the question that people are going to ask as she runs for president does she consider herself above the law. >> so is this how it's going to be, three days into her campaign, the former secretary of state is now a moving target for every republican or right-winger able to reach a microphone. a moving target indeed because just as she is getting hit from the right, she is more and more making her stand with the democratic left, declaring again and again her war on an economic and political system she says is stacked in favor of the top. meanwhile, the republican field of candidates begins to resemble a middle eastern souk, you know, an open market where each candidate calls on customers to buy what he happens to be selling there is a libertarian here, an establishment time there, an angry demagogue, an evangelist selling revival. the only thing missing is the snake charmer. i forgot to mention chris christie. he is up in new hampshire selling his new jersey charm. also tonight a former chairman of the senate intelligence committee swears the government of saudi arabia is somehow involved with 9/11 itself. let's see what he's got. but let's begin with hillary clinton's campaign. anne gearan, what does it tell you about the tenor, the stuff we're going to be looking at in the next several weeks of this campaign already in april the year before? >> well, i think it tells us a couple of things, chris. the first is that the all e-mail flap isn't going to go away. hillary clinton obviously would have liked to put that behind her. while she started her campaign, it's going to continue to be an issue. there are going to continue to be questions about it. while i'm not agreeing with issa's premise, what he said there about the question of whether she is above the law is exactly the thing that is going to be i think most troublesome to clinton going forward. it's the question of whether she somehow set the system up, whatever the details of it because she thought she could -- she knew better and she thought she could do it her way, whatever the rules were at the time. and that is the perception problem that she's going to have to get over and didn't get over before the campaign started. and the other thing it tells us is this is going to be messy. this is going to be muddy and ugly. and there is going to be a lot of stuff thrown at her. and all the small events and handshakes and kind of smiles and good feeling that she has generated in two days in iowa are one thing, and the rest of the national political arena which is sort of a mud pit is the other. >> perry, i want to get to this finely tooled weapon they have come up with. it's not that she is a criminal, because they would have to prove that, and that would raise questions about fairness on their part and overkill. what they seem to have come up with is this very refined argument that the clintons, both of them see themselves as operation by their own rule, somehow operating by a different law. they don't feel rules, departmental guidelines, any of that stuff applies to them. it's a very subtle line of attack that sounds perhaps fair, or within -- let's say within the foul lines. i think they know what they're doing here. how does she respond to it? >> they do know what they're doing. it also has the element of they'll probably talk about richard nixon. they'll bring in monica lewinsky and bill clinton without saying so. that's what they're doing as well. trying to say the clintons are above the law. remember the first term and bill clinton as well. how will she get past it? i think the key is right now the polls suggested voters are not very consumed by this e-mail discussion. and as long as she can keep talk about e-mail, people find that to be a little confusing, a little bit beneath them, like republicans focusing on her e-mail. it becomes a broader issue about her being secretive or her being distrustful. that's one thing. if it remains about e-mail, i think she'll be fine. >> let's bring in senator claire mccaskill of missouri. she joins us right now live. thank you. this angle that hillary clinton isn't a crook, they're not going that far, although darrell issa was pretty close to that. it seems they go after this e-mail, which seems like a strange thing to focus a national campaign on, but they're doing it. and if you look at the numbers in the states, her numbers on honesty and can door are dropping. so however unfair this is, they're working something here. >> well, i think it's way too early to tell whether or not this gamble that they're making -- and frankly, darrell issa is so over the top. he is like the lead drum major of the hillary haters. and they're legion out there. but let's get to the policies. and that's what the american people are going to do, chris. they're going to look at these people, and they're going to decide who has the stable of a resume that is incredibly varied and strong, who is confident, who has gravitas on the world stage, and who cares about them in terms of the policies. this parade of characters they have, none of them even favor increasing the minimum wage. so i think hillary clinton is going to be fine. and i think america understands that she didn't want people pawing through her personal e-mails dealing with her mother's illness and death and her daughter's marriage and pregnancy. i think most americans get that. there should be some ability to have some privacy if you're a public figure. >> well, of course they don't see it that way. let me ask you about hillary clinton's