republicans have seen their turnout numbers go up in nearly every single state that has voted so far in their primary, often by record margins. democrats, not so much. and you know what, we do not know what this means for the general election. but come november, democrats are going to need more than heroic ferryboat captains to win the election. they're going to need a lot of people to turn up at the polls. and the primary results are probably worrying the democratic party for that reason. that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again on monday. now, no prison for you! it's time for "hardball" with chris matthews. bully's pulpit. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. the twoes presidential election is shaping up to be the most

contentious in decades. today in california, protesters swarmed around the venue of a donald trump speech. protesters crashed through a barricade, reaching the doors of the convention hall where trump was set to speak before the california republican convention. well, today's demonstration followed clashes outside a trump rally last night in orange county, california, where hundreds of protesters took to the streets, blocking traffic, smashing car windows. 20 people were arrested by police last night. it's more evidence of the deep political divisions of the 2016 race, divisions fueled by a candidate who's willing to go where no one has gone before, at least rhetorically. in talking about getting tough with radical islamic terrorists, donald trump last night repeated a dubious legend, a myth, if you will, about john persian in the aftermath of the spanish/american war. here's how persian put down an

armed muslim insurgency in the philipos. >> he wouldn't do well today, because he was too tough. they caught 50 radical islamic terrorists. they caught them. they took them the 50, they lined them up. they took a pig and then they took a second pig and they cut the pig open. and they took the bullets from the rifles. and they dumped the bullets into the pigs and they sloshed it around. and then they took the bullets and they shot 49 of the 50 people and the 50th person, they said, take this bullet and bring it back to all of the people causing the problem and tell them what happened tonight. he took the bullet, they brought it back, that 50th person, and

for 42 years, they didn't have a problem with radical islamic terrorism, folks. >> well, the website politifact rated trump's version of that story false. when he first told it back in february, but it again shows while most candates tread softly on delicate issues, donald trump marches in combat boots. when it comes to his likely democratic opponent, trump is now trying to deny hillary clinton any credit for potentially becoming this country's first woman president. trump, who on tuesday night said clinton was -- has achieved her victories because of her gender alone, again attacked the former secretary of state for, quote, playing the woman card last night. here's trump on fox. >> it's a fact. she's playing the woman card. it's the only thing she's got going. that's it. >> what about -- >> and she's playing it as much as she can. i've been watching it. all she does -- if you raise your voice, it's like, look what he's saying or the way he talks. give me a break.

she raises her voice much more than i raise mine, believe me. >> donald trump last night called secretary clinton an enabler of her husband's infidelities and is pursuing a similar line of attack. quote, crooked hillary clinton, perhaps the mos dishonest person to have ever run for the presidency, is also an enabler." i'm joined by colleen mcnelson and jeremy peters of "the new york times". john, what do you make of this? i think trump has a notion of what he's doing. what do you think it is? >> he does. here's where i think the fall comes. what he's doing is great for republican primary voters -- >> red meat. >> -- which is small numbers that show up. red meat. you don't have to get 50%, just win the states. he's doing well at that. the problem is, he has to start expanding that base, if indeed, he's going to beat hillary. and there's a lot of people within the party who say, i think he's going to win, i want to sort of get onboard. but every time this happens, the press goes to them and says,

well, do you agree with this? and they've got to distance themselves. and i think it doesn't help him politically, but then again, you've got to give him credit. i don't think he sits there and says, is this the politically correct thing to do? >> colleen, he's clearly targeting hillary clinton now and doing all the things that most democrats are careful not to do. one is, don't blame hillary for her husband's misbehavior prp >> exactly. >> he said the word enablers is available to all of us. if you have an alcoholic spouse and let them keep drinking it, he's making that charge open against hillary, he's just doing it. >> and it's an interesting question. are voters actually going to blame hillary clinton for her husband's transgressions. >> for being cheated on. >> exactly. is that her fault? does that make her unqualified to be president? and, i mean, trump, obviously, has a couple different strategies with this. one, he wants to rattle hillary clinton. he wants to get under her skin. he also wants to remind kind of some of the ugly chapters of the clinton administration and remind folks that when bill clinton was president, when the

