it premiers saturday august 22nd and the documentary tig is available on netflix. chris hayes is up next. donald trump is raising the stakes. it's come to this. the republican party's biggest dove has gone to war with donald we begin with the must-see tv of this election. the bomb throwing fireworks assault on the latest assault on the republican front-runner, donald trump. two of the party's biggest hawks tangled with trump and their campaigns went nowhere. now you have the biggest dove in the republican party, rand paul who finds himself struggling in

the polls, going to war with everything he's got. here we go. amp slamming trump as a fake conservative, he put this ad online. >> in many cases, i identified more as a democrat. >> democrat. >> a liberal on health care. we have to take care of people who are sick. >> universal health coverage? >> hillary clinton i think is a terrific woman. i'm a little biased. i've known her for years. i think she works hard and cause the good job. i like her. she is a really good person. >> trump responded with a lengthy diatribe. unless you are a piece of unyielding granite, over the years positions evolve as they have in my case. then trump threw in this bit of macho talk. he said recently rand paul called me and asked me to play golf. i easily beat him on the golf course and will even more easily beat him now in the world of politics. after trouncing him in golf i made a significant donation to

the eye center with which he is affiliated. i feel sorry for the great people of kentucky who are being used as a back-up to senator paul's hopeless attempt to become president of the united states. >> while he appreciates donald's golf skills, i will note that the game was on his home course that he plays often. he also escalated the battle trump saying, he is devoid of ideas other than he likes the idea of power and getting attention for foolish statements and bluster. now as this back and forth is playing out, rand paul is at a town hall in new hampshire attacking and impersonating donald trump. >> so we have now people up there who say such profound things as, you're stupid. you're fired. you're a pig. you look terrible. you only have half a brain. and then when you respond with

an argument, you're stupid. or my favorite is, you know the reason i tell women they're ugly is because i'm so good looking. everybody knows i'm good looking, right? another one is, you know, i must be smart. i'm rich. i'm rich. i've got to be smart, right? >> michael steele was rnc chairman. david corn, with mother jones and jones walsh is editor at large. michael steele, let me start with you. >> of course. >> let's talk about the theatrics of it. it is your party. you got a front row seat. >> talk about the theatrics. that is what this is about. you got rand paul there impersonating donald trump. you got donald trump hitting him as hard as he probably can. who is winning the balance? >> donald trump is doing his thing.

rand paul is trying to lob a if you bombs. i think it is a little misplaced. it draws for another round of silly. i think that candidates like rand paul who are stuck in the middle of the pack are trying to make that move up. you have to get on the table with something fresh. and i don't think that's something fresh is necessarily going after donald trump. he relishes in this. you know, he can lob back. he played golf with him and i beat him. and he feels like that is scoring a point where the broader point should be, how are you going on defeat isis? how are you going to grow the economy? how will you make this country whole again? particularly where the gaping holes in wealth disparity and income disparity. so i think that's a better approach. you've got to do what you've got to do.

we've seen all the attacks that they've tried. he is not the first one to bring up comments about single pay. this stuff has not been sticking. donald trump comes back with that statement. and it really seems when you strip it all away. whenever donald trump gets into these fights, it is this supposedly outsider businessman fighting against politicians and telling them to go screw. and the base loves that. >> right. and i've got to say, jar john mccain said it best. you don't have a mud bite the the pig. i won't go any further than that. an old expression. and i think rand paul is seeing he can't win this but he's fighting back. what grade are we in? when you are reduced to mocking someone. i don't really love rand paul but he has tried to run a campaign of ideas. he has tried to do some

different things around intervention. he has tried to reach out to the african-american community. not very successfully. i can critique the things that he's done and. but he is the one, this is part of why he's mad. instead, he's getting beaten by this guy zero ideas. >> he was the big story a year ago. the cover "time" magazine, most interesting politician in america. thunder completely stolen by donald trump. starting with last week's debate in cleveland, paul has made attacking trump his alamo. >> here's what's wrong. this is what's wrong. he buys and sells politicians of all stripes. hey, look. he is already hedging his bet on the clintons. news flash. the republican party has been fighting against a single payer system for a decade. so i think you're on the wrong side of this if you're still arguing. >> i'm not -- i don't think you heard me. you're having a hard time

