i'm glad you got the last word. >> thank you for having me. >> you can have the last word on-line at our blog and you can follow my tweets@lawrence. "the ed show" is up next. on to illinois. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, bad road trip. mitt romney's forces spent $2 million in alabama and mississippi, only to lose badly in both states. how can a guy claim to be the people's choice when spending all that money gets you a couple of third place finishes? well the question is, the republican body politic, is it rejecting romney the way the human body rejects a foreign organ? is mitt just too remote, too inawe authentic, too phony for conservatives to accept him as their own. would they rather take a

long-shot bet on rick santorum, a guy who feels at least like one of them? the real dead ender is newt gingrich who can prove he can lose in all sections of the country. the cries are growing louder for newt to just get off the -- out of the way. plus, republicans are accused by their enemies of waging a war on women. now mitt romney says he would end all public support for planned parenthood. is he giving his enemies the evidence they want that republicans are women's enemies? and george clooney's here with us tonight. the actor/activist just came back from the border of sudan and south sudan, the site of all the killing over there. he's bringing attention to the crisis. and george clooney will be right here with us on "hardball". let me finish tonight with the great big slugfest i've been hoping for for a long time. it's now going to be romney versus santorum, mano y mano with the big bout coming this tuesday in illinois. we begin with santorum's southern sweep. won both of those last night. republican strategist steve schmidt ran the mccain/palin campaign in 2008 and eugene robinson is a msnbc political

analyst. steve, we've got to start with you, the inside man. what is your feeling about this race? >> well, i think it's become a two-person race, chris. for newt gingrich, he said that he was relevant in this race, that he had a southern strategy. you have to win states like mississippi and alabama if you're going to put together a southern strategy, so i think that's he's effectively finished as a candidate and now mitt romney has completely lost the message, so he's in an ideological contest with a conservative running to his right. santorum's argument that neither one of us might get enough delegates to win to lock this up, and it should get settled at the convention, if that's the case, that got a lot of wind behind it last night, i think. >> so you think people would like to have this thing go on a bit, even beyond the primaries

and caucuses, to a real donnie brook down there in tampa? >> well, i think there's a real question about either one of them can accumulate the necessary delegates to be nominated. that's a real open question. so i think that barring the ability to be nominated with the requisite number of delegates through the voting process, it does go to the convention. and so rick santorum has said he's not getting out of the race, and i think he's got a clear rationale to keep going in this race and he'll have one, so long as he keeps winning. this has now become a math contest, but the momentum side of this is on rick santorum's side, despite romney's math advantage. >> well said. listen to what rick santorum said earlier today about his chances of defeating mitt romney. let's watch. >> if we keep winning races, eventually the people are going to figure out that governor romney isn't going to be the nominee. and when you keep getting outspent, 7, 8, 9, 10-1 and you win races, it has to tell you that there's something fundamentally right with what

we're doing and the message that we're delivering and there's something fundamentally flawed about the candidate that we're running against. you can't look at someone who has that huge money advantage, all the establishment behind them, all the media singing the song that he is the inevitable candidate and all we're doing is slowing this process down and we're hurting our chances in the fall, none of which is true. but all of which is being out there, told to the republican voter. and yet republican voters are overwhelmingly saying, no. >> so he's the rejection. he's in here to say, i'm in here to do what the body of politics wants done. someone's got to do it. push this guy out. >> that's what he's saying. and he talked about what was flawed in mitt romney. i'm not sure whether it's what's flawed in mitt romney that's his problem or what's missing. what's flawed is his record. most conservatives, or many conservatives, believe on abortion, on health care he's apistate. he's wrong, they think he was wrong, and they're not convinced he's now on the right side of those issues.

