>> congressman adam smith, that's our last word tonight. thanks for joining us.

of robert f. kennedy and sirhan sirhan, the assassin who carried out the attack on the retribution of the six-day war. 25 years later in 1993 terrorists detonated a truck bomb at the world trade center intending to take down both towers. the explosives killed just six people, but the towers remained. then, of course, there was the tragic event of september 11th, 2001, perpetrated by al qaeda. more recently there was the case of a u.s. major, an army major, nidal hasan, who carried out an al qaeda-inspired shooting in ft. hood in 2009 and in 2013 the tsarnaev problems self-radicalized before carrying out the bearman thomg and last year a muslim convert carried out an ax attack. this is a conundrum for most people who want their families to be safe and their countries

safe. is this an organized set of events, or is it a splinter operation where some people get inspired by these calls to islamism and act as terrorists without any call from overseas? >> well, i think that's an open question, but i think we should separate out september 11th from some of these other actions because september 11th was obviously planned overseas. it was a major operation. we haven't seen one of those since that time because -- because through two administrations there's been a big effort and we've gotten much better at interdicting those kinds of episodes and, of course, al qaeda central has been pulverized in pakistan and afghanistan. but there is this problem, chris. the great threat, the great worry, are lone wolves and people who slip out of the country and get back in with now having been trained to perform terrorist acts, and this is -- this is the era in which we

live, and it calls for vigilance. i don't think it calls for panic, and it -- and we shouldn't do that, but we have to be vigilant and keep an eye on people who show a propensity for this kind of action. >> you know, john, when i do one of these incidents and i hear the names of the people, i wait to hear if there's evidence they come from another country and have loyalties to families somewhere in the middle east and that would explain it to me and gives me a little sense of confidence that this thing is rational and then when i hear like one of the other guys yesterday was a convert, american african-american guy that became a convert i said oh, my god this, thing could get out of hand, it becomes an ideology, theology that can pretty much go anywhere. >> here's the real important thing with the whole distinction with sirhan sirhan. they were lone wolfs in the sense that they weren't tracked like eventually the 9/11 and others, but they were doing it not just for their own self-service but also for

motivations and for the pleasure of others and to impress others, and what this signifies to me is we've taken this to a new level and i don't think anybody in this country realizes how serious this is and i think there's two reasons. i think the failure in iraq is now when we say something is very serious we don't always believe it, and frankly i believe it was a mistake when president obama called isis the jv team because that was to give comfort that we don't have to take them as serious as i think we should. >> well, you've just done what i thought you would do, and david has done the same thing. you are giving me a sense of terror as work, that we should be afraid and david is saying keep this thing in proportion. so tell me why you think it's a -- it's a danger to our country in the near future, isis. >> the first thing we have to do is they have had success. they have grown and conducted very sophisticated operations. we see this isn't a bunch of hoodlums gathering together.

this is an organization. second of all, this is in our backyard and fortunately it was derailed yesterday, but it -- >> what is in our backyard? >> well, this was down in texas. i'm saying we believe this was part of this. they are claiming -- isis if nothing else is claiming that this was part of their operation. we don't know for sure, but the point is nothing bad happened fortunately because we -- we spoiled it, but it could have, and i guarantee you if there was one injury that was serious, one death, this would be over the news like it should be, and i just think that all the candidates running for president and this administration has too understand this is not the jv team. >> how do you know that isis was behind the shootings yesterday, the other day? >> i don't know, but -- >> you just said that they were. >> what we do know. >> you said they were. what do you know? >> what we do know it was isis motivated, at least that's what isis is claiming and this will lead others that want to join

and make our -- are motivated to make isis happy because they want to belong to this organization. this makes it very serious on our soil. it would a huge mistake for us not to contemplate that that's a possibility. >> david, is this going to be the debate in 2016 between the conservatives, the republicans who say that every act of terrorism, whether it's lone wolf or wherever is somehow part of an orchestrated attack on this country, that's the responsibility of this president for not having hit isis harder over there in the middle east? >> well, i mean, it may be a debate within the republican primary. i would hope -- you know, we used to see that politics should end at the water's edge. this is another issue on which we should just concentrate on the fact that we have a challenge and that is that in the age of social media a lot of people who for whatever reason are susceptible to these kinds of messages or are motivated to go out and do things. we've seen mass murders in this country in the last ten years by

