right call, pressure, or shame, will move the rest of the country forward. that's all for now. see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. eastern. "the ed show" is up good evening, americans. let's get to work. welcome to "the ed show." >> it is really hard to believe that walker had nothing to do with this secret e-mail network. >> we should mention that is there a john doe investigation going on. >> when you talk about the parallel to chris christie -- >> everybody in the country who engages in politics knows that. >> scott walker has a unique position here among all of the governors who are not chris christie. >> you have two men who are very political and who micromanage their campaigns. >> guys, we all -- >> your name has been bantered

about you may get into the presidential 2016 race. >> i'm flattered when people say things like that. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. for years on this program here on "the ed show" i've been telling you that wisconsin governor scott walker is bad news, bad news for walker, bad news for workers. walker is now facing serious allegations of illegal campaign activities. here's what walker woke up to this morning in the badger state. the front page of the "milwaukee journal sentinel" read, "records link walker to secret e-mail system." the headline on the wisconsin state journal read, "walker linked to illicit e-mails." governor walker, this deserves a response to the people of your state. you cannot be silent on this. thousands of pages of documents were released by an appeals court in madison, wisconsin, on wednesday. they revealed walker was at the center of a campaign operation

during his time as milwaukee county executive. walker was allegedly using county time and resources to run his gubernatorial campaign through a secret e-mail system. this is a felony in the state of wisconsin. the illegal campaign operation has already led to 15 felony convictions and three misdemeanors for six of walker's associates. how could he not know? walker has denied any involvement whatsoever in the illegal activities. in fact, he's the conservative hero. but wednesday's document dump tells a different story and it is raising big questions. ruth conniff of the progressive magazine points out walker was involved in the smallest of details of his campaign. one example shows a county staff e-mailing campaign advisers to how to respond to talk about taxes. walker personally responded and replied in this e-mail saying this is good.

another e-mail shows walker telling staffers how to deal with questions about his chief of staff, tom nordeli's work history. walker wrote, even if it comes up, tom's answer would be short and pif fi. he should stop spending his time dreaming up political attacks with the service employees international union and start working on the county budget. that's walker in this e-mail system. now, other emails show a campaign staffer supervising county staff statements denying they are coordinating with the campaign. part of the denial comes from a county staff which reads, "no one in our office had any knowledge that darlene was posting political comments." walker's campaign strategist responded, "just talked with tom. send it." gosh, that sounds so new jersey, doesn't it? now, these are just a few examples of what was found in the document dump. this could be why walker set up a legal defense fund back in

2012. we have been on this story from the start. big trouble for governor scott walker of wisconsin. two staffers who work for walker when he was milwaukee county executive have been charged with illegally doing campaign work while being paid by the county. it's all part of an ongoing john doe investigation involving walker's staffers. we have a major development in wisconsin with governor scott walker and the secret investigation surrounding his time as milwaukee county executive. today walker announced that he will finally meet with the district attorney leading the investigation. the buzzards i guess you could say are starting to circle around the rookie governor on this john doe investigation in a big way. on friday walker became the first wisconsin governor ever to set up a legal defense fund. fast forward to today. they're talking about this guy possibly being the president of the united states. this is a guy who wants to lead

the free world. he ought to check his own backyard first. democrats have suspected this illegal activity from the start. these new documents i believe underscore just how underhanded and deceptive wascott walker is. you will never convince me that six of his staffers could receive felony convictions. he wouldn't have any knowledge of their crimes or activities at all. i don't buy it. i think the word impeachment in wisconsin needs to be on the table. but there's a political dynamic to this. bottom line is the democrats don't have enough legislative power to bring forth any of that kind of conversation. but what the democrats can do is ask milwaukee county district attorney john chism how much evidence do you need to bring charges against the sitting governor of the state of wisconsin, scott walker? how much more evidence needs to be put out in front of the people? and if there's not going to be charges and if there's not going

to be any talk of impeachment, where are the activists? i remember the activists back in early 2011 in wisconsin, if i walked through the crowd once i walked through ten times and heard people say, eddie, we don't trust him. this there's something about this guy we don't trust. he doesn't tell the truth. he's attacking workers unlike anything we've ever seen in the history of this state. so the question is, scott walker, do you feel an obligation tonight now that this document dump has been released? do you feel anything of an inclination that maybe it's time for you to come out and talk directly to the people of wisconsin and raise your right hand and say on my integrity to you as your governor i knew nothing about this secret e-mail system and you can trust me? i'll stay tuned for that one. in the meantime, where's the march? the folks who were out on the streets and at the capitol in madison, wisconsin, back in early 2007.

