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The Ed Show for Monday, November 3rd, 2014

Read the transcript to the Monday show

THE ED SHOW
November 3, 2014

Guest: Adam Smith, Mitch Ceasar, William Barber, Chuck Todd, Gwen Moore,
Ruth Conniff, Wizipan Little Elk, Oliver Semans


ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good evening Americans and welcome to the Ed Show
live from Tampa, Florida.

Let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor Rick Scott and former Governor Charlie Crist
going head to head to head.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The most enthusiasm...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is excitement for Charlie Crist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the best organized ground game I`ve ever seen in
the midterm in Florida.

MITCH CEASAR, BROWARD COUNTY, FL DEM. CHAIRMAN: Charlie Crist is about the
future.

CHARLIE CRIST, (D-FL) GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Ready to win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was told he wasn`t going to show up.

CEASAR: And Rick Scott was just a terrible past.

CRIST: A guy who ran a company, who had to pay the largest fine for
fraud...

GOV. RICK SCOTT, (R) FLORIDA: If -- how would I know with -- I mean...

MAUREEN MANN, FL VOTER: Charlie Crist has the ability to help us break the
ship.

CRIST: We`re all in this together. Ain`t that right?

ANNETTE TADDEO, (D) CANDIDATE FL LT. GOV: What wins the election is voter
turnout.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Stand up and take back
this stage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both Biden and Crist were making sure that folks got to
the polls.

TADDEO We want a people`s governor.

CRIST: A new governor that has a heart and cares about you.

SCOTT: If -- how would I know with -- I mean.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight folks. Thanks for watching.
Well, it`s almost here, tomorrow marks Election Day and key races around
the country couldn`t be any closer. One of the hottest governor races in
the country is right here in Florida.

The latest PPP poll has Democratic candidate Charlie Crist tied with --
Republican Governor Rick Scott at 44 percent. A new Quinnipiac poll
released Sunday has Crist up by one point. Many Floridians have already
voted. The Tampa Bay Times reports over 3 million people have already cast
their vote here on the state of Florida.

Republicans have roughly a four-point lead in earlier absentee voting, five
counties have not yet reported and Democrats are seeing big voter turnout
in Democratic stronghold areas especially that of Broward County.

And roughly half -- in half of an hour -- in just half an hour vice --
should I say Former President Bill Clinton will campaign with Charlie Crist
at the University of Central Florida. It`s Charlie Crist`s last campaign
event before Election Day. And make no mistake the stakes are very high
here in Florida. I`ve spent the last several days here in the Sunshine
State taking to voters and politicos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: No matter where your go around the country you hear the word
turnout. OK, what kind of turnout and where? Well here in Florida for the
Democrats, a hot spot is Broward County. And what the Crist camp is so
encouraged about is that there are 20 early polling places here in Broward
Country. And in recent weeks there`s been an uptick in the numbers every
day. That`s giving them a lot of confidence late in this game.

CEASAR: Everyday in all of our sites gets better than the previous day.
This is from grassroots activity, this is from positive T.V. commercials.
This is an end result of people being so disgusted with Rick Scott and his
negative commercials, so bad that he threw in extra almost $13 million, his
own money in the last few days.

SCHULTZ: Democrats are counting on the crossover votes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not working.

SCHULTZ: And it`s very real here in Florida.

Charlie Crist is no stranger to Republicans who are now going to vote for
him. They remember a moderate.

You traditionally been a Republican?

MANN: I have. I am actually a registered Republican. I have some strong
feelings about health care and health care reform. And was quite
disappointed in the last election and the outcome from that, that had
Florida not accept things like Medicaid expansion and I don`t think that`s
been good for our state and our resident in Florida.

SCHULTZ: Here in Florida the theme for the Democrats is Scott-free, but
the millions of dollars its taken is almost staggering. So the Democrats
are counting on old retail politics and just being brilliant on the basics.

SCOTT ROBERTS, FL VOTER: I mean Government Scott has been a weak governor
that empowered the legislature and -- the governor should be the governor
for everybody.

DONNA GUTHRIE, FL VOTER: I think people are coming in to make Florida
better, you know, and we the best choice right now for the state of Florida
is Charlie Crist.

CEASAR: People are now motivated by the issues, they`re motivated by being
for Charlie Crist, and there`s a fair number who are motivated by against
Rick Scott since the four years have been terrible for Florida and the
middle class.

MANN: You know I have some -- there`s personal concerns about his business
background and some of the things that took place when he was running his
former health care company.

ROBERTS: Governor Scott according to the commercials has taken the 5th 75
times in fraud case and to me I don`t want my governor to be fraud
governor.

SCHULTZ: Former President Bill Clinton has been making the rounds. He`ll
be in Orlando, Florida tonight to sure up with the Democrats aren`t too
sure about. It`s the issues. The issues are ringing with voters.

