he won, and that if we fight, if we do not become what we are fighting we can win like king. monday is a federal holiday, and it's blk day, be like king. fight for what's right, but know we can win. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" start right now. tutt tutt\s. i'm chris matthews in washington. once again we have breaking news to report. police in belgium say they have foiled a terror plot at least two suspected terrorists are dead, a third is in custody. the prosecutor says they were ready to pull off a terror attack on a grand scale. we're told the raid is part of a series of raids across belgium tonight. let's go to new york now for the latest. >> thank you, chris. i'm ari melber. a neighbor captured the gun

battle. belgian authorities say the suspects were armed here with heavy weapons, belgian officials also saying these suspects had recently returned from fighting in syria. both al qaeda and isis have urged their followers to carry out these kinds of attacks all over the west. katy indicate katy tur has more. >> authorities say when they approached the home that the suspects immediately opened fire on them. now they initially called them -- the weapons they had war-grade weapons. we're learning more about exactly what was discovered within that apartment. there were four ak-47s, bomb-making products and police uniforms. authorities say that they believe these alleged terrorists were plotting to attack police in the area of verviers very imminently. that's why they moved so

quickly. they had been surveying the people the past week or two, since they supposedly returned from syria. witnesses reported hearing one large explosion, then a series of rapid gunfire immediately following that heavy machine gun fire immediately following, then two or three more explosions. you can hear from this am -- amateur video, you can see there's fire and people screaming and yell the operation ongoing. we are told they were given some warning before police came in. they said we are here we're about to conduct a raid go inside, take cover. unclear, though if there was any real warning for the people they were conducting the raid on. still a pretty scary night. about ten raids were done simultaneously across belgium.

police say they are expected to make more arrested. they didn't want to give more details, because this investigation is still ongoing, but they have raised their terror alert level to high the second highest level though high there, an alert level of 3. now, belgium is a pretty small country, but per capita they have the most foreign fighters fighting wars in syria and iraq about 150 people so far, 150 people as of now that they believe are fighting in these foreign wars. that's why there's such a high level of tension there at the time right now, and that's a high level of tension because of what was happening in paris as well. police say by conducting this raid and stopping these people that they suspected of plotting against police in the area that they were able to avoid what they're calling a "charlie hebdo" style of attack a high-level attack on the police in belgium. they do expect to make more

arresteds. that's 5:00 a.m. eastern for another press conference and hopefully we'll get more information. >> katy just to underscore some of your reporting there, the language we have heard from authorities at this point, as you just said "charlie hebdo" style attack, and we've heard, quote, attack on a grand scale, and foush ak-47s, police uniforms bomb-making materials. any other insights into what that would amount to? would it be an assassination-style attack with the weaponry or bombing or more? and whether any of those ten separate type raids were connected? >> we do not know much information. we don't know what style attack this was going to be whether or not it was going to be an armed assault, just a machine gunning of a number of people or if there were bombs involved. it's unclear at the moment. i'm not sure that police have specific details they want to

release, but there were bomb-making terms. that would coincide with what we saw in that amateur video. it's unclear whether or not these suspects detonated these bombs or if they were detonated by police witnesses say they heard the explosion first, then gunfire, about but in this emergency police news conference, they talked about the gunfire and not the explosions. but we are hearing now they did find bomb-making materials within that. as for all those other raids, it's not clear if they're connected. we were hearing it was part of a larger suspected terror cell people that had just returned from syria. they are still investigating whether or not this has anything directly to do with 9 "charlie hebdo" attacks if these suspects had any contact with chess attackers in both the "charlie hebdo" attack and the supermarket attack. certainly, though a lot of

tension in the area because of the ongoing problems they're having with people becoming resocialized after coming back from fighting in iraq and sir use. >> katy tur, thank you very much. we're going to go michael ohanlon at brookings and fred burton a terrorism analyst and vice president for intel for stradford. michael, is this the scenario that western officials have feared, a potential major attack from the return of fighters from syria? >> absolutely. i think your questions and katy's report we have good trying to estimate what might have been in the works. of course we can't know and it would depend a lot on the actual mechanics, but if there were up to ten people or more involved including a number of ak-47s,

