♪ john: i am john heilemann. mark: i'm mark halperin. and "with all due respect" to marco rubio, you are a shoe in. ♪ mark: double knot and velcro those babies, tonight we are going for a ride. i am here at a jeb bush campaign event in south carolina. first in the nation, first in the south. we will start with the controversy that is already well-worn, but it is the shoebio crisis. on the surface, this is about the high-heeled boots marco

rubio wore in new hampshire on sunday, as have gotten a ton of attention since then. rubio's response to the subsequent media controversy says much about the current status and future prospects of his candidacy. for the unfamiliar, here is a quick catch-up. i do mean quick. >> marco rubio's shoes. a reporter for the new york times sent the photo of his footwear in new hampshire. he called them seriously fashionable, 248 retweets. rick tyler, the communications director for ted cruz said a vote for marco rubio is a vote for high-heeled booties. carly fiorina squeezed in with a shot of her own bit red a judge called the boot shy delicious -- shagalicious. they said the group came from florsheim. stories appeared on several outlets. finally, rubio had an up and called the fascination of his feet crazy. he wants to talk about real issues. he said the boots may make a comeback pretty soon. stay tuned. mark: today, senator rubio came

out with a new video exchanging his heels for a pair of football cleats. ♪ mr. rubio: you get that? >> super bowl pick this year? mr. rubio: the same one for the last 40 years miami dolphins. , >> first presidential debate or first college football game? -- are you more nervous? mr. rubio: i was nervous about the first football game because you are actually going to be hit. >> favorite cheerleader? marco rubio: that is easy, jeanette rubio. >> most important preparation for a big game or big speech? mr. rubio: make sure there is water nearby, like right now. mark: rubio is still introducing himself to the country. how would you say he is handling this current assault? and the attempts to build up his public image? john: there is a phrase coined by a pundit called the freak show. this is marco rubio wading deep into the swamps of the freak

show, or fashion swamp. i like the fact he is trying to keep control of his public image. i like the fact he is railing against the freak show. i like the fact his shoes maybe that, bill -- though i do not like his shoes themselves. i do think he is playing into some of the negative stereotypes about him and that is a bad thing. mark: in my reporting in the last couple of days, i have priced his stock higher. i think he is well-positioned compared to christie, bush and k-6 -- john kasich to be the establishment choice. doing that football ad made no sense. several people said the same thing. rubio is a nice guy, great with people. i don't think he needs to prove to people now. national security election, maturity and ability to take on donald trump and ted cruz, if you're going to be the establishment candidateseveral e thing. rubio is a nice guy, great withl say, i think marco rubio despite , the shoe thing, going up

against the freak show, he has been in a strong position and , handling the flak ok. john: his biggest problem is gravitas. the shoes and the football ad does nothing to enhance that. if it makes you feel better, marco rubio, you are not the only republican candidate in the proverbial barrel this week. ted cruz is sending up questions on his stance on ethanol. it has been open season on chris christie's record on the economy, planned parenthood and gun control. jeb bush is countering claims that his campaign is desperate especially after a poll shows his net favorability with republicans has dropped 28 points since july. mark, which republicans, or any other republican that you want to talk about, is most deeply submerged at this moment in the barrel? them isery one of potentially in the barrel. we still have a tossup of holdings.

i think every one of these guys have reason to worry. all of the other campaigns, now, they are back to saying jeb bush is dead. i don't know if it is true. they believe the data they are seeing, matches. christie, i think we still do not know how people react to the attacks. the one to watch is cruz. his campaign is sure that they are not affected by it. they say this is a bigger problem for him than i think. -- then the ted cruz who will think. right now everybody is potentially in the barrel. john: that is so cheap, picking everybody. guy thathe name of the is most in the barrel, you said they were all in the barrel. look, i think the person deepest in the barrel is christie, mainly because the issues he's vulnerable on have been surface. the fact that he donated to planned parenthood, the gun control issue, a lot of the things that make him easily characterful as easily to

