he poked and derided the capitol reports, invited them to ask about his million defense report he used today as both his shield and weapon. unfortunately, he may not have gotten all that the taxpayers of new jersey paid for. the report released yesterday by christie administration lawyers proclaimed in no uncertain terms that christie has been exonerated. but there are plenty of skeptics out there. nearly nearly every major newspaper in christie's backyard harshly questioned the report. "the new york times" editorial report writes, quote, this goessy political answer losing cost the taxpayers more than a million dollars in legal fees. an expensive whitewash. the legislators also called it's a million dollar whitewash, saying let's see what the u.s. attorneys turn up. the bergen writes the completed report raises more question than it buries. what it also buries is hope that the internal investigation might rise above the governor's self-interest. the front page of the trentonian says christie begins with a headline written in all caps, written conflict of interest. moments ago, bridget kelly through her lawyer fired back at the report which we know pins much of the blame on her and throws in some salacious details about her personal life to boot. here is part of her statement. the report's venomous, gratuitous and inappropriate sexist remarks concerning ms. kelly have no place in what is alleged to be a professional and independent report. there appear to be two distinct versions of the george washington bridge lane closings. on the one hand, mr. wildstein through his counsel has taken one clear position. on the other hand, mr. mastro has staked a different view. thus, ms. kelly's evidence could be critical to clarifying the two competing versions of event. the report were mjw.com and a democratic assemblywoman from new jersey and a member of the state committee that is investigating the bridge lane closures. i want to start with the assemblywoman. assemblywoman huddle, give me your sense of having read this report. what is not in it? what should be in it? what do you want to know? >> well, you know, they said the report was exhaustive and everything was in the report. we certainly have no more answers to the questions than when we started. the governor was looking for the truth. this report certainly was there to try to exonerate the governor. we still don't have the truth or the answers. and i find it very objectionable and questionable that they interviewed 70 people, and the key people, stepien, wildstein, baroni, kelly, samson were not in the report. certainly i don't think we need to spend a million dollars to find out we needed port authority transparency reform. we've done that two years ago in the legislature and he vetoed that. we did that for nothing, quite frankly. there is nothing in there. i also feel that really stuck out to me were how they really denigrated the women. bridget kelly was scorned so she caused a traffic jam. dawn zimmer was yawning, and the yawning was her defense that she wasn't threatened. i found that to be incredible. >> but these lawyers are smart guys. and there must be some women in that report, in that legal team. you're right. it just blew me away that they would go after a woman's private life without any connecting of it to what happened here. they can't give us a motive for why the bridge was closed down for all those weeks. but they can give us some sort of tantalizing personal life story about bridget kelly and the fact that she was having a relationship with somebody else in this matter and was dumped by this guy. what relevance do they think they could even argue? the governor late today defended that salacious attack on her personally, i thought. that was pretty bad. your thoughts? >> again, there was no relevance to that. you know, is the governor said he wans to get to the bottom of it. he wants to get to the truth. the only thing this report did, which we're calling a million dollar press release. and as you stated in the beginning, all of the ed torls called it a whitewash. again, we did not get any more answer than we had before. i'm hoping that as we continue with our investigation, you know, with the committee, that we do get some of the answer for the people that were stuck in the traffic. the port authority reform, i welcome that. and we hope that now the governor will consider the legislation that we are putting together. and it just -- it's quite frankly very objectionable, very biased. and very expensive report to tell us something that we really don't have any answers to. >> darrylisher wood, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> stay with us, assemblywoman. mr. isherwood, it seems to me something fascinating here. this whitewash, whatever you want to call it, this legal paper said get rid of the office of intergovernmental relations which is the one that bridget kelly was heading up there. in other words, there is something wrong with that very institution that ought to tell you that the governor has a problem here. he has set up an office with apparently the purpose of shotgun people who get in the way of him. once the legal document came out and said get rid of that very office, that tells you the governor has set up something that is basically a bullying operation. and yet somehow he doesn't get touched by it. is he a client of these lawyers? how does he avoid the brush here that he created an office whose job it was to bully? >> yeah, you know, i think that office, a lot of the complaint is their whole goal was to help out at least during the campaign was to help out his campaign. >> yeah. >> looking for endorsements and trying to push people into -- i hate to use the word push, but trying to convince people, mostly democrats, to endorse the governor. and there was a lot of that sort of blurred line of mixed government versus campaign time. you've got a governmental office and governmental salaries doing this campaign work. i don't think that sets up well for anybody. that's the whole goal of that office. >> here is my question. why does the governor keep changing his lingo? a couple of times ago when he was asked at a press conference or it must have been a town hall, did