That this thing is getting out of control. Its not a drill. Peoples lives are at stake, and the response so far has been unacceptable. We dont wait until the bullets start flying to figure out whether our war plan is going to work. Dont you think we ought to restrict travel dogs . Meanwhile, senator ted cruze told john allen of Bloomberg Politics that the white houses ebola policy was being driven by Political Correctness. He said congress should reconvene and vote on a travel ban to west african countries. This band is now favored by Many Republican congressman. Mark, do you think we are now in a phase of fullon, fullout fear mongering, or whether these are responsible reactions to what is happening . John, i stand second to no person i know in being critical of congress when they do fear monger and demagogue. I think in this case, for the most part a coequal branch of government is trying to whip the branch into shape, corresponding to public opinion. For the most part i think the administration is getting criticism and oversight from congress. I think that most of it is fine and good for the public. I am all for oversight and i am all for criticizing the administration when necessary, but i have got to say that it is still the case that ebola is unlikely to have ebola become a pandemic in the united states. It a lot more bold eye the flu that ebola in the end. A lot more will die from ebola dissolute and ebola in the end. It is starting to worry me a little bit that fearmongering is very much on the rise. Although americans are jittery about the separate of ebola, it is not like they are in panic mode. It is not like the country is going to hell in a hand basket or anything. 58 of americans say they think things in the world are going to hell in a hand basket. that was a question. That actually was the question in that fox news poll. It is hard to believe. Last night thousands of people packed a room in louisville, kentucky to listen to a speech by Hillary Clinton. Allison grimes was always there also there. But it was clear who the real star was. It is time to unleash the potential of kentucky. Give you a chance to have somebody who cares about you who will live and breathe and work for you every single day knowing that she, with her energy, her intelligence, her commitment, will make a difference in your lives. There is no limit to what you can achieve together. Mark, Hillary Clinton in fire engine red and fully on fire up there, it seems to me. Do you think she has her groove back now that she is out on the campaign trail . Fired up and ready to go. Shortterm and longterm implications. Short term, she is going to be a great surrogate in the midterm. She can go to states that the president cant. You wrote about that in Bloomberg Politics a few days ago. Longterm, republicans who fear her as a president ial candidate better fear her talking to White Working Class voters. The president against mitt romney and john mccain did not do well there. If she gets them, she will be very hard to beat if she runs for president. That is the first time i have seen Hillary Clinton since the spring of 2008 look like a real on fire candidate. It bodes well for her. If she can find that groove. Moving on, our senator race to watch tonight is in georgia, where even republicans concede it is a close contest between Michelle Nunn and david period. David purdue. Nunn says her opponent is guilty of o. T. A. Sourcing. David perdue is defending his career. He acknowledged he spent most of his career moving u. S. Jobs overseas. The dmc Senatorial Campaign committee is putting 1 million into this race because they believe it is working. It is looking like a place where the dems can steal one from the g. O. P. What do you think . Nunn has turned out to be a good firsttime candidate. She is not impressive candidate. And impressive candidate. Perdue has made mistakes. African registration in the state is up. This may be the diems pick up and it may save the Senate Majority for them. A few weeks ago, the case was the Democratic Party hasnt put much money in the race. Because they did not think Michelle Nunn could win. Now they are not putting that money into kentucky, they are putting the money into georgia. Some of it is going on the air and into turn out in atlanta. If they get a heavy africanamerican turn out in atlanta, she could well win this race. I have talked to republicans who do worry about it. Look, in the end if perdue could , be a strong republican, he should win, but she is a good candidate. I have been super impressed with her in her debates and ads. She is a stronger candidate than her dad was. And her dad was pretty good. You mentioned kansas. That is another race we want to look at. Almost everyone last night was watching the royals sweep the orioles, which means they probably missed this exchange from the senate debate. Each candidate was asked to Say Something nice about each other. I appreciate senators roberts service to our country. I appreciate his service in the marines. I have to say that every time i have had an opportunity to talk privately with the senator, he has been a gentleman with a great sense of humor. Semper fi, greg. Marines take the hill. I would say that you are a very welldressed opponent. I admire your accumulation of wealth. I have a