The Ed Show for Wednesday, February 4th, 2015

Show: THE ED SHOW
Date: February 4, 2015
Guest: Tim Ryan, Brad Woodhouse, Angelo Carusone, Holland Cooke, Terence
Moore


ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: First, we start with Jeb Bush`s new reform
conservative agenda. There`s something new out there.

Earlier today, Jeb Bush gave a speech in Detroit where he previewed his
economic plan if he was the boss. It`s really his first major address
since he announced the possibility of running for president.

The theme of his speech was, "The right to rise", OK, "The right to rise".
That was the theme of his speech.

Jeb promised a new vision with details yet to come. He wants to raise
income by ensuring economic freedom for Americans. Bush had some harsh
words for the government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRM. GOV. JEB BUSH, (R) FLORIDA: Our nation has always valued such
economic freedom because in economic freedom, each citizen has the power to
propel themselves forward and upward. This really isn`t understood in
Washington, D.C., you can see why, it`s a company town. And the company is
government. It`s all they know. For several years now, they have been
recklessly degrading the value of work, the incentive to work and the
rewards of work. We`ve seen them cut the definition of a full-time job
from 40 to 30 hours, slashing the ability of paycheck earners to make ends
meet. We`ve seen...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Government does not degrade the value and incentive to work. The
safety net does not trap people. It`s therefore the worst case scenarios.
And it`s been there for decades. Bush is wrong on all fronts.

After Bush`s brother wrecked the American economy, the government was
responsible for the recovery, have we not done the stimulus package where
would we be?

It`s been six years since President Obama signed the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act into law. It`s also known as the stimulus package. Oh
yeah, I remember that.

Since early 2010, folks you can`t argue with the numbers. 58 straight
months of private sector job growth, what do you think Republicans would be
saying if that was on their watch, we`re talking about 11 million jobs have
been created. Where is the fault of the government?

The employment rate has dropped to 5.6 percent, that`s good news.

Now, if Jeb Bush got his hands on the economy, we can only imagine what
would happen to these numbers.

Bush`s attack Dodd-Frank and the consumer financial protection bureau, he
wants to deregulate Wall Street and give power back to the big banks. Bush
is already talking less government oversight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: You want to close the opportunity gap, grow the economy. This is a
principle that concentrates the mind. If a law or rule doesn`t contribute
to growth, why do it? If a law subtracts from growth, why are we
discussing it? And for what it`s worth, I don`t think the United States
should settle for anything less than 4 percent growth a year -- which is
about twice the current run rate estimated by most economists. At that
rate the middle class can thrive again. And in the coming months, I intend
to detail how we can get there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So, if I had an opportunity to sit down and visit with Jeb Bush.
I would ask him, what government rule or regulation got in a way of 59
months of private sector job growth? Could we have gotten 11 million jobs
at it had we had not done the stimulus package? This is where it gets
really tricky for Bush and any other Republican who wants to be president.

The Republicans have to sell that they even know what the middle class is.
Jeb Bush went on to say that he cares about opportunity for everyone?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I know some in the media think conservatives don`t care about the
cities, but they are wrong. We believe that every American in every
community has the right to pursue happiness. They have a right to rise.
So I say, let`s go where our ideas will matter the most, where the failures
of liberal government policies are most obvious. Let`s deliver real
conservative success. And you know what will happen? We`ll create a whole
lot of new conservatives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: I`m sure the people of Detroit are just all over that. I`m sure
the people of Detroit after what they`ve been through are really feeling
good about more conservative utopia propaganda about what really could be
done. They want to privatize absolutely everything. In fact, they`ll even
cut off the water.

If Jeb Bush really cared about people in cities, he would have support the
automobile loan program. Here`s what he told Congressman Chris Van Hollen
back in 2012.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, (D) MARYLAND: Many of us believe that it was also
appropriate to take the actions that President Obama did to help rescue the
auto industry and a million jobs. Did you support that effort?

BUSH: No.

VAN HOLLEN: No. OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: No, no he didn`t support that. Jeb didn`t support the automobile
loan program that saved the American automobile industry and look where it
is today. Moments later, Van Hollen asked him if he supported the Wall
Street bailout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN HOLLEN: Did you support the rescue of Wall Street banks?

BUSH: You know, I`ve never been ask that either. Again, it was out of
office, so now you asking...

VAN HOLLEN: Yeah.

BUSH: ... and I think given the circumstances of the potential for a
meltdown it would have been hard to recover, some support was appropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, you know what? We were on the verge of total financial
collapse, and had we had not stepped in that would be we, you and me, the
tax payers. Had we had not done that, who knows where we had been?

