be a mistake which generations to come will not be able to forgive. >> mandela never relaxed in his fight, and neither can we. he talked about a long journey, a long road to freedom. it's not a short expeditious trip. it's a long road, but the end is where we all need to get. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. choosing sides. let's play "hardball." ♪ ♪ >> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. the news tonight is the unifying power of that videotape. the word keeps coming from conservatives and progressives, from white and black, that something deadly wrong took place on staten island last

july. the picture of what appears to be a gentle giant being taken down and killed by police officers has widened the spectrum of outrage. people from all walks of life are insisting that this matter not go away. that we don't simply move on. in other big news tonight, the bridgegate scandal lands in the hands of federal investigators after a state probe fails to tie governor chris christie to the order to close down traffic lanes on the george washington bridge. also, an explosion of jobs and wage hikes may help relieve the economic squeeze in this country. and new screwed-up facts appear in the university of virginia rape story in "rolling stone" magazine. guess what, this is something we can feel good about. the united states is back on the space journey. next stop, mars. let's get right now to the story with the emerging left-right consensus on the tragic eric garner death. i'm joined by the roundtable, jonathan capehart, opinion writer for "the washington po "

post," mercedes sh lup and david corn with mother jones and an m nbc political analyst. one big difference in this case, there was video proof of what happened. watching it has been brutal for everyone. it played a role for many concerned to have spoken out against the verdict in new york. let's watch. >> i thought, how sad. you know, the verdict was hard to understand. i hadn't seen all the details, but it's sad that race continues to play such an emotional, divisive part of life. >> this is on video. we have been talking about ferguson. we have been debating ferguson, just like trayvon was debated. there's really no debate here. this was a homicide. it's on video. >> from looking at the video, the grand jury's decision here is totally incomprehensible. is looks as if at least they

might have indicted him on something like involuntary manslaughter at the very least. the guy actually said, i can't breathe. >> i will say that upon seeing the video that you just saw and hearing mr. garner say he could not breathe, i was extremely troubled. i would have loosened my grip. i desperately wish the officer would have done that. >> i think it's hard not to watch that video of him saying, i can't breathe, i can't breathe, and not be horrified by it. >> mercedes, why so different from the feeling and the atmosphere surrounding the ferguson case, where they both involved big, large, african american guys, both killed by police? >> well, chris, there's a video. and that makes all the difference. that's something that you normally don't see. what's interesting, i was talking to a criminal defense lawyer who basically mentioned the grand jury, the prosecutors give them the evidence, they pick out the evidence.

so usually it's stacked up against the accuser. so that's why it's just so perplexing. >> the jury saw this. >> they did. but it wasn't enough, the officer basically said i didn't mean to harm him or try to kill him. but at the same time, there's something to be said that law enforcement is being given too much discretion, and basically taken over that whole idea of using reasonable force. i mean, this was a non-violent act. this was cigarettes. >> too much discretion, too much deference when you get to the grand jury process -- >> that's right. >> and i can understand it, if you're on a grand jury and a police officer comes and you have a situation involving a police officer, we entrust a lot to police officers, to keep us safe, to protect our friends and families, you name it. so i can see a situation where the cop comes there and says, this is what happened, and the heart goes out to the police officer. he's doing his job. >> but they didn't have 22 civilian witnesses --

>> and a video! >> the thing is, the grand jury is supposed to be in charge. we know that it's the prosecutor truly in charge. prosecutors work with cops every day. they need them to make their cases, in which they themselves, the prosecutors, are judged upon. so there's no real independence here. i wrote a piece for mother jones that came out yesterday. i was a witness to a cop 20, 30 years ago, shooting an unarmed homeless person near the metropolitan museum of art in new york city. i went before the grand jury as a witness. i had to actually tell the police i saw it, and i had to go down to the station. they didn't want to take my statement. they had their story all set. when i got down there and i got into the grand jury room, the jurors were kind of sleeping. and the prosecutor asked me one question, really. did i see a knife in the guy's hand? i was right next to the guy. he wasn't holding a knife. and i said no. and the reason why, because he

