>> he does, indeed. of course, you will be there, too. kristen welker, thank you. we'll have coverage right here on msnbc tomorrow. thanks so much for watching this afternoon. chris matthews and "hardball" is next. dogs of war. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start with this. war. bombing people. shooting down airplanes. breaking into houses. i can think of what we mean when we so casually say, lelt's go, let's get in this thing and the rah-rah and drum beating that gets us out there killing people and getting killed again. always it's the same ones, mccain, krystol. say the name of the country and their conditioned response is war, america go to war. let's not be afraid to use our

strength. the neocon babble. let's have a muscular foreign policy. all the metaphors for war that has us stuck once again in a country whose name we dare not pronounce a decade later. i spent all day yesterday at the george w. bush library. not once did i hear the word iraq. not once. if this crowd is proud of the wars they pushed, why are they afraid to remind us of the last one or even pronounce the word? david cornyn for "mother jones" magazine and david ignacious. you came back from the middle east, sir. what is happening? are we going into this war? syria? >> i think the first thing to say is the white house is being very careful in weighing the evidence of chemical weapons use. i was just in israel. i sat with the israeli commanders as they presented their evidence, as they said nearly 100% solid in their minds that syria has used chemical

weapons. the question is why is the white house waiting when president obama said this is a red line? the answer is that properly, as you were stressing, he wants to be sure of the evidence and also to be sure that he can take it to the u.n. and international forums to have legitimacy for whatever the u.s. does. the bottom line for the u.s. continues to be trying to get the russians onboard in a negotiated settlement which will require most solid evidence that bashar al assad has crossed not just obama's red line but vladimir putin's as well. >> here's the president's spokesman today. let's listen to this. >> knowing that potentially chemical weapons have been used inside of syria doesn't tell us when they were used, how they were used. obtaining confirmation and strong evidence. all of those things we have to make sure we work on with the international community. i've been very clear publicly, but also privately, that for the

syrian government to utilize chemical weapons on its people crosses a line that will change my calculous and how the united states approaches these issues. so, you know, this is not an on or off switch. this is an ongoing challenge that all of us have to be concerned about. >> david, if the government of syria, if the assad regime were using chemical weapons consistently or in any way as part of a strategic effort to save themselves, wouldn't there be a debate? why is it so fleeting, this evidence? if this is part of shatheir strategy like we used in world war i. if they're being used, why is there a complication here? >> i think the evidence is solid. france, britain, now israel have all said they believe the weapons were used on march 19th and on some other dates. and we've had indications from secretary of defense hagel that

the u.s. supports that. the point is, chris, do you have evidence you can take to the country and take to the world that won't lead people to say later, this was a rush to war based on fragmentary evidence as in the case of iraq. that's not so easy with chemical weapons. >> the letter the white house sent to congress yesterday was really interesting in terms of their use of language. they said we have evidence that leads to these initial assessments that chemical weapons were used on a small scale, but we want corroboration. an assessment is just that. it's an assessments of the evidence before you. corroboration is it's beyond, you know, a shadow of a doubt. and so they want to move in that direction before they take any steps. also i think one reason, and david probably can speak to this as well, i'm not sure there are a lot of good options. >> right. let's go through them. >> once you get -- across that red line. >> we say we'd like to get the russians and the chinese not to

veto and have a formal u.n. action. fine. if it's a u.n. action. if it's a u.n. action. short of that, david, what within quay can we do? >> the u.n. action would be for a negotiated political transition. the russians would finally say, yes, we agree, bashar al assad must go. then the mechanisms that have been prepared by former secretary general kofi annan would go forward. >> would they take the assad family to russia? >> they might. that's been discussed in the past. on the question that you ask, if the russians refused to support a negotiated settlele, the u.s. is going to have to take action, i think, and so they're looking at a menu of options and you can imagine it, it ranges from syrian command and control facilities, facilities associated with this chemical weapons program. the special units that have been the scourge of the syrian population in this war. those are all very heavy -- >> you mean bombing -- >> heavy duty military operations. >> bombing missions. >> well, they might be bombing.

