from horror, backed civil rights, sent people around the world like me in the peace corps and, yes, took us to the moon. it will be a great honor to speak tonight at the john k. kennedy library in boston and bring it all back. 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 woman alleging an affair with herman cain comes out with more details and cain thinks he uncovered the grand plan schemed up by the democrats to take him and newt gingrich and him out of the race for the gop nomination. this is "the ed show." >> i talked to a lot of people 61 times. >> herman cain's deranged soap opera continues. >> a week from now i will have made a final decision. >> his new conspiracy theory involves newt gingrich and the democrats. >> that's a hypothesis. >> goldie taylor and republican strategist joe watkins are here. republicans put out their

plan to extend the payroll tax. fire 200,000 federal workers? senate minority whip dick durbin is here to respond. do you regret going out there? >> not at all. >> will you do it again? >> yeah. >> injured iraq veteran scott olsen inspired the 99% movement like never before. tonight, reaction to my interview with robert greenwald of "brave new films" and occupy activist jesse lagreca. millions of workers in england are out on strike. this righty has a plan to deal with them. >> have them all shot. i would take them outside and execute them in front of their families. good to have you with us tonight, folks, thanks for watching. herman cain continues to go on the offensive no matter what comes out about him. the gop has been silent up till now. a lone tea party republican congressman, alan west from florida finally stepped up have

said before. should have, anyway. in a radio interview west said "beyond reassessing his campaign he probably needs to understand he is a distracter for what's going on right now and we should move on. that would be my advice to him, if i had an opportunity and he asked me." but later, the congressman tweeted, "i am not telling cain to step down. that's his decision." today herman cain said he respected west, but it was his own decision. and he launched into his broadest, craziest defense yet of allegations that have been placed against him. he said the democrats had a two-step plan to take him out along with newt gingrich. >> maybe the democrats want newt gingrich to win the nomination so they can then go after his personal life, but they need to knock me out now. that's just the hypothesis. my star was shining and rising too fast. they wanted to take some of that shine off. they couldn't attack my ideas.

they couldn't make it stick when they went off my 9-9-9 plan. the only option was try and attack his character with accusations relative to some of people that i have met in the past and some of them i didn't even know. >> he is a strong talker, and he is just unbelievable the way he continues to tgo on the offensive. he admitted he's helped ginger white financially, but he had an explanation for that, too. >> she was someone that i considered a friend, although it's apparently she's not, that i was helping because she was having financial troubles. it was over an extended -- it was over 2 1/2 years that i was doing this because of the job market. and so this -- she's not the only person that i have helped. i have helped a lot of people. the only thing about this particular one is, yes, she happened to be female. >> so how close was this relationship? there is the problem of all those text messages. especially the ones that came in

at 4:00 in the morning. but the pizza man was undeterred. >> if she were texting me at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, wanting to know if i could help her with her rent or help her with her car note, that doesn't mean that i was calling her, and the other thing about those phone calls, which we have requested that we be given access to them, my attorney and i, is what really was the pattern of those? all it says was 61 calls. i talk to a lot of people 61 times. >> 61 times? that's a heck of a lot of communication, isn't it? ginger white had her own explanation of all those calls and text messages and she said the communication continued even after the first harassment allegations against cain went public. >> just up until last week, that was my last contact with mr. cain, and, you know, the thing is, i can't imagine waking up one morning and deciding to come

out with this if this was not true. this has been a very difficult situation for myself, for my family and it's nothing that i am proud of. it was a very casual affair that herman flew me to -- on several trips. i went on several trips with herman. we, one particular trip, was the mike tyson holyfield fight in las vegas. you know, i can't make this stuff up. >> but back to herman cain who was asked if this was the end of the accusations against him. and if he was confident nothing else would come up. >> i was in business for over 40 years. i have worked with and helped a lot of people, male and female. there is no way for me to say unequivocally that somebody else may not come up. >> but herman cain did concede he is reassessing whether to stay in the race.