what's missing is the vision thing. the -- what does he want to do with the country? what is he really about? what's at the core of mitt romney? and i think people haven't yet gotten that. there haven't figured that out. he doesn't communicate it very well. >> so there you have it, steve, you're the inside man, rei rely on your knowledge, having run the campaign for john mccain last time so well, i think, given the odds against you. and here you have a guy who doesn't seem like he belongs. he has problems, as gene said, well, it isn't just a set of flaws he has, it's his essence. and it's his failure to offer up some reason why a smart business type can offer deliverance to the republican party in their souls. can he be a soulful republican to the people who really want a soulful deliverance to get out of this mess. they don't feel happy. republicans are not happy in this country right now. there's something wrong with the way the country's going. what can he offer to solve that problem?

mitt romney? >> look, i think at the end of the day, chris, in this process, you are revealed to be who you are, and he's not a back-slapping, urban politician, you know, who can go down there and pull off the "y'alls" and the cheese grits and all of that stuff. he's a serious man with a record of accomplishment, and he particularly has a record of accomplishment in making broken things work right. and i think being able to communicate that through the prism of, this is how it benefits you the voter, in a primary context, and then ultimately in a general election context, convincing people that he has the core competence to restore prosperity to the country, for instance, i think that he'd be on much firmer ground than being in a fight with rick santorum about who's an authentic conservative on the basis of who has what level of support for planned parenthood. i think that's a very touch issue for him. and i think it drives -- >> you know, it sounds so -- >> -- the authenticity argument. >> it sounds so colonial.

i'm not one of you, but i can come in and run your country better than you can. that was the colonial argument in africa. we're going to come in. we may not belong here, we don't belong here, we're not one of you, but we've got this economic sense. we know how to run businesses better. i'm sorry. these metaphors never work. >> i think romney does belong to a wing of the republican party that is out of fashion and a lot of them out of the republican party now. but i think the point -- >> oh, you think he's an old republican liberal? >> in some ways, yeah. but i think the point steve made is right -- is absolutely right. if that's what he is, he should be that. he should be what he is, and not try -- >> but you're laughing. would that sell? >> well, i think it would sell better than cheesy grits. >> okay, would the real mitt romney sell -- >> -- i think it would sell better than -- >> steve, would the real mitt romney, because you with had a candidate like john mccain, who was not even as real in that direction. mccain's probably a hybrid, somewhere between the old east

coast moderate republican and the right-wing crazy tea partier, but mitt romney is well beyond the tea party stage. well distant from it. >> yeah. look, i think that the party has changed a great deal over the last four years. and i think that there's a real argument to be made that, you know, mitt romney may be the last person, you know, who's got a fairly moderate record on a number of issues from a state like massachusetts could compete as well as he's competed in the republican primary, if the party continues to evolve at the rate it's changed over the last four years. but nevertheless, chris, he does have a substantial lead in the math. the inevitability argument is out the window. they didn't want the math argument, but now that they're in it, they're winning that math argument. and, so, he does have advantages going forward in this contest. but there's no doubt he's going to have to fix some elements of his messaging. >> i just imagine that convention. you may not like me, but look at these numbers. i've got numbers to prove you've got to take me! that's going to be awful. anyway, today on fox news, mitt romney was asked in person, on

live television, whether his losses in alabama and mississippi underscored the fact that the conservatives in the party do not want him to be their nominee. here's how he answered. let's watch. >> well, i'm sorry, they have to go back and look at some other states that actually are kind of important. let's say florida, for instance, where i won. and michigan. and ohio. and nevada. and new hampshire. the list goes on. last night, by the way, they're forgetting there were a couple of other contests, including hawaii, where i won. and oh, by the way, last night i got more delegates than anybody else. some who are very conservative may not yet be in my camp, but they will be when i become the nominee, when i face barack obama. i don't get it, gene. he doesn't seem like a guy who's got the people's choice going for him. >> that clip reminds me of that great aria from "dream girls," you're going to love me. he's saying, i'm staying and you're going to love me. >> is that hudson who sang that? >> exactly. >> let me go back to this question. let's look at this more.

