john: i'm john heilemann. mark: i'm mark halperin. "with all due respect" to chipotle, you aren't the only ones who are ready for hillary. ♪ mark: on the show tonight, christie is unafraid. paul's media cascade. something, something iran deal charade. first, hillary watch day two -- hawkeye edition. the van, the coffeeshop and the possible pillars of her campaign explained by hillary herself at kirkwood community college in iowa. secretary clinton: where i look at where we are as a country

i'm so convinced that there is not anybody anywhere who can outcompete us, who has better values, who can do more to provide more people the chance to live up to their own god-given potential. we cannot take that for granted. so, i want to be the champion who goes to bat for americans, for big areas and big fights i think we have to take on because there are those that do not agree with what i think we should be doing. we need to build the economy of tomorrow, not yesterday. we need to strengthen families and communities. we need to fix our dysfunctional political system and get unaccountable money out of it once and for all, even if that takes a constitutional amendment. we need to protect our country from the threats we see and

those that are on the horizon. mark: in order to make sure we did not miss the point this was the foundation of her campaign she tweeted out afterwards the four principles, points and tweeted a link to a story laying out the same. john, will this platform be an enduring part of her campaign? will she still be talking about these four things say next month or year? john: three of them are so vague that she certainly will. protecting america, building the economy of tomorrow, not yesterday, and helping communities. the only one that is specific was the one about money and politics where she is making a dramatic claim, especially from someone who will hundreds of million dollars in super pac money. those are fine principles, but they are not a platform and not even fully a rationale.

it is the beginning of what could be built into a real platform. mark: this was effectively her campaign announcement. it was a lot longer than she talked in the video. those are four principles that are maybe a little more vague than what the republicans have said, but not much more. she is tending to the base -- campaign finance reform is a big issue for the base. in the next month, i think as she moves towards fundraising is she will be associated with a big-money campaign. she needs to take the edge off of that for the base of the party. john: she will be a hypocrite about it as much as barack obama was. finance reform -- i really want it but i am still happy -- i won't spend as much money as anybody. if she wants to go back to the old federal funding system, that would be one thing. compared to the republicans, they are no less vague.

build the economy of tomorrow and not yesterday -- who knows what that means? mark: hillary clinton is talking in a way about populist economics that is meant to help her with the base of the democratic party. secretary clinton: i think it is fair to say, as you look across the country, the deck is stacked in favor of those at the top. there is something wrong with that. there is something wrong with ceos making 300 times more than the typical worker. there is something wrong where american workers keep getting more productive as they have and i saw a few minutes ago is very possibly because of education and skills training. that productivity is not matched in their paycheck. there is something wrong when hedge fund managers pay lower tax rates than nurses or the truckers i saw on i-80 as i was driving here.

mark: she talked a lot about her biography today which is an essential part of being a good campaign presidential candidate. as explainer in chief, that is as good as it gets. i thought she was good with weaving her own story with her policy prescriptions. john: she reminded people that when people say they don't know what she stands for that she has a long record and stances, things she has voted on. that sounds like a little bit of a nod to elizabeth warren. she is more to the left on economics and more to the right on foreign policy than her husband was. mark: that is in sync with the people of iowa, particularly the democrats. john: meanwhile in another crucial early state, chris christie was trying to do what bonnie tyler has been telling us for years -- turn around, bright eyes. it is true that 69% of his own

constituents say he would not make a good president, but everybody knows new jersey voters do not matter as much as the ones in new hampshire which is why he was it manchester betting the farm on something that has been sorely missing from this race so far -- entitlement reform. governor christie: i propose a modest means test that only affects those with non-social security income of over $80,000 a year and phases out social security payments entirely for those who have $200,000 a year in retirement income. this would affect less than 2% of all social security recipients, but would contribute to the overall health of the system and recognize that the wealthiest among us don't need this benefit. our leaders in washington are not telling people the truth. washington is still not dealing with this problem. frankly, washington is afraid to have an honest conversation about social security, medicare and medicaid with the people of

our country. i am not. john: reform medicaid, medicare? reform social security is a different thing. talk about social security in that way. is that the way to win the republican nomination? mark: there are huge risks associated with it. we talked about whether hillary clinton would talk about this. i have never seen a candidate succeed leading with entitlement reform. this is not top of mind. my guess is this is a sign of something of desperation. john: he is fully aware of the fact the republican base is older and whiter and that makes messing with social security a very risky proposition. he said he understands the risk which is why there is a little bit of a hail mary quality to

this. it plays to his brand as truth teller. mark: my hats off to him in the substance. there are interesting things he is proposing. the timing of it is not ideal. we will see what happens. my guess is this will not be in enduring message. enough about would-be presidents, the real, actual current president barack obama had said before today he would veto a bill requiring congress to review a deal with iran on nuclear weapons. the senate foreign relations committee approved such a bill and now the white house says the president will probably sign it. does this mean we are more or less likely to see a five-power deal with iran? john: more likely, but it does not mean it is likely. this shows you how strong bob corker is. i think bob corker would like to get to a deal. the white house opposing authority was going to confuse -- everybody is in agreement what would have to happen.