little question about how you got there from here, but i think that is the american dream. Mark not the classiest response in the world by senator roberts. I admire you are very well dressed. Do you think pat roberts is feeling the heat out there in kansas . His performance last night wasnt perfect in that debate but, look, he is coming back. I think orman made a mistake in talking about abortion in a way allows republicans to isolate him a bit. The radiologists are in there helping roberts. I think roberts is now back in front in this race. Though he wont definitely win but stronger position right now. Moving on, finally, maybe the most surreal moment in the midterm elections so far. If you did not know before, you know now. Any time Charlie Crist makes a personal appearance, he brings a fan with him. To keep even one beta perspiration from forming on that handsome face of his. His fan is so famous, it has its own twitter account. Last night the actual fan took center stage at the debate between chris and a Florida Governor and Florida Governor rick scott. Somehow there is a fan there, and for that reason, ladies and gentlemen, i am being told that Governor Scott really will not join us for this debate. Mark, i have seen a lot of weird things covering politics. That was weird. Neither candidate looks great there read scott looking petty and chris looking odd. Who do you think that is worse for . I am not sure whether voters are going to care for elites. It is worse for scott. You will admit it is one of the odder things you have seen in a long time, right . It is pretty odd, although i have been a fan of charlie christs fan a long time. So nothing would surprise me. A fan of the fan. Coming up, the rands of time. Mark halperins interview with senator paul when we come back. Mark, you wanted to look for live free or die, so you spent some time with senator rand paul. What are you seeing . He is happy senator browns campaign. In the words of larry david pretty, pretty, pretty good. I did phone banking at the rand headquarters and then an event with students at plymouth state university. He was strong, he gives a good talk. He knows how to work a crowd he is still trying to figure out how to be a president ial candidate. He is a great micro manager. That is something we have heard over the last few days. Listen to him at the phone bank in manchester when he didnt like the way the phone Bank Technology didnt work. What i would do with your software is have that done automatically. After five phone calls it should automatically say no answer and hit your next one so people like me cant see the phones. I like a candidate who wants to rewire the software. That was good. Later in the day at the plymouth state university, i got a chance to talk to senator paul. We talked about a bunch of stuff. We started out with news of the day, i asked him about how the administration is handling ebola. Senator, thanks for talking with us. We want to talk about ebola. Which is the big story in the country right now. You have said the president has led us down a road and failed to show leadership. Specifically what has he done or not done that has not shown leadership . I think that from the beginning they havent been completely forth right with us. They have so wanted to downplay this that they havent been very accurate in their description of the disease. For example, they say dont worry, it is only transferred through bodily flutes. Bodily fluids through direct contact. So what are you thinking . I am thinking aids. You dont get aids as a cocktail party, so my level of alarm goes down. But it really isnt like aids. Then they will say in a lower voice, but direct contact can be three feet from somebody. But if you ask any american on the street do you think direct contact is standing three feet from somebody because they so much wanted to downplay that we were in charge and know everything about this, i think they made mistakes in not being accurate in talking about the disease. You used the phrase at least once politically correct. What does that mean in the context of how they are dealing with this . I am not sure what it means because i am not sure who they are being politically correct to. What are you referring to . Because i think they are making it is an irrational desire to be conventional and not to sort of the middle of things without saying something that is bold that people might object to. That is kind of Political Correctness in a way. You are up here campaigning for scott brown. You have done lots of other candidates. I know what you think republican candidates have going for them wind at the back. What do the dems have going for them, keeping races close . Still the biggest obstacle is demographics. We need to do better with african americans, hispanics and asians that is a factor in this election . It is a factor in every election. In congressional races not so much because they are drawn. But in states and national elections, the biggest on obstacle republicans have to being the dominant party, and i think we can win handsdown on policy because frankly things havent gotten any better under the democrats. There is still massive unemployment. Black unemployment is two times white unemployment. I think we can win on policy once we begin to break down the