let's take a look at some more of the things that have been going on here. here is richard beeson from the team romney on the mathematical realities. because this is what it's come down to. the argument that they've got the numbers. here it is, according to politico, "while rick santorum is taking a victory lap after alabama and mississippi, the fact remains that nothing has changed or advanced his chance of getting the republican nomination. tuesday's results actually increased governor romney's delegate lead, while his opponents only moved closer to their date of mathematical elimination." how does this sound in the hustings, steve, to hear if you're a voter in illinois this tuesday, well, you don't really matter, because the numbers here say you're finished, if you want to vote for santorum? >> well, that's not an argument that is penetrating to voters in states like illinois. you know, that's an argument for the inside washington and the donor community that's funding the campaigns. one of the interesting things, chris, on the republican side, you have rich beeson for romney, and then you have john yob for santorum. and they're both hugely respected inside the republican

party. and they're both making arguments that people find confusing. they don't know which side toll believe, and who is exactly where, because we're in unchartered territory with the proportional allocation of the delegates. this is a rule change for the republicans. so we're in a new space with this. so, you know, the one thing that's clear is that the santorum argument that i'm not getting out of the race, no matter where the math is on this right now, that if i keep winning, i have as good a shot to get this nomination as romney does, even if it's decided at the convention, his argument was strengthened last night, romney's argument was weakened last night. >> okay. thank you very much. gene, last word. it looks to me like it's a two-man race right now. it looks like we should not be talking much more about newt, nor should we. >> no. i think newt gingrich's performance goes way down in primaries. even if he stays in the race. >> he's buddy roemer now, isn't he? >> yeah. >> he's buddy roemer. anyway, thank you, steve schmidt. remember buddy roemer, he's also

in the race and he doesn't matter either. steve, great to have you on. i'm more impressed with you every time i watch that movie. i've seen it three times now, "game change." i'm going for the record. coming up, newt gingrich failed to win either alabama or mississippi last night. so why's he still here? what does he plan to do? at least, what's his rationale for sticking around? we're going to hear him out one more time, what's his case? i don't think much of it, but we're going to hear it. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. looking good! you lost some weight. you noticed! these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... five whole grains, 110 calories. multigrain cheerios... but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. i was worried it would be hard to install. but it's really easy. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. yeah.

you're not... filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive. fresh off his sweep of alabama and mississippi, rick santorum's up in a new poll in his home state of pennsylvania. let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. love to do it. according to a new quinnipiac poll, santorum's up 14 points now over mitt romney, 36. that's a good number, actually, 36-22. pennsylvania holds its primary april 24th. and how does santorum do against president obama in the keystone state? well, look at this. i never would have expected this. obama 45, santorum, 44.

too close for comfort. by the way, obama beats romney by 6 points in that quinnipiac poll in pennsylvania. we'll be right back.

welcome back to "hardball," with a twin defeat in his home turf, newt gingrich is standing up to increasing pressure, i think smart pressure to get out of the race and let santorum have that one on one he's always wanted, in fact, everybody's wanted against romney. not surprisingly, newt vowed to take his fight to tampa. what else is new, while getting in a dig at romney, of course. here he was speaking to supporters last night. >> i emphasized going to tampa, because one of the things tonight proved is that the elite media's effort to convince the nation that mitt romney is inimitable just collapsed. the fact is, in both states, the conservative candidate's got nearly 70% of the vote, and if you're the front-runner, if you're the front-runner and you keep coming in third, you're not much of a front-runner.

>> well, i'm not part of the elite media, because i don't think this thing is over and i don't want it to be over. i like this fight. what is keeping newt gingrich in the race, even in his own mind. is this a campaign trip or an ego trip? ed rendell and david corn are both msnbc political analysts of a different type. each having his own area of expertise. the governor, yours the practical. why is this guy in the race? why is newt -- is it just there's nowhere else to go? is it just personal? >> i think it's funny, because newt craves attention, as many of us in politics do, and if he drops out, he's history. if he goes to the convention, people will still listen to him, to some degree, but he's got to balance that against his sworn desire to defeat mitt romney. if he really wants to defeat mitt romney, he's got to know in his heart that the best way to do that is to get out. >> that's what i say. let me just -- there's a

