why we have such a hard time accepting that an event so simple, banal, horrible actually happened. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" tonight from new york. the pepper spraying of defenseless students at uc davis has some law enforcement officials upset. i'll talk to a police officer who has a better way to handle the 99% movement. and president obama is thumping republicans on taxes in new hampshire. i love it. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. where is the line when it comes to policing the 99% movement? the national uproar over these images continues. tonight, we'll talk to protesters, police and one of the most prominent occupy voices around, uc berkeley professor

robert reich. don't be a grinch. don't vote to raise taxes on working americans during the holidays. >> president obama is in new hampshire hammering republicans to extend the payroll tax cuts. >> for the average family, your taxes will go up $1,000 if congress does not act by the end of the month. >> i'll ask congresswoman sheila jackson lee if republicans will break their pledge to grover norquist just to spite the president. mittç romney's first tv ads a big, fat lie. steve bennett of the "washington monthly" will help me debunk it. and wisconsin governor scott walker is spinning hard to his friends on fox. >> i gave public employees the right to choose whether or not they want to be a part of a union. >> that little dandy lands walker in the zone. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. the shocking video that has gone viral of peaceful students being pepper sprayed on the uc davis campus is raising the question.

is law enforcement going over the top in america in dealing with protests? millions have seen this violent suppression of a relatively small protest, compared to the larger occupy movements across the country. so far, two officers have been placed on paid leave, along with the chief of police of the uc davis campus. the chancellor, linda katehi is the person who ordered the leave. by the way, she's still on the job. katehi accepted our invitation to be on this program, but late yesterday she canceled. as our coverage was taking place last night, we were told the chancellor would not be able to join me on this program at any time in the future. i understand why she wouldn't want to. because she can't possibly have any answers for this. any sensible person would ask, what are the boundaries for law enforcement on your campus? are peaceful protests no longer welcome in this country? these students certainly have a legitimate gripe. they're watching the cost of

education spiral out of control while salaries for the people on campus and running these universities just seem to get higher an higher. the university of california tuition has gone up more than 200% since 1997. last week, the board of trustees approved another 9% hike, while cutting coursesç and services. so the numbers go up, the courses and the services get cut. what do you think the students are going to do? they're going to do something to show an expression of discontent. students were protesting the inequality on campus of uc berkeley last week. this is what happened to them. >> [ bleep ]. [ screaming ] >> oh my god.

>> america's future being treated like that. the brutality in this video is one of the reasons the uc davis student s staged their own protest. former labor secretary, robert reich, is a professor at uc berkeley. he'll join me in a few minutes. it doesn't have to be this way. we have proof. there were no riots in wisconsin when thousands took to the streets over the attack on workers' rights and collective bargaining. i was in madison last weekend and spoke to a police officer who said other cities can follow madison's lead. >> there is absolutely no reason that this example cannot be followed. people need to talk to each other, ed. the police need to talk to the protesters. the protesters need to see the police as human beings, with families and who have a stake in our future as well. it works both ways. we need to come together. we need to talk. >> madison police officer brian austin will join me in a few moments as well. everyone could learn something

from the madison police department in its handling of protests. especially the folks on fox news. >> first of all, pepper spray. that just burns your eyes, nht? >> right, i mean, it's like a derivative of actual pepper. it's a food product, essentially. >> food product? pepper spray is a food product. like mustard gas and agent orange are food products, right? the people at fox want to dismiss this act of violence. they want to pretend it's blown out of proportion. would they call pepper spray a food product if it was their kid getting sprayed? would bill o'reilly say this if his son was on the ground? >> does that mean they should have effected the arrests in this way? >> i don't think we have the right to monday morning quarterback the police, particularly at a place like uc davis which is a fairly liberal campus and they're not, you know, running around. >> what difference does it make if it's a liberal or conservative campus? the kids got sprayed like they