We were in uncharted territories, so I do believe that we did the right
thing with Wall Street. It`s the aftermath and the lack of accountability
is where we got into trouble. We were on the verge of a total financial
collapse.

Given that situation, look where we are now. Had it not been for the
government that would be you and me, where would we be?

The conservatives, they speak in circles. They want to be friendly to the
middle class but they got no ledger to prove that they are. And the middle
class in this country is the economic engine the will drive us to
prosperity. The wage separation that`s taking place in America right now
is something the Republicans are going to have to address or they`re not
going to have any credibility with the working folk and they`re not going
to win the White House -- unless of course they steal it.

Bush never supported a loan for Detroit`s automobile industry. But keep in
mind, when it comes to the fact that`s down on Wall Street. He`s all about
it. He`s all for it.

Those clips are from 2012 and they`re just a glimpse of what Jeb Bush
presidency would look like. Or maybe back then when he was answering those
questions, he really hadn`t thought about it too much. That`s the kind of
stuff that comes back and hunts you.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is already talking about losers.
Think about that.

This is a guy that wants to be president of the United States, and he is
already picking and choosing -- in an interview he`s asked, who would be
the whiners if you were president. He is choosing the losers. He is
identifying the losers if he were to become president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you were to win the presidency, who losses?
Meaning, who`s mad that Scott Walker in the White House? Who gets fired?
What gets cut, what gets eliminated?

GOV. SCOTT WALKER, (R) WISCONSIN: Well, I think the biggest loser in that
case would (inaudible) in three of the last four elections for Governor of
Wisconsin, the big-government special interest. In Washington, we took the
power out of their hands, they`re the ones that came to Wisconsin four
years ago and tried to shut us down, they`re the ones that tried to recall
me. They`re the ones who tried to take me down as their number one target
last November. And they would be the ones losing in Washington because we
would take the power out of their hands nationally, and put it in the hands
of the hardworking taxpayers and free them up to make the choices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: I mean, I think it`s absolutely stunning that Walker is admitting
that there would be losers in the American economy if he becomes president.
He calls him special interest. He is referring to unions.

You know, the folks that want to voice the workplace, the folks that want
health care, they want pension, they want to be able to negotiate for a
better rate as corporations go through the roof with profits. He wants to
take all of that away and those people would be the losers. That means
under Walker, middle class Americans will become losers, he admitted it.

People who want pensions, health care and middle class and collective
bargaining rights, they would be the losers if Scott Walker is the man, if
he is the President. This is exactly what Republicans want, they want to
see losers. I believe that.

These are my thoughts. I believe that the Republicans have a philosophy.
That there`s going to be some folks that simply aren`t going to make it,
there`s going to be some folks that are going to have the same opportunity.
And for the sake of profit, we are going to be the man and we`re going to
squash some worker`s rights in this country because that`s socialism. And
they want to know why the middle class is upset in this country. They want
to know why that there`s income gap?

You know what? To this day, I still say that Walker is the perfect
candidate for the Republicans. The interview he gave speaks volumes.

Off the cuff, think about that. There is someone who wants to be president
that`s willing to identify who`s going to pay the price if he goes to the
White House. That`s just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Get you cellphones out, I want to know what you think. Tonight`s question,
"Do you think Jeb Bush has any new ideas? Text A for Yes, text B for No to
67622, you can always go our blog at ed.msnb.com. We`ll bring you the
results later on in the show. You can follow me on Twitter @edshow and
@WeGotEd.

For more, let me bring in Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio.

And, Congressman, let me ask you, have you even been asked if you get
elected, who would be a loser in your district?

REP. TIM RYAN, (D) OHIO: No. That was very creative question, I have not.
Most people asked how you`re going to help, what are going to do to make
things better. But for him to go, you know, directly -- and even if
someone asked you who are losers going to be, you should have a more
comprehensive agenda that make sure that everybody`s going to have some
opportunity.

SCHULTZ: So, what do you make a Jeb Bush`s economic plan that he laid out
today? Did you hear anything new in Detroit?

RYAN: No, it look like a lot of general talking points trying to make sure
that he can communicate to the conservative based that he is not anything
other than an extreme conservative. And I think his record in many ways
although he is nice fellow, I think his record on voting rights, women`s
rights, labor rights. These kinds of things put him in the category of the
Scott Walker. And I found it very interesting that he was taking potshots,
Ed, and talking about economic freedom and incentives to work.

The entire Heath Care Reform Bill was to help people who are working for a
living. It`s not the Medicaid program that we were talking about, where
people who maybe down and out on their lap (ph), maybe they`re older or
their children and could have Medicaid, that`s not what we were talking
about.

