Matthews to CNBC's Burnett: "You're a knockout"; "It's all right getting bad news from you"

Summary: On Hardball, Chris Matthews told CNBC anchor Erin Burnett: "[Y]ou're beautiful" and "[y]ou're a knockout," before closing their interview by saying, "It's all right getting bad news from you."

On the August 10 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, during a discussion of recent financial news, host Chris Matthews told CNBC's Erin Burnett: "[Y]ou're beautiful" and "[y]ou're a knockout," before closing the interview by saying, "It's all right getting bad news from you."

Matthews began the segment by asking, "So what's going on with the stock market? Yesterday, the stocks on Wall Street suffered their biggest one-day decline since February. Should we be worried?"

But at the conclusion of the interview, Matthews asked Burnett, who anchors CNBC's Squawk on the Street and Street Signs, "Could you get a little closer to the camera?" Burnett replied, "My -- what is it?" Matthews then said, "Come on in closer. No, come in -- come in further -- come in closer. Really close."

After Burnett began to comply, Matthews stated, "Just kidding! You look great! Anyway, thanks. Erin, it's great to -- look at that look. You're great." He went on: "No, you're beautiful. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. You're a knockout. Anyway, thank you, Erin Burnett."

From the 5 p.m. hour of the August 10 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: Welcome back to Hardball. So what's going on with the stock market? Yesterday, the stocks on Wall Street suffered their biggest one-day decline since February. Should we be worried? Erin Burnett anchors CNBC's Squawk on the Street and Street Signs. Welcome.

Erin, you know, I noticed the statistical quirk is the market's actually up for the week, but it doesn't feel that way.

BURNETT: You know, it certainly didn't. And Chris, hey, you've noticed it. I think it's now, well, six out of the past eight days, I believe, after today's close, that we've had the market move either 100 points up or down. I mean, the volatility that we're seeing right now is volatility we haven't seen since 1987. And you may remember what happened in 1987, an unpleasant one-day 23 percent fall for the market.

MATTHEWS: Yeah, but I didn't have any money back then. I didn't care back then. Go ahead.

BURNETT: Yeah, well, you know, I mean, this -- we have a -- it's almost unprecedented, right, except for then. You know, but I was talking about earlier today, Chris, you know, people are afraid and worried about the market, and they should be because it's so unpredictable right now. But if you look back at 1987, there's a lot of things that are similar to what we're seeing now. You know, oil prices were going up then. The cost of loans were going up then. Market hit a record and then started to falter. We're seeing all of those things now.

But it is different this time around. A lot of people, other than you, have a lot of money, so the market's a lot bigger, and that likely means that the cushion is a lot more significant than it was back then. So, as far as, is this just the beginning of a giant crash? Most likely not.

[...]

BURNETT: Well, they were part of the biggest increase in home ownership in this country that we've ever seen. I mean, home ownership's ticked up a few percentage points over the past few years, thanks to low interest rates --

MATTHEWS: Yeah.

BURNETT: -- and all those creative types of mortgages. And you could say that's a good thing, but, you know, Chris, I guess just to throw it out there and, you know, be provocative, but also ask a fair question -- you know, maybe not everybody is able to own a home. We like to think of owning a home as a right in this country.

MATTHEWS: Yeah.

BURNETT: It might not be.

MATTHEWS: Could you get a little closer to the camera?

BURNETT: My -- what is it? Is it zooming in strangely?

MATTHEWS: Come on in closer. No, come in -- come in further -- come in closer. Really close.

BURNETT: What are you -- what are you doing?

MATTHEWS: Just kidding! You look great! Anyway, thanks. Erin, it's great to -- look at that look. You're great.

BURNETT: I don't even know. I'm going to have to go look at the tape here. I'm in a strange location.

MATTHEWS: No, you're beautiful. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. You're a knockout. Anyway, thank you, Erin Burnett.

BURNETT: All right, Chris. See you later.

MATTHEWS: It's all right getting bad news from you, even, OK? Thanks for coming on Hardball.

—R.C.