i also balance what i learned as a kid with the peers. so it's an intricate dance. >> it it goes to the personal values and professional values should match. >> it should be completely aligned. >> then the risk makes more sense. i love this conversation. i love having it with you. that does it for us. i'm dylan ratigan. "hardball" is up right now. mitt the misfit. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews down in washington. leading off tonight, faking it. here's mitt romney's problem. he's not a movement conservative. he just plays one on tv and that's why he can't close the deal with republicans. he has the most votes snagged the most delegates, but the

enthusiasm gap keeps growing. it may be abdomen to get worse with a string of primaries in unfriendly territory. rising gas prices may be the biggest threat to president obama's reelection. so why are some republicans arguing that the president wants to see the price go up? does that make sense? plus if republicans won't stop going after contraception, democrats won't stop benefitting from it. eight democrats, all women walked out yesterday when the georgia senate voted to restrict access to contraception and abortion. one of them joins us tonight. one of those senators down there. and two questions. why is rick santorum worried about guam and why is he in damage control mode out in those islands? finally, let me finish with how a president proves he's the man of the people and willing to take on big business. we begin with mitt romney's authenticity problem. michael steele, chairman of the republican national committee for years, and howard fineman is the editorial director for "the

huffington post." gentlemen, let's start with the pro. let me ask you about this guy. howard, what was the great quote of the day from romney? >> he was talking to a birmingham, alabama, radio station about his prospects in the south, and he said i realize i'm playing a bit of an away game. that was very sporty. that was sporting of him. >> in other words, when he goes south, it's not really him. >> it's a bit of an away game. it's giving away all too honestly what his problem is. this is a southern base, modern republican party. >> there you go again. >> why does he always do this? >> i don't know. he's not feeling it. there's something about him that the switch turns off, the mouth opens, and this comes out.

i don't know how you now go into mississippi, alabama, kansas, and make the argument that i'm one of you when this is considered an away game. you're not even part of my home team. >> every sports caster knows this line. they heard it in minutes. >> it's all too revealing in a way, not only does he view it as foreign territory, but also it shows his kind of mechanical view of the whole thing. in other words, he has a map of the country. the balance sheet looks good there. this is a takeover guy. i wrote a piece saying he's doing a hostile takeover of the republican party. look at the spread sheets. that's the way he views it. >> the problem he has, i know what they are doing. they are trying to get everybody out of the race so they don't deal with the real numbers. if you take the most favorable number of delegates for him, 404 to 415, that's going to leave

him well short of what he needs to get to 1,144. with language like this going into the southern states, it's not going to help a win. even if you give him all eight remaining states, he's still going to be 640 short. >> you know what i always remember, the british guys will do any kind of field work during the day as long as they got home at night. that's romney. he will do away games all day long. the column was headlined today "the tolerable candidate." his campaign is part john mccain, part michael delaware ka kiss and part richard nixon. romney is a man of flexible views from the northeast, a mormon who wins votes from the least religious sectors of his

party. a rather satisfied man who has to announce he's angry because he doesn't look it. hey, look. i'm really angry. michael, start with you. tell me. this guy -- why are they nominating a guy who is the worst possible fit? >> because unfortunately, there has not been the sort of galvanizing around one of the other individuals to the point where they can push, you know, someone like romney aside and really move forward with a gingrich or a santorum. that hasn't happened. it hasn't happened from the beginning. there are a lot of reasons for that, because the party is still trying to figure out what ground it wants to stand ongoing forward. it's not just about this election, but it's about a lot of elections coming up. >> if you look at the election polls in ohio and talk to voters in ohio, even the ones for rick santorum strongly said to me, if it comes down to it, i will