TADDEO: Everybody`s been here and we appreciate it so much. We commercial
from President Obama as well running, so we are very proud of -- that
everybody`s coming together to make sure that we get out and vote. In
Florida we can`t forget 537. 537 votes is what decided Bush versus Gore
and changed the history of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A few hundred votes 555 votes and if there are in fact
more to be still counted, are opened. Do we really want to rush to
concession?

TADDEO: And so, in Florida I say to all the Floridians, take it seriously
every vote does count.

SCHULTZ: What has been the hardest thing about this campaign?

TADDEO: The money, the special interest, and Rick Scott himself. He just
burned a check for $20 millions and we know where he got his money from,
the biggest fraud to Medicare in the history of United States of America.
So, he bought the election last time and his trying to do it again. And I
think our voters are trying to send the message that Florida is not for
sale.

SCHULTZ: Governor Christie was down here and his infamous comment last
week was his tied to hearing about the minimum wage. And there`s your
opponent Rick Scott standing right next to him. Did that helped your
campaign?

TADDEO: I hope so. I think it`s amazing that they don`t realize that the
last time Florida raised the minimum wage and -- seeing all across the
country when you raise the minimum wage, employment actually goes up.

MARILYN EPSTEIN, FL VOTER: And I`d like to see minimum wage -- wages
increase. I am concerned about our college kids, graduating from their
universities, having tremendous, tremendous debts. They graduate I don`t
know how they can start their career when they`ve got hundreds of thousands
of dollars in debt.

SCHULTZ: Annette Taddeo says, down the stretch they think that Scott is
vulnerable where the Democrats have been consistent and strong.

TADDEO: He`s also campaigning with Ted Cruz. So, I mean Ted Cruz is the
one that shutdown the government. Ted Cruz doesn`t believe in immigration.
So that, you know, tell me who you`re with and I`ll tell you who you are.
That`s a big saying that we have in Spanish and that`s what Rick Scott is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: For more let me bring in Adam Smith Political Editor for the
Tampa Bay Times. Mitch Ceasar also with us tonight at Broward County
Democratic Party great to have both of you gentlemen with us tonight here
on the Ed Show.

Mitch you first, let`s talk earlier voting. What are the numbers and does
it give you any encouragement from what you`ve seen in the last few days?

CEASAR: Well we`ve always talked about trends and the trends in South
Florida as well as the trends in Broward County are very significant
because we are the largest Democratic County and South Florida is a
Democratic region. We have noticed day after day increased numbers.
Sunday just yesterday, we topped our previous best day in early voting by
60 percent.

In this county alone over 20,000 people vote in early voting just
yesterday. So we believe and that`s a South Florida regional issue as
well. All three counties Broward, Dade and Palm Beach are all doing
exceeding well, which I really do believe will spell the end of Rick Scott.

I don`t think he`ll be able to make up. And we actually believe the margin
going to Election Day will probably be around three percent. Four years
ago there margin going to Election Day which he narrowly won was 12
percent.

SCHULTZ: Adam what about the numbers the early numbers. On the ground
down here, my reporting tells me that it is Broward, it is Dade, it is Palm
Beach County. If the Democrats turn out heavy in those counties it`s going
to be hard for Scott to get reelected. What your political call on that?

ADAM SMITH, TAMPA BAY TIMES: You know, it is Florida so it`s hard -- these
are -- we are the state of razor thin races obviously, you know, that the
early voting numbers -- that`s by mail and in person look good. They look,
you know, four years ago Rick Scott won by one percentage point, he went
into Election Day with about 275,000 Republican advantage. This time that
advantages more like 99,000. So it`s look pretty good but this is still a
down to wire race.

SCHULTZ: So, Mitch Ceasar this is better than 2010 but not quite 2012. Do
I have that right?

CEASAR: Yeah, exactly right. And as you know and even your viewers know
because they`re pretty sophisticated by now. You can`t compare an off year
cycle with the presidential cycle. So compare with four years ago 2010.
And at least in South Florida -- were running about 50 percent at this
point ahead of where we were in 2010. This is been an unprecedented
effort, a certainly better than any coordination I`ve ever seen short of
presidential cycle.

SCHULTZ: What is Rick Scott wearing the navy cap for? Everywhere we see
him in recent week his got a navy cap on, what`s that all about?

CEASAR: Well, you know...

SMITH: I think...

CEASAR: We know he`s -- I`m sorry, go ahead.

SCHULTZ: Go ahead Mitch, go ahead.

CEASAR: Well, we know his follically challenged that`s why he wears a hat.
So, I guess everyone knew he was ethically challenged because of that
Medicare fraud. Now, he`s trying to hide the fact that he`s follically
challenged. I don`t believe he ever served in the armed forces. So, maybe
he`s claiming it was a gift from somebody.

SCHULTZ: Adam why does Scott have a four-point lead in early voting and
absentee voting. Is this normally the way it looks for the Republicans?

