good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. p.t. barnum creator of the greatest show on earth says if you want a crowd start a fight. well today chris christie and the donald trump of new york. what do you think these two pugs will do when they get out there? they'll go toe to toe with trump shouts insults in every direction, christie throwing them back with attitude. can you see either of them ducking a punch from the other pretending it didn't happen? give me a break. they'll go at each other big time. this is the cute part guaranteeing each a piece of the front page. they won't stand a chance making hay when these two guys are out there throwing their sunday punches. tonight we look at the matchup of the biggest fight card in august, the republican debate with the main event matching the big little guy from jersey and the mouth from manhattan.

donald trump versus chris christie with everyone else standing there watching. michael steele was rnc chair back when it was a normal organization. and stephanie cutter was campaign management for president obama and heather with "the wall street journal." the only reason christie can get this this thing is to be christie. i don't think he gets in there as a wilting frail flower a wallflower and acts well mannered and doesn't cut up anybody. do you agree with that that he has to get out there and slug it out? >> yeah we definitely saw that today here at livington heights school where he formally announced and entered the race. the speech he gave some policy details but mostly all about his personality. the straight talker i'm going to tell it like it is governor was on display here. he's down in the polls. he's not where he was in 2012

really the shear force of his personality they're banging on at this point. >> in livingston new jersey christie jumped into the race with, yes, a promise to make us cringe. that was his word. >> people say aren't you shy in a crowd. i said you should see the family i married into. you're going to get whether you like it or not or whether it makes you cringe every once in a while or not. when i stand up on a stage like this in front of all of you, there's one thing you'll know for sure. i mean what i say and i say what i mean and that's what america needs right now. i am now ready to fight for the people of the united states of america. we need to have strength and decision-making and authority back in the oval office and that's why today i am proud to announce my candidacy for the republican nomination for

president of the united states of america. >> i am not making this up michael and stephanie. this guy wants to fight. he'll make his name by fighting. who is out there waiting for him in the center ring in donald trump who has been his latest peeing matches with nbc. they both seem to want to fight. >> they'll bring that energy to the table, and i think to the point that was made earlier, christie's not where he was in 2012. i think that's where they're starting. they're going back to that moment in time and picking up from that. >> the old personality. >> the old personality, that energy that got him the look from republicans and the national media. that's what you saw on that stage today. >> gail -- i was going to call you gail. remember he said none of your business. you can't do that against a wall. you have to do it against another person. >> right. >> that show of macho that we just saw there was about taking on somebody. and trump does that every second of his life. i just think these two guys will

take the air out of the room. jeb bush is muttering and, gee, i think i believe in this and these guys will overpower him. >> it will separate the boys from the men and the women. >> she might do okay. >> both of them have -- the only thing they really have going for them in this race is their personalities. and their bluntness. they both have significant problems otherwise. it will be entertaining to watch, but those problems will start to come out. >> heather, it seems to me one of the problems is not just bridge-gate but budget-gate. once bridget kelly starts talking on the stand, isn't this guy going to have to be part of the audience watching it? she's going to dominate the coverage. because she has to beat him back for her to clean her record up. she has to blame it on him. >> yeah i mean the governor has said he's over bridge-gate, it's behind him, but clearly that's not true. we still have federal prosecutors have indicted two of

christie's former aides. there's a trial that could happen this year could happen next year when the campaign's really in the home stretch. so this is very much a question that still remains for christie. i don't think it's as done as he said it is. it's worth noting right after this announcement in new jersey he hightailed it right to new hampshire hampshire. he's spending five days there. new hampshire a place where they like mavericks people that tell it like it is. but that lane has become crowded. there are other candidates who are really banking on new hampshire. they could duke it out there and the oxygen will quickly be taken up there as well. >> christie and trump playing the big new media market in new york. christie told matt lauer that he isn't afraid of combat and he will soak up the media spotlight in this crowded field. here he is bragging already. >> i think what sets me apart is

the state where i come from. i mean this is hand-to-hand combat every day. and it's a democratic legislature who is fighting me all the time. we have to learn how to bring in and to craft compromise. and in red states they don't have a lot of experience doing that. >> very clouded. is that an advantage or disadvantage? >> hard to tell. the biggest problem with so many people is getting attention. i've never had any problem getting attention. i think i'll do okay. >> so they go to a noisy restaurant. a full interview of matt's interview with the governor will be on the "today" show tomorrow morn morn morning. you want to cover christie and trump or jeb? where's the most fun? >> obviously trump versus christie. that doesn't mean it will be all positive coverage. it will be very entertaining. a month from now, they both know how to make headlines. unfortunately usually by telling somebody to sit down and shut

