>> thanks rev. >> and watch kraystal live from the red carpet on "shift" via msnbc and alex witt has the live coverage at 9:00 eastern. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. have a great weekend. "hardball" starts right now. springing john hinckley. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. in march of 1981 25-year-old john hinckley shot president ronald reagan and three other men. [ gunfire ] >> mr. president! >> oh, my god. >> had it not been for secret

service agent jerry parawho rushed reagan to the hospital the president would have died. hinckley has spent the last 34 years under psychiatric care at st. elizabeth hospital ever since a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity and hinckley appeared to show no regret for his actions. >> john hinckley jr., not guilty by reason of insanity says he feels no remorse for shooting president reagan in. four telephone calls over the weekend to the "washington post," the newspaper reported today that hinckley said he was not sorry he shot the president and a secret service agent and was shocked that the jury accepted the insanity defense. said hinckley of reagan i helped his presidency. after i shot him, his polls went up 20%. >> well the insanity defense was hinckley's obsession was actor jodie foster whose role in the 1976 movie "taxi driver" stirred hinckley to contact her and stalk her before attempting to kill president reagan in order to impress her.

>> my roommade the said that she heard on the news that it was john w. hinckley and i automatically remembered the name. it disturbs me anything to do with be a assassination attempt would disturb me greatly, especially, you know, the presidency, and i'm very shocked and very hurt by that. >> but after a u.s. district court judge ruled that hinckley no longer posed a threat to himself or to others he was allowed to eventually spend 17 days a month outside the hospital with his mother who is currently 89 years old in williamsburg, virginia. now a judge is deciding whether to reintegrate hinckley into society further allowing him to be released from the hospital full time. i'm joined by spencer chute of the "washington post" as well as dell quinton wilbur and psychologist dr. jeff gardere. dr. jeff i want to start with you about this situation. it's about to me accountability. if a judge rules that this man should be basically freed, allowed to basically have enough

time during any given month or day to do what he wants to do whose responsibility? is it his responsibility morally, legally, civilly if he goes back to bothering jodie foster or attempting to hurt other politicians? >> well i think it is the responsibility at this point of the government and, remember chris, the government is not saying well we don't want to give him freedom. what we want to do is along with the freedom, we want to make sure that there are careful restrictions that are in place. we want to make sure that he doesn't have full access to the internet number one, and number two, we want him to be kept at his mother's house and not to be able to seek his own housing, but we do know that the secret service will continue to monitor. st. elizabeth's hospital where he's the patient right now will continue to look at his internet usage. >> wait a minute we should be confident that his 89-year-old mother is going to keep him under some kind of control,

let's start with that. what does putting him with his mother have to do with our safety or the safety of jodie foster or any politician? >> well because st. elizabeth's hospital allegedly is saying we want him to have full freedom where he can seek his own housing, has his own work. he's a photographer right now, attend support groups and not be monitored at his mom's house, and the government is saying no. we don't want him to have this unrestricted access to society. we want him to only be able to stay and monitored at his mother's house. very strange, but this is what the situation actually is. >> let me go to spencer first here. you know we have basic and some techniques besides imprisonment to keep them under control, just saw that with doug hughes the guy row copter guy. are we confident that a person can be tracked with a gps and know that they are not going anywhere near our president,

anywhere near jodie foster but also to make it even farther are we confident we can keep him from googling her, looking her up getting in contact with her other ways? >> there are a tremendous amount of unknowns. right now the hospital has 15 conditions on him or has recommended 15 conditions. the government wants 35 the order that he's under has 29 conditions on him and the answer is, you know the secret service made follow him 120 days 180 days a year. >> 365 days a year. >> 365 days a year who watches him then. >> and he has a gps-enabled phone that allows him to track him. one of the issues that came out in the court is that the secret service has asked for that but they have never activated that -- they have never activated the gps tracking. what the doctors say is that he's posed a low risk for decades. >> wait a minute. >> the first time they let him out he went right to a book store looking up a book about your book. he went looking for your book dell, because he wanted to read about his celebrity again. he's probably a narcissist who

loves read begun himself and the fact that he's a big shot he'll want to be a big shot again. your thoughts? >> he has been diagnosed as a narcissist. he was a narcissist way back in the '80s and the '90s. he's had that problem for a very long time. they have treated him. and gave him some freedom. the 17-day visits great back in 2011, ten-day visits walking around, go to a movie. says i'm going to go to a movie. suppose he goes to a move and he slips behind to the book store and lies and recommends the movie he went to. this drives prosecutors crazy. they can't -- they want to hold on to this guy and not let him -- >> jeff what about his track record when he's had limited freedom, saying he went to the movie saying he went looking for a book about himself and what's to prevent him from grabbing a dvd of "taxi driver" and getting re-hooked again. what will stop him from reactivating his problem? >> there's nothing and that's why there needs to be much tougher restrictions than what the hospital is asking for. let's not forget that this is the same individual who wanted

