in the final round, curtis starts to tire and his opponent gets some good hits in. >> now, ladies and gentlemen -- >> another split decision gives victory to the opponent. although the night is

disappointing for derrick and curtis, other members of the hunt boxing team are successful. >> one lose we all lose, if one win, we all win. it motivates me, i have to get out there and i got to help them, too. i have to bring mine in, too. >> at least we can see things when we're leaving and we can see people out there. we can see a bunch of things. they get to stay here every day, they don't get to go anywhere. that's what i'm looking forward to. >> shortly after our cameras left, hurricane katrina destroyed much of the gulf coast region. it became home to many from

other prisons. thanks for watching, i'm john seigenthaler. supreme decision. let's play "hardball." good evening, down in washington leading off tonight the liberal hour. when a car drove up to the white house this morning at 10:30 it carried a letter that could change history and alter the landsca landscape. the letter was from john paul stevens notifying president obama that he would retire at the end of the court's current term. stevens has been on the court since 1975 and upheld the liberal wing of the court. will president obama appoint a leader to replace stevens even

if it risks a filibuster and a grueling, ruling battle. it's our top story. one clue on how the republicans might react could come from new orleans where the southern republican leadership conference is going on. today sarah palin accused president obama of coddling our enemies and called president obama's white house the most radical white house in american history. plus, we have the promilitia republican for government out in idaho, he told "nightline" he has no problem for local militias create a little force. we'll ask rex ramal what he meant by that, show a little force. i got a nice mention on fox last night. it was pretty positive. finally, let me finish with some thoughts about our rights as americans, including the right to choose who we marry, a matter now on its way to the supreme

court. let's start with stevens retirement from the supreme court. pete, big topic. i know you have been thinking about it for a while. what do you think the president is thinking? >> i think he is thinking a couple things. how can he get someone through the senate. the calculation he has to make, does he choose a relatively moderate justice who can get confirmed or someone a little more developed record of decisions or statements that are liberal that would be a tougher fight. that is the question they have to make in the white house. this question about a leader, it's important for a couple reasons. john paul stevens is in an unusual position because when he retires he will be leaving one of the three longest positions. 1975. he had the years to get into that position. no matter who the president appoints, they're not going to be able to come in and take that

mantle from justice stevens. it's a matter of personalities. it will take a while for someone to emerge. now, that person might be anthony kennedy might emerge as the next leader -- >> he's a hard to predict guy, isn't he, anthony kennedy. you never know where he's going. >> people said the same thing about john paul stevens in his first decade oro son the supreme court. >> what about the possibility of picking someone not from the court. we heard about jennifer granholm and we think about janet napolitano. would this president be shocking if he said, you know, have enough judges on the bench, let's pick earl wearen, people from the past who didn't spend their life on the court. >> not shocking at all. other justices have said it's valuable to have people who have elected experience.

but if you're going to put that list together, you have to add elena keegan. she's never run for office, but has not been a judge either. >> i want to enjoy some of the politics because there are people with immense illegal ability. hillary clinton is out there. she's possible, anything is possible. one question is, do they want the job? is this a desirable job? >> it's an isolating job to some extent. the only people they can really talk to are other justices. it takes a certain temperament, you have to really love the law. that's why oftentimes presidents go with people who have been judges. they have proven they can live that kind of life and that sort of isolation. a very scholarly life. >> you can't give a political opinion. >> you spend a lot of time reading. it takes a different personality to do it. >> let's look at the president what he said about his thinking and at least what he's thinking out loud. >> i will seek someone in the

coming weeks with similar qualities. an independent mind, a record of excellence and integrity, a fierce dedication to the rule of law and a keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the american people. it will also be someone who, like justice steveps, knows in a democracy powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. >> there's a political estimate. you know, i think in history the great brown case of '54 you can't have separate but equal. not separate treatment in the constitution. earl warren led that decision. earl warren was a republican governor, during the second world war and hardly a liberal. ike said he wished he hadn't picked it, but he did. i want to go back to the question about a leader coming from outside the bench. >> the characteristics the president mention there are i can't imagine any president wouldn't say the same thing. that's the 20,000 foot level of the qualifications that you

want. he said the same thing before he chose sonia soder mier. if we look at the people someone who had inspiring personal story. family came from here from puerto rico and grew up and any of the nominees you have here don't have that compelling story. >> thank you, pete williams. amy, member of the united states senate and member of the judiciary committee and represents the state of minnesota. great to have you on and i have to start with this question. do you believe the politics right now the president has a free hand. he named a woman from a hispanic background and in many ways that meets a lot of the standards the democrats like to meet. but i think it's a fairly rotten comment here by glen beck about that kind of ticket balancing or

