joining us now is chris matthews. the host of "hardball" here on msnbc. thanks for staying around. >> it's fun. >> it is fun. >> it's a fun time these last few days to watch politics come back into our lives and democracy going to work and two sides going at each other. instead of just one side. >> i saw you talking about this on "hardball" today. yesterday i saw your segment titled, has obama got his groove back, and it certainly seems like he's got momentum. do you think it translates to him getting stuff passed? >> yeah, i had this image of an old cowboy movie where the soldiers, the guys on the uniforms or horses, they're inside the fort. the indians are attacking outside, these allegorical indians. i always wondered why did the soldiers not stay in the fort? why didn't they stay in the inside and hide behind the fence? you know why? because they're cavalry. he's happier on his horse, he's happier out there fighting. he's been under attack. i think you talk to people in massachusetts, all through this hosanas about scott brown. he won because the demo

joining us now is chris matthews. thanks for staying around. >> it's fun. >> it is fun. >> it's a fun time these last few days to watch politics come back into our lives and two sides going at each other. >> i saw you talking about this on hardball today, yesterday i saw your segment titled, has obama got his groove back, and it certainly seems like he's got momentum. do you think it translates to him getting stuff passed? >> yeah, i had this image of an old cowboy movie where the soldiers, the guys on the uniforms or horses, they're inside the fort. i always wondered why did the soldier soldiers not stay in the fort? because he's calvary. he's happier on his horse, he's happier out there fighting. he's been under attack. i think you talk to people in massachusetts, all through this issue about scott brown, he won because democrats took punishment for a month there and didn't do anything about it. the president was on vacation in hawaii. i'm not knocking him, but that's where he was when we were threatened by that att

chris matthews with "hardball" is next right here on msnbc. you tomorrow night from hartford. >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, feed the hot hand. in basketball, you get the player to the player who's on the streak. that's if you're smart. that's precisely what the presidential game plan these last seven days has been. give the ball to barack obama, get him out there with the people, hitting his points. the president was up in new hampshire and his message to independent voters was clear. look at me now. i'm out there leading the country through this tough time when everyone else just sitting on the sidelines offering their criticism. the latest gallup poll has his approval rating making a turn upward since the state of the union speech. so it's working. >>> plus, don't ask, don't tell, both defense secretary robert gates and the chairman of the joint chiefs admiral mullen testified on capitol hill in support of ending the policy. >>> the oscar nominations are out today. how nominated movies like "up in t

first, we have "hardball with chris matthews," the political news show on msnbc and then we have "nipk." [ laughter ] a show about plastic surgery on the fx network. two very different shows that have been combined into the new nbc show "hard nips with chris matthews." [ laughter ] it says here, higgins, "the hottest issues, the coldest newsroom and absolutely no undershirt." [ laughter ] >> steve: well, there you are. that's a winner. that's a winner. >> jimmy: that's a winner. yeah, i like the show because he gives equal exposure to the right and the left nipple. [ laughter ] >> steve: you like it because it's not called "ball talk," so -- [ laughter ] >> jimmy: that was a joke you thought of, higgy? [ laughter ] you thought it was going to be called "ball tuck"? [ laughter ] "hard nip." >> steve: okay. well, now i know. >> jimmy: yeah, you do. yeah. this one here. here's another one here. nbc is just taking "the ghost whisperer" and "flash forward." they're two popular shows right now. they've combined them to make this completely brand new show "the ghost flasher," which is really

check three, on the heals of the black man comment by chris matthews whoopi goldberg said this. >> it's been quite a year for the white man. dramatic in many ways because the things that people say now you have to think before you speak. it sounded great in his head, i'm sure. if you are black oftentimes people say to you you are so articulate, not realizing how offensive that actually is. >> it is offensive. >> because you would never say to somebody who was white, gee, you can dance. >> bill: people say that to me all the time. check four, the watchdog group judicial watch filed a freedom of information request to get nancy pelosi's travel expenses. as you may know the speaker of the house is entitlinged to use a military jet to fly home and over a period of two years documents show the cost to the taxpayer was more than $2 million to fly back and forth from san francisco and about $100,000 more for food and drink on board. that's a party. mispelosi's office says it is in line with other what other speakers have done. finally check five, the january tv ratings are in. a big thank you

