a hearing, especially when there's doubt. thank you for watching. have a great weekend. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. good deal. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, peace agreement. that's what it looks like tonight. when day broke this morning, the president was facing an uproar in his own party. prominent democrats were protesting the way he handled the issue of church organizations being forced to pay for birth control. tonight he stopped the hemorrhaging. he's won agreeme)h democrats and pro-obama voices in the catholic church who were opposed to his initial position. while republicans wage war on him and the catholic bishops are

not party to today's deal yet it was a very good day for the president at the end of a very troubling week. and it's our top story tonight. plus what's the damage report from this hard fight? we'll ask the "hardball" strategists. also, look out, mitt. here comes rick. mitt romney and rick santorum address cpac today. the conservative political action committee. mitt said all the right things, but many conservatives suspect he's just mouthing the words. santorum, on the other hand, sounds like someone who means what he says. that's a big problem for mitt. and anti-immigration fever. did a mississippi state representative really introduce a bill to change the name of the gulf of mexico to the gulf of america? finally, let me finish with the president's timely political savvy. we start with the deal president obama made today in that fight over birth control. melinda henneberger is with "the washington post." and cynthia tucker is a political columnist and now a

professor at the university of georgia. thank you for joining us. it's been a turbulent week. but today president obama announced he was changing the hhs rule on contraceptive coverage. let's listen. >> under the rule, women will still have access to free, preventive care that includes contraceptive services, no matter where they work. so that core principle remains. but if a woman's employer is a charity or a hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of theivú$ealth plan, the insurance company, not the hospital or the charity, will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge without co-pays n without hassles. >> the archbishop timothy dolan said his organization, that's the church, the catholic bishops, sees initial

opportunities in preserving the principle of religious freedom after president obama's announcement today. so that was a positive note. the archbishop added while there may be an openness to respond to our concerns, we reserve judgment on the details until we have them under hand. sister carol keyan, president of the catholic health association, she says she's satisfied with the president's actions. "the framework developed has responded to the issues that we identified needed to be fixed." melinda, you have been covering this with great compassion and zeal the past couple of days. the president blew the whistle on this fight. the president decided a week ago this thing had gone too far. he was simply looking for time to get someone to come up with a solution like we found today. >> i think this is fantastic for everybody. i think it is a classic win-win. and it's terrific that on principle and on politics, i think he really did the right thing. of course, there are still going to be critics.

there are republican critics of the president who would never have been satisfied, but for people for this whom was a matter of principle, this was about the first amendment, i think they can be very pleased that the president listened to their concerns and acted on ç them. >> basically, the solution is that instead of mandating that catholic institutions like colleges, universities and hospitals and charities, that those organizations be forced to provide health insurance that covers birth control which offends their religious scruples. now the government will say in those cases where there is objection, cynthia you pick up here, that the government under this new law will mandate that those insurance policies cover birth control. so it seems like an incredibly amazing arbitrary way to solve something, but it seems like it solves it. >> the insurance companies have to provide the contraception, which seems to be the difference here. and that's fine.

if rational people are satisfied with this, it is, as melinda said, a win-win. i think sister carol keehan signing off on this is a really big deal because she was a supporter of the health care law all along. it preserves what president obama was trying to do, which is make sure that contraception is readily and easily available. this means that women don't have to dole out a co-pay if they want the birth control pill or other contraceptives. and for some women, that's a big deal. chris, i think the biggest deal of all is, this will help curb the abortion rate. >> yes. >> for those of us who are tired of the abortion wars if you really want to curb theç abortn rate, make contraception more easily available, and this does that. >> of course, it was all a question of what role the

churches were willing to play. they didn't want to be the ones to put their imprint on birth control, but liberal catholics were willing to say the federal government has a right to do what it does in these cases. they control health policy. under interstate commerce clause. there they go. here's tim kaine, one of the many democrats caught in the middle of this. he's a former chairman of the democratic national committee. he's running in a very tight race in virginia for the united states senator. he pointed to some of the problems in that rule, but now he supports the president's latest iteration of it which was announced today. let's listen to governor kaine. >> my only concern was that a church or a church affiliated institution not be required to do something or purchase a coverage that violated religious doctrine. that concern has been conclusively solved by this compromise. >> now u.s. senator bob casey of pennsylvania who is strongly pro-life said i'll review the details of today's announcement to determine whether it strikes the right bounds.

