political stakes. tomorrow, however, away from those two issues, we will go back to our basic narrative. every problem, remember, is a potential job. and here in florida, a huge issue is health care for an aging american population that loves to retire to florida. we'll talk to former dnc chair howard dean about how the feefer service model must change and show you one career option with far more jobs than qualified people to fill them. we hope we'll see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 eastern time. from miami, "hardball" with chris matthews starts right now. storming the bastille. let's play "hardball"! good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight keep your enemy close. president obama's state of the union address was first and

foremost a campaign speech. a campaign against one man -- mitt romney. the president's assault on economic unfairness was the storming of the bastille against the special tax breaks of the guy who makes more in a single day than most people make all year and still wants more tax breaks for people like him. the message is stark and the campaign is on. get romney. it's where we start tonight. even though the president's speech sounded like a point by point attack on mitt romney, it's newt gingrich who surged since last week. new poll numbers show a dandy republican race shaping up in florida next week full of fun like newt gingrich spinning history of the with callista as an event that makes him quote more normal than somebody who wanders around seeming perfect. his words. also if you watched closely last night you might have heard president obama say this to defense secretary leon panetta. >> good job tonight. good job tonight.

>> i'll say. the president was talking about the daring rescue mission by navy seals to free an american woman kidnapped by somali pirates. tonight jessica buchanan is safe and sound and we have the incredible story of her rescue. and gabby giffords' official resignation from the house today. it was a deeply emotional scene on the house floor that few who saw it will ever forget. finally let me finish with those brand new tapes from jack kennedy that show his conflict over vietnam right to the end. we begin with the president's speech last night targeted sharply at quarter billionaire mitt romney. chuck todd's nbc's chief white house correspondent, political director, and chris sliza is managing editor of post politics.com and msnbc political analyst. mitt romney might well have been sitting in the house gallery like they always put those people up there for the president watching his address because the president's message was a clear signal of what the obama campaign's attack will be on the former governor if he is the nominee.

it was a theme the president repeated again today in iowa. let's listen. >> we need to change our tax code so that people like me and an awful lot of members of congress pay our fair share of taxes. tax reform should follow the buffet rule. if you make more than a million dollars a year, you should not pay less than 30% in taxes. now you can call this class warfare all you want. but asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as a secretary in taxes? most americans would call that common sense. >> you know, i've said before it sounds like one of our ads here with leading forward. it does sound like common sense. how does the other side defend against a direct shot against a guy paying 15% or less in taxes and campaigning to pay less? >> i think that is the fundamental problem romney has. he needs a bigger idea. he needs a bigger idea that the middle class can wrap their heads around about why he is going to fix this economy.

>> how does he make the case he needs a tax break? >> he did a tax plan. he didn't do an economic plan when he did this thing. i think that basically what team obama did, in fact the white house, the campaign, however we want to call this, but what team obama did was sort of expose that. he's messing around with numbers. he's messing around with his tax form. he is messing a round and saying, let's hope, if i cut these taxes they'll create jobs. and i think this is -- this is now obama exposed this and frankly so was gingrich a little bit. romney needs to figure this out. he's got to come up with something bigger. >> chris cillizza i don't know if you believe in luck. i do. the other two guys who were going to run against alan keyes in illinois had marital problems right before the election. now he is running against, well newt gingrich is in there doing the blocking for him attacking the probably think can still say going to be the nominee romney

destroying for basically being the very thing obama says he is, aloof, elitist bad guy and there he is having that guy do the dirty work for him and then the guy has to put his tax returns out the very day of the state of the union admitting he is paying even less than we thought he was, even less than 15%. >> it's better to be lucky than good, chris. that is triply true in politics. go back even further with barack obama. his first race for state senate he got in because the woman he was replacing who deggs eyeded to come back and run got disqualified from the ballot. yes this is someone who he is quite skilled, also pretty lucky in the right place at the right time. to chuck's point i think we've long thought, well romney's probably the best nominee republicans can put forward. he has the organization, can make the economic argument. but there is an achilles heel that exists, at least today if romney is the nominee and that is this is a person who makes vastly more than the average person and it's not even in wages. that's the thing. i wrote about this a couple days

