they are in the state today and hillary clinton is on the road in mason city, making the case. just a few moments ago, for her experience. >> we are living in an incredibly complicated time in american history. it is not a time for easy

answers or glib answers or one-liners or applause lines. those are all great. that's part of campaigning. at the end of the day, we need a president that has the experience and the understanding to deal with the complexity of the problems that we face. >> clinton moves onto cedar falls where she plans to focus on small business. she will call for less red tape, easier access to capital, and trying to boost exports for small business. she will never see an endorsement of the nfib, but can she be a candidate for moms and pops? >> she is cutting red tape apple pie, cherry pie, pumpkin pie, and expanding growth abroad. she is not seen as a left-wing democrat. and she is not a bad candidate

for main street, potentially. more so than a lot of democrats. she will always be remembered as the candidate of clinton care and an endorser of obama care. there are few places where those things are less popular than in the small business community. >> there is a different kind of business community, small businesses started by members of the coalition. they know that this allows her to be in business. get her away from the far left stuff she has been talking about. small business people have been frustrated in the current economy. and to speak in a targeted way. younger people starting small businesses, i think it's great. >> to add further to that, she talks about entrepreneurs. they are talking directly to silicon valley. the next generation of voters and the money that she needs.

>> i left off the small business creators that are female. let's get the specifics. the list is meaningless. >> we will talk about chris christie later. >> we have a bunch of bullet points but i think it is smart politics for her to do it. >> hillary clinton has not done much talking to the press, but she has been talking to non-press americans. she explained why. >> not only do i learn a lot but i also feel like it best way to make those connections that will not only give me a firm foundation in the caucus here in iowa or in a primary in new hampshire, because it really is about people to people connections if we are talking about what we want to do. it will also give me the kind of information i need to be an even better presidents. >> there you have the explanation.

we had detailed evidence in the form of an e-mail, supporters that took the extraordinary step of documenting every single question she has asked to the everyday people and have been asked by those same everyday people. mark, how much merit is there in this gambit? >> not none. it's important that she is taking questions. it is not the general public, it is selective people. but i think it is the case that reporters ask different questions, and often important questions. supporters are proving she is talking to voters about issues. >> it's one of those things where the campaign is setting up a false binary. she can talk to americans or the press. no. this is an 'and' vote.

she should talk to both. it is what being a presidential candidate is all about. >> there are a bunch of unhappy topics. a longtime associate wrote her a memo about libya. if she had a press conference today or tomorrow, she would be asked about blumenthal. she doesn't want to talk about that. i think she will have a press conference soon, but not today. >> no doubt blumenthal will be one of the many questions they will ask her about. he's always been a shadowy and very influential figure in the clinton world. known to some detractors as the graphing all. that story is a little dodgy to say the least. >> switching to the other party. chris christie gave a foreign-policy speech. there was some policy calling for increased defense spending

on a variety of weapons systems. there was also kristi talking about the aftermath of 9/11. just when he became governor and his wife was talking about the world trade center. >> waiting for a phone call from mary pat waiting to pray she was ok. i know what it feels like to lose people if they should be safe. at work, at home, on our streets. this is not theoretical to me. i lived it in my own home. everything changed that morning in september. so for the next seven years of my life, my office focused on fighting terrorism every day. >> and there was talk on the trademark tough talks, vladimir putin. >> we should put travel bans and

asset freezes on every member of the russian parliament and all of his inner circle. including putin himself. we know who holds the leash on the dogs of war. it's not mess around on this. if that's not enough, we should look at tougher sanctions. >> he talked about entitlement reform, the economy, he's gotten good marks. how will this be received? >> i think it's good for him to be focused on substance. if there will be a path back for him, that is the way. stronger defense, stronger intelligence, stronger alliances, and there is not much more policy substance then there is that the subheads will suggest. >> any of the prospective candidates have given, this was the most detailed. he did have specifics about how he wants the pentagon done. he went implicitly about national security.

i give him or lehigh marks for explaining to people what he would do and in terms of style i thought this was different from the foreign-policy speech. >> strength rhymes with christie. he pulls it off stronger than others. a number of 2016ers have announced their candidacy, and others have not. if you don't know what we are talking about here, take a look at this. >> there is a 99.9% chance you are going to make an announcement to run for president. you know when your mom says, there is no time like the present. let's i will make an announcement on june 1. i will tell you what i will do about running for president.

>> martin o'malley inching towards a presidential campaign. he has set a may 30 announcement. the aides have remained coy about precisely what it will be about. >> may 27 in butler, pennsylvania. we will make our decision as to what the idea will be. that day, we are going to make an announcement. >> we understand it is kabuki. we know there are legal reasons why people do this. what is the best way to announce your presidency? >> it is smart to get attention from these people less well known. i don't care how many times they do it. it's all good if they handle it well. >> occasionally, they will come out with an announcement that says they are not going to run. john bolton, for example.

i think any of those guys you think are not going to run? >> i think they are all likely to run. you look at who has gotten positive attention. they've got to get their names out there. up next, a real hawkeye state. news director of radio iowa live right after this. ♪

>> our guest tonight is ok henderson. thanks for coming down. a big year in iowa with a bunch of republicans that did well and did not do so well. >> folks did not register on the scale very much.

