[♪ theme music ♪] >> it is the "stephanie miller show" and as you can tell stephanie is not here she has called in sick with strep throat. so it will be me, jacki schechner, and jim ward doing the show today. lots of big news happening on the east coast today with hurricane sandy, which is pretty much, well, flooding the east coast. we'll be talking about that today, taking your calls another 1-800-steph-1-2. we'll be talking to charlie

pierce to talk about the political ramifications. >> he's wicked snap. >> he is wicked snap. we'll also be talking about what chris christie thinks of president obama's and his reaction to hurricane sandy. >> but we want to say good morning to jacki schechner who is sitting in steph's seat. >> a good day to get rid of her. [ laughter ] >> president obama is declaring major disasters today in new jersey and new york, he has also declared emergency conditions in both virginia and west virginia. sandy is now called a post tropical cyclone. firefighters are also having to go in and use a boat to rescue

dozens of people. about 6 million people are without power including a large section of manhattan. we don't think about these little things -- >> elevateorelevators. >> exactly. west virginia pummelled by snow which we'll talk more about. also seeing snowfall in pennsylvania, virginia and north carolina. now mitt romney is back pedalling saying he could not get rid of fema which is a direct contradiction to what he said during the primary debates. more than 15 hurricane sandy staff for fema are positioned along the east coast. there is about $8 billion available to use in this emergency situation, so we're

all in good shape in terms of health and finance. ♪ to miss my show is if that's the only time you can get to a polling place. make sure that voting is your highest priority on election day. besides, you can always dvr my show. you really cant' dvr the future of the country. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup. only on current tv. so vote and vote smart.

alright let's break it down. mom, pop it. ♪ ♪ two inches apart, becky. two inches. t-minus nine minutes. [ ding ] [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls. let the making begin. ♪ ♪ hmm these smell amazing, too bad the guys aren't here we're clear. ok, swarm! swarm! hello [ female announcer ] pillsbury chocolate chip cookies. let the making begin

[♪ theme music ♪] >> announcer: ladies and gentlemen, it's the "stephanie miller show"! ♪ i'm walking on sunshine woe ho ♪ ♪ i'm walking on sunshine, woe ho ♪ ♪ it's time to feel good ♪ ♪ hey all right now ♪ ♪ it's time to feel good ♪ >> and this portion of the "stephanie miller show" is brought to you in part by the last open road. where is the last open road? what is the last open road? have you traveled the last open road? go to lastopenroad.com. >> and let's hope those last

open roads are not washed out. it is the "stephanie miller show." she has called in sick today with strep throat. >> or so we think. >> or so we think. i actually talked to her this morning, and she sounded like crap. >> yeah, strep is nothing to mess with. >> no. >> that's what you get for making out with all of new york city. >> and alex baldwin. >> he had it. >> yes, he couldn't do the sexy liberal show in new york because he had strep. >> he left the germs around no alec but he left the stake knives. >> we have got a lot of news this morning.

hurricane sandy went ashore overnight, and the east coast is kind of in disarray. >> yeah, well that was to be expected. the storm surge was about 14 feet, and it was expected to be about 10. >> yeah, and the record was ten. so it is four feet above the record. >> clearly global warming is a hoax. >> that's been the big joke, right? >> this is exactly what they predicted. >> exactly. pay attention to me. >> yes, so we'll be covering that all morning long. we'll be talking to people who are in manhattan like john fugelsang. his power did not go out overnight, and he lives in manhattan. >> that's just the power of john fugelsang. >> that's true. but he is fine. >> rowland is fine.

his power is out, but he's drinking warm chardonnay this morning. >> he says he has no power but he and his dog butters are safe. there was a massive green explosion towards the river, and so big it seemed fake. it was on 5th street and avenue between a and b on 5th. that would make sense that that would be flooded down there. it says the sewers are flooding so it smells pretty lousy. >> not unusual for new york. >> yeah he said the sounds of sirens makes it is a little scary. ♪ the sounds of sirens ♪ >> i would just like to know how

far he has gone through the caviar, and the duck fat. >> i think the dog got the butt fat -- the duck fat. >> the butt fat? >> the duck butt fat. >> governor chris christie said president obama has been on pop of things. >> it's nice to see chris christie not being political in this situation. >> he just asked him what do you need and here is my number. >> pretty much. he said that they spoke on the phone at midnight and fema has been incredibly responsive. >> unlike under certain other presidents. >> governor christy was asked about president obama's response, and here is what he said. >> the president called me at about 2:15 this afternoon. it was just the two of us on the phone.

we had a conversation. and the president wanted to know if we had everything we needed. i told him we did. he wanted to check on the cooperation with fema. i said it was excellent, because it is. he said if i was not getting something from the federal government that i should call him directly at the white house, and he was going to be here, and not worry about dealing with anybody else, deal with him. >> there's that 3:00 am phone call. >> yeah. we were talking about that yesterday too, if you get rid of that federal aid it's problematic in times of disaster, because people in the state are in the midst of a disaster. >> exactly. they don't have a lot of ways to communicate or drive around -- >> why don't they drive the buses -- >> this is the exact time that you need federal assistance.