tonight. >> we are kidding ourselves to even consider someone who is such a chameleon that he has been on every side of every issue. wake up, america, wake up! >> so if you want to elect somebody who says people are bleeding or stupid or pigs, go right ahead. i want to fix country. >> i really think as he fake conservative. i don't think he's consistently been anything in his life other than a promoter of himself. so people have to listen and decide what he really stands for. >> all right. i don't know what it is. i can't put my finger on it totally. tone of voice, attitude, body language, something. i'm watching that exchange back there in cleveland. rand paul is hitting on thing that should hurt a republican in debate. i look at that exchange and say donald trump just won that hands down. >> donald trump in a lot of ways is bullet proof. whatever you say about him, he says, you're wrong.

i gave you money. now get away from me. you're wrong, you're stupid, you're ugly. his crowd, maybe 25, 30% of the republican base who wants to hear someone venting, outrage at anybody goes, yeah, man. they don't care what he says. if you put him in that position and give him a dhoonls fire back, you're only helping him. these attacks are about rand paul. he wants to get in the mix. he wants people to talk about him like we are talking about him tonight. the only way to do that is by venting in frustration. he's not scoring any points and he won't. nobody. trump doesn't care. and i think a lot of his voters, well, they haven't voted yet. a lot of people like him in the polls don't care either. so the problem the republican party is going to have, what do you do with this 20% block of trumpites who don't really care

about policy. they care about venling, passion, attitude and can't be persuaded otherwise. >> like he is saying. rand paul finds himself struggling in this poll in iowa. he polls just 5%. that puts him back in seventh place. in new hampshire, the latest polling hat paul at 6%. a decline of 7 points just since march. and nationally, it is the same story. the nbc the poll with just 6% support. that is good enough for just eighth place. and michael steele, i think the rick for rand paul is simple. what donald trump is tapping into is anger at the political system and disgust with anybody who is a politician. what randal paul is doing here looks like something a politician would do. he reads the polls. he sees who the front-runner is. he sees who he needs to take down and he starts coming one these calculated attacks. it almost played.

plays into donald trump's hands. >> that's why i made the point i made. i accept wholeheartedly about what joan said about what rand paul has done now. my point is do more, only go bigger. all of that energy and anger and frustration that you're venting at trump. put it on the streets in terms of how you want to lead. to do the one-on-one engagement, to david's point. he doesn't care, number one. trump. and number two, it just draws you into a rabbit hole that is tougher and tougher to get out. there has been nothing shown so far that anything with regard to attacks leads to an uptick in your poll numbers. you have to figure out a different way. for the majority of these folks, laying back and leaning away from that donald trump at this stage as they get ready for the second debate. because there's no upside to engaging him directly.

>> and joan, that's the other threat the republicans face. if you go after him. if they all gang up on him. he said if he thinks this process isn't fair. he runs thirt party. it hurts the republicans. >> and we saw somebody else kind of go up against donald trump this weekend and lose. that's megyn kelly. she did a great job. she did her job. she was a tough moderator and the fox audience turned against her when she was really a very popular anchor. i know any time i criticize megyn, my twitter feed was full of people attack me. it is a little bit scary the extent that they can turn on someone who is an icon and it looks like roger ailes backed trump. she is going on an unscheduled vacation. why are they going up against trump? >> that is such an important point. when we talk about these donald trump poll numbers, everybody is

saying, hey, herman cain was the same place. herman cain did not stare down fox news and win. this is something new and different. we're out of time. michael steele, thanks for joining us. and he wants to quote knock the hell out of them and take their oil. that is his plan and it is far from the only we've heard. and hillary clinton struggling and bernie sanders is the only democratic alternative to her. is vice president joe biden now getting serious about jumping into the race? and all the democrats are talking about defunding planned parenthood often ben carson is going so far to accuse the organization of trying, quote, control the african-american population in this country. that's coming one tonight's roundtable. and finally, let me say, he deserves better than he gets from either the right or the

left. this is "hardball." i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn. because it gives me... zero heartburn! prilosec otc.