different point of view, governor, i want you to respond to this. here's what byron york, who i almost always think is smart, he wrote this today. t yingheo win, or at least claiming to be trying to win. now it's about keeping mitt romney from winning. well, gingrich no longer says he can capture the 1,144 delegated required to wrap up the republican nomination. instead he now speaks frankly about a new plan. keep romney from getting the 1,144 by the end of the gop primary season in june, and then start what gingrich calls a conversation about who should be the republican nominee. that conversation the plan goes would lead to a brokered gop convention at which gingrich would emerge as the eventual nominee." and this delusion continues. let's watch. >> i believe after the primaries the over, it will be obvious that the so-called front-runner, in fact, didn't get there.

and from that point on, we'll be in a whole new conversation. >> your argument is that if he stays and he divides the anti-romney vote, which is my thinking, and most normal, rational people's thinking, his is something about, if you divide up the delegates a number of three ways, nobody will get a majority, but romney keeps winning primary after primary, in that sense. in that situation. >> and the problem is, chris, first of all, what newt gingrich has said there is a solid basis for a mental health commitment, number one. number two, number two, does he possibly think that even let's say romney doesn't get the 1,144, that deadlocked convention is going to turn to him? >> i guess he does! >> okay, let david in. tell me that scenario. >> i mean, that's -- you said delusion. i think that's what he does believe. that at that point in time, they're going to look around -- >> why?! >> -- and the guy who got 12% of the delegates, they're going to say, newt, where have you been all our lives?! you know, we're so sorry we -- >> i hate to say this, governor, he's like a good defense attorney.

you know, you were a prosecutor. a good defense attorney. one time a kid stole my card, he got convicted, but a public defender came up and said in court, do you know a guy named joe in court? and i said, no, i don't know a guy named joe. so she could go back to the kid and he said, joe told me to take the card. but doesn't he as the defendant here have to come up with some even delusional theory, if you're caught, basically, there's no reason to be in the race. >> but i don't believe in his heart of hearts that newt gingrich actually believes that. i think he wants the attention of staying in, everyone listens to him. what about his speech last night? he was talking about all these different issues. he loves having the audience. the and that's why he's staying in. he's too smart to believe he has a chance. >> by the way, his other issues are the $2.50 gas. he's like a lot, i don't like to fight with the la ruchies, but lyndon la reusch will come on television and spend $75,000 to

talk for a half hour with a set of books he wants to read. something to distract you from the campaign, whether it's jane fonda or whatever it is. this guy is now talking about something called $2.50 gas. they thinks he can attract our attention with it. >> well, i think he also worries that if he's not elected president, we won't have a lunar colony in the next five years. i disagree with the governor. i really think that he believes he is a historic transformational character, and that, eventually, the rest of the world will come to see that. >> well, that's called a delusion. >> well, yes. >> i believe so. >> governor, to begin this race, he thought it was winston churchill coming back after the disaster, and backing the king in the abdication fight. he was coming all the way back. he was the gall coming back from exile. this guy is really probably napoleon on st. helena right now. last night in an interview with rachel maddow, cnbc's john harwood said the money is drying up.

let's watch. >> i talked to one of sheldon adelson, you mentioned the super pac donor for newt gingrich, i talked to one of his friends last night who said, i think sheldon's written his last check. >> "the washington post's" greg sargent asked rick tower about the super pac's funding. should adelson, the granddaddy of that fund, stop donating. and he said this, governor, you'll love this, "fund-raising will be challenging." he's got one daddy warbucks looking out for him, adelson with his middle east concerns, giving this guy tens of millions of dollars, we don't know why. when adelson's going to get a phone call from one of his friends saying, newt's out of this ways. sheldon, you're wasting your money. >> the interesting thing, chris, if he decides newt's out, who will adelson go to? he says he's going to spend $100 million. will he do it for santorum, or he said some nice things about romney. who does he go to? >> well, it's not going to president obama.