mark: it allows the clock to go towards the end of the spring, but the iranians could use this as a pretext. if they want to get out of the deal, they could. i don't think they want to get out of the deal. it shows corker's influence and ben cardin's influence. the white house got some stuff back. they did get some stuff of the bill that would have made it harder for the white house to agree. i think this will pass. in the end, we have to see what is in the deal, but i think the president was right from his own point of view to agree to this. john: i think if iran wants to get out of the deal, they can do it in a million ways. they don't need a pretext. coming up, rand paul's wife kelley and princess leia. we will be right back. ♪

john: our guest tonight is author kelley paul whose new book "true and constant friends" tells the story about her grandmother and her friendship with six girlfriends. she also happens to be the wife of rand paul who is running for president. thank you for coming on the show. we will start you off with the traditional author question. why did you decide to write this book? kelley: i wrote it as a way to honor my grandmother and mother. i have amazing memories of my grandmother. she was such an inspiring person. i started out writing speeches about her after rand was elected. after i would give speeches about her, people would tell me stories about their grandmothers. i felt like it was really resonating with people, not only who she was, but the way it brought memories to mind for other people. that is when i get the idea to reach out to my oldest friends and go back in time with them, a generation or two, and find out who inspired them. mark: you are living in a nuclear household with all men. three sons and your husband.

the book is about your relationship with women, not just your mother and grandmother. what do you think the difference is with relationships men have versus relationships women have? kelley: i have extremely close relationships with not only my friends in this book, but my friends in kentucky. i think women tend to be more open. we share more. our experiences are not just experiential, like we do things together. we open up and share. i have been in a book club. i feel like our friendships are more intimate than those that men have. mark: how do you keep in touch with your six friends? you write about them in the book, but they also contribute to the book. kelley: they were generous and optimistic about this whole process. they will be in new york for a

big party we are doing for the book. mark: where at? kelley: the national arts club. the book has a lot of art in it that i purchased from a homeless shelter in new jersey. we are having several of the women artists featured in the book coming and we are doing a silent auction of the art and donating it back to homefront, the source of the art. the friends are flying in for that. john: you are out here on the beginning of the book tour odyssey. we know you are talking a lot about this book. your husband is running for president and the question might come up about public policy. you don't want to talk about that on this tour. why is that? kelley: i want people to look at rand for who he is. he is an elected official and running for a higher office. as a voter, i want to look at where the candidate shakes out on the issues that i most care about as a voter. i want people to be able to do that with rand, not listen to what their spouse thinks about

everything. mark: this is your book and not his. what role do you want to play, not policy obviously but going forward, what role will you play as he runs for president? kelley: probably more the same as i did in the senate race. i want our family to stay strong through this. like any spouse, i want to be there for him. beyond that, absolutely, help and support him wherever i can whether that is helping him with his speeches, giving speeches from time to time is something i'm comfortable with. just be part of the process. i did tell somebody once -- they asked me because i'm a bit reluctant sometimes, i think it is less stressful to be out there and giving speeches and being a part of it than it is to be at home watching it on television.

john: mark mentioned your boys. in the course of writing books about presidential campaigns, we have found that the children of candidates at whatever age are a little bit worried about the degree of scrutiny they will get when their father or mother decides to run for president. have do your boys feel about this new phase your husband is going through and the scrutiny they might get in the process? kelley: that is a big factor and we have talked to each of them about that. they are excited and very proud of their father. they all want to be involved. i keep reminding them that is the world we live in. john: does that worry them at all that their facebook posts and tweets, reporters will be picking around in their private lives somewhat? kelley: it worries me as a mother. they tell me they are prepared for all of this and i have to believe them. i don't know if anybody really is though. there is an incredible spotlight on you. mark: what do you think your grandmother would think about

this book and what you are doing with your life now? kelley: she would love it. she was the kind of person that believes anything was possible. she was the ultimate optimist even though many people might view her life as a very humble and hard life. she worked as a housekeeper for her entire life. she was always open to whatever the next great surprise was going to be. she always told me that she thought i was going to have some amazing adventures. mark: she turned out to be right. john: after the break, we will stroll over to our giant wall and show kelley paul something she has never seen before. we will be right back. ♪

mark: we are back with author kelley paul. her new book "true and constant friends" was published today. it is about a group of very strong women who influenced your life.

