Show: THE ED SHOW
Date: February 25, 2015
Guest: Annette Taddeo, Mitch Ceasar, Ana Rivas Logan, Steve Bousquet,
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Brad Woodhouse, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, Ruth
Conniff, Rani Whitfield
ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good evening Americans and welcome to the Ed Show
live from New York.
Let`s get to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Tonight, immigration takes center stage in the Sunshine State.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: MSNBC inclusive town hall event on immigration with
President Obama.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R-OH) HOUSE SPEAKER: The President overreach on
immigration.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This in the best interest of America, that we fix a
broken immigration system.
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think the law is on our
side and history is on our side.
SCHULTZ: And later, San Francisco makes a giant push for public health on
the baseball field.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The campaign to knock tobacco out of the park aims at
eliminating all tobacco in all baseball parks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Explore what (ph)? Chewing tobacco.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About a third of major league player`s use chewing
tobacco.
MARK FARRELL, SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISOR: It`s time to show that Tobacco in
any form should not be tolerated or approved on our athletic fields.
SCHULTZ: Plus, Republicans play politics again, as the DHS shutdown looms.
BOEHNER: The House has done its job to fund the Department of Homeland
Security.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some Republicans demand that DHS funding stay link to
the Obama immigration rule.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) MAJORITY LEADER: I`m ready to try another
way.
JOSH EARNERST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We shouldn`t compromise our
Homeland Security just because Republicans want to pick a political fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight, folks. Thanks for watching.
We start with new developments on immigration and homeland security.
They`re connected in a big way for some strange reason.
\
But the Senate reached a tentative deal today to past a clean Department of
Homeland Security bill that does not block President Obama`s immigration
actions. So they voted and it was 98 to 2 on taking the first step towards
consideration of the bill. The vote is only the first step to begin the
debate on the DHS bill. The battle is far from over. There`s no word on
how House Speaker John Boehner will proceed now.
The Tea Party Republicans are making life pretty difficult for Boehner
right now. They want to see the President fail on immigration. This is a
crow d that`s bound to determine to stop the President on immigration on
all fronts.
Earlier today, Boehner was blaming the Senate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: I`m waiting for the Senate to act. The House has done its job to
fund the Department of Homeland Security and to stop the President`s
overreach on immigration. And we`re waiting for the Senate to do their
jobs. Senate Democrats has stood in the way now for three weeks over a
bill that should have been debated in past. So until the Senate does
something we`re on wait and see mode.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: The Senate finalizes a deal is something House Republicans to
prevent a homeland security shutdown. Meanwhile, there is movement on
immigration on the legal front.
This week, the Justice Department asks for an emergency court ruling that
would allow President Obama`s immigration action to move forward. The
Department of Justice asks for a stay on the Texas judge`s decision
blocking the President`s immigration moves.
As of today, President Obama immigration executive action is on-hold.
The President`s orders would protect roughly 5 million undocumented
immigrants from deportation. The executive orders were suppose to go into
effect a week ago, President Obama is trying to get his message on
immigration across of the country.
Tonight, here on this network, 8:00 P.M. on MSNBC, we will be airing an
immigration town hall event with President Obama. And the President will
be speaking directly with the Latino community in Miami and what impact
that has will certainly remains to be seen. But moving and looking at this
whole thing, how can this House Republicans do this to the country?
I`ll tell you how they could do it to the country. Number one, they hate
the President. They don`t want to see him succeed on anything. OK, given
we`ve talked a lot about that.
It`s the gerrymander. These guys in the House know that they can do
whatever they want to do and they`re never going to lose their seat,
because they have socially engineered the districts across this country.
So this empowers them to obstruct to the ends (ph) degree. This empowers
them to go as far as they go even if it deals with security of the country.
For more on all of this, unusually they`re connected. Unfortunately, these
two issues should be even in the same arena.
Let`s go to Annette Taddeo, Vice Chair of the Florida Democratic Party and
Mitch Caesar, Chair of Broward County Democrats and -- Ana Rivas Logan who
is a former Florida State Representative. Great to have all of you with us
tonight.
Annette, you first. What impact will the President`s town hall have on
this entire conversation? What do you make of this?
ANNETTE TADDEO VICE CHAIR, FL. DEMOCRATS: Well, I think it very refreshing
that the President took the time to take questions from immigrants, from
people who are affected, from people that are so hopeful, filling the
applications and hoping to come out of the shadows, and a President who`s
leading the way rather than a Congress who`s doing everything to stop
immigrants from having an opportunity in the land of freedom. As I sit
here, behind me is the Freedom Tower which stands for freedom and what, you
know, this country has always I know, a nation of immigrant.
SCHULTZ: Mitch, what works in immigration -- and of course the --
Republicans don`t want to work on anything, they although take any issue
and do whatever they can to stop the President or progress. But what
works, and I think the President has to explain to the country tonight,
what works with immigration? What do you think?