SMITH: Yeah and he should look better. I mean going into this -- we were
all saying midterm elections -- usually going into a midterm election, I`ll
been talking to Mitch Ceasar and he`d be trying to smile but he would exude
a sense impending doom. And we don`t really have that this time for the
Democrats. The Republicans always turnout more not just in Florida but
especially in Florida in midterm elections and they still are doing it, but
their advantage is a lot less.

SCHULTZ: Adam in reporting across the state, the lady that I`ve
interviewed in the story just a moment ago is a registered Republican who
remembers Charlie Crist is a moderate. This is a rather unique equation
unfolding here in Florida. How do you see that playing our and is that a
factor in this race?

SMITH: Well, I think it is a factor in the sense that yes those big
Democratic counties like Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade are crucial.
They need to get big turnout there. But where you`re Tampa the sort of
famous I-4 quarter Tampa across the state, to Daytona, those are your swing
voters. Four years ago the exit poll showed Rick Scott actually when we
barely won he had a lead with the independent voters. So that former
Republican profile of Charlie Crist I think might be reassuring to some of
those move conservative swing voters.

SCHULTZ: And Mitch Ceasar, the third candidate the Libertarian candidate
and his governors race. How is that play into this?

CEASAR: Well, it`s interesting because at the beginning the polls all said
they took away from Rick Scott. Now the polls are saying they away from
Charlie Crist and in fact there was a poll that just came out that said, if
this third-party candidate wasn`t in the race 75 percent of those people
would vote for Charlie Crist. So, we think we`re going to win. It`s going
to be very close.

But, you know, obviously, you know, Wyllie, that`s a gentleman`s name has
made it much closer. We think at the end of the day it really won`t make a
difference because Charlie Crist`s main attraction has always been the
independent swing voter in Florida?

SCHULTZ: Adam in your reporting, what do hear people in the ground saying
the issues are? Is it Medicare, Medicaid expansion, is it Obamacare, is it
minimum wage, is it immigration? What is moving Republican voters as you
can see it?

SMITH: You know, first of all I think the main people -- people are saying
on the ground is enough let gets this over with. They`ve been inundated
with more than $100 million of mostly negative ads. So if you pull it, the
issues are the economy, and opportunity, et cetera. And, Florida has
always been sort of a lot-cost low-wage state, now increasingly it`s a
pretty high-cost low-wage state.

So there`s a lot anxiety, pocketbook issues, but in terms of the campaigns,
its mostly just negative ads talking -- Rick Scott saying Charlie Crist was
a lousy governor and Charlie Crist is saying the same about Rick Scott.

SCHULTZ: And Mitch Ceasar there`s a New York element has been injected
into Florida politics. Unfolding the last couple of days is I think a real
personal attack on Charlie Crist from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
What`s your read on it?

CEASAR: I think it`s a desperate attempt by Rudy Giuliani to make himself
still feel needed. I think it`s going to have no political effect because
they forget as Rudy Giuliani did when we lost Florida in 2008 Republican
primary, that most of the voters down here that from the northeast, they`re
Democrats, and their hardcore Democrats. And their going to vote
Democratic and that`s Charlie Crist. So, I think at the end they`re
throwing everything they again the wall hoping something will stick.
Frankly Rudy Giuliani hasn`t stock for a long time.

SCHULTZ: Adam Smith, Mitch Ceasar great to have you with us on the Ed Show
tonight I appreciate your time here. This is going to be a very close
race. My assignment will be the Charlie Crist headquarters and that will
be tomorrow night in Saint Petersburg and our coverage here on MSNBC will
be outstanding, I guarantee you that.

Coming up, Republican organizations pump millions of dollars into the
Walker Campaign. Rapid Response Panel weighs on that.

Plus, roadblocks, yes roadblocks for North Carolina voters. Voting booth
system glitches favor the Republican candidate. We`ve got the story coming
up, stay with us, we`ll be right back on the Ed Show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Just a day before the election in
the senate race in North Carolina also is neck and neck. The latest YouGov
poll shows Senator Kay Hagan with a three point lead over State House
Speaker Thom Tillis within the margin of error. Tillis lead the charge in
North Carolina against same-day voter registration and early voting. It
seems those voter suppression tactics have backfired.

Nearly 1.1 million votes were cast during the 10-day early voting period
that ended on Saturday. That`s 200,000 more votes than during the 2010
midterms. Very encouraging for the Democrats and of course is when voters
had an extra week to get to the polls. But some early voters face another
roadblock as try to cast their ballots. Voters in Guilford County had
reported voting machine irregularities.

The county elections directors says his office receive 14 calls from voters
having problems at the polls. One voter in the town of Greensboro, North
Carolina says vote for Hagan registered as a vote for Tillis. This happen
three times on his voting machine before it registered correctly. The same
issue was reported at another Greensboro polling place earlier in the week.

