ticked off right. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews from washington. let me start with this tonight. angry republicans. or do i repeat myself? a state representative in north carolina says the president's loyalties are stuck in kenya. marco rubio trying hard to sell himself to the hard right. says the immigration reform is

dead because the president refused to kill his health care law. is the republican default button. it makes them feel rotten just to stand in the same room with this president. my question, is this going to be like this all the way to 2016? this anger, this right wing fever that never breaks? the sheer hatred that the american people, that the american people chose him as their president. not once, but twice. tonight the insatiable crazed anger of the right about the harsh reality they assumed would never be. the presidency of barack obama. david corn for mother jones and msnbc political analyst. and joy reid, an msnbc contributor. having lost in their plot to block the health care law by taking the federal government and the economy hostage, republicans have now decided to go home. they won't work with this president on anything because he had the nerve to beat them.

politico reports republicans plan to block president obama on all his initiatives including immigration reform. quote, prominent immigration supporters like marco rubio have also backed off any deal saying the obama administration has quote, undermined negotiations by not defunding his signature health care law. paul labrador of idaho says the president is trying to, quote, destroy the republican party and gop leaders would be crazy to enter into talks with him. involved in the pro-immigration movement said after obama poisoned the well, the chances for substantive reforms seem all but gone. let me go to david on this. david, this seems to be the new excuse for everything. the die dared to protect his baby and in sheer political terms, they must have -- having fought for it. they're blaming him for self-defense. self-defense politically is now the reason for blaming him for everything.

>> chris, i hate to say this. you're thinking too rationally about this. from the very beginning, you know, on the day of the inauguration, the republicans had a meeting about how to obstruct and destroy president obama's presidency. this was back in january 2009. we know what mitch mcconnell said on what their number one priority was. stopping barack obama. now they have this great two-fer. people like marco rubio, he's running away from the immigration bill he helped craft because it really puts him in trouble with the tea party base of his party. so now he has a two-fer. he can say i'm not going to do this because barack obama won't defend -- or won't defund obama care. you know, it's immaturish, and you have these folks out there saying -- let me finish one second. they say barack obama is trying to destroy the republican party. it looks right now the republican party is doing a good job of that themselves. and they want to make any excuse they can for not dealing with

the problems the country has whether it's health care, immigration, jobs, whatever. you name it. >> it seems now, joy, looking into their politics on the hard right, the only way to get a hard right badge these days in other words be acceptable to the real haters is to be one yourself. i don't believe marco rubio is a hater. he's not a moderate, but he's not a far right winger. he wants to do immigration reform. he comes from a hispanic background. he wants to make that clearly part of america, that background and make it official. give these people a break. and yet he has to sell himself almost body and soul to the hard right. the only way he can do that is to act like he's this anti-obama as the crazies on the right. that's the badge you have to hear. >> it's incredible. he has to opt the most -- this is how crazy this is. marco rubio's prime directive, the only reason he matters really is he was the guy that was going to make republicanism cool for young people, for latinos.

he was the guy who was going to open the door and broaden the tent and bring all these new voters in. why was he going to do that? because he was the tea party guy. the guy with the credibility. this was on the cover of the new york times magazine. he was going to take the tea party ee those and modify it so it was palatable to the younger voters. but it was going to be on immigration. he was the face of that bill. he may not have been the one crafting it, but he was the face of that bill. the minute he was slapped down by right wing media, rubio has run the other way. if marco rubio, if mr. tea party can't get immigration reform through and can't even talk about it, that party is in big, big trouble. >> let's talk about politics for a moment. i think he's got talent. i look at rubio, i think he's got charm, likability, charismatic, good looking and all the things that tend to matter in politics. and he's young as hell and he beat charlie crist down there. he's got some victory stripes on him. is it now the new nature of the

party in order to get the republican nomination in 2016 you must behave like someone who doesn't deserve it. this is the great quagmire they're going into. in other words, to be a nominee, you must be crazy. but to be crazy, you're not going to go after the president. >> it's all about getting the nomination first before you worry about the general election. because in this country, you're going to get 45% of the vote just by having the r after your name. that's the prize for these guys. what we're seeing is, they're bidding up the craziness or the anti-obama rhetoric in order to appeal to where the votes are and the energy is within the party. the tea party base. so rand paul did a filibuster against drones and became the tea party darling of the anti-obama opposition. and then ted cruz leapfrogged over him with obama care. and marco rubio, poor, poor marco rubio is left to the sideline burdened down especially by the fact he was in favor of immigration reform. now he has to get back into the anti-obama crazy contest.

and the way to do that is to burn literally burn what he worked on, his big initiative as a senator. it's kind of sad, but he's a big boy. he's making that decision to do that. >> it reminds me of a kind of political limbo rock where you have to get as low as possible, lean over backwards, go under the limbo stick. >> how low can you go. >> exactly. you know how you remember that. anyway, of course -- catch this. this is really low. of course birther jokes if you call them jokes, are still a hit with some republicans out there. here's a north carolina state representative, an elected official, addressing a town hall this week in 2013. let's listen to him. >> i just don't think it's right at all to call barack obama a traitor. a lot of things he's done wrong, but he is not a traitor. at least not as far as i can tell. because i have not found any evidence yet that he's done one thing to harm kenya. [ laughter ]