people who are motivated by other things, but we've got to be vigilant about obviously seeing if there's any ties and stopping anything that's a plan, and the government's been pretty successful at that but also tracking these people. but, listen, i don't think -- the night before president obama took office we were dealing with the potential of four teenagers, somali-american teenagers who had gone overseas. there was a worry that they had come back and were going to perform some sort of terrorist attack on inauguration day. i didn't blame that on the bush administration. that's the nature of the times in which we live, so instead of trying to, as we often do, turn these things to political advantage, we should have rational discussions about the nature of the threat and the things that we can do as a country to deal with it. >> john, is it true that whenever there's a terrorist threat, even a lone wolf in this country, that it's somehow the responsibility and actually caused by the president's failure? >> no, i don't think all the blame can certainly be put at

the president. i think that there has been some successes that have been out there. as i said, i'm deeply troubled that we decided to call this organization the jv team when that turned out not to be true, but i think it would also be unfair to say that everything goes bad is this president's fault. what i do think though is that there should be an elevated concern, and i think there should be a national civil dialogue on taking this seriously and what we're going to do about it. >> let's take a look at these interesting polls because the difference in the two arguments, two sides of the arguments is very much reflective, for bert or worse, in the way the partisan line is drawn in this country. a brand new "wall street journal"/nbc poll that came out yesterday that found that republican primary voters, the rank and file voters, put national security and terrorism as their number one priority for the federal government. deficit spending is second and jobs and the economy is third and energy production is fourth. by comparison, david, the democratic primary voters consider jobs and the economy to be their top issue, jobs and the economy.

they ranked health care second, climate change third and then national security and terrorism is ranked fourth. why do you think, david, that democrats put national security and terrorism at the bottom, way down further on the list than the republicans do? >> well, first of all, i'm always suspicious of polls that give people lists to respond to because it kind of limits the way -- the way they -- they respond to these things, but, you know, i think most americans, not just democrats, fundamentally live with economic challenges every day that are going to define this next election. i think that the national security issue had been subdued over the last -- before the last -- >> not with republicans. >> because of the way president obama hit al qaeda very hard and took bin laden out so it really wasn't a big issue in the last campaign and has re-emerged and may be a big issue within the republican primary. i don't think it's issue that will determine the next election? >> john, do you agree?

i don't agree. i think the republicans will make this a national security election. >> i think they will. i will tell you, i've seen polls for the last four years it wasn't always at the top. it was about fourth and fifth and now it is at the to. by way of example in the last presidential race in the primaries, there were 22 debates and only one on national policy. that will be completely different this time. republican primary voters are concerned, as you said, plus this is a huge differentiation for the candidates running against hillary clinton, quite frankly. >> i think it's going to be a big election with the democrats pushing domestic issues and the improvement of health care in the country and better jobs and better track record, this president on jobs and the republicans will be talking about the very things which brabender did which is fear which is terrorism from the arab world. thank you both. a great illustration of the debate that's coming up. by the way, coming up here tonight, get red for the debates, the real debates. the democrats announced today they will hold six presidential debates-for-their party candidates this fall, and one of the challenges to hillary

clinton will be our next guest, senator bernie sanders of vermont. he's coming here right now. what does senator sanders have to debate with hillary clinton? we'll try to figure out where the debate is going between the challenger and the front-runner. we'll find out next and speaking of hillary clinton, she's not ducking those house republicans who want answers about benghazi and her personal e-mail server. she says she will testify in public for as long as it takes. and here comes huckabee. he won iowa back in 2008. does he have the muscle to do it again against people like scott walker and rick santorum and ted cruz? and finally the question of weapons. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

hillary clinton's campaigning out in las vegas. she took part in a roundtable event at a heavily latino high school where she called for a full and equal path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. here she is. >> so i will fight for comprehensive immigration reform

and a path to citizenship for you and for your families across our country. i will fight to stop partisan attacks on the executive actions that would put d.r.e.a.m.ers, including those with us today at risk of deportation, and if congress continues to refuse to act, as president i would do everything possible under the law to go even further. >> we'll be back right after this. why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use, is 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

