>> i'm john holloman. >> i'm mark halperin. >> with all due respect to roger goodell, happy 56th birthday. ♪ on the show tonight, rudy sweats the small stuff in a cosby sweater. but first, scott walker let his opulent dinner. by all accounts, it went pretty well except for when rudy giuliani got up and said president obama doesn't love america. here is how governor walker responded on cnbc on "the

morning after." >> the mayor can speak for himself. i will tell you i love america and therapeutic -- and there are plenty of republicans and democrats that love this country. >> were you offended by those comments? what was your reaction? >> i am in new york. i'm used to people saying what they think. >> walker refuses to repudiate. my question to you john -- what is the tripwire in the cycle when a candidate refuses to repudiate things that are over the line? >> i think it shows strength when a candidate figures out a way to distance himself from an ally in a respectful way. john mccain did this in 2008 when somebody got up and said barack obama is a muslim. he said i disagree with your point of view. he is not a muslim, we just have different points of view.

i think this is starting to look weak rather than shrewd. >> the press can be obsessed with these things. last cycle governor romney's , team had the attitude, we are not going to repudiate people who say stuff because we will be in an unending cycle. rush limbaugh attacked college student sandra flug using over the line language, so over the line that he eventually apologized, but before he apologized, mitt romney was asked what he thought. look how he handled it. >> it is not the language i would have used. it is not what i think is good for the country today. that is why we are here talking about jobs in ohio. >> the weak link, and romney used it, "not the language i would have used."

i think these guys now are getting a false sense of how easy this is. yes, walker was on cnbc, but they are not day in, day out, in ohio and new hampshire taking questions. scott walker made a mistake. >> i think he did too. he should have said "i disagree with what the mayor said." >> look, mayor giuliani is a great mayor. he is one of my friends. i hope that i count them as a supporter. >> i think he got it wrong. i understand what he is trying to say. he doesn't have to impugn it demands - the mans''s patriotism. >> the right on talk radio says "look at us bushman journalists like us." no that is what the liberals , want. it's a sign of principle and authenticity. what will rand paul say about this? what will jeb bush say? >> i'm waiting for jeb bush to be asked this question. my gut is that he will answer

this question in the right way. i have a feeling he will answer it a better way than scott walker did. >> someday, scott walker is going to look at that tape and shake his head. >> in 2012, new york jets owner woody johnson raised millions of dollars for mitt romney. in picking -- in 2016, we learned that he is not acting chris christie -- he is backing jeb bush. this is a blow to chris christie, no doubt. is it a sign that chris christie is toast? >> he is not toast, but this hurts. he has been written off earlier. he owns a new jersey football team. he owns a new jersey football team. ' it is not the first tri-state area bundler christie has lost

to jeb bush, but i am telling you right now, i don't believe the christie people know how bad it is. i know they have recognized that they have lost people, but people are writing him off. >> while scott walker is here he didn't handle that question well, but the truth is, among new york donors who don't want jeb bush, they have an open ear for scott walker. because they don't want chris christie. that is why scott walker is getting a hearing this week. >> it previously was the case for people that we talked to that christie would be the #2 contender to bush. the one upside for christie is he is going to have to fight for it now in a way that's not going to be like a chair fund-raising. he is going to have to fight for the nomination, potentially underfunded. he is going to have to use his political skills which, the people writing him off or they are formidable. >> his selling points are going

away. you look at the polling going on around him the associations that people have with them. you know as well as i do, that but there's look at those numbers. -- bundlers look at those numbers. >> he is going to be the nominee right now. . >> james wants you to move on. >> speaking of cold hard cash, i read the news today about the clinton foundation taking donation from foreign countries including the united emirates, saudi arabia and iman. why are they taking legal -- but so sketchy -- money? why are they doing this?

>> i would like to say two words to you. "lincoln bedroom." the clintons have always had a fondness for money, and for campaign money, for philanthropic money. they want to be well-funded all the time. in a campaign context, that often leads them to be blind to where the money is coming from. that is historically true as well. >> i don't care what foreign countries you take it from. and again, the foundation does great work. people should give money to the clinton foundation, but to take money at this point from these countries is a huge mistake. especially when you are running for president. chris christie made a huge mistake and if hillary clinton is not president, i think she will look back on this and say why? why did i take the money from the foundation? why did i get paid speeches? >> as you recall, one of the things she did as secretary of state was to try to put a stop to this. of course, it is obvious you