we will ask you about other strong women in american history and ask you for your reaction of how they influenced you and our culture. the first one is based on the fact that you are a pretty big "star wars" fan. kelley: i am. mark: how did this woman influence you and america? kelley: help me, obi-wan kenobi. you're my only hope. [laughter] kelley: i love princess leia. mark: what do you love about her? kelley: she was brave, strong. she fell in love with han solo. john: i have three questions. do you approve of her hairstyle right there? kelley: i had a similar hairstyle when i was younger. my mom used to braid my hair and did these little twistings. it was not as large. john: are you looking forward to the new movies? kelley: i am. i'm a huge fan. john: how do you feel about jar jar binks? kelley: he was a bit of a letdown. [laughter] kelley: my kids were small when it came out so they loved him at the time.

mark: who was your favorite star wars character besides princess leia? kelley: probably han solo and jabba the hutt. mark: who doesn't love jabba the hutt? another great american lady. what do you think about her -- barbara bush? kelley: i love the pearls, her enthusiasm and honesty. she is a great woman. mark: have you ever met her or would like to? kelley: i have not and i would. mark: first lady is a difficult thing. you may be first lady of the united states. for any first lady, what you think is hard about the job? kelley: obviously, the spotlight is hard but i think most first ladies have been very graceful and have done the job well and put the spotlight on things they care about. john: she is also notoriously tough. try to be nicer to your husband than she was to hers. mark: next, another great american lady for you to react to. kelley: taylor swift. mark: what you think of her?

kelley: i'm not that familiar with her. i do like her music. i would not say i'm a huge fan. in my neighborhood, a lot of the girls that are my son duncan's age friends, they all went to her concerts. she writes her own music -- i admire that about her. john: is there a young female artist-singer that you like better than taylor swift? kelley: i like carrie underwood a lot. i have heard her live. mark: on your book tour, you have met reba. how was that? kelley: she was amazing. it was a nice unexpected surprise. she was 10 feet away performing. she has great energy. i love that. mark: a couple of more ladies to get to. this great american lady, what do you think about her? michelle obama. kelley: i have met her several times and she is always

incredibly warm and gracious. mark: you met her at the white house at events with your husband? kelley: i met her at the christmas parties, first lady luncheons. she is always very gracious and says hi to everyone. my son robert and i helped to build a playground in d.c. that was something she was involved in. she was great and came over. she had great energy. i admire the work that she and joe biden do for military families. i'm a big fan of that. john: people who disagree with barack obama on policy tend to think they have done a great job raising their daughters. kelley: they are a really nice family. that is one of the things i don't like about politics is just because you don't agree with someone on the issues, i don't want to disparage their motives. i think most people are trying to do what is best for the country. mark: senate spouses sometimes hang out together. have you spent any time with ted cruz's wife or marco rubio's wife? kelley: very briefly. i met both of them in brief ways

and they seem like great women. i have probably spent more time with kristin gillibrand's husband and kelly ayotte's husband. mark: why? kelley: we always end up to be at the same table. a lot of my favorite senate spouses are male spouses. john: i will give you a prediction about the lives of the republican senators running for president, when you're at debates together, you will all be great friends. kelley: i bet we will. mark: last one -- what do you think of sarah palin? you've met her. kelley: i have a couple of different times. she campaigned for rand. i met her at the kentucky derby a couple of years ago. i admire her energy and how she got involved in the grassroots up. she ran for mayor and i admire her. john: when you were at the derby, did you put money on a horse? kelley: i always lose money at the derby. i bet like two dollars or five

dollars. i pretty much steadily lose. two years ago, rand was ecstatic when everybody in the group won. he saw me cheering and asked how much i had on it and i'm like two dollars. mark: we have a big field of republican candidates this year. so far, one female -- carly fiorina -- thinking about running. governor palin does not look like she is running. do you see any women that you would like to see run for president in the republican party? kelley: i heard carly speak recently. i was attending a lunch. she is a great speaker and has a great story. i'm the kind of person that does not necessarily go for identity politics. i think they are great female and male candidates. i want to see who has the best ideas. i think there is one candidate who really does. mark: who happens not to be a woman. john: i was going to say kentucky senator -- maybe mitch mcconnell.

kelley: the one with the curly hair -- rand paul. mark: he used to be called randy and you switched him over to rand. did you ever call him randy? kelley: no. mark: does anybody still? kelley: a couple of his old high school friends, i think it's really hard for them. most people made the switch. i never really saw him as a randy. from the moment i met him, i will call you rand. mark: next time i interview him, i plan to say senator randy paul. john: just shorten it up. mark: thank you for walking the wall with us. it was fun, right? kelley: it was. mark: the name of the book is "true and constant friends." we will be right back. ♪

john: tomorrow on the show, senator lindsey graham and nothing is off limits. until then, we are live 24/7 on bloombergpolitics.com. mark: thank you for watching. up next, "taking stock."

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