was holding a big stone -- he cut me off. it wasn't be me telling my full story for the jurors to evaluate. the prosecutor was deciding what they would hear. >> what happened then? >> there was no charges brought, ever. >> another difference out there, here was an accusation that the victim, eric garner, posed any kind of threat. there was no argument that he was dangerous to anybody. here he is. >> just on the basis of the tape alone, on the basis of the absence of the threat that eric garner posed, yes, he was resisting arrest, but he had no means to threaten the police. he had no deadly force in his hands. this is not a case like in ferguson where there was a struggle for the gun. >> mr. garner, clearly a low-level offender, was not a threat. american police are held to a very high standard because they have power, they have guns. they must control inflammatory

situations, not make them worse. >> a lot of the empathy, what hurt the case against michael brourn, if he had survived, would have been the scene in the convenience store. he's stealing this small item, but definitely stealing it. makes it a robbery. in this case, there's something about that guy. i said gentle giant. because his hands were -- it was like just don't cuff me. i have some pride here. it was that sort of like -- >> if he was not threatening. that's the key thing. no threat here. >> defending his body against the police. >> police are able to use force and deadly force based on the level of threat they face. so if it takes you 30 more seconds to convince him to put his hands down and come with us, why don't they try that. they went after him so quickly. >> why did they have to cuff him? >> and he's basically saying, i can't breathe, i can't breathe. >> the guy jumped him from behind. everybody went to high school,

you may have gone to a nicer school, but you would have a fight and get down behind you. >> and you don't know who -- >> but that was high school tactics, not police tactics. >> here's the other thing, what's missing in that video is a sense of humanity. he's saying, i can't breathe, 11 times. at what point does the police officer or officers around him say, okay, you know what, he's on the ground. let's at least cuff him and get him some help. they didn't do that. and even in the second videotape that's out there, he's just lying there. eric garner, not moving, so i'm assuming he's unconscious in this particular video and they're doing nothing. no cpr, nothing. >> when does human empathy kick in? you don't choke a guy to death with health problems, he's overweight. what i find is interesting, although i disagree with certain

people on the right, krauthammer, i do think he's honest. a rally is a kur mudgion in so many ways. but he probably doesn't like police kicking him around either. there's a certain level where you have empathy against authority figures and you feel that urge of, off me. >> that's interesting, because in the past, the conservative side in general has always sided with cops and these sort of situations, even though they don't like the power of the government or the state. but when it comes to like the death penalty and other things, they're all for that sort of power. but in this instance, the tape is just so undeniable. >> be fair, conservatives think back to the crime that got that guy on death row. usually a couple of crimes, aggravated, deliberate assassination of people in some horrible scene. conservatives better than

liberals remember that. they do remember it. [ all speak at once ] i think they have a keen inti t instini instinct for the crime itself. you're the conservative here. >> i really believe in this case, it crosses party lines. this is just something that is black or white. here we have the similarity of what we're seeing. the differences, with the michael brown case, in the michael brown case, was there an act of aggression on the part of michael brown? >> in the car. >> exactly. >> and the other part, it's a white officer and a black man. so it has to raise these questions about race and about what the black community is suffering and going through and where -- and that distrust. >> and there are some officers of color in that crime scene with eric garner. cops are cops. >> but again, how is law enforcement responding? >> i would love to get a good lie detector test.

do officers have a different attitudes towards perps? or are they all equally hardened to the situation? >> i will tell you this much. there are african americans in various communities around the country for whom a police officer, whether white or black, latino, asian, is a police officer that makes them uncomfortable. and if they are living in communities such as ferguson, where the police officers are not viewed as protection, but as someone to be protected from, that's a problem. >> that was a great point the president made. because at the end of the day, it's about trust. if the community doesn't trust the police or the government at large, there's a problem. you got to think about why that is, the historical reasons, the current reasons, and if you don't deal with it -- >> you can't have the police act like an occupying force. they got to reflect the community at some point. coming up, the early results of that bridgegate investigation by new jersey state lawmakers leaves big questions unanswered. but it opens the question at least for me, if governor

christie ran his office like dick nixon did. he was ruthless in punishing the potential enemies. there's a lot still to learn when the u.s. attorney finishes his investigation early next year. plus, a huge jobs report. all-time high for the dow, despite the news that we know the middle class is feeling the squeeze. also, "rolling stone" magazine backs off its story about a young woman in college who said she was raped at a fraternity party at uva. and the dawn of a new era in space travel. today america is back in the space journey. it's on to mars. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

president obama has nominated ashton carter of abington high school to be the next defense secretary. he's a pentagon veteran, so far he's won praise from republicans, which means he just might have a smooth confirmation by the u.s. senate.