>> you have an outside perspective, so you can assess how much equipment or assistance you need in that environment. there is also news too that he was upset with the mayor of atlantic city. >> i heard about that. what exactly went on? >> from what i understand is he was upset because people got stranded there. chris christie said get out, take this seriously, and he is blaming the mayor of atlanta city for sending people to shelters which are very close to the river. >> and i saw a reporter yesterday who was in waist deep water. >> somebody said he earned his pay raise yesterday. >> he really did. >> remember the bit on the old shows about the weatherer caster and the wind.

i saw two or three of them who looked like they were going to be swell lowed. >> and jim cantor has nothing but that. he stands in the middle of it. >> i just got that these rescue crews are supposed to come to atlantic city to help those people get out. but chris christie is never one to mentor. he says when he is happy and when he is not. it doesn't seem like mitt romney would be able to handle these things unless somebody tells him what to do. and now he is saying he didn't want to get rid of fema he just

wanted to allocate more to the states. but this is what he does. >> right. >> now that he has gotten himself into a bind that he wanted to get rid of fema in the midst of a disaster -- >> how is this even close? >> the polls have yet to be taken, and not to get too political on it right now in the middle of a disaster but this has got to effect the race somehow -- >> you would think -- because obama is appearing presidential. he is not campaigning right now, he is standing at the podium in the west wing participating. >> but there is still a contingent who thinks he is using his kenyan voodoo power to cause this storm. >> yeah. >> of course people without power aren't going to be able to

necessarily -- you can use your mobile device perhaps -- >> assuming it is a charged. >> exactly. and you have your internet connection which is probably down, your television is probably down you're going to have to use some sort of battery-powered radio to get information. >> could you come up with a battery powered radio. >> i own one. because i'm a florida native and we are trained from birth down there to be prepared for hurricanes. >> okay. >> i'm not sure i do anymore have a battery powered radio. >> wow, maybe i should get one. we live in earthquake company -- >> you can go to restoration hardware and get one of those crank ones -- >> yeah. they don't look like they cost that much --

>> well it's restoration hardware. >> i guess right now they are trying to rescue people off of roofs of their houses in three towns in new jersey. so it is kind of looking like katrina. >> yeah, that's one of the problems. >> governor christy said you couldn't even call it a levy. it's just a berm holding back the water, like the bank of a river, and it was breached into it is flooding these three towns with four or five feet of water, so that is not good, but we are taking your calls this morning at 1-800-steph-1-2. going to be talking about hurricane sandy, and the political ramifications of everything going on on the east coast. whether obama is doing a good job handling the situation, governor christy, the mayors of new york and all of those

towns, and yeah just getting your thoughts on what is going on on the east coast. so we'll be taking a break here. give us a call 1-800-steph-1-2 the phone number toll free from anywhere. this is the "stephanie miller show," with chris, jim, and jacki. >> on the "stephanie miller show" "stephanie miller show" radio show in suburban america this morning -- >> announcer: it's the "stephanie miller show." ♪ rich, chewy caramel rolled up in smooth milk chocolate. don't forget about that payroll meeting. rolo.get your smooth on. also in minis.

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you've heard stephanie's views. >>no bs, authentic, the real thing. >>now, let's hear yours at the only online forum with a direct line to stephanie miller. america now: current television. >>join the debate now. ♪ >> announcer: stephanie miller. ♪ take a little piece of my heart now baby ♪ >> this is the "stephanie miller

show." i am chris lavoie. that is jacki schechner. that is jim ward. stephanie called in sick today she has strep throat. so we'll be holding down the fort for the next two and a half hours. >> all part of my grand plan. i did call for permission. she didn't answer, but i did call for permission. >> here is what happened -- >> thank god we didn't make out in the elevator. >> again. >> she called me about an hour before the show is about to start. it says stephanie miller on the phone, and i here, ar ar, ar ar. >> i was a little hesitant to sit in here seat. >> you were. >> it's not like yeah she is gone. >> ding dong the wicked witch is dead. >> we're calling your calls at

1-800-steph-1-2. right now we have someone in manhattan, none other than sexy liberal john fugelsang. how are you holding up? >> good morning, crew not too shabby, how are you doing in dry safe l.a.? >> we had a earthquake a couple of days ago. >> i'm so sorry to hear that. no we're doing okay. manhattan is now completely cut off from the rest of the world. >> do you have electricity? how do you talking to us? >> i do. my old place lost it, and the place i almost moved to last month was evacuated. it was pretty terrible, i had pieces of debris and metal blowing on to my roof a lot of

noise, but generally we were lucky and we did okay. but the devastation is pretty terrible. i applaud both campaigns for not wanting to politicize the storm, because that's for later in the week. i think everyone in new york is very impressed with the local response and how local and federal government seems to have really come together. and fema really has improved in the last five years. >> yeah. >> i want to give credit to fox news, because they did the best coverage, and they had frank luntz and ann coulter on at the same time in hopes that the sheer evil would keep the storm

away. >> i saw mayor bloomberg on the tv, and he is wall an imconspiring person. >> well, yeah. it is tragic for the loss of life although it is compared to haiti, america has nothing to complain about -- >> and you have been to haiti -- >> yeah, but they lost a folks in haiti on that storm, and it's tragic the 11 lives we have lost so far in the states. roland lost power. >> yeah. >> as well as frank coniff who is staying in my old place lost power. this is not be an katrina, it seems like people were really

prepared. state and local government really worked together. over 50 homes have been destroyed, and i'm waiting to hear if my family's house is okay. but in general people stuck together and it has been a pretty rich experience. >> hey, john what is the cell service like? are people being able to communicate that way? i know when we have had storms in manhattan, it has been tricky to get cell service. >> absolutely. the problem now is a lot of people who have lost power, their cell phones and blackberries have all died by now, so they are having a tough time, but generally cell service is looking okay. >> and pretty much everything south of time square was knocked out of power? >> yeah, when i heard stephanie was sick, i was talking to t-bone, i said it's raining

here but i can make it down to where i usually do the show to the little boo radly studio. >> yeah. >> it's pretty bad sometime square as of last night still had power, but [ inaudible ] is right on 42nd i don't know where the cutoff point is. my heart goes out to everyone who had a neighbor with wind chimes last night, because they suffered the most. >> have you been able to get out and about at all. i know the subways are closed. i wouldn't know if there are taxis moving -- >> very few taxis. the subways closed down at 7:00 on sunday. i took my little baby out for a walk yesterday before the storm got really bad, and the only

