and mississippi. the palin influence in the republican primaries. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. southern exposure. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, march madness. it's the southeast conference of the republican nomination fight, mississippi and alabama. the bracket,set, and tip-off is tomorrow. can romney win at least one state to claim he can win in the south? can santorum become the sole romney challenger? can newt gingrich stay alive? and then there's this question. would romney even have a chance if he had to take on either of these guys one on one? speaking of march madness, consider this. a poll of likely republicans in

alabama shows that only 14% believe president obama is a fellow christian. in mississippi the figure is 12%. and a majority there say, a strong majority say he's a muslim. plus it's no secret that there's a gender gap in this country politically with democrats holding an edge with women. now the obama campaign is looking to seize the moment and use republican efforts to limit abortion rights and access to contraception to create an insurmountable lead among women in november. also, what are we to make of that horrible rampage by an american serviceman in afghanistan over the weekend? the calls for the u.s. to get out of there are getting louder and louder on both sides of the political aisle here at home. what did steve schmidt really think of the movie "game change"? he fesses up in the side show. we begin with that tight republican race down south. cynthia tucker is an expert down there, pulitzer prize winner. and chris, i think he's a northern boy, he's with "the

washington post," msnbc political analyst. cynthia, it's great to have you on, especially at this time when your expertise is great. let me show you two new ppp polls on alabama and mississippi, showing tight race ins both states that are voting tomorrow. in alabama, 'bama, romney leads with 31. right behind him, gingrich with 30. santorum at 29. they're really bunched. ron paul's back at 8. mississippi, gingrich at 33, followed close behind by romney at 31. santorum, a bit further behind at 27. ron paul has only 7. how do you look at those numbers? do you believe them? >> yes. yes, i do, chris. i think it's many legislators, republican legislators in both states have said that they think it's going to be a very close race. and i think the big surprise is how well mitt romney seems to be doing in these states. he's either just barely ahead or

just barely behind. that comes as a big surprise given that he wasn't expected to fare well at all in the very deep south. and if mitt romney pulls off a win in just one of them, even a close win, i think it would do a lot to silence those conservatives who say he cannot unite the party. at least that will certainly be what he's saying, if he pulls off a win in one of those states tomorrow. >> chris, i'm a little more skeptical. i wonder if you look at polling coming out of tennessee and oklahoma, where romney looked like he was doing better and didn't, i think there may be an anti-lds, anti-mormon factor there. i'm not sure. >> first of all, let me clarify. i am from the north, but i married into a southern family, and my texas in-laws would not take to me being described as 100% northerner. that said, i do think governor bentley in alabama agrees with you, who's supporting mitt romney. in a radio interview -- now, he

was prompted about the lds-mormon issue, but he still said it could be an issue in alabama and other states. what we know is, to the extent there's skepticism, and there clearly is skepticism about mormonism within some portions of the christian faith, evangelical cristiahristians ar likely to view it skeptically. mitt romney acknowledges that was his problem in 2008. he spent lots of money in iowa and couldn't break through the evangelical christians. alabama and mississippi is kind of a home ground for those folks. lots of them very conservative, religiously minded electorate. to cynthia's point, i don't know how romney's not in the game here, chris. and i would say he's probably not in the game because of himself, but because newt gingrich is stronger in mississippi and alabama than he was in tennessee and oklahoma. and if gingrich is stronger, he splits that vote with santorum more, which gives -- romney's never going to get 50% in these states, but it gives him more of

a chance to split the difference. >> i agree. the news has been very strong. if he wins south carolina, wins georgia, the panhandle of florida. let's take a look athe views held by likely republican voters. these are likely republican voters in tomorrow's vote in alabama and mississippi. when it comes to evolution, just about one-quarter of these republicans believe in evolution. about 26%. 22% mississippi. very strong. almost two-thirds believe against it. when asked about the president's religion, this is president obama's religion. among alabama republicans, only 1 in 7 believe he's a christian even though he is a christian. 45% believe he's muslim. 41% say they don't know. similar numbers among mississippi republicans. only 1 in 8 believe obama's a christian. 52%, a serious majority, believe he's muslim. 36% say they don't know. let me tell you, cynthia, what i think, i think people who say they don't know what a guy's religion is when he tells them what it is, they're not going to vote for this guy. if they think you're lying about your religion, how could they