he's a bit hesitant here. how do you read that? the fact that he's not ready to sign on. is he waiting for the bishops. >> i don't think so, and i don't know for sure. it sounds like he wants to know every detail before he makes a statement that he didn't have to walk back, but i think that most people where bob casey is seem to be pretty happy with this deal. >> let's go to the holdouts. they have very much a political right to do so. the republicans right now, we want to quote right now ç representative fred upton. he's the chairman of the commerce committee. he's been designated by speaker boehner to take charge of this issue from the republican side. house speaker john boehner said he's not satisfied with the president's actions so far. in a statement he put out today, quote, the catholic church and others in our nation's religious community are not yet convinced the president's mandate doesn't constitute an attack on

religious freedom. the house of representatives will continue to work towards a legislative solution. so i don't know what to make of that. this is all a combination of church belief, religious belief, background, ideology, and good old-fashioned politics. maybe they don't want to walk it back so quickly. they want to give the president some more heat, at least for the weekend. >> i think it's more ideology and politics than anything else. let's remember, john boehner is against the entire affordable care act which provides the larger context for this debate. so he doesn't want women to be able to get contraceptives without co-pay or any of the preventive care that people will get without co-pays through the affordable care act. but you know, i think that's a dangerous position for republicans to take. most women, according to polls, support the idea of making contraceptives broadly available without co-pays through

insurers. and i see republicans just widening the gender gap if they continue to insist that they are against this. >> what i think was good, melinda? do you want to say something? >> i think for catholic women, the issue was the government flying in and telling the churcç they had to do this. it was not over birth control. so for people for whom it was not over birth control, the issue is solved now. on the cost side, it's interesting to see that this is cost neutral and in the end will save money. and as cynthia said, and i think this is so important. we can't say it enough. if this reduces the abortion rate, that should be the ultimate win. >> certainly. politically, i think the president put it together. he wanted to reassemble his coalition. he was bringing it back together and he did so today as a political issue. put aside values and religion, and everything else. pure politics. he did his job today. melinda henneberger and cynthia tucker, thank you.

coming up, mitt romney tries to win over skeptical conservatives at cpac. boy, does he have a lot to sell and not much to offer. and rick santorum was a hero today. santorum giving the old-time religion and he loved it. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. [ coughs ] what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. one golden crown. come on frank how long have we known each other? go to e-trade. they got killer tools man. they'll help you nail a retirement plan that's fierce. two golden crowns. you realize the odds of winning are the same as being mauled by a polar bear and a regular bear in the same day? frank! oh wow, you didn't win?

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welcome back to "hardball."

two highly anticipated speeches today here in washington at cpac. while mitt romney played defense on his conservative credentials, rick santorum seemed to revel in the social issues that are his forte. let's listen to santorum and then romney.ç >> we hear those same voices today that we have to learn our lesson. that we should no -- that we need to compromise, do what's politically reasonable and go out and push someone forward who can win. i think we have learned our lesson. and the lesson we have learned is that we will no longer abandon and apologize for the policies and principles that made this country great for a hollow victory in november. >> this election is not just about getting more votes, defeating barack obama is only one step towards our ultimate

goal of saving america. of course, we can defeat barack obama. that's the easy part. believe me, november 6th will be the easiest day our next president is going to face. >> newt gingrich also gave a fiery speech just moments ago. there's a new poll out that shows santorum surging nationally. catch this. what kind of momentum does he have going into the next few weeks? mark halperin was in the middle of it all. he's msnbc's senior political analyst and a "time" magazine editor at large. david corn is the washington b buree -- buree chief for mother jones and a political analyst here for msnpc as well. gentlemen, let's look at the polling. this is from fox news. it has some fascinating findings. the poll was conducted from monday through thursday of this week. in the first two days of this ç week, romney has a big lead.

