dangerous president in modern american history. he wants to weaken the united states. >> what's amazing is the bully that president obama has suddenly become. >> you know, when i was a younger activist, i used to say things and call names. then i learned you need to think before you speak. if for no other reason, thoughtful people will not listen to you if you can only call names, because they will only assume you have nothing to say. thanks "haball" starts now. unemployment is down, so why are the republicans smiling? let's play some "hardball." good evening, i'm michael smerconish in new york and in for chris matthews. leading off tonight, it's the economy, stupid.

it was true in the 1992 campaign and it's true today. take all the factors that will determine who wins in november, combine them all, and they still won't be as important as the economy and the unemployment rate. the economy created 120,000 jobs last month well below the last few months and below expectations while unemployment rate dropped by .1% to 8.2%. the republicans will point to the lower than expected jobs numbers, democrats will point to a falling unemployment rate. who will win this fight? we'll break it down at the top of the show. also, mitt romney's people know he has an image problem, they love going negative, and romney blew his chance for a timely jeb endorsement. those are a few of the nuggets from the new ebook and we'll dish campaign gossip with the authors of "inside the circus." plus, is there really a gop war on women? democrats are dining out on that idea. republicans say it's all nonsense. we'll have that debate. and did you ever wonder what it might be like to text with hillary clinton?

that fantasy has gone viral and it's in the "side show." and finally, let me finish with the best thing of all that happened this week. we begin with the economy and the presidential race, john heilemann is the national political correspondent for "national magazine," david corn is the author of the book called "showdown." both are msnbc political analysts. guys, as i mentioned today, the unemployment rate notched down just a hair and total jobs added 120,000. although those numbers are headed in the right direction, the jobs numbers fell short of expectations. this morning, president obama expressed cautious optimism. >> we welcome today's news that our businesses created another 121,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate ticked down. but it's clear to every american that there will still be ups and downs along the way and that we've got a lot more work to do. >> republican reaction to the jobs numbers was far less charitable. presidential candidate mitt

romney issued a statement saying this is a weakened very troubling jobs report. house speaker john boehner's statement said families and small businesses are still struggling to get by because of president obama's failed economic policies. john heilemann, do we make too much of these numbers? in other words, is there something visceral? some kind of feeling out there amongst the electorate that is more important than whether it's 8.2% as an unemployment rate or 7.4%? >> well, michael, i think the most important thing is that -- the economy and the most reflection of the economy is the picture on job growth and the most important thing about both of those things is the trend. so if the economy's improving, even if it's improving a little bit, people get a sense from the numbers that we're making progress. that's good for president obama, bad for mitt romney. if we're backing up, if the gains of the last couple few months are suddenly heading in the opposite direction as the numbers today suggested, which is to say much below expectations, half of what people had expected and there's

a lot of private sector forecasters who think that q-3 could be very bad, the third quarter of the year heading into the election, high gas prices almost inevitable this summer. if the trend is in the wrong direction, very bad news for president obama and very good news for mitt romney. >> i'm going to come back to trends in just a moment because we have an interesting analysis to share with you. let me ask david corn first. is it the subjective or objective that matters most relative to these figures and the economy generally? >> well, if you're talking about voters, it's the subjective that is important. it's how people feel. you go back to the '92 campaign and people argue that the recession -- george h.w. bush recession was already over, but people still felt it wasn't. it's true how people feel that's going to dictate the voting in november, not what's actually happening on the ground which is hard to capture sometimes with the statistics. we're going to have several months of these reports between now and november. and really what happens in september/october that gives

people the final sense of where the economy is moving in the right direction or not, and that can all be determined also -- don't forget by external circumstances. the japanese tsunami, the greek financial crisis, there's a lot of stuff outside the president's control that could buffet the economy and our political stability. >> i guess what i'm saying is that it's hard for folks at home to follow along some of the time. you're going to hear from one side, well, the unemployment rate is high at 8.2%, and the other side is going to say, yes, but we've had 25 straight months of job growth. let me turn to john heilemann's thought about trends. this is really interesting. conventional wisdom holds it's the unemployment rate on election day that determines a president's fate. no u.s. president has won reelection with a jobless rate above 6% except for ronald reagan. it was 7.2% when he won reelection that was november of 1984. but nbc "wall street journal" pollster, who is a republican, says that voters' impressions of