MITCH CEASAR CHAIR, BROWARD CO. DEMOCRATS: Well, I think he`s doing the
correct thing, he`s going out there as presidents have done before and
beginning with Franklin Roosevelt with Fireside chat and then, with the
train raising and kind of barn storming.
He`s talking about protecting the kids, the dreamers, he then came in with
his second executive order talking about, you know, some relief for the
parents as you said about 5 million people.
Here in Florida, there are about 250,000 people that will affected if that
stay is not lifted and the President is not able to do what he wants to. I
think he needs to outline how he needs protect the kids, how he wants to --
look at the parents, put them on the path of citizenship, talk about them
paying taxes and basically getting everything inline.
I think he`s going to do that. He`s doing it the right way by going to the
people and he has to go around the Republican Congress, he has no choice.
He is doing what Presidents need to do.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
CEASAR: ... He was fully pulpit to go and get around the Congress as
obstruction.
SCHULTZ: And does President Obama need to change his immigration policy or
do you think he feels involve and that he is taking the right course of
action right now with his executive order and not changing anything, stay
in the course, and let this politically layout against the Republicans.
ANA RIVAS LOGAN, FMR FLORIDA STATE REP.: Absolutely. Absolutely.
The President is doing absolutely the right thing. He needs to stay on
track. He`s got a lot of support from Latino community. And once again,
in 2016 we`ll see the results. When the majority of the public sees that
the Republican Party has once again play politics with people lives, the
party of the obstruction. I mean, all they care to do is just obstruct the
President and, you know, and not even take into account how many people
they`re impacting here.
SCHULTZ: Here is Marco Rubio. He addressed the President`s immigration
policy in a town hall up in New Hampshire this week. And here`s what he
had say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R) FLORIDA: I believe it should stop the executive
action for three reasons. Number one, because unconstitutional. Second is
I think it has unintended and consequences no one stop through in terms of
triggering another migratory crisis or even tax credit that it makes
millions of people eligible for them that we haven`t budgeted for that
comes out of the U.S. treasury. And third, I think it makes it even more
difficult to achieve this sort of immigration reform our county needs.
I think the real solution to immigration is a series of pieces of
legislation, not executive actions that deal with this issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: So, Annette, what we have here playing out is the President, I
think, is doing the Democrats a favor by getting this kind of exposure in
South Florida because it totally beats him against the Republican position
in the hot bet of immigration. Your thoughts on what Rubio was saying and
why this playing out.
TADDEO: Well, it`s really disappointing to see that a Senator from Florida
is now saying that we need to cut it into piece.
I mean, their idea of cutting it into pieces is to build a much higher
wall. I don`t know how high they want to go up to the sky to put more
troops on the ground, on the boarder into -- do e-verify (ph). But that`s
where they stop and by the way even that, even that they haven`t even done
that.
So the Senate past a bipartisan bill and they did nothing and President
kept waiting and kept saying "I`m waiting. I`m waiting". And, you know,
if they don`t like the President`s action so much as he says which by the
way, our legal, we`re going to see that play out and it`s going to show
that the President did the right thing and he is -- within his authority to
do this. It`s just really sad.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
TADDEO: And in addition to that, we have a governor in Florida who`s
actually a part of that lawsuit. I mean that just horrible. Florida is a
place where we welcome immigrants.
SCHULTZ: Well, that should surprise anybody. Rick Scott involved in a
lawsuit.
Mitch, what do make of Rubio`s position right now? I mean how does that
play?
CEASAR: Well, it`s interesting because he was for immigration reform
before he was against it. He`s basically flip-flopped like all the
presidential Republican candidates have done. None of them, they have
taken a clear position. In fact, Jeb Bush has flip-flopped on this issue
going back in number of years and reversed himself in the last few years.
So they`re trying to carve out an intelligent place but there is no
intelligent place for the Republican field. You have a super vote in
Republican primary that`s very conservative, you have the billionaire class
involve, funding those Republican candidates. As you said, single member
districts from reapportion.
If they have nowhere to go, they`re on the wrong side of history and
they`re going to find after 2016. They are totally on the wrong side of
the Electoral College because of Hispanics and their voting pattern today
(ph).
SCHULTZ: All right. Annette Taddeo, Mitch Ceasar, Ana Rivas Logan, great
to have you with us tonight.
And we have more news out of the Sunshine State today. Media outlets in
Florida are suing Governor Rick Scott.
Roughly, a dozen news organizations are accusing Scott of violating the
State sunshine law. They claimed Scott`s transitioned team mass deleted e-
mails in the weeks preceding his taking office in January of 2011. Media
outlets are fighting a policy by Scott`s office allowing employees to
destroy records they considered transitory. They claimed these documents
are not connected to Florida`s public records law.
The goal of the lawsuit is to safeguard all relevant materials from being
deleted. Even aids (ph) the cellphone numbers are certainly going to be
involved in this along with text messages.
So I want to bring in now the reporter Steve Bousquet of the Tampa Bay
Time. Steve, good to have you with us tonight.
