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The Ed Show for Friday, November 14th, 2014

Read the transcript to the Friday show

Show: THE ED SHOW
Date: November 14, 2014

Guest: Bernie Sanders, Howard Dean, Wendell Potter, Lori Wallach, Larry
Cohen, Tom Colicchio

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good evening Americans and welcome to the Ed Show
live from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

Let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) MINORITY LEADER: The Democrat who counts is
the President of the United States.

STEVE DOOCY, "FOX & FRIENDS" CO-HOST: President Obama has vowed executive
action.

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS HOST: This is the President that the left may not
want to set...

JIMMY FALLON, NBC NEWS HOST: Made a 10-part immigration plan before
Thanksgiving.

BILL O`REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: Terrible for the country.

OBAMA: I gave the House over a year to go ahead and at least give a vote.

FALLON: And you thought you coming wouldn`t have anything to argue about
this...

DOOCY: Exactly.

OBAMA: I have to constantly push back...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The House voting...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... overwhelming in favor...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... to approve the Keystone Pipeline.

OBAMA: Judge this pipeline...

TUCKER CARLSON, "FOX & FRIENDS" CO-HOST: Actually not that much
Republicans can do...

OBAMA: Whether it helps the American people...

CARLSON: They can impeach him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They can impeach the President.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: We`re going to fight the
President tooth and nail.

MCCONNELL: The Democrat who counts is the President of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight folks. Thanks for watching.

So let`s gather it right here. How many votes has Boehner had in the House
when it comes to repealing health care? But they just can`t vote on
immigration reform, can they? The new Republican Majority, well it hasn`t
taken very long for them to get pretty ugly about things.

Republicans are focused on the Keystone XL Pipeline and trashing President
Obama over immigration.

Earlier today the House did vote. They voted 252 to 161 to approve the
Keystone XL Pipeline as expected. The Senate is expected to vote on the
Keystone XL Pipeline this coming Tuesday. Democrats think a Keystone
approval would be good for Senator Mary Loretta Landrieu`s reelection
chances in Louisiana.

I say hogwash to that. Republicans are using the bogus argument that
Keystone would just create a stunning amount number of jobs. President
Obama is pushing back on that bogus jobs claim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: As a policy matter, my government believes that we should judge
this pipeline based on whether or not it accelerates climate change or
whether it helps the America people with the their energy cost and their
gas prices. And I have to constantly pushback against this idea that
somehow the Keystone Pipeline is either this massive jobs bill for the
United States or is somehow lowering gas prices.

Understand what this project is, it is providing the ability of Canada to
pump their oil, send it through our land, down to the Gulf where it will be
sold everywhere else. And it doesn`t have an impact on U.S. gas prices.
You know what does have an impact on U.S. gas prices is the incredible boom
in U.S. oil production and natural gas production that`s taken place under
my administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: It`s nice to know the President of the United States has been
watching the Ed Show for the last six months. President Obama seems to be
making the case against the pipeline that, "Oh by the way everything he
just said was factually correct." And, Senate Hoeven of North Dakota told
us on this program the other night 42,000 jobs, although Mitch McConnell
says a stunning amount of jobs would be created.

I was on the ground in Nebraska six months ago and I was told 30 full-time
jobs when it`s all said and done. The Keystone would create minimal long-
term jobs. I just gave you the number. It will increase carbon emissions.
That`s a fact. The oil will flow through our country and then be shipped
overseas on the world market. That`s a fact.

It`s not going to lower your gas prices. That`s a fact. Basically America
takes all the risk and gets none of the reward other than to say, "Hey
Canada you`re really good guys. Come on down."

Judging by the President`s tone, I wouldn`t hold out a whole lot of hope
for an approval on Keystone anytime soon. Republicans are again wasting
America`s time on a bill that would go nowhere. Meanwhile, President Obama
also had some tough words Republicans on immigration reform.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: There has been ample opportunity for Congress to pass a bipartisan
immigration bill that would strengthen our borders, improve the legal
immigration system, lift millions of people out of the shadows so they are
paying taxes and getting right by the law. It passed out of the Senate. I
gave the House over a year to go ahead and at least give a vote to the
Senate bilaterally; they failed to do so.

And I indicated to Speaker Boehner several months ago, that if in fact,
Congress failed to act, I would use all the lawful authority that I possess
to try to make the system work better. And that`s going to happen. That`s
going to happen before the end of the year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: All signs show President Obama is nearing a final decision on an
immigration executive order. Depending on his final decision, the action
could allow up to 5 million undocumented immigrants to stay and work in the
United States legally, most of them the ones with kids that have been born
here.

