Show: HARDBALL Date: October 27, 2016 Guest: Jamil Smith, Jeanne Zaino, Molly Ball, Evan McMullin
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Something about women.
Let`s play HARDBALL.
Good evening. I`m Chris Matthews up in New York.
Who would you rather have in your corner if you`re a boxer, I guess, Michelle Obama or Newt Gingrich? Well, with the first lady, with her, you have her inspiring young people to vote with a call for moral clarity. With the former speaker, you have him bashing a TV news anchor.
And today, Michelle Obama took the stage in North Carolina to campaign with Hillary Clinton. In front of 11,000 people, she praised Clinton, the first lady, took some jabs at Donald Trump, and made a case for American greatness. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: She has more experience and exposure to the presidency than any candidate in our lifetime, yes, more than Barack, more than Bill. She is absolutely ready to be commander-in-chief on day one. And yes, she happens to be a woman!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: We want a president who takes this job seriously and has the temperament and maturity to do it well because we want to go to sleep at night knowing that our kids and our country are safe.
It`s a country where a girl like me from the south side of Chicago, whose great-great grandfather was a slave, can go to the finest universities on earth, a country where the daughter of an orphan can break that highest and hardest glass ceiling and become president of the United States!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: Talk about political ability. I`ve never seen it quite as good as the first lady.
Anyway, earlier in the week, Newt Gingrich went to war with Fox News`s Megyn Kelly. He was then congratulated for his performance by Donald Trump. Let`s watch that performance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS: If Trump is a sexual predator, that is...
NEWT GINGRICH (R), FMR. HOUSE SPEAKER, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: He`s not a sexual predator! You can`t say that...
KELLY: OK, that`s your opinion. I`m not taking a position.
GINGRICH: You could not defend that statement!
KELLY: I am not taking (INAUDIBLE)
GINGRICH: No, I`m sick and tired of people like you using language that`s inflammatory that`s not true! You want to go back through the tapes of your show, recently? You are fascinated with sex, and you don`t care about public policy!
KELLY: Me? Really?
GINGRICH: Well, that`s what I get out of watching you tonight!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Congratulations, Newt, on last night. That was an amazing interview.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We don`t play games, Newt, right? We don`t play games.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: Oh, yes? That was the latest example of a campaign that some Republicans say is driving away women from the party. Don`t just limit it to women.
Anyway, according to "The Washington Post" today, quote, "A growing number of prominent Republican women are worried that as members of their male- dominated party step up to defend Donald Trump against accusations of sexual assault, they are causing a irreparable damage to the GOP`s deteriorating relationship with female voters."
"Ironically" -- continuing with "The Post" -- "Ironically, it is Trump`s candidacy rather than Hillary Clinton`s that has brought sexism to the forefront of political debate."
Katie Packer -- she was on the show recently -- the deputy managing -- campaign manager for Mitt Romney`s 2012 campaign, told "The Washington Post," quote, "For next-generation professional women, the party`s going to have to do something very, very drastic to change the course of where this candidate has taken us."
Well, how much damage is it? We`ve watched a lot of this and we`ve shown you the exhibits on both sides. Joining me right now, Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican National Committee -- he`s, of course, an MSNBC political analyst -- author Ron Reagan, also an MSNBC political analyst, and Molly Ball, staff writer for "The Atlantic."
Molly, I want to defer to the former chair of the Republican Party first. I know it`s a women`s issue, but I`ve got to ask Michael.
This is the craziest, craziest juxtaposition! There you have the most dash -- I don`t know -- I can`t -- you`ve got to be careful how you say things - - beautiful first lady, attractive, dynamite speaker, incredibly polished, Ivy Leaguer in every possible good sense of that word, charming, persuasive, a role model for everyone, male and female, of every background.
And then you have Newt Gingrich duking it out in this sideshow along the gangway of some circus that they`re running against Megyn Kelly, who is one of the most popular conservative anchors we`ve ever seen.
What is going on with your at least current -- well, erstwhile political party, at least?
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: I don`t know where you stand, but go ahead. Why are they such fools?
MICHAEL STEELE, FMR. RNC CHAIR, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: This is a party that is actually outside of itself right now. It has no orienting moorings. It`s not moored to any idea or any particular leader, in the sense that you have the congressional leadership is going in one direction, you have the political leadership going in another. And then you`ve got the nominee of the party that really has not laid out a direction.
So you have this moment, this quintessential moment, where all the work that the party has put in over the years to captivate the imaginations of women, African-Americans, Hispanics -- all that`s for naught. And it`s all being lost not in a matter of years, but in a matter of weeks.
In the last few weeks, this sort of dumbing down of the political process by party leaders and others has just been stunning. And the women of the party in this hour saying, Enough. And in my view, it`s about time. I want more of those voices to come out to send the clarion call that this party is going to require a different leadership and a different direction after this election.
MATTHEWS: Molly, I have a plan for you to get into the front pages of the newspapers, whether you want it or not. Just get within four feet of Donald Trump!
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: Did you see Dana Bash the other day? I mean, he called her insulting because she asked him about why he was taking time from the campaign to go open up a hotel. I mean, it was a fair question. Of course, it was a little bit provocative, but that`s the idea of these questions, you provoke the candidate. And he was provoked.
Anyway, your thoughts?