the economy are locked in in the late spring of an election year and it's that mind set that they take into the november booth. and here are three good examples of what he's referring to. in president george h.w. bush's first and only term, the unemployment rate was trending downward, a good thing, loading into election day. so logic holds that voters would have been willing to give him four more years with the jobs outlook then improving. but in the crucial late spring months that we've highlighted here, the unemployment rate was rising, and according to the theory, it was that impression that voters took to the polls. same pattern for president jimmy carter. the unemployment rate was headed down in the lead-up to the november election, but in that april, may, june springtime frame, unemployment was rising and carter lost the reelection bid despite an improving jobs picture. now a trend line for a president who won a second term despite a punishing unemployment rate that topped 10% during his first term

because it was heading in the right direction, downward. voters gave him four more years. david corn, sounds like an s.a.t. question, i know. does it make sense to you because logic dictates that right now we're in the time sequence that matters most not post labor day. >> you know, i -- i -- i take that point. but also i think we live in a different world where information is absorbed and chewed up and spit out faster than back in those days. so people's impressions, i think, are subject to change. back and forth between now and the election. and also, i do think that the weakness mitt romney has shown as a candidate is strategically important and can overturn a lot of these other trend issues. now, he has time to find his footing between now and november, but if he can't, people are still going to be judging these two men against this backdrop of what they think may or may not be happening with the economy. >> john heilemann, does it make sense to you if it's been this way since '52?

>> it does and it makes sense for an odd reason. i had a conversation a few months ago with the political director for bill clinton in 1996. and doug has done a similar kind of analysis only he's looked at approval ratings for presidents and found that the trend lines and what's happening with the presidential approval in the winter and spring of an election year matters more than what's happening toward the end of the year. so this kind of jives with that. and i'm sure there's some correlation between those two numbers and i think it is true. i think david is right. there's no question that in the media environment, people do absorb things more quickly. but, at the same time, people are now, especially now, thinking hard about the economy for four years of barack obama for 3 1/2 years of barack obama's presidency. i think they have -- their views about where things are headed right now are being shaped, they are being formed. that's why the white house right now is hammering on mitt romney and paul ryan so hard because they know that the springtime

leading into the summer where the summer's going to be quiet. we have the olympics, there's a lot of other things going on in the summer. this is the time when impressions do get formed. not decisively, but they get formed importantly, and that's why both sides are trying to frame each other up right now. >> how about if things are headed in the right direction but not as quickly as anyone would like. >> it should have been improving at a more rapid pace. >> romney has the benefit of not having it subjected to any fact checking. he keeps implying that he had been in charge the last few days we'd be in a much better place even though he was against the auto rescue plan. god knows what he would have done differently. so he can make the argument, that really will -- that argument will register depending on what people think of barack obama. and whether they feel he has a grip on the economy and what to do and -- in the months and

years ahead. they think he doesn't, then they'll be more susceptible to mitt romney's i could have done it better, i will do it better argument. if they see things going a better way and not impressed by romney who has been turning off women voters and independent voters particularly in swing states, they may give obama a second shot. i think this election could turn over -- upturn some of our assumptions about how things work because of the particulars of the candidate. >> john heilemann, you wonder if in boston the romney headquarters, they're hoping as americans that those numbers come down as quickly as they can or as romneyites anxious to elect their man is something different. >> i suspect their reactions are probably both. i don't -- i wouldn't accuse any of those people of being unpatriotic and they want to see the country in a better place. they obviously think that mitt romney would be the person that would help the country to get to a better place faster. again as david said, that's hard to test. there's no question they see political advantage in the economy turning downward. and there's -- and they're ready

to capitalizen o that. it is the best -- given all the damage that romney has suffered or inflicted on himself the last several months, it's the best way for him to win if this economy turns south over the next couple of months. >> thank you for being with us, gentlemen. coming up, inside the romney campaign. turns out his top advisers know he has an image problem and they love going negative. lots of gossip from the republican campaign. this is "hardball." [ artis brown ] america is facing some tough challenges right now. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

