mark: "with all due respect" to donald trump, there is a new hat in town. on our show tonight, donny exclamation point, the donald and detroit. another week to kick off with another new national poll showing donald trump well behind hillary clinton. clinton leads 46-34% in a new monmouth university survey, the latest aftershock and even team trump, one of the worst stretches of his campaign to

date. it's also why there was an economic speech today in the go to low-cal for economic speeches in motor city u.s.a. during andreas hosted by the fabled detroit economic club, -- ramed the ideas that his it's a led weight on the american economy. donald trump: the city of detroit is where our story begins. every policy that has failed our city and so many others is a policy supported by hillary clinton. she is the candidate of the past. ours is the campaign of the future. american workers have paid taxes their whole lives and they should not be taxed again at death. it's just plain wrong and most people agree with that. we're reducing new taxes from 35% to 15%. am going to cut regulations

massively. a trump administration will end this war on the american worker and unleash an energy revolution that will bring vast new wealth to our country. we will make america grow again. mark: so among trump small government proposals include a temporary moratorium on financial regulations, lowering the business tax rate from 35 to 15%, the a simplification going from seven brackets to three and an appeal of the so-called debt or estate tax. truth also argued against environmental regulations. donny, was trump's speech today good policy or good politics for what we currently stand? donny: frame the economy in the election. the famous posters, the economy is stupid in a situation in 1992, the economy is completely tanking or in 2000 when it's

tanking, it is economy stupid. in this case, there are very blurry mixed signals. on the one hand g.d.p. numbers 1%, jobs numbers, great jobs numbers and a 4.9% unemployment rate. 54% say they're optimistic about the future. with both candidates, it's easy to spin the economy difficult ways. as far as what trump did today, i actually think he played into hillary's hand. you take the estate tax for rich people, the 35 down to 15, which he will spin is going to create more jobs and hillary can say, look, he is in bed with big business. that's all he cares about and even as we get into some of the other extensions, the child care thing actually benefits upper middle class people. and the big one to me, all he has been talking about is hillary and wall street in bed together. what does he is a, i'm going to put a moratorium on any regulations and implied is financial regulations. if i'm hillary and talk about

trump nonics, i think she is an easy position to defend the direction we are going in and defend a lot of things she is doing. mark: no question, he opened a lot of doors. republicans have been opening the doors for democrats since president reagan and democrats don't always win that fight. it takes an articulate democrat to win them. she has not been the best arguer. he sounded in some ways -- we'll talk about how he is not an orthodox republican, he sounds like an orthodox republican and he needs that. he needs a higher percentage of the republican party to support him and he also presented himself as a guy with some sense of the unified renovation of the economy. plenty of holes in it, plenty of the democrats to shoot at, more than he has in this campaign since the general election started at least, he said here is a coherent set of ideas that he hopes republicans and others can get onboard with. donny: the election are we more fearful about the tempment of trump and change and i think the economy will be a wash.

each one of them are equal in the polls. mark: he needs to be ahead on the economy. it has to be a strong issue for him. her record, she has moved largely to the left in this cam pain. there is an opening. i don't think he seesed it today. he has to do a lot more on this issue but better than he has done on the economy. donny: donald trump's economic speech today didn't always toe the republican line. the g.o.p. nominee proposed that family should be able to deduct child care from their taxes and he continues to pull hillary clinton to the left on infrastructure spending, policy and closing loopholes on wall street. the clinton campaign put out a prebuttal press release, it could cause recession and claim more american jobs. secretary clinton: we'll give super big tax breaks to large corporations and the really wealthy, just like him and the

guys who wrote the speech, right? wants to basically just repackage trickle-down economics. i got to tell you, people, this is going to be a very important next three months. we got work to do and don't be fooled. there is no other donald trump. hat you see is what you get. donny: mark, how vulnerable is she on the economy and how much is him moving some of the issues to the left does she start to get flagged in? mark: the child care thing might sound good, the clinton campaign says it benefits wealthier people. some people at least don't like the way things are going and he has got a more populist change oriented stance on the economy. even though a lot of things he is arguing before is just as much status quo as what she is for and they're tired republican ideas and she has

tired democratic ideas, she is vulnerable to someone who says i have a sense of what working class people need. it's more the atmospherics than the proposals. by adding dense republican orthodoxy, he is doing something that suggests change. i ask all of the clinton people, tell me an area, one position she has that is against democratic party orthodoxy has, they can't name one. donny: all because she got pulled to the left, a guy named bernie sanders. mark: you win in the center. donny: you win by laying as low as you can and you don't want the guy with the nuclear code. i say it's not going to matter. it's a referendum on his tempment. mark: nothing to do with better ideas on the economy? donny: we can get 10 economists to argue both. the simple election, bill clinton had a simple message. i tax people who make over