MOLLY BALL, "THE ATLANTIC": Look, I don`t speak for all women, obviously, but the women who are pronouncing themselves divorced from the Republican Party, prominent women, women who are Republican political professionals -- they`re not doing this because they disagree with Republican positions. They would very much like there to be a conservative party that women can be a part of...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
BALL: ... a party that is pro-life, a party that`s for small government. They are not becoming liberals, right? If they`re voting for the Democrat, it`s because they feel they`ve been forced to by, as Chairman Steele was saying, a Republican Party that has signaled it doesn`t want to respect women as human beings.
And so it`s a tough decision for a lot of these women, and I think there is potentially long-term damage without new leadership. That being said, I think there are a lot of conservative women out there who would respond very positively to a future Republican candidate who was able to make more polite overtures.
MATTHEWS: What happened to the Republican Party that looked up to -- and I mean really looked up to -- Margaret Thatcher? Big-time. She was the role model for what a conservative woman would be. And now it`s a party that seems to be -- I don`t want to say because it just gets you in trouble saying what you think of what`s going on.
Let me go to Ron on this, who has some experience with that history. I mean, your father`s best friend in politics was this very strong leader, leader of men and women, not somebody to be treated the way anybody should be treated. But now you see these side fights.
I mean, why is Newt Gingrich fighting with Megyn Kelly? Just move on! Dust it off. Say something.
RON REAGAN, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, let me make one point first, and that is that we tend to characterize these issues of sexual harassment, and sexual assault, in this case, as women`s issues.
They`re not women`s issues. If anything, they`re men`s issues. Men are the ones, generally speaking, doing these -- the harassing and the assaulting. But they`re human issues.
Now, as far as Newt Gingrich goes, really, could you ask for a worse person to be discussing issues like this? This guy`s been married three times, cheated on his first two wives, told one of his wives that she had a choice, a divorce or an open marriage, was impeaching Bill Clinton for having a consensual affair while having an affair himself!
And then, worse than that, really, conflates the two issues of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and sex, which is a mistake you see Republicans making all the time when they discuss this.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
REAGAN: This, to them, is somehow sex. When you grab a woman`s genitals against her will, you`re having sex, as far as Newt is concerned.
MATTHEWS: We`re getting into that world now of conversation Mr. Trump has dragged us into.
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: Well, anyway, Trump`s comments about women has caused trouble throughout the campaign. He`s attacked Hillary Clinton`s look and her stamina, which I`ve never heard that gone after, gone after the weight of a beauty queen, mocked the looks of women who have accused him of misconduct and attacked female journalists asking him questions, as I said.
Well, let`s look at a little run-through here, a little reminder, a recap. Let`s watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She doesn`t have the look. She doesn`t have the stamina.
Such a nasty woman.
She was the winner, and you know, she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was -- it was a real problem.
Take a look. You take a look, look at her, look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don`t think so! I don`t think so.
I don`t have a lot of respect for Megyn Kelly. She`s a lightweight. She starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions, and you know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.
For you to ask me that question is actually very insulting because Hillary Clinton does one stop and then she goes home and sleeps. I think it`s a very rude question, to be honest with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump said the following about you. Quote, "Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that the face of our next president?"
CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I think she`s got a beautiful face, and I think she`s a beautiful woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: Good for Carly Fiorina. She nailed that one.
Anyway, Trump went after Hillary Clinton`s stamina again today. He seemed to imply that Hillary Clinton was so tired after their second debate, she almost collapsed. Let`s watch this argument.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She`s definitely a low-energy person. I said, Where is Hillary? I watched after the last debate and after the second debate. She was tired! Wow! She walked off that stage -- of course, she had a lot of people around. They had a lot of people around her, which was smart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: So Michael, just to project what he`s trying to say there because it`s not hard, in other words, she had a cadre of people around here, corner people, to hold her up...
STEELE: Right.
MATTHEWS: ... so that she wouldn`t fall to the ground after he was finished with her!
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: I mean, everybody saw her on television. It`s like the old Groucho Marx, You going to believe me or your lying eyes.
STEELE: Right.
MATTHEWS: We all saw her do very well in the stamina department in all three debates. It`s not questionable that she was weak.
STEELE: Well, I think the reality for Trump is that Hillary Clinton has very effectively batted back all of that...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
STEELE: ... and pushed back on it very, very clearly and effectively and done so in a way in which she showed, actually, in my view, him to be the weaker of the two of them.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
STEELE: And that`s what`s been so profoundly stark for me in the last few weeks of this, is just how utterly Donald Trump`s campaign has moved into a space -- it`s not where no campaign has ever gone before. It is a space that doesn`t exist in politics. And you`re seeing the results of that. Women, African-Americans, other groups are just saying, Enough.
And I don`t know how you translate that into votes in 12 days. I don`t know if there`s a hidden vote. They`re now acknowledging that there isn`t this hidden Trump vote, after all. But this thing is pretty much damn near toast. And it`s largely not because of anything Hillary Clinton`s done or the Democrats have done, it is what this party and this nominee has done to itself.
MATTHEWS: Yes, I think a good part of it is Hillary`s restraint, too, I think. Molly, I want to talk to you about Hillary, but I want to get to the larger question we tried to raise here.
Looking down the road the next -- - we don`t know foreign politics, the next four, eight years, of women who are aspiring, any woman, a woman who may have missed her generational chance because there weren`t the opportunities there is today back in her day, those women in 60s and 70- year-old and even older, looking back and say, You know what? A young woman like my granddaughter`s trying to make it today. This guy`s not her friend.
