i'm chris matthews, welcome to the show. with us today, rick stengel with the bbc's katty kay, the "new york time's" helene cooper and "the washington post's" david ignatius. on the first anniversary of the killin of bin laden, rick stgel's "time" magazine has a report showing how risky president obama's decision was. we learn that only five or six people were iluded for nine months. many people you would expect to know did not and were not included and we learned that the president went against advice of defense secretary bob gates, joint chiefs vice chairman jim cartwright and vice president biden, fearing the huge risk of sending in boots from the ground,referring an air strike but the president chose the riskiest option. rick, w he disagree with joe biden, bob gates and general cartwright? >> he took a high risk but high rewards strategy. one of the things that was written, if they used drones or missiles, they would never have known whether they got osama bin laden and they didn't expect the pakistanis to tell them, eit

hi, i'm chris matthews. with us, hdnet's dan rather. nia-malika henderson from "the washington post." and nbc's pete williams. the euphoria of the bill's victorious passage has a far less optimistic view. >> it's the law. the president signs the health care bill adds supporters cheer and critics vow their argument. the argument whether the health care argument is constitutional at all. chris: take us inside the court, pete williams. you were there. electric. it's called a hot bench. it's really feverish. >> it was. everyone had a lot of questions. the justice had to play traffic cop and they had to say which one would go next. there was one point when justice kagan was interrupted. the so lister -- chris: he gave different signals this week. one was a real resistance this week of the president's individual mandate requiring us to get health insurance. on the other hand he seemed to question what if they don't get insurance? >> maybe there is something different about the health care industry. you go to the hospital, they treat you anywa

hi, i'm chris matthews. with us today, michael duffy of "time" magazine, liz marlantes of the "christian science monitor," patricia murphy and david leonhardt. six months from the election but the pros know voters are locking in right now, believe it or not the 2/3 are already telling pollsters they've made their final choice and most have the horse race obama-romney, very close. we're looking inside it today. maybe the exee is white voters. when he won last time barack obama got 43% of white voters. in this week's wall street journal poll he got 40%. whites it -- have tipped dramatic throy romney. 42% said they would be pessimistic abandon worried if probe was re-elected but only 22% said they would be if romney won the what's going on? had >> barack obama did not get a big majority of white voters last time and he's not going to get it this time. his main problem is white men. he's running closer to 34%, 35%. he's losing white men both under age 50 and if ne make less than $50,000 a year and it's very hard

let me give you a little background on chris matthews and why i say that he's obsessed with race. in 2010 after barak obama delivered the state of the union message, chris mattes said, i forgot he was black tonight for an hour. he forgot barak obama was black. about the tea party he said, and again, a verbatim quote, they're all white. all of them. every single one of them is white. never end moo that's factually incorrect. what if it were white? then when barak obama ran for president in 2008, chris matthews said, quote, this gets very ethnic, but the fact that barak obama is good at basketball doesn't surprise anybody. thank god, bill, you didn't say that. now, here is the point: actually the question he raised, will there be reluctance to toss barak obama out because he's black, it's not a bad question. and you and i could have that discussion. but when someone who is obsessed with race, like chris matthews apparently is, when he brings that question up, i'm wondering if he's really saying that barak obama should not be tossed out precisely because he's the first black presiden

"hardball" with chris mas thewes starts right now. >> i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, going, going, gone. >>> it wasn't long ago -- >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews from washington. leading off tonight, going, going, gone. it wasn't long ago that rick santorum looked like the guy that just might knock off mitt romney, but he lost michigan, he lost ohio, he lost wisconsin, and it increasingly looked like he was going to lose his home commonwealth of pennsylvania. so today rick santorum suspended his campaign. though he refused to mention romney by name, you bet he did. nothing stands between romney and the nomination. check your calendars, by the way. the general election starts today. on that last point, president obama knows that times are bad this fall. he won't get reelected arguing, i've done a great job. so he's making a different case right now, that if you're struggling, it's not because he's failed, it's because the system failed. the republicans have stacked the deck in favor of the rich against the rest of us. obama clearly thinks it

number 2, chris matthews is lying. even chris matthews doesn't believe this. this is a quote on january 13, about mitt romney, talking about him. he's a massachusetts moderate, by record because he was governor of massachusetts. he was a moderate. even chris mathews doesn't believe the lie he told. >> sean: let's go back to brian williams. let's stay where we are here, you have an analyst saying that -- implying that romney yearns for a time when women couldn't vote and blacks couldn't vote. when we get back -- i have a theory where a lot of this is coming from. but watch this. >> the number of eye i don't call them lies, but misinformation that came out of mr. romney's mouth was stunning. you know, here's the other problem. the picture that he was painting of an america, you know, restoring an america -- i kept thinking, it sounds like you want to go back to a time when women couldn't vote, blacks couldn't vote. we didn't have -- it just didn't sound like this was the america that we all know and love. >> sean: all right. where is some of the extremism coming

