good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, bin laden is dead, gm is alive. how do you likeou fu'son eny. th sit uai t ai i a viorut meer gege. aingcros that aircraft carrier? remember that large mission accomplished banner? remember giuliani repeating one thing after another that included a noun, a verb and the trays 2011. remember all the hoogt and hollering about the great decider who took us into the sands of iraq. maybe the reason his rivals don't like him marking his success over bin laden was because they had eight years to ofha cinnmond ney

carubof o hi stig tnmbt a the ex we fudraising wh the big do -- that's bill clinton -- warning that mitt romney would take us back to failed economic policies on steroids. this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. plus, dirty, angry money. tonight we begin our series on the hundreds of millions of dollars being poured into this election without any accountability. money that's destroyed without naming the candidaterdboathe coesndtsdier tuay gh wh yrabidtea wa ho he usedhe dinner for his campaign to needle. the romney campaign is now trying to take credit for saving detroit. you can check on that. up-down logic is in the side

show where it belongs. we begin with outrage of president presideobama and the f bin laden. the author of "showdow fbo ambc analts i es tzh i ao tt comeo mind, david corn. the republicans say, you shouldn't take credit for what you did a year ago. we wouldn't do something like that. your thoughts, david. >> you know from reading the book, chris, that chapter 10 is all about the decision to launch the raid, and i have to say that whole episode is a test case in presidential decision making. and for mitt romney to come out there and say, of course, i would do that, anybody would do that shows -- he has to read the o ser of course, but he doesn't ve dfiltecioagns thdveofis top id.

u owhe srery of defense b gates and vice president joebiden both advised that barack obama not launch the aid until there was more definitive intelligence. most of his advisers actually were not in favor of the raid. they either wanted a missile strike or something else or not do anything. so it wasn't a slam dunk no-brainer, and for mitt romney to suggest that it was indicates that maybe he doesn't understand the job. >> what does he know? waskabt da t'lien tohe rubca caide. ♪ you would have given the order, governor? >> well, of course. even jimmy carter would have given that order. >> you know, i don't know. sometimes ron reagan, i have to restrain myself from the words i want to use now, and i will restrain myself, because for him to mock jimmy carter on this

front. you can argue about jimmy carter, anything you lipts th dertnd se tseme we at a tremendous risk and a tremendous risk to the president politically. it did not make him look good that he tried that. and for this guy -- i will not use the obvious words that come to mind here -- to mock that, he was chuckling when he said it. who is this guy? is he a grown-up? >> it's hard to know. it was an odd comment to make, and it reminds everybody, at the very least, that jimmy carter made a gutsy call that didn't spoke t whe b lenilng o t tae. eyou le ke xith bacoba n' evenenonhe ft th he,

not the republicans in eight years, but he in his first term actually got bin laden. in a weird way, it's the same kind of thing that's happened to mitt romney under other circumstances. his signal accomplishment as governor of massachusetts, his health care plan e can't mention it. they would like to mention it so obama can't mention his ignature bin laden yby tcng thkns tat pesen.,if headaut the guy blowing up the world trade center, cheney would be up there on a scaffolding trying to carve w.'s face in it in the middle of the night. last night the campaign released a video featuring bill clinton talking about the raid and its success. the video contrasted with what

romney has said in the past on this topic. let's watch it. it's good. >> the downt nn i odonience noing. took thearder and more honorable path. >> it's not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars just trying to catch on person. he was referring to the hunt for osama bin laden. what did he mean by that, beuse it's generated a little controversy given osama bin laden's ro in lling, what, 3,000 americans on 9/11. >> he had to decide. and that's what you hire the president to do. >>vi nerea wf itr ttusbeor iteayororme i n'know autou gus. >>e don't hear the music do here, but, you know, the point president clinton makes is sort

of dead on here. this whole episode showed obama being both deliberative and decisi decisive, and it was a hard call because he didn't have everybody on his side. before he made the decision on a friday morning before the sunday raid, the cia came and told him, you know, we told you , dngtd . tea woing the wrong reion. as everybody knows that if this had gone badly as it did for jimmy carter, barack obama's presidency would probably, in all likelieihoolikelihood, be o. he's putting his own presidency on the line. for mitt romney and republicans to diminish the nature of this call shows again they don't quite understand what it takes to be president. >> not all the people criticizing obama for taking credit for this.