posture right now. talking about populist arguments, saying the deck is stacked to the top, using that phrase apparently three times now, including the video. so she is on this line now. is she going to be seeing imitative too much of elizabeth warren here, kind of elizabeth the second, or is this authentic to you that she is a woman of the democratic left. is she on the left? >> with all due respect, hillary clinton has been talking about the issues that help middle class america for longer than elizabeth warren has even been thinking about politics. this is a woman who has a lifetime of working on behalf of children's issues and family issues. she doesn't have to apologize for her bona fides in this area. and this notion that she is quote/unquote too close to wall street, i think the knack she was a senator from new york. i'm not sure there is anything in her record that would bear out that she somehow doesn't get that people are afraid they're not going to be able to afford to retire in this country. so i think -- and by the way, what are the people on the far left going to do? are we going to embrace ted cruz? or is it going to be marco rubio? >> clearly not in the general election you're not. >> right. >> i think that's an easy one. senator, you're one of my favorites. thanks so much. claire mccaskill of missouri. anne, a spokeswoman for hillary clinton clarified her position on gay marriage. she said, quote, hillary clinton supports marriage equality and hopes the supreme court will come down on the side of same-sex couples being guaranteed that constitutional right that goes further than what senator clinton said last summer in an interview with npr. back then she said she thought it was best left up to the states. let's listen to last year's position. >> for me, marriage had always been a matter left to the states. and in many of the conversations that i and my colleagues and supporters had, i fully endorsed the efforts by activists who work state by state. and in fact, that is what is working. >> it's interest, anne. we're all developing on this. we're all evolving. i'm not calling out the former secretary of state. but it is a clarification now. this is apparently today, we're told by her campaign team, this is the first time she has actually come out and said i'm for the supreme court to rule in favor of gay marriage or same-sex marriage being an actual constitutional right. >> right. this is a change in more of a procedural one than anything else. she has been in favor of gay marriage for a long time. what she is saying now is that as many activists say they don't want it left up to the states, they want a national policy, and they want the supreme court ruling to guarantee that. and so what clinton was doing in that statement through her spokesperson is putting her on the side of activists across the country who say yes, the changes in the states that have gone their way are well, all to the good and welcome, but it's not enough. and there are too many states that still have bans, where bans are still being fought. so a national ruling from the supreme court on constitutional grounds is what they're looking for. and that's what she backed today. >> i don't think she is much behind the news. i think tony kennedy and the rest including roberts are probably going to be 6-3 for that right. one last question to you, perry. hillary clinton by taking a democratic left position, a really tough one inequality on the rich. it is really interesting she developed this way. is this going to be the best protection she has against the right wing attacks on her like isis? if you're a tough moving target out there and you have some edge to your argument, you're not just a centrist hanging in there because of your resume, but you're out there with a point of view, i think that's a better defensive position to be in when the right throws their crap at her. your thoughts. >> i think it depends on what she actually says in the policy. being against the wealthy getting too much money, i think ted cruz has been saying that. that's not really a policy idea. what the real talk is going to be about, there is a move in the country to increase, not decrease social security benefits there a move in the country to have minimum wage $15 or $11 an hour. there is talk about really changing campaign finance rules. hillary is saying she is populist. what does that look like in policy language? she has been close to wall street in the past, and that's also key. will she call for greater regulations on banks. the tests will be in the details, not in the sort of vagaries of language. >> it's going to be interesting if she calls for higher social security benefits. they have to come from somewhere. and where they come from is people who make a lot of money. thank you so much, anne gearan and perry bacon. while democrats from hillary, the republicans have the most wide open fight in modern political times. you want experience? you have jeb. generational change, you have rubio. a heat-seeking missile, you have ted cruz. who is going to break out of the pack and give hillary clinton the best fight? who knows. plus, chris christie isn't in the race yet, but it sure looks like he is raring to go. he says he can beat hillary by putting blue states in play like new mexico. where did he get that one? we'll put that claim to the test. and the saudi connection to 9/11. the former chair of negligence committee says the evidence he has knows exists links the saudi arabian government to the 9/11 terrorists. you