places open were liquor store and smoke shops, which was pretty funny. >> welcome to manhattan. >> so you could get some food if you wanted but -- >> crackers. >> yeah, we were able to. there was one food empore um that was open and we went in to see how long the line was. and it was like out the door. but the real concern now is for the elderly and folks who are home bound and might not have been able to stock up on food. >> yeah, but new yorkers check in on their neighbors and pull together, i understand. >> yeah. it is a real mess but the tanker that ran aground is incredible. it is amazing there wasn't more loss of life and again, it's a great testament to the resilience of new yorkers and

everyone working together to keep people safe. >> right. >> john have you heard more about the nyu generator? >> yeah, that happened around midnight last night, the east side really got pummelled, worst than the west side of course. when the storm swooped around it send the waves heading westward through long island sound. so the waves went around the curve, and sent a big crash right towards where long island sound begins. the east side was hit really hard. nyu was evacuated in the rain every patient had to be moved to another hospital. that is a hospital that does a lot of drills, and as far as i know there is no loss of life there. >> well, john, we would love to check in with you a little later on in the show.

so stand by. >> i'll be around. >> okay. and we'll be right back on the "stephanie miller show." ♪ vote on november 6th but just as importantly to take the time to learn about each candidate's stance on the issues that matter to you. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup. only on current tv. vote smart. our democracy depends on an informed electorate.

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♪ >> announcer: stephanie miller. >> she is a serious case of chardonnay goggles, and wouldn't mind of heavy petting. >> maybe that's why she has strep throat. >> i think so. >> i'm chris lavoie. that's jacki schechner, this is jim ward. >> hello. >> holding down the fort here in los angeles reporting on the hurricane that came ashore last night in the mid-atlantic states. >> it is still sandy, but now

it's a post tropical cyclone. >> that doesn't have a ring to it -- ♪ sandy the post tropical cyclone ♪ >> i like superstorm but that implies it has a cape. i heard a great explanation this morning. they were talking about how this storm is like a skater with it's arming out and it is turning counter clockwise, and the fingertips of the skater are bringing the cold air down from canada. and that's probably why we got the water that we did -- >> because it was funneled into long island sound and down the east river. >> i wonder what effect the melting ice cap has had all on

all of this. because a big chunk of greenland slipped into the water recently but not by global warming. >> exactly. right now i want to talk to scott keys. he is with thinkprogress, and he wrote a great article. scott thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> great to be with you all. >> yeah, you were saying in your article at thinkprogress.org that romney said it would be immoral for the federal government to fund disaster relief efforts without cutting the budget elsewhere. does he really think that? >> these are not my words. these are governor romney but these are from the republican primaries when he was a bit more

free to express his, quote unquote, severely conservative views that he is now trying to hide a bit more in the general election, and trying to win swing voters and independent voters, and this was not too long after the major tornado in missouri the earthquake in virginia. these are not abstract theoretical disasters. he was asked what should the federal government do? and in the zeal of the republican party running as far as it can to the right, he said not only it is immoral for the federal government to keep doing this, but they should evolve

down to the state or even privatize it. >> how it is that government officials don't appreciate what an effective government program can do? i know we have had a lot of problems, but the whole concept behind government is to be the entity that is not profit driven but community oriented. >> exactly, does he prefer a private institution that wants to make a profit off of people suffering. >> so he basically -- >> sorry. >> he is basically thinking of a for-profit red cross type of thing? >> he didn't detail exactly -- >> right. but send disaster relief quote, back to the private sector. and that's the entire premise behind privatizing things.

but as you and i know there are a lot of goods that need to be done because they are not done for a profit. >> right. >> the only reason we knew hurricane sandy was coming is because of government weather prediction services. >> right. >> they did a fantastic job in telling folks that this is going to come, to be ready, to be ready to evacuate if necessary, and people were able to prepare in a way that we wouldn't be able to if we didn't have the federal government in these services. >> exactly. and people on the far right are screaming that all of that should be privatized and this is the very last thing that we need privatized and for profit. >> they also want to cut funding for a lot of it too. you look at paul ryan's budget for instance. he wants to slash funding to fema, tried on multiple

occasions. he also is advancing this really hair-brained idea that was pedalled around a lot by eric cantor last year. where they demand that any disaster-relief funding that the government dolls out after hurricane sandy and the tornado in missouri whatever that has to be offset with budget cuts elsewhere, so they are saying we are going to hold hostage any funding that going to disaster relief unless we can get the other side to cut education national parks whatever else. and these are not cuts that people want to make. so the relief funding is going to get delayed or completely held up. >> wow. >> so every time that there is a natural disaster where funds are needed immediately, congress has to have a big fight over what

they are going to cut in order to fund disaster relief. >> yeah. insane. >> they just seems like the height of irresponsibility. >> also if you think about it too, though if you cut this federal funding in what position does someone do? governor romney stands up and says good luck to you? >> right. not only that, but, you know, a lot of the funding goes towards folks that are disadvantaged and at the margins of society anyway. so we're going to take away food from the mouths of poor people to do disaster relief while continuing to give major tax cuts for people who don't need it. >> i'm sorry you didn't pay your disaster relief premium last month, so you are screwed. >> that's right. the way that paul ryan tried to

avoid the floor fight that they would do on budget cuts this is an idea he has been tossing around for decades. we found a floor speech that he gave in 2004 where he said let's take this disaster funding, so avoid a major fight, let's just an automatic across the board budget cuts so everything from education money to medicare to medicaid all of those across the board, 1% 2% cut whatever is necessary to pay for it -- >> yeah. >> -- it's a really -- really extremely idealogical way to approach disaster relief funding, and especially at a time when folks are desperate. you can't wait days weeks to get the funding. folks are hurting right now, and

that's why the federal government has been so effective in these situations, that they are able to deliver that money right now. >> they are effective now, but they are a lot more effective after katrina. >> i know it's hard to talk about the political ramifications when we're still in the midst of people struggling with the after effects of this storm, but you have to think that this has got to have some sort of impact now moving forward for how romney handles his response, and what he does and doesn't do and what the president does in looking presidential and in command. there has got to be some political ramification here. >> i think president obama handled it just right when he did his press conference yesterday and was asked how is this going to play out politically, and it doesn't matter. all that matters right now is his response. i think he is taking the exact