he claimed he's getting plenty of positive feedback from supporters and the money was still coming in. but his family is his number one priority. >> this is about trying to bring down herman cain, but if they're going to bring down herman cain at a heavy price on my family, i am in the process of reassessing that. >> a week from now, do you think in your gut you will still be a presidential candidate? a week from now. >> a week from now, i will have made a final decision. >> well, herman, let me tell you something, buddy, there's no conspiracy theory here that's going to work with the public. i should endorse you tonight. heck, we want you to stay in the race. why in the world would the democrats get behind closed doors and say we're nervous about herman cain in the 9-9-9 plan, let's cook up folks and get them in front of the cameras and make sure they're a plan to take them down, after we get cain, we're going to go after newt, we're going to do it that

way. this is what you get with the tea party. you really get nothing but a bunch of lies and innuendos and this is the kind of politics that the tea party has offered up to this country. a bunch of obstruction. they can't zeal with the truth. they have no policy. they have no plan. they're just a bunch of radical tea partyers and this is the perfect candidate for the republicans. it's too bad he won't get it. no, the democrats have not come up with any grand plan to deep six herman cain politically or newt gingrich, for that matter. with the policies that they throw out there and the conversations that they have with the american people, i don't think they're hard to beat. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, should i, ed schultz, endorse herman cain for the republican nomination? text "a" for yes, text "b" for no to 622639. always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you the results later in the show. joining me now, joe watkins,

msnbc political reporter and analyst. already texting "a" on that and goldie taylor, managing editor of the goldie taylor project. great to have both of you with us tonight. joe, let me ask you first. where's the reaction? one congressional member who happens to be a tea partyer says he's a distraction, he ought to step aside. where's the party of family values on this? why can't they put an end to the political misery? >> this is not really a party issue. you have a candidate running for the presidency who happens to be republican. the matter is up to him to decide, make a decision whether or not his candidacy is so damaged he can't continue on. i mean, whether he is innocent or guilty of these charges is a matter for others to decide. he certainly said he's innocent and the women who are accusing him who have to be considered, of course, because if it's true, it's hurtful. if they're right, obviously

that's a big problem for herman cain. when you a candidate for the presidency, this is not what you want to be talking about 30 some odd days before the iowa caucuses. >> i think this is a party issue, too. i mean, the party that stands for family values, the party that says they're all about life, libb eerty and everything else, what do they stand for? this guy is being tarnished big-time, bringing the republican brand down in my opinion. goldie, the latest allegation involves a consensual affair but comes after numerous accusations of harassment. how much more can one candidate withstand? what do you think? >> i think the only place that the cain train is still rolling is inside of herman cain's head. i think his campaign is over. he's got to call it over on a time and date of his own choosing. but at the end of the day, there were just too many women and too much credibility behind them. you know, if my husband got 61 phone calls back and forth with a woman that i did not know -- >> he'd be a dead man.

he'd be a dead man. >> i got to tell you, his stuff would be on the curb and he'd have trouble walking. i tell you, at the end of the day, this is one of those things that is just too credible. and he's really got to reassess himself. you can't get out and talk about the sanctity of marriage. and then not have sanctimony in your own marriage. that's what we're really talking about here is how credible herman cain can be going forward. now, his real duty here is, of course, to his family. he also has a duty to his supporters. he has a duty to release them to candidates they can get behind and passionately work for who have a real path to victory. in 2012. >> the other side, goldie, there are always two sides to every story. you got some women coming out saying this is what happened and you have herman cain on the other hand sayi ining -- >> call my husband at 4:30 in the morning, i tell you what kind of side of the story there is. >> you know, this is what the republican party has to deal with. what if herman cain does well in iowa and picks up steam and

keeps going? who knows where this could go. i think his candidacy is over with, but the way this political season has gone, who the heck knows. but what about the conspiracy theory he's come up with, joe? what on earth is he cooking up now? >> i imagine how he feels, given all that's come at him. he was doing very, very well in the polls and weeks on end leading in the polls for the nomination, that is. this is a hurtful thing to be derailed, not by policy, but accusations of infidelity. again, he's innocent until proven guilty. i don't know if it's going to go that way. for him to deal with these kinds of issues at this point in the campaign is a death nil. >> you don't have to have a jury trial for the people of the country to render judgment on what kind of lifestyle this guy has. goldie, i found this comment from ginger white, particularly interesting. here it is. >> the funny thing about herman