were, you know, bugs on flowers. you know? and in a flower pot. just -- hey, look at me, kid. i mean, come on. we can't second guess the cops, can we, bill? the tape must lie, right? you mean, you can't make an educated judgment on what you've seen on that videotape, mr. o'reilly? o'reilly, you see, he's quick to defend police when they spray kids in the face. when police are threatened by legislation taking away their rights, oh, bill o. is nowhere to be seen. is he? where was bill o'reilly when john kasich was putting police safety on the line? why didn't o'reilly go to ohio to defend the police officers he doesn't want to second guess? police officers are part of the 99% in this country. i stand with our nation's police officers, but i don't stand with violence against defenseless people. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. should the right wingç start defending police when their

livelihoods are attacked by radical governors? text "a" for yes, text "b" for no to 622639. you can go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com and i'll tweet about this later on in the show as well. joining me tonight, again, david buscho, a student at uc davis and was involved in the protest. i want an update on some of the students who were injured. since pepper spray is just kind of like vegetable stuff, you know? david, good to have you with us again tonight. are the injured protesters recovering? have you spoken to them? >> hey, ed, yeah, and i'm in ongoing contact with the students that were pepper sprayed. it has taken a number of days for the physical effects to ware off. at this point they've pretty much tapered off. right now my vision is a little bit blurred but i can't really overstate the emotional and psychological trauma that we have really experienced. i'm finding it extremely hard to sleep at night. i was walking on campus earlier today and saw someone sitting on a tree and saw it was my friend

who was pepper sprayed. when i walked up to her, i realized there was tears streaming down her face. >> would you consider a lawsuit against the university because of this? >> you know, we're looking into the options. a lot of attorneys have offered their services. and we're just, we're looking at the options. >> now that it's -- go ahead. >> if -- sorry. if i personally were to pursue a lawsuit, it wouldn't be for damages, it would be in order to set a legal precedent in showing that this doesn't happen again to anyone else. but, yeah. >> i want you to hear how the pepper spray was described on fox news. here it is. >> a lot of experts are looking at that and saying, is that the real deal or has it been diluted? >> they should have had more of a reaction to that. >> well, davis, i guessç you should have had more of a reaction to the pepper spray. it was probably diluted. how do you feel about that? >> it was probably diluted? this was a military-grade chemical that is designed to put

you through excruciating pain. make no mistake about it. i wasn't moving because i was completely disoriented. all that i had was my friends who i put my arms around. that's it. it was -- >> what's happening on campus now? >> i was no longer a human being. >> david, what's happening on campus right now? >> well, the support from the rest of the community has been unbelievably inspiring. if you can see behind me, there are over 80 tents. at any point there are a few hundred occupiers and they're really just doing artwork, playing music and having some of the most important discussions affecting our future right now. >> david buscho, thanks for joining us tonight. i appreciate wyour time so much. we'll stay in touch and follow the story. joining me, mr. austin, a representative of the madison professionals police officer association. brian, thanks for your time tonight. why haven't we seen this kind of stuff in madison? is there some kind of special formula to deal with protests?

take us down that road. >> well, ed, just to make it clear, i am speaking on behalf of the madison professional police officers association and not the madison police department. my association represents the rank and file of mpd. ed, all i can do is try to give your viewers a glimpse of what is possible between the relationship, between police and protesters and do that by telling a wisconsin story. ed, back in february and march, as you're well aware, we had hundreds of thousands of people converge on our capitol to have their voices heard. we had people from all personal persuasions, all walks of life, coming together to express their views. at its height, the largest protest was 150,000 strong, with people from both sides of the issue. despite the scope of those protests, ed, there were very few arrests and no violence between the police and protesters.