to look up the address of charles manson and actually became pen pals with ted bundy and your guest is correct when he was diagnosed as narcissistic and several borderline personality disorders such as schizoid disorder and we know that personality disorders are very difficult to treat but the doctors have been saying we've been watching this guy for such a long time there. haven't been any major incidents. he may be taking his -- if he's on his medication he's complaint with his medication and they don't believe that he's a danger to himself or others though he may remain with very schizoid-type tendencies. >> i'm a complete amateur on this, but in an op-ed, this week ronald reagan's daughter pati davis said hinckley should not be released. i hope doctors said when john hinckley isn't a danger in anyone but something in me feels i'm wrong. i'll forever be haunted by a drizzly march afternoon when my

father almost died, when jim brady lay in a pool of blood and two other men were gravely wounded. if john hinckley is haunted by anything, i think it's that he didn't succeed at his mission to assassinate the president. now she's, of course an amateur with personal interest in this. reagan's son, our friend ron reagan echoed that sentiment in 2011 on this program. >> i don't much care if he gets to visit his mother and go to movies and things like that but the idea of leaving a guy who did what he did and who has the psychological profile that he has unsupervised in society strikes me as monumentally unwise. >> spencer, what are you allowed to say? >> i can say that the prosecutors have said no other man in this courtroom has shot a president. no other patient in st. elizabeth is in there for shooting the president and three other people. what his doctors say they are confident he's clinically stable and clinically ready to be

released. he's not posed a threat for decades, they say. he's not shown any interest in weapons or acquiring weapons, and they believe that with appropriate conditions that as the law says he can be released consistent with -- to the least restrictive environment consistent with public safety. it's up to the court to decide what that means. >> let me go to dell with this. what happens when he gets out in the public and wanders around starbucks and realizes he's somewhat of a celebrity and people start sucking up to him like o.j. simpson when he's out and people think he's dazzling and what happens, all his nascism explodes again and back there thinking i'm a big shot because i shot the president. >> and that's a concern. >> i -- doctors should be thinking about that. >> the prosecutor's agents and secret service agents i've spoken, to they are all concerned about this. what happens when he's not being watched like the time in 2011. >> what about the public? >> and he has this narcissistic personality for a really long

time. >> let me get back to my doctor not mine but a good guy. dr. gardere, what happens when he gets exposed to celebrity again, does that reignite the sense of narcissim i'm a big deal because i tried to kill the president? >> it's very hard to tell and i think that's a very legitimate point. remember he's been under the auspices of the hospital the 17 days that he stays with his mother in support groups he has been very much controlled very much watched and monitored. now you put him in a situation where possibly he will get the celebrity status and, therefore, he may not be more at risk to reverting back to these narcissistic tendencies so that is a real danger and why they want to keep him out of the public eye as much as possible. >> well i think everybody watching has their opinion right now. i think most of the people in my office, most of the producers say keep him where he is but everybody is entitled to their level of compassion and their level of justifiable concern. anyway, thank you. it's a free country as i always try to remember to myself.

spencer, like your reticence and del wilbur thank you very much for your book, still in print and still out there and dr. gardere. thank you, sir, for coming on. >> thank you. >> coming up a risky side to drone warfare and we saw it in the president's apology. the white house says it's time to take a hard look at how we use drones and what are the alternatives in the war that we're in. that debate up next and a story about transgender kids. nbc's kate snow of course has profiled it and her stories have become, as we all know this week, national news and a california congressman whose granddaughter is transgender and then hillary clinton goes to hollywood to raise campaign cash at a time when there's no shortage of women in political shows, catch them "veep," "scandal," "madam secretary," and "the good wife," powerful impressive women in washington. and the white house correspondents' dinner is

tomorrow night. this is "hardball," the place for politics. >> and i'm feeling sorry, believe it or not, for the speaker of the house as well. these days the house republicans actually give john boehner a harder time than they give me which means orange really is the new black.

marco rubio is leading the republicans in a second poll this week. the new fox news poll has rubio topping the field with 13%. scott walker is next at 12% followed by rand paul with 10%, jeb bush and mike huckabee round out the top five. rubio, by the way, is also the leader in yesterday's quinnipiac poll and yet, mark this down. no republican candidate has as many as one in six voters. they are all way down in the teens. we'll be right back.