That kind of personal reaction, what do you think it`s going to do to the GOP, the Republicans, when this is over in two weeks?
BALL: Well, I want to go back, actually, to what Ron was saying about men and about human beings because I think that`s really important. What I think is really interesting is, you know, Donald Trump is running an "us versus them" campaign. And the calculation was, Sure, we might, you know, anger America`s women, but men will flock to this macho appeal. Men will flock to this idea of sort of dominance and machismo and old school, you know, male entitlement.
And that actually isn`t happening. That`s what`s so interesting...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
BALL: ... is that according to a lot of polls, Donald Trump is doing worse with men than Mitt Romney did. So even men don`t agree with this sort of polarization by gender. And I think that that...
MATTHEWS: And their daughters, too.
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: ... sisters or daughters, mothers, you know?
BALL: Or they just think women are people.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BALL: And they`re voting on that basis, in the same way that, you know...
REAGAN: Makes me feel better about my gender.
BALL: ... he`s doing worse with white people than Mitt Romney did. So it turns out that just by alienating African-Americans, you don`t win over a lot of whites who wanted to hear that. And so, you know, we have an America that is saying, We don`t want to be polarized along these lines. We don`t want to be divided along these lines. Even if they don`t agree with Hillary Clinton, they`ve been put off by...
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: Ron, get in here because I think -- I mean, you may have been ahead of all of us, but -- Ron, because I know you, but I think evolution is really true. I believe in evolution. I think men have evolved.
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: ... evolved, you know? And I think -- I think maybe Trump hasn`t. But I think most men have tried to adjust to their daughters` aspirations. They`re trying to be equal...
REAGAN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: ... with their kids.
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: ... young boys have better a opportunity than the young girls. I mean, they want to -- they want to be fair, even now (ph).
REAGAN: There is hope for men, after all. I mean, I`m glad that...
(LAUGHTER)
REAGAN: ... share that information with us.
But you know, there`s so many -- for instance, the third debate. Think of the third debate when Chris Wallace got around to asking about abortion. How did he characterize it? Late-term abortions and partial-birth abortions.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
REAGAN: There`s no such thing as partial-birth abortion. Doesn`t exist. 1.3 percent of abortions take place in the third trimester, almost all of them because there is a serious health problem for the mother or the child or both.
And that`s the reality of that, and yet nobody, even Hillary Clinton, did not correct Chris Wallace when he said that.
MATTHEWS: I think -- they`re not picking hair color.
Anyway, thank you, Michael Steele -- not to be too crude about it. Molly, you`re great. Thank you so much, and Ron Reagan. And Michael Steele, you got a rough job these days!
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: At least you`re not Reince Priebus these days!
(CROSSTALK)
STEELE: and Chris, it`s working out just like we planned it.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: Let`s move the Priebus question.
Anyway, coming up -- that`s a little pun. Coming up -- inside Bill Clinton, Incorporated. The latest hacked memo from Wikileaks reveal just how intertwined the Clinton Foundation was to former president Bill Clinton`s money-making ventures. And while the new revelations don`t mention Secretary Clinton, she`s facing new questions on the campaign trail tonight.
Plus, Donald Trump`s at real risk of losing a deep red state that Republicans haven`t lost since 1964, Utah. That`s because independent candidate Evan McMullin is making a strong push in a state where he has roots, and he`s with us tonight.
And new fears tonight that election day won`t be the end of the partisan rancor in this country but a new beginning of it. There`s been plenty of talk among Trump supporters of revolution. Who knows that means or what it can start if he loses. And there`s new polling that shows fears of that might come true.
Anyway, finally, my "election diary" for tonight, October 27th.
This is HARDBALL, the place for politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MATTHEWS: New battleground state polls. Let`s check the HARDBALL "Scoreboard."
Let`s start in Georgia. A new Quinnipiac poll shows Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump neck and neck there. It`s Trump 44, Clinton 43, a 1-point race. The poll had Trump up last month by 7.
Next to Iowa, Clinton 44, Trump 44, same number. Trump led by 7 in the Quinnipiac poll last month there. North Carolina, Quinnipiac`s poll shows Clinton with a 4-point lead. That`s down. It`s Clinton 47-43. Clinton`s lead was -- well, it was 3 a month ago. Other polls have shown her way ahead in North Carolina.
Next to Pennsylvania, where a "New York Times"/Siena poll shows Clinton with a 7-point lead over Trump. It`s Clinton 46, Trump 29. The RealClearPolitics average in Pennsylvania is up by 5. I think Clinton`s going to win Pennsylvania. I think that`s the key.
Finally, to New Hampshire, a new poll from U. Mass. Amherst and WBZ has Clinton up by 5. It`s Clinton 43, Trump 38. RealClearPolitics average has Clinton up by 6.5, and he needs New Hampshire to win.
And we`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.
A memo which was stolen from the e-mails of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and made public by WikiLeaks yesterday raises new questions about the convoluted relationship between the Clintons` charities and their personal business.
It`s the latest in the ongoing release of illegally hacked e-mails, which U.S. intelligence agencies say was perpetrated by the Russian government.
The memo in question was allegedly sent by Doug Band, former aid to Bill Clinton, and a key figure behind the Clinton Foundation`s fund-raising, who now runs a consulting firm called Teneo. It appears to show that while Band raised money from his clients for the Clinton Foundation, he would simultaneously press those same donors to offer business opportunities to Bill Clinton.