cain is never in a million years did he probably think that i would speak out on this. and honestly speaking, i never wanted to. >> that tells me that they were pretty close after 13 years. goldie, how do you read that? >> it sounds to me like they probably were pretty close, if you listen, you know, really to her words. and herman cain's words. he regarded her as a friend. you know, he said he questioned that friendship now that she's come out with these allegations, but, you know, from both of them, it says they had some sort of very close friendship and i got to tell you that my husband just doesn't have friends who are women that i don't know. >> what happens in las vegas is supposed to stay in vegas. they say that what happens in vegas is supposed to stay in vegas. >> a lot of husbands went to las vegas for that fight and in atlanta we called it the atlanta way. the wives did not take that trip. i will tell you now. >> joe, herman cain says the american people are on his side. listen to this.

>> the first day that that story broke, contribution dropped way off. guess what, they're moving back up, because i happen to think a lot of the american people are starting to see through this whole character assassination on me. >> character assassination is what he calls it? doesn't he have some friends that would step up and say, buddy, you know, you're really hurting your family and hurting yourself. where are his friends? what do you think, joe? >> he has lots of friends. i think there are lots of people still who like his ideas. i was just talking to one of my democrat friends who told me he likes a lot of herman cain's ideas as a business person and thinks he has great ideas to put americans back to work. >> enough to think he can get away from this or get around this? >> no, i don't think so. this is a hard one to get over. as long as this is the conversation and people see you in this light, it becomes hard to talk about your 9-9-9 plan or anything else you might do to put americans back to work. >> joe watkins and goldie

taylor, great to have you with us tonight. answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen and share your thoughts on twitter using #edshow. i want to know and we want to know what you think. we appreciate your comments. coming up, republicans cooked up a lame proposal to weasel their way out of raising taxes on millions of americans. senator dick durbin is here to respond to that. every republican candidate gets at least a day in the sun, but new polls show newt gingrich may not be a flash in the pan. and mitt romney isn't handling any of this very well at all. joan walsh and mike papantonio will be back to talk about that on the top of the republican ticket. so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash.

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coming up on "the ed show," the senate plans to vote on the payroll tax this week and once again the republicans are throwing out a bad deal that will slash jobs. senator dick durbin of illinois, on the democratic leadership team, is here next. a british broadcaster is in "the zone" for his comments about striking public workers in

england. scott walker says he's looking forward to the recall. really? is he helping with the signature drive? and police raided the occupy camps in philadelphia and los angeles overnight, but the movement fights on. robert greenwald and activist jesse lagreca join me later in the show. of course, we want to know what you think about tonight's program and all the topics. tweet us here on the program, usie ining #edshow and we'll fe your messages throughout the show at the bottom of the screen. diabetes testing? what else is new? you get the blood, hope it's enough, it's--

what's this? freestyle lite® blood glucose test strip. sure, i'll try it, but-- [beep] wow. yep, that's the patented freestyle zipwik™ design. it's like it-- [both] targets the blood. yeah, draws it right in. the test starts fast. you need just a third the blood of one touch.® okay. freestyle test strips. i'll take 'em. sure. call or click-- we'll send you strips and a meter, free. can't i just have these? freestyle lite test strips. call or click today. welcome back to "the ed show." the battle for the payroll tax cut continues in washington and

we can go right back to the most important chart in america. my chart. the red line, this is where the income has gone over the last 30 years for the top 1% and 2% wage earners in america. and the rest of us, we're todow there right there at the blue line. if you're a blue liner, the republicans want to raise your taxes next year. that would be in a little over a month. if you're a red liner, you have nothing to worry about. business as usual, right? mitch mcconnell and his cronies in the senate refuse to extend the middle class tax cuts unless the top .2% get off scot-free. that would be the red liners. now, a senate vote is set for friday. if it fails, your taxes will go up on the first paycheck of 2012. president obama put it like this today. >> if that happens, if congress doesn't act to extend this tax cut, then most of you, the