you could certainly have imagined an attack that could have involved 100 or more fatalities. it's been typical in the united states not from jihadists, but from our home-grown criminals who have attacked for other reasons to often kill 10 20 people by a single individual in newtown, column buy, virginia tech, even more. it's not hard to imagine it could have been attacks that exceeded 100. obviously i'm guesstimating, but i think that's what the belgian authorities are alluding to. >> we don't know what that scale would have been, we have no leaks or information about what the operational details were but we do have spokesman for the prosecutor in belgium saying this was imminent and this was major, as you just said. fred, with your experience here something we also know more broadly is there are thousands of foreign fighters returns from

syria over to western europe. can you walk us through what that risk is and how it differs from what a lot of americans think of when we fear xwo foreign empower terror and people coming from saudi arabia to do a mission, a command-and-control al qaeda operation. this is different, isn't it? >> it certainly is ari. as a former agent, this kind of weaponry, as well as the police uniforms certainly resonates, tells me perhaps they were looking at police targets, perhaps the courts or make judges, for example, or perhaps even jewish targets. let's not forget in may of 2014 we had the attack on the jewish museum in brussels. so i think within 48 hours or so we'll have a better handle on the target sets but if you look at europe in general, for the european services they have their hands full. there's simply too many jihadis

to survey and not enough people to do the work. we're much better off here in the united states. the muslim community is much more integrated here in the united states than they are in europe. in essence it boils down to very good human intelligence and tactical analysis. you need both to prevent these types of attacks from taking place. >> fred, you mentioned surveillance, we are reporting tonight according to the belgian authorities that these groups at least in the raid were under surveillance for just one to two weeks. we all know what last week was like in the region. what do you read into that quick a turnaround from surveying too running an operation. i should mention we're looking at live footage of a very important meeting between david cam rho from the uk and president obama at the white house. we're looking to bring any updates from what they say in a press availability later tonight, but thinking about that

surveillance factor, what do you make of the turnaround time? >> there's a specific cycle. when you move from the prepaceal phase to target acquisition to the weapons procurement, that's pretty far along. no doubt the bellants service, who i've worked with in the past felt like this group was getting operational. in light of paris, it's prudent to -- once they start hitting the streets to go after their targets, they're going to have a 90% success rate. so it's very important to try to preempt and neutralize even if there were some fatalities. michael, we are seeing now as they news reports pile up a lot of people pointing out what the intelligence community has known for a while, that belgium is a hotbed for thinks fundamentalists on a per capita base moore than any other european nation a fact that is

now known to anyone who's been following this story, but still news to a lot of people. why is that? >> i'm not sure i'm prepared to conclude from the statistics that belgium is more every an incubator that is other parts of europe. i certainly agree with my colleague's point that europe at large has a bigger problems. their muslim communities are often not as well be grated and there are jihadists who have gone from western europe than from the united states and they are fewer geographic barriers from returns. so for all those reasons europe at large has a bigger problem. i'm not sure that belgium will be any more afflicted by this than britain or france or certain other countries. one other point about the scale of this. i certainly worry about it as you said there have been thousands of fighters that have gone from europe -- i'm not sure there is thousands coming back. we know that some have been executed as deserters by isis and we can increase the military

pressure on isis especially working with iraqis and certain moderate groups someday, that the isis leadership will not going to be be able to tolerate these kinds of returns as easily. >> michael, you're raising an important points which i'll put to fred the distinction between the aggressive tactics of al qaeda and isis. al qaeda here obviously taking credit wherever they can, because they do want to project that force. how is isis different than that, fred? >> they're no different when it comes to this from a recruitment standpoint. they utilized this kind of effort for propaganda and of course fund-raising and recruitment. at the end of the day, when you start looking at trying to get inside these operational cells, we don't know exactly what tipped off the belgians authorities, but it's our information they've been watching this group for a while