constituency mending. here he is talking about it in a very nasty way. let's listen. >> i mean, if he's smart he will find a gay handicapped, black woman who's an immigrant. that's what, because that way he will just say she could be the devil, she could say i hate america, i want to destroy america and that way they'll only be able to say, but why do you hate gay, immigrant, black, handicapped women? >> senator, isn't it amazing you can make a good living after talking like a guy on a commuter train after three drinks. that's the kind of stuff i heard growing up. that kind of stuff is so uninspiring and, yet, i guess it has an audience. your thoughts. >> it just wasn't what you heard growing up and this is what glen beck said during sotomayor. he said the same stuff.

attacking her qualifications when she was number one in her class and done so well throughout her career and calling her emotional and it got out there. but in the end you heard people like lindsey graham voting for her saying maybe he wouldn't pick her but she was clearly qualified and he was happy to vote for her. she got confirmed and the hearings were difficult but fair and that's what we want to see again. all this garbage and comments and what really matters the president puts someone on there who is qualified and someone who had a record of excellence and someone who is independent thinker. >> among my favorite senators the senator from california and the senator from missouri. you're one of them. i would hate to see you leave the united states senate, but would you be interested in being a member of the supreme court. >> no, chris y couldn't wear black every day. >> that's a rather facile response. >> i will not abandon the people

of minnesota in the middle of these economic times. >> that's what a sherman escstatement from you. >> as i said the other day on rachel's show y couldn't do it because of my past speeches. all the times remember sotomayor the wise latino women you can't imagine how many times i referred to myself. >> have a nice weekend. i'm glad you're one of the people deciding this thing. coming up newt gingrich said it, the president is the most radical administration in american history, the most radical. sarah palin says the president is coddling our enemies. we'll get to some of that on-scene stuff in new orleans where some of the biggest names of the republican party are gathered right now for the republican leadership conference. we have howard fine mine down there and he'll talk about what is going on with the high-profile republicans being

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>> let's have a positive campaign this september and october between the things we say yes to, lower taxes, more jobs, less spending, lower deficits, lower interest rates and the things they say yes to. higher taxes, fewer jobs, bigger government, more bureaucracy, more powerful politicians. we need to make sure it's a choice of two positive versions not obama versuses anti-obama

but america versus a social machine. that was former house speaker newt gingrich on thursday night at the southern leadership conference down in new orleans where thousands of conservatives are meeting this weekend to bask in the low of bobby jindal and sarah palin and, of course, trash president obama. msnbc political analyst and on the ground in new orleans and chris writes "the fix" which i read regularly at "the washington post." howard, you're there on the spot, what does it smell like? >> it smells like caribou jerky, for one. this is from the sarah palin pack and they've distributed it to everybody all around town. everybody in report's row have several of these. sarah palin's pack blew the door off earlier today. the world's greatest living conservative sound bite artist.

reminds me of pat buchanan in his hay day. she just had the people cheering and they loved her. not everybody thinks she should run or could win, but in terms of jacking up the crowd, she was absolutely sensational, at least felt that way in the room here. >> well, let's take a look at a fight that's brewing here. president obumma on "good morning america" let's listen, there will be some reaction from the other side. >> the last i checked sarah palin is not much of an expert on nuclear issues. if the secretary of defense and the chairman of joint chiefs of staff are comfortable with it, i'm probably going to take my advice from them and not from sarah palin. >> there he goes. and here is palin today in new orleans reacting to the president. let's listen. >> now, the president, with all the vast nuclear experience that he acquired as a community organizer and as a part-time

senator and as a full-time candidate, all that experience and no accomplishment today with north crea and iran. >> apparently she says nuclear like bush does. >> i don't understand why you wouldn't say have the word properly. isn't it a mistake for the president to get down in a ditch with her? >> yes. he is a guy who is at least going to try to answer the question. sarah palin said this about nuclear weapons and your policy and what do you think? if you watch that, he essentially said, i don't think much of it, moving on. so, he tried to address it, but, yeah, of course it is. it's great. a great day for sarah palin. the president of the united states got in a real tiff with her and, like it or not, chris, she speaks in sound bites. that's the way most people --

