john: i'm john heilemann. nicole: i'm nicole wallace. with all due respect to the president of colombia, we will get the president of the philippines ready just in case. we have a feature presentation for you tonight. viewer discretion is advised. it has violent acts, a vengeful cast and an overflow super pac. it is called the hateful eight. the characters are familiar. everyone attacking everyone but we are starting with the most hated and most loved -- donald trump.

the setting is the today show when the target is bill clinton. mr. trump: they called him a racist. he did very poorly. they are bringing him out again. he is being wheeled out. he failed in 2008. he failed really badly. he did a very poor job at campaigning. if you look at the different situations, we can name many of them. i can send you a list. there were certainly a lot of abuse of women. you look at whether it is monica lewinsky or paula jones or many of them, that certainly will be fair game. certainly, they played the women's card. with respect to me, that will be fair game. with all of these attacks, will anything stick? john: he basically suggested that people called bill clinton a racist. he called him geriatric by saying they are wheeling him out and he called them a qualify sex

offender. talk about monica lewinsky, that is in the stock. i think the memories of 2008 are still fresh for a lot of voters. the real question is not whether they will stick but how does bill clinton perform this time around. we have not seen enough of him to see if we will get the 2008 bill clinton or 2012 bill clinton when he was a fantastic surrogate for barack obama, as everybody remembers. which one do we get? nicole: ruth marcus this morning prerogativemp's to open up this line of attack against bill clinton. robinson also defended him saying there were some racial sensitivities to his comments in 2008 about then senator obama. -- there isnd the no and to thesend to this line f

attack. john: he is a former president.he has behaved inappropriately. he has campaigned in ways that have an problematic for his wife. it is all legitimate. the question is whether there is any political salience to it. therice married man and all troubles that donald trump is had, k really talk about that? i'm not sure. he went after somebody else last night. the second target is the rival of trump which is chris christie. yesterday, he unloaded on governor christie. even though he mentioned the bridge scandal, he mentioned that in an interview in new hampshire, but he saved other vulnerabilities for his evening rout in new hampshire. the economy and the bearhug of

president obama. mr. trump: the george washington bridge, it is unbelievable he did not know what i did. that is very bad management. if you did know about it, it is a bigger problem. how could they close down the largest bridge and most traveled bridge in the united states if he does not know about it? it is impossible to know about it. how do you back this? he had tremendous downgrades, nine or 11. number 50 out of 50 in terms of economic development and in terms of the economy. it is like one of the worst in the country for jobs. it is a disaster. i have property in new jersey. the taxes are through the roof, through the roof. you go through it. -- i call it a hug. it was unbelievable. he was like a little boy.

he flew in the helicopter and he was so excited to be in the helicopter. i could put you in my helicopter, it is nicer. john: that is a trifecta of attacks from trump on christie. which has a chance of sticking and why? nicolle: on one level, it is an honor to be attacked by trump, right? he is in it. he does not waste his insults. i think at that level this is good news for the christie campaign. the only one of the three lines of attacks that could have a revelation for voters is the attack on the new jersey economy. folks in new jersey are not big fans of what christie has done. john: what is interesting about does not think bridge gate is his vulnerability. a lot of republicans do think that just how bad the jersey

economy is. the number of downgrades it has suffered, how unpopular he is. they think there is an achilles heel. trumpistie rises, donald will not be the only one making these arguments and not just that rallies. you will see those in ads. a lot of republicans think he is very vulnerable. nicolle: moving on to some other duals. we go to marco rubio. the immigration started off in the last debate. he is now being pinched by other adversaries. first, it was jeb bush's friends of the super pac. spending over $1 million on this tv ad. >> senators came together for a tough secret meeting. marco rubio was missing. fundraising in california instead. two weeks later, terrorists struck again in san bernardino. where was marco?