The reform was about making sure people did have economic freedom. That
they could move between jobs...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

RYAN: ... that they could be entrepreneurs because they knew they weren`t
going to loose their health care, that there were some basic justice.

So to say that economic freedom is to repeal Obamacare which we try to do
for the 59th time yesterday, it lies in the face of how this program
actually hits the ground for the American people.

SCHULTZ: Yes. You know, a first impression is a lasting impression.

There are maybe some people out there across America that are starting to
investigate Jeb Bush who don`t know a lot about Florida politics that want
to hear what he has to say. And some things comeback to hunt candidates
for instance, Mitt Romney said he wouldn`t let Detroit go bankrupt. He
just could not live that down, said he like to fire people. He could live
that down.

Jeb Bush now seems like he is trying to fine the path to the middle class.
And on the hills of your meeting last week in Philadelphia when the House
Democrats got together, do you think that Democrats have a strong advantage
over Republicans when it comes to the middle class and especially since
you`ve heard what could be one of their leading candidates talk about
trying to make that connection?

RYAN: I think we do. I think we have the inside track but we got to
hammer the message home. Take Scott Walker for example, he comes in, he
want to talk about Davis-Bacon for our construction folks making sure that
they have prevailing wage, these kinds of things that allow average people
to earn a living. With the Republican House and Republican Senate, and a
Scott Walker or Jeb Bush, those kinds of things are going to get
eliminated.

You`re talking about almost a national right to work law that could
potentially pass in Congress and get signed by an extremely conservative
president who is controlled by the Koch brothers.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

RYAN: ... and you look at the Democratic agenda with the president talked
about -- what we`re talking about. We know we need to deal with wages,
they should sit down and help us.

In the mean time, if you have affordable child care, which the President
proposed to reduce the cost for average families in America to help them
with child care, you reduce that cost.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

RYAN: Universal care for community colleges, universal preschool, these
kinds of things are going to put money in the pocket of average Americans.

SCHULTZ: And Republicans are saying all of that is dead on arrival.
Congressman Tim Ryan, good to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your
time.

Let me bring in Brad Woodhouse, President of American Bridge 21st Century.

Brad, good to have you with us.

BRAD WOODHOUSE, AMERICAN BRIDGE 21ST CENTURY: Hi, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Are we looking at George W. Bush like here, what do we seen here
in the early look at Jeb Bush?

WOODHOUSE: I`m not sure it`s George W. Bush like. I mean, I think its
typical Republican. I think its more Mitt Romney like than anything else.
I mean, you know, I think Jeb Bush went up there, I think the congressman
is right.

It was standard talking points about economic freedom which really means
allowing more big tax breaks for Wall Street, allowing more tax breaks to
shift jobs overseas, allowing people to have these tax havens overseas.
And it means, you know, nothing for the middle class, there wasn`t any
prescription in his speech...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

WOODHOUSE: ... that was a prescription for helping the middle class.

SCHULTZ: Well, I think the Republicans have to come to grips with this,
that there`s no philosophy that`s going to make an immediate change in any
kind of wage as being uplifted in this country. And if they`re not going
to address the immediacy of it, how were they going to connect with the
largest voting block in the country. I mean, you know, what would happen
to regulations like Dodd-Frank if Jeb Bush was president? Is that what the
American want to hear?

No, they want to hear that there`s going to be jobs created, they want to
be hearing that there`s going to be a chance at a better wage and all of
the things that they are for right now are stagnant from the standpoint of
pushing all of those programs down further. So, what`s new on the table
with Bush is my question.

WOODHOUSE: Well, I mean look, they`re for the same old things they`ve been
for, Ed, is called trickle-down economics like -- if you repeal Dodd-Frank
well, Wall Street will do better and everyone will benefit. If you repeal
Obamacare, the insurance company will do well and all of a sudden everyone
will benefit.

It just doesn`t -- it doesn`t stand a reason. It didn`t work. I mean
we`ve had two Bush presidencies that ruined the economy, we had two...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

WOODHOUSE: ... Democratic presidencies in, you know, the Clinton and Obama
that revived the economy. We know the Bush way is not the right way to
deal with the economic problems.

SCHULTZ: Well, you mentioned the parallel to Mitt Romney and I guess we
have to right to the automobile loan program. Romney said, he`ll let
Detroit go bankrupt, Jeb Bush on record saying that "No, he wouldn`t have
gone down that road", is that going to haunt him?