$200,000 a year and universal health care. it was simple to weigh these things. go to the average person, companies, the tax rate goes from 35 to 15, you're the average joe, i don't know if they can disseminate what that means. my point is there is blurry enough news in general, you can pick them apart on both sides, it comes back to the tempment issue. mark: the populist stuff, he gives them a chance to move ahead on the economy. he gives them a chance. the tone and substance of what trump said today was the latest signal that he is clearly tried to mend relations with his party leaders and quell doubts and anxieties on the part of different parties' donors. he aligned himself with the house republican on their tax plan just days after he finally came around to endorsing paul ryan, the speaker of the house and ryan's primary which is tomorrow. in an interview with the "washington post," the speaker

still expressed some concerns this year, though he was unwilling to frame his policy agenda as a way to detach presidential candidates from their nominee. he seemed to avoid escalating his feud with trump. trump has been on script for 72 hours. how is the unity project which his campaign does care about going? donny: interesting on script. doesn't he look so uncomfortable on script. he wants to rip up that script. it's not where he excels. look, they are necessary bedfellows. we can talk, at some point they bail out the down ticket, you want a check and balance on the congress and the senate against this democratic president, 80% of all toss-up senate elections in the last 12 years have gone to the presidential winner. so these senators across the board, congressional issues are different, they're going to make, it's moving that direction as you said, typical

republican platforms as far as the economy, a little bit of a bridge towards ryan issues, it's fine. we all know at any moment it can blow. mark: i think in the end, if he is doing poorly after the first debate, you may see more separation. today was a big step. weeks ago as paul ryan started unveiling all of these policy proposals, this is ideal for trump. he has no policy proposals, he barely has a team. he has one now. why not adopt the house republican proposals, run a unity ticket. did it today on taxes. i wouldn't be surprised if he does it on some of the other issues like regulation, even like penal reform and welfare reform where trump i think can be perfectly willing to accommodate himself to what ryan wants. donny: when he put his hypothetical supreme court nominees out there. on the granular stuff he'll do the meat and potatoes republican stuff, we have seen it all right. mark: coming up, the anti-clinton versus anti-trump book publishing war and later,

two republican strategists appear here together for the first time on television. you won't want to miss that. we'll explain why it matters to your traffic and weather right after this. ♪

mark: you have been watching fox news lately or listening to talk radio, you may have picked up on some repeating themes when it comes to coverage of trump and clinton. one is that the polling showing trump behind can't possibly be right. another is that the media is generally biased against trump and final, a reminder that trump continues to draw very big crowds. here is what all that sounds and looks like. >> here is the left wing media doing the bidding of hillary, sort of like an extension of

her press office trying to say, oh, donald trump, an intervention is needed. >> you look at the media buy as and you look at the republican versus the democratic conventions, the networks gave the republican convention 12 times more negative coverage than the democratic convention, coincidence? >> the mainstream liberal media refusing to acknowledge the large massive crowds that donald trump draws to his rallies and the relatively modest crowds that hillary clinton draws. these are crowds you typically don't see until october and you're seeing them here now at the beginning of august. >> to see his rallies and they're big and he is slipping in the polls, i'm not so sure how accurate these polls are. >> it's no secret donald trump has been flipping in the polls this past week, are the media making too much of that? is the press going too far in saying in august donald trump is in real trouble? >> absolutely. mark: so, donny, they're talking more about polls and media buy as and crowd size than they are about trump's message, very similar to the