his closest opponent is gingrich. santorum, a distant third. look at the numbers for the last two days. wednesday of thursday of this week shows santorum surging, doubling his vote practically, and gingrich collapsing. look at the numbers on the right. santorum is now tied at 30% with mitt romney and gingrich is, again, a distant third. david corn, this is stunning. it shows -- what a boring word -- volatility. this is a national poll by fox and it shows what happened. this guy wins three primaries and all of a sudden, the entire people in the country, the republicans like lemmings? they just all of a sudden say, oh, is that the word from the big boys? i guess we're all now for santorum. >> it's a shiny object. >> why are they doing it? >> if you look at the numbers, mitt romney dropped 5 points, but newt dropped ten points. we get back to the same story we've been talking about since last summer. what happens to the nonromney vote and the volatility is like going from newt, basically stampeding to rick santorum

after those wins. if you sort of factor it in and took a poll today, you'd probably see even more running from newt to rick santorum. so mitt romney stays at about 30%. the other people are running around trying to figure out where to go to find that non-romney. >> mark, a lot of people who watch this show are progressive. they are looking across the aisle figuratively at the republicans saying, what the heck is going on over there? democrats are for obama. they were fairly consistent the last couple elections. this party seems to be like a yo-yo. it's more of a santorum party than ever before. because of the news? >> they are not engaged in the election very much. we see that in the turnout numbers. we have a front runner in mitt romney, still most likely the nominee.

he has a lot of weakness. he has a ceiling on his support. florida, he was able to shatter that. and it's possible that going forward, unlike in the three states on tuesday, if he spends the money he did in florida, has the performance level he had in florida, last tuesday will just be like a bad dream for him. but it's also possible that santorum can keep this going and finally be at the right moment a musical chairs, the guy who sat down at the right time when the music stopped. >> here he is going after his nemesis romney, numerous times throughout his speech at cpac today. santorum's argument for why romney would be bad for the party this year. here's his case. >> we're not going to win this election, ladies and gentlemen, because the republican candidate has the most money to beat up their opponent and win the election. we won in 2010 because conservatives rallied. they were excited about the contrast. we always talk about how to get the moderates.

why would an undecided voter vote for a candidate in the party who the party is not excited about? >> here's romney making a case using an unusual term here describing himself as "severely conservative."ç forget compassionate conservative. i've never heard someone call themselves severe. here he is, mitt romney defending himself. >> i fought against long odds in a deep blue state, but i was a severely conservative republican governor. i understand that the battles we as conservatives must fight because i have been on the front lines and expect to be on the front lines again. now here's cpac. you guys understand that. this gathering has always welcomed me and you have consistently supported me. not because of my rhetoric, but because of my record and my experience in that deep blue state. >> what do you make of that? i thought it was a little arched today. what did you make of romney on defense clearly? >> that falls into the category

of trying too hard. severely conservative? when he ran for senate, he called himself a moderate and a progressive. if you watch santorum's speech and romney's speech, they both used the word we a lot. we conservatives. when santorum said that it felt real. when romney said it, it felt defensive. he had to explain why he was a conservative. saying where his conservatism came from. well, santorum came out there and said we're conservatives. we don't like the health care bill. we don't like the government. and it was authentic. it was integrated with the audience. it's two very different uses of the word "we." romney after five years of campaigning, he still hasn't convinced this lot that he's one of them and that showed today. >> i guess despite the new orleans music out there, mark, he hasn't exactly built up the jazz aspect of his personality, has he?ç