this is what you were looking for. this is the smoking gun. it's -- clearly there is a connection between scott walker and the activities of his staff, some who have already been convicted. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. on the's question -- do you think scott walker is guilty? text a for yes, b for no to 67622. you can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring results later. for more, the reporter on this story, ruth conniff of the progressive magazine." when this document came out yesterday, we at "the ed show" asked ruth and her staff to go through these 27,000 e-mails and don't miss anything, make sure that the information is tight to the public before ig is reported. ruth, good to have you with us tonight. the headlines across wisconsin today are very pointed and very damaging. from your reporting, where's the smoking gun in this? >> well, the big smoking gun is

that walker is clearly at the center of this network. we have a document we've kind of put together all his te niles of knowledge of this secret e-mail network. you know, we knew after this john doe investigation and after the indictments of his staff that there definitely were these laptops that people had private e-mails and that they were doing campaign work on the taxpayers time, which is illegal in wisconsin. but walker has said repeatedly he had nothing to do with it. if you look at the e-mails and the totality of them, it's a very clear picture. walker was a micromanager. he mixed together campaign staff and the county staff who worked under him, and they talked constantly throughout the day about campaign matters and about public matters, public policy matters but strictly in political terms. so he basically moved his campaign, took over the milwaukee county executive's office with this campaign. he had wanted to run for governor starting in 2002. and he ran this incredibly political operation secretly to avoid open records laws. >> now, it's been stated time

and time again that scott walker was never the subject or the center or the focal point of this john doe investigation. this changes things. there is a clear connection. you can see it in the e-mails. is there any way walker can still deny knowledge of this? first question. and the second question, what has been his reaction since these documents were released? >> he has said nothing today and he's left the state. he said through a spokesman he had no further comment on the matter. before the documents were released yesterday he said this is all news and you won't see anything news and it's a partisan witchwitch-hunt, which they've said from the beginning, even though there's been a republican judge in charge of this first john doe, there's a new john doe investigation, another secret investigation which is currently under way where walker may indeed be a target. and that is also ledwy bia republican prosecutor.

you know, the partisan witch-hunt narrative completely falls apart, but he's really had very little to say about it. in fact what's coming out is very, very damaging for him. >> should there be a demand on the part of the residents of wisconsin to have this governor come out, or doesn't it seem strange that he's not compelled in a short period of time after this document dump to come out and assure all the residents that he can be trusted, that trust is the center of this and he had nothing to do with this? instead he says he has no comment on it? where there's smoke, there's fire. it would seem to me this would be enough for activists to revolve around. what do you think? >> well, he can't say that, ed, because if you look at these e-mails, you know, i talked to a former attorney general of the state who put it this way. it's like a painting. maybe at one point you're not sure legally if you can demonstrate that walker's hands are dirty, but if you step back and see the level of micromanagement, you see him tapping on his blackberry,

writing talking points for his own staff, it's clear he was very deeply involved in this campaign operation, which we know took place on this illegal private secret e-mail network in his office. if you look at the map, which is exhibit a in the criminal complaint against his former staffer whose e-mails came out today, it is amazing how close together everybody sat. when walker says in an e-mail no more laptops, you know, we have to put this stuff away, it's pretty clear that he saw it, walked past it every day, and also that he was managing this stuff. so i don't think he can come out and reassure people, ed, which is why he's not doing it. also he's the first governor in in the history of the state to set up his own criminal defense fund, which he just put more money into, and he sat around for hours with prosecutors as governor and had conversations. be interesting to hear the details of that talk. >> ruth continue fif of the progressive magazine, great journalism. we'll keep on this story and come back to you again and again. i want to bring in wisconsin's

