in or out? let's play hardball. good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. two days after president trump warned iran it was on notice for a ballistic missile zest, the white house announced a new round of sanctions. they charged individuals and entities connected with the iranian national guards. the president was asked about the sanctions today. let's watch. >> thank you. >> they are not behaving.

>> they are not behaving. well, president trump continued to talk tough on iran. on twitter this morning, he wrote iran is playing with fire. they don't appreciate how kind president obama was to them, not me. here was the white house spokesman, sean spicer today. >> the actions speak for itself in terms of actions. he's made it very, very clear the deal that was struck was a bad deal. we gave iran too much and we got too little for it. he is going to continue to be tough on iran in a way that wasn't done the last eight years. today's actions and the way we expedited the sanctions is how he's going to stay tough on them. >> in spite of the strong language, quote, the new sanctions represent a continuation of the obama administration limited punishment for the activity and avoid a direct showdown with tehran over the nuclear deal itself. the target for sanctions were

drawn up before mr. obama left office. the new president sounds a lot like the last one. according to the times, president trump, this is a quote, after promising a radical break, barack obama is embracing key pillars of the former administration strategy, including warning israel to curb construction on the west bank and russia withdrawal from crimea. joining me is former chief of staff of the cia in the pentagon and susan page and howard fineman director for the "huffington post." ime glad we have heavyweights here. i'm nervous. i don't know why we are acting so belligerent with iran. whether it's the iran contra or the hostage taking, it always seems to be trouble for us to get too engaged with us. your thinking? why is he pushing this test?

>> usually actions speak louder than words. in this case, their words are much bigger, much tougher than their actions. >> behavior? like he's a 10-year-old? they are in their 70s. >> the actions are benign. they are important, they are proportionate, they are good. >> the sanctions are like obama? >> what the previous team would have done had they been in office. the words, the twitter feeds from the president and the statements by flynn from the podium yesterday and today are very tough. i think they are preparing -- >> what's on notice mean? it sounded like the guns of august. it sounded like barbara tuckman and world war i. why are we saying you are on notice? >> they are preparing the battlefield for military action. >> really? >> i do. i think they are going to move naval forces in and conduct special operations. >> to what effect? >> deter iran.

basically prevent them from destabili destabilizing. >> let's go to the idea it's more offensive than aggressive. could he be trying to upset them to the point they drop the nuclear deal? how far is he pushing? >> if you look at what they have done, i don't think you would say that. they could have made this part of the nuclear deal and they chose not to. they could have taken more radical steps than they did. is this where they are going to talk tough but do things that don't upset the regular order or step one like moving in for regular action? that could be a serious step, indeed. i don't think we know yet. >> just the opposite of teddy roosevelt? >> at the moment it is. >> it's the opposite. howard, why are we talking like a big shot and doing the usual stuff? it is dangerous, words matter. >> donald trump is now entering the twilight zone, aka the middle east. everything he says resinates

with incredible force everywhere in the region. don't forget, within the last few days he's had long conversations with saudi leaders, united arab emirate leaders, with persian gulf sunni arabs. >> king abdullah. >> yeah, king abdullah of jordan. they fear iran and the encroachments. donald trump, having just spoken with them. i covered trump, he's charged up by the last person he talked to. he was talking to the sunnis. be tough on iran. also, he's got netanyahu coming here from israel and that's what they want to hear. the iranian-american community don't buy this is just obama. they are going where we just heard he was going. they worry trump is preparing for military action. >> donald trump's language on iran sounds like an ulty may tum. it's in contrast to his rhetoric

during the campaign. he stated strong opposition against stupid wars and accused hillary clinton of being trigger happy. let's remind ourselves how trump one. >> obviously the war in iraq is a mistake. the war in iraq, we spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives, we don't have it. iran is taking over iraq with the second largest oil reserve. they lie. they say they were weapons of mass destruction. unlike my opponent, my foreign policy will emphasize diplomacy, not destruction. sometimes it seemed like there wasn't a country in the middle east that hillary clinton didn't want to invade, intervene in or topple. she's trigger happy and very unstable. >> let's talk politics. he's talking my language there. the dove language. too many words there. we knocked off the joke regimes. we are better off with jokes

surroundingisrael. we were better off with a buffer state against iran than losing iraq as a buffer. now israel. if you want to be pro-israel, you think it was better with other buffers. other people who took on the task of fighting iran like they did in a war seven or eight years. they were willing to fight. now it's israel and iran. does trump know what he's doing with this rattling and you evering ulty may tums? >> i'm not sure. diplomacy is a game where sometimes you bite your tongue and don't make every point you could make and take every piece that is put out there as a piece of bait. those are not the characteristics we generally see with trump. so, i'm not sure if he's adjusted, yet, to the reality of being the commander in chief in terms of how much his words matter as was the case of australia. not a country we want to invade.