Now, and this things has Republicans absolutely furious. On Thursday House
Speaker John Boehner says he`s working out a battle plan on immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOEHNER: The President is threatening to take unilateral action on
immigration, even though in the past he`s made clear he didn`t believe he
had the constitutional responsibility or authority to do that. And I`ll
just say this, we`re going to fight the President tooth and nail if he
continues down this path.

This is the wrong way to govern. This is exactly what the American people
said on Election Day they didn`t want, and so all of the options are on the
table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: All options are on the table says the Speaker of the House. That
includes a government shutdown and his bogus lawsuit question mark. In the
past Boehner has said impeachment is not on the table. But other House
Republicans don`t agree.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. JOE BARTON, (R) TEXAS: Impeachment is indicting in the House and
that`s a possibility. But you still have to convict in the Senate and that
takes a two-thirds vote. But impeachment would be a consideration. Yes
sir.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: The talking heads on Fox, we`ll, they couldn`t agree more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY: This President is pushing it and pushing it and pushing it on the
sliding scale. If we`re talking 5 million illegal immigrants, we are in
unprecedented territory. Don`t let anybody tell you that a President has
done that before. They haven`t.

When Ronald Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million he did it with the Congress.
We`re in new and uncharted waters here. And that`s why some say the
Republicans have no choice but to call out that perceived lawlessness and
do something as political unpopular as impeach him.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, COLUMNIST: Look, I believe it is an impeachable
offense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Shockingly not all Republicans are onboard with government
shutdowns, lawsuits or impeachment. Here is incoming Colorado Senator Cory
Gardner earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORY GARDNER, (R-CO) SENATOR-ELECT: The bottom line is this, instead of
charging each other with lawsuits or litigation or Executive Orders or
abuses of power, why don`t we actually do what the American people sent us
to. Let`s work together. Let`s be the grown ups in the room, that`s what
they hope Washington is and get the job done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: They had their chance to pass immigration reform and they have
failed. President Obama is finally standing up for the people who put him
in office. This should be a lesson for all Democrats on how to fight back
against Republicans. And this is a defining moment I believe for
progressives who are probably a little bit down at the mouth right now and
wondering where this whole thing is going to go. Stick to your core
values.

This idea that Mary Landrieu has to vote for Keystone to get reelected is
hogwash. It doesn`t mean that she`s anti-oil. She would be voting for
something that we don`t need. She would be voting for something that the
world doesn`t need. We don`t need the dirtiest oil in the world to go on
the market.

We don`t have to put another pipeline over our aquifer and pipelines do
leak. Why would we take that risk? And the President put it on your
table. Are your energy cost going to go down because of Keystone? No,
there`s guarantee there.

Get your cellphones out I want to know what you think. On immigration, do
you think Republicans would impeach President Obama over an executive order
on immigration?

Text A for yes, text B for no to 67622, you could always go to our blog at
ed.msbc.com. We`ll bring you the results later on in the show.

Now tonight, we have the Vermont Hour. And I`m proud to bring it to you.

Let`s bring in former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and also Independent
Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont. All right, I`m going to go to the
young guy first. That would be me, all right, just kidding.

Great to have both of you guys here always. You know these are two issues
that the Democrats have been well-defined on in the past. The Democrats
have led the charge, progressive have led the charge on climate change. No
question about it, they want to do something about it. And the Democrats
have been very clear that immigration is something that we have to deal
with.

Now that there`s been a power shift in the legislative side, Senator
Sanders what`s going to change, number one on immigration?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: Well the President made it clear, the
Senate in fact did the right thing we passed the immigration reform. The
House has stalled and stalled and stalled. They have done nothing.

And in my view, what the President is going to make very clear if the
Congress can`t act, for the sake of the America people he has got to act.
He`s got to act on immigration. He`s got to act on climate change. He has
got to act on jobs, on raising the minimum wage, define for the America
people what has to be done and let the Republicans say no.

SCHULTZ: Governor Dean, your thoughts on that?

FRM. GOV. HOWARD DEAN, (D) VERMONT: The Republicans have been very good at
saying no. And the truth is that Speaker Boehner and his crowd obstructed
almost everything that the President wanted to do without proposing any
reasonable alternative. They say they had passed 400 bills that have gone
over to the Senate to die, well that`s because the Senate was doing there
job and not letting the crackpot right-wing and Speaker Boehner`s Tea Party
caucus rewrite the Constitution and rewrite the laws of the United States.

Look here are the facts, these five million people that the President is
talking about allowing to stay have children that are American citizens.
They`ve often lived here for up to 20 years. They have already contributed
to the economy. If you kick them out, first of all the economy is going to
be worse off especially in towns like Hazelton which is really suffering
because they had the right-wing Mayor, now Congressman up there.