possibly vote for you? i would take that 36% and say these folks really don't like this guy. they think he's lying about who he is in his basic beliefs. your thoughts? >> chris, i think we already knew that, that they really don't like obama. they really didn't like him in 2008. obama, there were in many states, obama drew more white voters than john kerry had in 2004. but there were a handful of deep south states where obama did worse than john kerry among white voters, and those states included alabama and mississippi. i hate to say this, chris, i'm a native of alabama. alabama born and bred. but my native south remains a hot bred of ignorance and bigotry, simple as that. >> and quickly, louisiana, which

votes march 24th, also falls in that category, which is that barack obama performed less well, even while he was winning overwhelmingly nationwide, performed less well than john kerry, who lost in 2004 in louisiana. which speaks to cynthia's point. >> campaign today in mississippi, rick santorum tried to declare tomorrow's race as home states for him, a jab at romney's characterization of southern states being away games for him. obviously, it's an away game for both of them, but let's watch. >> we're competing in every single state. we're not just focused on one region of the country, or i don't consider this an away game. this is home for me, just like it is everywhere i go in this country because we've got americans who love this country, who want to say they can want to see you you know the government that's put back within their bounds. they want the opportunity to be free and be able to raise their

families and build their communities without the government in washington interfering with them. that's why every state's been a home game for me. >> cynthia, there's an old phrase on television, a sitcom, where the life of riley said, this is a revolting development when something went wrong. here you have people in two states, alabama and mississippi, who don't believe in evolution, who don't believe the president is a christian, they think he's a muslim largely, and they have a big three choice. they get to choose among two catholics, which a lot of them think is a cult anyway, and a mormon. so in order to beat the guy they think is a muslim, they've got to choose between three cultists. i'm being a cartoon here, but what do you do if you're a deep south evangelical and you've got this potpourri to look at 234? >> chris, i happen to remember when the prejudice against catholics in the deep south was a lot stronger than it is today. so that is one area where i'll have to say that i think voters

have advanced. the other chris said a few minutes ago there is still -- chris silissa. thank you. said about the prejudice against mormons, there's still quite a bit of that. that's one of the surprises for me about how well mitt romney is faring. having said all that, i don't think there is a great deal of enthusiasm for the current field in mississippi or alabama any more than there is in the rest of the country. will people vote for whoever the nominee is in november? yes, most of them will. but i think there's an enthusiasm gap here. >> and, chris, just to add, look, i think it's funny none of -- look, here's the dirty little secret that you've hit on. none of these three guys are sons of the south in any meaningful way. the guy who is the son of the south in this field was rick perry, the governor of texas. he was culturally and stylistically a fit with the

south. obviously, he's not around in the race anymore. newt gingrich, i know he represented the atlanta suburbs in congress, but newt gingrich is not a cultural southerner in any meaningful way. rick sarn tomorrow is from pennsylvania, and mitt romney is from massachusetts. having grown up in the northeast, pennsylvania and massachusetts, they don't understand the very unique culture that is the south. i think it's why you've seen lots of coverage of these guys trying to talk about how much they love grits and how they fit in. look, you know, talking with a southern accent. the truth of the matter is none of these guys is a natural fit for the south. to cynthia's point, it's why you see lots of undecideds. in those polls you see one thing for certain. people don't know who they want. when they're pushed, they're going to have to choose someone tomorrow. i'm not sure they're convinced that any one of these three guys is their guy. >> what would you call newt gingrich's accent? >> in order to keep my job, i won't try and speculate on air about what newt gingrich's accent is. >> i think it's an actor named