support mitt romney in the fall. also the exit poll showed that even those conservative voters tended to see mitt romney as the strongest candidate in the fall. so some of what e.j. said about how mitt romney is a man of flexible views from the northeast might play better in the general election if he gets there. >> but they are outsourcing. it's none of us can win, we being the conservative party. let's look at the moderate types. >> some voters are thinking that way. >> here's the problem. i think he has three problems working against him. one is his personality. he's not really a politician. he's a business guy. number two, obama care. obama care is his problem. his aids made the case that math is on his side. that would take an act of god. this sounds like the titanic guys talk like this. an act of god for santorum or

sgi gingrich to get the nomination. you can't treat this like a math equation. your job as a candidate is to inspire people to join something greater than themselves. what is mitt asking people to be a part of? howard howard, that's the question. most candidates find that if they are going to win. >> he hasn't found it yet. so his spinners and reporters going over the math, they are make the inevitability argument. they are saying, hey. this guy has the money and the machine and the discipline and the toughness and the nastiness, by the way, to go up against president obama. that's not the lift of a driving dream. and alex has publically la meanted that there are good things about mitt romney as a person and as a story that just haven't gotten out there. >> is it because he's been trying so hard to be someone

he's not? >> i think that's dead on. i think it's less romney pretending than others trying to fashion him to be something he's not. he needs to be who he is. coming off this rough economy for a lot of folks, they are looking for the motivation and inspiration. this is not about republicans or democrat cans. this is an american problem right now. people want to feel inspired. that's an advantage to obama, as you saw in the speech he gave last week, where he's using this lifting language and motivation. i'm fighting for you. i did what i did because i'm with you. romney needs to strike that tone, but he has to be comfortable with it first. >> it's hard to make hard hitting economic stewardship seem like the drive of the dream. that's what they pay the consultants the big bucks for. they have to figure out how to make refashioning the american economy in the 21st century seem like an exciting thing. it's not impossible.

>> we have all been in politics. you look for the genuine article. he's not. campaigning in alabama today, rick santorum said the reason he decided to run was because of romney's history with health care. the very heart of the republicans. let's watch. >> obama care is in fact the death nail for freedom. that's why it must be repealed. i looked at the field of good people, but i look at the favorite in this race. the one who was the eventual nominee. the one that the inevitability factor. i kept looking at this huge problem, which is on the biggest issue that this country

confronts right now. the eventual nominee is singu r singularly the worst person to make that case to the american people. >> that's putting the nail on the head. >> it is, but listen to that voice. listen to how he draws you into that conversation. you may disagree with him on a whole host of things, but in that moment, you're going, wow. talk. tell me more. that's the piece that's missing. >> that indictment of the front runner is pretty authentic. >> yes, it is. and there are two reasons why with the voters. number one, with evangelical voters and conservative catholics and so on, they look at the health care law as an invasion of their religious liberty. meanwhile, the tea party types, the secular tea party types look at the health care law and see run away spending and run away government. so it's a powerful appeal.

>> i think he has three problems going south. he's going to mississippi, alabama. he's -- >> hawaii. >> okay. we know these things. first one is he's not a political personality. he doesn't connect with people. number two, he has health care behind him. he did the thing they run against. and third is lds. i look at the numbers of last week. he can't get above 28% in the south. >> that's why he has a big numbers problem going into the convention. that's why you will not see newt gingrich or rick santorum or ron paul step out of this thing until it's done in tampa. the numbers don't add up for romney no matter how you cut it. someone else could win. >> howard? somebody else could win. >> i think he's going to finish with the most of everything.

he'll have a to ralty, but i don't think he'll have the numbers. >> we might be having the first political convention in 60 years. michael steele, howard fineman, great guys. coming up, should newt gingrich get out of the way? newt, you're a road hog. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule. the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers.