up. >> you know the party, your party. these two guys could sell well in new hampshire. >> absolutely. >> it's gritty granite state. they like this sort of knock this off my shoulder guy. >> they do. >> in iowa they're anti-war anti-noisy, they're probably anti-war certainly and they're anti-bad manners, my guess. >> they're very anti-bad manners. for someone like christie and trump, which is why they're not going to play there as the other candidates will, meaning iowa they have that problem because they cannot necessarily translate that for that audience in a way that's credible. so they start in new hampshire. they lay the ground. but then it gets interesting. because then it's the south after that. christie has to figure out a way to navigate going on. >> ultimate yankees. the republican debates would be spectacles of nasty attacks with donald trump and christie doing their worst. let's watch a preview. >> after you graduate from law school, you conduct yourself

like that in a courtroom your rear end will get thrown in jail idiot. damn, man, i'm governor. could you just shut up for a second? >> you don't take criticism all that well. >> i lash back. why wouldn't i lash back? >> you should shut up. >> sit down and shut up. >> do you have to hide that side of your personality outside of new jersey? >> there's no hope of that. >> when mexico sends us people, they're t nonot sending their best. they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists. >> they think this is jeb bush's race to lose. >> if the elites in washington who make backroom deals decide who is president is going to be then he's definitely the front-runner. >> i can't believe bush is in first place. i'm not thrilled. how can this guy be in first place? this guy can't negotiate his way out of a paper bag. >> this is a clown show. i don't make this. you up.

jeb bush's wife is mexican and he's treating them all like trash. he's just saying this stuff. >> it's insulting, honestly. >> i think msnbc decided that two weeks ago. >> they're going to get significant coverage, there's no doubt about that. but i don't think the coverage is type of coverage that gets you votes. >> the explanation he said i can't change. there isn't some other flip side nice soft spoken chris christie. there's only this. >> but stephanie makes a good point. one that's important to watch. coverage is one thing. how it is translated and resonates with the voters voting in primaries is something very different. while you focus on christie and trump in one frame -- >> they're going into this debate. >> but rand paul isn't going to take any -- we've seen the scuffup between paul and christie. >> with guys willing to go right back at you? do you want to be a guy taking on trump and christie?

they'll go right back at you. >> it's how you engage initially. >> is there a subtle way to break these guys? >> at the end of the day voters are looking for somebody presidential, that can be your president. >> really? >> if these guys are having a boxing -- >> is that true early primaries? it makes noise. let me go to heather with another question. is there another chris christie for the business press? is there another guy that can actually down and just talks budgets, taxes, policy that would influence an actual voter? >> yeah i think it's worth noting his people have been really working hard to sort of tone down his gruff manner. he gave a series of policy speeches. many of them in new hampshire where he was presenting the sober chris christie the big ideas guy and really were trying to distinguish themselves as the one in the field that put forward detailed policies way ahead of anyone else. he talked about tax policy

entitlements, foreign policy. one after another speeches where they're really trying to distinguish themselves and present him as the sober, rational candidate. the speech today you didn't really hear about policy. it was much more personality focused. we'll have to see which one will he emphasize and which one gets the most attention. >> i think i know which one gets the most attention. ic help you with that one, heather. i'm just kidding, but he's going to get attention when he says i'm going to make you cringe. never heard that from another politician. thank you, heather, haddon michael steele and stephanie cut. >> we're getting more and more american all the time. this is a cow boy country. the court errs on the side of do what you want to do buy yourself a gun if you want. it's just what the american public actually when you look at the numbers seems to want as scary as that is. president obama is an roll.

now his poll numbers show it. how could this not help hillary? and what can republicans do to stop down the momentum which will help hillary? and clown car tuesday. bobby jindal with the most absurd reaction so far to the gay marriage court ruling. finally the twin republican battles being waged between now and next winter. who will win iowa and who will win new hampshire? those two states are fighting against each other as to what the republican party stands for. song: rachel platten "fight song" ♪ two million, four hundred thirty-four thousand three hundred eleven people in this city. and only one me. ♪ i'll take those odds. ♪ be unstoppable. the all-new 2015 ford edge.