state senator john urbanbach, one of 14 senators who left the state when walker unveiled his radical attack on workers and of course they brought the function of the government to a halt by leaving the state which of course the story exploded across the country. john, good to have you with us. what is your reaction to these e-mails from walker in this document dump? >> i'm shocked. you hit it on the nose. he owes wisconsinites an explanation. it's a matter of trust, a matter of making sure what the governor says is actually true. i agree with you 100%. the governor should be answering questions. ruth pointed out he e got on a plane, he's left the state, through his spokesperson said he won't have any comment or answer any questions on this subject. i'll tell you what, the voters of the state of wisconsin want to know whether or not their governor is telling the truth. right now it doesn't look like he is. he denied knowing about this net new york, denied knowing about the e-mails. this guy redefined mic micromanaging.

his staff couldn't wipe their noses unless they ok'd it. in the end he has to come back home and face the voters of wisconsin and be honest and straight up and tell what he knew and when. >> john, give us the landscape politically of wisconsin right now. is is there a chance that there could be any legislative hearings on this within the judiciary? >> i would like to think so, ed, but the cold reality is the republicans control the state senate and the state assembly and they will run through a brick wall to protect scott walker. >> i think that's a key point right there. you mean to tell me that the republicans of wisconsin are going to stand ominously silent on this when there are damaging e-mails out there linking scott walker to an illegal secret e-mail system? i find that amazing. this is how far the republicans will go to protect their own. it is outrageous. they're no better than walker if this is how they're going to respond to this.

they have no curiosity about the truth whatsoever? wisconsin politics on the republican side? i mean, here you have a united states senator, mr. johnson, from wisconsin, who's all over president obama about trust and being able to function as the president of the united states, yet he has no questions about his own governor when damaging e-mails like this come out. i find this amazing. i called on the republicans of wisconsin to grow a pair, grow a spine, get some integrity, hold some hearings, get to the bottom of this. this man wants to be president of the united states. and now i want to know what rins pree vus, head of the rnc and head of wisconsin, does he have any comment on these documents? it's clear this goes way beyond any kind of political witch-hunt. john, i have to ask you about this. what about impeachment? is that off the table? that can't even be talked about because you don't have the legislative power there either?

>> again, i don't think impeachment comes up at all. i think what needs to happen here is exactly what you said. he needs to come back to wisconsin, needs to sit down, needs to be honest. this is a matter of trust. he is the top elected official in the state of wisconsin. and he talks about trust me on this and trust me on that, yet we see e-mails just absolutely linking him to every single thing going on within the county executive's office in milwaukee, whether it be policy or campaign. and obviously the campaign took precedent over the policy based on some of the e-mails that we saw. i don't even begin to talk about impeachment if we can't get to republicans. they won't hold a hearing, they won't ask questions. >> john, let me ask you, senator, how much more evidence does the milwaukee county attorney need to file charges? i mean, there are people on the democratic side in wisconsin, in the legislature, who have a

legal background. they have to be viewing business almost a joke at this point. >> well, i don't know. i'm not a lawyer, but to me what i read yesterday and today seems to be pretty damning if you asked my nonprofession nal opinion. it gets back to trust, credibility, and scott walker does have to answer to the court of public opinion. that's very, very important to remember. >> there's no doubt. the fact that he left the state on other business probably personal, probably his campaign, and says nothing to the residents of the badger state, i find that absolutely amazing and a real illustration of a lack of character. state senator jon erpenbach, thanks for your time. you have another comment? >> issue will be here when governor walker gets home. it's not going away. >> thank you, senator. appreciate your time tonight. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of your

screen, share your thoughts on twitter @edshow and on facebook. i want to know what you think. coming up, republicans are teaching kids austerity through some shameful lunchroom policies. you will not believe this story. a famous chef joins me and the rapid response panel. first, congress stalls while corporations lead the way on $10.10. that's the minimum wage.

first, congress stalls while check it out.