According to the memo he wrote -- quote -- "Independent of our fund-raising and decision-making activities of behalf of the foundation, we have dedicated ourselves to helping the president secure and engage in for- profit activities, including speeches, books, and advisory surface engagements."
Doug Band referred to his efforts as -- quote -- this is his quote -- "Bill Clinton, Incorporated, Bill Clinton, Inc.," and he said the network of deals he secured if they remained in place would pay the former president $66 million over nine years.
These e-mails were exchanged after Chelsea Clinton raised concerns with John Podesta that Doug Band was hustling business for Teneo and acting on behalf of the former president.
An e-mail made public two weeks ago allegedly shows Band complaining about Chelsea after Podesta`s raised her concerns with him -- quote -- this is Band talking -- "She`s acting like a spoiled brat kid who has nothing else to do but create issues."
Well, Clinton and Band eventually parted way, and the e-mails show that stricter guidelines were enacted to separate personal business involving the former president from his foundation. It should also be noted that, at the time, Clinton and Doug Band were private citizens. The memo does not mention Secretary Clinton by name, nor do the hacked e-mails show that she traded any favors as secretary of state.
Well, the e-mails have not been independently authenticated by NBC News, and the Clinton campaign has offered no authentication either.
I`m joined now by Beth Fouhy, senior political editor at MSNBC, as well as Howard Fineman, who is global editorial director of The Huffington Post and also an MSNBC political analyst.
Beth, let`s try to figure this out. If we say it`s not illegal, but there`s an interesting sort of packaging going on. When you hear about Hollywood, they -- sort of packages. If you want Tom Hanks, you got to take these other two people. You got to take the director -- you want the director, you have got to take -- in the case of Doug Band, it seems like if you want to get involved with the Clinton Global Initiative, OK, the Clinton Foundation, can you get us some speeches for the former president?
And, by the way, can we borrow the airplane? I don`t know how it works, but this is what it looks in these e-mails.
BETH FOUHY, SENIOR EDITOR, MSNBC.COM: Well, it does, but think about it.
Bill Clinton at the time was this incredibly popular ex-president. Everybody wanted him. He`s apparently -- we all know how charismatic he is. But apparently he knows nothing about managing money, nothing about managing his own time. He trusted Doug Band to do that work for him.
So, Doug Band, ingeniously, one might say, figured out how to make himself rich, the former president rich, and enrich the Clinton Foundation, all at once.
MATTHEWS: So when people want to be grabbed for a generous contribution to the Clinton Foundation, why should they be grabbed to give him a speech, when he asked for a big chunk of money? Why are they all of a sudden fair game to grab money from?
FOUHY: They probably wanted him. They probably wanted him. That`s the crazy part to this.
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: So, you see nothing wrong with this? Are you...
FOUHY: I`m saying...
MATTHEWS: No, it sounds like you`re saying there`s nothing wrong with this. Explain.
FOUHY: Look, it`s not for me to judge. It`s what the Clintons do.
MATTHEWS: It is. It is for you to judge.
(CROSSTALK)
FOUHY: They tend to run right up to the edge of what`s legal. And that`s -- that`s the problem that their critics have with them.
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: If you spend your life hitting the chalk line in tennis, just right at the edge of what you can get away with, where you bring everybody in, the contributors into the White House back in the `90s.
(CROSSTALK)
FOUHY: Yes, the Lincoln Bedroom, yes.
MATTHEWS: Rent out the -- at some point, the problem is, you`re going to look crooked to some people of different perspectives.
FOUHY: But this is important, Chris. He is not the candidate. Hillary Clinton is the candidate. None of this implicates her.
MATTHEWS: Well, she was involved in this or not?
FOUHY: The last sort of dustup around this was when it appeared that she had been visited with or been...
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: So she`s clean? I`m just asking. Is she clean?
FOUHY: Again, not for me to judge. She did not...
MATTHEWS: It is for you to judge.
(LAUGHTER)
FOUHY: She did not meet with people for the Clinton Foundation simply because they were donors. They were people who had business before the secretary of state`s office, like Bill Gates, like Melinda Gates. These are people who legitimately have business before the secretary of state. And they were also contributors to the foundation.
MATTHEWS: So how do you read -- before I go to Howard, how do you read this whole thing, this debate between, on one side, you have got John Podesta and Chelsea Clinton challenging the way things are being done, and on the other side defending them? That seems to be the way it`s going, Beth.
FOUHY: Well, you know, Chelsea Clinton, you know, looks like kind of the hero here. She looks like the person who is stepping in there, making sure her father`s name isn`t being taken advantage of by somebody who means well, but perhaps is using that...
MATTHEWS: Well, she says he was hustling.
FOUHY: She says -- she does seem to suggest that. And she stepped in to make sure that that was not how things were going to continue. And, sure enough, Doug Band left shortly after those memos were released.
MATTHEWS: Well, it looks like he didn`t have a choice.
FOUHY: Yes.
MATTHEWS: Howard, how do you read this? Because it`s pretty much now in the open.
The one thing great about opening up this -- lifting up this rock is you see the bug life under the rock. And you see about all this stuff that never gets out publicly. I guess thanks to the Russkies and WikiLeaks, we now get a view you normally don`t get of politicians in action.
HOWARD FINEMAN, NBC CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, I have been covering the Clintons since they were in Little Rock and when Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas, and through all of his presidential campaigns and Hillary`s entire career.
Their whole life is built on the combination of public office and money. And the Clintons didn`t have any money. They didn`t start out with any money. They`re not like the Bush family or some other people. They didn`t have much access to money.
