Hardblogger

Commemorating Germany’s freedom

Cathy Finkler — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:17:00 GMT

by Chris Matthews Twenty years ago I stood in the rain on the East Berlin side of the great Brandenburg Gate, the grim symbol of division between East and West during the Cold War. It was a rainy night and it was cold. But people were standing around, just waiting. Word had got out that "the authorities" might be opening the great Gate that the "Vopos," those notorious East German police, were still guarding. Change was in the air. As I interviewed one East German after another I kept asking them...(read more)

In memoriam: Jody Powell

Cathy Finkler — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:58:00 GMT

by Chris Matthews The death of former White House press secretary Jody Powell yesterday reminds me of the last night of the 1980 election. I remember Jody, who had been President Carter's loyal press secretary and confidant all those years, telling the President late that night that we weren't going to over night anywhere that night. Carter would give his last speech in Seattle - to catch the last time zone - then we'd fly through what was left of the night back to Georgia to vote. I remember...(read more)

Chris Matthews on The Colbert Report

Cathy Finkler — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:59:00 GMT

Watch Chris Matthew's appearance on The Colbert Report. Matthews talks about the upcoming Hardball documentary on the Kennedy brothers. He explains why he's critical of the town hall protesters, and admits he likes to eat potatoes. ...(read more)

Hardball examines the Kennedy legacy in a new documentary

Cathy Finkler — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:43:00 GMT

MSNBC will premiere its latest documentary, The Kennedy Brothers: A Hardball Documentary, reported by Hardball’s Chris Matthews, on Thursday, August 27th, at 7 P.M. ET. Before John F. Kennedy entered the political scene, no politician had ever seemed so comfortable—so himself—in front of television cameras. While politicians of the past were forever frozen in black and white photos, the Kennedy brothers were a crisp color image. They brought to Washington a level of glamour previously seen...(read more)

Matthews on humanitarian and conservation efforts in Africa

Cathy Finkler — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:51:00 GMT

by Chris Matthews Earlier this month, I took two weeks off from the show and Kathleen and I traveled to South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland where I had spent two years back in the 1960s helping develop small business enterprise as a volunteer in the U.S. Peace Corps. We got a fabulous chance to see the historic efforts some very good people are making to save the amazing wildlife of Africa. I've got to give a real shout-out to Greg Carr, an American who is working and investing...(read more)

Remembering Ed McMahon

Cathy Finkler — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:49:00 GMT

by Chris Matthews We lost Ed McMahon last night. The country knew him as Johnny Carson's sidekick on "The Tonight Show" where night after night, he opened with that trademark - "Heeere's Johnny!" Talk about an iconic bit of Americana. I first saw Ed riding around on the hood of a car. That's what he did every night in the commercials growing up in Philadelphia: a grown man in suit with his butt on the hood of a brand new automobile. That was our own Ed McMahon...(read more)

Hardball award to Iranian protestors

Cathy Finkler — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:15:00 GMT

by Chris Matthews As people who watch Hardball - and you are the good people - know, I have extended a serious tribute over time to men and women who have had the moxie to stand up for their rights. How can I give that coveted Hardball Award to anyone on this planet this week but the people in the streets of Tehran, the hundreds of thousands who have stood out there and demanded that their votes are counted and counted fully. Whether their cause is women's rights, greater freedoms...(read more)

Sen. John Kerry: 'This is an Iranian movement'

Hardball — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:07:00 GMT

Following is a rush transcript of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on tonight's "Hardball with Chris Matthews." Sen. Kerry discusses the protests in Iran and President Obama's stance on them, saying "this is an Iranian moment, not an American moment, and we need to have the discipline, the restraint, the maturity to stand back from this as the Iranians proceed."

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Senator Kerry, John McCain, your colleague, has been critical of the president for not speaking out and joining the protests in the streets of Tehran. What's your view?

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: My view is that the president has clearly spoken out. He spoke in Cairo as clearly as any president ever has about the prospects for democracy, for the possibilities of a different future. And I think he's been very, very clear. But for the president to step into the middle of what the Iranians appear to be handling for themselves would be a mistake, because it would give to the hardliners the ability to be able to use the president and the West as an excuse.

We've seen what hard-line rhetoric has gotten us over the last eight years, Chris. It's created an Iran that's more powerful in the region, an Iran that's been more reluctant to engage with the rest of the world. The president has opened up new possibilities. I think even the elections in Lebanon a week ago showed the results that come from a different kind of diplomacy. And we need to let the president pursue that.

MATTHEWS: Do you think we're kidding anyone, though -- don't they know, on the Ahmadinejad side over there, the government side and the ayatollahs' side -- that we're rooting for the opposition? Don't they...

KERRY: They don't have any...

MATTHEWS: Don't they...

KERRY: They don't have any illusions about it, but that's very different from overt activities that they can then turn around. ...(read more)

A tribute to Tim Russert

Cathy Finkler — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:05:00 GMT

by Chris Matthews It was a year ago tomorrow that Tim Russert died at NBC News headquarters in Washington. He died on the job that Friday preparing yet again a broadcast of his remarkable, newsmaking, pacesetting Meet the Press. I think about Tim every day each day I arrive at work, but especially on Fridays, which remind me of him and his enormous place here in our work and lives. To those who trusted him and learned from him on the air,Tim was a strong partner in understanding...(read more)

Lessons of D-Day

Cathy Finkler — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:24:00 GMT

by Chris Matthews Tomorrow, on the sixty-fifth anniversary of D-Day, President Obama has a pair of tough acts to follow - his own speech yesterday and one given a quarter century ago. I remember getting up that morning in 1984 to catch President Reagan at Normandy. It was a real "morning in America" speech. I believe that Reagan's ability to connect with World War II was a reason for his enormous popularity. Here he was on the bluffs of France saying something very good about America:...(read more)