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hillary clinton has been part of the political establishment for many, many years. i have known hillary for some 25 years, i respect her and i like her and people weren't so sure i could beat the richest person in vermont to become united states senator so i would say don't underestimate me. >> welcome to "hardball." that was vermont senator bernie sanders challenging hillary clinton in the 2016 democratic primaries. he's spent 16 years in the house of representatives and is in his

second term as united states senator. he wants to be president and is taking on the clinton machine, if you will. senator sanders, thanks you so much. senator sanders, i salute your guts, and my question to you is do you have a romantic sense of memory and nostalgia for when another senator, eugene mccarthy went up to new hampshire and challenged another senator, former senator for the presidential nomination of the democratic party in 1968? do you feel like this could be a big challenge to the front-runner? >> i do, i do, chris. what i was wondering about when i was thinking about running for president is whether in fact we could put together the kind of strong grass roots movement we needed to rally the american people against the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality and the absurd campaign finance system we have today. guess what? five days after i announced, we

have now close to 200,000 people, including many in new hampshire and iowa, who are prepared to stand up and fight back, so i feel pretty good. >> how do you beat big money, because you know it's there, you know. i ran in a democratic primary when i was in my 20s and i didn't have any money. it's very tough. you turn on the tv, we're on tv right now, you watch the tv ads which are paid for by money and how do you say i'm going to get my message across some other way? >> chris, you've asked maybe the major political question of our time. look, as a result of this disastrous supreme court decide on citizens united, the koch brothers and other wealthy families are buying elections. i'm not going to have a superpac. billionaires are not going to support me, but what we have raised are tens of thousands of people, i think we're over 50,000 who have contributed an average, christian, of $43 to

berniesanders.com, our website. we're in the going to outspend our opponents, but can we raise the kinds of money we need to run a strong campaign based on strong small donations? i think we can. >> let me ask you about -- i don't know about your ideology and it may be developing, mine does. is there a connection between this wealth and the hawkishness of the foreign policy, certainly in the republican party, and i wonder if it will creep into the democratic party whereby historically people with big money, lots to protect, if you will, including nelson rockefeller who was a moderate on other issues are very hawkish, very hawkish. i'm not just talking about the koch brothers, adelson and the rest of them, donald trump. they are such hawks and they love talking it. you know, war, war, war, war, war. >> that's right. >> do you think there's a connection? >> i do. look, when we talk about big money in politics, let's not forget what dwight david eisenhower reminded us, remember that?

>> sure. >> about the power of the military industrial complex. that was back in 1960. that power has been magnified many, many times. these guys want more and more for defense, and i fear very much, chris, that your point is right. you've got a lot of republicans, and it scares me to death, who apparently feel good about perpetual warfare in the middle east, who are trying to sabotage what the president is trying to do in terms of preventing iran from getting a nuclear weapon. that scares me very much, and i think it speaks to the power of the military industrial complex. >> now, you have a very strong avenue, it looks like. you never know what the democratic national committee is going to do, but they are going to at least set up half a dozen debates and the party will recognize those debate. do you expect to participate in those against the probable front-runner senator clinton? >> absolutely, of course. >> well, that's a good answer. >> well, i mean, you know -- of course i will participate and i

hope that we'll have as many debates as possible. look, chris, this country faces enormous problems, and anyone who knows my politics knows that i'm issue-oriented. i don't like personal attacks. i focus on issues like why it is that the middle class for 40 years has been disappearing. why 99% of all new income is going to the top 1%, why we're not addressing the planetary crisis of climate change, why we are not doing something about this disastrous citizens united supreme court decision. to my mind there's a lot to be debated and i look forward to having respectful, intelligent debates with hillary clinton and any other candidate who is out there. >> what can be done in america about exponential wealth? i don't mean people, the ceo makes too much money, that's a problem in itself, but when you see people making in the billions. i've never seen these numbers, you've never seen them. billions. $20 billion, $30 billion, buffet money and other people's money,

never heard of money like that in the world. >> you have never heard of this. you've never heard of this because it's never happened before. listen to this. according to "forbes" magazine in the last two years the wealthiest 14 people in this country have seen their wealth increase by $157 billion. that's more wealth than the bottom 130 million people have in their entirety. it is obscene. it is immoral. it's grotesque. how do you deal with it? you know what? you have real tax reforms that says to the billionaires, that says to the largest corporations in america, guess what? you are part of the united states of america. you can't afford your taxes anymore. you have to start paying your fair share. do that by raising the minimum wage and rebuilding the middle class, by a massive jobs program rebuilding our from a florida. >> senator bernie sanders, have you on again and again. good luck in the race. looking forward to the debates especially the ones headed

towards new hampshire. a lot nostalgia for me. up next, president obama says he's found the mission not just for the rest of his presidency but for the rest of his life. it is about race and poverty and bringing opportunity to those who don't have it. this is "hardball," a place for politics.

