>> hello from smitty's in des moines, iowa. home of the best tenderloin sandwich. we are at a place where politics and pork collide. republican presidential hopefuls spoke over the weekend at a party confab. 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. john, she will never see an endorsement of the nfib, but can she be a candidate for moms and pops? john: 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.

>> as long as you handle it well it's all fine. >> so many think is going to

come out comes with an announcement that they will not run. i wonder if any of these guys in this string of audio and video any of those guys do you think actually will not run? >> i think they are all likely to run. i think the press likes to mock them. they are a little mock a bowl. you look at who's gotten good positive attention. >> up next, ok henderson news director of radio iowa live from smitty's 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. you have to justify that with a little bit more detail. >> she told a story about hormones which was over really well. the e-mails and the men there with their wives applauded as well. -- the females. >> 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. will not be competing in the straw poll hurt his chances of not doing well in the caucus? >> 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. >> he did not throw off the coat. like samson with the hair. >> most people i have talks to think he is the favorite to win caucuses today. >> he is the neighboring the sun. >> ted cruz, carly fiorina, is there anyone you think you think it could be a figure player? >> i think carly fiorina's problem will be those things that she has just said moderating her stand on same-sex marriage. that will be a problem with the huge block of iowa voting evangelical christians. 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 thorn 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. rick santorum about to announce. my cut could be just did. they do not seem to be showing as much strength as -- mike huckabee just did. >> i think huckabee is more than santorum. santorum is starting from ground zero, where he started out before. he seems willing to put in the legwork. i am a radio person. a lot of people heard him on the radio. he did a huge amount of work on the radio. he kept his voice in iowa homes in a way that 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. including in iowa. do people you talk to think she is a good campaign? >> there is a real respite 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. she is here in a county that she won. and she is going to a place that obama won by 43%. she has to go connect with those people who did not have a connection with her eight years ago. >> did you notice anything different about how she's doing it this time than last time? >> short answer, no. it seems identical.

>> entitled imperious, distance from people? the huge entourage? >> the nature of the events are very similar. >> if you could ask her a question today, what would it be? >> i don't know. i don't think i will tell you because then she will know. >> throw her off the scent. >> does she like the kind of tenderloin steak service -- tenderloins served here at smitty's that are thin and crispy? 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? >> for smitty tenderloins? >> 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 >> 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. mark: 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? j. ann selzer: 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

>> 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. ♪

emily: carl icahn stirring the pot in silicon valley. why people think he misunderstands apple. ♪ emily: 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. designer may be the new hot talent in silicon valley. first, to the top story. carl icahn is once again poking the apple.