demographic barriers that really we havent done a very good job with in the past. All right, you are on the cover of Time Magazine again. It says the most interesting man in politics. Does that mean you are more interesting than dick durbin or Lamar Alexander . You know they are really , fascinating guys. So, yeah. I dont know how we got that. Look at that picture. Most people think do i look handsome . Do you look handsome there . Without my glasses, i could even tell that is him. That is time. We were joking before, and in your family you say there is that germanic blood. Are you making a general statement about germans and humor . You hate to criticize a group, but i am part of it. Germans are fastidious. But the other half of my family is welsh and english. One grandparents were really hard working, and the others were more joking around, singing songs and reciting poetry. So i got half of that and it diluted again. I am afraid i dont have a career in standup. You told some jokes today to the college kids here, but your speech is a pretty intense each speech. Is humor a part of politics to you . Or you think that is not necessary . If i can remember a joke or come up with a joke, i like to start with a joke. I think humor is a great way of engaging people. In fact, our young people i hate to break the studio they bash this to you this to you they dont watch any news , chance. We are familiar with that. My kids if they want news are going to get news. They will send me a clip of jon stewart or jimmy kimmel. We need some more conservative comedians. You have been thinking about running for president. I have been open about that. You have seen it up close out on the trail with your dad. What is hard about running for president . You know the travel can wear , you down and wear you out. I think the fatigue on basically the family and all of that. And i think the breakdown between legitimate reporters and everybody else that has a website has made it so hard that there are so many people asking questions. And many of them really when i read a news report now i am involved with, did you see this, guys . It was an objective news report . Most of the stuff all over the internet is all opinion, and it sells on tv, too. Why does it make it harder for a candidate . It makes it harder because everywhere you go, you are not getting questions there a reporter, you are getting questions from an editorialist. And that makes it more difficult. Everything becomes a scandalous headline and mostly doesnt represent what is in the body of the material. If you run, you will ask get asked many questions. Are you familiar with roger mudds question to ted kennedy . Why are you running . Why do you want to be president . Well, my brother was president , my dad. Answer the question. Assuming you did run, why would you want to be president . Because i am concerned about our country. I think an 18 trillion debt is truly a danger. Not just to our kids and grandkids, but actually to our kids now trying to find jobs. I dont think the demise of a country is always gradual. I think there is a possibility that you can have a panic run like 2008. Why can you do it . Why do i think i can do it . Because i can bridge a gap that no other republican has ever bridged, and that is to attract constituencies we havent had in talked to in 80 years. That gets you elected . What about as president . Because i can work strongly with the other side. Im am a person who believes very strongly in my ideas, but it turns out some of the ideas i have are strong with progressives as well. I am a big believer that we try to tackle too big of an issue in washington. If we had 100 people in a room senators or otherwise and we try , to agree on issues, if legislation had a thousands pieces to it, we would never get anything done. If it had one piece to it, we might find 10, 20, 30 issues we could pass by consensus. We have those in congress now, but the leadership is so malfunctional, and frankly democratic leadership that we cant get anything passed. I had a bill that i cosponsored with harry reid, and i cannot get a vote on it. Senator, thanks for your time. Appreciate it. Thank you. Mark, you know i think senator paul has been on a real political roll over the last couple of years, but i have not had an opportunity to see him on the trail. Give me a sense of whether you think he has a feel of politics . He has done a lot of it. He is good with people. But, you know, watch him on the rope line and in a photo line, he is not loving it. He is doing it, but he is not loving it. But what i will tell you he is good at is he will stand and fight. There have been some things on youtube are where he gets a question there a voter and maybe hasnt stood his ground. But more than most people, if he gets a confrontational question or a hard question, he is very good at standing and saying what he thinks. His stump speech is a lot about privacy, a lot about liberty and attacking the president. But i think if he is going to do well, it is going to have to get better. But right now, working a room, dealing with the kind of craziness of the trail and giving a speech, he is up in the first tier on those things for sure. And he has proven it by traveling more than anybody else nt places. New hampshire is a key place. He is