morrison bean who are the only two guys who talk the same way. another odd moment by mitt romney this morning in mobile, alabama, as he campaigned with comedian jeff foxworthy, you know the guy who says you know you're a redneck. there they are together. let's watch. >> i'd like to say hello to everybody. please give us a big hug. that's the girls. i've been getting hugs from the southern girls today. and i mean from like 12 -- well, a lot more than 12. >> what do you make of that? hugs from the southern girls. >> poor mitt romney. you know, his attempts at humor, his attempts at being warm and fuzzy almost always fall flat. mitt needs to be himself, which is just the sort of robotic rich guy. and the people who are going to vote for him tomorrow -- >> that's warm and fuzzy, cynthia. you're really selling this guy. just a rich guy.

>> the bumper sticker. robotic rich guy on a bumper sticker. nothing but votes. >> a great robot, but he's expensive. thank you, cynthia tucker, for that quick capsulization. coming up, democrats have an edge among women voters. we know about that. now the obama campaign wants to capitalize on republican efforts to restrict abortion rights and access to contraceptions under obama care. we'll see that fight coming up. [ female announcer ] with the all-new e-trade 360 investing dashboard

free streaming quotes, all your investments, positions, and even your trade ticket are all on one customizable page. see the all-new 360 investing dashboard at e-trade. pretty big news here. one week from tomorrow republicans go to the polls in the state of illinois, the president's home state. mitt romney has a four-point lead over rick santorum. just four in the new chicago tribune poll. 35-31, right at the margin of error and very close in a state you think would have favored romney. the poll finds romney doing well in the chicago suburbs and santorum doing well pretty much

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why extremists? always focus on women remains a mystery to me. they want to control how we dress. they want to control how we act. they even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and our own bodies. yes, it is hard to believe, but even here at home we have to stand up for women's rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one of us because america needs to set an example for the entire world. >> welcome back to "hardball." that's secretary of state hillary clinton. she made a rare public comment on domestic politics. that was saturday when she spoke at the women in the world summit. her comments came as republicans have growing reason to worry about women voters.

a "washington post"/abc poll showed that voters overwhelmingly say democrats care more about issues concerning women 55-30. and "the wall street journal" poll zeroed in on the wave of suburban women voters, krurb swing voters, who switched from wanting republicans to controlling the u.s. congress to wanting democrats to control it. the obama campaign is trying to exploit it, rolling out a nationwide effort to promote the obama health care plans benefits to women. these flyers are samples of what the dnc will send to battle ground states. jennifer is a contributor to the huffington post and a fellow at gettysburg college. david corn is a cnbc political analyst. jennifer, i've been thinking about this for 20 years, 30 years, the why women tend to be more democrat than republican. and it isn't just choice. it is always these multitude of concerns. women tend to be the most responsible partner in marriages

for their parents. the older parents who are still around. concerned about their social security benefits. concerned about the fact that they are able to benefit from medicare and things like that. they're much more concerned about the details of school. >> yes. >> who the teachers are, who the classmates are, the details of the qualities of education. the husband in marriages will have some interest. i'm not saying their bums. the focus -- the person who's the pilot. >> it's the woman, absolutely. if hillary clinton had delivered what we just watched her deliver in 2008, she'd probably be president right now. advisers told her not to go that route. they told her not to appeal to women. they told her to be a masculine candidate, and she took that advice, but that hillary clinton that we just watched is the one that resonates with women. she ceded young women to obama, and that's what won obama the nomination. >> she ceded them in what way? >> she ceded them by not speaking from the heart. that was hillary clinton speaking from the heart, and it