right approach on that. it is unclear how it will play out. in maryland they had to cancel early voting yesterday. they are hoping to get it up and going again soon. that's going to be unfortunate for voters who like to take advantage of early voting but hopefully be able to be amenable on the back end to maybe add a day or two later. but it's unclear, governor romney has said that he is not going to be holding political events today and tomorrow but he -- this morning in -- in dayton he is doing a storm-relief event, where their -- >> right. >> i'm not sure if they are collecting supplies or money. one important thing to note is some of the campaign events have been collecting supplies and it's a goo sentiment, obviously, but in general it's much much

much more valuable for red cross to just send money. >> yeah. >> it's hard for volunteers to sort through items -- it's much better just to -- just to send money. i think it's unclear politically how it is going to play out. but, i think both -- both sides are right to kind of not try to capitalize too much on the politics of it and i think there's much more down side in looking like you are taking advantage and politicizing the storm rather than just doing what is best -- >> although that hasn't stopped mitt romney in the past. >> exactly. and they should leave the politicizing it up to the pundits. >> yeah, i think governor romney learned his lesson when two hours after the libya tragedy, he was out with a press release saying that president obama sympathized with the people that attacked and killed four

americans. i think he learned his lesson not to do that. >> exactly. well scott great work over there. he wrote the article how romney and ryan would severely hurt disaster relief effortings. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> we're going to be taking your calls on hurricane irene -- did i say irene? >> you are so retro. >> god i'm doing like a hundred things here. >> can you absolutely positively guarantee that it will give me an orgasm? >> yeah. >> announcer: it's the "stephanie miller show."

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♪ one night in bangkok [ inaudible ] can't be to careful with your company ♪ ♪ i can't feel the devil walking next to -- >> announcer: stephanie miller. ♪ i get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine ♪ >> obama: i'm not worried about the impact on the election. i'm worried about the impact on our families on our first responders, on our economy and transportation. >> that was the president being presidential yesterday. >> i'm worried about making a profit off of all of this. >> paula writes in she says can you imagine haliburton during a

disaster? that's exactly what romney has in mind by privatizing fema. >> that's what they mean. >> exactly. >> i'm going to outsource a storm to china. >> no. no. that is exactly not what we want during a natural disaster during hurricane sandy. not irene. >> not irene. nbc is saying the estimated loss is $45 billion. that has got to go up. not only the infrastructure of the city -- >> right, the stock market being shut down -- >> and i read that the stock market hasn't been shut down for two days since 1988 -- >> because of blizzard. a lot of the subway stations have been flooded with sea water, which is salt water which

corrodes metal. it doesn't play well with electricity or the tracks. >> that will take a while to get that cleaned up. >> exaboutedly. we are taking your calls. let's go to marcy in florida. hey, marcy? >> caller: hey, how are you? >> good. how are you? you want to talk about fema. >> yes, i wanted to share my family's experience with fema. my mother lives on an island down at the end of st. petersburg, and they had a tornado go through there a couple of months ago, and our house has been there for 100 years. i went down to look at the damage, and the two back windows were blown out some roof damage, other stuff, so we are had citizens unlucky us came

out and assessed the damage at $7,500, everybody has citizens because -- >> citizen is one particular insurance company? >> every company has pulled out of florida. the legislator has allowed the insurance companies to take their book of business. so citizens was developed to try to help that. >> it sounds like here in california the state takes care of earthquake insurance. >> correct. >> gotcha. and there is a whole thing on citizens, but they came out and assessed the damage at $7,500. my mom's deductible was $8,000 because of the wind, the way that works, so we're like -- so

they depreciated -- it's a game right? >> right. >> i saw the damage there was no way there was that amount of damage. >> right. >> so the next door neighbor -- same thing his house -- i looked and i said i don't see a lot of damage. they assessed his damage at $11,000, he has a $12,000 deductedable. so i said mom call fema. she called fema. she had to fill out all kinds of -- she had to fill out all kinds of paper, give her income tax and do all of this stuff to qualify, and they came and assessed, and they said you have probably around $2,000 worth of damage, you know -- it's not as high as citizens did it. and they ended up giving

her -- they said are you safe, do you have a place to live? and she said yes, i'm fine and with her income they ended up giving her -- she just got her doors repaired and she got some money for it. it didn't cover the damages by any means, but she did get some money for it. she had been paying to her insurance company, and they gave her nothing. and the point is because you are privatizing it everything -- and florida is different because they have just screwed all of the homeowners down here, but how are you going to call somebody if it's privatize, 1-800-can you come save me? >> exactly. their first question would be how do we make a profit from this? >> right. and for people who think fema -- my mom had to qualify.

and the other house that gentleman they assessed he had $500 worth of damage and they looked at his income and said you need to pay for it because you can afford it. and my mom had never had one claim on that house, and that house has been in our family for over 100 years. >> corporations are people, my friend. >> that's exactly why fema should not be privatized. >> and it should be fair to say that fema didn't have the imreputation it did until katrina. so if you are demonizing fema you have to take a look at why it has it reputation and that's because it was run by people who

are not competent to do so. >> romney is saying we can't afford four more years like the last four, what about the previous eight? >> yeah, and what is to say that george bush and dick cheney didn't already have their eyes on having haliburton take over fema at that point. >> yeah, maybe you can prove it didn't work -- maybe that's a little conspiracy theory. >> yes, but that has been their pattern. exactly. >> drown it in a bathtub if you will. >> exactly. we have two hour mores of the "stephanie miller show." charlie pierce will be here next hour on the "stephanie miller show." stay tuned. ♪ the