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time for the trenders on the social media. check us out @edshow. and on the radio, sirius xm 127 monday through friday, noon through 3:00 p.m. we take your phone calls, you can get my podcast at

wegoted.com. the social media nation has decided and we are reporting on today's top trernds voted on by you. >> they're making our photo to people. >> the number three trender. nothing but niet. >> vladimir putin says it was the only medal that mattered. >> a shocker for the russian federation. >> you blew it! >> russia's hockey coach gives a biting interview after the team's loss to finland. >> what future, if any, do you see for your own work, your predecessor was eaten alive after the olympics? >> i ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti. >> i won't be here anymore. >> hmm. >> but we have the world championship coming up. >> well, a different coach because i won't be here anymore since you all will have eaten me. >> thank you. thank you. >> the number two trender. newsies. ♪ i said a hip-hop the hippie to the hip-hop ♪ >> we searched through news footage of our pal brian

williams and we edited it together to make him sound like he's rapping. >> i can dig it. >> jimmy fallon helps the nightly news anchors bust a rhyme. ♪ let's rock, you don't stop it ♪ >> i'm with it. i'm hip. >> check it out. >> oh, yeah. >> say what? ♪ hotel, motel holiday inn say if you're attack us, then you take her friend ♪ >> word to your mother. >> in today's top trender, closing the gap. >> gap is raising its hourly minimum wage. >> we're a company that care, that wants to believe in our employees. >> when people are earning a decent living it does lift everyone up. >> the clothing company says it's raising their minimum wage. >> raising wages to $9 an hour this year and $10 next year. >> it's the right thing to do. >> raising the minimum wage is good for business and it's good for workers and it's good for the economy. >> this increase will benefit

about 65,000 workers. >> you can't go wrong with an investment like that. >> joining us tonight congressman tim ryan of ohio. always a pleasure. good to have you with us. the state of the union, the president talked about business doing their share. and here we have it just less than a month after the state of the union, we've got businesses leading the way on the minimum wage. what impact do you think this is going to have, congressman? >> i think it's huge. a lot of businesses are being conscious about the way they treat their workers and really recognizing the importance of caring about their workers, making sure their workers feel that if they work hard and play by the rules they have an opportunity to move ahead. i think it's very important for the business community to start moving and we're seeing it happen more and more now. businesses looking at their supply chains, making sure that they are ethical, that they're environmental, and that they're treating their workers properly.

i think this is a new way to do business. but there's always going to be some of those businesses that really come kicking and screaming. >> you think this helps the democrats in their case to push the issue for minimum wage that's really been stalled in congress? republicans seem like they don't have any appetite for this whatsoever. now they'll say, see, it's the free market, let the businesses make the decision. what's your response? >> it helps us make the moral argument, the values argument that businesses are looking and seeing this happen. i will say i think the tea party caucus in washington, they'll be the ones -- last ones to the parade. no doubt about it, because they don't see any of these things as wise investments. yeah, it's an investment in the short term, but if you want loyalty, productivity, and a good sense of team spirit and teamwork in an organization, you've got to pay a fair wage. we're talking act moving people out of poverty. here's where they're really going to get caught, ed.

they tear ones saying dismantle the safety net, the ones say nothing investments into some of those programs, food stamps or housing vouchers or those kind of things. and they say well go to work. well, work has to pay, and that's what we're trying to say. there's no corner on the market of the republican party has on hard work or discipline or, you know, stick-to-itiveness or any of those things that we all treasure as americans, but you've got to make that pay. that's the bottom line here. people will go to work. you've just got to make it pay. >> you know, the company gap says its choice to move their minimum wage to $10 is going to strengthen their ability to attract and retain a skilled workforce, a better workforce. on the other hand, you've got the cbo claiming that raising the minimum wage is going to cost the economy some jobs. they threw a number of 500,000 on it. how do you measure that? and how do you uphold the argument at this point? you know the republicans are