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welcome back to "hardball," the early results of that big bridgegate investigation by new jersey lawmakers in trenton leaves major questions unanswered. but drives home what we've known for months, that chris christie had his office devoted to hard ball tactics against his rivals. his campaign operation ran on discipline and punishing his opponents, putting mayors on the spot to run up his re-election numbers so he could run for president. the u.s. attorney's investigation continues now. we're back with our roundtable. i look at chris christie's public behavior and a see a bully. now there's a charming aspect to the bully as long as you're not the victim. [ laughter ] >> exactly. >> only because it's good sport. if that's going on in the back room dealing with the mayor of

ft. lee, or putting together a team of experts saying, squeeze those people, i have a hard time believing he has nothing to do with it. nixon darn well built the team but was never -- >> i hope i'm not caught in that situation where he tells me that shut up and sit down. that wouldn't work well. i think his style is very harsh. it might work in jersey. outside of jersey it gets very complicated. >> what do you think of his role, his defense, if he has one, that he didn't order it? >> he didn't order it, but he took the blame. >> but it went on for days and he was in new jersey when it went on. >> we'll see what the federal investigation has come out, but he's been clean for now. >> he's been cleared in part because two of the most important people wouldn't testify. they can't pull that -- >> bridgit kelly? stepi stepien? >> no, baroni. at the port authority. they won't be able to pull the same trick when it comes to the

u.s. attorney, who has the power to compel testimony or put you in jail. so that question will be resolved. plus, the legislative committee wasn't looking at some other things that have come up, such as christie leveraging sandy funds to mayors unless they went along with his development deals that he backed. >> it shouldn't be this way. i know it shouldn't be this way gaud ano said. >> if i was to give any advice to the koch brothers, i'd say don't invest in christie just yet. >> i don't think they will. >> let's look at this. it's fascinating. even after bridgegate, governor christie has been out there feeding the perception that he takes pleasure in publicly destroying his opponents. a few weeks ago, he went after a nurse who complained about his blow quarantine. >> do you intend to maybe speak to her, talk to her? >> no, i don't. i have no reason to talk to her. >> is it possible you're on the wrong side of science but the right side of public opinion?

>> no, i'm going to be on the right side of both. >> you're going to have to defend this in court. >> whatever. get in line. i'm happy to take it on. she was in the hospital with access to her cell phone and access to the best take-out from restaurants. she was fine. >> and then this about the hurricane sandy relief efforts. >> more than happy to have a debate with you any time you like, because somebody like you, who doesn't know a damn thing about what you're talking about, except to stand up and show off when the cameras are here. i've been here when the cameras weren't here and did the work. so i'm glad you had your day to show off, but we're the ones who are here to actually do the work. so turn around, get your 15 minutes of fame, and then maybe take your jacket off, roll up your sleeves and do something for the people of this state. so, listen, you want to have the

conversation later, i'm happy to have it. but until that time, sit down and shut up. >> there you go. >> well said. [ laughter ] >> he said i'm here when the cameras aren't on. it opens the question, what is he like when the cameras aren't on? get that mayor on the line, tell him he doesn't get any money -- >> it strains cred yulity to see he wouldn't be the same person. i'm saddened you didn't include my argument with him on same-sex marriage. >> replay it for us. >> i can't do that, there was a lot of back and forth. but the governor wants us to believe he's a micro manager, pedal to the metal, on top of it, from political allies and enemies. or he's incompetent in allowing staffers to go well beyond their authority. i'm having a hard time believing the incompetent piece.