governor tomorrow night. she is awesome. we'll be right back on the "stephanie miller show." [♪ theme music ♪] >> this is the "stephanie miller show." as you can tell i am not stephanie miller. i don't even look like stephanie miller. stephanie miller called in sick this morning. she has strep throat so we are holding down the fort. i am chris lavoie. that is jacki schechner. that is jim ward. we're going to be with you for the next two hours talking about hurricane sandy. we have charlie pierce coming

up. he has written some great stuff at esquire.com saying that mitt romney wanted to get rid of fema and now he is say, well maybe not. >> he flip flopped? >> yes. and we'll hear from john fugelsang calling from manhattan. but first the top of the hour news from jacki schechner. >> look at that, i just happened to be here. mayor bloomberg is going to give an update any time now. you can watch it online and nyc.gov, and hopefully if we can turn around some sound on that we will. mitt romney says he won't hold any political events today out of respect. that's because he is a sensitive guy. he is appearing in kettering, ohio, along with race car driver

and county music singer. the campaign is inviting the press, and of course he chose ohio the significant state that we're all talking about right now. >> but it is not a campaign event? >> no, not at all. he is also saying support the entire country by electing him as president. >> really? >> yes. >> and loading supplies into a bus that will be delivered into the battleground states. wisconsin will be collecting and delivering storm relief items. paul ryan will be with his secret service in tow to thank people for collecting these items. we talked about this with scott keyes the last hour. what the red cross needs is money. cleaning sorting and repacking

these donations will take up valuable resources, and that takes time away from getting the money out to the people who actually need them. we'll follow this. more show after the break. (vo) brought to you by metlife.

alright let's break it down. mom, pop it. ♪ ♪ two inches apart, becky. two inches. t-minus nine minutes. [ ding ] [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls. let the making begin. ♪ ♪ hmm these smell amazing, too bad the guys aren't here we're clear. ok, swarm! swarm! hello [ female announcer ] pillsbury chocolate chip cookies. let the making begin

♪ [♪ theme music ♪] >> announcer: ladies and gentlemen, it's the "stephanie miller show"! ♪ i'm walking on sunshine woe ho ♪ ♪ i'm walking on sunshine, woe ho ♪ ♪ it's time to feel good ♪ ♪ hey all right now ♪ ♪ it's time to feel good ♪ >> the "stephanie miller show" is brought to you in part by our friend bert levy author of the

last open road. >> i am chris lavoie that is jacki schechner, and this is jim ward over here. stephanie called in sick this morning, she called about an hour before the show and said ar, ar ar. >> good to see my plan is working. i had to plan to make out with her in new york. >> alec baldwin couldn't make it to the sexy liberal tour in new york what he has strep throat. [♪ dramatic music ♪] >> because he was making out with "stephanie miller show." >> no, because he is happily married. the only time that stephanie has been in the tabloids she has

apparently broken up the marriage between box lightener, and melissa gilbert. >> oh. >> yeah, this was back in the '90s. >> having an affair with which one? >> back then it was bruce because she was totally in the closet. >> okay. what has hurricane sandy been downgraded to -- >> a post cyclone -- >> kerfuffle. >> a post tropical cyclone -- >> that's a good band name. >> sure. >> that's not bad. they would be like an alternative rock band, right?

>> yeah. a little heavy metal -- >> pcp. ptc. >> a band name that will come out of brooklyn at anytime. i don't know. [ laughter ] >> i'm tired. >> did we take you really off track there? >> yes, exactly. we're taking your calls at 1-800-steph-1-2. we're going to be checking in with john fugelsang who is in manhattan. his power did not go out yesterday. but i guess everything south of time square, everything lost power. >> you think about the weather and the actual impact of the storm, but i went through hurricane andrew in 1992 having grown up in miami, you go through a lot of these kinds of storms. when they are vicious like this there's really no way to prepare other than to hunker down and get your supplies in place. but you don't think about the

downed trees and how long the power might be out. >> right. >> because the crews have to get to the sources, and that's difficult for them to do to restore power, and you think about the inconveniences of that. with andrew we were out of power for about three weeks, which is when it is really, really hot in miami people had to stay cool and in virginia where they have snow, you have to think about no heat. >> that's right. >> imagine that without any heat. >> a lot of buildings are heated with steam there so -- >> right. that might be helpful, but you won't be able to use any sort of warming devices or space heaters, and in new york a lot of that is necessary. >> the global warming deniers is

like, oh it's a hoax now. >> it's totally absurd. but people need to keep in mind that just because the storm itself has passed doesn't mean the difficulties have passed. i hope because of the sophistication of new york and they are used to dealing with all sorts of unexpected emergencies that will hopefully will be up and running faster than expected. >> and they have a lot of resources to draw from. they have got their stuff together. >> yeah, and it looks like bloomberg is doing a great job. >> yes and chris christie, governor of new jersey doing a great job. he is saying the president is doing a great job getting him everything he needs. >> thank god they are not playing politics. >> right. >> he is not standing on

ceremony, what a great, great opportunity to show really, that they can work together in times of emergency -- >> unlike mitt romney. >> well, mitt romney doesn't have any opportunity right now to look presidential. he has nothing to do except for -- >> we're just talking about he is calling these things disaster relief when they are clearly political events. >> exactly. >> obama: i have spoken to all of the governors in all of these states, we have pre-positioned assets so that fema personnel are working closely with state and local governments. there has been extraordinarily close coordination between state, federal, and local governments. >> and everybody on the local level have backed that up. 1-800-steph-1-2 is the number to call, that's 1-800-steph-1-2.