you fire bridget kelly, he very particularly said i did not fire her. i had her fired. and now he is back to i fired her. what is he trying to separate himself from? is he trying to establish the fact that she did not report to him, therefore he couldn't fire her, that only o'dowd as chief of staff could fire her. is he trying to set up firewall for the courts that separates him from her? by the way, scher she only worked a couple of feet from him. he is now acting like she is from some different planet. your thoughts. >> it's obvious he has tried to separate himself. even in today's press conference, i don't know if he intended to make the joke, but lanes of traffic to him. basically access was restricted to these two guys, charlie mckenna, the chief counsel and kevin o'dowd, the chief of staff. and you had to go through those two people to get to him. and i think that's firewall he is trying to create. hey, look, people couldn't just walk in and tell me stuff there was a process here. and so it wasn't like somebody could just walk in and confess their sins to me. it had to go through channels there is clearly an effort to backtrack here and say hey, i had walls in place that kept me from knowing type of stuff. >> i think it's interesting. assemblywoman hutle, this is the question. look, i think he did some work today. it wasn't all failure. but i thought it was interesting today when he said it mystifies why it was done. now, it doesn't take a lot of speculation for a big-time politician, a guy who is pretty aggressive to understand why his staff people would be putting a little heat on fort lee. why does he say it mystifies me? because that gets back to the question of -- well, let's watch him do it. here he is. >> i don't know if we'll ever know what the motive. as i said when i was here january 9th, it mystifies me on every level why this was done. and i hope some day to have an answer to why it was done. but i certainly don't have a crystal ball, and i can't tell you if or when i'll ever know. but do i hope to after all this? you bet i hope to. >> assemblywoman, are we to believe that this governor of new jersey has no knowledge of his office's relationship with the fort lee mayor sokolich, that he has no knowledge on what might motive this kind of pushing around or punishing? this is the part that is hard, the context part, whether he knew about the bridge closing prank or not, he seems to be playing a much riskier argument here. i don't know nothing, the sergeant schultz argument from hogan's heroes. that seems to be something hard to believe. your thoughts. >> again, it's inconceivable that it was just bridget kelly and wildstein, you know, playing traffic jams or playing with the traffic on the bridge without any knowledge, without anyone know that. it's inconceivable to me. again, this exhaustive report shows nothing on who was to blame and why they did it. and, again, the governor has promised to do a thorough investigation. i don't believe that, you know, this investigation is over. it's far from over. there is no -- there are no answers to the questions. we will continue to raise the questions. and the investigation is far from over. the report was done obviously to try to exonerate the governor and not get the fax. >> darryl, i used the example of a lion tame were a chair and a whip. he basically pushed the press away from him today. but the lawyers do it too. how do they think they can get away with just dismissing the mayor of hoboken, mayor zimmer, who comes off as very impressive, that's the only way i know her. oh, she was yawning. this can't be real. she can't really have been intimidated by giordano, the lieutenant governor, in intimidation besides she was the only other witness. just knocking down the cases of anybody who doesn't agree with the governor here in this report. it doesn't seem to be a fair report in that regard. >> you know, but that's always been sort of the m.o. here. look, we have a lot of conversations, a lot of things that happened where there are only two people there, or in some cases three or four who actually know the answers to these things. those people aren't talk. >> right. >> that's been the problem all along. you bridget kelly. you have david wildstein. you have bill stepien who all will not talk. and to the assemblywoman's point, i think you're never going to be able to conclude this investigation unless you get those people to talk. >> unless there are charges made. >> exactly. . unless the u.s. attorney comes out and charges people. here is the other point i would make. if the u.s. attorney drops his investigation with no charges, which is possible. nobody really knows where that thing stands and what their focus, where do you go from there? the investigative committee may be able to compel bridget kelly and bill stepien to turn over their documents, but they may not. they may lose that case. where do you go from there? i think that's the problem. back to your point. in all of these things, there is a bit of a he-said, she-said. and when he or she in that equation isn't talking, it's tough to get to the answers. >> well, i'm hoping there is some legal action at least to get to the truth. it may be the only way we get a perry mason moment here. thank you so much, and assemblywoman, you're a great guest to have on an important night. >> snow. no matter how bad the bridge scandal looks for christie, he still considers him a viable candidate for president of united states in 2016. as an east coast republican, he may be among the republicans among the best chance of knock off secretary clinton. but that's only if he can get past the right wing republicans in the caucuses and primaries. but look at the guy. he is still game to run. he is going out there to vegas this weekend to basically shake his cuff. plus, what has become known as the sheldon adelson primary, the conga line of 2016 republican hopefuls auditions in vegas right now for that one older billionaire's support. and more importantly, his money. and while things look bleak for congressional democrats this november, republicans have done nothing to address their shrinking political base. and let's face it, lack of a positive political message. think of it. what is it? and that could mean huge gains for the democrats with hillary at least in 2016. plus, could put another democrat in the white house, her. finally, i know about winston churchill. churchill is a passion of mine. senator ted cruz, you ain't no winston churchill. and that is "hardball," the place for politics. ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ by now you probably have seen more than six million people have signed up for affordable care. and today we had a picture of where people had been struggling most to pay for health care or medicine last year before the law went into effect. topping the list was alabama, followed by west virginia, mississippi, kentucky, and north carolina. all of those are red states, of course. on the other end, with the lowest percentage of people had trouble paying for health care were iowa, minnesota, tied for first, followed by hawaii, north dakota, and massachusetts. all but north dakota are blue states. and we'll be right back. up so we're up early. up late. thinking up game-changing ideas, like this: dozens of tax free zones across new york state. move here. expand here. or start a new business here... and pay no taxes for 10 years. with new jobs, new opportunities and a new tax free plan. there's only one way for your business to go. up. find out if your business can qualify at start-upny.com welcome back to "hardball." the first question governor christie was asked at his press conference late this afternoon was about whether the bridge scandal might affect the 2016 presidential run by him. and christie was ready. >> in the long sweep of things, any voters, if they consider this issue at all in considering my candidacy if there ever is one, i got a feeling it will be a very small element of it, if any element at all. >> but the poll numbers tell a much different story. the nbc-wall street journal poll has been tracking christie's national favorability and unfavorability numbers and they've taken a big hit. 17% of respondents had a positive view of christie. 32 a negative view. rewind to october 2013 before the scandal erupted and those numbers were transposed, completely inverse. christie was 33% positive back then, 17% negative. they've gone switcheroo since then. christie said today the bridge scandal will not be a factor in his presidential decision making. >> the way i'll make a decision about whether to seek any future office would be do i think it's what is best for me and my family. and secondly, do i believe that i have something unique and particular to offer that particular office at this particular time. if the answer to those two questions is yes, then i'll seek that office. and if the answer to either of those questions is no, i won't. and there won't be anything else that will enter into it. anybody who tries to game out the politics of this kind of stuff years in advance, the last 11 weeks should show them that's a fool's errand. >> christie will be in las vegas this weekend, meeting with top aruba fundraisers. we'll get more of that later in the program. it sure looks like christie considers himself a viable contender for 2016 himself. mark halperin is a senior political analyst and author of double down, a great book. and susan paige writes the big front page stuff for usa today about politics. mark, i like to remind people who has watched this as civilians, you don't pick the candidates. they pick themselves and you choose among them. will he be one of the people who will try to be a candidate, despite this kerfuffle and embarrassment, and perhaps scandal of the bridgegate? >> chris, my considered opinion on this day is that all things considered, chris christie has the first or second most likely path to the republican nomination today of anyone who is considering running. he is not a perfect candidate. this bridge thing is not helpful. but if you look at fundraising, the calendar, his political skills, his message, and the one thing republicans are looking for in a candidate, who can beat hillary clinton with a possible exception of jeb bush, i say today chris christie i think has the clearest path to the republican nomination of anyone else. >> is there, susan, a establishment candidate nomination fight? in other words, there is going to be a right-winger, a libertarian rand paul or ted cruz or rubio. but is there still a need for somebody in the sweet spot, somebody who can get the big money and look like they can beat hillary early on. >> right. scott walker, john kasich, jeb bush. >> is that the race he is in? >> i think that's the race he would like to be in. that's the race he seems to be wanting to run. >> you think he is permanently tarred? >> thing is the main thing people know about him now. you ask americans across the country, what is chris christie? he is the governor who shut down the george washington bridge. i think it is damaging. and i think what is worse for him he is not a good fit in this party. he is not a good fit with a party that is southern and has a loft libertarians and has a lot of christian conservatives. he is a northeastern republican, not a good fit in this party. that's as damaging as the bridgegate scandal. >> why do you think he is running? he has nothing else to do? >> i think he is rung because he has met with donors, and then he sat down for a big interview with diane sawyer, and then he is going to las vegas for that big meeting. and i think -- and he did the news conference today. i think he is trying to rebuild -- >> mark, go ahead. i want to know what the money piece. can you run in the iowa caucuses with a bankroll? will a bankroll help a guy who is relatively centrist against the yahoos running against him? >> i have great respect for susan, but i want to disagree on two things. first of all, what did people know about bill clinton during the perils of his candidacy in 15 one? that he was a draft dodger and he had these phone calls with gennifer flowers. what did people know about george bush early on? he was the son of someone at that time who was not a particularly popular ex-president. and secondly, mitt romney was less of a good fit for a southern evangelical tea party party than chris christie is. look, he