Transcripts For MSNBC The Ed Show 20130222

Surprise. Plus, the great dan rather on the rightwing media infecting the political process. Shades of the o. J. Trial after another blade runner bombshell. A Florida College names its stadium after a private prison. Ill tell you why thats an awful idea. And fat cats beware. Theres a brand new push to go after Capital Gains taxes. I dont know how much longer im going to do this. Good to have you with us tonight, folks. Thanks for watching. Most people who pick up a newspaper in this country go to the usa today. It is still the most highly circulated paper in the country. This is what folks who picked up the usa today saw this morning. A frontpage graphic of president obama with pairs of blue lines and red lines. You see, the blue lines represent support for president obamas policies. The red lines show support for the congressional republicans. And it doesnt take long to notice a very distinct pattern. A comprehensive new poll by the usa today and the Pew Research Center shows america supports the president s agenda on issue after issue. If you need any more proof about this being a centerleft country, here it is. On minimum wage, the president talked about this in the state of the union address. 71 of americans say that it should go to 9 an hour. And thats what the president talked about. Even 50 of republicans support raising the minimum wage. Lets go to gun safety. A lot of conversation about that. Expanding background check laws remains extremely popular. 83 want the laws to be stronger. An assault weapons ban who many say isnt going to pass the Congress Still has the majority of americans with them. 56 of americans say yes, go with it. Banning highcapacity magazine clips has a 53 support of the American People. And lets go to climate change. This is interesting. 54 say the top priority is to develop alternative energy sources. Only 34 say the top priority should be more fossil fuel reproduction, drill baby drill. Were not done yet, folks. On immigration its still the president. Americans side with the president. They want a combination of Border Security and a pathway to citizenship, which the republicans have never been along with. Another place where americans want a balanced approach is deficit reduction. Big number here. This was a big part of the election conversation. 76 want a combination of cuts and new revenue. This is the president s point of view. He gave republicans 1. 2 trillion in cuts already back in the summer of 2011. And republicans want more. And they refuse to budge on more revenue and taxes even for the wealthiest americans and corporations. Republicans, my friendsr out of touch with america. Theyre out of touch with the American People and what the American People want. President obama spoke with Republican Leaders in Congress Today trying to get a deal, trying to reach a deal on deficit reduction before the automatic sequester cuts kick in a week from tomorrow. The president made it clear to reverend al sharpton on his radio show today he knows that the public is on his side. When you look at polling, 75 of the American People agree with me that the way to reduce our deficit sensibly is through a combination of spending cuts and tax revenue. Unfortunately, i think republicans right now have been so dug in on this notion of never raising taxes that it becomes difficult for them to see an obvious answer right in front of them. Dont shortchange yourself, mr. President. Its not 75. Its 76 of the American People. Republicans are too busy playing the blame game to deal with the sequester. House Speaker John Boehner is working overtime, trying to get obamaquester to trend on twitter. Isnt that cute . White house spokesperson jay carney took a shot at republicans for their whackedout priorities. Imagine if republicans put half the amount of effort into finding a solution to this problem as they have into coming up with hashtags. Republicans should heed carneys warning. According to the usa todays poll, the blame will fall squarely on the gop if the sequester cuts kick in. Less than 1 3 of americans will blame the president. Republicans didnt get any help from a bloomberg poll, either. It shows gop favorability is underwater compared to the president and the democrats. It is so bad for the republicans right now, only 22 of americans identify themselves as members of the republican party. Republicans have been asleep at the switch, as the country has moved to the center left. They are still hypnotized by this guy. Ronald reagan. The era of reagan. For 30 years republicans promoted selfreliance. But after three decades the American People realized the Playing Field simply is not level. Republicans rigged the system to give an advantage to those at the very top and the corporations. Americans support president obamas agenda. And they are rejecting the philosophy of reagan republicans. It couldnt be any more clear. Weve had elections. Weve had polls. Weve had town halls. Government is not the problem. What is the problem is something that we have focused on in this program for over two years. Unfairness. Income inequality is the problem. And the country is still focused on that. Get your cell phones out. We want to know what you think. Tonights question, have republicans gone so far to the right that theyre unable to govern . Text a for yes, b for no. The number is 67622. Our blog is there for you at ed. Msnbc. Com. Well bring you the results later on in the