I want to fully disclose that your newspaper is also involved in this
lawsuit and want full disclosure of all this communication. Is Scott`s
administration breaking the law? Did they break the law?
STEVE BOUSQUET, TAMPA BAY TIMES: Well, that`s up for the judge to
determine, Ed. But I`ve never seen anything like this in 30 years of
reporting in the state. We have almost every major newspaper and
television station in Florida on the record suing the Governor`s office and
-- then, three elected cabinet members who by the way are independent in
the state. They`re independent. They`re all Republicans, all four of
them.
What happened was, right before Christmas, a highly respected state law
enforcement official was forced out of office. His name was Gerald Bailey.
He runs the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, our state police more or
less. And no explanation, no public discussion, no vote, no nothing. And
Scott has really -- he is acknowledge that he could have handle it better
but there`s been no real detail public acknowledgment or explanation of
what happened.
And in Florida, we take the sunshine law very seriously down here and it`s
going to go to court and people are going to have to -- sit there under
oath with their right arm raise and explain what happened behind the
scenes.
SCHULTZ: Why do you think they`re trying to protect them? What is -- what
could he possibly be hiding?
BOUSQUET: Well, what happened was during Rick Scott`s campaign, as the
Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald reported, during the campaign there were
constant stresses and strains between the governor`s office and the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement which provides security to the governor.
Bailey felt that he was being pressured to sort of play political games and
to sort of provide transportation to Scott`s campaign workers things like
this. All this has been reported down here.
And at the end of -- Rick Scott gets elected in November. He wins. He
defeats Charlie Christ by one percentage point but he wins fair and square
but he has no honeymoon. They throw Bailey overboard. And Bailey, instead
of going quietly decides to start complaining and going public with all
these grievances and it`s gotten pretty ugly.
SCHULTZ: Would this have affected the election if this had come out before
November?
BOUSQUET: Well, that`s a great point. Rick Scott defeated Charlie Christ
by about 60,000 to 65,000 votes, Ed, out of about 5 million votes cast.
And the Democrats in the state have been second guessing themselves ever
since election night thinking, if we`d only done this, if we`d only done
that.
You know, Rick Scott had a lot more money, a lot more resources in this
campaign. The Republicans do a better job of getting this base vote out in
an off-year election in Florida, the Democrats do. But I think the answer
to your question is, any variable like this could have affected the
outcome.
SCHULTZ: Steve Bousquet with us tonight from the Tampa Bay Times. I
appreciate your time. Thanks so much.
Coming up, Republicans play a dangerous game of chicken. Congresswoman
Debbie Wasserman Schultz joins us on the politics of a possible shutdown.
Will the House respond to what the Senate just did earlier today?
Plus, we`ll talk to the man who forced Rahm Emanuel into a runoff in
Chicago.
Keep it here. We`ll be right back on the Ed Show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEH JOHNSON, SECY., HOMELAND SECURITY: To even be having a conversation
about a potential shutdown of Homeland Security is incredible and absurd.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Funding for Homeland Security will -- expire in two days if
Congress fails to act. The clock is ticking.
The GOP is divided on passing a clean bill to fund the DHS hard-liners of
course when President Obama`s immigration policy`s on the table at the
expense of national security.
Despite of majority in Congress, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell just
can`t see who defining (ph) the unity in the party.
McConnell`s new proposal funds the DHS through September on a clean bill.
The Senate did take first steps as we reported a few moments ago. They are
considering the bill today and a vote of 98 to 2. The opposition, the
President`s immigration action would come on a separate bill.
One senior House Republican reportedly called the plan a joke. The only
thing Republicans can -- agree on is a lack of leadership.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) MAJORITY LEADER: My hope is that the Senate
will act, I don`t know what the House will do but I do think that we have a
responsibility to act here.
BOEHNER: The house has done its job to fund the Department of Homeland
Security and stop the President`s overreach on immigration. And we`re
waiting for the Senate to do their job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: For more, let me bring in Congressman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of
Florida who is the Chair of the DNC.
Congresswoman, why do these two have to be connected to get -- to protect
the country? Where is it at this hour now that the Senate has moved a
little bit on this with the vote to move forward?
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, (D) FLORIDA, DNC CHAIR: Well and of course,
they don`t have to be connected and thankfully the Senate has taken action
to disconnect them. The House Republicans and quite frankly a number of
Republicans who are saying they want to run for President are playing a
dangerous game of chicken here with our national security.
On Friday, as you noted, this funding runs out and putting our national
security in jeopardy. I mean, you have potential candidates for President
like Jeb Bush who has been definitely silent, refuses to say what he
thinks. I mean, if you`re running for President you should have an opinion
on whether the Department of Homeland Security should be shutdown over a
fight on immigration reform.
I mean, it`s just outrageous whether it`s Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Bobby
Jindal, Mike Pence. They have all actually said in one form or another
that it`s OK and this is an appropriate action to take.
It`s just unbelievable, outrageous, unacceptable and the (inaudible) the
Republicans court in the House.
