The Ed Show for Tuesday, October 7th, 2014

THE ED SHOW
October 7, 2014


Guest: Joel Heitkamp, Bruce Reeves Bartlett, Daryl Parks, Mike Rogers, Bob
Shrum, Parry Aftab


UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ll see you back here tomorrow 4 P.M. Eastern. The
Ed Show is up next.

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Back at it in the big city. Good evening
Americans. Welcome to the Ed Show, live from New York. Let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN CRAMER: I`m not a rookie to politics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of you has logged in like white on rice everyday.

CRAMER: I`m Kevin Cramer and I approve this message. I didn`t seek nor
did I get permission to shoot there.

GEORGE SINNER: Something really was there but they might have been
insensitive to what`s really happening.

CRAMER: And I approve this message.

SINNER: The world is not really that erotic abuse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess the smartest people in America is filled in the
Congress.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His brutality.

SCHULTZ: Half baked, North Dakota Congressman Kevin Cramer.

CRAMER: I`m not a rookie to politics.

And I approve this message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I (inaudible) on my team. You are going to like
the...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight, folks. Thanks for watching.
If you go around the country and talk to folks, you`ll hear that they are
really disgusted with the Citizens United decision and the big money that`s
in politics and maybe this is a wake up call for all Americans that, you
know, we`re not too far away from election. We can do something about it.
In fact, today marks exactly four weeks until the midterms.

You know, when everybody goes to sleep and they just had an election,
right? Its crunch time for politicians to get out there and of course, the
experts are saying that Republicans -- I`ll tell you what, when it comes to
November, they`re just going to mop the floor.

Well, look at the headlines, Republicans are headed towards a big turnout
edge in the midterms. Washington Post is trying to convince the world to
that. Republicans pull ahead again in the battle for the Senates. New
York Times doesn`t seem to get enough of it.

And of course, the headline from Fox News reads, "Will GOP party like its
1946?" Republicans aim for a historic house majority, you know, I think
everyone ought to be thinking to get a little bit ahead of themselves.
There`s always -- in having spent so many years in the middle of the
country, there`s just always seems to be this attitude that all the
liberals are on the East coast and the West coast and there`s just no
Democrats in between and the Republicans, they backed that up by showing
you the last map by how much -- how red is out there.

This is going to be a razor finish. This is going to be tight. This is
going to be photo finished in many areas. Especially, this headline from
the guys over in Fox, if you look at what`s going on around the country, I
think Republicans look desperate. And when it comes down to what the part
of progress to the party of ideas and the party that has done something to
help the economy, I believe it`s going to be OK.

Case in point, North Dakota, Republican Congressman Kevin Cramer, he -- I
think he has put himself at a really tough spot and this is a sign of
desperation as I see it. Cramer has been out running this ad that veterans
in North Dakota have turned to say, "Yes, we don`t appreciate this."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAMER: Our veterans have owed a special place in our heart. That`s why
I`ve worked to find the honor places so they can visit their memorial. And
in Congress, I`ve fought hard against cuts of veteran benefits and nothing
has angered me more than how the V.A. has treated our veterans around this
country. And that`s going to change.

I`m Kevin Cramer and I approve this message because we`re going to honor
our veterans for their service to our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: The audio sounds good but the setting? Well, not so good. There
are few problems here. If Cramer had to bother to ask for permission, he
would have been denied being able to do that commercial in front of a
veteran cemetery. A North Dakota national guard spokes person said quote,
"The answer is no." They cannot do it. We never got a call asking for
permission.

Now, Cramer has stopped running the ad due to public criticism, ironically.
If you look back in his record, he`s never really been a good supporter of
the veterans. In fact, Cramer has voted to cut billions of dollars in
veteran`s funding.

His Democratic opponent George Sinner, long time name in North Dakota has
no problem pointing out this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SINNER: I don`t understand how Kevin Cramer could vote to cut $6 billion
from veteran retirement.

I`m George Sinner and I approve this message because in Congress, I`ll make
it illegal to cut vet`s benefits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So, his opponent says that he cut $6 billion from veteran`s
benefits but Cramer had no problem going out and doing an ad at a cemetery
where veterans were laid to rest. Just how desperate are the Republicans
in the middle of the country to get the old folks, to get the base that
they`ve had for so many years, to get the veterans to vote their way.

Then we have this guy down in Georgia, David Perdue is trying to takeover
the Senate seat which is being vacated by Saxby Chambliss. He is also has
a big problem on his hands as I see it. See, Perdue actually is proud of
his career as an outsourcer.

