all right. thank you so much for watching. coming up right now, "the ed show" with ed schultz. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show," live from new york. let's get to work. ♪ >> we as a caucus, along with our senate counterparts, are going to meet and discuss what it is we want to get out of the debt limit. i would prefer to keep those conversations within the family. >> don't ever take sides with anyone against the family again. ever. >> hell, no, you can't! >> i think john just kind of got his irish up. >> we didn't get everything we wanted. >> we spent a lot of time just getting to know each other. >> you complete me. >> talking, understanding each other's principles. >> shut up. just shut up. >> look, i think john just kind of got his irish up. >> you had me at hello.

>> we're actually starting to talk to each other, which is kind of new for this day and age. >> just when i thought i was out, they pulled me back in. >> i see the tea party as indispensable. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. i want you to look right at my eyes. when i say something, i mean it. when i say i stand with workers all across this country, i mean it. when i say i stand with the 99%, i mean it. when i say i stand to help those who are having a hard time in this economy, i mean it. i just want you to know that. this isn't a game, mr. ryan. this isn't a game, mr. boehner. three days after christmas, it's going to get real tough for 1.3 million people. real tough. the insecurity of not knowing

what's going to happen, the land landlord going to kick them out, the car repossessed, be able to feed their family. yet despite all the foreign aid we give all over the world, despite all the things we do when it comes to corporate tax loopholes, despite all the places we could go to find this revenue to help these people in the holiday season, we just can't get it done. amazing. the attitude that this guy has is i've got mine. congress and paul ryan's bipartisan budget is headed for a senate vote later this week. we think. this is washington we're talking about. don't be fooled. it's a bad budget for the unemployed. and it still leaves room for republicans to hold america hostage when it comes time for the debt ceiling. oh, it's coming. as of tonight, as i mentioned, 1.3 million americans are

scheduled. they're on the schedule. this is going to happen. they're going to lose their unemployment benefits on december 28th. republicans in both houses of congress are complaining about, oh, here we go, offsets. how in the world are we going to pay for this. how are we going to pay for the 1.3 million people that are going to cost us $25 billion. we never heard anything about offsets when they shut the government down, and it costs $25 billion. but we're back to offsets. here's what house speaker john boehner said recently. >> when the white house finally called me last friday, about extending unemployment benefits, i said that we would clearly consider it. as long as it's paid for, and as long as there are other efforts that will help get our economy moving once again. >> other efforts? is he willing to help now? first, if boehner really cared about the economy, he would pass, i guess, a miraculous jobs

bill. second, when unemployment is above 7%, congress historically does not require offsets. we have never had that as a problem before. but we have never had this crowd either. and third, boehner needs to look at one of my favorite charts. we are spending $520 billion on defense next year in 2014. that's a big piece of the pie. that's a big piece of your tax dollars. it's over half the budget. setting aside $25 billion for food stamps? i don't know. ever done a budget? i mean, that would be a sliver, wouldn't it? should be a big deal. aside from boehner, republicans have remained mostly silent on unemployment benefits. but democrats, they're furious. they had no problem calling out republicans on their heartless cuts. >> unfortunately, it looks as though we will leave here this week without addressing unemployment insurance. it's unconscionable and

immorable. >> chairman ryan, i would like to pose a question, if i could, to you, if you would. would you not join us in putting on the floor an amendment that would provide for the extension of unemployment that will not run out december 28th for the hard-working americans, 68,000 texans, 1.3 million? would you not do that? >> i'll defer to the speaker's comments. >> well, we get no answer. >> there is also a sour note in leaving here, without having addressed the unemployment insurance. >> absolutely. congressman chris van holland. well, he's got a good plan. he wants to take it one step further. he wants to hit the republicans where it's going to hurt them, by threatening their farm bill subsidies. ooh. now we're getting to the heartland, where everybody is going to be paying attention. what do you mean, no farm bill subsidy? what do you mean, no crop insurance? what do you mean, no counter cyclical payments? what do you mean, no safety net. what do you mean, no disaster relief? van hollen said, quote, under no

