mark: you ask a lot of questions, but you forgot the most important one. ♪ john: we will see jon meacham here on thursday but now it's the daily carson show. with interviews here, but so far

his violent childhood, and eight yale psych course, all alleged and none proven to satisfaction of the ben carson skeptics. it's been enough to move on to the holy land of the big-time broadcast networks, television. >> ben carson is firing back at the media. >> ben carson defends himself against criticism that he fabricated stories in his past. >> carson calls it a witch hunt. >> carson's credibility is now the biggest story in politics. frome going to explore it all angles. first, is he in better shape our worse shape than he was headed into the weekend when the story started to explode? john: there have been few questions i found easier to answer than this one. obviously worse.

it has gone to national broadcast television, as you say. questions are attached to his name more than ever before. >> if you go one by one, yes. if you go long-term and he is caught lying, it could not him out. but on none of these stories has to been caught lying, none of them. and you know that raising the question, asking the question, setting the bloodhounds on the trail, and the more he taunts the press, you all are not doing your job, the more scrutiny and more digging. mark: so far this thing is burning out. it was on network news this morning. this thing for his supporters is

burning out and it being painted .uccessfully by carson this is a good thing. lots of money, lots of circling the wagons. few conservative voices now are critical. the question is whether he can expand out from his current core of supporters. in the long-term -- i don't think the polls will show him rising. i don't see hagan say he is in a better position than he was. mark: because on friday there was a firestorm. carson question number two. based on the current facts, which of the panoply of

controversies do you think he is in the most trouble on? point becausewest that is the one that goes to credibility about a serious issue. but he still hasn't shown why he thought had he applied he would have gotten it. he still hasn't shown that enough. people at his high school, what were the of a hoaxces involving a psychology course, all that stuff i think is meaningless. and why vegetarian was eating at ,opeyes, this is not the stuff this is not dodging the draft or gennifer flowers. mark: or what you did in the vietnam war. think it's any threat to him. that is not to say he was not careless with the facts or there might be something else uncovered.

the whole problem is you cannot pick one, you have to consider it a cumulative ring. each one of them gets a little bit of pause, just like one unexplored area that has not gotten enough attention is this manna tech thing. he said he had no involvement thisthe company but nutritional supplement that claimed it could cure autism and cancer, he was seen on the website doing what looked like ads for it. truth is notthe what you want in a presidential candidate. collectively it is more problematic than any individual story. john: the negative information makes up a larger percentage. if you go through everyone in the race and try to come up with cases where they've had trouble

with the truth on serious policy , most of the criticism of carson for the stuff of carson for this stuff amounts to carelessness, not lying. .e needs to be clear on issues that is where his undoing is going to be. the one thing i think he has done that is unforgivable is this yale psychology thing. who would blame a co-author? me, i ever did that to would firebomb your apartment. unearthed his mother being quoted regarding the question of his violent past. he is coming back on this stuff, i think. up next, even more of the daily

carson show with appearances by his campaign manager plus a visit from mr. trump's campaign manager. synchronize your watches, 62nd. -- 60 seconds. ♪

ben carson says is getting more media scrutiny than any past presidential candidate. of other people were available for comment. here's a sampling starting with the brightest minds. >> he doesn't know anything about policy.

>> i still can't get over the pyramids. let me just say, the story to me is that the media is somehow uncomfortable saying the guideline about everything in his biography and all he's got is his biography. mark: that's what happens when you are in first place. you are going to get more attention and scrutiny. that comes with the process. >> if these stories continue to pile on and hope holds at this compelling story of redemption, it could hurt them in the long run with a sense of trustworthiness because it all becomes about his personal character. as bade is no such thing press, and he is a very smart man. he is a man who does brain surgery. he knows how to turn something that is that into something good. mark: so that is just the foundation in a multilayer bean dip.

