism under the city`s government, how can the Texas GOP think the Voting
Rights Act is unnecessary in this day and age?

SLAMEN: Absolutely. You know, that`s a wonderful question. And I would
love for someone to be able to put that right in the face of the party it`s
suppose at fiscal responsibility. Connie Trube has no interest in
representing every member of her district and so she should be out. I
don`t think you can justify this investigation. If I was a resident of La
Marque which was just about 20 miles outside where I live in Houston, I`d
(inaudible) that, I`d be like the citizens there like Valerie Beverly, like
a young man name
Chris Lane, who`s running for council there, I`d be there, up in their face
every week.

And I would sue Connie Trube afterwards and try to get that money back from
the city, she`s wasting their time.

DYSON: Do you thing this is limited to La Marque? Is this something a
larger going on in Texas that seems to.

SLAMEN: Oh no, sir.

DYSON: .populate this kind of a.

SLAMEN: Oh no, sir. First of all, racism is not limited to Texas, we`re
just more out and (inaudible), we don`t segregate liberal part like what
they do in the Northeast. In the south, we`re open with it. And that is
why the Voting Rights Act is so important, why we still need every single
section of a defendant, why the Supreme Court`s decision last year was
completely unacceptable. And that`s why I`m so grateful that Attorney
General Holder is going to be coming to Texas, to try and uphold sections
two and three with our voter ID case here.

We absolutely need affirmative action and voter rights protection. So it
hasn`t even been 50 years that minorities in Texas and across the United
States has been allowed to get to the polls with these protections. And
already Republicans all over the nation are trying to white wash our
history. You look at this radical, regressive, repressive voter ID laws
and you her remarks like that from people who are in power like Connie
Trube and you know right away why we need affirmative action in voter`s
rights.

DYSON: All right, Sarah Slamen, thank you so very much.

SLAMEN: Thanks.

DYSON: Before we sign off tonight, I want to give a shout out to the
memory of one of the greatest actresses and members of the small and big
screen Ruby Dee died at 91 years old, the wife of course, the widow of the
great Ossie Davis, they were a great couple, we give our thoughts and
prayers to their family. That`s the Ed Show, I`m Michael Eric Dyson in for
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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