circumstances should we support the farm bill, unless republicans agree to use the savings from it to extend unemployment insurance. now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty. this is how you've got to play ball with the republicans. here's the lay of the land. a lot of senators are unsure about this budget bill. the latest whip count shows, as of late this afternoon, only 35 yes votes are available in the senate for this budget bill. most of the yes votes are democrats. but 60 votes are needed to clear procedural hurdles in the senate. the senate is the only thing standing in the way of this budget, and a vote is expected later this week. meanwhile, there's this ryan guy, mr. ryan. paul ryan is already calculating what the next hostage will be for the debt limit crisis. his budget does avoid a shutdown over the next two years. that's election protection, is what i call it. but there is still some room to play games with our nation's

credit. >> we as a caucus, along with our senate counterparts, are going to meet and discuss what it is we want to get out of the debt limit. we don't want nothing out of this debt limit. we're going to decide what it is we can accomplish out of this debt limit fight. one of the problems or concerns i have with the debt limit, we don't know when it's going to hit. jack lieu, the treasury secretary, has ultimate discretion on when this could occur, so the timing of this is very much in doubt. so we're going to meet in our retreats after the holidays and discuss exactly what it is we're going to try and get for this. >> yeah, exactly what we are going to try to get for this. this isn't about doing a deal. this is about what they can get ideologically to fit them. do you really believe that paul ryan is an honest broker when it comes to unemployed americans? he said republicans still want something out of this debt limit. ryan also said republicans will be discussing in the back room. everything is in the back room, isn't it, instead of out in front of the american people who

actually pay these jokers. sounds like a recipe for another republican-caused credit downgrade, to me. do you trust ryan? it's exactly what i said on this program last week. do you trust boehner? that if we let this unemployment thing go, and they can stop it in the senate, and if they go along with this budget, do you really trust john boehner, who voted, what, over 40 some odd times to get rid of health care? do you think he's really going to come back and care about the unemployed? do you think he's going to care in six months? do you think he's going to realize that he has done nothing for a jobs bill to help the economy? hell, no. didn't he say hell, no, you can't? yeah, something like that. i remember that tape. here's the fallacy in all of this. liberals. now they're trying to pass paul ryan off as some kind of a moderate, because he did a budget deal. they're already talking about going after the big three. you can't negotiate with these folks. this is about power and it is

about political strength. that is the only thing the republicans know. maybe this will be a wake-up call to the democrats. suck it up, go to bat for those who deserve it. a lot of these people who are unemployed and have been unemployed for a long time have paid taxes for a long time. they deserve a break. again. and again. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. do you trust republicans to help the unemployed in the new year? text a for yes, text b for no to 67622. you can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring the results later on in the show. for more, let me bring in congressman, chris van hollen of maryland. congressman, great to have you with us tonight. >> good to be with you, ed. >> i like the idea. you said that you're willing to hold up the farm bill to get unemployment extension. give us a little bit more detail on that. >> well, look, ed. just before we left, congressman sandy levy en and i went to the

house rules committee, to ask for a vote on a very simple proposal. we wanted to extend unemployment insurance for at least three months. and we actually had a way to pay for it. and the way we paid for it was by using some of these excessive crop subsidies, which, by the way, the republicans claim they want to get rid of as well. so we said, well, let's use some of those savings to help these folks who are going to be out in the cold throw days after christmas. and republicans were so concerned that they didn't even allow a vote on that measure, ed. so what i'm saying is that when we come back in january to take up the farm bill, we need to look at it on its own merits. but if we think that the farm bill overall is okay, it is expected to save at least $15 billion net. we should use that money to provide unemployment compensation, and we should insist that those funds are used for unemployment insurance, or

not proceed with the overall bill. >> congressman, i would hope you would get a lot of support in the democratic caucus for this across the board. if you look at the map, blue, red, in rural america, it's very republican. if the republicans can't serve up a good farm bill, one that is going to fit a lot of people in the heartland, it's going to cause some political problems here. this is operating, i believe, from a position of strength. how do you feel the senate -- what -- how do you think the senate would feel about this conversation? >> well, look. i think people will be looking at it the way you describe. it's a question of getting the votes together, and the point i'm making is, the proposal is not for or against the farm bill. people can decide on their own -- its own merits whether they support the farm bill. >> sure. >> i'm saying it will be generating some savings. we know that it will have at least $15 billion in savings. so let's use those funds, which