let's talk to don in florida about privatizing fema. hey, don. >> caller: yeah, thanks for taking my call. i have a political strategy for ohio actually, a democratic one. but romney is trying to do whatever he can to get any press coverage he can possibly get. these food thing, i heard he called these governors and all of this stuff. i know he has been running for president for the last 20 years it seems, he wouldn't even be in the picture, but he is just trying to get his name out there, because obama and the storm will get all of the reaction. >> and it seems like him calling the governors would be just getting in the way. >> and what a coincidence he is doing this in all of the battleground states. >> he'll privatize anything for a buck. >> yeah. >> one way to get rid of these

gop people that are having a problem with the government you give them a government job with fair wages and good pay, and all of a sudden 90% of them won't have a problem with the government. >> exactly. let's go to jones in alabama. >> caller: how are you doing chris? >> good. >> caller: this thing about privatizing fema that means they have a friend in the private sector that can go in and buy your home if there's no disaster relief, if you can't afford to fix it. the top 1% can easily go into small towns where they have businesses and corporations and buy up the whole town around them. >> yeah. >> the other comment i had was i love your show. i quit watching fox because of

the venom that was spewing from their lips. >> thank you, jones i appreciate that. we're probably more entertaining that mica, do you think? >> i have just seen her wear the same black sweater for the last three days. >> oh, geez. i have warn the same black t-shirt for the last three days. robo calls during the hurricane season. hey, sarah. >> caller: good morning. i hope steph feels better. >> us too. i hope she is her tomorrow because we have elvira and mark hamel from star wars. >> that's great. i got to tell you, yesterday during the height of the weather, the storms we got a

live phone call, and a robo call that mittens is going to be here in [ inaudible ] michigan. >> i heard fund-raising emails but i didn't hear anything about robo calls. >> it sounds like he is still campaigning. >> caller: no, not mittens. [ laughter ] >> yeah, that's a great point. we seem to be getting mixed messages from his campaign. i think he is missing that sensitivity gene. >> by suspending his campaign it means calling it something else. >> did he go to costco and get the three-pack shirt. >> oh these are marvellous. >> the three packs that don't exist. >> exactly. george in ohio. hey george. >> caller: hey, how is it going

over there at the "stephanie miller show." >> we're doing there without stephanie. >> caller: i know. i know. >> we miss here. >> caller: yeah, i do miss her too. jacki is doing a nice job. >> thank you. >> caller: you're welcome. my comment is reference to the [ inaudible ] just looking at the tv and saying i think i'll hold my money and not give it to donation. >> right. what were you saying there? i guess we missed your point. >> caller: okay. i was talking about the middleman that are watching the -- >> the millionaires. >> caller: yeah, why aren't they chipping in and sending money to the east coast and helping out. >> they should send it to the red cross. >> yeah and president obama

page directed people to the red cross to donate. so that was great on his part. we're going to be taking a break here. this is the "stephanie miller show." give us a call at 1-800-steph-1-2. that's 1-800-steph-1-2. we're going to be talking to sexy liberal john fugelsang live in manhattan next on the "stephanie miller show." >> announcer: call stephanie now. she's easy, 1-800-steph-1-2. ♪

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(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything. ♪ ♪ now you with -- >> announcer: stephanie miller. ♪ you know me you know with -- >> announcer: stephanie miller. ♪ you know me ♪ >> this is the "stephanie miller% show." i am not stephanie miller.

i am chris lavoie. i am usually the producer of the show, but not today. >> it's not like you have to explain who you are. >> i know. but just in case people are tuning in wondering where stephanie is. she has strep throat. >> dude. >> she called this morning, and she sounded like this. i had it in college when i didn't have health insurance. >> it does actually supposedly go away on its own, but antibiotics make it disappear very quickly. >> i think i had strep throat and scarlet fever at the same time when i was a kid.

>> a spot of the consumption too. >> ricketts. [ laughter ] >> any other obscure diseaseings -- >> extopic pregnancy too. antibiotics knocked it right now. >> that's right. we have john fugelsang who is a manhattan resident but he never lost power last night. >> that's just the power that john fugelsang. >> it is. >> ah, thank you. >> it's fun watching you on tv. steph it is great to see you as a redhead. >> i was trying something else on. >> notice she is sitting in stephanie's seat. >> indeed. i am glad that stephanie made it home okay from the big beacon show. we finally brought the big tour

to new york city. >> how did it feel? >> it was amazing. >> i was there all day doing tech with the staff, and the beacon is such a historic theater. i have seen everybody from bob dylan to spinal tap there in that theater. rob reiner was a riot. it was the first show we had both hal and aisha on at the same time. and lot of fun. i was able to shoot a lot of backstage stuff for current. >> awesome. >> did you get the sense that the crowd was really fired up in general, because when you were out here in l.a. there was a real sense of progressive camaraderie, and people were psyched about the election. did you get that sense in new york too? >> yeah, i sure did.

and in a way it is just kind of an extension of what stephanie's radio show is all about. as much as it is about politics and comedy it is also about community, and letting progressives know that you are not crazy. the crazy bald dude with the feddish in the cubicle next to you, is not right. people just get a chance to hang out and laugh, and get [ inaudible ] with other people. >> who is playing the piano? >> yes that's the ring tone on my cell phone. >> oh, okay. [ laughter ] >> i'm on a land line. >> i thought your baby has learned how to play the piano. so how are you doing in amongst the hurricane? >> we're great.

the dangling crane is the big metaphor for saying this sing. and all of new york city is saying i got your dangling crane right here sandy. the loss of life is very, very tragic, but could have been much, much worse. manhattan is a mess but the death toll is a lot lower than it could have been. you would like to think being on the island with all of the rich white people they would be safest here, but overall the city is going to rebuild from this, and the real question is does chris christie hate romney, or does he really want to be president in 2016. >> yes, chris christie was

nothing but complementary of president obama this morning. >> really amazing. while mitt romney is announcing the closing of more jeep plants today that aren't. i would like to think if the president is smart he'll be appearing with chris christie and bloomberg all day. it's great to see after -- we heard a lot about how the obama administration has reorganized fema and put a guy in charge of it who wasn't in charge of dancing horses. last night there were national guard troops all over the place, especially in jersey and they were deployed in both states and again, i think the real test of how this will be politicized begins now. it will be cleanup rescue efforts, getting the folks who are stands especially seniors, and that's how state and local

governments will be judged. i think really they are going to try to politicize this either way. if it goes well the democrats will celebrate, and if it goes poorly, the republicans will try to smear it. i'm so proud of new york and jersey, and i just -- it's really amazing how people are just so tough in this part of the world, and manhattan is completely isolated from the rest of america, but what else is new? so we'll see what happens. >> john stay safe in manhattan, and thank for checking in. we'll probably check in with you next hour. >> i'll be around. thanks guys. >> all right. we'll be checking with charlie pierce as well.

be right back on the "stephanie miller show." you. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup. only on current tv. take the time to learn about the issues. don't just vote, vote smart.