various ways you could do it. they're big operations and they require precisely the kind of mayor commitment the u.s. has wanted to avoid. >> what would be our right to do that? this has gotten to be so practiced now, i guess it's an odd question. what's the right of the united states -- we live in north america here -- to go over to the middle east, we don't like their weaponry, their use of chemicals, fine. what is our international right to go into a country like that and start bombing the hell out of them? we're going to be killing assad >> presumably what would happen here the arab league in which syria is a member, and the arab league seat is held by opposition, would pass a resolution condemning the use of chemical weapons and citing the evidence the u.s. prepared and call on the international community to take action. >> it's sort of the libyan model. >> we would be deputized by the arab league to do the action. >> and perhaps by a broader coalition.

if the russians block u.n. action, the kind of mandate the obama administration would want will be impossible. >> but they're sort of the legal framework which the administration, susan rice, worked through in terms of the libya operation. but then there's also the question of whether any of this stuff that david listed -- >> libya -- >> there was a u.n. resolution. whether any of this can work, syria is a lot different. their anti-air operation defenses are a lot more sophisticated than libya. it would have to be a much bigger, more robust more aggressive military action to have an impact. particularly if you're targeting the chemical weapons, which, if they are there, they could be anywhere. figuring out how to come up with an effective military response, even if you get the u.n. or the arab league onboard, is also a really big challenge. >> let's go to the american situation. as i mentioned, john mccain often the hawk in these

discussions. last night on fox, he went further. let's watch senator mccain. >> it's a shameful chapter in american history, and i hope that this new revelation of chemical weapons will move the president to do what he should have done two years ago. from the statement that's coming out of the white house, i'm not sure they will. >> there he is, shameful. what do you expect if the assad government falls in the next several months? or within the year? say. who wins? >> one of the issues the administration has been most focused on is this day-after issue. >> yeah. >> because assad will not continue to rule seyria for muc longer. the administration finally in the last week has in place a program to build a strong command and control within the opposition. i was told today that we and our allies are prepared to spend $1 billion on this program going forward. and the idea is to train up, you know, hundreds of people every

month and flow them into syria so you begin to have some framework. >> are they our people? >> these are people we're working with. >> vetted. >> we're working with a moderate general who the u.s. has -- >> are you confident as an analyst you think we could actually win this war? have the right side win? >> chris, i think the best outcome here is a negotiated settlement, but that requires russia to get off its backside. if failing that -- i have talked a number of times to general edris. i talk almost every day to his people, and they have a vision of a future syria that americans would be comfortable with. they're not jihadists. they're not extreme. they want to keep the country together. so i think the administration feels like it's finally found an ally. >> my question is abdullah with the security forces, intelligence forces are great. is he able to get those syrian fighters, those regime fighters fighting against the regime to come and train? >> yes. >> they've been able to get them in there? >> they're coming in increasing numbers. >> they're resisting that.

military action, as you mentioned, won't be a cake walk. at least according to former cia officer bob bear. he told politico, "it will be like walking into a giant lawn mower blade. this is worse than iraq in terms of putting troops inside syria's borders. it's more chaotic and more likely you will lose a lot of troops." bob is a respected guy. he's addressing troops on the ground. is anybody on our side, our quarter, mccain, anybody, saying put in the troops, paratroopers? david? >> yes, there's been a lot of military training for different kinds of units, without going into the specifics, that would go in in the event we decided to take military action. the problem is, you've got a lot of additional things to do like take out syrian air defenses. it's a big operation. >> war. >> it is a war. >> john mccain is calling for setting up a safe zone. the only way to do that is to put troops on the ground. it's a big country. they have a big military.