by almost every measure, life chances of the average young man of color is pores than his peers. those opportunity gaps begin early, often at birth and then compound over time, becoming harder and harder to bridge, making too many young men and women feel like no matter how hard they try they may never achieve their dreams. this will remain a mission for me and for michelle, not just for the rest of my presidency but for the rest of my life.

>> that's a powerful statement. welcome back to "hardball." that was president obama in new york speaking to the frustrations, the racial tensions, the protests and at times the riots that are now a focal point of his second presidential term. president obama has addressed the subject multiple times and in stark personal terms since the baltimore tragedy. for a president that has at times avoided racial politics he seems to have found his voice. and in those remarks in new york the president announced a new venture called my brother's keeper alliance, this is news, big news. the front page of the "new york times" says staked by more than $80 million in commitments from corporations and other donors the new group will take commitments for president obama's initiative and loretta lynch met with local officials, police and freddie gray's family, including his mother and here's what attorney general lynch told the baltimore police force. >> you've picked a noble profession. you've picked a hard profession,

but you have picked one of the best professions out there today because you have picked the one that lets you go out every day and say i'm going to help somebody, and despite how some of people may want to choose to characterize you hold on to that as you go out on patrol every day. we don't always choose moments, you know. sometimes they choose us, and how we live with that and how we go through with that determines what kind of officers we all are. >> army captain, community leader, author and baltimore native. his newest book is called "the work." thank you very much for joining us, wes moore. >> my pleasure. >> sir, what do you think the president is up to here? what's the plan for the rest of his life, apparently? >> this is an incredibly exciting news and development to share because i think the president, you know, knows. the president has seen this from so many different dynamics, first as an african-american growing up in various communities around the country, going through the experience

that he detailed in his own books and becoming a community organizer in chicago and eventually state senator and president of the united states. he's seen this evolution from so many different stand points and his takeaway in order to form a more perfect union we have to make sure that the conversation is more inclusive, not just statistically but anecdotically. we're seeing young men of color, young african-american men, who are not part this conversation so to see him devoting so much time and energy not just to his time in office and even his time out of office is incredibly exciting. >> why do you think it stopped him from having a marshall plan, young african-american men to be president, a year and a half left. why for all these years hasn't he said i look at our cities, we all drive through them, take a neighborhood or two in every city and say this area is in big trouble and it's getting worse. why hasn't he done that before?

>> well, i -- i don't want to -- don't want to separate some of the other policies that he's made and say the impact that it actually has had. >> why hasn't he addressed this problem before? >> if you look at many of the policies, even from obamacare to also other tax policies put into place, there are actually things that have had direct impacts particularly on communities of color. you know, i think the president walks an incredibly fine line, chris. the president is our first african-american president where he wants to be very clear that he is not the black president, but he's the president who happens to be black. i think we understand that, and, you know, we appreciate that challenge that he has, but at the same time to see this level of focus and specific level of focus on this demographic right now is more than we've received from presidents of the past so for that i think we're thankful. >> well, let me try this from another way, partisan. the democratic party has owned the big cities of this country, especially the african-american areas for as long as i remember.

as soon as there's an african-american majority electorally you get a black congressman or woman, from every city, from new york all the way down to philadelphia and baltimore and down to atlanta and florida and then all the way out to the west of the west coast cities and the midwest cities, so they have all been represented, these african-american areas. what good has it done them in terms of jobs, in terms of economic development and training and the new industry jobs that will be available if you are trained? who has been leading that effort in that -- in those communities on behalf of the democratic party? give me a name of somebody who has done that. >> i think that's been part of the frustration,is. >> give me a name. >> that's been part of the frustration, a name of who has been leading the effort? >> is there such an effort as i've just described it to bring economic hope to those communities represented by democratic members of congress? >> the point is i'm agreeing with you. there hasn't been a single name that you can point towards that addresses the single issues and