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♪ >> announcer: stephanie miller. >> unbelievable. it is way too early for this guys. i haven't even had my first cup of wine today. ♪ >> it is the "stephanie miller show." >> who he has his first cup of wine is -- >> rowland. >> yes, the sexy liberal tour manager. >> yes he is drinking warm cabernet? >> no, it's -- sovenion blanc.

>> that and warm duck fat. >> that's because what he chose because he didn't plan properly. >> exactly. >> i think that's what fema provides. >> yes, he brought it encase he has to braise a lamb shank. >> mom i don't like duck fat. shut up! >> it's all you have got. >> yes. it is tuesday -- >> stephanie: there's only one man that understands, that the author of video of america. ♪ pierce ♪ >> stephanie: charlie pierce political columnist for esquire.com. ♪ why is everybody always laughing with me ♪ >> charlie pierce. >> duck fat now with extra franken berries. >> charlie pierce thanks for joining us today.

>> forgive me if i don't sympathize with the warm duck fat on the east coast. >> you are in boston are you being affected by the hurricane? >> not as badly as people in new york and new jersey we lost some power last night, and this huge tree well down, but we're in better shape certainly than a lot of places. >> that's great to hear but i guess a cold front is coming in so it is getting cold there? >> yeah, there is this arctic thing coming up. but i have given up on following that. >> charlie you wrote about the storm judiciously yesterday, and you said that baby mitt romney might be able to figure out how to profit from the wreckage.

>> the thing is he will hold himself above the fray despite the fact he's holding a rally today. >> right. >> but there are so many elves in the hollow tree to do his work for him, that he doesn't have to get his hands dirty at this point. and chris christie is sort of immunizing the president at this point? >> yes, he is doing a fantastic job. >> yes, because we have to reassert that at every moment otherwise people will think that we should privatize this whole thing, like say, oh i don't know mitt romney did. but we had to catch up on the tv images on new york a couple of hours after it happened. and god bless those people at nyu medical center and stuff

getting the patients out. >> oh, yes, heart breaking pictures of the evacuation of the hospital and the kids and the elderly people. >> if that crane falls on anybody at this point, it's their fault. >> people who are milling around -- >> please don't show up with your -- your [ inaudible ] 2,000 and take pictures, get the hell out of there. >> yeah, that thing is not looking good. >> it has not looking good for 12 hours, you have all of the pictures you need, get the hell out of there. >> charlie -- speaking of a dangling crane >> yeah.

paul ryan said he wants to offset fema help somewhere else in the budget. >> of course. anything they can do to get rid of the programs they don't like they will. i'm not sure why this is a surprise to anybody. we had a test run with this with eric cantor a year ago. >> yeah, now that a hurricane has gone through the week before the election, this is top of mind for people. >> it has got to be made top of the mind for people. >> yeah. >> we are sitting in a nation that is now 50/50 to buy think single most important political campaign of my lifetime. if you are going to make paul ryan's budget hostage issue, you have to get out there and do it.

>> i feel the problem now is they have a couple of days to think about how to spin this. and i think they know they can't say they would destroy fema so there -- will be some sort of spin -- >> an etch-a-sketch. >> yes. >> then if the president tries to come back he'll get landed on as politicizing this. >> right. but now they are trying to change his perspective from the primary. >> oh of course. they are really good at that. and so far he has gotten -- so far, it is a week away -- and he got away with it. >> yeah. charlie in maryland early voting has been shut down yesterday and

today, and other states what effect will this have on early voting and the election? >> obviously there's nothing much anybody can say about -- i still believe nobody really knows how this thing is going to effect the outcome of the election. except in virginia it is not really affecting any states that will materially affect the electoral vote. >> yes. >> unless something completely unthwart happens, the president is going to win connecticut, and new jersey. >> but it is affecting the most liberal parts of new york state. >> yes. i can't conceive of a situation where romney will win new york state. >> yeah. >> i think the lieutenant

governor in maryland was saying they expected early voting to be back up tomorrow. >> yeah. i mean let's face it maryland is a blue state. >> right. >> they just can't get the machines to work. by the way another excuse for paper ballots. >> but i do worry in some of the blue state it should make it a little closer than it should be because of the devastation. >> yes. >> you saw that scott brown pulled out of the debate -- >> yeah but it's hard -- this isn't him trying to use -- like he did the first time, which was pull out of the debate because, quote unquote, there were votes in the senate which was bogus. nobody wanted to have that debate. >> so the headline was just that he had pulled out but he was the first to announce it -- >> he was the first to make a

big noise about it but that debate wouldn't have happened. it would have been the fourth debate and it wouldn't have moved the needle either way, and second of all why bother? no one would have paid at attention to it. so i said this all along, this is still a two or three-point race up here. there is a new "boston globe" poll that shows it tied, but i'm not really sure on that. i still think she is up by about two or three, and she is going to have to race right to the line. >> is it a get out the vote issue now? >> yeah. >> or is something hurting her? >> no, nothing is hurting her right now. he is out with a bunch of ad that is saying he is hot with the chicks.