WOODHOUSE: It is going to haunt him. I mean look, I think you got to
remember -- this is a swing -- Michigan is a swing state, Ohio is swing
state. There are a lot of these Rust Belt states that really dependent on
this auto rescue. You know the irony of this is he was in Detroit today
making an economic speech, he opposed the auto rescue program and guess
what G.M. announce today? Record profits, now where do you think those
record profits are going. There helping -- all of those...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

WOODHOUSE: ... auto workers who jobs...

SCHULTZ: Well...

WOODHOUSE: ... would have been lost, if Jeb Bush has gotten his way.

SCHULTZ: Not only that but Ford is talking about restructuring the wages
for their workers. How much more positive could that be? Now I want your
quick response to...

WOODHOUSE: Sure.

SCHULTZ: ... Governor Scott Walker identifying losers. I mean, he`s
telling wagers in America that you`re in for a long haul if I`m ever a
president. I mean that`s historic.

WOODHOUSE: It`s absolutely despicable. It`s also -- it`s hard to explain,
I mean someone who is running for president wants to get everyone`s vote
and wants to try to attract every constituents that they can. By saying
that the unions will be losers in a Walker presidency, he`s saying workers
will be losers and if he saying workers...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

WOODHOUSE: ... will be loser you see he`s saying Wall Street will be the
winner.

SCHULTZ: All right. Brad Woodhouse, always good to have you with us.
Thanks so much...

WOODHOUSE: Thank you, Ed.

SCHUTLZ: ... for your time tonight. Remember -- you bet.

Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the screen,
share your thoughts with us on Twitter. Follow us on Twitter @edshow and
@WeGotEd, like us on Facebook. We appreciate that. Always want to know
what you think and we do read your comments.

Coming up. A nuclear deal the United States is on the verge of agreement
with Iran. The question mark, this could be a make or break moments.
Story coming up.

And later, format flip. We`ll look at how social media is making things a
little rough for the right-wing talkers in the advertising department.

Stay with us, we`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show.

On international news, tense talks continue over the future of Iran`s
nuclear program but a breakthrough could be on the horizon.

The Associated Press reports the United States and Iran could be coming
close to a compromised. Two diplomats familiar with the talks told the
A.P. that deal would let Iran keep much of the technology used to enriched
uranium. Yet, however, would have to reduce their potential to make
nuclear weapons.

Under the proposal, Iran would be able to keep most of their centrifuges
operating while configuring them to produce less material. And the country
could store a limited amount of uranium gas used for enrichment. Iran
would be required to ship out the majority of enriched uranium they
produce. This would leave them with less than what is needed to produce a
nuclear weapon.

Now, this potential deal comes as a deadline nears for an agreement. The
White House has been trying whatever it can to keep Iran at the table.
Congress hasn`t been so patient.

Last week, the Senate banking committee voted to tighten sanction on Iran
if an agreement is not reach by the end of June. The President has
previously said that he would veto a sanctions bill if it landed on this
desk. It`s clear that international security hinges on disarming Iran.
This deal could make it a reality, but how close are they?

Joining me tonight Steve Clemons, MSNBC Contributor and Editor-at-large for
the Atlantic.

Steve, its not often, in fact it has been decades since we have come close
to any kind of a deal with Iranians on anything. What`s you`re reaction to
two people close to the negotiation would tell the Associated Press that,
you know what? There`s a compromise in sight here and the details of it as
I just reported, your thoughts on it.

STEVE CLEMONS, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, THE ATLANTIC: Well, as you and I discussed
in the past. I have felt that a deal within the offing (ph) that was
something close that we were -- getting to in the administration was
working very hard to get to that point. And that they hadn`t made
assessment that they really thought the Iranians were incredibly trying to
get that too.

That said I`m very surprise by what`s leaked out, because forgetting the
Republicans in Congress. The French have been the most resistant in
agreeing to any sort of centrifuge arrangement that maybe part that what
was leaked. You know, originally we want to see -- a reduction to about
2,000 centrifuges. We came back with a minimum threshold of about 4,500
centrifuges. The idea that they would be allow to keep 10,000 even with
these other adjunct operations with the uranium gas and then shipping out
the process fuel is very surprising to me because I think it`s going to
be...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

CLEMONS: ... harder for the President to convince the world that this was
a good deal.

SCHULTZ: Well, the President -- the convincing that has to be done here
and a scientist are going to have to speak up on this and those in the no,
is that Iran would not have enough material to make a bomb. I mean that`s
really what it comes down to. And there`s a serious trust but verify
situation here. And there really is no line of credibility that we can
point to that says that Iran will uphold their end of the deal.

CLEMONS: Right.

SCHULTZ: I mean that`s the $64 point isn`t it?