>> so what's the formula here? i mean, we're asking the question tonight, has law enforcement in some instances in this country gone out of bounds? i mean, how -- is there a formula for really handling this? i mean, i've noticed that there are some off duty police officers that are marching alongside the protesters. is that it? >> well, ed, first and foremost, from the perspective of our union, we were very proud of the leadership from our chief, from the commanders of the madison police department and the leadership from other police agencies involved. they set the tone very early, establishing a cooperative relationship with the protesters and establishing an open dialogue, an open line of communication. and i think that's very key. having an open line of communication really creates a feeling of mutual respect. the line of communication, from what i can tell as an observer, started at the very top of the police agencies and the top of the protest organizations and

extended all the way down to the line officers and the protesters out on the streets. that's very crucial. >> so i guess it's -- i guess -- every community is different. i guess. i mean, there's -- there's really no uniformed way to make sure that things like this don't happen at uc davis. >> every community is different. i think communication is key. a unique factor in our protests was the fact that we did have a large number of off dutyç poli officers participanting iparti protests. off duty, throughout the state, when we have teachers, nurses, snow plow drivers come up to us and say, we take comfort in you being here. ed, the evening that the governor threatened to forcibly clear the capitol building, i and other off duty officers were there with off duty firefighters

to try to keep the people's house open. i had a nurse come up to me in tears and this woman said to me, i've never protested anything before in my life and i was terrified to come here, but when i saw you guys here, i understood nothing terrible was going to happen to me tonight. i can tell you, that sentiment was also expressed by the on-duty officers, seeing their co-workers, their friends among the protesters really kind of set some boundaries and people knew that things were going to be okay. it's a very complicated issue, ed, but i know -- i can only speak to wisconsin, and here it was a really remarkable time in wisconsin's history. and a time i think we should be very proud of. >> i think the country should be proud of the way you folks have handled it there and it certainly doesn't have to spiral out of control the way it did in this instance in california. detective brian austin, thanks for your time tonight. i want to turn now to robert reich, former labor secretary, now professor of public policy at uc berkeley. author of the book "aftershock."

mr. reich, this is happening on your campus at berkeley. what was your reaction when you saw that video? >> well, i was sick to my stomach, ed. i'm sure everybody was. i mean, there's shutabsolutely excuse for police to use billy clubs and pepper spray and other violent techniques, particularly onç students. particularly in a nonviolent protest on a campus where, you know, our universities are the centers of freedom of speech in this country. and what we're seeing around the country, i want to also include a lot of police -- unfortunately police brutality with regard to taking down occupy encampments around the country as well. what we're seeing, ed, is the first amendment being turned completely upside down. you know, you've got right now a supreme court that says money is speech and corporations are people and right now washington is absolutely flooded with money from the rich and the powerful and at the same time, when people are students or average working people want to get together and protest, this

concentration of income and wealth, well, what happens to them? they're told they can't. they're clubbed. they're pulled out of wherever they are. their tents are taken down. they are subjected to pepper spray. i mean, what's going on? this is exactly the opposite of what a democracy is supposed to be. >> it's also embarrassing for the country, in my opinion, and the students -- >> of course. >> the students are out there with a legitimate concern about rising tuition, but then this kind of stuff just fuels more protests and brings everybody's temperature up. how is berkeley handling it right now? what's the next move, you think? >> well, i think the temperature has come down. i think the temperatustudents, m so proud of our students. they've behaved so responsibly through all of this. i think the administration is trying to reach out to the students. you know, obviously, the police need to be better trained. there's an inquiry going on about all of this. but the background condition, ed, that is, how we ever got to

this kind of position at berkeley, which was the cradle for the free speech movement in the ç1960s, but around the country with regards to the police brutality we're seeing again, we have to have a national conversation about all of this and also about the underlying, the underlying issue of power in this society. in terms of wealth and income and political power.concentrate fewer and fewer people's hands. this is the underlying condition. >> mr. reich, you said a lot in a short period of time. i appreciate it. answer the question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. can't be a grinch. that's the message president obama is sending to republicans who want to raise taxes on the middle class. congresswoman sheila jackson lee will join me later tonight. later, mitt romney releases his first tv ad. let me tell you, it's an absolute doozy. his campaign is defending its