typical middle class family, is going to see your taxes go up by $1,000 at the worst possible time. they said no to cutting taxes for small businessowners and working families. what happened? republicans said they're the party of tax cuts. that's what they said. how is it they can break their oath when it comes to raising your taxes but not break their oath when it comes to raising taxes for wealthy people? >> hang on a second. during the lame duck session of the congress last year, weren't we told you can't raceraise taxes on the job creators? the democrats are saying you can't raise taxes on middle class americans. the democrats want to cut the payroll taxes by 3.1% for individuals and most small businesses. i mean, it's common sense. they want to offset that by taxing the income of people who make over $1 million. so you could be a red liner in here and still not pay taxes. today republicans came up with what i think is a very weak

counteroffer. they want to keep the 2% tax cut for one year, but they want a three year pay freeze on federal workers. they want to cut the federal government workforce by another 10% or by 200,000 employees and they want no tax increases. senator dick durbin of illinois joins us tonight on "the ed show." senator, good to have you with us. i appreciate your time on this issue. >> thanks, ed. >> you know, the republicans are still holding the line on tax increases. all the way to the point where they are going to protect the .2%. they won't go any revenue component whatsoever. they want to get rid of 200,000 federal workers and they want a pay freeze for another three years for federal workers. what's your reaction to this? how hardline is this, in your opinion? >> you know, the extent that they'll go to, the extremes they'll go to, to protect the highest income americans, are almost unimaginable.

i was on a debate on another network with jon kyl, the republican leader last sunday, in which i said clearly the republicans have to agree with us, we don't want the payroll taxes on working families to go up on january 1st. these families are struggling paycheck to paycheck and we ought to pay for it by having the wealthiest of our country pay a little bit more. jon kyl rejected it. he said, no, no way we're going to. they got the message, and noticed being for an increase on the payroll tax for working families is not a good idea. now they came up with this idea where they're going freeze the federal workforce. think about this for a second. if you lose three prosecuting attorneys in the department of justice going after terrorists or those accused of drug crimes, whatever it might be, they say you can replace one of them. what happens when we need people working in the federal government to keep america safe?

>> senator, is that a deal breaker, a nonstarter for the d democrats? >> i think it's trouble. it's a real problem. we're getting hints about what they're going to do. we may not see it until tomorrow. there's an easy way to do this, supported by democrats, republicans, even tea party republicans. a small surtax on the wealthiest people in america. people making over $1.5 million a year, a small surtax, will generate enough money to give a payroll tax cut to thousands, millions of working families. >> well, if they're going to protect the .2% of the income earners in this country, it seems to me you're not going to get any revenue component out of this. is that a deal breaker? do you have to have revenue from their side to make something happen to extend the payroll tax cut? >> if they're going to pay for it. if the decision is made not to pay for it, to add it to the deficit, and not have compensating either increases in revenue or cuts in spending, so be it. but the bottom line is, we

cannot leave for christmas, ed. we cannot leave for the holiday season without making sure this payroll tax cut continues for working families and also to make sure that the unemployment benefits are extended to the millions of folks across america still looking for a job. >> would you go for any federal cuts whatsoever? >> well, i'll look at them. i'll be honest with you, i'll keep an open mind. the ones they proposed is almost laughable. here's one of them. this may not be exactly what we're going to get, but here's what we've heard. anybody making over $750,000 a year, the republicans say they can't have food stamps. now, that's a big savings. how many people do you think are in that category? i don't know what they're trying to say with that. it's a pretty confusing situation with the republicans at this moment. >> in your opinion, how critical is it to extend this payroll tax cut? i mean, we've been down the road before with a higher rate. are you saying that the economy just cannot maintain its momentum unless we do that? >> they say it's worth about 1%.