clintons were in the white house, it was complicated. >> well, a trump campaign spokesman, katrina pearson, said on msnbc today, that there's more about the clintons that trump would be willing to bring up. so they're teasing more material. they've got more dirt. let's watch. >> if hillary clinton or her team wants to go after donald trump as a sexist, then he will absolutely bring up that topic, because there is a lot to discuss that was not brought out into the public. >> i'm not sure what she's talking about, do you, jeremy? or do they even have to have something or just allude to something? >> no, it's all this game they like to play. it's diversion and stirring up ons.e unfounded allegati he's trying to close the deal. he needs to win in indiana and knock out ted cruz. this can't go to the second ballot on the convention. >> how does this get him the victory he needs? >> he's in indiana, in a very red state. he's perpetrating this dubious tale of muslims being shot with bullets dripped in pig's blood.

he knows that the media is going to raise a firestorm about this. and that's exactly what we're doing now. we're talking about it. >> like he says, he knows these history -- i think he knows enough of history to know what that means. it means he was an appeaser back in the -- a person who didn't want to get into world war ii. >> you're exactly right when you say, he knows what he's doing. i think we need to dispense with this notion that trump somehow stumbles into these gaffes. he knows the buttons he's pressing and the coded language he's using. >> trump said that beating hillary clinton would be easier than beating his republican candidates in the primaries. >> when i can focus on hillary, as i say, crooked hillary, when i focus on hillary, she'll go down easier than any of the people we just beat. >> so we've got little marco, lyin' ted, and crooked hillary. now, the thing about crooked hillary, which fascinates me, he doesn't even have to point to a

case of her being crooked. he just says it. he just dictates the connection. and you can free associate that, i guess, with e-mails, i wouldn't call that crooked. maybe something, a misjudgment or something. i wouldn't call it crooked. and he's trying to find out where -- he's going back to white water. what is he talking about -- that was nothing. hillary clinton, oh, she took the speech money. does that make her crooked? what is it -- the beauty of it is, just start saying. just start saying it. and then, i noticed that peggy noonan this week said she was a criminal. i mean, it's amazing how it's catching on. >> and you just said. >> no, i didn't. >> not me. >> you repeated it. how's that? >> i recited it. >> right, but we're talking about. this is the whole paradox of donald trump. i sit there as a consultant who's done this longer than anybody on the planet. and everything he does, i say, that makes no sense to me and then he goes up in the polls. our home state of pennsylvania, he won every county last week. now, this is a very -- >> every county, and all five states he ran. >> number one, tells me there's

a lot of closet -- sorry, trump voters. >> i agree with that. >> and number two is -- >> explain why there would be so many who wouldn't tell a well-spoken, perfect english caller, would you be for donald trump or would you -- i always think, if you talked a little more street language, yeah, i want that guy trump, yeah, right. are you with that guy trump? yeah, i'm with that guy, trump. >> but there are people with him that won't say it. >> it's the classic example of asking, okay, well would -- a pollster asking, would your friends do this, would your neighbors do this? >> that's a trick. >> yeah, of course. and i think there are a lot more supporters. somebody said to me once, a great analogy. the trump voter is like the guy who gets drunk on a friday and swears he's going to go in on a monday and tell off his boss, but then he doesn't. but i think the thing is, al of those guys are going in. >> let's ask the only woman here, there are four of us. there should be more. should be half.

but let me ask you about the woman thing. there's an old rule, well-learned in the wrong way, by rick lastio, don't go into somebody's space, especially if they're a woman. george bush senior referred to, i kicked her butt, geraldine farrar. we all know what sounds terrible afterwards. trump seems to break every one of those rules. he walks into the china shop and carries it around with him, basically, and smashes it up. >> and so far that's worked for him. and a lot of political strategists will say, don't go after someone's weakness. you want to go after your opponent's strength and make it into a weakness. much like -- >> okay, two things. i always say, hate conflation. iraq was not 9/11, blah blah blah, but the right wing is particularly good at conflating. saying that hillary clinton is somehow running on her card, now, there's two ways that can be interpreted. i want you to delineate what is actually a fair shot and not a fair shot. first of all, she didn't get to be a graduate of yale law for being a woman. she didn't go to wellesley --