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coming up on "the ed show," the president is making republicans choose between supporting his jobs plan or raising taxes. congresswoman sheila jackson lee is going to be joining me on that. newt gingrich leads the gop in the polls, but mitt romney is trying to appeal to the fringe by releasing a bogus attack ad on president obama. scott walker tries to spin his union busting bill as a worker's right to choose. and after hearing meagan kelly describe pepper spray as a food product, it's no surprise that fox news viewers are less informed than others. and there's a survey to prove it. tdd# 1-800-345-2550

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if your members of congress aren't delivering, you have to send them a message. make sure they're listening. tell them, don't be a grinch. don't vote to raise taxes on working americans during the holidays. >> president obama in new hampshire earlier today. he was urging republican members of congress to support an extension of the payroll tax cut. now, if republicans allow it to expire next month, middle classers all across the country rj a tough pill to swal during the holidays, but since republicans hate taxes, they should have no problem supporting this tax cut. correct? well, the problem is the tax cut is part of the president's job plan, which, of course, republicans oppose. they oppose everything. president obama used the gop's own rhetoric against them and needled them on their tax pledge

to the almighty grover norquist. >> now, i know republicans like to talk about, you know, we're the party of tax cuts. a lot of them have sworn an oath, we're never going to raise taxes on anybody for as long as we live. are they really willing to break their oath to never raise taxes and raise taxes on the middle class just to play politics? i sure -- i sure hope not. >> i'm joined tonight by congresswoman sheila jackson lee of texas. congresswoman, good to have you with us again. are republicans -- >> good to be with you. >> you bet. are republicans willing to break their tax pledge to grover norquist just to score political points? what do you think? >> you know, we're not near water right now, ed, but i frankly believe there's a whole group of them trying to walk the plank. i really can't understand it. it is baffling to, as the president said, to the president, to members of congress, democratic members of congress. i would venture to say republic an members of congress who are too frightened to say anything.

you've heard me say this. i am a citizen of the united states of america. not the united states of norquist. i cannot fathom the signing of a pledge that would in essence jeopardize the quality of life for working americans, middle class americans. the payroll tax, which will expire in a couple of weeks, will in essence take $1,000 to $1,500 out of theç pockets of working americans. it will impact businesses. it will impact small businesses and the president is right. we had an opportunity to pass the jobs bill, to be prepared for the returning veterans, to help with infrastructure and, yes, to eliminate taxes on the middle class. by the way, the president has not raised any taxes on working americans. >> no, he hasn't. not at all. >> since coming into office. do the republicans know that? >> well, here's -- it's their mantra. this is what they are staking their future on that they will never raise taxes on the 1%.

they are protecting the wealthy. here's what mitt romney had to say about the payroll tax cut last month. >> if the payroll tax cut is not extended, that would mean a tax increase for all americans. what would be the consequences of that? >> what it takes to create jobs is more than just a temporary shift in a tax stimulus. >> so you'd be okay with seeing the payroll tax cut? >> look, i don't like temporary little band-aids. >> the average american family would save $1,500 with this tax cut. is it a band-aid or is it absolutely vital for americans to be in this situation? >> you know, for those of us who put on our pants every day and count our pennies, i'm insulted by that comment. pants or our skirts. and get up and get on buses and trains and try to go to work and provide for our comments. aisle insulted by that charge. $1,500, $100, going in the

pockets of americans, just go out in the public. i've been out today visiting with constituents. every penny for them is one that is valuable. i've had some people say that some of the charity they've gotten over this recent holiday hasç helped them make ends mee. some people are still struggling to refinance their homes. don't give me that, mr. romney, it is not a band-aid and we need to build on the cure, not the band-aid. the payroll is part of the cure, but we've got to build on it to provide an absolute cure for america. that is passing the jobs act. building more jobs. putting dollars out into the economy. such as what i've asked her over and over for my banks. when i say that american banks for the flush of money in large corporations, they can do things to help build jobs. >> let's talk about the supercommittee. clearly the republicans are protecting the wealthiest americans. they won't serve up any revenue