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in a home state win. it's among the weakest home state performance since 1972. the other candidates who didn't win in their home state were pat robertson in virginia in 1988. they end up losing. we'll be right back.

more pros here tonight to debate two key issues fatsing the election. first personnel. who should be running in this race? newt gingrich is facing calls for him to get out of the race and allow rick santorum to take on romney one on one. then number two, the one affect everybody today as they drive to and from work, gas prices. it poses a threat to president obama's reelection. we always blame the incumbent. the questions we turn to our strategists. democrat steve mcmahon and

republican todd harris. gentlemen, let's try to be analytical. todd hairs, why doesn't newt gingrich get the heck out of the way? >> i don't think he'll get out of the way. two key reasons. number one is ego. >> he has an ego? >> you think? he has compared himself to moses. number two, because of this arcane change in the way that delegates are allocated in republican primaries now where every state prior to april 1st allocates at least some portion of their delegates on a proportional basis. so as long as you are not getting just completely sha lack ed in all of the states, you're going to continue to -- when you go to the convention, you have some standing then. >> ego and standing.

is there any way, first of all, is there anything santorum can give him to please get him out of the race so he can take on romney one on one and have a chance to beat romney at this point? >> he might be able to give him the vice presidency or something. >> if he wins. >> that would take care of newt's ego. i think todd is right though. the whole game was to stay in through the representation st e states. rye to get hot for the winner take all states. the other two guys don't have the delegates and can't get the delegates to be the nominee. what they don't tell you is neither can mitt romney because he's not going to have the delegates. >> i'm watching towards next tuesday that we will be covering the southern states, where it's fair to say romney is not going to win either one. it's going to be one of these two guys. the pro-santorum super pac wrote "it's time for newt gingrich to

exit the republican nominating process. with gingrich exiting the race, it would be a true head to head race and conservatives could make a choice between rick santorum or mitt romney." this is really frustrating me. it's really frustrating me because i want to see a fight where you can turn on the television and watch a decent battle on election night. each still has a chance to be the nominee of the republican party. at some point, the effective runoff we want in politics. will we get one? >> here's the possibility. if newt gingrich can control the few delegates -- if he gets 400 delegates and can can control them going into the first ballot, if mitt romney doesn't have the majority, stranger things have happened. not in the last 60 years. >> in other words, he's hanging on to be the king maker for romney. >> mitt is going to get the

required delegates to get over the 1,144 needed. it keeps him relevant and can broker this. >> here's santorum who has better control of his emotions than i would have at this point. he doesn't call for gingrich to get out of the race, but here's how he handles it. it's the one time he's shown human irony. here's rick santorum making his case. >> they are not doing so at my knowledge. let's put it that way. i have been clear about my position on this. i'm not saying i don't want him to get out. but i'm for everybody getting out. i wish president obama would just hand me the thing, but that's not going to happen. >> that's pretty nice. human. he's telling the truth. i want them all out of the race so i can be president. >> he's occasionally human. from rick santorum's perspective, any outcome here is good because he gets the nomination if he's lucky. if not, he goes into 2016 as the front runner. here's what happens. if mitt romney loses, the

conservatives are going to say if we nominated someone with a spine with conservative prin principles, we would have beaten obama. they will do that. >> does santorum have another fight in him? >> i don't think so. the bench for every complaint about 2012, the 2016 bench for republicans is very deep. >> rick santorum has been the most heroic candidate in had race. he's walked in there with two 3s in his hand. he's been fighting this guy. according to aaa, they follow these things. the nashlt average for a gallon of gas is $3.76. that's up 24 cents from a year ago. 28 cents higher than a month ago. it's spiking. how does obama deal with the fact if this continues to go up,

they are saying we are looking at $5. >> there's nothing he can do because a president can't control prices. but he could unleash the strategic petroleum reserves. >> is that a responsible thing to do? isn't that for an international war? >> it's been done. e he could suspend the gas tax. the republicans wouldn't want to do it. the president would be on the side of the middle class. it would be smart politically, but it would add to the deficit. >> here's your guy going at this. here he is jumping on it. >> the only way that you fix the price of this is by dramatically expanding supply. this is real. this isn't a fantasy. it's not a fundraiser. it's san francisco. it is the way the american people fill their cars and trucks. they deserve a president who