got that? senator bob graham is going to join us tonight. finally, let me finish with a man who loved a woman. this is "hardball," the place for politics. wish your skin could bounce back as quickly as it used to? introducing neutrogena hydro boost water gel. instantly quenches skin to keep it supple and hydrated day after day. formulated with hydrating hyaluronic acid which retains up to 1000 times its weight in water. this refreshing water gel plumps skin cells with intense hydration and locks it in. for supple, hydrated skin that bounces back. new hydro boost. from neutrogena. we have an exclusive video now of man landing a gyrocopter at the u.s. capitol today. it happened this afternoon. police arrested a pilot of that aircraft. you can see there flew through restricted airspace around the national mall. according to the associated press, a congressional official identified that pilot as doug hughes, a postal worker from florida. on his website, hughes took responsibility for the stunt, saying he was just delivering letters to all 535 members of congress in order to draw attention to campaign finance corruption. the copter landed about a half a block away from the capitol building itself. it took two hours for a bomb squad to clear it after finding nothing hazardous. president obama was briefed on the situation. we'll be back after this. now you can split the check almost as fast as i can slice a pizza. and i can slice it pretty fast. introducing payshare powered by venmo. new at papa john's. share your bill on any mobile or online order. better ingredients. better pizza. papajohns.com i believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to re-ignite the promise of america. and that is why today i am announcing that i am running for president of the united states. >> today i announce with god's help, with the help of liberty lovers everywhere that i am putting myself forward as a candidate for president of the united states of america. >> tonight grounded by the lessons of our history, but inspired by the promise of our future, i announce my candidacy for president of the united states. >> welcome back to "hardball." what democrats of hillary or republicans may have. eugene mccarthy once said it's easier to run for president than to stop. as you saw in that clip, we have three republican candidates officially running, and more could be well on the way. it's the most wide open field in modern times. catch this. in a new usa today poll, not a single republican candidate now get to double-digits. scott walker leads if you want to use that term at 9%. jeb bush is at 8. ted cruz is at 7. rand paul at 5. neurosurgeon ben carson right up there with 4. it's a free-for-all. ohio governor john kasich may join the group. he is telling the president he is seriously considering rung. and why not? tonight we try to light the way if we can for you looking forward in what is shaping up to be a primary season that political people live for. matthew schlapp was political director for the second bush and is chairman of the conservative union. and david corn is washington bureau chief for mother jones. let's get to the facts here. i have never seen such an array of second tier candidates so far. no one has really set themselves above the crowd here running and looks like a front-runner. is there a front-runner? >> no, i don't think there is a front-runner. i agree with you. i think this republican nomination is wide open. i think the republicans in 2016 are acting a lot like democrats. they don't have the next likely guy who came in second last time who they're ready to coronate this time. and there are a lot of republicans who ready for that. i think we're going to come out with a better candidate at the end. >> but everybody is selling something very different. you know what. you know the ideological spectrum better than i do. >> yeah. >> you have rand paul, who may be the odd man out. he is not a hawk. most candidates are hawkish. he definitely talks about less government, less foreign involvement, less war. he is a classic libertarian. he is sort of barry goldwater without the nuclear button concerning people. >> right. >> and then you have other guys pushing the evangelical religious stuff, just the opposite of him. they want to sell values. he is selling freedom. and the hawkish easterner guy -- well you got cruz agreeing with chris christie. they're both super hawks. so there is a lot of different -- i compare to it a souk in a middle eastern market where everybody is selling something completely different. >> right. >> all that is missing is the snake charmer. of course, i might include chris christie there. but your thoughts. what ties them all together? what is republican thinking this year? >> well, the first thing they have going for them is hillary clinton is a great unifying force for us. that's fair. >> they agree they don't like hillary? >> no, let me finish, let me finish. the second thing is i think republicans across the country and conservatives across the country that. >> want to win. they know the stakes of losing again. they haven't liked sitting on the sidelines while obama is president. the next thing, you brought up all these issues. yes, the candidates have particular focus. but they're going to have to court christian conservatives, they're going to have to court hawks and court people that believe the government is too big and too intrusive. >> david, looking at it from the liberal side, the left side, it seems to me that you would see here they