can't we all just get along? let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, let the peacemaking begin. from the moment president obama said at his news conference at the cambridge massachusetts police acted stupidly in arresting henry louis gates, he guaranteed that the story, both the arrest and his comment would become larger than life and it has. in fact, it has trumped everything, including health care, which is what mr. obama wanted to make news about this week, so this afternoon the president made a rare appearance in the white house briefing

room, and though he never said the words "i'm sorry" that was clearly the message. >> in my choice of words, i think i had, unfortunately, gave an impression that i was maligning the came bridge police officer and i could have calibrated the words differently. >> he still believes sergeant crowley overreacted and he believes saturday gates overreacted as well. he had a beer at the white house with the sergeant and the professor. we'll have much more on the president's laters comments in a minute. for his part, sergeant crowley doesn't want people to see him as a monster or a bigot. gates gave him no chance but to arrest him, says the sergeant. gates says the incident was a

bat of the the wills. also, we'll button up this week's debate involving the wing-nuts who say president obama is not an american. and a dozen elected members of the u.s. congress are pushing this damn story. not to mention the on-air asian tour who love pushing the nativist buttons every night and every afternoon. the american standard magazine says the so-called birthers should take a trip back to reality. my friend joins me to talk about that. plus, if you think the birthers are the only ones crying conspiracy, wait until you hear what some people now think the government is hiding about ufos. and sarah palin's last day in office comes this sunday. i have a suspicion we are going to hear a lot more from her once she is flying down here among the lower 48. that's in the politics picks

tonight. we begin with president obama, our president, heading back in front of the press people to continue the conversation the whole country is involved about the arrest of henry louis gates. domenick carter is a senior political reporter for "new york one." ron brownstein is the political director for atlantic media. let's listen to the president on this issue, here he is today on his choice of words. >> i want to be clear that in my choice of words, i think, i unfortunately gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department and sergeant crowley specifically, and i could have calibrated the words differently, and i told this to sergeant crowley. i continue to believe based on what i have heard that there was an overreaction in pulling professor gates out of his home

to the station. i also continue to believe based on what i heard that professor gates probably overreaction overreacted as well. >> the amazing thing, domenick, is how quickly you can turn a him into a stranger that i just talked to on the telephone. that's what the president did with sergeant crowley. how do you handle this latest development? >> well, today, chris, it was a swell-scripted moment out of the white house and the president as compared to the other day. when the fact of the matter is, you can agree or disagree, but the president was speaking from the heart. what's interesting about this situation, mr. obama, the president, is someone with transcended race. we saw it during the campaign, and yet this is the most racial moment we have had from this president. he is african-american, and i want to say this up front, a strong supporter of law enforcement, i am, but you have

to understand that i venture to say 98% of african-americans in our country have had some type of situation or they know someone where they feel the individual has been treated unfairly by the police. so i think we are looking at someone, a rare occasion, where the leader of the free world was speaking candidly from the heart. >> i was listening to the radio today, i think it was on cnn, i'm not sure which station i was listening to. it was a pretty intelligent chent, somebody said -- listen to this, dominic, maybe if it was a white guy who was in his house and accosted by a black police sergeant. the sergeant came in to his house and had words with him and arrested him. what would be the reaction to white america? would we talk about the chip on the shoulder and all the attitude study going on by the country? i think it was a shockingly brilliant way to set it up. i might say, this cop has an

attitude. what the hell, he is arresting the great henry kissinger. >> don't you think it is a completely different issue where the president, regardless of the circumstances, should be commenting on a spefg specific local case. no doubt, president obama is engaged in the broad subject dominic talked about. he talked about racial profiling in illinois. i felt he was offkey and a little off his usual precision was on being so specific and commenting on this individual case, a, as we said today, he didn't necessarily have all the facts, b, if he did, is it appropriate for the president of the united states to be offering that detailed an opinion about a law enforcement decision as opposed to saying, as opposed to saying there's a broader issue here we need to discuss in the society which is where he came back today. it was more in tune of the way he handles racial issues. >> in this city especially,

don't you ever want to dust somebody up and say, is there a person inside there? does everybody have to talk like a slot. at some point, he was a little tired and a little edgy, you find out who he is. i'm glad he makes a mistake occasionally so we can find out who he was. here he was today about how he wants to weigh in on this thing. >> i have to tell you that that part of it i disagree with. the fact that this has become such a big issue i think is indicative of the fact that, well, race is still a troublings a pegt of our society, whether i were black or white, i think that me commenting on this and hopefully contributing to constructive as opposed to negative understandings about the issue is part of my

portfolio. >> dominic, i can't think of a parallel, we always like to find parallels of somebody else being president and having to talk for their group, the group they came from within our country or community in a way that he has to do this. i think it is a challenge for him to be both a black man in america and president and he has to find a way to do it. he is taking time to figure it out, when he's tired or not tired, thinking with his staff or on his feet. it has to come together to a general notion of who he is. what do you think? >> it is going to take time and that's something that this president, unlike any president before him, is going to have to deal with. he is the president, the leader of the free world, but the fact of the matter is he's the first african-american president and this guy is walking the fine line with almost every word that comes out of his mouth, but, again, you know, the point that ron made, and i do have to agree, he does have a history of dealing with these issues, in