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well, welcome back to "hardball," it's been a long primary season for republican voters who have watched about half dozen front runners come and go. and yet, still standing, mitt romney. an unnatural politician who has run a tight ship of operatives, many of whom love to take down opponents standing in their way. the incredible story of romney, santorum, gingrich, and the rest is all condensed into a readable ebook called "inside the circus" the second in a series from politico. covering the steph election. and with me are the co-authors evan thomas and politico's mike allen. gentlemen, you talk about the image issue that has surrounded the romney campaign and outside romney campaign adviser told you in the book, "they haven't been able to grapple with the central issue and central challenge they face as a campaign. that is, that in the absence of a candidate who has any poetry, who has any ability to connect on an emotional level. how do you create a bond? if you're a super charismatic candidate like george w. bush or john mccain, they ran without a bold agenda. they had more emotional level,

value levels way to connect with voters. this guy doesn't have it. he has all the warmth of a wall street ceo." evan, is it essential that at some p point he connect or can voters simply say, look, you know, i can't have a beer with him, but i think he can turn the economy around. >> well, as you were saying at the top of the show, if the economy tanks and if unemployment goes way up, he can win by default. but, sure, i mean -- he's got to do -- he's got to do better than he's done. he's been a bad politician. he's got to find a way to be -- i don't like this word, relatable, some way to relate to voters. and they haven't figured it out they're going to try. you're going to see a lot more of romney telling his story and how he's helping people. >> on jay leno the other night, david gregory was talking about what he thinks really drives romney. and he says at his core is his faith and yet seems reluctant to talk about it. what's been said about how much he should openly embrace his

faith and use it as a means to allowing people see what's at his core? >> well, one of the first things we've learned behind the scenes of this campaign to do this series of ebooks for randomhouse was that athey knew from the beginning that mormonism was going to be a tough issue for him. he lives his faith. we know that before a debate he and mrs. romney will step aside and say a little prayer. but they know that if they get into teaching theology in a campaign, that they're going to be way off their message. so from the beginning they've said that for people who attacked mormonism they were going to be very tough on them that they were going to label it bigotry, that they were not going to let any attacks on mormonism slide, but they weren't going to talk about it any more than necessary. and this is part of the dilemma that evan and i discover. that they can't really decide how much as one adviser said to open up the kimono.

how much to show of mitt romney. is he too scripted? or is he not scripted enough? so as evan mentioned i think in the coming days we're going to see him doing more. see him sort of this is your life for mitt romney. going around the country, showing his life experiences in an effort to get to people to relate to him. in the end, we vote for people we like. >> here's another one of your revelations speaking of hardball tactics used to destroy opponents. a senior romney adviser told you, " so their view is he's dead, but wait a minute, we've got more bullets in our gun, let's keep shooting because you never know." evan, they relish going negative. >> one of them talked about his wife had been reading a book about vampires, and you have to dig them up, burn them, and scatter their ashes. the problem is, they don't have a winning candidate. what else are they going to do? they're good at it. they ran effective, negative ads, they way outspent their

opponents and basically buried them in negative ads. i'm not sure that's going to work against obama. but look for it, you'll see a lot of negative stuff this fall. >> there are a lot of great nuggets, including this. mike allen, you report there was no romney research on santorum just a couple of days out from iowa. in other words, he completely took them by surprise. >> well, he took everybody by surprise. i don't think you and i thought that rick santorum was exactly going to be the republican redeemer. but he came out of iowa with his head of steam and the romney campaign had to adapt to that quickly. also with gingrich, they didn't think he was the threat that he was either. and so they took their foot off his throat as one adviser said to me as he came out of new hampshire and they got beat in south carolina. so the night of mitt romney's big win in florida, i said to one of the folks outside the victory speech. i said, so, are we done with newt gingrich? are you going to be able to let go of him? no, he's been dead before.

they were going to make sure this time he was good and dead. >> here's another one from "inside the circus." who can forget this night in october that had everyone wondering what was up with rick perry? let's take a refresher. >> we're kind of into those slogans, live free or die, victory or death. bring it. they print any more money in washington, the goal's going to be good. 20% flat tax, take your deductions off, send it in. the good news is that little plan i shared with you doesn't force the granite state to expand your tax footprint. if you know what i mean. it's like 9% since expansion. >> evan, is there an explanation as to that behavior? >> well, i'm not sure. we talked to somebody before the debate was down in the men's room there in hanover, new hampshire, and he came in the

