mark: i'm mark halperin. john: i'm john heilemann, and with all due respect to sharkna do three demo we think a better name would have in" trunk -- would have been "trumpnado." for tonight, forest trunk saving private rick santorum, and first, hillary clinton is behind jeb bush and marco rubio in head to head matchups in three key state, colorado, iowa,

and virginia. here is how bad things seem to the democratic front runner. >> hillary clinton may have a swing state on her hands. >> if it wasn't for donald trump, hillary clinton would have -- it would be hillary clinton solidifying herself and send it in the edit -- the democratic party. >> this is a real problem for clinton, because compared to the last time they did this in various battleground states, she has come down in terms of both her ability and in terms of her honesty and trustworthiness. john: my leading question for you, is this really as bad as it seems for hillary rodham clinton? mark: yes. most of our polls say a bad day. a horrible day -- john: a horrible day. mark: it's more like a midterm

electorate but it is clear from democratic that you have taken a hit and republicans feel like they need to pick someone to win. -- pick someone who can beat her to win. john: the thing i'm worried about in these goals if i'm hillary clinton is not the horserace numbers. if you look at the charts, just within quinnipiac, she has fallen like a rock in terms of her net favorability while jeb bush is holding steady, and scott walker is getting better. the favorable and unfavorable numbers matter a lot. mark: if you ask republicans whether she will be formidable people like brian's previous say they have to beat her.

if they can compete -- john: they have the right psychology going into it. mark: they have to feel like she can be beaten. there are still some republicans that are worried t strongest nominee might have trouble beating her because of the demographics. iowa is not a diverse state, but the others have diversity in the. john: look at that big blue electorate college wall. it's going to be hard to win when you beat the obama column back. mark: another day and another cycle of 24 hour donald. this time it comes from lindsey graham, the victim as you know of an involuntary phone number release. here he is in his quest to destroy his ruined mobile. rick perry took a more medical

approach to the situation in a speech today in washington. mr. perry: he offers a barking carnival act that can best be described as trumpism part demagoguery and conspiracy theory. let no one be mistaken, donald trump's candidacy is a cancer on conservatism and it must be diagnosed, excise, and discarded. mark: all of this attention comes as he prepares to visit the us-mexico border tomorrow. cnn released a clip from his new interview with anderson cooper in which donald trump claimed he would "change his tone" as potus. he also took potshots at perry.

all of this focus on trump and his rise in the polls, who is it good for an bad for? john: let's start with rick perry as a winner, first floor because he got to use the word perdition in a speech and he talked about trump as a carnival barker. attacking trump right now if you are where he is, which is right at number nine or number 10, it is good for him in terms of national coverage. good for kerry and good for him in terms of the debate. mark: it is also good for bush, because he is the front runner. as long as the front runner is protected, he's in solid shape. bush will have all the support and money he needs. trump is blocking other people from rising up. who is a loser? john: john kasich. and all of the other reasonable republicans. a guy like john kasich who is not supposed to get that big

announcement but, -- an announcement both, we will see in the polls. he announced yesterday and he got almost no bump in the media. mark: jeb bush is also a loser because the main reason i think trump is succeeding right now is people do not want a bush and clinton matchup. i think trump is stoking this antiestablishment sentiment. even if trump is not the eventual one to go after bush, i think it leads other candidate and the popular -- other candidates and the populace at large to start going down this path and it will lead to negative ads against bush. john: look at him. roger ailes is basically giving rupert murdoch the finger. rupert murdoch does not want for

trunk coverage -- pro-trump coverage on fox. roger aisles is doing what -- doing what he wants to do. today, the new york times front-page profile, the antiabortion activists who claim people who work for planned parenthood are talking about the sale of aborted fetuses. through that editorial you will see that the videos are edited dishonestly and effectively. republicans are not saying much at all. what you think will be the effect of the planned parenthood issue in 2016? mark: two things, the media almost never sites with pro-life people. on this one, the media coverage is much more balanced than it normally is. the in the thing is within that story, says we have a lot more videos.

