welcome to "nevada newsmakers." on the broadcast today marlene lockard and amy tarkanian discuss the issue of the day. plus on the pundit panel connie mcmullen john gwaltney and jill derby derby.

"nevada newsmakers".." and back on "nevada newsmakers" this week with the opportunity to have both amy tarkanian and

together i just couldn't resist. so i want to talk to you guys what's going on with the election cycle here. let's start with you marlene and donald trump and what the republicans need to do to fix the trump problem. >> well i don't know if they knew what to do. i think they would have done it already. i think there is a very real possibility that he'll be the nominee. this has been such an unusual year, and all of the conventional pundits and wisdom and what people thought they thought about politics has totally gone out of the window this year. so i don't know. i think amy can address this. i think they're really stumped.

is you know has finally bubbled over and if anything happens out of this it should be that congress better take a very close look at how the people in this country feel about the job they've been doing. about the neglect a very important issues, and donald trump has tapped into that and conventional politics and polished politics have gone out the window. >> marlene raises a very good point in her last couple of sentences. congress is completely out of touch. i was talking to the congressman amodei. these are programs that 26 million people are watching these debates. he says no influence. you can take it step further. is it necessarily congress or do we have a president who doesn't

doesn't like to work with congress. i think someone like donald trump has tapped into the anger of the people. is he a politician, no. people will sit there and he's known for being famous. carly said it she called him kim kardashian of politics. he's definitely been in a useful in a way where people are tired of the polished politicians. they are very angry, and they're very frustrated. and daumed trump has tapped into that. she has slipped a little in the

and well, it depends on what polling you're looking at. there's a recent poll that came out in new hampshire that shows her favoritability to be one of the highest amongst all of the republican candidates. the most -- the more you hear about her life story. the more and her husband frank has started campaigning on her behalf as well people are interested and excited what she has to say. they like her tenacity and they

to just get the record straight. >> they have blocked him from the get go. and in fairness to the public everybody is sick of that. they're sick of it on the democratic side and they're sick of it on the republican side. so i'm hoping congress and yet we saw the omnibus bill that came out where everything went up. the defense spending went up. social spending went up. it was interesting to see that. why does everything keep going on that.

to the programs that aren't working as well as they should be. what's the other freedom caucus i think there's 40 members of the house that are members of the freedom caucus. they want to hold their feet to the fire. let's hold the feet to their the fire before we start spending. >> there's hardly anybody read it. that's nonsense. >> i couldn't agree with you more. but that applies to almost every major bill that comes out. >> which is nonsense. i had high hopes for paul ryan but what does he announce this last week. his priorities for the next session session, not north korea that

not immigration reform, beennghazi and healthcare. it could be hillary and obama calling climate change. the country is at risk. the world is in turmoil we're talking about planned parenthood that is the disconnect with could thatting. >> let's take a break.

we come back. and back on the "nevada newsmakers." we continue our conversation with marlene lockard and amy tarkanian. let's talk about hillary clinton

>> interestingly enough all three of them were just in nevada and yes i think people are still saying who is martin o'malley. i think we're looking at a two person race with mr. sanders and mrs. clinton. as i pointed out before on this game. and hillary clinton has an amazing ground game that senator reid put in place years ago that is still very powerful. i would agree with that. i think a lot of people think nothing is happening on nevada on the democratic side but she has worked very quietly and has done what she needs to do with the grassroots effort and with bernie sanders, it's been phenomenal. he's tapped into the young

across the state, and i cannot tell you how energized that population in this state is. and i think it's wonderful. if people get out and vote for any of the candidates running, i think that's healthy for america. and i think these campaigns have generated some real enthusiasm to follow through and participate. i do find it interesting because with the organize for amerigroup that led the ground game they and that hillary and bernie more so hillary does have senator reed to thank for that. bernie sanders has tapped into a whole another generation. i don't necessarily agree with

his mouth. you can tell he is definitely sincere and he's compassionate what he has to offer. with hillary being portrayed as who has a trust issue problem i think a lot of people have jumped her ship to go to bernie. i think bernie sanders is the donald trump on the democratic side. he is tapped into not being your regular politician. he's taken on wall street. he's taken on banks whereas donald trump has not been the typical politician on the republican side. so i think they're both tapping into wherever you are on the issues and your dissatisfaction with where the country is going. with bernie you know where he

i think if you watch any democratic debate you can see specifically where hillary clinton stands on the issues. let me ask you this. this is the big question. you have these populist candidates. is it so hard to get the american public to go out and vote. do you think that the bernie sanders is going to generate people to vote in the numbers needed or for that the matter donald trump. i don't think he's going to get the numbers to overpower hillary clinton. i do know that his bases very energized. and she has shared with me some of the events she's attended and the caliber of the people that are there you have physicists. you have doctors. you have the college students and they are energized and they are angry. he's like the donald trump on the democratic side.