well, i guess wellesley's a woman's school. that's one place where it helped. ever since '91, the regency hotel on park avenue, back in '91, they were running as intellectual and political equals. they walked out in a state she spoke for. the idea that hillary became prominent because she's a wall, per se, that's not true. but lately she has been saying, pushing the woman thing. this is a chance to -- is one shot unfair in the way it's been taught. what he says, she wouldn't be here if she was ant woman. >> and i think it's worth remembering that when brrnds suggested that hillary clinton was unqualified, that didn't go well. i mean, people pushed back and said, well, she's clearly qualified. >> why did that hurt him? because he's running in the democratic primary, where they're more sensitive to that, right? >> if you look at her resume from a gender neutral perspective, i mean, clearly she's qualified. but you can question whether she has done a good job, whether she has the best ideas. clearly, she has necessary experience to run for this.

>> i think her star quality owes something to bill. bill was a guy, i've always said, bill, occasionally, you get two and two, you get five. occasionally you get three. with her, two and two, you get four. it's not as wild as bill. bill was a movie star politically. >> the strategy -- and john can probably speak to this some more -- but the strategy behind this seems so shortsighted. but good luck winning the general election without women. especially if you're a republican. >> how about independent married women. can he get that category of women? >> it seems really difficult at this point. and even if he had them, it's not clear to me that the republican, given the demographics, the republican nominee could win in 2016. i mean, mitt romney lost by 5 million votes and he still won white women. >> yeah, do you think -- maybe i'm strong here, but i opened the show with what we call a cold open. bully's pulpit. can being a bully work in this country? have we ever elected somebody who really does come across as a guy, i'm going to shove back. i'm a bully in the world. i'm going to be tougher than put

putin. does that sell? >> here's what people don't fully understand. the success of donald trump is not donald trump, it's his supporters. i don't think donald trump has figured that out. the reason i think that's so important is he gets to play by different rules. we first saw that when he criticized mccain. a great american war hero. >> you're so right. >> and nothing happened. >> are we all discounting the edge of the craziness, and say, no, i like the heart of what he's saying, which is, i'm mad like you are. >> no, they're saying he has a big megaphone and he's authentic and he's going to say what he's going to say. >> and you liberal media elite are not going to tell me how to vote. >> absolutely. >> we laugh at that, because we think that's buffoonery. >> but people don't like to be told their stupid. >> those lying media people, we laugh at them, because that's buffoonery, but the audience is cheering them. >> yes. >> by the way, this is new, there are no experts. you can't be an expert if something hasn't happened. thank you, john brabender. coming up, there are poll

numbers and projections out there that make democrats optimistic about a general election matchup with donald trump, as we've been hearing here. they show hillary clinton a real shot to win big, picking up states democrats didn't win in '12. at least one state they haven't won in 20 years. for his part, trump is hoping to put blue states like michigan, wisconsin, and even pennsylvania in play. who's got the edge heading into the general election? and this is a year you can't tell the winning candidate from the winner on election night, that's because the losers don't make concession speeches, they make victory speeches even when they get beat. so why do the losers always sound like they're winning? i owe this question to frank bruni of "the new york times." and tonight on the eve of the white house correspondents' dinner, we have neve campbell and joshua kelly of "house of cards." all three will play "hardball." and on tuesday, msnbc will have live coverage of the indiana primary. and get ready for this, stay up late, have a coffee, 11:00 a.m.

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the republican party, in a presidential sense, doesn't win anymore. you pick your standard cookie cutters. i can tell you already, just give me the name of the person and i'll tell you exactly what state he's going to win and what states he's going to lose. i'm different because i'm going to win states that nobody else can. >> welcome back to hardball. with the prospect of a clinton versus trump general election match up for the fall, some numbers show hillary clinton with chance to score big in the

electoral college. the latest national poll of a clinton/trump contest shows the former secretary of state with an 11-point lead. but larry sabato, a political expert from the university of virginia, says if the election were held today, clinton would win 347 electoral votes. you only need 270 to trump's 191. according to sabato, secretary clinton would win all the states president obama won in 2012, plus the state of north carolina. a poll out of the traditionally red state of arizona also shows clinton with a seven-point lead there over trump. and "usa today's" heidi prez bla broke the news that clinton plans to start shifting her staff to general election swing states. she's hoping for a big victory that looks beyond the obama 2012 map. for more on this, i'm joined by the aforementioned heidi prez bla. let me start with the author.