the syrians. they're much more organized than the libyans were. there's no way they sort of have what mccain has in mind without sending troops in. i think one of the things, when you listen to him talk and the hawks talk, it's as if, you know, there's only one choice which is just to go in. they don't even sort of differentiate between the different types of military options. >> i know they don't. >> to a great degree. it's like, we have to get in there, have to get in there. you know, it's not clear it's going to be an easy win or if there's even a great strategy how to get from here to there. while there are people to work with, i still worry about, you know, we worked with mujadine. there's chaos -- >> which became al qaeda. >> if you don't get this transition through the u.n. which is obviously the ideal solution, any time of conflict, even if you're backing the right guys, doesn't mean there aren't other guys there who will take advantage. it could lead to a civil war. right? it's very iffy. >> david is right. to make one final point, chris,

it's, in a sense, not in our interest for this to end suddenly tomorrow with assad going, because the opposition really isn't strong -- the moderate opposition isn't strong enough. you're creating an iraq-like vacuum, and the jihadists are the strongest fighters. three or four months from now, that's not going to be true. on senator mccain's argument you can do a no-fly zone easily, i'm told by u.s. officials that's just not so. you'd have to move the patriot batteries that are in turkey almost to the border. they'd be vulnerable to syrian air attack. you'd have to be prepared to defend american soldiers' lives on that border which requires all kinds of additional -- >> has any war ever been easier than we thought it would be? >> no, never. >> that's right. that's all i want to know. it's always an underestimation. thank you, david. i respect you a lot. thank you, david corn, david ignacious. anyway, we've had enough bushes as president.

what a great line. how about the clintons? how about the kennedys? how about the quocuomos? do we still like political dynasties? some people like political dynasties. plus congress steps in to help the faa avoid more furloughs for air traffic controllers. furloughs brought in by the sequester that have led to flight delays across the country. so let's get it straight. it's all right to kick kids out of head start or turn away cancer patients which is going on right now, but when rich people who can afford to fly get inconvenienced, time to act. this is "hardball." where hollywood descends on washington for the biggest party of the year tomorrow. the white house correspondents dinner. actress sharon stone will be sitting in david ig nashous's seat in a few moments. and the sideshow tonight. this is "hardball." yes, the place for politics. yo. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business.

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would you like to see your son, jeb, run? >> he's by far the best qualified man, but no. i really don't. i think it's a great country. there are a lot of great families. and it's not just four families or whatever. there are other people out there

that are very qualified and we've had enough bushes. >> we've had enough bushes. welcome back to "hardball." that was barbara bush with what was perhaps the line of the year politically. americans like to talk about dynasties, political dynasties. the kennedys, of course. i guess cuomo in new york. andrew wants to be president. the bushes of course. then of course the clintons. active dynasty. hillary if he runs in 2016, somebody pointed out on our production team, chelsea clinton will be able to answer, what did your presidents do? they were both president. hillary is a democratic front-runner for 2016. everybody knows that. jeb bush is certainly a republican contender. is the country ready for a clinton versus bush campaign? should we be looking for as barbara bush said other people out there? i'd say. this is a democracy after all. steve mcmahon is a democratic strategist. are you a lower case democrat or uppercase democrat who likes dynasties? because i think hillary's got a special case because we've never had a woman president. that's the wind at her back. and it should be her.

>> she's not a dynasty candidate. she is a candidate who's earned it in her own right. she happened to have perhaps gotten a little bit of boost -- >> am bass tbassador to great b or france? >> i'll take either. >> what are you bidding for? >> how about ireland? >> okay. so she's earned it? >> she has earned it. >> okay. couldn't you say the same thing -- i agree with you. couldn't you say the same thing about andrew cuomo who's been a good governor of new york? >> i think you could. >> what's your principle as a republican? you guys are middle class. republicans don't like dynasties. >> i agree with you and barbara bush. it's a meritocracy. if he's got as you say, talent, then they should round. if they don't, people will kick them out. >> the question isn't whether or not he's qualified to be president. he was a reasonably good governor in florida. the question is whether the american people will tolerate another bush. >> i think what's what the mother was talking about. i think she was on the nail saying, look, every election hat has a number of candidates. we don't pick them.