On Friday, a report surfaced about his long history of outsourcing jobs in
a textile company. When it came time to answer the issue he said, "Defend
it? I`m proud of it. This is part of American business, part of any
business. Outsourcing is the procurement of products and services to help
your business run, people do that all day."

Wait a minute, wasn`t the 2012 election where President Obama had a theme
that he cared about workers and the other guy was only, you know, 47
percent member of that? I remember going to Freeport, Illinois where jobs
were outsourced and I remember that being a big theme across the country
that outsourcing jobs is not good for our economy.

So I think there`s some desperation and a lack of focus on the part of the
Right Wing right now. He went on to blame job losses on regulation.
Someone needs to remind Mr. Perdue that outsourcing manufacturing jobs has
devastated the middle class in this country. And the middle class is
paying attention. This chart from the Bureau of Labor statistics clearly
shows those practices have basically crushed American jobs.

Outsourcing hurts the economy, the middle class, middle class income has
dropped in this country since the recovery of The Recession. Now, you can
vote for this chart or you can take a page out of President Obama`s success
and go with the Democrats. And so, this is a great opportunity to stand up
and say, "What do you think about our country."

The economy has seen 55 months of private sector job growth, that`s a
record. ObamaCare is on the roll. Whether you like it or not, the numbers
are the numbers.

This is how many people have been affected in our society because now, we
have new standards in health care. If you don`t like it, maybe your next
door neighbor has it. Why would you want to take it away from them? The
Republicans voted over 50 times to do that in the House.

And you know what`s interesting even this week? Wall Mart came on board
with ObamaCare. They announced a 27,000 jobs, 20,000 of their stores in
their staffers with insurance agents. They`re going to staff their stores
with insurance agents to help customers enroll in ObamaCare.

You see, Republicans, as I see it, pretty much are delusional right now.
They actually think that all this good news is going to help them?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: And the fact of
the matter is what this election is going to come down to, I think we know
it is whether or not, people feel better off today than they did four or
five years ago whether these Democrat senators follow this President locks
up and in spite of the fact that things aren`t going in the right direction
whether it`d be ObamaCare, jobs, the economy, Keystone Pipeline, all of the
above is not working for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Not working for them. All of the things that Reince Priebus has
just talked about, the Republicans have been against. Positive, positive,
positive, positive job numbers, positive economy, ObamaCare, you know, they
don`t know what -- they don`t have a plan. They`ve never been a part of
the plan.

Reince Priebus is living on the moon somewhere. I don`t know what newscast
he`s watching but he`s not watching one where the people are paying
attention to? People are better off today than they were four years ago,
the majority of Americans are.

Now, wages? That`s a different thing. People are back into the economy
but not at the wage level. Well? But they`re back into the economy.

And the fact to the matter is if we were to invest as a country in our
infrastructure, things would be a heck of lot better than they are right
now.

Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question, do you believe Republicans have the momentum for the midterms?
Text A for yes, text B for no to 67622. You can always leave a comment at
our blog at ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring you the results later on in the
show.

Now, what is a desperate commercial? When a politician takes out a
commercial and say, "Look, I`m your guy. I`m your candidate. I`m the
person that`s going to go and really make it all better for you. And this
is what I`m going to support."

But when you do it in front of a cemetery, is that over the line?

Let me bring in Joel Heitkamp. He`s a syndicated radio talk show host from
Fargo, and also with us tonight, Bruce Bartlett, former Reagan and George
H. W. Bush policy advisor. Gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight.

Joel, you first, this is a political ad in front of a cemetery where
veterans are buried. Is it over the top? How`s that playing in the middle
of the county?

JOEL HEITKAMP, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: It`s not playing well. It`s not
playing well at all. In fact, he had the poll, the ad, there`re people
calling for his apology. I spoke to the Adjutant-General of the State of
North Dakota today who was appointed by a Republican governor, has
conservative roots and that Adjutant-General said, this ad is
inappropriate.

We spoke to the Attorney General for the State of North Dakota, Wayne
Stenehjem, another man that`s a conservative, said, this is inappropriate.
This ad needs to come down. It puts the funding for our veteran cemetery
at risk. And he never asked one person before he went out to that veteran
cemetery and cut that ad.

SCHULTZ: How does it put the funding at risk?

HEITKAMP: Well, it puts the funding at risk because North Dakota`s veteran
cemetery is subsidized by the federal government and the federal rules are
clear. The federal rules say that that cemetery cannot be used for any
political purposes by any party.

Imagine if Barack Obama or George W. Bush cut an ad at the tomb of the
unknown soldiers. I spoke to the State Senator, there -- and the two
gentlemen that you showed in that ad, standing there behind -- there once a
State Senator, standing there, saluting. I called him.