[woodworker] i live in the fine details. that's why i run on quickbooks. i use the payments app to accept credit cards... ...and everything autosyncs. those sales prove my sustainable designs are better for the environment and my bottom line. that's how i own it. one that's sweet.frosted mini-wheats®... 8 layers of wheat... and one that's sweet. for the adult and kid in all of us. (supergrass' "alright") plays throughout ♪ kellogg's frosted mini wheats® feed your inner kidult.

we're going to review what happened and we'll identity lessons that can be learned and

any improvements and changes that can be made and i know those of you who are here share our determination to continue doing everything we can to prevent the loss of innocent lives. >> well that's president obama speaking mid-afternoon today on the east coast to the intelligence community, and once again addressing the death of two hostages in a u.s. drone strike in january of this year. here's more from the president later today. let's watch. >> i was asked by somebody you know, how do you absorb news like that that we received the other day, and -- and i told the truth. it's hard. but the one thing i wanted everybody to know because i know you, i work with you, because i know the quality of this team is that we all bleed when we lose an american life.

we all grieve when any innocent life is taken. we don't take this work lightly. >> well there's at least one news report that the president was livid about what happened in pakistan with that drone strike going amis. according to "washington post," quote, despite obama's equanimity in public his reaction behind closed doors was considerably harsher. obama's advisers for years have told him this will never happen and now it did said a former u.s. senior counterterrorism official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. it's going to be a big deal. this has re-lit the debate over the use of drones. are think justified and what's the alternative? i'm joined by filmmaker and director of "unmanned" a member of the brookings institute. thank you for joining us. robert, what happened the other day or in january, just learning how two people being held captive, one an american by the terrorists and also two other

americans who had joined them were killed what do you make of the use of drones? >> well i think that the use of drones are making us less safe actually. they are serving as an incredible tool for recruitment by terrorists. it replaced guantanamo as the key recruitment tool. on a moral level the number of innocent civilians, i was in pakistan. i talked to parents whose children had been killed by drones, by a family whose grandmother had been killed. morally, strategically it's ong. safe and by all accounts less than 2% of those killed are so-called high-value targets. there's no way that's going to provide security for this country. >> you mean they are not top leaders. they must have some value. lieutenant level, what level would you put them at? >> you know, part of this will get into the definition but the various studies have been done by reprieve and the bureau of investigative journalism came up

with the 2% number as high value. high value means that they theoretically pose an imminent and immediate threat to the united states. that's a very small number and thousands have been killed in those 2%. >> okay. let me go to michael. your sense -- let me ask you. why dogsz the united states government rely so much i think i know but tell me as an expert. why do we rely on drones to fight the terrorist threat? >> it depends which country you're talking about. in pakistan we don't feel we can fly airplanes overhead or do anything on ground because we don't have per miss from the pakistani government and drones are seen as this way that the pakistanis complain about and essentially tolerate because it's a different form of warfare, it's unmanned and in that case it's the only thing politically feasible. in a place like yemen, you really do have other options. could use manned aircraft, for example. for the small number of strikes that we've carried out there, but, of course manned aircraft typically carry larger bombs and

the drones actually allow you to do surveillance and minimize the number of mistakes that we tragically saw here in january. having said all that, i do agree with bob that the hard question and the key question is which high-value targets are really worth it and where do you draw the threshold? he and i may disagree of the utility and means of warfare but that's the key question and we will have to examine it. >> the political criticisms to yesterday's news account and his press conference have been muted if downright non-existence. senator marco rubio said we're all safer because of the actions taken every day around the world by our government to go after those who wish americans harm and to prevent future attacks against us here at home. senator lindsey graham told reporters collateral damage is part of war. i've got no problem at all with anything that happened other than my deepest sympathies for those who were held by al qaeda that became collateral damage. rand paul who led a nearly 13-hour filibuster two years ago to protest aspects of the country's drone policy didn't

object to what took place in pakistan. he said the people in the al qaeda compound were obviously bad guys. quote, i don't think there's a question of whether or not you're involving yourself in the war in you're holding hostages. the things i pointed out in the past have been more with regard to people not involved with the war zone or with combat. they were in the mountains on a military base holding hostages so there's not a lot of question about whether or not they were engaged in combat against america. let me go back to robert. your problem with it you said was moral. well what is moral in war? i'm trying to figure out how you isolate that. >> no my problem is moral and security. it's both. that's why i think it's a devastating mistake, this policy, because you put the two together and you can't justify either one. we are bombing. we are droning in areas that -- where we're not at war with pakistan, where we again, 74% of the population in pakistan thinks the united states presents the greatest danger to them. >> that doesn't mean they are right. >> i didn't say they are right,

