but cpac is no prom. i'm pretty sure they don't even allow dating at cpac.t's idealogically incorrect. it's more like comic-con or a tricky convention for conservatives. it is super nerdy, but they are super into it. and that makes it awesome. it's three days of conservative movies and prayer breakfasts and meet and greets and parties the thrill, of course, that it is where establishment conservatives mingle with, you know, the college sophomore ayn rand book club presidents and the bloggers and the john birch society, which still exists. there it is at cpac still preaching the dangers of fluoride. a few years ago i dropped by their booth and talked tooth decay with them. tooth decay and mind control and communism. i have not been back to cpac since then because that year i think i was a little scarred. i was scarred with disappointment by a very, very disappointing encounter that i had at cpac with liz cheney. >> hi. i'm rachel maddow from msnbc. >> hey, rachel. how you? >> i think that was it. i don't know what she said. she smiled at me. >> what i said wa

of this cpac conference is going to be the edsel. mean, this is a really backward-looking meeting when you look at the guests they have. and i think chris christie will wear their scorn as a badge of honor, if i'm permitted to paraphrase dan quayle on your show. chris christie is a very smart politician. he knows that barack obama carried new jersey by 17 points the last time. he is up for reelection this fall. he knew he was going to be judged by how he handled hurricane sandy, so he worked with the president because that was more important to him than republicans not liking barack obama. and on the medicaid thing, that is a very good deal for states, particularly for hospitals in the state. and he just took it. this is a politician who knows he can't go anywhere unless he gets re-elected this year. >> sure. >> and he is making a heck of a play for democrats. >> liz, you gave us your thoughts on cpac. what about christie? does this help him in the long run? >> you know, i think that christie is probably pretty safe to be reelected t

cpac is not the republican party.here are egxecutionary policie that gays cannot come and participate. these are people that are -- people that don't attract a wider audience that we need to attract to win elections. they are talking to a small-closed group that will get a lot of attention but that group has also no bearing on who our next nominee is. >> doesn't that hold weight? >> well, there is certainly that candidates go there and feel that they have a cash cow for some reason and what i'm telling you is that in the real world, where people are voting in primary elections, that group doesn't hold sway. what goes on there and the cowing that goes on is absolutely debilitating. so mitt romney's going there and doing that, i think it was a big mistake in his campaign. but the point is, the republican party -- and if you look at the pew survey out, 30% of republicans are dissatisfied with the direction of the party. a good number of those are people that want the republicans out of the party window. they want the par

he doesn't need cpac.hey had a feeling he wasn't coming anyway and cut him off at the pass. >> you have people saying he is not conservative enough to speak there. i am going to talk about some very interesting reports, some of which i find very disturbing. basically don't conservatives and republicans, don't they need to enlarge and reach out and have a bigger tent? isn't that the whole issue from the last election? you have to have room for a chris christie for heaven's sakes. >> i think republican conservatives are hopeful he would emerge ased leader. we have issues about the embrace and while we haven't had tax increases we haven't had cuts. >> can't get it through the democratic legislature. >> can't get it through and the budget just introduced today is up $1.2 billion, 4 billion in spending and still has spending increases, so it is an interesting theme because he will pull new jersey out of the cap and trade program and veto health care exchanges and turns around and tops the medicaid expansion and

i expect him to see there at cpac.urprised if they close ranks with the new jersey governor as well. the question is are people in the party going to start standing up to this or is it going to be, you know, cpac is quite literally dominated by the nation national rifle association and the other special interests of the right. >> now angela, over the weekend governor bobby jendal was pressed on social issues. he was pressed on social issues. watch this. >> we're offering in the republican party a different solution which is about growth, not austerity. it's not about big banks, big wall street. it's truly conservative. is that a chafrpgs can ynge i s. >> we didn't present a vision showing how we believe the entire economy can grow. >> afrngela, you saw he ran awa from dealing with the social issue and ran back to economic issues. i mean can the gop deal with social issues and ever deal with the fact that it was not economic issues alone that led to their losing last year? >> well, let's just say this, rev, if they don'

that's basically what cpac said.hey said chris christie, the one republican who actually looked good last year who doesn't turn off voters in the rest of the country, as i have said before, keep it up guys you're doing a great job. >>> also tonight on "hardball," the pope and change. the catholic church needs to fix its problems. the sell brat priesthood, is it working? the role of women? are they really getting a big enough role? and the issue of birth control. and, of course, the priest sandals. as we've seen no one has a solution to the sequester silliness but everyone has their lines of attack ready just as we had them in previous crises. >> dealing with the white house is like dealing with a bowl of jell-o. >> i think they're kaking the can down the road. they're nudging the potato across the table with their nose. >> well, that's an in the "sideshow." a lot of metaphor. >>> let me finish with my hope that the college of cardinals selecting someone who can embrace the future, not cling to the past. and this is "

