♪ >> bon soir. mark: with all due respect to jeb bush, we would critique you, but our french workweek is just about over. >> oui, oui. ♪ john: the music is as funny as anything. mark: we just flew from colorado and boy, are our arms tired. tired, because we spent the day applying to campaign staffers

and e-mails. royals were roiling over the mets marco rubio stole , the exclamation point from jeb and replaced it with a timebomb. my debate report card -- today, jeb bush tried to stick it to rubio. this is an interview with fox news from portsmouth, new hampshire. jeb bush: the point is, pursuing your own ambitions at the expense of others is the wrong way to go. marco is my friend. i admire marco but i think we need to focus on who can lead? who can forge consensus? who can solve problems? that is my approach year in portsmouth, new hampshire. i will be campaigning hard all across the country with the message that i can fix the things that are broken. mark: what happened last night and what happens next?

you are writing your piece, and you suggested that jeb bush's campaign is close to done. how dire is it? john: it is pretty dire. not because of just this performance. i think the problem is that this is such a revealing performance. there was so much on the line. so much has gone wrong for him. so many people were looking. can he rise to the occasion? not only did he not rise, he shrunk. and i think that just tells you a lot about the fact that he is not up to being the nominee. mark: we did a call earlier our , colleagues report that he is saying he is ready to change and fight. look i was stunned, the number , of people who like him, supporters saying they don't know how he comes back, he is losing donors already. he will lose some of them for sure. some undecideds will go to marco rubio and elsewhere. i still think when there is no

establishment candidate, when there is another debate in over a week and bush has a lot of assets, i don't think he is no longer the most likely nominee. he is no longer in the top three. but he can still do it. he can. john: i don't think so. the man of the hour was clearly -- or the two hours and a half -- was marco antonio rubio. he took jeb bush's premeditated attack about his record and turned it on his head. is marco rubio now the front runner? mark: he is not. but he has put himself in a position to be the establishment choice. he will raise more money. how much more, big question? will he catch on with voters? you wrote that his poll numbers will go up, but let's see if it goes up in a sustained way. i ask this every other day, what states will he win? john: when we did our focus groups in iowa and new hampshire

voters who are impressed with , his performance in simi valley. they talked about it. they like it. his numbers did not move much but this moment is going to get 100 times more attention. everybody has seen it. so i think his poll numbers are going to go up and he was already on her role going into it. i think i don't necessarily , think he will be the nominee, i think donald trump is more rubio, but herco is in the best position to consolidate the establishment vote. mark: let me tell you a secret thing he did yesterday which is good for long-term. when he was criticized for his spending habits, which is one of his vulnerabilities, he likened it to a criticism in the media. when the stories come up he is , going to go to the conservative base and say this is just the left wing media. he has inoculated himself against these attacks. at least within the context of the nomination fight. very smart and very cal

powerful. john you think about the : research mentality focus of the bush campaign here in they are going after him on his attendance record. there are good reasons for that. he did it again today. part of what that is as may be some weird fixation on that issue but also because they realize that he is successfully starting to inoculate himself or help inoculate himself with the help of the new york times against a lot of the personal financial stuff people thought he would be more vulnerable for. mark: the early stories on this had some flaws in it. if the logic of the bush campaign is to be the last to establishment candidate, the question is will the super pac go after rubio? that will be risky, but some people think it is inevitable. there was another shining star, ted cruz. he wins special brownie points for elbowing the mainstream media. joke aboutcracking colorado's special brownies. who is positioned better at this point amongst the young senators? john: rubio is better

positioned. as we both wanted out, there is no clear establishment alternative. the establishment does not have a front runner. ted cruz has two people in front of him, donald trump and ben carson. in his lane i think ted cruz did , a lot of good last night. but he did not do anything to get rid of trump and carson. maybe trump and carson will fade away, but cruz is still third. that makes him less likely than rubio. mark: let us see. when we talk about rubio getting fundraising, his fundraising last quarter was disappointing. by every measure. i would say cruz's was overwhelming. the other thing about cruz, i will say again, when he does well, is already high confidence gets even higher. this guy is aggressively going for the nomination. cruz,this thing about ted

he did this thing where he basically took the approach newt gingrich did in 2012. it works with republican audiences, for sure. but it is not a card you can play over and over. you have to find a next act. mark: he presses play all the time. but he is playing it in a high profile way. john: it got old with gingrich. he has to figure out another way to break through. it is a fierce and effective card to play but there are other things he has to do in order to make himself in the top tier. mark: there is no doubt though that these two guys are going to get more scrutiny. we talked about rubio. let's see how the scrutiny is on ted cruz. tonight, donald trump and ben carson where the co-front runners in some sense. my question for you, mark, about about that, how did they come out last night?

