'The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell' for Thursday, January 6th, 2011
Read the transcript to the Thursday show
Guests: Mack McLarty, Adam Green, Rep. James Clyburn, Roseanne Barr, Ted
Williams, Doral Chenoweth
LAWRENCE O‘DONNELL, HOST: A Democratic president chooses at his chief of staff, a loyal soldier from the last Democratic president‘s administration, a tried and true method of White House staff selection. Then the announcement is greeted by outrage from Democrats.
When was the last time a Democratic president was attacked by his party for his choice of chief of staff? Never. Such is the unique burden of the Obama White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC NEWS: The president has chosen a new chief of staff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It‘s been called the second most important job in Washington after the president, of course.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My new chief of staff, Bill Daley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we change our name of the show to the D-A-L-E-Y rundown?
O‘DONNELL (voice-over): Change has come to the White House again.
WILLIAM DALEY, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I am pleased to answer your call.
O‘DONNELL: President Obama‘s pick to replace Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is another Chicagoan and another lightning rod for criticism from the president‘s base.
HOWARD DEAN, FORMER DNC CHAIRMAN: He will be conservative by a Democratic standards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can‘t ignore. You can‘t betray your base.
TAMRON HALL, MSNBC ANCHOR: He is a thinker but not really a thinker (ph).
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS: Working for JPMorgan Chase.
HALL: Former Clinton commerce secretary.
O‘DONNELL: And a potential target of familiar criticism from the right.
GUTHRIE: What aide said to me earlier, you know, if there is a machine in Chicago, but Barack Obama was never a part of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chuck said that Obama doesn‘t really know Bill Daley.
O‘DONNELL: But the president insists this is the man for the job.
OBAMA: He will bring his tremendous experience, his strong values and forward-looking vision to this White House.
DEAN: And he will be respectful of everybody in the party.
GUTHRIE: They want to reach out more to business.
DEAN: He knows Washington. He is not of Washington.
O‘DONNELL: It‘s all part of a White House in transition—preparing for the Republican House.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It‘s still just me.
O‘DONNELL: And preparing for the coming election.
GUTHRIE: The reorganization of the White House personnel.
CHRIS CILLIZZA, WASHINGTON POST: It‘s a shorter list to talk about who is staying at the White House than who is leaving the White House.
KEITH OLBERMANN, “COUNTDOWN” HOST: Rahm Emanuel, Lawrence Summers, David Axelrod, next month, now, Gibbs.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You need new blood and you need some new energy.
GUTHRIE: Our exclusive with Robert Gibbs.
CHUCK TODD, NBC NEWS: Waking up this morning, did it feel any different now that you‘ve taken this off your shoulder?
GIBBS: For about 30 seconds, and then I got e-mails and phone calls. You are involved in this amazing thing called American democracy. Your time is limited and it should be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O‘DONNELL: Good evening from New York.
Today, President Obama set the tone for the next act of his presidency by making a key personnel announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Today, I am proud to announce the appointment of an experienced public servant, a devoted patriot, my friend, fellow Chicagoan, Bill Daley, to serve as my chief of staff.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O‘DONNELL: At least the ceremony went more smoothly than the last time Daley was up for a presidential appointment, as President Clinton‘s secretary of commerce.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FMR. GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: Those that accompany me
on these -
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I think he is finally fainting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O‘DONNELL: Daley‘s return to government straight from serving as the Midwest chairman of JPMorgan Chase has the Chamber of Commerce swooning. They hailed the strong appointment of a man of stature, as they put it.
Some Democrats, however, are worried that Daley‘s Wall Street ties will dilute Obama‘s message of standing up for the middle class against the special interests and point to Daley‘s criticism of Obama‘s key progressive reforms, including the health care reform law and the creation of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau as another troubling sign that Barack Obama plans to turn his back on his base in a political move to the center for his re-election campaign.
Joining me now are: Mack McLarty, former White House chief of staff for President Clinton, and Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
Adam, you‘ve led the charge against Bill Daley as soon as the rumors started about his possible appointment. In your statement today, you said, “This was a real mistake by the White House. Bill Daley consistently urges the Democratic Party to pursue a corporate agenda that alienates both independent and Democratic voters. If President Obama listens to that kind of political advice from Bill Daley, Democrats will suffer a disastrous 2012.”
Adam, presidents listen to a lot of different kinds of advice. They reject a lot of different kinds of advice. They accept different kinds of advice.
What is wrong with Barack Obama to Daley‘s advice and then making his choices?
ADAM GREEN, BOLDPROGRESSIVES.ORG: OK, well, let‘s say listening to and accept. That‘s kind of an easy one.
O‘DONNELL: OK. We‘ll change your statement to, if he follows Daley‘s advice. Well, conceptually, that‘s where we will go from here.
OK.