>> do you believe that? >> i believe that. for the average working family in illinois, their average income is $50,000 a year. 2% equals between $125 and $150 a month, maybe $1,500 a year, just in the roughest terms. $1,500 a year more being spent by that family to fill the gas tank, to make sure the utilities are paid for, to make sure the rent's paid and the kids have clothes to go to school. it's money that's going into the economy. demand for goods and services that creates jobs. >> and senator, i got to ask you, is there any scenario that you see on the table that would force the democrats to extend the bush tax cuts again to get a deal with the republicans? >> i tell you, that would be a disastrous decision. if you look at the impact of those tax cuts on the wealthiest americans, and what it does to our long-term deficit, we'll be slashing and cutting in every direction to pay for a tax cut for the wealthiest people in this country.

for goodness sakes, we should never let that happen again. >> sounds like it's going to be tough sledding when it comes to trying to extend the unemployment benefits. that's going to be the battle royale it seems like. it seems like that's the only thing republicans are going to agree to is the extension of the bush tax cuts. >> i can tell you, i've been through this battle before it other republican senators, one of whom has retired and they basically said they don't care. if the unemployment benefits are cut off for the families across america, they don't care. i care. i've met these families and you have, too. they're struggling to find work and struggling to keep their families together in a very difficult time. we have never politicized unemployment benefits until this modern era. we shouldn't do it now. >> senator dick durbin of illinois. good to have you with us tonight on the program. thanks so much. >> thanks, ed. good to be with you. >> a few moments ago nancy pelosi released this statement. "republicans felt the heat from democrats to extend the payroll tax cut, however, the republican proposal does less to spur economic growth for job creation than president obama's plan. unbelievably, it cuts hundreds

of thousands of jobs and offers less relief to the middle class." coming up, an international edition of "psycho talk." bbc television personality jeremy clarkson thinks public employees who go on strike should be put to death. and wisconsin governor scott walker wants the people in his state to know the facts. well, we've got some facts about walker's policies everyone needs to know. [ male announcer ] every day, thousands of people are choosing advil®. here's one story. [ regis ] we love to play tennis. as a matter of fact it was joy

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and in "psycho talk" tonight, i guess you could say we have an international edition on the program. with jeremy clarkson. the star of the hit bbc show "top gear." clarkson's good buddies with rebekah brooks, the woman in charge of rupert murdoch's news international and arrested this summer in connection with the company's phone hacking scandal. today clarkson kicked it into low gear when he launched a verbal tirade at the 2 million public sector workers who were currently striking in the united kingdom. >> i'd have them all shot. i would take them outside and execute them in front of their families. i mean, how dare they go on strike when they have pensioned that are going to be guaranteed while the rest of us have to work for a living. >> really? jeremy clarkson thinks working for a living means riding around in expensive cars and crashing them when he's done? he should try cleaning the streets, educating the children or caring for somebody who's sick. that's what real work is.

but his talk about guilt-edged pensions sounds pretty familiar. the reason the brits are out in the streets is no different from why people are in the streets in this country. the british government wants them to work longer and for less pay and, of course, a smaller pension. the people in power want to balance the budget on the backs of the workers instead of making guys like jeremy clarkson contribute some of his millions. oh, by the way, clarkson, himself, is busy raking in public money. he gets over $1.5 million a year from fees people pay to the bbc. so for jeremy clarkson to say public employees should be executed for striking is arrogant, ignorant "psycho talk." newt gingrich is dominating two new polls and the pressure is mounting on the mitt stster. mitt romney. can he keep cool in the face of the newt surge? later, two of the country's biggest occupy camps have been

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massmutual. we'll help you get there. welcome back to "the ed show." newt gingrich isn't slowing down as the republican front-runner at all and mitt romney isn't handling this thing very well either. gingrich has a massive 30-point lead over mitt romney in a new florida poll. 47% to 17%. he only had a 10% back in september when romney had 30%. another florida poll looks the same. gingrich with 41%. romney with 17%. newt gingrich is surging despite multiple new reports about his multimillion dollar lobbying services. mitt romney is feeling the pressure. he was awkward and testy during an interview on fox news. >> how can voters trust what they hear from you today is what you will believe if you win the white house? >> well, brett, your list is

just not accurate, so one, we're going to have to be better informed about my views on issues. >> do you think a mandate mandating people to buy insurance is the right tool? >> brett, i don't know how many hundred times i've said this, too. this is an unusual interview. all right. let's do it again. >> at times you thought it would be a model for the nation. >> you're wrong, brett. brett, no, the tape out there, continue to read the tape and the tape goes on to say, for each state to be able to look at it. >> you know, we've kind of seen this before, haven't we? mitt romney has got a habit of getting snippy when things really don't go his way. >> you're allowed to change -- >> rick, you had your chance. let me speak. rick, you had your chance. let me speak. i'm speaking. i'm speaking. >> your newspaper -- it's time for you to tell the truth. >> you get 30 seconds. this is the way the rules work here. number two -- number two, let me finish. >> he still has time. let him finish. >> i get a little time here. >> let's turn to joan walsh, editor at large, salon.com, and mike papantonio, host of "the