whatsoever. so where does that leave us? what happens next? >> well, i will say, i will track the words of president obama that says, i don't want to live in a country when only the sliver of the population has opportunity. and frankly the debate fell just on those two issues or that issue. is that whether you wanted just a sliver of those living in america to be successful versus the majority. what we can do now, ed, is to go to regular order. we have passed a continuing resolution until december 16th. that means it keeps the government open. we defeated the balanced budget amendment, that was one of the hostages, elements that was holding us hostage as it relates to debt ceiling increase. we have to go to the drawing word. you know what is the best way of doing this? let the ways & means committee come together and present its package for tax reform, present that to the congress. let the appropriations committee begin to look closely at what are the sensible cuts, ed, that would make sense to impact the

quality, not to impact the quality of life. i just want to hold up a graph. this is a graph of republicans, it's maybe hard to see, republicans and democratsç who are saying no cuts to medicare and social security. >> yeah. >> it means that the democrats are not, if you will, speaking in the dark. we can two through the process of appropriations and e que-- >> congresswoman, the bottom line in all of this, whether the democrats are going to serve up the big three any kind of cuts whatsoever or any kinds of adjustments or reductions, you can't get, the democrats can't get a dime worth of revenue out of the republicans. and that's where we are right now. and it is their party and the actions of their party that has put us to where we are right now. when it comes to fiscal irresponsibility in this country. congresswoman sheila jackson lee, thanks for joining us

tonight. >> thank you. >> i just want americans to grab a simple concept here. you may ask, how in the hell did we get here? i'll tell you how we got here. we got here with two wars, big pharma and the bush tax cuts. nobody had any idea how we were going to pay for this in march of 2003. nobody thought the bush tax cuts were going to have the kind of doom and gloom it has given our economy. and big pharma. the corporations are controlling the congress. now you have the republicans saying, you're not going to get none out of us, but oh, by the way, we want medicare, medicaid and social security, we want to privatize it all. they act as if they're the only ones with the answers. when they had the power, these are the answers they gave us. this is what the republican party did to america and this is why we are in this financial stalemate right now. scott walker is in big trouble. the recall effort against him is heating up. he's battling back by going on fox and lyingç through his tee.

that puts him in the zone. and later, new evidence that fox news viewers, i'm not making stuff up now, fox news viewers are dumber than everybody else. stay with us. i'd race down that hill without a helmet. i took some steep risks in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down.

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and in "psycho talk" tonight, scott walker media campaign continues across the street. the wisconsin governor went on fox and friends today and was welcomed with open arms by a brown nosing brian kilmead.

>> he took on collective bargaining and fixing the state budget and because of all that, scott walker, hence the unions are trying to force a recall election. how disappointing is it you have to worry about recall and not just worry about the state's business? >> governor walker, we always enjoy talking to you. it's not an easy thing you did. no one can question your leadership. >> with those softball questions, walker felt more than comfortable lying through his teeth about why he's being recalled. >> you've got a core group who are pushing a recall largely, let's be clear about it, largely the national unions are funding it because they don't like the fact i gave public employees the right to choose whether or not they want to be part of a union. that's what this boils down to. >> that talking head right there, that governor from wisconsin is flat-out factually wrong. the reason he's been recalled is not because he gave employees the right to choose whether to join a union or not. walker is being recalled because he's more interested in his

friendship with the koch brothers than helping the people of the state. walker destroyed collective bargaining rights for public employees, ignoring the massive public outcry against the bill. walker continued his attack on the middle class by cutting $1.6 "b" billion from public education in the state. the governor promised his union busting actions would create jobs. you hear that? he promised that these actions would create jobs. but last monthç wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state in union, we got that? they lost more jobs than any other state in the union. of course, i'm sure kilmead asked walker about that during the interview. gretchen carlson wanted him to. >> the recall effort doesn't surprise governor walker. he feels as though people's lives are getting better in wisconsin and the economy is looking sal vant. >> one thing i hope you ask him is how many jobs have been created in that state. >> yeah. how many jobs have been created in that state.