>> look, he has, although he talked in more personal terms today. this is a brand new speech for him. not his usual stump speech. he took on directly his massachusetts record. first, we pride ourselves in trying to be able to read the room at an event like this. i don't think either of them had a performance that's dramatically going to change the trajectory of this race, which is headed towards michigan and arizona in a couple of weeks. santorum was very good. i thought he could have been better. romney was pretty good for this audience. he's not jazzy and is never going to be. he has to take on his massachusetts record as a candidate for the nomination and the general election. he was smart to do it today. he did it pretty well and he does have a better story to tell there to conservatives than the general coverage of him would suggest. >> let's watch them both living off the land on the issue of the catholic church, especially on that birth control issue, which seems to have been resolved today. for many people in the democratic party. here, anyway, that issue handed to them by the white house gave santorum the perfect issue to play to his social conservative

base. here he is, santorum, talking about the president today and the recent controversy with the catholic church over contraception. let's watch. >> he's now telling the catholic church that they are forced to pay for things that are against their basic tenants and teachings. against their first amendment right. this is the kind of coercion we can expect. it's not about contraception. it's about economic liberty. it's about freedom of speech. it's about freedom of religion.ç it's about government control of your lives and it's got to stop. >> maybe the president all week long was helping santorum. here's gingrich late this afternoon. also went after the obama administration in a fiery speech. he accused the president of waging a war against the catholic church. let's watch.

>> this administration is waging war on religion. but so are the courts. this is why we need a movement that's bigger than beating obama. we need a movement that understands we're going to change the congress, the white house, and when necessary, the courts. we all need to understand how real this is. this country was founded by people who came here in order to avoid religious persecution. the very basis of this country was religious liberty. we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights. and barack obama seeks to cut across those. i don't care what deal he tries to cut. this is a man that is deeply committed to wage war on the catholic church. we should make sure the country knows who he really is.

a cry to arms. a peace treaty announced among moderate catholics. maybe not right wing ones. it seems like newt gingrich is trying to wave the bloody shirt there. >> that's the reddest of red meat t whoever the republican nominee is, even if it's mitt romney, whoever the nominee is is going to use that kind of argument. however, the hhs rules, they are going to say the president is engaged in a war on religion, the president doesn't respect religion and he's engaged in a liberal overreach across the board in health care law and then against people's religious freedom. it's going to be something that rallies the base and some campaign rhetoric and even ads on radio probably no matter who the nominee is. no matter how this is resolved. >> whab what we're watching is a recognition the economy is getting better. they have to switch to the social issues and get a bit desperate. mark halperin, thank you. david corn, thank you.

up next, what did michele bachmann learn from her campaign for president? that's ahead in the sideshow. she got a little funnier. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] the inspiring story of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals,

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back to "hardball." now for the sideshow. first up, when president obama's campaign released their campaign music play list, you might have wondered about the campaign tunes of his potential republican rivals. the group americans united for change has some suggestions for mitt romney. let's listen. >> you've been embarrassed for him on the campaign trail. bring some of mitt romney's hits recorded with co-star and running mate gordon gekko.

♪ oh secretive swiss banking laws ♪ ♪ for massive bank accounts >> you'll get the songs that touched your heart. ♪ should past positions be ç forgot and never thought about ♪ ♪ so once i was a moderate it's past and gone ♪ >> go to romney gekko. make sure you have your gold card and start spending. >> wow. that's courtesy of the democratic leaning group that has made a point of aligning mitt romney with the fictional wall street character gordon gekko. michele bachmann, the former presidential candidate took to the stage yesterday and talked about her days on the campaign trail. ones she said could have used a do-over. let's watch. >> running for president of the

united states is really one series of humiliations after another. i learned three things when i was running for president. first of all, i learned where john wayne was born. that's very important. and then second, i learned the day that elvis presley was born. these are vital issues to our republic. and third, i learned never forget the three things that you learned. very important when you're running for president. >> the last one was in reference to rick perry and his forgetting of that third reason, the agency he wanted to get rid of. legislation from mississippi sparked outrage early this week. the bill from democrat steve holland says, "for all official pu) mississippi, the body of water that is located directly south of hancock, harrison, and