ago. mitt romney's problem is his tax, his financial life is exotic, swiss bank account, an account in grand cayman. he made $21 million without making any wages in 2011. all of those things, all of those things are not things that the average person sitting at home filling out their tax forms has any familiarity with and it makes mitt romney feel other, look out of touch, elitist. all of those things are bad in a presidential campaign particularly one in an uncertain economic time. >> well, here he is. actually making the case you just made. an interview with cnbc's larry kudlow, romney decried the 99% versus the 1% criticism. he being high up in the 1%. in fact he is 1% of 1% of 1%. let's watch. >> the question is whether you're going to say we'll eliminate the capital gains tax break. so if you're going to say we're going to raise that dramatically you'll choke off a lot of the capital that goes into creating new enterprises and creating jobs. it is the wrong way to go. this is designed to commit me if

i'm the nominee. if i happen not to be the nominee he'll still take the 99 versus one attack. he is trying to divide america and to try and say that republicans are all about the rich people. i am fighting to help middle class americans get better jobs and better incomes and people who have been successful understand the path to success. we want everyone to enjoy success in america. >> you know, these words he uses, people have been successful. the path to success. you know, he doesn't even know the language of the middle class yet. he talks the language of "fortune" magazine. >> it's funny you bring up language. one thing i do want to note and the movement itself feels pretty vindicated today, the occupy wall street movement, the language that they use, you know, the president very quietly while never fully saying he's embraced the occupy movement, he is using their language. he went ahead and adopted the language from the 1%. he's been very carefully doing that. and the republicans have believed this could be a negative for the president.

that's why mitt romney's comfortable talking about the 99 versus the one. >> why do they thng could hurt the president? >> because in the past any time the democrats have tried to do this the old whether it was al gore who tried it, walter mondale who tried it, this idea it's us versus them. >> yeah. >> that it hasn't worked. at the end democrats looked like they were somehow punishing success and republicans have run that campaign before and won. this does seem different because of the economic place we're in and because the rich seem so much richer than what the rich seemed even 20 years ago. >> and romney is so far away from the average republican voter in wealth. nobody who makes a hundred a year or 200 a year, 200,000 a year can say i'm in the same boat as the guy who makes $57,000 a day. >> it's a tough -- you know, we talked about be careful on capital gains and the white house by the way has said no, this isn't raising capital gains. frankly the idea, they haven't figured it out. they're just throwing out a number. we think it should be 30%. >> i know.

>> we have no idea how to write it into the tax code but we came upway number and thank you mitt romney for putting out your tax return. >> another adversy for the president last night republicans in congress. here he was taking on anyone who might get in the way of his agenda. let's watch the tough guy talk for the president. >> the state of our union is getting stronger. and we've come too far to turn back now. as long as i'm president i will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum. but i intend to fight obstruction with action and i will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place. >> there's the president, chris cillizza, talking to his base. for three years he is trying to be a center left president, sometimes a center president, sometimes a left i'd say leaning to the center at the same time trying to keep the base, the blogosphere, etcetera, happy. there he is i think talking directly to them saying i'm going to punch their lights out through executive orders,

through recess appointments, vetoes, whatever it takes to beat them when they try to beat me. >> yeah. you know, chris, if he gets re-elected, i think we may go back to that debt ceiling fight and say, you know what? this might have been the moment when things changed for him. i think the debt ceiling fight confirmed what his aides had been trying and his political strategists had been trying to tell him for a long time that in order to beat republicans you're going to have to talk tougher, be willing to keep the steering wheel straight in the game of political chicken longer, out tough them essentially. if you go and look at the payroll tax cut extension fight, now granted, republicans were internally divided but obama was -- just said you know what? this is td road we're going down. if you want to try and beat me at it you can try and beat me at it. in a lot of ways you could sum up what he said last night in two words. game on. he is trying to send a message i am not changing. i will outlast you in this fight and i will win this fight which is very different than the first two and a half, three years in office in which it was i'll meet