let's talk about now and november. it's now beginning to be may. we're getting into may. and then we had the summer months. then we have september and october. it's getting close. it's less than six months. how good can we project now what it will look like after six months of donald trump smashing secretary clinton, personally, in terms of her gender, in terms of her marriage to bill clinton. i mean, really unusual vicious campaigning. >> well, as you know, we can't say what it will look like in four or six months, but what we can say is what it looks like for certainty right now. we have the polling data and unless something really seismic happens is what you do is you take that '08 map and overlay it, and assume, given the forces we now know are in effect, like trump's effect on suburban women, who may come over and vote for hillary, hispanics, the black turnout. everyone's assuming you can't top what obama did in '08 and '12. wrong, there's a possibility there that -- >> i know exactly what you're

thinking about. which is the real october surprise is going to be president obama campaigning like he's never campaigned before, for hillary clinton. let me go to governor dean. looking at the map, sir, we just heard donald trump suggest what we all heard he wants to do. i would refer to them as the jobbers. big white guys. middle class, not very well off, but tough with an attitude. i think trump's looking at them, to shake up the map his way. but hillary clinton's got north carolina, she's got arizona, she's got colorado, which is already there. but she could build a bigger map, according to what sabato's pointing to. your thoughts? >> this is really, really complicated stuff. i think heidi's absolutely right, though. first of all, i think there's going to be a much bigger african-american turnout than most people expect, for a lot of reasons. one of which there are a lot of people in this country who respond really negatively to bullying. they are minority groups, because they have been bullied plenty. and we're not just talking about african-americans. we're talking about hispanics, we're talking about asian americans who used to vote

republican, but don't anymore because of all the anti-immigration stuff. you can't -- there has never been a president-elected on the republican side with less than 35 pact of the hispanic vote. trump is at 19. so i think the closer this gets, as long as hillary stands up and is a little margaret thatcher like, i think she'll do just fine and we could have a landslide. >> so how do you see it? trump's not stupid enough to make fun of her and call her an enabler because of hergressions >> i bet you he does, chris. he won't be able to stop himself. >> give me an example of her defense? i've always thought in politics, the best political maneuver there is is the attack from a defensive position. there you go again, mr. president. there you go again, mr. trump. >> that's exactly right. absolutely right, that's exactly what you do. you go, there you go again, mr. trump. i really believe in x, y, z and

foreign policy whatever she wants to talk about. and mr. trump, we've put several companies into bankruptcy, we wouldn't let you do that to the united states of america. >> that's an aggressive shot, not a defensive shot. but, anyway, let's talk about women in different situations, stations of life. independent women. do you have a sense that they're willing to be a little more wild west with this guy, trump? married women put up with a little more than single women. single women are -- i've seen politically, very sensitive when some bully comes around and says, you can haven't abortion rights or you can't have this or that. they don't like that at all, single women. married women seem to be a little bit more conservative, more traditional, historically. where do they stand in this fight, once he gets tough, and once he plea bullies her. >> i have talked to married republican women who will not vote for donald trump. they're on the record saying that. i guess you have to make the assumption that since they make up a larger portion of the electorate than men do, that they're going to change their minds. but then you drill down and look at the polling, chris, that shows, they don't just have a

unfavorable opinion of donald trump, and you know in pollese speak, they have a very unfavorable view of him, which is a whole new level of persuasion that it would take on his behalf to persuade them to vote for him. so i think it is very high-bar to move those female numbers. >> governor, i think one thing -- i'm not a woman, but i do try to observe how people behave. someone once said to me, people don't mind being used, but they mind being discarded. that's true about life, too, in relationships. the trouble that trump has is not just that he makes fun, he seems to dismiss them. he talks about women in terms of looks only, when he went after carly fiorina there, by dismissing any woman who's not the latest model from europe. that kind of dismissive behavior like, i'm not interested in their minds, their thoughts, their souls, who they are personally, i'm not interested in them. i want to see them on a runway. really, that's the way he's come across and he's attacked woman on their looks. and i just wonder whether that is particularly stupid, politically.

