should mark: i'm mark halperin. john: and i'm john hailemann. and with all due respect it is time to get yourself an abacus boys. mark: happy national turkey day. tonight, hillary clinton's campaign, and gop potpourri. first the white house takes it on the chin. houston mcreynolds rejected one

of the two trade bills backed by president obama who made a special cameo this morning and a failed attempt to whip votes in his party. the effort to give obama a fast-track authority on the transpacific partnership, that deal is if not dead then certainly online support. if the trade deal does in fact to down what are the implications for president obama and hillary clinton? mark: i am stunned that they failed. normally when presidents get as close on a trade deal they are able to find the votes. republicans are winning the democrats. democrats did not help the president. it is possible they can revive it. it is going to be difficult for more bipartisan compromises. it is when be hard for the president to fight back. this was the last big thing he wanted to get done.

john: house democrats do not want this trade deal. that was the message today. the trade assistance thing was about giving money to help displaced workers. this is something democrat should be four. they used this vote to kill the trade deal overall. you can can't -- you can't put humpty dumpty back together again. the only thing this is good for, hillary clinton page you will not have take a position on this deal. she is caught between a rock and a hard place. mark: in a normal time of divided government when the president needs the votes from the other party you have a whip vote and you get it. in this case they did not. it is trouble for president obama. hillary clinton is getting ready for her campaign launch rally. today her campaign released this video filled with old pictures and biographical anecdotes about her family and her time as first lady. the videocast clinton as a fighter for the causes she has longed believed in and those of the themes you expect to hear tomorrow in the big part of the speech she is going to give.

what would it take for this launched be considered successful by hillary clinton? john: the only metric of success for this event is it hillary clinton tells us, tells voters tells people why she is running for president. if she lays out a clear rationale for why she is running. my fear, looking at that video and reading some of the reporting on what the campaign is telling people, this is going to be more about who she is rather than why she wants to be president. biography, though powerful in terms of building a narrative, for hillary clinton the biography is known. what is not known is the rationale. mark: it is an interesting choice. what she has to do is take the biography and link it to policies.

that is what president reagan did. i think that is her challenge. there is nothing in the video that makes the linkage to new policies. if she doesn't do it tomorrow i will be surprised. john: it is obvious that there is a fanatic think she is trying to do to pretrade herself as a fighter, link herself to roosevelt. that is not enough. i don't think there is going to be enough specific policy here. there needs to be meat on the bone. mark: the other saying, be likable. john: likable would help. as i can see from the woods behind you you are in park city, mitt romney's big donor policy retreat. john kasich, scott walker, lindsey graham have given speeches. chris christie is speaking at this hour. mitt romney will deliver his remarks tonight.

as of now, having seen what you have seen and heard what you have heard, who has won the day? mark: one of the things that has struck me is the quality of the speeches across the board. walker, rubio, and lindsey graham, they all had stump speeches that are not -- they are pretty well honed. from looking in the room, the reaction, marco rubio got the best reception and held people the best. weekends have -- we still have more. the undecided people impressed by different aspects of different potential candidates. john: i can't tell anything except reading the transcripts and the notes in hearing from you. i'm curious what you have to say about john kasich. we have your interview coming up. how did he play in the room? mark: it is interesting. he has been on the stage for a long time.

we talked about that people don't know his biography. they don't know he is head of the budget committee. he spent a lot of time introducing himself. coming up, i talked to the king of the log cabin. mitt romney shares his views on the 2016 gop field, hillary clinton, and his bromance with jeb bush. then john kasich, more disciplined than he has ever been before. ♪

mark: today i caught up with mitt romney here in utah. he is behind the political summit. i asked about why his annual event has become such a big draw for these would be presidents. thank you for talking with us. mr. romney: thank you. mark: how are the six people coming here, why are they coming here to talk to this group? mr. romney: there are a couple hundred people who are very supportive of my campaign. there are some folks that were with other campaigns as well and they want to share their message and to get support. from my standpoint, this is a chance to cheer different people's visions for the future. as well as understand some of the lessons of leadership we could learn from. mr. romney: you have become a learned student of the nomination process. how do you think the current jockeying is going. mr. romney: it is too early to make any real assessments of who is going to come out on top. even a discussion of who are the front runners is like my goodness, as you look at the polls, the gaps between the candidates are smaller than the margin of error of the pollster.