can skip iowa. he can win iowa in a fractured field. he can raise so much money and have a superpac in iowa that he wins iowa. with the possible exception of jeb bush, i don't see anybody else today dish. >> what has he got? define for the person watching right now. here is a big heavyset guy from new jersey with an ethnic name. in a party that sends to be evangelic evangelical. what does he have walking into that iowa caucus or new hampshire primary? what does he have the others don't? >> an establishment candidate who rich people love who looks like he could take on hillary clinton and beat here and talk about an anti-washington message. >> you know, i agree that he has an anti-washington message. that's the best thing you can say. an anti-washington message and anti-washington climate. but i -- >> how do you run anti-washington when your biggest name idea is your scandal? >> but i disagree with you. and take the romney example. he is a worse fit with this party than romney was because he is less willing to put up with some of the lip service of the people who make up the core of the party. and people in the republican party pointed to an example of romney and mccain and said we went with a candidate you told us had the best chance of winning. they lost. let's go with someone who appeals more to our hearts. >> what is the second best thing for if he runs an loses? is there a win for him and he runs a good race and comes in the 207 three or four? >> sure. he could be on somebody's ticket. he could become the leader of the party. and depending where the bridge thing, he could rehabilitate himself by getting back to more of what made him popular in the first place. my magazine, when time put him on the cover in november, there was a reason for it. he is an extraordinarily skilled guy. and look, we can talk about all these republican and other candidates. most of them are nowhere near chris christie's class. now i should say, if the bridge thing implodes, everything i'm saying is no longer operative. but today, the report having cleared him, whatever else you want to say about it, with it not being clear, what federal crime has been committed, with no one speaking out with the exception of wildstein against him, today, yes for, a lot of late-night come mix and some people that's what he is known for. but he is going to be known for a lot more if he runs. >> mark, i like the way you think here. i like politicians who can walk through crap storms. no matter how bad it gets, no matter how much stuff is thrown at them, internally bill clinton once said to young rhodes scholars, whatever anybody else says about you you have to be who you are and don't listen to the rabble yelling at you. does christie have that? have you ever been with him that he has the iron makeup that he can they can more of this crap when it comes? because it's going to come from the prosecutors and the state legislature. more coming here. >> i think that is one of his great strengths hi, can take it. >> and mark mentioned the example of bill clinton. anybody who covered bill clinton does not count any politician out if they have the act to show that resilience. and maybe he does. >> were you there in new hampshire in '92 when he was handing out videos? >> exactly. you don't want to count him out. but i don't think he is a good fit in this party. and in the end that's a bigger problem for him. >> will his ego carry him, mark? the sheer strength of his will power to fight this crap storm? >> it's attractive to people. it's attractive to donors. i'll say again. i've said this on the program before there is one qualification republican nominators across the spectrum want, who can beat hillary clinton, as long as it looks like she is the democrat. i'll give you one quick example. he took on our colleagues today. often when he had some merit in what he was saying about their questions. you say he is not a good fit for the party. his press bashing is greater in skill than anybody in the party today. and in the republican party, that's a good fit. >> i think he was hoping there would be a sign that would go up after every one of his assaults on the press. my iq is 148. theirs is 110. i think he wanted to show every moment he was smarter than the press. he may have won that fight. he didn't kill the bully charge too well today, though. up next, ted cruz does a pretty bad imitation of winston churchill. he hasn't done a very good imitation lately unfortunately for the republic of joseph r. mccarthy. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. (dad) well, we've been thinking about it and we're just not sure. (agent) i understand. (dad) we've never sold a house before. (agent) i'll walk you guys through every step. (dad) so if we sell, do you think we can swing it? (agent) i have the numbers right here and based on the comps that i've found, the timing is perfect. ...there's a lot of buyers for a house like yours. (dad) that's good to know. (mom) i'm so excited. itit grows more sophisticated baevery day. back alleys. if it were a business, it would be a fortune 500 company. fraud has evolved. american express intelligent security gives you tools to fight fraud and a global service network that never stops working. so you can be a member of a more secure world. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. i have a great fit with my dentures. i love kiwis. i've always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free -- it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. super poligrip free made the kiwi an enjoyable experience. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. senator ted cruz was speaking at a recent event when he quoted winston churchill. and actually, at one point he started impersonating him. listen to this. >> we shall fight on the beaches. we shall fight on the landing ramps. we shall fight in the fields and on the street. we shall fight in the hills. we shall never surrender. >> what? even madonna was what type of british accent is that? >> what a disgrace. time for the sideshow that was jimmy fallon of course on ted cruz's recent misimpression of winston churchill. it was so over the top and bad it sounded more like a parody than impression. let's compare his rendition to the real thing, the genuine article. >> we shall never surrender. >> we shall never surrender. >> one talked like a man. senator, you're no winston churchill. earlier this week mitch mcconnell was called out for mistaking duke's basketball team in his ad which is fine if he was running for reelection in north carolina. but he is not, of course. and that fact was not lost on his primary challenger matt bevin. check out his latest ad. >> march madness in kentucky. commitment, courage, you got to love it. even if your team is already out of the tournament. we need courage in the u.s. senate too. i'm matt bevin, and i approve this message. because if you want a conservative in the u.s. senate, i need your vote on may 20th. >> oh, my gosh. a conservative. didn't we have one there in mitch mcconnell? finally, it's well-known that news networks go to great lengths to attract younger viewers. on his show last night, steve colbert came up with a way to attract an even younger demographic. you won't believe who showed up. take a look. >> i have create mid own branded info enter newsment hang space that targets even younger viewers. tonight introducing the colbert report's new playdate plaza. who knows who will show up in our celebrity ball pit. >> hello! >> broadcasting legend and anchor of cbs this morning, charlie rose. wow! charlie, charlie, how are you? >> i'm here to tell all the kids tomorrow on cbs this morning, we'll have scott pelley's exclusive interview with president obama from rome. >> all right. be sure to check that out, kids. thanks, charlie. >> what people won't do to try to beat the "today" show. up next, republicans hope that what happens in vegas doesn't stay in vegas. gop 2016 hopefuls are in sin city right now, auditions for a billionaire's money. it's pretty embarrassing. and you're watching "hardball," if place for politics. do. but, manufacturing in the united states means advanced technology. we learned that technology allows us to be craft oriented. no one's losing their job. there's no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. the technology is actually creating new jobs. siemens designed and built the right tools and resources to get the job done. crestor got more high-risk patients' bad cholesterol to a goal of under 100. way to go, crestor! yeah! getting to goal is a big deal, especially if you have high cholesterol plus any of these risk factors. because you could be at increased risk for plaque buildup in your arteries over time. so, when diet and exercise aren't enough to lower cholesterol, adding crestor can help. go, crestor! ♪ ♪ oh, yeah [ female announcer ] crestor is not right for everyone, like people with liver disease or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. tell your doctor about other medicines you're taking. call your doctor right away if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine, or yellowing of skin or eyes. these could be signs of rare but serious side effects. crestor! yes! [ female announcer ] ask your doctor about crestor. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. i'm milissa rehberger. australian authorities are searching for massachusetts that missing malaysia airlines jet. they're focusing on photos taken of objects in a new region of the indian ocean. president obama received a call from president putin. they reportedly agreed that their top diplomats would meet to discuss a diplomatic resolution. and the death toll in washington could rise sharply after that devastating mudslide. 17 are confirmed dead. 90 are missing. back to "hardball." son, we're skydiving. >> you're skydiving? >> we're the flying elvises, utah chapter. ron bacon, director at your service, sir. >> if you can just drop me. >> oh, yeah, move 'em out! ♪ >> total embarrassment. welcome back to "hardball." like that classic scene you just saw from "honeymoon in vegas", a new crop of elvis impersonators is dropping in on vegas this weekend. potential 2016 republican hopefuls. chris christie, jeb bush, scott walker, john kasich are all in town, ostensibly to attend a meeting that is called the republican jewish coalition. but there is another purpose, and they all know it. to grab the attention of one guy, republican billionaire donor sheldon adelson. she has been dubbed the sheldon adelson primary, actually. he dumped in at least $93 million in the last presidential election. his efforts were largely futile, of course. newt gingrich's superpac wasted 50 millions of the dollars in the primary, and mitt romney's pac burned through another $30 million of adelson's money in the general. yet the bad bets haven't dissuaded the fellow from going all out in 2016. he told "the wall street journal," quote, i'll spend that much and more. let's cut any ambiguity. but his top political adviser says this time things will be different. quote, the bar for support, that's from adelson, is going to be much higher there is going to be a lot more scrutiny. oh my god. and one of his friends and a fellow republican donor tells the "washington post," quote, he doesn't want a crazy extremist to be the nominee. he wants someone who has the chance to win the election, who is reasonable in his positions, who has convictions but is not totally crazy. well, that's setting the bar really high. david corn is washington bureau chief for mother jones and an msnbc political analyst and an expert, john ralston, a political reporter in nevada and host of the ralston reports. thank you for joining us. does this guy, how does he live with himself? he obviously has a lot of money. he is going to make more every day in macau than any of us can imagine. it's not just a hawkish position on the middle east. he wants guys to oppose online gambling. he wants people that are anti-union. what are these meetings going to be like? >> well, it must be really difficult to live with yourself waking up ever day, knowing you're worth $40 billion. i'm sure he is fine with that part of it, chris. but when they come to kiss his ring, i think what people are missing about these meetings and almost all of them have set up individual meetings with them in addition to speaking at -- >> coffees. >> coffees, that's