just a thought. because -- >> well, it is particularly -- >> -- in the whole campaign. >> yeah, no, i think it is particularly stupid. there's two things that are interesting. one, this isn't over yet. cruz is, i think, by now has mike pence's endorsement in indiana. although bobby knight's a much better endorsement than mike pence any day. >> for the guys, i think so, yeah. >> right! but, so, let's see. it's not over yet. i agree, trump's likely to be nominated. you'll get a kick out of this, this is your area. the collar counties of philadelphia, that's where all of these elections are won and loss. i knew that obama was going to beat the daylights out of mccain in the collar counties of pennsylvania. if you do that, those are the classic republican married women who are mostly pro-choice. who swing on exactly the kinds of things you and heidi are talking about. >> i know. i know those women. >> i think you're absolutely right. >> and where you have the train stations, with the broadway play's advertised on.

they're very sophisticated. they read the paper every day. and they know who trump is. >> and it's not just women. you can weigh in on this here. it's these reagan democrats. i think this is overhyped, chris. that's why they're called reagan democrats, because they switched a long time ago. >> yeah, we'll see. we'll see. anyways -- >> these guys -- you're right, the guys you're talking about, chris, these guys have not voted democratic for years and years and years and years. >> i think the guys with the red faces, it's so cold out and they're rooting for a team that's going to lose most of the time, but that sort of attitude. and i think they may be -- >> well, trump's got that. >> he's after that. thank you, governor dean. have a nice weekend. heidi, you're very good on this show. up next, the art of losing, why this year's concession speeches have sounded a lot more like the speeches of winners. why can't anyone lose gracefully anymore? frank bruni of "the new york times" wrote a great column on

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welcome back to "hardball." why can't anyone lose gracefully anymore? with more than 20 presidential candidates at the outset of this 2016 battle, and most state contests completed now, we've heard quite a few concession speeches this year. but often the losers sound a lot like they just won. let's take a look. >> so, so this his the moment they said would never happen. for months, for months, they told us we had no chance. so tonight, i thank you here in iowa. i thank you, because tonight we have taken the first step, but an important step towards winning this election. >> the votes are still being counted and the exact results are unknown, but right now it appears that we are effectively tied for third in the state of

new hampshire. that was the result that all of us were told was impossible. together, we have done what the pundits and the media said could not be done. >> the wind is at our backs. we have the momentum. i believe that when democrats assemble in philadelphia in july at that convention, we are going to see the results s of one of e great political upsets in the history of the united states. >> it was all unbelievable. it started with plamarco rubio his third place finish in iowa. and senator sanders after a nevada loss, loss that was to hillary clinton. in fact, often the losers this year don't actually concede.

they get angry. frank bruni wrote this week about the cult of losers, describing, "all too often, contests don't yield accepted conclusions and a grudging act wee essence of those who didn't get their way. a determination to neuter the victor, nullify the results or reverse them as soon as possible." it hasn't always been this way. what is it about 2016 that everyone is a loser sounds like a winner. here with me is dana milbank with "the washington post," and sabri sabrina siddiqui of the guardian. it seems that it starts with this ridiculous inability to just say, okay, bad night. >> i think it starts -- first of all, we have to blame america in general -- >> we're all guilty? >> we raise our children, everybody gets a trophy. >> oh, i know. >> it doesn't matter what happens there. and of course, as usual, the media are to blame here. it's not whether you win or lose, it's whether you beat expectations or not. so we set these expectations and

in a way, rubio and cruz are uldn't be done, i couldn't s come in tied for third. >> they say that about "we," as a collective statement, but i grew up in politics as a kid, watching wonderful concession speeches. i saw it later as part of history. stevenson, who lost to ike saying, you know, he quoted lincoln saying, i'm too old to cry, but it hurts too much to laugh. and wonderful lines like ed brooke of massachusetts say, i didn't cry on the mountain, i will not cry in the valley. i mean, emotional moments that were honest and the end of the night. you knew it was over when the guy conceded. >> i think dana has a point when it comes to the modern kind of 24/7 environment, so much of campaigning, as these elections are increasingly nationalized has to do with controlling the media narrative. and if you can create the sense of momentum, then the idea is that it will follow you to the ballot box. >> are we that stupid? >> the media certainly played along with marco rubio for a great deal in the early states. but also on the republican side, there's been this deep-rooted

