. >>> phil donahue, president of the catholic league and chad griffin, incoming president of the human rights campaign. welcome to you both. let me start with you, chad, if i may. what is your reaction to what happened today? >> it's astonishing what president obama did today. a lot of people out of washington are giving the political reaction. but to lbgt people across the country, it was a very personal and emotional reaction. the president today didn't just say that he supports gay marriage, he did it in a way by describing what brought him to that point. his two daughters, his wife, people in the military who don't have the same rights as their colleagues, marines, navy officers. but he's already impacted the lives of millions of people across this country, piers. every single light lbgt people get in their beds, turn out the light and instead of going to sleep like their friends and colleagues, they stay awake and stare at the ceiling fearing the next day. what the president of the united states said today is that he cares for them. he is their president, he is standing up for the

my good friend and colleague chad griffin, was on. and i think that's right. i hope obama wins, and i don't think there will be another president after obama that will go backwards. >> chad griffin, human rights campaign. i was there when he was made president. is rob right on all those fronts, that this will energize both sides and this will get the concerns who think it's palenta. >> i think rob is being a little bit charitable to mitt romney. he did, in 1994, when he ran in the ted kennedy race, said he would be better for gay rights than ted kennedy was. that may have been a plausible thing to write considering ted kennedy, but he has things like trying to drive his base in this election, but mitt romney has taken a seat in many parts of this election to gain an appeal seat. yes, it's definitely the fact that the conservative right has reacted more strongly to this than mitt romney has in the course of the last several days. does romney see it in his interest to exploit that or not? i think the romney campaign believes that any day not spent talking about

chad griffin is incoming president of the advocacy group for gay rights. you brought together ted olson and david boies to challenge prop 8. we know that is the big case that everybody has been watching. what is your take away? this has been a stunning week in gay rights and also in politics. >> andrea, it is, i think, a turning point in american politics. what president the obama did this week in making clear his support for marriage equality was so historic, but it wasn't just what he said but how he said it. he talked about it in such personal terms. he spoke from the heart. he talks about how he spoke with his family, his wife, sasha and malia, members of the military, his friends, co-workers, those who work for him on staff. that's how this entire country has moved and has evolved on this issue. democrats and republicans, quite frankly. he joined a majority of the american public in a growing number of leading democrats and republicans who are now openly supporting the freedom to marry. it sent a tremendous message across this country, particularly to

i think that my good friend and colleague chad griffin was on earlier with andrea mitchell, and he said this is going to be, there will never be another president who will not support marriage equality, and i think that is right. >> thank you, and good luck with the latest film. great filmmaker, and anyway i still love "a few good film" and i still love "princess bride" and they are all great. coming up next on the show, why are the white house staffers still talking trash about vice president biden and the press, and i know why they are mad, he jumped the gun. why are they still so mad? this is "hardball." ♪ surf's up everybody get your boards and your wetsuits ♪ free-credit-score-dot-com's gonna direct you ♪ ♪ to check your credit score before it gets too late ♪ ♪ and you end up strapped for cash ♪ ♪ patching your board with duct tape ♪ ♪ so hit free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ find out what credit's about ♪ ♪ or else you could be headed for a credit wipeout ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie

. >> reporter: chad griffin is the incoming president of the human rights campaign, the main lobbying group for the gay and lesbian community. he has raised more than $300,000 for obama's reelection campaign. >> i immediately sent out an e- mail to my friends and colleagues across the country encouraging them to now do more, to now support this president even more and to reach further than they had already gone in order to support him. >> reporter: in fact, just hours after mr. obama announced his support for same-sex marriage, his team released this new video drawing a contrast with mitt romney. >> same-sex couples should be able to get married. >> i indicated my view, which is i do not favor marriage between people of the same gender. >> reporter: and obama's finance director, rufus gifford, who is openly gay, sent out an e-mail to campaign supporters that says "i am just so happy. if you're proud of our president, this is a great time to make a donation to the campaign." we've also learned the president had planned to make his announcement public next monday, one day before an impo

i think, you know, my good friend and colleague chad griffin was on earlier with andrea mitchell and he said this will be -- there will never be another president who will not support marriage equality. i think that's right. >> thank you. good luck with the latest film. great filmmaker. i still love "a few good men." >> thank you. >> i still love "princess bride." they're all great. >>> and why are white house staffers talking trash about vice president biden so openly with the press? i know why they're mad. he jumped the gun. why are they talking about it so much? this is "hardball," the place for politics. purina one discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. with this kind of thinking going into our food, imagine all the goodness that can come out of it. just one way we're making the world a better place... one pet at a time. vibrant maturity. from purina one smartblend. today training depends on technology. and when it takes a battery, there are athletes everywhere who trust duracell. the

. >> no chad griffin. ad, i don't have your new email, call me. >> look at you getting in with all of the power gays. >> right? >> are they battery powered. >> i'm princess of power gays. >> are they sustainable? >> they are sustainable gays. >> so they are the gay avengers that you are assembling. >> that's right. hi, brian. >> i'm an african american man and i don't subscribe to the idea that african american's not supporting him. yesterday in north carolina that was kicking people who don't equal rights in this country. yesterday obama lifted everybody up. he lifted the gay community up. he basically said i'm going to go to the wall for you guys. a as democrat, and i'm speaking to all democrats out there, all of you guys you need to go to the wall for obama this year. >> yeah. >> for him -- >> double down. >> for him to come out this close to the election, he is basically telling us that he's putting his election on the line for this -- >> yeah, he said -- >> -- the for what should be our belief. >> yeah

. >> chad griffin was also at the polo lounge that day. e old friends and political allies. they met when chad was just 19 and a press aide in the clinton white house. >> good morning, mr. president. >> how are you today? >> reporter: he game reiner the west wing tour when the director was scouting for his film "an american president." they decided griffin would be the one to make that first uneasy call to olson. >> much to my surprise it was an issue he had clearly thought a lot about. but the moment i hung up the phone, i realized there was a chance i was talking to someone who overnight could become the most important, significant advocate for marriage equality that this movement has ever seen. >> we talked for a while on the telephone, and then he said can i come and talk to you in your office in washington, d.c. >> reporter: weren't you stunned? >> i wasn't so stunned. i'm a lawyer. i represent cases involving the constitution. this is an important constitutional question. yes, i think that we hurt people when we tell them they're no g

my good friend, chad griffin was on earlier, and he said there will never be another president who will not support marriage equality, and i think that's right. i think that's right. >> if obama wins. >> i think he will win, and i don't think there will be another president after him that will go back wards. >> i there was when he was made president. let's go to john, check him on that, is rob right on all of those fronts? will this get the christian conservatives excited about romney? >> i'll say two things. the first is i think rob is doing a little bit chartabitabl. he said he would be better for gay rights than ted kennedy was. that may have been implausible to argue, but he has evolved to some extent, he went to the right. and i think it's not necessarily like trying to drive the base in this election, but romney has taken more conservative poxes to appeal to the gop base and that he needed to appeal to to get the nomination. and yes, i think it will rev up both sides. there's no question that the cultural right, the christian conservative right reacted more strongly to this than m