clinton who they don't trust. i don't know if it's going to be enough to overcome her. very soon we will know in nevada with our caucus coming up in february and by the time nevada caucus rolls around we'll have iowa and new hampshire. we'll begin to see once people go to vote for candidates. we've got 15 seconds apiece. joe heck and deborah cortez mass toe. >> i'm very joe heck is going to be our next u.s. senator. i think there's going to be a lot of money in that race on both sides with control of the

senate is one of the top three races in the united states. >> what woould your bernie sanders on the first day in office office. it would be fascinating to watch. >> in the dream scenario your thought amy. in the dream scenario that wouldn't be a dream for me. i would like to go back to sleep if bernie sanders is our president.

we'll be right back. and back on the "nevada newsmakers" we have a great pundit panel. connie mcmullen is here. she is the editor and publisher

jill derby is the democratic former state chair. john gwaltney. you heard the president speak last night. on the state of the state. your thoughts on the speech. you know i thought he would say more to account for his seven years in office. he didn't say much about iran. this morning they let those 10 people go. i think that the american people would have heard that and how it will affect our negotiations. i was not impressed. i think he does great all the time. a lot of the things he blames the republicans is things he initiated.

well. i thought he did a great job of america is the strongest economy in the world. no kidding. we are the strongest military power in the world. no kidding. i loved that he sort of took a high road and said how democratcy and he called out identity politics. those that would divide us further. target race and religion broadly for political advantage. i think those are the kinds of things that the president of united states needed to say. because this election and our political environment is dau divisive and continues to be divisive and many of the lead candidates and particularly

that card just brilliantly. well i think you have a very good point. i think he's had a good hand in lot of that. i think there are a lot of people capitalizing on what is going. i do believe he's had a good hand in that. i think a lot of people are trying to do a spin to play and get an advantage off of just this discussion. >> i'm kind of in between. first of all i think he's one of the marvelous speaker. secondly i think it was interesting to me because he seemed to be endorsing bernie sanders and not necessarily supporting hillary clinton which i thought was fascinating from the standpoint he talked about free college education. i've heard bernie say it many, many times.

there. to look at unity i thought it was fascinating he talked about early in the speech that the government needs to figure out how to cut red tape. he had people standing on both sides of the aisle which was fun to watch. really the impossible dream wouldn't you say. >> bill clinton asked to have one copy of every forum that the federal government had. the last time it was 12 18 wheeler trucks they put those forms in. there's no question that regulation has slowed economic growth. the problem government in the passed laws and presidents have signed them and then it's down to the regulators to come up with the regulation.

it's a huge problem. it's a huge problem. it has a tendency to weaken the private sector in the economy. but also you have thousands of lobbyists who're there with the regulators trying to make sure that their industry gets the benefit of the regulations. that's democracy in america. he pointed to the influence of big money in paul tingeds and that needed to change. and that of course implies the money that goes into lobbying which is a huge influence. >> and it's never going to go away. i think if you total up how much money between the actual campaigns, the super pacs the issue money that this will be a record year. "god bless america".." nikki haley. i thought she was very impressive.

she not only went after the president but after her own party. talk about a good speaker. she was so arcticticulate without no malice in her tone. >> and do you see her as a potential vice presidential candidate. i think she has all of the skills to do that. as time goes on we're going to see her in a number of areas. i really thought movement toward free community college is a very, very important step. unfortunately in our state we're moving the opposite direction. but nationally i think that makes a lot of sense. i thought she hit the right tone and i'd liked she didn't support the kind of extreme rhetoric coming out of her party. >> that's where we have to leave it.

newsmakers" after this time-out. our next broadcast nicki gross the manager director of the