pays attention to reality and tries to help them with reality. >> isn't he sweet of the guy saying that. >> he's such a sweetheart. by the way, there's a job for him. i used to pump gas. it's a good pastime. you get a tan and meet a lot of people. maybe that's what he should be doing instead of wasting our time running for president. >> he will be doing something come september. >> what's a president do? what's your party saying? >> i think the president's position is absurd. he's talking about the strategic reserve. >> i was actually talking about that. >> the president has talked about it. he's talking about increasing the imports from brazil. >> i'm getting an epiphany. didn't your crowd promise if we

invadesed iraq we'd get all that free gasoline and oil? it would be the greatest. all your guys in your party were saying let's take iraq and get free gas. >> we need to get serious about alternative energy. in 2008 they said we need a president serious about alternative energy. you either believe in supply and demand, or you don't. it's absurd to suggest that there's nothing we can do to increase our domestic production of energy. it is absurd. we have 13% of our offshore lands that are subject to production right now. 13%. he's nixed the keystone pipeline. we have had a 44% decrease in -- >> i'm tired of this. let's play it straight. first of all, todd, you're wrong. every gallon of gas pumped in the united states goes on the world gasoline market.

it doesn't become ours. the chinese can buy faster than we can. >> it creates jobs in this country. canada can sell its gas to the chinese or they can put it -- >> there's been more domestic energy production in the last two years than at any time in the last ten years. >> on private land. on federal land it's gone down. >> they are producing more energy. >> all i know is your crowd sold us into the war in iraq and the promise was cheap gas. now you can keep laughing about it all you want. that was the big argument. jobs, jobs, jobs. we haven't got nothing out of the war in iraq except death. thank you, todd harris, who is dead wrong on the gas issue. >> that's absurd. that's actually insulting. it's absurd you would make a comment like that. i didn't support the war in iraq. >> you and howard dean.

>> he's one of the two republicans that oppose the war. i take it back. but your candidates were. thank you. up next, rick santorum finds himself in damage control right now. we're going to talk about guam because apparently he said terrible things about guam and now he's trying to get their votes. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc.

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back to "hardball." now to the sideshow. first up, super tuesday was to be mitt romney's night to get the nomination wrapped up. recall stephen colbert's report of the mitt clock. here's what happened to that colbert countdown.

>> bring up the countdown to loving mitt clock. oh no. 2 minutes and 45 seconds. just play the pundits telling me he's the inevitable nominee. >> no knockout for super tuesday. >>. not waking up with the clear front runner. >> romney did not close the deal last night. i have more time. i have to stop the clock before it goes off. i know. i'll just hit the snooze button. yes. yes. okay. four more days. that puts off my accepting mitt until saturday's primaries in wyoming, guam, and the virgin islands. the big three. >> wow. i think tuesday was the last of those countdowns. at least for awhile. next up, the guam caucus just mentioned. mitt romney and rick santorum are reaching out to the islands' republican leaders and santorum is in damage control out there. why?

let's go back to january and santorum's plan for banishing judges he considers too liberal. >> i want to be responsible. i want to be respectful of the constitution because there is a provision that judges are appointed for life. now maybe we can create a court that puts them in guam or something like that and keep theirs life appointments and appoint new judges to two different circuits. >> didn't we use to say tim buck too when we were talking about a far off place? and finally, a distant memory. secretary of state hillary clinton congressmen rated the 40-year anniversary of nixon's trip to china with a recollection of how she followed the events of the trip. let's listen. >> ichs a law student in 1972. i was a poor law student. i did not own a television set. but i was not about to miss history being made, so i rented

one. a portable model with the rabbit ears. i lugged it back to my apartment and tuned it in every night to watch scenes of a country that had been blocked from view for my entire life. >> two years later, she was advising the house judiciary committee on impeaching that president that went to choina. next, we'll talk to one of the senators in georgia who walked out the other day when the senate voted to restrict access to tra sepgs and abortion. this is "hardball," only on msnbc. the invention that i came up with is the hot dog ez bun steamer. steam is the key to a great hot dog. i knew it was going to be a success. the invention was so simple that i knew i needed to protect it. my name is chris schutte and i got my patent, trademark and llc on legalzoom. [ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom today and make your business dream a reality.