i'm chris matthews in washington.ht, double jeopardy, as goes the house, so goes the senate. could the democrats lose ten senate seats this fall as well as the u.s. house of representatives? in seven years, no party has lost control of the house without also losing control of the senate in the same election. does this say the democrats better make a comeback this spring and summer or they'll be in worse trouble than even they imagined? >>> plus, ending "don't ask, don't tell." here's a quote from a gi serving in iraq. "yeah, i think my former commander was gay. kicked ass. would have followed him back to fallujah. shame he was shot." let's get past the loose talk and find out what life in the military is really like from men in uniform. >>> would ronald reagan have been reagan enough for republicans these days? the gop don't like to talk about it, but reagan raised taxes. he signed a bill that granted amnesty to immigrants and named pro-choice sandra day o'connor to the supreme court. what happens when the rhetoric sm

i think chris matthews was dead on.s, greedy people who don't want to help their fellow man in terms of health care programs, that there are people out there hurting. god bless people were meant -- god bless keith olbermann for running those free clinics that have saved people. host: our next call. good morning. caller: there are two parts of the tea parties. there is a sight of folks who just hit obama and the democrats, regardless of what could they try to do for america. and there is another side that is moderate that wants to stay in power. they wanted to the right thing for america -- they don't want to do the right thing for america. then there is another element that is the media. the media is like the moderator of a fight, but the media is not interested in the truth. they just interested in people's emotions, where they make money off of people's bills and what is going on in america. -- people's ills and what is going on in america. they're not interested in facts, because they get more information on money is

since then we fine out that obama loves him for schools and chris matthews just said this . >> a hero from the past of the 1960's. >> a hero from the 1960's. and obama organizing for america, for your kids. and it is not just if you want to be an intern, but the nea has a new recommended reading on the website "rules for radicals." the average american, are they with saul, "the ends just the means." should the average american blow this off as unrelated coincidence that the government is training radicals instead of educating children? the original idea for public schools was to train people to be americans, bring us all together and teach our ideals. the ends just the means? is this an american ideal? is this being taught this this video? do you think we citizens pledging allegiance to the republic? how about in this video? (inaudible) >> our children are not being trained to be responsible citizens but campaign workers for a political icon and ideology. during the campaign obama camp had kids for obama parades. the public school teachers more than once were caught indoctrinating chi

. >> good chris matthews reference though, right, chris? >> this was a state that was never very fond of president obama. she's going to have a really tough time running as a democrat this cycle in arkansas. >> maybe go up to 45 to 46 in a reasonably plausible outlook. >> it's plausible, that's right. >> let's take a look at the tsunami possibilities. if republicans could get the full house easy, then they might also draw a royal flush. now, this would be tsunami here. look at these five extra ones they might pick up. i can see a couple of these myself as plausible. illinois, the republican primary won there the other night pretty much against the field. and arlen specter is very weak right now, double-digit down from pat toomey the republican. then indiana, the former senator, is now the nominee of the republican party in indiana. he's out there in that race. and bloomenthal, the very popular attorney general up at 70%. and barbara boxer always seems to pull it out in california. what's your thought there, chuck? they could win maybe three

. >> i think about when chris matthews, a comment he made after president barack obama spoke at westoint, when he stated that the president went to the cap of the enemy. that should be something that is very disturbing because here you are standing before the young men and women that will go out and fight for our freedom and liberties and to have someone in the media say that he was in the cap of the enemy, that is the type of chasm that has been free of between our american culture and the men and women that are charged to defend it. there are two classes of people that are needed to sustain a society, those who teach it and those who defend it. if we continue to put down the military, if we continue to allow that chasm to grow, this culture, this thing we call america will fall. it has been called a paradoxical trinity. it talks about the will of the people, the will of the government, and will the military. they all three have to come together. the overarching thing that is a problem here is that we are losing a sense of individual responsibility and accountability. when that star

. >> i'm going to put you on the spot for filling in the details of something chris matthews said a weekublican event. the president's learning curb should be a fright thing thing to republicans. how is it tangibly. what is he doing differently as opposed to a year ago, with -- fill in the topic which policy it is, but materially, politically, strategically, what does he do when he says to them, do something and they don't? how does he make it actually happen? >> well, far be it from me to add what chris says, he's the "hardball" expert here. i think he has -- a lot of this is fright thing to say so, a lot of his personal relations, particularly when it comes to senators -- every senator believes he or she should be president of the united states, and they expect to be catered to a bit. you have to do that while at the same time putting the pressure on and showing -- demonstrating to them, that i can help you win elections and stay in your job. that's what he's doing now. but i think at some point he has to sit down with max baucus, and say, we can't repeat what happened last spring with