sophisticated opposition research people hold back good stuff, put out less good stuff, get a little bit of flesh, and then boom, more. i think it will continue to be a discussion with republicans on offense and democrats on different -- on defense, which you don't often see. john: planned parenthood is a beloved organization for many millions of women across the country, a majority woman who think they provide important health services, etc. in 2012, mitt romney and others who were attacking planned parenthood, it was bad for them in the end. whatever you think about these videos, being seen as anti-planned parenthood, that is not the place you want to be seen. mark: and some smart republicans will say that planned parenthood does some good stuff. rick perry, before i asked him about the first video i said does planned parenthood do

anything good? he said, welcome and they do good cancer screenings. the fact that the media is being synthetic, it clearly strikes a cord with a lot of americans. john: they have not shown a lot of sophistication when talking about women's health issues. that is the risk in this wild and woolly atmosphere of the republican primary. the rhetoric of 2012 just got further and further to the right . also see -- all subtlety and wants are gone. mark: the issue of partial-birth abortion in the 1990's, if republicans talk about this in a -- in a sophisticated and nuanced way, it can draw attention. coming up, republican rick santorum, who was also a presidential candidate, after this word from our sponsors. ♪

john: our guest is the -- mark: our guest is the one time presidential candidate rick santorum. how is janet yellen doing in your estimation? rick: i was say this policy of propping up the american economy with this free money policy that we have is really masking what the government needs to be doing to get this economy going, which is cutting taxes, cutting regulation. the economy is not going to go anywhere until we have economic reform on the fiscal side and economic reform on the tax side. that is going to continue. i'm hopeful they begin to change the policy enforced washington to get their act together. mark: president santorum would

definitely, definitely not, or maybe reappoint janet yellen? rick: i will not comment. [phone rings] john: we get a lot of calls here. rick: i guess so. mark: definitely, maybe, or maybe not? rick: i would say maybe not. -- i would say maybe. i have met with a few governors in the past couple of years, and one who i found myself aligning with more is mr. fisher from dallas. mark: a smart guy. rick: i think he is a really smart guy and we've had some really good conversations and i think he has a handle on some of the problems that are confronting us. john: we are starting to get actual policy proposals and people are talking about tax plans. marco rubio has put out a tax plan that has gotten some degree

of comment, criticism, and praise. let me make sure i got it right, two brackets 15% and 35% and getting rid of capital gains and dividends. what do you think? rick: there is something i like about it. this time around we will put forth a flat tax. we can't assume things to make sure it doesn't impact middle income americans but creates a much more dynamic progrowth environment. i don't like the idea of getting rid of capital gains tax. i like the idea of taxes not weighted toward capital against labor. i think that we will end up with is a lot more investment in people and i don't think that is the thoroughly a good thing. our tax -- that is necessarily a

good thing. our tax rate will have the same rate of taxation on corporations and individuals. john: might you tell us what that rate will be? rick: we are working on it right now. the tax foundation, which is a group of been working with for about three months, we are tinkering with it. we are not quite there. mark: there is a way that you think will not be bad for the working class? rick: to make sure that it stimulates whitworth, that is very important to me. -- stimulates wage growth, that is very important to me. job creation is also a big deal. and looking at it from a day and i make -- from a dynamic point of view, that it doesn't add to the deficit. and when you break it up high income, that we are not causing income taxes taxes to go up on any particular group. mark: i want to show you something martin o'malley

democratic and a day to us on monday on isis. governor o'malley: one of the effects of the creation of isis is the creation of climate change [inaudible] created the symptoms, or rather the conditions of extreme poverty that has led now to this extreme violence. mark: he is saying global china change -- global climate change led to isis. trumpnado i find -- rick: i find that remarkable that he would make that kind of comparison. in every sector of the globe people of the globe people are coming to the city's not because of climate change, but because of opportunity. it is the reason new york continues to grow for that reason. to suggest that isis was created

because of climate change is a disconnection from reality, the same disconnection and hillary clinton says when she says the greatest national security threat is climate change when we are about to give iran a nuclear weapon. a country is out there saying they want to rule over the united states and what israel off the face of the earth. they have lay out very clearly what they want to do, what their plan is, and we continue to ignore that reality and think they will be a partner in peace while the rest of the region has become a plastic -- has become apoplectic. john: there have been a couple of reports today about the fact that the pentagon and others have written about this question, the link between climate change, drought, and what happened in the middle east. are you familiar with those studies and the science on this? rick: again, i would suggest