we really don't know who is going to emerge. it is a starting process. you have to look and say there are some who have done a better job at raising money and putting together campaign teams. the messaging and the debating that is going to happen down the road and separate those that have real potential with those who have less. mark: do you have a private instinct? mr. romney: i don't print are six or seven i would be happy saying. they have a good shot of winning. whose views on major issues are closest to my own. that is why it is not all 15. which of them will emerge with the most effective voice and get the greatest support of the republican voters, i don't know. mark: is your instinct that this will be not a short nomination fight but more along the lines

of what you had to enter? mr. romney: it has the potential of being a longer process. i don't know i can judge whether it is going to narrow quickly. it could happen that someone wins two or three of the first four contests and it narrows quickly. the others drop out, and you have a contest that is done by april or may. on the other hand, it could be something where a lot of people get support and delegates and it takes the entire process to see who the nominee will be. mark: people i talked to say you have strong opinions about -- you can say it is true or not true. people say that while you do like six or so of the candidates, it right now you like marco rubio may be best or are intrigued by him. is that true? mr. romney: i like marco. i like a number of others as well. i am fiercely neutral in this process. the question is who is going to be most effective in galvanizing support of the american people?

we will get a chance to hear them in the debates and hear their speeches. we haven't heard the speeches yet. in terms of people i'm closest to, i am closer to jeb bush as a result that we work together as governors. i have known their family. they are supportive of me. i like marco. scott walker i didn't know terribly well but we spent time together recently. impressed with him and his wife. he is a great father as well. lindsey graham i have known for some time. a funny guy. i love lindsay. and carly fiorina. like her a lot. and chris christie, we are as close as any to. spent a lot of time with him and feel close to him. i know some people count him out. not me.

we like the comeback story. he is a straight talker, and effective leader. i would be surprised to see him get ahead of steam. mark: as good a chance as anybody? mr. romney: at this chance it is hard to say prete of all these people he is someone who has a great deal of potential to become our nominee. mark: it is not the case currently you view him as perhaps the strongest potential nominee for your party? marco rubio. mr. romney: i have not chosen the strongest potential nominee. in terms of personal relationships, i have more across the board. mark: governor bush. i'm not asking this with prejudgment but many assert to mean the yuan governor bush are -- assert to me all the time that you and governor bush are not on good terms. mr. romney: total baloney. i don't know where that would come from. we have never had -- i have not heard except from you. mark: you haven't heard from others? mr. romney: are read blogs or whatever. on what basis would there be

conflict? can't imagine. his grand strategist and i are close. we send e-mails back and forth. sally bradshaw was helpful to my campaign. a lot of the people on this staff are old staff members of mine. his donors are overwhelmingly people who helped me in my campaign. jeb and i get along great. mark: have you talked lately? mr. romney: in e-mail. i will be at walker point this summer and we will have lunch together with jeff and the family. mark: one question about the democratic side. the clintons are frustrated. the coverage of their finances is unfair and inaccurate. you dealt with a lot of scrutiny of your personal finances. without getting in the particulars, do you have any empathy for them in terms of the unrelenting scrutiny? some by enemies, some by the media. mr. romney: the personal

finances are not associate with response billy and government, i'm not sure those finances deserve a lot of attention. in the case of the clintons there's were linked with her service as the secretary of state. the idea that you are taking in millions and millions of dollars from foreign entities at the same time you are secretary of state prisons a problem. mark: i had a funny feeling. you know the way the press works. some of the things they are charged with aren't true. do you have any personal sympathy for them in terms of what they are going through? mr. romney: we could all feel bad about the negative stories that get written about people whether on the republican or democrat side. that is part of the game. that is part of the process of becoming president of the united states. secretary clinton has the experience prejean knows what she is in for. every republican running knows

what they are in for. are there downsides and bad days when you get hit and you don't think it is fair? sure. the chance to run for president of the united states is an amazing honor and great fun. you meet people that make you convinced that the brightest days are ahead. become more optimistic. mark: feel free to copy me next time you and jeff are e-mailing. mr. romney: my personal server. mark: thank you. when we come back, how is john kasich like lebron? that answer, sort of, and more after this. ♪

mark: with all the would-be presidents here there is lots of jockeying for allegiance. i spoke to john kasich and asked if he is feeling competitive with his rivals.