>> a couple of days of being asked about something that you put in your book, i don't have a whole lot of sympathy. he should answer the questions forthrightly and directly. peopleoes, the american will accept it. if he doesn't, they will not. >> the one thing i heard him say that i was kind of taken aback when he said people are looking into his personal life and going after him. i'm thinking, powell, you ain't seen nothing yet. >> when people make public comments, they are going to have their claims scrutinized, even claims about their own biography. that is part of the process. mark: and now, here comes the guacamole. donald trump who said he wished his opponent the best, and then twisted the proverbial knife by using ang carson of

very familiar phrase on all the sunday shoes. listen closely and see if you can hear the key phrase. >> i don't know where it all came from but he said he has a pathological disease in the book . that is a very serious problem because that's not something that is skewered. that is something -- not something that is too hard. that is something you have to live with. when you have a pathological disease, which he said, when he writes he has a pathological disease in a book, and he obviously wrote this book prior to thinking about running for office, but he said he has pathological disease. that is a problem. he wrote it, i didn't write it. i know you are a low-energy person, but i still have to ask the question, do you think that string of attacks is doing carson any damage?

john: i think, as i said before, i don't think he is being damaged. i think they are making a mistake attacking carson. mark: i should have said another reason why he is doing worse, donald trump is on him now. me as the implication question to what you just said, if you don't think it's doing damage, do you think those who are attacking him or risking backlash? is not think if he cleared, people who are out there slapping at him now could be dangerous. it's hard to imagine what donald trump would be vetted on now that would come back to hot him.

you notice some of the other candidates like marco rubio and ted cruz are not say much about this right now. i don't think carson is in danger because he has been fighting back aggressively. the other question of does he have trouble with the truth, i just don't think he does in a way that the other candidates will benefit from it. john: coming up, we have two 2016 campaign managers on this show. both what it is like at the top of the republican field and how they are prepping their candidates for the big debate tomorrow night. ♪

trump's campaign chief left's headquarters and stop by our set to talk about all things donald trump. i started out by asking him how the campaign is going and whether he and his candidate were still enjoying the front runner life. >> is fun because mr. trump has fun. , andves being on the road he had the opportunity to do saturday night live, and he had a great time, so it is fun. mark: so not feeling any pressure, all relaxed? >> people have continually underestimated him as a candidate. to underestimate him and his ability to not only be the nominee but be the next president of the united states. i don't mind that. trumplet's talk about the

skeptics are you guys went on radio last week, not television. many of the other campaigns are on television. do you guarantee that before new year's eve mr. trump will have spent millions of dollars on a television? >> i will not guarantee but i will say this. all the resources necessary to get his message out as widely as necessary. much keep in mind how earned media he has received so far. mark: you guys are restrained. he could be leading the news every night if he wanted to, most nights. they say trop will do a little more earned media a little radio. >> they say he will never file his personal disclosure statements. i respectfully disagree. mark: so you may not spend money on television if you decide it's not worth it.

that's only going to inflame the skeptics. let's focus on ohio and new hampshire. tell people with metrics what the truck campaign has built in those two states for those who are skeptical and say he is just running on big rallies. hampshire, we have every single town covered and we have multiple people in those towns. in iowa and have 1800 people already lined up for all the delegate locations. day,they come on caucus those people will know where to go. that's just the beginning. we are 84 days away from iowa and we continue to build there. we have a thousand public endorsements in new hampshire without even trying. mark: are you doing paid or volunteer calls to voters? >> volunteer. it varies per state. if you go to the manchester 25ice you would have

volunteers making phone calls, getting people to commit to donald trump president. mark: let's talk about ben carson. he is saying he is being scrutinized more than anybody in the race. mike huckabee said this morning, you ain't seen nothing yet. he had nostie said sympathy for carson. do you and mr. trump inc. the scrutiny he is getting is excessive or is the norm? >> we've received an immense amount scrutiny from business deals from 40 and 50 years ago, as dr. carson has. whens part of the process you decide you want to run for the most powerful position in the world. i think the scrutiny is fair. it gives people a chance to understand who candidate is and what really takes place. i think it is fair that mike huckabee has been through this

and chris christie has been through some of it, marco rubio and many others. they understand the scrutiny is very intense, much more than ben carson was used to in the private sector. mark: so it's true that he is getting more scrutiny than the rest? >> he is not getting any more scrutiny than the rest. mr. trump has received an immense amount scrutiny since he announced he was going to run. that is a fair thing to do because you are running for president. hillary clinton has received an enormous amount of scrutiny, as the first lady and then secretary. that is part of the job. mark: what would you say to ben carson about this? bei would say if you want to a candidate, there will be a lot of scrutiny. mark: donald trump did saturday night live. he used one phrase over and over.