His name is Ron Cariola (ph). I said, "Ron, what are you doing? Who are
you saluting?" He said, "Well, I wasn`t saluting at."

I said, "Was it a funeral? Was it a writhe place in memorium?" He said,
"Well, no. We were just cutting a political ad, Joel."

It was just -- basically Ed, it was acting. It was acting using the
tombstones of fallen soldiers as their prop. And I`ll tell you what, North
Dakotans Republican and Democrat are mad. And that`s one of the reasons
that George Sinner`s starting to get some attraction in North Dakota.

SCHULTZ: So, this basically is a staged commercial about his support for
veterans. And I mean I can`t take issue with the copy. I can`t take issue
with how he feels about veterans and what he wants to do but the fact that
he has voted to cut veterans` benefits makes him a huge hypocrite, doesn`t
it?

HEITKAMP: Well, it`s either arrogance or ignorance. You tell me which one
because Kevin Cramer has got plenty of balls, it`s either arrogance in the
fact that I can do whatever I want. I`m North Dakota`s long congressman.
I`m a Republican from a Red State. Or it`s just flat out ignorance.

SCHULTZ: So this is a...

HEITKAMP: Because I tell you this...

SCHULTZ: Do you think this is a sign of desperation on his part?

HEITKAMP: You know, Ed, the poll numbers for George Sinner showed him up
to, in a Red State, in an off election year. People doubted those polls.
The Republicans came out, said those polls just can`t be true. Well, when
you start making moves like this, and members of your own party come out
against you, I think the word desperation is fair.

SCHULTZ: Mr. Bartlett, what about all of these sight that the Republicans
are going to roll on a month?

BRUCE REEVES BARTLETT, AMERICAN HISTORIAN: Well, they probably will do
well on the elections this year but they`ll do terribly in 2016, I`m sure.
Look, there`s a larger issue here which is they were -- they virtually, all
of the scandals that we`ve seen in the last few years whether it`s the
veteran`s administration, the Secret Service, problems at the IRS, problems
with the CDC dealing with Ebola, they all come down to one thing which is
the Republicans have cut their budgets.

And then, the service has cut back and then the Republicans attacked these
agencies because their service has been cut back and somehow rather they
blame all of this on Obama who had nothing whatsoever to do with it. It`s
all about slashing government willing-nilly without any concern whatsoever
for the quality of the services that they exist to provide.

SCHULTZ: Bruce, what do you make of Mr. Perdue`s outsourcing comments when
jobs are really at the top of the list? Jobs in the economy, things
haven`t changed much since the 2012 election, what about that?

BARTLETT: Well, I think he`s on the top position. He can`t very well deny
his own business role in outsourcing. So I was thinking he`s trying to,
you know, do the best he can with what he`s got and.

SCHULTZ: But the Republicans don`t have any answer here, Mr. Bartlett, on
this. Is it to shift with job overseas, is that just the accepted business
practice in this country when families do feel the pinch on all of this and
then when they come back into the economy, they`re not making the kind of
money they were making before. How do the Republicans win on that?

BARTLETT: ... Well, they win on the same way they`ve been winning for some
years which is they just keep claiming that big businesses and rich people
are the job creators. They are -- They carry the rest of us on their
backs. They -- They`re overtaxed and over-regulated and stress some
reason, people buy this. And, you know, there`re job but I mean
eventually, they`ll go back to that same well one, two, many times and
people will finally start to realize that this is all rank nonsense.

SCHULTZ: Joel, why is it in the middle of the country that President Obama
has a problem? Is it race? Look at the job numbers, look at the health
care, look at the positive things that have happened. We came out of the
greatest recession. What doesn`t that play in the middle of the country?

BARTLETT: Well, I think there are certain things...

HEITKAMP: Well, I think that President...

SCHULTZ: Go ahead, Joel.

BARTLETT: I`m sorry.

HEITKAMP: I think that President Obama`s biggest problem in the middle of
the country is at times Ed, he forgets we`re here.

I do. I think that he`s had opportunities to come to North Dakota, for the
foot print in North Dakota, South Dakota, other areas. He`s been to North
Dakota. Now, he came down the standing rock reservation and it went over
great. It played out great.

You know, when Minot flooded, President Obama had an opportunity with an
airforce based right north to Minot to come and tell the 25,000 displaced
people, I`m here for you. President Clinton did that for us. I wish
President Obama would because once he`s here, I think people respect that a
lot more. The middle of the country really wants to make sure people know
we`re here and respect the fact that we`re here.