jackson counties shall be known as the gulf of america." no more gulf of mexico? really? his office was faced with a barrage of calls. holland is now telling the host of angry critics it was just a joke. apparently he came up with the ruse to draw attention to a number of republican-backed state bills he feels are too harsh on illegal immigrants. holland says he's tickled that his satire was lost on so many people. some of his republican colleagues were less than amused by the trick if it was a trick. up next, how much did the fight between the obama administration and the catholic church hurt obama with catholic voters? we'll have the "hardball" strategists when we come back. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ♪ it's nice to be here ♪ it's nice to see you in my bed ♪ ♪ ♪ there are diamonds...

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i'm milissa rehberger. a new hampshire school was locked down earlier after a 14-year-old shot himself in the school's cafeteria. the teen survived and is in serious condition. the sex abuse trial of ex-penn state coach jerry sandusky will take place on may 14th. today a judge also said he would quickly rule on a number of issues including sandusky's bail conditions. and president obama has signed representative gabrielle giffords final bill into law. an anti-drug trafficking measure. back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." we're lucky to have the "hardball" strategists join us tonight. we've got witness to two big political earthquakes in just a few days. first up, the culture war and thoseç issues that re-emerged the campaign -- abortion, gay marriage, and birth control in the catholic church. rick santorum said today there

will be as important as the economy come november. and mitt romney is facing perhaps his biggest challenge yet, having lost three contests this week. with his advisors voicing concerns about their candidate. his ability to connect with voters. do you believe that? the guy's own people are dumping on him. with me are the "hardball" strategists, democrat steve mcmahon and republican todd harris. have you ever seen staffers dump on candidates like the people around romney do? first, they took all the credit when he had a good week and when he had a bad week, they dump on him. >> have i seen it before? yeah. >> in the newspapers. >> it's shameful. i think the story was overwritten. it talked about advisors who flew to boston. everyone who understands the romney operation knows if you're an advisor of any substance or weight in that organization, you aren't having to fly to boston to deliver your message.

there are a lot of people who want to -- >> that probably identifies who the guy is by saying he flew to boston. how about you, steve? one of these guys says, you can't make him what he's not. they are complaining about the putty they have to work with, the candidate. >> it is amazing. actually, you asked if we have seen this before, and the truth is, we saw it a couple weeks ago in the rick perry campaign. even before rick perry got out of the race, his advisers were already pointing the fingers at each other and pointing their fingers at him. now you see the romney campaign guys doing the same thing. if i were mitt romney, i would ç be furious. i would be trying to track down who the leakers are and run them out of the campaign. if they are doing it now, they will be doing it all the way to november. it's never good for a campaign to have this going on because it doesn't just anger the candidate. it demoralizes the campaign from the inside. it's like a cancer because you are in meetings wondering who the leaker is and people go out and give everything up and half

the time you don't find them. sometimes you do. when you do, you run them out. >> what we're talking about today, the front page of "the washington post." under a large photo of the cpac conference today is a headline, romney stuck in lukewarm, advisers fear. and here's a portion of it. one prominent adviser told him to sharpen his use of code words and create small pictures and vivid imagery. in other words, to connect with voters. another flew to boston to say that romney's message is too business-like to capture the passion of angry republican voters. still others have gone on television and written opinion columns to hammer home what is becoming a common theme this year. that romney has not been able to ignite a cause when the gop is primed to become part of it. the republican party has ganged up against obama. everybody knows they don't like obama. 39% of the country is conservative. it's all there for this guy, romney. he can't grab hold of it. >> look. anything can happen.