ring of fire" radio show. great to have both of you with us tonight. mike, you know, look, what's happening here with newt gingrich, first, why is he doing so well down in florida? >> the only reason he's surging in the polls, he's another one of those candidates that anybody but mitt romney candidate. that's why he's surging. he has a problem, ed, he can't overcome the problem. mitt needs to relax. look, newt gingrich is a ready-made story. he's already a package. he's a media frenzy, already made up. he's a train wreck, even the least capable reporting organizations are going to know the stories about him being hammered 84 times for ethics violations, having to pay $300,000 for lying, for complete fraud. and you know who made him pay the money? his own pals in congress. they heard him lie about the fact that he was taking money that was supposed to go to intercity disadvantaged children and using it for his own purpose. mitt needs to just let him burn

down. >> so joan, why don't people in florida get what mike was just saying? have they forgiven newt gingrich for all of the past sins? >> i think people, it's going to take some time for those things to be resurfaced, rehashed, and i think for this lobbying, this issue of how many millions of dollars he's taken from corporate interests to essentially lobby for them. and, you know, mitt had a terrible day, no doubt about it. that was just an awful interview, and he's just so condescending. you know, he just can't help himself. he's the rich guy. but, you know, i saw newt today talking about how, well, i didn't lobby because i get $60,000 a speech. and it's like, boy, you are a pompous gasbag. do you think voters are going to, like, warm up to you because you're boasting about getting $60,000 a speech? and if you didn't get that, maybe you would have lobbied? i mean, it was kind of

nonsectors but all puffery, self-puffery. >> other republicans are already taking shots at gingrich. he's a new web ad from ron paul. >> there are now reports about controversial ties to the health care industry. >> the think tank founded by newt gingrich collected at least $37 million from major health care companies and the group supports individual mandate. >> newt gingrich renewed his support for an individual mandate. >> i don't know about you, joan, but i didn't get a talent fee for that ad, but whatever. we recognize two of the people in there. how can gingrich overcome his past? i mean, that really is -- i mean, he's the flavor of the month right now and he's going up in the polls. is he going to be able to maintain this, mike? >> his new talking point is that i'm not jesus. i don't know if you've seen this. >> i have. >> you can't hold me to the same standards of jesus. look, here's the problem he has. his stories are what i call low-hanging fruit stories, ed. like the $500,000 interest-free loan, interest-free credit line

that he got from tiffany jewelers. he got that and we found out it was because of some kind of putrid political deal that he made on their behalf. so the low-hanging fruit, easy stories about not paying child support for years, or leaving his wife while she's being operated on for cancer or coming out of congress as a multimillionaire when he goes into congress on a teacher's salary. so these stories are easy to deliver. it's very, very tough for him to overcome it. mitt needs to relax and understand that. >> this whole thing is really tough on the social conservatives. they don't know which way to turn. this is tony perkins, head of the family research council, on msnbc earlier today. >> i think when you look at newt's positions, that's somewhat problematic for him. if you look at his new contract for america he put out, it's void of social issues. mitt romney, who has a great personal life when you look at him from a character standpoint, he's someone everybody should attracted to.

when you look at his policy issues of the past, his record as a policymaker, as the governor of massachusetts, it's problematic for him. >> joan, do the social conservatives have a dog in this fight right now, or are they getting wheget ing weeded out? are they going to sit this one out? >> it's interesting, because tony perkins, obviously being a mormon is a problem for romney. it's not just his positions. there is that issue dogs him and it's funny because newt converted to catholicism. catholicism isn't totally popular with that right wing evangelical set. so newt might have picked the wrong christian religion there, but, you know, they're also going to have a hard time dealing with his marriages and his adultery and his do as i say, not as i do. >> joan walsh, mike papantonio, we'll follow the story. thanks for joining us tonight. appreciate it. next, scott walker says he's looking forward to a recall election because he gets to talk to voters. i'll help him get a head start by showing you what his policies

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up next, wisconsinites are looking to recall governor scott walker. he says bring it on. later, the right wing says the occupy movement is over, but protesters like scott olsen say they're not backing down. robert greenwald and jesse lagreca on what's next for occupy. and don't forget to tweet us using #edshow. stay with us.