Both voters were allowed to cast their votes on different machines without
problems. The country election director is urging voters to check the
paper roll on their voting machine to make their vote is cast correctly.
But it sounds troubling.

Joining me tonight is Reverend Dr. William Barber, who is the President of
the North Carolina NAACP, Reverend good to have with us tonight. I`m going
to go right to the story about these voting machines. How does that strike
you and what`s your response to that story?

REV. DR. WILLIAM BARBER, PRES. NORTH CAROLINA NAACP: Well it`s deeply
troubling not only do we see this voter suppression tactic and policy, now
we have this trouble with the machines but we are on it. We have an army
for voter suppression monitors out in the field.

You see the signs we are holding, we are asking people to call 188 our vote
if they have any problem. We do understand that those things were
corrected here in Greensboro, we`re actually in Greensboro now, but we`ve
got to be vigilant on every error because what has happened Ed, we are 27
percent higher in terms of turnout in 2010.

24 percent of that turn is African-American and with that movement we`re
seeing such a diverse broad movement from the mountains to the coast.
We`ve got a look and be ready for every trick and every trickery because
we`ve seen what people will try to do to suppress the vote.

SCHULTZ: Well, what is this mean for tomorrow Reverend? Is this a great
sign for Senator Kay Hagan and other Democrats on the ballot? How do you
read it? What does this mean?

BARBER: Well I think is a great sign for progressivism. You know, I won`t
make a partisan statement per se, but what I do know is that because we
have a movement on the ground, where people have been pushing and focusing
on this general assembly, it is having a tremendous reception in the
community.

People are voting because they recognize voting right is really on the
ballot. Medicaid is on the ballot, health care is on the ballot, public
education is on the ballot, women`s right. And they`re not just voting for
a person or a political candidate, they are voting for a different
directions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

BARBER: And what we`re seeing here is while you have to have an
independent movement that raises these deep moral and constitutional
values, if you going to have energy election particularly in an off-year.

SCHULTZ: Reverend what kinds of things are you doing to make sure that the
integrity of the vote is what it is? Now this was just was brought to us
today that the Justice Department says that it`s going to be monitoring the
vote in Robeson County, North Carolina where 38 percent is Native American,
24 percent African-American and about 30 percent of white voters, very
diverse in that county.

And there are number of counties around the country that the Justice
Department is going to do this, but what about the rest of North Carolina?

BARBER: Yeah. Well, we have all of our branches and a 160 Moral Monday
partners, coalition partners on for voter suppression alert. We have voter
monitors at almost all of the precincts particularly in African-American
communities. We have our host of lawyers that will be in our office and
will be on the ground. We have a host of lawyers that will be on this 1-
800 number.

We are watching everything, everything in this election because we`ve
already seen what people would try to do in the legislation and there`s no
telling what they would try to do at the ballot box. And we`re seeing to
people the best way you can overcome this is to vote.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

BARBER: We are calling on all 286,000 African-Americans that didn`t vote
in 2010 to vote. All 400,000 white women that didn`t vote in 2010 to vote.
We`re calling on people to turn out massively, make sure that this is not
an off-year election and we`re already seeing some good signs at that.

SCHULTZ: Do you think voters understand that if the Republicans get the
Senate that there will not be raise in the minimum wage in this country?

BARBER: I think that`s why a lot of more voting Ed, I think because they
already know for instance, with Thom Tillis. I don`t have to talk and
endorse about and talk what is already done. He said that minimum wage was
a dangerous idea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: yeah.

BARBER: So, you know, he`s already signal, he said and he would repeal,
for instance, Obamacare. What to do that means that he would say that
people who have a pre-existing condition should not be covered by the
insurance company.

They have resists any conversation about living wages and labor rights.
And that`s why from the mountains of the coast, I started in the mountains,
up Metro (ph) county there`s 9.5 percent white, 89 percent Republican. And
we had organizers up there and they are organized.

Today in Greensburg is the 42nd Moral march to the poll event and we`ve
done 17 straight in the last two weeks. And everywhere I`ve gone, the
crowd looks like what you see on your camera...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

BARBER: ... diverse, broad who are concern about these bread and butter
issues and how they going to affect everyday people`s lives.

SCHULTZ: All right. Reverend William Barber, I appreciate your time
tonight. You have done some magnificent work for the residence there in
the State...

BARBER: All together.

UNIDENTIFIEDMALE: ... of North Carolina. Thank you so much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) get back.

BARBER: Take care, Ed.

SCHULTZ: I appreciate it Reverend. Thank you so much. Thanks for joining
us.

Coming up, Scott Walker is 36 hours away from the coming either a player or
a pretender.

Rapid Response Panel weighs in.

Plus, the mayor of mistrust teams with Florida Republicans to slam Charlie
Crist. Rudy Giuliani lands in pretenders tonight.