>> that's for sure. >> does the republican establishment now really want newt out, which will give santorum more -- >> well, so what? so what about the establishment? who is the establishment? where's their money? >> when we talk about sheldon adelson and others, you know, having an impact here, i mean, also, there's no -- there are no more debates scheduled, so newt gingrich, you know, he can run on fumes, but he's going to have to get even more extreme in his rhetoric to get free media attention if he wants to stay in the mix. >> looking at the race next tuesday, how do you see it, governor? because without this guy we're looking at now having any role up there, i can't see anyone in illinois or the suburbs, anybody wasting their vote on this guy. i certainly wouldn't advise it. how's the battle look between the two left standing? the more establishment businessman, that's what he is, really, romney, or is sort of christian conservative crusader, your guy. you know, santorum all your life, you've known the guy for 20 years. what's the race look like? >> illinois's a strange state. paul kirk, a moderate, won a

republican primary for senate, but the extreme conservative candidate won the primary for governor, and of course, that was the only reason that pat quinn got re-elected. so i think it's going to be a close race. i think in illinois, the money could make a difference, and i think you could see romney do what he did in michigan and ohio, sort of a narrow victory. but, chris, this is deja vu all over again. remember in march and april and may in 2008, hillary won all the primaries and she won some of them by staggeringly large margins. and yet barack kept piling up delegates and holding his delegate lead. >> but that's a tough shot against obama, because obama, i was supporting obama in those days and you were supporting hillary, we all know who's side you were on, had a really spirited campaign behind him. people really believed in him. before you lodge that unfair metaphor there, comparison, do you really believe that there's a similar amount of spirit and excitement behind mitt romney as there was behind barack obama?

>> not at all. but to be very practical, and you said i was a practical politician, the math is the math. >> your love of the clintons goes beyond practicality. >> and illinois is a very expensive media market. chicago and other places, so that will give romney a big advantage. >> okay, can i ask you one last question my colleague. who's going to win illinois? >> romney will win. >> who's going to win. >> romney by a very narrow margin. >> i said just to cause trouble, cardinal george out there, the most conservative in the country, will encourage those in the pews this sunday to go with their fellow religionists, just to cause trouble in my religion. thank both, governor ed rendell, the practical man, and david corn, the ideologue. and reporter. up next, david axelrod tweaks mitt romney on his big victory last night in american samoa. that's up next in the sideshow. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc.

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back to "hardball." now for the sideshow. republican will cardin is hoping to be the next senator from arizona, but if you want to represent your home state, you've got to know the major cities. take a look at this new campaign ad, highlighting his arizona childhood. >> i'm will cardon and i approved this message. i grew up working in a family business, and hard work was the bedrock. >> oops, there. there in the photo album, the mis-spelled tucson, arizona's second largest city. the ad was quickly fixed and replaced with a correctly spelled version of tucson. as ross perot once advised, measure twice, cut once. back to the nashville campaign trail. mitt romney said in a tweet last night, hoping for better results in the pacific that's he got

last night in the south. "it will be a late night waiting for results from american samoa and hawaii, but a big thank you to everyone who voted in mississippi and alabama." david axelrod was quick to get in a dig. "mitt romney, you know as they say, as america samoa goes, so goes the nation." speaking of romney, steve colbert had some fun with the old story about strapping that romney family dog to the roof on a family vacation. take a look. >> of course, romney also knows how to make complex subjects simple. watch him punch holes in the president's so-called energy policy. >> look at his energy policy! what is his energy policy? you can't drive a car with a windmill on it. >> that's right! you can't drive a car with a windmill on it! because if you put a windmill on top of your car, then where does the dog go? >> that dog trip's going to be

told as long as romney's in public life. time now for tonight's big number. according to think progress, the united states' army is joining the ranks of advertisers who will be no longer buying time during rush limbaugh's radio program. just how trouble producing were rush's recent remarks on sandra fluke. a new bloomberg poll says that 53% of those polled says rush should be fired for calling her a prostitute and a slut. 53% say rush should go. that's tonight's very big number. up next, republicans are accused by their enemies of waging a war on women. so why is mitt romney now saying he's going to get rid of planned parenthood. that's ahead. and later, actor and activist george clooney joins us here on "hardball." he's back from a humanitarian mission in africa. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc.

