hooray for hollywood! let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthew in washington and leading off is l.a.'s story and what made hollywood's a-list come out to dinner at george clooney's house last night and leave $18 million behind for president obama. and within vn that hollywood is happy for the president who will not compromise his principals, because all of the stalwarts are for the president. rob reiner joins us at the top

of the show. we now know that joe biden felt he had to apologize to president obama for getting out ahead of the president with the gay comments last sunday and people were angry that vice president biden stole the thunder, but why public with the anger? is why splash it across? who wins there? that is what i want to know. and also, how seriously take seriously the report of mitt romney's open antipathy of a high school classmate, and should we not care about it because mitt romney said he had forgotten about it. and now there is a new video in which walker says he plans to use a divide and conquer strategy to defeat the unions and turn wisconsin into a right

to work state. his opponent tom barrett of milwaukee will join us tonight. and what mitt romney may need to do about himself and prove himself with gay people. we begin with president obama's big haul last nightment rob reiner is actor and director and activist. his new film is "magic of belle isle" starring morgan freeman, and also joining us a msnbc political analyst. rob, thank you for coming on "hardball" tonight after that big event last night. you were there and a regular supportive democrat, and what was it like and what can you tell us about the feeling and the mood and the purpose and the energizing force of the evening? >> well, a great feeling in the room. first of all, there were as you said $50 million raised, but what is significant is that two thirds of the money came from the small donors, so that the majority of it did not come from the people in the room.

they raffled off a ticket to come to the dinner and the people who won were sitting at our table from florida. so this to me was a significant thing. also, the great thing is that there were about 15 tables, and president obama moved from one table to the next so that he got a chance to talk to everybody. it was a great evening. >> and let me ask you about the cultural feel, because i know that tends to unite the democratic party at least in the theatrical world, and the media world that he is right to be fighting for rights, and that in the sense of having made that big statement this week. what did that do to the evening? >> well, it definitely energized everybody there, but we were in a room full of avoid supporters to begin with. he was very beginning at the beginning, because he said, i made some news this week. and he made a joke out of it, but it was really a bold move on his part. it was a right thing to do and we know he had been e vvolving

the issue, and he came out to the right place. we know as a democracy in fits and starts move towards doing the right thing. there was a time when women could not vote and blacks could not marry whites and blacks could not vote, and we always seem to do the right thing and get it right. this is wonderful that a sitting president would be able to support the only group, the only minority group in america that is not considered equal under the law. and this is a big step forward to making sure that all is taken away. >> well, the old line is that america only does the right thing after it has tried everything else. >> yeah. >> and now the president's not so vailed reference to the news about gay marriage and the right to gay marriage, and here is the quote, because we don't have the actual quote, because it was a closed fund-raiser. obviously, yesterday we made news, but the truth is that it is a logical extension off what america is supposed to be.

i it grew out of the difference of divisions. are we a group who treats everybody fairly and gives everybody a shot? is that g stronger? are we welcoming to immigrants and welcoming to people who are not like us? does that make us stronger? i believe it does, and that is what is at stake. let me go over to john heilemann about this. and in context, they do the left coast and the culturally identified people who care about the freedom and rights issue, and certainly in the freedom of expression in the movies, but here is unity as it looks up at the front and the people of the left and the middle of the road democrats and the hillary people, and the stalwart people, and they all seem united for the president. >> well, in terms of the fund-raising, chris, mainly, on that front, there is, you think about the obama coalition in terms of money, and back in 2008, all of those elements were in place then and he raised a ton of money in hollywood and tended to raise a ton of money from the small donors and in tend a lot of money from the

former hillary supporters who came around and despite reluctance they gave him a lot of money in the fall of 2008, and the one faction of the fund-raising that is absent which is a problem in terms of the campaigning and the terms of the democratic super pac is wall street where president obama raised a lot of money in 2008, and that well has gone dry for him, and he is looking for new sources of money, and this decision was not necessarily calculated to have that effect, but it may have that effect. he has replaced a lot ofrs are community, and it will pay profits for him, and he does need the money right now, because nobody on either side is going to say that the president is the first incumbent president to be outspent in the election, and that is a significant problem.