What the President wants to do makes common sense that Republicans are
raising issues, dividing us by ethnicity. That`s what they always do. I`m
glad the President is standing up for doing the right thing.

SCHULTZ: Senator do you think that this would be an impeachable offense?
Now I`m not trying to play into the right-wing bullet points here. But
they are saying what they are saying. They believe that the President
would be operating outside of his executive authority and breaking the law
if he were to take executive action that would give work permits to
undocumented workers as a part of immigration reform. Your thoughts on
that.

SANDERS: No, of course I do not believe that is an impeachable offense.
You know what the Republicans have done in an extraordinarily effective way
is play very good politics. They just won a decisive vote by running the
way Ed, from everything they really stand for and by putting -- as Governor
Dean just mentioned one group against the other.

The fact of the matter is that if you look at the Republican agenda, it`s
about cutting Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid not addressing the
very serious problems facing the American people. So what they in fact can
do I`m sure is rally their extreme right-wing base by talking about
immigration, by talking about an impeachment.

But I think when they do that, they`re going to alienate the vast majority
of the American people who understand this country has enormously serious
problems that have got to be addressed.

SCHULTZ: Do you think Senator Sanders that the President saying that he`s
going to move on executive action is going to move the legislative body any
faster now that`s in the hands of the Republicans on this issue?

SANDERS: I think what we need to Ed, is clear the air. And the President
has got to be able to say, "This is what I`m going to do if you guys don`t
act." What the President has said over and over again is he wants
legislation. Legislation is much more effective than executive action.

But if you have a Congress that refuses to move on important issues he has
got to act. And I`ll tell you what else I think Ed, I think the President
should make it very clear right now that those pieces of legislation that
he`s prepared to veto and rally the America people in saying no cuts to
Social Security, Medicare and nutrition. No cuts. No more cuts, tax
breaks for the wealthiest people in this country.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: Let`s define the issues and see where we can work together. And
there are many areas. Let the President stand with the American people and
say that the Republicans know we`re not going to go down the path of more
pain for the American worker.

SCHULTZ: Governor Dean, it sounds like...

DEAN: Ed, could I just add something quickly...

SCHULTZ: Absolutely, go ahead.

DEAN: I just wanted to add to that, to Senator Sanders` is that, you know,
it`s the job of the House to pass bills. We don`t expect the House to pass
a bill that the Democrats are going to like or the President is going to
like. But they`ve got to go on the record and say what they would do.
They can`t simply -- they`re asked to pass an immigration bill already
passed by the Senate. They don`t have to pass what the Senate passed.

SCHULTZ: No.

DEAN: But their response to every bill they don`t like is, well let`s
impeach the President their popularity rating is going to go below nine and
that`s hard to do.

SCHULTZ: Let`s talk Keystone. Governor Dean, how big -- where does the
President give in on Keystone? I mean is there a piece of legislation and
amendment that they would -- or a piece of legislation that they would put
on the table that he would have to go with?

And have Keystone as an n amendment that he would have to cave on? How do
you see that playing out? Because that`s seems to be the plan that the
Republicans are going to take.

DEAN: Well I think that`s an interesting plan. It seems to me that the
way to do this is to let the law take effect. Here on the one hand the
Republicans are talking about impeaching the President because they won`t
do their job. And on the other hand now when the President does want to do
his job they`re going to override that by passing a Bill. You know, the
problem with this is, you know, if the Senate and the House should pass a
bill and the President would veto it you need 67 votes in the Senate to
override that.

I think that`s very, very unlikely. I think this thing ought to be looked
at or ought to be passed or passed over to this, from the State Department
to the President assuming that States Department approves. And then let
this President decide on the merits. And I have no doubt that he`ll do
that. I just find it interesting that the Senate on the one hand doesn`t
want to short-circuit on immigration but they`re certainly happy to short-
circuit the Keystone Pipeline.

SCHULTZ: Senator Sanders, would you use all of your legislative power to
stop Keystone?

SANDERS: The answer is yes. I mean I think the passage of Keystone sends
a horrible, horrible message to the entire world. And that message is that
the United States is not serious about reversing about climate change and
all of the devastation that climate change is going to bring. So I think
we have got to be very, very strong on this issue. I think if it does get
passed to the Senate next week I think the vote is on Tuesday.

I hope very much the President veto`s it. And I hope he will be able to
sustain that veto. But the bottom line is, if you`re talking about jobs,
and you made this point Ed, you`re talking about less than 100 permanent
jobs. If we want jobs we`ve got to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure
and create millions of jobs not 100 jobs. So I hope -- I will do
everything that I can to see the defeat of this Keystone Pipeline.

