>> i'm kathie obradovich. >> and i'm mark halperin. with all due respect to congressman steve king, who promised to cover your event tomorrow with all due respect. >> live from the des moines, it is the iowa freedom summit hosted by steve king. the dream maker. and starring huckabee, the maestro. palin, the rogue. harry. cruz. christie, the situation and donald trump, the reality tv star. featuring santorum, the one with the bat. it is the official unofficial kickoff to the republican party 2016 presidential primary.

>> greetings from iowa. the kickoff to the freedom summit is tomorrow morning at 9:30 eastern time and the fun goes all day. we have carson, christie, cruz palin, santorum, trump, walker and a whole lot more. it is a super bowl of speeches with activists and the press here to kick the tires. which is what people do at the super bowl. kathie is here in john's chair. you are an expert on iowa politics. what does somebody have to do to be considered the winner or a winner? >> you have to bring both sizzle and steak. it is an iowa event. we want to entertain and rev up the people in the hall. but, you have to give some meat to the people that are watching outside, including the media who are looking for a vision for the country as opposed to somebody that tells good jokes. >> or attack the president gratuitously. some of these people like scott

walker have honed some speeches, but most of them are trying to figure out what to say. i'll be interested to see who actually prepares and comes in here with some good one-liners but also a vision. >> you have to have both. if all that fails, you can make balloon animals. >> i think people who are more on the right, huckabee, santorum -- i think they have a better chance with this crowd. fascinating to see the more centrist candidates. it is a tough room. it is a demanding group. >> i think a lot of these people are looking for something new. governor walker has a chance to come in and wow them. but he has to bring his "a" game. he is not known as a dynamic speaker. >> he is getting better. i think tomorrow he could while people. -- wow people. we will keep an eye on him. steve king, the congressman of this state, is an easy target for democrats. >> because of his controversial statements about immigration

including that time when he referred to dreamers as drug mules. not every candidate agrees, but is there a downside to kissing steve king's ring? >> there clearly is. democrats will swarm this event and try to disrupt it and link people to king. look at the people who are not here. people like rubio, bush, and rand paul all have been squishes on immigration. i don't think they want to come here and have their first iowa event and be booed. everyone else is here. mitt romney is not here. they are all here and willing to take the risk. my question to you is congressman king interested in what they have to say on anything but immigration? >> he is. i think he wants to see a real economic plan. he complained a lot in 2012 that he thought candidates were not being detailed enough on the economy. king in iowa is not a big deal. people are seeing candidates show up all the time to things that they may not agree with the host.

it is an opportunity for them to be on stage. and the people who are not on stage may feel that absence. >> immigration has been a bigger issue in iowa. is it a big issue now among republican activists? >> it is a big issue because hispanics are the largest growing minority population in iowa. there are a lot of towns in iowa where immigration is a very big deal. >> the other big thing is congressman king and other iowa politicians, senator grassley, joni ernst, have any of them showed theds about a favorite candidate or will they all stay neutral? >> they will stay neutral to a point. but, terry branstad thinks the next president should be a governor. that leaves out a lot of the field. >> the jimi hendrix of the freedom summit is a governor. that's chris christie. who has terry branstad on speed

dial at this point. they've spent a lot of time together. i say to you not sit down and shut up, but will jersey play here? >> i think chris christie's personality does play in iowa. i think people really like it when he gets up into the face of media, when he is aggressive. am i going to advise him to tell a little old lady to sit down and shut up? no. in fact, old ladies might tell him. >> i think it is not will jersey play in iowa, it is will good christie show up? even when he is aggressive, when he is within the bounds of what people accept, he is a very strong candidate anywhere. bad christie, he does not play well in jersey when he does that. i think he can play here. it'll be interesting to see. he is the main establishment candidate that is here tomorrow. >> he has to play in a conservative republican party.

he has to be able to attract establishment people like terry branstad's crowd. he can do that, but he has to pull from some of the other segments of the republican party. i think it is how well he plays with christian conservatives. >> he and congressman king have built up a relationship. that is part of the reason why he's probably here. >> absolutely. >> the other thing about christie is he is not giving the same kind of speech on this kind of stage melding together a policy speech as well as one-liners. it'll be fascinating to see if he chooses tomorrow to really prepare, not just coming in here to wing it, but try to break out with a strong performance. >> it would not be so bad if he was booed honestly. >> you can celebrate the freedom summit tomorrow by watching the whole thing live on bloombergpolitics.com. our coverage starts with a pregame show at 9:30 a.m. eastern. i will be anchoring from des moines and bringing you all the speeches. we will have interviews and analysis all day long.

we have this big event here in iowa and also a major koch brothers event in palm springs also over the weekend. it makes it easy to forget there is another political party. they are called the democrats. the democrats decide to have their convention next year one week after the republicans in mid-july. given that is earlier than last time and they have the option to go later, good idea or bad idea? >> i think it is a good idea because they want their hands on the general election money. i don't think they want their candidate being attacked by republicans without being able to access that. it may be able to shorten the republican response as well. >> with all due respect, i'm mystified by this. i thought they would go labor day weekend. no one will watch the conventions in july. if you have hillary clinton, you can raise all the nomination money you need. why not get a later check?