show. Lets turn to our Congressional Panel tonight. Congressman shaka fattah of pennsylvania is with us this evening. Congresswoman gwen moore of wisconsin is also with us tonight. And congressman steve lynch of massachusetts. Great to have all of you with us. I want to let our viewers know that were having a technical problem with the connection with congresswoman moores picture, but its important that her voice be here with us tonight. So from milwaukee thats how were going to do this. And well go to her first. Congresswoman moore, thank you for your time. Do you believe that these poll numbers make it easier for democrats and progressives to stand strong and win the conversation as we move forward. Your thoughts. Ed, i think theyre absolutely critical. Because i think the republicans feel that theyre in the catbird seat. These cuts that are in the sequester, the 85 billion minus the defense cuts, are a republicans dream of ending socalled big government, endi jobkilling regulations, to do what Grover Norquist has always wanted to do, to shrink government and make it so small that you could drown it in the bathtub. And even though between 1. 4 and 2 million jobs will be lost, republicans would have accomplished an aspiration for their party that they have had for a long time. No doubt. And they figure that they can come in through the back door, introduce a bill to restore the defense cuts, and with a bill that would pass both houses by 2 3 votes, that they could get a supplemental bill to restore defense cuts. This is what i think their plan is. And were it not for the president , we may they might have tried to they might have succeeded. The scary thing about this is that once you see these cuts kick in and once you see americans lose their jobs theres no guarantee that these folks are going to get back and get rehired and get back into the game. And this is the dangerous thing about these cuts that are one week from tomorrow. Congressman shaka fattah, what about that . People lose their jobs, theyre gone, theres no guarantee theyre going to come back. How are you going to deal with that . Well, look, youve seen it. Youve been around the country. Its devastating the families. But i want people to know were going to win this fight. And just like you said at the front end of this show, with the governor of florida now joining the governor of michigan and ohio on health care reform, republicans in the congress are going to have to come around on these other issues. We live in a republic in which the elected officials have to listen to people. And the public is what the president on all of these key issues. And were going to win this fight. Now, theyre playing a delaying game, but the truth of the matter is that once we move forward with votes out of the senate just like we want on the fiscal cliff vote we will win on this. That is to say that the president , if he can garner a bipartisan vote in the senate, it will put the House Republicans in a box. And thats i hear very few democrats talking like you. Theyre not really sure how this is going to go. Its refreshing to hear you say that were going to win this thing, win it for the people. Heres president obama talking about the inability of congress to get anything done on time. I dont know why it is in this town folks leave stuff till the last minute. You know, theres no other profession, no other industry where people wait until the 11th hour to solve these big problems. And obviously, it creates a lot of uncertainty in our economy. That uncertainty is a big deal. Congressman lynch, what do you say to people who cant understand why Congress Just doesnt seem to get things done . Well, i have to point out that congresswoman moore, congressman fattah, and myself all voted not to adjourn, to stay in washington and keep on working on these problems. Look, i think the American People in your polls, theyre choosing Common Sense Solutions over radical ideology. They realize that if the sequestration goes through were talking about, just one small piece of it, 1. 6 billion being cut from medical research, including alzheimers research, diabetes research, autism research, cancer research. So those are very important issues for the American People. And thats why you see this migration in those polls. I also see that there are a lot of progressives starting to get together in congress. To the point where they have written a letter to the president. And this is the quote. We will not vote against any and every cut to medicare, medicaid, or Social Security benefits including raising the retirement age or cutting the cost of living adjustments that our constituents earned and needed. I mean, this is let me weigh in on that, ed. Go ahead, congresswoman. This is gwen moore. Thats very important for people to understand, that what was not included in the sequestration were those programs, those mandatory programs, Social Security, medicare, medicaid, food stamps, pell grants. And what the republicans would love to see is for this president to serve up on a silver platter these programs and not just make some changes in them but structural changes to undermine the program you agree with that . You agree with this letter, congresswoman . Oh, absolutely. I agree with that letter. Because ultimately, in order to end the sequester that is the demand that theyre making on the president. That he make structural changes to medicare and Social Security. Shaka fattah, go ahead. What weve had is a