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The Ed Show for Friday, September 26th, 2014

Read the transcript to the Friday show

Show: THE ED SHOW
Date: September 26, 2014

Guest: John Garamendi, Nina Turner, Todd Rutherford, Barry Lynn


ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK HAGEL, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We are at the beginning not the
end. We are at the beginning not the end.

FRM. SEN. ROBERT BYRD, (D) WEST VIRGINIA: Every American on some level
must be contemplating the horror of the war.

DAVID CAMERON, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: Whether we like it or
not, they have already declared war on us.

HAGEL: The British Parliament had just voted 524 to 43 to join the air
campaign in Iraq.

DENNIS SKINNER, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY CHAIRMAN: How long will this war last
and when will mission creep start?

HAGEL: No one is under any illusions -- under any illusions -- that
airstrikes alone will destroy ISIL.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These were strategic attacks.

CAMERON: And the fact is this is about psychopathic terrorists that are
trying to kill us. This is not a threat on the far side of the world.

BYRD: This chamber is for the most part ominously, ominously, dreadfully
silent. You can hear pin drop. Listen, you can hear a pin drop. There is
no debate -- discussion. There`s no attempt to layout to the nation the
pros and cons in this particular war. There`s nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Voices of the past still play today. Why? Good to have you with
us tonight, folks. Thanks for watching. Tonight, I`m going to start with
telling you why John Boehner isn`t supporting the troops and he`s not doing
his job but first, we have the breaking news out of Middle East, we`d give
you an update.

The United States military continued new airstrikes overnight against ISIS
in Iraq and Syria. On Thursday and Friday, a mix of fighter jets and
drones conducted 10 new strikes in Iraq. Five strikes southwest of Kirkuk
destroyed three ISIS Humvees and one armed vehicle. One airstrike west of
Baghdad destroyed an ISIS guard shack, an armored vehicle, and a bunker.
Another strike near Al-Qaum destroyed four ISIS vehicles and a checkpoint.
In Syria, three strikes took out four ISIS tanks and damaged another.

Earlier today, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gave a press briefing after a
busy week of airstrikes. It`s almost round the clock. Hagel and Joint
Chiefs of Staff and Chairman, Martin Dempsey made clear, this week is only
the beginning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAGEL: This will not be an easy or brief effort. We are at the beginning
not the end. We are at the beginning not the end of our effort to degrade
and destroy ISIL.

MARTIN DEMPSEY, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF CHAIRMAN: The campaign against ISIL
will be a persistent and sustained campaign and it will take time. As I
said last week, this is not an Iraq -- this is an Iraq first strategy but
it`s not an Iraq only one. Our coalition strikes this week demonstrate to
ISIL that they have no safe haven in Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So if you listen to our military leaders, this is no walk in the
park. You listen to our military leaders and they`re talking about
logistics budgets. They`re talking about just the beginning of all of this
and we as Americans get to sit back and watch our lawmakers go home and get
reelected because this just doesn`t rise to the level of importance to
them.

President Obama`s air campaign against ISIS has been relentless. Oil
refineries have been destroyed. ISIS headquarters, communication centers,
armed vehicles, barracks, fighting positions and checkpoints have all been
taken out by airstrikes. Is this enough? As of today, the United States
has been bombing ISIS for seven straight weeks.

You mean we haven`t won yet and we`re just at the beginning?

There had been over 200 strikes in Iraq and 43 in Syria. And with this
level of military action you would think that Congress might think "Well,
we better dive into this and get involved." But you see, our lawmakers,
they are nowhere to be seen. In fact, House Speaker John Boehner says he
thinks that Congress should get involved but made clear, he`s not taking
any action until 2015. He doesn`t think the lame-duck Congress should be
wasting their time on voting on something like this.

He said in an interview, "Doing this with a whole group of members who are
on their way out the door, I don`t think that`s the right way to handle
this." Well, wait a minute, why pass any laws in the lame-duck session?
Let`s talk about the post office. You hammered those workers, you passed
that law, you know, you can do some real damage or some real good.

Now, America is facing a crisis and Boehner`s answer is to do absolutely
nothing. Feel like you get your money`s worth yet? John Boehner needs a
civics lesson from our old friends across the pond. Earlier today, the
Brits, the British Parliament, they had a heated debate, debate on whether
to engage in airstrikes against ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMERON: Left unchecked, we will face a terrorist caliphate on the shores
of the Mediterranean and bordering a NATO member, with a declared and
proven determination to attack our country and our people. This is not the
stuff of fantasy, it is happening in front of us and we need to face up to
it.

