david corn, and thank you, eugene robinson. >>> coming up, the bridgegate tapes. wait until you hear these. the 911 calls from the people stuck in the epic george washington bridge traffic. what a jam they're in. ambulances couldn't get through. wouldn't show up. the fender-benders. well, tonight the picture of chaos and confusion created in the name of political revenge. >>> also, don't look now, but the hillary clinton campaign is already revving up out there. here is the deal. hillary does the policy. bill does the politics. and anyone who wants to could get into rapid response. >>> plus, bathroom humor for the speaker of the house. actually boy's room. hard to believe john boehner made fun of his name. i'm sure he heard these jokes in high school. its the way 13-year-old boys would enjoy it. >>> finally, let me finish tonight with how president obama is better on fiscal responsibility than the cheap shot folks who attack him. wait until you hear this stuff. it's factual and this is "ha "hardball," the place for politics. 75% of your mouth, listerine® cleans vi

joining me is political analyst and washington post columnist eugene robinson.u have been writing well on this. i agree with everything you say. >> i appreciate it. >> i think it's one of those tricky cases where i thought the president went a little too far last friday. i think you disagreed with me last night on that. john kerry has a wonderful formality that seems somehow appropriate. he speaks in formal communekys naturally. >> what churchill said, it's always better. and kerry has that diplomatic stuffiness down, right? and it's a good time for that. there's a real use for that in situations where feelings are running high. you have crowds, you know, in the streets jostling cars in crimea, and you know, the wrong kind of spark can really send this thing south in a hurry. so you need that sort of, you know, formality. >> he won't even use contractions when he speaks. he won't say i'm not. he will say i am not. he is very articulate. here's the question. they're trying to, in paris today, what's the diplomatic mission here, to calm down the politicians in the

eugene robinson is a pulitzer prize winning writer with "the washington post." mark, it's great to have you on because you're an expert at the fine-tuning of what the meaning would be. let's try this. suppose sink survive, she beats this guy. she has great name idea, almost beating the governor down there. what do you make if it goes for her, what does it say? >> i think democrats get two big benefits. one is psychic, one is practical. the psychic one is that it will show a candidate withstand a withering assault on the affordable care act with the practical message of let's keep it, but let's fix it. and that's the message you're going hear from a lot of democrats with fuller voice if she wins. the practical benefit is also going to be the outside groups. if sink wins, a lot of these outside groups who played heavily in this race and their contributors are going to say hey, do we really want to spend all this money? does spending all this money really make a difference. >> okay, gene, what about the other result? this is a close one. it's going to end some time

and eugene robinson is a pulitzer prize winning columnist with "the washington post" and an msnbc political analyst. jonathan, i was struck by the campaign run on defense by alex sink down in florida two days ago, where she was very reasonable and nice. well, maybe there are problems with obamacare, but let's try to fix it, not get rid of it. maybe we shouldn't think we're right on everything. maybe the republicans are right on some things. maybe we should compromise. and that nice approach to this campaign cost a stronger candidate, the woman we're looking at right now, to lose to a washington lobbyist on the far right. obviously it's not a prescription for victory. she was a better candidate, better positioned in terms of her career. she only lost the race for governor by one point last time around. here she gets whacked by this guy who normally wouldn't win a nomination. the democratic party capable of pivoting and establishing itself as the aggressive party this fall or has it already doomed itself to just sit there and take a licking? your thoughts. >> oh, i think there is still plenty

and eugene robinson is a pulitzer prize winning columnist for "the washington post" and an msnbc political analyst. professor, thank you for joining us. why would -- let's get to putin here. what do you think he wants to do? what price is he willing to pay to do it? >> we crossed his red line. we've been crossing red lines ever since we began to move nato toward russia in the 1990s. clinton began it. bush continued it. obama rhetorically has continued it. the ultimate red line, and unlike perhaps obama, putin really believes in red lines, was ukraine. what putin saw happening in ukraine, for him, and we can argue whether it was or isn't, it was a direct threat to russian national security in the form of crimea. and so he reacted. >> why would steven hadley, who is a big shot in the bush administration be now pushing for nato membership for ukraine? which as i said in the opening would mean we would have to fight the russians personally and directly if they interfered in ukraine, if that were the case. if we put them in nato, then we're all the way on the front lines ourselves. why would th

and in washington, eugene robinson. we start, of course, with the search for flight 370.possible pieces of debris from the missing jet in the southern indian ocean. it has been 14 days since the malaysian plane -- a huge plane -- last communicated with air traffic control. and these satellite images gave officials a renewed sense of hope that the mystery surrounding flight 370 would be solved. crews are right now looking for two objects, about 14 miles apart. one is about 79 feet long. the other, 16 feet long. but yesterday, poor weather conditions, including strong winds, heavy cloud coverage, and rain made it difficult to locate any debris at all. so today, the search continues as officials still consider this their best lead yet. three australian p-3 orions and u.s. p-8 poseidon and civilian gulfstream are scanning the targeted area. and the chinese are sending three warships to assist in the search. australian prime minister tony abbot defended his decision to release the satellite images out of respect to the families of the missing. >> we owe it to the families and

eugene robinson writes these are not the 1980's and this is not the cold war. i believe most americans realize this and some day the hawkish wing of the republican party will catch up with it. why are we talking missile efense and nukes as well? we're talking the u.s. and what russia has on the other side. it has launched the most significant nuclear weapons and listed missile modernization since the end of the cold war. -- and ballistic missile modernization since the end of the cold war. count as one even though they can carry even more nuclear warheads. and -- other capabilities for russia here? guest: the problem is russia is violating the arms obligations under the conventional use treaty of the u.s.. missiles have arranged to attack allies in europe. treaty it up under the and we are not violating our arms control obligations. in anpresident obama, appearance this weekend, talked about his assessment of russia. i want to play that and get your response. here's what president obama had to say. [video clip] >> russia's actions are a problem. they don't pose

. >> david axelrod is former senior political adviser to president obama and eugene robinson is a columnist for the "washington post." both are msnbc political analysts. eugene, let me start with you. michael mcfall, you heard him declaring the end of the cold war, it's over. pretty strong declaration. >> i actually don't agree with that. remember the cold war. the cold war was not just some little thipg. >> well, other countries chose to side with the other side. we don't have other countries siding with russia, really. >> two philosophical systems, huge arsenals of nuclear weapons pointed at each other. russia clearly sees itself as an adversary, a rival in some ways. i wouldn't go so far as enemy. there are common interests that russia has with the west and i wouldn't say that the cold war has reunited. >> david axelrod, obviously, you worked with mike mcfall particularly when he was on the national security council. you're probably loathe to disagree, but he's been pretty pessimistic about putin basically from the get go. any reason to believe that this is going to end anytime soon? >>

and eugene robinson, thank you as well.e at thewashingtonpost.com. >>> the way sexual assault cases are handled by the military, senator claire mccaskill is here to explain why this bill is so important. bill mclauf rghlinclaughlin, hi. he looks like the devil. before we go to break we want to check back in with the scholars from the sixth grade success academy. who is winning the chess game? what? there is disagreement here. success academy students start playing chess in kindergarten, if you can believe it. in middle school choose to continue their chess career as an elective course. harlem placed fifth in new york in the middle reserve category and alexander placed third of all divisional players in the division and why he has the massive trophies with them. a special thanks to their chess teachers christopher johnson and matt morales. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. ♪ running down the street [ male announcer ] at his current pace, bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vam

obviously i saw where eugene robinson had a similar case within the last 48 hours, one of the our editorialists in our own country. but no, i don't think so. there are obviously countries have that have had a lot of concern about us being in iraq. but the comparison to me is apples to oranges and not even close. we should not certainly use that -- we shouldn't let someone use that as a reason for why he is where he is. it's totally ludicrous and not something that even should be considered. >> senator, you said that you are working with the administration and your counterpart in the european commission to deal with sanctions and the other things that president obama has discussed in terms of isolating russia diplomatically and economically. is there anything else that you want to do that the obama administration is not pursing? >> so this is a give and take on all of these and, you know, at presence i think people are all on the same page. we're going to have a hearing, jake, on thursday at 11:15 and hopefully we'll have a markup on this legislation, either tuesday of next week or thursday and,

. >> joining me now eugene robinson, msnbc political analyst and charles cupchak, a senior fellow on the council of foreign relations. he was the director for european affairs on president clinton's national security council. gene robinson, the romney campaign lives. >> yeah, yeah. it's finally getting some traction. it's finally, you know, they're going to catch up one of these days. maybe by the time president obama leaves office. but you know, when i was coming into the studio this evening, i bumped my head on the light and it hurts. so i'm blaming the president because clearly his influence is waning. it doesn't extend to nebraska avenue in washington. >> and charles, there is a long list of soviet actions, russian actions over the objections of american presidents, including george w. bush to go back most recently, and there were no -- the people who were saying today that president obama simply wasn't tough enough to prevent this from happening did not say that george w. bush was not tough enough to prevent something similar from happening in georgia. >> that's right. i mean, i

eugene robinson with "the washington post" and michelle bernard is founder of the center for women, politicsy. thank you, both. during the break, i was stunned by this new number that charlie cook came out with, which is for the first time a president was reelected with a popular vote, pretty good popular vote, 52%, but didn't win a popular vote in most of the -- he has done well in berkeley, los angeles, chicago, atlanta, miami. but out in the rural areas and out in the suburbs, the vote is more split apart and thrown around, dispersed. and he doesn't do that well. >> right. he is winning tons and tons of votes in the cities. >> 92% in charlie rangel's district. >> exactly. mitt romney didn't win any district. >> it's big cities. philadelphia, for example, is about 50-50th nickcally. but 85% of the city went for obama. so big cities are also the stronghold of white liberals and groups that tend to vote democrat. >> absolutely. and to an extent, suburbs, right, because suburbs can tend to vote like cities more than like rural areas. but this is a real thing. you know, the question is, though

david corn, and thank you, eugene robinson. >>> coming up, the bridgegate tapes. wait until you hear these. the 911 calls from the people stuck in the epic george washington bridge traffic. an ambulance couldn't get through. the fender-benders. well, tonight the picture of chaos and confusion created in the name of political revenge. >>> also, don't look now, but the hillary clinton campaign is already revving up out there. here is the deal. hillary does the policy. bill does the politics. and wants to get in to rapid response. >>> plus, bathroom humor for the speaker of the house. actually boy's room. hard to believe john boehner made fun of his name. its the way 13-year-old boys would enjoy it. >>> finally, let me finish tonight with how president obama is better on fiscal responsibility than the cheap shot folks who attack him. wait physical you hear this stuff. it's factual. this is "hardball," the place for politics. ...return on investment wall isn't a street... isn't the only return i'm looking forward to... for some, every dollar is earned with sweat, sacr

eugene robinson with "the washington post" and michelle bernard is founder of the center for women, politics and policy. thank you, both. during the break, i was stunned by this new number that charlie cook came out with, which is for the first time a president was reelected with a popular vote, pretty good popular vote, 52%, but didn't win a popular vote in most of the -- he has done well in berkeley, los angeles, san francisco, chicago, atlanta, miami. but out in the rural areas and out in the suburbs, the vote is more split apart and thrown around, dispersed. and he doesn't do that well. >> right. he is winning tons and tons of votes in the cities. >> 92% in charlie rangel's district. 92%. >> exactly. mitt romney didn't win any district by 92%. >> it's big cities. philadelphia, for example, is about 50-50 ethnically. but 85% of the city went for obama. so big cities are also the stronghold of white liberals and groups that tend to vote democrat. >> absolutely. and to an extent, suburbs, right, because suburbs can tend to vote like cities more than like rural areas. but this is a real thin