going to come back and say this would be a job killer. >> well, the cbo report, if you read it closely, says that anywhere from a zero jobs will be lost to a million jobs will be lost. so that's quite the range. and i think it's really hard to tell, because one of the things that doesn't often get factored in is that we are lifting the demand up. take gap, for example. now, how many minimum wage workers under the current standard could go and shop at gap? maybe some, maybe at the outlet store. who knows? but if you raise their rates to $10.10 an hour over the course a-3% raise and hundreds if not thousands of dollars over the course of a year, you're talking about having a little buying power. you know, you take someone making $7.50 an hour to take in the $10.10, that's a car that they can go out and buy. and they could buy bye a chevy prius that's made up the street in ohio. >> it will be interesting to see what kind of effect it has on the market. walmart says it will be neutral on the minimum wage.

neutral means you're not far it because you're not doing anything on it. but it's going to be interesting to see what the consumers do, how the consumers, to compare this year's coming sales to last year's coming sale, the economy's probably going to be pretty much the same, if product loyal loyalty, company loyalty goes into that because there are so many americans who are onto this income inequality and raising the minimum wage is heavily favored by the american people. congressman, good to have you with us tonight. thanks for join us. still ahead, school lunches being pulled out of the hands of kids and tossed into the trash by school administrators. what the heck is going on here? they are targeting kids! and later, a big win in nebraska legally for anti-pipeline activists. now the faith of the keystone xl pipeline sits in the hands of the president who says he's not ready to make a decision.

former senator byron dorgan tells us how this plays for the midterms coming up. and i'm taking your questions next. ♪ [ male announcer ] rocky had no idea why dawn was gone for so long... ...but he'd wait for her forever, and would always be there with the biggest welcome home. for a love this strong, dawn only feeds him iams. with 2x the meat of other leading brands... ...to help keep rocky's body as strong as a love that never fades.

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welcome back to "the ed show." appreciate all the questions in this segment. love hearing from the viewers. tonight in our "ask ed live," our first question from debbie, do you think governor walker will get caught this time? well, i'll take this question from a number of different angles. first of all, caught legally? i think there's a real good possibility he could be caught legally. he is definitely going to be caught by the public because it's very clear that he ran an underhanded campaign and it's very clear in an underhanded way he went after workers in the state of wisconsin. it was absolutely unprecedented the way he attacked middle-clasds workers. so i think he's going to get caught on a number of different fronts. our next question is from fearless, why don't more

democrats defend president obama when republicans lie and call him names? well, the political reality to this is that the president is not running for re-election. so i don't think that the democrats are going to waste a lot of time personally defending the president. but they are going to spend time defending what has been accomplished, and that is 47 months of private-sector job growth, health care reform, and almost 5 million people signing up for obamacare. there's a lot of good things happening out there that the democrats can talk about. whether they're going to connect it to president obama and defend him the way they have in the past remains to be seen. stick around. rapid response panel is coming up next. i'm bertha coombs with your cnbc market wrap. the dow closing up 92 point, the s&p gaining 11, and the nasdaq adds 29. jobless claims fell a little less than expected last week, dropping by 3,000 to 336,000.

earnings from walmart edged past estimates but guidance was disappointing. world's largest retailer has seen sales decline because of food stamp cuts. shares lost nearly 2% today. and shares of groupon are lower after hours following the company's latest earnings report despite the fact they beat expectations. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition in charge™. ttdd# 1-800-345-2550 can take you in many directions. [ bottle ] ensure®. searching for trade ideas that spark your curiosity tdd# 1-800-345-2550 you read this. watch that. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 you look for what's next. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at schwab, we can help turn inspiration into action