we choose among those guys who pick themselveses. they pick themselves then we say, okay, which one of you who thinks ought to be president we'll pick. they come forward. but there's another personality in every presidential election. the times. the feeling of the times. what we want. after carter we wanted strength. after nixon we wanted cleanliness. after w. we wanted brains. we always wanted something we don't have in the previous president. you're laughing. am i wrong? >> you're right. >> am i wrong? >> keep doigoing. you're doing fine. >> the fact is, what do we want now? i think we want a woman as a president. i just feel it. women my age have expressed that to me in all different tones positively and negatively but they want this to happen. rick, you on this. doesn't have to do with political party. >> i think the country will be thrilled to nominate a woman. i think that would be fine. but hillary i think has a big problem. i think benghazi, frankly, disqualifies her. >> what did she do wrong?

>> well, a lot wrong. >> give me it short. >> she left people in benghazi who had less security than our guys in paris did. there does not seem to be any direct line of command. there's no accountability. he never heard from her other than to say what difference does it make what happened? it makes a lot of difference. i think if in her campaign that would rise -- >> you believe there was actual cable traffic between her and the tripoli -- >> if there wasn't then why wasn't there? >> you mean she was in charge personally of the safety of chris smith when he decided to go visit the facility? >> she was in charge of that embassy, yes. the buck stops with her. >> okay. thank you. i understand how you mean that. >> if you did word association for hillary clinton, it wouldn't be benghazi. >> it would be in her primary. >> in the far right of the republican primary field, there would be a lot of talk an benghazi like there was a lot of talk about immigration and other things in the far right of the republican nominating process. >> let's get back to this -- i'm

sorry, we're going to be here all day on that. i know you guys love that baby, bengau b benghazi. everybody loved chris smith. aye heard wonderful things. look, do we believe in democracy or dynasty? it's a simple question. why don't we designate these children at birth if we really believe in royalty, which they to in britain, which is an absurdity. they'll take a guy like prince charles of no known ability and say he'll be the next king when he's born. are we going to start doing this with chelsea? they're all doing something. they designated in their teen years as being future presidents. why don't we give them a couple years and see if they show something? people say, it would be great if they'd be president someday or congressman. i'm looking at the kennedys. they've had a mixed bag of people running for office. patrick was okay for a while. he had problems and quit. joe kennedy was popular in cambridge for year the. a lot of candidates ran for

office. caroline didn't work out as a candidate. she didn't want to do it really. all the kennedy people. pierre sallenger, o'donnell, teddy sorensen. all lost. there's no magic in these connections i don't think. >> there's no magic in the connections. think about it for a second. they get to come up to the plate and take a swing. some of them hit a ball and get elected. >> so it is a merit system. >> they get an advantage to the plate. no one is going to hold the bat for them and let them hit the ball. i'm never going to defend george w. bush policy wise but he got elected governor of texas twice. you can't be a dumb man to do that. >> he's a good politician. >> very good politician. jeb bush is actually probably a better politician but he'll never be president because his brother screwed it up. >> look, i mean, you know, first thing in politics is name i.d. >> absolutely. >> quite frankly, i mean, the kennedys and the clintonss, everybody, has given the press fascinating stories to cover. we like to cover their stories. >> "people" magazine coverage.

>> sure. people like to know about families and know about -- so we watch them come. in the end i think you're right. i think the american people sort it out and, therefo they're for democracy. >> ted kennedy's seat was jack kennedy's seat. it's up next tuesday. anything can happen in a special. we all know that. very interesting elector. eddie markey running up there. a little more working guy, voted against obama care, he's pro-life against abortion rights. it's a different -- they put out a robo call which a group of them supporting them, it wasn't them, but it was somebody supporting them. according to "the boston globe," "as americans we're not going to let the perpetrators of this strategy or anyone else top our democracy from moving forward." wouldn't it be great having a working person representing you in the senate, not just another million teaire