you at 75% of the way. i'll meet you 80% of the way, 85% of the way. that is clearly changed in his own mind. >> here he is saying what a lot of people on his side have been waiting for him to say for a long time. here he is running through his list of successes so far as president. let's listen to what should be the talking points for his confederates. here it comes. >> for the first time in nine years there are no americans fighting in iraq. for the first time in two decades osama bin laden is not a threat to this country. most of al qaeda's top lieutenants have been defeated. the taliban's momentum has been broken. and some troops in afghanistan have begun to come home. on the day i took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse. some even said we should let it

die. with a million jobs at stake i refuse to let that happen. today general motors is back on top as the world's number one auto maker. >> i've been watching joe biden for years and years and he has that wonderful thing he does. he goes like this. [ laughter ] >> he is a great -- has a great "i'm listening very intently and i'm interested" -- back to you, chuck. >> the accomplishment, somebody said they wanted a whole mystery science just on bainer and biden. >> how they look. >> doing little thought bubbles what they're doing physically and all that stuff. on the accomplishment list i thought it was interesting what he emphasized and what he de-emphasized. he still doesn't know how to deal with health care and that is an interesting conundrum that the obama campaign has decided. >> we want every american to take responsibility for their health care to the extent they

can afford it from the heritage foundation. >> this was blown from the very beginning. they gave the message on health care to the republicans when they were in the middle of getting it passed. they win the legislation and lose the message war. you know, ultimately that's why you hear, boy that's one thing that romney and gingrich, they bring up every day and every hour on the campaign trail is that he -- he had a response almost for everything in that state of the union except health care which i find, i guess their own polling has told them, i just don't have the fight. >> do you think they have a debate this fall and the president has to face romney or gingrich, that gingrich would actually say foodstamps to the president's face? would he say saul olinsky and talk to him like that? >> yes, i think newt would. >> would he get that direct and personal with these charges? >> if he was the nominee i think he would. i would say, chris, i'm stunned and chuck and i have talked about this but i am stunned to the extent at which the entire

gingrich candidacy is premised on the idea that he's the better debater against barack obama as if the general election campaign, the only thing in the general election campaign which could go on for months and months are those three, what we expect to be three presidential debates. it's a remarkable thing that people are saying he is more electable because he is a better debater. my friend, chris, i do agree he is right on one thing in history. they will be the greatest debates in history that those two guys go at it because they both got i.q.s well up there and they would be unbelievably literate against each other. thank you. coming up we've seen watching newt gingrich surge in florida just like in south carolina. what's up? has he crested yet? now we've got a real race between newt and mitt down in florida. the sunshine state. that's ahead. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie.

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minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann who was really made famous on this program announced today she will seek a fourth term in the house of representatives. bachmann finished a distant sixth in the iowa republican caucuses early this month and dropped out of presidential race. a new poll from ppp shows bachmann isn't popular in her home state and is not running statewide but nearly 6 in 10 minnesota voters have an unfavorable opinion of her versus just one-third who view her favorably. keep in mind ppp's a robo poll which some pollsters say isn't as accurate. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] lately, there's been a seismic shift in what passes for common sense. used to be we socked money away and expected it to grow. then the world changed... and the common sense of retirement planning became anything but common. fortunately, td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life.

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welcome back to "hardball." the race for florida is getting more interesting. polls show mitt romney and newt gingrich in a very close race down there. ahead of the primary next tuesday. this week newt gingrich got a big boost in the form of a $5 million check to the super pac he's got from the wife of multi billionaire casino tycoon sheldon addleson. the money seems to be going to good use if you believe in the newt gingrich cause. the pac has produced $6 million in ad time in florida and is out with a new commercial attacking romney's health care record up