SCHULTZ: Doesn`t it sound like the President is not going to go along with
it, based on his last comments at his press conference. It sounds like no
ones made the case to him that we have to have this. That`s what I`m
hearing. What are you hearing?

SANDERS: Well I`m hearing the same thing that you are and I hope that that
is true. I hope very much that he does veto it. This is not a jobs
program. This is not going to lower gas prices for the average American
motorist. And in fact there are studies out there that suggest it will
raise gas prices. So, this is a bad and stupid piece of legislation that
will benefit campaign contributors and oil companies. It`s not going to
benefit the American people.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. And Governor Dean, how far should the Democrats go to save
one Senate seat?

DEAN: Well we always want to save as many Senate seats as we can. You
know, my view is, we`re better off not short-circuiting the process, there
is a process. People are trying to do their job. You know, what the
Senate could do is sit down with the President and ask him for a timeline
in which he`s going to make a decision. That seems reasonable to me. It`s
the same -- sort of the reverse of immigration reform.

I think if John Boehner sat down with the President and said look we`re
going to get something passed on your desk and then we can negotiate about
what`s in it. That`s the way the process is supposed to work. So I think
we`re not off to a great start circumventing all these processes whether
its immigration or Keystone.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Governor Howard Dean, Senator Bernie Sanders. Gentlemen,
thanks so much. A lot of common sense coming out of Vermont I think. Good
to have you with us Gentlemen. Thanks a lot.

Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the screen.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter@edshow and Facebook. We always want
to know what you think and appreciate it.

Coming up, the TTP and the war on wages, workers will loose and
multinationals like Walmart are going to win big. We`ll look at how to
stop this trade disaster and the President is wrong on this one I think.

But first in Trenders, a war of words over Obamacare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Was there junk insurance in the industry before this law? Yes or no.

DANA LOESCH, HOST, "DANA" ON THEBLAZE: Well first off we`re not going to
frame the questions that way.

SCHULTZ: Why not? What do you mean? What are you talking about?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Time now for Trenders. Keep in touch with us on Twitter@edshow
and on Facebook. And of course you can follow the Ed team. We like it
when you do that. You can get my Podcast on iTunes, free 24/7. You can
find it at wegoted.com, rawstory.com, ringoffireradio.com.

The Ed Show social media nation has decided and we`re reporting.

Here today`s top Trenders, yes, voted on by you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL ROKER, NBC TODAY WEATHER ANCHOR: Let`s the Rokerthon begin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The number three trender, Roker`s record.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Al wraps up with record setting weather cast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is humongous feat.

ROKER: It doesn`t feel like it was 34 hours.

Oh, yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 295 live shots.

ROKER: We just keep going.

Just when you though it was safe go outside, polar vortex is back.

I went to -- heed nature`s call.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And going.

ROKER: And we forgot that my mike was on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should have spoken to me earlier about live mike
on.

SCHULTZ: Al you`re a whether warrior.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Al Roker, the man of myth the legends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The number two trender, counter point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the photo of Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges arm
in arm with the man flashing what law enforcement agencies tells us is
known gang sign.

WELSLEY SNIPES, ACTOR: Oh, I`m so scared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Mayor of Minneapolis responds to the pointer gate
controversy.

MICHAEL QUINN, RET MPLS POLICE OFFICER: They`re flashing gang signs back
and forth at each other showing solidarity with the gangs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Finger pointing gets us nowhere.

QUINN: Nobody saying that their mayor is in cahoots with the gangs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hodges said that she is dedicated to making the
relationship between police and the community as strong as it can be.

STEVE MARTIN, ACTOR: Just give me a sign.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In today`s top trender, check out (ph).

SCHULTZ: This health care law has help Americans.

SYLVIA MATHEWS BURWELL, U.S. SEC. OF HHS: 10.3 million adults are not
longer uninsured.

SCHULTZ: And the Republicans want to repeal all of it.

MCCONNELL: Every one of my members thinks that Obamacare was a huge
legislative mistake.

BOEHNER: The House I`m sure, at some point next year will move to repeal
Obamacare.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Conservative can`t come up with an answer on health
care.

SCHULTZ: Why do the Republicans not have a plan on the table?

LOESCH: There are over at least nine plans that have been submitted by a
House Republicans.

KRYSTAL BALL, "THE CYCLE" HOST: They have offered various little piecemeal
things...

SCHULTZ: Hey look you got the power. Give us a plan.

LOESCH: We`ve had plans that have been submitted and no one wants to
acknowledge that...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining me tonight Wendell Potter, Senior Analyst at the Center
for Public Integrity. Mr. Potter good to have you with us tonight.