millionaire, but someone who understands -- the segue -- it went from the tragedy up there which united everybody to a cheap opportunity to exploit hell to try to get some votes. >> and ironically, the candidate that they support that they would like to win is going to be damaged because of their stupidity. for bringing something that's completely unrelated -- >> some guy, iron workers, apparently put this robo call out. >> this is a sign of a pathetic losining campaign and a sign of pathetic losers who are supporting it. >> what do you think of all this? >> i couldn't agree more. >> thank you, steve mcmahon and thank you, rick. up next, what were president obama and former first lady barbara bush chatting about at the bush library? i found that the most fascinating conversation. anyway, and combination. jimmy kimmel has guesses as to what they might be talking about. i love this stuff. that's coming up in the sideshow in about a minute. then michelle tries to get in on it. that's great.

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ha! >> there was a very high-profile dedication ceremony for george w. bush's new presidential library. former secretary of state condoleezza rice did the introductions for the event. while she was doing that former first lady barbara bush was whispering to president obama and making him laugh. let's listen in on what she was saying now. >> the governor of texas, rick perry. >> where is he? >> that's funny. >> the governor of new jersey. chris christie. >> oh, my. he tried to eat my hair once. >> he probably thought it was cotton candy. >> that is brilliant. back to "hardball." we're in the sideshow. hold on to your seats for this one. karl rove rates the presidency of george w. bush. where does george w. bush rate

according to the w. in the comparison to, say, washington, lincoln, fdr? and, of course, ronald reagan? here's rove with abc's jonathan carl. >> where does karl rove historian rate president bush? among the best presidents, not so great? >> look, the greats you can't touch. george washington, abraham lincoln, ronald reagan, fdr, the greats. but, yeah, i put him up there. >> i put him up there. there you have it. w. coming up just shy of the greats. i pesrsonally put him in a category all by himself. next, three-time presidential candidate ron paul took a dive back into politics this week and endorsed georgia republican congressman paul broun running for the u.s. senate. ron paul says he and broun keep tabs on the federal reserve, and another common bond, their thoughts on evolution. >> i've come to understand all that stuff i was taught about

evolution, big bang theory, and all that is lies straight from the pit of hell. >> i think there is a theory. theory of evolution. and i don't accept it, you know, as a theory. just don't think we're tat the point where anybody has absolute proof on either side. >> ron paul, a science skeptic going to bat for him. timely, here's what's that hits close to me. the philadelphia accent. as it's pronounced in philadelphia, philadelphia. i know firsthand how this thing works. could i get a glass of water? or one of my personal favorites, attitude or beautiful. university of pennsylvania professor says the philly accent could be a thing of the past. oh my god. part of the study the professor and his assistants took a poll of kids and adults at philadelphia's science museum. the franklin institute. according to the "associated press," "they connected hands-on demonstrations including one that asks does mad rhyme with

sad? midwest most of the youngsters answered yes while in mad and sad. many of the adults said no pronouncing mahd and sahd. to anyone unfamiliar with the accent, "not sure if you've heard of philly patois? listen to tv commentators chris matthews and jim cramer and you'll hear it loud and clear." furloughs caused by sequester cuts that led to flight delays around the country. congress has no problem of fixing the sequester when it affects the rich but not when it hurts the poor. that's ahead. you're watching "hardball." the place for politics. see, i figured low testosterone would decrease my sex drive... but when i started losing energy and became moody... that's when i had an honest conversation with my doctor. we discussed all the symptoms... then he gave me some blood tests. showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number -- not just me.