in massachusetts. well, today "the washington post" reported that that super pac is, quote, setting up a shadow campaign in florida complete with field directors, volunteers, poll workers, and drivers. rick towers the senior adviser to that pac used to serve as newt gingrich's campaign spokesman. thank you for joining us. also an expert on all things political joan walsh, editor at large. thank you, dear. rick, you maintain the fact that you don't talk to newt gingrich. you are an independent person in this society. you don't work with him. you are not coordinating right? >> no, sir. >> how do you know what to put in these ads? >> we make an assessment and where we think this race is going and things work out pretty well. it was interesting to me. i said that all we have to do is remind people that mitt romney was charlie crist. i've been with newt a long time and i can dance with this campaign and not coordinate. i don't worry about it. >> let's look at a new poll out

there today on the race in florida between sunday and tuesday mitt romney led gingrich by two percentage points, 36-34. however, when you break those numbers down by day there is some difference that newt gingrich's surge might have peaked. so on sunday newt gingrich led mitt romney by six points. on monday and tuesday mitt romney was up by nine. do you see a cresting earlier this week in your campaign, the one you are endorsing? >> no i don't see it at all. in fact mitt romney's team has spent over $5 million here in florida and we've only answered back today. we've run our first ads, you know, late yesterday and a couple ads and then in ernest today. so we've not even responded in the polls that are upside down for mitt romney. so, you know, we have not begun the fight. >> let me go to joan. you know, my theory is this campaign that the success of newt gingrich in challenging romney so effectively the last couple weeks, in fact tied with him basically nationwide now, or a bit ahead, is going to pull romney to the right and it's going to have the effect no

matter which of these two gentlemen using the term that way would succeed that they'll both be further to the right than they'd like to be going into the race against the president. >> well, i think they already are, chris. i think we see that very clearly. the problem for newt, for mitt romney right now, is that he does look like the man of the top 1%. his taxes told us that. the polls, not just the polls. the elections are showing us that. he wins with voters who make over $200,000 a year and he loses with voters, the lunch pail republicans who make around $50,000 a year. but the thing that i think is really scary is just this sewer of negative advertising that we're seeing in florida. you know, that's part of why we really can't determine who is going to come out on top because they just keep throwing buckets of slime at one another and from outside if we're not watching all of that advertising, it's really hard to keep an eye on exactly what's happening. and for mr. tyler to say he's,

he doesn't talk to his candidate, he doesn't need to. he worked for him for years. he is able to channel him. so this is really a case study in how fictional this idea of these independent pacs really are. >> rick, are you a fiction? are you creating a fictional difference between yourself and your candidate? are you channelling him in the way some people do when they go to their clairvoyance? >> i like that term a whole lot but, you know, when i was on your show the last time i said these super pacs are an abomination and we should get rid of them. >> here you are running one. >> i know. it's ridiculous. let's go back to letting candidates raise the money. >> i want to make a point for you guys. i'll give you a free ad point. >> thank you. >> when you say very nicely actually joan that my friend, people make $200,000 a year which is a lot of money sort of identify with mitt romney, mitt romney makes a hundred times that amount. >> i know. >> that's only the amount he decides to draw from his quarter billion dollars in wealth. he could have any amount he

wanted a year. >> right. >> he chooses to reinvest the money. rick, your super pac is out with a new ad today going after romney's health care record up in mass. let's take a look. >> think you know mitt? think again. >> those who follow the path that we pursued will find us the best path. we'll end up with a nation that's taken a mandate approach. >> when mitt romney invented government run health care romney advisers helped barack obama write the disastrous obama care. >> we put them together in exchange and the president's copying that idea. i'm glad to hear that. >> i agree with mitt romney. he recently said he is proud of what he accomplished on health care. >> do you get pictures of bella lugosi and try to make these guys look more and more like them? you've got romney looking like the count himself like a dracula and you got -- what do you do? do you tell these guys put a little weird tint, purple tint on these guys? what did you do? they don't look like this and the president doesn't look like