>> and that is your estimate? >> not just outspent, but outspent by a significant amount. >> and now, this week in the "wall street journal," norman leer on the president. he came out on in support of marriage equality. he didn't have to do it, but he did it. it's not what the country needs, but it is about what the country will pay for. >> and now let me stick it there, when they invest in a republican candidate, they rin vesting in the business, and they want better tax rate and regulation and damn it in a perverted way they should get a tax write-off, because what they are doing is for the money, and you are doing it for cultural reason, because you share the values with the president, and the gay people and especially gay people are concerned that they get a value out of this in an interest of the rights but that is what they have a right to anyway i say, but you guys on

the coast do it because you agree with the president, and the people in the wall street and texas and elsewhere do it because they make money off to american politics. >> that is exactly right, and it is interesting, but the hollywood commune city only donor base as you call it that would, that has no quid pro quo. we don't support a candidate because he's going to be a ebl to do something for us. when you see the koch brothers throwing $20 to hundreds of millions of dollars into a, you know, you know, a pac, they are looking for a payback. they want, and they will get it, too, if their man gets into the white house, they will get it with, you know -- >> oil money. oil breaks. >> oil money, and regulations reduced to allow them to pollute and do all of the things that they want to do. we are the only group of donors who doesn't ask for something in return. we support somebody because like you say, they share our values whether it comes to education, health care, the environment, the economy, social issues, they

are in line with how we feel about things. we look at the totality of the candidate and not just at the very narrow specific financial interest. >> what makes of romney's absolute straight arrow opposition 180 of anything for gay people, and not only opposition for marriage which we argue about in the country, but total opposition to any movement whatever, and he says i will not evolve and nothing for civil unions and no rights out there and nothing in terms of the equality and absolutely -- you are a political guys, and he is saying, maybe i can pick off north carolina here and get back into the game in ohio and iowa and what is he up to in saying nothing. i'm giving gay people in the country 5% of the country's gay voters nothing, not even crumbs. >> well, john heilemann pointed out something interesting that obama did not come out in favor of same sex unions or marriages

in order to build the donor base up. the end result is that it will do that. i think that for the same, and on the same tokenb, i don't think that romney is saying that because, you know, it is going to energize his base, but the fact of the matter is that it does energize his base. there are a lot of christian conservatives who would not have supported romney who might do it now if they are a single voter issue, and single-ish shoe vo i, but this is a deeply held view by romney and we should not diminish it. it is part of his religion and he is entitled to the opinion. i believe he is wrong and i believe that history will show that he is wrong on this. i think that my good friend and colleague chad griffin was on earlier with andrea mitchell, and he said this is going to be, there will never be another president who will not support marriage equality, and i think that is right. >> thank you, and good luck with

the latest film. great filmmaker, and anyway i still love "a few good film" and i still love "princess bride" and they are all great. coming up next on the show, why are the white house staffers still talking trash about vice president biden and the press, and i know why they are mad, he jumped the gun. why are they still so mad? this is "hardball." ♪ surf's up everybody get your boards and your wetsuits ♪

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back to "hardball." this week a lot of anonymous white house sources talking about the irritation with vice president biden. it all stems from the vice president's appearance on "meet the press" last weekend when they say he got out ahead of the president on gay marriage. he complained to the reporters openly saying they were enraged with the episode and reminded the reporters that vice president biden had advised the president to stay mum on issues

relating to gay marriage. and joining us is glenn rush from politico, and mark levovich from "the new york times." i have to start with the gray lady here, t"the new york times" i'm not a student of the press, but i know how to read a story. source after source after source, and high level source close to the president, and the staffers from the president and the vice president's office talking openly about the anger at the vice president. and tell us why, and i know you can't give out the sources, but why is everybody talking? >> well, i won't ask them to stop, but i think that -- >> i know, it is your job. >> well, look, this is an exacting staff, and they do things on the schedule and david plouffe and jim massena and david pheifer and not to give up any, but these are not my source, but they have a very, very strict plan and this week was to talk about the campaign roll out, and then a $25 million

ad buy in which to go over the accomplishment list, and here we are talking about gay marriage, and it has them tied in knots. >> did they pull back the money? >> i dont n't know if they wast the money, but certainly, a lot of it is spent. >> and now the vice president as you understand the role without getting too personal about this and the sources, is the role of the vice president basically to operate within the confines, the discipline of the white house operation? in other words, he's not an individual thinker, and his job is to play a role supporting the president. it is an operative role, and not a creative role. >> theoretically. >> that is the way they they look at it? >> that is the way that the white houses look at it, but again, someone who is, one, used to being his own voice. >> he has been a senator for 30 years. >> yes, 36 years and might run for president again, and clearly interested in making his voice be heard, because that is how he is conditioned, and there is a