let me give you a little background on chris matthews and why i say that he's obsessed with race. in 2010 after barak obama delivered the state of the union message, chris mattes said, i forgot he was black tonight for an hour. he forgot barak obama was black. about the tea party he said, and again, a verbatim quote, they're all white. all of them. every single one of them is white. never end moo that's factually incorrect. what if it were white? then when barak obama ran for president in 2008, chris matthews said, quote, this gets very ethnic, but the fact that barak obama is good at basketball doesn't surprise anybody. thank god, bill, you didn't say that. now, here is the point: actually the question he raised, will there be reluctance to toss barak obama out because he's black, it's not a bad question. and you and i could have that discussion. but when someone who is obsessed with race, like chris matthews apparently is, when he brings that question up, i'm wondering if he's really saying that barak obama should not be tossed out precisely because he's the first black presiden

chris matthews, i wish we could continue the conversation we had during the commercial. can i just ask you about the full screen we just saw there? when it says who do people think should be running the house? 2% prefer democrats over republicans, is that because the country wants something to get done? >> well, i do. my new secular religion is make it work. i just think that, you know, we look at issues like immigration and the debt, and we just kick them down the road every year and we talk about them. it is like the middle east peace process, it never goes anywhere. i think we have to show our ability to compromise. and the normal way you do it is way wait and see who wins the election and cut the deal in favor of who won the election. it is never 50/50. so it should be a 60/40, after the last 2010 election, it should have been pro-republican, maybe 60/35, the democrats should have favored in favor of the republicans and then they would have done better. always compromise in favor of the electorate so you can win the next election. you have to compromise. and it is ne

and chris matthews on his book, jack kennedy, elusive hero. after that army colonel chris don't on his time in afghanistan. >> more booktv in prime time tonight on c-span2. and you think of yourself as a team and she said when i get a raise at work she's so proud of me, it's like we got a raise. our family got a raise. but i really felt though she redefined providing to include what her husband us and the shed a lot of respect for what her husband was doing. >> "the richer sex" author liz mundy on the changeable of women as the breadwinners of the family and how that impacts their lives. also this weekend, america the beautiful, director of pediatric nursery at johns hopkins in cars and compares the decline of empires past with america and shares his thoughts on what should be done to avoid a similar fate. sunday at 3:30 p.m. tv every weekend on c-span2. >> farmer lobby is jack abramoff spent four years in prison for mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials and tax evasi evasion. after his release in 2010, he wrote "capitol punishment:

coming up at 10:00 on the "chris matthews show." details showed the president took nine months to make the final call, and in that nine months six people knew bin laden had been found. bob gates decided to send the s.e.a.l.s in rather than hit him from the air. plus, where is any evidence that mitt romney will turn into a moderate once elected. join us for a great roundtable. now for a look at what is coming up on "meet the press," here is david gregory. >>> coming up, romney versus obama. the race is now heating up. we will go inside the campaign this morning with two top political advisers, and former rnc chair, ed gillespie. plus, hilary rosen, the strategist that sparked the firestorm because of the comments of ann romney. she joins our political roundtable this morning. all coming up later on "meet the press." be sure and stay tuned after the program for the special press pass conversation with two from "saturday night live," only on nbc 4. >>> just to set the record straight, i really do enjoy attending these dinners, but i ha

coming up at 10:00 on the chris matthews show, barack obama has all the advantages and disadvantages of running for re-election from the white house. today we look at history. when the experts study past incumbents, but does that predict for president obama this fall? most of the patterns favor incumbent, but is barack obama an exception. and is hillary clinton better off if mitt romney wins this summer, or if barack obama holds it? you may be surprised. join us for great roundtable. now for a look at what is coming on "meet the press." >> good morning. coming up, president obama publicly singled out mitt romney for the first time this week and governor romney returned fire, both showing competing visions for the country and what is to come in the general election. this morning we have our own preview with a debate between dick durbin, and john kasik. is it possible to get the balance right in the election year with so many controversy surrounding religious liberty. be sure and stay tuned after the program with the press pass conversation with nikki haley. >>> it appears mitt romney