liberal in the eyes of many republicans. those are coming out, they are coming out in force and i don't , think he has a good response to them on the merits. mark: now for another matchup that is super fun to watch. although the chance of it going to a full-fledged fight are not that great. i am speaking of course of the matchup between bernie sanders and donald trump. night in burlington, vermont, a couple of stones throws away from sanders' national headquarters, donald trump gave bernie the business. this afternoon in an interview, bernie told the world in full technicolor language just what he thinks of trump. here is what it looks like when you smash them together. mr. trump: i would love to run against bernie. we all like bernie. do we all like bernie? no. if you want to pay a 90% tax -- he wants to tax you at 90%. i was not sure.

i had to feel that out. mr. sanders: i think he is a pathological liar. he claims to have seen thousands of muslims celebrating the destruction of the twin towers on 9/11. he saw it on television. only problem was, it was never on television. no one ever saw it. it never happened. or the idea of saying bernie sanders wants to raise taxes by 90% -- total life --lie. mark: i'm surprised sanders has said he would not engage in personal attacks. he is doing it against the guy he is not even running against. is this sanders-trump engagement helping the democrats? john: let's answer the question on why bernie sanders is doing this. i asked a senior figure in his camp why? he replied, it is a quick and easy way to get into the news. 's is always good with d's.

this is pretty much a publicity stunt, violating his penance of his candidacy by engaging in the policies of the attempted personal destruction. i think by and large, given where bernie sanders is is not a bad idea. i don't think it will help him win iowa. he has to do other things to get that done. mark: that is the game. he still has a close strong -- i believe he has to do in order to become the nominee. every day he talks about donald trump. he is not talking about the issues that got him where he is. while it may inspire the people, at a minimum, he has the pivot -- needs to pivot off the truck thing -- donald trump thing. it sounds offbeat to me to hear set -- bernie sanders engaged against another politician when he pledged he would not do it. john: the approach of the golden globes this sunday got us thinking about celebrities, and the political endorsements.

just in time, today u.s. women's soccer star abby wambach was in new hampshire with lena dunham campaigning for hillary clinton. the female power players talked about women in power. >> i cannot talk about hillary clinton without also acknowledging the horrific gender attacks on every issue of her character. she has handled it with unimaginable qualm. the way she has been treated is more evidence of the fact that our country has so much hatred toward successful women and an inability to separate their accomplishments from that of powerful men. >> i have been with powerful women throughout my whole life. it takes special women to rise up and to be able to fight the fight she has been able to fight for as long as she has in a minority role with many men around her, pushing her down and telling her she is not good enough. john: i ask you, we always hear

these celebrity endorsements, but how much does it matter? what good does it do for these days coming up to iowa and new hampshire? mark: they can draw a crowd and get people to sign up to register. they can get the volunteers jazzed. those two surrogates are on message. that is really effective. i don't want to dis bruce springsteen, that i think celebrities going out talking about messages may be more valuable than springsteen's concerts for john kerry. i think the right surrogates are pretty effective, particularly since you cannot be in every place at once. if hillary clinton cannot be in new hampshire, having people like that is good. john: it has long been fashionable to dismiss these kinds of endorsements of celebrities. i think we currently live obviously in an age of celebrity. i think for some voters, key blocks,ocks, --

especially in this case, for young women these celebrity , endorsements could be quite effective and they can help candidates. every candidate needs good surrogates. these surrogates will connect and away a lot of other political surrogates in this environment do not. mark: the markets, the notebooks, the jokes and the hunting with donald trump, jr. all of that when we come back. ♪

♪ john: the stock market. crazy. sometimes it is up, sometimes it is down. yesterday, it was down big-time.