FOUHY: Or the Trump family.
FINEMAN: Yes, or the Trump family.
And they`re down there in Little Rock, and they want to play on the national stage. And it quickly becomes apparent to them that they have got to get in on the money action, not so much, I think, because they`re avaricious people in any sense. They`re not really in it to make money exactly, but they want to be around -- they will take the money, but they want to be around the money in order to play in the ball game of politics the way it exists.
MATTHEWS: Why did Hillary Clinton demand $250,000 to give an hour-long speech, the same speech she gives over and over again? That`s not about campaigning. That`s about personal income.
FINEMAN: No, it`s not about campaigning, but it`s about -- maybe I`m being too generous here, but it`s -- they spent their whole lives trying to get contributions from rich people.
They have immersed themselves in that, going back to renaissance weekend, and that networking by the sea back in the `80s and `90s, the big donors, the soft money donors. These are the people they spent their lives around. They want to be like those people.
MATTHEWS: I think you`re so right on the note.
FINEMAN: They want to have money like those people. They want to be like those people, because it`s demeaning to have to do that all the time.
So, they are going to be on that level. They`re going to get the cash for themselves. More important, they`re going to get the cash for campaign contributions, for PAC contributions, for the foundation that makes the Clintons feel good, like they`re doing good in the world.
It`s like -- it`s a continuously moving carousel of access and money, none of it specifically illegal, but if you look at the totality of it, it looks like they have spent their whole lives searching for cash, and using power to get it, to get more money, to get more power, to get more money.
And they have not said that they`re going to shut down the Clinton Foundation if Hillary becomes president. What they have said is, they will no longer take any foreign donations. And, by the way, Chelsea Clinton wasn`t complaining that Bill Clinton -- about Bill Clinton looking bad for getting cash for speeches. She was complaining that Doug Band was using the foundation to get money for himself.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FINEMAN: It was not some principled objection to protect her dad from looking bad. They wanted as much money as they could get.
I mean, two days after she was declaring her candidacy in Iowa, Hillary Clinton wanted to give a speech to J.P. Morgan, until they told her, you can`t do it.
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: You know what I think? I`m going to be more judgmental than Beth, who`s a straight reporter. I will make a judgment.
Every time I have watched a politician engage in a certain pattern of behavior before they go to the White House, they continue to engage in that pattern afterwards. People don`t change because we swear them into the White House. They become that person big-time. And the Clintons were raising money like this hand over hand back in -- hand over fist back in 1996 using we called it Motel 6.
They were bringing people, hoard them in, pulling them in by train loads of contributors, and then letting them sit in the Lincoln Bedroom for a while, then charging them by the hour.
This is what they did before. They is what they -- you can still vote for Hillary Clinton, but, remember, you`re getting this as part of the package, because that`s been their pattern.
Beth Fouhy, thank you. You`re so nice to these people.
Anyway, Beth Fouhy, Howard Fineman, thank you.
Up next, the conservative candidate hoping to keep Donald Trump from winning deep red Utah, Evan McMullin. He`s running for president in Utah. Is he running anywhere else?
This is HARDBALL, the place for politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want you to tell your Republican neighbors and friends, this is not the time to make a statement. This is our chance to make a difference.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
PENCE: There`s only two names on that ballot that have a chance to be president of the United States of America.
And while I will always respect the right of any man or woman to cast their vote in the manner that may seem best, a vote for any candidate other than Donald Trump, bottom line, is a vote to make Hillary Clinton the 45th president of the United States.
(BOOING)
PENCE: It`s a hard truth. So it`s time to come home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.
That was Donald Trump`s running mate, of course, Mike Pence, campaigning in the deep red state of Utah, with less than two weeks to go until the election.
Pence pleaded with Republicans -- you saw it there -- to come home, as he put it, and support the GOP ticket out of concern that Utah might not be as safe as it used to be for the party. Utah hasn`t supported a Democrat for president since 1964, when they went for Johnson over Goldwater.
But because of the entrance of independent candidate Evan McMullin, the state`s suddenly in play. The latest poll shows a three-way race out there among Trump, McMullin, and Hillary Clinton. One poll has Trump up three points. Another has him up two points. But a third poll shows McMullin leading Trump and Clinton by four. You see them all there.
Anyway, McMullin responded to Pence and Twitter after the Indiana governor called on Utah supporters not to support his independent bid.
Here`s what McMullin tweeted: "A vote for Pence is a vote for Trump, and a vote for Trump is a vote for religious bigotry, misogyny, and the expansion of government."
McMullin is a former intelligence officer in the Central Intelligence Agency, investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and a senior staffer up on Capitol Hill for House Republicans. He joins me now.
Evan, what do you think of if somebody votes for you and you carry the electoral votes of Utah, what does that do to the race for president come election night itself? What does that do?
(CROSSTALK)
EVAN MCMULLIN (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, if you believe the polls -- and I do believe the polls -- Hillary Clinton has a massive lead in most Electoral College projections. And so what happens here in Utah is not likely to impact the out...
MATTHEWS: It stays in Utah?
MCMULLIN: What`s that?
MATTHEWS: It stays in Utah?
MCMULLIN: Well, for now, it does.
But we`re building a new conservative movement, because we think that`s what`s required. You know, Mike Pence said that voters should come home to Donald Trump, which I think is ridiculous, because conservative voters are -- can never be at home with Donald Trump.