quarterback controversy. And then we had a decision that rather than romney we were going with obama. What we have now is we have some people on the team who because they didnt get the quarterback they wanted they want to stop the game from continuing. This is an inside game by the republicans to slow this economy, to create uncertainty that causes Business Decisions to be delayed. We know that at the end of the day they have to produce a bill that the president s prepared to sign. And hes made it absolutely clear, and youve made it fundamentally clear that we have to protect the middle class. Right . And he has said very clearly that he is not willing to affect these beneficiaries in these programs, that were going to have to get our so its defense cuts. But that its got to be balanced. Right . Its got to be balanced. Its going to have to be defense cuts and youre going to have to get republicans to go along with that. I think theyre trying no, no, no. I think theyre just trying to get some kind of political narrative going that will put the president on the defensive, and theyre thinking that people dont know what happened back in the summer of 2011 and theyre even trying to blame the president that this is his sequester. Congressman lynch, youre going to have to win the echo chamber. Can it be done . I think it can be done. Although you have to say this is just another back door attempt by the republicans. They tried to turn medicare into a voucher program. Instead of the comprehensive program that it is that it has been for years. They went after Social Security and tried to take that money and put it on the stock market. We all know what would have happened if they had succeeded. This is just another back door attempt at that type of denigration and erosion of basic programs that have been championed for a long time by the democratic party. Congressman shaka fattah. Congresswoman go ahead, sir. What the president is saying is that its not just a game of cut this or cut that. We can raise revenue. We are the wealthiest country in the world. He says that the loopholes that romney proposed on the campaign, that we closed on businesses, lets close them, lets get those revenues in so that we can have some cuts that are smart i agree with all that. To move forward. Democrats obviously agree with that, but the republicans have not identified one loophole to date that they are willing to take out of the tax code. This is a dog and pony show. Yeah. Theyre reading those same polls that youre reading, and im telling you, were going to drag them on headed in the right direction. Congressman shaka fattah, congresswoman gwen moore, and congressman steve lynch, great to have you with us on the ed show tonight. You bet. Remember to answer tonights question on the bottom of your screen, share your thoughts on twitter and edshow and let us know what you think. Appreciate your interaction. The case of the alleged murder of this brilliant, beautiful woman by an olympic star takes an unbelievable turn. Two famous attorneys, marcia clark and roy black, are here tonight. Stick around. Were right back. And coming up, the chief detective in the Oscar Pistorius case is facing attempted murder charges of his own. This story keeps getting crazier by the day. Marcia clark and roy black join me later to talk about it. Dan rather is here tonight to give us his take on the republicans using blogs to go on witch hunts. You wont want to miss that. Dont forget you can listen to my radio show on sirius xm radio channel 127 monday through friday noon to 3 00 p. M. Share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using the hashtag edshow. Were coming right back. Welcome back to the ed show. Thanks for watching tonight. Obama care is winning. One of the Affordable Care acts most vocal opponents, Florida Governor rick scott, has now completely reversed himself on accepting the expansion of medicaid. Called a News Conference to announce his decision. While the federal government is committed to paying 100 of the cost, i cannot in good conscience deny floridians that needed access to health care. It doesnt matter what i believe. It doesnt matter what anybody believes. The Supreme Courts already made their decision. Okay . We had an election in the fall. The public made their decision. Your head spinning yet . This is a very different rick scott from the one who called obama care a job killer. This is going to be devastating for patients, devastating for taxpayers. Its going to be the biggest job killer ever. Were not going to implement obama care in florida. Were not going to implement this medicaid expansion. Federal government shouldnt be telling us what we can and cant buy. This will be the biggest job killer ever. Were not going to implement obama care in florida. Were not going to expand medicaid. Were going to dot right thing. Florida led the charge against obama care, challenging it until the law was upheld by the Supreme Court last year. Governor scott later used inaccurate information to claim medicaid was 2,500 more expensive than it actually is. Scott now joins six other republican governors who will accept obama cares medicaid expansion, including governor jan brewer of arizona and Governor John Kasich of ohio. So far 23 states have decided to participate in the medicaid expansion. Many republican governors went out of their way to drum up opposition to obama care, but their rhetoric melted in the face of reality. Floridas uninsured