new information tonight on the prison break in upstate new york. the district attorney prosecuting the case says richard matt and david sweat made a dry run the night before their escape. and they actually popped open a man hole and got a look outside. well, that news comes as prison officials have suspended three prison executives and nine guards as part of their investigation. adam reiss joins us from outside

the prison in dannemora. what's the newest information here? >> now that the manhunt is over chris, heads are starting to roll here. three members of the executive team including the superintendent, have been put on administrative leave as well as nine members of the security team. they'll bring in a new team to run the jail for the time being. this as officials in albany are outraged at the breaches of protocol that took place here. and david sweat, he continues to talk to investigators, telling them on a couple occasions they narrowly were caught. they eluded police once when the border patrol surrounded them they were able to escape. another time they came upon a sheriff's deputy, ripped matt fellow -- richard matt fell over made a noise but they were able to escape. the night before the escape they went through the pipes, they went through the catwalk and stuck their heads out of the manhole cover, but that was just a dry run. >> they should have made a run

for it that night. thank you, adam reiss, what stories you come up with. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet? leave early go roam sleep in sleep out star gaze dream big wander more care less beat sunrise chase sunset do it all. on us. get your first month's payment plus five years wear and tear coverage. make the most of summer...

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welcome back to "hardball." to listen to ted cruz and other conservatives tell it last week's supreme court decision on same-sex marriage was the outlaw act by unelected judges. >> today some of the darkest 24 hours in our nation's history. yesterday and today were both naked and shameless judicial activism. this radical decision purporting to strike down the marriage laws of every state, it has no connection to the united states constitution. they are simply making it up. it is lawless, and in doing so they have undermined the fundamental legitimacy of the united states supreme court. >> mike huckabee said i will not acquiesce to an imperial court any more than our founders eye

quee esed to a british monarch. but paul is following the country's lead here. 57% of americans back same-sex unions up from 27% in 1996. and it fits a pattern in this country. "the new york times" points out a dominant theme in american history is over time civil rights do expand and discrimination ebbs. back in 1958 for example, only 4% of the country then in the late '50s approved of interracial marriage. that number in 2013 isas recent as that 87%. in the past decades people have grown more and more comfortable with someone being president that is not a white male. in 1937 only a third said they would vote for a woman. on civil rights issues the country marches forward not backward. that's my argument. i'm joined by "washington post"

opinion writer jonathan capehart who is somewhere outside in colorado. and they're all in open spaces there. she's with the nice backboard at least somewhere in 30 rock. let me ask you this. i sense, as mr. dooley said of great age and vintage, that the supreme court follows election returns. that this country has in our lifetime moved very dramatically toward acceptance of equality marriage equality the whole works when it comes to gay people. the supreme court is either almost in tandem with this. your thoughts. it reflects our culture. your thoughts. >> it was very close. a 5-4 vote. significant opposition. but a resounding vote nonetheless. you have to listen to the language of justice kennedy and realize that conservative supporters of gay rights over the last 10 15 years have really succeeded in using the language not just of rights but

also of love and even of responsibility in saying that gay people are entitled to a marital relationship which is the foundation of our society. there's been a real success in developing arguments that would appear to use conservative language. i don't think ted olsen was faking it. but that way of arguing to the court also widened the acceptance of gay marriage. that's important to those of us who are liberals who want to thing about how they expand the sphere of justice even wider. those arguments had an effect. >> jonathan you're a gay man and i've always wanted to know about this. it seems to me the iconography of the gay world has changed dramatically in my life. 20 30 years ago, gay pride parades, putting on rather aggressive behavior. there was the talk of the bathhouses and all that. now when you think of gay couples, what you think of is two people on the steps of a court house embracing in loving

ways that corresponds to good marriages, heterosexual marriages. is it just a different iconic way we look at it? i don't know what that means exactly. but when you think of gays getting married, you think of like us too. it doesn't seem alien. >> no it's not alien. what you're seeing is gay couples really trying to emulate for, i would think, a majority of them either the family lives they came from a family with either one or two loving parents who were together and the security and stability that that provided or if they did not have it and longed for it for themselves, now they have the opportunity to do it. you know all gay people got with that supreme court ruling was the right to marry but also the right not to marry. and there are a lot of people who now would love -- now are going to celebrate the fact that they now have the option one, and, two, to sort of revel in