GREEN: OK. That sounds good.
So, look, this is a person who really, you hit it right before—this is the number two person at the White House for all intents and purposes. In many cases, he is a gatekeeper, deciding which voices get to be in a room. And, unfortunately, over and over again, Bill Daley has urged Democrats to adopt the positions that are out of touch with most of the country but he somehow calls it centrism.
So, he opposed the Wall Street reform bill, particularly the part that set up Elizabeth Warren‘s Consumer Financial Protection Board. He thought we had too much regulation on Wall Street, not enough. Hate to break it to him but most Republicans don‘t agree with that—let alone Republicans and Democrats.
All next week, on the House floor, Democratic congressman after Democratic congresswoman will be there trying to beat back Republican attempts to dismantle the portion of the health care bill that allowed kids to stay on their parents‘ health care plans, that got rid of discrimination for pre-existing conditions, that got rid of the donut hall for seniors and their prescription drugs. It‘s a little bit tough for them to make the argument when the White House chief of staff sided with Republicans on all these issues.
So, it‘s a little bit weird of a choice for Barack Obama to make.
There were a lot better he could have made.
O‘DONNELL: Mack McLarty, first of all, thank you very, very much for joining us tonight—to have a former White House chief of staff, the first White House chief of the staff of the last Democratic president I think is an invaluable perspective on this conversation. So, just a personal thanks for doing it, Mack.
Taking it back to that job, the hardest you have had in your life.
MACK MCLARTY, FMR CLINTON WH CHIEF OF STAFF: Chief javelin catcher in the administration.
O‘DONNELL: Right. It seems to, now, I think by some to be mythologized, it was President Nixon who militarized the title to chief of staff. Prior to that, as you know, that job was called appointment secretary.
MCLARTY: Yes.
O‘DONNELL: President Kennedy had an appointment secretary. And nobody thought that the appointment secretary ran the White House. Have we gone it too far in our interpretation of just how powerful you White House chief of staffs actually are?
MCLARTY: Well, Lawrence, you are a fellow chief of staff in your service with Senator Moynihan, which was quite powerful as I recall it. You make a fair point. Your history is correct.
Jim Baker likes to say, it is chief of staff but it‘s chief and then it‘s of staff, which means you serve as the pleasure of the president and you‘re a member of the president‘s staff. So, I think that‘s the proper perspective. Each president and every chief of staff have their own style, personality and the way they conduct their business affairs.
I think it is pretty clear how President Obama conducts his decision-making and his affairs.
Bill Daley, look, is a proven, loyal Democrat. He is a person of integrity, competence and accomplishment. I think he‘s the right person for the right job at this time.
O‘DONNELL: Adam, who would you much put—would you like to see take that job instead?
GREEN: There‘s a number of people, how about Byron Dorgan? He‘s someone who‘s respected in the Senate. He comes from a pretty populist yet red state. He had to administer his own office for many years. He‘d be great.
Someone who would also be a voice in the room who was right on Wall Street. He was right during deregulation. He pretty much predicted everything that would happen before it happened. We need more people like that.
You know, I heard Mack McLarty say that Bill Daley is a loyal Democrat. But at the end of last year, he penned a “Washington Post” op-ed that essentially said that President Obama was wrong to push health care. And that the most liberal voices in Obama‘s party were—you know, had been essentially renounced by voters.
Well, that‘s not true because the most progressive voices were pushing for the most popular part of the legislation, the public option, something that most, you know, supposedly centrist Democrats opposed. And if we had been successful, Obama‘s popularity would be way up.
It‘s just a little bit weird that someone who is so pro-corporate, so pro-Wall Street, so, you know, willing to water-down reforms against the insurance companies would now be the chief gatekeeper deciding who he‘s allowing other people into the room to make their case to the president.
O‘DONNELL: Mack, what do you—what do you make of Adam‘s analysis about the advice that he thinks that Bill Daley will give? I mean, one of my experiences in this territory is that you can‘t necessarily predict the advice someone is going to give based on their resume. I mean, I can tell you, for example, that there were people who knew the oil and gas industry a lot better than some of us on the Hill when we were writing tax law and having worked in the oil and gas industry. And they were brilliant at actually penetrating it for us and telling us how to really get at the profits in the oil and gas industry and tax them.
I mean, there were these surprise outcomes I think people get sometimes when someone comes out of a field where they actually know something and it actually makes them better at the government regulating or trying to control some of the outcomes in those fields.
MCLARTY: Lawrence, you make a very fair point. Bill Daley is a person of broad experience. He does know how government works. He does understand these issues from various seats at various tables and responsibilities that he‘s held, both in public service and in the private sector.
But, I think above all, Bill is a person of competence and integrity. As far as his being a gatekeeper, I think it‘s very clear, Lawrence, that President Obama seeks a wide range of opinion. The buck does stop with him. The old Harry Truman adage is so true.
