us on set, we have senior political editor and white house correspondent for the huffington post, sam steinnd msnbc political analyst and vice president and executive editor of msnbc.com, richard wolf. senior national correspondent from bloomberg "businessweek," josh rain. good to have you on board this morning. >> sam is complaining because he doesn't have sam stein. >> why not? >> he thinks he should be important enough to have sam stein on his twitter account. he was talking about the sweetest handle on twitter. >> the breaking news your father is on twitter. >> he is on twitter. >> that's big. >> that's big. >> that's pretty awesome. >> he turned 85 last week. he joined twitter this week. >> z. big! >> try z. big/sam stein. >> just jump on that train. >> you know he is tweeting what the president said yesterday about the attorney general of california. >> yes, there is that. we will start there then. president obama's is facing online backlash over comments he made about california's attorney general. a d.c. luncheon outside of san francisco saying she is, quote, brilliant and dedicated

sam stein is in washington.espondent pete williams with the latest on the boston marathon bombing investigation. pete, what are you hearing? >> it's a very fast moving investigation. they are now looking for two men and this is based on the pictures that they've been able to analyze partly a result of the bonanza of pictures that people have turned in in answer to the fbi's request for pictures and partly from what they are getting from surveillance cameras in the area. the beginning of this was a surveillance camera mounted on a department store across the street and down the block a bit from the second bomb attack. that's the picture you're seeing right now is that second scene. the bomb was placed out near the end of the sidewalk there. and in these pictures they see one young man who has a heavy backpack who sets it down just before the bomb goes off and then dashes away. he's also seen talking on a cell phone. they have two avenues of inquiry here. one is pictures themselves and they have clear pictures of

so that would be the clip about what they could accept in gun control, sam stein.e have a clip somewhere in our files. >> this is a tight-lipped show. >> we don't have time to rehearse the clips. it's not real show business. >> no. are you serious? >> we will show the immigration reform clip some other time. >> just tell us what it was. >> it was basically they'll accept something that's consistent with the president's principles. i have them memorized, mostly. >> good thing. >> and that, of course, is path to citizenship, and that is where the problem is. >> is that really the problem, though? you would think that at this juncture republicans would sort have gotten the message after losing 70% of the hispanic vote. i don't see why the white house needs to bend that much on this. they won an election largely on the hispanic vote. largely because they were promising to do immigration reform with a path tozenship. if they were to turn around and say the path to citizenship is going to be a 20-year process -- >> you have taken the path to citizenship. you have the dua

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thank you, stephanie cutter, sam stein. it's the navy rule. if the simplest guy can understand it. >>> up next, more trouble for the republican party's re-branding effort. this is "hardball." the place for politics. [ heart beating, monitor beeping ] woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year. for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. >>> ha! back to "hardball." now to the sideshow. first up, jon stewart went after egypt's president mohamed morsi for his government's recent detention of a popular political comedian with his own television show. for stewart the attack hit a little close to home. let's listen. >> is there anything else he may have done here, perhaps concerning the president, himself? >> this show mocked him when he

i love him. >> and white house correspondent for "the huffington post," sam stein. >> not so much. >> you a marlins fan? >> well, actually, i grew up a dodgers fan. but my son is an obsessive nationals fan. >> so you are, too. >> loves bryce harper. so what am i going to do? >> you're a nationals fan. >> i am now living in a town that actually has professional baseball. and one that may actually go to the world series. so i'm now a season ticketholder. go nats. i'm on the bandwagon. i'll drive if i have to. >> sam stein, we're going to fenway a lot this year, buddy, you and me. >> i hope so. >> right there. >> is it the fight for fourth? i'm just curious. >> the fight for fifth. >> let me tell you something, chuck. tonight or this afternoon, it's personal. and this time it's for fifth place. at yankee stadium. so chuck, incredible job yesterday. you changed television history. you did. a lot to talk about. what was your biggest takeaway from "meet the press" yesterday? >> well, it's the whole everybody tiptoeing around marco rubio, right? this whole how marco rubio is the lynch pin to

and sam stein is political editor at the "huffington post." i want to start with sam on the reporting here. it looks to me like there's a good chance they will have 60 votes, to at least begin debate two days from now. >> yeah, that's about right. from our count, we have about eight republican senators who are leaning very strongly to openly supporting the first cloture vote which would allow you to go to debate and amendment. harry reid may lose two members of his own caucus on that vote. max baucus and mark pryor are noncommittal at this point. that gives gun control advocates a bit more time to craft the legislative language of the background check bill. like you said, it doesn't guarantee passage. they still have to close the debate period in order to get to actual vote on passage. >> senator, you were there, explain this to people out there, this cloture, this filibuster game now. you can filibuster a bill even before people start talking about it. then you can filibuster it again once you don't like the direction of the debate and might l

gallagher, vice president of dimos, heather mcgee and political editor at the "huffington post," sam stein. you guys have been doing a great job chronicling the reality of the sequester cuts, what it seems to me is here we have a case of the two americas, the legislating class, and actual americans. and the fact that sort of congress seems to be in its own bubble regarding the pain of the sequester cuts, republicans especially in so far as they're declaring victory on this, when in reality there's a serious toll that the squekter is taking. >> there's a national story and a bunch of local stories. for the first couple of weeks, the national story was sort of obsessed with whether or not there was going tore tours in the building behind me. whether the easter egg roll was going to be continue as well. and why those lengthy lines at the airport that the white house warned about never materialized. in actuality, locally there's been a lot of pain and suffering that's happening and it will get worse, sequestration is $8 5 billion just this year in cuts alone. they don't have to come all at the

