president obama wants the facts. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews down in washington. leading off tonight, the president weighs in. it is inevitable that it happened today that president obama was asked about the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. mr. obama said all of us have to do soul searching to figure out how this could happen. then he said this. >> my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin.

you know, if i had a son, he would look like trayvon. >> wow, with the last time that the president was asked about a racially charged police incident, the moment backfired on him when he sharply criticized the cambridge, massachusetts police officer, but this time, he got it just right. and yet another sign that the republicans see a winnable election slipping away from them, peggy noonan told mitt romney today in her column that comes out tomorrow, it's time to get off the goofball express, as she puts it, enough of the cheesy grits and the singing and the jeans and the compulsive ly pleasants and calling the opponents lightweights. act like a president. and does he have it him or does he have what an aide called him an etch a sketch. >> the president signed the popular health care law, and so has the president's hypocrisy on the issue, and continuing the charade that obama care and

romney care are essentially the same thing. we know you can't wait for it. "mad men" begins sunday night, and we will bring you some of the real mad men who brought presidential politics back in 1964. we begin with president obama weighing in on the trayvon martin shooting. joe williams covers the white house for politico. michelle bernard is an msnbc political analyst. let's listen to the president. here's what we know. let's start with the facts as we know them. please correct me, we'll argue some of the facts, perhaps, as we know them. the official police reports regarding the shooting of trayvon martin. sanford police observed zimmerman as what they describe a wetback covered in grass, a bloody nose and blood on the back of his head when they referred to the shooting. zimmerman claims in his police statement that he was returning

to his truck to meet police when trayvon was attacked, but then a 16-year-old girl on the phone with trayvon martin said that he told her he was being followed abo by a strange man and heard a man approach asking what he was doing here. we have conflicting evidence, if you want to call it that, joe, of what happened. the president raised this to a presidential question. he said he wants to find out what happened. he also said if he had a son, he would look like trayvon. bring it back to the ethnic fact that we are all familiar with here. >> and that is why the ethnic statement was perfect for him to elevate the statement and not drag it down to politics, but not deliver pathos either, it was something that showed a relatable moment. he's telegraphing that he understands what's going on and how the parents might feel about this. i think it was a very important statement for him to make and it quells a lot of critics.

>> quells a lot of critics? describe the criticism. >> the criticism was obama needs to say something. we have the first black president, we have what appears to be a clear-cut case of racial bias or racial overtones in this case. >> we'll hear some in a moment. >> absolutely. the president needs to say something about this, commander in chief, he knows the experience. this is a moment for him to step in and advocate for the african-american people. >> i think another thing that's relevant, his attorney general and close friend eric holder, who also happens to be african-american is investigating on some kind of hate crime issue. >> yes, and the attorney for the civil rights division is hispanic and not only one of th things that the justice department taking a look at this, but when the president spoke today, he also let us understand when he says this this this is what my son would look like, what he is saying is that it is powerful for many reasons, and most importantly, this is not some kid from the hood who might have been acting

out where people might have necessarily said, he was engaging in criminal activity, but young man, well educated and middle-class family and mother and father love him and he was armed with nothing but a bag of skittles and iced tea and some lunatic says a black man in the neighborhood and i'm going to shoot him. maybe, maybe not. we don't know what happened but we know that racial bias was involved and know he was shot by that guy and he is dead. the president said this could be any black man in america. >> i thought it was wonderfully said. i'm white, obviously, and i thought it was a statement about our country that was well done. it was done with political deliberation, which is how he has to always speak, like a pope, has to get it right the first time. your thoughts? >> well, that is part of the problem, because it is a blessing and a curse for the white house. the curse is that when you have situations like these that come up, many eyes in the african-american community turn towards the white house, because we have never been here before. one of these presidents is not like the other, therefore,

looking to him to make a statement either one way or another puts a lot of pressure that none of the predecessors or very few of the predecessors had. >> and let's listen to the president whose first comments came today on the shooting death of trayvon martin. >> my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. you know, if i had a son, he would look like trayvon, and -- you know, i think that they are right to expect that all of us as americans are going to take this with the seriousness that it deserves, and that we will get to the bottom of exactly what happened. >> and finding out what happened is probably the first, and maybe i am different than the other commentators because you have to find out what happened and you have to find out in court ultimately, but formally, and we know that the guy is arm and he has the stand your ground law on his side and he is acting like a

pseudo policeman and he has no authority whatsoever, and yet he is on a neighborhood watch thing, and it is a toxic mix and he has a point of view that clearly this guy is a criminal. >> well, he was a suspect even before anything started, because we have evidence or tapes purporting to show that zimmerman repeatedly called into question black men walking back and forth through his neighborhood. >> okay. now let's listen to something i think is serious business. here is a tape where we have boosted the sound so you can hear something that this guy, zimmerman, says under his breath. and it sounds like to me listening a couple times like the "f" word, which we don't say on television. and another word which is clearly recognized to anyone watching as a racial slur. let's listen to the tape. >> okay. which entrance is he heading towards? >> the back entrance. [ bleep ]. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay. we don't need you to do that. >> okay. we cut it off there, and i don't know why we cut it off there. >> i have listened to the