Stay with us, we`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. It`s the final countdown of midterm
election eve. Candidates are doing their last minutes stumping and making
clearances all over the country today.

The latest NBC News Wall Street Journal poll shows a deadlock heading into
Election Day for control of the Congress.

46 percent of likely voters prefer Republican controlled Congress, 45
percent say they want the Democrats in-charge of the Senate.

In many of the key battle ground states, the Republican edge is slightly
bigger.

For most on this let me bring in Chuck Todd, Moderator of Meet the Press
and NBC News Political Director who does need new set of tires on that bus
he put so much -- so many road miles last week.

Chuck, good to have you with us tonight.

Breakdown these Senate races, Chuck at this hour, where are the things?

CHUCK TODD, NBC NEWS POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well look, everything in yellow
here -- let me just show you here. This is all the Senate races that are
up, everything in red are races we believe are leaning Republican or likely
to stay Republican including three Democratic House seats here, Montana,
South Dakota and West Virginia.

Everything in yellow is what`s up for grabs, and what`s amazing here, 8 of
these 10, I`d argue are four points of less as far as the margin is
concerned. But I`m going to circle too very quickly, early on that`s going
to tell us something about tomorrow night. That`s North Carolina and New
Hampshire.

Democratic House seats Jean Shaheen, Kay Hagan, Democrat incumbents; they
seem to be hanging on by a thread. If there is a Republican wave of any
sort and our NBC Wall Street Journal poll actually doesn`t really
indicated, but if there is then one of those two fall into the Republicans
early and then it`s not going to be a long night.

The question isn`t going to be if Senator goes Republican, it`s how big is
their majority? But if Democrats hold sir, then we have an interesting
night ahead of us. And let me take you to another toy I have here and it`s
a little sliding state her.

So, as I was saying, if Democrats end up holding North Carolina and holding
New Hampshire with Shaheen and Hagan, then the path is tricky for the
Republicans to get the sixth. Arkansas, they feel pretty good about,
they`re leading there, we`ll them that. Kentucky, certainly looks like
McConnell is going to hold on there.

So now they got to find four more here. They`re confident in Colorado.
I`m a little skeptical but we`ll see. Let`s go ahead and give it to them
for now though, and then go ahead and give them Iowa.

We saw that more in register poll, I think some people question the size of
that lead but that only gets into 49 and now they`re two short. The
question is where? It`s not going to come from Kansas.

I think right now I`ll been on Orman winning that thing. Now, we don`t
know who he going to caucuses with. Then we have the two runoff states
here of Georgia and Louisiana, and that puts Alaska in here and it`s going
to take as a long time to figure it out. But let`s say Democrats hold
Alaska.

Well now look what we`ve got here. Republicans are going to need two of
these three somehow convince Orman, maybe they don`t, they spent a lot of
money trying to defeat Orman. So let`s say he`s with the Democrats. So
then we`re looking at the two runoffs and they would have to win them both.
Louisiana is in December, Georgia would be in January.

So, I think we`re going to learn a lot early with New Hampshire and North
Carolina. If Democrats hold, serve on both then suddenly it`s a long and
intriguing night that could turn into days that could turn into months.

SCHULTZ: All right and Chuck Todd, you`ll be right there. I appreciate
your time tonight for breaking it down for us where we are at this hour.

Chuck Todd, NBC News Political Director with us here on the Ed Show
tonight.

There`s a lot more coming up on the Ed Show. Stay with us. We`ll be right
back.

JULIA BOORTSIN, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Julia Boorstin with your CNBC
Market Wrap. Stock has little change after Friday`s big rally.

The Dow falls 24 points, the S&P down just fractionally, pretty much flat,
and the NASDAQ adds more than 8 points.

Oil falls (ph) below, a key support level as West Texas Intermediate Crude
sells below $80 a barrel today. That sends shares of oil drillers lower.

And GM`s feels were mostly flat in October rising just two-tenth of a
percent from the year ago but it was the best October for GM since 2007.
Foreign sales fell 1.7 percent.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Tomorrow, Wisconsin Governor Scott
Walker faces his third election in four years.

Walker was the first governor in U.S. history to survive recall election.
Walker even managed to survive when six members of his team were convicted
under the John Doe investigation. If Walker wins he`ll quickly turn his
sights to a 2016 run for the White House.

The latest PPP poll has Walker ahead by just 1 point against Democratic
challenger Mary Burke. It`s a close race considering Republicans have
invested a lot in Walker over the past four years.

In 2010, the Republican Governors Association spent $5.2 million on
Walker`s campaign. And for the 2012 recall, they spent $9 million and this
time around they dropped to $8 million into Walker`s campaign.