here to explain what it means is our partner in crime stephanie , ruhle. stephanie: not just yesterday. we had a rough week. john: here is the thing, we got decent jobs numbers today which , are fine. the market is the big story. talk to us about what is going on here, what is it mean? stephanie: this has been a horrific start to the week. one of the worst five days we have seen in history. it is a bit of a perfect storm. we get bad data out of china. the chinese government devaluing their currency to try to strengthen exports, it does not work. circuit breakers are brought in. it pushes the market down lower. you have chinese problems. saudi-iran tensions. one might think it will help oil prices, but guess what only , sending them down further. the fed rate -- raise rates last month, during a time when the economy was already fragile. this is a bad moment and a bad way to start the year. many people say a bad first day leads to a bad week which leads to a bad year. john: i heard my favorite word, china. donald trump is accessed with

china -- obsessed with china. that is where they were focused this week. what is the china syndrome? stephanie: many people have looked to china for years. what an unbelievable growth it has been. they are changing to a service-based economy. remember, you are dealing with a communist government that is insistent on intervening. there is a huge amount of retail investors who were hypersensitive. you can say china is growing faster than the united states, but if you look at per capita gdp, china, in terms of productivity, the average chinese person, $6,900 a year versus americans at $48,000 year. where will you see this come from? many people say this could be japan late 1990. john: that was not good. here is another thing you are focused on -- puerto rico. why? stephanie: as it relates to the election. puerto rico is facing a default. as this happens, if puerto rico has $7 billion worth of debt, a

horrible education system. you have a middle-class the cannot get jobs. you have 800,000 people moving to the state of florida every month. these are democrats moving to florida. florida being a very important state -- marco rubio and all the conservatives -- this will affect that. you know better than i do virginia, ohio, florida -- those , states matter. john: there is literally nothing i know better than you do. we have chaos in the market no , sense of when it might end. i want to go to mark halperin down in south carolina. i want to ask, in this time of uncertainty, volatility and negativity, among the republicans in particular, who is dealing with this the best? who is poised to capitalize on this? in terms of the political fortunes. a pretty cruz has interesting tax plan. rubio has a tax plan and has an education reform plan. jeb bush has ideas on the economy.

donald trump, i think, because these are scary times, his issage and talk about china, think once again, is probably the most likely to benefit in a situation where voters face uncertainty. john: is it totally obvious to you, as it would be to many, in this environment that hillary clinton is the beneficiary rather than bernie sanders or is , this somewhere where sanders can capitalize because of his anti-wall street message? mark: i think sanders is still trying to broaden to people that support him. we are getting to the point where it will be about turning out people who are inclined towards him. they would see that as pretty favorable. one of the challenges for hillary clinton right now is having a case on the economy, .xplaining it i think she is still working on that, as are the republicans.

stephanie: if he took china out of the picture -- john: you cannot do it. at is it: you look recovery, or a growth story? hillary clinton can run on that, basically getting the baton on barack obama and say look at the jobs i created. john: we have less than a minute, you've spent all of your time hanging out with rich people. stephanie: try, try. john: on wall street, the men and women who run wall street, when they look at these candidates in this moment, who do they look at and say that as -- is someone who can run the economy? stephanie: wall street wants less volatility. at this point, it almost seems like, i guess this is hillary clinton's race. who did wall street back? it was chris christie, they love him. jeb bush did nothing for himself. they are just saying, give us an answer. wall street was laughing at donald trump in the beginning, saying, you have to be kidding.

and more and more are suddenly saying, i don't know, he has a strong message. john: we spoke to your friend. i said donald trump would be the next president. he had a coronary. we had to get emts to come in shock him. stephanie: it is clinton all the way. john: stephanie, thank you very much. next, we will go hunting with donald trump junior, right after this. ♪

♪ mr. trump: you know what a gun-free zone is to a sicko? that is bait. that is like, gun free zone they , walk in with whatever the hell they are carrying. i will get rid of gun-free zones at schools. you have to. at military bases, my first day, it'll get signed.