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and new car replacement, standard with our auto policies. so call liberty mutual at... today. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? shelby county school district administrators say they would never let a child go hungry if she or he doesn't have the money to cover lunch. they're given a sack lunch inste instead. students tell me they all it the lunch of shame. iris martinez is outraged to learn her daughter's school snatched away today from her

daughter's friend because her account reached a zero balance. >> they are taking lunches out of the hands of very young children. they're humiliating them in front of their friends. >> the last thing you do is confiscate lunches. especially in a public setting in front of peers. so i think that was a really poor idea. >> i was like really embarrassed when i walked out of there and my friend, she looked at me and she just, like, where's your lunch tray? i'm, like, they didn't give it to me. >> the policy of taking lunches away from kids is ridiculous because no matter if they're 5 or they're 17 years old, it's not their responsibility. it's not their fault that their parents aren't paying the bills or can't pay the bills. >> welcome back to "the ed show." this is a story that gets my blood boiling. austerity. haven't we gone too far in this country? austerity is the reason kids across america are having school lunches literally ripped from their hands and thrown into the garbage in front of their peers.

sometimes it's because their parents, well, they forgot to pay. sometimes their parents don't have the wherewithal to pay. in salt lake city's school district in utah, dozens of children had their lunches taken away because their parents were behind on payments. the story made national news and the district has since apologized, administrators vow they're going to change this and so the policy, this is never going to happen again, they say. well, this is happening, my friends, all across the country, and it is absolutely shameful. remember, we are living in the united states of america. we can do a lot of good things. and here in the heartland it's happening. in minnesota, if a student fails to come up with just 40 cents, they can be denied or receive what's called a downgraded lunch. some school districts will send children home with a verbal warning for parents? now, other times students are

branded with a hand stamp that says "lunch" or "money." and you know what happens? the other kids in the school see that. now, what's uplifting about that? just down the road here in fergus falls, minnesota, i have heard stories of schoolteachers using money from their own pocketbook to pay for the children's lunches to spare them the humiliation from the other kids to so they don't get that stamp on their hand. we're not a third-world country yet, but we're trying to get there. this is what happens when you cut essential programs like s.n.a.p. to the total of $8 billion and you give subsidies to oil companies and you allow corporations to park their money offshore and not pay their fair share. hell, let's take it out on the kids at school. let's stamp their hand. remember they're takers. this is what paul ryan calls the

takers. this is what happens when there is a culture developing to cut everything and now it's down to the elementary school level. humiliating children with a socioeconomic situation that they were born into. when was the last time on the face of this earth you could pick your parents? i think we need to wake up to this story and i think we need to pay attention to the potential damage that we are doing to kids, and i think austerity has gone too far. do i think parents should pay for their kids' lunches? yes, i do. do i think that there are some parents out there across america who can't afford it? yes, i do. but i don't think that we should throw the kids under the bus and stamp them. before you know it, they're going to be stamping their forehead. maybe it'll be a comical thing in the schools. i find it absolutely disgusting. joining me now on a rapid response panel is famous chef and food activist tom collichio

and child psychiatrist jennifer harstein. tom, you first. i want your reaction to this story. you have been active. you have done wonderful things fighting hunger in this country. what is your response, sir, when you hear about schoolkids' lunc because they may come from a background that they can't afford it on that particular day? >> sure. my mother ran a school lunch program in elizabeth, new jersey, where i grew up. this isn't new. she's told me stories about kids who got to the cash register, they didn't have the money on their cards, but the policy there was to make sure the kids were fed. and my mother made sure that that happened. i think partly because she was a mother first, and so she understood the importance of making sure that kids had food and they had proper nutrition. and i think we can focus on school lunch, but we also need to focus on breakfast.

there's a real move now to getting breakfast in first period. and these are the programs that really, really work. we know when kids show up in school and they're hungry they can't learn. and they act out and they act up. and so if we want kids that are better educated, it starts with nutrition. >> you know, a kid on an empty stomach is not going to be productive in the educational system. that has been proven. the bottom line here is this is going to take a real national lift to turn this around, tom. how do you combat this? how do you turn this around? how do you reverse thinking on this? >> i think that the sort of liberal idea that sort of take care of people, that's a good instinct. but let's look a t some facts here. recently no kid hungry, s.o.s. no kid hungry commissioned to do a study and found kids that get breakfast in first period, not before the bell, at first period, their math scores go up by 17%. that's a big number. and so if we're falling behind in math scores in the united states, we need to make sure