denial from the outset that donald trump will be the nominee. >> it's still there. >> a lot of this has to do with there's no way that republican voters will choose donald trump to represent our party, and we have to remain relevant and seem like we have a chance to actually defeat him. >> a bit of this is theater review, and that's okay. i enjoy it. but there's serious business here. one thing you notice, if you lose an election, it was stolen, corrupt, rigged. trump says, i'll arrest hillary if i win, i'll put her in jail. and every time they lose, bernie did this in new york, brooke lynn, nobody says, i lost fairly. >> i'm not sure, chris, that it's that nefarious, nor is it that -- remember, go back to the comeback kid speech. bill clinton, a long time ago in new hampshire -- he didn't win the new hampshire primary. in the primaries, there's not finality. you will see, you know, john mccain gave a great kegs speech when he lost the general

election. remember al gore saying, it is time for me to go? >> that was a good speech. >> i suspect you see that with finality. but we don't get finality. >> you're right about the gore speech. that was one of the good ones. i don't know who helped him with it. but that was a wonderful way to end what i -- i'm not sure the other side would have been as wonderful. >> and you have to think about the fact that the entire premise of donald trump's message as well as that of bernie sanders isn't that the political system is rigged against the american people so they can kind of use this line that this is rigged. because that's what's driving a lot of their support. the idea that the political system is corrupt. that the establishment is trying to cherry pick candidates and nominees. >> i do like the idea of civilization. >> you think? >> i think it works. thank you, dana milbank. i think there's a certain quality to a person who say, i got beaten. you're always well-read around here. still ahead, a special hollywood roundtable ahead of this

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i'm milissa rehberger. here's what's happening. an investigation found human error, fatigue, and equipment failures were factors in the deadly u.s. air strike on a doctors without borders hospital in afghanistan. 42 people died in the attack last year. 16 service members have been disciplined for their roles in that bombing. apple has agreed to analyze a cell phone belonging to one of the teens who vanished during a fishing trip off the coast of florida last summer. the u.s. has reported its first death from zika. a man in his 70s died from complications of the mosquito-born virus in puerto rico. and will ferrell has reportedly backed out of a planned satirical film about ronald reagan. member of the former president's family had spoken out against that project. back to "hardball."

no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the donald. and that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like, did we fake the moon land iing. >> welcome back to "hardball". it got worse there. that was president obama getting the better of donald trump in tlc 2011. it's that time of year when hollywood royalty crosses the other coast to hang out with those at the white house correspondents' dinner. the game change for the dinner came back in the 1980s when a journalist brought oliver north's secretary, fawn hall, to that event. what was unusual back then has become an annual event where actors mingle with the washington elite, such as it is,

for the evening, and not only is hollywood descending on washington, they seem to be drawing more influence and more story material from their work from their reimagined drama within the beltway. think about the tv show on hbo, "veep," "scandal," and one of my favorite, the "house of cards," which i'm mostly through the latest series. our special white house correspondents' weekend "hardball" roundtable is here to talk about the cult intersection between tinseltown and washington. joining me right now is neve campbell from "house of cards," right. leann? >> leann. >> josh stamberg currently stars in "the affair," and robin bronx, ceo of the creative coalition makes all of this possible. i've got to talk to you guys about this hollywood thing. tell me, you're part of this. you grew up here. >> i did. >> what makes a town, for years, i would hear movie directors say, you can't sell a move that says it's about politics. you have to say, it's a romance set in washington or it's a thriller! you can't say, but today,

anything about politics is something. they've got nixon and elvis? who would have believed that? that's opening up this weekend here. >> inherent drama, right? >> if you want to know what it was really like. a 15-hour photo op and an hour and a half movie. >> tough one. >> what did you bring to hollywood when you came out here? your mom's susan sarandon and we share the same starbucks, i know her well. >> i think the thing growing up in d.c., it's not actually, the people working in d.c. are not the people who are necessarily going to this dinner, right? the people who are making the wheels spin. i think there's interesting, but i don't know how intense that interest is, you know? i think the hollywood piece of it is, how do we take the really interesting and dramatic world that is washington, d.c. and turn it into even better drama. >> when i bring people here, i take them on my midnight tour. the only thing besides money i can give people. it's easy to pay for dinner if you've got some money, but hard to get them to stay out after midnight on a weekday night.