Tomorrow, we`ll see if Republican`s long-term investment pays off. If
Walker wins, the GOP will have what? A radical battle tested anti-worker
hero ready for a 2016 presidential race. It would be the third opportunity
that the progressives have tried to knock off Walker and we`re not able to
do it. That might say a lot on the national scene.

If Walker losses, it`s send a message to Republican governors nationwide,
don`t mess with the workers.

Joining me tonight on our Rapid Response Panel Congresswoman Gwen Moore of
Wisconsin and Ruth Conniff, Editor-in-Chief for the Progressive Magazine,
great to have both of you with us tonight.

Congresswoman Moore, let`s talk about Milwaukee, the turn out. The
President has been there, the first lady has been there. There has been a
lot of push in the area of Milwaukee for turn out. Will it be there? Are
you encouraged by early voting and what kind of an impact is it going to
have on this race?

REP. GWEN MOORE, (D) WISCONSIN: Well Ed, we certainly have seen an
increase in early voting above the 2010 levels and even above the recall
levels here in Wisconsin and here in Milwaukee. So, we find that very
encouraging.

We certainly have appreciated all of our visitors especially the President
who`s been here stumping for Mary Burke but you did mention one thing and
that`s the enthusiasm gap.

We`re concerned about the enthusiasm gap because Republicans are just so
enthusiastic that they are poised to intimidate voters.

We just got word that the Department of Justice has really answered our
request to have election monitors because the election observers here are
going to benefit from a law that Scott Walker put into place where they
only have to be three feet away from a voter and we`ve seen already calls
for election observers to be vigilant.

We`ve seen during early vote where these election observers have tried to
get into the personal space of voters. So, Republicans are -- not only
enthusiastic about electing this right -- reelecting this right-wing
governor but...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MOORE: ... intimidating and they`re suppressing the vote for our voters.

SCHULTZ: Well, Ruth Conniff, enthusiasm to me means who shows up? Will
there be a good enough turnout for Mary Burke to win this? And if Walker
does win, this is somewhat of pivotal election, this would be the third
time in four years that the progressives were unable to defeat Walker. Put
that in perspective.

RUTH CONNIFF, THE PROGRESSIVE MAGAZINE: Well first of all I would say it`s
the second time that the progressives we`re unable to defeat him if he
wins. Because the first time I think it really kind of flew under radar.

People were very focused on Russ Feingold, who lost his Senate seat that
year, that Walker early race in 2010 for governor did not feature this
union busting and this -- our governor who`s become a national star didn`t
look that way. So when he runs as Milwaukee County executive, a lot of
people were caught flat-footed by how radical he turned out to be.

As far as the enthusiasm goes, you know, that`s what it`s all about, that`s
the right question. You know, if people come out and vote the majority of
people who are eligible to vote in Wisconsin then Walker losses. If people
stay home, he wins.

And really, the GAB is predicting, the Government Accountability Board
who`s our election monitor here, is predicting 56 percent turnout which is
huge for a non-presidential year.

So, I hope that Congresswoman Moore is right. Congresswoman Moore that
there are going to be a lot of people coming out to vote in Milwaukee and I
think that there`s been a strategy by the Republicans in Wisconsin as
across the nation to intimidate people. The voter I.D. law which was
overturned by the United States Supreme Court in Wisconsin for this
election really spread the word to people.

It`s going to be very difficult for them to vote. People need to know it`s
not going to be that hard, they don`t need I.D. and people need to really
be determined to come out. So, that`s -- you know, we don`t know what`s
going to happen. But if people are enthusiastic enough to drag somebody
else to the polls then Walker may loose and that means that his
presidential career will be derailed, which is really significant.

Salon called it the most significant race in the country, Walker`s race
because he is the man for the Republicans this year. They are really
looking at him as a potential presidential candidate. So, you know, that`s
significant for everybody.

SCHULTZ: It would make him a battle tested, election tested unlike any
other Republican in the country, from the middle of the country. But it
seems to me, Congresswoman Moore that Scott Walker is a lot like
Washington. He`s not like the middle of the country, your thoughts?

MOORE: Well I could tell you, I`ve known this guy for a really long time,
having been the only person that successfully defeated him. But I`ll say
this, to Ruth`s point. You know, when he won the recall election, it was
because he repudiated workers but since then, he has thrown everybody under
the bus.

Women, he`s taken $800 million out of the education fund, K through 12,
technical college and universities. No other governor, Democrat or
Republican has done that anywhere. He has, you know, he has approved strip
mines, ruining the environment. He has no concern for air and water
quality.

The elderly ill and infirm, didn`t take the Medicaid expansion money,
something that cost voters $260 million, and I`ll tell you, a lot of these
small towns and villages, these Republican enclaves...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MOORE: ... are giving second thought to a Republican Scott Walker, because
he is -- there is concern that he`ll dip into our pension fund and treat
regular citizens like he did those public workers.