2012 campaign for mitt romney and his supporters. is this kind of stuff preaching to the faithful, is it helpful or hurtful? donny: it's preaching to their audience which loves conspiracy theories. they're talking to their audience. what they're saying is so ignorant and stupid, stupid for the candidate and stupid actually factually. believe it or not, statistically there are more negative mentions of hillary clinton versus donald trump in the media. mark: what statistic is that? donny: tomorrow's show, i'll bring you that document. maybe there were more negative mentions at the republican convention because it was horrible depressing, it was a lynch mob. mark: the general idea a good idea? donny: you paint him as a loser already. you're basically saying you're already giving excuses, all right teeing it up that he is losing. it's good tv for their audience, bad politics.

mark: they're wasting time not talking about his message. yes, it refs up the base a little bit. i think it is so diluted and so unscientific and so unrigorous, so off the point of needing a comeback. trump needs a comeback. he needs a comeback. if he is going to win, he needs to come back. they're out there saying the polls are wrong because his crowds are bigger? by the way, fox's own poll which they barely mentioned since the day it came out has him 10 behind. donny: a poll which is representative of hundreds of millions of americans versus 10,000 people are coming out, the polls must be wrong, that is ignorance. one has nothing to do with the other. mark: romney thought he was going to win and it's death to them. it is like a parallel universe in which trump is going to win and the real universe happens. donny: if you think about if you're fox and you're talking to the audience, what else do you say at this point?

mark: message. donny: up until today what was there to talk about. the top three nonfiction boats, see to my point, all about hillary clinton, not one of them is positive. the number of anti-trump books that have cracked the top 20 in the past few weeks, mark, is zero, interesting. mark, when it comes to publishing industry, why is this counterintuitive in certain ways, why are clinton bashing books out there versus zero trump? mark: there are some coming that may catch on. number one, conservatives buy more books, they dominate the best seller lists generally. two, we have a democrat in the white house. still to have three anti-clinton books atop the best seller list, incredible disparity. donny: the main one is conservatives buy more books like they listen to more talk radio. he is a private citizen. the mostly continuingous person in the united states. i think any publisher is afraid -- it's different to write about hillary clinton in public office. mark: i'm surprised there isn't

a comedy book. that they could get sued for. i'm talking like a quotes, you know, trump quotes, whatever. donny: that's not the kind of book that sells. mark: why do conservatives buy more books, they're alienated by the liberal media? don't your liberal friends read books? donny: they read tweets. mark: there is so much media about hillary that is not books. in the old days, they might turn to books. now there is plenty of liberal and conservative stuff. donny: other than the litigious thing. mark: when we come back, we're going to break down more of donald trump's econ speech that he gave in detroit today after these words from our sponsors. ♪

mark: breaking news, a lot of hate on twitter. as donald trump set out to today he could look more presidential, one of the most interesting things about his economic speech some detroit is not just what he said, what he didn't say especially when he was frequently interrupted by hecklers. we counted at least 13 nstances, take a look. donald trump: all very well planned out. i will say the bernie sanders people had far more energy and spirit, i will say that.

mark: so, donny, we already talked about the fact that you believe more strongly than i do that he is not good on prepared text. he has to do it. he showed some restraint there. overly how do you think he did in terms of performance today? donny: it's not him. as a guy, i know him personally. as a guy that speaks like he does, when i have to give a written speech, i'm just not comfortable. mark: he is getting better. donny: he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. the thing that got him here is the trump and the guy going back at the hecklers. that will not work in the general election. having said, that you can't neuter the guy out there. if i was advising him, i like one of the comments about sanders, have some fun with it. don't say take him out and beat

him up. just to stand there, that's not him. you can address the hecklers and have some fun with it, just don't be dark about it. mark: the three things you have seen it in person which he doesn't show enough, he could have shown it today more and in general, gracious, funny, and knowing. the hecklers give you a perfect opportunity to do all three things. donny: and play the victim card and have fun with it. when he did speak, trump hammered away at a message we expect calling himself the change candidate and casting hillary clinton as a tired politician of the past. donald trump: the other party has reached backwards into the past to choose a nominee from yesterday who offers only the rhetoric of yesterday and the policies of yesterday. there will be no change under hillary clinton, only four more years of weakness and president obama. we are going to look boldly