especially last month. see that? kilmead did not bring up the 9,700 jobs wisconsin lost in october. so who is fox news shilling for? with his record, governor walker's only shot at surviving a recall is to keep coming up with this sleazy, desperate "psycho talk." mitt romney is so boring his campaign releases a deceptive and misleading ad. i think it was just to get attention. will it backfire? steve bennett of "the washington monthly" will join me to talk about that. republican voters think newt gingrich lacks strong moral character. now, why in the hell did they ever think that? but they're giving him a pass. he's at the top of six national polls. ♪ when the things that you need ♪ ♪ come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪

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candidates. he needs to develop some, i guess you could say, reckless street cred to earn the respect of far right wing. they don't like him. lo and behold, here's his first campaign ad. >> i am confident we can stir ourselves out of this crisis. who's been charge of the economy? we need a rescue plan for the middle class. we need to provide relief for homeowners. it's going to take a new direction. if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> well, here's the problem with the last sound bite you just heard right there. it was deliberately taken out of context by the romney campaign. barack obama was, in fact, quoting a strategist from senator john mccain's campaign. >> senator mccain's campaign actually said, and i quote, if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> well, that ad earned aç pants-on-fire rating from

politifact. romney's campaign is scrambling to defend it and says the ad is fair to president obama. "he did say the words. that's his voice." applying that same standard of accuracy, think progress put together a tape of the mi mittster's greatest hits. a reminder to viewers here. mitt romney did say the following words and that is his voice. >> we should just raise everybody's taxes. there's nothing unique about the united states. government knows better than a free people how to guide an economy. fiscal responsibility is heartless and immoral. let us just raise your taxes some more. we just need a little bit more. america is just another nation with a flag. >> let's turn to steve brennan, the writer for "the washington monthly." steve, good to have you with us tonight. this is really low rent, is it not? that's my term. what would you call it? >> well, i think it's important

for romney -- it was important for romney to try to get his campaign off on a good start. this is his first campaign ad of the entire year. he wanted to set the tone for the rest of the campaign. if he was hoping to go for an honest or decent campaign or honorable campaign, this was a huge mistake. because obviously it was a blatant lie. he got caught in his plblatant e and had a defense which was blisteringly stupid. >> is there a chance the candidate didn't know this ad was going to be produced like this? oh, and if not, what does it say about mitt romney's character? >> well, you know, there's that line in the ad, you know, "i'm mitt romney, i approve this message." the importance of that line tells us romneyç has certain ownership over this. he can't just wash his hands of it or distance himself. he owns the campaign. it's his message. it's his ad. and so the fact that he got caught blatantly lying in his first campaign commercial, it reflects poorly on him, his

integrity and his character. >> i would imagine that this might be an admirable thing by some of the fringe voters out there who just cannot stand president obama and want to defeat him at all costs, politically. would he get some kind of strange support from running an ad like this? >> well, i find it hard to believe that anybody, any kind of decent voter would want to say, i'll support the candidate who's lying to the public. i don't imagine that will happen, at least not much. at least let's hope not. >> we're talking about mitt romney. not many people have talked about mitt romromney. this is what mitt romney's campaign wants, isn't it? you and i talking about him. just talk about him, you know? what do you think? >> i think there might be something to that in terms of the strategy. everyone seeing the ad they've released. it's been played over and over