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chris matthews called him the troll that's under the bridge. >> larry: what's your read on him, on dickheney? >> you know, i wish, as we were just talking about, i wish anybody in the democratic party had that sort of fortitude, that sort of perseverance to stick by what he thinks is right. i'm not questioning his insart. i question his intelligence. i don't think he reads things right, that we use the army to fight terrorism is just wrong. they don't have an army, they have exploding underwear. it's just not a wise decision. but he's also -- what i don't admire is he's a liar, you know. >> larry: whoa. >> yes, he is. joe biden had that correct. for him to go after the democrats for treating terrorists the exact same way his administration did. and, of course -- >> larry: treat who wrong? >> many of them. they were all tried in courts in america and all put away. if i was a criminal or terrorist, whatever you want to call them, yes, i would fear the most a prosecutor, a seasoned federal prosecutor in our system. you know, like eliot spitzer was, those kind of guys. giuliani himself, i t

i'm chris matthews in washington., double jeopardy, as goes the house, so goes the senate. could the democrats lose ten senate seats this fall as well as the u.s. house of representatives? in seven years no party has lost control of the house without also losing control of the senate in the same election. does this say the democrats better make a comeback this spring and summer or they'll be in worse trouble than even they imagined? >>> plus, ending "don't ask, don't tell." a quote from a gi serving in iraq. yeah, i think my former commander was gay. kicked ass. would have followed him back to fallujah. shame he was shot. >>> what life in the military is really like from men in uniform. >>> would ronald reagan have been reagan enough for republicans these days? the gop miff makers don't like to talk about it, but reagan raised ta

i'm chris matthews in washington. off tonight, double jeopardy, as goes the house, so goes the senate. could the democrats lose ten senate seats this fall and control of that body as well as the u.s. house of representatives? in seven years, no party has lost control of the house without also losing control of the senate in the same election. does this say the democrats better make a comeback this spring and summer or they'll be in worse trouble than even they imagined? >>> plus, ending "don't ask, don't tell." here's a quote from a gi serving in iraq. "yeah, i think my former commander was gay. kicked ass. would have followed him back to fallujah. shame he was shot." let's get past the loose talk and find out what life in the military is really like from men in uniform. >>> would ronald reagan have been reagan enough for republicans these days? the gop don't like to talk about it, but reagan raised taxes. he signed a bill that granted amnesty to immigrants and named pro-choice sandra day o'connor to the supreme court

have seen the tape but he, andrew young, has said in several interviews including with our own chris matthewspe is of john edwards and what he says is a very pregnant rielle hunter at the time so right now the judge is saying turn over the tape. turn over the pictures or you will be put behind bars. we'll keep you up to date. more breaking news from our nbc affiliate kiro. they're reporting that washington state officials have ordered all state agencies to pull new 2010 prius hybrids off the road. seattle and king county will keep driving the prius models but have requested that floor mats be removed from the vehicles according to a new report. we heard from the ceo of toyota today apologizing for quality control issues with the company saying they would make great improvements but we've not seen an official recall of the prius as we've seen with other vehicles. there have been reports of brake problems with the 2010 prius but as of now there's not been an official recall from toyota but now this news, officials taking action and asked all state agencies to pull that particular vehicle off th

. >> congressman miller, last night your colleague congressman clyburn told chuck and i and chris matthews "hard ball," it is fine for the house to go first and pass the senate bill. as we understand it, speaker pelosi wasn't so sure about that. have you now worked that out and you're in a position to have the house vote first on senate bill and have senate do the fix by reconciliation? >> well, i think, you know, the choreography gets a little complicated here but the point is the house will present a reconciliation bill, based upon many of the principles that the president put forth to correct some of the problems that the house and others have had with the senate bill, that may require us to pass the senate bill first and then send the reconciliation bill to the senate for them to pass. i think senator reid believes that he can put together the votes for that. and then we will have a new modern health care system in this country that can be signed by president bush. i mean, president obama. there you go. >> wow. >> interesting. >> everyone is tired. it is a long day. >> we're all strugg

i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, the summit of all fears.a few hours of television really seeing the difference between this countries's two main political parties to see who's for what and who's again and who's playing it straight and who isn't? then watch tomorrow's health care summit at blair house. will it be, as president obama says, the kind of government get-together we need in this country, or will it be, as gop congressman mike penn says, a setup? both sides are plotting for what could become a make or break moment for president obama. the democrats really want this health bill. the republicans really don't. i think that's a fair assessment. so the question is who's going to win this televised tug of war? tonight that's our top story. plus, is the gop becoming the party of south carolina's jim demint and like-minded right wingers where any compromise is considered an act of treachery? two items today. scott brown is taking heat for voting for the jobs bill. and mitt romney's under attack by rush limbaugh just for backing john mccain

