mark: i'm mark halperin. john: and i'm john heilemann. and with all due respect to hillary clinton, it would have been an uneventful weekend that wasn't for those meddling kids and that dog of theirs. at the national scrabble they sports fans. in our lineup tonight, marco rubio, hillary clinton, and marco rubio. but first, hillary clinton. perhaps the most criticized and hyperbolic size -- hyperbolicize d candidate in the field.

it looks like a campaign is going pretty well, actually. and today, some folks focus less on the video and on her road trip to iowa. >> in a sign that she may be purse -- may be serious about it more personal campaign, she hopped in a van named skippy. >> we are all talking about it. >> she is in a scooby doo decorated bus, by her own admission. >> this was her idea we are told. >> the campaign said it was hillary's idea to travel 1000 miles in a three-van convoy, and that the scooby nickname is hers and entirely. john: all things considered with a hillary campaign, the van, the plan, the woman, mark, how do you think things are going? mark: i would say pretty good. given how her campaign staff was

holding their breath, worried that it might be bad most he i think it's gone pretty well. people like the video mostly. your trip some people are mocking it. it's going pretty well. we just learned she just stopped at a chipotle. john: i want to know what she ordered there. mark: not the pork, because there is a pork shortage. they are pretty pleased, and i think they should be, because the standards are so high and she is off to a pretty decent start. john: the wildness of the press and the journalist to set up outside of her house for no reason the video was well produced. and people lined about the logo, too. in the end nobody cares. it's fine. she's off and running. mark: and the most important thing in the messaging was to not make his campaign about her and eight ends of entitlement, but to make it about the people. some people felt it did that

the video, but in an over-the-top way. to have a good day on the first day is really important. john: and although voters will not have read this, the ravi luke video that came out before that played well with the gang of 500. mark: hillary's video is the most-watched video since there was the video of that cat. we played it over and over again, trying to get a hint or rationale of her wanting to be president is. john what did you glean from the two-minute, 18 second announcement video? john: the symbiotic's appear pretty clear. it was about the rainbow coalition updated to the obama coalition. hispanics african-americans, asian-americans, a couple of gave couples -- gay couples, all of the parts that he built in

the previous campaign and she has to reanimate in the current campaign. and then you have the elizabeth warren-esque rhetoric that was a popular not to things she might bring up in the campaign. mark: they are trying to be treated like every other candidate, as for a strategy which again, she is entitled to. jeb bush got into the race with a video. and she's a formal candidate, but those distinctions are meaningless. she does not want to have to do big performance pieces and talk to the press. i don't know how many takes it took to get that video, but she wants to play by her own rules. in the campaign staff has tried to say this is a slow rollout. the video executed that. it's a great place holder for her, even though it did not talk about why she is running. john: beyond the everyday people economics, is still very vague. we do not have a real rationale.

they are saying wait until may and she will give a big speech and have to articulate those things in a full throated completely laid out way. there are hints of what they are doing here and they recognize it is a race as much as it is about mobilization. mark: and mayor de blasio refused to endorse her. part of the reason she did not make policy choices is because she does not want to alienate anyone in the party right now. john: james cut off my semi-profanity. i'm very upset about this. a new challenger has arrived. six months ago, the conventional wisdom was that marco rubio would never consider running for president if his friend and semi-mentor jeb bush was in. but that turned out to be conventional wis-dumb. we just got the excerpts from

his launch in which you says, we cannot go back to the leaders of the past. we have to change the future by changes the people who are making decisions. will he be a first tier candidate? or is he a second-tier candidate? mark: these excerpts are well-written and i bet he will deliver them powerfully. unless you are someone who believes that jeb bush is the nominee presumptive, market -- marco rubio is now a first-tier candidate. he has catapulted himself through great performances at these multicandidate events, particularly those for donors that are not open to the press and the public. and by being a new phrase -- a new face, and with his emphasis on middle class economics is really strong. john: i think it is unfair to leave ted cruz out of the top tier.