. >> joining me right now is managing editor of the grio joy reid and "huffington post" sam stein whoff this tweet on this issue. "head start kids should start complaining about the long tarmac delays they're dealing with." let me go back to joy then to sam. joy, it seems to me republicans and democrats are not partisan when it comes to 30,000 feet. once you're up that high, everything's cool. by the way, i did notice, i love to look at voting patterns like you i'm sure do. i'm studying black caucus members, big city liberals. those are the ones who voted against this deal which gave a great break to the fliers and screwed the people on the ground. >> it goes to show you the many ways in which our congress increasingly battles for the rich. people who can afford a plane ticket or traveling for business. that's what essentially congress is down to. they're serving the interest of the well to do. by the way, a lot of them are well to do. our congress is something like 50% millionaires. it's the many reasons people are frustrated with this government. they can't do anything for ordinary

we have sam stein with us this morning.ormer director of the white house domestic policy council and ceo of melanie barnes solution. melanie barnes. and willie geist. mike barnicle. and the host of politics nation and president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton. good morning to you all. >> good morning. >> it really is a big day and you can't overstate the compromise and the power of the compromise that joe manchin and pat toomey have put together. here are two conservatives. manchin without a doubt the most conservative in the senate. pat toomey for my money' i've said it all along, one of the true conservatives in the u.s. senate from pennsylvania. it bears repeating. while the rest of the party jumped off the cliff when bush was president, toomey remained conservative and voted against a medicare drug benefit plain and he got elected in pennsylvania, a blue state and this compromise is incredible. guys like us paul ryan we respect pat toomey so much and why it's not a surprise paul ryan yesterday said

joining me is glen thrush, the "huffington post" political editor and white house correspondent, sam stein, former director of the domestic policy council under president obama, melanie barnes and "washington post" columnist and msnbc political analyst, ezra klein and ayman mohyeldin, msnbc correspondent. i want to go to you, ayman, the president, they keep doubling down on the terms, credible and corroborative. needing more evidence as to whether assad is using chemical weapons. how much do you think the international community and specifically syrians are taking stock in this notion that the white house is moving perhaps towards action of some kind in syria? >> well you know, i've been speaking to people overseas. and trying to gauge their reaction from the syrian opposition leaders, the syrian coalition, they put out a statement yesterday, in which they said that time has come for u.s. action. that the evidence is so overwhelming, not only from an anecdotal level, but also from the u.s. intelligence assessments and some of its closest allies, that there is no more excuse for inaction an

and sam stein is the political editor and white house correspondent. he is really tough.guy is a solid, tough journalist. i don't think you lean forward enough but that's all right. let's talk about the president's role. you and i can -- you're a publicity person. you understand communications. there are times when the president's on the front page. i was working for tipp for those years and would say i don't have to be on the front page every day. we know when you're there. lately, three or four months, the president has not been out there. bloomberg i bloomberg's been out there, biden's been out there. why hasn't the president been consistently charges since newtown on guns? >> chris, i think he has. >> out front. >> out front. you saw last thursday the event he did at the white house. >> every day i get up and read the papers. stephanie, i read the papers every day. >> we can't control what people put on their front pages. it did make some front pages last week. he's talked about gun safety and curbing gun violence since newtown tragedy. he's travel ing to colorado tom

also sam stein is politics editor of "the huffington post."our analysis was great in the column. it showed the enormous power of the hardliner, the tough guys, led by cruz, led by mike lee, and, of course, rand paul to basically draw the line. you cannot support expanded background checks. not at the 30-clip rounds. 30-round clips. not at the assault weapons. you can't vote for that, and that's what -- >> and it works. it's an inside/outside game. there are other groups who do this in washington, too. here you have the most conservative senators. they stand up. they take a stand. in this case, it's public letter saying we're not going to allow a vote on it. and then when senators and congressmen go back to their districts, guess what? they're hearing, wait, why aren't you standing like rand paul? why aren't you standing like ted cruz? >> they don't like that. >> it's a way of mobilizing -- >> what happened in the republican cloakroom, in the meetings, lunches they had together, according to your column, a lot of the republicans who voted for t

thank you, stephanie cutter, sam stein. it's the navy rule.the simplest guy can understand it. >>> up next, more trouble for the republican party's re-branding effort. this is "hardball." the place for politics. more than two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. and every day since, we've worked hard to keep it. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy. we've shared what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. bp's also committed to america. we support nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. you know it even after all these years. but your erectile dysfunction - you know,that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequen

political editor and white house correspondent at the the "huffington post," msnbc contributor, sam stein, and the editor in chief of buzz feed, ben smith. gentlemen and lady thank you for joining me here today. >> thanks for having us. >> great to have you here, sam, let's start with you on this. there was a lot of talk, i mean there is always a lot of talk about president obama's strategy. some people say look he has always been a centrist. this has always been who the guy is there's also a part of strategy here. what kind of tactician is he? at this moment in sort of going out with a budget that is much further right than i think a lot of progressives and democrats would like to see. >> well let's separate the substance from the strategy. the substantively i don't think there's much in here that he hasn't offered before. everything has been on the table at one point or the other with respect to negotiations with john boehner. i'm not terribly surprised he went with chain cpi or health care savings or any of the other measures he put in there. tactically, i'm not sure, there's ways to g

sam stein at the "huffington post" compiled a list of 100 sequester stories from across the country. some that the democrats may want to focus on are food pantry is closed, meals on wheels cut. fewer head start positions. medicare patients turned away. housing services cut. the republicans want to focus on thing that seem more trivial. of course, the white house tour is being canceled. we've all heard about that. less camping. >> what? >> armband concert canceled. horse help reduced and cruise passengers inconvenienced. what do you think the american people ultimately are going to get out of this whole debate? are they going on feel these cuts or will these become real to them in. >> i think some people will get hurt. when you've got budget cuts, there are always people any time you reduce something from the status quo. some people will get hurt. i do think the president was on tough ground trying to say the sky would fall for a 5% cut or a 7% cut. in budgets that have grown in the last 3 or 4%. the bigger picture is still all horse help in nevada aside. i'm kind of curious about. >>

but some journalists like you guys and sam stein and others are covering the head start. some of these real cuts to low income people that are hugely important. and you're right, i mean the voices are getting drowned out. >> what's also interesting, the the "huffington post" reporting that we are in terms of tax evasion,e are cutting the funds to the irs that would prosecute tax evasion. that makes no sense. >> the sequester is actually going to increase the deficit. that is the ultimate irony of this whole mess of a process. >> carl levin and tom coburn estimate the government loses $100 billion a year from offshore tax evasion. but we're cutting the bureau that deals with tax evasion. >> the sequester is really all about -- it's about the rich being able to be exempted from the social safety net. that's what the tea party wing of the republican party is all about, about austerity, but only for the poor. >> the sequester is a stupid name and stupid in practice, that's what i'll say before we go to break. the appalachian trail gets rocky as mark sanford and elizabeth cobu

according to sam stein of the huffington there are 52 yes votes for the bill and 40 senators are opposedicans. just three members of the gop senators toomey, mark kirk and susan collins are breaking with their party. two other republicans senators mccain and ayotte are reportedly on the fence. come on, guys. along with six democrats. >> john mccain sounds like he is moving in the right direction. i think another is kelly ayotte that needs to follow, mark halpern. six democrats on the fence as well. i think, again, mark, i think it's extraordinarily hard for a democrat with any ambitions inside the party to vote no on a basic background check that will stop terrorists from getting their hands on guns without a background check, that will stop past violent offenders and past violent rapists and past violent child molesters from getting a gun without a background check. somebody asked me questioned why i wasn't more incensed and waving my arms and yelling about this, because i know history is on my side. i know anybody that votes against checking violent criminals, being able to get weapons

sam. >> something's going on. you'd better get down here. >> i'm on my way. >> tracy had a watch phone. now you may be able to wear your smartphone. senior editor scott stein? >> it is here now. whether it's ready, not exactly. everyone's trying to figure this out. for years smartphones were developing as technology. it wasn't till the smartphone, i think, that a lot of the people in the mass market thought they needed one. people come up with solutions, trying to think on the fly. a lot of these work like wearable pagers. some of them do like the martian watch allows you to make phone calls fair paired through your phone. they're more an accessory than a standalone computer. >> what's the attraction? >> i think people like the idea if you're into geek techs, it puts into a niche, that you can check notifications on them dwroirjts have to take your watch out -- your phoneout. some are thinking your phone gets really distracting. it actually could be one more distraction because you're now staring at your watch all the time. >> so you reviewed many of these watch phones. the pebble the martian, very interesting name. which one's better? which one do you lik

to mention the opposition or the competition, but i will huffington post did a really good piece, sam stein and amanda terkel they addressed this issue? what do you mean? the sequester is not having a real impact? their article is on up on their sight right now that documents 100 cases. i am sure today, if you went you could find 200. >> yeah. >> they found 100 cases of cuts in headstart or medical research or people who have been fired or furloughed already all around, all across the country. >> central park. all kind of things >> bill: every day you see more stories like this. we had a call this morning from an air traffic controller on the center here that does -- that's over everything flying in this area dulles national, bwi. he said every single air traffic controller -- i haven't had a chance to double-check this but he said every air traffic controller in the country has gotten a furlough letter. that means they will not work as many days, they will not be able to handle as many flights. he said there is just no way they can continue to manage the same capacity manage the flights th