ok. my first day. there are no more gun-free zones. mark: that was more of donald trump from last night in vermont talking about gun-free zones. while trump is on the hunt for votes, his son, donald trump junior, is on the hunt for game literally. kevin tagged along with the junior trump. kevin: thank you for talking to bloomberg. mr. trump jr.: it is my pleasure. it is nice to do an interview when i am not in a suit. kevin: hunting is something you have been passionate about your entire life. where does the passion come from? mr. trump jr.: i had a grandfather, a blue-collar guy from eastern europe. he was from check is a nokia -- czechoslovakia. he saw the great things i experienced in my lifestyle, in new york city in this great country. he said, that is awesome but , there are the pitfalls of being in a wealthy family in a city like new york. he wanted me to see the

corollary of that. i went to czechoslovakia up to eight weeks every summer. it was basically, there is the woods, go have fun. i spoke the language fluently, i made friends. it really got me into the outdoors. it has been good for me seeing the outdoors, not just living the city lifestyle. it is kept me out of so much other trouble. whenever i can get someone young into the game, and teach them. kevin: your kids? five kids? donald trump junior: for them, it is not just about being a city kid. i want somebody who can change a tire, go motorcross biking, experiencing life out of new york. for me, i am very passionate about it. i'm very outspoken about it. kevin: there is an environmental aspect to hunting. something you did after of course those photos of you went viral. mr. trump jr.: somebody had a picture of me on a hunt and said i was poaching. that was not the story.

the story was that donald trump junior was doing something illegal, it was not. kevin: it was legal? mr. trump jr.: it was legit. i'm a hunter. here is the benefit. here is what hunters have done throughout history with national parks and preserving habitats. the amount of dollars hunters contribute, that is something i am passionate about. the outdoors have been really good to me. it is something i want to give back. rather than the usual, i am so sorry, i will never do it again. not exactly our style. kevin: did you get that from dad? mr. trump jr.: yeah. we don't just bow down. kevin: what do you think is about the presidents executive order? mr. trump jr.: i have not been able to read all of that. when i see with these things, it is a couple of things, it is always designed by people who have never handled a gun. you look at the state tax in new york, the legislation was ridiculous. police officers are committing a felony by carrying their guns to work.

it was done so poorly. people do not understand. the legislation has always enacted it seems to only affect , people like me, who are actually willing to play by the law. you look at california, chicago, places that have the strictest gun-control laws ever in the world, that is where the crime is happening. guess what? because criminals by definition do not follow the law. i don't know why i should be in a position -- i'm a competitive shooter. they are now illegal in new york state. would you want to work in the white house -- kevin: would you want to work in the white house? junior: i think the big joke over the holidays was the department of the interior. it was a pretty good job. mark: ivanka trump gets a lot of attention, but both of her brothers, eric, and donald trump junior i have been impressed , every time i see them. they are articulate an incredibly passionate advocates of their father and reinforce a , lot of his political messages. john: you think about trump and

the way he has got over bill -- after bill clinton over the last few weeks, he has a complicated personal life and zone -- of his own. he has had multiple marriages and has been fond of women in various states of undress with the beauty pageants he has been associated with. yet, the family he has put together through the various marriages is very impressive. i was talking earlier to rza from the wu-tang clan, he said , he loves the family. he says they stick together, they are an impressive family. he admires donald trump as a man. rza is not alone in that view. mark: we will see a lot of the kids out on the trail for the candidates. some of the kids want to experience what it is like an -- to be in iowa, and new hampshire talking to the campaigns and candidates. they are excited to see what it is like a the end, including what we have not seen. you will see the trump kids. it will be a family affair as we

go to the end. that amps up the emotion level for all of the candidate and spouses as they watch the families of close and personal. not everyone can say they are a winner. sometimes this will be hard on the kids. john: who is your favorite trump family member? mark: i like them all equally. john: don't want to choose. mark: i don't like to choose. i do find their ability to stay on message pretty impressive. our thanks to kevin and donald jr. up next, republican make a lawyer, -- lawyer ben ginsberg , and mega strategist steve mcmahon. we will talk about the week in politics after this. ♪ the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20.