>> me too. >> what we just saw in that last clip plays well in the new york tristate area, new york, new jersey, connecticut, throw in pennsylvania -- >> not sure connecticut. >> reality tv, it works great on reality tv. but beyond that -- >> but i have to say, if chris christie thinks he's going to be president christie with an act like that, he should have a conversation with president giuliani. there's no such thing. giuliani was the bombastic mayor of new york city for eight years. he tried to run for president. how'd that work out for him? >> you're really good. i don't think i can add to that. that's perfectly right. he's auditioning for president of the united states in that manner. >> and he's raised -- he's raised millions of dollars for the republican -- >> and the republican party putting bets on him. they still do that. >> i think it's a sliver of individuals. the field is so large, between

jeb bush, marco, jindal. you name it, we have them to spare that are going to run. >> they're not worried about those people. they're worried about ted cruz and rand paul and they see him as the guy who can take them on. once upon a time, people talked about his appeal to democrats. that he used to talk about working together -- >> apparently back then when romney was thinking of putting him on the ticket when he was running, he discovered there wasr were some problems. do you think he might use those problems against him next time? [ laughter ] >> that opposition book is rather thick. if romney doesn't use it, somebody else will. >> and therefore, but i keep thinking romney is going to be the nomination after all this is over. >> no, no -- >> i'm pretty good at this. >> he's not going to run. >> i always shoot the moon. i think in this case they're dying for a middle of the road cent rift conservative.

i think they want to win. >> they will beg jeb bush before they settle for mitt romney. >> i think romney's going to beat him in the polls. i think romney's going to beat jeb in the polls. you'll see. mark my words. anyway, the roundtable is coming back. we'll talk about a lot of things. "hardball," the place for politics. come on back with us. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'i like to think of myself as more of a control... enthusiast. mmm, a perfect 177-degrees. and that's why this road warrior rents from national.

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♪ [ applause ] ha! >> just outside the white house tonight, president obama lit the national christmas tree. >> five, four, three, two, one. [ cheers and applause ] hey! >> isn't that beautiful? it's the only thing his wife lets him light anymore. >> welcome back to "hardball." time now for the side show. president obama and the first

family did join in the festivitifest if festivities and the celebration was complete with some dancing. take a look. ♪ ♪ well, that might call that dad dancing at its finest. but the president managed to redeem himself with this latest news. he's be one of steven colbert's final guests in the wind down to the last episode. the host made the announcement last night. >> it's a great night, if you watched my show on monday night, or tried to pretend you weren't watching it at work on tuesday, then you know i'm taking my showdown to washington, d.c. it's a one-night-only special

this monday. >> stephen colbert presents, mr. colbert goes to washington, d.c. ya later, ledgealator. partisan is such sweet sorrow. >> the highlight is that i lined up one of my favorite '90s alternative bands, the presidents of the united states of america to play their hit song "peaches." unfortunately there was a bit of a mix-up and i did not book the band. i booked the actual president of the united states of america. barack obama is going to be my guest. [ cheers and applause ] >> oh, yeah. i cannot overstate how huge this is. the size of the hugeness, large. [ laughter ] i am so honored to be sitting down with the man who sat down with bill o'reilly. >> anyway, the president actually sat down with me a year

ago today, actually. obama will appear, the president will, on the colbert show next monday, december 8th. up next, the dow is at an all-time high, near 18,000 tonight, yet american people out there are still feeling the squeeze because the cost of living is up and wages are flat as a board. what can the democrats do to help people? that's the biggest question of our time. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. hey! so i'm looking at my bill, and my fico® credit score's on here. we give you your fico® score each month for free!

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>> here's what's happening. protests are under way in major cities across the country on this the third day since the grand jury in staten island, new york, decided not to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of unarmed black man eric garner. president obama welcomed new governor to the oval office, they focused on ways to work together. and william and kate are coming to america. they're scheduled to arrive in new york on sunday. on monday, prince william will head to the white house for a meeting with the president.

back to "hardball." ♪ last month, america's businesses created more than 300,000 jobs. now, this keeps a pace so far this year that we have not seen since the 1990s. so far this year, over the first 11 months of 2014, our economy has created 2.65 million jobs. that's more than in any entire year since the 1990s. our businesses have now created 10.9 million jobs over the past 57 months in a row. and that's the longest streak of private-sector job growth on record. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was president obama with good news on the jobs front today. but the middle class continues to be squeezed. americans are seeing their bills