my test is pretty simple. is the program so critical it's worth borrowing money from china to pay for it.

on that basis, of course you get rid of obama care. that's the easy one. but there are others. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. >> we're going to get rid of that, planned parenthood. welcome back to "hardball." there was mitt romney in that interview on tuesday afternoon, a day ago, with a local st. louis tv station. within 24 hours of his comment there, the democratic national committee turned it into an attack ad. >> planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. >> plant panderhood, we're going to get rid of that. >> well, that was lethal. funding for planned parenthood is a potent issue at the state level as well. today in texas, a republican-backed law that would have essentially shut down planned parenthood was due to go into effect. well, following angry protests in austin and nationwide criticism, texas lawmakers gave the clinics an extension to keep treating patients through april 30th. that's another month or so. have democrats struck political gold by portraying republicans

as anti-women? and how will mitt romney fare if and when he makes his inevitable pivot to the center for the general election? melissa hendenberg is a political columnist. susan page is the u.s. bureau chief for "usa today" and often sits across the table from me, except for tonight. let's talk about these politics here. the president's taking a hammering over gas prices with men and women, but on these social issues, these issues that women are particularly politically focused on, although they affect both men and women pretty darned well, is he getting in trouble, mitt romney, susan? >> well, clearly the democrats think this is a great issue for them, because i got 115 e-mails from democrats today decrying what mitt romney said about planned parenthood. but the fact is, if you look at the data in both the gallup poll and the pew research center poll out just today, there is an evidence that this issue cuts disproportionately with women. we've seen the president's approval rating go up a bit in both polls, but not because of

an increase in support among women. on the other hand, of course democrats rely on support from women. there's a big gender gap at the moment, and it's to the advantage to have democrats who are about 20 points ahead in the pew poll, obama 20 points ahead among women over romney. that's an advantage democrats certainly want to protect. >> melinda, it's astounding to me after all the talk on television, here especially, with respect to what happened after going after planned parenthood, right? >> right. >> and all this talk about rush limbaugh and all this talk about the catholic church, and all this talk about contraception. and all those issues which you think would have put the democrats with an advantage over the conservatives, not a big powerful hit yet in terms of big changing and how people are voting yet. >> i do think that it's a very powerful, good issue for democrats, because it energizes the base, it energizes women, they're raising a lot of money on it. and i think in the end, it is a winner for them. but to quote ann romney, women are concerned about other things besides contraceptives too.

so, you know, i mean a friend of mine who's an independent voter said, you know, i am worried the top issue on my mind is not who's going to be paying for contraception with my tax dollars. oops, i'm unemployed. i'm not paying taxes. so i think it goes back to jobs. i thought it was interesting he lost a lot of ground, obama, recently, with low-income americans. i mean, jobs really are -- >> and by the way, when you go to the gas pump, i don't know whether i see men or women pumping gas, it's about the same, probably. and really, and that's a lot more money than contraception or anything else when you look at the price of gas now, 50 bucks. >> that's incredible. >> the progressive organization, moveon.org made a national cable tv buy, however, for an ad highlighting republican positions on contraceptives and abortion. they're on that issue and they're running hot. let's listen. >> if we're going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex, we want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.

>> a woman impregnated through rape should accept that horribly created gift, the gift of human life. accept what god has given you and make the best of a bad situation. >> these aren't our words. >> they're all real things said by prominent members of the republican party. >> judging from their comments, the gop must have a serious problem with women. >> well, there you have it, susan, covering politics now, now having it very definitely defined that the leaders of the republican party, prominent leaders, include rush limbaugh. he's now -- he might as well be mitch mcconnell, because -- or john bayne we are, the speaker, because he's now among their number in terms of influence and prominence. >> well, that's right. democrats hope that's the case. because here's an ad that really goes to energizing the democratic base, especially among women, raising money, getting that side of the political field ginned up for the election.