john kasich: the interesting thing about it is i feel like i have to tell people what is on my mind. i am not uptight about that. i'm not feeling like i have to outshine somebody. all i can do is put the message out that i like. mark: governor walker is saying here some thing he has been saying of late. he is the only one who has been a fighter for conservative causes and gotten elections. is that accurate? john kasich: he is a fighter. mark: he says he is unique in that. john kasich: the minute i say something about him it sounds like i'm going after him. what i'm saying is, i could tell you my records. it took me 10 years in washington to get the budget balanced. it took me 10 years to ground the b-2 bombers so we could have standoff weapons. it was a hard fight to get to a balanced budget in ohio and run

a surplus. these are all tough things. people have been good to me. mark: you have said some things about jeb bush prete and wondering if you are feeling competitive with him. john kasich: no. i thought the beginning that he would take up the oxygen. i think he is a good guy. i was making an observation. i thought there was no path to victory, i wouldn't explore this. it seems like anything you say now is under a microscope. i've got to think more like a scientist. mark: how would a scientist -- john kasich: i doubt want to forget who i am and not have fun. at the end of the day if i win if i get in it will be great. if i try my best and get in and

don't win, i would have tried my best. mark: you want to win. john kasich: i'm very optimistic. things are moving. i'm a little surprised to be honest. it is going better than i thought. it has been a lot of movement in a short time. mark: why more people know who you are? john kasich: people don't pay a lot of attention to what is happening in washington in terms of the budget committee. in ohio they know me. i didn't travel around the country preparing for any of this. i don't worry about that. mark: some people say there is talk of the troops going into iraq but maybe more of these lily pads breed some people say this is a slippery slope.

john kasich: we need to be part of a coalition to have boots on the ground of that what it takes for us. we need to stop isis and destroy them. mark: you sense that if you were president you would. john kasich: you have to rebuild the western alliance. we have common interests here. no one wants to see isis survive including people with shared interests in the middle east. i would have built a coalition. mark: if you were president today you would do more than the current president has done. would your goal be to put substantial numbers of american troops on the ground now? john kasich: my goal may be different. mark: what number is adequate? john kasich: come on. you know a lot about form policy. i spent 18 years studying policy. the most important thing that a leader does, that a commander in chief does is to rally the forces so we can be effective. that is what needs to be done.

mark: what would be the best tax system for the united states if you could impose one? john kasich: i want to focus on the corporate side. we worry about worker wages. we need to make sure companies invest in plant equivalent and the tolls workers need to be productive so wages could go up. on the personal side of things. i'm not certain where i'm going to come out on that. what i do believe is the corporate profits from europe need to be brought home. that system needs to be changed. we are not getting people a reason to invest in europe rather than america. workers need to be competitive so wages will rise. mark: senator rubio says let's have new provisions to help parents and working people the tax code moorcock located but -- make the tax code more complicated but add incentives. others would like to get rid of those. john kasich: what i most interested in is a growth

agenda. mark: which is better? john kasich: i told you what i think is the most important. to give companies incentives to invest instead of buying back stock and keeping profits in europe. everything we should do, i like the idea of the kindness of conservatives. we have to find that program that is going to spur economic growth. we have done that in ohio. mark: what are things you have learned about running for president? about the prospect of running. john kasich: i don't think there is much difference between republican and democrat voters. they have the same concerns. it has been confirmed. secondly, you have to pace yourself. it is a marathon and not a sprint. i have a lot of energy and need to know how to dose it out in the right way. sort of like a cell phone. you need to charge throughout the day. mark: is there a front runner?

john kasich: that is up to you to decide. you are the great analyst. mark: are you one of them? john kasich: that is up to you to decide. how my doing on this discipline? mark: it is crazy. [laughter] i'm going to prepare differently next time. our cavaliers going to win? john kasich: i called it. i don't think you win with lollipops and threes. they are down to seven guys. everybody is hurt. that is going to be the question. who steps up? the strength is there inside to outside with the warriors, nothing inside really. that is what they go. mark: how are you most like lebron james? john kasich: you want to take it to the hole and make sure you score. very competitive. have fun. mark: and be a little regal. john kasich: it is just a basketball game.

this is important but it is just politics. there is a light yet to come. mark: and you still get to be governor of ohio. john kasich: and become a better golfer, too.

john: we will live stream hillary clinton's campaign at 10:30 a.m. on bloomberg politics.com. and we will have live coverage from miami. jeb bush's official entry into the presidential race. mark: we are live 24/7 on bloomberg politics.com. we're on twice a day here at 5:00 and again at 8:00. plenty of coverage all weekend long. until next week, we will see you after the jeb bush announcement.

sayonara. ♪