fundraising again. over the last two years, he missed important to national security hearings. missed more votes than any other senator. writes a wife -- right to rise usa is responsible for this ad. nicolle: he said this at a town hall in iowa. stie: only in washington can you say you have the guts to stand up to say you were against something and not go vote. vote show up to work and no. right? if you don't want to then quit. nicolle: in iowa, rubio responded to both attacks, calling it at fault and said this about the harsh words. mr. rubio: i have had 90% attendance record. candidates get a little

desperate and nasty in their attacks. that is fine. nicolle: will any of these attacks stick? john: look, i think there is something here. i think it is not just about his attendance record, spending too much time politicking. there is a weird irony. other people are attacking him for not spending enough time out of washington. he is getting in both directions. i think the main thing that this is trying to get at is the notion that rubio is shallow and somebody who was not really serious enough to be president. i think that does touch a nerve and could be a problem for him. nicolle: i think it touches a nerve because it is preposterous. he is the one guy running that sits on the senate, the four relations committee. he has a breath of experience on the hot button issues we are talking about. i think as a campaign, they find themselves exasperated that they

are not further ahead in the minds of voters on questions about foreign policy. john: do you actually think that rubio is impervious to these criticisms? do you think voters hearing that rubio is out politicking, raising money, that does not matter to voters? nicolle: in his defense, chris christie is a governor of a state being attacked in iowa. we have a republican electorate who is really sort of up heaved by an establishment figure. i don't think it is that bad of a line of attack to say he is not showed up for his job. john: fair enough. we have a fourth and final topic a mano.ve mano filibustering person

himself, ted cruz. he is the one that people generally hate. the line coming from his opponent is he is very unlikable and grossly opportunistic. questioned hisas authenticity, calling him the biggest narcissist in the race which includes donald trump. this super pac supporting mike huckabee is having ads in iowa with east coast donors. he is downplaying his opposition to gay marriage calling him a hypocrite. there are a lot of attacks on ted cruz. which of these, do you think of any, has a chance to slow him down? thelle: if you trust reporting, and i do because it has been verified by a lot of people who know ted cruz, he is really hated. if you trust the polls in iowa, they are loving that about him. the voters are not looking for someone who is winning ia

congeniality contest. viewed as not a team player. i worked with him on the recount in florida and that was ground zero for the biggest egos in both parties in the whole country. he rose to the top in terms of egomania. he is at the top of the polls in iowa so i think voters are saying we do not care. john: you are singing like kurt andersen said he is the biggest narcissist, you are saying among all of your colleagues in the recount effort that he was the biggest ego? nicolle: he was a contender. these are good republicans who work in the bush administration who say they would have a really hard time voting for ted cruz if he was the republican candidate. john: that is incredible to say. i think the one that has the

most chance to stick is the notion he is a hypocrite. i think that has a real potential problem for him. coming up, we will talk about more innd chelsea and the category of family fun, the family circus. when we come back in 60 seconds. ♪

john: we have a little breaking news right now from our friends at the boston globe. he says former new york governor i who haspatak been struggling for the nomination fight is calling his supporters in new hampshire

today to say he is getting out of the race. i would not say that is a huge surprise given the way he has been pulling, but what about your thoughts about the guy who was at one point a huge figure in new york state politics? enjoyed theave undercard debate far more than i expected to. i think he has been an important voice. the reality is we are now five weeks out from iowa. undercard debate does not have that much relevance. i think he made some contributions to the conversation. john: he is a serious person who had serious views about the country and the world. and a very different view of what the republican party is. i think it is a sign of how much the republican party has changed over the past couple of decades. pataki could not get a hearing in the modern republican party, let alone be a first-tier

candidate. we wish you well. let's move on to what we were talking about which his family in the campaign trail. we did not see much of the candidate spouses over the course of 2015. in 2016, we will see more of in 2016, we will see more of them and their kids as well. ivanka trump says her father is a great advocate o for women. we had photos of a pregnant chelsea clinton. jing sanders has a relatively behind the scenes. she is getting the new york times profile treatment. think about all of these guys -- first on the republican side and the democratic side -- pick one spouse or family member that you think could be a real asset, a surprising big asset for their candidate as we go into iowa and new hampshire. nicolle: i'm slightly obsessed with trump's disapproval number

of among women. i personally think it is the greatest hurdle for his ability to win a national election. i see his daughter who was universally respected and admired my people who know her as a link to, not just women, but younger women. she could bring people into the republican party who have not given the party a look and would not give donald trump a look. i think her potential to me is the greatest. even if people do not like donald trump, they love his daughter. there is no doubt she could be an asset. just like i think mary pat christie who is someone who was a huge figure in chris christie's life as governor of new jersey, she is very politically savvy. i think she will have a big role. nicolle: she is important considering some of christie's vulnerabilities were