democrats and republicans have agreed to, for a good cause. to extend unemployment insurance. and you know, ed, we tried during the budget negotiations to use the savings from the farm bill to help replace a part of sequester. republicans said they didn't want to do it then. we looked at other things for that purpose. but now we should definitely be using them, because as you said, otherwise you're going to have 1.3 million americans who have worked hard, who are continuing to look every day for work, and so what better use of farm bill savings and the reductions and ag subsidies than to help people who are down and out, worked hard, last a job through no fault of their other than still looking for work. >> this would be a compromise. this would be a real compromise that would help people. but let's look at it before christmas. how does congress get an unemployment extension before christmas? that seems like it's pretty much out of the question. >> well, as i said, we tried to even get a vote on that in the house, ed. and the speaker said he wouldn't

allow the american people, even the benefit of a vote. we said, you know, mr. speaker, house republicans, if you want to vote no, if you want to vote against unemployment insurance for the american people, for goodness sakes, have the decency to do it in a transparent way, do it in the light of day. they refused to do it. in the senate, harry reid tried to bring this up by unanimous consent. republicans shot it down. >> so if we did this with the farm bill at $15 billion, and since we're going to be spending $520 billion on defense, isn't there any way we could carve $10 billion out of the defense spending to come up with the 25 to help these americans out and then work on a jobs bill to get these people back into the economy? i mean, it's like running a business. if you are solvent, you can find the money. you can find the money to do what you've got to do in business if you -- if you're solvent in the way you operate. i mean, there is money here. why won't the republicans give it up?

>> well, there are a number of places you can look at it. i would argue, ed, the first place you should look for is actually the farm subsidies themselves. because my understanding is at this point in time that the farm bill only includes about 8, 9, $10 billion in savings from ending the farm subsidies, when the president's budget, the ryan budget and the house democratic budget all actually have $30 billion in them, just from getting rid of these excessive farm subsidies. and so the farm bill guys have actually whittled those savings way down. there's no reason taxpayers should be shelling out billions and billions of dollars to large agri businesses. and so that's another place to look. but look, the bottom line is that we should not be moving forward on this unless we can use those savings and other savings we may find to help those folks who are still struggling. and as you have pointed out many

times, it's not only to help those struggling families. it's to help the small businesses, the merchants in the surrounding neighborhoods. because those folks have to pay the rent, have got to put food on the table. >> they sure do. and that ag dollar turns 11 times on main street in rural america. one more point. paul ryan said the republicans want concessions out of the debt limit. are they gearing up for a default? i mean, what is he talking about? >> i'm glad you raised that. because some people are asking whether this bipartisan moment is something that will be sustainable or whether it's a one-off. and we began to get the answer very quickly. from congressman ryan over the weekend, which is that we're quickly going back to brinksmanship, where republicans are going to threaten the full faith and credit of the united states. they're going to threaten we will not pay our bills on time unless they enact and extract a partisan and political concessions. and so apparently their view will be once again that in order for republicans to do the right

thing and make sure that the country pays its bills, you have got to help enact the republican tea party agenda. i hope that's not the case. but that's what it was beginning to sound like this last weekend. >> no doubt on b it. they are on the hunt for a hostage after all this smiling at the press conference, we've got a bipartisan deal, and all this stuff. no, they're out on the hunt, they're going to do the same stuff they have done before. you can't trust them. congressman, chris van hollen, appreciate your time. remember tonight's question on the bottom of the screen, share your thoughts on twitter and facebook, at ed show. coming up up, john mccain back tracks about his comment about hitler. and new threats to american jobs. workers need to tell congress to take down the tpp.

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time now for the trenders. social media, this is where you can find the big guy. facebook.com/ed show. twitter.com/edshow. very active as of late. and also ed.msnbc.com. and the radio. you can call me. 1-877-we got ed. sirius xm channel 127 and liberal talk stations across the country and our web site, you can find out about our oh ed tour, 2014. the ed show social media nation has decided, we are reporting. here are today's top trenders voted on by you. >> i made a huge, tiny mistake. >> the number three trender. grossout. >> i mean, what's the point? neville chamberlain shook hands with hitler. >> do you regret that statement? >> i think it was a gross exaggeration. >> oh, my bad. >> it is what it is. >> john mccain pleads guilty. >> if you want me to plead guilty here on cnn, guilty. >> that is the guiltiest face

i've seen all day. >> the number two trender, saddle sore. >> end up losing to the packers. >> we blew it. >> seriously, you can't make this stuff up with romo. >> peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you'll never get anywhere. >> tony romo's meltdown cost the cowboys. >> blowing a 23-point lead at home. >> snap out of it! >> we have seen this movie way too many times. >> and today's top trender. tpp trauma. it will be nafta on steroids. >> members of congress aren't supposed to tell you what they have read. >> all negotiations held behind closed coarse doors. american jobs have a new threat. >> what about the freedom of people to associate or join unions? that's not going to be amiss. >> this is not about union labor. this is about american labor. joining me tonight, congressman dan killedy of michigan. good to have you with us tonight. i know you're on record oh against the tpp.