that in real life. i just saw him on tv last night. he didn't look like that. >> but chris right now i didn't see it. all i heard were mitt romney's words and the president's words. those are the things they said. >> why do you make him look so furtive and dracula like? >> chris, come on. you've been in politics a long time. >> where do you find these voices from these people with these suspicious voices that you get -- i notice you have a female voice. usually you have a male voice for that guy always saying did you know he has been invited 40 times? >> can i bring up something else suspicious? you mentioned the 1% about mitt romney and over $200,000 a year, people are attracted to him. the thing i don't understand is he had some sort of unconventional i.r.a., he's claimed there is somewhere between $21 million and $101 million in his i.r.a. now most americans can only contribute as much as $30,000 into their i.r.a. -- into a retirement account. i did a calle clinton administration. mitt would have to be 3,333 years old or he's put something,

he put some equities or stocks into his i.r.a. and in which case he may have avoided paying the ubit tax. if he did that, avoiding that is criminal. which is it? he 3,000 years old or did he avoid paying the ubit tax? nobody is asking the question. >> come on. >> your witness, joan. one last exchange here. go ahead. >> you know, newt gingrich would lower mitt romney's taxes to zero because mitt romney only pays taxes at the capital gains rate. he only has capital gains. he doesn't have a job. >> apparently doesn't need to. he just puts it in his i.r.a. >> this is hypocrisy. newt gingrich believes everything mitt romney believes. he's flip flopped just as much. he's got a lot of money himself. this is preposterous. >> that's not true. >> it is true. >> by the way, mitt wants to give people tremendous breaks who make a lot of money and so does newt, right? >> anyway, thank you.

it's great to have you on. you are a good sport. lose the double digit multiplication stuff. you'll be invited back. it is always magical the first time someone gets captivated by politics. that happened to new england patriots wide receiver chad ososinco. he tweets during the state of the union next. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key...

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fired back. >> we discovered last night that mitt romney has picked up charlie crist's campaign team. [ laughter ] >> i thought that's sort of telling you everything you need to know about this primary. >> i think this is about the candidate not the staff. >> wow. romney is of course referring to the mass exodus of the gingrich campaign staff last summer but perhaps the best defense for romney came from florida senator marco rubio who beat crist in the 2010 senate race. quote, mitt romney is no charlie crist. romney is a conservative and was one of the first national republican leaders to endorse me. he came to florida, campaigned hard for me, and made a real difference in my race. so it's tit for tat, marco. by the way do you think rubio has his way on the vice presidency maybe? next up, vice president joe biden was asked today to weigh in on the newt/mitt battle and was reluctant to make a predicti

prediction. >> charlie, i couldn't figure out the democratic primary or i would have just joined the president early on. i'm not very good at this. the bottom line here is there is no fundamental difference between newt gingrich and governor romney on the things we care about on the whole issue of how we deal with foreign policy, on how we deal with the domestic policy. this is a republican fight but substantively i don't see any fundamental difference between the men. >> wow. a long fight on the republican side by the way is good news for the obama/biden ticket. while millions watch the president's state of the union address last night, there were close to 800,000 tweets referencing the speech. here's a fun look at the stream of consciousness from chad ochocinco, wide receiver for the new england patriots. quote, not being rude but if they stand up and clap on every statement obama says, this could go on well over three hours. and later he tweeted, quote, anybody notice the guy over obama's left shoulder doesn't seem very happy and he's not

smiling, he's not clapping with joy? hum. well, once he was informed that the person over his left shoulder, the president's left shoulder was in fact the republican speaker of the house ochocinco tweeted, quote, just read some of your tweets and you seem pretty angry, kind sir. i can you see you on tv but air not smiling. hope you're okay. seems like he is a first-time viewer. the final verdict from ochocinco the president's speech was awesome. up next, president obama kept secret a daring navy seals raid that freed an american who was held by pirates over in somalia. details on that incredible mission coming up next. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. savings. savings? progressive was the first to offer online quoting. you can do better. first to show comparison rates. ding! the "name your price" tool. oh! gosh, don't mind if i do. who was the first to offer pet injury coverage? we were. and when did you know you wanted to sell insurance? i said i wouldn't cry. um...