And I think Chief of Staff Daley will make certain that President Obama hears from a broad range of people that the president will insist on doing and will be an excellent facilitator.
Will he have his own opinions that the president will want to hear? Sure, he will. But they will also be tempered and formed by his experiences and the very points you make about those regulations, decisions, policies, I think, will play well for the president.
I read the op-ed piece, Adam, and I read it carefully. What Secretary Daley, now Chief of Staff Daley suggests was a larger tent, a vital center approach, and to push, therefore, a progressive agenda but over time, to get things done building consensus hopefully on a bipartisan basis where possible.
O‘DONNELL: Adam, no one in the building has a longer relationship with Joe Biden that Bill Daley. Bill Daley was in Biden on campaign 1988. This may indicate an increasing influence on the part of Joe Biden who may already be one of the most influential presidents in history and might that, in fact, be a good sign since Joe Biden is the progressive voice in the White House as we would call it on the matter of Afghanistan and other very serious foreign policy issues that the president faces?.
GREEN: I don‘t know. I mean, look, I guess it‘s easy to say that there are things that could work out correctly. And I wouldn‘t say that there aren‘t things that could work out correctly. I think we just have to look at facts as being facts.
To say the chief of staff is essentially not that important of a position, that his views wouldn‘t matter that much, to try to minimize that, I just think is ridiculous. There was a famous story reported in “The New York Times” around the time that Harry Reid announced the public service option, which, Mr. McLarty, I would point, when it was announced, had over 80 percent of Democrats supporting it, over 70 percent of independents supporting it, and in June of 2009, 50 percent of Republicans supporting it. That is bipartisanship.
When Harry Reid said that would be in the public option in the health care bill and Joe Lieberman said he would tank the entire bill if that was in it, Harry Reid was ready to fight. But then along came Rahm Emanuel. Using his, you know, gravitas and stature as chief of staff and within about an hour, he had Harry Reid reverse himself and essentially, he was ready to cave to Joe Lieberman.
We need somebody who is willing to go to bat for progressive priorities, for bipartisan progressive priorities. And that person is not Mr. Daley, unfortunately.
O‘DONNELL: OK. I‘m sorry that we are running out of time on this subject tonight. That is going to have to be the last word on it.
Adam, I would point out about Rahm Emanuel and health care, he is also one of the people in the White House who advised President Obama not to even go forward with doing health care reform in his first and second year as president and Rahm Emanuel lost that particular argument in the White House.
So, as Mack McLarty and others can tell you, White House chief of staff can advocate a position, it doesn‘t mean they win every time.
Mack McLarty, former chief of staff for President Clinton, and, Adam Green, thank you both very much for joining me tonight on this.
MCLARTY: Lawrence, my pleasure, thank you.
O‘DONNELL: Thank you.
GREEN: Thank you.
O‘DONNELL: On Capitol Hill, a woman screamed out during the reading of the Constitution to try to tell America that Barack Obama wasn‘t born here.
In an NBC News exclusive, Brian Williams asks Speaker Boehner if he‘s willing to tell members of the Republican Caucus to stop fanning the flames of the Birther movement.
And later, the remarkable story of Ted Williams, a homeless man who hit rough times is suddenly a big Internet hit, so much so that his life has turned around dramatically this week overnight. We will have a surprise for him and a big announcement about his future.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O‘DONNELL: Coming up: a Birther interrupts today‘s reading of the Constitution.
And Speaker Boehner in his first interview since taking power refuses to put an end to speculations among Republicans about President Obama‘s citizenship, even though he says he believes the president was born in Hawaii. Democratic Congressman James Clyburn will give us his reaction.
And later, Roseanne Barr is here in the spotlight and will tell us why she is a better candidate for president than Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann.
Ahead on THE LAST WORD.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O‘DONNELL: Today‘s reading of the Constitution on the House floor, a Republican idea that became a bipartisan effort, was marred when a heckler interrupted the proceedings with the argument of the Birthers, that President Obama was not born in the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. FRANK PALLONE (D), NEW JERSEY: -- shall be eligible to be the office of president. Neither shall—
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Except Obama! Except Obama! Help us, Jesus!
(GAVEL BANGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O‘DONNELL: “Except Obama,” that woman was yelling before being escorted out.
Tonight in an exclusive interview with “NBC Nightly News” anchor, Brian Williams, House Speaker, John Boehner, was asked about the incident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN WILLIAMS, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: During the reading of the Constitution, Congressman Frank Pallone of New Jersey was reading a portion of the document and interrupted by someone who heckled from within the chamber. It was to express doubt over the president‘s American citizenship.