if you get a check at all. let the republicans burn themselves out. i don't understand. >> i don't think anybody would watch it on labor day. >> better chance in the fall than over the summer. the other thing is you are right on top of the republicans. it doesn't make sense to me. terry branstad loves football so let's do some pre-gaming. the super bowl is now nine days away. the matches have been called a tossup. the seahawks arrive in phoenix on sunday, the pats get there monday. wait. white house's josh earnest has something to say about tom brady's thursday press conference. >> for years, it has been clear there is no risk that i was going to take tom brady's job as the new england patriots quarterback. as of today, there is no risk of him taking my job either. >> that line was both clever and kind of wicked. what is up with josh earnest? >> i don't know but i think he's afraid tom brady will actually

take his job. it would give a whole new meaning to the phrase "offensive line" when it comes to politics. >> it is fascinating to me how many people on social media are assuming that brady is a liar. >> he has yet to offer another scenario for how that happened. this is going to prove to be a huge distraction leading into the super bowl. >> coming up, the gentleman from the keystone state, rick santorum, will be sitting right here when we come back. ♪

>> our guest tonight is the best around. rick santorum is a big of a fan of "the karate kid" as i am. thank you for coming back which is to say we don't know much about "the karate kid." so, talk about the event tomorrow here in iowa.

you four years ago were kind of the star of the event. it was one of the big moments of getting momentum for your campaign. what will it take for you or anyone else to be a winner of the day, to come out of tomorrow stronger in the minds of iowa activists than you go in? >> i think iowa looks for someone who is a conviction politician. they look for authenticity. someone who has a record to back it up. >> how do you display that on stage at an event? >> you lay out the issues before the country and you make a persuasive case that you are someone that has the experience and the record as well as the vision. that is really important. people are tired about all the junk in washington. they are looking for a vision going forward. tomorrow is an opportunity for everybody to lay out a vision for the party. i have been very vocal on a new robust vision for the republican party. i will share that tomorrow.

>> at a lot of these events what is really more important -- what you say on stage or how you connect with activists in the hallway in between the speeches? >> it is both. you have to have a message. iowans have seen it all. having a compelling message that people can say yeah, this is a good strong message, as well as being able to connect. the wonderful thing about the iowa caucuses is people do a job interview. it is not just what you see on tv, it is not just images or speeches. it is actual relationships. if you don't have that personal touch, if you don't have that authenticity that relates on a personal level, you can have a hard time. >> give us a preview. what are you going to make your main point? >> i wrote a book nine months ago -- >> are you going to read from the book?

>> page one, i'll start out -- no, i went down to burlington, iowa and announced my manufacturing plan. i talked about how we really need to get jobs for the 70% of americans who don't have college degrees and seeing their wages stagnated. that is the message that i took into iowa and continued on. i wrote a book about it. i believe very much so this is what can help unite america. not just from the standpoint of politically but also economically and unite everybody pulling towards the middle. >> this week, your family participated in the march for life. you have had a long commitment to that cause. at the same time, your party backed off voting on a piece of legislation that would have banned abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. why did your party back off in the house and what does it mean to the significance, the place

that issue is now playing with the party? >> i think this is part of the problem of having this strategy of we are just going to ignore these issues at campaign time. we are not going to talk about them. we are going to bury them. >> this is governing. >> let me follow this thought. if our candidates are not prepared to deal with these issues in a sense because they don't campaign on them, they hide from them and don't talk about them. when they come up, they don't know what to say. if they say they are going to be attacked for this, i have never had to deal with these things before. i have never framed this issue before. it does not just affect our ability to win the issue in the hearts and minds, but it affects our ability to be able to convince people who have been told to run away from these issues that we need to pass something on these issues. one follows from the other. >> what would you say to house leadership, members who urged it to be pulled?

>> i would say this is a matter of human decency. the fact is, these children would otherwise be born alive -- these are five-month-old babies in the womb. the idea that we would allow these children who would otherwise be born alive, who feel pain, who look as a little baby, that we cannot say at this point we will put that baby's rights forward and say you can't take that life. i don't know how -- 60% plus of the american public -- this is not a hard decision. this is a matter of decency, of humanity and they should vote for it. >> is the republican party going to have the same conversation for 2016 as they did in 2012, do you nominate someone who is willing to talk about these issues or do you nominate somebody who is going to be perceived as being more acceptable to a general election

audience? or is there something in the middle that will be happening? >> here is the interesting thing on that which is i don't know of anybody who is contemplating running for president in the republican party who is not pro-life. we will be close to 100% pro-life. it is not if we are going to nominate a pro-life candidate, it is one that will not stumble over themselves in talking about these issues because those issues are coming. the other side is not going to sit back and let this issue go fallow. they will plant. the question for us is are we going to out there and make our case instead of just playing defense? we were talking football earlier. you don't score a lot of points on defense. from my perspective, we need to score points if we are going to win. i would rather be on offense than defense. >> iowa will again have a straw poll for republicans in the summer.