he has raised a ton of money through his super pac vehicle last week, and he great a -- he gave a great performance in his opening. the problem with rubio i think that he will be a top-tier candidate, but the thing he has not gotten -- and the scrutiny has only begun for all of these guys but he has gotten almost no scrutiny at this point. jeb bush and scott walker have been over scrutinized at this point. that, if income is a huge issue for some you almost passed -- have to have had more scrutiny than he has had. mark: both jeb bush and scott walker have had bad days this year, in part because they have gotten scrutiny. it will be interesting to see of the bush operation which is the most aggressive in terms of research, let's see if jeff authorizes people going after his close friend. mark group -- marco rubio has done a good job of being in a lesser but finding the path to

the nomination is like playing marco polo with your eyes closed and pumping into the wall. -- bumping into the wall. john: this is the $64,000 question and one that you and i agreed upon with our scatter report. he doesn't have a path when you think about geography. he is not an obvious i was player will stop there is no place -- he is not an obvious iowa player. there is no place that is obvious for him. what he has to hope for is that he never just gets behind jeb bush. and walker, maybe is too much in the conservative lane for the establishment. his bath is an ideological path not a generational path. mark: he still has room to grow. he has still not tried out his talents on the kinds of audiences he may win.

some felt last week that after he spent time in iowa, he would become the iowa front runner. and maybe so, but today's polling does not represent that. he's got a long way to go, but he does have the capacity to blow past the last man dancing if bush and -- the last man standing if bush and walker and others are found wanting. john: he's a senator and a lot of the money around him is establishment money. he will caps on wall street money and real estate money, and think like that, but he was originally a tea party guy. walker and he are almost -- you think of him against bush all the time, but he is really more in the walker. he can straddle in a way that bush -- mark: and i have the reason to believe that if you held bill clinton down and pumped him with zero, besides bush who is the -- pushed him with serum, besides

bush who is the biggest threat to luke clinton, it would be this guy. and if rubio ever overcomes the national security hurdle people saying he's ready to be commander-in-chief, he could take it to hillary clinton in a lot of ways that would be dangerous for her as the democratic nominee. john: live special announcement of marco rubio's announced and -- announcement is coming up. at first, liz caputo and patty's police doyle live together -- patty's p solis doyle live together next. ♪

mark: we have two guests tonight, lisa caputo, for first lady hillary clinton, and patty's solis doyle. ladies, thank you for joining us. lisa, we will start with you.

how do you think the launch went? lisa: i think it went well and as well as expected. i think she was incredibly relaxed and it came through in the video to me as very poignant, how relaxed and comfortable she was. and her idea of the road trip just cracked me up, because i can totally hear her saying let's take a road trip and no one on the staff really understanding what that meant. i did have a call this afternoon and oma aberdeen was on the call from the road. it was a lot of fun and they were making their way and having a good time will stop -- a good time. everybody is very comfortable and everybody is rolling up their sleeves. there is a lot of humbleness which i think is awfully -- also terrific. and everyone is in this together, which is a great start. john: where did she call from do you know?

lisa: i don't know, i think she may have called from the van itself. mark: how do you think it is going? patty: i think it's going great. i loved the video. i thought it was hopeful and fun and about the future and relatable and all those great things. the idea of the road trip and not telling you to buddy about it and stopping at gas stations i'm talking to folks, i just love it. john: patti you know she's an optimistic person about the future and you know that she is also a worrier occasionally and is known to fret. if there is anything she is worried about, what is it? patti: running out of gas, maybe. actually no, she's probably worried about getting to i am on time for her first event. lisa: i think that probably right, but don't you think she is worried about charlotte, to?

i think she is wondering about what is going on with the granddaughter. she always finds time to worry about those things in the heat of it, but i think you are right , she will be worried about getting there on time. patti: i don't know if worried is the right word for charlotte. it's more like, what is she doing echoed what is chelsea doing? what did she do today? i don't know if it is worried more than you know, i want to be there. mark: do she about how it is being covered? patti: i don't think she is watching it because she's in a van. i think she's probably asking others to tell her how it's going. i think she's really focused on going to iowa, talking to voters . no offense to you guys, but i

don't know she much cares what you are saying at this point. john: wow. lisa: what is interesting about this, and patti knows it all too well, she was with her in the senate race for a good part of it and played such a pivotal role, but you are seeing a lot of what was so successful for hillary clinton in 2000 now at the beginning of this race. which was, yes, she's very substantive and has a lot of policy ideas, but she's not going out there front and center with them. rather, she wants to have a conversation with voters and hear what is on their minds, hear what their struggles are, hear with their ideas are for potential solutions to their issues and formulate as she does. i really do fundamentally believe she will try to earn every single vote in a hard-fought way. nothing will be taken for granted, don't you think, patti? patti: i'm so glad you said