Provided you believe the president is an American citizen, you got 12 members cosponsoring legislation that does about the same thing, it expresses doubt. Would you be willing to say, this is a distraction, I‘ve looked at it to my satisfaction, let‘s move on.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The state of Hawaii has said that President Obama was born there. That‘s good enough for me.
WILLIAMS: Would you be willing to say that message to the 12 members in your caucus who seem to either believe otherwise or are willing to express doubt and have cosponsored legislation along those lines?
BOEHNER: But, Brian, when you come to the Congress of the United States, there are 435 of us. We‘re nothing more than a slice of America. And people come regardless of party labels—they come with all kinds of beliefs and ideas. It‘s the melting pot of America. It‘s not up to me to tell them what to think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O‘DONNELL: Joining me now, the Democratic assistant leader in the House, Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.
Congressman Clyburn, what do you make of Speaker Boehner‘s response to that question about will he explain to his 12 renegade members that Barack Obama is, indeed, legitimate president of the United States, born in the United States of America?
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, I believe that he was correct as far as he went. The fact of the matter is, though, though we all come from different walks of life, we represent a slice of America. We are a little bit different in that we were elected to make decisions on behalf of this great country which is, in fact, a republic in that we are a representative democracy.
So, if we are representing these slices, I think that we sometimes have responsibility to speak out and demonstrate that it is time move on and that certain things ought not be distracting the deliberation of this great body.
O‘DONNELL: Doesn‘t it tell us something about Boehner‘s ability to control his caucus when he personally believes that Barack Obama‘s citizenship is legitimate or the Hawaii birth certificate, all of that? But there are 12 people there he just doesn‘t think he can talk to about it in his caucus. He won‘t even attempt to talk any sense to those people.
CLYBURN: Well, I think that‘s what‘s going to be a problem going forward for Speaker Boehner. Pretty often, I have seen some memoranda, some, I guess we call them letters to colleagues, their colleagues, from members of his caucus that seem a bit farfetched on many different subjects in the last couple of days. And I would wish that we would really focus on getting Americans back to work, on getting our country back on track and really coming together as we did at our prayer service on yesterday morning before the swearing in.
O‘DONNELL: Congressman, on the day that the Republicans wanted to read the Constitution on the House floor, we discover there was unconstitutional voting yesterday on the floor, because at least two Republican members voted who had not yet been sworn in. Republicans are getting a very rocky start with their pure constitutional approach to governing.
But let‘s listen to what John Boehner said today about his approach to dealing with the debt ceiling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: I think it would be irresponsible to try to deal with the debt limit without taking corrective action so that we‘re not facing this each and every year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O‘DONNELL: Congressman, what kind of deal do you think he is talking about trying to make on the debt ceiling, some sort of cut spending package to go along with the debt ceiling increase vote?
CLYBURN: I don‘t know what he would have in mind about that.
I know this: the full faith and credit of the United States of America should not be compromised at any time in any way. And I don‘t think that that‘s something to be bargaining with. I do believe that we can do things outside of the—that particularly vote to help get our fiscal house in order. Let‘s do that.
I don‘t think we need to be coupling all these other things with that vote. That ought to be a clean vote by everybody to maintain the full faith and credit of the United States of America and it ought not be coupled with anything else.
So, I have no idea what he has in mind about corrective measures. We can do a lot of things and we have done a lot of things and I do believe we will. Let‘s not couple this with anything else.
O‘DONNELL: Finally, Congressman, before we go, I just want to get your quick reaction to the president‘s appointment of Bill Daley as chief of staff. You worked with Bill Daley when he was in the Clinton administration. What‘s your reaction to this appointment?
CLYBURN: He‘s a great guy. I really do support this. I think that Bill Daley, irrespective of what some of my friends on the left may feel, is just a solid Democrat who faces issues as he sees them and he sometimes speaks to them in a way that may make some of us uncomfortable.
But I am very comfortable with his appointment. I applaud it. I look forward to working with him again as I did in the past.
O‘DONNELL: Congressman, James Clyburn, thank you very much for your time tonight.
CLYBURN: Thank you so much for having me.
O‘DONNELL: Will Tea Partier Michele Bachmann do something no one else in our political history ever achieved—go directly from a seat in the House of Representatives to the presidency? We will try to help her out with a possible campaign commercial.
And, Sarah Palin likes to push her everyday mama grizzly mystique, but television‘s original mama grizzly isn‘t buying it. Roseanne Barr is in tonight‘s spotlight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O‘DONNELL: Ahead on THE LAST WORD: in tonight‘s spotlight, Roseanne Barr will unleash her world of Roseannarchy on our political leaders, particularly her disagreements with the former governor of Alaska.