again, not only in terms of paid broadcast, in terms of airtime, but the stations broadcasting it. the public is being told throughout the day that mitt romney has been caught blatantly lying. that's not something a campaign wants to be associated with especially when we realize looking back over the last several weeks romney has been caught in a series of lies. once a campaign develops a reputation for dishonesty, that's something that sticks with a campaign for months if not indefinitely and it's hard to shake that when your integrity is undermined. >> speaking of integrity, all of them have denounced the stimulus package. the cbo says the economy would be in worse shape without the stimulus package that was passed early inç the obama administration. it has added as many as 3 million jobs in the third quarter of this year. will that make a difference to republicans? will they pay attention to that kind of number at all? >> we would like to think so. we would like to think that evidence has some kind of bearing on the republican debate. but at this point, i think republicans are so invested in the notion that the economy is

now worse than it was in 2008, even though we know it's obviously not the case. given the fact that they're so invested in this, i find it hard to imagine that evidence and reason and facts will have any bearing on debate whatsoever unfortunately. >> steve bennett, this is your graph we use quite often on "the ed show." it shows exactly where president obama, what he inherited, what he has turned around and the number of consecutive months of private sector job growth and now the congressional budget office comes out and says the economy would be in worse shape without the stimulus and they've added 3 million jobs. it pretty much says it all. steve bennett, great to have you with us tonight. i appreciate your time. thank you. bill o'reilly thinks fox hosts are always factually accurate. hmm. well, he's wrong. fox news viewers are more misinformed than people who don't watch news at all. i'm not kidding you. there is a survey that backs this up. that mostly dilutes away within seconds of brushing. hmmm. having the same ingredient doesn't mean you get even close to the same whitening.

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events than people who don't watch the news. despite multiple marriages and being a fan of child labor, newt gingrich continues to lead in polls. so good for the republicans. joe madison and bill press try to explain that one coming up later in conversation. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. shop less. get more. make one call to an allstate agent. hey... there's mom! hey, let mom try. ready, go! ♪ yeah, rock on, mom! [ male announcer ] sometimes a hint is all the wrapping a gift needs. wait a minute...i... [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer for exclusive lease offers like a complimentary first month's payment on the 2012 rx 350.

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all right. let's hear it for dickinson university, the knights. with great alumni like peggy noonen and christine o'donnell. they've done it. they've proven what americans know all along, watching fox news makes you dumber. survey shows people who have no exposure to news media are better informed than people who watch fox news. a study from the university say the folks in chris christie's state of new jersey found some media outlets especially fox news lead people to be less informed than those who say they don't watch any news at all. for example, the study found fox

viewers were 18 points less likely to know that egyptians overthrew theirç government th those who watch no news at all. after controlling for other news sources, partisanship, education and other demographic factors. the study is just the latest in a series of surveys all showing fox news viewers are signific t significantsignifican significantly less informed than others on just about every topic. including global warming, health care, the islamic culture center near ground zero. now, how could that be? the iraq war. and, of course, the 2010 election. and it's no secret why fox news hosts spew misinformation on a daily basis. here's just a sample. >> it's like a derivative of actual pepper. it's a good product essentially. >> muffin-gate. 16 bucks per muffin. >> the obama administration adding a christmas tree tax. >> the $16 muffin. the $16 muffin. >> guess what, the death panels are back.

>> critics claim the administration is pressuring certain disabled veterans to, quote, hurry up and die. >> more muffinsen scandal? for $16 muffins. >> global warming, where are you? we want you back. >> we don't reduce our carbon emissions, aliens might come and kill us. >> $16 muffin. i want to taste that muffin. i want to remind you not to make statements you can't back up on this network. we don't do that on this network. >> and you might be wondering, farley dickinson university, where do they get all that money to missicommission that study? not state money. it's a private school. and they love privatization. don't they? let's hear it for the knights. coming up, everything old is new again. newt gingrich tops the polls. even the republicans think he lacks strong moral character. it shows you what republicans really care about. bill press and joe madison join me next. [ courier ] the amazing story of whether bovine heart tissue

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"the ed show" survey tonight, i asked, should the right wing start defending police when their livelihoods are attacked by radical governors? 60% of you said yes. 40% of you said no. coming up, newt gingrich's moral compass may be broken, but republican voters still want him to be the nominee, if you look at the polls. bill press, joe madison coming up next. supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. ♪