terms of his past as a state senator. now, the police unions, they are upset, and one can understand their point of view, but, chris, i know you have been talking about this, but just think about this for a second as it relates to race relations in our great country. a professor from harvard university, a man who walks with a cane in his mid-20s, in his own home who identifies himself. so then what can happen to the 16-year-old with his hat to the side and jeans perhaps hanging off his backside that hasn't done anything wrong? >> here's president obama late this afternoon about his invitation -- it was prompted by crowley, the cop, who had the -- what do you call it? he said, why don't you have us over for a drear beer? here he is responding to the propation. >> at the end of the conversation, there was a discussion about -- my conversation with sergeant crowley, there was discussion about he and i and professor

gates having a beer here in the white house. we don't know if that's scheduled yet, but we may put that together. >> okay. here's the question to you. dominic, it is 11:00 tonight, we are in a saloon somewhere in new york, a couple african-americans sitting around, a couple friends who have had a couple beers each, and they are talking about this thing. what are they saying, speak for everyone, what are they saying about how the president handled this? whether he modified, modulate, whatever, what do you think regular guys are saying about him tonight? >> okay, that's a great question, chris. i was getting a haircut today, and when i was listening to the gentlemen say, these were latino gentlemen, they say, police officers have to understand that we want to be treated like everybody else. it would go a long way to show us the same respect that you show everyone else. that's the first thing they are saying.

african-americans in barbershops and beauty salons across america are saying, wow, this guy, meaning the president, is standing strong. they understand that he had to, if you will, walk away from the issue of race during the campaign, but he's not avoiding it now as ft. president of the united states. >> when he went over to the press, are you saying he made a reasonable step back? what do you think they are saying, regular guys. >> regular guys think the president had to do this today as good damage control and he couldn't go into the weekend with this hanging out there. he is the leader of the free world, african-americans understand that, and he can't step on his own message of health care. >> i love america. >> obama's great strength is from the outside and his ability to deliver for minority communities is based on his capacity to understand and show empathy for all viewpoints and not be an advocate -- that has been hiss strength from the house. anything to take him away from that is the greatest thing.

>> the greatest job is to be in on this conversation. the greatest thing. this is america talking. thank you, dominic carter. ron brownstein, thank you very much. coming up, we still don't know exactly what happened between sergeant crowley -- we are talking around the conversation up in of us were in. and professor gates. how do we see this case depend on our race, our experience and conjecture and what was figured out from experience. could this be a teachable moment as the president said? we'll go up to locals in boston and talk to people there. we'll go local in boston. you are watching "hardball" only on msnbc. >> my hope is that as a consequence of this event that this ends up being what's called a teachable moment where all of us, instead of pumping up the volume spend a little more time listening to each other.

at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free". but did you know you also get hotel price assurance? it's a one-two punch of savings -- pow! pow!

lower hotel booking fees mean you get a lower total price. plus, if another orbitz customer then books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically.

the fact that ithas garnered so much attention is a testimony to the fact that these are issues that are still very sensitive here in america. and, you know, so to the extent that my choice of words didn't illuminate but rather contributed to more media frenzy, i think that was unfortunate. welcome back to "hardball." the reverend eugene rivers is with the azusa christian community church in boston, and charles blow is a columnist with "the new york times." gentlemen, thank you for joining us. i'm sure you have thoughts. i won't get in your way. take it away, reverend rivers, about this whole thing from a boston perspective. >> i think the president today engaged in perfect political choreography. he made a mistake. he put the word stupid in the same sentence with police. he understood that this was a major problem, he was smart enough to regroup and reposition himself because this was

cascading into a major crisis in terms of racial division. there was a misunderstanding between professor gates and sergeant crowley. this misunderstanding morphed into a major racial kind of a fight nationally. it was getting away from us, and the president to his credit brilliantly regrouped. he understood he had stepped in a cow pie. he got out of the cow pie and said, look, we have to back away from this, we're going to stand down. he brilliantly called the sergeant, extended the olive branch so there was peace in the valley. the professor and sergeant crowley will get together, they'll have a beer, and that will be the end of the story. brilliant. >> your take on this as a journalist? what's your view of what we've watched here in america? >> that won't be anywhere near the end of this story. i think it's a -- i think you're right, reverend, it's a brilliant move on the part of the president to call and to extend -- and to say

basically, i'm sorry, although he didn't use those words. but this issue doesn't go away. the issue of racial profiling in america in general and very specific to this case, the sergeant has said that he will not apologize and he has done nothing wrong, and the professor says that his account, which is completely -- very different from the sergeant's, is the truth. somebody is lying, and whoever is lying, it has profound consequences either for the people who are under the jurisdiction of the cambridge police and everyone that sergeant crowley has come in contact with heretofore, or for all the scholarships that the professor has taken part in over a very long and distinguished career. set aside what president obama did or did not do. there's still a big story here and we have to find out the truth. >> let me ask you, reverend, suppose it was henry kissinger, not henry gates, who was in his