into the future. we will build the next generation of roads, bridges, railways, tunnels, sea ports and airports. we are reliant on people that rig this system in the past. we can't fix it if we're going to rely on those people again. only by changing to new leadership and new solutions will we get new and great results. donny: mark, we have seen elections open and change, an easy one. not as easy when you got the president coming out with a 52% approval rating. the ambiguity of how good or bad things are. mark: no doubt that the recent statistics obama's approval rating and some of the economic statistics make the argument, we need change if it's risky change a lot tougher. it's compounded by the fact that the clinton folks main message is trump is risky, he is no good. he can't be president. he has a tall order. he has to find a way to convince people i think that he

is ready to bring about change that they will be happy about. that's hard right now. donny: you know better than anyone, the election is decided decided by suburban married women who are risk averse and hillary will pound that. mark: a lot don't like her, though. trump talked a lot about the economy under the obama administration framing democratic policies as a reason for all of the country's current woes. donald trump: the obama clinton agenda of tax, spend, and regulate has created a silent nation of jobless americans. this is a city controlled by democratic politicians at every level and unless we change policies, we will not change results. home ownership is at its lowest rate in 51 years, nearly 12 million people have been added to the food stamp and these people are growing and it's growing so rapidly.

since president obama took office. the obama clinton administration has blocked and destroyed millions of jobs through their anti-energy regulations. hillary clinton's plan will require small business to pay as much as three times more in taxes than what i'm proposing. we can't let her win because that will be a disaster for detroit and everybody else. mark: even though things are better for some people, trump can't win the election if he can't convince people that the obama clinton policy threat, there is no backing up for that, right? donny: you watch him, it's interesting. i give him he is solid, you don't connect with him the same way when he is acting like a politician which he has to do now. that's why he is cornered. mark: is there middle ground? donny: no, at the end of the day when you're getting up and talking politics and tax rates and jobs, you sound like a politician. the difference is his eyes. he doesn't have that fire.

e is not -- so that's why -- it's a tough position because i even was tuning him out a little bit. to me automatically lean in and lean out with hillary. i'm doing the hillary leanout. mark: stuff is boring, by the debates, he can figure out how to have an amalgamation of the two things, talk enough specifics but talking about them like himself. donny: hillary will get so granular and turn to him every step of the way and ask him deep policy questions, not just the top line stuff. ironically, the debates play to hillary. mark: up next, we talk to a republican strategist, the mike murphy about donald trump and more right after this.

mark: welcome back.

republican strategist for many republicans including jeb bush super pacquiao. mike murphy joins us. a lot of national polls showing trump way down. is it your instinct that this is going to freeze in or a democratic convention and things will tighten back up? mike: it's somewhere in the middle. he has so many structural problems with voters that he has check mated. the race will tighten a little. i don't expect him to get a lead again that is meaningful for any sustained period of time. donny: mike, it's donny. obviously today we saw him on his good behavior. if you're running the hillary campaign or anywhere from that side of the aisle, you're going to continue to prick. you just know he is not going to stay on message this way. what would be your best prick strategy, nobody ever asked this question on the show. what is your best prick strategies if you're going against him? mike: he is a creature of the

daily news cycles. he watches himself on tv and then he reacts. i would have surrogates all over him. they're doing a fairly good job on the ready to be commander in chief. the other pillar they have to go after is economic manager. his flop today at the economic club venue shows that disconnect. was doing the shtick that went out of vogue in the 1970's. the trade stuff fell flat. i would just be on offense of surrogates. i would try to not put the spotlight on hillary. they have many weaknesses, they want to keep a referendum on trump and wiggling on the hook which is what he does best. mark: three forum questions, who are you voting for in this election? mike: i'm not going to vote for trump, i can't. i love my country. i may vote for a business guy who took over the republican

nomination that was a far bigger patriot, wendell wilkey. bush.write in jeb mark: any chance you vote for hillary? mike: i would jump for hillary and jump in a lake from massive depression. mark: the second form question is do you hope trump wins or not? mike: no, i think it would be horrible for the country and i demagogue. he is a racist and deserves to lose. mark: what percentage that trump wins right now? mike: 10%, take a huge black swan. donny: mike, i'm always the dumbest guy in the room. it's simple to me. you continue to hammer and scare the be jesus out of people, particularly women. i'm scared. that's a simple one. mike: he needs minority voters or college educated women to radically think -- change what