BYRD: Two questions he`s now put to himself. How long will this war last
and when will mission creep start?

CAMERON: Well, let me on to that very directly. This is going to be a
mission that will take not just months but years.

BYRD: ISIS indeed are made up of murderous psychopaths. That`s not the
issue. We know that.

The question is, will -- what the prime minister and the government is
proposing, will that be effective in destroying ISIS? Look at what the
House of Commerce agreed to. Iraq, Afghanistan and this government, Libya,
none are success stories. Are we going to embark an action that could last
for years?

CAMERON: I would come on to why this is different to the decision that has
made in 2003 about Iraq but the fact is this is about psychotactic
terrorist that are trying to kill us and we do have to realize that whether
we like it or not, they have already declared war on us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: They`re teaching us a lesson on how this ought to be done.
Whether you`re for against -- this is the way it`s supposed to work. Later
on today, the British Parliament -- well, they did their job. The Brits
voted 524 to 43 to approve airstrikes against ISIS, only in Iraq not in
Syria, which I find very interesting. Boehner needs to take a page out of
the British Parliament`s play book and get to work.

You know, this is supposed to be a crisis. How serious can the threat of
ISIS be if our lawmakers aren`t willing to address it for at least three
months? But this is typical for Boehner. You know, he`s led the least
productive Congress in American history.

Republicans -- What did they do? They shutdown the government, cost the
economy $25 million. They voted to repeal ObamaCare and got the social
safety net. For Boehner and the Republican Party to go around this country
and say that they support the troops, and then to put this country in this
position right now, and they put this Commander-in-Chief in an untenable
position is a joke, it`s not leadership.

This is anything but supporting our troops.

Earlier today, General Martin Dempsey -- now, let`s get to the money.
General Martin Dempsey said the Pentagon will be looking at budget
problems.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEMPSEY: So, if you`re asking me do I asses right now is we`re going to
far review for 16, that we`re going to start have budget problems? Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Wow, that doesn`t get the attention of the Republicans either or
maybe it does. Maybe this is what they want. Republicans need to work on
funding the Pentagon. When the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says
he predicts budget problems, Congress needs to get back to Washington.

Remember, Republicans never take their eye off the ball. They`re all about
power. Republicans are setting this President up for failure. If things
start to unravel in Iraq or Syria, who owns it? Well, it`s Obama.

You know, Republicans will pin the blame solely on the President if they
can get away with it. And they`ll watch from the sideline and they`ll go
home and explain to you that, "Oh, we got it covered".

President Obama needs to call Congress back and there needs to be a new
resolution, a new law and a new vote because we are looking at a
humanitarian crisis of a mammoth promotion. Over six million people have
been displaced in Syria alone. We haven`t seen that numbers since World
War II. What`s our moral obligation here?

Don`t you think it`s time Republicans finally start doing their job? The
job that they were sent to Washington to do.

Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question, do you think John Boehner cares about security of the country?
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 this program.

For more, let me bring in Congressman John Garamendi of California, who
sits on the House Arm Services Committee. Congressman, thanks for your
time tonight. I want your reaction to Boehner, saying that we`re going to
put this off until 2015. The lame-duck session of the Congress isn`t going
to start get to do balls and strikes on exactly how involved we`re going to
be in this conflict against ISIS.

And I want our audience to consume this. We have been told before on other
issues that the Republicans wouldn`t do something until the next year and
that could take months. You know, on 2015, is that the first weekend? The
same where they were going to start unemployment benefits which we never
got help on? You can`t trust the Republicans and I think they`re hanging
the President out to dry on this and this is a big political move.

Congressman, your thoughts on all of this?

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI, (D) CALIFORNIA: I`m mad. I am just downright mad.
It`s bad enough that we`ve not taken this up before the election and now
they say we`re not going to take it up until the next Congress. That is
outrageous.

Speaker Boehner controls the calendar. He controls whether in session or
out of session. He controls what we take up when we are in session. And
frankly, there`s a dire election of his responsibilities and his duties.
He ought to call us back.

This is a war. This is a new war. There is very, very thin legalized upon
which the President is skating (ph), conducting a war. I frankly think he
does not have the legal authority to do any of this. We must...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: ... We must, we must act. We must carry out our
responsibilities under the constitution. The President doesn`t declare
war. The Congress of the United States does. The President doesn`t fund
wars. The Congress funds wars.

We must go back before the election. We should be there Monday, Tuesday of
next week. We should be hearing all of this. Speaker Boehner is dead
wrong and if he continues this, he ought to give up his speakership and
somebody that is willing to lead the Congress of the United States should
have that authority.