SCHULTZ: Bruce, I want to play a clip of a billionaire GOP donor Peter
Thiel talking about Republicans. Listen to this. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER THIEL, CLARIUM CAPITAL PRESIDENT: I think one of the challenges we
have in the Republican Party is that too many, you know, our
representatives, our senators are somewhat lower I.Q. than the people on
the other side. And so I think there is something to be said for getting
some really smart people in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: What do you think about that?

BARTLETT: Well, leaders of the Republican Party for sometime being wary at
trying to hold classes in fact for their candidates to teach them to stop
saying so many stupid things that have cost the Republicans many, many
Senate seats and places like Nevada, Delaware and many other states where
total crackpots have gotten the Republican nomination but they haven`t been
very successful because these people have to run in primaries, they`re
dominated by very hard right people who insist on hearing crazy conspiracy
theories, utterly ridiculous ideas about public policy.

These people are low information voters and they get all of their
information from crazy Right Wing websites...

SCHULTZ: OK.

BARTLETT: ... and news channels.

I don`t -- I think Thiel is right. The lowest common denominator on the
Republican Party is very, very low.

SCHULTZ: Joel Heitkamp, Bruce Bartlett, good to have both of you with us
tonight. Appreciate your time.

Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the screen.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter@edshow and like us on Facebook. We
appreciate that.

Coming up, a big relief from a federal judge out of Ferguson, Missouri, the
Brown family`s attorney joins me next.

Plus, a step forward for LGBT rights and a step backward for the GOP, Rapid
Response Panel weighs in.

Stay with us. We`re right back on the Ed Show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: What`s out there, what`s hot? Join the Ed team, OK? This is
where you`re going to find us, facebook.com/edshow, twitter.com/edshow, and
ed.msnbc.com. I do a podcast everyday. It`s free for you @wegoted.com,
rawstory.com, ringoffireradio.com and on iTunes.

It`s Trenders. Ed Show Social Media Nation has decided we are reporting.
Here are today`s top Trenders voted on by you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS HOST: You look like a President and a Vice President
but you are not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number trender, Run out.

MARK HALPERIN, MSNBC SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You`re not inclined to run,
your family isn`t gung-ho about it.

MITT ROMNEY: There are other good people who I`m sure will be able to lead
the country in the future. I wish it were me.

Circumstances could change. I`m not going to let my head go there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitt Romney dismisses campaign rumors.

ROMNEY: We`re going to find someone who catches fire, who ignites the
interest of the Republican base.

I`m not running. I had my turn.

I`m not planning in running.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I bet you $10,000, I win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number two trender, Jazz.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: J.P. Gibson has cut into the game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five-year-old J.P. Gibson, a free-agent point guard
signed a one-day contract...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The other wristbands on the whole world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like the fact that he signed a contract with
(inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A dream comes true for a young cancer patient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: J.P. has been fighting leukemia since 2012.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He beat Dante Exum and Rodney Hood in the rookie dance
off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Jazzer of three feet has loved the basketball.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down to J.P. Here it comes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And plus his continued strength and courage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He rises to the rim and hammers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And today`s top trender, Ferguson Forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ferguson protesters` making national headlines again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine B. Perry bound
(inaudible) in the area in using what kind to be known as the keep moving
rule.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A judge rules in favor of protesters` civil rights in
Missouri.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People who wish to gather in the wake of Michael
Brown`s tragic death and the constitutional rights to do so.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: Even those who were moving, they were told
that they were walking too slowly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is likely the start of demonstrations at many
places outside of Ferguson.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re expecting thousands of people. Thousands have
already signed up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Protesters calling for justice for Michael Brown make
their voices heard at the St. Louis Symphony performing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they call for action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining me tonight, the Brown family attorney Daryl Parks. Mr.
Parks, good to have you with us tonight.

Let`s talk first about this U.S. District Court judge that said that the
Ferguson Police Department`s crowd control methods and tactics were
unconstitutional. Tell me your thoughts about this struck down five-second
rule.

DARYL PARKS: Well, I think it`s important because what the court has said
is that these people have the right to voice their concerns and do so
peaceably.

Be it on the ground that Ed, I saw first-hand a few times when people were
minding their own business, the cops tend to be a little bit more
aggressive and making them keep moving for just pretty much arbitrary
reason.

I was happy to see that the court sided with them and then they have the
constitutional right to express themselves. And, you know, they should be
able to continue to do so. Likewise though, we recognized that the cops
certainly have the right to make sure that is peaceable and safe for the
officers and for the protesters.

So, the rule was fair and balanced but certainly made sure that the cops
knew that the protesters do have rights and have the right to protest and
do so peaceably.

SCHULTZ: And do you think at this latest ruling is going to spark or
prompt people to be more engaged and to speak out more? What about that?