donald trump: i guess a book was written before he ran for politics, but he said he has pathological disease in the book. when you have pathological disease, that's a very serious because that is not something that is skewered. tot is something you have live with and that is a very serious thing to have to live with. the book says pathological temper, not pathological disease. he kept talking about it over and over, having pathological disease. think when you talk about someone who is a pathological at some of theok history you haven't some things that may not be accurate, that maybe what he was referring to in the book. he had asaid pathological temper, not a pathological disease. >> i don't speak for mr. trump but when someone says they have a pathological problem, that is

something people look at an say it is a consistent problem that does not end. a pathologicals liar, most people understand they cannot prevent himself from line. wish him the best. my would mr. trump talk about how horrible it is that he has pathological disease? carson's own's dr. words that he said he has a pathological problem. temper, disease, they are synonymous and some cases. maybe it means they are overexposed too much. maybe he a very aggressive temper. what you have seen recently is some of the scrutiny because some of the statements he has made may not be as truthful as he thought they were. trump and the fact that he has called out dr. carson.

on what he has written in his own book. had the opportunity to set the narrative anyway he wanted to. that you looktive at in hindsight may not have been completely accurate. if it was so accurate we would find out who these people were who were potentially stabbed or hit in the head with a hammer. we cannot find anyone to confirm these things. , can take you my childhood every person would remember me very well at what my childhood was like. mark: knowing what he has done so far the questions that have been raised, do you think this will end up being a small thing or a big thing in terms of his candidacy? >> i think when people look at dr. carson, but they tend to publicly say is his trustworthiness is why they support him. look at his trustworthiness.

this goes to the heart of his trustworthiness, and will people continued to say we consider him to be the most trustworthy candidate if what we are finding he has said was not actually true all? mark: so a big thing or a small thing in his candidacy? >> we have a long time to see. think is going to be the target in this debate? >> you have the two front runners. mr. trump has a comparative jobs,age on trade deals, job creation and negotiation skills. if the moderators focus as they said they would on the economy, i think mr. trump is clearly the person they will talk to the most because he has created the most private sector jobs. hundreds of companies he has put together. if the moderators don't want to be part of the discussion after the debate is over, they will outlinedr. trump and his vision of how to bring the

economy back. mark: so you have trump and carson who are ahead in the polls, and yet the insiders are now saying this is a two-person race but it is between crews and rubio. you are a great student of the establishment. how could it be that the establishment is saying it is a two-man race but the two guys at the top are not in the game? >> these are the guys that said jeb bush would be the nominee and he was unstoppable. but then when donald trump got in the race, they set the only reason he is winning is the cause has 100% name id and the bush family doesn't. these inside pundits are wrong time and time again. they don't want to admit it because they cannot control the trunk candidacy or a trump presidency. they want to get into to buy and pay for these politicians that are all talk and no action and that's the one thing you cannot

do with donald trump because he is self funding his own campaign. making sure we are on the ballot, making sure all thing campaigns do need -- to be successful. we feel good about where we are. mark: thank you for coming to visit. again our thanks to him. ben carson's campaign manager. he will join us after this word from earth officers. ♪ -- from our sponsors.

john: dr. ben carson has been taking his lungs on the show, so

let's bring in a man who can offer a rebuttal. barry bennett joins us from florida. very good to have you. you have had a long weekend and into the early part of this week answering questions from the media. of,nt to get your sense with dr. carson's credibility under assault, do you think his credibility has been in any way damaged over the last five days? barry: i don't. we have been successful pushing back on all of the ridiculous charges that have been made, the west point story that has been rebuffed and partly retracted. rebuffed aing was few minutes ago. what was the other one? the violence thing, we found an 1997le from his mother in who told the story. plus, there's a colleague at johns hopkins who told the story, as well. the truth takes a little while sometimes to come out, but we rebuffed those charges.

john: americans who had a week ago had no questions about who dr. carson was, today, you think they still have no questions about whether he's a truthful person? barry: you've got to understand the republican base. getting attacked by the media is an instant rallying cry, which is why we vetted 165,000 facebook followers the last week. supporters --your i would even include you in this -- have said, some of the phrasing could've been more precise. has any of this -- i know you think some of the stories have been an accurate come and i've come to agree with you on some of them, but do you all now understand or feel this is an appropriate level of scrutiny or do you agree with your candidate that he is being over scrutinized? barry: the scrutiny part doesn't scare me. we are prepared. i am particularly disturbed with scrutiny with an ax to grind.