CLEMONS: Right. And I think is also, you know, a view around the world
that Iran has a right to peaceful uses of nuclear power, has a right to
enriched for peaceful uses. What`s going to have to come -- be part of
this and I`m sure the White House has worked out many of these details, is
you`re going to have inspectors embedded in every part of that country.
The trust and verify part of this is so fundamental. But I`m sure that the
White House has thought that through.

SCHULTZ: Well, nuclear power is somewhat archaic and some, you know,
environmental communities the way they think at it. There`s a lot of other
ways to power your country and supply for your people as opposed to nuclear
power. So that`s another discussion but...

CLEMONS: Right.

SCHULTZ: ... how do you think the international community is going to
react to this?

CLEMONS: I think overwhelmingly, you`re going to see a change in the way
global gravity works. If we really get a deal, this becomes President
Obama`s "Nixon went to China" moment. It changes everything, it changes
relationships...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

CLEMONS: ... new relationships and possibilities opened up. It`s the
largest deal in international affairs we`ve seen in many, many decades.
Far bigger than normalizing with Vietnam, it is a very big deal if they get
a deal because this...

SCHULTZ: Well.

CLEMONS: ... will lead to perhaps other trust building opportunities down
the road that could change what our expectation is of Iran`s behavior
elsewhere in the world.

SCHULTZ: Well, the fear here is that if you do this deal and you trust the
Iranians, you never going to reverse it. I mean I don`t know, I wouldn`t
envision a scenario where or once they are given the capability to keep
some type of centrifuges to the number that they`re talking about, that you
won`t able to get to negotiations later on and have them reduce at even
further.

So that is -- that`s a tight rope, there`s no doubt. I want to talk about
another big international story that is going on right now. And that is
the conflict in Ukraine.

Vice President Joe Biden is set to discuss the situation this week with
European leaders. He`s going to be in Brussels and in Munich, Germany.
And he`s going to be talking about options for security and also financial
aid I believe to Ukraine. And further sanctions on Russia.

Now, this comes as pro-Russian forces setup their campaign in the region
and of course there`s a lot of activity, there are a lot of bloodshed.
What`s the best course of action for the United States in this situation?

I mean, and I think backtrack of all of these Steve, is that you have got
oil prices that are depressed. You have the Russian economy that runs on
oil. And this is one of the reasons why Putin has annexed a certain
portion of Ukraine and -- with all of these activity because of the coal
reserves on the Eastern portion of the country.

I mean, there`s a big dynamic playing out here. And it`s a whole new can
of worms if we start arming these folks. Where this going to go...

CLEMONS: It`s going to be.

SCHULTZ: ... should we arm the Ukrainian -- yeah, should we armed the
Ukrainian fighters?

CLEMON: I worry about arming the Ukrainian fighters only in the sense that
that could lead to an escalation, a new arena of conflict that we`re ill
prepared for and haven`t thought through.

That said, I think we should give Ukraine every other element of support
and as you`ve just describe Vladimir Putin, you know, by his own actions
has his people in a terrible vice where the combination of sanctions and
collapsing oil prices is making the Russian economy implode.

And so he`s making his people pay a very high price for this misbehavior,
what he`s doing in Ukraine. But I think the broader issue is a very
important, as tragic as what we see unfolding in Ukraine is and I think
there a lot of elements of power we can deploy beyond slipping into a
potential military escalation. This is a global relationship and we need
to come to a global deal with Vladimir Putin. And we`ve got to figure out
what his incentives already getting there.

SCHULTZ: Steve Clemons, always great to have you with us on Ed Show.

CLEMONS: Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: We appreciate your time, sir. Thank you. You bet.

Still to come, the extinction of righty talk radio when it comes to
advertiser. Rapid Response Panel weighs in. What`s behind the down turn?

And a mysterious death could take a star athlete from a football field to
the court room. We`ll have the details later on the Ed Show.

Stay with us, we`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show.

We`re following breaking news at this hour from the New York Metro area.
At this hour, the National Transportation Safety Board announced that they
will have more information in the last night`s deadly Metro-North train
crash and that information will be made available tomorrow.

The train hit a Mercedes SUV at a railroad crossing during the height of
rush hour and pushed it for a thousand feet. Six people died, 15 others
were severely injured. The train line takes thousands of commuters from
New York City to the surrounding suburbs daily.

We`ll continue to monitor the story and bring you the details as they
develop.

More ahead on the Ed Show. Stay with us.

MORGAN BRENNAN, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Morgan Brennan with your CNBC
Market Wrap.

A triple-digit rally fades on concerns about Greece. The Dow ends with 6
point gain, the S&P sinks 8 point and the NASDAQ is off 11 points.

Staples is agreed to buy Office Depot for more than $6 billion. That deal
will be highly scrutinized by antitrust regulators.