that kids are properly nourished when they go to school. you know, there's a whole humiliation factor as when when kids have to show up before school. those are the poor kids. they're labeled poor. it's very difficult to get there. transit isn't running. we find that moving breakfast to after the bell in first period really works. so we've got to actually arm ourselves with some better data and really show these programs work. and they do. so if we want kids to perform better in school, proper nutrition is as important as a desk or as a book. it needs to be treated the same way. >> throwing the food out the window because the kids can't pay for it right at the line i think is terribly wrong-headed. jennifer, what effects does this kind of humiliation have on kids in the immediate and then many the long term? >> well, i mean, it's huge. you know, we have to think about the fact that shaming a child is going to make going to school very hard. they're not only being shamed in front of their peers, they're being shamed by the adults who are supposed to be taking care

of them. here we have a situation where where are they safe? the adults are shaming them, their friends might make fun of them. we're going to create a system they don't want to go to school and that's going the to start young, then we're going to perpetuate the cycle of uneducated, unskilled people because they're not getting the education they need to do anything and further their looichs in nay way. >> doesn't it make kids very self-conscious to have some kind of mark on them that there would be an element of embarrassment and it would possibly show them in a way to be -- to learn how to be very shy and to not reach their potential, so to speak? >> absolutely. i mean, if they have to walk around -- it's like the scarlet letter but it's a scarlet letter of being hungry. everybody can see that and all they'll notice is why do you have a stamp and why don't i have a stamp? that must mean you're different than me. again, we live in this bullying culture to a certain degree. they're going to get picked on. they'll be ostracized. they'll be pushed out of the way

and why are they going to learn? they'll be so focused on wanting to hide that they're not going to speak up in class or stand out and they're going to shri . shrivel. we know with brains that are developing they need the nutrition just to learn, be present, and be able to be most effective in a classroom. all of that together is going to make them shirk away from school. >> tom, it is also about the money, isn't it. i mean, you can't cut $8 billion out of the s.n.a.p. program and expect that it's going to be everything okay in our school systems. >> no. i mean, there are some programs here -- again, talking about school lunch. we also have to acknowledge the fact that kids in the summer are skipping out completely on meals and there are some summer programs. and, you know, looking at s.n.a.p., there are some program where is if a kid can't get to an area where they're feeding people for various reasons, we have to get the food to the kids not the kids to the food. and so taking that additional money and adding it to s.n.a.p. is a very good way to combat,

you know, the issues of not having food in the summer as well. so, yeah, you know, it is an issue of money, but in the long run kids that are educated are going to perform well, they ear going to actually do well, pay tacks when they grow up, and so it's penny-wise and pound-foolish to start cutting these programs. >> and they're not going to be emotionally scarred and i don't say that lightly. tom collichio, jennifer harstein, thanks so much. coming up, nebraska, nebraska landowners. they are owed a debt of gratitude from the environmentalists all over the world who are concerned about global warming. they help blocked the keystone pipeline for now. what could this mean for the midterm elections? former senator byron dorgan will join me. clean. here's another. try charmin ultra strong. it cleans so well and you can use up to four times less than the leading bargain brand. thanks mom! make me proud honey! [ female announcer ] charmin ultra strong has a duraclean texture that's soft and more durable

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ted cruz, the canadian senator isn't condemning ted nugent's hateful tirade against the president of the united states. >> communist educated, communist nurtured subhuman mongrel like the a.c.o.r.n. community organizer gangster barack hussein obama. >> as you know, that's ted nugent. what do you think of it? >> you know, i think it is a little curious to be questioning political folk about rock stars. listen, i'm not cool enough to hang out with any rock stars. jay-z doesn't come over to my house. >> jay-z doesn't call the president a subhuman mongrel. >> those sentiments i don't agree with such a thing. you've never heard me say such a thing and nor would i. >> would you campaign with ted nugent? >> i haven't so far and i'm going to not engage in hypotheticals. >> ted cruz has never shied away from his vile speech before. here is his own father.