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latest poll says it all. republicans think newt gingrich lacks moral character. wait a minute, strong moral character. they don't care. he's the new favorite. the new flavor of the month. gingrich leads the pack ahead of romney. this is the sixth national poll over the last two weeks to put gingrich in the lead. but on the issue of having strong moral character, well, newt going rich musters only 9%, well behind mitt romney. five months ago we were all writing off newt. i mean, he went to greece, his campaign staff were so upset, they quit, went over to some guy from texas named rick perry. but he's back on top. you want to talk about a political reclamation project, there it is. republicans are starved for someone other than mitt romney. they can't stand the guy. first it was donald trump, michele bachmann, rick perry, herman cain. now it's newt's turn.

republicans don't care about his three marriages, do they? they probably love it when he says they wants to get rid of child labor laws so he can put poor kids to work. newt gingrich says the 9ç9%ers should get a job after they take a bath. classy guy. this is apparently the strong moral character republicans are looking for. let's bring in nationally syndicated radio talkers, bill press, and also a radio talk show host with sirius xm, joe madison. good it have you with us. it's like a kid in the candy store for us. where do we start? bill, is it possible that newt gingrich could really win this marathon? >> well, first off, ed, i have to say there's a connection between this conversation and the last story you did, right? because i think it's pretty clear one of the reasons fox viewers were so badly misinformed is for the last five years newt gingrich has been a commentator on fox, right? so they've been listening to this. ed, i thing you're absolutely right. this is the most morally challenged candidate out there.

the most ethically challenged candidate out there. the biggest flip-flopper of them all. and these republicans, they put all of that aside because, number one, they can't stand mitt romney, and number two, they'll take anybody, the biggest sinner in the world, rather than barack obama. it's pretty sick. >> joe madison, what's it say? where's the christian right going to stand on all this? aren't they concerned about personal moral character? >> as a matter of fact, they are. i've been interviewing them and watching interviews of him, and he is not one of their favorites and he certainly will not be getting their endorsement. you can count on that. i'm kind of ahead of a lot of people, because can you imagine the comparison between barack obama and newt gingrich when it comes to the same kind of poll? it just -- i mean, i'm absolutely flabbergasted. i mean, the new muppets movie is coming out,ç but, you know, que

honestly, it's been out ever since these debates have taken place. >> joe, look, not to pass judgment on anybody else's personal life -- >> oh, no. >> but in the political arena, is being married three times going to be relevant or irrelevant to voters in your o pini pini opinion? >> i think it's going to be relevant, particularly since the right has used it as an issue. should it be irrelevant? i think it should be. but remember, they made their own bed hard with the moral majority. they made their own bed hard with these social issues involving gay marriages. so the reality is, it's their problem, not ours. >> bill press, how's the child labor law comment going to go over? i think it was a brilliant -- i thought it was a brilliant move by newt gingrich to pretty much switch the subject off freddie mac and get the kids involved in labor. there you go. >> yeah, look, you know, i think the moral thing with the three marriages may come into play. more importantly, you're right

on it, ed. the idea we're going to get rid of child labor laws? i mean, what's next? >> that's the bigger issue. >> they clean the schools, so next they're going to go back to the shoe factories and assembly lines and don't have to pay them a minimum wage. this is a guy, remember, who said he wanted to bring back orphana orphanages. that was the answer. this is a guy who said this year we should have a citizenship test before people are allowed to vote. hey, joe, that's a dog whistle issue. right? the more that you look at newt gingrich and all the flip-flops on the issue where he used to be for global warming, now he's against it. all that stuff. >> joe, does he beat mitt romney? >> oh, no, he's not going to beat mitt romney in this. he's the latest flavor of the month. and i look for ron paul probably afterç iowa to be up there. i mean, santorum is probably slapping himself wondering when it's his turn. >> gentlemen. we have torun.