As for the economy, employers added 213,000 jobs to payroll last month,
that`s according to ADP. Economists expected a gain of 225,000. The
government`s closely watched employment report is out Friday.

That`s it from CNBC, first in business world wide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, HOST, RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW: So Scott Walker`s doing it and he
is running away, and these clowns on our side don`t even understand it yet.

Stop and think. Here`s a guy who won three elections in four years in a
blue state. He has neutered the employee`s union, the teachers union.
He`s got the support of the majority of people in Wisconsin. You would
think at Republican headquarters and consultant headquarters, they would be
eager to find out how he`s done it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: It sounds like an endorsement to me.

Welcome back to the Ed Show.

You know, for years, Rush Limbaugh has ruled the airwaves with his right-
wing chatter. Now, advertisers are running from Limbaugh and other right-
wing talkers.

Talk Radio was still popular. No doubt about that but companies don`t want
to attach their brand to a risky message whether it would be political or
vulgar.

Rush Limbaugh pulled in huge numbers until attacking a Georgetown law
student for testifying about women`s health three years ago. Limbaugh`s
half-hearted apology couldn`t save his image.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Limbaugh`s verbal mea culpa followed a paper apology
over the weekend. But neither stopped advertisers from abandoning the
radio host.

Today, AOL joined the growing list of companies suspending advertising on
the show. AOL`s statement echoing what some of the others said -- that Mr.
Limbaugh`s comments are not in line with our values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Pressure mounted for advertisers to cut ties with Limbaugh but
then there was a snowball effect.

Media Matters built an advertising boycott campaign around the radio
talker. The landscape today has evolved from that to a higher mountain to
climb.

Social media has mobilized listeners like never before. Advertisers cannot
ignore the discourse. The Wall Street Journal reports, "according to one
radio executive, advertisers don`t want to risk being Twitter-bombed.
Radio stations have to consider what the fallout will be when deciding to
take a new show."

Social media has taken talk radio into an era of accountability. Some
people view it that way.

Joining me now on our Rapid Response Panel, Angelo Carusone with us
tonight, he is the Executive Vice President at Media Matters, also with us
tonight Holland Cooke, Talk Radio and Media Consultant.

Gentlemen, great to have you with us tonight.

Holland, you first on this. Are stations worried or advertisers worried
about being Twitter-bombed? I mean, you live by the sword, you die by the
sword. Social media is good but then again it can be a big enemy. What`s
happening here?

HOLLAND COOKE, TALK RADIO CONSULTANT: That`s why I`m saying, video killed
the radio star, it was social media. And I have two notable quotes for you
from a radio station I visited earlier this week. The station has Glenn
Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin.

The station owner himself a staunch conservative ask me what is the next
generation of talk radio because even the righties are now yawning at this
crazy uncle act.

And other sound bite was, the station owner claims that five people behind
all of these. And he had these I.T. Departments backtrack the e-mails back
when the boycott begun. And there were all from out of state.

I think that verifying the size of the boiler misses the point. Social
media is so big in scope that it`s given one person let alone and organized
boycott effort, a great big megaphone. And it hasn`t stop in the couple of
years since the (inaudible).

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Well, it can definitely injure your image. There`s no
question about that. And that`s the last thing advertisers want. I don`t
know if -- is it political or is it more vulgar?

Angelo, when you started this Media Matters campaign to boycott right-wing
talkers, did you think that it would have such as sweeping effect
throughout the entire category?

ANGELO CARUSONE, MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA: Yes I did. And I think in
large part because the business model of Rush Limbaugh is the business
model of right-wing talk. I mean, the attacks that he put on Senator
Flake, which spanned three full days and we`re 46 in total are actually
part and parcel what Rush Limbaugh is about every single day.

Then he -- what we saw with our radios there is actually just another day
for Rush Limbaugh and I think that`s why, you know, he and his other
conservative talkers didn`t really think it was a big deal initially
because as part as they were concerned, there was nothing usual in here.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Holland, there`s millions of dollars out there on network
radio, where is this money going if it`s not going to these talkers?

COOKE: The timing for this was awful because along came digital media and
this is the shinny object. Ask any radio station -- manager and he will
tell you that the digital guys are calling on the car dealers. This is the
shinny object now.

Some of these digital guys, there are twoguysandagarage.com, others are
sophisticated consultants and money is moving from the car dealer`s radio
budget to the digital budget and some of these advertisers are making
earnest mistakes because the internet is the shinny object.

So this is the wrong time for talk radio to get radioactive.

SCHULTZ: Mr. Carusone, when you look at what Media Matters has done in the
impact that they`ve had, I mean the right-wing talkers can say, well, I`m
still on the air and I`m still making a living and everything is good.

