mark: mark halperin. josh: josh green. with respect -- "witha all due respect" to scott walker he just might have trouble standing out in this big field. >> walker. >> walker. josh: on the show tonight -- first the pride of wisconsin scott walker. he is here in waukesha. the announcement event will start behind me pretty quickly. what does walker need to do in this kickoff event? josh: mark, walker needs to show

he is a plausible commander-in-chief. he's had a great story this year . he got off to a surprisingly fast start. he's managed to maintain a pretty consistently in iowa, but he has struggled to look like he is ready for the national stage. he stumbled some pretty basic questions on his european trip. he has looked less than comfortable on his fourth -- on foreign policy. now he has to show he will be ready. do you agree? josh: i agree on commander in chief. i think he needs to take the wisconsin story, the successes he has had in wisconsin politically and make it seem like a tangible, national thing. he has a big record in wisconsin with a republican legislature. what would it mean if he was actually president? i hope -- think his advisers hope this starts a week of

trying to flesh that out. josh: he has that one great credential that he took on liberal unions in wisconsin, old news to politicos, but news to those who will be tuning in for the first time. the other important thing for walker is he has shown he has appeal to different groups in the republican coalition. it's important that he strike a tone mark that allows him to keep that up and maintain that broad appeal. was there anything else you would add to that? mark: the other leading republican, jeb bush -- republicans, jeb bush, marco rubio have suggested broadening the base. scott walker comes back to the same venue where he celebrated winning his recall and a county that is almost all white and a part of the state that is mostly republican. this is very much sentiment.

scott walker has a sense of how to become the republican nominee. josh: mark, hillary clinton gave a so-called major economic address at the new school in manhattan today. she called for tougher regulations on banks and higher wages for workers, and she took shots at three of her republican rivals, jeb bush, marco rubio, and the man of the hour, scott walker. ms. clinton: you heard governor walker say last week that americans just need to work longer hours. well, he must not have met very many american workers. they don't need a lecture, they need to raise. we hear republican candidates talk a lot about tax reform but take a good look at their plans. sender rubio's would cut taxes for households making around $3 million per year by almost

$240,000, which is way more than three times the earnings of a typical family. republican governors like scott walker have made their names stomping on workers' rights and practically all the republican candidates hope to do the same as president. i will fight back against these mean-spirited, misguided attacks. josh: mark, what is the political strategy behind her speech today? mark: she mentions the three leading republicans. she doesn't mention bernie sanders. clearly, hillary clinton wants to be a candidate of economic growth. i thought that was a clever part of the speech today. but she is for a lot of big, new government programs. she wants to talk about growth through a lot of big programs. there is a cleverness to that but, at the same time, i think she is still leaving herself vulnerable.

sanders is being more specific on issues that are important to the left. josh: i agree. i will to you what impressed me the most about this speech. it was not an abstract speech about inequality. that's been the buzzword in liberal circles all your long. what clinton did that i thought was so effective is she personalized the issue of inequality. she talked about "i'm going to raise your paycheck semper fi your taxes, help you get -- simplify your taxes, help you get childcare." she talked about the kind of issues that bernie sanders and elizabeth warren talk about, but made it personal in a way that a voter could grasp and in a way that doesn't threaten her as seeming to liberal or somebody who might -- seeming too liberal or somebody who might want to take your money and give it to four people -- to poor people. mark: what was heartening for

people in her campaign is she proved yet again she can come through on a big speech. that's incredibly important for her going forward. marco rubio says his campaign raised $12 million through the end of last month. that puts him in about third place overall in our ranking of republican candidate warchests. he has just shy of about $44 million he has brought in. that puts it behind j.crew -- jeb bush and ted cruz. who is performing expectations? who is underperforming? josh: i thought rubio had a solid number. it showed he is in the top tier of candidates. nobody's going to compete with jeb bush when it comes to raising money. he is the new york yankees of the gop field. this tells us rubio will be able to go pushed -- toto with bush walker -- will be able to go toe-to-toe with bush, walker,

and anybody else. if you want to talk about disappointments, i think the big one is rick perry, who was a pretty solid fundraiser last time around, but has only managed to raise a tiny fraction of that amount this time. i think the ship may have sailed for rick perry. who do you think is over performing? mark: i agree with all of that. i think the cruise -- cruz number, $40 million, was huge. the first one i have my eye on that surprises me on the downside is rand paul. the campaign fundraising is not what i thought it would be. this guy i thought had potential to be explosive. i'm surprised there is not more there. maybe the fact that he has been low-profile he could step it up in the second quarter. josh: that's right. one other thing worth mentioning, i don't think this is a surprise, but when you look at the size of the numbers of