coming up at 10:00 on the chris matthews show, the presidential race is very tight. what is fascinating two-thirds of us are locked into our choice. what will make the difference on election day? new polls show white voters are not there for barack obama the way they were last time, and is it all about jobs? if jobs pick up will obama get back his 2008 coalition? plus, it's a celebrity world. obama was a rock star last time. will celebrity be a winner for him this time or will slow and steady romney look better. we have a great roundtable. now for a look at what is coming up on "meet the press," here is david gregory. >> 12 secret service agents now implicated in the prostitution scandal down in columbia. this is in the wake of the controversy spending spree. who is going to be held accountable for all of this as new details emerge in both incidents. chairman of the house oversight committee, darryl issa of california, and the congressman from new york, peter king. and then we have polling that shows the race between romney and obama. we will talk to david axelrod, p

chris matthews was here peddling his latest jfk book. he is a huge fan. was jfk under estimated? that is the debate going on. talk about controlling the message. in the obama administration, we talk about their view of the press. they are so controlling of the press. >> they have not done a good job. >> that was a campaign that was brilliant in its use of new media. that again is striking. every president uses the medium of their own time. radio, tv with kennedy. we have not seen this white house effectively harness and the -- any of the media. >> goldman sachs. >> one of the reasons i supported president obama was i did not want to see larry summers in the white house. [laughter] with hillary clinton, until the end of her campaign, there was not a sense of how she could bring her history to bear. it was very much a restoration ist campaign. he fell if you are going to get the clinton administration part 3. -- you felt as if you were going to get the clinton administration part 3. if you feel it was such a crisis and panic at that time as many say it was coming out of the calamit

chris matthews. chris looking into the debate of whether raising the taxes on the wealthy will be a winning strategy for the president, but first, the flaw for the daily rant. the day . wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. ahh, cloudy glasses. you didn't have to come over! easy. hi. cascade kitchen counselor. look! over time, a competing gel can leave cloudy hard water deposits, but cascade complete pacs help leave glasses sparkling. cascade. love it or your money back. >>> we live in a politically divided time, but it's also a moment of great importance for the nation when the decisions we make today will have a profound impact on the future of our nation. war, peace, health, the economy, the debt. sometimes it feels like there is great cause for dread. and speaking of dread, i just turned 44. i now am solidly among the middle aged. so today i asked myself, are we in a better or worse position than we were 44 years ago? i w

[captioning made possible by nbc universal] >> this is "the chris matthews show" >> ask not what your country can do for you. >> take down this wall. >> our time for change has come. chris: a tiny very select and highly influential group of americans. sole requirements president of the united states. club rule, help each other. bill and barack, what is their story? why they are charmed by the bushes? is it about rivalry and are they dead set on being the two democrats? and finally, scorpions in a bottle. richard nixon wanted to be president and how these two went after each other over vietnam. with us today, "time" magazine, michael duffy, and nbc apped degree a ha mitchell a kasie hunt and howard fineman. we are learning about men who have been american presidents. this was a sleepover at the white house, complete with ja mmp mies that bill clinton held for the club, ford, bush, carter and all camped out there and when they don't have sleep overs, they have this club house as their meeting grouped. mike, this is a great scoop. we known there have been friendships, but you got a real

. >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews from washington. leading off tonight, going, going, gone. it wasn't long ago that rick santorum looked like the guy that just might knock off mitt romney, but he lost michigan, he lost ohio, he lost wisconsin, and it increasingly looked like he was going to lose his home commonwealth of pennsylvania. so today rick santorum suspended his campaign. though he refused to mention romney by name, you bet he did. nothing stands between romney and the nomination. check your calendars, by the way. the general election starts today. on that last point, president obama knows that times are bad this fall. he won't get reelected arguing, i've done a great job. so he's making a different case right now, that if you're struggling, it's not because he's failed, it's because the system failed. the president made fairness the issue today. the republicans have stacked the deck in favor of the rich against the rest of us. obama clearly thinks it has a winning strategy here. plus the trayvon martin case, late this afternoon lawyers for george zimmerman said they

i'm chris matthews back in washington. leading off tonight, the buffett rule. can mitt romney and republicans make the case that wealthy people like him should pay lower tax rates than the middle class? well, the obama campaign is trying to make them do exactly that, betting that this so-called buffett rule, that billionaires should not pay a lower rate than their secretaries, is a winning issue. republicans, of course, are hoping americans hate taxes so much, they'll propose raising them even on the lauren buffetts in the world. plus, we got another example of how far people look and how something smells foul when they're asked to endorse mitt romney. how do you nominate a guy that even once wants to see president obama depp feated. . . finally, let me finish with how the historic divide of church verse state keeps social justice and peace in this world. we begin with mike halpern. he's a national political correspondent for new york magazine and also msnbc political analyst. how did you get the title see more, all. . president obama. last week which is could