said, somhe actually went -- you know what chris matthews said, don't you?as not a single black person -- he said every single person in the tea party movement was white. we all know that is absurd. host: scott joining us in akron. your thoughts on the tea party movement? caller: well, thanks for taking my call. i think that can be summed up in three words. i think the key backers are racist, -- the teabaggers are racist, fascists. you have seen greedy people who do not want help their fellow man in terms of health care programs. there are people out there hurting. god bless keith olbermann for running those free clinics, that helped save people. host: let's call on robert on the democratic line in south carolina. caller: i appreciate you taking my call. the tea parties a think there are two parts. you have a friendly group side of folks -- a fringe group side of folks that hate obama no matter what he tries to do for america. then you have another side that is kind of moderate that they just want to stay in power and they do not want to do the right thing f

interestingly enough we saw just this past week msnbc attempt to do their of black in america posted by chris matthews, ironically. [laughter] >> who interestingly enough as i sat in the auditorium, and watched chris moved less strategically than he normally moves, allowing the conversation to go in directions it never should have gone in, i was at least encouraged by chris's sensibility of communities of color. when the issue of reparations was raised, and a very unsophisticated way, chris was really the only person that was able to address it by providing historical context, and talking about being an issue that should at least be discussed. not which direction it should be in, not how it should be discussed, but that was not an issue that could be glossed over. my concern was most of the african-americans that were on that panel at the time did not feel comfortable enough addressing reparations, because they understood the reality that if they address to the wrong way it was the last time they were going to be on msnbc. and so how can i in the place, where it's sexy to be exotically ethnic -- [laug

last week on msnbc, chris matthews said the president is "post-racial.msnbc revelations? >> smartly, the president does not occupy his time watching cable television. >> oooh! [laughter] >> robert, do you think it made it more difficult for sheikh mohammed to get a fair trial with the comments you made yesterday and the fact that he would be -- why not? >> no, because i daresay, ann, we wouldn't go to trial and indict him if we didn't feel like we had a case that would lead to a conviction. and i think -- i don't have any problem saying that i think that conviction would lead to the death sentence. >> and he would be in a civilian trial, with the same kind of protections other defendants would get, including innocent until proven guilty? >> absolutely. >> and do you believe that the president still is insisting on civilian trials, even though a growing number on capitol hill are saying they would stop the money for those civilian trials? >> well, look, i think the president believes, particularly if you look at the southern district of new york, you've g

. >> you know, i take that comment, and i think about when chris matthews, the comment he made afterou are, standing before the young men and women who will go out and fight for our freedoms and liberties, and to have somebody in the media say he was in the camp of the enemy, that is the type of chasm that has been created between our american culture and the men and women charged to defend it. i also say there are two classes of people that are needed to sustain a society, those who teach it and those who defend it, and if we continue to put down the military and allow that chasm to grow, this thing because america will fall, and i also go back to another thing. a man called it the paradoxical trinity. he talked about the will of the public. the overarching thing common it comes back about what was brought up in the economic panel. we are losing responsibility and accountability, and when that starts to happen, everyone is a victim. nobody is empowered. everybody feels entitled. those are the ties of cultural problems that i think we have to overcome, and i think that 2010 is a very

. >> i take that comment and i think about when chris matthews made the comment after president obama liberties and to have somebody in the media say he was in the camp of the enemy, that is the type of chasm that is being created between american culture and the men and women who are charged to defend it. there aretwo classes of people that are needed to sustain the society, those who teacht( it ad those who defend it. if we continue to put down the military, this culture will fall. i go back to something that was talked about, the paradoxical trinity. the will of the people, the government, and the military. all three of those wills have to come together. the overarching theme is talking about what was brought out -- brought up earlier, weç are losing accountability. when that starts to happen, everybody is a victim. nobody is empowered and everybody feels entitled. those are the cultural problems we have to overcome. i think 2010 is an important year for that. >> one thing i would add. i've learned from reading a book about theçó spontaneous duy to defend the state and contribute.