are you going to participate in that? >> we will make a decision by then as to whether or not we will be in the race. i have a feeling on straw polls , there is a variety of straw polls in washington and other places, but i'm someone who keeps my eye on the ball. when you're really going to put points on the board. whether there is a straw poll or not or other ones -- will we participate? we went and spoke and had a good time last time, but we did not spend the precious resources on a straw poll. we will spend our time and energy if we get in when the points count. >> which interests you more -- whether tom brady is telling the truth or what happened in the meeting between mitt romney and jeb bush? >> i want to know if tom brady is telling the truth. i don't know if mitt romney and jeb bush will have any real consequences.

critics weathered -- >> whether tom brady is telling the truth -- >> what is your gut? is he telling the truth? >> i think i ticked off patriots fans enough yesterday with my comments that he should take ownership which i still believe he should. he should stand up and say this is what happened. if he did not do it, he has the obligation to find out who did because it is sitting on his shoulders right now. >> at this phase of the operation, how would you rate the job you and your operation have done so far in allowed you to position yourself if you are going to be a candidate? >> we are light years ahead of where we were four years ago. we have strong bases of support all across the country. we have maintained communications in iowa and across the country. we have been traveling a lot and working with people. we have been able to maintain a strong donor base which is really important. i read an article today talking

about how 60% of mitt romney's money came from people who gave him more than $2000 or something like that. i think something like 70% of our money came from people who gave us under $200. we do it a different way. ours is broader, blue-collar folks. when people say can you get these big donors to support you? we will have some people who share our vision. but, i don't make any pertinence if we will raise $100 million by the end of the year. we will raise enough money to run a strong campaign if we decide to go. that is the part of the process we are looking at. what kind of support are we going to get? how much of the grassroots will be there? those are the questions we will decide in the next couple of months. >> rick santorum, the obvious front runner for the 2016 presidential nomination. thank you for joining us. we will see you tomorrow. when we come back, the guide to des moines, iowa.

the smittys will make a big splash, next. ♪

>> des moines and the rest of iowa are going to get a lot of action so we decided to go to the capital of iowa and reveal the hottest of hotspots in this very sleepless city. we are starting in the downtown marriott lobby. this is a bar where everybody comes. it's not really clear to me why. >> we all used to go to the same place, but it fell apart so we went to the next hotel. we wanted a drink and wanted to get marriott points. get those nifty free gifts. >> the answer to why everybody comes here is everybody comes here so everybody comes here. i'm leaving the marriott now. i'm on the des moines skywalk. a lot of midwestern cities have these elevated walkways. it is four miles in total. it goes all over the downtown. you can go to restaurants, office buildings.

you can do things without ever having to go outside into the cold winter. the smart reporters know how to leave their hotels wearing shorts and a t-shirt and go cover a presidential political event without ever going into the cold iowa winter. you got musical entertainment and great views. for instance, there is the iowa state capital. you can do pretty much everything on the skywalk. i once saw mike huckabee get a haircut on the skywalk and about 50 reporters crowded into a tiny little barbershop. we want a good iowa haircut. square in the back, not too short. part it on the side. have you ever cut joni ernst's hair? >> i have not. >> jeff bradley? >> no. >> have you ever cut wolf blitzer's hair? >> no. >> requires a special license.

mike huckabee? >> he went to the other shop. the democrat was there that day. >> i was there that day. the day when there were 70 reporters. there is a lot going on in this part of town. there is a weird and awesome mural on the wall. this building behind me is now a church but in 2008, it was the headquarters of barack obama's presidential campaign when he ran against hillary clinton and john edwards. this is a seafood restaurant called flash in des moines. it is a seafood restaurant in iowa. i ate here once and i thought -- des moines, iowa and lobster? i don't know where the lobsters come from. we are here by a pork tenderloin place near the airport. we are going to order and we're going big. this is the best tenderloin in the world at smittys? is that accurate? >> i would agree.

i make it homemade everyday. >> that roger man on the street was roger simon of politico, not just guy i ran into in the lobby. what did you think of that tour? >> i think you make des moines look very cool. it is cool. >> we will be right back with a very exciting promo after this.

>> we are on the tv 30 minutes a day, but we are online. tomorrow, you can join us for the best live streaming coverage of the iowa freedom summit. it will be anchored by year's

truly with a pregame show with lots of interviews. thank you for watching.

>> i am pimm fox, and this is what i am taking stock of. in greece, ideologies collide, and the greeks decide whether an anti-austerity party will lead. it could mean a great exit from the eurozone. meanwhile, investor euphoria wore off after yesterday's ecb announcement of 1.1 trillion euros of quantitative easing. the s&p 500 closed down more than 0.5%. and oil traders take note. there is a new king in saudi arabia who signals he will not change his predecessors' energy