it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around. john: joining us now are a

lawyer -- a republican superlawyer and democratic strategist to help us dissect the first week of the 2016 calendar. it has been eventful on both sides. less than a month until the first votes are cast in iowa. i am going to ask you a classic week in review question. ben, of all the action in your party this week, what has struck you as the most significant, politically? ben: the circular firing squad where people in the establishment are shooting at each other and the battle is engaged between donald trump and ted cruz. mark: with the donald trump-ted cruz dustup, does anybody clearly have the upper hand? ben: i think donald trump managed to inject some questions about ted cruz that were not injected before. there's always an issue about

whether he goes too far, but yes, i think there were some new things. john: democratic side, most significant thing of the week? steve: the most significant thing of the week, when you watch senator sanders start to tangle with hillary clinton on wall street reform, it's the first we have really seen of an aggressive bernie sanders. the other thing to watch is whether nbc decides that martin o'malley is not at the level that would enable him to participate in the debates. they put out a qualification statement that basically said if you're not at 5% you cannot participate. he is not. i think it would be a mistake not to include him, but we will see what happens. john: mark halperin has a special guest with him in south carolina. that would be jeb bush. mark: we are here at dyers

diner. look who's here, it's jeb bush. governor, you know what they have here, meat and three. you like that? jeb: this is all good and you get to cheat on the paleo diet. i might be cheating tonight. mark: how is it going? jeb: going well. we have got a lot of support. lindsey graham, a lot of his supporters are coming our way and i feel good about it. mark: you have talked about national security throughout the campaign. do you feel it there are -- like there are differences between you, marco, ted cruz, on the issues of national security , or is it more about leadership? jeb: i think it's more about leadership than anything else, but there are differences, and it's healthy to discuss them. america's leadership in the world is important. when donald trump says things about tariffs on china and says they need to take care of north , apart from being completely silly and dangerous,

it also shows a lack of belief that the united states should lead. we have to lead. it is in our national security interest to do so. mark: does the political culture feel different here than in new hampshire? look, this is an amazing part of the country. you cannot find four more different states than the first quarter states of the primary. it is a rewarding experience. we are really different in so many ways. john: how is the confidence level in the bush family? your sons in particular, how are they feeling? jeb: they are feeling good. they are encouraging their dad, which is their job. mark: i like to ask, do you still have full confidence in tim miller? jeb: no, he is on the line tonight. he has to have a good night tonight or he is canned. mark: that's for people following the camping closely

fitted having confidence -- closely. your confidence in him ebbs and flows. john, back to our guests, who we interrupted. we figured we'd want that. john: you can interrupt for jeb bush anytime. jeb bush, ben, dead or starting to show new life? still"ld say, "til dead, or starting to show new life? ben: first, let me say i have confidence in tim miller. john: you are the only one. [laughter] ben: he used to be a client. i think there has always been life in jeb bush. i think when the voting starts, he needs to shine really, really quickly. i never thought he was dead. john: steve, what about you?

any pulse, or is this rigor mortis? steve: there is no discernible pulse, but i agree with ben. i think voters have a way of focusing it in when the choice gets nearer and more significant, and i think republican voters especially, who are used to picking the next person up, are trained to do that. jeb bush, if you look at him by qualification, is probably the most qualified person running for president. i don't understand why his campaign has not been better. i think if you showed a little more of what he just showed on your program, he would be doing better. but, i don't think he's dead. john: then, you used the phrase "circular firing squad" when we started this block. the metaphor is basically that everyone dies. i presume you don't think everyone is going to die, so who is left standing, at this point, if you had to gauge? who is in a pool of blood and

who is likely to remain upright? ben: i think there will be three lanes coming out of february. a trump lane, a conservative lane that looks like ted cruz still standing, and the establishment lane, and that's the tough one. right now, you could say john kasich and jeb bush have the biggest challenge to get out of it. marco rubio has to show his merits. john: steve, let me ask you a question on a slightly different topic that has been going on for a couple of weeks, donald trump going after bill clinton's personal life in increasingly vitriolic, unprovoked, florid ways. smart for trump or dumb for trump, and from the clinton standpoint, good for the clintons or bad for the clintons?