his rough edges. i think the whole family is important to the christie story. my next one is chelsea clinton because of you look at hillary's vulnerabilities it is preventing herself as someone who is a human being. she has not driven herself in over a decade. she does not come across as anybody particularly relatable. i think it is a tremendous opportunity for her to connect. john: the real question about chelsea is how big of a role she wants to play. if you wanted to be a big figure, she could be as important or more important than her mother's husband, bill clinton. she could be a huge figure but i don't think she wants that role. i think the one in who was covered in the new york times today, jane sanders, could be a big figure. incredibly funny, charming. she does something to husband

desperately needs wish is to soften him and show his more human side. bernie sanders needs that. his wife is probably the easiest way to get that done. the past year of 2015 started with our tour of hillary clinton's brooklyn headquarters when we come back after i word from our sponsors. ♪

nicolle: as much as we all like going out on the campaign trail, the trail comes to us. this summer when hillary clinton opened her camcorders in our backyard in brooklyn, tom was given special behind the scenes access which included michelle kwan, a mysterious

refrigerator and all the people who make a campaign run. tom: how are you, sir? ♪ >> we have worked hard to make it look like a real campaign. absolutely. day, it depends. everybody has taken it from d.c. mark: they are relatively senior officials here. there is proof that they have ridden the bus? >> it is a badge of honor to have your name on their. re. my name is not on there. i'm sure it will be there sooner than later. mark: charlie baker, senior

officials have ridden the bus. tell us what you're department does. >> we are in charge of political engagement. anywhere from talking to members on the hill, governors, local elected officials. working with her allied groups. we are coming together with an african-american engagement program and coalition groups. mark: what do you do here? >> i coordinate with people who are prominent figures, elected officials who could do some outreach ofor us. if hillary cannot be there, we can have a surrogate. >> it is named after in early state. south carolina is one of the early states. over here is tech and compliance. that is the kitchen. mark: the clinton kitchen. >> you may have read about the

infamous brown refrigerator. mark: what is the story behind it? >> the story is that it has been used before. obviously, we are saving money in every way. mark: did you inherit it? >> i'm not sure what the actual story is. mark: it is old. >> it is. mark: nobody would choose that. it is donated. a contribution from somebody. what is this thing? >> i'm not entirely sure. it looks like it makes sandwiches. mark: how long do you work? >> this morning i got in around 6:00. just me. mark: the first one in? >> i was. mark: you like to start early? >> i do like to start early. there is a lot of stuff to do. mark: you are here at 6:00. when is the next person come? >> an hour late.

mark: what did you do? >> i planned. mark: you work until how late? >> until 7:00 or 8:00. mark: you have been around politics for a living now. a lot of younger people here have not so what are you teaching them? >> i think it is a role reversal. they are teaching me. the digital team -- i just turned 35 a week ago -- i think it is a learning process. >> social media is my area of focus. facebook, twitter, instagram. linkedin is my project. contentolves writing and new ideas. many campaigns get people involved. is somethingthere made out of strawberries and blueberries. it is a precursor to a website i

made that had ideas that i had for the digital team whether it was social media or other things they could do to raise money and get people involved. i sent that through twitter to the recruiter here. right away, he connected me to the digital team. a week later after some interviews, i was packing my bags to come. berries?y >> i thought it was a beautiful way to make a logo. it was right before memorial day. we were making some pies. before you make those, could i arrange them into a logo outside? it was great because they actually shared the image. theyi made the contact, also put that on facebook and

twitter. mark: what is the culture of this office? >> we are here to work hard, have fun and collaborate. >> this is the most open office to an idea than anywhere i have ever been. >> it is like a family. we are away from our family, away from my husband, but it is driving to get hillary clinton elected. she will be the most amazing president. trumpe: the rink that built and more of the best of 2015 when we come back. if you're watching us in washington, d.c., you can listen to us on bloomberg 99.1. we will be right back. ♪

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sounds like my ride's ready. don't get stuck on hold. reach an expert fast. comcast business. built for business. to discover the best shows friends together and movies with xfinity's winter watchlist. later on, we'll conspire ♪ ♪ as we dream by the fire ♪ a beautiful sight, we're happy tonight ♪ ♪ watching in a winter watchlist land, ♪ ♪ watching in a winter watchlist land! ♪ xfinity's winter watchlist. watch now with xfinity on demand- your home for the best entertainment this holiday season. john: by far, the biggest mystery of 2015 was donald j . trump? why, how?