they think about him. mark: what caught everybody's eye, elected offices holder in texas, son of jeb, said he was going to vote for trump. the bush family normally puts family above everything, that did surprise you? mike: george p is an office holder in the largest republican state, he feels responsibility to support the party. most of the bushes i know are not going to pull the lever for donald trump. donny: working for jeb, if it was a do over and you don't get a do over in life or politics, what would have, could have, or nothing that jeb could have done different given the type of media juggernaut that could happen out of nowhere? mike: we made an argument for reformed conservatism. half of the voters wanted trump. without jeb fundamentally changing what he is for, i'm glad he didn't, it wasn't a

year for selling what he wanted to sell. i can think of things we could have done better, but in the big picture, anything that would have won, we needed a different appetite in the primary voters. mark: an issue at the time that we haven't discussed, i'll take the opportunity now, people wanted you to spend your tens of millions you had in the bank early on and just try to carpet bomb trump in iowa and new hampshire. looking back, might that have worked? mike: the problem was the rubio campaign, the christi campaign, everybody seemed to agree that we should have taken on trump for their benefit. if we had a time machine, i might have convened a meeting with the other super pacquiaos, ok, rubio, ok christi, you each put in $2 million for six, i'll match all of you to go after trump. the problem is in the primary of so many candidates, our job to help jeb was to consolidate the regular republicans. so the polling would show that if you were for trump, you were never going to be for jeb bush.

my idea was to clobber trump early to elected cruz the nominee wasn't the job. finally nobody other than jeb bush and lindsay graham took on trump early. marco was in hiding, still is. ted cruz was for him until he was against him. i wish all of the candidates had agreed to beat up trump and i would have been part of that. donny: mike, there is a lot of republicans, very, very sad, they miss the republican party. are they able to get it back unless there is a clinton landslide? if trump comes even close in the popular vote or even close in the electoral college, how do you ever get it back on track? mike: if trump loses, there will be a stain on the party. it will be incumbent on us to erase it. we have a lot of great governors, a lot of great state reps and senators. we get another bite at the apple because we have a big franchise. the question is can we widen it and learn a lesson from trump, this kind of grievance campaign is the opposite of how we're

going to win and change the country. i think we will learn the lesson. mark: this guy, evan mcmullen, hill staffer, former c.i.a., former goldman sachs got in the race as an independent. what's the best scenario for that candidacy? mike: i'm waiting for a david french endorsement. ark: as french goes, so goes french. mike: voters will spill into different places from the republican category. some will go to the liberty tareans, some may go to this guy. all of this will diminish trump and won't hurt her. mark: what are the variables besides fundraising that will determine whether this guy makes an impact on the race? mike: whether or not he can get any earned media or free media, whether or not the news machine decides to cover the guy because he won't have the resources to get a meaningful amount of votes, will he get a

platform -- mark: we tried to get him on and he refused. is it smart to announce and then not go out with a big public event and tv? mike: no, i think he ought to wear a neon suit and get on every television thing he can. that's the only shot to get famous enough to pull any votes at all. they got to be all media and internet all the time. mark: i hope he is watching. would love to have him on tomorrow. we'll have more to talk about with mike. we'll be bringing on a special guest to join mike, it is american political history you won't want to miss. if you're watching us in washington, d.c., you can listen to us on the radio on bloomberg 99.9 f.m. we'll be right back. ♪

>> there was famous mythology talk over the last 20 years about the hatfield and mccoy and here he is brought together, murphy and steens by one thing, the force that could break down all walls, the spector of the orange menace himself, donald trump as president of the united states. ow, i'm not out rent age tandem bicycle yet, it's good to put it behind us. mark: that was mike murphy talking about his long time feud with stewart stevens who he had as a guest today on his podcast. it's called radio free g.o.p. available on itunes. the two long-time republican consultants have been bitter rivals until recently. they have come together to face a new obstacle, donald j. trump. mike is with us from los angeles and for the first time in tv history, they say we're joined, he is joined by his new chum, stewart stevens, working

as a senior strategist on many presidential campaigns including mitt romney's in 2012. stuart, what do you and mike see the same regarding trump? stuart: well, i think it proves that age old "maxim" that disgust conquers all. you know, mike and i both have worked for candidates across the spectrum in the republican party and have worked for people we really care about and are proud of and see donald trump as someone who is completely out of the mainstream of how we would like to define politics and specifically the republican party. donny: stuart, in your wildest dream and you have worked on some very well known campaigns, us here ever imagine and beyond the fact that obviously people are bored with status quo and what happened? is it the republicans just took their eye off the ball and