but i agree with melinda, does it persuade independent-minded women in the middle who are probably more concerned about jobs and economic growth and maybe even the federal deficit. those are issues that i think are higher on the list of concerns for americans of both genders. >> you know the question in politics is always, do they care about people like me. there are two kinds of women, married women and unmarried women. i think i'm safe on that one. things change so rapidly. but let's say there's two kinds of women. single women and birth control, single guys and birth control, it's a big issue. birth control is a big issue of responsibility, i personally think. it's a big part of your life, avoiding responsibling pregnancies. married women reserve the right to decide in our modern society when to have children, right? these are fairly common positions people take. >> right. >> are the republican party -- is the republican party cognizant of these facts i just laid out?

>> unlike rush limbaugh, i'm not a spokesman for the republican party, so i'm not going to do that. but i think that, you know, the debate now has moved from abortion to this much-larger issue of war on women. the more they play into that narrative that's been around for a while, it's not really even about contraceptives, per se. it's all these things taken together. it's the rush limbaugh comment, it's, you know, even planned parenthood, under attack from coleman. i mean, all these pieces of the conversation over the last couple of months, i think all feed into this idea that republicans are unfriendly to women. whether that's fair or not, i do think it's a potent thing for democrats. >> powerful statement by secretary of state clinton yesterday, didn't you think, susan? very powerful. it's a worldwide problem, and she pointed to here as well. >> absolutely. and i just want to say, chris, you said something quite wise, as you so often do, about the difference between married women

and single women, because pollsters tell us this is one of the fundamental divides in the american electorate that married women tend to vote republican. single women, who have lives that are a little more fragile, they're on edge, a little more concerned that they might need the government's help at some point are much more likely to be democrats. and the challenge for democrats, and test is getting single women out to vote. >> i did notice that over the years. thank you so much, melinda hendenberg. up next, george clooney joins us next. he's here and he's right to bring attention to the humanitarian crisis going on in south sudan. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc.

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at our semi-annual sleep sale, save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets. plus, free standard shipping - but only through march 18th! ly at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699 earlier in the week, we saw two polls where president obama's job approval was down. well, today we've got two polls where it's up. let's get back to the "hardball" scoreboard, with good news for him. according to a new bloomberg poll, obama's job approval is up to 48, his disapproval, 47. that's a close one. even new numbers with the president's numbers up at 50% approval, just 41% disapproval. that's about the best of them. how does this stack up against his two republican rivals? in the boomberg poll, obama's tied with mitt romney at 47%. and the president leads rick santorum in that bloomberg poll by 6, 50 to 44. and in the general, obama leads santorum 57 to 39.

welcome back to "hardball." far away from the political headlines in this country, a humanitarian crisis developing in the north african country of sudan. actor george clooney got back just yesterday from a mission there and testified today before the senate foreign relations committee about the atrocities he witnessed. >> we visited avia in january 2011, and at the time, it was estimated to have 120,000 nokdinka inhabitants. today, there are none. they are either dead or they are refugees all because they had the bad luck of being born on the border, being born in oil-rich land, or being born

black. that is a fact. >> well, tomorrow george clooney is scheduled to meet with both president obama and secretary of state hillary clinton. george clooney joins us now along with human rights activist john prendergast, the co-founder of the enough project, a group that works to stop genocide. george, thank you for joining us. you're really starting at the beginning on educating us as to what's going on over there on the border between sudan and south sudan. who's committing genocide against whom? and why? >> well, it may be too soon to call it genocide. but what we do know is it's certainly war crimes and atrocities. but what it is is it's the same people. it's the same people who did it in darfur. it's president omar al bashir. it's harun, the defense minister, all three men charged with war crimes at the defense criminal court are the same people who are indiscriminately bombing innocent civilians all through the yuba mountains.