SCHULTZ: Well, it is. And do you think that the Tea Party Republicans are
going to warm up to just a single bill that is not connected to
immigration? I mean, where is this going to go? And I said in the last
segment, I believe this is a product of gerrymandering.
I mean these guys know that they`re not going to lose, that they have
socially engineered the House. It emboldens them to do stuff like this and
they`re going to take it right in the firewall to try to get what they want
to see who blinks first. So, how does this play out in the House on the
Republican side?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: You know, when you`re not dealing with people who are
being rationale, and when making rationale, does not making rationale
decisions. It`s pretty tough to predict. So (inaudible) to me to predict
what the -- Republican caucus will do.
SCHULTZ: So you don`t think this brings the House any closer to a
conclusion on this, what the Senate did?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: You know, I`ve tried to apply logic to Republican
decision-making in the House of Representatives in the past, and then
pretty stunned that they`re lack of it.
So I mean, that this is playing a dangerous game where we`re not just
talking about -- I mean -- they already shut the whole government down and
cost us $24 billion. And that was over healthcare reform and denying
people healthcare.
Now, they`re willing to compromise our national security, shut the
Department of Homeland Security down and ensure that they can continue
their -- really religious -- almost religious adherence to ensuring that we
can deport as many undocumented immigrants as we can and not just...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: ... sad and unacceptable and dangerous and frightening.
SCHULTZ: Do you ...
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: And hopefully cooler heads will prevail.
SCHULTZ: Well, I hope so too. We certainly need among the job and we need
to have it funded.
Do you think that Speaker Boehner`s position as speaker is going to be
jeopardized because of this?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: You know, I certainly think his leadership is being
called into question again and again. I mean, what he needs to do is
carouse (ph) his caucus if he believes and making sure that we can protect
our national security interest.
Surely, he and other candidate -- other Republicans like Jeb Bush should
unequivocally state that we shouldn`t shutdown the Department of Homeland
Security over the President`s immigration policy. I want to hear from Jeb
Bush. Someone should ask him. And they have asked him and he refuses to
say and yet he wants to be president. That`s not leadership. John Boehner
hasn`t exercise leadership and then the process of pursuing their own
ambition of either staying in power or gaining more power...
SCHULTZ: Yes.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: ... they`re willing to compromise our national
security, it`s unacceptable.
SCHULTZ: And finally, Congresswoman, the news late this afternoon, three
New York men were accused of plotting to aid ISIS today. Will this
influence the DHS funding negotiations at all?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, I certainly hope that all of the considerations
that we have to take into account when it comes to our national security
whether it`s ISIS or, you know, other threats around the world...
SCHULTZ: So probably won`t.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: It doesn`t look good. I`ll tell you that and it`s
disturbing.
SCHULTZ: Debbie ...
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: I know...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: ... I`m going to stand up for my constituents.
SCHULTZ: I know you will. And Rubio has got an interesting take on all of
these. I mean, I think it`s interesting strategically that the President
is in Florida doing this, showing a clear division between where the
Democrats are and where, you know, these Florida guys are, Scott, Rubio and
Bush and you`re pointing out that hey haven`t said anything about it. And
of course Rubio is certainly (inaudible) to race.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Exactly. Rubio has suggested that it`s just fine.
This is the appropriate direction to go. And, I mean, these are people who
are actually saying that they want to be president of the United States.
I don`t know how anybody would expect Americans to vote for them when
they`re willing to compromise our national security.
SCHULTZ: Congresswoman, thanks to your time tonight. I appreciate it.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Thank you. Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Let`s bring in Brad Woodhouse tonight. He is the President of
American Bridge 21st Century.
Will the Republicans pay for this? I mean, what do you think?
BRAD WOODHOUSE, PRES. AMERICAN BRIDGE: They`re absolutely going to pay for
this. I mean, we`ve seen this movie before, when the Republican shut the
government down, they pay a price. No one believes that Democrats would
shutdown the government or the Democrats would shutdown the Department of
Homeland Security.
I mean, Ed, we`re talking about terrorism. We`re talking about ISIS and
we`re talking -- and they`re talking about furloughing (ph) 30,000
employees of DHS sending others to work without a paycheck and the stress
that that puts on them and their families. It`s phenomenal that
Republicans are going down the path again.
SCHULTZ: Brad, what does this say about how strong the Republican stances
against any kind of immigration reform if they`re willing to roll the dice
on this issue?
WOODHOUSE: Well, that`s exactly right. I mean, look, they had an autopsy
after the 2012 election where they said, they`ve got to get this issue
right. And, you know Marco Rubio, they are, for a day, supported
immigration reform and there were some in the Senate and they move the bill
to the House and that`s where Boehner has sat. He sat on a bill for over
500 days.
If you want to debate immigration reform, bring up a bill...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
WOODHOUSE: ... on immigration reform...
SCHULTZ: So...
WOODHOUSE: ... don`t shutdown the Department of Homeland Security.