haven't decided. you just heard matt say they want to win. normal way of wanting to win is to find someone who is center right, not hard right. and they used to call it the ndc attitude on the left, which december doesn't count. ideology matters. in the general, we just want to be right. now the republican party, he says that they just want to win. but when i see rand paul out there, or i see ted cruz out there, i see people selling their ideology rather the fact that they're going to win. >> i think there are competing sentiments within the republican party. i think the tea party, pretty far right, pretty excessive fever that has pushed the republican party far to the right. pushed mitt romney to right. pushed him to the right in terms of being obstructionist in washington, that fever hasn't burnt out. if people like rand paul and ted cruz and maybe mike huckabee and others who are going to be playing to that and trying to fan those flames. we've had jeb bush say quite explicitly that he doesn't want to play that game, that he wants to be sort of a candidate for a larger group of people and centrist and who can win in november. >> let me go back to you, matt. it seems to me watching this thing somewhat dispassionately, i noticed for example that jeb bush is now going to give a commencement speech at liberty university. you know he is a roman catholic convert. his family was episcopalian. somehow he finds himself comfortable in that evangelical crowd. his father had to do some of that stooping last time he ran. heed that to say things he never was out the religiously in his growing up years. ted cruz, they're all -- does the republican candidate in 2016 have to be focused on the religious right? do you have to tag that base before you can be the nominee? >> well, there is two things there. first of all, evangelical voters, this is a legitimate group of people to go after. >> do you have to tag up with them? >> the question of faith in our politics is important. and evangelical christians, born again voters are an important consistency. and it's a very important consistency for the republicans. as you know, we kind of grabbed most of them from jimmy carter. why would we want to let them go? we want to make our coalition bigger. we don't want to make it smaller. >> sure. but there are so many ground rules if you go that direction. you have to be for traditional marriage, against same-sex marriage. you have to be very tough on abortion rights. you the take a lot of stands that are going to make you a tough candidate in the general, don't you agree? >> yes. and i think if you look at the polling on abortion, it's actually moving our way. i agree with you that gay marriage, the polling is actually moving the other way. but standing up for traditional marriage, if you do it with the right tone and you court people and you are respectful, we could make that argument. and i think that the country is big enough and strong enough to be able to have people of faith living alongside people who believe in gay marriage and the gay rights america. come on, america can do this. >> here is dr. ben carson, the respected neurosurgeon and also has been a fox news favorite going out to announce he is going to run for president. he is going to do it on may 4th. dr. carson isn't afraid to speak his mine. matt, i want you to pay attention to what he says here. here he is, dr. ben carson. >> i've been told that he said we're living in a gestapo age. what do you mean by that? >> i mean very much like nazi germany. and i know you're not supposed to say nazi germany. but i don't care about political correctness. >> obamacare is really i think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. and it is in a way, it is slavery. >> you think being gay is a choice? >> absolutely. >> why do you say that? >> because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight. and when they come out, they're gay. >> do you want to be president? >> no, i don't want to be president. >> you don't? >> why would any sane person want to do that? >> hey, matt, where do you stand on some of those positions of dr. carson? he is a likable guy. he is certainly respected for what he has done in his career. >> he has had a great story. >> these statements like you come out of prison, you're gay, where is this coming from? what kind of commentary is that about your party and what it believes? >> look, this is ben carson's responses to these questions. clearly he has had to dial some of these answer as back. it's what happens when you have novice candidates. you've been involved with them. they make a lot of mistakes. when you run for president, guess what. it's helpful to have done it before, because you're a little cleaner, you're a little more careful and you know the ropes. and one of the problems we had, you called this chaos. one of the problems we have with all of these candidates and all these first-time candidates is there is going to be a lot of blunder. >> gentlemen, i think we got the flavor of the fate to come, matt schlapp, there is going to be interesting comments in next couple of months. dave corn, thank you for pushing this fight. up next, was there a connection between the saudi government and 9/11? that is a hot one. can't be hotter than that one. bob graham, former chair of the senate intelligence committee says he knows evidence exists, and he is coming here next. this is "hardball," the place for politics. when a moment spontaneously turns romantic why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? with