very comfortable here. All right, thanks, mark. That is awesome. Fantastic interview. Coming up, we have the great will leech, our correspondent who lives at the intersection of politics and pop culture. He is going to try to explain how his cardinals can escape San Francisco without being completely plucked. Cinderella has found her Glass Slipper in kansas city and the royals are world series bound. Meanwhile, their opponent could be determined tonight. The great will leech is here now. Just as my San Francisco giants are about to eliminate his st. Louis cardinals, which will lead to an even greater television embarrassment than happened to al hunt when my giants beat his washington nationals. Well, we have a bet on this series. You are wearing the cardinals hat. When they win, you are going to wear the full uniform. Stirrups and cleats included. Are you looking forward to that . Yes. I am wearing a cardinals hat now. I have been wanting to wear a cardinals had hat on television my entire life. For crying out loud, i usually take it off to go on tv. It looks like it may go that way. Even in losing, you get a consolation prize. Let me ask you first, royals team of destiny, question mark . Yes. Certainly they cant do anything wrong. Remember they have won eight in a row this postseason. They actually won their last three in 1985, the last time they made the postseason. They are spreading out all of their wins. It is really kind of crazy. I talk to royals fans, and they were like we really lost a lot of games this year. I know it looks impossible to beat us right now, but they are built for the postseason in a lot of ways. Once you get to the seventh inning if they are ahead, they have you beaten. Everything is flying their way right now. So the orioles totally collapsed, losing four, and the nationals collapsed. Giving way to the San Francisco giants. Beltway baseball looks bad, or is that over stating the case . Certainly it is frustrating because this is a positive season for both teams. The question is who is actually more hurt by what happened in the postseason . I tend to feel like it is equal because they both ran into these amazing postseason teams. Remember the giants had won eight postseason games in a row. Coming into this year. They have been credible postseason as well. They had an incredible postseason as well. They both ran into this buzzsaw. If there is one that takes it harder, it is probably orioles fans because they have had longer to suffer than nationals fans have. But give the nationals 10 to 15 years and they will go going up. I am not going to ask you much about the cardinals and the giants because it is obvious how that is going to turn out. Lets assume for the sake of argument that the giants are in the world series against the kansas city royals. What are the politics of that . Do we have a coastal elites versus flyover country heroes . Playing out in the course of the series . I feel it is more like establishment vs. Insurgents. That would be the way to look at that. The cardinals are sort of the team that people sick of seeing. In the postseason. Not me. I know. But the giants are a team, they have this thing where this could be the third time in the last six years they have won a world series, all in even years. They have been here all the time. They have played so many postseason games, and they have bruce bochy, who is basically putting a hall of fame resume together right now. And then you have the royals who no one on the royals team understands what is happening. People are asking beat reporters, what is their plan, how do other teams emulate the plan, and they were like there is no plan. We have no idea what happened. To see those things converge, i feel like it is less about like geography and more history and particularly on the recent side. All right, we have about 20 seconds. You have a great piece coming up about brooklyn 99. Tell us what that is about . It is a very funny show and well done. It is a work place comedy set at the nypd which is historically the least popular it has ever been. It is very strange to have good looking wisecracking young people, nypd officers. I kind of argue the show is eventually going to have to acknowledge that cognitive dissidence. That is not how the cops actually are. No. Its not. Very nice people. I want no trouble with them. Fabulous. Will, you are awesome. I am not going to call you a loser yet. We will get to that soon enough. Thank you, kind of you. We will be right back. We are only on television a half hour a day, but we are live 24 7 on bloombergpolitics. Com. Mike bender has a great piece right now on Bloomberg Politics. Com, it is fantastic on the Florida Governors race. Check it out. We have a piece on ben carsons longshot president ial bid. Another fantastic piece. Mark, i highly recommend you read that piece as soon as you get back from new hampshire, the land of live free or die. That is the end for us today. He may be the most influential man in San Francisco. Mark benioff has transformed the way that businesses do business. He has pioneered the flight to the cloud and a new model for philanthropy along the way. He launched a career at apple became a star salesman at oracle. Then he went on to start one of oracles biggest competitors. Joining me, from dream force