>> we need to send barack obama back to chicago. i would like to send him back to kenya. we have to unmask this man. this is a man who seeks to destroy all concept of god. and i'll tell you why. this is classical marxist philosophy. they have destroyed all loyalties except loyalty to the government. that's what is behind homosexual marriage. >> the senator still puts cruz sr. out as a surrogate. cruz can deflect all he wants, but if he believes there is assistance between him and his repulsive rhetoric in his family, he can keep on pretending. from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. and only national is ranked highest in car rental customer satisfaction by j.d. power. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style.

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welcome back to "the ed show." this is the story for the folks who take a shower after work. well, a big win for the people in nebraska who are against the keystone xl pipeline. a nebraska district court judge declared a 2012 law which gives the governor final approval on oil pipelines in the state. unconstitutional. the ruling leaves the final decision obviously with the president of the united states. meanwhile, in mexico, canadian prime minister stephen harper is putting major pressure on president obama for approval. he called it a no-brainer. >> in terms of climate change, i think the state department report already was pretty definitive on that issue. >> president obama says he wants to wait and see what the outcome

is of the final public comment period, which ends on march 7th. >> so the state department has gone through its review. there is now a comment period in which other agencies weigh in. that will be evaluated by secretary of state kerry and we'll make a decision at that point. >> and i'll be in nebraska tomorrow visiting with some of the landowners who got the legal ruling on their side and stopped the pipeline for now. the ruling could delay the project for up to six months, maybe even a year. it's very political. and this certainly gives the president some room here to collect more information before he makes a decision. but will this have an impact on the midterms? because there has been such a heated debate on the left with the environmental crowd. let's go to byron dorgan, who is the former senator of north dakota. he joins us tonight. senator, good to have you with us. what do you make of this legal ruling and the way the president has handled this to this point? >> ed, first of all, i support building the pipeline. we're building it from cushing

down south to the gulf now, some of it is being built. i think all right already. make a decision on that. i know that there is great passion on both sides. and whatever he sides, one side or the other is going to be disappointed. but i hope the president decides to go ahead and build the pipeline. i'd sooner see that oil come south. you have to believe that the canadians aren't going to produce that you can have an impact by laying in front of that pipe. i don't believe that's the case. the canadians are going to produce their resources. >> what about the quality of the oil and the tar sands and how toxic it is as opposed to other refined oil in the world? >> i understand the point, but that oil is going to be produced. that's my point. and the oil can go west and then go to asia, or it can come south. i don't think we're going to be in a situation where we say to canada, by the way, you can't produce from those oil fields. canada is not going to decide that that resource is going to be where it is. i say build the pipeline. let's move about from there.

i support a lot of the other issues, renewables and so on. i'm one of the all of the above people. but let's make a decision and move on. and i don't think the politics of this will last very long. >> you don't think it will have an impact on the midterms? i get a sense that the environmental crowd in this country views this as a real benchmark decision. and the fallout could be scary for the democrats i think. >> every pending decision is always the most important decision in politics. but you know what? you make a decision. you make the best decision you can for this country and then move on. and this president has been very, very helpful to the environmental issues and to the environmental movement. and i think will continue to be. >> what about the issue of eminent domain, the way this was stopped in nebraska. does that have a way of snowballing? how is that going to end up, do you think? >> well, it could. there are a lot of -- in country of ours, we're pretty contentious. you go to court and make your

case. this is probably not going to happen quickly in any event. but i think the president should have already made this decision, by the way. >> okay. senator byron dorgan, good to have you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >> we'll do it again. that's "the ed show." "politicsnation" starts right now. a reminder, he will be in nebraska tomorrow for more coverage on this pipeline story. rev, good evening. how you? i'm good. and good to talk to you ed, and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, the retrial of michael dunn. today we learned the state plans to retry michael dunn on first-degree murder charges in may and back in jacksonville. in a new interview with wtev in jacksonville, prosecutor john guy speaks out on the mistrial, on everything from the verdict to his critics to if dunn can get a fair t