mark: they were fine. the establishment filter will always look at their performance and find things to criticize, they will say carson is vague and weird, trump is too hot or out of it. i graded him below the top grade and i think they both right now are focused on not just their performance, but their fundamentals in terms of their organizing. they both want to have operations that can compete with the establishment. john: i agree with that in general. you graded carson better than trump. i actually thought last night was donald trump's best debate performance. he was not that great in seamy valley. valley. last night, i thought he gave a pretty carefully modulated performance. some people are like -- i thought he was funny, he was not as caustic as he has been before. he aimed his darts at effective targets. he is boasting. about getting the debates shortened, which is true and everyone can applaud.

i thought as a debater, he was better last night then he has been so far. mark: my belief that we may be heading toward the trump-kasich ticket hit a pothole yesterday. trump went back after him hard. the lehmannt hard on brother thing. he allied himself with carson in one response. lost a lot ofmost money for me and my friend ben carson. he seemed annoyed with john casey. very interesting that he decided to do that. mark: i don't think anybody anticipated marco rubio and ted cruz dominating so much. bush talked the least. let's see what happens in the next debate. john: very fluid. now the latest episode of better call paul. paul ryan is now officially house speaker. with the outgoing speaker goting adieu, he

predictably emotional. john boehner: the hill had twists and turns and a few tears. nothing wrong with that. [laughter] but let me tell you, it was just perfect. never forget we are the luckiest people on the earth. john: no more waterworks. here is house speaker ryan his new house. paul ryan: we will not duck the tough issues, we will take them head on. we are going to do all we can do so that working people get their strength back in people not working get their lives back. no more favors for the few, opportunity for all. that is our motto. [applause] john: four weeks ago, house republicans were seen as dysfunctional. they were a toxic threat to the party's brand. so mark, with paul ryan now with

his grip around that speaker gavel, is that analysis void? mark: it is way out of that. not only ryan with the gavel, but the fact that they dealt with the debt ceiling, they'll deal with the budget, i think paul ryan stepping up and behind-the-scenes, boehner , mitch mcconnell, and others making sure not only he took over but that he got with clean slate, i think the narrative that the house republicans were going to ruin the party brand and hurt the white house chances seems taken care of for now. there are problems ahead. john: we know that ryan is seeing the position as a spokesman. a message platform. i thought watching that thing on the plane, i thought to myself, man, this is a much better looking republican party. relations, we have

never seen a speaker who has walked up and looked younger than us. that generational contrast, he will be criticized -- he will be criticized by the left but in terms of the brand and image of the house, it looks so much better. mark: it is an upgrade in some ways. next, another guy from last night, chris christie. our interview with the governor , after this word from our sponsors. ♪

mark: last night, new jersey governor chris christie was on point. he slammed barack obama and hillary clinton. he was openly skeptical about the feds and bodycheck by the media. we caught up with him this morning to talk about the debate, his record, marco rubio,

and the biggest loser, jeb bush. mark: how would you characterize the state of the nomination? gov. christie: he who endorses ures conquers. it will be a long race because it is a nomination worth having because hillary clinton is deeply flawed, but difficult and tough opponent on the other side. it will be a long, tough race. i'm in it for the long haul. i think we showed people that i am tough and tested and mature. that is what you are going to want on the other side against hillary. mark: is there a front runner? gov. christie: there never has been. there has not been a front runner, it is wide open. when you look at the different candidates and how this works no, it is nowhere near that. , in late october, mccain was cain was first in the polls. mark: remind people how old you are. gov. christie: 53. mark: do you have more experience than marco rubio? gov. christie: there is no question. i have been a governor in one of the toughest states to govern.

and i was an attorney for seven years before that running one of the largest offices in the country. so yeah i definitely have more , experience as an executive, and that is what matters. let us face it. i like marco. marco is a good friend of mine, but we have already had a one term senator president, we saw how well he ran the government. and marco compared himself to that last night. i don't think that is the experience we want. marco is a good guy and a credible candidate. but i have more executive experience. mark: maturity -- not personal but political. do you have more political maturity? gov. christie: i have more political maturity to anybody on that stage. i have wrote in the toughest media market in the country for 13 years as a republican. you take a lot of hits and knocks and here i am standing in speaking my mind in continuing to move forward. and i think that shows enormous amount of maturity, and that's what you need against hillary. know, face it, mark, you

that race last night -- they think it was hard questiod? last night was tiddlywinks compared to next year. mark: what have you accomplished as governor? what would you take a washington as president? gov. christie: i would take on tough issues. you have to be willing to take those on here. i took on property taxes in new jersey. we have slowed property tax growth to record levels. we have made the pension and benefits system much better. we have more work to do. but it is much better than it was when i came in. we need to take on teacher tenure across the country. we need to take it on across the country, so we can improve student performance across the country. lastly, attitude. i want his job. i'm not going to complain about how hard it is. i'm not going to complain about any of that stuff. i'm here because i want the job. i will bring that attitude to the job every day. people can tell, and that makes a difference. mark: people have raised

questions about your economic record in new jersey. what have you done in terms of private sector in job growth? again, ideas that are applicable to what you could do as president. gov. christie: first, i vetoed more tax increases in any governor in american history. i will stand up to make sure that taxes do not increase. secondly, statistics that just came out yesterday, new jersey's jobless claims are the lowest they have been in 15 years. that shows the strength of the new jersey economy. we have generated over 200,000 private sector jobs. in a state where eight years before i came to be governor they had zero. , mark: what about policy ideas? gov. christie: lower taxes, less regulation. i froze regulation before my presidentdecessor. it is making sure that you free up people in the state to do what they do best, and get government out of the way.