but if you're talking about trying to create a policy where we're making -- >> you are doing -- you're saying they don't like us because of our drone policy. let me ask you this. do they like us going in there and grabbing at risk of the lives of our service people bin laden? did they like that? i don't think they liked that either. >> no, but we're talking about drone policy which has killed numerous innocent people. >> you're saying the reason the pakistanis don't like us is the drone policy and i would argue they have a problem with us. politically they are islamic and very angry country with very poor leadership and they have a lot of reasons to dislike us and i'm just asking the question. do they dislike us anymore because we grabbed bin laden and killed him in the country or because we use drones or the same thing that they don't like us aggressively going offer islamists? >> the drone policy, a tribal country. >> i know. >> we're killing a significant number of people and there is no more devastating impact than when you go there and talk to the people. it's not only everyone who has a relative who has been killed or

injured. remember, the drones fly overhead ours and hours, day after day, entire communities are devastated. people don't go to work. children don't go to school because of fear and terror of the drones. that is not a policy that will make us safer. the times square bomber remember was coming here because of drones. >> how do we get to the people who are trying to get at us living in pakistan and operating out of there. how do we get to them? >> in a variety of ways. one and most critically is on-the-ground intelligence. >> how do we capture them? >> well we've captured a couple, and -- >> how? we're not allowed in there? >> we captured them in the same way that we have in other countries, in other places in the world, by working with the military and working with the politician. >> but they won't let us in. >> yes, we will. >> we haven't tried that. >> let me ask michael. will the pakistani government cooperate with us when we're seeking terrorists pick them up arrest them and bring them to the states?

>> they have not been. there is a little bit bert and more hopeful afghan/pakistani cooperation on border security but for the first time in the last 12 13 years and it's not an invitation for us to do anything on the ground or with manned aircraft in the air, so the pakistanis have prevented us from having any other choice and meanwhile for 12 13 years they tolerated groups like the haqqani network as well as the taliban leadership operating off of their soil. afghanistan is still struggling but could have been totally demolished if we had no capacity whatsoever to go after these leadership targets so i disagree with bob greenwald, i'm afraid. i think in the end we haven't had much choice but you still have to think where do you draw the line and should we use these a little bit less? already scaled it way back. maybe we need to think about scaling it back a wee bit more. >> robert your last thought on this? >> this was a signature strike. a signature strike is not based on names. it's not based on people on a kill list. it's not based on any signature

significant information. based on a pattern of behavior no judge, no jury no trial, no lawyer. people are being killed at decisions that mid-level bureaucrats in the cia, not even the army, are making. >> and you believe we should have a judge look at whether we attack somebody in pakistan that we believe to be a terrorist, a judge should get into this? >> i believe there are a variety of ways that we're a country of laws. we should follow those laws. we should not be following the military industrial complex and just saying we can invade occupy or drone our way to security. it's not working. it hasn't worked and it will never work. >> okay. thank you so much robert greenwald and michael han lan, thank you, sir. >> thank you, chris. up next the politics and emotion over transgender children. u.s. congressman mike conduit joins us. he has an interest in this a family interest. this is "hardball," a place for politics. ...or just tell us what you need done... ...and angie's list will find a

top-rated provider to do the job. the angie's list app is the simple, new way to get work done on your schedule. the app makes it easy, the power of angie's list makes it work. call, click or download the app for free today. these days you may be hearing more about data breaches in the news. it's possible your personal information may be at risk. research shows that if your information is compromised due to a data breach you are 6 times more likely to become a victim of identity theft. now is the time to get protection. sign up today and lifelock will begin monitoring your personal information, including your social security number alert you about suspicious activity and if needed, take steps to help restore your losses. you only have one identity. protect it with the best. lifelock. ♪ where do you get this kind of confidence? at your ford dealer... that's where! our expert trained technicians... state of the art technology and warranty parts keep your vehicle running right. it's no wonder we sold more than 3.5

million tires last year and durning the big tire event get a $120 mail in rebate on 4 select tires. ♪

bring us your baffling. bring us your audacious. we want your sticky notes, sketchbooks, and scribbles. let's pin 'em to the wall. kick 'em around. kick 'em around, see what happens. because we're in the how-do-i-get-this-startup- off-the-ground business. the taking-your-business- global-business. we're in the problem-solving business. 400,000 people - ready to help you solve problems while they're still called opportunities. from figuring it out to getting it done we're here to help.