fundraising hauls that bush rubio, and cruz have, and then you look over some of the smaller candidates, carly fiorina, lincoln chafee, it throws into sharp relief how little money they have comparatively and what a difficult time they will have just staying in the conversation once this money starts getting spent. mark: as important as the first half of the year is, you still have to wait and the evil can keep it up in the second -- wait and see if people can keep it up in the second half. josh: coming up, a conversation with scott walker's senior adviser and pollster. ♪

mark: our guest tonight in wisconsin is scott walker holster and advisor -- pollster and advisor ed goeas.

tell us the story of scott walker's presidential operation up till now. what would you say you've already accomplished? ed: there was a lot we had to do to get ready in case he decided to run, which ended up being a good decision. it's been months of different pieces here and there. mark: be more specific. what's been accomplished? ed: when you are running first in iowa and second in new hampshire and south carolina inc. what we've accomplished most -- i think what we've accomplished most is getting him out there to meet with people, telling his story -- tonight is a major part of telling that story reminding people of the recall, also that he is a problem solver. he is strong, determined, with strong principles. mark: the narrative of the campaign is that speech in des moines.

it really got him on the map. is that true or is that overstated? ed: i think that is -- there is some of it. it reminded people that he stood up and fought and won. i think what you'll see today and over the next week is a lot of people reminded how broad he is, how he connects with people. he truly is [indiscernible] he looks at problem-solving in terms of is it going to make a difference for people. more importantly, is it going to make a difference for hard-working taxpayers. that resonates well out there. mark: you represented rudy giuliani, john kasich, etc. i'm struck by him always. he is so preternaturally calm. the biggest day of his political life, in some ways, and he couldn't be more calm. where does that come from? ed: if you talk to people in

iowa, where they identify with that little bit more going back to ronald reagan another president that was from the midwest and had that midwestern [indiscernible] i think he is comfortable. he knows what he believes and why he believes it. when he comes to the conclusion he can make a difference, he is all in, and people like that. mark: you got a little attention in "the new york times" saying that people don't necessarily think about him as smart sophisticated and you said, "we are working on that." ed: one of the things i see quite a bit is by the end of the conversation with him, people say he is approachable. that's the gold standard of he is really connecting with people. he was wanting to go off on a tangent. you know scott. you've had discussions with him. he's very smart.

mark: do people seem to care about having a president who didn't graduate from college? ed: i hate to do -- say this as the firm doing the polling, we have not yet set the polling yet. mark: you have the focus groups in iowa. what did you learn? ed: we asked people what they saw. we saw them coming back in focus group after focus group. they said he was approachable. they like the fact he is a fighter and a winner. mark: any concern on your part that some voters will say our president should really have a college degree? ed: i think the only thing he has to make sure is he doesn't wear it on its -- his sleeve. people need to make sure -- we need to make sure he is not wearing it as a badge of honor, that that does not mean he

doesn't think much about higher education. he has worked to improve education in k-12 and higher education here in the state. mark: another thing in the story, maybe it was also a little bit off, the "sarah palin problem." is scott walker in danger of having one? ed: that was kind of presented by the reporter as a question. i basically said -- how he defined it and how i have seen what happened to sarah palin is that they went away for three weeks and then came back, which raised the question, ok we are going to test you and see what you've learned. the constant input of information is part of it. bigger part of what i've seen is along with that information, we've been out there talking to people, getting reactions, interacting.

the one thing i did say in the interview is that -- one of the things that has impressed me is i've worked with problem solvers before. rudy, very much a problem solver. he always asks a question at the end, when we are talking about solutions, how is this going to make people's lives better. he has to go through that as much as he has to go through the information. mark: there is no front runner in new hampshire, maybe jeb bush, maybe not. is it plausible to have a strategy of doing so well in the early state you basically lock things up, or do you assume that march, april, may, no matter what? ed: i think that trying to shorten the process has the

opposite result. mark: i thought that from the beginning. ed: obviously -- mark: have you let iowa expectations get out of control? ed: quite frankly, i've been through this so many times. iowa expectations -- everyone tries to downplay the expectation game. we are happy we are leading the other candidates by eight point. we will -- eight points. we are going to take it and go after it. i think one of the things i loved about this campaign is you are not having to play the expectation game. mark: as al davis would say "just win, baby." ed goeas, thank you for joining us. the festivities continue. when we come back, we get to the other big political story of the day. a breakdown of hillary's big

speech on the economy after this word from our sponsors. ♪

mark: hillary clinton is getting a lot of attention for two headlines out of her speech today at the new school. "tough on banks" -- tough also on a few of the republican candidates. ms. clinton: the defining economic challenge of our time is clear. we must raise incomes for hard-working americans, so they can afford a middle-class life. we must drive strong and steady income growth that lifts up families and lifts up our country. and that -- [applause] ms. clinton: and that will be my mission from the first day i'm president to the last. mark: hillary clinton there.