SCHULTZ: So do we need Boehner and McConnell to go play golf?
WOODHOUSE: Well, you know what?
SCHULTZ: They haven`t talked to each other in two weeks.
WOODHOUSE: They haven`t talked to each other in two weeks. The biggest
joke ever perpetuated on American people was, when they sat after the
election that they would come to Washington...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
WOODHOUSE: ... that they would show that they could govern. They`re not
even talking to each other. How can they govern the majority leaders in
both Houses? How can they govern if they`re not even speaking to one
another?
SCHULTZ: We just had no idea they didn`t get along.
Brad Woodhouse...
WOODHOUSE: Yeah.
SCHULTZ: ... good to have you with us. I appreciate your time tonight.
WOODHOUSE: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Still ahead, "Mayor 1%" may have had the money behind him but he
didn`t have the vote behind to avoid to runoff. It`s getting really
interesting in Chicago. I will visit with Chuy Garcia, the populous
favorite of the Chicago mayor`s race.
And we are following the three arrests on U.S. soil link to the fight
against ISIS. Stay with us. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And another news today, three men from Brooklyn, New York have
been arraign on charges they plan to travel overseas to join ISIS.
The FBI says the suspects threatened to plant a bomb in Coney Island or
attack President Obama directly. NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton spoke this
afternoon saying that the incident reinforces concerns about the lone-wolf
terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL BRATTON, NYPD COMMISSIONER: This is real. This is the concern about
the lone-wolf inspired to act without ever going to the Middle East or the
concern of once they get to the Middle East acquire a fighting skills,
capabilities and then attempting to return to the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, the men were arrested and taking into custody in New York
and the other in Florida.
Take a look at this video showing the bombing of a warship.
The ship is actually a replica of an American vessel. The Ukrainian
Revolutionary Guard bombed the ship while conducting naval and air defense
drills. The Guard`s Chief Commander said the drills send a message of
Iran`s might to extra territorial powers. OK.
And today, the family of American Sniper Chris Kyle is reacting to the
guilty verdict in the murder trial of Eddie Ray Routh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDY LITTLEFIELD, MOTHER OF CHAD LITTLEFIELD: It was answered prayer.
We`ve waited a long time to hear that, and we feel justice was served.
Chris served overseas and Chad served when they came back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s right.
J. LITTLEFIELD: ... he had a passion for -- veterans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
J. LITTLEFIELD: ... so -- but then Chad was always a helping hand, you
know. He was a rock.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: The jury convicted Routh in the shooting deaths of Kyle and his
friend Chad Littlefield at a Texas shooting range in 2013. The defense is
appealing. They argued that Routh was having a psychotic episode when he
pulled the trigger.
And of course, we always like hearing from our viewers.
In our Ask Ed segment tonight this question comes from Melissa, "What is
next in your fight against the Keystone XL pipeline now that it`s been
vetoed?"
Continue to tell the story about eminent domain and see how strong these
landowners in Nebraska or going to be. And tell the story about how
they`re real Americans, they can`t be cashed with -- by a multinational
because they care about the water underneath their ground, because it
supplies the region and it`s so vital to agriculture. I think that`s a
heck of a story and a lot to talk about.
There`s a lot more coming up to the Ed Show. Stay with us we`ll be right
back.
HAMPTON PEARSON, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Hampton Pearson with your CNBC
Market Wrap.
Stocks end mixed but little change. The Dow adds 15 points, the S&P sheds
1 point, the NASDAQ also off by 1.
Hewlett Packard has reportedly in talks (ph) to buy Aruba Networks, a Wi-Fi
gear maker. Aruba shares rallying 21 percent on that news. HP shares
sliding 10 percent.
Another big decliner today Lumber Liquidators, the company says it`s going
to be the subject of a negative report on 60 Minutes. That helps end
shares down a whopping 26 percent.
That`s it from CNBC, first in business worldwide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show.
Rahm Emanuel enter Chicago`s first ever runoff for mayor. The incumbent
failed to get more than 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday election. His
deep pockets, they were there, but they didn`t help.
Emanuel reportedly collected more than $16 million for his campaign. Raise
more money than all the other candidates combined. And with the support of
big donors and even the President, he was of course known as "Mayor 1%".
He was -- unable to get the deal done.
But the rest of the Chicago`s 99 percent only partially spoke. Not a big
voter turnout. Emanuel now must face a runoff against the second place
finisher Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAHM EMANUEL, MAYORAL CANDIDATE FOR CHICAGO: For those who voted for
someone else, I hope to earn your confidence and your support in the weeks
to come.
JESUS "CHUY" GARCIA, CANDIDATE FOR MAYOR OF CHICAGO: They said we didn`t
have a chance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s right. That`s right.
GARCIA: They said we didn`t have any money, while they spend millions
attacking us. Well, we`re still standing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Chuy Garcia`s most enthusiastic support came from the Chicago
Teachers Union. He also had the backing of labor and progressive groups
who say that they`re tired of Rahm Emanuel`s corporate friendly leadership.