cialis for daily use, you don't have to plan around either. it's the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or any symptoms of an allergic reaction stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. why pause the moment? ask your doctor about cialis for daily use. for a free 30-tablet trial go to cialis.com welcome back to "hardball." former senate intelligence chairman bob graham of florida has testified twice under oath that the evidence exists that the government of saudi arabia was involved in the attack of 9/11. in fact, back in 2001, i asked saudi ambassador at that time to the u.s., prince bandar about this charge. >> the sense in this country is that your government has been very smart to sort of buy off the younger generation. >> no, no, no. >> give them the money they need to proselytize around the world, do their dirty will and leave them alone. they're paying protection money in effect. >> you know what this is [ bleep ] to be honest with you. >> okay. >> don't -- you should not -- america is too great and america media is too important to be ignorant. >> too important to be ignorant. former senator bob graham of florida joins me now. senator, do you believe, i mean, could you swear under oath right now that there is evidence out there right now that exists that proves the saudi government was involved with the attack of 9/11? >> yes, chris. and let me say i appreciate the opportunity to talk about this, even more appreciate the long period of time in which you have been interested, as that spot you just ran indicates. most of the evidence that we have comes from san diego, because that was the one place where we were able to get information before the fbi started to shut it down. what we learned was that there was a man who was an agent of the saudi government who invited the first two hijackers to enter the united states, to come to san diego with the promise that he would give them assistance while they were here. and he certainly did. at the ghost job that he had with the saudi firm, he had a substantial increase in his income, raising the question of whether he was a conduit to finance those two hijackers. his wife came in to money from the embassy of saudi arabia in washington, again raising the question as to whether she was a source of financing. he provided anonymity, flight lessons, got them an apartment, all of the things that you would need in order to prepare for their ultimate mission, which was to be on the plane that flew into the pentagon on september 11th. >> so you're saying that an agent of the saudi government helped the hijackers of 9/11 to learn how to fly planes like those, that they used to kill people? >> no, he arranged for flight lessons for the two. >> yes, what kind of flight lessons? the kind you would use for a heavy jetliner or teach you to fly a plane to get it off the ground? >> they were the preliminary lessons that any pilot would have to go through before you were qualified to fly a large plane. as it turned out, the flight instructor described these two hijackers as being dumb and dumber. so they did not complete their aviation training, and therefore ended up being what were called muscle men. they were the people in the back of the plane responsible for keeping the passengers under control. >> okay. help me out, senator. i'm trying to find a distinction here. my charge against prince bandar when he was on the show is the saudi government has played footsie with the younger generation of al qaeda people to keep them off their back, saying okay, you cause trouble wherever you want but leave our royal family and us alone here in saudi arabia. they pay them off. they pay for everything. they make sure they're well received in other countries like our country. do you have any evidence that they purposely helped with the attack of 9/11, the saudi government or its agents? >> i think that the saudi government at the highest levels capitulated to bin laden who threatened the kingdom with civil unrest if they would not agree to provide him with a network of persons inside the united states who could assist the hijackers. remember, the hijackers, most of them didn't speak english. most of them had never been to the united states before. highly implausible they could have carried out that attack without some external support. >> was there intent to mollify them and keep them within bounds, or was it to help them be terrorists? which was it? >> i think it was a case of willing ignorance. bin laden approached them and said i need support for people that i'm going to put in the united states. i am not saying, and i do not have evidence that the saudi government knew what these people were going to do once they got into the united states, but they were willing to assist bin laden without getting any assurance that the reasons that they were being asked to provide this support were consistent with their allied status with the united states. >> well, we already know senator and governor, you've had both titles, and i respect that. we've already known since 9/11 that 15 of the 19 terrorists were from saudi arabia. they were the thugs on the plane, saudi citizens. we also know in the aftermath, the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, "the new york times" confirmed in 2005, at least 160 saudis who were living in or visiting the united states at that time were allowed to leave the country by private aircraft. what was that about? what was that surprising helpfulness? >> the man that you