the fact that probably for the first time in their lives or in our lives we feel completely whole with this country. you know chris, i was one of the many hundreds by the time was out, thousands of people who went down to the white house to see the white house bathed in the rainbow colors. because we needed to see it with our own eye. not only was that supreme court decision so spectacular and made us feel more american than we probably ever felt in our lives, but to see the white house and the president of the united states celebrate that decision not just in words earlier in the day but on the very house he lives in was a truly spectacular moment. >> do you know how spectacular the view is behind you right now? we're looking at the white-capped rocky mountains. polls show a steady increase for gay marriage over the years, the story is different in other controversial social issues gun rights abortion and the death

penalty. "the new york times" analyzed opinion polls and found in the paper today that over the years the needle hasn't budged much. gun laws a wide majority of americans support stricter gun loss or keeping laws as they are now but a small growing minority want the laws to be looser. abortion rights four in five say it should be legal in all cases. support for the death penalty has remained consistent for 80 years, up there around 60%. joan, your views? sometimes libertarianism is a progressive thing and sometimes it strikes me as a right-wing thing. but the individual makes the call. you want to own a gun, you want to spend money on a campaign you want to marry someone, it's almost like yeah. >> right. >> and if you want to kill somebody, fine we'll kill you. there's another case. you made the call buddy. >> right. >> i think there's a toughness and a cowboy toughness even when i don't like it and you don't like it like with guns to the

way the court rules. your thoughts about this american character they keep try to root or or succeed in catching. your thoughts? >> look at that abortion number that's 80%. the number of americans who support legal abortion is higher than the number of americans -- much higher than the number of americans who support gay marriage. so you know the court's been kind of silent on it what's been happening in the realm of abortion rights is conservative states have begun really restricting access and passing bogus laws. the supreme court is probably going to have to get involved and rule whether those restrictions are unconstitutional. we'll see. but that is an area where people even in the face of such incredible opposition in the last few years, we've actually seen the number tick up from 75% to 80%. that's a victory on the pro choice side. >> when people say in certain circumstances, they mean in their circumstances. everybody says be very restrictive except if i want to

make that decision, i want to make it. >> that's a very good point. >> jonathan capehart good luck out there in that beautiful country. >> coming home tomorrow. >> joan it looks nice. a very nice backdrop for talking about americanism. one place where the supreme court court's decision isn't sitting well is texas. they're telling clerks to refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples if it slyviolates their own personal beliefs. can you spot the difference? the wind farm on the right was created using digital models and real world location-based specs that taught it how to follow the wind. so while the ones on the left are waiting the ones on the right are pulling power out of thin air. pretty impressive, huh? now, two things that are exactly the same have have never been more different. ge software. get connected. get insights. get optimized. ♪ every auto insurance policy has

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welcome back to "hardball." despite last week's landmark the u.s. supreme court decision establishing the right to gay marriage, republican leaders in the lone star state are balking. on sunday ken paxton told his state's county clerks they could refuse to issue marriage licenses. county clerks and their employees retain religious freedoms that may allow

accommodations of their religious objections to issuing same-sex marriage licenses. paxton anticipated there would be lawsuits filed against the clerks, but he added, quote, numerous lawyers stand ready to assist clerks defending their religious beliefs. and fellow texan senator ted cruz said the supreme court had undermined its legitimacy and agrees with his fellow republicans back home. here he is. >> we had five unelected lawyers determine that the policy views of 320 million americans didn't matter. i would urge everyone to recognize this decision for what it was, which was political judicial activism and lawlessness. >> senator ted cruz will be here on wednesday a week from now, a week from tomorrow. joining me from austin is political analyst jim moore and he's the author of "bush's brain." you explain it. a gay couple walks up to some justice of the peace office in

texas and what happens now given the way this sort of nullification thing is going on down there? >> well, they're not going to get a permit in every county in this state. the dallas morning news has been doing research today and about a third of the counties that they've called are still not issuing permits. over in east texas where the piney woods are over behind what some folks call the pine curtain, there was a couple that went in to get a permit and they were denied and they filed suit and the county relented and gave it to them. some counties have been doing it. the major counties are issuing permits but there's still resistance. what ted cruz is doing is blunt-force stupidity talking about lawyers who are unelected which if they've recently upheld in the past many things that senator cruz and other conservatives in texas are in favor of then they like the court. now they don't like the court so much in texas. >> cruz, for a guy that went to