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wisconsin governor scott walker is desperately trying to stay ahead of the curve, should i say, stay ahead of the looming recall election. on monday, wisconsin democratic party chairman mike tate came on this show to announce they had already collected more than 300,000 signatures for the walker recall. they're more than half way there. this morning governor walker showed up on cnbc saying he really couldn't wait for the

recall election. if that's the case, why doesn't he go out and help get signatures? >> i look forward to that. i'd love to have the chance to talk to the voters of wisconsin again. i think if voters hear the facts, every week, every day, every week, every month that fwo goes by, our numbers get better because our story gets out and people see the positive impact of our results. the facts ultimately trump the attacks. if you see the schools are the same or better, and that our governments are doing well and in the end our taxes are going down, people want to hear that. and i think the results will trump everything else. >> people want to hear that. did he just say in that sound bite, our numbers get better? really? scott walker wants the people to know the facts, well, i'm going to help him out here. wisconsin leads the nation in cuts to education with $2.6 billion in cuts this year, alone. scott walker is cutting more than a half billion dollars from medicaid which could leave 65,000 people in the state without health care coverage, including 30,000 kids. and walker promised to create

250,000 jobs by 2015, but wisconsin, he says his numbers are getting better? my friends, they lead the nation in job losses. the state has lost jobs every month since walker's budget passed. in october, alone, they lost 9,700 jobs. those are just the facts. i would really welcome scott walker, the governor of wisconsin, to sit right here in the studio in new york at msnbc. i know he's been in new york before because he almost camps out across the street. and tell me face to face about these numbers, about, what did he say? our numbers are getting better. really? i think the people of wisconsin would really love it because i've been to madison and some other areas of wisconsin numerous times and i know they watch the show. conservative radio talk show host steve daice from iowa came on the show last night and told me conservatives are looking for

leaders who will challenge liberals like me face to face. so governor walker, dude, i'm inviting you. this is what conservatives want. they want you to come in here and just smack down big eddie. let's go. come on the show any time. we'll talk about the facts. because you said your numbers are getting better. our research shows that you lost 9,700 jobs in the month of october and lost jobs every month since your grand plan has passed the legislature there in madison. last night occupy protester scott olsen told us he's not giving up the fight for the 99%. robert greenwald will weigh in on that. and activist jesse lagreca will tell us what protesters, what do they plan to do next? where's it going? [ adrianna ] when i grill lobster, i make sure

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hut! go! here it comes! right on the numbers! boom! get it! spin! oh, nice hands! chest bump. ugh! good job, man. nice! okay, halftime. now, this is my favorite play. oh! i'm wide open. oh, fumble. fumble. don't want to fumble any of these. [ male announcer ] share what you love, with who you love. kellogg's frosted flakes. it's up... and it's good! good?! they're grrreat! survey tonight on "the ed show," i asked, i need some help, should i endorse herman cain for the republican nomination? 61% of you said yes. 39% of you say no, eddie, keep your powder dry. coming up, occupy camps were broken up on both coasts last

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[ woman #2 ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would just make such a complete picture of why i'm sitting here today. ♪ [ man ] from the moment we walk in the front door, just to see me -- not as a cancer patient, but as a person that had been helped by their work, i was just blown away. life's been good to me. i feel like one of the luckiest guys in the world. ♪ that was the scene out of philadelphia last night following the dismantling of one of the nation's biggest occupy encampments. police forcing protesters to vacate camps in philadelphia and also los angeles.