SCHULTZ: And Ruth Conniff, what are progressives saying about possibly
being challenged at the polls. I mean, just ignore these people that come
up to voters, ignore them, they`re not obligated to answer any questions
whatsoever. Is there a campaign out there to tell people just to stay
focused and look straight ahead and pay no attention to these rabble-rouser
and that`s exactly what they are, your thoughts?

CONNIFF: Yes, I mean people have had to switch directions a couple of
times because, you know, we didn`t have voter I.D., then we done voter I.D.
law got through the courts here, then the U.S. Supreme Court put it on hold
for this election. So, whether or not people had to bring their I.D., you
know, there were sort of conflicting messages.

So, now I think they`re the real effort to tell people, you don`t need
I.D., it`s not going to be that hard, just get out and vote. And I think
Congresswoman Moore is exactly right, it`s not just the folks who you would
expect to vote against Walker who are having second thought, those
education cuts and the privatization of education, the fact...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

CONNIFF: ... that we have a voucher program now that serves 75 percent of
people who already sent their kids to private schools, skimming that money
out of public education in addition to the cut, that`s huge for people.

SCHULTZ: OK.

CONNIFF: The economic condition of our state under Walker is huge for
people. So, there`s a lot of people who are independent voters who are
thinking, you know, like the Wisconsin State Journal, a state-wide paper
just said, Burke would be better for Wisconsin, we don`t need this
divisiveness when we don`t need these bad economic news.

SCHULTZ: All right Congresswoman Gwen Moore and...

MOORE: And you know...

SCHULTZ: ... Ruth Conniff of the Progressive Magazine, great to have both
of you with us tonight. I wish we had more time, lots of going on before
this Election Day coming up tomorrow, I appreciate your time.

Coming up, the South Dakota senate seat could be in the hands of the
state`s Native American population, we`ll break it down. Members of the
Rosebud Sioux Tribe join me tonight to talk about it.

We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight, Mayor McCheese, Rudy Giuliani the
Florida GOP slammed Charlie Crist with a new commercial featuring, the
mayor of mistrust.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRM. MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI, (R) NEW YORK CITY: I`ve met a lot of good people
and a lot of bad people. I`ve met people in politics that are wonderful,
I`ve met people on politics that are OK, and I met people in politics that
I don`t like. I`ve never met a person in politics that I disrespect more
than Charlie Crist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Here`s the kind of politician Rudy Giuliani does respect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIULIANI: Putin decides what he wants to do and he does it in half a day
right? He went -- he decided he had to go to their Parliament, he went to
their Parliament, he got permission in 15 minutes...

NEIL CAVUTO, "YOUR WORLD COVUTO" HOST: Well, I mean, that was kind of like
perfunctory, right?

GIULIANI: But he makes a decision and he executes it quickly. Then
everybody reacts. That`s what you call a leader.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Rudy Giuliani`s integrity is a fast sinking ship, Giuliani
doesn`t know how to promote a political candidate. He should stick to his
day job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your identity needs protection and no one does it
better than LifeLock.

GIULIANI: Identity thief steals from everyone, you have to protect
yourself. I protect myself with LifeLock.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: The Mayor might be a decent salesman but he should stick to
LifeLock. If Rudy Giuliani thinks his endorsement comes with credibility
he can keep on pretending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. South Dakota`s Senate seat could be
in the hands of the state`s Native American vote. This is a very
interesting scenario that could play out. Democratic candidate Rick
Weiland has an uphill battle in tomorrow`s race, no doubt. Scandal
embattled Republican former Governor Mike Rounds leads in the polls.
Weiland says forget the numbers, don`t count him out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK WEILAND, (D-SD) SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I`ve been endorsed by all of
our tribes which I`m proud to have received that endorsement early on. I
spent a lot of time in Indian Country in this campaign. I`ve been of (ph)
about for the last, almost year and a half.

SCHULTZ: They`re with you on Keystone?

WEILAND: Yeah they are. They are.

SCHULTZ: OK, is that a motivator for them?

WEILAND: For them it`s a huge motivator, absolutely.

SCHULTZ: So, you`re counting on a huge Native American turnout?

WEILAND: I`m hoping for a huge Native American turnout, they`ve turned out
on the past when they`ve been motivated and I sense that there`s some real
motivation right now, not only on Keystone but they`re looking for someone
who`s going to fight for them too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: This wouldn`t be the first time South Dakota`s tribal vote came
through for the Democrats. In 2002, Senator Tim Johnson held on to his
South Dakota Senate seat by a narrow 524 votes over John Thune, the Native
American vote got credit for the victory.

The Conservative National Review Magazine, dedicated their December
coverage to Johnson, the editor`s blocked his face with the stamp reading,
invalid Senator. Some Thune supporters claim Johnson stole the election,
Tim Johnson didn`t steal the election, he listened to the voters and the
voters on those reservations made a big difference.