the number 1 doctor-recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 9 straight years. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. 18 presidential candidates will each have 20 minutes to sell their candidacy and take questions from voters and hecklers too. perhaps the soap box's most famous exchange came in 2011 with this mitt romney moment. >> if we are ultimately, not just this year but over the coming decades, going to balance our budget and not spend more than we take in, we have to make sure that the promises we make in social security, medicaid and medicare are promises we can keep. and there are various ways of doing that. one is we can raise taxes on people. that's not the right -- corporations are people, my friend. of course they are. everything corporations earn goes to people.

where do you think it goes? whose pockets? whose pockets? people's pockets. human beings. >> hillary clinton and donald trump have not confirmed soap box appearances but both plan on going to the iowa fair.

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we've got more on donald trump. at time the republican front-runner talks about his policy positions. the way a good hollywood trailer deals with plot. crumb of information without spoiling the good stuff. the stuff he promises will be spectacular. for example, what is his policy to take on isis? in may, trump only offered this spoiler-free promise. >> i do know what to do. and i would know how to bring isis to the table or beyond that, defeat isis very quickly. and i'm not going to tell you what it is. if i run, if i win, i don't want the enemy to know what i'm going to do. all i can tell you is that it is

a fool proof way of winning. i'm not talking about what some people would say. it is a fool proof way of winning the war with isis. >> this week trump gave more information. he said we should go in, knock the hell out of them and take their oil. on issue after issue, he has played coy when it comes to specifics. for example, here's what he said this week about replacing obamacare. >> so obamacare is no good, doesn't work. one of the first things do i if i get elected. end obamacare and do something really good. >> here's what he told mika when she asked him about the issue of equal pay for women. >> all i can say on women's issues and women's health issues, there will be nobody better than donald trump. i will be coming out with policy. i don't want to discuss it now. >> when it come to his tax plan. trump had this to say. >> i know exactly what i want to do. i just don't want to announce it yet.

>> despite all the vagueness, republican voters seem to like his approach. a new poll of republican caucusgoers in iowa finds trump doing better than any other candidate on the question who have they think would best handle the economy, illegal immigration, even terrorism. going to ron reagan, and a form he adviser to john mccain and mitt romney. yesterday on fox news, trump elaborated on his plan to fight isis by taking their oil. >> now you have isis and others, but you have isis cutting off christians' heads and others. they cut off anybody's head. they're drowning them, cutting off their heads. we have to go in with forceful we have to take the oil. >> you're going on surround the perimeter. take the oil. what else do you have to do to stop isis? >> that will be the beginning of the end. that cuts off the money. that cuts off the head. >> a lot of people can laugh at donald trump here and say he's not being specific. he is saying things that will not match up with reality. but there is a real appeal to

what he's doing. i think we've seen it before. the idea of the tough guy. people investing in the idea of the tough guy. i always think back to richard nixon. he had the secret plan to end the vietnam war. he wonderful tell anybody but people bought into the idea that richard nixon is the guy who can do it. >> well, richard nixon was a far more substantive than donald trump. we can talk about donald trump's quote/unquote policies here. but really i would hate to waste time talking about what is basically nonsense. the question the republican party has to ask. they, why is a quarter of their electorate taken by this guy? by this carnival barker who appears to know nothing but b anything and have not thought anything about any issues? it is a problem and it is a problem of the republican party's making. they have dumbed down their party over the year to such an extent that at this juncture,

25% of republicans seem to think that donald trump has a thought in his head. which he does not. >> when it comes to immigration, trump has said he will build a wall across the border with mexico and then make the mexican government pay for it. he elaborated with fox news last night. >> how do you make them pay for the wall as you said? >> so easy. will a politician be able to do it? absolutely not. >> it's funny. i watch the shows including your show. and i watch these guys. you can't get them to painful we give them tens of billions a year. they are ripping us left and right. their leaders are so much smarter than our leaders. they are ripping us left and right. the wall is peanuts. >> through a tariff, what ever means necessary. >> we're not paying for it. >> you want to do business. you're going on help us. >> they'll probably just give us the money.