interviewed back in 2001, prince bandar, within literally hours of 9/11 went to the white house, said that he was very concerned that saudis were going to be a target because the american people would be so outraged that 15 of the 19 hijackers were saudis, and he got permission from the president at a time when much of aviation in the united states was grounded, to send a charter plane to lexington, kentucky, fill it up with elites from saudi arabia, and take them out of the united states. later, the fbi said that there were people on that plane, including relatives of bin laden, who the fbi would have liked to have interrogated, but lost the opportunity when they were allowed to leave the country. >> what do you want james comey, who would help us get a better light on happened before and after 9/11? >> i would like the fbi, one, to ask the president to release the 28 pages. that in my opinion will give the american people the opportunity to evaluate the relationship that we've had with saudi arabia. second, there is another case that started in sarasota, florida, where the fbi has been actively resisting disclosing information. they originally said they couldn't disclose because they didn't have any documents. tonight the federal judge sitting on this freedom of information case has 80,000 pages of documents that the fbi has given him on this one investigation. >> okay. thank you so much. we'll get some more information thanks to you coming on this program. i think it will help. i think it will help get the truth out. senator bob graham, thanks for joining us. former chair of the senate intelligence committee. up next, governor chris christie sounds more and more like a presidential candidate, you might say. will he make good on his promise to expand the map? he says he can win blue states that means eastern liberal states, if you will, if he is the nominee of the republican party. i'm waiting for him to tell us which states he will take from hillary. maybe pennsylvania, he thinks. i don't think so. stick with us, the place for politics. you know, i saw, read somewhere today secretary clinton wants to -- she intends to raise $2.5 billion for her campaign. but she wants to then get the corrupting money out of politics. you know, it's classic, right? it's classic politician speak. >> welcome back to "hardball" that is new jersey governor chris christie, today hosting a town meeting up in new hampshire. christie is on the second day of a three-day prestige offensive in that early primary state, testing the waters for a 2016 presidential run. in an exclusive interview with "today show's" matt lauer, governor christie positioned himself as the republican who can keep hillary clinton out of the white house. >> she is a forgone conclusion, it seems on the democratic side. you agree to that? >> she was a forgone conclusion in 2007, matt. and so was rudy giuliani a forgone conclusion in 2007. you know, we've had lots of forgone conclusions in american politics. >> so who do you see on the horizon the republican side that can derail hillary clinton's run? >> i don't know. again, it's about performance, matt. the president of the united states, agree with him or disagree with him, has twice performed pretty well as a candidate. and he performed very well against secretary clinton before she was secretary clinton. right? so i don't know what is going to happen on the democratic side. mrs. clinton is going to have to perform. she is going to have to earn the nomination. nobody is handed these things. this is the nomination for president of the united states. you got to earn it. you got to earn it and you got to perform. the people are tough on us, as well they should be, if you're going to be president. >> let's bring in the round table. clarence page is the opinion writer for the washington post. a.b. stoddard, and michael tomasky is with the daily beast. a couple of things there, michael. you start. fascinating stuff here. we had claire mccaskill. she said it's about resumes, about what she has done in life. it seems to me what the clinton people are trying to do right now, it's not about performance as a candidate. and the people on the right are making it all about how well she is performing as a candidate as she dips back into the political waters. they want it to be how is she doing? how is she is not doing? because then they have a shot at beating her. if it's about her resume, they have a high hill to climb. your thoughts about this game they're playing. >> yeah, that makes a certain amount of sense from their perspective. so far in her roll-out, it's been pretty good. she -- i think people gave her credit for that video. it was smart way to do it, instead of doing something with all this hoopla. the van ride went all right. she even ducked into chipotle without being recognized. and now these little private meetings. she is not drawing allot of attention to herself. she is not saying it's all about me. they're saying all the right things about humility and all that kind of stuff. she is handling the process stuff and the kinds of things that they're planning on that christy is trying to hit her on, she is handling that pretty well so far. it's early, but so far she is doing fine. >> let's stick with that question, a.b. she is there with her notes, writing down questions. and all that stuff is obviously performance art. but that's what politics is performance. it working? >> well, it's actually going to have to end soon. i know why they did it. go humble, go small, go