And the runoff is scheduled for April 7th.
Chuy Garcia joins us tonight here on the Ed Show. Mr. Garcia, certainly
congratulation is an order.
GARCIA: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: It would seem to me that spending millions of dollars and having
low voter turnout would have been good for Rahm Emanuel. What happened?
GARCIA: Well, everybody was betting on the money, everyone was looking at
the race in conventional terms but Chicago voters had other plans and
they`ve showed up yesterday, even though in low numbers. Those who showed
up wanted change and a majority of those voters who voted yesterday said
they don`t agree with the direction of city. They want something else and
they voted against the special money interest, the millionaires and the big
corporations which have been getting tax subsidies and have sweetheart
deals with Ralm Emanuel. People said we want to go on the different
direction.
In addition to that, 19 members of the city council are facing runoff.
So the message that was sent was a clear message that Chicago wants -- want
to go in different direction.
SCHULTZ: So if the voter turnout gets to say in all time high, who wins as
you see it? I mean, you know, a low voter turnout normally is good with
the guy with the money.
GARCIA: That`s right.
SCHULTZ: You know, so what are you going to do between now and April 7th
to wake up that town to get a better turnout?
GARCIA: Well, I think we achieved a part of our goal yesterday which was
to show people that you can fight back, that you can reject the advances
of, you know, billionaires who want to take over our government, that want
to privatize everything including public education and that is people show
up they can win.
SCHULTZ: So where you going to work? I mean where you going to
concentrate on, where in Chicago do you have to go to get this vote to beat
Emanuel?
GARCIA: I`m going to go everywhere as I did in the primary. My support
came from all quarters of the city Chicago. It`s a new type of coalition.
I will work hard and redouble my efforts to win African-American voters, to
win other voters over. I think we did very well. And remember that the
mayor spent a lot of his money convincing African-American voters that it
was over, that he was going to win.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
GARCIA: I think the appearance by big politician in Chicago did not
payoff, voters in Chicago understand what the stake. They want their city
back, they want to run it, they want more accountability and that`s why
they came out.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Garcia, what about those who didn`t make it, who lose? Are
they going to support you or you going to get some help here now?
GARCIA: We are in conversations with them. I`m very optimistic.
SCHULTZ: OK.
GARCIA: And we`ll be able to reach an agreement. They`re good people and
I seek their support.
SCHULTZ: Is this -- and I going to ask you, is this race between the
pinnacle of this race -- really the focal point of this race is education.
I mean how do you shut 50 schools and not have community think you`re doing
a good job.
GARCIA: Yeah.
SCHULTZ: You know, I mean I just think that cuts just such the fabric of
picking and choosing neighborhoods. Aren`t those the people you need?
GARCIA: Yeah, exactly. And, you know, you can`t just say this is what`s
best. This is what I know. I know better. I came from Washington D.C. I
was a former chief of staff.
No. Chicago wants to be consulted. They have an opinion and you can
impose those things on them. So it was a significant turning point I think
in Chicago politics won that would bode (ph) very well from my candidacy.
SCHULTZ: OK.
GARCIA: I think we`re prepared to take Chicago Bank. We did it in grand
style with people from all over the city coming together and saying we want
our city back.
SCHULTZ: All right.
GARCIA: We care about public education and by the way the elected school
board referendum passed by 88 percent.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Garcia, good luck to you. We`ll visit again.
GARCIA: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Thanks so much.
GARCIA: Thank you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Now in Ohio, Governor John Kasich is trying to change his
conservative tone from compassionate to physical (ph).
He spent the first 55 minutes of his State of the State speech Tuesday
pitching his controversial tax and school funding proposals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOHN KASICH. (R) OHIO: I believe the most important thing that we can
do to plan ahead is to continue strengthening Ohio`s economy by further
cutting taxes and that means we must restrain government spending. I`m
proposing that we cut taxes by $500 million on top of the $3 billion in tax
accounts we`ve already made because high income taxes punish risk-taking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Interesting strategy. He is trying to pay themselves in the
middle on the road to the national audience. He is pointing Ohio`s slow
economic improvement over the last four years as proof of success of his
policies.
But some Ohio Democrats argued that Kasich`s deep cuts have left
communities out of the cold such as Cleveland 60 million short.
Ruth Conniff, Progressive Magazine, joins us tonight.
Ruth, if there going to be launching of pad, a launching pad right now for
Kasich, this would be it, wouldn`t it?
RUTH CONNIFF, PROGRESSIVE MAGAZINE: Yeah. I mean it`s interesting though,
the segment that you just did on Chicago and taking about Kasich, there is
just commonality which is cuts to public schools and they`re really causing
a lot of trouble for people.
So, arguing that, you know, now is the time to make even deeper tax cut
more cut and hearing all of the objections from Republicans and Democrats
alike about the deep school funding cuts in Ohio. I think really sets up
this whole dynamic.