but this tweet caught my attention today. cbs network radio reporter, martin oler tweeted out from the white house today, that's his beat. he says that the white house says the tpp is, quote, critical for creating jobs, promoting growth, providing opportunity for american workers and promoting fair trade in asia and pacific. now, if that is where the white house stands and if that's where the president is, don't you think the country needs a little bit of definition of where all these jobs are going to come from? >> i think you're right. i mean, i've lived through this. i come from flint, michigan. and i remember the north american free trade agreement. the same promises of job growth, economic growth and everything was going to work out just fine for flint and saginaw and bay city. we had 50,000 general motors jobs back then. today we've got 10,000. thank god we do have the auto industry being recovered -- going through a recovery now.

but we cannot afford another one of these agreements that puts american jobs up against countries that have no environmental standards, no labor standards, no unions. this is not going to work out for us. and it's just particularly with japan entering tpp, this is just not the direction that we should be going in this country. >> today general motors announced its plan to pump in $600 million into the flint, michigan assembly plant. this is good news. >> it is good news. i was there when they made the announcement. and the workers earned that big investment. >> this backing is part of a $1.27 billi $1.27 billion investment across five factories across america. and, of course, gm has really taken a huge step forward here. a lot of people gave up on the industry. how does this transpacific partnership jeopardize the jobs this investment is going to create? and i think we've got to get right to it. here's gm doing their part. here's the expansion in these

communities. and yet we're on the verge of having another trade agreement that could regut the industry that we saw have troubles on nafta. >> well, tpp would be bad for the auto industry. we need to have a consistent industrial policy if we're going to support the american auto industry, as it looks like we have recently. i give the president all the credit for stepping up. we've got to be consistent. we can't have japan, for example, one of the largest markets for autos, 5 million a year, only 5% of their sales are imports. typical industrialized nations, that's going to be 30 or 40%. so we can't be in a position where our workers have to compete against countries that don't have good labor standards or in the case of japan, manipulate their currency or use nontrade barriers to keep our vehicles out. meanwhile, they want to bring more vehicles in. it's just not going to work out. i'm all for free and fair trade.

but so far, ed, none of these agreements have ever actually passed the test. they may work in theory. but in practice, we lose jobs. >> well, the president has executive authority over the trade negotiators. these negotiations have been held in great secrecy. only a few people know the details of this. why? why is it coming down like this? >> well, i mean, this is the way these agreements have come. so that when they come to us, it's a yes or no question. and, look, i'm a policy maker. we should have our hands in the policies that the united states puts forth. and that includes industrial policy. so i just don't -- i just don't think there is anyway any way i can look the other way on this. and i'm a supporter and fan of the president's. we disagree on a few things. this is one of them. i think this is the wrong direction for our country. >> i'm just anxious to hear the explanation. from somebody on the economic team that can explain this. tell us where the up side is.

>> i tell you, here's the thing. the folks need to talk to the people in flint. in bay city. in saginaw. we've been through this before. and we've heard the arguments. and you know, sort of in theory, the arguments make sense. but in practice, it never seems to work out. it never seems to translate to jobs for the people that i represent. because we're going in -- trying to get into markets where those markets just don't want to import -- they don't want to see american imports come in, and they do everything they can to keep it from happening. these free trade agreements don't work for us. >> good to have you with us tonight. congratulations to flint, michigan. it's great news. no doubt about it. >> our workers earned it. thank you, ed. coming up, megyn kelly's white christmas, the fox news anchor tries to defend herself. newt gingrich says he knows who is to blame for poverty problems in the united states. he lands in tonight's pretenders. but next, i take your questions. "ask ed live" coming up on

msnbc. we're right back. hi honey, did you get the toaster cozy?