>> it might not be as easy as trump states. at least according to the mexican government. a spokesman for the mexican government. of course it's false. it reflects an enormous ignorance for what mexico represents and also the irresponsibility of the candidate who is saying it. >> he picks up aer quarter of the electorate response. he talks about getting mexico to pay for the wall. i haven't heard one credible person say it is at all possible that he will do that. what is about it that message that is connecting with the republican base? >> the problem is the following. that a lot of people are very frustrated with conventional politicians. i think of both parties. when they hear these simple statements and solutions, they embrace them. that's what we need to do. without filling in the blanks. i believe this to be a temporary and really a notional situation. we've seen in the past, in the

third party candidates or opposition candidates such as ross perot and pat buchanan and others. i think there's a little dynamic with donald trump. also the reality tv component of it. but ultimately, when voters and activists participate in this process, despite the frustration. i don't think these numbers will be sustained anywhere near where they are. i don't believe they're real. i think this is just a manifestation of a discontent with the inability of the republican party to put the brakes on the agenda. particularly during the second term when the president has been quite aggressive. >> trump had big plans for dealing with iran. let's take a look at that. >> let me go back to iran. you said they will do what i tell them. how do you make them do what i say? >> they will know i'm not playing games. by the time i get there, they will be very rich. because obama will have given

them all of these many billions of dollars. i study contracts. no matter how bad this contract is, i will make this contract be enforced to such an extent that they will not be able to do it. then i will do things you won't believe. >> so this gets on something else we've seen before in political history. the appeal of the businessman. the savvy cut throat businessman who will deal with iran in a way none of these know how to. >> there is a particularly on the right. particularly in the republican party. i don't disagree with adolfo when he was saying that people are generally speaking on the right and the left, democrats and republicans, fed up with government and politics as it is being practiced now. fed up with the money in politics, in particular. but it is a little too easy with all due respect here. there is a reason that donald trump is running as a republican and not as democrat. he could not get traction as a

democrat. no matter what he was saying. even if he was sort of spouting off and trying to sound like hillary clinton or bernie sanders. the democrats would not give him the time of day. but republicans, at least a quarter of them, do give him the time of day. and that again is a question the republican party has to deal with here. why is it that this complete charlton, he has no clue in material of foreign policy or economic policy, why is it that so many constituents find him attractive? it is a good question. >> we are out of time in this segment. thank you both for joining us. up next, are iowa democrats concerned about the hillary clinton e-mail story? turns romantic, why pause to take a pill?

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hillary clinton has a strong

lead with democratic voters in iowa. half of all likely caucusgoers are in her corner. even with that good news, the clinton campaign is having to battle back against continued attacks about the security of a private e-mail server. it was about turning it over to the justice department. this amid concerns there could have been classified information on those drives. this week the clinton campaign manager sent the memo to supporters saying they have the situation under control. the spokesperson circulated this. to be clear, there is absolutely no criminal inquiry into hillary's e-mail or e-mail server. but donald trump isn't waiting for the results of any investigation to be completed. he had this to say. >> i think the problem that , let's say everybody has, you

have all the prosecutors that don't want to prosecute. did she commit a crime? yes. will they prosecute? perhaps no. >> clinton heads to iowa for more campaigning tomorrow. kelly, let me start with you. what is hillary clinton walking into tomorrow? the poll has her down in new hampshire. a 19-point lead in iowa but it is not great when you're running against a guy who isn't even a democrat. are democrats out there nervous about her right now? >> reporter: historically, the clintons have had some trouble with iowa but she'll be here tomorrow. one of the questions will be, what will have she participate in what is known as the soap box? a place where candidates stand on a bail of hay and talk about their ideas and take some questions. she did it as a candidate in 2007.

