0 there is a war on christmas. >> are you nuts? it really must be the holiday season because that question was gift-wrapped. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. the frying of susan rice. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start with this war in washington. say what you will about the election we just had. this one's hotter, nastier, more personal. one side says it's about character, about whether a close confederate of the president told the truth, the whole truth as she knew it when she went on national television and said the death of a u.s. ambassador was a spontaneous reaction to an anti-muslim video, some trouble-making clown made out in california. ignoring john mccain and his ail argue evidence it was an organized act of terrorism. not so says the president. his u.n. ambassador and close friend simply told the truth as she was permitted to tell it, what the cia gave her to say and no more. for that he charges susan rice, in the words of the new york post, being fried. political fight fans on the tabloids relish this extreme combat what should be a good person's judgment? that's my question tonight. is susan rice now a surrogate for the president, someone to take the punishment when others above her pay grade should be answering the questions, or is she accountable for going on national television knowing she can't tell the whole truth because it's classified? let's begin with senator susan collins, republican of maine. i guess it's the toughest question in the world, senator, and that is, do you believe that susan rice, the u.n. ambassador, knowingly covered up a breach of national security? >> well, let me say this, chris, our purpose is to understand the security failure in benghazi. what the administration told the american public about it. and how we can learn lessons to keep our personnel safer in the future. so that's my interest and goal in this situation. i think indeed ambassador rice herself has admitted that the information she gave out on those sunday shows was not accurate in several crucial aspects. she says she relied on information that was given to her but it's obvious that she chose to emphasize some aspects and downplay others. and frankly, i think the u.n. ambassador a long with the individuals from other countries that had come in. and that it was premeditated and planned. and i just don't understand why the administration would have susan rice go on television and say that the views essentially of the president of libya just didn't matter. she completely discounted them. that doesn't make sense to me. >> you suggested she was behaving politically. fair enough, if that's the case. what would be the political purpose in denying the role of terrorism in this act, the central role of terrorism, organized terrorism, in the death of ambassador stevens? what would be her purpose politically in that? >> i believe that the administration wanted to portray libya as an unqualified success story. and ambassador rice was one of the chief advocates of our involvement in libya, so arguably had a personal stake in that as well. i think it was con temporary to -- contrary of the administration to say libya was awash with weapons, that there was a growing al qaeda presence, that there were training camps for islamic extremists, particularly near benghazi. and that there had been 274 security incidents in just the past 13 months, five of which were -- i mean, one out of five were in benghazi, including an attempt on the life of the british ambassador that caused the british to withdraw their consulate from benghazi. so i think it was contrary to the success story the administration wanted to portray when it comes to libya. >> let me go back to the facts, as you know them now. was there a role played by that video, that anti-islamic video made in california, in this horror story? did it play a role? >> it may have inspired some of the people who later entered the compound. but i have not seen evidence that it was the cause of the violent attack on our personnel in benghazi that caused four americans their lives. and certainly ambassador rice's statement on abc news said it was the direct result was not accurate. today she told me she did not intend to say what she said on abc. >> this was in "the new york times" about what we know now of the attacks of benghazi. this is the "new york times." straight reporting. on the ground accounts indicate that miss rice's description of the attack, though wrong in some respects, was accurate in others. witnesses to the assault said it was carried out by members of al shariah, the militant group, without any warning or protest in retaliation for american-made video mocking the prophet muhammad. is that the truth, as you know it? >> it's partially the truth. when you look at what happened, and i've reviewed tapes, classified materials, i sat through hours of briefings, there were some people who no doubt came onto the compound, not only to loot it but because they were angry about the video. but that is not the primary cause of the assault on the compound. if you look at what happened, there was clearly no protest, and the administration concedes that now, there were no protests that preceded the assault on the compound. said on a talk show. it's what actually happened and what should be done after it. if you look at the talking point, unclassified talking points, she didn't sit there and weigh and decide what to say. she kind of did what many people in washington, including senators often do, stuck to the unclassified talking points and didn't go into the other stuff. >> they believe she shifted -- to get her testimony we got here from susan collin, she believes the ambassador to the u.n. went on television on sunday, not a talk show, but "meet the press," which is about establishing hard news on sunday, it's a very -- you know the cycle -- >> he no, we -- >> the government puts officials on to make official statements. >> right. >> her official statement said was shaded in a political direction and her argument is she shouldn't have been doing that. >> she attributed that to susan rice when the information came from cia and -- >> she's treating her like a principle. thank you, david corn. coming up, what's wrong with this picture. this is what the new republican chairman of the house looked like. they have a certain pattern in common. now that's progressive. call or click today. [ grunting ] how's this for irony? mitt romney has finally captured 47% of america. remember this video that sunk the romney campaign? >> there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them. >> well, the cook report points out romney shared a popular vote of this country has fallen to, you guessed it, 47.4%. as expected to fall further, and settle at the 47 mark, exactly. we'll be right back.
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