right. i would drink something stronger before going to see sheldon adelson if i were these guys, because it's not going to be them telling sheldon adelson what their positions are. it's going to be sheldon adelson telling them what their positions should be. and the one you mentioned that is really interesting, chris, is the online gaming, which has become his latest crusade. he is spending a lot of money. he has formed a group. he has hired some former elected officials like george pataki and blanche lincoln to promote that cause. i can't imagine what that meeting is going to be like with christie. everyone thinks he is upset about the bridge thing. christie loves online gaming. i wonder what sheldon adelson is going to say to him. that is going to be fun. >> i hate to be prurient there, but is a horror aspect to. this a bunch of guys going in there, a bunch of women working the barroom, and they're all trying to win the favor of this rich guy. it's embarrassing. >> this is what our campaign finance system has come down to. not only did he give 92, $93 million in direct donations to superpacs and others last time around, he also funneled tens of millions of dollars, maybe even hundreds, we don't know, into these secretive social welfare group. >> didn't romney kiss him? >> they all do. this guy, if you're looking for a poster boy for what is wrong with the system and why that guy has more power than you, mr. and mrs. joe six-pack, this it is. >> i don't want to knock the guy. he is an older guy. i met him once. he seems like a perfectly normal business guy. my question is, isn't there any kind of skin crawling in the party of the candidates saying this is embarrassing? it's one thing to have to do a little smarmy suck-up to people with money. but this is so public, john, that they're going out to meet this guy and meet his demands on foreign policy, on gaming laws, on labor law. i mean, as you pointed out, he is setting down -- he is vetting these guys, personally. >> well, i think that getting 50 or $100 million could probably cure a lot of shame and embarrassment, chris, that these guys might feel. and i suppose the argument could be made, even though maybe a smaller amount of money that when these guys go and appear in front of the afl-cio and pander to them on the other side, they can say it's the same thing. the unions spend a lot of money. what a lot of people miss, all that money he gave to newt, before newt got out, that was a personal thing. they go back to 1995 when adelson first met him when gingrich was speaker and supported israel. that was personal. adelson did not like romney. romney is not his kind of guy. i think it's going to be different this time. i think he wants a guy outside of washington, a governor like a scott walker, maybe christie, john bolton as you know is going to be there too. i would guess that adelson is going to load up on one of those guys. >> it's one thing about delusions of grandeur, but it may be true. adelson's support of hawkish israeli politicians and a two-tone solution. says a major focus for him politically, according to one friend, at the core of everything he does. he has expressed hawkish views on iran, not surprisingly. he was caught on tape at an event last october giving this suggestion how we the united states, we the united states should deal with the iranian nuclear program. let's watch this man with power. >> what are we going to negotiate about? what i would say is listen, you see that out is there? i want to show you something. you pick up your cell phone and you call somewhere in nebraska and you say okay, let it go. so there is an atomic weapon goes over ballistic missiles in the middle of the desert that doesn't hurt a soul. maybe a couple of rattlesnakes or scorpions, whatever. you say see? the next one is in the middle of tehran. >> that's like a guy sitting around a country club bs-ing, but here is trying to implement the power here. >> he could drop $100 million and never notice it. it's pocket change for him. this is like a political version of the dating game. they're all going to go out there, and he is going to say hey, you hear about my plan to bomb iran? what do you think about that? and what are they going to say to him. one second. will anyone tell him you are nuts about this? >> that's what i want to know. which one of the candidates starting with chris christie will say to him that was the most knuckleheaded idea i ever heard of. you want to start a world war forever, we're going to start dropping nuclear weapons on a country to discourage them from having nuclear weapons which is the very way to get nuclear weapons. >> he is somewhat of a recluse. he doesn't appear in public that often. he is not at public events as much as steve wynn might have been, even though wynn is not so much anymore. remember, both those guys, they make 80% of the revenues. you referred to it earlier, chris, from macau. so he doesn't worry that much about the united states anymore. he worries much more about his interests in macau. sheldon adelson is a business guy. you know about a lot of these guy, chris. they're not as much interested in politics except when they have some kind of agenda they want to push. israel is huge for him. but don't underestimate the online gaming ban. lindsey graham just introduced the bill this week. i was widely seen as graham doing a favor for adelson, introducing that bill. he cares a lot than issue now. >> i can just see the staffers prepping these candidates when they go out. just tell him you understand his concerns about online gambling. you understand his concerns. the old bs. butter him up. >> i bet you he asks for more than that. i think john bolton will double down on every one of his demands. thank you, jon ralston. thank you david corn. great having you on. up next, why election 2016 could look a lot like 2012, a lot better for the democrats. this is "hardball," the place for politics. ...return on investment isn't the only return i'm looking forward to... for some, every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. wisconsin governor scott walker is looking for a big win this year before possibly running for president in 2016. and we've got new polling on that race. let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. according to a poll from marquette law school, walker has a 7-point lead over democratic charge challenger mary burk. walker 48, burk 41. gnaw quinnipiac bowl where mark warner leads former rnc chairman gillespie by a big 15. it's warner, 46. gillespie down at 31, where he started. we'll be right back. ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ my mom works at ge. so when my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis them. was also on display, i'd had it. i finally had a serious talk with my dermatologist. this time, he prescribed humira-adalimumab. humira helps to clear the surface of my skin by actually working inside my body. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin clearance. and the majority of people were clear or almost clear in just 4 months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. make the most of every moment. ask your dermatologist about humira, today. clearer skin is possible. we're back. the gop's expected to win house seats this november, and perhaps take control of the u.s. senate. we all know that. their target will be an unpopular president obama. but what 2016? after their losses in 2012, republicans promise to deal with that demographic time bomb they're holding. it's something they may not be able to avoid this year, may be able to avoid this year, but not in 2016. elections guru, what a great word for charlie cook. he sits with us right now. in fact, he wrote republicans may win a bunch of races without measurably improving their party's brand, and without making any clear progress among minority, young, moderate, and female voters. that's this time. midterm elections attract voters who are older, whiter, and more conservative. but as we saw in 2012, presidential electorates are a lot friendlier to democrats at the state and presidential levels both. the bottom line, 2014 could give the gop false hope leading into 2016. if they continue to wage campaigns based on what they are against, mainly barack obama, and not running on what they're for. charlie cook's editor and publisher of the cook political report, and clarence page is a columnist for the chicago tribune. gentlemen, thank you. here is the question. just i want to get it out of your way. 2014 looks bleak compared to 2016. is it a leading indicator or not of what is coming? >> i don't think it's a leading to be lulled into a false sense of complacency by having a good '14 and not address the problems that they really need to if they're going to, for the future of their party. if you think about it, the republican party, if it were a commercial enterprise, you'd say it was an unsustainable business model for the long term in terms of young voters, minority. they've got a problem. they don't need to fix it for '14. >> how do the democrats get the obama vote out? they don't have obama, either, in 2016. >> 2016, you have demographics on their side. i think charlie's right. i see a rerun of 1976 with the democrats, coming off a watergate congress. they were overconfident at that time and thought they had it made for 198 o and you saw what happened when ronald reagan came in. i think the republicans have a problem from both ends of both the demographics that are involved here and they've got a field that right now is kind of confused. it's not very clear who their next leadership is going to be. >> what do they say -- you talk to them a lot. groups on both sides a lot. you play voter suppression games in pennsylvania, florida, everywhere. that's not going to work in the long run. courts are rejecting them across the board. they don't like those gimmicks. >> let me say something that's harsh and uncharitable. but not untrue. the republicans on capitol hill with an i.q. of a room temperature, they get this. they understand it. now, their ability to maneuver and do things without getting killed in a primary is somewhat limited, but they get the joke. they know they've got to change. but they've got some recalcitrant members that just kind of pull them back. >> well, they're trying to hold on to the 2010 vote they got. the real wild dog attitude about obama. >> right. keep in mind, 2016, there are a huge number of republican seats up. i think it's, like, 24-10. >> yeah. >> so the shoe that's hurting, pirn pinches badly in the senate this time is flipped over on them in 2016 with a bunch of, i think it's 7 or 8 republicans. >> a columnist question. how could this country be tilting right the way it seems to be now, at the same time, tilting toward electing hillary clinton? are we just aiming toward collision government? >> a lot of the vote -- to 2010 is a different electorate, older, whiter, more conservative. >> it's for hillary. hillary wins every up and down. >> always did well with conservatives. remember how well she did in the primaries in the larger states back in 2008? and she did very well in west virginia. obama did not. these are the kind of differences that you're dealing with. even right now, bill clinton is out helping democrats in states where obama is not popular. >> how do you make that together, how do you put it together? hillary clinton winning every matchup yet the tilt of the country seems rightward the next direction. >> the one phrase i hear from people more than any other, i consider myself conservative on economic issues, but, and the leaders say moderate, tolerate, whatever, on social cultural issues. that's a sweet spot in american politics right now. it's somewhat to the right of where democrats are on economic issues, but it's a lot farther over to the left than where republicans are on social and cultural. i think that's sort of -- that's what we're talking about. ten years ago, who in the world thought that we would have same-sex marriage in what is it, 17, 18 states now? and we'd start seeing marijuana legalized in a couple states. nobody thought that. that's this age -- >> they still don't trust the democrats on spending. isn't that the republicans' ace in the hole? >> bill clinton found the sweet spot in american politics and the question is, can hillary clinton get right to that spot? >> is she going to be a clintonite