And tonight‘s LAST WORD goes to Ted Williams, the man whose story has won the hearts of us all. We‘ll have a surprise in store for him and a big announcement as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O‘DONNELL: She has starred on stage, screen, and television and authored three books. Now, Roseanne Barr has her sights set on a new job: president of the United States. And she‘s already giving Washington a dose of her green Tea Party movement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEANNE BARR, ACTRESS: I want a new kind of capitalism—one not fueled by wars, one that doesn‘t pass its wealth to a handful of white guys and call that free trade. Capitalism and socialism will combine into people-ism where both ideas work together for a functional system. Solutions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O‘DONNELL: Earlier, I spoke with the author of “Roseannarchy:
Dispatches from the Nut Farm,” and Green Tea Party candidate, Roseanne Barr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O‘DONNELL: Roseanne, thank you very much for coming in here to 30 Rock to join us. You are, I believe, according to my notes, the only declared candidate for president at this point. How does it feel?
BARR: I am.
O‘DONNELL: Yes. Barack Obama hasn‘t decided if he‘s running for
re-election yet, officially.
BARR: Oh, that‘s cool.
O‘DONNELL: It‘s all you.
BARR: Oh, well, I think I deserve a platform all alone, with my ideas for solutions to save the United States and the dollar. I‘m glad that I‘m the first one to kick off the campaign season, which never seems to end, does it?
O‘DONNELL: No.
BARR: Didn‘t we just get done with one and now here we are again?
O‘DONNELL: We did. We got done with one. We have another one.
BARR: Yes, they seem to keep happening.
O‘DONNELL: Right. Well, you are doing your job keeping campaigning alive. So—
BARR: Yes, I‘m running not just for president of these United States but also for prime minister of Israel. It‘s a twofer.
O‘DONNELL: That is also a first, I believe. I‘m trying to think of the last person who did that.
BARR: There is no one who‘s thought of it.
O‘DONNELL: OK. Yes.
BARR: But it‘s kind of my right as a Jewish American. I could get dual citizenship.
O‘DONNELL: Yes, you can.
BARR: But, anyway, the real reason why I‘m doing this is because I have the solution to all the problems. I just want people to listen to the solution. So I have to run for president to get people to hear the solutions.
But I just want to say in my campaign, there‘s a lot of people out there and they do have solutions to problems. In my campaign, you know, I‘m going to seek their advice. I am going to put them in my cabinet. And I‘m going to solve problems instead of just getting rich off of keeping them going. You know what I mean?
O‘DONNELL: Gotcha. Yes.
BARR: And I‘m not going to divide the American people. I‘m going to bring them all together so that we can stop being robbed by bankers.
O‘DONNELL: Now, this—let me get back to this dual office of president and prime minister.
BARR: And I will bring peace—let me finish—and I will bring world peace within 30 days if elected, because I know how.
O‘DONNELL: Thirty days?
BARR: Yes.
O‘DONNELL: Well, this is where it would help being both president and the prime minister of Israel, because the president spends a great deal of time with Israel and trying to make peace in the Middle East and getting Israel into peace negotiations.
BARR: Well, it‘s not happening.
O‘DONNELL: So, this would simplify that, wouldn‘t it?
BARR: It‘s not happening, though.
O‘DONNELL: Right, it‘s not happening.
BARR: We have to look and see. OK. This is not a solution, because a solution solves an issue. It‘s not being solved. So, this is not the correct solution.
And if you are in the problem, you‘re never going to seek or find a solution. You have got to be in the solution and the solution is, of course, simple and costs less. That‘s what drives me crazy—the simple solution costs less than keeping the problem going.
O‘DONNELL: And what is the simple solution to Israel making peace with its neighbors?
BARR: The simple solution to every problem on this planet is simple: peace.
O‘DONNELL: Oh. Yes.
BARR: That‘s how we save our economy and our planet and our species. Hello! I don‘t know why people don‘t know this. It drives me crazy.
O‘DONNELL: Yes, I don‘t get it either.
Jobs, that‘s our big problem in this country. What is your jobs program? What‘s your solution to our jobs crisis?
BARR: Well, we got to create jobs, of course.
O‘DONNELL: Yes. OK.
BARR: What the hell? We‘ve got to create jobs. We find out how you do that. We‘ve got all the data. It‘s everywhere. They got data how you create jobs, so do it.
O‘DONNELL: Now, you‘ve got some interesting people you maybe—
BARR: I‘m getting all worked up.
O‘DONNELL: You are getting worked up. And this may work you up some more. We got some interesting people you might be running against. A couple of women you might be running against.
BARR: I know. It‘s all about the women now.
O‘DONNELL: Michele Bachmann, it‘s, kind of almost out there that she is kind of almost very seriously thinking of running for president.
BARR: I heard that.
O‘DONNELL: Yes, Michele Bachmann. Can you imagine yourself—
BARR: So, why not me?
O‘DONNELL: -- on a debate stage with Michele Bachmann?