and it's a campaign of fear and death and starvation that we've seen before. and rape, quite honestly. we have seen before in the beginnings of darfur. >> is it recognizable motive or tribalisim? >> you want the people to move off the land, it's good farming, they would like to sell some of that off. but a lot of it is there is a rebel, in-fighting, a war going on but they are not bombing where the war is going on they are bombing the people. they want the people to leave if the people leave the rebels will leave, that is the theory. >> john prendergast is this about oil to some extent, does it affect us in any way the geo-political aspect on us? >> there is a direct affect on us. china gets 6% of the daily imports of oil from sudan

directly. just six weeks ago south sudan cut off oil of -- turned off the taps of its oil flow, in a dispute with the neighbor sudan through which the pipelines, the oil from the south flows. so china suddenly had to wade in markets to buy -- to replace that 6% of the oil. that drives up the global price of oil, so it affects us directly. and there is a humanitarian imperative but also an economic reason rationale for us to get more deeply involved in trying to forge a diplomatic solution there in sudan. >> you know, we've got, george and john, we have a lot of pans on the fire, worried about iran, worried about the continuing horror in afghanistan, trying to clean up the mess and get out of iraq, worried about syria of course, still worried about what will happen in libya and egypt.

do we have the capacity to extend our foreign power to try to influence events in sudan? do we have the power? >> sure. look, here's the thing. we ought to be able to do certain things even when a lot of other things are going on. when we know, whether we know there is an emergency, we know that in the next couple months, if these people don't get humanitarian aid, they are being attacked, it's not they didn't had a drought and they are poor, they are attacked and hiding in the hills, they can't grow food. they are about to have a rainy season, we won't be able to get food to them. a lot of people will die. here's the truth. the truth of the matter, chris, is this. it doesn't take a lot. we're not talking about american lives, not talking about money, really. what we're talking about is good old fashioned american diplomacy. what we're good at when we set our mind to it. we have a moment in time for the first time we can go to china,

at an executive level, perhaps the president, instead of appealing to better angels or humanitarian cause, you can sit with china and say listen, you guys -- this is costing you money, costing us money, we can work, china has the levers in the sudan, they have all the infrastructure, $20 billions worth of oil infrastructure in the sudan. so they have the levers, we can sit with china, both of us would benefit economically for your involvement in bringing a peaceful end to all of the problems that are going around in the blue nile, in south courtafan and darfur. >> thank you so much, george clooney for the great work you're doing and john prendergast, congratulations on your marriage. i'm her you're happier for it. george clooney i did vote for you in sag for the best actor.

>> i actually voted for you because i thought you played chris matthews in "ides of march" better than anyone could have done. >> thank you. not like julianne moore did sarah. i loved the way i played the character in hawaii. thank you for joining us on a serious matter, we'll take it seriously. thank you for coming on "hardball." when we return, let me finish with the mano-mano slug fest we have been waiting for. romney versus santorum in illinois. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ♪ [ female announcer ] gross -- i'll tell you what's really gross: used dishcloths. they can have a history that they drag around with them. for a cleaner way to clean try bounty extra soft. in this lab demo, one sheet of bounty extra soft

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let me finish tonight with this. ladies and gentlemen, the main bout is about to begin. we have been through the preliminary bouts, met michelle and herman and the rest of the long shots, now the main event of the year. the fight between the long time heavy weight contender mitt romney fighting out of belmont, massachusetts and rick santorum, the light heavyweight from pittsburgh. the stakes are huge, winner gets do go to tampa as the presumed nominee, gets to face barack obama in three hour-and-a-half one-on-one's. this fight will decide something else, the future of the republican party. the meaning of political conservativeism. think of the catholics in chicago will they go for

santorum and david and goliath against money, will they root for the little guy in the race or go with the former moderate governor of massachusetts, the guy with the shot to grab the center in the race against obama. thereby knock him off. this much we know from experience, romney will use his connections and money backing to put up negative tv ads around the clock. he will engage in the same saturation bombing he has done every where else. santorum will fight with hard right religious beliefs and stick-to-it ness. counter with the left, right and center who want a good fight. no longer distracted by others who run out of vengeance or vanity. we need a clean fight and a winner. thanks to a thoughtful bunch of citizens in alabama and mississippi, we've got one