and democrats in this campaign are doing it.shba a imisnghemo seem 11 aheiing ofsainad byurng in cheap politicalatck. well, i do respect mccain, but here's a pr flakery comment. this is pure partisan flackery by one of the people during the day just spewing partisan nonsense. here he is. >> this is one of the reasons president obama has become one of the most divisive presidents in american t ifngve fll amics,omhi mt rmney ngtutehianth liryndhe analysts and our government in terms of completing the mission for killing osama bin laden, and he's managed to turn it into a divisive, partisan, political attack that former defense

secretary frank carlucci for president reagan called sad, it was called shameful. i think they will see it as a sign of a desperate campaign. >> sometimes we have to put on another point of view even if it's nonsense. i think most people are very proud of this country not because iyo g he op kle ouo cotrby trostttck meathecivilians, you have to do something about it to end it, to make the statement, the moral statement, this must not be done again. we finally did that under this president. and then to go around and say, there's something wrong with taking credit for that, it baffles me. oh, well. go ahead, ron. >> i was just going to say you know why they're doing it, and, you know, i just don't think -- they lose because it's reminding everybody, too, of what obamatou

si politicizing this, cheney came out saying obama cares more about terrorists than americans. if it was all about democrats, you'll be hit again by terrorists. so they've been politicizing this for decades, and turning the act of terrorism into a political matter? it doesn't pass thef st potil ss ok at tisd fm0 h elti cmpgnhoe meio9/11 qte ll here. let's watch this ad.

well, that wasn't political, was it? anyway, here's vice president cheney trying to scare americans ai that same year.rn wn'lica t'wah ts e fm en. is sote eseia at twesr day, vembernd we make the right choice. if we make a wrong choice, the danger is that we'll get hit again, and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating for the united states. >> the guy made the wrong choice. scooter libby was covering for this guy and taking the hit for him so he could skitter away free. if they had done the job they wouldn't have to go through thesere the

9/ fv a ain d en whad econhh ulha bn e y issue, they were demagogued. president cheney continued to do that throughout the obama presidency. if they want to talk about terrorism, if they want to talk about what's best to be done, and of course, as you know, chris, in the beginning of the bush years, they said, no, no, no, the real problem is saddam hussein. they did that to try to cover up that past. >> just to pounce ochinits,ev u, nesi t gts a t crice ofur svimeor political in nerdo is. there he is with his mission accomplished banner up on that carrier. we didn't catch him in the flight suit there. that was an earlier portrait he gave us that day. but i tell you, this is

politics, and there he is using our sailors. anyway, thank you, ron reagan, for joining us and making it clear that both sides take credit for victory. there's nothing wrong with that -- there he is in his costume. i mean, unbelievable. there's the ro an, anyo r. thk u, vi cn. >> othiswedneay,rian williams takes on inside the situation room for the first time in television history following the killing of bin laden. coming up, the obama-clinton alliance. this is rich politics which i love. this is what i love about politics. when you get together for common goals, bury the hatchet, do the right thing and win elections. let's get into it. why this relationship is so important for both of these two guys here. this is "hardball." it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious.

lmore.y hichooeach i ane coulach. you could call him you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us. [ male ♪nouncer ] what'r drin wan ]touiie dat g e v-fusy. d' had8.♪nouncer ] what'r drin wan ]touiie dat g e mitt romney is auditioning another potential running mate.

this is iode. she might help romney winning votes which have been slow to warm to him so far. n innatewo l for de,she's s no 'll ht i should be arrested for crimes against potted plant-kind. [ clang ] my house is where plants came to die. ♪ but, it turns out all i was missing was miracle-gro potting mix. poee for mo beaula guar.ee for mo

wht two n th ks tmie-gr uhis al b everyone ws with miracle- oú people realove snapshrom ogreive, but st ln to peoplli to esppyprree cuers. snapshrom ogreive, i ugd in shot, and 30s lar, but st ln to i wavingig on cnsurance. i was worrd it would berd t. but it's really sy. the better i drive, e more i save. i wish our company h something this cool. yeah. you're not... filming this, are you?

aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve form betenresidebama andformidbill jt w itay wen a mpgnol o a w ad touting obama's strength. we showed that to you. and also resolved in taking out osama bin laden. last night clinton introduced obama at a fundraiser in virginia, the first time they appeared together at an event. clto oba.d out sayinifilee foer myof phadph,

msnbc political analyst mark penn. he was the chief strategist of hillary clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. i always look to you, governor rendell, for anything to do with the clintons. you are their guy. you're close. it's a relationship. it's not transactional, it's for life. so here's the question. is this a good marriage? will it last through november, which is all that matters? >> absolutely, yeah. it'srein e e ulanth a t tuspoci wod adisasr. d ao a real respect for president obama and how he's handled president clinton. they have a mutual respect and admiration and even general friendship. i think president clinton has been enormously impressed with that. i think this is all out, 100%,