it's not in this country guilty until proven innocent, and some of these reporters have frankly done no research. record"alled the "yell to see if they would corroborate the story. they did today. no one googled misses carson to see if she told the story in "parade magazine"? there are a lot of journalists out there who are good folks, but there are also some who are lazy or who have a bent before they start writing. john: let me ask you about a question that hasn't been part of this last five days but did come up earlier era dr. carson was asked about his involvement with this company called manotech. hesaid on the debate stage had no involvement. he later said, it's absurd. it's propaganda. said, i didn't have any

relationship with them. there are some videos with dr. carson the people look at and seem a lot like ads to people. how do you square those things, the presence of the videos and his claim he had no involvement with the company? barry: this is a perfect example. if anyone bothered to call manotech, they would've said, there was no involvement, no contractual obligation. he gave a couple paid speeches, which is what he did the last four or five years, and he got a speaking fee. he spoke to all kinds of groups. it's ridiculous. he takes a vitamin that comes from manotech.he thinks it makes them healthier. good for him. he doesn't run the company. he doesn't make any of the false advertising claims they have. john: i take your point that there was no contractual relationship, and i take your point he didn't run the company,

but you are saying he is unaware of him touting their products were being used on website? barry: not only that, but the speaking contracts prohibit them. john: ok. mark: you are a student of mr. trump in the world of polls, at least. barry: aren't we all? mark: over the weekend, mr. trump said, i wish dr. carson the best, but then he misquoted dr. carson's book and said dr. carson had confessed to pathological disease, rather wrote,at dr. carson which was pathological temper. what you think of mr. trump's usage of pathological disease? barry: you never know it with donald. he's either your best friend or your worst friend. all i know about him is he is really, really rich. mark: he says he wishes the best for dr. carson, but pathological disease.

as you know, other elite republicans as well as some of the rivals for dr. carson have long said that this would be his undoing, that he has trouble with the truth. within your campaign, do you see that argument as all as a vulnerability, or do you think if this is what people are going to come after him on, he's going to be the nominee? barry: look at it from 30,000 feet. dr. carson wrote a book 20,000 years ago -- 20 years ago about occurrences that happened 25 years before that. he told the world about his warts. cnn is trying to write a story. he has no warts. this is ridiculous. john: we talked to armstrong williams about this friday. you feel as though in terms of doing self opposition research, which a lot of campaigns do in a presidential campaign, do you feel as though you are adequately prepared for these questions, and to what extent have you done more work in the

last few days to copper took -- to try to prepare for other questions? i know of the existence of the opposition research book that one of our opponents put together. i know they have shared it with another candidate. reporters tell me all kinds of things, but we aren't going to waste a lot of time worrying about it. he's a man of integrity. he's a man with a great life story. if it takes us a couple days to rebut, we are fine with that. john: you didn't quite answer my question. did you guys go through the books prior to when the questions came? have you gone through the books and research this stuff so you would have responses at hand? barry: we went through the books, but i didn't waste a lot of time building a foul cabinet -- fileresponses

cabinet full of responses. we are focused on fundraising. we raised $4 million last week, and this morning at the post office am a there were 20,000 envelopes with checks in them. we are doing just fine. mark: america is getting to know you. that is one of the fringe benefits of the scrutiny for dr. carson. you've worked for rob portman and other people who would be considered part of the establishment of the party. the establishment is saying it's a two-man race, but they say the two aren't carson and trump. they say it's a two-man race between crews and rubio. what you think of the establishment's view? >> they need to get out of the capitol hill grill club and get out into america. mark: do you think right now it's a two-man race between carson and trump? barry: collectively, i think we are getting in the neighborhood of 55%, 58% of the vote. if this race settles and after the debate tomorrow night, through the holidays, then it's

going to be hard for anything to happen to make a change. john: lest follow up on that. ted cruz is the one who thinks he will benefit from what he sees as the inevitable collapse of dr. carson and donald trump. if you are having a private operatives-- conversation, what would you say? barry: i would say, you need to go out and do more research. s. don't have billionaire we have 900,000 donations and now. we are not going anywhere. we are going to be in cleveland, and we are going to go there with a lot of delegates. mark: are you expecting dr. carson to face the brunt of the scrutiny and the attacks, such as they are? barry: we've got to prepare for that. we will see what happens. last time, everyone thought trump was going to be aggressive, but he wasn't. we are prepared.