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i'm tyler mathisen with your cnbc market wrap. what an interesting day. industrials up 83 points.

the s&p 500 higher by 11. and the nasdaq higher by 31 and change. big story of the day of course the federal reserve assuring consumers that they'll be able to borrow at low interest rates well into 2014. that's a year and a half longer than it's previously indicated. central bank chair ben bernanke noted the weak but growing economy in the latest interest rate forecast. speaking of borrowing, mortgage applications fell last week according to the mortgage bankers association its index of application activity down 5%. 30-year fixed rates moved up slightly to 4.1%. and in the financial sector citigroup said it may make more cuts at its securities and banking unit this year if revenue does not improve. the company said last week it is already in the process of eliminating about 5,000 jobs. in its most recent earnings report citi said banking revenues were down nearly 30%. that's it from cnbc first in

business worldwide. now back to "hardball." what an incredible story we have to tell you. last night as president obama shook hands and made his way to deliver his state of the union address he pointed at his pentagon chief leon panetta secretary of defense and singled him out for congratulations. a few telling words that were picked up by microphones right there in the chamber. let's listen. >> good job tonight. good job tonight. >> good job tonight for an incredibly bold mission to rescue two hostages including a 32-year-old american woman and a 60-year-old danish man who had been captured in somalia three months ago. immediately after delivering his state of the union address president obama called jessica buchanan's father to tell him his daughter had been rescued. the mission was carried out by navy seals from seal team six,

the same unit that carried out the bin laden raid although not the same individuals. kimberly dojer of the associated press has been reporting on the dramatic raid and bob baird our old friend is an intelligence columnist for "time" magazine. do the play by play and we'll get the commentary from bob. i use these happy terms because it turned out incredibly well. all nine kidnappers killed, none of the rescuers killed, the hostages taken completely without injury. >> nine kidnappers killed. it was a high risk raid, a joint special operations raid. the seals parachuted in from a distance and then hiked to the site, which was an open encampment. they quickly subdued the attackers. there was a brief firefight. some of them were actually asleep. they secured the hostages and then army special operations helicopters flew in, took away the seals, took away the hostages, all of them unharmed.

>> did they go in with those infrared goggles that can see in the night? is that how they did it with that incredible advantage? >> that is one way they could have done it. they're not giving us too many of the tactics and techniques used on the ground because there are other hostages out there. there are other people who may need to be rescued. >> was there a moon that night? >> i don't know. >> i bet they figure all this stuff out, no moon, no stars. they go with the incredible electronic advantage and they can see and nobody else can. >> they do before hand. they figure all of this out and this is one of the reasons that they chose this time for the raid even though president obama was in the middle of a major address to the nation. that was high stakes because this could have gone wrong. then you would have had the contrast of him speaking about security successes while something was failing on the ground. >> is this a new rule of engagement where we seem to kill everybody on the other side? i'm not defending the action or criticizing it but it seems awful clean in terms of no hostages, no prisoners to bring

back, that sort of thing. >> we spoke to pirate sources, self-identified pirate sources on the ground who said that they spoke to survivors from the raid, pirates, criminals who had gotten away. that indicates there is some confusion about whether everyone was killed. >> bob baird, give us your insight into what this means about our capabilities, what we'll be up against the rest of our lives with these strange kind of enemies, pirates. >> chris, i think this is the future warfare. the seals are very, very good at this. they've learned in iraq and afghanistan, you know, from the time of contact, until they rescued everybody, is about two minutes. and as for killing the hostage takers people with weapons the seals don't have the time to decide who is a threat and who's not. you simply have to go in and i repeat they learned this in afghanistan and iraq and you have to shoot everybody with a weapon. there is no putting flex cuffs on. there is no saying throw your hands up. they know exactly what they're