PARKS: Well, certainly it will make them -- because what happen, the
police presence at one point tended to chill the protesters ability to
speak out. Well, at some point the cops -- whenever they chose to would
let up and let the people protest, so the court makes it clear to the cops
that it has to be a fair process and has to be a process that allows the
people to express themselves especially when they are doing so peacefully.

And so, it certainly sets a clear parameter for the police officers that
these folks are -- have the right to do what they`re doing.

SCHULTZ: Mr. Parks, I have to make this observation. This obviously was
one of the biggest stories that unfolded so far in 2014 and it has somewhat
started a movement for justice. It`s just not in Ferguson.

And what I find interesting is at the Brown family, they don`t seem to be
real activists. They don`t seem to be out there egging people on to do
this, that this is -- can you comment on that? I mean, this is a true
sense in community and feeling that there was something really, really
wrong here and they`re determined to see justice and they`re doing this
without being prompted by the Brown family. What about that?

PARKS: They`re not being prompted, Ed and I think what you see here is
somewhat what you see across the country in times where people are
hopeless, where people don`t have much opportunity, where people don`t have
a chance to go up in society or in their community.

All of that festers over a while so Mike Brown`s death ended up being the
catalyst that sponged some of the voices that we are now hearing from
Ferguson, Missouri. So, all of the problems they`ve had in education, all
of the problems they`ve had with between the cops and the African-American
community, those things are now come to ahead but in a good way that causes
this community and our country to take hard and to...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

PARKS: ... reflect on where are and what we do.

But some important came out of that Symphony situation from the weekend...

SCHULTZ: That was in St. Louis at the Busch stadium where they were
protesting outside Busch Stadium then of course they also went to the
Symphony Hall at -- in St. Louis. What developed out of that?

PARKS: Yes. Well, if you listen to the kids, the kids have made a very
peaceful statement, right? That one -- Mike Brown deserved justice but at
the every end as if talking they said black life matters too.

And when we get to that point where any person can see whatever person is
the person has a life and that life matters and that person is someone who
is important to someone. That`s, Ed -- That`s when we begin to turn the
corner, so...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

PARKS: ... it was very significant that this group of students who are
primarily white Americans made a statement and then they made it and where
they made it.

As you watched the faces of the people sitting in that Symphony Hall, it is
-- you could see that something came upon them and you saw some of them
cheer. It was rather obvious that they saw a sentinel moment happening
right there on the statement being made by those students who were black
but they were white, that they were standing up for Mike Brown in their own
way in a very, very...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

PARKS: ... unique situation.

SCHULTZ: This is what movements look like. No doubt.

Daryl Parks, good to have you with us on the Ed Show tonight. I appreciate
it. Thanks for your time.

Coming up, the Rapid Response Panel weighs in on a decision Ted Cruz calls
tragic an indefensible. Take one guess on what offends the Senator.

Plus, back to school, Michele Bachmann needs to brush up on our world
history before insulting the President. She lands in Pretenders.

Question is next. Ask Ed next on the Ed Show on MSNBC. We`re right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: We pick a couple of questions every night here from our viewers.
We appreciate it, Ask Ed Live. Our first question comes from Jimmy Bear2.
"What kind of future do you see for your grandchildren if we don`t get
serious about climate change?"

Well, let`s see, my grandkids by the year 2050 will being in the primate of
their life, they either going to be swearing us or they`re going to be
praising us because if the earth is going to warm by 6 degrees by the
middle of the century, somebody better to do something.

Our next question is from Jonathan. He wants to know, "Do Democrats have a
chance in 2014 with all of the voter suppression from the Republicans?"
It`s going to make it a little bit harder to get elected but the Democrats
are just going to have work a little harder and maybe that will be a
motivating factor. I hope it is. And then when they get power then they
can reduce all these restrictions on voting.

Stick around. The Rapid Response Panel is next.

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

A steep selloff for stocks. The Dow slides 272 points, the S&P drops 29 to
an eight-week low, the NASDAQ falls 69 points.

One of the reasons for today`s decline, the IMF cuts its global growth
forecast for this year and next saying the world recovery is weak and
uneven. It also warned of geopolitical risk.

And consumer borrowing slowed on August according to the Fed, credit cards
balances dropped for the first time since February.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. We have some breaking news in the
last hour, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down same sex marriage
bans in Idaho and also in the State of Nevada.

On Monday, the Supreme Courts steps aside and declined to take up same sex
marriage cases in multiple states. By punting the issue back to the lower
courts, SCOTUS effectively made same sex marriage legal in those states.

A few years ago, this would have been red meat for Republicans especially
as we head into the midterms. This time around, the only one really taking
debate is the Republican Party`s professional agitator and that would be
Senator Ted Cruz.