going back to these inside the , punditry class, six month's ago, they said this election was over, that it was jeb bush's, so why would we think that they suddenly became intelligent? john: our thanks to barry bennett. up next, j mark from "the new york times." ♪

mark: we mentioned it earlier in the show. the political establishment has determined this is a two-man race. a lot of people we talked to said it's going to come down in 44-year-oldwo first-term cuban-american senators, marco rubio and ted cruz. rubio had a good weekend after

the release of his charge card statements showed that there was no big there there, and the cruise campaign in iowa over the weekend, he worked to satisfy -- solidify his status as the darling of the right. here to talk to us about why the establishment is thinking cruise-rubio is the "new york times" jonathan martin. i'm sure some people you have talked to have said, this is going to come down to cruz- rubio. where did that materialize? jonathan: i think process of elimination, looking at this race. a lot of folks looking at this saw walkere back drop out, saw jeb struggle, and you go through it, and i think a lot of those people are coming to the conclusion that trump and carson are not going to ultimately prove viable when the

votes are cast. who does that leave you? it leaves k-6 and christie who are running new hampshire-focused campaigns where it is make or break. if they don't win there, what are you left with? cruz,e left with rubio, and there are not many other possible candidates beyond that. when folks ask me, i say, it's certainly possible. i could see it unfolding that way. this campaign has proven at every turn to either be wrong or misinformed. you think?do we hear it all the time -- we've discussed it a million times, that trump and carson will not be the nominees. you just said it your self. it's a presumption. what's the process by which the two front-runners who have been the two front runners for quite some time now, what is the process by which they fade away? jonathan: i think reporting about -- certainly in the case of carson -- about who he is,

and when it comes to trump, voters taking a closer look at who they want to make commander-in-chief before they go to the polls and deciding that he's not up to that. i'm not saying that that's going to happen, but that is a scenario in which you see it unfolding. also, i would note that the has been harder and harder. as you know, pulling is getting harder and harder to do. this is in the weeds, but your viewers will get it -- trump does better on roble pulls than robocall polls than he does live. it's fascinating. mark: let's talk about rubio. the thing we talk about all the time is, what early state can he win?

he seemed to not be doing well in each of the first four states, that if he wins the establishment lane in iowa, can he finish first in new hampshire even though right now he is at best third in new hampshire and pretty far off the leader? jonathan: it's a great question and one of the most fascinating subplots of this campaign. can rubio get to the point that he either wins iowa or comes out as the establishment favorite by the way of being second or third in iowa and go into new hampshire and leverage that to become the candidate to beat in new hampshire? it depends on a couple things. number one come is new hampshire going to listen to iowa? of new a tradition hampshire doing the opposite of iowa. secondly, that scenario assumes that jeb, kasich, and christie who are spending a lot of time in new hampshire are not going e a hold onto hav the electorate in new hampshire.

mark: i know it's a cycle where we can expect to see some additional firsts, but i don't think rubio is going to be first in any poll in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, or florida -- or nevada. i think it's possible that he's not first in any of those polls, but this race can change so quickly. we have the debate tomorrow night. we have a debate in december. we have a debate in january. if rubio has three strong debates, if he gets more momentum off of that, the other candidates had problems. i think it's possible rubio could lead in one of those states. mark: which one? jonathan: new hampshire. john: i think it's possible but not likely. january is going to be a month -- i'm speaking to you now. january is a month we could see a lot of movement in poland.