in the same way i don't think there's a single issue that will be addressed. all these issues are intertwined ant connect. you can not talk about economic advancement without talking education. can't talk about education without talking about health. can you not talk about health without talking about jobs. all these things are interconnected, and i think part of the frustration that we have in so many communities, communities like mine in baltimore, is we have a situation where we're continually asking the same people to be patient, where we can say we can build up, you know, we can build up a waterfront and we can do that in five to ten years but we have certainly communities in baltimore that have looked the same since 1968, and at some point the same people you're asking to be patient are no longer going to be patient anymore, so -- so to answer the question, there is no single name that i can give. there's no single position or policy that we have in place that's doing this, but the thing that i know is this, is that we have a great collection of people who are actually on the ground who understand that -- that certain power, certain empowerment does not come with a

certain political title or does not come with a certain business card, that everybody has to be involved. >> it should. >> the people elected to represent us in our government should be the ones that get things done. anyway, i have a simple question. you're 18 years old, just graduated from high school, a clean record, a "c" average, you're a regular kid. what's the world going to offer you as an opportunity? thanks for coming on. up next, hillary clinton, the former secretary of state, says she's ready to go back to capitol hill to testify and e-mail in open testimony. no hiding from the camera. going right in their face and facing the lions. plus, mike huckabee gets in the republican race. can he duplicate that success when he won all those early primaries back in '08? you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

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she pedalled a fiction about it for months and hanes been transparent about her server and her e-mails. >> well, that salvo from fiorina launches a presidential race with two strong women opponents. joining us is the roundtable, cokie roberts" and author of capital games," the story of women and nbc political reporter perry bacon. cokie, so great to have you on. >> thank you.

>> tell me, do you think carly fiorina has a notion in her head that she can get away with even securelious attacks on secretary clinton because she is a female? do you think there's something going on or not? >> i think that she thinks she can say just because she's a woman is not a reason to vote for her. i say that as a woman and she's got this whole rift she does about hormones and hormones in the oval office and all of that. so -- >> what? >> she says, you know, that women -- people say women shouldn't be president because of their hormones. she says as if men's hormones never got in the way in the oval office, wink, wink, nod, nod. >> wink, wink. >> so she is clearly going to a place that i think men would not go to. >> let me -- what do you think of that success rate there? i mean, i do think she has kind of a strong attack theme here, and it seems personal, perhaps more than some of the others

though the others are pretty darn personal? >> they are all trying to land blows on her but she's doing it in a way where she says, hey, she's not going to be the only woman in this race who would make the first woman president. that's kind of the underlying argument and also -- interestingly she's not attacking her fellow gop candidates. trying to show the field that she can do a service here by taking on clinton and maybe even angling for a different spot on the ticket. >> perry, is this an attempt to show that i can win the general so i should win the primaries? >> no. i think it's an attempt to be vice president, as nedra said. i don't think carly fiorina imagines she will be in the office as president but she's the only female candidate who is -- i think there is potential for her to be the vice president if she runs a strong campaign gurg the primary. she will be the only woman on stage in all the republican debates talking about hillary clinton so she has a great opportunity to raise hire profile and make different

points and be a bigger figure in the republican party than she is right now. >> i think everybody who gets into these races thinks that they are going to be in the oval office. they all suspend disbelief, for at least a period of time see they will seems right behind the desk with the rug of the seal of the presidency on the floor in front of them. >> anything can happen. she is barely registering in the polls, but anything could happen. >> well, no, not anything. not anything. >> i'll bet. never mind. let me ask you, the only guy in the group here tonight, perry, according to a new poll by the describer report, never heard of it, 64% of men are comfortable with having a female president of the united states. i just wonder what kind of question that is. i mean, are they supposed to say i'm not comfortable with that? i mean -- >> exactly. >> this is a setup question, perry. what are you supposed to say, no, i'm a man of yesterday. i don't like women and i don't want them in the white house.