bathroom singing "i've been working on the railroad," and he was still singing. so who knows? the story was that he had a bad back and really bad back and he was on pain medication as anybody would be. two hours is a long time to stand at a podium and, you know, he may have been just -- had a little bit too much pain medication. >> and michael, the campaign said that back medication was not a factor in the campaign but his back pain surely was. and me got into the race late. he hadn't been planning to -- some of his advisers became free after they'd worked for newt gingrich. and so after this very tough surgery, he was on the road, and one of the fascinating things that evan and i have discovered as we dug in to these campaigns was the physical rigger of the campaign. one thing that evan always asked these guys about is he says to the candidate, there's only a couple of people in the world who know what is really like. and as we talk to these guys

about what it's really like, we think of the physical or psychic toll. but it's a very physical job, as well. and so when rick perry has to stand at a fundraiser and take pictures with 100 donors and has a bad back, one of his first fundraisers told us they could only schedule 50 when they wanted to do 100. and so when you get into a debate that's in two hours, you can imagine if you have screaming back pain, well, that's going to have a big effect. >> in your book "inside the circus," you also portray calista gingrich as being, i don't know if controlling is the right word. how about exhibiting a lot of influence in that campaign and being concerned about the way in which she's represented or depicted. evan, can you speak to that? >> well, one of the people we talked to, mike and i had dinner with, talked about maintenance. a lot of calista maintenance that goes on in the campaign. you know, taking care of her. she likes to travel first class, she likes to come home on the weekend. one of these key weekends she was smelling the cherry blossoms with newt instead of campaign.

the next week she plays an instrument in the -- at the -- one of the cathedrals here. you know, they cater to her. now, that's not such a bad thing because you've got, you know you've got to help the candidate's wife. but i think as candidate's wife goes, she's pretty controlling. >> did she also photo shop or play a role in the photo shols on shopping of her own paragraphs? >> yeah, that was an unusual duty for one of the gingrich aides. they sad no campaign resources went to it. but there was some work done on the photos. and it was a sign of the very candidate-focused control. they told us all the orders in that campaign come not from the campaign manager, not from headquarters, but from the bus. speaker gingrich calls in on his cell phone and tells them what he wants. we're told that at one point he was even calling in -- and this is any former campaign operative's nightmare calling in saying he wanted more yard signs in michigan.

it's such an unusual campaign. one of the people who works for us told us it was like a think tank with yard signs. somebody had to explain, we can't get more yard signs, we didn't pay for the last shipment yet. and one of the few times that we really see newt gingrich exploding, we hear him in anger in a meeting with his staff just a couple weeks ago, and that's the miracle of the ebooks, something that happened a couple of weeks ago. we made changes to the last moment. he found out that he was far in debt. and he was saying this isn't my fault. whose fault is this? and that was what he called a halftime meeting, i think the chances that last week are halftime for the gingrich campaign now pretty low. >> the ebook is called "inside the circle." good luck with it. >> michael, thanks for having us on. up next, wonder what it would be like to text with hillary clinton? well, stick around for the side show. and follow me on twitter if you can figure out how to spell

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the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ back to "hardball." and now for the "side show." first up, now that most everyone is convinced that mitt romney has clinched the nomination, some of the focus has turned to the veepstakes. sarah palin suggested that romney should go rogue and choose alan west of florida. do you think the congressman dodged the question as tradition demands? >> if someone were to make that call to me, which i really doubt is ever going to happen, you would have to make sure that it is something that god would ordain for you and you would have to talk to your wife and if it's the right fit, i would do so.

>> do you like mitt romney? do you support his views? would you feel comfortable on a ticket with him? >> well, you know, i've never been out on a dinner date with him if that's what you're asking me. i don't know if i would like him, but i think we would have to sit down and discuss -- >> maybe romney should check with john mccain about that whole going rogue thing. and here's one that can get women reeling when they head to the dry cleaners. it's more expensive to bring in a blouse than a man's oxford shirt. aren't they the same thing? today barack obama acknowledged that on a white house forum on women and the economy. >> yes, we've got a lot more to do, but there's no doubt we've made progress. soon insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions like breast cancer or charge women more -- we haven't gotten on the dry cleaning thing yet, though. i know that's still -- that's still frustrating. and now for a bit of friday fun.

do you ever wonder what it's like to text with hillary clinton or read what she's texting to other people? that's the focus of a new tumbler account that's gone viral in the past couple of days. the idea was hatched when two d.c. communication professionals caught sight of this photo and got creative. take a look. from president obama, hey, hill, what you doing? her response, running the world. then condoleezza rice talking to former president bush. so then i sent her a text saying i think i left my favorite sunglasses in the desk. and from clinton, sorry, condi, haven't seen them. and finally an adaption from the movie "mean girls" from sarah palin. i'm not a regular mom, i'm a cool mom, right, hillary? and the response -- please stop talking. up next, democrats are pushing the idea of a republican-led war on women. republicans, they say it's fiction. what's really going on here? we're going to have that debate. you're watching "hardball."