WENDELL POTTER, CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: Thank you Ed.

SCHULTZ: Let`s cut right to the facts because -- thank you sir. Let`s cut
right to the facts. The Republicans clearly don`t have a plan for health
care. They talk about repealing Obamacare but they don`t say, "Here, we`re
going to do this." Do more Americans have health care today than they did
a year ago today?

POTTER: Oh absolutely, at least 10 million more Americans have covers than
they -- than just time last year. And the rate of the uninsured in this
country has dropped dramatically. So the answer is emphatically yes. We
have far more people with health insurance now then actually every before.

SCHULTZ: Mr. Potter, look at these numbers. We`ve got the insurance
industry trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Human, Aetna, Cigna, look
at WellPoint up 47 percent from October 1st to 2013 to where they are
today, increasing of 17, 45, 30, 30 and 47 percent. Are these companies
benefiting from Obamacare?

POTTER: Oh they certainly are, when you take even a longer view. When you
look at what has happened to their stock prices since the law was passed in
2010, it`s been even more incredible. UnitedHealthcare stock price has
increase over 300 percent. 300 percent and several other -- and none of
them has -- that is trading in the New York Stock Exchange has done worst
that 200 percent.

So they had done quite well and they have a lot new members and many
billions of dollars in revenue that they wouldn`t have had without reform.

SCHULTZ: So, those companies that we just showed have been involve in
Obamacare and because of the federal legislation you would say they have
more customers?

POTTER: Oh yes they have more customers. They have many more customers
and revenue they wouldn`t have had otherwise, had it not been for
Obamacare. They have plenty of new customers and they stay in game of
course more as we go into the next open enrollment period for plans that
are affected next year.

SCHULTZ: OK. So I have just asked you a series of direct questions which
I posed to a right-winger on this program last night and I didn`t get
straight answers. What happens if Obamacare gets repealed and the threats
that McConnell and Boehner are making right now. What happens to the
answers that you just give me?

POTTER: Well, those answers would no longer be valid. First of all they
won`t be -- the law will not repeal and Boehner and McConnell know that.
They don`t want it to be repealed. This has always been a political
strategy to win votes, to confuse people to win votes. But if by some
chance it were repealed, we would have million and millions of Americans
losing their coverage and everyone else losing the assurance of having
coverage if we lose our jobs or we get sick.

People just have -- completely forgotten and certain maybe the Republicans
had tried to obscure the fact that the law does much to make sure that we
have far more health care security than we`ve ever had before.

SCHULTZ: And of course they get they get their back up big time when you
use the term junk insurance. Let me explain it way and you can respond and
tell me if I`m right or wrong here. There are federal standard that have
been put into this law that are forcing the health insurance industry to
perform at a certain level. And if they don`t they can`t offer that plan.
Let`s word it that way, what`s your response?

POTTER: Well, that exactly right and before the law went into effect.
There were many plans. Many people enrolled in plans. They didn`t realize
until it frankly was too late just how worthless the policies often were.
I mean many of these policies didn`t cover hospitals stay and that people
had to pay thousands and thousands of dollars out of their own pockets
before they got any coverage. That is real junk insurance and they can
sell those policies anymore.

But there is plenty of choice and competition. If you got to
healthinsurance.org which is a great website to look for health coverage in
addition to healthcare.gov, you can see that Americans have the choice of
30,000 health plans to choose from. Talk about choice and competition
there`s never been anything quite like that.

SCHULTZ: All right, is it -- final question. Is it possible that there
could be a cancer patient in America that could not get health insurance?

POTTER: Oh absolutely, and many cancer patients were not able to get
coverage and something that they try obscure as well too. Before
Obamacare, people who were sick, people who had cancer often were blindfold
(ph) they couldn`t buy coverage at any price because of that. That`s no
longer a possibility, insures can no longer deny coverage to people because
they`ve been sick.

SCHULTZ: All right, Wendell Potter always a pleasure. Great to have you
with us, I appreciate your time. Thanks so much for being on the Ed Show.

Coming up, the trade deal that would force American workers to compete with
a $0.20 an hour minimum wage. We`ll have the latest on the looming fast
track of the TPP.

Plus, we are waiting the grand jury decision on the Michael Brown shooting
in Missouri. We`ll bring you the new details out of Ferguson, Missouri.

But next, I got your question Ask Ed Live coming up on the Ed Show on
MSNBC. We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to Ed Show. I appreciate all the questions, love
hearing from our viewers.

Tonight in our Ask Ed Live segment, our first question comes from Dennis
(ph). "After yesterday`s show, will you have any conservatives back on?"