you have tom defrank and chris matthew's hot tub buddy and what's her name from there, obama's girl.god, why don't you have a conservetive on, please. if you want republicans to watch this show any more, why don't you have a balance ds roundtable. host: i think we do. we try to mix it up here as well. of course we had the cpac conference last weekend here on the program. do you have a question for ambassador dobbins? caller: you had two liberals on this morning. everybody knows that. and yes, afghanistan is going well. it should be followed up with more interaction with u.n. peace keepers to make sure that peace is kept beyond the battle lines. and hopefully when you're in the bush administration you're a bush supporter and not a screaming liberal. host: thanks for the call. keep watching. i think over the course of this program, whether the washington journal or our network, you see every point represented. thank you for your call and thank you for your toes. guest: i served both presidents bushes and also president clinton and others. back to john f. kennedy. host: let me go back t

i'm a little bit confused as chris matthews was while you're not a little bit more irritated or i canell when the case because never seems to bear happy. it might require model rules for state borrowers to know how to rule on recusal. wouldn't it be possibly a good idea for groups like yours are people like you to put up model rules to be used for disclosure? because the leading governor candidate in alabama there are no restrictions, but they also don't have an effective for disclosure. and it occurred to me that you mamma to group together with some of your colleagues about the model rules on disclosure because if they don't restrictions they probably don't have a lot of practice and are disclosure either. and thank you, justice o'connor. >> we are focused on not looking at what would be appropriate disclosure rules. we would hope you join with others and doing something exactly like that. >> i served for three plus years on the aba committee reviewing the model code of judicial conduct. and we didn't get to disclosure, but we did get the issue about campaign contributions that we d

i'm a little bit confused as chris matthews was while you're not a little bit more irritated or i cane because never seems to bear happy. it might require model rules for state borrowers to know how to rule on recusal. wouldn't it be possibly a good idea for groups like yours are people like you to put up model rules to be used for disclosure? because the leading governor candidate in alabama there are no restrictions, but they also don't have an effective for disclosure. and it occurred to me that you mamma to group together with some of your colleagues about the model rules on disclosure because if they don't restrictions they probably don't have a lot of practice and are disclosure either. and thank you, justice o'connor. >> we are focused on not looking at what would be appropriate disclosure rules. we would hope you join with others and doing something exactly like that. >> i served for three plus years on the aba committee reviewing the model code of judicial conduct. and we didn't get to disclosure, but we did get the issue about campaign contributions that we did address the i

last year, i remember the chris matthews feeling everybody had.ch tickling he had when scott brown one. you had this to call up the leg feeling. people were positive and happy. you wanted to see the best for the country. on this trip to washington, d.c., i was pleased to see, in the gallery, unanimously, stewardesses who had voted for obama were so disenchanted they said they had to go conservative republican the next election. they were very upset. these are people that travel the country. this is the feeling i am getting across the country. i speak to a lot of average joes. although we respect the presidency, we do not have to agree with what is being done. one of the gentlemen i have always seen at the forefront of certain issues -- i remember watching and "fox news" and a congressman came out and said they were putting a dong heap on the door of the american taxpayer. that was this man. he was one of the first voices against the bailout. when sgt crowley had the incident, he called on congress to have a resolution to have president obama apolo

that streak on msnbc, chris matthews said the president is quote, post-racial.i forgot to his black tonight for an hour. and what is the president's reaction to these two msnbc revelations? >> smartly, the president do not occupy his time watching cable television. >> thank you very much. >> a third trial in the somebody made yesterday that he would be quite off? >> i daresay, we wouldn't go to trial and indicted if we didn't feel like we have a case that would lead to a conviction. and i think i don't have any problem saying i think that conviction would lead to death sentence. >> he would be in a civilian trial, to the same kind of protection and other defendants would be including, innocent until proven guilty. >> absolutely. >> to you still think the president is insisting on civilian trials even though the number growing on capitol hill say they would stop money for those civilians? >> look, i think the president believes, particularly with a few look at the southern district of new york. you've got experienced prosecutors that bring these cases experience,

i think about when chris matthews, the comment ha he made after president obama spoke at west pointe.at should be something that's very distinguishing. here you are standing before the young men and women that will go out and fight for our freedoms and liberties, to have someone isn't the media say he was the camp of the enemies. this is chasm between our culture and the men and women. there are two classes of people that are needed to sustain a society. those who teach it and those who defend it. and if we continue to put down the military, we continue to allow that chasm to grow, this culture, this thing that we call america will fall. he called it the paradoxical trinity. he talked about the will of the people, the will of the government the, and the will of the military. all three of those have to come together. but i think the overarcking thing, it comes back and talks about betsy mccoy brought up, we're losing a sense of individual responsibility and accountability. when that starts to happen, you have the entity that comes in. everyone 15 victim. no one is empowered. everyone f