SCHULTZ: Isn`t this playing politics with national security, Congressman?

GARAMENDI: Absolutely. Absolutely it is. It is. We have known for a
long while that there is a problem in this area.

In July of this year, this ISIL thing began to get into Iraq. At that
point, I said this is a new war. We must take action in Congress. In
fact, this issue has been with us since 2012 when there was an attempt by
the Republicans to rewrite the 2001 authorization to use force. I was on
that committee, the Arm Services Committee.

In about 2:00 in the morning, I was reading through a 1,200-page document
and I said, whoa, whoa, wait a minute here. You mean to tell me you want
to give the President unlimited authority to wage war in anywhere he might
think there`s a terrorist? No way, no how.

Eventually, that did not get into the law. Thank God. Otherwise, it would
be. The power of the President to wage war anywhere, anytime he thought
there was a terrorist including in United States. Now, this is something
we`ve got to deal with.

And you talked about the money. Ed, there was $30 billion added to what
the President requested in June for the Overseas Contingency Account.
They`ve got money. They`ve gotten an additional $30 billion that came
along in the continuing resolution. Fortunately, that is over under
December the 11th.

Mr. Boehner, you can`t avoid this. You cannot put this off until the next
Congress because on December the 11th, we are out of money.

SCHULTZ: Well, that`s the point, is that we don`t know what the situation
is going to be like financially, on the ground. We really don`t, to this
point know, their weapon`s capability or if Russia might get involved. We
just -- There are so many unknowns here and it would just seem to me that
if there`s no debate and if there`s no clear-cut plan here about what the
Congressional members want to do in weighing in on this, this isn`t the
America I grew up in.

GARAMENDI: Well, it`s so...

SCHULTZ: Listen, we don`t know where this is going and that`s the danger
of all of this.

GARAMENDI: ... Well, that`s why Congress has to weigh in and that`s why I
believe a authorization to use force must limit this.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: Otherwise, we`re be in for the long-term another decade of war
in Iraq, no way, no how. We`ve got to be -- We`ve got to hear what`s going
on. We`ve got to make a decision about limiting. You talked United
Kingdom, England, they debated it. They limited it. We must do the same.

SCHULTZ: All right. Well, quickly, Congressman.

GARAMENDI: Sure.

SCHULTZ: You`re thoughts about that vote by the Brits? They`re not going
to bomb Syria, what do you make of that?

GARAMENDI: Well, I think they looked in international law. They looked at
the law and said, no, we don`t have the authority to bomb another country.
Apparently, because of the -- not apparently, but because the Iraqi
government has requested support, there is a legitimate legal opportunity
to support in Iraq, serious amount of matters.

SCHULTZ: So good is the coalition then? So how good is the coalition if
you`ve got coalition partners that are only going to go half way? And the
Brits, there`s no better ally to the United States and the Brits, but yet
they`re saying, well, you know, we`re not going to do anything against ISIS
in Syria.

I mean, to me, I think that`s a missing part. This is -- One of the allies
in the coalition saying, OK, United States, you want to take on ISIS in
Syria? You`re going to do it alone in Syria. And we all know that that`s
-- geographically, this is where their stronghold is. The whole thing`s a
mess and it`s all because Boehner as you say will not call the Congress
back to work.

Congressman John Garamendi, great to have you with us tonight.

GARAMENDI: Sure, Ed.

SCHULTZ: I appreciate your time very much, sir. Thank you.

GARAMENDI: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: Let me bring in Former Congressman Patrick Murphy, MSNBC
Contributor. He was the first veteran of the Iraq war to serve in
Congress.

Congressman -- I`ll ask you Patrick, is this supporting the troops? Your
thoughts as a former boot on the ground?

PATRICK MURPHY, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Right. And listen, Ed this is the
problem, you were putting 1,500 American service members in harm`s way to
risk their lives and the Congress doesn`t have the backbone to do their
job. They`re gone all August on vacation. They come back for a couple of
weeks.

They`re now on vacation again. John Garamendi, my former colleague is
right. Get back there and do your job. What does it say to those soldiers
on the ground? Who risk their lives? That Congress doesn`t -- won`t do
their constitutional responsibility to declare war, to give them the
authorization, to do their job.

It`s a disgrace.

SCHULTZ: All right. Patrick, give us an idea. Today, Chuck Hagel said
that the Pentagon is in the early stages of arming and training these
Syrian Moderates, how long is it going to take? Is it going to take -- Can
these people get trained in 30 days? In 60 days? What are we looking down
here?