which preceded paris. once paris happened that was a game changer for all the europeans services so it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see similar roundups throughout europe and especially in the united kingdom. >> yeah that's an important point, fred. just to be clear, nbc news hasn't confirmed whether there is an direct operational linkage, but we've been reporting that the authorities are obvious lir on higher alert in response to everything. i want to thank fred burton and michael ohanlon for your analysis. we'll continue to follow the developments throughout the evening. ari "hardball" with chris matthews will continue with chris matthews when we come back after this break. isn't the only return i'm looking forward to. for some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college.

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the neck tiff reaction has been sharp and intense. take these, for instance "wall street journal" editorial page -- the question the former massachusetts governor will have to sans is why he would be a better candidate than in 2012? the answer is not obvious. ruper murdoch on this -- i rather greet with "wall street journal" which sort of lacerated loam any. had he had his chance he mishandled it. i thought he was a terrible candidate. and the problem is that romney is an arthouse film thinking it's a blockbuster

franchise. wells this is whole sail romney tissue rejection by republicans, right now by john stanton -- let's start with you, john. it seems to me -- i never saw it coming. >> there's a lot of -- they don't think obama is easy to beat. >> no, well obama care stinks people hate it the economy is not doing well. they came in and should have had a better chance. >> and who es are they going to pick from that group? obviously a much different presidential primary field. there's no herman cain here. this is a different field this time. >> it's going to be 25 people too. >> absolutely.

>> let me -- i always say to people the first primary is in your head. you decide to ran. mario cuomo never ran, colin powell never ran. condie rice she could have been there for life but you've got to run, you've got to get in this thing. i think mitt romney has a level of self-assurance call it arrogance, which is so superior because of his education, his family, his background money, it gives him a sense of walking into a room and thinking he's better than the president of the united states. that helped him in his first debate. i don't like it but it-. is that what's driving him? >> he is very, very popular with the american people but he's like an average guy all of a sudden. they sort of see him as the guy that goes to mcdonald os cvs. that kind of combined with the

notion that he is very successful would make me think, if i was him, maybe i can actually win it. >> the popularity of the movie that came out that showed him as a regular guy, i remember nixon was incredibly popular after he lost to kennedy. you understand that? you know what? he can take a thumping he got the message. we didn't like anybody as much as jack. romney looked good until he announced he wanted to run again. does hillary have to worry about that stuff, too? all of a sudden let me take a closer look. >> hillary was broebl more popular than after the book came out. one thing you have to keep in mind, anyone who loses after being -- they see the crowds an the partying behind them. they mistake that. people actually like me. but what's going on is they just like their political party and rallying around the troops.

that's the mistake that mitt romney may be suffering from. >> al goefr is making money doing something, he went to a cave for a while, you know. bob dole is still around, dukakis is still around. do you think all those people are thinking i almost won this baby, maybe i should get back in? >> he's obviously doing the trial balloon, right? he's trying to figure out is if he will get smacked down. >> i think he's getting smacked down. >> the fundamentals if we have this primary period for the next 13 nonts in new hampshire, south carolina, the only way to judge, is in three continues -- polling, money, which he has, and third is organization. and right now he's ahead in that. he still text messages with state senators in new hampshire. >> the fact that the money guys have told other candidates that they're holding back in terms of how much money they're willing to give them i think plays into

this. >> rand paul managed to take a swipe on the both with these comments on romney. let's listen to rand paul. >> if he runs to the right of jeb bush he'll still be to the left of the rest of the party, so it may be a different spot to occupy. >> and rand continued to discount a romney third try. let's listen here in. >> i admire governor romney. i think he's a great businessman, a good person a very generous person but i think he had his chance. even with all his assets he wasn't able to attract a big enough constituent to win and there was every opportunity to win last time. i respect him, he's an elder in the party, but i think he's had his chance and it's time for fresh bleak. >> this reminds me of the great frank, who passed away license to everything the politician says after the word "but." that's a pretty direct shot. >> it is, but to a certain