population is 20 . Its time for the fourth worst in the country. Governor scotts former supporters in the tea party, well, they were very quick to criticize his decision. You can imagine what they said. Its this. This is just another example of republicans lying to floridians, said tea Party Activist Everett Wilkin son. He called scott the Benedict Arnold to the patriot and Tea Party Movement in florida. Well, thats a new badge of honor that rick scott can wear. Joining me tonight howard fineman, nbc news political analyst and editorial director of the Huffington Post media group. Howard, always, good to have you with us. Hi, ed. Big turn for a very visible governor in a very crucial state. What does it mean . Well, what it means is reinforces the trend you were talking about at the top of the show, first of all. The usa today poll, i dont know if it did poll on obama care, but the general drift of things is in the direction of activist government. Thats what you said at the top. Youre absolutely right. And this is part of it. And in that sense even rick smith i mean excuse me, even rick scott had to accept reality, as he said. But theres more to it than that. First of all, theres a lot of money involved. Billions of dollars. For the state treasury over the next two years. Thats number one. Number two, dont forget that rick scott was a Hospital Executive before he got into politics. And hospitals and Health Care Providers in florida want the increased medicaid involvement because they want the money from payments from the government as opposed to handing out free care in some cases or charging their paying customers more. So its something the hospitals got behind. It would be nice to say that rick scott had a sudden attack of communitarian compassion, but thats not what this is about. Most important its his own political future. Hes running at 33 approval in the polls down in florida. He wants to run for reelection. In test matchups with former governor chris christie, who would probably run against him, rick scott is 14 points behind excuse me, im sorry, governor Charlie Crist in those test matches. Well, this is about getting reelected. When youve got a number at 33 youve got to do something. Its better for him to eat crow now and have people be happy than live with that number. And john kasich may be doing the same thing. He gave the ohio state of the state speech yesterday and he asked republican lawmakers to examine your conscience as they considered his proposed medicaid expansion. Were seeing a trend here. No doubt about it. Can they be trusted to really fully implement it . Well, as i say, i think a lot of this has to do with recognizing political reality, which is something that governors are better able to do actually in the end. Often members of congress locked up here in washington. Thats number one. He number two i cant stress enough that hospitals and Health Care Providers want this, ed. And the Obama Administration understood that when they put together the package thats known as obamacare. Theres a lot of money thats going to wind up in the hands of forprofit health care organizations. And one of the things that rick scott got in florida was special permission from washington to allow him to manage the expansion of medicaid in a way that will maximize the involvement of hospitals and private Health Care Providers. Thats part of the deal hes trying to work out for. But its mostly for him about politics and recognizing political realities if he has to go up against Charlie Crist. Theres one other thing. 9 governor of florida is pushing for a pay increase for teachers. I guess hes discovered that austerity just doesnt work. So hes trying to mend things up on all front. They used to say a conservatives a liberal whos mugged by reality. Its now the other way around. Howard fineman, great to have you with us on the ed show. Thank you so much. Thank you. A new report proves the rich are using Capital Gains to ride the wave of income inequality. New numbers. Well, i tell you what. What have we been talking about all along . Itll blow your mind. Thats next. The murder trial that has the world talking is becoming a circus. Marcia clark and roy black are here with the latest. [ female announcer ] going to sleep may be easy, but when you wake up in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. Its hard to turn off and go back to sleep. Intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you cant get back to sleep. Its an effective sleep medicine you dont take before bedtime. Take it in bed only when you need it and have at least four hours left for sleep. Do not take intermezzo if you have had an allergic reaction to drugs containing zolpidem, such as ambien. Allergic reactions such as shortness of breath or swelling of your tongue or throat may occur and may be fatal. Intermezzo should not be taken if you have taken another sleep medicine at bedtime or in the middle of the night or drank alcohol that day. Do not drive or operate machinery until at least 4 hours after taking intermezzo and youre fully awake. Driving, eating, or engaging in other activities while not fully awake without remembering the event the next day have been reported. Abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations, or confusion. Alcohol or taking other medicines that make you sleepy may increase these risks. In depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. Intermezzo, like most sleep medicines, has some