it is a confounding set of questions that journalists are still trying to unpack, on puzzle and solve. last month, we tried to figure out one part of the puzzle which is when we sat down with him at park. rink in central he took over from the city of new york with two crowd marks. let's go back to the summer of 1986. the office is not that far from here. why did you do decide to get involved? mr. trump: i saw for four years a mess. it was under construction for many years. eight, to be exact. i said what is going on? it is actually much more complicated to be honest with you, but it is a very large slab of concrete. after a number of years, i call

the mayor and said what is going on? nobody was ever working. having a lunch break all day long. hundreds of people would be sitting. it has been a great experiment. mark: what was in it for you? mr. trump: i had a young daughter at the time, ivanka. she said, dad, i want to go ice skating, but that rink is never open. seven seasons it was closed, eight years total. i said let me look into it. i see it right from trump tower. i look at the men -- i know a lot of them because i'm in the construction business. i see a lot of the workers and they would waive to me. i would say what is wrong? nobody wants us to work, nobody cares. i went to see the mayor at the time and he said i will do this job and i will get it done. it was a huge embarrassment for

the city. it was the front page story. it was eight years open and i went to the mayor and i said let me do it. don't do it for under $2 million and fast, i will pay for it. he was not 100% -- he was embarrassed by the whole situation. i got it done in four months. people use this as an example of what could be done. john: is this a story about the ineffectiveness of the public sector and effectiveness of the private sector or some especially about your capacity to get something done? mr. trump: i have a great capacity to do something done but it does have to do with the private sector. as an example, the post office under construction right now on pennsylvania avenue between congress and the white house. boom. the most beautiful building. it is incredible. under budget and ahead of schedule which is what we should be and we are supposed to open in 2017.

we will open probably in september of 2016 which is good timing. right on pennsylvania avenue. i get things done. but, another one i'm very proud of -- a big development in the bronx which was a big disaster. under construction for probably 30 years. nobody knows when it started. i got it done in one year and it is open now and very successful. mark: people say that trump has no government experiencing cannot be president, this is a government problem. what examples of things now that are not getting done that you think you can bring the same skills to if you were president? mr. trump: i will give you one example. wars. you look at isis and what is going on with what we are doing. we sent our 50 best over there. why does the president have to say we are sending 50 people? those people are in great danger now because we are saying that.

first of all, either win or do not. win or get out. he sends 50 people out there. a public announcement that 50 people -- those men and women right now are being hunted. they are looking for those men. why does the yet to say they are sending them over? you know how dangerous that is? mark: you compared building an ice rink to stopping wars. mr. trump: it has to do with efficiency, common sense, knowledge. look, i wrote a book in the year 2000. i talked about osama bin laden because i watched this guy talking. he was a terrorist, well-known, and i wrote about him in a book. written? was that book it was in 2000 before the world trade center came down. that is amazing. i have a knack for things and i

know what i am doing. this country is so far behind in every way. in trade, military. we are so far -- i watched the other day, the general, he said least the prepared we have ever been. i think he said ever been in the history of the country. he might have said since the second world war but i think it was essentially ever. is the argument you are making is the skill set required to be president is the same as the skill set to be ceo? if not, what are the differences? mr. trump: they are not the same, but i am better than those people. i will do a better job with the military. i will do a better job with jobs. i understand competition. see these buildings? i built numerous of them.

john: what are the differences? skills that are required to be ceo and president. what are the differences? how would you change your game? mr. trump: it depends on every company because every company is different. to be a ceo, you have to be boom and get it done. to be president, you have to be boom and get it done but you need to have heart. we have a lot of people that need help. we have a lot of people in this country that are not making it and they are in trouble. i'm a conservative with heart because people think conservatives do not have heart. they hear about obamacare and people want to knock the hell out of obamacare and they should because it is horrible. our last meeting a while ago, watch the premiums. you see what is happening. it is not working. it will collapse in 2017 unless something major is done in congress and they should not do it.