degree that's his greatest strength everybody sort of knows who mitt romney is. there won't be questions about whether he stands and in that sense, that allows him to operate that -- >> there should always be questions about where he stands because it keeps changing. the guy is an opportunist. up next the academy award nominations are being made because of a lack of diversity, apparently being called the most white ceremony in many years. coming up my interview with two-time oscar winner kevin costner who stars in "black or white" and takes on the issue of race head-on. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

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some are calling the nominee the whitest since the 1990s, but if hollywood struggles with the definition of race there's a new film "black & white." in fact the major studios didn't even want to make it. it got produced baas kitchen costner who plays the lead role financed the film largely out of his own pocket. it's the story of a recently weoed upper-class grandfather locked in a legal fight off the custody of his black granddaughter here is a climb. >> this is eloise. she's my granddaughter. what are you doing? >> i'm going to make pancakes. >> my wife and i raised her after our daughter died. life threw us a curve, now her grandmother is gone too. >> you plan on raising her better herself? >> this is every day? >> yep. >> do you need to call her other

grandmother the last person i need around me right now is grandma wiwi. >> we need to start talking about shared custody. >> not going to happen. >> she has a father. >> you live in a blind spot when it comes to your son. he's a junkie. >> >> you just want her away from us the black people. >> do you dislike black people? >> not all of them. this isn't about black and white. >> i love you papa. this is about el weiss. >> i sat down with costner to talk about the film. here it is. kevin costner, i've seen 20 of your movies counting "the big chill" this one is really cutting edge what we talk about on this show all the time on "hardball," race and race in america today. why did you do? >> i read it. you know when i read it i thought i want to share it the same way as when i hear -- read a great book or hear a great piece of music. my tendency is to go you know

i read the best book last night, heard a great piece of music. my job as a storyteller, i was stunned that i looked it as much as i did. i went wow, i've got to make this movie. i felt that way when i read "field of dreams" and "dances with wolves." i didn't see it coming but when i read it i couldn't fall out of love with it. >> it's about a white guy, a young grandfather who has a granddaughter who is black mixed race about you in american life that means black. you're in a custody battle that ends you said with a black grandmother, and that is about as close as it gets in terms of this tribalistic black and white thing in this country. i think it's about us right now. >> it is. a lot of times when we deal with race, the movies have a chance to look back look at history, but this is a pretty authentic look at where we are at today. these two disparate communities, you know? dealing with compton,

california, and dealing with brentwood. in the middle of it is this child. it's like where should she be? when that -- when that issue can't be resolved race starts to come into play. it's a movie that really said some things that i've been thinking about a long time. it says some things i wish i could sigh i think octavia spencer and an theo this the same experience as well. but it comes out through the movie, which is -- makes it more organic than just you know somebody in your face. you're actually watches these people and you see yourself in it. i saw it last night thanks to you. what was the reaction -- i was wondering, because this is sort of told from your perspective as a character, you're going through this hell you love this granddaughter, and you're up against people who may love her, too, but it's about you. >> when i made this movie, i tested it with a white

community, and i said ike going to test it with a everyone an all-black community. i can put my head into the lion's mouth, and everything that happened would. they get it completely. they laughed at the same spots. they clap on the third slap. you know they understand. they get it and mostly because they believe it's fair and it's balanced, and my character is just as flawed, if you will as reggie, and there's a lot of pain there. but the movie is propped up by an organic sense of humor, where you just cannot -- some of the things you kind of cringe at and some of the things you just laugh out loud at. >> i thought somebody said last night at your decision about this, in a lot of black families in america there's a lot of mixed bags one guy with a ph.d. one woman running a company and the brother is a loser. the way this movie works it's pretty powerful stuff. there's no stair use types that