risk of dependency. Common side effects are headache, nausea, and fatigue. So if you suffer from middleofthenight insomnia, ask your doctor about intermezzo and return to sleep again. Or treat gas with these after you get it. Now thats like sunblock before or sun burn cream later. Oh, somebody out theres saying, now i get it take beano before and therell be no gas. Welcome back to the ed show. Here on this program, weve spent years talking about the exploding income inequality in this country. Ive shown you this vulture chart. Numerous times on the program. Which shows how income for the top 1 gone through the roof while average americans have been getting screwed. Look at that blue line. Thats where theyve been. Weve talked about how this has threatened the middle class and disposable income in this country. We have witnessed the 2012 election really become a showdown between the 47 and the 1 . Theres a new study from thomas hungerford, an analyst with the Congressional Research service. He points to the culprit in all of this. Hungerford, the Capital Gains he found is the Capital Gains tax cuts is by far the biggest driver of income inequality. And look at that. The vulture chart. Thats right. The vulture chart shows the top 1 s income has been doing nothing but increasing. This shows where the money is coming from. Most americans depend on wages which are subject to a graduated tax, Capital Gains, have a capped rate which is now at 20 , and weve all heard the story of warren buffett, who pays a smaller percentage in tax than his secretary. Take a look at the distribution of Capital Gains. In 2012 the top 1 received 47 of all Capital Gains. Overall the top 1 took home 71 of all Capital Gains. Thats where the moneys going. To the top. Because Capital Gains tax rates are lower than the average americans. This led to the top 1 s income almost what . Doubling. Capital gains, my friends, is the golden goose republicans will never give up. For decades the republicans have protected the top 1 from tax increases, protecting them from higher taxes. Longterm investment. Just like Capital Gains. Because the 1 pay republicans big bucks to do what . Keep it that way. This is why republicans are willing to let sequester cuts kick in. This is the golden goose, as ive said. They will not give up. And theyre willing to let the rest of the country suffer for it. Republicans. The party officially of the rich. He will have a tough time. Going forward. The blade runner case explodes again with a bombshell revelation about the lead investigator. Attorneys marcia clark and roy black on what it all means for the prosecution and the defense. Plus, a Florida College takes 6 million to name its football stadium after a private Prison Company. Ill tell you why the public should be outraged. And radical rightwing conspiracies are showing up in the halls of government more than ever. Transferring weapons to turkey. The u. S. State department is an adjunct of the Israeli Foreign ministers office. Ill ask dan rather if the rightwing media is hurting the country. And we are back. One of the most famous athletes in the world is spending his seventh night behind bars, but it could be his last. After another bizarre turn of events in the courtroom today. Oscar pistorius, the socalled blade runner, is accused of murdering his girlfriend on valentines day. Pistorius became the first paralympic sprinter ever to compete in the Olympic Games last year on the South African team. Now a league team is fighting to get pistorius freed on bail after the lead investigator was charged with seven attempted murder counts. Nbcs Michelle Kosinski is one a very few reporters allowed into the courtroom. She has the latest developments from south africa. Reporter well, it seems every day something happens in there that just makes you say what now . This was a battle between two very good attorneys. First the defense blasted the prosecutions case about how police gathered evidence, things they said that were just wrong, and the fact that the chief Police Investigator now faces attempted murder charges for an onthejob shooting. He is now off the case. But then it was prosecutors turn to blow holes in pistoriuss account of what happened that night. They said even if you believe it this is still the preplanned murder of a burglar. Pistorius claimed he dropped the gun right after the shooting but prosecutors say that gun was actually found in a different place, on a little carpet outside the shower, next to the cell phones of both pistorius and reeva. Prosecutors ask why and how did those objects get there altogether . They said its totally inconsistent and something that pistorius cannot explain. Also pistorius said he woke up in the pitch black, thought it was a burglar, he thought reeva was next to him in bed, grabbed his gun and start shooting. Prosecutors say wait a minutee would have had to walk by reeva three times. You think this is a burglar, youre not at least going to look to make sure shes there or try to wake her . At least look at her. They call his account totally improbable. Said that pistorius is prone to violence and that he is bound to be convicted. Of course at this point we dont even know whether hell be released on bond. That is a decision we expect tomorrow. Back to you. Nbcs Michelle Kosinski from pretoria, south africa. Now lets turn to roy black, criminal defense attorney, and also marcia clark with us tonight, former Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney and author of the book guilt by degrees. Great to have both of you with us tonight. This is bizarre. Marcia, you first. Is the prosecution in trouble because of the situation that is now pending with the lead investigator who is now off the case . Well, it doesnt look good, ed. Ive never heard of such a thing. A lead investigator charged with seven counts of attempted murder. Thats pretty bad. Also bad is the fact that the cops were letting people into the crime scene before they had a chance to actually secure it, gather all the evidence 37 also bad is the fact they were Milling Around without booties covering their feet in a case where the movements of the suspect are critical to determining whether or not his story is credible. So certainly there are problems. I understand they also belatedly found a slug in the toilet that was not initially recovered. None of this looks very good. On the other hand, is it excuse me. Im sorry. Is it fatal . No. Not necessarily. We have to see all of the evidence. These are the early days yet, remember. This is a bail hearing. But i agree, ed, its a very unusual and strange circumstance when the lead investigator is charged with attempted murder. Seven counts. Mr. Black, would you say the defense had a good day in court today . And how would you defend Oscar Pistorius Going Forward from this point . Well, i think theyve had an excellent week, not just a good day. Remember that the lead investigator is the man in charge of the crime scene. His integrity has to be beyond reproach. Because hes collecting all the evidence. Just like marcia said. This is a disaster that went on there. And remember, these kinds of cases the forensic evidence is so important because 90 of the trial will be about the little pieces of evidence that they pick up. But i think the most important evidence, the evidence that will get him released on bail, is what happened after the shooting. Theres no way in the world that he with premeditated design intended to kill his girlfriend and then runs in, calls the police, calls the paramedics, pick her up in his arms, runs down stairs and puts cpr on her. Nobody who intended to kill somebody would do that. And to me thats the most important evidence in the case so far. And roy, isnt this a big advantage for the defense from the standpoint that this has been a rather unusual bail hearing . Very detailed. Well, i think its an advantage for both sides because the defense finds out about the prosecution case. But remember, he gave a statement right at the beginning of the hearing. So the prosecution also gets the advantage of knowing what the defense is. And now they can try to punch holes in it. Its a very different judicial system in south africa. They dont have a jury. It is going to be a judge. And several assistants, i understand. Marcia, how does this play . How tough does this make it for the defense . In fact, there was one attorney who made the comment we dont have juries, we have seasoned, hardened judges who have spent ten years listening to every sob story on the planet. The lawyer asked to remain anonymous, by the way. What do you make of that . Interesting he asked to remain anonymous. I guess i understand why. Because he has to still try cases there. It does make it harder, ed. When a defense attorney has a jury, he has people who are not necessarily experienced in crime scenes, in collection of evidence, in evaluating guilt or innocence. And when you have a judge, its a whole different story. You cant appeal to a judges emotions the same way. You dont count on the ability to sway them. With stories that you can sway a layperson with. A judge is much more likely to see through a story or a defense that doesnt work or is more likely to look at it dispassionately. For example, roy was saying that he doesnt see how someone could premeditatedly murder and then carry the body downstairs the way Oscar Pistorius did. I dont agree with him. I think i can see it. Im not necessarily saying this is a man who planned the murder out weeks in advance. No. But that he might have acted out of rage and intended to kill her when he shot. Yes. And that he then maybe had remorse. Possible. That he then maybe wanted to cover his tracks and carry the body downstairs and act like he was caring for her so he could make up a story about thinking there was a burglar. Yes. But a judge is more likely to see through what doesnt work and the inconsistencies, i think, than a jury is. And it is harder for the defendant. How do you think the judge would have viewed the conversation in the courtroom and the accusation of steroids being there but that wasnt the case . I think the judge would look at that probably dispassionately. See, this is where probably its helpful to the defense. A judge is going to look at this dispassionately and not be swayed by the mere mention of testosterone and say, okay, wait a minute, is it really testosterone . Has it been tested . Number one. Because you dont know. And the defense claims its herbal. And maybe it is. Number two, even if it is testosterone, was he on testosterone at the time . Without a blood test showing what was in his system at the time of the shooting its irrelevant and its simply prejudicial kind of incriminatinglooking evidence that really is irrelevant to the case. So a judge would see through it. And mr. Black, what about the alleged emotional outbreaks and other domestic issues that Oscar Pistorius has been involved