Are we still trying to do trickle-down economics? You know, Kasich has
really tried this. The voters in his state, unlike Wisconsin we`re
actually able to turned back the right to work effort there because they
could repeal a law that was passed that is empower union. And now you see
a whole bunch of Republicans sitting on their hands when he`s giving a
State of the State. Because, you know, if they`re having some trouble with
high income districts saying, "Hey, these school cuts are hurting us." So
I think he has kind of struggle on this. Ed.
SCHULTZ: How was he going to tell the story of any kind of economic
recovery in the state without mentioning the automobile industry?
CONNIFF: Yeah. Well, there`s a lot of problems there. You know, the
people of Ohio are really pushing back I think. And I think that you see
Kasich who is an interesting character because, you know, he is not a
complete party line guy. He offended the NRA when he was in Congress by
not being a complete toe the line gun (ph) rights guy.
He struggles a little bit. In that speech, he acknowledged the disaster
that charter schools have been in Ohio. They are not performing well.
This, you know, privatization and free market solution education problems
has been kind of a disaster over many, many years now in Ohio.
And he said, "Well, let`s not judge them too harshly, you know, sometimes
student have problems that aren`t easily fix." Well, that`s an interesting
argument, you know, coming from somebody who really wants (ph) proponent...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
CONNIFF: ... of handling over schools to charters because the free market
would solve (ph) all their problem.
SCHULTZ: All right. Attorney of Wisconsin the Quinnipiac University put
out a poll that shows Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker leading the pack
among likely Iowa Republican Caucus participants, 25 percent.
He is -- this is interesting. Quinnipiac great credibility of question
about that but they`re asking people are you a caucus score. Yeah, I am.
Who do you think? Walker is -- I mean, this is the most encouraging number
he`s had so far isn`t it?
CONNIFF: Yeah. And this has been Walker`s drive all along right. I mean
forget about Wisconsin. He is really moving on to the national stage and
everything that he has done has been a test to see whether a Republican
candidate who completely leans into destruction the politics of austerity,
you know, complete warfare with the working people of his own state if that
is a winner. And it seems like people like this, you know, people in a
very right-wing face in Iowa like this, you know, bold politics of Walker
which is very aggressive and very divisive.
SCHULTZ: All right. Ruth Conniff, always a pleasure to have you with us
on the Ed Show. Thanks so much.
Still ahead, chewing tobacco is a baseball tradition. No one, you know,
should be doing it really. I mean that`s what the American Cancer Society
says.
There`s an American city out there that wants to ban it from the big
leagues, that`s right, the bigs (ph). Not chewing tobacco, wait a minute,
this is America.
That`s coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Time now for the two-minute drill. NFL, they are going on
defense in Wisconsin. How about this?
The NFL Players Associations is coming out against the state legislature`s
effort to make Wisconsin a right-to-work state.
The Players Association says, "Right-to- work laws would affect the well-
being and livelihood of the food and commercial workers at Lambeau Field in
Green Bay. Good for them.
They added Governor Scott Walker may not value these vital employees but as
union members we do.
California could be closer to hosting another football team. The Inglewood
City Council voted unanimously to approve a new 80,000 seats stadium. It
would be built to the former site of the Hollywood Park race track.
They`re hoping that one day they`re going to be able to get the Rams back,
the team that left for Saint Louis back in 1995.
And in Arizona, baseball players are dealing with some sting training.
The White Sox and Dodgers found some uninvited guests at their spring
training facility in Glendale, Arizona.
A Dodger staffer was stung twice by the bugs at the team`s facility at
Camelback Ranch. It comes just days after the White Sox reported several
Scorpion sightings but the stingers aren`t taking the focus off baseball
for Chicago players.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know (inaudible) today but some are seeing one.
They`re small but they`re (ph) just scary I guess (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess, this hurt (inaudible) done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: You don`t want to mess with them.
Stick around. There`s a lot more coming up on the Ed Show. We`ll be right
back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And finally tonight, chewing tobacco could become a thing of the
past around America`s pastime, really? You know, it`s a familiar sight.
Baseball players working a lot of chewing tobacco in the dugout watching
the games, sup in the cheeks and spit it all over the place. That`s part
of the game. That`s been for years, but it`s not just a thing of the past.
According to the league officials, about 30 percent of major league players
still use smokeless tobacco. Anti-tobacco groups say that this sets a very
bad example for the sport`s youngest fans.
Now, in a first in the nation measure aims to ban all tobacco products. It
includes smokeless tobacco and electronic cigarettes, wherever organized
baseball is played.
San Francisco Supervisor Mark Farrell introduced the measure which would
out all tobacco use at every playing field in the city including the Giants
AT&T Park.
Smokeless tobacco has been banned in a minor league baseball leagues since
1993.
A similar statewide measure introduced by California Assemblyman Tony
Thurmond could go even further than this. It would include the state`s
five major league stadiums, minor league parks, college and high school
fields in anywhere a game is played in connection with an establish league
or association of persons.