are real. they are characters but they don't represent the whole community. >> it's not a stereotype. both those characters call him on it and the most critical moment, they both call him on it. >> the drug addict. >> yeah, they do. they say it exactly the way it is, the way we want to say it and i think that's the strength of this movie. that was also the worry of the movie, maybe that's why it boiled down to me having to pay for it which is are you sure you want to go that far? what i kept thinking is what do you mean far? doesn't that seem logical, real normal? for me i wasn't afraid of this or the language or where it would take us. we get nowhere when we do the dance. we get somewhere when we sit down. >> the scene where you use the "n" word and a very connectionual way, a particular guy with a problem, not because of his race but who he is but it is a caricature. >> i told you i took this down

and let an entire black audience watch the movie. they talked about that moment and said well he called him that. and 20 people stood up and said no he didn't. he said that's how he's acting. and they owned the movie. and the person who had said that kind of wasn't cowed, but went like yeah. they got it completely. you know people go in with their back up they're not sure what they're going to see. it's a pretty decisive title. does it have to be black or white? or can it be us? in real knit people thinking -- it's really about this little girl, and the idea that these two teams -- no she would be happy or she could be taken care of here and the suspicion that goes back and forth and the battle that takes place is epic and it plays out in a -- in a manner that we see a lot on tv. we see a lot on tv but this courtroom somehow was different, beginning with the judge. >> a black woman judge, very

attractive woman. she has a great sense of humor, she comes off as really smart. i've thought about this the president of the united states grew up in this experience white mother black father who left town went back to african. >> i actually didn't think about that. >> and he's our leader. he knows -- everything in this movie he's lived. >> he knows about it. maybe that's good that i don't think about stuff like that. i didn't think that casting whitney houston was a big deal. it turned out to be big. i told you i thought she was the prettiest girl who could sing. if i'm going to do a movie about this we have to say these things. it's almost to me -- it's almost the exact opposite for me chris. like if we don't say that what are we doing? if we don't say that we have no business putting this out there. i mean the movie's strength is that it's even. it goes back and forth. >> i hope everybody sees it. i loved "dancing with wolves." that's about white people and

indians, this is about white people and black people at some kind of chance of a harmony. >> the movie was a bit of a miracle and something i couldn't fall out of love with. i knew if i'm going to tell stories, if i'm going to make the romantic comedies maybe a baseball movie, make a western, those movies i love making those movies, but sometimes there is a movie like this that comes along, and i think i know this isn't in vogue, i know this isn't how you play it, i don't know what this is going to do to my stock, but i think, crap,ivity to make this. >> well said. i want everything to see this movie. it's coming out at the end of the month in all the theaters near you. thanks for coming on. >> thanks. up next with mitt rommie and jeb bush fighting for the middle the odd man out -- chris christie. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. ad a lot of hondas. we went around the country talking to people who made the switch to ford. i loved the look of the fusion...

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i'm mill lisa ray berger belgium's terror threat level is the second highest as we have been reporting two terror suspects were killed in a shootout with police a third was detained. meanwhile, belgian authorities are looking at possible links between the gunmen who killed four people and a kosher market in france, and a man arrested recently. john kerry is in paris to express solidarity with the u.s.'s longtime ally. and muhammad ali is back in the hospital for follow-up care related to a recent infection. a spokesman says he hopes to be back home this weekend to celebrate hi 73rd birthday. back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." there are long shots and

underdogs and new jersey governor chris christie. what do you make of him? in addition to the personal demons in seeking the nomination, his temper he's also being squeezed from the middle. thanks to the entrance of moderates. that might be the nail on the coffin for christie's donor base on weights. they may like and admire christie, and might even support him in a scenario without romney and bush but they now don't see a path for the new jersey governor. the front page of "new york times" reports that christie is telling anxious donors to quote, relax. there's no great rush to wade into the primary. well, the roundtable tonight. liz mare "new york times" reporter michael schmitt, and "the washington post" political reporter nia malika henderson. who starts here? you start, liz. it seems this is fruit for discussion here. how many slots are there in the