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i'm melissa rayberger, here's what's happening. a mixed outlook on today's jobs report. it dropped to a three-year low. meanwhile, employers added fewer jobs than analyst expected. the navy says a malfunction is to blame for an f 18 jet hitting an apartment complex today. the crew had to eject and 7 people were hurt. nobody was killed. back to "hardball". welcome back to "hardball." women's issues have dominated the news over the past few months. contraception, the susan g.

komen foundation and planned parenthood, even rush limbaugh's comments about a georgetown law student, democrats have attempted to seize the moment, portraying republicans as being at war against women. a charge the gop denies. here was the president speaking at a women's event just this morning. >> there's been a lot of talk about women and women's issues lately as there should be. but i do think the conversation's been oversimplified. women are not some monolithic block. women are not an interest group. you shouldn't be treated that way -- >> joan walsh is editor at large for salon.com and an msnbc political analyst and ron christie is a republican strategist who worked in the bush 43 white house. joan, a skeptic or critic might say the president is treating women as a monolithic group when standing in that forum he makes those comments. your thoughts? >> well, this president has made women's issues a priority.

it's not just an election year thing, it goes back to 2009. his very first act, i believe, was signing the equal pay act which republicans have blocked. and i find it so ironic the president is having this wonderful forum for women and scott walker is actually signing a bill that reduces equal pay protection for women. so it's not just about contraception. that's really the funny part. you've got a republican party that is behind the ryan budget, which slashes medicaid, slashes medicare, which disproportionately helps women. there's so many issues beyond contraception, and it's not democrats making republicans do these things that women perceive as hurting their interests. >> ron christie, is it immediate creation this whole notion that the gop is at war with women? >> of course, it is, michael. i find it ironic, here we are in april of an election year and the democrats have nothing to say whatsoever about the president's record.

and instead they go ahead and manufacture crises. in this particular case, i think it's very offensive we have brave men and women on the battlefields in afghanistan and iraq in an actual war and yet you hear propaganda saying the republicans are against women. one bit of fact here. since president obama has come into office, you have had 683,000 women who have lost their job. the unemployment rate for women has gone up from 7% to 8.1%. so if we look at the president's policies and what the democrats have done, they have disproportionately impacted women in a negative way and opposed to looking at the real facts, the democrats want to take us on a propaganda tour. >> here's mitt romney in an interview this week trying to explain how democrats have taken hold of this issue. >> there's no question that over the past several weeks that any discussion about religious liberty was distorted into a discussion of contraceptives. and there was the perception that somehow the republicans are

opposed to contraceptives. i think it was a most unfortunate twist by our democrat friends. i think this will pass as an issue as people understand our real position. i, for instance, have made it very clear, i do not oppose contraception. the women i speak with and the women that my wife speaks with tell her that their number one issue is the economy. >> joan walsh, he says religious liberty is at stake here not a battle over contraception. >> it's just not true, michael. i mean the democrats weren't the ones that took the house a year ago and made one of their first crusades the de-funding of planned parenthood. now i know republicans like to demonize planned parenthood, but 1 in 5 women goes there in her lifetime. the republicans missed the opportunity to repudiate rush limbaugh when he said those horrible things about sandra fluke and the republicans have

been opposing person hood amendments. all the republicans have signed on to these ridiculous amendments that would criminalize certain forms of contraception. so democrats didn't do those things. democrats didn't make republicans do those things. these are their positions, they don't like to have them pointed out to them. but women are seeing it. that is why there is a huge gender gap that's only getting wider. >> ron, you'll have the chance to respond to that, but let me put it in the context of alaska republican senator lisa murkowski and what she said. she took a tough line against her own party when she told a radio station she couldn't believe the gop has been making an issue out of contraception and here's the quote. it makes no sense to make this attack on women. if you don't feel this is an attack, you need to go home and talk to your wife and your daughters. your thoughts? >> i like senator murkowski, but she's dead wrong on this. it's president obama and obama care that has made it the issue here. the fact of the matter is, the president came out with a