can't have a foreign governments giving money. but she is now looking at a presidential run them everyone is going to draw the conclusions that these governments are getting around the rules to get access to her. it's wrong. >> the washington post has written about this. it tells us, yet again, people who say the clintons have been scrutinized -- it's not true. >> what is the right thing? shiva is moving the -- fifa is moving the qatar world cup from summer to winter so that it will not be 90 million degrees on the pitch. but some question that qatar is holding the world cup at all. what do you say? >> move the games. >> i think the united states should boycott the games. qatar is using slave labor. people are dying to build this

world cup. it's horrible in every dimension. i call for a boycott. next up, reports are that eddie murphy declined to play il cosby -- bill cosby during the s&l 40th anniversary show. >> based on the performance where he told no jokes, totally fine. i will say, norman mcdonald i am not getting my news other than from his twitter feed. >> a man needed to get a laugh. he would have killed as cosby. instead, he gave that embarrassing nonperformance and ended up a laughing stock in the wrong way. happy chinese new year sports fans. it is either the year of the goat or the year of the sheep. no one is really sure, including the chinese. what is the right breast-feeding animal for this year? >> eiko -- i go ram because the

post office says ram, and i never cross the post office. >> the correct answer is ram. >> also, i would like to solve the puzzle -- the game show we hastily assembled right here on this set when we come back. ♪

>> last night here in new york, quite a show with rudy giuliani speaking at a fancy pants dinner. former economic reagan advisor talks to us about that dinner last night. tell us about what you saw and heard, and how you enjoyed it. >> the dinner was great, i had salmon. it was a little under done. other people had steak. it starred scott walker from wisconsin. he spoke for a little bit and then everybody started asking him questions. there were a couple of

soliloquies, as you mentioned. rudy giuliani and some others. it was great. it was loads of fun. >> are you a supporter of the scott walker's now or not? >> i don't endorse. if i thought for a moment my endorsement would give him any credibility or get him any votes, i might consider endorsing a candidate, but really all it would do would be sever my relationship with everybody else. >> you are a keen observer of presidents. one question people ask is if scott walker seems presidential. does he seem like he can fill the oval office chair? >> let me go back a little bit. kind of stopped when he was a county executive in milwaukee. i have followed his career. he is maturing extremely well. you know, when you get into the oval office, remember, it is the sash that makes a person.

being president makes you a far more presidential than you ever were before. and i think scott walker is perfectly tuned to be president. he is one of a number of candidates who could fit that role very well. >> one of the things you mentioned about reagan it may be , true that he was more presidential when he got into office. but he ran on a very positive compelling, uplifting economic message. scott walker is mainly known as union buster. i wonder if you see the seeds of a kind of upbeat message for the country from him? >> scott walker is very upbeat. he talks about the future of america in positive terms. he likens himself, as most republicans do, to the upbeat message of ronald reagan. most of his policies are based on what reagan did. reagan was upbeat but reagan

changed dramatically from the time he was governor to the time he was president. if you remember reagan in california he raised the income tax, raised the capital gains tax, increased social spending increased prison furloughs, got rid of all of the antiabortion statutes in california. who would believe that man could become the greatest president we ever had? that's what happens -- people change over time. scott walker could well be president. >> i want to talk about some of the other republicans. the first, i want to document the history. mayor giuliani's words have been documented and reported. today on a television appearance he walked back a little bit what he said, but he did not repudiate his remarks or apologize for them. how far into the dinner did he speak, and what do you recall

the reaction in the room being when he said that president obama does not love america? >> i think i was out of the room at the moment. giuliani came in at the beginning. i did not hear that, so forgive me. >> >> was their chatter afterward about what he said? >> i didn't hear anything about it frankly. >> and what do you think of his saying the president doesn't love america? is that something you endorse or repudiate? >> it's not something i would ever say and it's not nothing i believe. i think he is really wrong. i think giuliani is wrong to say that too. i think the president has done a really bad job, but not because he doesn't love america. i think he just doesn't understand economics. you cannot tax yourself into economic prosperity. a poor man can't spend himself into wealth. that is silly. that is what obama has been trying to do for seven years

now. and w was not much better either, to be honest with you. these guys have failed and failed. >> you said you think it was wrong for giuliani to say that and you would not say it your self. why do you think it was wrong for giuliani to say that? >> i think it is wrong for me to say that. because i don't believe it. i am not going to put words in giuliani's mouth. if he believes that and he said it, that is him. my view is i think president obama loves america. i think he is wrong on the economy and i think he has done a lot of damage to the economy, but not because he doesn't love america just because he doesn't understand. >> you know jeb bush pretty well. does that make sense? >> it makes perfect sense. >> you know jeb bush pretty well. yesterday he talked about how he was different from his brother and father.