resonates. it speaks to men too. it speaks to both sides. but it gives women voters a reason for me to vote. >> i want to broaden this beyond the usual gender sex part of it, which is a big part of it, but not the whole story. men say with any luck i won't need social security, they're right. they won't live that long. in an old folks' home, it's mostly women. women live well into their 80s. the concerns about medicare, once you're past 80, everything falls apart. you need medicare. these concerns are vivid. >> and they're vivid also for the children of those people. the thing about that hillary speaks, i'll take issue with you, is that she didn't have the opportunity at the time. she's playing off this explosion of republican extremism that we've seen since they've come into power. they came in in january of 2011 in the house. some of the first bills they put forward were not about jobs. they were about redefining abortion, redefining rape so you could limit abortion in those cases. what you've seen across the country, state level and the

federal level. >> what do you mean redefining rape? >> no. last year -- >> counting statutory or what? >> yes. there were all sorts of ways they would redefine it and make it harder to get under that exception. they tried to redefine rape, transvaginal ultrasound. >> let's take a look at ann, who's got a tough job on her hand. here's a woman running with her husband trying to get him elected and battle this perception we've talked about. here she is in alabama today, trying to put the issue on economy issues, on the cross-gender issue. >> i don't know if any of you are mad. i'm mad at government spending. anyone out there mad at the way our children are going to be inheriting this debt? that's what i hear everywhere. these women are talking about the economy. that's what i am loving so much is hearing women talk about the economy. >> it's clear what his wife is doing. mitt romney, the candidate, they've been running together for years now, could use a boost among women voters. we've got the new "washington

post"/abc poll showing him tied with obama in a head to head matchup. this poll may be an outlier. it has a different way of sampling. among women, romney trails the president by eight. even in this poll, which is a bit of an outlier toward romney, he's getting killed, eight points. >> he's getting killed because santorum is taking the race into the social issues, into the culture war. there are still republicans, conservatives who are angry at bush 41, bush 44 for taking these issues off the table. they want this front and center. they got overconfident in 2010. ann romney is trying to play to the center for romney. a lot of people are trying to move it back to the middle. >> the usual so-called man's issues of macho foreign policy, let's go to war, i've got to have my gun and execute everybody that commits a crime, i haven't heard much of that by the way. nobody wants to go to war right now that i've heard of. the gun thing is sort of where it's at. >> the gun thing is sort of under the radar. but look at what happened with the balanced budget fight a year

ago. what did it fall apart on mostly? it was planned parenthood's defunding. that was the issue. the republicans came in, and they talked about fiscal responsibility, about jobs, and they ended up making the fight about planned parenthood. they've gone down that road. and you're right. rick santorum took them further on contraception and other issues. >> this is going to have such a huge impact. it's going to force romney to pick a running mate if he's the nominee to the right. that's going to lose him to the gender gap. democrats are going to get that gender gap, which is what we needed from '92 to 2008 to win. >> having ann romney come out and say, hey, i know you care about the economy too is not good enough. >> she doesn't look angry, i don't think. >> she doesn't look like she's suffering. >> he's not angry either. they're pretty well off. >> they're not that worried. >> i think it's fair to say they like things the way they are generally. at a fund-raiser in houston friday night, president obama pointed out what he's done for women, and all republicans could take away from this fight.

listen to this one of the he's putting the stakes on the table. >> change is the first bill i signed into law that says women deserve an equal day's pay for an equal day's work. you see politicians who are trying to take us back to the days when this care was more expensive and harder to get for women. i know you're seeing some of that here in texas. you just remember we can't let them get away with it. >> his accent's changing a bit too. >> it is, isn't it? >> he's from texas. >> that is interesting. i think that's a good bragging right. she left a book here for me the other day. >> absolutely. >> let me ask you this. equal pay is another issue democrats are stronger on. >> it's a huge issue. i teach young women. i teach women in leadership. they ask, how can there not be a law there's equal pay for women? there is a whole generation of women who are completely confused about the fact that there's still 75 cents on the dollar, and that's what it is. this is 2012. and i think there are a lot of people -- >> don't tell my daughter. >> and they're going to come out and vote, and they're going to be very, very angry.