soar. costs have risen on health care to electricity, tuition, everything. they've had slash their budgets on childcare, elderly care for their parents and dining out or going to the movies. a prominent democrat says they regret not doing more to help the middle class rather than going to be health care. that was chuck schumer. here he is. >> after passing the sim lutimu democrats should have continued to propose middle class oriented programs and build on the partial success of the stimulus. but unfortunately democrats blew the opportunity the american people gave them. took their mandate and put all of our focus on the wrong problem, health care reform. people thought we should have done it, but we shouldn't have done it first. we were in the middle of the recession, people were hurting

and said, what about me? i'm losing my job, it's not health care that bothers me. what about me? my income is declining, i can't do the things i used to do. >> let's skip why he's doing it, except to go to the root reality he's getting to. people feel overlooked. they feel their concerns about the economy have been overlooked for the president's agenda. rather than him meeting their agenda. that's the politics. we can talk about what chuck schumer is up to, but the root reality is not there. >> what he's not taking into account, there was a stimulus bill that could have been bigger, but republicans said -- >> what about his point, he's trying to touch something the president hasn't touched? >> the question is, what would he have the president do? did he want more infrastructure built out? more tax relief for the middle class and working americans, which there was plenty of -- >> you're talking remedies now. i'm talking about symptom. why is he out there hitting the president on his number one historic agenda item to make a point he thinks is bigger? >> because they lost hugely in

the midterm elections and the main issue that came out on the exit polls was the economy. for whatever reason, the gdp both, the dow is great. but the middle class, is saying, i can't pay my bills, my wages are stagnant. the democrats say we'll just raise the federal minimum wage. they didn't have a complete economic agenda. you've seen on the side of the republicans where they have been trying to pass these job bills -- >> whoa whoa whoa whoa! >> and obama with the regulations, you're talking about thas been choking small businesses which, as we know has provided thousands if not millions of jobs. >> all these choked businesses did a pretty good job -- >> small businesses. we're not talking about large corporations. the small businesses have been -- >> the republicans say -- >> between obamacare and the regulations, employers have decided they'll hire more part-timers than full timers. guess what! then you have these guys coming out of college, they can't get

jobs. they're stuck. and people weren't, you know, getting raises. >> the republican strategy has been to just cut taxes and regulations. it didn't work in the bush years. that's what he had running up to the recession that put us where we are today. but the issue that obama and the democrats have, which i'll agree with you on, it's hard for them to come up with policy prescriptions that address the specific issue. all the economic gains we've had in the past few years, have gone mainly to the top 1%. the dow is great. you go to the hamptons, they're not hurting. so how do you get the money spread out? cutting taxes for the rich? getting rid of regulations -- >> what about cutting taxes for the middle? >> that's what obama has done. first year in office, gave a tax cut to the 90% bottom part of the income range -- >> anybody remember that? >> they don't remember that.

i think everybody agrees that the crunch is real. if you look at the numbers, they're watching right now. they know inflation has probably matched any increase in their job. it's been trumped by inflation. so they look at just going to the movies, which i love to do, because i'm an empty nester. for the seniors, it's eight bucks. still a lot of money when you throw in the popcorn and the coke. these are little things. people go to the movies every two or three weeks if they're lucky. you can't go to dinner anymore. the idea of fest ift is pretty hard. so you go to the basics. tuition, if you're raising kids. the colleges that cost $65,000 a year now. >> but there's another thing that you haven't put in this list is, health care costs. one of the reasons why americans' wages were shrinking or stagnant is because health care costs were going through the roof. and when the president was pushing the affordable care act,

one of the main pillars of his argument was, we have to do this in order to ban the cost curve which is happening. the deficit is shrinking. premiums are going to go up, but by not as much as they would have without the affordable care act. >> was he right to go to affordable care act rather than deal with the economic problem? >> i agree with david. he did deal with the middle class, and middle-class issues -- >> no he didn't. >> terrific for senator schumer, who is a brilliant political strategist to use hindsight to say, this is what we should have done. >> the payroll tax cut, which he had a fight with the republicans to extend, was one of the biggest middle class tax cuts there was. and it was actually stimulus. that's why he agreed to the bush tax cuts for the rich, to extend them, because he was thinking about the middle class. so schumer's history is wrong on

policy. in terms of what the president did in selling this, i think i and a lot of people would agree, he never sold the fact that this is what he was doing. i talked to axelrod and other people in the white house, why does the public not get this? they will fess up they haven't made that point well. >> it's not trickling down to the middle class. >> once he got the stimulus, he shut up. >> he didn't keep selling it. >> reagan was very good on the strategy. he would say cut taxes and then for the next seven years of his presidency, he would say, our program. in other words it's an ongoing thing. our program. he knew how to sell inperpetuity. the roundtable is staying with us. "rolling stone" backs off its big story about a college student who says she was gang raped at a university of virginia fraternity.