in . Does that enter into this . From a defense standpoint how do you handle it . Its a real problem. I thought the defense handled it pretty well. Theyve explained all these incidents that he had. But it may well be that he has an anger problem. But remember i disagree with marcia. Lets say it is out of anger. Thats still not premeditated murder. Thats a lesser degree of murder and he ought to get bail. But it is a problem because apparently hes had some confrontations before. Hes suing a woman for making a false accusation. The big problem is going to be whether or not they had any arguments that day or that night and to give him a motive to shoot her. We hope to have both of you back. I appreciate your time so much on the ed show. Roy black and marcia clark. Thank you so much. Thank you. Republicans have demonized the liberal media for years. Tonight ill ask dan rather how he feels about republicans using discredited blogs to make policy. Laura bush supports marriage laura bush supports Marriage Equality but the former first lady has asked to be removed from an Advertising Campaign featuring prominent people speaking in favor of it. On Facebook Linda bowden says ms. Bush was probably bullied by the other republicans and is afraid to speak out. What is right. Its really sad to see that she caved. Renee murray writes, come on, mrs. Bush. Stand up for yourself. And Elisa Cole Ellis says, if you say you support something but ask to be removed from its affiliation, you dont truly support it. Shame on her. You can go to our facebook right now and join the conversation. Dont forget to like the ed show when youre there. And the next story coming up, a private prison. They make billions by putting people in jail for frivolous reasons. You wont believe how theyre using their profits. Thats next. Well be right back. Welcome back to the ed show. A private Prison Company with a horrific pass has secured naming rights to a College Football stadium. If you care about Good Government and fairness, this story should outrage you. Florida Atlantic Universitys new 30,000seat football stadium will be named after the geo group. The company is a private prison group. Their business model, very simple. Put people in prison and make money. And with 59 prisons and over 60,000 beds in the United States, theyre doing quite well. The latest Government Data available shows that the private prison population in the United States grew 37 . Between 2002 and 2009. And not surprisingly, so did geo groups revenue. In 2002 geo group made 570 million in revenue. By 2010 the number had jumped to 1. 2 billion. Its important to point out, private prisons are funded through government contracts. They profit off the taxpayer and have a disturbing relationship with politicians. According to the Justice Policy center, private prisons are working to make money through harsh policies and longer sentences. Their goal is more prisoners for profit. They accomplish this through lobbying, campaign contributions, and relationships with policy makers. In fact, from 2003 to 2010 geo contributed 2. 4 million to local campaigns. They also had an army of 63 lobbyists. This is a news report from a geo jail in mississippi. In march the parents of some walnut grove inmates and former inmates testified in federal court about severe abuse their children suffered. . There are a lot of lacerations on his face and arms. He had stab wounds. Michael macintosh says two years ago his then 19yearold son was hurt in a riot at walnut grove. Fractured nose, fractured teeth. The department of justice released a report saying geo employees and some older inmates mentally, physically, and sexually abused younger inmates at the prison. The judge described the prison at a cesspool of unconstitutional and inhumane conditions. The company got kicked out of mississippi. But they are still operating a very profitable business in the state of florida. Florida atlantics president said her school is proud to partner with geo group. The American Civil Liberties union is calling out the university. They are asking people to block the naming by signing a petition linked at aclu. Org. Tonight in our survey i asked, have republicans gone so far to the right that they are unable to governor . 98 of you say yes. 2 of you say no. And coming up, a legend of real news on republican use of fake news. Dan rather is next on the ed show. Introducing new febreze stick refresh with command strips from 3m. Designed to stick and eliminate odors anywhere. Like this overflowing trashcan. To test it, we brought in the scott family. So what do you smell . Beach house and youre looking out over the ocean. Some place like, uh, hawaii in like a flower fld. Take your blindfolds off. Aw man [ screams ] [ laughs ] that smells good. I wouldnt even just put it in the trash, id put it in every room. Stick it to eliminate odors anywhere. New febreze stick refresh. Breathe happy. In the middle of the night it can be frustrating. Its hard to turn off and go back to sleep. Intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you cant get back to sleep. Its an effective sleep medicine you dont take before bedtime. Take it in bed only when you need it and have at least four hours left for sleep. Do not take intermezzo if you have had an allergic reaction to drugs containing zolpidem, such as ambien. Allergic reactions such as shortness of breath or swelling of your tongue or throat may occur and may be fatal. Intermezzo should not