investing unleashed. >>> chrissist appears unphased by his cpac snub. >> this cpac is the increasingservative movement. all that's missing at that convention is a couple of wookies. >> we'll discuss star wars bar scene and the christie problem. that's coming up next. i've always had to keep my eye on her... but, i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care... i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile. not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine... but she's still going to give me a heart attack. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. zi didn't know that i hadn't been invited cpac until two days ago when i saw it in the news. so, yeah, apparently i haven't been invited. listen, i wish them all the best. they get to decide who they want to have come and not come. it's not like i'm lacking for invitations to speak both here and around the country. i can't sweat the

i love cpac.spoken there. i got invite this to speak at the thursday night dinner. it's not about that. christie, budget cutter, tax cutter, went after the union, school choice, pro life how can you guys leave him off the list? >> remember this real quick we're a conservative conference not a republican party meeting. number two, we receive hundreds of requests for main ballroom speaking slots and we have maybe 30 for the whole three day conference. then lastly we judge people on two ways. one is how relevant were you during the past year and two did you adhere to conservative principles. not republican principles. chris christie spoke last year, as a matter of fact he was a keynote speaker because he did great for all the reasons you stated. this past year, you know, he advocated the $60 billion, you know, pork fund. it included only $9 billion for the disaster relief program. he really put a lot of pressure on the leadership of the party at a time that we were advocating fiscal restraint in the

i think that for someone like cpac, a group like cpac, they need someone with some common sense valuese chris christie has. >> chris christie has an approval rating of 74%. a republican governor in a very blue state. is he the 2016 candidate that maybe democrats would fear most? >> oh, it's much too early to tell. and for chris christie and for any republican, the key is going to be can they move to the center and can they say no to people like cpac. and chris christie has an advantage that he's not part of the washington politics now and he's able to say what he thinks. when he gets among republican conservatives, can he maintain that candor? that's going to be the test for him. >> you need to be a little more conservative to get the nomination, and he found himself the subject of some criticism after he praised president obama for his response to hurricane sandy. charles krauthammer says it's time to let chris christie out of the doghouse. >> chris christie has a -- earn the opportunity to run and win in a primary is ridiculous. receive is exactly right, it's very early in this proce

today, cpac announced they landed the biggest loser of them all, mitt romney, so cpac has rewritten theann coulter said it would be a mistake to nominate him in 2011, to cheering for him as the republican nominee, to this year, inviting him to give the key address at the loser's conference. this offers some suspense, will romney be cheered or booed for being such a loser? and most importantly, what will he add to the romney greatest hits reel? >> [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> i'm mitt romney, and yes, wolf, that is also my first name. any old girlfriends here? no one has ever asked to see my birth certificate. i met a guy yesterday, 7 feet tall, handsome, great big guy, 7 feet tall, name is rick miller, portland, oregon, he started a business, of course it was in basketball, but it wasn't in basketball, i figured he had to be in sports, but it wasn't in sports. i love this country, america the beautiful, oh beautiful, for amber waves of grain, corn counts. >> i am convinced that what makes america such a great nation, not just our beautiful land and our mountains -- and other --

. >> don't invite him to cpac.nvite him to cpac. how's that working for you guys. >> john harris, good to have you here. >>> the new england patriots sign tom brady until 2017, when he a he's 40 years old. good deal? we'll talk about it next. [ nyquil bottle ] hey tylenol, you know we're kinda like twins. [ tylenol bottle ] we are? yeah we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. and i relieve nasal congestion. overachiever. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. how did i know? well, i didn't really. see, i figured low testosterone would decrease my sex drive... but when i started losing energy and became moody... that's when i had an honest conversation with my doctor. we discussed all the symptoms... then he gave me some blood tests. showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number -- not just me. [ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1.62% (testosterone gel). the #1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement thera

presumably it means that cpac invited mitt romney, paul ryan, and spokesperson, cardenas clearly using of complicated metrics we don't have access to. his e-mail cited the governor's support for the $60 billion aid for the hurricane sandy victims. in this move chris christie made just yesterday. >> it is simple, we're putting people first, which is why after considerable discussion and research i have decided to participate in medicaid expansion under the affordable care act. >> for the record, none of the eight republican governors who have come out in support of the medicaid expansion are speaking at cpac next month. chris christie was asked a question about the cpac snub during a town hall in new jersey today, to which he reply ied. >> listen, i wish them all the best, they get to decide who comes and not comes, it is not like i'm asking to be at other areas to speak, i can't sweat the small stuff. >> oh, chris christie. >> joining me now, krystal ball, david acce david axelrod had a good comment, isn't cpac just making him stronger? i feel like you are really feeling the chris chri