>> she is the only one you mentioned do well. >> she told a story about hormones which was over really well. they applauded as well. >> jeb bush comes to dinner. he had a pretty good reception afterwards. they let it be known he was not going to compete in the straw poll. >> it did not hurt mitt romney in 2012. i don't think it will have that much of an impact. i think it's going to be nothing like straw polls in the past. there may be the idea that there won't be a straw poll. we haven't had a candidate who has yet said, hey, i'm going to come. >> stick with bush for a second. we have seen the position plummet in the recent polling.

he was not at the top of the pack but he was near the top for a while. >> the folks who have been here, they heard them speak in person. they evaluate them in iowa. it could be like 1996 with bob dole. bob dole won what everybody thought was a convincing victory. it was a 2% victory and a pretty large field. it was a larger one than what bob dole faced. in less than 20% here. >> he did decently over the weekend but not huge dominating

performance. most people i have talks to think he is the favorite to win caucuses today. it is a dark course to be a bigger player. >> i think her problem will be the things that she has recently said moderating her stance on same-sex marriage. i think there is still a chance for somebody to score 3% or 4%. in a huge field, someone like lindsey graham who catches fire because he is basically a standup comedian compared to the rest of the crowd -- and if he gets a little sympathy vote for style points on how he delivers his banquet jokes, that can be a

real foreign in the side of folks who would like to amass something bigger than 20%. >> let me ask you a last question before we talk about hillary. it rick santorum about to announce. my cut could be just did. >> i think huckabee is more than little santorum. santorum is starting from ground zero, where he started out before. he seems willing to put in the legwork. i think that people don't realize -- i am a radio person. a lot of people heard him on the radio. he did a huge amount of work on the radio. a lot of the other candidates in the past who were second-place finishers have never done that. >> they finish third because two others got more votes. i don't think she said she would

ran a particularly good campaign. the national media doesn't think she is running a good campaign. >> there is a real rest of part of the credit party that once a vigorous debate. there are parts that want elizabeth warren to enter the race. people have been energized by the martin o'malley rallies that he has held around the state. there is a county that she won. she is going to a place where obama won by 43%. she has got to go to those places and connect with people who didn't have a connection with her. >> did you notice anything different about how she's doing it this time than last time? >> short answer, no. it seems identical. >> and small venues.

>> if you could ask her a question today, what would it be? >> i don't know. does she like the kind of tenderloin steak service committees that are thin and crispy and wonderful or do she liked the thicker ones that are served elsewhere? so that could be a question. >> do you think there is a hunger here? do you think there is a decent chunk of the iowa collector it that would consider it in a serious way? >> it could be a weird juxtaposition. i can't tell you how disappointed they are that they weren't elected to a huge statewide office in iowa.

the fact that she is a she can really be an energizing force for iowa democratic voters. >> we will be right back. ♪

>> iowa is the heart of america, not just geographically. but every presidential candidate has to come here at one point or another. our partner in crime happens to be one of the best pollsters in america. thank you for joining us. she is addressing reporters, issues, what is your sense of what iowa voters, what issues do they want address this time around? >> they want meat on the bone and it is skating over the surface. they are looking for her to give them substance.

she is talking a lot about fighting for them but not really talking in depth. iowa voters are used to that. >> an interesting place, but not a super robust recovery. >> that is the deficit, terribly important to them. the trade issue is about the full state. people will think iowans will have a very parochial interest and i think they care about the same things. >> on the republican side, you

are good at figuring out the makeup of the electorate in a way that woman of what will be people who actually turn out to caucus. nobody knows how many people will caucus. it could be 100,000, some people think it could be 200,000. do you see that it leads inexorably to more people turning out to caucus? >> you would think. the hazards these candidates face, now they are fighting for a share of a very small pie. i've got to go beyond that. the most are republican ever got was 40,000. not too far away. my point is that bar is not that high. if you could find 40,000 new voters. there are two ways.

you can get more people. you can find the moderates that typically say, i'm not that excited about any of these candidates because they are talking to the christian right so i will stay home. it really is a candidate who can come in and match a they are with the iowans who are aligned with that. and it is a tough job. show up at this night on this time and support me. >> not only increasing the size of but changing the composition of the caucus on the democratic side. do you think there is any obvious republican candidate or candidates that have a capacity to do that? people trying to make the effort to do that here where you live. >> no. we are in an early stage. >> obama was doing it by may of

2007. >> the obvious answer of who has the potential would be rand paul. he starts with a base his bob -- father built. there are libertarian things that normal caucus voters aren't necessarily showing up to talk about. he's someone who can bring in a different kind of caucus. that is not impossible. >> jeb bush talks about if he can do well in this state. does he have a natural constituency amongst iowa republicans? >> i think he can build it. today, i don't think he has it. but if he comes in and iowans think that these other members are scary, then there is the group that want a scary president and they will split that vote. and jeb could be potentially someone who is tested and more level. it may appeal to enough that may have -- we need somebody who can lead.

>> we saw him grappling with the specifics of his brothers policy and the nature of the presidential candidacy he has. which is the bigger problem? is it the specifics of what w stood for? or the past year will be associated with. >> i think he can get over the dynasty once people get to know him but this last week was not a good platform for him showing who he is. >> a great iowa tradition like smitty's itself. thanks, ann. we will be right back. ♪

>> thanks to smitty's here in des moines. it was fantastic. they fed us all the pork tenderloins we could ever want. not all of them, but a large portion. >> our guest tomorrow will be no walkie bucks owner and fundraiser.

we will be back in new york with him. we are on twice a day at 5:00 and 8:00. until tomorrow, sayonara. ♪

pot in silicon valley. why people think he misunderstands apple. i'm emily chang. this is bloomberg west. take two interactive is getting revved up by grand theft auto. but where is the company's mobile strategy? alibaba says, not a chance. the lawsuit that has them lawyering up. move over, engineers. it designer may be the new hot talent in silicon valley. first, to the top story. carl icahn is once again poking the apple. in a new letter to tim cook, he argues that apple should buyback more shares.