The fact to the matter is that if there is a long list, as long as your
arm, of people that used to advertise on network radio that are not doing
it now because they don`t want to be associated with it...

CARUSONE: I think that`s correct.

SCHULTZ: ... where is this going? Can that be rehabilitated?

CARUSONE: I don`t think it can be because the business model itself is a
failed model. I mean, you know, we statements from over -- and there are
statements from over 1,800 advertisers that have been proactive and said,
don`t put -- my ads on Rush Limbaugh or any kind of programming like Rush
Limbaugh.

And I think, you know, with the respect to what Media Matters did, what
Media Matters does is take their own words, transcribe them and put them on
the internet. And so, you know, it`s not that we`re doing some magical
thing. It`s that we`re just simply, you know, pulling back the veil.
We`re exposing them to a large audience so that consumers and there were
thousands of them out there and the Stop Rush Movement and the Flush Rush
Movement to take their own words and send them to the advertisers that they
have relationships to it. It allows consumer to talk to advertisers.

So, the reason I don`t think it`s able to be rehabilitated is because it`s
what their model is, there`s nothing to rehabilitate here as far as they`re
concerned.

SCHULTZ: Your thoughts on that, Holland. What about that?

COOKE: What`s going to cure this is a return to local programming because
this early 90`s style national political shout-fest is like the 1980s light
beer commercials, all you hear day after day is it tastes grade, less
feeling. It`s like a movie Groundhog Day.

Every show sounds the same and what the smart...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

COOKE: ... stations are doing is reinvesting in the local programming that
is more relevant, more advertiser friendly and isn`t tainted...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

COOKE: ... and isn`t in the demographic bullseye because young people just
don`t want to listen to this anymore.

SCHULTZ: Well, the digital folks are at the right place at the right time.
That`s what it sounds like.

Holland Cooke and Angelo Carusone, great to have both you with us tonight,
interesting landscape that`s out there.

Up next. In the two-minute drill, Pete Carroll explains just what
happened. Tom Brady shares his MVP price and the Colts linebacker is in
deep trouble.

Stick around, two-minute drill coming up and a lots more in the Ed Show.
Stay with us, we`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: All right, two-minute drill. Here we are hack it up. I don`t
think you`re ever going to get over this.

Seattle Seahawks fans, they`re demanding answers about the final call which
of course sent the Super Bowl and the trophy to the New England Patriots.

Seahawks Head Coach Peter Carroll is facing the music.

He is going to be talking with NBC`s Matt Lauer and it`s his first sit down
television interview since losing the Super Bowl.

The exclusive interview will air tomorrow morning on the Today Show,
portions of the interview air tonight on NBC Nightly News with Brian
Williams.

Next up. Special delivery, D`Qwell Jackson with a huge free agent pickup
for Indianapolis Colts, he stepped in a big way as a leader of the team`s
defense this past season but he is running with some trouble off the field.

According to reports, Jackson was arrested in Washington D.C. on Tuesday
night. He allegedly punched a pizza delivery boy in the face and the back
of the head after fighting over a parking spot.

A little bit news finally, MVP overhauled, we go to Patriots` quarterback
Tom Brady won a 2015 Chevy Colorado pickup truck for being the game`s MVP.
He is planning to give the truck to the Patriots defensive back Malcolm
Butler, what a nice guy.

Butler an undrafted rookie out of West Alabama became the Patriots unlikely
hero when he made the Super Bowl winning interception.

We got a lot more coming up on the Ed Show. Stay with us. We are right
back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show.

And finally tonight, today was National Signing Day. It`s been called the
Super Bowl of recruiting. It`s the day that the best high school football
players of America across the country submit their letters of intent to
their future universities where they want to play college football.

Three-star linebacker Brian Bell may not be the top recruit but there`s a
lot of folks watching to see where he ends up.

Until recently, Bell expected to join Florida State University on a
football scholarship. He committed to the Seminoles a year ago in February
of 2014.

Today, FSU withdrew its scholarship offer. Now, the family of high school
classmate Kendrick Johnson wants to see Bell in court.

In January of 2013, 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead inside a
rolled up mat in his Georgia High School gym. At the time the Lowndes
County Sheriff`s Department ruled the death a freak accident.

They said the teenager got trapped after falling into the upright mat
trying to retrieve a shoe. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation sighted
asphyxiation as the cause of death.

Kendrick Johnson`s family wasn`t satisfied and sent his remains to Orlando
for a second independent autopsy.

The private pathologist hired by the family determined that Johnson died
from "blunt force trauma to the neck" and his death was non-accidental in
nature.