she is not scheduled to do that tomorrow. will she change her mind? she has other events in iowa. and i just spoke to o'malley. he did the soap box. i asked if the e-mail issue opens up a lane. and he said people are hungry for an alternative in iowa and he is here trying on fill that space. the fair is one of those places where you get all of that americana, all the scents and sights of summer and politics mixed in. clinton will get a reception here that will reflect the favorable status for many democrats, the strong democratic party here as well as the nature of the fair. where there are hecklers, people who will ask tough questions. it is part of what makes the iowa process so interesting. >> kelly with my dream assignment with all the deep fried food behind you. thank you very much. we turn now to larry to talk

about some of the fallout from this. and i wonder, this story is in one way, a dense and granular story. it is very difficult to follow details. you have an inspector general who is out there saying, look, there's some classified information shouldn't have been there. you have the state department saying, look, that could have been retroactively classified. how do you think this is translating to people who casually follow this stuff? >> how it's translating, steve. listen. most, this is going over the heads or under the bodies of the vast majority of people. except those who are paying close attention. and we know from a number of surveys and from historical patterns, that only about 20% of the american public is actually paying close attention to the presidential race. in other words, 80% are staying. and 20% are focusing on

presidential politics but that doesn't mean it is unimportant. it is one of those problems, controversies, scandals, take your pick of words, that inevitably will follow hillary clinton for months and months, maybe all way through the general election, assuming she is the democratic nominee. thank you for joining us. >> next, as bernie sanders rises and hillary clinton battles her e-mail issues. has the perfect moment arrived for joe biden to get in the race? look at that beautiful hotel on tripadvisor. wait. why leave the site?

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here's what's happening.

a great record. i haven't been involved in plagiarism. i think i would match up very well. >> trump of course referring to the 1988 campaign when he used a

quote from a labor leader. it was discovered that biden faced charges of plagiarism in law school. it was reported that biden is seriously considering jumping into the 2016 race and he is making call from his vacation in south carolina. asking political allies for advice, gauging the strength of mrs. clinton's campaign as he weighs his options. and the political correspondent for the "washington post." cornell is a pollster. ann, let me start with you. conventional wisdom would say it is a little late in the game. hillary clinton has locked down all these endorsements. she is way ahead in the polls. how much room do you think there is? >> i think it seems slightly more plausible this week than last that he could see an opening. there are so many practical barriers to him getting in the race and what would be an

insurgent challenge to both clinton and her closest competitor, bernie sanders. it is hard to see where he thinks the support will come from. who does he peel off? where is his base? when they both have significant parts of the primary base locked up. >> the source close to vice president biden told kristin welker today, he is not calling people and saying should i run, but rather, i am thinking about it but i'll also thinking about beau. the source who got a call from biden said, i think he's doing the analysis and homework and this come at a time when some democrats are nervous about the problems swirling around the use of hillary clinton's personal e-mail. being investigated by the fbi and benghazi hearings coming up this fall. in yesterday's boston herald university poll, 46% of democratic primary voters in new hampshire said they want to see biden run. so let's think about joe biden

as a prospective candidate. the outpouring of sympathy and good will in the wake of the terrible death of his son. that as you can see, has affected his poll numbers. his image. he's doing better in polls than at any time. you wonder. you look at what's going on with donald trump on the republican side. in this unpolished image. going up against all these practiced politicians. is there something in joe biden? we say he is gaffe prone. maybe those tendencies in the age of trump work in his favor a little bit? >> well, look, the vice president is i think, walks out of that office better positioned with core democrat constituencies than he walked in with. >> to say look, i am the rightful heir of the obama coalition because i stood by the president and helped him fight. that said, i have to agree. will he be the darling of the

left in can he compete with hillary clinton? i don't know. but you have to think that here's a guy who has strong progressive credentials. and democrats don't lack coordination. we've seen that time and time again. i think it is good that he jumps in. whoever wins the nomination will be better off if they have to compete for every vote and a lot of different states. >> let me ask but this. i've heard this from a few people. it could be very farfetched. we'll say that up front. bernie sanders running about 20 points behind in iowa. it is a state that likes the outside sider, the more liberal candidate. let's say bernie sanders knocks off hillary clinton in iowa. then they go to new hampshire. bernie sanders is the next door neighbor. is bernie sanders, the socialist senator from vermont, knocks off hillary clinton in the first two contests next year. does that create the kind of