Two words "Absolutely yes". Well, I got more words, I can`t wait till the
next time.

Our next question is from Rich. "Should MSNBC viewers start a drinking
game every time Fox News mentions the world Impeachment?"

Two words again. Absolutely no, because if you do that you`d be drunk all
day.

Stick around Rapid Response Panel is next, stay with us.

JULIA BOORSTIN, CNBC MARKET WRAP: I`m Julia Boorstin with you CNBC Market
Wrap.

Stocks end mixed and little change. The Dow Industrials falling 18 point,
the S&P 500 flat, the NASDAQ adding 8 points.

Consumers are feeling optimistic about the economy as the holiday session
approaches. Sentiment jumped in November to a more than 7-year high,
thanks to lower unemployment and falling gas prices.

And speaking of consumers, the retail sales rose more than expected last
month`s sales were up three-tenths of a percent.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Thanks for watching tonight.

American workers are standing up for a fair wage. This was the scene last
night at a Walmart in Los Angeles. Workers want their voices heard in the
workplace. So they protested and they were met with police in riot gear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you doing this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To stop the retaliation for speaking up. We have a
lot associate to spoke up and we`re fired.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is it worth it for you to get arrested at this
point?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have two sons and it`s their future that I`m
concerned about mainly. And Walmart is setting the trends to all
companies. So if we don`t change it now, the future of our youth, they`re
in dire straits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Future of American labor depends on providing fair opportunities
and respecting workers rights. These Walmart employees are fighting for
their livelihood while President Obama is ready to put America`s labor
force in direct danger with a bad trade agreement. The White House called
the Trans Pacific Partnership a top priority.

As the President traveled to Beijing this week, the President hopes to seal
the NAFTA on steroids trade pack while traveling through Asia. Trade
minister already say that the finish line is in full view.

Meanwhile, the view has been cutoff from the American public. TPP
negotiations have been in complete secrecy. The deal could trigger the
downfall of key environmental provisions and lead to more outsourcing of
American jobs. The Republicans can`t wait to past this trade deal. It`s
the first thing McConnell talk about.

Joining me tonight on a Rapid Response Panel, Director of Public Citizen
Global Trade Watch Lori Wallach is with us, and also President of
Communication Workers of America Larry Cohen. All of you, great to have
you with us tonight.

I can`t get off this story, I wont` get off this story. I honestly in my
heart believe that the President is fishing out on the wrong boat on this
one. I don`t know who`s giving him advise on this or where the pressure is
coming from because he is -- I think right on so many things, how could he
be so wrong on this? Lori Wallach, how close are they to a deal, what was
the significant of this trip.

LORI WALLACH, PUBLIC CITIZEN GLOBAL TRADE WATCH: They got very close to a
deal I would say. It`s not a done deal. There are both real trade issues
and also a lot of countries the other countries, are very nervous about
giving away access to affordable medicine. The financial regulation I`ll
keep from another economic crisis.

They are worried about their local development, Internet freedom, all of
these staff that heartbreakingly, the Obama Administration negotiators are
bidding on the other countries to concede on for the big U.S. corporations.

So it`s not a done deal but (inaudible) and the big difference is going to
be whether or not Congress concedes its authority in the constitution and
gives fast track authority to ram the thing through. No fast track, maybe
no deal.

SCHULTZ: Mr. Cohen, has labor had an opportunity collectively and those
who advocate for workers on this country to collectively sit down with the
President and speak directly with the President on this and tell him how
wrong he is on this from your perspective, what about that?

LARRY COHEN, PRESIDENT CWA: Insufficient. There`s an opportunity to talk
to Ambassador Froman but the problem is his talking has changed next to
nothing. This is once again a deal where labor rights will be symbolic and
the enforcement of them useless just as they`ve been with CAFTA and NAFTA
and PNTR. Our enforcement takes years while multinational corporations go
over the top in secrete tribunals and sue for billions of dollars when
other nations like Vietnam in this case do anything to improve their labor
rights and their environmental rights.

This is way out of kilter, way out of balance and Ambassador Froman knows
it so does the President. The Chamber of Commerce is cheering and that`s
why we`re getting this deal. The Chamber of Commerce is basically writing
this deal.

SCHULTZ: So how -- Mr. Cohen how could the PRESIDENT being so wrong on
this. How can he be so adamant about certain things, minimum wage, he
wants to raise the minimum wage. He wants health care for all Americans
but then when it comes to keeping the jobs here and there`s a history of
what trade deals have done to American workers, how can he be so wrong on
this? Who is pushing him?