Donald Trump has invited Vladimir Putin in to influence our elections and undermine our elections and our democratic institutions. He`s attacked people for their race and religion and their gender. This is not what real conservatives stand for. And it`s not what principled conservatives in the Mountain West and in Utah stand for.
So there`s no going home to Donald Trump for true conservatives.
MATTHEWS: What other state do you have a very good -- a decent chance of winning? You have got a good shot in Utah. We have looked at the numbers there, those electoral votes. Where else can you win besides Utah?
MCMULLIN: Well, our best chances are in the Mountain West.
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: No, name a state, other state besides Utah you can win.
MCMULLIN: Idaho -- Idaho and Wyoming are our best chances.
MATTHEWS: You believe you can carry Idaho? You believe you can win Idaho?
MCMULLIN: We can.
But, look, Chris, we have been transparent about this whole thing the whole way through. I`m an independent candidate. I don`t have the support of a party. We have a strong message and we`re running on that. We have limited resources, so we have to choose very wisely about where we spend them and our time.
And the reality is that we knew we would need to do that. And we focused on the Mountain West, because that`s where Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were rejected.
MATTHEWS: I understand.
MCMULLIN: And we have gotten a lot of traction here in Utah. I was born here. People are looking for somebody...
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: I`m with you on that. I know you have got the roots out there. I know Utah politics.
Let me ask you about why LDS people, people who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, why they would like you -- let me put it this way, a tougher question. Why wouldn`t they like a guy of Trump`s lifestyle? What is it about his personal behavior that turns off Mormon people, generally speaking? What is it?
MCMULLIN: Well, look, I will say that Mormon people -- and I can`t speak for all of them either.
MATTHEWS: Well, just the ones you talk to.
MCMULLIN: That`s sort of silly.
MATTHEWS: The ones you talk to.
MCMULLIN: Yes, I think a lot of people, not just Mormons, Catholics, evangelicals, Hindus, Jews, a lot of people expect their leaders to be decent people, to care about Americans and to defend Americans, not attack them.
And so this is -- these are the kinds of qualities they`re looking for in our leaders, both here in the Mountain West and across the country. I think Donald Trump`s indecency and the way he treats people, the way he attacks people of different faiths, and, you know, based on their gender or skin color, it just -- it doesn`t sit well with people out here.
And they know that our leaders need to be uniting and respectful of Americans.
MATTHEWS: OK.
Not to be turned off by Donald Trump and disavowing the Republican nominee, Utah Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz is now back on board with Trump. He tweeted just yesterday: "I will not defend or endorse Donald Trump, but I am voting for him. HRC is that bad. HRC is bad for the USA."
What did you think of that statement by a congressman who`s been around a bit out there, who`s now going to vote for Trump?
MCMULLIN: Well, I`m really disappointed in Jason`s decision to do that.
Just a couple of weeks ago, he was saying that he couldn`t look his daughter in the eye if he supported Donald Trump. And here he is, just two weeks later, doing that very thing.
MATTHEWS: How about Orrin Hatch? How about Orrin Hatch? Isn`t he going to be for Trump, the senior senator out there?
MCMULLIN: Well, Orrin Hatch is -- Orrin Hatch has been for Trump. And, unfortunately, he`s urged Utahans to -- quote -- "do the right thing " and support Donald Trump.
MATTHEWS: How about Mike Lee, the other senator?
MCMULLIN: Well, I don`t know about Mike Lee. I think he`s taken a stand in some way against Trump.
MATTHEWS: He has? OK.
MCMULLIN: But, look -- well, he has. He tried. He was at the convention.
But, look, this is the thing. Our leaders need to take a stand for what has made this country special, which is that all men and women are created equal. That`s true for all humans. But it`s enshrined in our founding documents, that all have inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And if our leaders won`t stand up for those principles, we have to ask ourselves, what are those leaders doing? And it`s just not enough to say I oppose this or I oppose that candidate or idea. True leadership is standing up and saying what you`re for and then fighting for that thing.
And that`s what I haven`t seen.
MATTHEWS: I think -- you know, I think that`s nicely put.
But you know what I think`s going on?
MCMULLIN: What is that?
MATTHEWS: I believe that the LDS community in your state is appalled by Trump`s public behavior, uniquely appalled.
MCMULLIN: Sure.
MATTHEWS: No, uniquely appalled. They don`t like showing off, braggarts. It`s not just the sexual misconduct. It`s the bragging. It`s the egotism, all of that stuff about Trump.
I look at the guy and say, I worked with Mormons out there. My wife worked with Mormons. We really get along and like the people. If you can generalize, we like the people. And one thing we notice about them is modesty and humility. This guy Trump is not your guy in Salt Lake Valley.
MCMULLIN: No, he`s not.
MATTHEWS: He`s just not your guy. And I think that`s what`s going on, why you have a unique chance to upset the Electoral College and win the electoral votes of Utah. I think that`s why you have a good chance. You agree or not?
MCMULLIN: I hope so. I hope so. I think so. We`re fighting hard for that, and we`re humbled by the support we have received so far.
MATTHEWS: And I have been saying this for a while, not just you, Evan. But thank you for coming on. You`re making a big statement out there.
MCMULLIN: Thank you.
MATTHEWS: Up next: We have been hearing from Trump supporters who are calling for -- this is a weird word in this country -- revolution if Hillary Clinton wins.
Well, now new polling shows Americans are really worried about the threat of just that, maybe some violence? That`s ahead with the roundtable.