i take them on my crazy tour and show them the exorcist steps from the movie. where the priest fell down, right at the end. >> that's great. >> that's my idea of showing hollywood. what washington's really like. so, neve campbell. >> yes? >> it's fascinating. you know, i've only, here -- this is my third time in washington, and each time's only been 24 hours, and today, actually, i was up on the hill with the creative coalition. >> with robin. >> yes. >> what was her pitch? >> trying to raise some more money for the arts. >> federal government money. >> yes, absolutely. >> okay, robin, make your pitch. >> we're trying to make this the last arts advocacy day. why do we have to be this special interest group that advocates for more money for the country so we can be a better country, more competitive country, and get our kids ready for the workforce. and neve and about 20 other leaders from hollywood were with us. we went door-to-door, literally in congress, you've been walking around since 8:00 a.m.. >> did you meet any interesting

congressmen? you had all senators, right? >> no, i wasn't on the team that had the senators. i was supposed to be. i was on the orange team and none of the senators showed up. >> here's a sample of neve's actual work, plotting as political strategist, leann harvey. there's a nice name. willing to do pretty much anything to notch a win for the underwoods in the "house of cards." a very dark story. let's watch. >> he's a stranger to us. >> he's the top data scientist in the country, maybe the world. he was exploring behavior adoption and -- >> stop. we are talking domestic surveillance, leann. and the only theory i'm interested in is risk versus votes. >> and he gets us the votes. >> so he's trying to pass a gun safety bill and he wants to identify voters like leads, leads that would tell who to make a phone call to, who would then phone a congressman or senator, right?

>> absolutely. >> and that's illegal, apparently? i don't think it is, but in the movie it is. >> in the movie it is, exactly. she finds ways to manipulate things, to make things happen for the people she's working with. >> you look pretty good in the movie, because you come out as like a gun for hire, but you don't seem bad. >> well, we'll see. >> you don't come off as bad. >> "the affair" starts with an affair, obviously, and all i kept thinking about, this is the best argument against having an affair. >> ever! >> it is so complicated, it gets so bad. >> my married friends -- >> he has to really love this new young woman, because everything in his wife is going away. because he seems to have a really nice wife. here you go. let's watch. >> have you ever been left before? have you ever been dumped? >> no. >> i have. many times, and i can tell you from personal experience that people leave for lots of different reasons. >> wow.

philosophy. >> yeah, right? deep, politics of friendship. you don't see it a lot between two guys, right? >> but you're messing with his -- >> sleeping with his wife. and paid -- it's not great. >> not an act of friendship. it's a smokey story. smokey. >> robin, thank you. good luck with the cause. >> thank you. kevin spacey and others, friends of ours who come around here. and we really do believe that it's good to back our arts. the roundtable is staying with us. and up next, these three will tell me something i don't know. this is the first time we've tried it with civilians. this is "hardball," the place for politics. i have asthma...

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12 months free at mybreo.com. you want to tune in on tuesday night this week. i'll be back with my colleagues brian williams and rachel maddow for complete primary coverage. that's 6:00 to 11:00 eastern time tuesday night. and 11:00 p.m. that night, a special "hardball." full complete indiana results and a look ahead toward the general election. that's going to be our topic at 11:00. and we'll be right back. (neighbor) yeah, so we're just bringing your son home. he really loves our wireless directv receiver. (dad) he should know better. we're settlers. we settle for cable. but let us repay you for your troubles. fresh milk for the journey home? (neighbor) we live right there. (dad) salted meats? (neighbor) no thank you. (dad) hats then! (vo) don't be a settler, get a $100 reward card when you switch to directv.

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i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. make sure your doctor hears you too! i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands, don't suffer in silence! step on up and ask your doctor about diabetic nerve pain. tell 'em cedric sent you. we're back with the "hardball" roundtable. neve, tell me something i don't know about the correspondents' dinner tomorrow night. >> well, it's my first time, so i'm very curious. i'm curious to see what obama does with the roasting, because it's his last year. >> he'll take a shot at trump, don't you think? >> i think so. but i don't think he's going to be there. >> he'll be there in absentia. >> white house correspondents' dinner president, 1975, helm toms.