Cruz released a statement calling the court`s decision both tragic and
indefensible. And judicial activism and it`s worst. Cruz took in a step
further saying that he would introduce the constitutional amendment
preventing the Supreme Court from striking down marriage laws.

There`s a reason top House GOP leaders in the RNC have kept quiet on this.
Support for same sex marriage is an all time high. The Republican Party
knows they`re on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the issue and
they just want to stop talking about it.

One aide to a 2016 GOP contender told Time Magazine, "We don`t have to
agree with the decision bust as long as we`re not against it, we should be
OK."

If anything, Republicans are doing their very best to move on and let the
Supreme Court take all the heat. According to the Associated Press,
Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin conceded, "For us, it`s over in
Wisconsin."

At a forum in Washington D.C., Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said, "The
law is certainly in the courts court."

Joining us tonight at Rapid Response Panel, Mike Rogers from rawstory.com.
Also Bob Shrum, Democratic Strategist and Professor of Politics at USC.
Gentlemen, good to have you with us.

Mike, is this a day of political surrender by the Republicans that the
gays, guns and guy, they`re losing on one of them and they`re not going to
go down in this road anymore and they can all blame on -- blame the Supreme
Court on this. What do you make of it?

MIKE ROGERS, RAW STORY MEDIA INC VICE CHAIRMAN: Well I think we know what
happened here, Ed is that they have realized they are on wrong side of
history and while they take devital polls and they make devital claims and
folks like Ted Cruz go through the roof, the younger generation even
Republicans overwhelmingly support the right of -- I`ve only even say LGBT
-- the same sex marriage. They support the right for people to live their
lives free and fairly and openly and one of those components is same sex
marriage.

And we`re seeing as you said one politician stands up. That would have
been unheard of a decade ago when they used this issue of course to divide
the Democrats who were now united as we head into the midterms.

SCHULTZ: What`s the political benefit if any at this point for the
Republicans, Bob Shrum?

BOB SHRUM, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: There`s no political benefit in fighting
this but, you know, they made a several deals with the Demo a while ago.
One was with the religious right, one was with the Tea Party types, so they
have to be in a certain place on an issue like this. They have to be in a
certain place on immigration reform.

But Cruz is coming and you got to give him some political credit for this.
He calculates of those GOP presidential primaries who are dominated by
reactionaries. And he wants them to set a litmus test in 2016. Are you up
for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage? Are you against
absolutely any form of immigration reform?

So the candidates have to pass through the eye of a needle. Now, even Jeb
Bush who`s -- for some immigration reform can`t do that, Rob Portman who`s
a Senator from Ohio who favors marriage equality certainly can`t do that.

So what Cruz wants is to leave the Republicans, and I think Mike is
absolutely right this, in the box canyon where they`re stuck. And just let
those elephants pound around in there satisfying themselves psychically,
nominating someone like Cruz but they become a party that`s permanently
whacked out to the White House and a smart Republican strategist know it.

SCHULTZ: Doesn`t this make Ted Cruz the candidate for the religious right?
How could they go for anybody else who won`t speak up, Mike?

ROGERS: Well they can`t and they`re really put in to this box as Bob said
and there`s more and more straight Americans like you and like Bob who`ve
really been there fighting the fight with us on this. They are boxed in
and they really have nowhere to go. They`re cornered and folks like Ted
Cruz when they`re in the corner they come out fighting harder but we don`t
know what happens and especially looking ahead, this is 2014, in two more
years, more and more people will be with us.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ROGERS: He is looking for a fund raising frenzy and he`ll have it for
himself with the conservative right.

SCHULTZ: Mike, do you think that this will make it easier for gay
Americans to say, you know, it`s OK to be Republican. They`re not jumping
all over on who I am and the way I live my life. What about that?

ROGERS: Well, I think it`s important to recognize that there are more and
more states being at it everyday. There is the fact that not everybody in
the country has marriage equality. It`s something that the court punted on
and as we saw it today, another court gave us but there are still many
states without it so I think that it will be important for Democrats to
keep pushing on this and to remind young Americans especially those that
maybe thinking of being going to the way of the Republican Party that this
is a battle that is not over and you have people like Ted Cruz who want to
keep it going as long as possible and it`s important to rebuke that and
it`s important to vote against it unless you support it.

SCHULTZ: So, Bob Shrum, we`re four a weeks out from the midterms. Do you
see this being a real issue in some of these races or is this now settled?

SHRUM: Well, I think by the way that this issue is settled nationally over
the long term everywhere except in Republican primaries. In terms of the
midterms the next four weeks, I think you`re going to see a lot of
Republicans taking the Scott Walker approach. You don`t like him, I don`t
like him. He said it`s the law at least we ought to obey the law.