we get through the holiday season and get into january. the month of january leading into iowa and new hampshire, that month can see a lot of tumbled. the question i have for j-mart is this one, part of the rubio scenario -- coming out of that last debate, there were a lot of people, including this reporter, who wrote about the perception that jeb bush dead, done, finished. have you seen any signs since the cnbc debate in boulder that makes you think there is a pulse or anything like a pulse that could suggest a possible or imminent comeback? i spent time with him last week in new hampshire, and the answer to that question depends upon whether or not investment in new hampshire still matters. not to plug my story for second time, but it partially depends on whether or not he can work his tail off in new hampshire

and get a hearing from folks that is based upon his pitch to them, not based upon whether he does or does not perform in debates. that may not be plausible the way campaigns are conducted, but i think that is his scenario. i'm going to ask you a question. the first part is, is that a lava lamp behind you or police siren? jonathan: that is a scoop siren. we hit that when we have scoops. i think it is michael s. schmidt's siren. mark: that's a nice accoutrement. we talk all about a lot of the candidates in play. if it came down to a cruz-rubio final, how would you handicap that race? jonathan: it would be a barn burner. to do what a able lot of conservative candidates haven't done in campaigns, which is coalesced the right pretty quick.

jonathan: with the money. -- john: with money. jonathan: most conservative candidates have a hard time coalescing the vote, and they aren't able to do so until later in the campaign. if he can do so later in the february window, that would be incredible. rubio, there would be a flood of establishment support to him, because everyone would want to stop ted. that john madeer earlier that got me thinking, its import for viewers to know there's a distinction between the polling it comes to primary --es and generally general elections. the voters are not deciding necessarily based on their archaeological worldview. ,t's much more of a personal and at times, it can be ethical decision. i like so and so. he was great in the debate. that can move over time if there are not big ideological differences.

it's different in primaries, and it moves faster. mark: lots of shifts could be coming. jonathan martin of the "new york times." john: this is why i think january is going to be wild. back,when we come political thunderstorms are brewing. we will tell you where and how to dress for it. back in 60 seconds. ♪

john: tomorrow is going to be another exciting day after an .lection let's go live to our 24-hour campaign forecast center where alex trowbridge is standing by. where is all the action tomorrow? alex: we are talking about sin city, specifically the wisconsin

city of milwaukee where republican candidates are going to be crashing for the debate. take a look at this confluence. in the east, it's kristy, huckabee, carson. in the midwest, we've got rand, rubio, bush, santorum, and trump, all humming together for the brouhaha in brew town. it's an exciting phenomenon we see a lot of every four years. linton will be staying far away from the rumble, over in derry, new hampshire talking with veterans. that's it for me. we have got you covered. back to you. john: that guy is getting a little less weird. you are going to milwaukee tomorrow. i am not. what are you going to be looking for? mark: the foxbusiness moderators have said they are going to focus on business, finance, economy, and it's going to be fascinating to see -- the

answers are longer. the rebuttals are longer. it's going to be interesting to see if they stay true to that and if there's a debate about economic issues. i think all eight of them on that mainstage think they can shine. john: i think that's right, but you know what is going to be interesting in this context? i often think the complaints about moderators are trumped up. i wonder how many of the candidates ask serious questions about the economy. mark: it's a little bit harder because it's fox this time. john: we will be back with some exciting paul ryan news after this. ♪

john: this year, our television program is on the tube twice a day at 5:00 and 8:00 p.m., but we are alive on bloombergpolitics.com. make sure you visit our campaign tracker. mark: tomorrow, we hit the road and take the show to milwaukee for the republican presidential debate where we will have a live interview with the new speaker of the house on his home turf, paul ryan. john: what do you think of that guy? mark: i'm going to ask him about nutrition. i don't know. [laughter] the paul ryan debate preview. we will see you tomorrow. until then, sayonara. ♪

cory: i am cory johnson. you are watching "bloomberg west ." president obama promising a full investigation into the deaths of two americans in jordan.

jordanian policeman opened fire on a compound, apparently killing as many as eight. a u.s. official says two americans were part of the state department police training program. russia's prime ministers as the country's ban on flights to egypt all not be lifted quickly. he says it will take time to ensure security in egypt following the plane crash that killed 224 people. losses in tourism revenue could reach $224 million. israel's defense minister says there's a high probability the recentlyirliner that crashed was brought down by a bomb. he told reporters he would be surprised if the explicit device onboard wasn't the cause of the crash. we told 224 were killed. president obama telling israel's prime minister their countries must work together to fight terrorism despite their differences over the iran nuclear deal. the president met with benjamin officehu in the oval earlier today, the first time the two have met face-to-fan