MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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REP. KEITH ELLISON (D), MINNESOTA: Hey, Ed. Always.

SCHULTZ: I"m going right at this. I"m going to go right at this.

If this was a white guy and he had turned his kid in, he would had been played up by the media as this guy is an American hero. But he"s a Muslim. It"s a Muslim family. And it seems to be a little different response by the media in this country.

Am I off base? What do you think?

ELLISON: Well, you know I want to tell you, Ed, that I"m glad you"re bringing out the full set of facts here. I mean, I think it"s got to be emotionally wrenching when you have to tell law enforcement authorities that your child has gone that far of the mark, that you would need to report him. So this man summoned some great courage and will to do the right thing.

And I want to encourage people in his community to congratulate him for doing the right thing, although it couldn"t have been easy. No parent could do it lightly. This young man must had really been off on the deep end.

But I think that also, you should know that it was a Muslim guy who helped report the Times Square bomber. In that case, when this fellow, Faisal Shahzad, was trying to set off a bomb there, that was reported and the citizens responded. One of them was a Muslim fellow.

So, the fact is, is that the Obama administration deserves a lot of credit. They are dealing with this issue of terrorism in a forthright way.

FBI agents are responding to tips they are receiving. They are taking them seriously. And I want to commend the men and women of the FBI for doing the right thing in the right way.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, the last two weeks, we have been pushing the fear button, one network especially--

ELLISON: Oh, yes.

SCHULTZ: -- saying that the TSA is patting Americans down. Less than one percent of Americans have been patted down through the holiday. And, of course, today we"re back to traveling. I guess that story"s all gone now and we shouldn"t feel violated at all.

How do you feel about the hoodwinking that"s taking place in this country about how we really should be focused on the work that this family did and what counterterrorism experts did, as opposed to what actually is not happening at airports?

ELLISON: Well, you know, I do invite the dialogue about the proper balance between personal safety and personal bodily integrity. I don"t mind the conversation, but you"re right.

The real deal here, families stepping up to help protect this country. Even when they need to report a member of their own family, they"re doing the right thing. They are being forthright and courageous.

But I also want to commend the FBI for one more thing, Ed, and that is the fact that even--that after this incident occurred, there was a burning at an Islamic center that this young man was I think a part of. And the FBI came out and said, no vigilante justice, the rule of law will prevail, people who are law enforcement officers are going to protect everyone.

I really appreciated that, because we"ve got to all be in this fight against terrorism together. And we don"t want any branch of our community to feel that they"re on the sideline or marginalized because they"re outside of the protection of the law.

The FBI did the right thing not only by following up on this tip to protect Americans--and, of course, this young man thought that he was going to kill or maim about 10,000 people, so it is important. That"s very critical. But even after the fact, the FBI said no vigilante justice, no one is outside the protection of the law.

So I think they stepped up in some good ways. And again, this is the Obama administration, the FBI, and law enforcement. And I think that we"ve got to start giving credit where credit due, to this family and to law enforcement under the Obama administration.

SCHULTZ: And now in the aftermath of the holiday season, and now that we"re all back to business travelers and going as normal, what do you expect the TSA to do? Same old stuff, or are they going to get heat? What should happen?

ELLISON: Well, I think that the TSA should endeavor to try to keep the public safe while we"re flying and try to be as--

SCHULTZ: But it was a ginned-up story, was it not, Congressman?

ELLISON: Yes, I would say it was a story that ended up catching some wind there by one particular TV station in particular. But, you know, I don"t--I credit the men and women of the TSA to try to find that right balance.

They"re working on it. I trust that they will continue to do so.

But let"s not flame this thing up. I mean, let"s do what"s right:

protect the public, try to protect people"s integrity, and keep the hype out of it. It"s too important. It"s too important, Ed, you know, to try to politicize something like safety in the air.

SCHULTZ: And is it repulsive to think about racial profiling, in your opinion?

ELLISON: Absolutely. And not only is it repulsive, it"s bad policing.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

ELLISON: As we know, people who want to do harm to others come in all colors, all cultures, all shapes, and you can"t just look at somebody"s dress or their appearance and figure out who"s a bad guy. You"ve got to look at their behavior. You"ve got to focus to what they"re doing, and you"ve got to respond to tips like the FBI did in this situation that his father gave them.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, great to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.

ELLISON: Always, Ed.

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