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welcome back to "the ed show." love this segment, and our viewers. our first question tonight in "ask ed live" comes from dan oliver. is that dan oliver from norfolk, virginia? i thought you were a righty. good to see you, dan. hope that's you. when are americans going to realize the republicans want to cut social programs to give more handouts to the rich and businesses? well, the guy i know wouldn't ask that question. all right. here is the bottom line. the next election. and if we don't do something to get the house back on a very high level, this is what you're going to run into. next question comes from edward. do republicans really think that if people don't work, they shouldn't eat? well, i think that's a real legitimate question, because i think the republicans should answer the question, what do you want these people to do on

december 28th and in the coming weeks? because there certainly isn't any indication there is going to be a deal. so what do you want them to do, mr. ryan? mr. boehner? cantor? what do you want these people to do? fair question. stick around. rapid response panel coming up. i'm morgan brennan with your cnbc market wrap. the dow jumped 129 points today. the s&p added 11. and the nasdaq gained 28. industrial production rose 1.1% in november, driven by a surge in auto production. it's the single-largest month increase in a year. gm says it will invest nearly $1.3 billion at five u.s. plants to produce higher-quality trucks, engines and transmissions. meanwhile, shares of exxonmobil jumped 2% after goldman sachs upgraded the oil giant from neutral to a buy. that's it from cnbc. first in business, worldwide.

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when i saw this headline, i kind of laughed, and i said, this is so ridiculous. yet another person claiming it's racist to have a white santa. you know? and by the way, for all you kids watching at home, santa just is white. just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change. you know? i mean, jesus was a white man too. but, you know, it's like -- we have -- he was an historical figure. that's a very miable fact. as is santa. i want the kids watching to know that. >> couldn't have been spoken better by four white people. welcome back to "the ed show." fox news host megyn kelly made some news on her own last week when she insisted santa claus and jesus were white. on friday, kelly responded to the uproar. here it is, in part. >> humor is a part of what we

try to bring to this show, but sometimes that is lost on the humorless. this will be funny if it were not so telling about our society. in particular, the knee-jerk instinct by so many to raise bait and assume the worst in people. especially people employed by the very powerful fox news channel. by the way, i also did say jesus was white. as i have learned in the past two days, that is far from settled. race is still an incredibly volatile issue in this country and fox news and yours truly are big targets for many people. >> well, let's break this down. according to kelly, it was all a joke. if you were offended, it's because you are a humorlesses race-baiter, powerful fox news is the real victim in all of this. kelly also speaks as if she just discovered race is still a volatile issue in this country, and a very heated discussion at times. she must not watch her own network. let's be clear. el chaing racism, racial stereotypes or so-called racial norms is not race-baiting. it is important, even in the world of fictional characters to

challenge ourselves to the conversation on race. this is supposed to be a season of good feelings and goodwill. and how can our heart be in the right place and in the spirit of the season if we're making all this about one skin color or another? on friday, kelly offered no real apology for her comments. in typical fox news fashion, the knee-jerk response is to point fingers by blaming political correctness. and playing the victim. joining me now on our rapid response panel, the grio contributor, zerlina maxwell and josh marshal, founder and editor of talking points memo. great to have you with us. well, i guess there has to be a judgment here, made, by all of us individually or anybody watching. as to whether it was a joke or not. zerlina? >> i mean, watching t it definitely wasn't a scripted moment. it was an offhand comment. i don't know that i think that it was a joke. but i think that the larger conversation is really what's important. it is important that we talk

about sort of our cultural and traditional symbols, and why we must -- why she was insisting that they be white. and why changing that made, you know, her and many folks uncomfortable. the root of that is actually very problematic. i think that children should be able to imagine santa claus, whatever color they want him to be. >> well, it was off a story that they -- a black woman wrote. >> yes. >> explaining her feelings growing up. >> right. >> i would have to say that her feelings were discarded by the anchor. that's how i took it. >> and you know, i agree with that sentiment. because i grew up in an all-white town and had a black santa because my mom prioritized having those cultural and traditional symbols be something that looked like me. i think that was important for my parents and my self-esteem growing up. and i think that maybe the majority race doesn't necessarily understand that everything we see, if you go into a barnes and noble and look at magazines, it's all white faces. and how that feels when you're growing up and you don't see