republican center to continue on three, two or one? >> a lot and there are a lot of slots in that sort of moderately conservative center. there's one slot on the libertarian side. i think the issue for christie though really isn't romney. i think the people who want romney to run a third time are the diehard romney fans so i'm not personally really familiar with who they are. >> i think it's lds and equity people. >> those are people who are deeply committed to romney and only romney and so that's where that's going to come from. for christie, i think the real challenge is not though those guys. i think the real concern is bush if he does end up running. you have a situation where there's a lot of donors who came out of the jeb bush world who have been interested in christie, but now they're in the position to pick a horse. >> what is the warmth factor for

bush? why do they want that family to continue? >> i think there are a lot of people who don't necessarily want the family to continue in the dominant position but really wish that jeb bush had run originally jeff lyly run instead of george w. >> if he didn't have the bush name, would he be up there? >> i think he might be though obviously the gap between when he left office and where we are now is a big question mark, right? and a hind ran deposition on who you're talking to. >> i do think a lot of the reason you have those donors looking at bush is there are sort of more moderate business types who recognize that -- and immigration and education are all vitally important. that's ms. that bush does. christie could do it but you know, bush had a very good track report from where they're standing, so if he's the big dog in the race, people will look at

going there. >> michael these numbers aren't that good for the guy. i sort of liked hi style for the beginning. it was for real this tough guy thing? not exactly attractive when you realize it's for real. but the numbers in terms of his performance are about zero. 19 percent of the people in jersey say he's been a positive force? >> he's not fresh anymore. it goes back to when you have a chance to run for president, run for president. in 2012 when he was fresh, a new face and he could really define himself, he didn't run. barack obama doesn't run in 2008 he's probably never president, because he would have had all that time in the senate and all these other things -- >> that's what jack kennedy said. he said if i don't run in '60, he said there will be other guys next time. >> barack obama had no senate record to run on which was good. >> or to run against.

>> the old argument is the goal lops horse rides by you jump on the horse. it would have to be a very big horse for christie to get on but he could have done it. >> and people wanted him to. he met with a bunch of donors who wanted him, about you he decided he wanted to wait. he thought he would be able to ride that massive reelection into this -- >> so he was counting on romney losing? >> maybe he was. >> why wait -- if you think the guy is going to win for eight years -- >> he's under federal investigation right now. you never would have said that you know intoic in 2012. he's looking at that. probably nothing will probably happen but just -- >> wait a minute nothing will happen? what's the story of eight indictments coming? >> we're not doing indictments again, but -- >> what do you mean we're not -- >> we talking about petraeus before. >> what do you mean? >> you mean in terms of the

bridge thing, you don't think anything will happen. >> you think there will be no indictments around him. >> i think it's very difficult for them to make a case here. >> to tie him. >> stay tuned. >> but he has a federal investigation. he's a candidate and that doesn't smell good for anyone. >> and anyone who knows about this bridge scanned and whether or not he 'tie to it almost doesn't matter. >> thank you. >> and is it confirms what people don't like about him, he's a bully, and the whole scandal confirms that. that's his issue. i don't know how he goes to donors and makes the argument that he's a better cant on any of these issues. so whether it's attract -- >> ken langone had a good point. he did at home depot, he created it. he talked about christie raising money, warned him not to run a nasty campaign against his opponents like romney. what i tell christie is don't make this personal. make this about what's best for america, not about romney having an leftor in his house or a

doing on the roof of his car. can christie avoid that kind of personal shot? or is that his nature? >> no no but if you put him in the mix and he really runs hard he's going to hurt these other candidates, and they're going to do the same thing. >> and if huckabee gets in there, it's going to be -- huckabee and romney no love lost there. >> if i was hillary, i would finance the huckabee campaign why finance it because she will own the cultural center on shies like same sex, abortion rights movies, everything. he will give it away. he'll give away the middle. beyonce, that is brilliant. go away the family. the roundtable is staying with us. up next can hillary clinton's team keep her from making the miss takes she made in 2008. this is "hardball," the pla place for politics. not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason? it was geoffrey! it was jason.