low-key, make it about the voters. but it's never about the voters when it's hillary clinton. and the media presence quadruples the number of regular voters in the room. those people have never seen so many members of the press. they're intimidated. it's not exactly relaxed. even hillary looks like she is counting the minutes until she leaves the room. so i think as soon as she actually has a platform with detail, she is going to be in better position. right now she is taking notes about how is it going in college and what is your plan for afterwards? it's not realistic. it's all stage craft. it's a little bit goofy. but i get why they're doing it. i think the sooner she has her official launch, which is hilarious because she has been ramping up for this two years without the press. but now that she has announced, she wants to ramp up in may or june, politics are important. she needs to get out there, throw them some meat and get the democratic party behind her. get the crowds excited and get the energy up. otherwise it look likes this funny thing where she is jumping out of a van and people are running around, and the people in the room with her are like seven people look intimidated. it just looks really fake. >> okay. your view, clarence. is her roll-out working this time? >> well, i think, yes. remember what phase we're in now. this is the preprimary primary where she is going out and getting people acquainted with her one-on-one in a place like iowa, where you've got caucuses and where everybody expects a candidate to come to their house before they're going to vote for them. so she gets that early start. but she also avoids really discussing serious issues in a serious way. in other words, she's fact finding. she is asking people questions. she is finding out their solutions, as she puts it, et cetera, et cetera. but she is really kind of running out the clock, if you will, on having to deal directly with some really controversial issues. and wait until later on when folks aren't as tired of seeing her every day. >> well, let's get back to the attack on her. it looks like chris christie has a very simple message. i've got all kinds of problems with my bridge problems. i may not get the nomination. but i'm one guy, if you don't want to like the idea of a hillary clinton presidency for eight years, i can beat her. it seems to be when he is throwing out states he can beat her in, that's his argument. not that i'm more right wing than the next candidate. i'm not. but i got the best shot of knocking her off in pennsylvania, new hampshire, new mexico. he is throwing these states throughout like he is already going over the electoral map saying it's october 30th, who do you want to vote for. >> yeah, and he is at 5% or whatever he is at in the polls in the republican party primary. he has a long way to go before he has to worry about hillary clinton. chris, he can make these claims and poll numbers will come out and the claims will be tested. but let's start in new jersey. new jersey is a state that hasn't voted republican at the presidential level since 1988 i believe. yeah, there is certainly no guarantee that he is going to beat hillary clinton in new jersey. the fact that new jersey elected a republican governor, new jersey often elects republican governors. but at the presidential level where the stakes are very different and voter nose that the stakes are different, because the stakes involve the supreme court and all kinds of social issues that people don't really care about when they vote for governor, he is going to have a tough time holding his own state. >> i agree. >> new jersey is a great story for chris christie. his reelect numbers among democrats, minorities, women were great. that was prebridgegate. it's not comparable to now. it's not comparable to a national campaign. his approval number in new jersey is 30%. he has 69 disapproval in new jersey. they have credit rating downgrades there. it is a failed story for him. he can't run on the new jersey success story like he could years ago. what is he going to offer the party? he is literally a hoping people stumble. he is hoping that jeb bush doesn't get in, that walker stumbles, that rubio stumbles and there will be an opening for him. it's all bluster. it's hopes that hillary will have problems and so will the rest of the republican field. he doesn't have a platform to run on success anymore. >> bluster works. look at george w. bush. if we could all three of us tap these fights like don king, i would love to see a debate tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern time, hillary clinton versus chris christie. that would be a great fight. what a great debate. i hope we get one that good. this guy is mouthy. he is jersey. and hillary is smart. it would be an interesting battle. anyway, we're going to come right back and talk about if the republicans can still screw up this iran deal. that's the question. or will this compromise actually not be a dirty word in washington right now. a compromise could actually make things work and get us to a final deal. this is "hardball," the place for politics. i bring the gift of the name your price tool to help you find a price that fits your budget. uh-oh. the name your price tool. she's not to be trusted. kill her. flo: it will save you money! the name your price tool isn't witchcraft! and i didn't turn your daughter into a rooster. she just looks like that. burn the witch! the name your price tool a dangerously progressive idea. well, today is tax day, as everyone knows. and the house republicans are pushing a bill that would kill off the estate tax and give tax breaks to the wealthiest 2/10 of 1% of all americans. the so-called death tax repeal act would benefit individuals with wealth of more than $5.4 million and couples worth more than $10.9 million. the tax cut would cost the treasury department $269 billion over the next ten years, all for the benefit of about 5500 households in the country. the house is expected to vote on that bill later this week. we'll be right back. the house republican would clarence and michael. it seems to me the strategy of the white house right now is to go through this process next week. let the senate vote their way. concede their right to vote on this, and review it, as long as they can deny in 34 votes to sustain a veto in this sentence. 