Joining me tonight Wizipan Little Elk and also Oliver Jay Semans, gentlemen
good to have you with us tonight. Wizipan you first, tell us about the
early voting, is there a motivated vote that`s going to come from Shannon
and Todd County which in the past have had a big influence on South Dakota
elections?

WIZIPAN LITTLE ELK, ROSEBUD SIOUX TRIBE: There is absolutely a motivated
vote, in actuality Todd County which is historically an under represented
with county and has been plagued by low voter turnouts has actually led the
entire state of South Dakota in early voting. We`ve seen really great
numbers coming out of Shannon County as well. So, I think the voters are
motivated, they`re motivated by the candidate, they`re motivated by the
issues and I think we`re going to see a very, very good turnout.

SCHULTZ: In 2004 when John Thune came back and defeated Tom Daschle, he
won by less than sixth-tenths of one percent, 4,500 votes. Oliver do you
see this being this close tomorrow in South Dakota and your thoughts on the
Native American vote?

OLIVER SEMANS, ROSEBUD SIOUX TRIBE: Well I`m hoping that it does become an
issue where the Native American vote turnout makes a difference but, you
have to understand it`s just not the, going there and casting a ballot.
Native Americans are fighting a small -- early voting places, they`re
fighting the sheriff being placed there in Pine Ridge. They`re, you know,
they`re fighting provisional ballots everyday where they`re given
provisional ballots.

We had to call in for federal monitors from the Department of Justice to
sit there so that they can at least be able to try to cast a vote. So yes,
we expect a high turnout but we`re also -- being faced with obstacles all
along the way.

SCHULTZ: Wizipan what about the integrity of the vote? Can it be
protected?

LITTLE ELK: Well, you know, one of the reasons why I`ve been such a
staunch advocate for participation in the American system is, voter
intimidation that I`ve seen in the past, I`ve literally seen an old Indian
grandmother who`s going to the polls for the first time in her life, in her
80`s and as she`s trying to go to the polls I`ve seen a Republican
operative standing in front of her taking pictures.

That`s one of the reasons why I`ve been such a staunch advocate for
participation in the American system, we have to protect the vote and we
have to get our people out and we have to raise our voices and to say, no
more. You know, I think the civil rights era kind of skipped over much of
Indian Country when it comes to voter participation.

SCHULTZ: Oliver what about the Keystone XL Pipeline Project, they`re still
a permitting issue in the state of South Dakota but when I was out there
reporting, there are many Native Americans who are very concerned about the
protection of the resource and the land, is this moving people to the
polls?

SEMANS: Yes, well it`s -- what it is, we have an obligation to our
ancestors and protect the sacred land and the water. And our generation
and the next generation all see that as a reason for us to make our voice
heard.

SCHULTZ: Wizipan, Mike Rounds a former governor who is leading in the
polls right now says that Keystone is a done deal, what`s your response to
that?

LITTLE ELK: It`s absolutely not a done deal, people have been saying it`s
a done deal for the past five years and, you know, we`ve seen the cowboy
and Indian alliance, Indians in South Dakota and cowboys from Nebraska come
together and I can say that we`ve stopped the pipeline thus far and we`re
going to continue to fight the pipeline, it`s not a done deal by any means.

SCHULTZ: What happens Oliver if Mike Rounds wins this Senate seat and do
you think there`s a chance that Rick Weiland can win? And this is a very
interesting scenario playing out with also Pressler in there as a third
candidate? What about it?

SEMANS: Well, right now, they have the numbers, you know, as far as the
polls are concerned with Mike Rounds winning. But I`ve talked to hundreds
if not thousands of Native Americans they didn`t get those phone calls for
the polls. So, we`re the undercounted not only when it comes to voting,
we`re the undercounting when it comes to the polling.

So, I think you`re going to be a -- see a big surprise when it comes
Election Day where everybody`s going to say, where did all these Indians
come from? Because we are here, we will vote and we will make a
difference.

SCHULTZ: What about that Wizipan, your thoughts on that comment?

LITTLE ELK: Well, I think that we`re going to get out in record breaking
numbers. I think that we`re going to do extremely well, we`re doing really
well when it comes to early voting and you know what? We`re 13 percent of
the state now, half our population is under the age of 21. In 10 years
we`re going to be 20 percent of the state. In 30 years we might be 30
percent of the state and I think...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

LITTLE ELK: ... that both Republican and Democrats need to start listening
to the Indians and where we stand on the issues and...

SCHULTZ: All right.

LITTLE ELK: ... they can`t continue to ignore us.

SCHULTZ: Wizipan Little Elk and also Oliver Jay Semans good to have both
of you gentleman with us tonight, it will be an interesting race to follow
tomorrow in South Dakota no doubt.

I am of course reporting from the Charlie Crist headquarters down here in
Florida that`s my assignment, looking forward to it. It`s going to be very
close.

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

PoliticsNation 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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