we should try to give them a nudge in the back. help them along. we will bring all of those to washington. mark: current foreign-policy challenges, which one you consider to be the most pressing that you wish obama were more aggressive on? gov. christie: first, the situation in syria. it is desperate. the president needs to be assertive and set up a no-fly zone and tell vladimir putin enough is enough. secondly, russia, making sure we engage in an economically and diplomatically to improve that relationship. to set limits to it. third, china, the most complex relationship we will have to deal with. we want to move that forward economically. and make sure that we contain them militarily. fourth, better relationships with canada and mexico, our biggest trading partners. we need to have better relationships with them to improve our economy and make a stronger north american continent. the work to try to bring energy independence away from

putin. mark: i have been laughed at by people who said he had no chance. i think he has a good chance now. john: i'm pretty sure i have laughed at you. mark: yeah. chris christie could be the nominee now. and anyone who denies that is not paying attention. john: i think there is no doubt the race is is more fluid than it has ever been. i believe jeb bush will not be the nominee anymore but because of that, it creates an opening in the establishment side. marco rubio is most likely, but chris christie was good last night. and he has gotten better and better. he gets better at the back half of the debate. he starts slow that by the end, he really hits his stride. he has not had a breakthrough moment, but he is getting there. i am starting to think -- i am ready to take the fork out of him. mark: the christie and rubio face off would be fascinating. our thanks to governor christie and his team. when we come back, jeb bush versus marco rubio.

more on the sunshine showdown, after these words from our sponsors. ♪

mark: everybody has seen the clip of jeb bush trying to slam marco rubio on the attendance record. and then getting slammed back five times as hard. that wasn't the only problem last night. not the only thing that made his night so atrocious. even worse than that, the mets. let's take a look. jeb bush the biggest tax : increase happened under the obama ministration. you find a democrat for cutting spending, i will give them a warm kiss. i'm 7-0 in my fantasy football league. they cannot regulate themselves, the nfl needs to look at moving away from them a little bit. and there should be some regulation. i have no clue whether the federal government is the proper place. my instinct is to say, hell no.

just about everything for the e federal government. >> are we talking about getting the government involved in fantasy football? chris christie we have $19 : trillion in debt, people out of work, isis and al qaeda attacking us, and we are talking about fantasy football? [applause] john: so that was chris christie showing how jeb bush should've answered that question. just break it down for me what you thought was so bad. you gave him a d+. a pretty low-grade. mark: the big moment with marco rubio was a disaster but he talked less than anybody. he was not commanding. if you are going to say, my premise is that i'm the only -- i'm the most qualified, you have to be, and you have to be more fluid. i mean there is a personality , inside jeb bush that is fluid and commanding, you have to show it. do it. he knew that he had to do it. john: he did not get that many questions last night.

part of that fight between danny diaz and the people at cnbc, he did not get enough time. that may be true. the more powerful thing was with the time he had, he did nothing useful. i went to the transcript after watching and look to the exchanges, there was not one exchange where -- with the exception of the marco rubio exchange -- the rest of them, i don't know what his message was here and i don't know what he was trying to do there. there is no moment where he said, this is my strategy. the message he is trying to drive. the personality he is trying to portray. mark: he is telling his donors today, i get it, i will be different. he is not going to get many more chances. i will say we disagree on this. if he has a great debate performance the next time, the problem is, the press and the moderators, people are not looking at him as the center of attention. john: we don't disagree about that. if he has a great debate performance, i will change my mind and say he has revived his candidacy.

my point is that consistently throughout this year, he has not given a great performance at any debate. and all of the problems were on display last night have been characteristic problems. i don't think he is going to change. mark: he also did not get in the race to fight donald trump or criticize marco rubio's attendance. the notion that he is going to win this arguing on something he doesn't care about. john: the guy he who said he wants to run joyfully doesn't seem joyful very much. and going negative is not what it is all about. so, we are done with that. and we will be right back. ♪

>> [indiscernible french accent] starting next week, we are on for an hour every day. mark: i don't know what accent

that is. tomorrow, thank you for watching. see you tomorrow, sayonara. ♪

cory: shares of linkedin heading higher. the company reports solid third-quarter earnings. ♪ cory: i'm cory johnson, this is "bloomberg west." coming up, ea reports that the videogame company continues with news of a blockbuster new franchise. plus, shaking of the board and continuing to fend off questions about mystery technology. and if you thought silicon