[ laughter ] >> you know, and i think -- you know, i think the power of tom [ inaudible ]'s get out the vote? boston, i think the power of organized labor that will be a couple of big things that will be there for her that weren't there in 2008. and if this holds down the president's totals in the state, that could have a big impact. very often we in massachusetts get accused of pretending to know more than they do. we really know this guy. okay. >> trust you. >> we don't like this guy for a reason. what is wrong with momma?

has she got some sort of wine box thing going on. >> she is swallowing shards of wine glass. when she called in this morning she sounded like this. >> she sounded like mark lavin. >> exactly. >> i'll be talking to you next election day from florida. >> awesome. >> i'll be starting the blog through the weekend and through election day. >> where are you going to be? >> broward. >> we look forward to that next week on election day. >> that's right. talk to y'all later. >> thanks charlie. >> we'll be right back here on the "stephanie miller show." we'll be taking your calls at 1-800-steph-1-2. >> hey, a freak show!

>> announcer: it's the "stephanie miller show." ♪

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♪ [ inaudible ] ♪ >> announcer: stephanie miller. ♪ mr. d.j. won't you -- >> announcer: stephanie miller. >> it is the "stephanie miller show." stephanie miller is not here obviously. i'm chris lavoie. that is jacki schechner. and that is jim ward. we are filling in for stephanie while she recovers from strep throat. i was telling you guys i had strep throat for two weeks right after college when i didn't have health insurance. and someone wrote in and said

you can catch scarlet fever and have a lifetime of problems if you don't take care of it -- >> really? does that come with a petticoat and a parasol. >> yeah, that's what i had. >> luckily a friend of mine hadn't taken all of his antibiotics -- >> oh, that is so not legal chris lavoie. >> i know. antibiotics, i think they might look the other way. >> maybe. where is the war on drugs these days? >> exactly. >> just say no lavoie. >> all right. let's go to carol in pennsylvania. hey, carol. >> caller: good morning, shout out to stephanie. hope you are feeling better.

log cabin endorsed mitt romney. what is wrong with people? this man is getting away with everything, nobody seems to be holding him accountable, except your station, and a few on msnbc. and now he fakes that he is not campaigning, when he hasn't stopped? who is going to hold him accountable? what is wrong with america? wake up. >> exactly. when he first announced that he would be having this relief rally, he was asking for donations of goods, but he had to change that because the red cross does not want donations of goods, but then he had to change that because the red cross just needs donations of money. >> where would mitt romney get

money? >> in his couch cushions on his campaign bus. >> it's not like he is going to write a personal check -- >> why doesn't he? >> that's what i'm saying. he should. wouldn't that be a great commitment to our country -- >> give donations in swiss franks. >> exactly. just a suggestion mitt. >> yeah, just spitballing here. >> they are storm-relief events which happen to take place in ohio. >> exactly. jennifer in virginia wants to talk about the job that president obama is doing. >> caller: hi, good morning. how are you? >> good. what did you want to say about president obama? >> caller: first i want to say to stephanie, get some black pepper, and some honey, and take that now and you will get rid of your strep throat, so we can see you tomorrow morning.

>> that sounds delicious. >> caller: a little black pepper with some honey. that will take care of that. >> and some bourbon? >> do you mix it in anything? >> caller: no just -- >> like a spoonful of honey and put some black pepper on it? >> caller: yes, listen america. a spoon full of natural honey >> okay. >> caller: yes. and just sprinkle a little black pepper on it and just suck on it. >> okay. >> good advise. >> caller: stick it in your mouth and that gets rid of your strep throat. >> stephanie if you are listening, just suck on it. [ laughter ] >> caller: the hurricane nobody knows that better than me. i'm from jamaica. i left jamaica on saturday -- the last saturday of july, came back to the united states to meet my

daughter at the airport who was coming from iraq. i got home and got a call your mother's roof is on the ground next to the water tap. so monday i had to go back. when i went back, i walked in the house, and i looked up and i was looking at the moon. there is no worse feeling than that especially when your mother is 85 and you have an uncle who is mentally disabled and is 87. so i understand the shock these people are going through right now. all i can do is pray for them not to get too anxious. it took me three weeks to get my mother's house back but the peace you get after it is done, it is irreplaceable. now mr. romney, i think this gentlemen really had a mental illness, because there's no way

you can stair another human being in the face and tell a straight-faced lie like he does. i feel very sorry for the man that he is capable of doing that. that's why he considers president obama's compassion and sensitivity as and apology. the man don't know what apology is, and he doesn't understand if you don't understand that sometimes you do need to apologize, you can feel compassion. >> exactly. he just thinks compassion is a weakness. >> yeah, absolutely. and thank you for your call jennifer. great points. >> there is no honey and black pepper that is going to cure the lack of compassion. >> absolutely not. michael is calling from the bronx. are you doing okay there? >> oh, yeah. i'm fine.

and a big shout out to john fugelsang. i had the pleasure of meeting him at the sexy liberal show last saturday. i heard parts of lowermanhattan has lost power. president obama, a big two thumbs up for him. i heard romney is going around with a bus tour supposedly transporting this and that -- >> right. >> caller: and all in all he is trying to look for votes. i thought both sides has suspended campaigns because of this emergency situation. unlike president obama he has reached out to every single governor, letting him know that he is there for them all they had to do was pick up the telephone and call him directly.

>> personally. yep. >> caller: exactly. i saw the press conference with chris christie. he is a republican governor who initially endorsed mitt romney but he has been speaking nothing but praise for president obama. he said he felt so relieved and glad that he had that conversation with president obama. >> yep. >> caller: i think even some republicans may have second thoughts that the idea of privatizing fema -- if you thought that bush & company's response to hurricane sandy was bad, if fema was privatized it would be a long worse. >> it would be what haliburton in iraq. >> exactly. >> we have one more hour of the show left. jim, jacki and chris are holding down the fort. another hour of the show next here on the "stephanie miller show."

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