chris matthews hardball is up right now. >> bodyguards. let's play hardball. >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews. the president and the secret service. this is a scandal not going away. both democrats and republicans are skeptical of the secret service's claim that president obama was not in potential danger. we have the latest information about the scandal, about how many women were really involved here. >>> also, last night the republicans beat back the popular buffett rule which would have raised taxes on millionaires. the alternative? lowering taxes on most businesses. president obama says fairness is a winning argument. this november, is it more the condition of the economy for an election issue? mitt, they're just not that into you. our o.r.c. poll says when it comes to being likeable, president romney beats him by 2-1. that may be the most important number you hear this entire campaign. 2-1 they like obama, not the other guy. what mitt romney had to say about this story that won't go away. shamus the dog on the car roof. let me fi

>>> it wasn't long ago -- >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews from washington. leading off tonight, going, going, gone. it wasn't long ago that rick santorum looked like the guy that just might knock off mitt romney, but he lost michigan, he lost ohio, he lost wisconsin, and it increasingly looked like he was going to lose his home commonwealth of pennsylvania. so today rick santorum suspended his campaign. though he refused to mention romney by name, you bet he did. nothing stands between romney and the nomination. check your calendars, by the way. the general election starts today. on that last point, president obama knows that times are bad this fall. he won't get reelected arguing, i've done a great job. so he's making a different case right now, that if you're struggling, it's not because he's failed, it's because the system failed. the republicans have stacked the deck in favor of the rich against the rest of us. obama clearly thinks it has a winning strategy here. plus the trayvon martin case, lawyers for george zimmerman said they are no longer his lawye

"chris matthews" and then followed by "meet the press." let's check in. >> good morning, washington. coming up at 10:00 on "the chris matthews show" we learn about the secret club of men with one thing in common. they were once the most powerful people in the world and now they have sleepovers together. the former american presidents and fascinating stories about how they've had each other's back in some of the country's biggest fights. and anecdotes how ronald reagan taught bill clinton, catch this, how to salute. they didn't always help each other. we know richard nixon stalled vietnam peace talks to win in '68 and lyndon johnson knew it. join me for a great round table. now for a look at what's coming up on "meet the press," here's david gregory. >> thank you, chris. good morning. coming up, the fight for women voters takes center stage after a democratic strategist took on ann romney and set off a firestorm of criticism and a debate over working mothers. we'll talk about broader issues surrounding the gender gap in politics, women vote

>>> good evening, i'm chris matthews from washington. leading off tonight, going, going, gone. it wasn't long ago that rick santorum looked like the guy that just might knock off mitt romney, but he lost michigan, he lost ohio, he lost wisconsin, and it increasingly looked like he was going to lose his home commonwealth of pennsylvania. so today rick santorum suspended his campaign. though he refused to mention romney by name, you bet he did. nothing stands between romney and the nomination. check your calendars, by the way. the general election starts today. on that last point, president obama knows that times are bad this fall. he won't get reelected arguing, i've done a great job. so he's making a different case right now, that if you're struggling, it's not because he's failed, it's because the system failed. the president made fairness the issue today. the republicans have stacked the deck in favor of the rich against the rest of us. obama clearly thinks it has a winning strategy here. plus the trayvon martin case, late this afternoon lawyers for george zimmerman said they

i'm michael smirkonish in for chris matthews. the 99% solution. the fbi is now on the scene in sanford, florida focusing on whether trayvon martin's civil rights were violated. plus, we may now be able to say whose voice it was screaming for help on the 911 tape. george zimmerman's family says it's his, and trayvon martin's mother says it's the voice of her son. the screams are not from george zimmerman. >>> swing time, a usa today gallup poll. the president leads by nine points. the biggest change? women who are lining up behind the president. is the argument over contraception finally being played in the gdp. they found this amount of support from general imhoff. >> i've never been a fan of mitt romney. he's a nice person but i've not agreed with him politically on a lot of things. >> republicans sound like they would rather be doing just about anything rather than endorsing romney. and while it's not unusual for a politician to leave his party, it is news when a rising star jumps ship. that just happened in california where a promising republic