MURPHY: Well, you know, Ed, I went to basic training before and I can tell
you that that`s eight weeks. So -- And that is just basic training and an
(inaudible) training and then each of that airplanes were leaving. It take
-- We`re talking months, Ed. We`re talking months. And then some of these
fighters have already some military or power military experience but what -
- this is not something that`s going to be over in a couple of days or
weeks or even a couple of months.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MURPHY: We`re talking a long time. And that`s -- The problem is that the
Congress doesn`t even look like they care enough to debate this thing. You
know, they have plenty of time in Washington. They had 13 hearings on
Benghazi, 50 briefings on Benghazi. They had 25,000 pages of documents on
Benghazi.

How many years did they had on ISIS? On what`s going on? Because we are
sending men and women on a harm`s way, risking their lives and they still
won`t do their job or at least debate this.

SCHULTZ: Patrick Murphy, good to have you with us tonight, sir. I
appreciate your time. Thanks for being on the Ed Show.

Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the screen.
We want to know what you think on this issue. Or leave a comment on our
blog as well.

Coming up, the attorney for Levar Edward Jones, the unarmed black man shot
by a State Trooper in South Carolina. His attorney joins me to discuss the
case.

But first, Eric Holder pays a visit to the Congressional Black Caucus in a
wait to his resignation.

Keep it here. You`re watching the Ed Show. We are right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Time now for Trenders. Social media, join the Ed team, this is
where you can find us. You get my podcast at wegoted.com, rawstory.com,
ringoffireradio.com, and on iTunes. 24/7, its there for you.

Ed Show social media nation has decided and we are reporting here today`s
top Trenders. Here`s what hot. Voted on by you.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Derek Jeter wins his last home game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bottom of tonight, tied scores. Derek Jeter at bat for
the last time at Yankees Stadium.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A dazzling home field finale to a dazzling 20-year
career.

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GRETCHEN CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Student from the Denver suburbs
protesting, calling for a change in the curriculum.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In today`s top Trender, Protect the Vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Attorney General Eric Holder, who announced he`s
leaving his post yesterday, is speaking at a Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation event.

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: My time at the Justice Department will
draw to close in the incoming months.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Attorney General Eric Holder says he will do
everything in his power to protect the voting rights of Americans.

HOLDER: My commitment it is work will never waver.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eric Holder visits the Congressional Black Caucus.

HOLDER: Plaintiffs challenging the State of Ohio`s changes to its in-
person early voting rules likely will be bale to that those changes are
unconstitutional. We are advancing this fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining us tonight Ohio State Senator Nina Turner and candidate
for Secretary State in Ohio.

Nina, good to have you with us tonight.

SEN. NINA TURNER, (D) MINORITY LEADER OHIO: Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Senator, let me ask you, what are your thoughts on just what he
said about Ohio and some of the things that have been cast on your raise,
on your meaning election in this election cycle in Ohio, how the changes
are?

Eric Holder I mean this is a man who has been Attorney General during the
age of suppression.

TURNER: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: And I think the hard beat and the pulse of all of that activity
has been in your state. Tell us what the atmosphere is like just 40 some
days out, Senator?

TURNER: That is so true, Ed. And I do want to thank Attorney General Eric
Holder for being such a champion. He will definitely be missed.

The environment is one of confusion. You have the current Secretary of
State in the current -- the GOP Republicans who control both the House and
the Senate, who have appealed their continuing to appeal a judge`s decision
to restore voting opportunities for the voters in the great State of Ohio.

And, Ed early voting is supposed scheduled to start -- thank God, because
of the judge, on September 30th. And they will not quit. A federal judge
restored going weak and restored voting hours that have been taking away
from the Secretary of State.

They appealed that decision, a -- the six circuit court affirmed the lower
court`s ruling. And they`re continuing to go even though early vote is
scheduled to start on September the 30th, this Tuesday coming up and it`s
deplorable.

SCHULTZ: The effort that the Republicans are putting into suppressing the
vote, what does that signal to you? Basic question, but I want to hear
your answer, what does it signal?

TURNER: It signals that if they can not find a way to win elections
legitimately, that they will do everything in their power to try to
suppress the vote. And it is un-American what is happening in the State of
Ohio, you know, the whole notion of one woman, one man, one vote is
fundamental to this great representative democracy of ours.

And they are taking us back in time. And no one -- This is not about one`s
political affiliation, this is about doing what is right. And it is right
to make sure that folks have access to the ballot box. That it is expanded
and it is protected.

And what they are doing -- I mean they are violating the 14th Amendment of
the Constitution and Section II of the Voting Rights Act. And yet they
still will not stop. And this is happening all of over the country, Ed.