that because what she's doing now really does remind me of the 2000 race and what she did in upstate new york, which was to spend a lot of time there and talk to people one-on-one in small settings. and even spend the night in supporters homes and we found that was so effective, because in a way, it was very viral. it was neighbor talking to neighbor saying, oh, i just i hillary and she's great and she's nice and she's smart stop -- she's smart. i think that's what she's doing this time around in iowa and i think it is very effective. john: you lived through 2008 and the idea that she would have ever gotten into a car and said i want to go to iowa. iowa was not a state that she loved in the way she loved other states and she suffered there. what you think is happening for her psychologically going back to that state given what

happened to cycles ago? patti: we were definitely out organized in iowa, but she did get a lot of the traditional caucus-goers and i think she had a lot of respect for the way iowans really like to kick the tires. i think she was back there saying ok, i know what to do now, and she's going to do it. and she's really going to in time with the voters. -- really going to spend time with the voters. if she could have gotten into a van and driven around, she would have. but our campaign back then was well, we've got all this press that needs to cover you. and i think this time around she's just like, i don't care. i'm going to do it my way and it's refreshing. lisa: i think that is so right. i think it's different this time and nothing she has learned from the less the 2008. she has digested a lot of it and analyzed it and she's going at

this the way she wants to go at it. and it's now like she has to prove or stop in terms of her capabilities. -- prove herself in terms of her capabilities. now, she's just going to go be the candidate she wants to be. long ago, the raging cajun used to say, she's a thorough bread. letter run and b herself. that is spot -- letter run and be herself. that is spot on. and that is pricey in her taking the road trip, let's stop it to the lake, let's stop at -- let's stop atchipotle and let's stop at the gas station. it's just so different this time and is very real. mark: lisa and patti, think you

very much. we will have you back. as the campaign continues. we will be right back with al hunt. ♪

john: the best political stories of this your happening today. with us today, and still are probably, and who definitely wishes he was with us for the game the great albert hunt. i want to start with you and your views. the video yesterday and the road trip, how do you think it is going? al: it is pretty contrived, but it is good. and the road trip is a gimmick, but a shot of her today at aaa, you know, i think it is not going to matter a lot never -- in the long run, but a way to

start. mark: what are the two big unanswered questions for you about marco rubio and his campaign? al: is he a heavyweight? he's never been tested on that score. the one big immigration -- the one big issue he got involved with, immigration, he did a fair job and then backed away. that is not the way big-league politicians act. i will say this, however. his potential is great and he's very smart to run. allocations who wait invariably pay a price. -- politicians who wait invariably pay price. jackjack kennedy, barack obama, and we will see if he is up for it. john: he is talking about tax reform and making that a real centerpiece. he's offering a plan that is not in the mainstream. it is more of a reformed

conservative plan. how do you think it will play in the republican nominating electorate? al: it is interesting. he has been tutored a lot by some of the really interesting economic thinkers including a copy -- a colleague, menasha were. the emphasis is on family as opposed to cutting high tax rates. i think it will play well with voters. but he's got a problem however. it's a colossal budget breaker and revenue loser. at some point, he's got to say he believes in dynamics touring, which almost no one else does and they really won't lose money, or he's got to come up with some way to pay for it. mark: taking a look right now, getting ready for the marco rubio event. he is excited to speak about 6:00 eastern time. we will be with you before then

to pregame it a little bit. in terms of donors and wall street, etc., do you think they would be comfortable with someone rubio's age, his relative lack of hearing if in the end he becomes the strongest candidates? al: if he is the winner, yes. it would be very hard for some people in the field right now but not marco rubio. he will not be the first choice, but probably the second or third choice for a lot of them to begin with. and if he looks at he's a winner and somebody that can go toe to toe with hillary and 10, and as you said earlier, some of the clinton evil thing he could be the most -- some of the clinton people think he could be the most formidable opponent. mark: and as you know, he's got to win -- john: and as you know he's got to win three or four out of those first states. what do you think is the state

he is most likely to win? al: some people say iowa, but i see him having a hard time breaking through. new hampshire is unpredictable. if he does well and i will, he could surprise in new hampshire. -- in iowa, he could surprise in new hampshire. he's got to do well in both of those states but not necessarily win. but it is hard to be the nominee if you do not win in those first two states. and then on to california. john: we do not want to exhaust you because you are covering the rubio announcement. we will let you go. we will see you in a little bit. marco. marco. mark: hello. --polo. ♪

john: if you want to watch marco rubio's official announcement for president, go to bloomberg.com in 15 minutes, or catch us right here 15 minutes

before. mark: for now, taking stock is next. we will see you in a bit right here. sayonara. ♪