law school and did well there, acts like he just discovered the existence of the supreme court. it has always been controversial and done something against a political point of view whether fdr. he tried to pack the court. people like eisenhower picked the warren court that ended up giving us the brown case. he didn't like it. he said it was the worst decision ever made. but he acts like he's the first guy. this is what drives me crazy about cruz. he acts like he's a lone pioneer of existence out there. never knew about the mccarthy period, never knew anything that came before him. talk about ego. >> well, exactly. and he's spreading this kind of disinformation and fear among county officials. and like ken paxton our state attorney, chris, when he says we're going to provide the lawyers that you need if you resist, they're trying to use this fig leaf of religious liberty.

but unintended consequences, obviously, is if the counties resist and they do not grant these permits to these gay couples, then they're going to end up getting sued and there's going to end up being large settlements to taxpayers in this state are going to have to pay. it will be the result of behavior and comments by senator cruz and others like him. >> it reminds me of the court house door or the schoolhouse door with george carly wallace. >> same thing. >> where he stood in the doorway and katzen back who was taller than him moved him aside. the author of "bush's brain" which is still in question. can republicans do anything to slow him down? bigger question is how well he's doing right now going to help hillary clinton win the election next year? we'll get to that with the roundtable. when you travel, we help you make all kinds of connections. connections you almost miss. and ones you never thought you'd make. we help connect where you are. to places you never thought you'd

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i'm milissa rehberger. n nbc news has learned that the u.s. will announce it reached a deal with cuba to reopen embassies. the white house is hosting its first ever girl scout campout on the first lawn. they tied knots and pitched tents. details of pope francis' trip to the u.s. have been released. while in washington he'll meet with the president. in new york he'll visit the 9/11 memorial and hold mass at madison square garden before heading to philadelphia. in indonesia a military plane crashed into a densely populated area hitting homes and a hotel. back to "hardball." the republicans have already forced more than 50 votes in congress to repeal or dismantle this law, all without offering a viable alternative. i think we can sum up the message from the court and the

american people in just two words -- move on! >> move on.org. that was hillary clinton telling republicans to quit attacking president obama's health care law and, quote, move on. after last week's triumphs for obama on trade, health care and same-sex marriage hillary clinton is looking to capitalize on his momentum and that's making some on the right nervous. president obama reflected on his successful run last week earlier today. here he is. >> so in many ways last week was simply a culmination of a lot of work that we've been doing since i came into office. how am i going to spend whatever political capital that i built up? you know, the list is long. and my instructions to my team and my instructions to myself have always been that we are going to squeeze every last ounce of progress that we can

make when i have the privilege -- as long as i have the privilege of holding this office. >> isn't that great, even the president of the united states has to make lists of things he tells himself to do every day like everyone else is trying to do. "obama's victories are a gift to democratic front-runner hillary clinton. the president is on a roll at the moment and the democrat who hopes to follow him to the white house is looking to roll along. republicans need a focused strategy to stop the momentum. that's byron york as always a smart guy. let's bring in the roundtable. ann garen for "the washington post," clarence page, with the chicago tribune and sabrina siddiqui. hillary clinton, sitting in her compound wherever it is and people around the circle in hillary-land they must have feared a very declining obama administration looking at it the other way. it was going to fizzle out by

time he got started. it wouldn't be anything to defend. but now? >> absolutely. when obama is seen as a lame duck and ineffectual, there's residual spillover effect to her. she's arguing to be the third term. they hate that comparison, but it is. the third president presidency in a row, that's historically difficult to do. her argument would be things are working. this is great. keep it going. so when things are going well it does definitely help her. >> sabrina, you think she's comfortable with that third term notion? third obama term? >> so long as some of the priorities of the current administration are vindicated as they were last week. >> health care. this gets health care off the hook. >> has been the biggest attack dog for republicans have certainly viewed that as their biggest point of attack for what, now, three elections?