There is something wrong. And we need to check ourselves as a country and
reaffirm that we are a country that believes that every eligible voter
should have access to the ballot box. And it shouldn`t matter who they
want to vote for. And you should not have Republicans because this is
coming at the hands of Republicans trying to steal people`s opportunity to
exercise...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

TURNER: ... that most fundamental right, the right that people died for
and fought for. They are trampling upon that Ed.

SCHULTZ: Well, it`s pretty clear that the vetting process by the Democrats
and the administration for the next Attorney General is pretty clear. I
mean they`re going to have to dive in to voting rights and going to have to
dive in to voter`s suppression. That is the backbone of a country right
now.

And do you think that voters in Ohio are motivated? Are they aware? Are
they motivated? And are they willing to defeat this?

TURNER: They are, Ed. I was with the UAW today, the United Auto Workers.
And they are motivated, they understand that there`s a correlation between
the ballot box and the bread box. They understand that if they want better
schools, they have to vote. If women what their rights to control their
bodies and also make dollar for dollars amend, they must vote.

And if we want to protect the fundamental right to vote, we must vote.
They are fired up and they are ready to go in. And I going to tell you...

SCHULTZ: OK.

TURNER: ... the Ohio Democratic Party along with others in the State are
making sure the voters understand who stands up for their fundamental right
to vote.

We can not seat on the sidelines, Ed. Our -- This representative of
democracy can not tolerate what is happening in the State of Ohio. We are
going to keep pushing and fighting to enfranchise the voters in this state.

SCHULTZ: State Senator Nina Turner, always great to have you with us on
the Ed Show. Keep up the fight my friend. Thank you so much.

TURNER: Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Coming up, the latest on the shooting of the Levar Edward Jones,
the unarmed black man shot by a State Trooper in South Carolina.

Jones` attorney, Representative Todd Rutherford joins me for the
conversation in a moment.

Talking about Benghazi just never gets old to Conservative trolls. The
actor once known as "Hercules", although he was a celebrity football
player, lands in Pretenders.

What next? I`m taking your question. Ask Ed Live just ahead. Stay with
us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Appreciate the questions in our Ask
Ed Live segment. Our first question tonight comes from Robert.

He wants to know, "Will we ever be able to reverse the results of this
ultra conservative Supreme Court?"

Absolutely, it can happen. You got to win a lot of elections, you got to
get the majority, you get a liberal in the White House, and you got to get
them confirmed. Appointed and confirm. Yeah, it can happen. There`s no
doubt about it.

It can happen. I have confidence, but maybe not in my lifetime.

Our next question is from Tom. He wants to know -- this is interesting.
Someone is trying to get me in trouble here. How about inviting Sarah
Palin to go fishing?

You know, there`s a lot of things in life you can`t control but there`s one
thing I can control and that`s who I fish with and who I ask to go fishing
with and I can guarantee you that invitation`s never going out.

Stick around, Rapid Response Panel is next.

JANE WELLS, CNBC MARKET WRAP: Thin of the money to be made in the Ed and
Sarah Fishing Show. I would watch that.

I`m Jane Wells with your CNBC Market Wrap. Stocks rebound from Thursday`s
steep louse and losses. The Dow jumps 167 point. The S&P adds 16. And
the NASDAQ gains 45.

A story that shocked many today, Bond King Bill Gross leaving Pimco, the
company he founded. He`s headed to Janus which send (ph) that company`s
shares up 43 percent.

Meanwhile, the economy grew at a revised 4.6 percent annual rate in the
second quarter. That was the strongest reading since late 2011.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN GROUBERT, HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICER: Can I see your license, please?
Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Get on the ground. Get on the
ground.

LEVAR EDWARD JONES: I just got my license. You said get my license. I
got my license, right here. That`s my license, right here.

GROUBERT: Put your hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your
back. Put your hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your back.
Put hour hands behind your back.

JONES: What did I do, sir?

GROUBERT: Are you hit?

JONES: I think so. I can`t feel my leg. I don`t know what happened. I
just grabbed my license.

GROUBERT: Breaks on 8669810502.

JONES: Why did you? Why did you shoot me?

GROUBERT: Well, you dove head first back into your car.

JONES: I`m sorry. I`m sorry

GROUBERT: Then you jump back out. I`m telling you to get out of your car.

JONES: I`m sorry. I didn`t hear two words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show.

Believe me or not folks on that video tape, that officer was the 2007 South
Carolina Trooper of the Year.

Highway Patrol Trooper Sean Groubert was caught on his dash cam shooting
Levar Edward Jones in the hip as he reached for his driver`s license after
being told to do so.