You`re watching HARDBALL, the place for politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: So, when you hear folks talking about a global conspiracy and saying that this election is rigged, understand that they are trying to get you to stay home. They are trying to convince you that your vote doesn`t matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC ANCHOR: That was -- the first lady is just incredible out there on the stump. That was her, of course, smacking back, or swatting back Donald Trump`s talk of rigged elections, but with a little less than two weeks to go, it seems like some voters aren`t listening to her, the first lady.
"The New York Times" reports that some of Donald Trump`s supporters are warning, I can` believe this, of a revolution -- I sound like Bernie Sanders -- if Hillary Clinton wins. "The New York Times" reports that some worry that they will be forgotten along with their concerns and frustrations. Others believe that the nation might be headed for violent conflict.
A new "USA Today"/Suffolk University poll released just yesterday shows that 51 percent of likely voters, a majority, are either somewhat or very concerned that there will be violence after the election. Four out of ten of Trump`s own supporters say that if Clinton wins, she would be legitimate, just 32. Sixty-eight percent say they`re worried that the election results will be manipulated.
For more, I`m joined right now by the roundtable: Jamal Smith of MTV News, Jeanne Zaino, who`s professor of political science and consultant with Applied Technomics, and Nick Confessore of "The New York Times."
All right. Jamal, let`s run through this thing.
JAMAL SMITH, MTV NEWS: Yes.
MATTHEWS: Is there damage or danger in people yelling out these revolutionary statements?
SMITH: Oh, my goodness with, yes. I mean, I think, you know, first of all, it`s not like Bernie Sanders` revolution. This is Bernie Sanders` revolution with guns, with people threatening actual violence, saying, we`ve got to take her out. All this kind of rhetoric that we`ve seen is absolutely dangerous and could actually, you know, not arise passions in the wrong person.
MATTHEWS: Is he responsible?
SMITH: Yes, he`s responsible. He`s encouraged all of it and he`s done nothing to stop it. He`s responsible.
MATTHEWS: Jeanne?
JEANNE ZAINO, POLLSTER: I would go a little further. I think the Republican Party has to take responsibility here and the Democrats, as well, for losing sight of what`s going on in their base.
You know, there never would have been a Donald Trump if the Republican Party had listened to its base much earlier on. Say, go back to George W. Bush`s time with the birth of the Tea Party movement, then they were incredibly frustrated that they elected a president who did anything but what he promised to do. Lower the deficits, they got raised. Get us out of foreign entanglements, we got into them. And you can go through the list.
So you lose sight of your base on the Republican side. And I would venture to say the same thing has happened on the Democratic side. Now, certainly, that doesn`t arise to issues of anger and violence in that regard, but I think there`s a certain amount of responsibility to bear on party leaders, who haven`t been listening to their base and responding to it.
MATTHEWS: I`ve been giving that speech for a while now. Thank you, I agree completely with what you said.
NICK CONFESSORE, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I think people are so torqued up and it`s really worrisome. I think on Election Day, there`s a real danger of violence at ballot boxes, in shopping malls, at gas stations. We`ve already seen --
MATTHEWS: Do you think gun play?
CONFESSORE: No, I`m just saying --
MATTHEWS: Anger, or what kind?
CONFESSORE: We`ll see. I hope nothing. But we have seen scattered violence at Trump rallies, from supporters, and opponents --
MATTHEWS: Fistfights?
CONFESSORE: Fistfights. We`ve seen fights at shopping markets from Trump supporters, people at gas stations getting into fights. You know, Trump hats getting ripped off of people.
MATTHEWS: It`s pretty ugly.
Here`s a weird thing that could happen, if you look at the path. Suppose you live in Scranton Wilkes-Barre, I`m looking at the numbers. Huge support for Trump. So, everybody you know is for Trump it seems. If you live in Philadelphia, everybody you know is for Hillary Clinton, right?
So you`re going to come out at an election booth and think, everybody in this room has a Trump hat, so Trump`s going to win. Then you think, there`s got to be cheating on. How is it that everybody I know is voting for Trump, right, Jamil? That could be a phenomena where they say, it must have been stolen, because everybody in Scranton voted for him.
SMITH: In all seriousness, though, I don`t have a whole lot of sympathy for those folks, the same thing may have been true in `08 and 2012 when Barack Obama won the election, a lot of those people probably voted for John McCain and Mitt Romney. Look, I mean, at the end of the day, we have to face what`s going on here, white supremacy dies hard. And this is what the campaign has been pushing. It`s been pushing white nationalism.
MATTHEWS: Give me the words.
SMITH: As far as words, what, what do you mean?
MATTHEWS: How did they say white supremacy? I think they`ve been selling nationalism. I wouldn`t call white supremacy.
SMITH: But what I`m saying, is policies that undergird white supremacy is what I`m saying. So white supremacy is a concept --
MATTHEWS: Like what?
SMITH: Like, for instance, talking all this stuff about blacks -- and Black Lives Matter and police wanting basically to give police wanton powers that they can just do anything with.
MATTHEWS: And Trump`s done that?
SMITH: National stop and frisk. That is white supremacy.
MATTHEWS: And Trump`s pushed that?
SMITH: Oh, yes.
ZAINO: You know, but I do think there`s another part of this. I agree that the rhetoric has been horrible. But you know, you have to go deeper than that. You have to look at levels of unemployment in some of these communities, where these messages are selling.