this takes it off the table from 2016. i think also the third term is something republicans are certainly using to try and cast this as obama's third term for people who are disappointed. but the key with some of the polls the president at 50% for the first time in more than two years you have to be able to convince the american public that a third obama term is a bad thing. and if he's doing well then obviously a harder case to make. they have to differentiate their agenda. >> let's get to the self-interest, had health care lost 6-3, the aca fallen apart because they couldn't give subsidies. that would have been two disastrous health care plans in a row. hers in '94 and this one republicans could have mounted their guns and said these guys don't know how to do it. >> could have left republicans off the hook because they haven't been able to come together around an alternative. >> because they don't believe in an alternative. >> you have different ideas. you have minorities of

republicans who want to do this or that but they can't come together around an alternative so they're off the hook too. hillary clinton of course doesn't want to be the third obama term but she certainly doesn't want to be cast as a continuation of an unsuccessful term. so long as obama succeeds -- >> people like winners. alan abramowitz says the election will depend on the economy and president obama's approval rating. if obama's approval rating is close to 50% and the economy's growing at a decent rate in the fall of 2016 both of which seem quite possible maybe even likely then hillary clinton will have a decent chance of winning. while we're 16 months out from the election president obama's approval rating at 50% the highest since 2013. the poll shows the rating for the president's handling of the economy has climbed up to 52%. first time that number has

topped 50 in six years. sabrina, i mean we had trouble with greece. i don't think anybody is going to blame obama for greece. but it seems like the economy's getting stronger slowly getting stronger. this president is on a winning streak. and i wouldn't have suspected this just a couple of weeks ago. >> no. and of course the approval ratings will continue to fluctuate over the next year and a half. a lot longer to go for the economic recovery. but the numbers are positive for this administration and hillary clinton leading up to november. a big part of this will be the americans who feel left out of the economic recovery. that's why you do hear hillary clinton talking about the growing income and wage gap. there will still be the case to be made for who is going to represent themselves in the party that can represent -- >> how do they explain that they left this country in the toilet? >> sorry. >> how do they explain that they left this country in the toilet in 2008 when they left office. anybody who has money now has tripled it in the stock market thanks to this administration. and that means mostly republicans have tripled their

money. if the market starts to fluctuate, they'll blame the market on obama. but when it's been triple they haven't mentioned his name in that connection. they give us nothing. >> you notice how bill clinton became a nonperson when it comes down to jim carville's line which didn't you like, the peace or the prosperity of the clinton years? so republicans do not talk about it. they won't talk about obama's successes either. >> i like when people are a little bit honest in their score keeping. >> and you like politics? my goodness. >> you hear it occasionally. the roundtable staying with us. if it's tuesday, it's the clown car. because it's clown car tuesday. bobby jindal is at the wheel. you pay your auto insurance premium every month on the dot. you're like the poster child for paying on time. and then one day you tap the bumper of a station wagon. no big deal... until your insurance company jacks up your rates. you freak out. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? hey insurance companies, news flash. nobody's perfect.

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we've got to stop being the stupid party. i'm serious. time for a new republican party that talks like adults. >> if it's tuesday, it must be the clown car. clown car tuesday is upon us. and warning republicans to not be the stupid party bobby jindal of louisiana had the most juvenile reaction to the ruling on same-sex marriage of the candidates so far. jindal said there's now, quote, no point of having a supreme court at all. >> so now we've got a court that says we don't care about the meaning of words. we don't care about the constitution. a reporter asked me about it. i said flippantly. might as well get rid of the supreme court and save some money. i mean, what's the point? they're not a judicial body any more. they've become a political body. >> jindal's presidential bid

also comes as he hits new lows in his home state. he's viewed favorably by louisianans by just 32% of the voters down there like this guy. according to a poll last month. and that's a very red state, of course. he doesn't register on our national poll from last week for president. we're back with our roundtable sabrina, clarence and anne. there's lots of reasons to run for president. one is you think you might win. i don't think that's one of his reasons. what are the other reasons why bobby jindal will go out there and run? >> cabinet positions. >> which one do you have your eye on? >> hhs. you look for prominence you look for a sweet contract. >> what does he bring -- >> gain national prominence. diversity. but obviously he's doing very poorly. >> do you think he wins in a contest between he and nikki haley? >> no. >> i think nikki might have the nod on him.