Now, all of this over an alleged seatbelt violation. The trooper was fired
on September 19th and charged late Wednesday with felony assault and
battery of a high and aggravated nature. The arrest warrant says that
Groubert, the officer did without justification unlawfully shoot Levar
Jones.

On Wednesday night, the officer was freed on $75,000 bond while he awaits a
trial date. Groubert faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Joining me tonight, South Carolina State Representative Todd Rutherford,
who was also the Attorney for Levar Jones.

Mr. Rutherford, good to have you with us tonight. I`m curious. What was
your reaction the first time you saw that video tape?

REP. TODD RUTHERFORD, (D) SOUTH CAROLINA: You know, Ed we were standing in
Bank Court the first time the solicitor play the video tape and then when
she played it, there was a correctional officer standing in front of me and
the correctional officer jumped as did I as soon as the shot ring out.
Couldn`t believe it.

But, the shocking all continued when they -- when they read Sean Groubert
statement. And the statement talked about how Levar Jones had approached
the car in an aggressive manner, how Levar Jones do it aggressively, how he
reached into his car as if he was retrieving something from the car. None
of which was true.

And that was the most disturbing part about watching that video is
listening to what trooper Groubert had to say about what he had just done.

SCHULTZ: Has your client seen the video tape over and over again?

RUTHERFORD: You know, Ed he watched it the first time and it shook him up
so much. He`s tried not to watch it again. And I don`t think that he has.
A number of people called and they wondered how he is still alive because
he took literally four or five shots at close range. And -- But for the
fact that Trooper Groubert was an awful shot, he may not be here today.

SCHULTZ: Well, the trooper is claiming that your client reached into the
car in an aggressive manner, what`s your response to that?

RUTHERFORD: You know, Ed that is the beauty of a video tape. But for that
video tape, you know, all they would have had Sean Groubert statement which
said that he was doing aggressive movements and that he was threatening the
officer. Thank God for that video tape because everybody gets to look at
it. Millions of people are now viewed it and they get to see that Levar
Jones did nothing but comply with the trooper`s commands.

The trooper said, "Where is your I.D?" He patted his back pocket. He
realized there was not in his back pocket and then reached in the car to
get it.

And, you know, the viewers will know because they saw the video tape even
afterwards, he apologized the trooper said, "What did I do? Why did you
shoot me? What happened? Why did this happen? I was just trying to do
what you told me to."

And he said that over and over and again. Even after he was shot, he put
his hand behind his back in compliance with the trooper older. He was
handcuffed. Prior to that point, the trooper could have said, "Get out of
the car." Levar Jones moved out of the car. Raised his hand and he still
got shot at.

He did everything he could that day to comply and it didn`t matter. The
trooper simply shot at him anyway.

SCHULTZ: It looks like your client moved so quickly, you know, anxious to
do the right thing, had his hands up, moved so quickly that it startled the
police officer. Is that a defense in a court of law in your opinion?

RUTHERFORD: That is -- Being startled is not a defense to shooting
someone. What your viewers may not know when you looked at the video tape,
you don`t see Levar Jones pull into the Circle K gas station.

Levar Jones pulled in on what have been Sean Groubert`s left. Sean
Groubert looked over to his left, saw Levar Jones and then spun around to
his right so that when he pulled his vehicle up, he was right at Levar
Jones feet, almost standing in his doorway.

So Levar Jones looks at him. He tries to comply and realized it again, I
don`t have him in my back pocket so he turns and reaches in the car. He
turned very quickly but he is trying only to comply. Hat the trooper
wanted him into. He could have said, step away from your vehicle and the
trooper demanded just come forward, don`t move towards your vehicle.

He would have done so. Levar Jones only tried to comply in compliance got
him shot. Moving quickly is not a defense.

SCHULTZ: Does he feel like he is lucky to be alive? Shot at four times,
hit once at close range.

RUTHERFORD: You know, I know, and listen, God was certainly with him that
day. He is a Christian man. He is a praying man. There`s no doubt about
the fact that God was on his side and we`re very grateful for that. And I
think all of American is because anytime somebody in this case who was
simply driving while black and gets pulled over in a parking lot for not
having a seatbelt on, get shot at and hit in his hip.

God is certainly with him. And I`m sure that He is the other day.

SCHULTZ: I think the question begs at this point, do you think your client
was treated differently because he`s African-American?