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here's your cnbc market wrap.

on the economic front, applications for first time jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 8,000 last yeek. and job cuts fell last week. and shares of mcdonald's ended down 3% after the fast food giant reported weaker than expected february sales. now back to "hardball." back to "hardball." the georgia state senate today eight women walked off the senate chamber to protest the republican party's passage of two bills that would limit women's access to contraception and abortion. there they are walking out of the chamber. employees of the religious institutions have no right to demand their insurance company pay for contraceptions as the federal health care law would require. and the other, the one that

prompted the walk, bans abortion coverage. so their example of efforts in both the state and national level put burdens on women seeking health care. it's dominating politics in a time when many consider these issues settled. state senator gail davenport, i think i saw you leaving yesterday. and jennifer donnahue is with "the huffington post." she's a contributor. senator davenport, take your time because this keeps battling back. why did you walk out of the senate chamber to which you have been elected? >> well, thank you very much, chris. we walked out basically because we felt it was an attack on women's rights. there are 56 senators in georgia. 47 of them are men.

nine are. one in the majority party. and we just felt we have enough yesterday. we had the two bills there. one meant we couldn't put an amendment on senate bill. and those are state employees. that means we couldn't put an amendment to say that if you are raped or a victim of incest, that you cannot get what your doctor and have an abortion. we just felt that that exemption should have been in there. and our voices were silenced yesterday. we felt for all the women of georgia that we needed to speak up and say something. >> let's talk about the way things have been. this is like most people say under the law. the federal government can't fund abortion, but it's legal. we all know it's legal. we also know that contraception is a fact of life for a lot of families. single people going way back to

the '60s. let me go here to jennifer to get you into this. is this something that's going to keep percolating up through the year this focus on something we thought was settled. abortion rights and obviously the need for contraception. jennifer? >> well, i think, chris, that 80% of the american public is happy with the status quo as it relates to birth control and abortion. but on the fringes of both parties, you see a lot offed a va ka si going on partly because of the nominating process and the gop, where santorum is move ing the discussion to the right and wants to and romney is being forced to the right on that issue as well. so i think what you're seeing is a real disconnect between voters and their leaders on these issues. and senator davenport and others were really exercising what most americans believe actually.

so this is sort of a two-pronged process where you're seeing voters disconnected with what their leaders are doing. >> yeah. i think fluoridation of water will be the next debate. the republican parties limiting have left some women uneasy. olympia snowe voted against the blunt amendment. and a republican in new york who is retire iing after two decaden politics says the current gop presidential field would take women back decades. let's listen to that assembly woman from new york state. >> i do not have a favorite in the presidential race if i had to vote today, i would vote for obama. >> why? >> because i truly think that the candidates that are out there today on the republican side would take women back decades. >> senator davenport, when you

talk to your colleagues, i assume you have occasional conversations in the cloak room with democrats and maybe across the aisle. what do they say is the reason they are bringing up these hot, social issues like contraception? and of course, abortion rights. why are they doing this? >> i think a lot of it deals with the health care affordable health care package. a lot of that is coming up now for this. i think we should be talking about things for the american people. we should be talking about jobs. the republican leadership has said that they want to deal with fiscal responsibility and local control, but yet they are not doing anything to get jobs for people. we have to put people back to work. we have to get jobs for people. we have to deal with the home mortgage foreclosure and keep people in their homes through

loan modifications. georgia is at the bottom of the scale for education. and this republican administration for the last two terms have done nothing for education. what they have done is cut the resources for education. so we need to be doing things to get america back to work, putting food on the table for america's good quality of life for everybody. >> thank you. let me go back to jennifer on the motive behind this stuff. do you think what's going on here is it's not just skirmishing over the old issue, but this is to try to ware down, erode if you will, as the court looks at it this summer, the health care bill of president obama. the very heart of this debate of the election. are they working at it different ways? >> i think they are working at it on the state level, and i think they are seeing some traction. there's so many states that have legislation now that they are