who is going to say that? go ahead. say that. it's like one of the questions do you want a black president, hispanic president, female president? some people in the electorate aren't for that but they won't say that in a poll, but i think we'll get a good sense of how the electorate and for that matter the media views female candidates, carly fiorina on the republican side and hillary clinton. hopefully we'll have less articles about their clothing and appearance than in 2008. that's what i'm hoping for myself. >> you know, in 2008 the "los angeles times" tried to do a poll to get at that question without saying would you vote for a woman president or is the country ready for a woman president because everybody is going to say yes, and they basically asked something like, you know, do you think your neighbor would vote for a woman or an african-american? >> i remember that one. >> and given that way, 75% said yes to an african-american and only two-thirds said yes to a woman so there was a gap in -- even in the poll. >> well, apparently from this

poll, a third of the respondents didn't say they were comfortable with a woman president. i find that pretty horrifying in the headline from that. >> isn't it amazing that 36% said point blank said no way. last question, everybody. you know, my mom -- i didn't find this out -- i grew up in a republican family i've said before and i have to tell you my mom didn't tell anybody she voted for jack kennedy until a couple years before she died. she told my brother jim and just told me. he kept it secret all this year. >> didn't want you to have the satisfaction. >> you don't know. anyway. cokie, let me ask you, my friend. is it possible that there will be a lot of women saying their husband is making a ton of money, have always voted republican. come election day hillary clinton is a credible candidate for president. she may be a bit to the left of some of these republican women. they will sneak out and vote for her? >> sure. in fact, right now in the polls -- >> without telling hubby. >> absolutely. but the reason she's doing well now is because she is getting white women, and that's unusual for a democratic candidate, so you have to figure that that's already going on.

>> nedra? >> yeah, i mean, that's what the clinton campaign is banking on, right, that this is going to be the year of the woman and thrill be able to pull over some of these voters who otherwise might not vote for a democratic candidate. >> but, you know, a lot of republican women vote democratic anyway. >> yeah. >> there's a lot of cancelling out each other's vote. >> my question is how much wasted gas is there going to be on election day when the husband and wife go to vote? a lot of wasted gas there, right? >> exactly. >> when they vote opposite directions. the roundtable is staying with us. up next, mike huckabee gets in the race. will his brand of evangelism, economic pluralism and hatred of the clintons sell? why would an evangelist go with hating the clintons? back with "hardball" in a minute. in just this one moment, your baby is getting even more than clean. the scent, the lather, even the tiny bubbles of a johnson's® bath are helping to enhance the experience. the touch of your hands is stimulating

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you know, in any job any profession image matters. i want some gray...but not too much. only touch of gray uses oxygen to gently blend away some gray but not all for that perfect salt and pepper look. satisfaction guaranteed. just you and the look you want. just for men touch of gray hillary clinton is still looking strong against the top tier republican candidates for 2016. let's check the requested hardball" scoreboard. according to our new nbc/"wall street journal" pal clinton leads senator rand poll by three points, clinton 47 and paul 44 and clinton leads jeb bush by six points, 48-42, isn't that interesting and against senator rubio the lead is also six and clinton leads wisconsin governor scott walker by ten. has some name i.d. to pick up though. we'll be right back.

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i'm running for president because i know there's a difference between making a speech and making government accountable to the people who have to pay for it. i've walked away from my own income to do this, so i'm not asking you for some sacrifice i'm not willing to make. i don't have a global cycstic fibrosis or a taxpayer paycheck to live off of it. i don't come from a family dynasty but a working family. i grew up blue coleary, not blue blood. >> that's mike huckabee today in hope, arkansas, announcing his bid to run for president. when he ran back in 2008, he finished first in iowa thanks to strong support among evangelicals, but this year the

evangelical vote to be split among ted cruz, bobby jindal, rick santorum and rick perry. the new nbc/"wall street journal" pole shows huckabee in the back of the pack with only 5% of the vote. his message makes his hawkishness on national security and strong socially conservative views with economic populism and has delivered harsh attacks on president obama and, of course, the clintons, the fellow arkansans. how is the message in 2016, back with our roundtable. let me go back to cokie on this one. evangelicals, i just don't think this is going to work for him this time. your thoughts? >> you're quite right. he's got a huge amount of competition, including ted cruz who is appealing to the evangelical vote, and, you know, in iowa it is huge, but if they all split it up, then we're on to new hampshire and jeb bush. >> the only person missing in this crowd is marjo right now? remember him? >> i don't. >> a lot of evangelical talking