>> jennifer, here's a tough spokesperson. here's conservative columnist peggy noonan on "meet the press." this was something. she said somebody needs to step up and notice there is a war on women. this is peggy noonan. let's listen. >> i think one of the big problems with discourse in america is the way -- forget left and right for a second. it's the way women are being spoken of, women in public life, women in politics, women in policy questions. i think somebody has to stop and notice, this sounds like a horrible misogynistic war on women. >> well, rush started it. >> rush started it. it's going to keep on going because in part 17% of congress is women. and most of them are democrats. there are no republican women voices who are moderate any more. so that party is off to the right. on the democratic side, there's basically obama in charge, and nobody's fighting the battle except for what you just said. peggy noonan needs to get out

there and so do the rest of women and make this war stop. >> let's see them call out on the right that have said these things. i mean, there's a lot of reluctance to do that? the interesting thing -- >> i don't think there's reluctance. rush limbaugh got slapped. >> not by so many republicans. that's the issue. not by the republicans. he's going to be making $50 million this year. >> who's counting? >> the interesting thing about obama is they're pivoting on the health care. everyone thought the health care was a dog for them and would hurt them in the re-election. they think they can turn it to their advantage and begin by showing the appeal to women, in terms of mammograms. you mentioned health care for elderly. all these issues. >> also health care -- >> they're turning health care to the advantage by next november. >> if men don't hear the wakeup call, they're deaf. there's a big wakeup call. >> the politicians, yes. >> everybody, us included. >> the only thing obama care allows to you do is allow you to be a divorced widowed woman and have health care. >> we need you on this show

every night. >> you got it, buddy. >> and peggy noonan, i'm so proud of her this weekend. it's tougher to do it on your own side. she was generally talking about rush. jennifer, the usual salute to you. david corn. i notice how you didn't quite look at her when she was coming out. she was pretty tough there. shielding your head. >> i agree. >> up next, mitt romney's trying hard to be something he's not. what else is new? like a politician. a southerner. he's trying to be a southerner. that's in the side show. it's kind of sad. when i grow up,

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back to "hardball." now for the sideshow. first up, reviews from the front lines. this weekend marked the premiere of hbo's "game change." what a movie. steve schmidt, former campaign

strategist for the mccain campaign, weighed in on what it was like to take it all in as an audience member. fascinating stuff. let's watch. >> for all of us who were in the campaign, it really rang true. gave you a little bit of ptsd at times. >> brings you back, huh? >> there's a scene in the movie where i'm saying to senator mccain, and it's almost verbatim the conversation that happened, that i would rather lose by ten points trying to win than lose by one point and look back and say, did we do everything we could to win? for me, the experience on this campaign is there are worst things than losing. i think the notion of sarah palin being president of the united states is something that frightens me, frankly. >> stevie boy, as he was called in the movie, said i said on friday, that's a fabulous quote. i am reminded throughout that movie three times by john paul. we are responsible for what we are. that campaign manager and john

mccain became victims of their own decision. next up, to the away game. mitt romney is taking hits from all sides for his attempts of appealing to voters in the south. need a refresher? >> morning, y'all. good to be with you. i got started right this morning with a biscuit and some cheesy grits. >> not convinced? robert gibbs, the chief adviser to the obama re-election campaign and a native of alabama, had a warning for romney on cbs this weekend. let's listen. >> as a southerner, i would tell him, that kind of stuff doesn't really go over well in the deep south. i will tell him this, he might not have heard this, but if somebody says they love the s.e.c., it's not the investigative body that looks into offshore cayman bank accounts. in fact, it's the world's greatest college football conference. i hope he'll sort of go with the flow if he's down there. >> southeastern conference. time has basically run out for romney to up his game when it comes to southernisms. and finally, quite the comparison.

earlier, we saw part of secretary of state hillary clinton's bold address at the women in the world conference this weekend, but it was meryl streep who did the honors of introducing her. the three-time oscar winner took the opportunity to of all things compare herself to clinton. let's watch. >> i find a lot of similarities. we both went from public high schools to distinguished women's colleges. we both called home collect from the dorm phone freshman year from those colleges saying, i'm not as smart as the other girls here. i shouldn't be here. and we both went on to graduate school at yale, which is where the two paths diverged. while i was a cheerleader, she was the president of the student government. where i was the lead in all three musicals, people who know her tell me she should never be encouraged to sing. she has turned out to be voice of her generation. i'm an actress. and she is the real deal.