started to not get that the world is a populist world, whether you're coming at it from the left or the right, what happened here? you hit isten, i think the nail on the head. the inability to imagine what might happen, that is that trump could win, i think helped trump you hit the win because there was sort of a consensus of which certainly i'm part of. i wrote that he would drop out before iowa because he is going to lose iowa. i was as wrong more than anybody. that enabled him. world war i, the guns of august, you can't imagine this is going to happen. the next thing you know, you're two years in the zone. the party, there is a school of thought in the party that trump is a perfect candidate for. he is fulfilling all the sort of congress maney fantasies, if you just yell at the media loud enough, you'll beat the media, that we can win just with white votes. there are these, what i call the lost tribes of the amazon out there.

just go up the river far enough and beat the drum loud enough, they'll come to the river bank and vote for you. it's almost like you had to test drive this to see that it was just completely nuts. mark: mike, what do you think of what brother stevens is saying? mike: we totally agree on this. half the primary voters went out and had a lost weekend bender and now they have woken up next to mrs. godzilla and it's a disaster. he hit that chord of resentment politics inside the republican primary where the incentives are often to do anything you can do to lose the general election. now we're paying the price. stuart and i have had our disagreements. we both feel so strongly about this, we started chatting on the phone and he very graciously did the radio free g.o.p. podcast and we have a similar diagnosis and we agree a lot about what we have to do to clean up this mess after the election. donny: i want to ask both of you guys this question. clearly you have hit a nerve.

from here on, we're spoiled at home that we're going to want, demand, except, embrace, any politician, entertainer, george clooney starts to run. part of of it is it's been so fun to watch, it's not a politician, it's an entertainer. whether it's clooney or oprah winfrey. is this teeing up that every presidential election is open for business way beyond politicians? stuart: i worked with george clooney on k street and i also know donald trump a little bit. i think clooney has 75 i.q. points on trump and is a much more sensible ground and sane human. i don't think so. i think you're going to find that this is sort of a rejection of that and go back to an idea that governing is serious business. donny: that's my point. if a candidate did come along that had the best of both worlds, had the x-rating, the star appeal, entertainment value and actually was an

intelligent, literate, consider the yacht person, i think we have spoiled the populist and that's something to contend from here on? mike? mike: i worked for arnold schwarzenegger. he was famous but he walked a lot to have policy plans and surround himself with great policy advisors, he took the governing side thing seriously. you will see more pop culture in politics. in the movie business, preaware titles move into the space, but the voters after the trump thing are going to develop more of a felter where a kardashian is not such a good idea, but somebody who has done their homework like a clooney on the left or on the right could be an attractive candidate. i think trump's mistakes will raise the bar a little while pop culture is here to stay. mark: stuart, confused and surprised by the fact you have some republicans, consultants and office holders who say never trump. you got some who are lining up.

we talked last segment about george b bush being for trump. do you expect a lot of people, office holders and advisors to say, you know what, i can't be for trump and come public or not? stuart: i think it probably will happen. listen, i have tried to be very uncritical with anybody that disagrees with me about donald trump. in part, donald trump is so critical of anyone who does disagree with him. it's particularly important at this moment in our politics to allow for differences. i know a lot of well intentioned good people support donald trump that he could be a good president. i'm not with them, but this latest monmouth poll, trump is winning 5%, winning the white vote by 5%. romney won it by 29. he is shrinking the party. in florida, he is getting 12% of hispanic voters. romney got 40. there is some reason to believe romney lost. we're headed in the wrong direction.

we need to be expanding instead of shrinking and we're in the shrinking business. mark: you worked with mitt romney real quick. if romney were the nominee, where would this race be? mike: ahead and winning. mark: is this a one off? mike: stay tuned for our musical, we're talking to broadway right now. mark: the broadway musical, stevens and murphy or murphy and stevens, thanks for being here. you can catch mike's podcast, radio-free g.o.p. on itunes. when we come back, a look at that new independent candidate right after this.