they should have a better plan. of a like to say you need great abilities but you also have to have beautiful heart. john: when we come back, mark and i played mike and the mad dog with josh earnest. stick around. you don't want to miss it. ♪

john: white house press secretary josh earnest faces questions from the press corps, but when he came on the show in january, he took questions from callers we probably does not have to talk to as often. if you are watching today, we hope to keep you on your toes in the new year as well. morning -- this video contains some long-lost facial hair.

we hope you are ready to take some questions from viewers. let's get the first caller right now. from, josh, it is deedee hollywood. i'm wondering if the rumors are true if you are trying to get a job in the entertainment business. mark: what do you think? mr. earnest: she would know a lot about getting that done successfully. i would say in the third week of december -- answering questions about the hacking of the sony e-mails, i felt like i had a job in hollywood. thatinly, she has shown i'm doing a great job behind the podium which could lead to great white hous opportunities. mark: next call, please. >> it is joe from d.c. two questions -- one, have you ever had to work so hard and overslept and missed air force one? do you thinkot,

the president would wait for you? mark: thank you. what do you think? mr. earnest: i suspect joe has a very interesting story about oversleeping and possibly missing a flight. i will let him tell that. i do feel pretty confident that if i were late for the motorcade they would leave without me. john: let's get the third caller on the line. >> this is george from new york city. thank you for taking my question. i notice you have gotten some good sparring with john carl. which supporter in the briefing room do you learn the most from everyday? mark: george from manhattan asking a pointed question. mr. earnest: it is not dissimilar. i would say my relationship with john kroll has not been the same since i came to your program if

you much ago. john: who do you learn the most from? mr. earnest: that is a really good question. you know, my colleagues at npr have a habit of asking questions that are a little bit different than the other people in the briefing room. usually means they are better questions. not always. mark: they are taxpayer-funded. mr. earnest: that must be it. mark: back to the phones. calling from town ridge, new york. i heard there are four tvs in the office of the press secretary and they all used to be set on fox news. what station is it now? mark: what are you watching? mr. earnest: right at this moment, bloomberg. timel tell you since ari's in my fancy office with all the windows, we have taken those television screens and use

modern technology to put them in a box all on one screen. deskeserves a little space. john: i think we have one more caller. caller number five. >> hey, johsh. i understand you are married to a woman who is not only really smart and beautiful, but some people said she is even more qualified than you are to be the white house secretary. what is the best piece of professional advice your wife has given you and what have you done with that advice? mark: good question. mr. earnest: that is a terrific question. i married up. i'm pretty proud of that. wifetle known fact -- my used to have a job i most wanted at the end of the 2008 campaign which serving as assistant secretary to public affairs and the treasury department. it was a job that i'm sure jacob

knows what well. i think the best piece of professional advice to give me is to make sure every time, before i come on camera and do interviews like this, that i blow my nose. i follow it every time. mark: goodby advice. john: you were not white house secretary but you were the communications director. in that job, what kind of relationships did you have with your predecessors? nicolle: i'm a huge fan of his. everybody likes him so much. there is a secret society and people who end up in those jobs lean on others. i had a friend and mentor throughout the entire time. we used to sneak out for some secret advice. john: up next, we have bruce rydell. when we come back in 60 seconds.

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john: i had a chance to sit down with a former cia agent. the director from the brookings institute intelligence project -- bruce riedel. jfk: thee author of " forgotten president." we spoke about politics in the middle east and fighting islamic state. isce: everybody agrees isil a problem but it is problem number two or number three. we have to persuade them it is problem number one and something they should focus on. it is easy to say and very hard to do. john: even the west, only one

country, france, would say isil is the number one foreign policy problem. it is not fair that it is a bigger problem than russia. bruce: a lot of conflicting priorities, even in the middle east. iran and its nuclear deal is priority number one. trying to keep stability from saudi arabia, priority number one. barrel,es down to $35 a the king of saudi arabia cannot sustain the way of life they have lived for the last 25 years. they will have stability problems. egypt, huge stability problems. isis, isil is a problem. but, is it really problem number one for all of these people? for the french, it is today. to the united states after san bernardino, it is a real problem. trying to rally the region behind that problem is going to be very hard to do and take a long time.