[ fake laughing ] >> joy, it's not funny. it's horse laughter, the kind of laughter you give to someone because you're supposed to laugh. i don't even think -- some ethnic jokes might be at least funny. this is stupid. making a reference to the guy being from kenya, it's not even clever. it has not a bit of wit attached to it. and these people, it's their way of saying we don't like him. he's somehow ethnically i am pure by our standards. he's from we don't know where. what is this? you knew it was a white guy. that was no surprise. but what was this about? >> well, you know, i think at the core of the republican rage rumbling beneath the surface is the sense that the country has slipped away from them. that their parents benefitted from the new deal, they may have gone to school on student loans, but now people who are black and brown are the main recipients of the government, the welfare

state. and they hate it. they don't want to voice it openly. stan greenberg has done great research on this. they never want to say it in a direct ethnic way, but it's a way of getting at this notion that people who are other than them, inferior, unworthy that president obama is the embodiment of that inferiority. that they have to humiliate him. remember how donald trump rose to the top of the heap when he was seen as a credible presidential candidate. it was by humiliating barack obama. that's the way you get ahead. the problem is and going back to rubio, that is not a winning political strategy. americans don't respond by and large because most americans are in the middle to this kind of rage politics. barry goldwater would be president if that was successful. the john burke society would have taken over the republican party rather than being pushed out if that was successful kind of politics. strom thurman who have -- these are not the kind of politics that win, but they are the kind republicans are stuck with right now.

>> thank you david corn and joy reid. coming up, you heard it first. what difference does it make comment on the benghazi riot will be the, you didn't build that of 2016. dick cheney is starting the deception already implying that mrs. clinton, the former secretary doesn't care that four americans are dead. i think she cares and we know it. suspicions confirm, a local republican official says new voter i.d. laws will kick the democrats in the butt and then he said this. we're not going to help lazy, black people who want the government to give them everything. that's a republican out there. out of a job today by the way. that's the guy. one more from the tinfoil hat crowd. remember the moment this week when a woman fainted at a white housey vent. the wingers on the right decided the whole thing was staged for president obama's event. she's acting, they say. here's good news. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

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welcome back to "hardball." dick cheney got good at misleading this country, we know that from iraq and clearly little has changed. earlier this week he labeled president obama an extremist. yesterday he called into the conservative hue hewlett radio show and made pretty outrageous statements, i think, about the president and hillary clinton. outrageous even for dick cheney. here he is taking hillary clinton completely out of context over what else, benghazi. >> i think the benghazi thing is one of the great -- it's not just embarrassment, it's a tragedy because we lost four people that night. but what i always recall is her testimony saying what difference does it make. and the fact of the matter is it makes a huge difference. she clearly wasn't hands on and now she doesn't want to be hands on. and she's doing everything she can to avoid responsibility for what clearly fell into her

baliwick. >> i hope you caught that. he implies that hillary clinton was talking about the four americans being dead including chris stevens. when she said what difference does it make. in fact, in those words she was referring to republican attacks on the talking pints points used by susan rice afterwards. here's the full context of that comment by the secretary. >> we were misled that there were supposedly protests and something sprang out of that, an assault sprang out of that. that is easily ascertained that was not the fact. the american people could have known that within days. >> with all due respect, the fact is we had four dead americans. was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided to kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? it is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from happening again, senator. >> a.b. stoddard and clarence page. a.b., you first.

sometimes nuance means a whole lot. she was talking about the pr afterwards. not about what was done to protect the lives of those people in realtime. now cheney comes along with that manner of his and of course you understand that, bonding thing he does and some interviewers fall for it. they respect him too much to ask him, wait a minute, you're lying here. >> well, yeah. >> he's saying things she didn't say. she didn't say what difference does it make four people are dead. she says, what difference does it make that we talk after the fact about the nature of the protest. >> i would argue he would still say she shouldn't have said that. >> i agree with that. but that's not what she's referring to. >> that is a great mark on her otherwise very impressive tenure as secretary of state. >> was cheney accurate in saying she didn't care four people were killed. >> he doesn't exactly say that. it sounds he says what difference does it make because

four people were dead. if he'd been corrected, he would have said no, no, no, i'm saying that in her testimony four people were dead. >> okay. i watched this team conflate stuff all along. they conflate everything. nuclear programs with chemical programs, iraq with 9/11. they're brilliant at it. they throw one thing with another. and the lazy viewer that's not focused goes i guess so. but she didn't say that. here's more from dick cheney's interview, by the way. here he is talking about osama bin laden's killing. according to cheney, the president failed to do something. let's listen. >> one, i was glad they got him. two, they needed to recognize as some have although he never really has all the work that was done by our intel professionals over ten years to make that possible. >> so the president never recognized all the good work done by our agencies. that would be a good point, of course, if it were true. of course it's not. he's repeatedly given them