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well, tomorrow may be the end of the line for one of the last southern democrats in the u.s. senate. louisiana holds its run-off election tomorrow and incumbent senator mary landrieu, the underdog in her battle with bill cassidy. a cassidy victory would be the ninth republican pickup this year. you can say that national

democrats long ago gave up on landrieu's seat, airing just a hundred tv ads since the november 4th primary, versus the roughly 6,000 pro cassidy ads. that's a rough ratio. we'll be right back. you don't think much about it... you never dwell on how it was made... it's just a blanket after all... but when everything else has been lost, the comfort it provides is immeasurable. the america red cross brings hope and help to people in need every 8 minutes, every day. so this season give something that means something. support us at redcross.org nineteen years ago, we thought,

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two weeks ago, a "rolling stone" article with this headline got worldwide attention. a rape on campus. it was about the rape of a university of virginia student who was identified only by the name jackie. well, today "rolling stone" magazine backed off the story. in a letter to readers, the editor wrote, there now appear to be discrepancies in jackie's account.

we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced. it was a stunning turn in the story that has the nation talking. jonathan, you're an editor. you write opinion pieces. deal with the editing process. what went wrong here? facts were wrong. the data of the accused, of the alleged rape, which is almost a capital crime. used to be one. is wrong. the fact that these two people worked together is wrong. the fact that the person who was accused of this act of -- felony act, didn't work at the place they said he did. >> i mean, if i had written that story and handed it to our extremely capable people in "the washington post" editorial opinion page copy desk, it would never have run. they would have asked me after they had done their own reporting. so what was the date of this? you don't have it in the story. did the guy -- did they work together?

did you even talk to the people jackie is accusing? you haven't done any of those things? >> and if you had said you had a ground rule that we wouldn't go to them, what would they say? >> they would say, are you out of your mind? you can't put the paper in a position -- >> "rolling stone," highly credible, used to have bill grider working for them. what happened? >> i've been talking to my staff today. we are completely mystified. at mother jones, like a lot of magazines, we have a really severe fact-checking department, and severe fact-checkers, often we don't like what they put us through. >> it's like going to the cops. >> and how this got through, the sat thin sad thing, it's really an important issue. sexual assault. the fact they felt they had to lead. it wasn't a one-person rape. it was a gang rape, obviously a lot of dramatic value there, but

they sacrificed journalist being integrity by not going through the steps. by letting the reporter cut a very odd deal with the subject, about not going to the accused. even if you're not going to name them, but at least hearing their side. this goes down in the annals of steven glass at the new republic, janet cook at "the washington post". it's not the reporter making things up, but -- >> jason blair, "the new york times." >> first of all, i was never in an fraternity, but envied guys who were. i saw "animal house" a hundred times. i know there's a lack of discipline, it's free-fall, what you do there. but it's been so seriously taken by the university of virginia people, they shut down fraternity life. >> absolutely. and the president spoke about the issue -- >> she did? >> and they were doing investigations as well. so, yes, it also does give

fraternity the bad rap. they said we don't do hazing. this did not happen. and the mere fact that the "rolling stone" and this author went out and said, i'm not going to talk to the attacker, that to me, just blew my mind. it's like, how can you not go and ask the questions. >> the argument was made, i don't want to address them, she's not facing them. >> but the reporter has a different obligation. >> exactly. >> -- than the accuser or investigator or anything else. and when you read the story, i mean, it's easy to say this in mind sight. a lot of us read the story and said wow, this is really weird and odd in a lot of ways. why isn't there more proof if something like this happened? why don't they press the administration at uva to say whether or not it did happen. because she claims she went and talked to them. >> let's go to the real criticism. it's cultural. when i heard about the duke case

with the african american woman who was brought in as a stripper, which you can question why are we doing that, a bunch of white guys with a black woman taking her clothes off but then the accusation of rape there. the attitude that sbietentitled kids that go to that school, duke. so is this going to be seen as an echo of that? if they're not innocent of the charge. >> in the case with david, sexual assault, it's happening in the cam pusses. >> describe what goes on. >> we were just talking about 1 to 5 women have reported that they've been sexually assaulted. >> how is that? what is sexually assaulted? >> sexually assault could be anything from if a man advances and she says no, then it's no. and it's very black and white, in my opinion. >> it's rape. it's rape. >> unwarranted. >> unwarranted act, yes.