BARR: I wouldn‘t tear that witch limb from limb.
O‘DONNELL: Careful. It is a family broadcast, which is fine.
BARR: I would tear her limb for limb, because I am not crazy, like she is.
O‘DONNELL: There‘s a bumper sticker, “I am not crazy.”
BARR: And I am not a liar and I seek solutions. I don‘t seek to enrich myself by dividing the American people against one another. I seek to bring them together to create a solution to joblessness, people losing their homes, people being homeless, people on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation who live in landfills. Those things need solutions.
America needs solutions for America. We have an infrastructure that nobody is paying any attention to, because they were all partying in Dubai with our tax money. I want them to pay that tax money back.
I want schools and roads. I want jobs for Americans and schools and roads and health care. I do. And I would deliver it in 30 days, including forgiving all student loans, legalizing marijuana and every other thing like that that needs to happen, within 30 days.
And how would I pay for it? With a fraction of one day‘s money of the defense budget. That is how.
O‘DONNELL: Do you think you would be able to do it with John Boehner as the Republican speaker of the House?
BARR: I‘m going to give him something to cry about.
O‘DONNELL: OK.
(LAUGHTER)
O‘DONNELL: Now, you know, your show, “Roseanne” really, I think, talked more closely to the working families of America, the people who live on the margins of the economy, the people who are unemployed today. If “Roseanne” was on this week—
BARR: Well, it also talked to everybody else like middle class families, you know, working people, students trying to get into college, old people. It talked to a lot of people, gay people.
I always try to talk to more than less. I don‘t know. They want you to talk now to an 18-25.
O‘DONNELL: Right.
BARR: You are supposed to talk to everybody if you make sense. So, first problem, make sense. That‘s what I tell myself every morning.
O‘DONNELL: You‘ve succeeded so far.
BARR: OK.
O‘DONNELL: You may also get a chance in your campaign for president.
BARR: And prime minister.
O‘DONNELL: And prime minister. But only this part would only be the president part, to be on a debate stage with Ms. Sarah Palin.
BARR: Oh, I would love to debate her.
O‘DONNELL: How would that go?
BARR: I would have a blast.
O‘DONNELL: If you two had an hour, one-on-one.
BARR: You know what? I‘ll tell you what—in the end, here‘s how it‘s going to go. Hey, Sarah, let‘s go down to the bar and have a drink and discuss this further. We‘re Americans. We‘ve got to stop this.
We can‘t marginalize—we can‘t marginalize 40 percent of our own population. We can‘t do this. This is America. This is America.
And we got to like share and we got to like pull together and we‘ve got to like solve problems. I would challenge Sarah Palin to help me solve some problems rather than just getting, you know, $12 million a month off going around calling people out. Let‘s do something. I like the “live your belief things” so much. And that‘s what my book, “Roseannarchy,” is about, having the freedom and the will and the strength of mind to go out there and actually attempt to live your beliefs.
That‘s a very much part of the good parts of America. And I would -
you know, I want to see more—I want to see them start growing back.
O‘DONNELL: Do you have a feeling that if you had met Sarah Palin before she became a pandering politician, that the two of you in that little drink you‘re going to have at the bar would actually have had a lot to agree on?
BARR: Of course. Listen, we all know we are getting robbed blind.
(LAUGHTER)
BARR: All of us know that. The problem is, the thing is, what the
hell are we going to do about it? We‘ve got to stop it. We can‘t just
dress it up so it looks like we‘re not getting robbed blind. We got to get
we got to have people stop robbing our tax money blind.
The public‘s money belongs to the public. It doesn‘t belong to going invading other countries halfway around the world.
I mean, if we‘re in such trouble—this is my prime minister of Israel part now.
O‘DONNELL: OK.
BARR: If we are under such attack and in such trouble, then tell us why so we can get on board and stop, you know, having to speculate things. If we are really in trouble, then just tell us.
O‘DONNELL: We could go on and on, but if you want more of Roseanne, go to “Roseannarchy,” the book, by Roseanne Barr. Roseanne, thank you very, very much for joining us.
BARR: Thank you very much. Thanks for letting me rant.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O‘DONNELL: Tea Party favorite, Michele Bachmann, is toying with a presidential run in 2012. We‘ll try to help her decide to run with a preview of what her campaign ads might look like.
And he‘s been called the Susan Boyle of America, the man with the golden voice. And his story has captivated the nation. We‘ll talk to Ted Williams, and we‘ll have a big announcement to share with you as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O‘DONNELL: Michele Bachmann‘s office stokes 2012 rumors for the congresswoman. And, now, Bachmann is blaming the media for all the speculation. That‘s tonight‘s “Rewrite.”