n not leaving anything out on the table. >> i'd like you to got. s enead molicly a asto oma ihi sote. i mean,th president has given hillary clinton the ability to go out there and create a persona for herself, and she's done a great job with the american people, love what hillary clinton has done, and i think president clinton is very appreciative of the way president obama is handling it. >>tran sth deloitr huan

omhayohe- t tke th. shshld he enhe lomouth, if you will senator from nw york, being the lightning rod. she could like ted kennedy was all those years. but she chose to join the team and become the major personality beside the president, and it's made her grow as a global figure. i've never seen that. >> i always thought that was ao toe e resutaef magi o gbalaon e'do mnice jobs we all knew she would. >> here's my question about the politics, because it also allows her -- again, i'm just trying to anticipate what you're going to say, governor. she's allowed to be not necessarily to the right or left of the president, but she can be in a strong forward position whereas if she were senator from new york, the national politics

of new york would have her most of the time on the left of the h >> no thk u' sote rit. yorebsuty gh ve h tbity tdo extlytht. the qstion is does she wtto run again? i hope for one that she does. i'm ready to be the co-chair with hildebrand, but i don't know if she wants to right now. if clinton gets to step down and get a little rest, i think she'll think about 2016 ly aishecltonet ecd? think i's ea disn

the psintecset gives him a second vp out there. you need really strong, great surrogates and he and president clinton can go out to ohio, kentucky and talk about health care. all the things he specializedb caai. i dot inker de asmt cion wit cnt, but obama just did >> i'm thinking of northwestern penn, those difficult areas to reach for a moderate democrat where bill seems to have an appeal to working white people. i'm not knocking anybody else, but just normally he has such a great appeal with working class whites that that has to help in those states. >> no question about wa wld

es btt healor d. ihihe bkeho plesin iondend is clinton's ability to raise money for fundraising. >> i want to know this question. is it better for hillary clinton if she runs for president for obama to get reelected? i want a yes or no. is it better for hillary clinton if she -- n inffe ab foeht wchsisrill fful or ist harder t run agnsan inmbent tt romney?

>> you want the open seat. you don't want to run against any incumbent. >> absolutely. i think the governor has it absolutely right. >> so it's a positive for both sides. let's look at some of the -- out of time. you guys are great. you guys are really good, guys. precdhet the president to get ti. e' pbayetimelte thsendte. >>up next, mitt romy famously wrote a bit "let detroit go bankrupt." how is he going to walk away from that? now they're trying to make him the success of the auto bailout. they're trying to spin it around yoatarey can't

to get people to try on thesen, hey m going across aca and today we are rocking the red carpet.

look it's lisa rinna! lisa hiii,i know you don't need one but will you try on these new depend silhouette briefs for charity and prove just how great the fit is even under a fantastic dress? are you serious? i am serious... sure why not! estioondjue r. sa w weedepeho leaegul ice in causuga a bettay t ♪ causugjust lirally. a bettay t capri su respwhat's in the pouc

owde ob-rts baetllgh toh foet that repote wne was visiting kuwait. swish. governor brown has been pressing for a face-off. it looks like it could be quite a match. take a look at this feat from senator brown at a community center. he earned the nickname downtown scott brown for his ability to sink the shots. president obamaciprid rinci

onisisat jn ehr' me in ohio. ti thebackgrnd, a bridge in nd of repair. here's the president today. >> over the last year, i sent congress a whole series of jobs bills to put people to work, to put your members back to work. time after time, the republicans had gotten together and they said no. i went to the speaker's hometown, stood under a bridge that was crumbling. mayb'tie d ss ut as the e ids twn ntky ahihe somof the ke republican leadership come from, where folks are having to do detours an extra hour, hour and a half drive every day. >> they have to keep talking jobs. mitch mcconnell is against everything. finally, much of president obama's pitch for reelection hinges, of course, on the success of the auto industry

bailout, saving gm and chrysler from going under. get this, eric furstrom, one ofy ar aic om tt mn. isasnturday mitt romney wrote to the "new york times" when george bush was still president. he said, look, if you want to save the auto industry, don't just write checks. they need to go through a managed bankruptcy process. they went through the managed bankruptcy process. it's exactly what mitt romney told them to do. so consider that, the crown jewel, the only economic success president obama has had is because he followed mitt romney's advice. >> it looks like a support atasdo t thcacoans ck onh et s ty tkret f

mein tt could not have happened under their leadership. if mitt romney had had his way, the american auto industry and the millions of jobs it supports would cease to exist. dishonesty and distortions are nothing new for the romney campaign, but they can't change this simple fact. up next, dirty, range money. we begin our reporting tonight on filuig 's illi it'stli u'chindball. s j

toaksu weeemang prre i toaksu the twtyilonolrsweeee lf cmittedas helped nd economic and environmental recovery. another fourteen billion dollars has been spent on response and cleanup. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to the gulf of mexico research initiative... to support ten years of independent scientific research on the environment. results will continue to be shared with the public.