COHEN: We get this correlation of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the
National Security Council and State Department. The State Department
believes this will move Vietnam closer to the U.S. and a few steps from
China. And meanwhile the President will say things like, it will increase
jobs but every fifth grader knows that he have to do subtraction not just
the addition and we`ll have a net loss of manufacturing jobs to Vietnam and
service sector jobs to other nations that will join the TPP.

There will be a net job loss as there has been on every trade deal since
NAFTA. And American people like this week, millions of us have to stand up
and say no and have to stand up and say to Republicans and Democrats in the
Congress, "Which side are you on, the Chamber of Commerce or working
America?"

SCHULTZ: What about that Lori? When you look at the Republicans there are
some who were questioning this deal not very many but now that Boehner and
also McConnell, McConnell specially has come out and said that we got to do
something on international trade. It sounds like he is going to have his
people with them.

WALLACH: Well here`s the deal. There is bipartisan consensus that is the
Republican leadership, the Chamber of Commerce and I`m heartbroken to say
President Obama and his negotiators and that`s for fast track and TPP and
more the same job killing trade agreements.

Then there is the bipartisan consensus that is the grass roots activist,
and align to the Republican Congressional Districts working people,
Democrats, Republicans, union members, Tea Party members who basically --
the polling showed on election night exit polling, the one fast track, they
didn`t send their members to Congress to give away their authority and not
be able to safeguard their jobs. And they don`t want TTP or NAFTA type
agreement on steroid that`s going offshore their jobs and flood their kids
with unsafe imported food.

So, the polling shows...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

WALLACH: ... actually, we could get a correlation, really of most
Democrats, some super conservative Republicans who are pressured from home
and we can make sure there isn`t a fast track so that there isn`t a TTP and
we can not have more job loss. It`s winnable.

SCHULTZ: So, Mr. Cohen, is that possible on Capitol Hill in your opinion?

COHEN: Yes absolutely, and we have -- we`re asking Republicans to
mobilize, in rural American in particular, from Iowa to Georgia to say to
those elected again, "Which side are you on?" Do you believe in
sovereignty or do you believe that the American people should give up its
sovereignty to these secret tribunals where state of Georgia or Iowa can be
sued if they do anything to protect the environment, or protect worker`s
rights, or protect consumers.

In the correlation that we see here on your show tonight, consumer groups
like Public Citizens, labor, environmentalist, just good ol` Democrats are
all on the same side.

SCHULTZ: All right, Larry Cohen and Lori Wallach, good to have you with
us. The story unfolds in front of us. Good to have you on the Ed Show
tonight.

Coming up, low-income families are not getting better food on food stamps.
We`ll explain why.

Celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio joins me, right here on the Ed Show. Stay
with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. RON JOHNSON, MO STATE HIGHWAY PATROL: And I don`t what must come out
of this grand jury, I don`t know what must come out of it, this neighbor
has to stay hold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. The City of Ferguson Missouri is on
edge waiting and watching. A decision on the Michael Brown case could
potentially come as early as this weekend. The grand jury is deciding
whether to charge Police Officer Darren Wilson for fatally shooting the
unarmed teen in August.

Attorneys for the Brown family said the private nature of the grand jury
process could make any decision hard for the public to accept. Local
businesses are boarding up and law enforcement are preparing for more
violence ahead of any announcement. NBC`s Ron Allen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON ALLEN, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Much of the heart of Ferguson has hankered
down, fearing a repeat of the violence that followed Michael Brown`s death
in August.

Now, as the grand jury hears from its final witnesses, including nationally
renowned pathologist Dr. Michael Baden hired by the Brown family to perform
and independent autopsy, and now under court order not to discuss his
testimony.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Back, back.

ALLEN: Protesters gather in training sessions preparing to take to the
streets.

LISA FITHIAN, PROTEST ORGANIZER: Keep everything, working to find the
confidence they need, to go out there despite their fears.

ALLEN: At this gun shop and firing range they say sales are running three
times above normal. Police who face intense scrutiny for at times
operating more like soldiers than cops say they`ll respect the rights of
demonstrators.

CHIEF SAM DOTSON, SAINT LOUIS METRO POLICE: But what we won`t tolerate is
when people start acts of violence, start to infringe upon the right of
others.

ALLEN: Cut in the middle, ordinary residence worried about their town`s
reputation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people probably think Ferguson, you know,
danger manger but we want to supportive (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to be...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we all felt safe, absolutely unsafe.

ALLEN: This week the Brown family took their case to the U.N. testifying
about their son at a conference on torture.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This fight is not over. I`m not giving up.