And the Internet sensation, Ted Williams, he gets tonight‘s LAST WORD, along with some breaking news about his latest gig.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O‘DONNELL: Time for tonight‘s “Rewrite.” Well, actually, tonight, it‘s something of a pre-write.
Attributing close congressional aides, “The Minneapolis Star Tribune” is reporting Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is considering a run for the White House in 2012. The paper writes, “As part of that effort, the Minnesota Republican is traveling to the early caucus state of Iowa on January 21st to confer with state GOP leaders.”
Congresswoman Bachmann‘s press aide adds, quote, “Nothing is off the table,” end quote. A comment designed to fan the flames of speculation about her running.
And what would a cable news hour be without speculation? So here we go. What we are about to show you is sure to appear in campaign commercials if Michele Bachmann does run for president. And the very peculiar thing about what we‘re about to show you, the unique Bachmann-ism is that this material will probably appear in commercials she runs for her campaign, as well as commercials her opponents run against her.
We give you Michele Bachmann in her own words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN ®, MINNESOTA: You are now looking at a fool for Christ.
I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous.
I know enough not to fight with a dump truck.
Now, we‘ve moved into the realm of gangster government. We have gangster government.
This is the crown jewel of socialism. This is socialized medicine.
If we allow this to happen, group marriage, polygamy and things much worse may not be far behind.
We have seen an orgy. The government spent its wad.
What is it that Barack Obama really believes? I‘m very concern he may have anti-American views.
It‘s great to be able to get my message out. If I get under people‘s skin, so be it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O‘DONNELL: Three days ago, 53-year-old Ted Williams was a homeless man living in Columbus, Ohio. Sometimes he crashed on a friend or family member‘s couch, or in a homeless shelter. But more often that not, he spent his time living in a tent, behind an abandoned gas station.
Then “Columbus Dispatch” videographer Doral Chenoweth recorded this video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very often, homeless people ask me for spare change on freeway exit ramps. But recently, there‘s been a guy with an interesting sign in I-71 in Hudson Street. His handwritten sign says he has the God-given gift of a great voice.
Hey, I want to make you work for your dollar. Say something with that great radio voice.
TED WILLIAMS: When you‘re listening to nothing but the best of oldies, you‘re listening to Magic 98.9. Thank you so much you. God bless you. Thank you.
And we‘ll be back with more right after these words. And don‘t forget tomorrow morning, it‘s your chance to win a pair of tickets to see this man live in concert. Thank you so much.
I can‘t be an actor. I can‘t be an on-air personality, but the voice just became something of a development over years and I went to school for it. And then alcohol and drugs and a few other things became part of my life. But I‘ve got two years clean and I‘m trying hard to get it back. And hopefully, somebody from one of these television or radio stations, hey, I need a voice-over or I need something.
So, you know, I‘m hoping one day, watch “Family Guy,” weeknights at 7:30 on FOX 28.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O‘DONNELL: Since Monday, that video has received over 12 million hits. Ted Williams has received job offers from NFL films, Kraft Foods and ESPN, and the Cleveland Cavaliers have not only offered him a job but something he hasn‘t had for years, a place to live.
Joining me now back in his hometown of New York, Ted Williams.
Ted, it is a real pleasure to meet you.
WILLIAMS: A pleasure meeting you.
O‘DONNELL: That‘s an amazing video. I have watched everything you‘ve done since that video emerged this morning on “The Today” show. An amazing 10 minutes with Matt and Meredith.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
O‘DONNELL: Before you got to “The Today” show, what was it like to sleep in a hotel bed the night before?
WILLIAMS: Oh, that was—that was outstanding. Like I mentioned to you a little while ago, you know, the plush-ness of that bed just enabled me to get a good night‘s rest.
O‘DONNELL: How long since you have been in a bed like that?
WILLIAMS: Oh, God, way before the holidays, about seven or eight months, nine months.
O‘DONNELL: And we have breaking news to announce tonight—
WILLIAMS: OK.
O‘DONNELL: -- about your relationship to this network. You are going to be one of the voices of our “Lean Forward” campaign for MSNBC‘s advertising campaign for the network.
WILLIAMS: Oh, goodness.
O‘DONNELL: MSNBC, “The Place for Politics.” Let‘s hear it—
WILLIAMS: MSNBC, “The Place for Politics.”
O‘DONNELL: Can you teach me that? You said that that‘s a God-given voice, but you also said you studied. You took classes.
WILLIAMS: Yes. Believe it or not, this gentlemen, Earl Bailey (ph), and he started me in broadcasting school. You know, another venue that I just, you know, took advantage of. And he taught me how to color my words and stretch words and, you know, things of that nature. And he always did it first to show me. He always encouraged me.
He said, Ted, one day, one day, you are going to—this was over 25 years ago. I got a chance to see him, Lawrence. I got a chance to se him, over at that Jim—God, Jim is going to kill me. “Dave and Jimmy Show.” Yes.