that tying radical islam and the creation of radical islam to climate change when isis was created because barack obama pulled troops out and did -- and allowed a run undo influence establishing a shia led government where sunnis rejected them and their ability to persuade by government, and al qaeda in iraq was not tough enough, so isis rose as a result, the idea that has anything to do with drought is a denial of what radical islam is all about. it is not about climate. it is not about israel. it is a fundamental ideology that disagrees vehemently with what america stands for and who we are. mark: we will be back with more rick santorum. after this word from our sponsors. ♪

john: rick santorum beat mitt romney in the iowa caucuses. the question is whether he can do better than romney did in the national sport of ireland, which is bags. senator, we will give you a shot at this and we will talk about -- the sport of bags iowa which is bags. we will give you a shot at this and we will talk about politics. oh, thank you all and good night. mark: you did practice during the break. go ahead, john. john: we are living in a weird moment in politics with donald trump dominating everything. what does it say about american culture and society and the media that donald trump can basically blot out the sun for the rest of you? rick: people are angry. john: you've done this before? mark: talk and toss.

rick: i would say people are legitimately angry about how government is not responding to their concerns and how the media is covering for a lot of bad behavior in washington, d.c., not getting to the core of the problem, and not confronting the issues that are important to ordinary citizens. mark: 343. -- three for three. i had asked you this before. what mistakes have you seen first-time candidates make the cycle that you are like, man, if that person and run before, they would not be doing it. you can name means if you want to, but you do not have to. rick: i think people are investing too much time and

energy in running ads right now to try to get on debates. look, maybe that is important. what i know is, last time around -- last time around we had people come in this who won the straw poll and had won tens of millions of dollars in the straw polls and neither of them ended up with any delegates. you can lose an election in july but you will not win an election in july. and the idea of not looking toward a more long-term view will not be wise politics in my opinion. that is what we do. john: last time you are here we talked about this debate question a little bit and what you might do. you said at that time you had them alternatives about what you might do if you did not make the stage in the first debate. what are some of the ways you will go about getting that kind of exposure? rick: look, i'm here.

and i'm serious, we will participate in every opportunity to get out there. the bottom line is the first election is the one that matters. that is in iowa. for the next two weeks, i will be in iowa probably about 12 or 13 days. we will continue to work hard and get the vote of people of iowa. what happens is, you folks all talk, and everybody in new york wants to give their opinion, but in the end, the people of iowa make this decision and they will be kicking the tires and we will be out there getting kicked. mark: you are saying it is relevant being in the first debate in cleveland in two weeks question mark rick: if you look at -- in two weeks? rick: if you look at any debate, very few people search because

of the debate, but a lot of people lost the elections because of the debate. john: gingrich did pretty well in the debate. rick: he did. and right before the self-care line of primary. mark: i have been three minutes since we've asked you a trump western. you have visited -- a trump question. visited with him several times over the years. let's focus on the positive. what is appealing about this personality? rick: he is entertaining personality. he's fun to listen to. and he has accomplished a lot in his life. he has done a lot of things. john: he is fun to be with. rick: he is entertaining. i think we have a little different or snarly and a little different perspective on a lot of issues. mark: have you ever taken your kids to see him? rick: my daughter who is here with me right now, sarah maria.

mark: i would -- if you didn't mind, i would like to ask her what she thinks of him. rick: he's good to young people. if someone is nice to your children, obvious that endears you to that person. john: it's a qualified to be president of the united states? -- is he qualified to be president of the united states? rick: i have been asking -- i have been asked that question about everybody who is running. the american public decides that. my opinion is no more important than any other of thinking. mark: raining bags champion. rick santorum. john: thank you very much. we will be right back. ♪

mark: tomorrow we -- john: tomorrow is that the great dan seymour. mark: watch us until tomorrow. 5:00 and 8:00. ♪

alix: alix steel. joe: and i'm joe weisenthal. ♪ alix: u.s. equities closing low after apple's disappointing forecast. joe: the question is "what did you miss?" qualcomm could -- prepares for big changes. alix: as commodity prices tumble, the world biggest miner makes plans to cut its production of oil copper and cold. joe: