our friend howard fineman is back. how are you doing? good. >> i want to start with the budget which we'll hear more about tomorrow. but the thing keeps moving to the right. even coming out of the white house as you know. robert greenstein from the center for budget of policy priorities had an important point. he said if the new obama budget is one poll and the republican no tax deep spending cut position is the other poll, and this turns out to be a halfway point in this compromise, the result is going to ask obama to accept an outcome well to the right of boehner's offer in december. jerred bernstein responded. being a former economist in the administration saying, look, this is a compromised position which must not be taken as a new poll staking out one side in the debate. it must be taken as what it is. a compromise between existing poles. so howard fineman, is tomorrow's budget from the president just a final compromise? >> i'm trying to remember where those poles are positioned. i think that jared bernstein is wrong in this case an

washington we're joined right now by alex wagner, host of "now" with alex wagner on msnbc and howard fineman has joined us as well. editorial director of "the huffington post why the "media group and msnbc political analyst. let's go to david right now and get a sense of what the library is all about. >> well, chris, and obvious lly stop me at any time as the ceremony unfolds if you want to go to it live. this library is very much in the image of what president bush wants to be remembered for. his was a tumultuous presidency. there's an aspect of the library, the presidency he imagined and the presidency he ultimately led as a wartime leader, the 9/11 portions are compelling. it is striking that iraq is not separate from the entire section on the war on terror, which was the enduring criticism. >> can we take a break, david. >> yeah, go ahead. >> just have a pause while they introduce the presidents right now, thank you. >> i want the agenda. >> mrs. lucy b. johnson. police linda j. robb. >> mrs. trisha nixon cox. mrs. susan ford bales. mr. michael reagan. >> we're watching, of course, luci

let's get a first class perspective on all of this from the "huffington post," howard fineman. u see what i did there? >> i wish i could fly first. we don't. >> so howard, you know there is a difference between the reality of the situation and the perception of the reality of the situation. do you think that most people who are inconvenienced by this, waiting in longer security lines, do you think they're standing there with their luggage thinking this is because of the sequester? if they are playinging that connection, who do you think they're blaming for those delays? >> well, they might not use the word sequester but they definitely blame washington and they probably blame both the president and the congress with weighted emphasis depending on their politics. the fact is i took some time this morning to read through the law. read through what the office of management and budgets that. read what the congressional research said. and this is a, just a direct consequence of what the law itself says. what the sequester law that was enacted in 1985 and was wielded in 2011 in the fi

joining me "the huffington post's" howard fineman and salon.com's joan walsh.who knows anything about foreign policy knows all mail, cables, whatever they're called these days, they are e-mail, coming from washington, bear the name kerry like they've done all the way back to jefferson when they went by the pony express or whatever. this is hilarious. i want to start with you, joan. this is hilarious that darrell issa, the new investigative genius of the republican party, has nailed on to this being so stupid as to say hillary signed all these things. your thoughts? >> these guys, it's like they have benghazi fever and making them really dopy, chris. this is embarrassing. the rudimentary fact check, a low-level staffer could have figured this out. it shows he has no working knowledge of how the state department actually proceeds and doesn't seem to care to push this. and, you know, his friends on fox, practically calling secretary clinton a liar. it's sort -- it metastasized over there. it's so easily debunked it didn't really enter the mainstream media bloodstr

. >> howard fineman, this is a very interesting point that grover nor quest just brought up.raised this last night. is he serious about this budget? is this some kind of political pot-stirring and not really attempting to legislate? >> i think he's serious enough about it as a way to drive the republicans crazy. >> it's working! >> which is working. because the republicans like to talk about how they want to, you know, really approach this big behemoth of entitlement reform. but they don't really -- they can't decide whether they really want to do it or don't want to do it. don't forget, ronald reagan back in the day exempted social security and medicare. george w. bush expanded medicare. the republicans prospered in 2010, not just because of the tea party, but because they ran on the notion that barack obama wanted to cut medicare. then paul ryan put his cuts in his campaign document and mitt romney took those cuts out. so they can't decide -- and whenever they get up close to it, they then kind of scurry away in the other direction. and i think the president is sort of call

howard fineman is also with me, editorial director at "the huffington post" and msnbc political analyst. tina, dear. >> hello, how are you? >> you got the big get. the big get. you're good at the gets. hillary clinton -- >> we're excited she's coming. you know what, she came last year and the year before so she really is passionate about women in the world. it's terrific. >> i thought that she was going to take a breather, go off to the ranch somewhere, have a nice -- enjoy herself, get physically back in shape. rest up. get sleeping again. eating right. the whole thing we all talk about doing when we go from one job to another. it seems to me there's no respite for her. she's going right to the big speeches. she's giving yours. she's going to be visible as heck. front page of "the new york times" today said, "clinton in transition. keeps opponents and donors frozen." "hillary clinton left the state department nearly two months ago but she still needs a staff to keep up with the considerable business of being hillary clinton. a half dozen work in a tiny corporate space on connecticut av

political director, chief white house correspondent, chuck todd, and the "huffington post's" howard fineman. i want to start with howard tonight. you've got this louisville background. tell me how the women of the state of kentucky will respond to this new nastiness from mitch mcconnell. he's already at 36% approval. what will they think of him sitting there talking about a woman they know of, they maybe wouldn't vote for but they know of her, and the fact she's emotionally unbalanced and sort of enjoying that information and how he might use it. how can this help this guy? >> oh, it doesn't help this guy. and i don't think it's just with women, chris. i think it's with all kentuckians. and i lived and worked there for five years and i kept in close touch with kentucky. this just reaffirms and deepens the image of mitch mcconnell as a ruthless, cold-blooded politician who will say and do anything to win election. that might not make him fundamentally different from a lot of other people, but to kentuckians, that's always been a problem with mitch mcconnell. they both -- they sort of respect

thank you, chuck todd, thank you, howard fineman. >>> coming up, rare good news for the gun safety side. actually good news. democrats now think they may be able to at least get to first base, at least get to debate this issue on the floor. we're going to speak to a sister, by the way, tonight, of a teacher who was murdered in newtown, connecticut, who traveled to washington to talk to the president last night. >>> also, rick santorum says the republican party will never, never give in on gay marriage. the conservative heritage foundation, by the way, is coming up for new reasons for republicans to oppose immigration reform. we'll see. we'll see. is the republican party stuck in the mud, to use my expression? >>> stephen colbert lands an interview with bill clinton. this is going to be fun. >> here are the rules. if you start filibustering, i will cut you off. because we all know i could ask you how you're doing and 15 minutes later you're talking about microloans to sumatra. >> ka bare got clinton to open up a twitter account sort of. >>> these people knocking on doors on capitol hill,

anyway, thank you very much, howard fineman.hank you, joan walsh. >>> up next, on the eve of the opening of the george w. bush presidential library, we're going to be down there tomorrow, he says his relationship with dick cheney is cordial. what do you see in that? what a strange thing to say about a guy you worked with for eight years. cordial? what went on between these two. this is "hardball," the place for politics. meet the 5-passenger ford c-mc-max one. c-max two. that's a super fuel- efficient hybrid for me. and a long range plug-in hybrid for you. now, let's review. introducing the ford c-max hybrid and the ford c-max energi plug-in hybrid. say hi to the c-max hybrids. >>> so what's behind george bush and dick cheney's cordial relationship? "hardball" back after this. ♪ [ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me. it appears it's an agent of good. ge has wired their medical hardware with innovative software to be in many places at the same time. using data to connect patients to software, to nurses to the righ

and howard fineman. that's right. little lower. you guys are great friends of mine.ave to say, andrea, i've watched you since you were on radio in philly. i've watched your career. you are a great role model. >> thank you. >> one of the great feminists of your time. you don't push it but that's what you are. you represent fighting for a great job and doing a great job. got to do both, right? got to fight for it and then you've got to do it. not so easy. hillary clinton, i thought, should just take a breather. no more awards. no more ceremonies. go to the canyon ranch, some place, do what we'd all like to do and we could all use. just get the wrinkles out. relax. stop worrying. stop sweating. >> what's a breather? >> you are the classic. type a's don't do that, do they? >> if you're hillary clinton, first of all, she is motivated by her passion for service. there's no question about that. this is not power with her. this is accomplishment. it's policy related. that's why vital voices, the organization she was at last night, is so part of her soul. >> you were there, r

anyway, thank you very much, howard fineman.hank you, joan walsh. >>> up next, on the eve of the opening of the george w. bush presidential library, we're going to be down there tomorrow, he says his relationship with dick cheney is cordial. what do you see in that? what a strange thing to say about a guy you worked with for eight years. cordial? what went on between these two. this is "hardball," the place for politics. 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 therapy, increases testosterone when used daily. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs

wayne slater, co-author of "bush's brain" and howard fineman. howard, i've got to start with you.ra bush is really like -- i was trying to think of -- i have to go back all the way to mitchell in the nixon administration, martha mitchell. this woman had something to say here. >> she's nothing like martha mitchell because everything barbara bush says is said deliberately and for effect. she is the queen mother of the presidency. and she has been both the wife and the mother of presidents and the way i view that, wayne may disagree, is that she's -- she knows what she's doing here. she said similar things, not quite in the same words but similar things when george w. was thinking of running and two people, including jeb, thinking of running back in the late '90s. so i think she's -- she's lowering expectations and she wouldn't mind at all if jeb ran. that's my view. >> so you think it was just sort of a cuff, a mother's cuff on a cub? >> yeah, exactly. >> how do you read it? do you read it the same way that howard reads it, a mother's warning, it's dangerous out there? >> she's the

the great howard fineman is editorial director for ""the huffington post." that's just the beginning. joan walsh, her book "what's the matter with white people?" personally offends me but that's all right. that's now cheaper, but you get a smaller piece of that. a worthy addition, i'm sure. let me go to the question of hillary clinton. it seems to me if these people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to hear these people speak, the question period is always part of the money. that's part of the gate. won't those people in the audience, whoever they are, they're in the real estate business or housing business i guess today, aren't they going to ask what are you up to? what are you doing? >> absolutely, chris. they're going to want to know. there are going to be people in the audience, even though we're not allowed to be there, who are going to be pressing that question. she's always got a deft answer. i don't think her being out there really means anything about her intentions. she always said she intended to speak, she intended to write. she didn't decide

thank you, howard fineman. and now every family thinks alike. we're learning so much. me return with what i witnessed this weekend up in boston. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. s ] ♪ ♪ [ man ] excuse me miss. [ gasps ] this fiber one 90 calorie brownie ll the moist, chewy, mmmm. thanks. at 90 calories, the brownie of your dreams is now deliciously real. we didn't have u-verse back in my day. you couldn't just... guys... there you are. you know you couldn't just pause a show in one room, then... where was i... you couldn't pause a show in one room then start playing it in another. and...i'm talking to myself... [ male announcer ] call to get u-verse tv for just $19 a month for 2 years with qualifying bundles. rethink possible. >>> let me finish tonight with this. kathleen and i were in boston this week, and i came away with a memory and a fairly deep realization about the human spirit. it's really quite simple, really. we show respect. we honor loss. but the one human act we can all offer equally, silence. that is what i heard as we walked up boylsto

with us the huffington post howard fineman. kelly o'donnell.r we were young and many of us were out on the streets and many of us said, don't trust anyone over 30? until this week when we witnessed the support for gay marriage we may not have seen the power of the 20-something. we know they voted for obama in far greater percentages. 32% more likely to go for obama than boomers than the over 65 crowd. maybe you don't know how big the divide is. as recently as the 2000 elections there was no age divide. it's about just how different this new generation coming at us right now from what we saw before. and get this, by the 2020 presidential election, get this, the under and 30 crowd some now still in elementary school will be 40% of the american elect tort. this is an enormous power of people, much more liberal on every issue we argue about on television. ou

confidence, howard fineman, david corn. by the way, congratulations again. i do want to know who this guy was. was it a male? we'll be right back after this. let's get a recap, merv. [ merv ] thanks, other merv. mr. clean magic eraser extra power was three times faster on permanent marker. elsewhere against dirt, it was a sweep, with scuffed sports equipment... had it coming. grungy phones... oh! super dirty! and grimy car rims... wow! that really works! ...all taking losses. it looks like mr. clean has won everything. the cleaning games are finished? and so are we. okay, but i just took a mortgage out on the cabinet. [ male announcer ] clean more, work less, with the mr. clean magic eraser extra power. >>> let me start with this or end with this tonight, how about getting the story straight, how about not burying the lead, how about showing the discernment to know what's news here and what the same old tired and true political spin is here? when the tape got out yesterday of senator mitch mcconnell listening to a campaign staffer trash some potential oppone

howard was sit in that chair yesterday, howard fineman. he said all this thing going on with kentucky, whatever's going on, the taping of that meeting and everything was mitch mcconnell coming out screaming bring in the fbi because he wanted to show he was a real right winger and mad at the left. >> he was tough. it has united conservatives around him. conservatives, the enemy of my enemy is my ally. this is survival. the fact of the matter is, chris, he saw what happened. his own guy got -- didn't lose to rand paul, got crushed by rand paul. >> trey grayson. >> got crushed by rand paul. john cornyn, his own state, his own guy got crushed by ted cruz in a runoff. wasn't that close. this is -- >> orrin hatch saw the same thing. as i said, 29 republicans today and 2 democrats voted to block debate. that shocked one newtown family member. jillian soto. remember she was here. we met her here on "hardball" earlier in the week. her sister, a teacher in newtown, connecticut, was murdered at sandy hook. here's what jillian had to say today. >> i w

read what donte stallworth, mou howard fineman, michael steele, and others had to say in my column inw's "new york daily news. that does it for the cycle. martin, it's all yours. >>> it's tuesday april the 30th. the president meets the press and leaves nothing off the table. >> chemical weapons have been used, but we don't know how they were used, when they were used, who used them. >> this is not a president who wants to start another war, but you got to do what you got to do. >> when i am making decisions about america's national security, i've got to make sure i've got the facts. >> the next bomb that goes off in america may not have nails and glass in it. >> it's important for us to do this in a prudent way. >> i think we have our priorities a little bit skewed here. >> the notion was somehow that we had exaggerated the effects of the sequester. >> is the president exaggerating? >> absolutely. >> i hope and believe the republicans will allow sequestration to go into effect. >> it's hurting folks all across the country. >> both houses of congress moved quickly. >> a few hours after

howard fineman, your friend at the "huffington post" -- i dare not say boss. >> you can say boss. >> you tweeted out an article that he wrote yesterday. that was really interesting. it was about genetic research. and sort of the long game there is curing illness, including cancer. and the sequester has cut back and is sharply cutting back in particular areas. howard writes about one particular school in washington university. the school is in the field of fertile quickly translating genetic information into real--time patients who have cancer. washington university stands to lose about $40 million in funding over an eight-month period. that's a dramatic amount of money in a field of skins th cit requires some capital. the long-term effects of this, we won't even sort of know how to field them, because the research won't be done. but this is not a good thing for the country. >> you could have distilled that into one question, which is, is the squestary dumb idea? and the answer is yes. the reason is not just because it cuts social services for the most needy in this country or because

casey hunt and howard fineman. casey, you and i have been -- you've been helping me on the phone the last couple of days. it looks to me a pretty dreary result in that it looked like it was moving up before the horror in boston a week or two. i'm not sure, did it ever look to you like it was going to reach 60 and then fell back? or was it never really close enough to 60 to make it? >> the point at which we -- the mood up here said that it could reach 60 was really that vote that they held to start debate on the gun bill. that got more republican votes than folks up here had expected. it's kind of been a downhill slide ever since then. this coat, there were many more republicans this time around as you just showed who voted no on manchin/toomey at the end of the day, even though they voted to start this debate. >> then it goes back to howard and i. howard, you don't think that was a good leading indicator. 69 that say let's debate this, at least. >> no, it's not. because my understanding is that the national rifle a

read what donte stallworth, mou howard fineman, michael steele, and others had to say in my column inw's "new york daily news. that does it for the cycle. martin, it's all yours. >>> it's tuesday april the 30th. the president meets the press and leaves