O‘DONNELL: And you—this morning, you talked about you are back in New York for the first time since 1980s. Your mother lives here. Did you get to se your mother today?
WILLIAMS: Yes, yes.
O‘DONNELL: When is the last time you saw her?
WILLIAMS: I saw my mother the other day. No, as a matter of fact, today. What am I talking about? Yes, today.
O‘DONNELL: And that was—
WILLIAMS: And very cheerful reunion.
O‘DONNELL: Right.
WILLIAMS: It‘s a very cheerful reunion.
O‘DONNELL: That‘s fantastic.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
O‘DONNELL: And you will presumably be back in New York more, I hope, especially with the MSNBC—
WILLIAMS: I hope to be—
O‘DONNELL: When I see you in the hallways here, I am going to be trying to get a voice. Will you voice-coach me how to do this?
WILLIAMS: I‘ll do anything you ask me to do, Lawrence, anything.
O‘DONNELL: Now, you were out there and Doral Chenoweth noticed you and decided he wanted to get you on video. That‘s what started this rocket to the moon.
WILLIAMS: I never had any idea that by him posting that, whatever he posted for the people to get ahold of it, whether it be YouTube or actually it was the “Dispatcher‘s” Web site. So I had no idea this was going to be anything, you know? I thought maybe, if anything, it would be a little tidbit of entertainment.
O‘DONNELL: Well, he knew it was worth putting up. And he‘s here and we‘re going to bring—
WILLIAMS: Hey! I love this man. He is truly—
O‘DONNELL: Here‘s the guy who started this.
WILLIAMS: Yes, yes.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: You couldn‘t have brought a better person.
O‘DONNELL: He knew this story was worth telling and that people were going to want to hear it.
WILLIAMS: Oh, this is like—can I stand?
O‘DONNELL: Yes, absolutely.
WILLIAMS: Please. This is the man. (INAUDIBLE) I love this man here.
Like I said, I had no idea that, you know, what he had planned to do with this. I don‘t want to take any of the time that he needs to explain what made him do it, but I had no idea. I thought, like I said, it was just a little entertainment value that he just wanted to share.
DORAL CHENOWETH, COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Hey, Ted, I had the same feeling. I didn‘t think it was going to have this much buzz.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CHENOWETH: I thought it was a nice video. You have a great voice but it is just really taken off.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
O‘DONNELL: You really found a story that has taken off like nothing else that I can think of. It‘s got to just stun you what‘s been happening.
CHENOWETH: I think it resonates with thousands, if not millions, of people. It‘s a feel-good story. You know, everybody is vested in you now and they‘re watching this rise to fame. And you have—just two days ago. I mean, you were sleeping, you know, either at a friend‘s house or not that long ago.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: It seems like it wasn‘t that long ago that I seen him as I was standing on the—
CHENOWETH: You were under that tent beside the freeway exit ramp.
WILLIAMS: Two days ago.
CHENOWETH: And now you are staying here.
WILLIAMS: I‘m at a plush hotel and I‘m on Lawrence‘ show and Matt and Meredith and Ann and Al. Oh, God.
O‘DONNELL: Ted, you have a chance to talk to homeless people about this. You have explained that we shouldn‘t be judging every homeless person by appearance. There are some people out there that would surprise us in the ways that you have surprised us.
But what does this tell you about what you would like to tell people who have been left behind on the street tonight?
WILLIAMS: Please, continue to pray. I think—I think most people in that situation like I‘m in currently and I don‘t think I will be, but most of them have a sense of spirituality inside them. But they don‘t bring it out to surface. You know, they let it stay there. And they don‘t really let people know that they do have some type of reverence toward God.
And I think if they just bring that, there‘s so much hope for you, because there are some artists out there. I have a friend of mine who‘s homeless right now as we‘re speaking. Lord knows, I wish I could reach out there and do what Mr. Chenoweth did for me to him because this guy could draw the whole studio here. I mean—
O‘DONNELL: Well, you‘re going to find him for us.
WILLIAMS: My god, he‘s a regular Picasso.
O‘DONNELL: That will be tonight‘s LAST WORD. But we‘re going to hear your voice on this network going forward.
Doral Chenoweth of “The Columbus Dispatch” and Ted Williams, now with MSNBC—thank you very much both of you for joining us tonight.
You can follow our show and our web page at TheLastWord.MSNBC.com. Once you‘re there, you can find all the information you need to donate money to the KIND Fund, Kids In Need of Desks, for schoolchildren in Africa.
“COUNTDOWN” is up next.
END
Copyright 2011 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by
United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed,
transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written
permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark,
copyright or other notice from copies of the content.>
PASTE THE TRANSCRIPT HERE, LEAVE THE LINK