guys, you know, i go to cpac every year. i love speaking there. it's a great way for conservatives young and old to get together and sort of touch base, get to know the young people coming in to the movement and sort of sort issues out. but this is i think a real mistake. first of all, i've worked with go proud and log cabin republicans for a while. these are some of the hardest working conservatives in the business. these are people who have struggled to reconcile their private lives with their political lives and how they make sense of that. they have had to work harder than many of us in the movement to sort of come out, represent their conservative ideals which for the most part, you know, discuss fiscal policies and fiscal issues and still stand up and be proud conservatives and we're essentially telling them, we're a little ashamed of you. we'd like you to come but don't be too loud about it. you know, go do this in the back room. i don't think that's right. and, you know, this sort of around the edges conversation about cpac saying, no, no,

>> i think it could backfire in a way on cpac and help kristi.e is possibly considering a run for the presidency and he is willing to do what it takes to help the people and they don't have him. >> people like to say it whether or not they like to put it in active work and remains to be seen. >> he is taking hits from his friends to do it. in a way this could help him in the long run. >> thank you. great pleasure and our new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows the budget battles are taking a toll on you at home and everybody you know dragging down approval ratings in washington. even annoying the american public. nbc news senior political editor mark murray will join us with a deeper look into the new polling on the sequester and what you really feel about it. max and penny kept our bookstore exciting and would always come to my rescue. but as time passed, i started to notice max just wasn't himself. and i knew he'd feel better if he lost a little weight. so i switched to purina cat chow healthy weight formula. i just fed the recommended am

>> only at cpac. >> these are actually the panels at cpac. actually have on here, how to learn how to stop worrying, genetically-modified food and big gulp sodas. unbelievable. senator palin is nothing -- another one is are we back on the road to surfdom. i'm not exaggerating. what's sarah palin? she's almost normal. >> john: i think she's still one of the more popular and likable people that will be speaking. >> on the left, we laugh and just like no one could take sarah palin seriously. people say i like her. she speaks the truth. we can sit here in our new york liberal bubble and say that's crazy. >> john: it is not crazy. even dick cheney called her out for quitting her job as alaska governor. it won't hurt one bit. roger ailes will fire her from fox news and she is still crack for viewers. >> the whole isolated community. that's the whole problem. they're so isolated. the money group. wasn't that the whole problem with the election. they didn't have any view of any other human being. they wanted to have money and win and win be greedy. s

why isn't he the headliner at cpac. 1-866-55-press.et into it. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. 25 minutes after the hour now. igor volsky from think progress joining us next, for the next half hour to talk about issues. we're

cpac doesn't even pick the gop nominee.e whole party does move to a right, and it is a real problem, chris christie having cpac against him as a republican potential presidential aspirant is a good thing. the other thing chris christie did on policy and i will be the first to praise him not on appearing with obama but on working with some of obama's policies is he, according to sources in new jersey, is going to come out in his big state address -- >> today. >> -- today and welcome and apply and use some of the obama care money for some of the uninsured. i think that's good policy and i applaud him. i also think maybe unfortunately it makes him politically stronger in jersey, but so what. he's at least doing the right thing. he's appeared inhoto-ops, but he's embracing progressive aspect was of the obama agenda and i think that's a good thing and cpac doesn't control everything. >> i thought cpac might stoop and invite him because they maybe heard some of the criticism but having heard what ari has just said about mr. chris

that's why we had him at cpac. you know, he cut spending, he balanced the budget, he brought school choice, he was a darling of conservatives, and we gave him a great reception. this year, he was for the spending bill of $60-some billion. he was for the medicare expansion in his state. so this year he didn't get one. i hope he gets back to the old form so we can have him again next year. >> but paul ryan's coming, right, and he voted for a $600 billion tax cut at the beginning of the year. that's ten times more than chris christie. >> well, you know, paul ryan is the advocate of the ten-year balanced budget. he's fighting hard to get that done. i think if you take his work as a whole, he deserved an invitation. it will be a great cpac. we're very excited. as you know, we have more registrants this year than we've ever had. and if anybody has any doubt that the conservative movement is here to fight back, come to cpac. it will be a great event. >> all right. but i'm curious, though, because chris christie is a popul