be taken if you have taken another sleep medicine at bedtime or in the middle of the night or drank alcohol that day. Do not drive or operate machinery until at least 4 hours after taking intermezzo and youre fully awake. Driving, eating, or engaging in other activities while not fully awake without remembering the event the next day have been reported. Abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations, or confusion. Alcohol or taking other medicines that make you sleepy may increase these risks. In depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. Intermezzo, like most sleep medicines, has some risk of dependency. Common side effects are headache, nausea, and fatigue. So if you suffer from middleofthenight insomnia, ask your doctor about intermezzo and return to sleep again. Just to be clear, he wont be withdrawing . Absolutely not. Any suggestion to the otherwise to the contrary might have been found to the minutes of the meetings of the friends of hamas. White House Press Secretary jay carney poking fun at the latest rightwing fever dream earlier today. Last night we told you about how the conservative website breitbart. Com reported that chuck hagel may have financial ties to a Group Called Friends of hamas. Weve got a problem here, folks. Friends of hamas does not exist, and the story is bogus. Yet the folks at breitbart are not only sticking to the report, theyre attacking anyone who even questions it. This is the way conservative media operates these days in the business world. Worse yet, instead of throwing water on these baseless stories, elected officials are fueling the fire by responding to them. Senator rand paul said he found hagels possible tied to a nonexistent group concerning. And earlier this week senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina demanded that hagel respond to a rumor about him published by another rightwing blog. In both cases the claims had absolutely no merit. Yet pushing these stories helped the rightwing media and republican lawmakers further their agenda. Smear hagel and undermine ultimately president obama. The new yorker weighed in on this Troubling Development earlier and they wrote, at its best reporting is like science. You form a hypothesis and you try to prove it. But more importantly, you shoot it full of holes to see if any of the wounds are fatal. This unfortunately is a lesson that a certain part of the conservative media doesnt seem to have learned yet. Im joined tonight by the famous dan rather, anchor and managing editor of dan rather reports on axs tv. Im honored. Thank you for being here. Thank you very much. Its good to be here. What are we seeing evolve in the Information Age in america when it comes to reporting and sourcing . Well, good reporting and sourcing is in steep decline, and that leaves communications about american politics. Keep in mind that we now have the new internet. Together with traditional american journalism. It remains so susceptible to manipulation, deception, and distraction that it allows lies to get started and then spread like mildew in a damp basement. It has a feed loop. The feed loop generally goes internet to cable, cable to mainstream television. The next day the newspapers and the feed loop just keeps going. And if youre organized well enough, if you have enough time to pour it in, you can frame a person or a policy on complete lies but win the battle of Public Opinion because the situation exists. Im amazed that there are lawmakers that take erroneous information almost and treat it as gospel and put it right into the news cycle. Where theres responsibility in all this . Well, obviously, they have none. Im even more amazed at american journalism. I dont exempt myself from this criticism. Weve all kind of fallen into it, some more than others. But its one thing for politicians to do this. For their own ideological partisan political or personal gain. Its another thing for those of us in the news and american news, which ones was the Gold Standard for the world, because we had reporters, if you told a reporter something was a lie, he found it out because he wore out shoe leather, he made telephone calls, his organization had other reporters who would check it out, and theyve exposed the lie. Theres very little of that now. Its left only in a few, few places. Are the days of having three sources on a story gone . Gone with the wind. And how do we correct that in universities in america . I mean, this is an educational process. Without letting young reporters get hung up in the feed cycle. Well, i agree with you that young reporters need to be trained. Old reporters need to be reminded. But i think what we need is to start no later than the seventh grade, ed. This is a civic responsibility. To listeners, viewers, and readers its listen but convenient verify. Theres an old card table expression, you trust your mother, but you cut the cards. What we have seen is politicians grab on to a morsel of information and turn it into a news story because they are elected officials and people believe what they say. Exactly. And frequently that information is wrong or is an outright lie. The worst cases are when the politicians know it and they use it anyway. How does the white house handle this . How should the Obama Administration respond to this . You just saw jay carney. Hes been peppered with this a number of times. Well, frankly, i think theyre trying to do a better job than has been done with some previous a