>> well, don't be too humble, meryl, you're both pretty amazing people. up next, a terrible rampage in afghanistan, and now the calls to get out of that country. they're getting louder and louder on both sides of the political aisle. you're hearing republicans like gingrich saying come home. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future.

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i'm melissa reburger, here's what's happening. a bus driver and a child are dead after a school bus crashed into a bridge in indiana. two other children are critically injured. police say internet users told them a university of maryland student was threatening a shooting rampage planned for today. a 19-year-old was arrested on sunday. and the fbi says a domestic dispute may have been behind a bomb scare on board a jet blue flight earlier. a caller said there wasa

threat. back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." of course, the terrible news out of afghanistan this weekend was horrific. early sunday, a sergeant in the u.s. army allegedly slipped off the base in southern afghanistan, walked more than a mile, and stalked from home to home in several afghan villages, killing at least 16 civilians. 9 of the dead were children, very young children. it's one of the worst atrocities committed so far in the afghan war, obviously, and it raised all kinds of questions, not the least of which is why this soldier did what he did, and then what are we doing there? there's also a question of whether or not this is a game changing moment in the war in which the u.s. policy will be reevaluated. our mission is set to conclude, by the president's schedule, by the end of 2014. that's the year after next. should that timetable be moved

up. what is our presence accomplishing? nbc correspondent joins us from kabul. thanks for joining us. give us a capsule for those who haven't caught up to the story. what happened? >> reporter: it was a tragic incident, chris. what happened was yesterday in the early morning hours, a u.s. army staff sergeant left his base in kandahar province, went into nearby villages and the homes of afghan villagers who were sleeping, shooting and killing at least 16 people, 9 of whom were children. we've seen the pictures, chris. i've got to tell you, it's devastating pictures, toddlers with bullet holes in their foreheads. many of the deaths were execution style. obviously, nato has apologized for the incident. the afghans are outraged, but more so, the afghan that's i've heard from are really saddened by what happened, and they're trying to relate to the afghan villagers who were struck, and it really does make them angry at the americans as a whole

rather than just even at one individual. >> and let me ask you about how does this add to the earlier horrific events of the kill team, the people peeing on the bodies of those taliban dead, the burning of the koran? how does it add up? >> reporter: it's not going to be good. i can tell you that right now. the afghan people are very upset. this has been one incident after another incident. although they have been rare, it has made the media. it made the media here in afghanistan and throughout the world for that matter. when they see this happening from u.s. military, service members, they blame it on americans, they blame it on the american leadership, the military leadership, for not having more control over these service members. and we have to point out that these are rare occurrences, but they're occurrences that have happened throughout the years. and through these years the afghan people has seen it occur, and they've seen really people getting away with it, and it's frustrated them. they feel that the americans and

the international community, for that matter, don't respect their culture, their religion, or the afghan people at all. >> so it's a matter of thinking that the american soldiers risking their lives for that country and for our country don't respect the people they're helping? >> reporter: that's becoming the case. i should mention there are still a lot of afghans within afghanistan who respect the international mission here, and they want that mission to continue in afghanistan, especially when you talk to the women of afghanistan who are fearful of what will happen at the international community leaves. but an incident like the one in kandahar with the killings and the killings of innocent men, women, and children, it does make a lot of people scratch their head and wonder why america's here. but i should also mention there are afghans who may be angry, but they also know that they need the help of the international community and the americans, but they say they need the right kind of help. chris? >> that's quite a balance to report. thank you so much, atia, who's