enhanced version of the tape and for whatever reason it is cut off here. >> no, it was there. >> and it is in the initial part where he is whispering under his breath and says f'ing -- >> well, we should not hide it, because if you listen to the tape it says f'ing coon under the breath and it is unmistakable and undeniable if you listen to the enhanced version and that in and of itself makes it a hate crime, and if the state authorities do not prosecute and properly investigate this, we will see a prosecution under the federal hate crime legislation, because what we have seen if this killing appears to be have been racially motivated. >> if you are in court and a prosecutor and/or a member of a jury or defense attorney, you will have to contend with this boosted sound of what he said on the 911. >> the prosecution will have to contend with it. this is how they build their case. one, this mr. zimmerman has a

history of making a lot of phone calls to the police whenever he sees black men in his neighborhood. number two, you can hear it very clearly on the tape, the police ask him, are you following this person? he says yes. they say, we don't need you to do that. and then you add in what he says f'ing coon. >> and no, i heard it. if you were sitting in my office a few moments ago, you would have heard it. >> you would have heard it. >> it's the f'ing word followed by a word that we all recognize as racially evil really go ahead. let's listen. >> it is evil. >> okay. which entrance is that that he is heading towards? >> the back entrance. [ bleep ]. >> are you following him? >> yes. >> okay. we don't need you to do that. >> you hear it, he says f'ing coon. he says, we don't need you to do that. he continues to follow him. and you put all that together with trayvon speaking with the girlfriend and she is saying run from him, and you have motive

and clearly based on the racial bias. >> well, this is going to be one tricky trial if this guy is prosecuted. it could be murder one, two, three, whatever. there's all kinds of possibilities here. we have two levels here. one is that the justice department is moving on this case in what looks to be a case of a hate crime. looks to be. or sounds to be. clearly. and then you have the second issue there of the grand jury down there, so locally, and the president covered all of the bases today, because he said local, state, federal, we have to all get into action and do the right thing here. >> and to the last point, the actions speak louder than words in this particular case. the justice department was sent down a few days ago, in addition to a community activism team, to get things going and make sure they do the right thing in florida. the problem, however, going back to the initial point is that we have a law here, the stand your ground law that is replicated around the country, and that is as far as we know one of the

trigger points of this particular shooting, you mentioned that the shooter apparently felt like he had the law on his side. that is a powerful thing especially when you consider the extended history that we have had of profiling of stopping people in wrong neighborhoods in this country. i mean, it happened to me. it happened to my dad in the '50s and to me in '80s and the '90s and now happening again and now we've had the added mix of what sounds like permissible violence in order to -- >> well, let me say something important here about the stand your ground laws. >> this standard has been used by criminals as well. people who are normally criminals have used this as a defense when they kill somebody. >> yes, that is why it is a flawed piece of legislation. >> and the important point to make is that regardless of the fact that this guy felt protected by the law, i can't imagine any black man in the united states of america who believes that if he were to stand his ground under this law and be the shooter and the victim was white he would not be prosecuted, he would have been arrested and in jail and

he'd be awaiting trial. absolutely. law does not cover -- >> and that is the history. >> -- cover the blacks. >> the history. thank you. coming up, mitt romney can't shake his aide's etch asketch comment. romney's continuing problems, coming up next. you're hatching "hardball," only on msnbc. [ female announcer ]r kids are getting a dependable clean in the bathroom?

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back to "hardball." this week has been the best of times and the worst of times for mitt romney, and he did capture the decisive win in illinois and sits closer to clinching the republican nomination right now. but i can't shake what his aides said about him being an etch-a-sketch type. and this article comes from peggy noonan. in the "wall street journal."

quote, for mr. romney in particular, suit up and get serious now that everyone knows you'll be the nominee, get off of the goofball express. cheesy grits, jeans, singing, being compulsively pleasant, calling your opponents light weights. enough use. enough. use the next few months to get back to basics. why do you want to be president? is the answer, quote, because i'm a great fellow, and it's a top job? dig down deep for a better reason. and now joining me is an nbc analyst and also, chris cillizza, an msnbc analyst as well. is this strange, because every time he gets something, it is not just goofball. >> well, peggy noonan's criticism is right in one respect, because mitt romney is constantly falling down by answering reporters' questions. if you talk to the traveling news press corps that would be a