RUTHERFORD: I think it`s unfortunate but it`s true. I think that he
suffered from driving while black. He was pulling into a gas station. He
had taken his seatbelt off to jump out of the car and run into gas station
and get something and in the process of doing so, he is ordered by a
trooper to do something. He complies and in complying, he get shot.

There is no doubt about the fact that had he been another race, had he been
another color, this would not have happened.

SCHULTZ: Mr. Rutherford, some are speculating that the officer has PTSD,
post traumatic stress disorder. This of course from a previous shooting.
If true should that -- should he had a gun and is that a defense for him at
this point. Should even he be on the street if that`s the case?

RUTHERFORD: PTSD is not a defense and in South Carolina, all laws are so
strict and would not be able, in my opinion, to mount an insanity defense
and you`re exactly right. If he truly had PTSD and suffer from PTSD, he
should not have been given a gun.

There were several things that he should have done. There were several
things that his training would have taught him to do if Levar Jones truly
startled him by jumping into that car. He did nothing but open fire.

SCHULTZ: And Todd, are you comfortable with the action that the police
force took firing this former Trooper of the Year in 2007 in South
Carolina?

RUTHERFORD: You know, that`s far -- in looking in retrospect, I think
they`ve -- they`ve done everything that was expected of them, they
certainly done more than anybody did Ferguson. They released the tape.
They fired the trooper. They had them arrested. They`ve done exactly what
I think anybody could have expected of them.

SCHULTZ: OK. Do you think the conviction is coming?

RUTHERFORD: You know, I don`t know. It`s one of those things where
unfortunately driving while black carries with it the stigma that juries
tend to let officers go for doing so and the record is repeat not only in
South Carolina but around the country for people shooting young black men
and getting away with it. And specially law enforcement officers. And we
hope that is not the case in this particular instance.

SCHULTZ: South Carolina State Representative and Attorney for Levar Jones,
Todd Rutherford, great to have you with us tonight. I appreciate you time.

RUTHERFORD: Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Coming up, conservative favorites will ahead to Washington D.C
this weekend to discuss their so-called values. Reverend Barry Lynn and
John McLaughlin join me for the discussion.

Stay with us right here on the Ed Show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight, bad connection. Kevin Sorbo, the
second Fox offender is connecting the NFL and Benghazi.

Last week, the conspiracy marshal of the Kurby (ph) Couch connected the
NFL`s lack of transparency during ongoing abuse scandals to Benghazi.

Well, Fox News better check their furniture for Benghazi blogs because it
spreads to it yet another couch.

TV`s Hercules sat down on a different Fox sofa for another round of
Benghazi blame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, there`s no accountability and the White House
with Benghazi, the IRS and all that kind of stuff. How do we expect to
have accountability with something like a professional football team?

Well, I mean, look at the story. All I heard about that is he beat her up
and knocked out. Horrible as it is. They kicked him off the team for
couple of games, right. And then they plant all the tape and that made a
difference. OK, why kick him off the team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Benghazi wasn`t a scandal. It`s an exploited tragedy. If Kevin
Sorbo thinks connecting real abuse scandals to imaginary fairy tales is a
winning play, 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. And they
screw in this one, believe me. Republicans are back in Washington D.C this
weekend to tell their so-called values.

The Values Voter Summit, an annual (inaudible) annual meeting. Observe the
conservatives kicked off today. The event opened with comments from a few
GOP presidential hopefuls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: There are people in Washington who say
Republicans to win after abandon values.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No way.

CRUZ: You`re exactly right. Look, our values are who we are. Our values
are why we`re here.

RAND PAUL, (R) KENTUCKY: In country after country, mobs burned the
American flag and chant Death to America. Congress` response -- Congress
respond by sending more of your money to these haters of Christianity. I
say not one penny more to any nation that is burning our flag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: It wasn`t only Congressional leaders who took the stage today.
Short term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was also there to turn on the
microphone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN: When we talk about this national security issues our honored
military on behalf of all Americans who do support you and we honor you, we
respect you on behalf of all Americans who feel like I do to your
Commander-in-Chief, well, we then will salute him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: There will be no shortage of special conservative guest. The
Duggar Family Duck Dynasty`s Allan Robertson and of course Glenn Bracken
helped but get on the stage, right? He`s expected to speak this weekend.

Hey Glenn, maybe you will run? Save us all.

Joining me now is Reverend Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans
United for the Separation of Church and State, also with us tonight John
Fugelsang, political commentator and TV host.

Gentleman, isn`t this truly the holier than thou crowd, the worthy
Americans that are going to save America, worthy guiding light and
everybody else is screwed up, what about this, Reverend?