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i'm amanda drury with your cnbc market wrap.

a mixed finish for stocks with the dow gaining 11 points. the s&p falling 2. the nasdaq shedding 10. the government says the economy grew at a 2.5% annual rate in the first quarter. economists were expecting 3% growth. consumer sentiment slipped a bit this month. americans worried about the jobs market. and chevron posted earnings that beat forecasts but revenue fell short. shares rose about 1% today. that is it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. have a great weekend. now it's back over to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." no surprise nearly all human affairs boil down to -- we have a striking example in this ad e adage, right here, this week. various ways the most vulnerable americans have been hurt by the automatic across the board spending cuts called the

sequester. remember this "washington post" headline, cancer clinics are turning away thousands of medicare patients. blame the sequester. "huffingen to post" listed 100 places across the country where cuts are hurting sacramento schools which will see special education cuts and west virginia program to end poverty. stopped all new projects until september. but this week when frequent f fliers were inconvenienced that got congress moving with lightning legislative speed. the senate, then the house passed a bill that would ease flight delays by putting furloughed air traffic controllers back to work. today on the house floor, maryland's steny hoyer was outraged. >> while i was to end these delays for passengers in maryland, across the country, i will oppose this bill because it fails to address the whole impact of sequester. let me share just a handful of examples of how the sequester will affect americans. education. head start. 70,000 children will be kicked out of head start.

nothing in this bill deals with them. 4 million fewer meals on wheels for seniors. 600,000 people dropped off wic. nothing there for them. unemployment insurance, emergency unemployment insurance cut 11% for 2 million out of work americans. nothing in here for them. >> joining me right now is managing editor of the grio joy reid and "huffington post" sam stein who fired off this tweet on this issue. "head start kids should start complaining about the long tarmac delays they're dealing with." let me go back to joy then to sam. joy, it seems to me republicans and democrats are not partisan when it comes to 30,000 feet. once you're up that high, everything's cool. by the way, i did notice, i love to look at voting patterns like you i'm sure do. i'm studying black caucus members, big city liberals. those are the ones who voted against this deal which gave a great break to the fliers and screwed the people on the ground. >> it goes to show you the many ways in which our congress batt

rich. people who can afford a plane ticket or traveling for business. that's what essentially congress is down to. they're serving the interest of the well to do. by the way, a lot of them are well to do. our congress is something like 50% millionaires. it's the many reasons people are frustrated with this government. they can't do anything for ordinary people and often tend to screw the little guy because they're always doing what's best for the rich. >> how old were you when you took your first flight? i'll tell you mine. >> 15. but i went on a scholarship to europe. i went -- basically i was a public school kid that traveled with a bunch of private school kids on a trip to europe. i was 100% on scholarship. >> you got a scholarship and airplane rided. i went trying to get a grad school deal. that's the first i'd ever been near an airplane. sam stein, you were probably ahead of us. anyway, i won't ask you the question. >> thank you. >> you're making a good point here i might not have noticed. whenever you get a bipartisan group of people looking out for the better off, people with

clout, you can sigh no seques r sequester. but had they brought up the same bill for, say, head start or cancer victims, people trying to get treatment, it probably would have gone down, right? >> absolutely. there is no bill in the works. there is no political movement behind such a bill. it was just on monday when these furloughs began to take place and the delays started. within five days you had a replacement already there. the head start cuts, the meals on wheels cuts, the cancer clinics rejecting patients have been going on for weeks with no activity. there's a bigger problem beyond just the inequity here. there was a strategy in place to try to get this all dealt with. it was all the suffering would happen across the board, no one would exempt. everyone would suffer. therefore, lawmakers would realize they have to do a broad fix. once you start exempting people like air travelers from this, then all of a sudden there's no collectivity to it. now all of a sudden everyone is in it for their piece of the pie and a likelihood of a broader

legislative fix to sequestration is lessened by it. >> what's the next exemption? >> this is the second one. we had a break from meat inspectors. the two biggest issues in terms of d.c. attention with s d before that, e been on tours at the building behind me, at the white house. lawmakers take flights and lawmakers deal with constituents who want tours of the white house. it seems to me just by logic here that if it has a direct impact on lawmakers, it will get legislative attention. >> yeah. you know, it gets back to the more philosophical question which i love. people say they don't like government. fine. nice. nice libertarian sentiment which is harmless if you don't act on it. i don't know anybody who wants to open a can of tuna. we used to call it tuna fish. i still tdo. and find out it's rotten and smells. they like people keeping track of us up in the air at 39,000