we noticed the moment everything clicked. when she was 6, it was halloween, and our friend had given her a wig to wear with her halloween costume, and she put it on and saw her reflection in the sliding glass and then in the tv and everywhere she turned she saw herself and she sat up straighter, and she started kind of posing and realizing, hmm, this matches. you know she's never had the long hair before and that's sort of when i feel like she -- she switched over. >> welcome back to "hardball." michelle honda phillips whose daughter melissa is a transgender child. melissa is the granddaughter of u.s. congressman mike condin. nbc's kate snow profiled her as part of the series on transgendered kids the series is garnering worldwide interest with over 10 million people online. there's a wave of acceptance around the country in the united states when it comes to transgender equality there's a

variety of initiatives that lbgt advocates say undermine individuals' rights. joining me from mountainview california u.s. congressman and congressman mike honda and also president of the gay and lesbian initiative fund. >> thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> times have change but maybe times don't change but our perception about things change. do you think this phenomenon of a transgendered child is something we just overlooked over the centuries before or we found some category to explain it? tom boy was a familiar phrase or what. how do you put your experience with your granddaughter in the path and road to history? >> i think it's a good question and i think we're at a point in time where we're really looking into each individual's background and their makeup and i think that this is a very healthy time in our society and in the time of our history, too,

and i think that it's led me to think about my -- my vocabulary and how i look at describing this kind of situation because now my vocabulary has change. my pronounce have changed, and even the way i describe melissa's birth, you know. i don't say she was born a boy. she was assigned a gender of a boy by the doctor and so it's to really set it back off the child and respect the child and that person's being. >> tell us what we know. >> 5% 6% of the people who are gay. who percentage are we talking about in terms of human experience? do we know a number? >> i don't think we know a number. >> we don't know? >> i don't think that there's a number, but i know that what congressman honda is doing by

just simply loving his family loving the child is critical and key and that's just everything right now. it's how you treat people how you allow these kids to just develop and be who they are. the other thing that we know is no one should be legislating identity and no one should allow -- >> what does that sunshine. >> what you teed up is many places around the country transgendered people get discriminated. >> we don't have a non-discrimination poll. >> i don't have that for even gay people. >> in schools we have anti-bullying policy or something with sexual orientation that does not include gender identity. there's more states in this country who are protected by sexual identity and not transgender people. >> i want to get the congressman in here. you said you learned new vocabulary. tell me an example of how you learned new vocabulary here. >> well you know in your discussion about trying to identify gender you know i think historically you've been looking at gender as if it were a binary system where you have

a -- a boy and a girl and now that we're beginning to understand that there's such a variety among each one of us if you spread the two, you have a spectrum of gender so each person is going to have to be analyzed, and recognized as that person so i think that this is driving us to become a little bit more profound a little bit more perfect, and i think that -- so that the -- the ability for us to start to label people becomes less and such to identify ourselves as who we are both biologically genetically to honor that and i think that's what happened with my granddaughter. 18 months she says i'm a girl. at 3 years she says >> in the old crude argument -- i don't think it was crude, nature or nurture, in your experience it's nature that she felt her identity was female from the beginning? >> she declared herself, and i

think a lot of youngsters do that and to the extent that they have a family that's around them that allows them to become who they are they become healthier. the moment there's a resistance from a child's insistence of who they are, the persistency lessens because the proverbial door of the closet starts to close in on them and we start to draw back. what we want to do is really have this teaching moment for all the folks out there, the adults, the parents, grandparents and the youngsters themselves. >> yeah. >> allow them to become who they are. my granddaughter said it best you know. we're all different, and, you know, she knows when she looked in the mirror she said i'm a girl. >> well, we're all god's children. >> yeah. >> u.s. congressman mike honda, always liked you. like you more now. >> complicated subject for all of us and we're all learning. >> hillary goes hollywood and has scheduled a fund-raising trip to los angeles. that's no surprise and it comes at the same time that hollywood

is producing many washington tv dramas featuring powerful and sometimes even ruthless women politicians. fascinating stuff going on you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. a conscience? why innovate for a future without accidents? why do any of it? why do all of it? because if it matters to you it's everything to us. the xc60 crossover. from volvo. lease the well equiped volvo xc60 today. visit your local volvo showroom for details. when a moment spontaneously turns romantic why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? with cialis for daily use, you don't have to plan around either. it's the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart

is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or any symptoms of an allergic reaction stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. why pause the moment? ask your doctor about cialis for daily use. for a free 30-tablet trial go to cialis.com

here's what's happening. attorney general eric holder said good-bye to his colleagues at the justice department earlier. he's being replaced by loretta lynch who was confirmed by the senate on thursday. the uss "theodore roosevelt" is back in the persian gulf. the carrier was tracking an iranian convoy that was loaded with weapons and bound for yemen, but the ship changed course. italian authorities arrested nine suspects who allegedly planned an attack at the vatican in 2010. the platt was never carried out. nine more people are still being sought by police. and in chile residents are being warned about a third possible eruption from the

calbuco volcano that could be more violent than the first two this week. pack to "hardball." >> gar? >> yeah yeah yeah yeah. >> do you have my hair cream? >> oh, yeah i got the new form mah la. >> no just give me the whole tube because you can't come into the next meeting either. >> and i'm totally fine with that. >> hey, gar. >> yeah. >> what do you think about the coffee that the navy stewards use? >> i can only imagine. >> it's heaven. why don't we ever use that coffee? >> i don't know, but you love our old coffee. >> neh. >> that was president selena myer recently ascended to the presidency on hbo's hit series "veep" paid by julia louis-dreyfus, of course. it's about awesome and ruthless women, "house of cards," "madam secretary" and teao leoni place

secretary of state on "madam secretary." take a look. >> madam secretary it's an unexpected pleasure. >> general, it's time we had a talk. >> by all means. we have so much to discuss. where are your beautiful legs? >> they are under the table where they are going to stay. >> do these strong characters make voters more prepared to elect the first president of the united states? if the limgs writes if clinton loses this election it will not be television's fault. many things have changed since she lost the democratic party nomination to barack obama in 2008 but few more so than television's relationship with women. ted johnson, senior editor of "variety" and actor tim daly co-star of "madam secretary" and teaches at georgetown and connie nelson stars in the hit show "the following." let's get together. what's first the chicken or the egg, hollywood putting women in these incredibly strong positions or hollywood responding to the fact that this culture of us are saying the men

have blown it. it's women's turn. something is going on because all these shows are the same. >> sure, sure, yeah. >> i actually think hollywood is leading the way a little bit. you look at a show like "veep." selena meyer this season and now she's the president of the united states, and they barely even make a big deal out of the fact that she's the first woman president on the show. >> when did we have black presidents in movies? i'm sure morgan freeman must have been one before obama. >> yeah, yeah. that was '98, morgan freeman in "deep impact," you know well before that thought was even in the heads of you know political consultants, that it could actually happen. >> you've got to be comfortable as sort of the dennis thatcher of the world have to be sort of the male support system for a woman in an incredibly powerful position so you're like leading the way for the men in this scene. >> i actually think that we've actually had three women secretary of states, i played the vice president to geena davis on "commander in chief" where she was the president. that's quite a while ago, so i

think that -- >> that's right, you were -- >> we're just not paying attention if we don't think that tv has portrayed women in power. several women presidents on tv. i think the more interesting thing from my show is portraying a man who is comfortable with a woman in power. >> yeah. >> and who is not intimidated by it or threatened by it. >> the love scenes are great on your show because she comes home to a house and she wants to be home. it's great stuff the way you did it together. >> yeah, and also i think she comes home to a house that's not a disaster because she's married to a competent man as opposed to a buffoon which is how a lot of men are portrayed on television. >> you're teaching philosophy at georgetown university. there you are, connie nelson who i got interested in in watching "gladiators." you were the queen in that movie? >> kind of like a little bit, a sister to the king. >> you were -- you had a deal

with a situation of power where the power was coming at you, frightening piece. what do you make of all of this? >> i have to say as someone from, you know the rest of the world where, you know it is normally occurring fact by now that women are ready to take the leadership of their countries and the voters have no problem electing them to the highest office of their countries. it just seems weird that we need tv to tell us first? >> india beat us out a while back and germany. >> the german example now is incredibly power. >> we can go back like 50 years practically, and so it's been around. >> but there's some countries that haven't been ahead of us. i don't think the italians have had a woman prime minister yet. the french have done it and the spanish certainly. >> america, the greatest democracy in the world. >> the russians haven't gotten around to it. chinese haven't done it. >> the greatest democracy of the world should be leading the way instead of waiting behind the rest. >> what's first, the chicken or the egg?