The Major League Baseball Players Association said that they discouraged
the use of smokeless tobacco products by its members or anyone else.
However, the subject of tobacco use is a collective bargaining issue. This
means, an agreement must be reach for the players union. If the proposed
banned is pass, it would take effect next year.
California continues to lead the charge against tobacco. This time,
they`re hoping to knock it out of the park completely.
You know, those camera shots (inaudible), you know, that would be a thing
of the past. I thought was all part of baseball. It`s bad. It`s not
good. And this is bad as smoking.
Joining me tonight is the Hip-Hop Doc, Dr. Rani Whitfield, who`s the
Medical Director of the National Association of Free Clinics. Dr., good to
have you with us tonight.
RANI WHITFIELD, MEDICAL DIR. NAFC: Ed, thank you so much. How are you
doing?
SCHULTZ: How -- very good -- how dangerous is chewing tobacco?
WHITFIELD: It is very dangerous, Ed. I mean, there`s been a lot of
misconceptions but it`s very dangerous. It`s associated with mouth,
tongue, cheek, throat, lung cancer as well as stomach and pancreatic
cancer, increase risk potential heart disease.
So this is very serious. I mean, a lot of people think that smoking
cigarette is just as worst but we know that nicotine is a very addictive
substance. And it`s just a nasty habit to see (inaudible) guys on T.V. and
our young people watching them. And so, I applaud California for making
the attempt to ban this from the fields.
We`re not saying that you guys, if you`re grown folks, you can`t smoke or
chew tobacco in the privacy of your own home and your own settings, but in
the baseball fields particularly on national T.V. I truly applaud for their
efforts.
SCHULTZ: It`s interesting how chewing tobacco is dangerous as it is as you
just said, was able to escape any kind of legislation in the past when it
came to smoking bans. What about that?
WHITFIELD: Ed, I`m confused as well. And unfortunately, it took Tony
Gwynn in his untimely death to bring more awareness to this issue, as well
as was Curt Schilling who has openly stated that he believes that his
cancer battle is attributed to his chewing tobacco.
So now is the time. I don`t if you saw it on Twitter, we got a lot of
pushback, you know, the government (ph) giving their hand involved and our
choices again. This is not getting their hands of all the choices. We`re
trying to protect the lives of young people.
You know, as the Hip-Hop Doc, Ed, I`ve always been about helping young
people in educating them. And this is one way where we can truly impact
them all. I was huge fan of Dr. J, huge fan of Michael Jordan and if those
guys are smoking when I was a young boy, I probably would started smoking.
If I`ve seen them chewing tobacco, I -- probably would started chewing
tobacco.
So I think this is legislation is not there just to give their hands in
your business or try to disturb what you`ve been doing throughout your
life. This is a way to try to protect the lives of our young people.
SCHULTZ: You know, they told us that seat belts didn`t make that much of a
difference either and government got involved on that. There`s all kinds
of examples that are out there that government does get involved in.
You know, they afraid of guys that are going to say, well, this, you know,
in our intercept my freedom in a way where government shouldn`t be involved
in this. If I want to chew tobacco, I can. But this is about...
WHITFIELD: Right.
SCHULTZ: .... the game as well which I find very interesting. It`s not
like the players union is saying we don`t want chewing tobacco -- of
course, they got fence surround it because it`s a collective bargaining
issue but do you think...
WHITFIELD: Right.
SCHULTZ: ... that baseball could make a statement and how much -- how
influential would that be if they did to ban chewing tobacco?
WHITFIELD: It would be huge, Ed. Just like the NFL when they came out and
spoke out against abuse of women. This would be a huge statement on the
part of the major leaguer baseball and it seems like they`re on the same
page.
This is kind of scare to make the stance and they should have been to lead
on this not the minor league baseball team in 1993 as you`ve said earlier.
Major league baseball should have been the first one to come out and put
the ban out.
SCHULTZ: But...
WHITFIELD: At the end of the day (ph), we know how important this is. We
know how a serious the nicotine addiction is and the use of the smokeless
tobacco and this is the best they have. You know, I don`t want that in my
environment and I won`t be steeping on this stuff or walking on the stuff.
And many of these campuses are or facilities are already smoke-free, so why
not go ahead and do the full game and make them smokeless, free as well.
SCHULTZ: I think they`ve escaped the conversation of this country over the
decades about the education. I mean, educating young kids on just how
dangerous this is. They all know smoking is bad but, wait a minute,
chewing tobacco, the players do that and that`s not a problem. I think
that is certainly is a conversation that hasn`t been held enough.
Dr. Rani Whitfield, great to have you with us and (inaudible)...
WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Ed.
SCHULTZ: You bet. A great work always, I appreciate your work so much.
Thank you.
That`s the Ed Show. I`m Ed Schultz. PoliticsNation with Reverend Al
Sharpton starts right now.
Good evening Rev.
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The Ed Show for Wednesday, February 25th, 2015
Read the transcript to the Wednesday show