going through on these issues. but i think it's a backlash too. i think what you're seeing is a republican party that's moved so far to the right that these issues are totally acceptable to discuss, even in the times of economic distress. on the left, you see democrats who also want to talk about this issue because it's a winning issue for democrats. it's a losing issue for republicans. so i think you're going to see this even during the general election. i think this is going to be a big issue. >> i can't wait fthe convention hall with republican speaker after speaker talking about birth control. any way, thank you gail davenport. it's an honor to have you on. and jennifer donnahue, you're smart on everything. up next, "game change." i got to see it the other night. it's fabulous. based upon a fabulous book by

mark halperin. it premiers saturday, but i got to see it. it's unbelievable. they join us next. this is "hardball" on msnbc. aflac! ha! isn't major medical enough? huh! no! who's gonna help cover the holes in their plans? aflac! quack! like medical bills they don't pay for? aflac! or help pay the mortgage? quack! or child care? quack! aflaaac! and everyday expenses? huh?! blurlbrlblrlbr!!! [ thlurp! ] aflac! [ male announcer ] help your family stay afloat at aflac.com. plegh! but we couldn't simply repeat history. we had to create it. introducing the 2013 lexus gs, with leading-edge safety technology, like available blind spot monitor... [ tires screech ] ...night view... and heads-up display. [ engine revving ] the all-new 2013 lexus gs.

there's no going back. for fastidious librariangs. emily skinner, each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come. well somewhere along the way, emily went right on living. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor, she had planned for every eventuality. ...which meant she continued to have the means to live on... ...even at the ripe old age of 187. life well planned. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. how is this? democrats may not even run a candidate nor the senate to replace olympia snowe that's because angus king has gotten in the race. he endorse d barack obama in

2008. but he also backed george w. in 2000. and split the democratic moderate vote. we'll be right back. wake up!

that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. anything you say goes national the instant you say it. >> i am not your puppet. >> i admit this is a dysfunct n dysfunctional campaign and i'm doing my best to help us win this election. >> wow. we're back. that's "game change." the movie we have all been waiting for.

that's where we find the book's coauthor, mark halperin and the movie screen writer, danny strong. why did you decide to put the focus and meaning of game "game change" around palin? >> there was no one who was a bigger game changer than palin. there's a lot of great stories in this book. but we felt like the palin story wasn't just one of the best stories in the book, but literally one of the greatest political stories of all time. you have an individual who has never been on the national stage who overnight is thrust on to it. it seemed like this is it going to be an exciting movie. >> i love this movie. let me go back to mark. mark, i watched it last night with my son. i have to tell you. two-thirds of the way through, i said i'm watching sarah palin here. i'm not watching an actor.

it's really her. how do you feel about it as a guy who was so close to this? >> julianne moore's performance is fantastic. but the techniques used inher, incredible sophisticated film-making, particularly for a television movie that really does get you lost in the picture. lost in the story and the characters. make knrous think you are watching john mccain and sarah palin more than an ordinary movie. that's one of the real magical things about it. >> here's another season from "game change" in which two members of the senior campaign staff are having a heated exchange over sarah palin. let's watch. >> when you interviewed her, didn't you ask her about national security? foreign policy? domestic policy? so what did you ask her? >> i just -- we talked about if she would back john's positions

when they conflicted with hers. there were no policy questions. >> you guys didn't grill her because you wanted it to work. >> i wasn't in charge of the vet, nicole. >> sarah paulson is great in this movie. the heart of my heart watching this movie as a political guy was the exstential reality of being a guy as, you know, you get -- you aren't responsible. you don't make all the decisions that lead to where you are. you make some of them. but you are stuck with who you are. i kept thinking about steve schmidt's character. look at him there. i can't think of a better performance by woody harrelson. it's just unbelievable what he's going through here. he's stuck with this candidate. >> yeah. >> it's a really profound moment for him. he advocated for her at the very beginning of the film. he's a person who believes that winning at all costs is necessary because the goal is to