hollywood's awareness that women are ready in our culture and men are ready to accept it? let's remember, i love the fight. you're going to be great on the show. i love the fight because men voted to give women the vote. >> yeah. >> so -- i mean it's not like the guys are the bad guys of history, you know. maybe they pushed for it. maybe they pushed it. you've got to vote this way and this is a secret ballot. let's all vote. >> that's true. >> i think a lot has to do with you see more women become creators of tv shows. that's changed. >> does that happen with these shows we're talking about? >> on some of them yeah. >> "the good wife," one of the best shows. >> the king family, and -- and the king couple i should say. >> yeah. >> i also wanted to point out something about "veep" because there you have the creator of the show who is from great britain where they, you know, margaret thatcher, obviously. >> yeah. >> and i talk to him -- >> also a country where men go to dinner together and they ignore the women. the women go in the other room

and smoke cigars till. >> the other point. he thinks it's fascinating whenever there's a woman politician and he saltrizes it on "veep," whenever there's a woman politician there's so much focus on what she's wearing and inevitably -- >> they also satirize the most idiotic role tim, of a vice president. what is the vice president's job exactly except to wait for the president to keel over? mean, it's a ridiculous job and she plays it ridiculously. >> when i was on "commander in chief" i killed that show really efficiently in two episodes. that my job. the minute i showed up it was over. you know, i mean you know -- >> what's in your head when you play that part for the husband of the secretary of state? you're home. she's coming home from being secretary of state, sort of dealing with the world, and you're at home dealing with the test papers from last night, you know. you've got a different role in life. >> well, except that you have to remember that a guy who is an expert in the history of religion is by you know, association an expert on the

history of conflict because we'd be kidding ourselves if we didn't think that a core of a lot of our conflicts, even today, religion plays a significant role, so i think that he has an understanding, a significant understanding of what some of the things she's dealing with every day. >> yeah. what do you think of all of this? >> well, i think it's time that we also get an amendment that says we can't discriminate against women, and we've been working to get that i think for the last 30 years. >> how many hillary votes to you have here? >> maybe we should get a president that's a woman and finally get that amendment. >> hands up how many are going to vote for hillary? >> i don't even know who is running yet. >> let's get a nominee first. >> very smart as an editor to not put the hand up. one thing that republicans insist on is no more hands in the air. how many people believe in evolution? how many believe in science in the roundtable is staying with us, and up next a big weekend, this weekend, the white house correspondents' dinner. anyway, i met kathleen at one of

these in 1978 so they do have a value. this is "hardball," the place for politics. >> finally i have an announcement for those of you watching tonight's event live on c-span, for god sake. it's saturday night. ♪ where do you get this kind of confidence? at your ford dealer... that's where! our expert trained technicians... state of the art technology and warranty parts keep your vehicle running right. it's no wonder we sold more than 3.5 million tires last year and durning the big tire event get a $120 mail in rebate on 4 select tires. ♪ you want to make a change in your career and you need an advanced degree. but making life changes is hard, because you have a life. now capella university offers

a revolutionary new way to earn a degree. it's called flexpath and it's the most direct path, leveraging what you've learned on the job and focusing on what you need to know. so you can get a degree at your pace and graduate at the speed of you. flexpath from capella university. discover the path to your potential. at capella.edu. fact. advil is not only strong it's gentle on your body too. no wonder doctors and patients have trusted advil... for their tough pains for over 30 years. relief doesn't get any better than this. advil. we've got some new polling on the 2016 general election for president. we've got the matchups. let's look at the "hardball" scoreboard. according to a fox news polhill

hill leads rand paul by three points nationally 46% to 43. marco rubio at the front of the republican field and also trails clinton by four points 45-41. jeb bush trails by four 45-31. all seemingly within the margin of error and hillary clinton leads ted cruz by five and beats out scott walker by six, 46-40. all pretty darn close, and we'll be right back.

kid: hey dad, who was that man? dad: he's our broker. he helps looks after all our money. kid: do you pay him? dad: of course. kid: how much? dad: i don't know exactly. kid: what if you're not happy? does he have to pay you back? dad: nope. kid: why not? dad: it doesn't work that way. kid: why not? vo: are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed? wealth management at charles schwab you want me to pick just one? yeah, right. i say if it looks tasty, order it. because at red lobster's create your own seafood trio i can have it all. choose 3 of 9 dishes