You have to look at, I`m sorry, that the responsibility that the president bears for his inability to address some of the really key issues that are fueling some of this. I agree with you, the rhetoric is horrible. But you also have to look at what is fueling this. People have a changing America, which is changing before them, and they haven`t been able to address to those changes --
(CROSSTALK)
CONFESSORE: Well, what`s fueling it is a nominee who is telling his supporters that things are rigged that aren`t rigged. That polls are made up that aren`t made up and he bears some responsibility.
MATTHEWS: Anyway, I look at this at a rally in Toledo, Donald Trump suggested canceling the whole election. Maybe it`s making your point. Let`s watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE : Hillary Clinton wants to raise taxes on small businesses, up to 45 percent. What a difference. You know, what a difference this is. And just thinking to myself right now, we should just cancel the election and just give it to Trump, right? What are we even -- what are we having it? Her policies are so bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: I guess we have elections for democracy.
Anyway, the roundtable is sticking with us. And up next, these three will tell me something I don`t know.
This is HARDBALL, the place for politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MATTHEWS: Well, today I spoke with Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, the sister of Jack and Bobby Kennedy. She took the opportunity to endorse Hillary Clinton. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: I got to ask you, in the middle of a presidential campaign, less than two weeks to go. I know you`re a Democrat. Hillary Clinton, tell me all why you think she should be president.
JEAN KENNEDY SMITH: Oh, I think she`s terrific. I`ve always thought she was terrific. And I think she`s always been committed to doing tremendous work, particularly with women and with children and she`s always been interested in foreign affairs. I think that she is everything that I can see that`s needed for this job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: She was great today. You`ll see her tomorrow night.
Jean Kennedy Smith joins me on HARDBALL tomorrow night to talk about what it was like to grow up a Kennedy. Her new book "The Nine of Us". It`s about growing up with Jack, and Bobby and the rest of them. And also, her thoughts tomorrow night on having a first woman president. She didn`t grow up in that generation.
We`ll be right back.
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MATTHEWS: We are back with the HARDBALL roundtable.
Nick, tell me something I don`t know -- Nick Confessore of "The New York Times."
CONFESSORE: Of "The New York Times", OK.
Well, Donald Trump once promised he would spend $100 million of his own money on this campaign. This morning, he was $44 million short of that amount. We`ll find out tonight how short he really is.
MATTHEWS: That`s why he hates "The New York Times," they pay attention.
CONFESSORE: There you go.
MATTHEWS: Anyway, Jeanne?
ZAINE: Since we`re talking about election vulnerability, and hacking, it`s important to know the best way to guard against hacking, is to have a paper backup of your vote. Eighty percent of us will have that when we go into the polls, but that means 20 percent of us won`t. And some of those 20 percent are in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
MATTHEWS: When we walk out to the point, we have a piece of paper that --
ZAINE: Well, there`s a piece of paper that remains there, and 80 percent of our cases that`s a backup that can be checked if the results look questionable.
MATTHEWS: You don`t want people to walk away, you don`t want anybody to walk away with saying how they voted. There will be a committeeman or ward member to check in here.
ZAINE: And don`t take a picture like Justin Timberlake.
MATTHEWS: Jamil?
SMITH: Police in North Dakota advanced on a group of protesters protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline, that`s supposed to advance through what was once Standing Rock Sioux Land. Now, these folks are out here trying to reclaim the land that`s been stolen from them generations ago by the U.S. government.
Jesse Jackson was there yesterday and said he called it the ripest case of environmental racism he`s seen in a long time.
MATTHEWS: OK. Well, thank you, guys. Thanks to you, Jamil. Thank you, Jeanne, and thank you, Nick.
Before we go to break, some breaking news. We`re just getting word that the Pence plane has slid off the runway at LaGuardia airport in New York. We can report that there are no injuries and we`ll be talking to Governor Pence on this show tomorrow. So, everything is fine.
When we return, my Election Diary for tonight, October 27th.
You`re watching HARDBALL, the place for politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MATTHEWS: Election Diary Thursday, October 27th.
Whatever you think of Donald Trump, I mean, whatever you think of Donald Trump, you have to wonder, why isn`t he doing it? Why isn`t he running for president? Why isn`t he spending every hour asking the voters again and again, do you like way things are, the way they`ve been headed in this country?
Do you like the continued destruction of our manufacturing base, the jobs that went with it? Do you like the uncontrolled illegal immigration? Do you like the string of stupid wars from Iraq, to Libya, to Syria?
If you want to say yes to all that, you want to keep all this the way it is? Vote for Hillary Clinton. If you don`t like the way things have been headed, you got a chance to really shake the system to its roots.
If you wake up the day after the election, the same it is today, if it`s the same four, or five, eight years from now, remember you had a chance to change it but you were too dainty to do it. If Trump were to win this election, those would be the reasons that would be listed right at the top of the newspaper the day afterwards.
So, why doesn`t he say now what would win him the election? Why doesn`t he fight and create stupid headlines with his battles with Megyn Kelly and Dana Bash? He seems to devote day after day to fighting fights that make people forget the reasons he started running for president, reasons that continue to carry the shrinking chance he has to win this thing.
I say this not because I want Trump to win, but because I can`t stand politics being practiced so pathetically.
We have been looking at live pictures, by the way, from LaGuardia Airport in New York of Mike Pence`s plane which slid off the runway this evening. There were no injuries.
And that`s HARDBALL for now. Thanks for being with us.
"ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES" starts right now.
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