natural tension as there often is in these situations. >> a guy who is spontaneous and id, and maybe not super ego, but speaks his own mind and now the talking points. >> absolutely. >> and i want to go the glenn to check on that. is that the problem, he has broken the treatise, because he is supposed to be -- >> well, i am still stuck on levovich being celebrated. >> well, he is here. >> and he has outsourced to joe biden, and they sent him to the midwest and he does a lot of the retail politicking that another president, one with a more rounded set of skills might do, and the other thing about it is that he is a guy who they like to have as comic relief. they have used him before to float stuff. not in this case, i believe. but when you let the dog off of the leash, sometimes the dog barks. >> why the anger? i can see that you have found a

person who has found another way to do it, but why the irritation going to the outreach and i have read in your coverage, outrage and negativity and not that joe blew it, but joe is bad, and he was a bad, bad operative. what is that about? you first, glenn and then back to mark. >> because when biden does this stuff, it does not force the president's hand directly, and this is a white house and plouffe and the other guys were forced the act by biden. and one of the givens here, chris, they were saying they would have done this before the convention, and that is not what i was hearing in the weeks leading up to this. i had heard -- >> let me check mark on that because it is a key point. was the president intending sometime before now and the conventions to support marriage equality? and you say glenn, they were not set on that course yet? >> yeah, yeah. i mean, i had heard, and now the

thing that the white house folks say that obama made the decision, and that changed the political calculation, but the book on this prior to the announcement is that they said that the thought was to be smart to do it six months ago, but in the absence of doing it six months ago -- >> and did biden goose them into action or push them into action or create the idea of doing this and force the president's hand or move the president ahead of schedule? >> i think that there was a very lively debate internally about this, and i think that the sense was or the argument was by the political folks who thought that they shouldn't do this right away is that the moment had been lost, and we have to wait until after the election and biden tipped it in the other way. >> i am not getting an answer out of you glenn. before anything happened on "meet the press" and before gregory asked the question, and before that, was the president intending to come out on marriage equality or not? >> i don't think so. >> what do you know? >> well, the first that i heard

of whether he was going to come out for marriage equality is after biden spoke. >> and the question about biden, any doubt he will be on the ticket? >> no. >> any doubt, glenn, he is on the ticket? >> no, i don't think so. >> so my point then, why public punish him to be in the team? >> to put him back this the lean. >> so it is a brush-back pitch. >> yes. >> and a spank iing. >> and the ball has been hit, if you want to extend the metaphor. biden has been good for the last few years, but what ticked him off is that this happened in the campaign context. >> do you think it is purposeful and he is doing it for the own glory down the road for the liberals down the road? >> well, people have theories and not unanimity, but clearly in the back of people's minds is 2016 and is biden doing a flutter eye to the left. >> we have similar backgrounds, but i want to ask you this question. biden spends 99% of the time or

100% of the time thinking about one thing, how do i help my friend, my friend barack obama. when you are with him, this is all he talks about and this is his life. anyway, thank you so much. great reporting. and an amazing moment on the floor the other day, a congressman took back the statements because he criticized sometimes amazing things happen )93g

back to "hardball." we usually reserve this moment to show some of the lighter moments of politics, but today is something different. the voter i.d. laws have been pushed to the forefront of the floor, and they have been ways to see to cut into the minority

voting. paul bro paul broun proposed a amendment to allow changing the laws. and enter john lewis who was brutally beaten as a freedom marcher in the '60s. >> it is hard and difficult and almost unbelievable that any member, but especially a member from the state of georgia would come to offer such amendment. there's a long history in our country, and especially in the 11 states that are old confederacy from virginia to texas, of discrimination based on race, on color. before the voting rights act of 1965, it was almost impossible for many people in the state of georgia, in alabama, in virginia, in texas to register to vote, to participate in the democratic process.

it is shameful that you would come here tonight and said to the department of justice that you must not use one penny, one cent, one dime, one dollar to carry out the mandate of section 5 of the voting rights act. we should be opened up to political process and letting all of the citizens come in and participate. people dying for the right to vote, friends of mine, and colleagues of mine. i speak out against this amendment. >> wow. minutes later u.s. congressman brown was back with his response. >> i apologize for my dear friend from georgia, if he has gotten angry with this amendment, and it is never my intent to do so. certainly wasn't meaning to try to hurt anybody's feelings. i ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment. >> without objection, so ordered. >> what a condescending way to talk to somebody like congressman lewis, i apologize

like he got angry, but it is moments like that remind us of the stakes of the law that prevent people from the simple right to vote. that is "hardball" and coming up is "your business" with j.j. ramberg. great! tyler here will show you everything. check out our new mobile app.

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