a historic ally. >> het's talk about reagan because he's used as a model for a lot of presidents on the right. colonel nickolson got killed. the korean plane shot down by a regional commander. all these incidents, reagan went, yeah, it's bad, shouldn't have happened and goes on to the larger question, how we got into the cold war. does trump have the temperament to do that? we can always find a reason to fight. finding a way to peace is trickier. >> no. i don't think that's the view. their organizing principle, this team is radical islamic jihadism. this is the organizing principle. they believe it has two pillars one is isis and shia in the form of the supreme leader in iran. they don't believe you can

netiate anything with those people. >> what is their plan, th? >> ratchet up the pressure and threaten with military action. >> then what? they won military action. they want us in there. we get drawn in there on their territory, then you end upcoming home wounded. >> the tweet this morning said iran is on the brink of collapse. that's their view. they want to collapse the regime. >> flynn, the new national security adviser and bannon think the way to defeat the iran part of the two-headed force you are talking about is that somehow the islamic state in iran is going to crumble. >> wow. >> that's what they think because they are being told by iranians in the united states who -- they all hate the islamic republic. they have different theories about how to fight it. >> this sounds familiar like the iraqi national congress. >> this is the iran version. >> right. >> they are telling flynn and

bannon, if you put enough pressure on these people, the people in iran will rise up and overthrow them. >> this is what we have been hearing from the right -- >> that's what's going on. >> here is what donald trump's press secretary -- here is a modulating force. stop building the settlement outside the borders. let's watch. >> we don't believe the existence to current is impedestrianment to it. it is not going to be helpful moving forward. >> around here, the producers think, we have all been thinking this, a pro-american leader over there, king abdullah of jordan is most sensitive. in the end, there needs to be a two-state solution. the only alternative is israel to decide on zionism and democracy. you can't have all those people

living in the country having kids and more and more non-israeli people living in israel. >> king abdullah rules over a country, jordan, 75% palestinian. he's got to be concerned. that's where they were. that's where the palestinian movement got a lot of -- >> do you think trump is responsive to that situation? is he responsive to king abdullah's situation if they move the embassy to jerusalem? >> i think they are thinking about it. i have to say, the statement on settlements was a little bit of everything and therefore all of nothing. it basically said -- >> b.b. wants more. >> the prime minister netanyahu will get more. >> will he? >> yeah. >> they have been a little bit of everything. it may be -- the one that is are there now, future ones may be a problem. yeah, no kidding. it was still a pivot from what

donald trump said in the past. he was willing to entertain the idea this is something the u.s. should wait. >> b.b. is coming with a list of requirements. back in may, donald trump had this hans in whether there should be a pause. let's watch. >> i think they really have to keep going, they have to keep moving forward. no. i don't think there should be a pause. look, missiles were launched into israel. israel, i think, nev was properly treated by our country. you know how devastating that is? >> that's a general political assessment, let's face it. >> not only abdullah, fwu gulf leaders. they want something from donald trump in public. by the way, the statement about the settlements was not out of donald trump's mouth. it was sean spicer's statement. the sunnis want something before netanyahu gets here.

they want something from trump. trump is thinking of the world like a real estate deal in manhattan. he has no idea. he thinks he understands how complex this stuff is. he's going to be saying things in public and private -- >> let me make one point here. we have the art world. it is. israel is there. they would love peace and be accepted normal. that's all israel has ever wanted, accept us in the neighborhood. there's the sunnis and the shia. with the seven nation ban that was stamped on, you can't come here, we don't like you, that nails the shia countries. now we move the embassy to jerusalem screwing all the sunni countries. we are making a point of sending a message to every arab country, we are not on your side. that's the message coming from donald trump. >> i don't think the support for

israel requirements should be thought of as going down wrong in the arab world. do it for our own personal interests. >> moving the embassy -- >> statements like we are going to take their oil, that does not go down well on the arab street. >> can you imagine an american soldier dying to grab the oil wells? >> it's illegal. >> it's not american, either. >> i would say colonial. just guessing. great to have you on. coming up, why is the president dancing the kabuki with arnold schwarzenegger. he asked people to pray for arnold. he's talking about the bad job he did as gov in california. this is "hardball," where the action is. om! studies show that toms have the highest average earning potential over their professional lifetime. see? uh, it's a girl. congratulations! two of my girls are toms. i work for ally, finances are my thing.