his father broke his famous no new taxes pledge. what is jeb bush's national policy on economics as you understand it? how is it different from his two relatives? >> let me just say i don't know his policies pe se. you have to talk to him on that. i do know his record as governor of the state of florida, and it was exquisite. he did a lot of good stuff there. i got to know him preferably, i did not know him well. he and i were both pallbearers at a funeral. i did get to know him and his policy. his father broke that pledge, which is the wrong thing to do. it was not wrong for him to make the pledge. it was wrong for him to break it. that cost him the election and the cost the economy a great deal. w did all that stimulus

spending, that huge overspending, the worst thing you could imagine, and then obama doubled down on it. it's just crazy. please help me in this -- how can a guy spend himself into wealth? it's ridiculous. >> of the last four presidents which one was the best on the american economy? >> bill clinton was great. >> why do you say that? the best of the four, you say? >> let me go on clinton if i can. first place, he pushed nafta through congress against his own party and against the unions. you have to take your hat off for that. he got rid of the retirement test on social security. he put on welfare reform where you have to look for a job to get welfare. he cut the capital gains tax rate. >> make your point, you love clinton. >> of all the republicans thinking of running in 2016, which one, regardless of their electability, would be the best

on the economy, as far as you are concerned? >> right now i can't tell you that, because i just don't know. what you have to watch in the campaign is that this is a training time for politicians. politicians do like to change their views depending on how they are received. what you going to see is a training. -- a training period like ellis island, one of them is going to come out the other end a formidable candidate. that's what happened to ronald reagan. he changed dramatically because he responded to politics. these people will too. they are going to be great candidates reflecting the public will. >> thank you for doing this interview. we want to see you draw your famous curve on a napkin for us, so come to new york. you show us your curves and we'll show you ours. after the break, again show hokey music, and pimm fox.

we will be right back. ♪

>> welcome, welcome. are you ready to play "this, that, or the other thing"? i'm pimm fox. it is time to meet our contestants. they never change. our first contestant is mark, he is a former news producer for abc news. he also enjoys traveling to japan welcome. our second contestant is john. he enjoys playing 1980's arcade games. all right, gentlemen, let's play "this, that, or the other thing." question number 1 -- john, who is more likely to jump in the race if hillary clinton doesn't run? number one, joe biden, number two, john kerry, or number three, bill clinton after repealing the 22nd amendment. >> very hard to choose between those three white guys. i would like to choose joe

biden, but i have to go with clinton. >> what about you mark? >> i say biden first, then clinton, then kerry is the nominee if she doesn't run. >> let's go on to question number 2 -- what will happen first gentleman? scott walker complete his educational degree columba bush speaks in public, or brian williams goes back on the air? >> i will go with number two columba bush speaks first. >> john? >> i want to say one of the other ones, but i have to agree with mark. it is going to be columba just because the other two are almost totally unlikely. >> and when she speaks -- watch out. >> now we are going on to question number three? who was playing the best game right now? bibi netanyahu, elizabeth

warren, or monet davis? >> you saw her do that crossover that drove kevin hart to embarrassment and shame so that he would never play in the celebrity game again, you would know the answer all the way is monet davis. >> i say to you pimm fox -- drei del dreidel dreidel. benjamin netanyahu is playing two continents like a pro. >> that you agree monet davis could take him in a one-on-one? >> totally. >> who is more transparent governor chris christie of new jersey, silvio burwell or norm mcdonald? >> norm mcdonald is the best reporter in the history of entertainment. the whole story about eddie murphree not wanting to play cosby. he could be on e!

imagine the world of politics entertainment, and a if all of us unleashed our norm mcdonald and started socializing. >> 100 tweets. >> that guy tweets about football when it is football season, and you don't even need to watch the game. >> and he has an open invitation to come on. >> i have to give you the last final question. what is the best picture? "biredman," "boyhood," or whatever this is? >> boyhood is going to do surprisingly well in the academy awards on the day. big winner, best picture of the year. >> i am going with mark, although if that picture was actually up for an award i would say joe biden would win. but i am going with "boyhood,.." >> thanks for playing "this,

that, or the other thing." ♪

>> >> so, we have solved the problem of the chinese new year. it is the year of the ram.

♪ >> by now, you know his story. the kid who started the social network in his hartford former. -- dorm room. he became one of the wealthiest men in the world. what mark zuckerberg may not be changing the world just yet. taking facebook public has only made it bigger. using billions to expand his empire into photos, even virtual reality. featuring an epic battle with google