1973, any idea? >> susan samberg? >> no, edgar a. poe. no idea who that is. but a good name. >> that was a stumper. but has good news value. go ahead, robin. >> never discount being a bystander at that dinner. my greatest moment was i got to be -- watch lori david and sheryl crow teach karl rove about global warming. i swear, lori david had a whiteboard in her evening bag. she pulled it up, sheryl had the statistics and i saw karl doing that -- hmm. >> let me tell you something, he's uneducatable. thank you, neve campbell, josh stamberg, and robin bronc. we knew him as douglas stamper. actor michael kelly is coming here. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. ♪

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show me "previously watched." what's recommended for me. x1 makes it easy to find what you love. call or go online and switch to x1. only with xfinity. where are we with leann? >> she's clean. >> i refuse to believe that. >> doug, if our campaign manager bites the dust, that hurts us. >> i gave you a task. >> and i'll keep at it. >> scary stuff. we're back. his role as doug stamper, that's a great dekensian name on "house

of cards." actor michael kelly plays a ruthlessly efficient actor whose machiavelli machiavellian tactics usually fall on the other side of the law. you have to explain to people that you're not that guy. you're not doug stamper when you walk down the street. are they scared of you? >> certainly in d.c., no, it's pretty crazy. never -- i don't think i've ever taken more selfies than here in d.c. >> when you read a script, before an episode, ever think, how bad am i going to get? you're killing people one after another. and it's always done with great deliberation. there's nothing impulsive about it. you decide, this person must be eliminated. >> yeah, it's bad for the greater good. he's just god to do his job. >> have you figured out what -- because i've always liked loyalty in politics, to a point. and you carry it beyond that, of course. because i like the old idea that you serve the boss, get him elected, and unless he's doing something actually criminal, you

cover for him. >> obviously, we take it to a criminal level on our show, but i love it too. and i actually understand my character. i understand doug stamper. it makes sense to me. >> what do you make him so almost dog-like loyal? >> i think it's a lot of things. addiction. a lot of it's addiction for him, you know, the alcohol addiction, the job addiction. he wants to be the best he can be at his job. >> and he wants the approval and administration of boss. >> of course. some of the loyalty is a bi-product of him being so focused on what he does. but he definitely wants the approval of the boss. >> you're up in baltimore doing this incredible series and there's another year coming up. it just keeps going. >> season five. >> do people come up to you and say, i just watched three of your supposed last night. >> yes. >> rob reiner, i know a bit of, he said, the first series, the first year, he watched the whole thing on a rainy weekend. >> i'm amazed sometimes. as soon as the season comes out, someone's tweeting, 13 hours later, done. i'm like, oh, my gosh, you just watched the whole thing, straight through.

i can watch two supposed of something. >> last night kathleen and i were watching it and i had fallen asleep, because we had been doing this week of politics, and i said, she's going to bed, she looks back through the door and says, want to watch another one? i'm like, i'm exhausted! i think you're responsible for a lot of people being up way too late at night. is this going to encourage people, young men and women to run for office, if they see frank underwood's lust for power? >> i hope so. i hope it encourages people to get informed in politics and learn more about but really, at its core, the show's about power. >> it's about the husband and wife who have -- don't seem to have a real loving relationship anymore. they have something, but when they go to the window and they share the cigarette, it's like an old 1930s movie, you know, betty davis and paul, having a cigarette, to sort of represent their love making. to celebrate their conniving.

>> they're definite sex scenes. >> it's all simulates. >> i'm a big fan of this guy. it's no doubt when you watch him, you think, it's him, it really is him that's doing the tonight on "all in" -- >> that was not the easiest entrance i've ever made. >> another trump spectacle in california. >> oh, boy, felt like i was crossing the border. >> as the general election fight escalates. >> i've had a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation in the way they behave and how they speak. >> tonight, why donald trump is calling hillary clinton an enabler and why his defense of a convicted rapist is coming back to haunt him. >> frankly, i think mike tyson's been railroaded. >> plus my interview with the writer getting death threats for writing about melania trump. and my exclusive interview with "the hamilton" creator about the fight to save puer