Ted Cruz is going to say we have to use and abuse this decision. We got to
have this constitutional amendment and I suppose that there is some very
conservative districts which Republicans would have want anyway, where
candidates are going to talk about this but, you know, I asked a Republican
consultant a while ago Ed, when he thought Republicans were going get over
this social issue barrier between them and young voters Hispanics women.
And he said he thought it was going to take another couple of defeats in
presidential campaigns before they came to terms with the fact that they
have to go into the 21st century.

SCHULTZ: You know, you said something that this is my hot-button there.
You say when are they going to get over it? When are the Republicans going
to get over jobs? When are they going to get over announcers? And when
are they going to get over on money offshore? When are they going to get
over on ObamaCare when it`s working? I mean and so what I`m saying, Mike
is ask a question, is this the political surrender?

I believe it is. You -- They would, I mean I remember in 2004, it was vote
values. You could drive down to the middle of the country and that`s all
you saw it was vote values and the values are gays, guns and God and this
is who we are.

And 10 years later now, well, Supreme Court did it. I guess it`s OK.
We`ll talk about something else. And there`s only one guy that stands up
and says that and that`s Ted Cruz who might be the perfect candidate for
the Republicans. What do you think?

ROGERS: Can I endorse him? Can I endorse Cruz?

SCHULTZ: Oh yeah.

ROGERS: And I`m with you Bob right there. I mean bring it on. Let this
guy be the standard bearer for a party. This and you say drive and you use
that word they drove a wedge so successfully in the Democrats that that is
a huge contributor of what put George Bush into him second term.

SCHULTZ: No doubt.

ROGERS: And now the drive is right down the middle of the Republican
Party. I talked to people of all generations who were Democrats from
everywhere in the country and they rolled their eyes at this matter of
issue. But folks on the hard core ride, they want to keep it going and it
amazes me that folks like Ted Cruz don`t see the future there. That blind
their self love. They are self importance level where they think they`re
going to call the shots. They`re blind to where the history is headed.

SCHULTZ: Mike Rogers, Bob Shrum, great to have both of you guys with us
tonight. I appreciate the quote we`ll take.

SHRUM: Thanks, Ed.

ROGERS: Thanks, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Coming up, game over, a New Jersey school leader takes action to
end bullying on and off of the football field. Keep it here. This is a
great story. This is leadership.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight, House Intelligence Committee Member
Michele Bachmann.

Bachmann can help herself. When it comes to fear mongering about
terrorism, Bachmann always takes the case, pay cake no doubt about that.
Here`s what she had to say this week on the End Times Radio Show.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, (R) MINNESOTA: I don`t want to see the car bombings
and all of the havoc and chaos coming to the United States that we see in
Baghdad. That`s what Baghdadi did. When President Obama released
Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State in 2009 from Camp Bucca in Iraq, he
reconstituted his Islamist Jihadist forces and he began a series of car
bombings across Iraq to destabilize the nation.

Since we have the Islamic State come into the United States and we see a
wave of car bombings and bombings that occurred here in the United States
that would begin the process of destabilization to bring them to the point
of defeating us here in the United States.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, the problem is Baghdadi was actually released during the
Bush administration. The fact Bachmann thinks ISIS car bombs will bring
down America because of President Obama is downright ignorance. Overall,
Bachmann is just trying to scare Americans in the hating the President and
voting Republican.

If Michele Bachmann thinks that she can use fear as a motivator and not
have it backfire on her, she can keeps on pretending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Finally tonight, I think this is a
story about leadership. The story about making a top decision, it`s the
story about somebody in the position of responsibility and taking a stand.
One New Jersey high school is taking a strong stance against violence.

The Sayreville High School football team, hey, they`re known for winning.
It won three state championships in the last four years. They`re good.
They`re now facing allegations of violence and misconduct by senior team
members to underclassman including severe bullying and possible sexual
assault. The school superintendent has called off the rest of the football
season.

Parents and guardians of football players held a close meeting on Monday
night. After the meeting, Sayreville Superintendent Dr. Richard Labbe
announced the decision and took questions from the press.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD LABBE, SAYREVILLE SUPERINTENDENT: There were incidences of
harassment, intimidation, and bullying. As constituted by the definition
within the anti-bullying statute that took place on a pervasive level, on a
wide-scale level and at a level in which the players knew, tolerated and in
general accepted.

This district and this board of education is making a unified stance to say
no, no to bullying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Some parents are angry that the entire team is being punished for
the alleged actions of just a few players.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SCIRICA: It`s unfair for the kids that they didn`t get a chance to
play this year. And I`m not (inaudible) with it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The community itself, we`re like family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re still proud of this community?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely, absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s just very devastating. It`s very sad for the
parents and the players.