with us on set is pulitzer prize winning writer, eugene robinson.nd also with from the huffington post, sam stein. and julie pace. and columnist for bloomberg view, al hunt. he has some polls coming up out of bloomberg and he claims this vehemently, fascinating. we will start with a couple of different news breaking stories. >>> joe, i don't know if you saw the headlines, front page of "the new york times." two buildings flattened literally in a matter of seconds. at least three people dead. over a dozen -- is it six? i thought it was. "the new york times" has three at this point but i think it's confirmed overnight six. unbelievable. apparently the gas company was on their way there. people had been smelling fumes in the area for quite some time. a big local story in new york city. we will bring you up-to-date on the search and rescue mission on the missing plane. it now continues into the sixth day, missing flight 370 we are talking about. >>> this morning, a new report by "wall street journal" that it's throwing more doubt into the whereabouts of

with us on set, pulitzer prize winner and columnist of "the washington post" and msnbc analyst, eugene robinson>> i have to ask -- >> why don't people know when you're joking? you got ruined yesterday. you were good. >> i was making fun of myself yesterday. making fun of myself. >> and no one really noticed willie. >> i'm sorry, you're so sweet. >> what are you talking about? >> you were gone for a week. >> lashing out? >> i should have been more patient. >> can you tell us what you're talking about? >> no, that's all right. that would ruin the show. can you go to another show for that to actually know what we are talking about. >> dial 601. >> but a lot of people do know what we are talking about and you ought to clue in? >> do you have any idea what they are talking about? >> not really. >> i'm sorry you put yourself out there. >> that was yesterday. we kept going on and on. >> oh, that. >> you're talking about marsh? >> i talked about marsh bringing a ship down and intercepting an airplane martians. so mika got all revved up and had her fit and started raising her voice. i said this is the f

kind of a cool name along with eugene robinson in washington."meet the press" david gregory and former republican governor of utah, jon huntsman. good to have you all on board this morning. >> it is friday! >> are you happy? >> i'm always happy. why are you asking that? i'm just a joyful person. how can i not be joyful being here, working alongside you every day? >> i know. what would be better? >> nothing! are you sure. >> maybe going on stage at cpac. >> bang, bang. why do you do that? >> i don't know. >> better known as cpac is under way in washington. >> do you think that change that he carried a gun? >> it just seems -- well, i'm just reading the news here. we have to get the story across here. the annual event giving party leaders the chance to talk directly with the conservative base and, yesterday, the speakers list was a roster of presidential potential presidential candidates. ted cruz, one of the crowd favorites, was first up, speaking for 18 minutes without a teleprompter. the senator took aim both at the republican establishment and

eugene robinson and julie pace.ing baseball. >> they are. they are. april 4th, yes. >> it's hard to believe as cold as it is. >> playing on the frozen tundra. >> if the snow melts by then. >> america wants to know -- i've been reading about this the past 12, 14 hours. >> about putin, right? >> yeah. was putin at the vanity fair party? >> we slipped him right out of the back when mccartney came in. >> mccartney was there? >> yeah. he must have seen me and run the opposite direction. but, no. as you guys know, gratin does it right. everybody -- everybody's there. we're not exactly sure why we were, but it was fascinating stuff. the one who got mika in trouble before, the photographer, tried to do it again. all these vanity fair shots. what they called the little photo booth. >> yeah. did you have to stay and clean up after or was that part of the package? >> of course, the worst part was right there. we had to actually talk to lewis. >> the exclusive? >> yeah. that was the -- you have to talk to lewis. >> lewis of lar

and in washington, eugene robinson. >>> first, the latest developments in the search for the missingicials believe it was no accident when the jet steered far off course. "the new york times" says the changed flight path was programmed into an onboard computer. and the person who did it was likely familiar with the airline's systems that. renews focus on the pilot and first officer as well as anyone else on the plane who may have background in aviation. now, it's still unclear if the jetliner's computerized route was altered before or after takeoff. >>> meanwhile, malaysia officials are facing more and more criticism, this time for backing off their belief that the signaling system was disabled before the final radio transmission from the plane. they now say it could have happened any time within a half hour window. and all that uncertainty is taking a heavy toll on the families of the 239 missing passengers and crew. distraught relatives continue to gather in bay swring feijing fo. some are reportedly threatening a hunger strike to press for more information. >>> back in texas, the