shocking comment for them, because is he notorious for not doing press avails or when he does, limiting them to one or two questions. and for peggy noonan and other conservatives the race is settled and not numerically or calendar settled, but can romney elevate his mission and elevate the party along with him? i think he took a step in that direction tuesday night. i thought that was the best acceptance speech he gave. >> and his answer to peggy is i think i'm pretty good with regard to why he wants to be president in this country, and this is the best job in the country, so i think i believe i should be here. >> well, the romney advisers believes he should be president because he is uniquely qualified in these times. he should say that more often, i have a skill set that meets this time. >> and i'm not super man or anything else, but when we have a screwed up economy, i can fix it. chris cillizza, would that live up to his claim, mr. fix it, i

can fix it. >> well, all of the things that you point out, chris, cheesy grits and -- >> peggy did that. >> peggy pointed them out. he's the 2008 mitt romney, trying to be everything to everyone. he's moderate, tonally conservative. this campaign to his credit, most of the time they've stayed with the businessman route. his beggest advantage over santorum, experience, has the right experience to be president. he wins it overwhelmingly. in illinois, romney won a huge share of it. newt gingrich came in second, ron paul came in third and rick santorum came in fourth. among voters who value experience. so if he wants to close it out, i think he narrowly says, this is my background, this is why i'm uniquely skilled to make this case and not just in the primary but in the general

election, too. >> could be he's not willing to take a chance on the one reason he's willing to be president, the economy takes a second dip at the end of the fall when they go in to vote and people say, wait a minute, we do need a mr. fix it. is he willing to put all his bets on the fact that the voters feel not able to continue this president but someone who means business. in the radio show yesterday, romney tried to downplay the damage from that etch asketch remark. >> what about that, the campaign stepping on its own story, governor? >> well, this time it was not ideal, of course, but you never can -- you kansas estimate that every word is going to come out of your mouth is going to be the way you wanted to describe it. rick santorum said the other day he doesn't care about high unemployment. really? is that what he meant to say? >> that's not a good comparison because the aide was saying exactly what he meant to say. this guy can reset and deny everything he said in the primaries and adjust for the

general. right? >> on issues basis. the question was not about strategy or financing or the overall metrics or mechanics of a general election. what about the issues you staked out here and now, will they hurt you in the fall? reset, etch-a-sketch, shake it up, start again. all of that fits into the context. going back to the mr. fix it idea, he has vulnerabilities. democrats will say all of your vast experience led you to say detroit ought to go bankrupt. if you made that call and been in a unique position with your skills, you could have gotten that wrong. even if romney goes down this direction and says i have all these skills, my instincts are right for these times, there ill will be areas where he'll be vulnerable. >> thank you major garrett and chris cillizza. have a good weekend. and word association, what's the one word people associate with all four presidential

candidates? stick around. one word to describe romney, newt, rick and dr. paul. we'll be right back on msnbc. [ male announcer ] fighting pepperoni heartburn and pepperoni breath?

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huh. back to "hardball" and now for the side show. first up, what, no etch-a-sketch? when mitt romney's adviser compared his candidate's shift in the primary to the general election as an etch-a-sketch, the new toy was a must have prop for santorum and gingrich, but ron paul, not so much, his campaign came out with in new ad on the topic and sounds like a bromance with him and romney. let's watch. >> it is like an etch-a-sketch and you shake it up and start over again. >> the etch-a-sketch. >> where is my etch-a-sketch at. >> do you have an etch-a-sketch? >> we are talking about the big things here, folks.

>> see it mainly goes after gingrich and santorum, but going after romney? not here. the paul campaign has released ads going after every other candidate but never mitt romney. next up, money talks. a lot of democrats say republican lawmakers have weighweigh waged something of a war on women. well, senator hannah was a sole congressman who had quite a message for the women in the crowd. wait until you hear it. let's watch. >> contribute your money to people who can speak on your behalf, because the other side, my side, has a lot of it. and you know, you need to send your own message. this is a dogfight. it's a fist fight. and you have all the cards. i can only tell you, to get out

there and use them, make it matter, get out there, get on tv, advertise, talk about this the fact that you want it is evidence that you deserve it and that you need it. >> well, did you catch that? he is saying to donate your money to the other side as in the democrats. well, he is going to take heat from his party on that, but hanna as a pro choice advocate this may not be the first time he took heat from his own crowd. finally, you know the game where somebody says a word or phrase and you have to say the first word that comes into your mind? it's called word association, right? those were the rules behind a washington pugh poll, and the top two words for each of the candidates. mitt romney, no and rich. rick santorum, conservative and no. newt gingrich, old and no. and ron paul, no and old. so there's a pattern there, i suppose. more people had negative words

than positive for all of the candidates with newt gingrich taking the lead for the highest number of negative word choices. that is "hardball" for now and coming up next is "your busi after a morning of walk-ups, it's back to more pain, back to more pills. the evening showings bring more pain and more pills. sealing the deal... when, hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. it can relieve pain all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lois... who chose two aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches.

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