(END VIDEO CLIP)\

SCHULTZ: This conversation goes far beyond allegations against this team
alone. Hazing and bullying is a reality teenagers and young adults across
this country face. The National Football League I think has an opportunity
to set an example for conduct for young people.

Take these gentlemen for an example. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell
Wilson recently addressed his bullying past in an article posted on the new
website, The Player`s Tribune. He wrote, our hits, our anger, our
aggressive behaviors need to be regulated and confined to the field, recent
incidents of domestic violence have forced the league, its fans and the
players to take a hard look into our collective conscience.

Perhaps the NFL should really make a conscious effort to talk about
Sayreville High School and their football team being expelled for the rest
of the year. Season over, games canceled. That behavior has definitely an
effect on people? And this is a lesson that this school simply will not
forget.

Parry Aftab, she is a founder of the stopcyberbullying.com and privacy
lawyer joins me.

You have dedicated your life to this as a volunteer about bullying. Did
the superintendent do the right thing?

PARRY AFTAB, STOPCYBERBULLYING.COM FOUNDER: I think so. We don`t have all
of the details but from what I`ve heard, you needed a strong stand and it`s
tough being a superintendent in New Jersey in taking a position like this
in a winning school but he did and I think it`s important to teach everyone
on the school that everyone has a responsibility to stop bullying.

SCHULTZ: And Parry, why is it harder in New Jersey than any other state on
something like this?

AFTAB: Well, New Jersey has the toughest laws on bullying in the world and
the school has obligations to act in a certain way. I think the
superintendent and the school board who backed him decided to really make a
point and teach all of them a lesson.

SCHULTZ: The announcement to end the season follows word of criminal
investigation by a county prosecutor. This is about as far as it goes,
isn`t it? I mean the fed is the case.

AFTAB: It absolutely is the case and that`s all that you can do is hope
that they`re going to look at it. This is the State of Taylor Clemente the
young man who jumped off the George Washington Bridge after someone
enraptures a videotape to private act and embarrassed him, humiliated him.
So the state takes very seriously now.

SCHULTZ: The -- In your years of working with bullying and this subject in
the social phenomena actually for young people, will a decision like this
make a difference you think?

AFTAB: I think so. I think it outlines the fact that New Jersey`s laws
are different and that now people involved in the education system are
going to take strong stance against it. It`s not a matter of fighting
against the law is you think are too tough.

Now, we`re adopting them and saying, we have a responsibility for how our
children behave. The atmosphere at the school and we`re going to do
something about it.

SCHULTZ: The question I have, are their coaches around? Do the coaches
not know that something -- this kind of behavior was going on or they just
unsupervised players with the bunch of part timers?

AFTAB: I think that`s what the investigations are going to show but in
this case, there a lot of people who saw what was going on and did nothing
about it. So the school superintendent said he wants to get the bystanders
to be what they call up standers.

We have a program called "Don`t Standby, Stand Up" teaching them what to do
and when to do it.

SCHULTZ: What could have been done to prevent this? He used the -- the
superintendent a lot used the work pervasive meaning this was going on.
And people knew about it and no one stepped up until it got totally out of
control is what it sounds like.

AFTAB: It does and from some of the stories although the details are
entrapped there, freshmen boys would rush to the locker room to get change
before the seniors would arrive. That`s a kind of thing that coaches and
other adults would see and I think that the superintendent was reacting
saying, adults and other people on -- responsible for this did nothing.
Everyone is going to be punished.

SCHULTZ: Now, I roped the NFL into this because one of their players was
bold enough to talk about bullying in his past. Is that what has to
happen?

AFTAB: I think so and he is doing work in domestic violence which is a
little different from what we do. Hopefully, the NFL will reach out to us
then we`ll get them involved because they have to be the role models that
our young people need and it`s more than just making them tough on the
field. We need to teach them to be responsible and humane in real life.

SCHULTZ: So what can the school do to make sure this doesn`t happen again?

AFTAB: I think they`re starting to do it. They`re going to have people
looking at this. They`re going to have people tracking it. They`re going
to be investigating it. And I suspect that they`re going to put in some
programs that are going to teach kids about kindness, about being nice,
about respect for themselves and others. And I`ll help if they want it.
I`m here for another couple of days. I`m born and raised in New Jersey.
Love Sayreville and I`m happy to go down and talk to the students at the
school and some of the rest if they want my time.

SCHULTZ: Thanks so much for joining us.

AFTAB: I appreciate it, Ed, you`re doing great work.

SCHULTZ: Thank you. That is 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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