and despite hundreds of arrests, the 99%ers, well, they remain mostly peaceful and vowed to keep going. >> whatever the police do, no one can beat me as hard as my retirement fund has been beaten by wall street. >> if we're forced to fold up our tents, that does not fold up our purpose. we have a long way to go. we are just getting started so we're not going away. we're going everywhere. >> just getting started. that's rather odd, because if you get your information from bill o'reilly, the movement no longer exists. >> the more we saw and heard, the more fair-minded americans became to believe that the occupiers were not interested in legitimate issues. so the occupy wall street movement is dead, finished as a legitimate political force in this country, and that's a good thing. >> well, here's proof that the movement isn't dead. last night i had the privilege of interviewing a true american hero. the 24-year-old man from wisconsin who was just standing

up for what's right. scott olsen survived two tours of duty in iraq only to be hit with a projectile while protesting in the streets of oakland. he is still recovering from a head injury which makes it difficult for him to speak. but he's a fighter. and that doesn't take away from his incredibly powerful message. do you regret going out there? >> not at all. >> will you do it again? >> yeah. >> and why are you out there? >> i'm there protecting the rights that we have. when i took the enlistment oath when i joined the marines, i swore to uphold and defend the constitution from enemies foreign and domestic. and i'm continuing to do that. >> joining me now, robert greenwald, the founder and president of brave new films. robert has launched a campaign

called who are the 1%? also with me tonight, jesse lagreca, occupy wall street protester and activist and freelance journalist. gentlemen, thank you for your time tonight. you know, that's powerful stuff. this was a guy hurt through no fault of his own. in fact, he was text messaging somebody on the cell phone, gets hit in the head, loses his speech. comes back, he's poised, he remains opt mystic and vows to keep up the fight. mr. greenwald, what does this say about the 99% movement? >> well, i think it's a wonderful example of the heroism of the 99%ers. the integrity, their belief in nonviolence. and ultimately, ed, this is a profound movement of people who believe in democracy and are trying to take it back. we know there's a 1% of those who are stepping on the backs of the other 99% and mr. olsen has, i think, inspired people, and every social movement needs and has heroes and heroines.

the women's peaceful civil rights movement and we're seeing it again now. >> jesse, how inspiring is scott olsen? >> i consider the man a hero. he literally did all the things they told us we should do. serve our country, make the sacrifices that are going to help strengthen it. when he comes back to america and sees the economy in shambles after being in the theater of war, what happens to the guy? i'd rather stand with scott olsen than bank of america. i think most of us in our right minds would agree with any. >> want to play another clip of the interview i had with him. i asked scott olsen about the state of the movement. where do you think the movement is now, scott? >> it's tough to say. it's been changing a lot, but i don't think it's going anywhere any time soon. i think it's -- the only place i think it's going is up, gaining interest. >> jesse, your thoughts on that. >> i totally agree with scott. you know, i heard there's a new

chant in philly after the raid last night. "phase 2 coming soon." and i think that we need to change laws in this country. i think that's the first, you know, real step as far as finance reform, re-regulating wall street, bringing back glass steagall, a number of different issues. scott hit the nail on the head. this isn't going away. the movement is going to go guard a forward and we're going to change things. >> robert, whether this young man wants to or not, he's a folk hero for a lot of americans right in line with the thinking of the 99%ers out there and what their mission is and what they want to do. oftentimes movements like this have benchmark moments. is is that onerecovery? >> his being attacked i think and his recovery and the students at uc davis and the police overreaction all are indicative of a building and growing and important social movement. you know, it's only going to get stronger and stronger, ed. 400,000 veterans are coming back

from iraq. where are the jobs for them? the 99%ers are going to need to speak up for them. >> now, the occupy wall street are promising a day of action that's going to be focusing on the foreclosure crisis. jesse, what about this? is this the next big move? >> there's a couple big moves coming up. there's going to be a large march here in new york city tomorrow. i believe december 6th is going to be the nationwide foreclosure movement. then you have occupy congress coming up all next week. we've got stuff planned for next year. our problems are not going away. neither are we. >> guys, is this the way it's going to be were 2012? what do you think, robert? >> yes, no question about it. the profound inequities in our country, the structural problems, the fact that the 1% exploited the other 99%, we've got huge issues. thank goodness for the heroes and heroines for the occupy movement and standing up and forcing everybody in this country to have a discu