credit. just days after the killing of bin laden, he even went to the cia headquarters to talk in person. here's this president's message that cheney must have missed. let's listen. >> today i've returned just to say thank you. on behalf of all americans and people around the world, because you carried on, you stayed focused on your mission, you honored the memory of your fallen colleagues. i wanted every single one of you to know whether you work at the cia or across the community, at every step of our effort to take out bin laden, the work you did and the quality of the intelligence you provided made the critical difference. >> clarence? >> let's be clear. dick cheney isn't upset that president obama didn't recognize the intelligence community. because obviously president obama did recognize that community. he's upset that obama didn't recognize dick cheney and george w. bush. and all the wonderful work they

did over the years to get to bin laden, et cetera. >> torah bora. >> he's not alone. there are many others who say the same thing. and have said the same thing. he also had strong words -- let's watch another point of view that comes out after. >> if you're a friend and ally of the united states in that part of the world tonight, you have to say what's this guy all about? can we count on anything he's told us? is the historic relationship between us and the united states worth anything? the same time our adversaries out there no longer fear us. and i think the incompetence of this administration and the way they've handled these kind of affairs especially in the middle east is one of the worst aspects of this presidency. >> well, a tough indictment would be more convincing if it wasn't coming from the guy, him, who got the middle east so wrong in the run-up to the iraq invasion. remember these pearls of wisdom from mr. cheney.

>> regime change in iraq would bring about a number of benefits to the region. when the gravest of threats are eliminated, the freedom loving peoples of the region will have a chance to promote the values that can bring lasting peace. >> you think the people are prepared for a long, costly, and bloody battle with significant american casualties? >> i don't think it's likely to unfold that way because i really do believe we will be greeted as liberators. >> did that turning of the head to tim the attempt to bond is a turn off. >> the power of positive thinking. wasn't it? >> of course we know that bonding, we know every time he did it, it was dishonest. >> there were so many strategic mistakes that that administration made. and they aren't the first. >> you're being kind. they wanted us in that war in the worst way and got us into that. they said anything to get us in there. cheney was leading the fight, cheney with his five deferments were pushing for it.

>> it sounds like he was unhappy we didn't invade syria. snoot king of the chicken hawks. >> i'm sorry, a.b. has a view. i can tell it's coming. >> you can tell in this interview and others he enjoys his role as the righteous unapologetic. >> how does he get away -- there's a couple guys that never are questioned about their own records. they can talk like prophets when they've always been wrong. how do they do it? this talk like i'm you're uncle. how do they do it? >> well, i'm not going to characterize it generally. i think in that response, they're burned by the fact that when obama came in and ran against mccain and hillary, he ran on bush fatigue and how one of his characterizations was that we -- bush had ruined our alliances around the world and really made more enemies during his tenure. now republicans and conservatives are taking advantage of the fact we're having problems with the allies. >> barack was right about the war. they were wrong. that's what bugs them.

thank you a.b. stoddard. but you're wonderful. and clarence page, you're wonderful. up next, the latest right wing conspiracy theory about president obama and the health care law. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

the chancellor of germany told president obama to stop tapping her phone. >> ladies and gentlemen, my impression of how that phone call went. how are you, angela? what do you mean? you know how i am. although it is impressive he put a tap on the actual chancellor herself. who could have gotten close enough to do something like that? oh, my god! that's what it was. he was planting the bug. unbelievable. >> wonderful. time for the sideshow. that was jon stewart.

last night on the fallout in germany over new disclosures. that nsc was involved in that. i guess we've rubbed the chancellor of germany the wrong way again. next you might remember the woman who almost fainted in the rose garden this week during the president's speech on the affordable care act. some conspiracy theories out there on the right say they believe the whole incident was staged by the white house, a blog post on lady patriots said the woman who fainted as used as a prop. for the president's defense of the aca. listen to this. quote, obama has to have props around him when he does one of his con-jobs in the rose garden or wherever he chooses to deceive or receive his worshippers. the allegation was posted by the weekly standard and yesterday gained more attraction when sarah palin said, she couldn't blame someone for believing it. quote, with the obama white house's total lack of transparency, it's no wonder that some will ask whether they

staged even a fantd fainting lald i in the rose garden. what was once a major leap in logic has become a single step because president obama has lied so often and blatantly. the personal assault on the president continues to this day. we have no idea where sarah palin, by the way, what she reads. she couldn't answer that to katie couric. and we don't know where she gets her ideas. that's "hardball" for now. coming up next, your business with jj ramberg. he's on geico.com setting up an appointment with an adjuster. ted is now on hold with his insurance company. maxwell is not and just confirmed a 5:30 time for tuesday. ted, is still waiting. yes! maxwell is out and about... with ted's now ex-girlfriend. wheeeee! whoo! later ted! online claims appointments. just a click away on geico.com.

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today we continue our series main street usa by heading down south to natchez, mississippi, where downtown seems to be on the upswing. we ask small business owners what they're doing right. that's coming up next on "your business." >> small businesses are revitalizing the economy and american express open is here to help. that's why we're