>> pat's rule, the nixon rule in the old days and a darn good rule attack up. don't attack down. attack up. >> right. >> there's the president attacking sarah palin, which is attacking down which gives her a direct shaft of opportunity to go right at him. >> she did it here today and i must say this whole group, really, the whole republican party is attacking up. you know, i think there's a straw poll here and everything. i don't think this crowd is that concerned with picking out a presidential candidate right now because barack obama so dominates the landscape that he is the motivating factor here. he's what is on everybody's mind here. his plans, what they view as his evil intentions. his desire for world domination and socialism of government. >> here's palin, by the way, on republican slogans and i don't think you can settle back into the boring nominee for president after all this excitement. let's listen. >> a lot of common sense

conservatives can relay some slogans that the majority of americans like a lot better than that, like repill and replace. and the bumper sticker has that hopi changy thing working out for you all now? or my favorite, don't retreat, reload and that is not a call for violence. >> you know, it's not, it's not a violent proposal, but if somebody shoots somebody in the next couple days and she just said reload, people are going to draw a connection. >> chris, i think your -- >> pat used to do that with lock and load. this is getting a very interesting environment here. >> remember the crowd that she is talking to. 3,500 or so reactivists. >> what does reload mean to them? >> i would, i will tell you this, chris, i only speak for myself. when i saw the list with the

targets on it -- >> that's her list. she targets all the republican members. >> target is a word that is used quite regularly in politics about -- >> reload? where is it used? >> i said targets is a used -- >> howard, your thoughts about this gun play talk? >> okay. well in this crowd that didn't mean anything other than organizing vote to kick them out. this is an established crowd here. this is not the tea party here. these are 3,000 of 3,500 people who are the new sort of establishment of the southern republican party. they are sympathetic with the tea party. when she said that here, i'm willing to say tougher, more aggressive things than anybody else which goes to your point, chris, about how the republicans could ever go back to bland rhetoric after listening to sarah palin. that's what it is about. how other people outside this

ball room all across america and watching on the internet or reading it online would react is something different. sarah palin knew that she was teasing the crowd because later in the speech she said something like, oh, shoot and then she corrected herself and said, i said the word shoot. she flirts with the edge, but that is what gives her the power and the appeal even a fairly establishment crowd like this one here. >> so interactive in a sense because she talks about reading off her hand and she talks about how she is going to get reaction and then she says how are these for slogans? trying out applause lines. what do you think about these applause lines. >> if you watch -- go ahead. >> no, she even got mileage out of reading the hand thing because she said here today, oh, well, that's the poor man's teleprompter and everybody here instantly knew that she was

making fun of barack obama when she said that. she even gets mileage out of the things that embarrass her. it's remarkable. >> what she does, chris, let's say you watch three days of the southern leadership conference, she stands out not just because she's sarah palin, but just in kind. the way she approaches it, she's not giving this serious speech it's a back and forth call and response thing. do you love your freedom? that's how she started it. hard to imagine mitt romney -- >> i tell you, if al gore had ten minutes of her, he'd be president. anyway, thank you, howard and chris. up next, a little word association game from jay leno and bonnie frank. what does he think of when he hears names? [ skid! ] [ thud! thud! thud! thud! ] [ crunch! crunch! crunch! crunch! ] [ clang! ] [ clank! fizz! clink! ]

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i got nice mention on fox news yesterday. here it is. fox's patty ann brown throwing to fellow anchor chris wallace. >> glen beck returns in a moment, but, first, chris matthews previews special report. >> coming up we'll preview the weekend's big gathering of republicans in new orleans. >> my pal and i chris wallace are very different, i can't say i would let that go. if you have to be confused with somebody at fox, i think i hit the jackpot. barney frank played word affiliation last night. >> mitt romney? >> flip-flopper. is that one word or two? >> that's two. john mccain. >> old. but i want to say this --

>> is he two years older than you? >> yes. that's important. because john mccain gave me the hope that i would not die without being younger than the president. i mean, you look to the president as an authority figure. you start to get older than the president, you are looking for the wheelchair. >> right on palin, direct hit on romney and cheap shot on mccain but he softened it a bit by talking about himself getting older. day one of the republican southern leadership conference in new orleans. out of all the conference speakers yesterday everyone that spoke at that podium, a city that is still rebuilding. how many mentions of hurricane katrina? none. sarah palin was the first to mention the bush-led disaster. reminds me of something fdr once said never mention the word rope in a family where there was a

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client comes in and they have a box.