MSNBC’s Matthews More Upset at GOP than Iranians for Capturing Sailors

MATTHEWS: “Welcome back to ‘HARDBALL.’ We are continuing to follow the dramatic confrontation with Iran as 10 American sailors were detained overnight, and then released by Iranian  military forces after drifting into its territorial waters. Iranian state  television has released footage, there it is, of the soldiers in camouflage  pants and beige shirts with their hands in the air while being watched by  armed military guards. The video also shows the sailors on the floor eating some kind of meal. Those figures, the Iranians also released  footage of a U.S. soldier apologizing.”
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UNKNOWN MALE: “It was a mistake. That was our fault and we apologize for our mistake.
UKNOWN REPORTER: “[indecipherable] that you have penetrated in Iranian territory waters?”U.S. UNKNOWN MALE: “I believe so.”
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MATTHEWS: “We should note that we do not know the circumstance under which this video was shot and we do not know if the sailors were asked to participate in the video under duress.These images, by the way, sparked quite the reaction on the American campaign trail. Here is Marco Rubio speaking at a rally today in South Carolina.”
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RUBIO: “I don`t know if you saw these images, they are really horrifying and they really made really angry this morning to see American sailors on their knees, hands behind their head. A female sailor forced to wear a head scarf, pinned up in a jail cell. You know why these things happened? Because they know they can get away with it when Barack Obama is in office. They know they can humiliate us. That is why, on my first day in office, in that Oval Office, I am going to cancel this ridiculous deal he has cut with Iran.”
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MATTHEWS: “And here is Donald Trump on his network earlier – this network earlier today.”
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TRUMP: “These ten wonderful soldiers who went through hell, by the way. When I see pictures of them with their arms up in the air and guns pointed at them, I wouldn`t exactly say that`s friendly.”
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MATTHEWS: “Tonight`s HARDBALL roundtable, David Catanese is a senior politics writer with ‘U.S. News and World Report’, Michelle Bernard is president of the Bernard Center, and Ken Vogel was the chief investigative reporter with ‘Politico.’ Ken, I don`t – I`m not surprised. Is this just political kabuki dancing? We have an incident overseas, a bit embarrassing, and the opposition jumps on it as a sign of weakness.”
VOGEL: “Sure, it makes perfect sense, and it makes perfect sense not only because they get to differentiate themselves from the Obama administration, but also that they get to take a shot at Hillary Clinton on foreign policy, an area where she is really strong, a lot stronger for the most part than most Republicans.”
MATTHEWS: “How`s this hit Hillary?”
VOGEL: “Because she supported the Iran deal. They are suggesting that the Iran deal exposed some kind of weakness, that the Iranians are trying to test. I think that`s a little bit of a canard. The Iranians have been testing us for years and years and years, well before we entered negotiations with them about this nuclear deal.”
MATTHEWS: “Michelle?”
BERNARD: “Well, you know, like, for example, you`ve got Chris Christie who did an interview recently where after the problems we had with North Korea recently, and he came out and he said, you know, this is Hillary Clinton/President Obama problem because they both have been playing footsies with the Iranians instead of looking -- you know, looking to see what is going on in North Korea. So –“
MATTHEWS: “Let me, let him speak now. You introduced in that. Even though sailors were released, Republicans like Chris Christie of New Jersey sounded like they are itching for a war. Here he goes.”
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CHRISTIE: “You think it is coincidence that they did this on the day of the president`s State of the 
Union? They have no respect for this guy and they have no fear. If we don`t show people that you are willing to fight back, they will steal your lunch money every day.”
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MATTHEWS: “David, I wonder what fighting with your guard would mean. I mean, I guess I don`t know what they mean by fighting? We`re going to war with this?”
CATANESE: “No one – none of these Republicans are saying that, and none of them are saying what they would have done, right? You don`t hear the specific, well, we would have gone in, we would have sent troops. I mean, they are saying we would rip up the Iran deal, but you hear these guys, it`s all – hey, it wouldn`t happen if I was there. That`s basically the argument, which is hard for really stomach.”[crosstalk] 
MATTHEWS: “Last night, they liked it.”
CATANESE: “It`s a layup for them.”
BERNARD: “It`s a layup for them. It happened at the time the president was about to give his final State of the Union Address and they wanted to dumb down everything that we think about Obama.”
MATTHEWS: “It wasn`t like they thought for a moment, deciding what to say. Look at this, Republicans telegraph their outrage regardless of the outcome in the instant. In fact, before the outcome, when word of the incident first broke before the president`s State of the Union, the Republican field pounced on it with doom and gloom. You would have thought the guys were never coming home. Jeb Bush tweeted, ‘No more bargaining, Obama`s humiliating weak policies is exposed again,’ which was followed by a chorus of Republican candidates.”
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TRUMP: “The Iranians like to taunt us because they don`t have like respect for our leaders, right?”
RUBIO: “Iran is testing the boundaries of this administration`s resolve. And they know the boundaries are wide that the administration is willing to let them get away with many things. You are only seeing this accelerate. You`re only going to see a continued pattern of provocation as long as a weak president like Barack Obama is in the White House.”
CRUZ: “Unfortunately, it`s a manifestation of the weakness of President Obama`s foreign policy, that our 
enemies do not fear us and we need a commander in chief to keep this country safe.”
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MATTHEWS: “Well, every time I hear Marco Rubio, I hear somebody sending a love letter to Shelly Adelson, to the neocon king, asking for more money. It`s just always the same. We must be militarizing the Middle East, we must be the main military power in the Middle East, we must move in with everything we`ve got, and somehow big foot Iran in the Persian Gulf. We must be there with all our strength, because that`s what Adelson wants.”
VOGEL: “The Republican field this time around is pretty much a neoconservative`s dream. There was ideological diversity. You had the Rand Pauls of the world who were a lot more in the case of Rand Paul noninterventionist. But you see all those folks have fallen by the way side and right now, the competition between the folks –“
MATTHEWS: “Of course, all of the guys have a long military career. Have you noticed? They`ve all been in uniform and spend a lot of time serving the country in uniform. They are all experts on this.”
VOGEL: “Donald Trump had a foot problem. That is why he got –“
MATTHEWS: “Some of them are obvious. Anyway, some of their physical problems are obvious.The roundtable is staying with us.”