over in kabul. we're joined by mike o'hanlon, a senior fellow with the brookings institute and the co-author of the new book "bending history, barack obama's foreign policy." thank you so much for joining us, michael, as always. how do you keep this balance? how do you keep the need to achieve a foreign policy objective in the face of this kind of moral setback? >> yeah, chris, it's such a sad and tough time to think that question through, but i think what you do is you come back to first principles. now, a lot of americans doubt, especially with so many al qaeda leaders now dead, whether we need to be successful in afghanistan. but to the extent you do need some level of stability, or you want some level of stability before you depart, we've got about the fastest plan to get us there. we've got an exit strategy. as you know, president obama's already pulling out a third of our forces between last couple of months and september. we'll be down from 100,000 to 68,000 by the end of the summer. we are, as you mentioned, getting out entirely with our main combat forces by the end of

2014. afghan forces are doing more every year. so we are executing a campaign plan that has an exit in mind. and it has an exit in view. it's still a ways off. the only reason, i think, to give up on that strategy is not because there's anything better that's come along, but only if you fundamentally lost heart that it can in any way be successful. i think that kind of a question comes to people today, this kind of a tragic day brings that kind of question to mind. but there's been a substantial amount of progress in the country's south, despite the tragedy being there, and in kabul and in the north and the west. and the afghan army is much better than it was before. so it's a mixed bag, but there is headway, and there is a campaign plan. >> here's the president today. he was asked about the incident by a local news affiliate. let's watch. >> what happened this weekend is absolutely heart breaking and tragic, and i expressed directly to president karzai how the american people feel any time innocent civilians, especially

children, are killed, and for it to happen in this kind of terrible way, i think we all are concerned about it. but what we don't want to do is to do it in a way that is just a rush for the exit. it makes me more determined to make sure that we're getting our troops home. it's time. it's been a decade. and frankly, now that we've gotten bin laden, now that we've weakened al qaeda, we're in a stronger position to transition than we would have been two or three years ago. >> let's look at a possible game change developing politically. we know the american people aren't happy about this war. we've got majorities who are basically getting at -- in fact, strong majorities saying we shouldn't have gotten in. here's newt gingrich, a man who certainly identified with the american political right, with the military right. here he is saying something quite surprising. newt gingrich. >> i think it's very likely that we have lost -- tragically lost the lives and suffered injuries to a considerable number of young americans on a mission we're going to discover is not

doable. >> and that's my question. not that it wasn't a worthy mission, but its doability in the context of these horrible setbacks morally. we have the people urinating on those dead taliban. you have the kill team. you have the koran burning, and now you have this. can we still win the minds and hearts as in country allies of the government? >> that may be too ambitious, chris. and i'm not going to claim we can do that. i would point out the iraqis are much more angry with us, and we rated much more lower among the iraqis in '07/'08. who still put us up in the 40%, 50% favorability range. that's not nearly what it was in 2001/2002 when they loved us, but there is a certain amount of common interest as well, above and beyond whatever residual affection is still there. and i think the afghans know, listen, they've got pakistan to their east, 180 million people, nuclear armed, far bigger than they are, and also doing some

nasty things inside their own territory. they're a little bit more afraid of being left alone, i think, than the iraqis who are fairly self-confident people were afraid of being left alone when they asked us to leave last year. i think on balance we'll probably find a way to muddle through this. i'm not saying it's a great situation, but i think both sides still need each other. >> i know it's interesting we had a woman reporter, who just now, atia, who said the women are scared what would happen if we left. we know how difficult it was when the taliban were controlling things. michael o'hanlon, thank you for a very professional report. up next, will the americans stand thewith the united kingdo when it comes to syria? nice. but, you know, with every door direct mail from the postal service, you'll find the customers that matter most: the ones in your neighborhood. print it yourself, or we'll help you find a local partner. and postage is under 15 cents. i wish i would have known that cause i really don't think i chose the best location. it's not so bad. i mean you got a deal...