34 out of 100 senators, they get to keep the deal they strike with the iranians. that seems to be the plan. >> well, i was here with you the night that deal was struck, i said then it was a fragile situation. a long road ahead, once this bipartisan unanimous bill leaves the committee where it got all 19 members and goes to the floor, there's people there like marco rubio to press restrictions on the deal that the iranians recognize the state of israel. and other things like that, that are going to be controversial. we're also looking at the supreme leader, he's been on his worst behavior since this deal was hatched. telling people they're going to get immediate sanction relief, that's not what they promised them, he's telling other world powers now involved in the negotiations the congress doesn't matter, the congress does matter. the obama administration was smart to relent and let them come in and engage on this. they engaged in trade promotion. they have a right to engage in a deal with iran. >> it looks to me they can still win 37 they can still sustain a veto. he can stop the senate, no matter what it's up to, playing politics here, trying to put -- i mean, if rubio or anyone else tries to put a revision of this process next week, basically scorches the deal, that's what they'll do, it's clearly -- that's the game they're playing, they're going to be clearly doing it. >> exactly, it makes it easier for obama to hold on, he doesn't have to have as many votes on his side, and he sticks with his original decree, which was, if the republicans won't take action, i will. >> now we see corker and his friends have helped taken action, and he is responding, and it comes out with a compromise, so he doesn't look like he's been intrans again the. i think it's a good deal for him all around. >> we can deliver nuclear bombs over to iran, hand them over, teach them how to use them. give them launchers and they still wouldn't recognize israel. who's kidding who here. when we return, let me finish with a man who loved a woman and sang about it. you're watching hardball, the place for politics. your car. you think it smells fine but your passengers smell this.. eliminate odors you've gone noseblind to for up to 30 days with the febreze car vent clip. smells nice... so you and your passengers can breathe happy. ♪ when a man loves a woman ♪ ♪ can't keep his mind on nothing else he'd change the world for the good thing he's found ♪ >> let me finish tonight with that man who loved a woman. i was there in october 1970 when percy sledge sang in the swaziland soccer stadium. i remember the announcer saying, the king of soul meets the king of swaziland. like you, i suppose i've never been good at picking up the lyrics of a song, i just hear the music, remember the melody, and the rhythm, and maybe a little line from the opening when the singer belts it out first. if you read in usa today, you may have caught jerry shriver's great tribute to percy sledge and his soulful words in that song. think how your heartfelt when you first heard that misery come pouring out of your transistor radio. he had just been blindsided by his woman, who left him broke, bleeding inside and sleeping out in the rain. still he bleeded for her return. and then the writer reminded us why such songs grab us so. we had all been there, probably he wrote. at one time or another. for a half century, i've heard "when a man loves a woman." it never seems to go away. i heard over there in an african soccer stadium so many years ago. now he's gone, the singer of a song nobody's ready to let go. he sings such pain over a lost love. the kind that has that crazy hold on you. i love what that guy had to say about his own life, this singer of a lost love. i've been living a wonderful life. god gave it to me. i was never a rich man, i have food on the table, happy marriage, kids in school, no bodyguards or nothing, i always wanted to be a free guy. breathing the air, playing pool. just an every day guy, you know? >> somewhere way back there, but still present, that strange pain and gift of lost love. that's hardball for now. maybe it's softball. thanks for being with us, all in with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on all in. the hillary clinton experience continues in iowa. >> we need more people with money in their pockets to buy more fruit, to go bowling. >> hillary made actual news today, we'll tell you what it was. >> and hillary for millennials. why she once felt the need to apologize to a country superstar. >> i must tell you, tammy wynette is hopping mad. >> and meet the patron with a $2 million toy train set. my interview with the arizona police chief defending his officer for ramming a