buth j 's ilhe, d'reti cmied toeeg ishrough results will continue to be shared with the public.

i lshaveo fre,rent sgs, not hi results will continue to be shared with the public. and my movg . so wwe to fity. we lkeat ourily'gos d so ways to help us getre. theyped me fix my onomy, and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. worries about the economy

sent the dow down 15 points, the s&p falling five and change, and the nasdaq down 23. microsoft's million-dollar investment in the e-reader. consumer spending rose just not'sackto "hardball." tonight we're kicking off a new series, "dirty, angry money," looking at superpac money just this year. someday we'll look back on this race where people with hpa.

omaaai risoue athe rnecaaign has ised, t the superpac crossroads dwarfed what priorities u.s. took in. and that's only part of the story. when you combine it with its sister, the non-profit arm, they eresed an astounding veer klei wte a perl coum he amsnbc contributor.

i read your column the other day. let me just read from your column because i think it makes a point no one else has thought about. it's about the influence of superpacs on the local congressional race. just as youth is wasted on the young, money is wasted on the rich. money yo obotma. towan pplo u ow th atrg onithr reesentaven congss or on his or her challanger? do you even have a strong opinion on your representative? that's the kind of low information race where money can have a big impact. how you can scare congress into a crooked little breaker

thetwo cdite ifheo,he d't ceh e ay. vorsaren't du. ishe a lot o mney there? if a candidate has a lot of money and a superpac comes in and dumps another million bucks, then the candidate just spends another million bucks. in the presidential race, people know the candidates and both candidates have a lot of money. if congress when you're dealing with, in the third district in arizona, when people danhan'ha loofon,nd teyan co iat endf ea kehear dngndust spdi .2milion. that be beg enough to flip an entire race. number two, it can mean senators on the hill are more afraid of

superpacs. you can imagine a superpac run by hedge fund managers who don't want to lose the tax break and they let them get taxed at 5% instead ofar't foow 'ses nto t lfin atin tub. at' bouhr, wh terarehese esoteric votes that only the people who benefit know about it. now you have the tremendous cannon you can bring in and make the guy, good government guy or woman, who really tries to go the right way says, wait a minute. do i really want to lose my congressional seat on this wrinkle in the tax law when no one gives me credit for it and they're just going to gun me down for agog

coreiol surpsco t leltheawn t pridtial? e swer, en fr t people raising the money for the superpacs is, no, because the president takes so much air out of the room. it's not as sexy of a race and we're getting our feet wet here for congressional superpacs. it does have the bigger impact, but i think it's goingadpawn i flidth's bki us. corema cniem. it tak o her opponent for

being too cozy with president obama. let's watch it. >> president obama said no to the keystone xl pipene. that's saying noo lower gas prices, no to more jobs, no to greater energyur heha a s msa of anngp r acan prosperity. say no to bill nelson and choose connie mack. connie mack is responsible for this advertising. >> i love the sort of grainy pictures they show in these ads with that grim, forbidding voice. i wish everybody would just pray to themselves, i will not be influenced by any ad that shows black and white pictures that ends up being sort of a

suerven esad thwo,on ey th work the funn thabout esads, too, and this is their up side. they are issue ards. one thing about negative ads, they tend to have more issue content in studies than non-negative. nevertheless, the key point there was right at the end, paid for by freedom pack. who is freedom pack? what dzeaiioen tn b core cas l sin eyavtoisoswhis fuin th we could va a sin id for by freedom pack, but they block that bill. >> i'm afraid for november, what could happen in october where one of these guys could go out there and spend a zillion

dollars and turn an election, which i think is going to be close between president obama and mitt romney, turn it by a point or so with huge spending of money totally negative on wee rnhvors m n se i'soio wk t 's mein haveo do thanksoroming on, chris. thank you so much. by the way, i'll be at brown university tomorrow night at providence. i'll be talking about "jack kennedy," my book, but i'll be focusing on the cuban missile crisis. o wwaed t ing hi oef th d.