Last month, Kendrick Johnson`s family filed a $100 million wrongful death
suit in the state of Georgia.

The Johnson`s alleged Brian Bell, his brother and three other students were
responsible for their son`s death.

It`s important to note, Bell and the others were never charged with a crime
or listed as suspects. The Johnson family claims, that`s part of a
conspiracy that cover up their son`s death.

The suit also includes member of the Lowndes County Sheriff`s Office, the
Valdosta Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation along with
Bell`s brother and Bell`s father who is an FBI agent. The Bell`s family
attorney denies all allegations made in the complaint.

Joining me tonight is National Sports Columnist Terence Moore.

Terence, good to have you with us tonight.

This is sad on all fronts across the board but it`s interesting that
Florida State which had it its own controversies to deal with. They`ve
made a decision not to sign Bell. Bell was never charge with the crime or
listed as a suspect, is this move all about avoiding bad press? What do
you make of it?

TERENCE MOORE, NATIONAL SPORTS COLUMNIST: Well, I would not (inaudible) to
sit on the back for this. I mean, this all goes back to Jameis Winston`s
knucklehead moves so he basically had no choice.

At Florida State, even before the Winston controversies, contrary to
popular believe, this has always been an outlaw program even going back to
the days of Saint Bobby Baldwin, OK? And Bobby Baldwin would get away with
a lot of stuff with his (inaudible) and I think of -- yes the star punter
Sebastian Janikowski who`s with the -- Raiders right now and his nickname
was Polish Cannon.

He was always involve in all kind of mess and before a ball game, when
everybody thought he was going to be suspended because of all these
knucklehead stuff he was doing, Bobby Baldwin laughed and said we forgot
Warsaw rules when it comes to this guy.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MOORE: So as a result, this is what we`ve see all the time with Florida
State so this is -- they`re doing this because they have to do it, not
because of some kind of social consciousness.

SCHULTZ: Well, we need to point out that Winston was never charged with
anything.

MOORE: Yeah. Well, that`s true. But look at all the others that he was
involved with, it tells you that this is a program that`s been out of
control.

SCHULTZ: OK. Now, there was a big social media campaign to persuade
Florida State to withdraw the scholarship to Bell. Apparently, it worked.
I mean do you see that method being used in the future?

MOORE: Well, I mean, let`s hope so. And let`s put this in perspective,
Ed.

I live here at Atlanta and I`ve been in Atlanta for 30 years and I`ll tell
you. Is this 2015 or 1815? And one of the things I`ve seen through the
years here not in all of Georgia but in a lot of places in Georgia, you
know, the difference -- when we talk about the new south that means you and
I can drink out of the same water fountain and to put this in total
perspective, this is a high school football state.

This takes place in Lowndes County. Lowndes County has been one of the top
football programs forever in the state and it`s not a coincident that we`re
talking about a lot football players involved here.

So I do believe that has a lot to do with this that makes it even more but
hideous scandal than even we see on the surface.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Well, is it unusual for a school to have a commitment from
a player and then a year later say, no, we don`t want anything to do with
you. You got to go somewhere else.

And Bell, I should pointed out, had other scholarship offers from other
schools. Do you think those will still be on the table? What about all
that?

MOORE: Well, your first question, it is highly unusual. This is almost
never done. Now, as far as whether or not he`s going to play somewhere
else, somebody is going to pick him up and I`ll use example here. Again,
the University of Georgia has more -- has had more arrest per year than any
other program in college football and they kicked one of their star
defensive lineman off the team because he was chocking his girlfriend this
summer. Who picks him up? Alabama.

And yet Nick Saban saying that, well I just believe we given the guy a
second chance. Well, they can play? Yes.

So this is all about whether they can play and remember the FCC is the next
best conference out there, a league next with NFL. They just go by at OL
Al Davis line, "Just win, baby."

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Well, do you think Florida States` turning a page here?

MOORE: No. No. Not one bit. And remember again, going back to the
Jameis Winston situation. You had Jimbo Fisher, the head coach who
continuously supported him saying that, oh this guy, he`s being picked on
and so on and forth and it had something to do with the fact that they were
trying to get Florida State into that final four for the college
playoffs...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MOORE: ... if Winston could not play, trust me he would have been just
another guy out there.

SCHULTZ: All right, Terence Moore, National Sports Columnist, great to
have you with us tonight.

It is a very exciting time for high school football players to be able to
sign that scholarship and know where they`re going to be going next year.
It`s an exciting time no doubt. Congratulations to all of them who got
that done.

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

PoliticsNation with Reverend Al Sharpton starts now.

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

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