>> for years while living in washington, i would like to visit the national monuments late at night. i do it because late at night, nobody is around, it's quiet. edison with the long lasting light bulb and bell with the felf and ford with the model t, the wright brothers with airplanes. periscope and meerkat, airbnb and the washing machine, the television, the integrated circuits, the personal computer. mark: america gets to know him, that was a short look at the man who could be your next president. who is he? that is evan mcmullin. until just recently, the chief policy director for the house republican conference. he is now running as an independent president of the united states. he announced his candidacy, a campaign logo, started a

website, put out a state, not on tv yet. he did pay a visit to the office of national review. our next guest was there. you were in the room with him and about how many other people? ian: about a dozen. mark: never met him before? ian: never met him. mark: did he come across as a president? ian: nobody comes across as a president until they're in office. he is sober individual by any measure, an impressive resume and i want, i think it's important to note that there is some virtue in providing an honorable alternative at least on the first impression he certainly seems to fulfill that criteria. so put all that on the table to start. mark: the national review has been against donald trump for a long time. was he there to solicit your

editorial support? ian: he was there to introduce himself. i'm sure he knows it's a more sympathetic audience than he would receive at the r.n.c. right now. i'm sure we'll let this play out for a little bit to see what kind of impression he makes with a wider audience. donny: mark, i want to shift it to you in terms of the two other independent candidates. combined i think they're at 12%. when do any of them start to become a factor? mark: as mike murphy said, you have to earn media. you have to be in the mix. something happens, there is a terrorist attack or the jobs numbers come out, you want to be in the mix so people go to you. i think the polls matter most of all and fundraising. that's going to be a big factor for him. and poll standing, that that threshold is there. trump doesn't want other candidates in the debate. did he talk to you about his fundraising, how much he can raise and how? ian: didn't talk concrete

numbers. he said there are series donors that names people would know. mark: not that he would share with you? ian: not on the record, no. mark: he put out statements on his website, standard boiler plate. what issues might he talk about to break through against primarily trump and clinton? ian: i think he is probably going to focus primarily on national security inasmuch as he does talk policy and these two candidates who he is running against. he spent more than a decade in the c.i.a. running covert operations overseas. he has a strong background in all of that. i would say it's obvious that he knows more about it than trump and there is no evidence that he is in international security like the democratic candidate. he is going to push that as a theme. donny: we were both surprised he made this big announcement today and was invited on here, declined. we haven't seen him anywhere

today, not what one would traditionally do with a candidacy. ian they're being overwhelmed with media requests and trying to fill as many of those as possible. to be looking for his face and voice over the next couple days, he'll try to be in as many places as possible. that's as much as i know. mark: did he show a sense of humor? ian: yes, he did. he is quiet, articulate, it's not clear, we weren't able to delve into it in the time we had if he understands the nitty-gritty details of policy. he has been a policy advisor, so i imagine he can talk about some of these issues at a fairly precise level, but it's going to be difficult i think for him sort of temperamentally. mark: you're intrigued, but the jury is out. ian: that's right. mark: ian tutle also quiet with a great sense of humor, we'll be right back.

mark: if you can ask evan mcmullin a question, maybe we'll get to them tomorrow, what is your question? donny: it's one question, do you want or not want donald trump as president? mark: bloomberg.com your one stop for all you need to know about the trump economic speech today. coming up on "bloomberg west," emily chang sits down with the c.e.o. of the ride sharing company halo. donny and i will be back tomorrow. thanks for watching. ♪ ♪

mark: i'm mark crumpton, you're watching bloomberg west. donald trump laid out his economic vision for america today. he said no business should pay more than 15% in income taxes

and that he wants to simplify the tax code to three brackets, 12%, 25%, and 33%. his speech was disrupted more than a dozen times by protesters whose shouts were drowned out by boos as they were led by the room by security. hillary clinton says trump's proposal would benefit rich corporations and the wealthiest americans at the expense of the working class. mrs. clinton told a rally in st. petersburg, florida, she'll raise taxes on the wealthy because that's where the money is. officials have signed a letter opposing donald trump. they include former members of the nixon, reagan and both bush administrations. they write they're convinced trump would be the most reckless president in american history. doctors without borders says a hospital in sports in rebel-held northern syria has been destroyed by air strikes. the group says the hospital was hit directly killing five ch