things that reflect what you look like. >> josh, your insights on this story. your thoughts. >> i don't think it was a joke. i think it was in a way sort of an off-handed comment. what was revealing, when you and i were growing up, it was a lot whiter country. it just was. and i think a lot of people -- i don't know megyn kelly, but certainly a lot of americans, that's a little uncomfortable. you look around, you don't see quite -- in percentage terms, quite as many white faces. and so i see this as sort of an offhanded sort of outgrowth of that. when you say like i don't see as many white people but santa is why i'm holding on to santa. you're not going to make santa not be white for me. so i mean, we have to remember here, santa is not real. to me, it's not -- you know, racist is too strong. it's just -- it's people's -- there is a big slice of white america that is not comfortable that america doesn't look

exactly the way it did 30 years ago. >> and today libertarian radio host neil boards came to her defense saying santa is white, deal with it. he added, i'm going to scream and complain, because martin luther king is always portrayed as black. what's your reaction to that, zerlina? i mean, santa is whatever you want santa to be. of. >> that is ridiculous. santa claus is not real, okay? if you didn't live in a house that had a chimney, how is santa going to get to you? my mom explained to me early on that santa is not real. i'm the one paying for the presents. it's me. thank me. so i just think that if it's a fictional character, you should be able to imagine him however you want. that's part of, you know, growing up. and being creative as a child. >> now earlier last week, josh, kelly tells jay leno that she's a straight news anchor. on friday, she says that she's just joking. and not to take her seriously. where are we with this anchor? i'm fine to think of her as

joking and not take her seriously. that's sort of where i started off at the beginning. look, she works on fox news. of course she's not a straight journalist. there is no one who does talk on fox news who is a straight journalist. frankly, even the supposed straight journalists aren't straight journalists. so maybe privately she has different views. but certainly -- >> isn't this all a part of the overriding theme that there is a war on christmas? this is just another one of those stories that fits right into their agenda? >> it's part -- i mean, in this sense, you know, not everybody is christian in america anymore. not that there was ever, you know, 100% the case. but again, there's a -- a lot of things are changing in america. and they really are changing. it's not just a fantasy that someone is, you know -- or fear someone has. and i think a lot of our politics today is motivated by this sense of, you know, where are the brakes in the car that is america?

and this -- you see that kind of tension coming out. and these sort of off-handed commends comments. >> i think that the conservative movement is concerned. and to make the statement that jesus is white underscores how defensive they can be. >> as a daughter of two pastors, that was what stood out to me as incorrect. it wasn't the santa. jesus is real and he was not white. i mean, there's a debate over what he was and how -- maybe how dark he was. but just historically, first century jus were not white. so i just think that most of the time when you're talking about these things, people are uncomfortable when -- like josh said, when, you know, the browning of america and the emerging majorities. and i think they might have to reflect a little bit on why they are uncomfortable. because the root of that, like i said, is a problem. and you just need to really think deeply as to why does it make you uncomfortable that santa may not be white to every child? >> what about that? >> i think that really hits it on the head.

this is a human orrous and offhanded example of something that runs deep through our politics. again, you see it -- this is why immigration reform is held up. this is why you've got a lot of paranoia about having a black president. >> exactly. >> so megyn kelly says when she first read this story, she laughed it off and thought it was so ridiculous but made her program. and she said she's a straight news anchor. i found that interesting. how is fox the victim? how are they the victim? part of her apology the other night was, you know, people are just out to get fox. they're the victim. >> you know, fox is the, you know, vocal chords of the conservative movement. they see it as the war on christmas, all these kind of things. there is something very deep-seated in american conservatism, particularly now, when conservatives feel besieged

in america that, of course, they are the victim. it's victimology. it's ironic, because the right obvious talks about the left, whether it's on race or women or whatever, victim hood, victim this, victim that. but the right in america is deeply whetted to their own victim hood. so, again, the fact that fox goes there, again, fox is the vocal chords of american conservatism. why would it be different? >> josh marshal, zerlina maxwell, thanks for joining us tonight. thanks so much. coming up, republicans are trying to turn the clock back on voting in ohio. and pretenders coming up. stay with us. ♪ ♪ it's beginning to look a lot like christmas ♪ ♪ everywhere you go life's an adventure when you're with her.