ALLEN: Demanding justice and also calling for peaceful protest in their
son`s name.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: That was NBC is Ron Allen reporting. And MSNBC will bring your
continuing coverage from Ferguson, Missouri as we await the grand jury
decision.

Coming up, the fresh food revolution is helping the low-income families to
take charge for their health. Chef Tom Colicchio explains.

Keep it here. We`ll be right back on the Ed Show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. This is the story for the folks who
take a shower after work.

In 2013, Florida Republican Steve Southerland proudly led the GOP effort to
slash the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and he wanted to cut it
by $39 billion.

Well, last Tuesday Southerland lost his congressional seat. Voters saw
Southerland`s policies for what they were, heartless, because it`s not
about slashing SNAP. It`s about finding ways to improve it which is
exactly what the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive of aims to do.

The FINI program was approved in the 2014 farm bill. It allocated $100
million over a five and a half year period to boost the value of the SNAP
dollars when they`re spent on fresh fruits and vegetables. Often times, a
farmer`s market or a produce section is just too expensive for SNAP
receipts to utilize.

Until this program low-income Americans have a real incentive at the point
of purchase to make healthy food decisions and choices. Now, this purchase
will help boost local farming economy as well. Bottom line, it`s a win-win
for everybody. So why would anybody be against it? Healthy food is what
it`s all about.

Joining me tonight, Tom Colicchio, member of the Food Policy Action Board
of Directors and judge on Top Chief. Tom, good to have you with you with
us tonight.

This has worked in New York City, hasn`t it? Tell us about it.

TOM COLICCHIO, FOOD POLICY ACTION: It has Ed, and actually it`s, one of
the place that started. It`s a great program, you know, it`s very easy to
demonize people of low-income and struggling saying they`re feeding their
kids a lot a junk food. But, you know, nutrition is expensive and calories
are really cheap and, you know, some people they just don`t have enough
money to make those kind of choice to buy healthy food.

And so this program, the Double Value Coupon Program just gives a great
incentive to people go to the farmer`s market and it could the double the
value of their money in farmer`s market. So typically if you go in, you
can go to and stand set up. You can tell them you`re spending $20 on
fruits and vegetables and they`ll give you an additional $20 to spend in
that market.

It`s great for families, this is working, it`s in 25 different states now.
And as you said this is a great boon for health. You know I was at a --
out in New Jersey today (inaudible) revolution foods and I met with a young
woman there who -- once addicted to drugs, now she`s is working, she`s off
drugs. She said, since she started eating healthy food, she lost 100
pounds.

And so, this just shows you, you got these problems that we have around
obesity and heart disease, it could be solved if people start eating
healthy food.

And so the question is, how do you incentivise people to buy their healthy
food when they can`t afford it. And this is more of those programs that
work. This is a great government program that works.

SCHULTZ: You got health in the House of Senate. I understand that your
group scores members of Congress on this. What about that?

COLICCHIO: Yes, we do. We have our national food policy scorecard with
policy action and, we look at food votes, food bills that`s coming on votes
-- for votes and we grade them. We let members of Congress know that we
make score bill. We look and see if it`s good food policy...

SCHULTZ: Sure.

COLICCHIO: ... or bad for food policy and we give them score. And as you
pointed out earlier Steve Southerland was really terrible on some of these
food issues. In fact I think his score is around 11 and when we went down
there...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

COLICCHIO: ... and polled around we found that food mattered. You know,
when you ask people about food, it really, really mattered especially to
young people, to young mothers, to minorities. Everybody wants better food
and they`re looking for better policies and...

SCHULTZ: Sure.

COLICCHIO: I think this really helped Gwen Graham win election down there
in Florida.

SCHULTZ: Tom is it hard to get people to change their eating habits. I
mean to make them aware of what they`re, you know, they`re on food stamps,
they can maximize what they can do, is it hard for then to get out of
pattern or a cycle of the kind of food they`ve been consuming?

COLICCHIO: No, you know Ed, this is -- you`re bringing up miss (ph) point
here. You got to realize that because of the recession, a lot of people
who were solely middle class and know -- eating healthier food, all of a
sudden they found themselves out of a job, they could afford it anymore.
And now they`re getting back on their feet and again programs like SNAP
help people get on their feet.

You know, the average person on Snap is only on SNAP for 10 months. So
this is program that gets people up on their feet. Here`s a nutrition they
need and working again. And so, yes you can change how habit but also this
allows people to get back in to the habit of eating food once they`re on
their feet.

SCHULTZ: Tom Colicchio great work always. I appreciate it tonight.

COLICCHIO: Thank you Ed.

SCHULTZ: Thanks for joining us...

COLICCHIO: Appreciate it.

SCHULTZ: ... here on the Ed Show.

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.
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