panic and the opening that would allow someone like joe biden to say, look, hillary is damaged goods and we're not nominating a socialist so here i am. >> it would almost certainly create a situation where some people would be willing to have that conversation. when i say people, i mean people inside the party and certainly people to whom the vice president could turn for the financing that he would need to mount a campaign. at that point he would be pretty far behind other candidates and organizing himself in every way that would be necessary to win. >> i think it is a farfetched question. when the polls put hillary behind, it will take a farfetched scenario. up next, ben carson alleges that planned parenthood can is there to control the population. juror ine nicolas jorene nicolas. milk! milk! milk! milk! okay! fun's over.

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we are back with the roundtable. weeks after disturbing revelations about planned parenthood came to light. republican candidate ben carson is now going further in condemning the organization. appearing on fox last night, dr. carson said planned parenthood operates clinics in black neighborhoods to, quote, control the black population. >> maybe i'm not objective when it comes to planned parenthood but i know who margaret sanger is. i know that she believed in eugenics and she was not particularly enamored of black people. one of the reasons you find the clinics mostfully black neighborhoods is so you can finds a way to control that population. and i think people should go back and read about margaret sanger who founded it.

a woman hillary clinton says she admires. look what many people in nazi germany thought about her. >> carson, a famed neuro surgeon who has never held elected office has surged since last week's debate. this poll says he has taken second place in iowa. with his rise comes greater scrutiny. today he is facing new questions about the credibility of his denunciation of planned parenthood. a recently uncovered study co-authored in 1992 shows the candidate in d in fact work with aborted fetal tissue himself. the news appears to be at odds with his past statements that fetal tissue is not useful for medical research. >> it has been overpromised, what the benefits of fetal research would be. and very much under delivered. there is nothing that can't be

done without fetal tissue. >> here's what carson had to say about the apparent contra addition today. >> why did you change your decision about whether to use fetal tissue or not? >> to not use the tissue that is in the tissue bank regardless of where it comes from would be foolish. why would anybody not do that? >> would you ban this now if you're saying it is not essential? >> that is a very different thing from killing babies, manipulating them, taking the tissues, selling them. a very different thing. to try to equate those two sthings ridiculous. >> i have no idea where the tissue comes from. these are tissue blocks maintained for decades. >> this is obviously a very complicated question. if i'm understanding it, he seems to be saying, if the tissue has been procured and it is sitting there, you might as well use it. that doesn't necessarily mean it should be procured going forward. is that a fair reading of what

he is trying to say? >> it is one of the things he is trying on say. part of the problem is he has said about 18 different things but that he still personally and politically opposes abortion. but that isn't exactly what he said today, and it also appears to be at odds with the 1992 paper which clearly is labeled as using that tissue and one is left to wonder what did he think he was doing at the time? i mean he thought he was writing a scientific paper that would be of valuable -- value to the medical community. i don't know why he feels like at this point he needs to somehow back away from that. >> janelle, how about this comment about planned parenthood

being in black neighborhoods to control the african-american population? obviously a very inflammatory comment. what's interesting to me is this is not the first inflammatory comment that ben carson has made. i think about this. we put all this attention on donald trump going way out there on one issue after another and surging to first place. you look in these polls and ben carson is right up there in second or third place and rhetorically he's out there almost as much as trump is. >> i think you've hit on something interesting, which is that there is, as "the washington post" reported today, it seems a really strong current of voter dissatisfaction, perhaps even anger, that trump's sort of off-the-cuff sort of statements seem to tap into and this seems to really appeal to a set of voters and perhaps some of dr. carson's comments do the same. >> cornell, it's fascinating to look at this field, obviously the biggest republican field. supposedly this was the strongest field they had ever