th d. s "hall. r car otal, th br caemen liberty tual auto insura how math and science kind of makes the world work. in high school, i had a physics teacher by the name of mr. davies. he made physics more than theoretical, hmmm r half the calorie plus veggie nuition. could've had a v8. i'm michael bazinet,

president of creative digital imaging of bangor, maine. we have customers all over the united states. we relwoulonsidefftal service for ev a rt of that weo. ld lie. osurs pl al we have customers all over the united states. as i mentioned, it's been nearly a year for that s.e.a.l. raid that killed osama bin laden thtin w rk11 yeauct d ci. okt u he,ier tn thempe atbudi. nsuconon b cmpted unl xt yeh the ter will top the old sears tower in

chicago as the tallest building in the country and the third tallest in the world. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. wiss imagvk pai inwi p cymban wiss imagvk pai noncoti dayvery, n huces p you hanusu cnges in mood oravior n huces p or thou of suicide. antideessant can incrse these in cldren, teens, and young adts. cyalta is not approv for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk.

severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. yel syes. ll yor all mes, ors ac ifavev confusd sce e blpesh vesth addsi feteniditi and be yorece r cymlt inesoraintiny ocr upontaing. ask your doctbout cymbalta. imagine with less pain. cymbalta canelp. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. all at 150 calories or less, there's definitely a temptations for you. doet lidelstuf taons tht thast uur erynd ytsui e--scoomgonn y ♪eck die i too doet lidelstuf

and ynd urappor c ♪o hitfreeret-o ♪d ouwh cred about ♪ or you cou be he for a crediteout ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. an tanul 've agred miesreffims. do aprelya gae. >> fr game. ers a phra iknow. we'rback, and that was president obama at saturday night's white house correspondents dinner invoking the famous romney dog on the roof story as he referred to it, the dog eats dog story. omy veeized a pageeu a eg t

>>haabt bara obama? under his failleahip, sest friend has been forced to government-controlled autobiles. st imagine the europeastyle dog socialism obama has planned for the next four years. more government handouts. inbend of . ♪n e ms o theels >>ca's dsan't

them, that 28years. our dogs need leadership now. ♪ who let the dogs out >> this guy. tooner a ge,elp n ha tott w u, va --he's aog food right there, rival dog food. the old -- here we go with a weird ad making fun of the insiea on idosi

anatngog meat will only turn off the people that already think he is a muslim and socialist. but putting a dog on the roof of the car -- >> a guy that likes firing people andndiedredesibig gsyo toutsnth coerti. lk, thi as a great

comedy and satire does, it pokes holes in heavy handed political theories. this was a masterful stroke by the president that it reinforces th carte thg,his sident obama in wh kd ogupu an bst frnd on a rf for six hours when the dog was sick. i heard that the white house loves this because they're less worried about obama eating doing, and cmmt ene

o esen cer ura iforepoib. maki a joke about a physical characteristic. president obama was dishing it out, but he could take some heat. he turned to tables, making fun of himself for having eating dog meat in indonesia as a child. i hd, watch him talk about this. u no iatedat a he ki jokes about eating pit bulls, it's such a

disgusting idea -- yuck. >> you choose to get into the subject, how do you get into it. i don't see how anyone wins big or losnt tr to bte ou n. >>o outsbo tate, if htr btt you, n, that's allhe time we have for that one, when we return, why i wouldn't bet on the republicans that want to deny president obama of the credit of killing osama bin laden. re goes o

icant 280 iami now r foroaing. hereh♪ fly thout putt your life onse. be yoursel. nonstop. american airlines. cuban jun raw seafood pizza parl french fondue tex-mex fro-yo tapas puck chinese takeout taco truck free range chicken pancake stack baked alaska 5% cash back. right now, get 5% cash back at restaurants. ♪ no i aeogi achro ani t hp iee acrs has fr rvmors d a wirele mrocontller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪

it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk.

let me finish tonight with this. i understand why some of the president's critics are going after him after his successful mission against bin laden. the republican party champions the civil war in this country and took credit for it for generations. they went together like a horse and car rage. general grant was elected president because he was the best president in the war. republicans do it, so why can't a democratic president do it.

if george w. bush had gotten him, he would still be shooting con fety out of cannons, don't you think? history and the voters know the difference between success and sour grapes. true victory by the man in the are than in a a cheer from the cheap seats. if was it was that easy, everybody knows that w. would have done it and danced himself silly in the end zone, and dick cheney would have done cart wheels. thanks for being with us, "politicsnation" starts now. >> welcome to "politicsnation," i'm al sharpton, tonight's lead, the gop's winner take all mentality. from the winning, wi argue mitt romney has had trouble seconding with average americans, but speaker