or more to the left? >> i think she's more liberal than her husband. the question is, is it just one click over to the left, is it two, is it three? >> they were brilliant, had the sweet spot. they'd say things, people work hard and play by the rules. on abortion rights, they want to make it safe, legal and rare to get the progressive -- very sharp. >> as we know it. don't forget, too, there's a lot of residual goodwill for hillary clinton left over from 2008 from the people who wanted to vote for her then the obama juggernaut caused everybody to get behind obama. >> that's a good word. >> waiting all this time. >> i think there's a lot of sense that maybe they made a mistake in some cases. >> maybe. >> thank you, charlie cook. it's an honor. happy weekend for both of you guys. and we'll be right back. hey, what are you guys doing? oh, well we're double checking the distributed antenna system. so when all you fans post to instagram, there will be more network to handle it. so, uh you guys hiring? do you know how to optimize a nine beam, multi-beam antenna system? nope, that a deal breaker? pretty much. alright. enjoy the show! at&t is building you a better network. [ ship horn blows ] no, no, no! stop! humans. one day we're coming up with the theory of relativity, the next... not so much. but that's okay. you're covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from liberty mutual insurance. total your car, and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. learn about it at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? iwe don't back down. we only know one direction: up so we're up early. up late. thinking up game-changing ideas, like this: dozens of tax free zones across new york state. move here. expand here. or start a new business here... and pay no taxes for 10 years. with new jobs, new opportunities and a new tax free plan. there's only one way for your business to go. up. find out if your business can qualify at start-upny.com with the quicksilver cash back card from capital one, it means unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase, every day. it doesn't mean, "everything... as long as you buy it at the gas station." it doesn't mean, "everything... until you hit your cash back limit." it means earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every place, every occasion, all over creation. that's what everything should mean. so consider... what's in your wallet? suddenly you're a mouthbreather. well, put on a breathe right strip and instantly open your nose up to 38% more than cold medicines alone. so you can breathe and sleep. shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. let me finish tonight with this. when the communists of the world were in full cry, they like to say our democracy was a sham. that we were all being controlled by the rock fellers. they the biggest money boys for the ones really calling the shots in our country and elections were just for appearance. just think how much the old guys in the kremlin and acolytes around the world would love to see the scene this weekend in las vegas. one after another. the men seeking the republican presidential nomination in 2016 are trooping into the gambling resort to bow before and kiss the ring of a guy named sheldon adelson. a guy who's made a fortune in the casino business in vegas and overs overseas. adelson has a few interests close to his heart. hawk on middle east politics, hating the idea of a two-state solution. he also hates online betting which threatens brick and mortar gaming halls, and big surprise, h hates unions who he obviously sees as gobblers of the health he believes should go undiluted, into the bank of one sheldon adelson. well, so much for free enterprise. nothing wrong with making money. but what about our democracy? does it seem right to you, whatever your politics, to see grown men, men with the ambition and moxy to think of being an american president, to bend low for the personal approval of a man who were it not for his money would be another older guy with a couple things he cares about politically? i remember the u.s. congressman who got caught up in the ab scam scandal taking cash from a pretend arab sheikh. perhaps we should insist the republican wannabes out there sniffing around mr. adelson should have to do kissing with surveillance cameras working. at least then we could see the stooping these guys are willing to do in order to conquer. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. good evening from washington. i'm alex wagner in for chris hayes. late breaking news tonight. the only person who definitely knows why it was time for some traffic problems in ft. lee, the person who wrote that e-mail, chris christie's former deputy chief of staff, bridget anne kelly, who was fired by the governor, savaged in an internal report released yesterday and called a liar by christie again today has responded tonight with a rocket of a statement from her attorney which says kelly will talk if given, "appropriate procedural safeguards
Related Keywords
Fort Lee ,New Jersey ,United States ,Alabama ,Nevada ,Australia ,Hoboken ,Minnesota ,Washington ,District Of Columbia ,West Virginia ,Rome ,Lazio ,Italy ,Aruba ,Massachusetts ,Tehran ,Iran ,Iowa ,Trenton ,Chicago ,Illinois ,New York ,Malaysia ,New Hampshire ,North Carolina ,Macau ,Kentucky ,Town Hall ,Wisconsin ,Kremlin ,Moskva ,Russia ,Mississippi ,United Kingdom ,Nebraska ,Israel ,Pennsylvania ,North Dakota ,Capitol Hill ,Utah ,Americans ,Australian ,Iranian ,British ,Israeli ,American ,Winston Churchill ,Perry Mason ,Scott Walker ,Al Sharpton ,John Kasich ,Steve Colbert ,Ronald Reagan ,Chris Hayes ,Scott Pelley ,Lipitor Crestor ,George Bush ,Diane Sawyer ,Baroni Kelly ,Joseph R Mccarthy ,Jimmy Fallon ,Chris Christie ,John Bolton ,Jon Ralston ,Susan Paige ,Sheldon Adelson ,Chris Matthews ,Steve Wynn ,Newt Gingrich ,Indian Ocean ,Bridget Kelly ,John Ralston ,Romney Pac ,Bridget Anne Kelly ,David Wildstein ,George Pataki ,Mary Burk ,Christie John Bolton ,Jeb Bush ,Charlie Mckenna ,Barack Obama ,Lindsey Graham ,Las Vegas ,Alex Wagner ,Mitch Mcconnell ,Charlie Cook ,Matt Bevin ,Hillary Clinton ,Ted Cruz ,
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.