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at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like mute buttons equal danger. ...that sound good? not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason? it was geoffrey! it was jason. it could've been brenda. president obama has busy laying out proposals ahead of the tuesday night state of the union coming up. today he's directing federal agencies to give employees up to six weeks of paid leave time after the birth or adoption of a child. that's six weeks. he says he wants that benefit extended to all american workers. today's push came just days after the president called for tuition-free community college for two years. the white house says both are the focus on improves the lives of middle clack in america. we'll be right back.

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and former military members and their families is without equal. start investing with as little as fifty dollars. welcome back to "hardball." as i cold you last niekt, hillary clinton is assembling an a-list crew. our own nbc's first read said today when you add the fact that john podesta is leaving the obama white house to serve as a liaison between the wlinclinton campaign and the white house. it is looking like she will be more connected to him than ever. last night on "hardball." the two guys that helped obama beat hillary clinton reacted to the energy campaign team she is

assembling. >> campaigns have to be about something, they have to be about a story. these guys know how to construct that kind of strategy and he will benefit greatly from having them. >> if the people on the campaign head quarters are playing for the name on the front instead of the name on the back do something bigger than themselves i think that will define success in this campaign. >> back to the round table now. this campaign that hillary is putting together, i'm impressed by podesta. someone that is not an emmy of barack obama. someone that is close to him and close to bill clinton. could it be that the democratic party will not be in disarray in 2016? they will be together in the dualing monarchy of obama, clinton, and bill clinton. >> it looks like so far hillary

clinton is so far out ahead of anyone she is scaring away the rest of the field because she built a battleship that has been waiting in port for awhile. it's hard to see who will get in there and channelllenge her. you have people like jim webb who could be a thorn in her side. talking about the middle class white men, but in terms of a real viable candidate in there to splinter the party, it doesn't look like anyone is on the horizon to channel that -- >> i do this for a living i think every time there is an election, the fight is in the primary on the general. with hillary clinton, i think this time around the battle will be the general election for her? she will win the primaries, maybe not brilliantly, but she has to want to beat a republican

and hold the white house for 16 years which is very very historically hard to do. >> the idea is that she won't run certainly against obama at all. i think she will want to embrace him. if he stays where he is right now. more aggressive -- >> his ratings are up he has the wind at his back right now. and democrats seem to be pretty content with him in a way they haven't been you have to go further back. that is interesting to mee to see what role he would have in supporting her. >> i thought that robert gibbs points out well people fighting for the name on the back of the jersey, her name and not for the team jersey. you hear back biting people that call the candidate latest at night and screws the other people. candidates have to fight that. they like it they like hearing from the last -- they like the

scuttle on each -- they like the back biting they will get it will she say no i want a team here. >> historically she has been bad at doing exactly that. she had a camp that has had conflicts, leaks, and trashing each other and i'm sure her communications people have enjoyed sitting on the phone with you guys having conversations about this kind of thing. i don't know how this will play out. i think right now it looks really smart for them to be on the same page but we will see how that playing out. a senate shot today does not give you an indicator of november 2016. that remains to be seen. i think no matter where he goes and what his approvals look like, she is more tied to them than people have wanted to admit today. at the end of the day, they joined up. >> and romney thinks he has an

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that's "hardball" for now, thank you for being with us "all in" with chris hayes starts now. >> tonight on "all in." you cannot defeat islamic radical islam. the white house defending their choice of words on the paris attack while a new pot is apparently foiled inbeligum. then, a new accusation against bill cosby that may fall within the statute of limitations. >> she was drugged. she doesn't know what happened. she blacked out and woke up finding mr. cosby over her. >> the lawyer for the accuser joined me live tonight. >>