for just $15.99. like the creamy baked lobster alfredo. and the sizzling brown butter shrimp scampi. and fresh soy-ginger salmon topped with sweet pineapple salsa. i could go on. but there are three things on one plate waiting for me and i'd rather just go wouldn't you? but hurry it can't last forever. kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats®... 8 layers of wheat... and one that's sweet. for the adult and kid in all of us. (supergrass' "alright") plays throughout ♪ kellogg's frosted mini wheats® feed your inner kidult. finally i have an announcement for those watching tonight live on c-span. for god sake its saturday night. >> mr. president do you remember when the president rallied around you in hopes of a better

tomorrow? that was hilarious. >> there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. but guys like us we don't pay attention to the polls. we know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in reality. and reality has a well known liberal bias. >> these days the house republicans actually give john boehner a harder time then they give me. which means orange really is the new black. >> we're back. the great tradition of the white house correspondents dinner continues this week. it is when the president, the national press corps, politicians and celebrities garts in atmosphere of politics and atmosphere with the comedian as the focus. at the head line committee this year is saturday night live's

sesly strong. and she prepped for the big night. >> i don't like the nerd prom because that makes me the queen of nerd prom and i'm very very cool and hip. i guess -- and comedy to. everybody calls themselves a nerd. so i think it is nerds have taken that word back. yeah. >> you can watch our full interview on our website. back with the roundtable now. ted, tim and connie all will be on the red carpet tonight. connie why are you here? what is about it a hollywood. i've met some people over the years. people are all showing for this thing. and you are here. >> creative coalition asked me to come and participate in their yearly advocation for arts day. and we did that today. we advocated for arts programs all over capitol.

and it was an incredible day. and it was just also one of the most interesting days in my life. thank you so much tim for letting me come and be part of this. >> you're so welcome. yeah for us work today was a big workday workday. and tomorrow is -- i've said this before. but to me going to that big party is sort of like same zoo, different animals. we get to gawk at people who we're sort of impressed to see, who we've seen on tv a lot but not people we know from our own business. so it is a lot of fun. it is interesting and it's changed a lot. i think this will be my ninth white house correspondents dinner. and it seemed to sort of have this peak where people were really coming just to get the photo op. but i've always been here sort of as an adjunct to working to support the art with the creative coalition. >> so that's why as the good cause. the. >> it is. >> thank you. great to meet you. and when we return let me finish

with the spade of tv dramas about hot shot women's politicians. watching "hardball," the place for politics. there's some facts about seaworld we'd like you to know. we don't collect killer whales from the wild. and haven't for 35 years. with the hightest standard of animal care in the world, our whales are healthy. they're thriving. i wouldn't work here if they weren't. and government research shows they live just as long as whales in the wild. caring for these whales, we have a great responsibility to get that right. and we take it very seriously. because we love them. and we know you love them too. ♪ nexium 24hr. it's the purple pill. the #1 prescribed acid blocking brand. available without a prescription for frequent heartburn. get complete protection. nexium level protectiontm.

good. very good. you see something moving off the shelves and your first thought is to investigate the company. you are type e*. yes, investment opportunities can be anywhere... or not. but you know the difference. e*trade's bar code scanner. shorten the distance between intuition and action. e*trade opportunity is everywhere. people ship all kinds of things. but what if that thing is a few hundred thousand doses of flu vaccine. that need to be kept at 41 degrees. while being shipped to a country where it's 90 degrees. in the shade. sound hard? yeah. does that mean people in laos shouldn't get their vaccine? we didn't think so. from figuring it out to getting it done, we're here to help.

introducing the new can-am spyder f3. with a cruising riding position and the most advanced vehicle stability system in the industry... ...you'll ride with a feeling of complete freedom and confidence. visit your can-am dealer and test drive the spyder f3 today.

let me finish tonight with the spade of tv dramas about hot shot women politicians. look, i speak as the fervent fan of the julia that margulies in the good life. and house of cards. not only that i speak as a regular watcher of the madam secretary with tia leone.

and the hbo's "veep" starring the julia louise derives.reyfusdreyfus. a or b a culture that's comparable or client for a female to fight for her power in the country. the 1930 movies in hollywood were compelly and lycompellingly and commonly pro british. was it pumped uprooting for the underdog in good old america. was hollywood creating the national sentiment or coming to one. and is high school bodyand hollywood

pushing the sentiment now? it could be what hollywood wants to happen could be pretty close to what the people want already. that's "hardball." "all in" with cris hayes starts rights now. >> good evening from washington d.c. i'm chris hayes. lots to get to including the farewell to acre holderik holder and the challenges facing his successor. and the deal to create the biggest company in america. and attending a reception hosting by two gay hoteliers to antiguay marriage bill antigay marriage bills. trying to have it all. eric holder coming to a close today.