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we had tremendous success on "the apprentice." when i ran for president, i had to leave the show. that's when i knew for sure i was doing it. they hired a big, big movie star, arnold schwarzenegger to take my place. and we know how that turned out. the ratings went right down the tubes. it's been a total disaster. mark will never, ever bet against trump again. i want to just pray for arnold, if we can. >> mind blowing. that was the president of the united states taking a swipe at his successor on his reality show, "the apprentice," arnold schwarzenegger. that was during the national prayer breakfast. it took a while to respond to the president of the united states on this important issue. >> donald, i have a great idea.

why don't we switch jobs, you take over tv if you are such an expert in ratings and i take over your job and then people can finally sleep comfortably again. >> this morning the tweeter in chief was back at it writing, yes, arnold schwarzenegger did a bad job as governor of california and worse on "the apprentice." at least he tried hard. this is the president of the united states talking. "the new york times" points out, it would be impossible to quit the white house and resume his roll in prime time. the former governor would face trouble becoming president including he was born in austria. after arnold schwarzenegger for the show's ratings dive. for more on this grudge match, i'm with author of "never tough," a biography of donald

trump. a mixed bag presidency. a lot of problems. some hope in this administration. why is he distracting from a supreme court nominee. impressive picks for his cabinet that surprised a lot of people that went whizzing through. here he is focusing on a fight for a guy he got the job for. i don't get it. what is the motivation? is it mine is bigger than yours? i'm bigger than yours? what is it? what could it be? >> he doesn't let anything go, chris, so we start there. remember how your parents and your teachers taught you you don't have to bring someone else down to raise yourself up? nobody ever taught donald that. he's always playing this game of, i'm going to not only rise above you, but i'm going to shove you down, too, so i look better by comparison. >> but, that fight over the

ratings for "the celebrity apprentice" show are not important to 99.99% of this country. arnold schwarzenegger may make it, he may not. he's had a tough career lately. it's tough to succeed anybody. nobody cares. they like him, he's a popular figure, but they don't care about his ratings. why go to a prayer breakfast to do it? this is shooting fish in a barrel. why did he go to a prayer breakfast saying i'm praying for arnold when he's not? >> if he's in a contest that can be measured,e wants his score to be higher. "the apprentice" wasn't doing well when donald decided to run for president. some people think he ran to boost the ratings. now, if it fails and gets canceled -- >> our network, nbc, our larger

network, did try to get him very much to stick around and do that. they were succeeding with that show. it was making money, obviously. >> it was in the 70s. he likes to go around saying he's number one. it's really a challenge to donald to be measured and found lacking. >> thank you, michael. when we return, let me finish with trump watch. this is "hardball," where the action is. like centurylink's broadband network that gives 35,000 fans a cutting edge game experience. or the network that keeps a leading hotel chain's guests connected at work, and at play. or the it platform that powers millions of ecards every day for one of the largest greeting card companies. businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink. (bin einstein since he startede eating beneful. the number one ingredient in it is beef. (einstein) the beef is fantastic!

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trump watch. friday, february 3rd, 2017. there's something strange in the neighborhood. trump busters. every time, well often enough to notice, someone in our near the white house gets to the new president and says cool it, you are getting too hot. you are scaring the country. you are getting friends of our nervo nervous. haven't you noticed? look what happened after trump and steve bannon rammed out the executive order banning travel from seven muslim countries.

no matter what he said, it was too overdone, too obnoxious over the world. what did trump do about the sense he had gone overboard and too hellbent on meeting the campaign promise? he settled down. what's going on here? are there people in the white house acting as stabilizers, shock absorbers or know when the leader is too far ahead and it's time for him to rejoin the troops? even his own supporters are jumpy. is it a self-corrector in himself? it alerts himself to let trump be trump. he's banging up against a barrier and better show people he has things together and can run things the normal way and the way that calms people down and makes him seem like he's been on the job more than two weeks.

we'll see whether it's the people around him that bust in or an internal alarm system that tells donald trump to stop, look, and yes, this is the hard part, listen to the country. who you gonna call? i call the american people. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. next, "your business" with j.j. ramberg. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox.

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good morning. coming up on msnbc's, "your business," the impact of president trump's immigration order on growing businesses. a photographer rock star ditches the glamour and starts a business making notebooks to find it's just as exciting. a florida entrepreneur targeting a in each, cleaning up after crime scenes and hoarders. all that and more ways to grow your company, coming up next on "your business."