as we saw with this fury -- the president has been president for three and a half years and just stepped in it this past week and turned the whole political conversation upside down.ç november is a long way away. barack obama became president in the process lost in the primary states like pennsylvania, ohio, new york. everyone said this is horrible for obama. he'll never win in november. he went on to win, of course. are there concerns right now? yeah. there are some concerns, but there's no real romney advisor who is going on television or writing opinion pieces saying any of this stuff. this is a bunch of consultants who probably lost a gig to try to get that work. >> earlier today, rick santorum suggested that social issues may trump the economy. he said they are maybe more important than the economy. let's listen. >> we know there's a lot of excitement here because this election is about very, very big

things. this is not just about jobs, although it is about jobs. and we obviously need to do something about jobs in this country. we know it's about big things though. really big things. more than just the economy. it's about foundational principles and we have seen that played out here in the last few weeks. >> it's interesting. the advisors to mitt romney, who was still the front runner if you listen to the experts, are saying smash this guy. go out there and smash him. run negative ads like you destroyed newt with. others are saying you better not do that again because you're getting a reputation as a negative campaigner. isn't that a problem when you have advisors saying the opposite of each other publically? >> yes, it is a problem. and i'm sure they are saying the same thing privately, which would identify who they are. but the interesting thing here, chris, is candidates go into these partisan venues and make these speeches.

they are really talking to the people in the room, but the cameras are rolling. so the clip you showed is going to make a great clip for the general election if rick santorum can pull off a miracle and get past mitt romney. and i think, you know, he'll see a lot of this if he moves on. >> because he said other issues are more important than the economy? >> that's right. that's right. i don't think most people believe that. i think it makes the case that rick santorum is outside of the mainstream, and that's not really what centrist voters are going to vote for. >> speaking of social issues, here's president obama. he said the contraception issue shouldn't be used as political weaponry. let's watch. >> i understand some folks in washington may want to treat this as another political wedge issue, but it shouldn't be. i certainly never saw it that way. this is an issue where people of good will on both sides of the debate have been sorting through some very complicated questions to find a solution that works for everyone.

with today's announcement, we have done that. religious liberty will be protected and a law that requires free preventive care will not discriminate against women. >> can we all agree that the president basically solved the problem today? he brought together people who care about women's rights, and rightfully so, but he also brought back the more conservative catholics who were concerned about a move against the church's basic authority over its own principles. >> he didn't necessarily fix thç policy of it because there are still real concerns about the institutions having to subsidize their insurance policies, but he defused the politics of it. there will still be conservative catholics who probably weren't going to be with the president in the first place who will still be up in arms about this. >> the liberal catholics. >> the liberal catholics got the fig leaf they wanted.

>> fig leaf? are you into adam and eve? that's the old testament. steve, let me get a positive mood. he really did respect the view of the catholic church on this issue. their right to their concerns and principles. he understood this was a legitimate debate within the community of the democratic party that may have disagreed on this issue. >> i think he did a great job of setting a tone of reasonableness and reconciliation. i noticed the conference of bishops and said they were encouraged, but weren't necessarily satisfied. so this may not be over, but i do think he took a principled and tough position to begin with. he understood the peril and dealt with it and quickly came to a solution that hopefully everyone can live with. >> the problem is they are still requiring institutions to pay for it. in hawaii -- >> we've got to go. take that to the rnc meeting. great to have you.

up next, the movie "the artist" is up for ten academy awards. it's going to win best picture. when we return, we're going to take a look and talk to one of the stars of "the artist" and the question about why it's being told today. why are we watching a silent picture in 2012. i'll give you a reason when we come back. this is "hardball" on msnbc. ly r and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life, matter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i'm sure i could take something positive away from that. [ jocelyn ] my name is jocelyn, and i'm a cancer survivor. [ mimi ] i had cancer. i have no evidence of disease now. [ erica ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would just make such a complete picture of why i'm sitting here today. ♪ [ herb ] from the moment we walked in the front door,

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♪ç ♪ >> wow. actor james cromwell plays clifton the loyal chauffeur, the big movie star in that film. he joins me now. james cromwell, everyone knows you and now they know your name. it's so great to have you on this show. >> thank you. >> why in the year 2012, the year we live in right now, has a silent -- mostly silent film, which for at least an hour and a half you think is a silent film, become what i believe the number one film of the year, the one i believe will win the academy award for best picture. what is going on in our world that makes us want to see a movie like a silent movie?