going on in that republican party. seems like you've got to be right wing on marriage equality. column over there. and i will predict his attention will be probably disproportionate to his poll numbers because he is such a good sound bite. he has a way with words. he's a serious policy person, but he's a person who knows how to get attention and say something that can grab the headlines. >> here he is doing that, backing hydraulic aish decisions on national security, opposes talks, supports military action against isis pep has been critical of president obama's policy on israel. here he was today in arkansas. let's watch him. >> when i hear our current president say he wants christians to get off their high horse so we can make nice with radical jihadists, i wonder if

he can watch a western from the 50s and figure out who the good guys and the bad guys really are. as president, i promise you we will no longer merely try to contain jihadism. we will conquer is. and let there be no doubt, israel will know, as will the whole world, that we are their trusted friends and the ayatollahs of iran will know that hell will freeze over before they get a nuclear weapon. >> troy bacon, i think he had erogenous sounds with that baby. >> he did. he did well in iowa and throughout the south in 2008. and that means he's a danger to someone like scott walker, who really wants to win the iowa caucus. if you're looking at the race in

terms of walker, rubio and bush are probably the leading candidate. if you're walker and rubio and you think maybe you could win iowa, huckabee could play into your vote. he has a very strong base of evangelicals and very little base outside of that and there's no evidence that's going to change in 2016. i would argue he's in an even worse position to win a broader portion of the vote. >> we're going to exterminate the islamists, we're going blah, blah, blah, then they have to run a general election. >> it doesn't -- i mean, that's what happened to them in 2012. mitt romney's problem wasn't what everybody in the debates said about him. it's what he said. and when talking about the self-deportation and all the

rest of it, you know, it's what they themselves say in the lead up to the elections. it's the same problems that hillary clinton could have, the debate is now going to exist and if she's talking to bernie sanders, she could find herself saying things that don't work so well for her in the general vote. >> nidra, does it bounce that way? do you think the democrats will go as far left as republicans are going right? or will have to go right with this group of people crowding the right on the republican side? >> i think these are two completely different dynamics on these two sides. secretary clinton does not have to fight off strong challengers the way that every republican is going to be. >> does she know that and believe that in her soul, that she does have to tack left, she doesn't have to worry about that. she got 81% support yesterday in the party. does she know it, though?

>> it will depend on how it goes, you know? if she takes a hit in iowa, that would make a big difference. in the nbc "wall street journal" poll, her negatives are up, exactly tied with her positives. she's got some things to worry about here and how she responds to it is going to depend on what comes at her next. >> well, let's finish up with huckabee here and i want to ask you all, is huckabee a factor? could he possibly be the republican nominee? >> no. >> no. in fact, when he goes south, even though he did well there the last time around, that's where lindsay graham is coming into the picture and why he's getting into the race. >> i would say no, he's not -- ben carson company win, huckabee has a very narrow window, but he's not -- i don't want to say never with him, but he's at least won elective office before, but he's a much more serious candidate than ben carson is. >> thank you so much, cokie roberts, thank you nedra

pickler. when we return, choosing your weapons. fascinating stuff in politics. you're watching "hardball" the place for politics.

we finish tonight with a question of weapons. some believe national security and terrorism should constitute the top issues facing our country. who is going to protect this country?

the candidates, the republican candidates seem to be on the same page. it's hard to see them nominated a candidate that is not a hawk through and through, someone ready to lead the first against our terrorist anmies. the only dove is rand paul which makes him an interesting long shot. hillary clinton opened her national campaign focusing on domestic policy. that conform toes what democratic voters have on their agenda. for them, national security and terrorism are way down on the list, way down by climate change a concern that fails to even score on the republican to-do list. so what are we going to do, have conversations on so many opinion is to say shows where people talk about their priorities and ignore those of the other sides? ships passing in the night for '16, the other party's concerns aren't even there? here is what we're going to do on hardball, choose stuff from both sides of the window, foreign and domestic issues, because every president of the

united states has to deal with both. and that's "hard ball" for now. tonight on "all in" -- >> we have to finally, once and for all, fix our immigration system. >> hillary clinton drops a policy bomb on the campaign trail. as another republican announces his candidacy by possibly breaking campaign finance law. >> if you want to give a million, please, do it. >> then separating facts from propaganda as isis claims credit for the texas attack. plus, as the new attorney general heads to maryland, joy reid reports on the two baltimores, the inner harbor versus the inner-city. and the predicament from mayweather/pacquiao. >> now sess tesla's latest announcement could change the