feet. somebody cares about our safety like the faa. people really do like government when it affects them personally. isn't that why the meat inspe inspectors are first in line? they eat meat. when they get in the airplane, they don't want any questions about safety. >> the first time i heard ordinary civilians complain about sequester, it's in airports where people say, see that? this delay is because of the sequester. people are feeling it that way. the reason people say they don't like government, by in large people forget what government is. they forget having the police and fire department, having public works is government. people don't really make the connection between the meat inspectors and people making the drugs that you're taking are safe. people don't make that direct connection to government until you start to withdraw some of the benefits of government then people are reminded what it means to dislike the government. the government isn't some kind of amorphous thing. it makes your life safer, more convenient and a lot of people take it for granted.

>> i think the doctorn philly would have used some regulation, don't you? >> there you go. that was hurting poor people, too. >> exploitive action and self-interest that doesn't reflect any public interest at all. thank you, joy reid, and sam, for bringing this to my attention. this is a hot one and tells you about america. up next, the biggest party weekend in d.c. tomorrow is the white house correspondence dinner. the stars are in town. twoo we're going to be joined by sharon stone. she'll be right here. this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] with free pickup

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yesterday we told you how hillary clinton would dominate the new hampshire primary if she decided to run for president. turns out she'd dominate november as well. turning a traditional swing state deep blue. according to a new poll from ppp, hillary would defeat the top republican contenders by double digits. let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. against senator rand paul of kentucky, she'd, hillary, would win by 11 points. 52-41. paul was the leading vote getter among republican contenders in new hampshire. against florida, senator marco rubio, clinton's lead is 14. 52%-38%. president obama carried new hampshire last time around by six points. we'll be right back. copd makes it hard to breathe... but with advair, i'm breathing better.

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weback. hollywood descends on the nation's biggest party of the year, tomorrow night's white house correspondence dinner. lots of stars in town including the great sharon stone. starred in, of course, "casino" the 1995 film that earned her an oscar nomination and golden globe. here she is in that, in "casino." >> i should have never mried him. he's a gemini. triple gemini. duality. gemini is the snake. you can't trust the snake. i mean it. >> anyway, sharon stone is right here now along with robin bronc, the president of the creative coalition. i love the creative coalition. it's great. what a great group of people. i i'm amazed, you meet them in real life and they have interests they're into. i know that part of the business. you're always reading, always keeping up.

people always watch shows like this and rachel. you're really ito public affairs. you are. >> we are. i think what we've learned by b being many this business, what a good thing it does for you and what a good thing it can do for the community. certainly now with the creative coalition, we're here, and today speaking to people in d.c. and up speaking to a lot of people from the white house, we know when arts affects your life and affects the community the kind of great returns that it does. we know that kids who get arts stay in school. we know that kids who get arts are three times more likely to graduate from school. we know that kids who get arts are less likely to go to prison. kids who have been in prison are less likely to go back to prison. if they have arts programs. >> meaning by arts, what, music? what do you have? >> music, acting, theater, writing, painting. any -- writing. we know that kids who get access to arts, this is a kind of attention that helps them to stay clean. helps them to stay sober.

helps them to stay out of crime. helps to stop teen pregnancpreg. we know all this kind of stuff helps kids to be the best they can be. in many that they can be and in many communities it stops escalation of crime. we know that it costs more to keep kids in prison that it does to send them to harvard. so it really is an economic -- what's the word that we like? >> arts. economic vaccine for our country. >> a biggerness about being a person. there is something about it. this is not intellectualism. dinner theater, whatever, any time you see people really perform at a high level and it's a good story, you come out and say, gosh, this life is really important. >> and you know what, we've been

on capitol hill all day with our group from the creative coalition and everyone is whipped up by s.t.e.m., science, engineering, english and math, you can't have great mathematicians, great technologists, great engineers without the arts. and we were saying before, we all know it takes a village but art is what makes a village m you need the arm to steam everything else ahead. >> you know reagan, i think he's great in many ways and disagree with him in many ways but reagan started in college acting. everybody i know in the tv business or anybody that knows anything started in college or high school, editors of papers like i was. the extracurriculars are where you come from. >> yes. >> you don't say, i got a b in biology and it changed my life. no, it's, i was in a play and it changed my life. they run this business sometimes, at least they do in the heavy papers. >> yes.