michael maddish in the chair for chris matthews wondering if there is a war on women. up right now. >>> now to the gender gap. let's play some "hardball." >>> good morning, i'm michael smirconish sitting in for chris matthews. the gender gap is a war on women and mitt romney will lose the election if he can't close a growing gender gap. so head of the rnc who said today the gender gap exists only in media fiction and then he worked in caterpillars into the quote. this certainly didn't help with women. the dnc has only been too eager to take advantage. mitt, it happens. how did it come to this? the most conservative republican party now dominated by tea pa partiers is about to moderate the most liberal candidate in the field. might we see the kind of blood letting that hasn't happened in the republican party since the goldman wipeout since '64? could that send the republican party even further to the right in 2016? and the obama party will go after romney because he is a mormon. really? where is the evidence of that? and "to kill a mockingbird" is going to be in a scree

i'm michael smirkonish in for chris matthews. the 99% solution. the fbi is now on the scene in sanford, florida focusing on whether trayvon martin's civil rights were violated. plus, we may now be able to say whose voice it was screaming for help on the 911 tape. george zimmerman's family says it's his, and trayvon martin's mother says it's the voice of her son. the screams are not from george zimmerman. >>> swing time, a usa today gallup poll. the president leads by nine points. the biggest change? women who are lining up behind the president. is the argumen over contraception finally being played in the gdp. they found this amount of support from general imhoff. >> i've never been a fan of mitt romney. he's a nice person but i've not agreed with him pitically on a lot of things. >> republicansound like they would rather be doing just about anything rather than endorsing romney. and while it's not unusual for a politician to leave his party, it is news when a rising star mps ship. that just happened in california where a promising republican has

." >>> good evening, i'm michael smerconish filling in for chris matthews. when is the last time you even heard a debate over gun control? the arguments today are over how far and how fast to expand gun owner rights. and mitt romney toed the line today at the nra, calling gun control an assault on freedom. of course, expanded gun rights may have emboldened george zimmerman to leave his car and pursue trayvon martin. now ask yourself this. is it possible for george zimmerman to even get a fair trial? plus the hilary rosen gaffe reminded us that we insult stay-at-home moms. and that's not something that will go away simply without making the case that it's president obama who is waging the war on women. romney is rich and out of touch, so today the president and vice president released their tax returns, daring romney to do the same. and let me finish tonight with a battle from the 2008 campaign that's still not finished. barack obama versus bill clinton. we begin with guns. former pennsylvania governor ed rendell is an nbc political analyst, and alan gottlieb

"hardball with chris matthews" starts right now. >> secret servicing. let's play hardball. >> good evening. i'm chris matthews back in washington. leading off tonight, sex, drugs and audio tape. let's start with the sex. it began with a dispute between a secret service agent and a prostitute over payment. where it ends is anyone's guess, but as of now, as many as 20 secret service personnel are now suspected of bringing prostitutes back to the rooms in cardehena, columbia. that means prostitutes were allowed into the security zone of the president of the united states making this, perhaps, the biggest security breach in the history of the secret service. >>> next, mitt romney has spent a lot of time talking about president obama and very little on the record about what he plans to do were he elected president. but we learned a lot last night where someone taped illegally romney speaking about money at a fundraiser, who he will ax if elected and who he will not tax. we also learned romney is worried about losing the election because of the lost latino vo

hi, i'm chris matthews. welcome to the show. with us today, dan rather from hd net, pete williams -- jon harris from politico, kathleen parker and dan "hendo" henderson. we're going to look at three historic predictors today. when the white house changes hands as it did when barack obama took over from george bush, that's a strong predictor for re-election. if president obama lost he would be only the second to lose in 12 -- 100 years after the electorate had switched parties. the only other one? jimmy carter. >> well, i'm not much of a believer in these kind of prep addictors, but if one is, what's different about this time around is, jimmy carter was a case of the electorate was faces with a charismatic new republican on the scene. now, there's a lot good to be said about mitt romney, but for many people he has the charisma of a carrot. [laughter] so he may develop it as the campaign goes along, but the other thing, why i think president obama is particularly vulnerable is the extreme distaste to put it mildly that so many peo

also still ahead we're going to play "hardball with chris matthews". "squawk box" will be right back. >>> welcome back to "squawk box". today the senate budget committee will begin a markup of a long term budget bill. kent conrad plans on using the simpsonson bowls blueprint for reduction. the senator from north dakota, kent conrad, your ears might have been burning on monday. david walker was speaking very highly you, you're trying to get it done and i said well he's not up for re-the election so he's doing the right thing. and i mean i hate to be so cynical, but i don't know, it just seems maybe there's some truth in that in this current environment. >> look it's a challenge. and what really has to be done, i think, everybody knows is we got to come together around a comprehensive ten year plan. we have a budget for this year and next. it was provided for in the budget control act passed last year. what we don't have is a long term plan to get us back on track. that's why i decided to offer the bowles-simpson approach which is the only plan ten year