invited to cpac until two days ago when i saw it in the news. so, yeah, pa apparently, i haven't been invited. i wish them the best. they don't want to invite me, it's their call. it's their organization and it's their business. it's not like i'm lacking for invitations to speak here and there. i can't sweat the small stuff. i have a state to rebuild. >> despite that exclusion from cpac, he has the support from mitt romney. he donated to his gubernatorial campaign. >>> as always, let us why you're awake watching this program. shoot us an e-mail at way too early at msnbc.com. we'll read the best responses later in the show. >>> still ahead -- suspensions are heanded down between the brawl on tuesday. >>> later in the show, cory booker comes to the rescue once again, this time in the name of love. how he helped save one man's marriage proposal. a check of the weather when "way too early" comes right back. >>> it was a fierce gun battle lasting about an hour, federal and state police agents exchangesed shot with a group called branch davidians at t

this is what we're seeing at cpac. >> i think they say that at alcoholics anonymous too. >> well, cpacwarm, emotional, beating heart of the republican party. not necessarily the brains. i don't mean they're stupid, i mean they're not looking for cool intellectualism here. they are looking for people who will appeal to the emotional heart strings -- >> would they rather win with a mitt romney? >> they would rather lose with a purist than win with a pragmatist. >> go with that, john. a lot of liberal democrats enjoyed add lie stevenson because they had the awareness he's a lot smarter than ike, although i'm not sure he was. would you rather win or be right, far right? >> there's no reason we can't be both. look at the governors in 2010 where we ran about bringing taxes under control, about bringing spending under control. one of the speakers at cpac is scott walker, who's a star. you know, you can still be right -- >> i want to ask you about that. how bad would conditions have to be in this country for us to elect someone of the far right as our president? not a governor of wisconsin, pr

katie, you are on a panel i believe at cpac. notice that your picture on the website is in the middle of two other speakers, the nra's david keene and wayne lapierre. there is the image. so, katie, are you telling me that the future of conservatism is best represented by these two men but not by chris christie? >> well, i think that there's some truth to the fact that conservatives are attracted to people that stick to their guns and both palin and lapierre are people who, no pun intended i guess, but they both stick to their guns. and christie is someone who i always admired. however, i think that currently right now he has a bit of a branding problem, so, for example, let's say taylor swift were to become a rapper, she would probably lose a great deal of her base and she would have a hard time making friends in nashville. and i think that might be something similar to what's going on with christie, so a lot of conservatives felt very strongly and passionately for him but because of some of the decisions he's made recently with

>> they certainly have an all star lineup at cpac.is their prerogative to invite who they want and the reasons for not inviting a chris christie clearly deal with his pushing for federal funding after hurricane sandy and some other requests for federal funding. currently he is the governor. and he needs to do what is in the best interests of his state. and while that might not have pleased the people at cpac, he is doing what he needed to do in the best interests of his state. and right now he's got over 70% approval rating in the state so he's not doing too bad. cpac will be great with or without chris christie. >> do you think it's a mistake though? >> no. there is a great lineup of people. we've got rick santorum there. we've got a great lineup, marco rubio, the whole laundry list. mitt romney will be there. so a great list of people will be speaking there and it's going to be a good event, good gathering of conservatives. and a great opportunity for republicans and conservatives to get out there and push forward. the republican pa

so he feels like the activists at cpac are friendly audience.f course, he called himself a severely conservative governor at last year's cpac and see what his new place in the spotlight will be with this speech. >> real quick, sarah palin. again, someone, a blast from the past some would say but maybe again a part of the future. >> there are a lot of act vitsi at this conference and i think what we can call her. >> brief and honest. thank you. >> sure. >>> florida's republican governor scott reverses course and will accept the medicaid expansion under president obama's health care law. despite the state spending millions to fight it. are we seeing a pattern running for re-election in blue and purple states? >>> but tlifirst, here's things thought you should know. former first lady bush asking a marriage equality group to remove a clip of her from a national tv ad launching this week. here's part of that ad. >> that's why growing majority of americans believe it's time to allow marriage for gay and lesbian couples. >> when couples are committed,

that's according to a source close to cpac, and cpac, if you haven't heard of it, is often considered a must-attend for anybody who wants to win the white house from the gop. senator marco rubio of florida, louisiana governor bobby jindal, former florida governor jeb bush, rand paul of kentucky, rick perry of texas, they're all already on the list. is this a snub for chris christie? this news breaking late this afternoon. how big of a snub is it the. >> it makes a lot of sense for cpac, because frankly, chris christie was not going to show up this year, so why bother asking him and then get snubbed by the governor himself? just do the snubbing yourself and say we don't want you here. it probably would have been a tough environment for him to be in, frankly, given he has really pivoted to the center, some would say to the left, to win in a heavily democratic state. >> i get the logic you're laying out, but the problem is cpac is a crucial organization when it comes to the rank and file, to being loved by the conservative voter. chris christie is not liked by that voter right now. maybe