mark: in a republican primary, with vitriol aimed at democrats, particularly a democratic icon, it seems to be rewarded. think about president obama and how common they have been over the last three years and that's few years and -- how common they have been over the past few years and how much republican voters have rewarded vitriol aimed at him. whenever someone like donald trump comes along and does this, people like it. is it smart politics? probably. is it effective as a candidate for president in the general election? i don't think it is. this is built into the value of the stock, if you will. people have already made their judgments about bill clinton, and he is one of the most popular politicians in america today. certainly one of them. for donald trump, who has a favorability of 35 to attack a guy with a favorability of 70 is not smart if you want to win

general elections. john: bad for the clintons or good? steve: i think it probably helps hillary because it wasn't her sin that he is being critical of. she was an innocent bystander, and i think people see that and that's the way to view it. john: is there a problem for ted cruz on a legal ground that you can see? does his birth in canada opposed any real legal problems as far real legalose any problems as far as his eligibility to be president? ben: i don't believe so. the supreme court has not ruled on the issue. i don't believe it will be a problem in his campaign. the political damage could come from raising issues on the authenticity of his and on immigration. this sort of reminding people that he is cuban the way trump could single him out could have

an impact. john: thank you for hanging around while jeb bush caught some of your limelight. ben and steve, thank you for hanging in while jeb bush caught some of your limelight. and thank you for being here. up next, our own reporters tell us what they have been reporting over the last week, after this. ♪

mark: back in south carolina to talk a little politics with margaret, one of our colleagues. she covers the white house. we will talk to jennifer epstein in new york in just a minute. state of the union next week, president obama. they are trying to make this a big deal, even though it is his last year. does the white house seem on track to get attention in the

midst of a presidential campaign? margaret: they are really trying to downplay it or up play it. something like that. his idea, his hope is that he can continue to harness some of the public's attention in this last year, when everyone else is moving on. he can finally set a path for his legacy going forward. shape -- andhe can somewhat, he can shape the 2016 elections. mark: what is your sense of what the headline will be tuesday morning after the speech? what would it be? margaret: "hope and change is still alive." mark: and then he is going to travel around the country. they're playing down legislative initiatives. what do they hope happens aside from hope and change? margaret: economic victory lap, that people still pay attention to him and that hillary doesn't run away with everything he is talking about. that is what they are hoping for. he will talk about his positive

message compared to donald trump, sending a positive message compared to the kind of "sky is falling," "make america great again" kind of thing. mark: people in the white house, how to the handicap the republican field? margaret: they see trump as not going away and cruise as rising -- and ted cruz as rising with rubio as an alternative. mark: national security has been a big deal in the white house. it seems like with the state of the union you are trying to get back to domestic issues. do they feel they are not getting enough credit on the economy? margaret: absolutely. and they are trying to take some focus away from isis in terms of the political points. they will still talk about him on tuesday, but absolutely, they want to draw attention to the auto it is the -- industry recovery.

these numbers are good news and all of that. mark: thanks very much. john, back up to you to talk to jennifer. john: jennifer, you have spent a long time following the clintons around. over the last week, what have you seen? what has stood out to you? jennifer: just that this is really about keeping bill clinton in the background, helping with the organizing, getting people out there who might not be out there for hillary, but it really is about her, her the one making news, just keeping her as the one making news, as the one who's really getting voters excited, and he is just there as backup. john: he has been very mutated ed and on message. very restrained in the face of these attacks by donald trump. can you see the restrained showing -- restrain showing? jennifer: i think there is probably a part of him champing at the bit that wants to get

more engaged. you heard a little bit that in iowa, yesterday, he' said if we get to the point where she is the nominee and he is the nominee, we will get into it then. i think that is where he is going to try to stay as long as possible. they know that if they say something back to trump, trump will go back at them and they will keep playing the game. john: i have been struck where trump has gone with that instagram video yesterday tying together anthony weiner, bill cosby, monica lewinsky. this election would be so ugly and sorted today. today, they held a conference call about bernie sanders and then control. talk about that. jennifer: president obama is doing the big push this week and said in the new york times he is not going to vote for somebody he doesn't think stands for the