unsolicited. you weren't in a fraternity, were you? >> no. so this is a real serious issue. and now we're not talking about it. if you read a lot of the "rolling stone" article, it's not just about this one episode they use it to illustrate the problem and there's a lot of reporting and a lot of good pieces and good information within that. >> we're going to find something more uplifting. we're conneming back to the rou table. up next, america's hopeful right now, the successful launch of the o'ryan spacecraft today. this is "hardball," the place for politics. if you have dandruff sign up for shampoodelivery.com get out of here!! 50% off laser hair removal. you've been matched. linda s. is only 3.2 miles away. no no no. request accepted. match confirmed.

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i believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out. of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the

earth. no single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long range exploration of space. >> we had him as president once, do you believe it? that was the speech in which john f. kennedy outlined his mission to land a man on the moon. the space program was america's pride and joy. five decades later, in 2010, amid growing skepticism and deep budget cuts at nasa, president obama doubled down on a new program called orien renewing on this country's dreams to explore the outer regions of space. >> i believe we can land on mars. and i expect to be around to see it. and this orion effort will be part of advanced spacecraft to be used in future deep space missions.

in fact, orion will be ready for flight right here in this room. >> and this is what we saw this morning. three, two, one. and liftoff at dawn. the dawn of orion and the new era of american space exploration. >> well, nasa called the first test flight of the orion capsule "the most perfect flight e flight you could ever imagine". the unmanned vehicle traveled further in space than we've ever reached. actually since the 1970s. and made a flawless re-entry after its five-hour flight. >> jonathan was 2 years old, but

i wasn't born yet. it reminds me about the greatness of america. >> sing it. sing it. >> wouldn't it be so fast nating to go to the moon or be an as tro naught. those were the words. >> do great things. >> exactly. it was that sort of american greatness, that insinspiration america can do. that's what president kennedy proposed. it was almost invigorating to watch orion go up and see a successful launch. it's promising. >> we beat the russians. do you know what the russians do these days? they beat at the ukranians. we show they're great by doing this sort of stuff. >> i love science. on my third birthday, i ran to the window to see john glen orbit.

>> just over your house. >> just over my hougs. . what is this? this is the government. this is the u.s. government setting a big, bold priority and making it happen. it's science. it's pro-science. these days, our political debates go between those bo e who believe in science and those who don't believe in science. >> you know what else? a lot of government employees. government employees are doing this. regular, public servants who are not big shots. regular names. they do this for the world. >> and one thing to keep in mind, when the space shuttle program was e limb nated, there were a lot of long faces around the country, and particularly at nasa, it was a huge step backwards. but what we saw today is a huge step forwad. yes, the o rrkrion capsule is smaller than the space shuttle. yes, it was only a5 1/2 hours where the space shuttles were days and billions and billons of

dollars. but i think this is going to pay off dividends that we don't even know yet. >> more tang coming. >> yes, new tang. >> we know more about the world. the russians show their strength by invading their neighbors. we show our strength by doing something like this that won't just benefit us. >> look at it coming down. there it is. it all happens in a day while we're doing our stuff. >> a probe landed on a comet not too long ago. this is really committing stuff. i think it gets kids excited. it makes us think about how to do big things. big, scientific things. things that are based on research. you have to fund research education. >> you're a very impressive man. a man who grew up in science all around him and can play jazz piano like nobody i know. i've seen that myself.

thank you dave corn. great trio tonight. that's "hardball" for now. "all in" with chris hayes begins right now. >> tonight on "all", the uproar on the grand jury continues. >> o living roomlympic medallis carlos. and no evidence directly implicating ne ining new jersey chris christie. and we have liftoff. >> the dawn of orion. >> is the orionpa