joining us now, a longtime clinton advisor. she's the president of the american center for progress. there are going to be more speeches to come. what was the point of this speech at this time in the campaign? guest: i think hillary really wanted to identify the central economic challenge we face which is that we are growing and we can grow stronger. the central challenge we have is that incomes are not rising fast enough and she has ideas about how to do that, new ideas to add to the mix. she wanted to communicate to voters what her goal and priority will be. i think presidential elections are really tests of vision. she is giving people a look at what her vision is. mark: there has been a lot of critique of not just the speech, but the general economic policy out of the clinton campaign, that it is in opposition to go

-- to president clinton's line that "bigger government is over." neera: i think the truth is that these kinds of discussions about the size of government really are beside the point. it's really about how to make the economy work for people. you don't want to have a big government that isn't working, isn't solution-based, but you do want to have a government that is actually helping the private sector. the private sector is where we create jobs. the federal government, state government, local government help the private sector create jobs and, ultimately, raise wages. we want an effective government that actually supports economic growth, and not just economic growth, but fairness in the economy so middle incomes rise again. mark: is it right to say that a lot of what she is proposing

would increase the size of the government, just factually? neera: take, for example, profit sharing. that is realigning the incentives in our tax code to ensure that middle income employees, not just management, but workers benefit from profitable firms. that's not really government mandating. it does not increase the size. it's a way in which to create incentives. i think the focus on big government/small government is kind of beside the point. mark: i will move on. you chose one of the provisions that isn't about extending the government. i feel like there are a lot that do extend the government -- expand the government. she has tried to engage the republicans. are there ideas she is for now on the economy that aren't popular within the democratic party? bill clinton supported free trade when he ran. can you talk about anything she

supports where she will need to tell democrats that it's the right idea? neera: actually, i think the reality is that democrats and independents are really focused on the wage challenge we face in the economy. she has a perspective about ensuring that is within a balanced budget long-term. i don't think there is a debate in the country -- democrats and independents are more aligned on this topic -- these topics. that's part of the advantage. on the political side, i think there is a broader agreement between independents and democrats on the economy so some of the wedge issues aren't where they were in the past. she has an address that is focused on the concerns of the american people and isn't thinking tactically about alienating a democrat or republican speaking to one

group or another. mark: can the context of this campaign, can we expect her to lay out a deficit reduction plan to get to a balanced budget? and if so, by what date? neera: i think you will see her lay out the cost of her plans and how it fits into a budget framework that lowers the deficit. i'm not ruling out her deficit targets -- rolling out her deficit targets had of her. she -- target ahead of her. she has always said that when she rolls out her policies, they will be in a budget framework that lower the deficit as we go. mark: but not necessarily get it down to zero as her husband did, to run a surplus. neera: when he ran, he exceeded the target. perhaps hillary will do that when she is president as well. mark: finally, as you look forward, we do expect more policy speeches. what would you -- what is your

understanding of what issues on the economy she plans to talk about next to be even more specific than she was, quite admirably, today? neera: i think she will talk about her ideas about raising wages, what it needs to do profit-sharing, layout her ideas on wall street -- lay out her ideas on wall street. this was a framework speech. she wanted to share with the american people what her goals would be as president. there are a lot of arenas in which you can get into the policy details. she loves to get into those details. those particular arenas whether it is how to raise wages, how to address costs, she will have her own set pieces. mark: neera tanden, center for american progress, thanks for joining us. we will be right back with a promotional teaser for our scott walker lifestream right after

this -- livestream right after this. ♪

mark: go to bloombergpolitics.com for our livestream of scott walker's announcement. thanks for watching. ♪

alix: we are moments away from the closing bell and i'm alix steel. joe: i'm joe weisenthal. ♪ [closing bell ringing] alix: u.s. stocks climbing and european equities capping the biggest rally since 2011 on greece's bailout agreement. the euro sliding on speculation the deal may clear the way for higher u.s. interest rates. joe: the question is, what did you miss? greece avoids a under very tough terms. was it an agreement among