doing. they come in with passive goggles. there is no way to detect them. they come in soundlessly. and these guys, remember, have been through this over and over again. that's why they're so good. when i was in the '80s in beirut we were sort of tentative about this. we hadn't done a whole lot of rescues, had desert one in iran. we lost a bunch of people there. and these two wars have really taken us a long way. >> and like desert one which was the tragedy where we had the burning of the, horrible what happened to those guys, the rescuers, and had the helicopter crashes, what's different? is it just an over -- did we now make a point of having everything we need with some big margin for error like when we lose the helicopter going to get bin laden still carried out successfully the mission? >> there is always a risk but it's just the practice. you can teach this stuff at the seals course in san diego but it is nothing like actually doing it. and this -- they work as a team as well and they do it over and over again. there is nothing -- no group closer in the united states

government than the seals. they protect each other. they're trained to do it. they're just good. you know, as these parts of the world fall off the political map like somalia, as afghanistan will for a long time we'll see a lot more of this and by the way it's gutsy of the president to go ahead. i'm sure the seals, you know, called when they would go in and the president said yeah go for it. he's got a lot of trust in them. >> kimberly? >> well, i just wanted to point out this was an interagency operation. the fbi was in charge of the investigation because there was a u.s. hostage overseas involved. you had the cia gathering intelligence. and then you had this interagency task force figuring out how to respond. the seals got the job because the horn of africa is one of their areas of operation. had it been latin america, other parts of the world it could have been delta force, the u.s. army's version that also goes in and gets hostages out. so basically the u.s. government takes a look at the target and figures out what tool in the tool box to use in this case it was the seals.

>> last point, bob, you talk about countries that would go off the map meaning they don't really have governments anymore, somalia being a horrendous case. there are so many points in the world now that we have to be our own police force right? >> absolutely. we can't send ground forces. you remember blackhawk down. you simply can't send an army into these areas because they'll get mowed up. you know? that's why you have to come in with special forces. people that can get into an area quickly and get out and above all surprise. >> well, i pay tribute to the guys that went in there, the men who risked their lives to do this to save those two lives. again and again i think we all do. we're so impressed as the president is. another successful operation under the very responsible hands of leon panetta, one of our great secretaries of defense. he is a good guy. anyway, bob baer, kimberly dozier thanks for the reporting and analysis. up next the emotional last day in congress for gabrielle giffords. a totally different kind of story. this is "hardball" only on msnbc. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future.

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millions of men, forty-five or older, may have low t. so talk to your doctor about low t. hey, michael! [ male announcer ] and step out of the shadows. hi! how are you? [ male announcer ] learn more at isitlowt.com. [ laughs ] hey! all of us come to the floor today, colleagues of congresswoman gabby giffords, to salute her as a brightest -- the brightest star among us, the brightest star congress has ever seen. >> though gabby may be leaving washington today, i know this won't be the last we see of her or mark and i will say once again, mr. speaker, congresswoman gabby giffords' strength against all odds serves and will continue to serve as a daily inspiration to all of us.

thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. >> well, we're back. a very emotional scene on the house floor this morning as members of both parties honored congresswoman gabrielle giffords from arizona. it was just over a year ago giffords was nearly killed during a shooting rampage event in her home district. she was shot right in the head and has made incredible progress. this weekend she announced she'd step down to focus on her recovery. today she handlied her official resignation letter to speaker john boehner. here she is doing that. wow. oh, god. now to talk more about congresswoman gabby giffords is one of the people who really knows her best. her chief of staff who also honored, was also honored this morning for the work. thanks for joining us. i worked on the hill and i don't know anybody who has ever had to go through exactly what you've had to go through holding things together in all of these months and actually a year now. what do you think went into the congresswoman's decision to resign her office right now when

everybody is rooting for her to actually stick around? >> well, thanks for having me on, chris. you know, for her it was really what is the right thing for arizona. she determined in the last couple months that she needs more time in her rehab program. she needs to continue at the hundred percent level that she's at now and that means that returning to work in 2012 was lookinglikely. and in the last couple of weeks, she really decided finally that it looked like that would not be possible at all for her to return to work. so she was faced with either resigning or serving out the remainder of her term and not running for re-election. from her calculation, the best thing for the district is to have a representative in the seat as quickly as possible that can -- in a full-time manner, serve the 600,000 constituents in southern arizona that are in the district. and so she made the decision that the right thing to do was step down. >> what do you think of that decision yourself? >> i mean, you know, she's a class act, and i think right up until the end, she absolutely