>> another reason he is probably in this now is because he is doing so poorly at home. i mean there's only one -- actually zero of the state-wide republican officials even showed up for his announcement speech. he's unpopular at home. he used to have kind of a national following. he used to be thought of as something as a golden boy, and he's probably looking for a measure of that again. >> you know here's some of his statements now. this sort of puts him where he is. the national rifle association is the most effective civil rights organization in our country. what do you make of that? >> that's something the nra people say. >> how is it a civil rights -- >> first of all, they are older than the naacp, however, they were not a civil rights organization until after the kennedy assassination, jfk, 1963 and suddenly there was a big push to go after mail-order rifles, et cetera. before that the nra was a gun safety organization. and wanting gun training et cetera. they became a civil rights when

it came down to defending the second amendment. >> if you're bobby jindal and barely registering in the polls, you need attention, so you say things that grabs headlines, like saying this about the nra and saying we should get rid of the supreme court. because he has nothing else going for him. >> in case you're worried, the president will defend us against trans fat. radical islam, not so much. ann? what is that supposed theo teach us? >> or what's his alternative? the list of cliches from the announcement speech was interesting. i mean he didn't really have much to offer. far less in fact than christie did today. >> speaking of christie. google's put out their list of what's trending right now. and people are still obsessed, excuse me, governor with his weight. they want to know how much weight he's lost how much weight he still has. >> not bridgegate? >> well that's coming. but people are really -- if

they're all interested in your weight, you're not going to be elected president. if that's the only thing they can ask about you. >> it is something people are genuinely interested in. here's this guy that is just out there, with you know and he's not a thin guy. he does not look like your classic american politician. and he throws himself out there saying, look this is me. you know here i am. >> he went on a weight loss thing and slipped back. >> what about weight -- >> i don't like to talk about that. >> how about the royal way, when he says, we're working on it. who are the other people involved? i love that when he says "we." >> there, i said it. you want me to do that. but i sympathize with him. i, too, lost 20 pounds and gained it all back. but i think what happened to him, he did lose weight. >> but you're humble. >> i'm not running for president. >> bush went on a diet, too. >> i'll be back in the show tonight with a what i think is a combination of questions. how do you take sober-minded people who are actually trying

to become president. and i include in that group scott walker i include jeb bush, i include a couple of other ones who are really seriously running for president. you've got to keep the right, grab the center right with your whole heart, and move over and get the center. you've got to get all three to win the presidency to get 51%. you've got to get right, center right, and center. you have to do it. otherwise you're wasting everybody's time. and how does it work together when they're in the same ring donald trump in the same ring with jeb bush? >> i think we're going to see that at the debate. you're going to see four five candidates who really have all the goods, right? and are going to -- >> how do they get the attention away from the comics the clowns? >> if they're doing it right, they do it by looking presidential. they do it by having answers. >> what happens when the clown car starts attacking you? do you ignore it? >> no they can't always ignore it. certainly, a lot of the stuff that is read as an attack on hillary clinton now by some of the candidates is really also an

attack on jeb bush. at some point, he's actually going to have to -- >> he's attacking mexicans and jeb bush's wife is a mexican. can he stand there and put up with that? this is coming our way. sabrina sediqi thank you, and clarence paige so much. and ann garrett, thank you so much. let's start with the twin political battles being engaged. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. the life behind it. ♪ those who have served our nation have earned the very best service in return. ♪ usaa. we know what it means to serve. get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life.

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let me finish tonight with the twin republican battles being waged between now and next winter. they are, it's important to know, the first two battles for 2016. one is the battle for iowa. this is about connecting with the middle part of the country, with the bible belt with people holding hard traditional values on abortion marriage, that sort of thing. and it's about midwestern banners, balanced budgets, skepticism towards foreign adventurism, dislike for big mouths. put down names here like mike huckabee and rick santorum and maybe scottwalk who has a fundamentalist orientation to his social values.

you can also throw rand paul in this iowa group based on his anti-war philosophy. now comes the battle for new hampshire. here the contestants are a different type altogether. new hampshirites value independents and a kind of flinty toughness and practicality. for them picking a president isn't about bible studies, it's about keeping presidents down in their place, the whole live free or die thing. there are five candidates running for new hampshire, for the basic reason they need to do very well there or they won't get much further. one is jeb bush, his willingness to stand up for immigrants to accept the ruling on same-sex marriage as a new reality and to think about issues like education, all of that sets him apart from the hard right of his party. the other new hampshire-prone candidates are scott walker, chris christie who got in the race today, john kasich the ohio governor set to get in soon. and former new york governor