had. you've got these governors and these senators. but it's donald trump, it's ben carson, it's carly fiorina. she lost a senate race by ten points five years ago. these are the ones who are surging in the polls. >> reality television is eating our country. the ethos of reality television, you now see is impacting our politics. and god help us. to the carson thing, from a political strategist, carson is going to be under more scrutiny now. and there is no nuancing your position on abortion in the republican primary. you are against abortion. you can't nuance it. if you're behind carson now, you're going to attack him because he flip-flopped. there's no nuance for him there. and the statements about, you know, the planned parenthood in black communities, to control black communities, i wish he would use the same fervor to talk about liquor stores in the black community, to talk about military policing in the black community. i think you have someone saying outrageous things, particularly

calling obamacare sort of slavery that would probably do worse among black voters than mitt romney did in 2012, which means if he's the nominee, the republicans have no chance of winning ohio, no chance of winning virginia, no chance of winning florida, no chance of putting pennsylvania into play and they have no chance of winning the white house. >> thank you to anne gearan, cornell belcher and janelle ross. when we return, let me finish with a lesson in partisanship and decency. you're watching "hardball."

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let me finish tonight with this. my first lesson in political polarization came when i was in second grade. the assignment was to find out who the president was when we were born. these were the days before google and none of my friends had the answer, so i turned to the only people in my life old enough to know. the answer was jimmy carter, my dad told me. by the way, he was a total failure. but mom chafed at that. jimmy carter was a good man, she told me. he believed in peace. here was my introduction to the divide between red and blue america. it ran straight through our house. dad, the son of nixon republicans, a navy veteran, a small businessman, and mom, the social worker from blue collar waterbury, connecticut, the daughter of a nurse who unionized the city hospital there. it was also my introduction to jimmy carter, whose presidency is part of the foundation of the deep and intractable political divide we know today. to the right, to red america, it's an essential ingredient in the legend of ronald reagan.

after all, in any good story it can't be mere mediocrity that the hero saves everybody from, it has to be a crisis. so for ronald reagan to rescue america, he couldn't just follow a disappointing president, he had to follow the worst president ever. to the left, to blue america, the carter presidency is a different kind of tragedy, the kind of tragedy where a swirl of crises and misfortune beyond the control of one mere president creates an opening for an extreme ideologue who couldn't get elected under any normal circumstance, to seize power and pull the country sharply and in many ways permanently to the right. jimmy carter is now the longest surviving ex-president in american history. it's been 34 1/2 years since he left the white house. they have been busy years for him. busy in ways we don't usually see with former presidents. tireless humanitarian work around the globe, provocative and controversial books, turned out at the dizzying rate of almost one a year. jarringly frank public comments about his successors, about the state of the world.

jimmy carter's post-presidency has in many ways been as polarizing as his presidency. but one of the worst things about polarization is that it reduces every public figure to a boring two-dimensional caricature. a champ or a chump. there's never any in between. but with any leader, with any person, it's the in between that's invariably the most interesting. the heroic traits, the grand ambitions mixing with weakness, with blind spots, with all of the imperfections that make us human. jimmy carter is 90 years old now and we learned this week that he's sick. but he's still here. as long as he is maybe now we can put aside all those decades of caricaturing and salute the goodness that's always been right there in front of us. whatever you think of his politics, of his presidency, of any provocative pronouncement he's made, jimmy carter is an honest man who loves his country and his family, who speaks his mind, who believes in peace and who lives the biblical edict to serve the least among us.

there have been better presidents and there have been worse, but we'd be a better nation if all of them were as decent people as jimmy carter. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. tonight on "all in" -- >> pork chop on a stick. trust me, it's what's for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack. >> the campaign descends on iowa, and donald trump is raising the stakes. >> i've just raised the stakes. >> tonight, why the conservative fight for the hawkeye state will be more brutal than ever before. then, major joe biden news. >> this is a big deal. >> is a run for the white house imminent? the man behind draft biden joins me live. plus disruption politics arrives on the doorstep of the republican party. >> black lives matter! black lives matter! >> and why conservatives are beginning to turn on a reic