yun later proclamation and said if you are an institution of faith and providing services, you have to provide contraception even if that's against your religious tennance. it's president obama who is doing this, michael. and the thing i would point out is the president doesn't want to actually talk about his single handedly trying to force institutions of faith and providers to provide something against the religion and instead make this a phony war on contraception. republicans should be on the attack on this, but the democrats want to demagogue and make this an issue about gender. they're so obsessed with gender and race in society and republicans are interested about policy solutions by looking at people as individuals. >> i hear what you say, but when the president offered a compromise that was such that a religious institution would not have been providing or i should say paying for contraception, the catholic bishops balked at that. who is then being intolerable, right? >> right. >> i would say they looked a the this, read it carefully, said it was still forced them to provide

these services against their religious faith. why are we forcing as a government institutions of faith to do something that's against -- >> if i'm a presbyterian working as an e.r. nurse, i'm going to be denied contraception that the church wouldn't be paying for? it would be paid for by the insurance company. >> this whole notion that republicans are trying to deny people contraception is ridiculous. they can go to pharmacies. this is in the president's health care bill. this is nothing the republicans did. >> joan walsh? >> first of all the associate came out for the compromise. they like what president obama did. second of all, it is merely regulating insurance companies and saying they should provide contraception without a co-pay. frankly because it saves them money. it's been ridiculous that all of these years we've had to pay steep costs for contraception because it actually saves the insurer money and the employer money. and there was always a religious exemption. churches were always carved out of this. so they are -- i'm sorry, ron, i like you, you are the ones who have made this an issue.

the president brought it out immediately came to a compromise when he saw that there was some objection. everyone has moved on. everyone likes the compromise except the bishops and the republican party. >> ron, may i ask this because whatever might be driving it, it's undeniable there's a gender divide thus far in this campaign. there's always to a certain extent a gender divide. it seems pronounced. 18 points in that gallup survey. if you were whispering in the ear of the campaign, what would you be telling them to do about it? >> i would say go out and talk about why your vision for the country is strong, why your vision will increase the economy and economic productivity. and when it comes to looking at people as individuals, we recognize that men and women have certain different health needs that need to be addressed and the government will not inhibit those institutions of faith that will provide services but at the same time we need to look at people not based on their race, gender, but looking at people as individuals. that's what i'd say to the camp.

>> john walsh, ron christie, thank you for being with us. up next, the incredible story, great story of jim abbott, a pitcher who found much success in the major leagues despite having been born with only one hand. jim abbott joins us next. this is "hardball." dancing chicken to every store in the franchise to get the word out. that could work. or you could use every door direct mail from the postal service. it'll help you and all your franchisees find the customers that matter most -- the ones in the neighborhood. you print it or we'll help you find a local partner. great. keep it moving, honey. honey? that's my wife. wow. there you go. there you go. [ male announcer ] go online to reach every home, every address, every time with every door direct mail. ♪ ♪

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an administrative board found that 26-year-old gary stein committed misconduct by posting what it called contemptuous comments about the president. among them, calling the president a "coward" and also the economic and religious enemy. the recommendation came after a day long hearing during which sergeant stein's attorneys argue he was exercising his right to free speech. but the military has had a policy since the civil war limiting the free speech of service members including criticism of the commander in chief. we'll be right back. i'm freaking out man, he's on my back about providing for his little girl. hey don't worry, e-trade's got a totally new investing dashboard. everything's on one page. i'm watching you. oh yeah? well i'm watching you, watching him. [ male announcer ] try the new 360 investing dashboard at e-trade. i can't feel my toes, greg. yeah...

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but can also help heal acid related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. talk to your doctor about the risk for osteoporosis-related bone fractures and low magnesium levels with long-term use of nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. let your doctor do her job, and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. introducing gold choice. the freedom you can only get from hertz to keep the car you reserved or simply choose another. and it's free. ya know, for whoever you are that day. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. hey, we're back. when my next guest was a high school pitcher, this is what a major league scout wrote about him in a notebook. left-handed pitcher, great arm, good change-up, makings of a breaking ball, natural cutter,

big competitor, good athlete, good hitter, and then added a final line, has no right hand. if it were up to jim abbott, there would be no mention of the fact he had no right hand. jim abbott has written a new memoir "imperfect." it's a riveting read and he joins me now from los angeles. you never wanted to be known that way. that's not something you would have put in your own personnel file. >> well, i wanted to prove myself. you know, i chose to play baseball and it was my way of fighting back. and when i walked on that baseball field, i wanted to be seen like every other competitor out there. i didn't want any quarter given. so i would rather be judged for how i pitched, you know, rather than, you know, how well i pitched. >> my executive producer said before i welcomed you, jim. he said played football, what position? go ahead, tell him. >> i was a quarterback in high school. >> of course. everybody wants to know, how were you able to do it?