house and the police officer was african-american and it got out of hand and kissinger lost his temper and started screaming at the black cop in a way that made the cop feel inferior and indignant and he had to stand up to himself, to the point of using his office to arrest him. what would that have told us? it seems to me it's almost impossible to imagine that society wouldn't have come down on that sergeant if he was black in that situation. >> absolutely. >> i mean the american majority would say that cop has got an attitude. he caused this incident. henry kissinger of course was in the right because it was in his house. >> obviously, this was a terrible arrest. it was a clear-cut case of bad policing. had it been kissinger and the black cop forcing the issue, the black cop would have had an attitude problem and kissinger would have been within his rights to complain. look, henry louis gates was arrested in his house for breathing while black, bottom line, understood.

poor policing. now, this incident morphed into a racial problem that we've got to pull back from. i want to pick up on a point that charles blow made. look, in the real world outside of 02318, harvard square. in the real world the way this would be handled is that as the rhetoric got away some cooler heads would have prevailed, called both of the parties in, there would be an apology, the concession would be there was a misunderstanding. we would not racialize to the extent where you get unnecessary polarization. there's a real issue of black people being -- black men in particular being -- >> i think we're going to court on this. i think we're going a totally different direction. robert gibbs, he gets asked

why the obama administration has been covered up the existence of ufos. we'll lynn to the american story always in the ether. you are watching "hardball" only on msnbc. [ femalennouncer ] introducing the latest body wash from olay. tone enriching ribbons. two separate ribbons. the white cleanses. the gold moisturizes and has a touch of mineral shimmer to enhance skin's tone. olay tone enriching body wash. for skin that shimmers.

i hate my phone. what do i do? ( shouting ) this is crazy. you. let's run a free upgrade check. see if you're due for a new smartphone. don't i need to go to my carrier's store for that? no, you don't have to. we sell phones and plans on all the major networks. ok. well, is time travel possible? yes, i am from the future. announcer: phones, plans, and advice from thousands of people eager to help. right now 1.2 million people are on sprint mobile broadband. 31 are streaming a sales conference from the road. eight are wearing bathrobes. two... less. - 154 people are tracking shipments on a train. - ( train whistles ) 33 are im'ing on a ferry. and 1300 are secretly checking email...

- on a vacation. - hmm? ( groans ) that's happening now. america's most dependable 3g network. bringing you the first and only wireless 4g network. sprint. the now network.

now that's progressive. call or click today. back to "hardball" in time for the "sideshow." first up, one for the conspiracy theorists. white house press secretary robert gibbs is used to out of left field questions, but this one from a c-span viewer today may just take the cake. >> good morning. my question might seem a little silly, but it's very serious and i was wondering if you could take it very seriously. there's a massive movement right now of hundreds of colonels and ex-cia officials and air force pilots who are demanding that

obama administration live up to its promise of transparency and let the american people know the truth about the existence of ufos. >> and we'll get a response. thank you for the call from seattle. >> ryan, i take your question seriously, not sitly because of the topic but also because if you're calling from seattle and it's a little after 7:00 here, it's a little after 4:00 in the morning there. look, i have not been briefed on whether or not there are the existence of ufos. i haven't talked to the president about this topic. >> i think it was useful mr. gibbs pointed out the caller was up at 4:00 in the morning worrying about ufos. personally i'd be open to any hard evidence that the earth has been visited from abroad. some people simply believe in cover-ups and conspiracy generally. especially in the wee hours of the morning. maybe the best solution here is simply a good night's sleep. next up, looking for love this weekend? well, if you're one of congressman ron paul's diehard

libertarian followers, and there are a lot of them out there, look no further than this new online dating site, it's called ron paul singles, and it claims to put the love in revolution. congressman paul says while he doesn't know who created this site, quote, i suppose it's all about freedom bringing people together, spiritually, politically, and now romantically. well, what a romeo. what a cupid. i can't second that one too much. now for tonight's "big number." a blast from the past. recognize this scene of then vice president richard nixon standing alongside soviet premier nikita khrushchev in moscow at an american model house exhibition. meant to show off the fruits of capitalism in 1959. the unscripted starring -- or sparring between these two leaders over the merits of communism versus capitalism came to be known as the great kitchen debate. how long has it been since this historic day? 50 years exactly, that cold war showdown. a half century ago. the first real political use of

the tv medium happened on july 24th, 1959. it's the 50-year anniversary of the great kitchen debate. tonight's "big number." that's "hardball" for now. catch us weekdays on 5:00 to up:00 eastern. up next, "your business." here's one for your skin that's clinically proven. olay professional pro-x wrinkle protocol is as effective as the leading wrinkle prescription brand at reducing the look of wrinkles. that's because olay has teamed with a highly specialized group of dermatologists and created a wrinkle protocol that gives you the results of the leading wrinkle prescription brand, without a prescription. olay professional pro-x. this is a guarantee you're guaranteed to love.