had the right framework and thinking about it. she didn't think politically because it's, frankly, not the best thing politically for the district. she thought about no one but her constituents. sure, she could have continued over the next 10, 11 months as a member of congress and received that recognition over the remainder of the year, but it's not right. you know, if she wasn't able to return this year, she felt, and i agree, that the right thing to do is step away and let somebody else run to be here as a voting member of congress full time and certainly the staff has been a big part of helping the constituents. but it's not the same as having someone here on a daily basis serving the district. >> her resignation video which was released this past weekend, she showed that grit and determination, that grit that her colleagues have often spoke of. let's listen to her statement. >> thank you for your prayers and for giving me time to

recover. i am getting better. every day, my spirit is high. i will return. and we will work together for arizona and this great country. >> pia, what's the mood out there in the district in terms of guilt or sense of responsibility or anger? what would be the emotion or mix of those that somebody in that area took a gun and shot at them. >> i think there's a lot of remorse and regret in the community. was determined it seems, that the gentleman was, you know, really mentally ill. and it had nothing to do with it being in arizona or it being a difficult part of the country politically. it wasn't that. it could be in anyone's community. and tucson really stood up and came together the way that the town always does.

and i think showed its true colors as a place that unites people and supports one another. so i think there's a sense of pride in the response and i think also in their hometown congresswoman for surviving this and showing the world what a grueling recovery can look like but also inspiring a lot of people who were dealing with their own big life issues. >> well said. one of the more moving moments from this morning in congress. congresswoman debbie wasserman-schultz gave a very emotional speech before reading a good-bye letter on behalf of congresswoman giffords herself. let's listen to that. >> there is nothing more important than family and friendship. and that should be held on high above all else. and i will always carry that in my heart and even though i know we won't see each other every day, gabby, we will be friends for life. for life. >> thank you.

>> good for debbie, too. thank you, pia carusone. when we return, let me finish with those new kennedy tapes. they're news again. they show a president in conflict over vietnam and what to do right at the end. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ll horse is frowned upon in this establishment! luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts. and a smartphone... with an e-trade app. ♪ nobody knows... [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed. with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only listerine® that gets teeth two shades whiter and makes tooth enamel two times stronger. get dual-action listerine® whitening rinse.

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let me finish tonight with this. yesterday the john f. kennedy

library released the last of his presidential tapes. they were from two days before he was killed. and included a conversation on an issue that haunts so many of us. what would jack kennedy have done in vietnam. would he have done what his successor lyndon johnson did, create an american war in vietnam involving troop levels of 500,000 soldiers? would he have allowed the word eska tlit where we lost 58,000 american soldiers? it's a question i've been asked again and again traveling the country for my new book "jack kennedy elusive hero." the day he died he'd given a speech that morning in ft. worth that said, quote, without the united states, south vietnam would collapse overnight. those were his very words that morning of november 22nd, 1963, with lyndon johnson at his side to the city's chamber of commerce. without the united states, south vietnam would collapse overnight. so was he ready to introduce american combat troops or was he going to limit our role? was he going to do what lyndon johnson did and make it an

american war? there are good reasons to believe he would not have. his war buddy recalls kennedy issuing orders to a marine unit wanting to take his men into a combat situation. the warning was for the president. if he did it, he'd have hell to pay for it. kennedy resisted introducing americans into front-line fighting because of what he'd seen happen to the french when they were fighting in the country. he'd seen how the firepower the french had been totally overwhelmed by the nationalistic spirit of those fighting them. the vietnamese did not want foreigners running their country, either directly or through a government they were seen to be controlling. the tapes released yesterday show kennedy getting conflicting reports. the military was telling him the u.s.-backed government in saigon was winning the battle against the vietcong. the state department had just told kennedy that the government we were backing was focusing mainly on fighting its own students who were moving over to the vietcong side. kennedy wondered aloud if the military and the state department people had just been to the s