and i think someone said a great thing today. they said that when churchill was at war, someone said to him, we need to cut the arts to put the money in the war and he said, if we do, then what are we fighting or? >> let's keep saying it. >> churchill. >> you are, too. >> let me ask you about this dinner tomorrow night because i met my wife, which changed my life by the better, at one of these black tie dinners. the great thing is you don't know who you are meeting because everybody is dressing the same. khakis -- >> things are out. >> these are amazing things. who are you sitting with? >> i don't know yet. >> by the way, i knew that just being on television and having a certain percentage of people know who you are, like i am lucky to be -- some people don't know who i am. fine. but when you're you, what happens is the guys with the

out you are and they s, they wait like a hoard of people and you can't hold them back. i had to do this to get you out of that room. >> you were great. >> i was a blocking bag. >> you were a tough guy. >> you wrote a letter saying someone that i was butch. i got you out of that room. >> it was great. bu >> see how the arts changes peoples lives. >> no. explain. >> so here are people who are sharon's fans who are inspired by her and feel good after they see her. to us, you've been waiting around in the rain and the cold just to have a glimpse of sharon. but clearly you have inspired people. you've changed lives. and that's why the creative coalition exists, because it's using the power of the entertainment industry to promote issues for the social good. >> i like the people in your business who get involved in it and some of them are just people -- future players on tv shows and i met them at

sundance. it's great. >> well, you know, your producer was a substitute teacher at my high school and she came to my high school and she helped us put on a play. she put on "our town" and that was a big inspiration for me and gave me a lot of focus. >> was that in the '70s? >> yes. gave me focus on what i wanted to do. she left the small town i left and ended up producing your show. so that employs lots and lots of people here. she's one of the people. she's inspired me. we've also employed thousands of people on the various things that we do. the arts employs so many people. it's one of the biggest exports that we have in america. it's a big business. >> next to agriculture, it's the biggest export. it's one quick stat, you were talking about sundance, they had a couple,000 dollars to start and now it brings in millions of dollars to utah. >> for every dollar spent on the

arts, it brings in $7. >> you know who else came from a little town in indiana, pennsylvania? >> no. >> jimmy stewart. see, you're not alone. sharon stone, thank you for coming on hardball. and thank you robin bronc. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. governor of getting it done. you know how to dance... with a deadline. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. this is awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is, business pro. yes, it is. go national. go like a pro. and "up to 75% lower copays." as a preferred pharmacy, walgreens can save you

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let me finish tonight with this. massachusetts has a chance to continue senator kennedy. i remember jack was asked to help solidify the greatest senators in history and had jack looked forward in time, he would have included his brother. ask for the conservatives who they were most proud to work with, it was his. massachusetts, as i said, has a chance to continue the tradition of the kennedy brothers. running in the primary and most voters know where he stands on the issues. he's where ted kennedy was on a right to choose and career long mission for a fair, decent, and affordable health care. it will problem be divisive with voters. markey is going to have a great election up there, on tuesday, a solid, noble, progressive

tradition in the base state. that's "hardball" for now. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts right now. thanks, chris, and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, the gop's fairness fail. today, the republican party's priorities were on full display as they push to protect airline passengers but left in place republican budget cuts that are hurting millions of americans from preschoolers to senior citizens. today, the house approved a senate bill to end the drastic cutsha ended thousands of flight delays this week. the cut, cut, cut party found a cause worth uncutting for. why? because the delays inconvenienced business el