john: president obama has had a strategy for taking on islamic state. he ihas stuck by that strategy with consistency, stubbornness and foolish pride. what say you? bruce: i think he has stuck by the strategy because he truly believes in it. i would describe it as having two parts. one is an iraq strategy. people would say yes, we are making steady progress. then, there is the syria problem. in that case, the real policy is the stay out at all costs, to not get dragged into a quagmire. you can argue that policy but it has a logic to it. if you look at what he does, that is the logic of his position. i'm not going to get into this quagmire at all costs. john: the republicans are talking a lot about this issue. ted cruz, all about air power.

carpet bombing is the rhetorical urish.others like marco rubio say they should be ground troops . is there a republican candidate who was putting forward a plan or strategy that you look at and see that is serious and plausible? bruce: what i have heard so far is soundbites, many which do not add up. bombing them -- we are bombing them. i don't think there is a lack of munitions. it is the lack of really significant targets to go after. what we are lacking is boots on the ground. very few americans want it to be american boots on the ground. i don't think it makes much sense either. been there, done that. we have to persuade the region to put its boots on the ground. that gets back to the problem of how do we see this as priority number one. 30 years in the field and the

cia. john: four president you have served in the national security council. you see this syria problem. you have seen that over a long time fester. where do you imagine syria will be five years from now, 10 years from now? what is your vision of what that will look like? bruce: i seriously doubt the nationstate we call syria today will exist five years from now. it is possible. it could still be in civil war. years ago, very few people predicted the civil war. more likely, it will break up into smaller man years ago, vere ini states that live uneasily with each other. mini state and something of a rump left behind with the sunni south like damascus. john: do you think disillusion

is more inevitable and to manage our way through that or will that be the choices made by either the u.s. or its allies? bruce: it is hard to see how you put the humpty dumpty of syria back together. given the i'm not of blood, they are better off not living in the same country. john: this is a book about a crisis that took place in 1962. john f. kennedy famous for another crisis -- the cuban missile crisis. this is not what the book is about. talk about the subject of the book and why it was forgotten. bruce: everybody knows about the cuban missile crisis. the world stood on the break of nuclear apocalypse. at the same time he was dealing missiles in cuba, he was dealing with the chinese invasion of india.

they were in the verge of breaking india into pieces. this president, john f. kennedy, did two critical things. one, he started an airlift of supplies to keep the indian army going in the battle. second, he kept the pakistanis out of the war. this was multitasking at the decision-making level of and also consequence. simultaneously, two problems involving the largest countries of the world -- russia, china and india and he is handling it both. if you thought the cuban missile crisis was his finest hour, it is even finer. riddle to problem, a solve, it seems like a somewhat super problem than the subject of your book. bruce: the problem of china and india has not gone away. this war more than 50 years ago has not been resolved. the largest disputed order in the world is between china and india. the arms race that goes on

today. the nuclear arms race between china, india and pakistan is probably the most dangerous arms race. john: i want to talk a little bit about jackie kennedy who you wrote about and played a key diplomatic role which is not really the role that most people in memory or the history think of her as ever playing. bruce: the first lady played a huge role in how the president and directed with both india and pakistan. she hosted the leaders of both. she came up with quite clever ways to host these foreign leaders. the pakistani dictator was given a state dinner at mount vernon. the only time our first president's home has ever been used for a state dinner. in 1962, she traveled to india and pakistan. she was the first american first lady to travel abroad in the era of television.

she was a smashing success. john: jackie was doing the assist on this one just like bobby was doing and assist on the cuban missile crisis. our thanks to bruce riedel, again. his book is called "jfk: the forgotten crisis." we will be right back. ♪

john: we are live 24/7 on bloombergpolitics.com. if you are watching us in washington, d.c., you can listen to us a 99.1 for now, sayonara. ♪

cory: i'm cory johnson and you are watching bloomberg west. now let's get the first word news. the u.s. stocks advancing in a three-week high. it could've been the first lost

and still could be since 2011. year. .95% for the treasury is rallying. the forecast of falling u.s. stockpiles. russia moving closer to securing a chance of assad extending his rule into 2017. officials say u.s. opposition is weakening to russia's insisting that he compete in the next presidential election. it is following an 18 month transition period in january. an islamic state operative has been killed. the militant was among 10 islamic state leaders to die in the past month. his death occurred in iraq. it was part of a group that enabled the attacks. lines asion for u.s. air winter delays are causing issues.