>> even though it is a silent movie and the context for the story is the late '20s, it's a contemporary story and the period, the dynamics of the period in the late '20s and now are somewhat similar. people were anxious, depressed. depressed, the market had failed, people didn't know what was going to happen in the country much the same as we don't know today. so the story even though it's set back in 1929, is available to contemporary audience because they are creating the story on the basis of what they see in the frame and not on what is said. >> you know, there is another piece i'm sure you've given thought to, at the time when a lot of people are losing jobs because of pro ducktivity or automation, especially in television with the camera people not working like they used to, they do identify with the guy who was big in theç silent film and couldn't make the change to the talkies, and boy, is that like today or what? >> absolutely. it's interesting comparison

between two films, on the one hand have "the artist" on the other hand you have a "hugo "250 million with 3-d and the other effects, and it's interesting that they both deal with the beginning of movies and effect of movies that it has on people and what we try to express in this country to the rest of the world, about who we were, and what we thought could be, less cynical time, not so cool, more engaged, everybody wore their heart on their sleeve and every once in a while things worked out the way they should. >> there is a piece, the wonderful music of the movie, like judy garland, mickey rooney, sense of youth and hope about this country, the fact that hollywood looked like that, was still the simple town it was

and meant to be, this place of innocence, even. >> absolutely. we've -- now there are so many, the makings of film is so cocom it takes over the story, directors in order to justify incredible budgets are serving the story up to the audience on a plate whereas everyone who comes to "the artist" everyone creates the story in theirç he, the experience is like reading a wonderful novel, when you get past the 20 pages, the story has you hooked, and -- >> you are see right, james. i watched this movie in a big theater, i didn't realize, this is a black and white silent movie. there is no mugging, no weird stuff, just happens to be silent. i can't believe this is good. here is another clip where the movie star plays a trick on the unsuspecting back-up singer

peppy miller who becomes his love interest. let's watch. ♪ ♪ >> i don't know where they found those guys. i grew up watching side c -- sid

caesar, they would give a guy water so his voice would drop forgotten sid caesarç he's in s late 80s, he got me hooked on the stuff. >> a lot of people. >> congratulations, you will win the oscar, you will be in the best movie of the year, good luck to harvey wieinthe sum of all fears, west wing and duke of edinburgh, thank you so much, james kromwell for being on "hardball." >> thank you. >> we did the interview yesterday. when we return, let me finish with president obama finding the solution the way out of the political quicksand of the birth control fight with the catholic church. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc.

. let me finish tonight with this, president obama gets the gold star tonight, he found a way to reconcile the goal of good health care including reproductive health care for women and what he acknowledges as the legitimate rights of religious organizations. he did it by mandating that insurance companies swallow the cost of birth control in their policies when church organizations decide they cannot in good conscience do so. today's announcement by the president was evidence he was both alert to the public debate

and strong enough to make an adjustment in policy when needed. he decided early on that action was necessary and took it as soon as a solid policy option was before him.ç he wanted to bridge the goals of women's advocates with what he recognized as legitimate position of the catholic church. as is often the case the way the public decides issues is decide who is being the bully. if you think the government is bullying the church, were for the church. today the president presented a way to address both perceptions by directing the insurance companies themselves to absorb the cost of birth control. he freed the churches of having to do so. for people on both sides of the dispute it was a good way to end the week, especially good way to end a week for president obama. it showed he was awake to the problem, demanded a fix and as he said, he gets better at this job as time goes on. that