win. and he goes on this really profound journey where he comes to realize that, you know, in the game of presidential politics, winning isn't everything. and that you need to make responsible choices. and that, you know, the vice president needs to be able to govern as opposed to needs to be able to an individual who is going to help you win. and i think, you know, the arc of steve schmidt is really what drew jay roach and i to this story. it's a really poetic art. i don't know when i watched his "60 minutes" interview, seen somebody in politics so publicly regretful the way he was. there's a lot of poetry in that. >> so much to him. let me get back to sarah palin. we have fights in our office about sarah palin. she has so many supporters. you know, mark, this is not to be critical of her more than she's been criticized already. she comes off as publicly astute, smart, knows how to take care of herself and put on a show but doesn't know the stuff most people learn in high school. doesn't know that africa isn't a

country. it's a continent. has no idea why north and south korea are what they are. was that your certainly in our reporting, and as portrayed in the movie, there were moments she was preparing for her initial interview with charlie gibson and when she was preparing for the debate and the katie couric interview, there was stuff she didn't know and advisers felt displaying that lack of knowledge would really hurt her. but it's important to emphasize the film also shows a lot of stuff, puts her in a very favorable light. and even the area where she wuchallenged to be able to perform in the debates and interviews. she was picked with five days notice that she might be on the ticket. they did it in such secrecy. there was no opportunity for her to start to prepare. and she had to prepare for those interviews and fill in the gaps in her knowledge while getting ready for a convention speech and dealing with her family. she was in a really tough position. >> those questions were very sophisticated questions about international finances and foreign policy. i would have had an incredible challenge facing this. most people would.

"game change" premieres tonight at the newseum. if you care about the country, you have to watch this. this is great. danny, it's great. as good as "recount." if you really want to learn about politics from the inside, watch this movie. mark halperin, danny strong. when we return, let me finish about a president who took on big business and showed the people he's on their side. 50 years ago these days. right now. 50 years ago, kennedy took on big steel. what a fight that was. you are watching "hardball" only on msnbc. what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. 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. building whiter, stronger teeth.

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let me finish tonight with this. i'm speaking tonight at the pratt library in baltimore about my new book "jack kennedy, elusive hero." 50 years ago this month, the 35th president had a bitter fight with big business in this country. worried about inflation, he cut a deal with the steel industry that if he got the united steel workers to hold back on their wage demands, u.s. steel and its corporate rivals would hold back on prices. well, having cut the deal he got word that the president of the u.s. steel, roger blou wanted to come in and see him in the white house. when the steel company executive showed up he walked into the room with the president and dropped a press release on the table announcing a big increase in steel prices right there in kennedy's face. and that's when the trouble started. recognizing the double cross, kennedy made clear what he was about to do was this. mr. blou, kennedy told the steel company big shot. when you are doing right now is

in the best of interest your shareholders. i'm going to do everything in the best interest of my shareholders. the people of the united states. kennedy knew at that moment the steel executive was screwing him. that he was not only raising prices, he was doing it with impunity. he was leaving kennedy out there on a limb with labor. kennedy went into action. his brother bobby went after the steel executives in a way that they couldn't take the heat. expense accounts were checked. hotel bills. anything that could embarrass the big men who just thumbed their nose. not just at the president and the workers, but at their country. they were quite willing to drive up inflation if it drove up their profits in the bargain. kennedy won that fight. big steel buckled pulling back its price increase, accepting the terms of the deal. the deal that it made. it wasn't pretty. it was barely legal, but kennedy had shown some big shots they weren't dictators. the bottom line here is this. this country likes to know it has a president who cannot be bullied by big business or be pushed around by a smaller group