. >> howard fineman, does this mean we take the first step, do you think towards a no-fly situation?d realize that this news is breaking, it precisely the time we're talking about the decisions that george w. bush faithfully had to make during his presidency. a lot of presidents think he made in the wrong direction, as regards iraq. i mean you couldn't come up with a more excruciating example of the challenges that presidents face in exactly what's at issue, behind all the happy talk at this pageantry of the bush presidency. as you said, the word "iraq" was never mentioned, and yet, george bush in his speech, i think gave a philosophical defense, if not by name, but by philosophy, of why he thought it was justified to go to iraq and change the regime there. now this president, president obama, is faced in some respects with a similar kind of situation. again, the middle east, again an authoritarian regime, again, weapons of mass destruction. again the vision of freedom in the region. and change in the middle east. how does this president respond when faced in some respects with the s

confidence, howard fineman, david corn. by the way, congratulations again.want to know who this guy was. was it a male? we'll be right back after this. [ shapiro ] at legalzoom, you can take care of virtually all your important legal matters in just minutes. protect your family... and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. hmm, we need a new game. ♪ that'll save the day. ♪ so will bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller powerful sheet. the only one with trap + lock technology. look! one select-a-size sheet of bounty is 50% more absorbent than a full size sheet of th

howard fineman and david corn. by the way, congratulations, again. i want to know who this guy was.t a male? we'll be right back. ...so you say men are superior drivers? yeah? then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check. silence. are you in good hands? thto fight chronic.nce. osteoarthritis pain. to fight chronic low back pain. to take action. to take the next step. today, you will know you did something for your pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a pain reliever fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. anti-depressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not for children under 18. people taking maois, linezolid or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleedi

thank you, howard fineman. and now every family thinks alike. we're learning so much. with what i witnessed this weekend up in boston. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ horn honks, bump ] [ female announcer ] for everything your face has to face. face it with puffs ultra soft & strong. puffs has soft, air-fluffed pillows that are dermatologist tested to be gentle on your skin. face every day with puffs softness. from the united states postal service a small jam maker can ship like a big business. just go online to pay, print and have your packages picked up for free. we'll do the rest. ♪ wthto fight chronic. osteoarthritis pain. to fight chronic low back pain. to take action. to take the next step. today, you will know you did something for your pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a pain reliever fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. anti-depressants

chuck todd and howard fineman will be up next. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. since aflac is helping with his expenses while he can't work, he can focus on his recovery. he doesn't have to worry so much about his mortgage, groceries, or even gas bills. kick! kick... feel it! feel it! feel it! nice work! ♪ you got it! you got it! yes! aflac's gonna help take care of his expenses. and us...we're gonna get him back in fighting shape. ♪ [ male announcer ] see what's happening behind the scenes >>> with us now the editorial director of the huffington post media group and political analyst representing louisville is howard fineman and the writer for the national review, charles cooke who is representing oxford who did not make the final four this year. in washington, msnbc chief host of "the daily rundown", chuck todd. everybody is saying on the show the past month is not the age of aquarius if we get a background check. wallow in the good news, 68 senators actually voted for a debate. that is a surprise. >> you know what? i was most intrigued about is take a look at

howard fineman is here. you know kentucky politics quite well we should point out. so the fbi is now investigating the taping of this conversation. was it recorded illegally? >> that's an open question. the guy who i think did it was outside the closed locked room where mitch mcconnell and his aides were discussing this campaign. this person could hear what was going on and taped it either with a smartphone or some device and kentucky law and federal law it's possibly illegal but that's open to question because the person recording it could also hear it. >> there are two men suspected of involvement here. both of them associated with this liberal kentucky superpac. one of them we haven't been able to reach despite our best efforts. the other one, his attorney says, he was in the building and didn't record it. there's a watchdog group, citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington that wants the fbi and senate ethics committee to investigate senator mitch mcconnell over some of the comments that were made and everything else that happened. let's be honest. pol