REV. BARRY LYNN, AMERICANS UNITED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Oh absolutely. This
is the 9th Values Voter Summit and it`s like the 9th Groundhog Day. They
talked about the same things. They never have any new ideas and this year
they were going back even deeper into the play book of the origins of the
religious right talking about birth control, they`re against it. Talking
about abortion, and of course they`re against it, and even bringing up the
prospect of bringing prayer back to public schools.

An issue they have frankly all -- almost all abandoned. So this was really
an ultraconservative values voter conference. One where they kept
yammering about taking our country back and honestly most of these people
would like to take it back to about the 17th Century. That`s what this is
about.

SCHULTZ: John Fugelsang, doesn`t this do the Democrats, progressives in
this country a real favor? We can highlight this enough, can we?

JOHN FUGELSANG, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I agree and we do need to
show Governor Palin on T.V. as often as possible. I would love to see her
be the face of the Republican Party and I did like her little prop comedy.
She is my favorite prop comics since Carrot Top although in fairness Carrot
Top never quite a set halfway through.

But, you know, this is interesting. They`re going to come and they act to
try to suck to the Pharisees and the Christians all because their real goal
here is sucking up to the money lenders. And that would be of course the
Koch Brothers in Sheldon Adelson. This is Tea Party idle who is going to
Iowa with Doug (ph). They`re coming here and you can`t sell this people on
an agenda of cutting taxes for the rich. That`s what they want them to
vote for.

So what you do have to do instead is appeal to followers of Christ or
people who claimed to follow Christ by coming and demonizing gay marriage,
abortion rights, and birth control, three things Christ never actually
mentioned.

SCHULTZ: Of course John -- go ahead, go ahead, Reverend, go ahead.

LYNN: Yes, I mean it`s also important though to realize even though it is
crazy to watch people in revolutionary war uniforms carrying their Sarah
Palin books around but these guys are dead serious about one thing. They
believe there are tens of millions of conservative Christians who sat out
the last election and they are bound and determined that in the remaining
time 38 days before the election, they are going to bring these people out,
they`re going to organize them and they`re going to take over the Senate
and kick out Harry Reid. That`s exactly what they said. That`s what the
bottom-line of all this is, war on women. They liked the war.

Anybody thinks it`s not real. You should see these characters and what
they want to do to escalate it.

FUGELSANG: You`re always right, Reverend Barry and these people are going
to show up to vote.

SCHULTZ: They are. And they want the Senate. There is no doubt about it
but they have no new ideas. This is a repeat. We could run last year`s
tape and anytime you have someone go back to flag burning, they`re totally
out of ideas.

FUGELSANG: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: It catches -- I thought Rand Paul actually was a little bit
deeper than that, maybe not...

LYNN: They always do.

FUGELSANG: ... is the one who keeps me awake.

LYNN: Yeah, when they do talked about political philosophy, John and Ed,
people go into a kind of a comma and then they mentioned lowest learner or
of course Benghazi and then everyday wakes up again like hamsters, you
know, when you shake that little feedbag and they all respond but they`re
not interested in politics, political philosophy. They`re interested in
these hot button issues, simple minded, fraudulent assessments of what the
courts are doing, what the Obama administration does. They just make stuff
up.

FUGELSANG: Yes, Reverend. They`re wrapped in a cloak of false piety and
Christianity.

SCHULTZ: That`s true.

FUGELSANG: These are the folks who believe the talking snake is literal
but Jesus saying sell all your belongings and give to the poor was a
metaphor and they`re want to (inaudible) based on Christian values. If we
had got a Christian government, do we take care of the poor and the sick
and the private charity`s bill out Wall Street?

LYNN: Yeah. And it is now we have to defend the poor.

SCHULTZ: Reverend, who is the best performer?

LYNN: I was...

SCHULTZ: Reverend, who was the best performer there today?

LYNN: Well, I think that, you know, Ted Cruz was certainly the best
performer. If he was trying out to be a preacher, he was pretty good at
quoting scripture and until he fell when he attempted to get back from the
crowd and back on the stage. You know he was doing all right. That was a
little awkward.

SCHULTZ: Gentlemen, great to have you with us. We`ll enjoy.

LYNN: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: . all of the highlight tape from the Vote Values Summit this
weekend in Washington D.C.

SCHULTZ: We`ll look for those ideas on health care along the way too,
Reverend. Great to have you on.

LYNN: Exactly.

SCHULTZ: Very (inaudible) John Fugelsang, always. Have a great weekend
folks.

That`s the Ed Show, I`m Ed Schultz.

Politics Nation with Reverend Al Sharpton starts right now.

Good evening, Rev.

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

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