kind of gun laws he supports. that is being perceived as him not supporting bernie sanders. that is something that brian fallon, the clinton campaign actually set on the conference call. sanders has zero distance from obama on guns, no daylight, that that is absolutely untrue. john: they call this conference call after the sanders campaign says, "there is no daylight between sanders and obama." when they say things like that, do they do a unified high-five at the clinton camp, or a high 10? [laughter] jennifer: high 20. for months, they have been talking about how she has a long history that is much more in line with the electorate than he does. that really does not exist on a lot of other issues. guns are a hot issue now and it

doesn't seem to be going away. tragedies just keep helping them out here. john: you are awesome. margaret in south carolina. you are awesome. up next, we will talk about late-night shows and the election. we will hear about it all, so remember, if you are watching us , you can listen to us on the radio. we will be right back. ♪

john: at the busy intersection of politics and pop culture stands a bevy of late night

comedians who alternate of between that alternate between joking about comedians and injured -- alternate between joking about politicians and interviewing them. also standing with them is our correspondent, will f leach. here is his guide to how to navigate the ever shifting late-night landscape. >> 2015 was the most among the most tumultuous years in late-night history. letterman retired. john stuart was replaced by someone no one had ever heard of. stephen colbert left comedy central, grew up beard, shaved it, and went to cvs. -- cbs. it's all been confusing. candidates have to decide which show to appear on when they may have more power than ever. so, for those of you out there running for the highest office of the land, there is your guide. first up, conan o'brien. conanhe late-night 13, now barely registers, sad to say. his ratings are below andy

cohen's and carson daly's. not one presidential candidate has done his program. with troubles getting on the figure shows, he offers a lot of act is. -- access. he just did a whole show from cuba. better days may have passed him by. trevor noah is still finding his daily show footing, and other than chris christie and martin o'malley, candidates have not come. his interview technique is as a baffled outsider. this is a good place to get your chieeif treatment. trevor: donald trump is the human embodiment of times square, old, loud, flashy, full of garbage.

>> seth meyers has some of the strongest political commentary out there. he is killing trevor noah, even though he airs 90 minutes later. he has a terrific recurring feature called "a closer look." it is delivered earnestly, directly to the rat home -- to the viewer at home. seth: have you ever seen a politician declined to take credit for something good that happened in their state? that would be like kanye west saying i don't deserve this award. give it to the sound mixer. it wasn't me. >> there is more politics in the seth meyers show than any other. jimmy kimmel is more absurd then an david letterman, but he has a way of getting celebrities and politicians to loosen up. for candidates that need to lighten an image, this is a show

for you. see if you can get him to let you do the politicians repeating angry tweets segment. >> coors light is now $23 at sun stop. thanks, obama. [laughter] then, there is jimmy fallon. still the king, fallon is the ideal landing spot for any politician, giving you the largest audience without the worry of being challenged on anything. >> can you do in imitation of putin? >> you just have to play along with his silly games. he's there to make you look good. it might not always be the most in the fight spend an evening, but the online share and audience buzz is more than worth it. you may have to pretend to laugh at his donald trump impressions. i haven't seen you

since i last wedding. >> i am sure i will see you at the next one. >> finally, stephen colbert. no one has shaken up the late-night landscape like colbert has. he has created something entirely new and vested letterman's ratings. he deals with politics regularly, and has proven a surprising ability to bring in candidates from both parties. he broke through with an emotional interview with joe biden, and despite all probability, he made ted cruz recently look charming. steven: do you believe it's important not to call the other side the devil? >> absolutely. there is nothing diabolical about you. probe the show can also and interrogate. you may just learn something about yourself. ♪ john: that's a lot of shows out there, and there is a wildcard coming in february, samantha bee's new show, "full frontal" starting in february.

as always, thanks to william f leach. to --l be right back here back. ♪

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