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we're back. the terrible events in afghanistan this weekend are being closely watched in the uk, the united kingdom, and for goo. the british have the most troops after us. tomorrow david cameron comes here to washington for official visit, and our ambassador to the court of st. james is a close friend of president obama's thank you, mr. ambassador, you're a pal of mine i hope to say. let's talk about the story. the cameron visit, we have the special relationship we had, let's see, bill clinton, who is a close personal friend of tony blair, tony blair became a friend of w's, and way back to churchill and roosevelt. how will it hold in afghanistan under the pressure of this horror that happened the other day? >> i don't think it will affect the game plan, the strategy. i think the british government is in lock-step with ours in terms of the president's plan,

out of lisbon, we'll have a reflection point in 2013, go in more supportive role, out by 2014 with enduring presence. i see no space at all between the british government's position and the united states position. >> the hottest thing we talked about it, couldn't be a hotter than nuclear war, which we have been lucky not to have, we haven't used them since her oh shi ma and nagasaki. >> what about iran? >> we're in lock step with the brits. the president won't let them have a nuclear weapon. as he said this president doesn't bluff, doesn't believe in a policy of containment and i think he strongly believes the sa san sh sanctions have a chance to work. there will be a meeting, it's clear we won't allow iran -- >> do you think as a political

guy, do you think we have the muscle to change the moolah's mind not to go to weaponization. they want nuclear power, can we talk them out of building a weapon? >> tough question, chris. i think the sanctions are hurting them now, will that in and of itself change their policy? it's a good question. i think there is other factors, they will be isolated wihat russia and china will do, their own internal problems how they play out. i think they haven't made a decision, the supreme court, to move -- supreme leader, to move forward on it, so we'll have to wait and see. >> the last question of syria, on this question people like newt gingrich have been hawkish, they want to us go in there like libya. a lot of democrats do too, what is the president's position on syria? seems murky. >> it's not. we hate the fact people are being killed, there is violence, president assad is killing his

own people. you're not in a position to do a no-fly zone you're not a position to put arms in the hands of people we don't know who they are. a country much bigger than libya, they have a big air force, it's a major problem of how to handle it and they are hoping that through the united nation, through the arab league, through turkey, et cetera, they will be in a position to solve the problem. but it's a real form of major power, having not the power they want to have. >> how about us? how is our president over there? >> he's lucky, 70% approval rating in the united kingdom. i suggested to him to run over there. >> thank you for coming on "hardball." >> you will have the big thing on wednesday. big press conference. let me finish with the cross roads, we're facing in our war in afghanistan you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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let me finish tonight with this, horrible things happen in

war even at the cleanest it's good people killing other good people. guys fighting for their country against other guys fighting for their country and now women, too. i don't know where we put the latest horror. an american soldier who spent most of a dozen years fighting our wars, gets up one day and heads around door-to-door killing people including nine little kids. 16 people in cold blood and burning them. is this war's story that comes up in all wars when guys alt the front too long sent back too many times for too many years, all the time, away from home. these are different kind of wars. not heading for berlin in tanks, island hopping to japan or turning back invaders like in korea or a messier way in viet nam. trying to keep people who are of a country from coming back to dominate a country. people of extreme nationalism and zealous religion after we

took it from them. how do you sell the fact we're the good guys after things like this continue to happen? the curr quran burnings, with e new story adding to the fire? ask yourself is there a job in the world today that is easier than being a taliban recruiter, getting people to join up against the americans. vice president biden said we should get our big force out of afghanistan and shift to a policy of anti-terrorism focusing on al qaeda the group we went in the country to get. it does no good to say what might have been had we followed that course. it does do good to consider it now. the mission of counter insurgency when the president chose is still the mission. is it still doable given the course of these events? is our presence in that country helping to turn the hearts and minds against the tan?