relative to pitching. how were you able to manage the glove placement? what's the short version of that? >> well, you know, my dad bought me a baseball glove when i was 4 or 5 years old and we went out in the front yard and started learning how to play catch. i had to throw and catch with the same hand. i used to wear the right-handers' glove, cradle the glove, pull the ball out, finish the rotation, let the glove rest on my right hand, throw the ball, and have it ready to put right back on. >> and some -- at all different stages of your career because you've had success -- i mean all-american at the university of michigan, a gold medallist for our olympic team, and i'm going to get to your big moment playing for the yankees. but all through the stages, different hitters tried to take advantage of you by bunting, true? >> they did. but i chose to play baseball. i didn't -- i didn't expect anybody to take it easy on me. if they -- if that's why you play.

and that's what i expected. when i went out there on the pitchers mound, if they thought my fielding was going to be a at yankee stadium. will you take us balk to that fiej inning. first of all, during the course of the game, at what point did you realize, this could happen? >> i think it was about the sixth inning. i was sitting in the dugout, yankee stadium. i had the jacket on and my water next to me and my buddies. my pitching buddies. i looked up at that yankee scoreboard. yankees 4, indians, 0. i saw they didn't have any hits

yet. you start doing that mental countdown, three more innings, nine more outs. that's a doable thing. you can make it happen. >> is it true that the protocol is nobody acknowledges it. super stigs. you're doing something well. you're teammates quit talking to you. i was three outs away.imperfe m improbable. a no hitter, sunday day game. i got to the stadium feeling great. the game keeps going. i was reliving the moment. they called me out on the field and the entire grounds crew had dug out the pitching rubber

there out on the mound. they had everybody on the team sign it. they presented it to me. it was such a great gesture. i thought about how hard it must have been to dig all that out, put a new one bag in and rebuild the mound. >> jim, you're such a gracious guy. there was sun instance where you said that's one autograph i can't give. >> i wanted to spend my life moving past the label. there were times you come up against that label and you can't seem to move past it. one time i was asked for an autograph on baseball where the only other autograph was from a gentleman named pete gray. he made the major leagues during world war ii. he wanted the ball with only our

signatures on it. i was reluctant to sign it. i told him i would sign anything else. it just seemed to me like a piece of memorabilia that might be trying to exploit a physical difference. i didn't want to be known for that. i hope pete gray would understand that. >> why you don't want to exploit it, you recognize you're an inspiration for those that have all that you are limbs and those that don't. bruce told me he was at barnes and noble and was overwhelmed by the individuals that come out and some want you to sign a prosthetic limb. >> since my career ended, i've been amazed at how many cards and letters and e-mails i still get from parent, moms and dads from little girls and boys with

challenges. i would always try to respond to each and every one of those requests. i would send a letter or a photo. i felt like that page long response was inadequate. it was no way to summarize the experiences from the people i had in my hometown and my parents. in a lot of ways my book is my response in the long form. this is what i went through. this is what i experienced. i hope you can relate to this. i hope you can find inspiration in it. >> the book is tremendous. "imperfect." . we really appreciate you being here. have a great easter and thaurnk you. >> thank you. let me finish with the best thing that happened this week. [ male announcer ] if you believe the mayan calendar,

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finally, let mefinish wb this. i'm sure i speak for many when i say i'm happy it's friday and a weekend holiday is here. i'm all e-mailed out. i've got iphone overload and happy to take a breather from social media. i love the technology that makes communication easier. it leaves nowhere to hide. when we're all connected 24/7 there's no room for a respite. he heard waves and he said where

are you. i said i'm on vacation. this is what the doctor ordered. when can all use this sort of breather. the star spangled banner, beer, hot dog, a pause at the plate while the batter looks for a sign, the seventh inning stretch. maybe an argument at home plate. all the traditions, the rules, the unwritten protocols and a scrata scratchyam signal. it's nice to know it's going to last six month months. they will be texting between innings but baseball's slow, de