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welcome back to "the ed show." this is the story for the folks who take a shower after work. an assault on voting rights is

an assault on our democracy. no doubt. which means we all need to pay attention to what's happening all over the koun b tri but especially in the state of ohio. ohio went for president obama in the last two presidential elections. voters had to endure some of the longest lines in the country to cast their ballots. after the supreme court struck down key provisions to the voting rights act, republicans started doing everything to turn the state red. several bills will greatly reduce access to the policy. then there's senate bill 238 which would cut the voting period known as golden week which allows voters to simultaneously register and cast an early in-person ballot. senate bill 205 would put more restraints on absentee voting. last week the ohio house of representatives cleared a republican-backed measure that would also make it easier for ohio secretary of state of suppression john husted to purge

a large number of voters. the bill also reduces the minimum number of election machines counties are required to have. fewer machines. good idea? it's headed to the desk and here's the key to the whole story. it's headed to the desk of the republican governor john kasich. and he is expected to sign it. make no mistake, the republican assault on voting rights is in full force in ohio. i think that's why my next guest who are running for secretary of state in ohio is one of the most important guests we could have when it comes to voting rights. you want to win the presidential? you better win ohio. you better have the integrity of the vote. nina turner joining us tonight. isn't john kasich -- this is a guy that's running around trying to present himself as a reasonable republican. what's reasonable about these laws if he's going to sign them? >> nothing, ed.

and i implore the governor to veto that bill. i'm not sure if it's on his desk right now. it just cleared house of representatives last week. but the governor has the power of the pen. he should veto this bill. if we're going back to the days of 2004, ed, where countless numbers of voters in the state of ohio were disenfranchised, to kout the number of voting machines without having a study to determine how many machines are necessary is just wrong. i think about knox county, kenyon college. 1300 voters voted at a precinct that only had two voting machines. one broke down. and that left people in line, ed, all the way into the next morning at 4:00 a.m. the last voter voted in knox county at 4:00 in the morning in 2004. we cannot go back to that. >> what do the republicans say when you say why fewer machines in some counties especially in minority areas? >> well, they claim that it gives the flexibilities to the

local boards of elections, but what is really going on here is tactics to disenfranchise voters. let's face it. the republicans have cut local budgets and democrats are very sensitive to that. but when it comes to voting, we should be studying and have proper machines in voting locations. this is nothing but absolute power disrupting absolutely. and the republicans are setting now in this state and all across the country to disrupt access to the ballot box. >> so you think that kasich's response is going to be something about local elections and local officials making the best -- i can just hear him now. that local officials are best equipped to decide how many machines they'll need on election. you said something interested. there's been no survey, no study, no investment to find out. i mean, social engineering is something that is done. and if you need more machines,

you need more machines. >> and democrats did push for that amendment recognizing that local governments do need more money because of republicans. the funding to local governments have been cut. but we should not disenfranchise people in the process. so republicans rejected a reasonable public policy recommendation by democrats to study it. and our democracy is the greatest equalizer. we cannot sit back idly by and allow this to happen. we should be expanding and protecting the vote. but that is not happening in ohio. that is not happening in certain states across this country. and i am asking governor john kasich tonight to veto that bill. >> and there's no local heat on him from anybody. he's just sitting there and this is a story that's laying out there. >> there are activists all around. you're doing it. i've got to admit that msnbc is really keeping a lot of light on this. you have been strong on this. local unions are involved in this. they are in the fight to make sure people have access to the

ballot box. but we have to -- the power is in the governor's hands. this is wrong. it's absolutely inconscionable to regress our state. >> what about the golden week? that has been something of real pride in ohio, hasn't it? >> it has. and folks use it. people in rural urban and suburban areas all across the great state of ohio, they enjoy early voting. so i cannot for the life of me understand why the republicans want to cut these access, this avenue to voting. it makes no sense to me. they have yet to answer this question. but it's been since 2008. since the election of president obama that we have seen folks lose their absolute mind over access to the ballot box. and it makes no sense. we've got to continue to protect the democracy. and it's one woman, one man, one vote. it's what gives us our equal vote. >> secretary of state in ohio.

nina turner in ohio, keep up the fight. thank you so much. and we'll see what john kasich is going to do. see if he makes any comments about these bills before it's time to sign them. we believe he's going to sign them. that's "the ed show." "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed. and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, they can't handle the truth. we've told you our "politicsnation" theory. obama care plus success equals a right wing freakout. and we're seeing it again. just listen to former senator rick santorum's rant on government-run health care and former british leader margaret thatcher. >> she knew once you had people getting free health care from the government, you can't take it away from them. and the reason is because most people don't get sick. and so free health care isus