Over the past 48 hours, things have changed, touched off by the great marco malfunction. Speculation about how his screwup will affect the race. Another thing this puts to rest the consensus emerging among rebel campaigns that trump has a healthy lead and is likely to win the primary. Mark, if trump does come out on top tomorrow, what then . Mark well, we have seen a lot of pulled in other states, but in the last round of staples, he was way ahead round of polls, he was way ahead. If you leave here with a big win and four candidates go on from here or more, i think he will win South Carolina in a fourway race, and he could be back to where we were before, with people wondering, can he be stopped . John yes. And look, it will be an enormous boost. We talk about the implications psychic implications in iowa, coming in first here will be huge. The trump confidence will be back in full flower. He will be out there being the old donald trump again. We had a few days last week where he was different. I think it could be an enormous thing. I think whether there are four people or three people out of here, it will put him in a really strong position going forward. Mark hes a firsttime candidate but he has learned to manage expectations well enough that if he wins by five or more, i think you can say i won the New Hampshire primary, and he goes into South Carolina. Mark before the Republican Debate on sunday, it seems possible that marco rubio may finish ahead of the rest of the establishment and clear that lightheaded is a South Carolina. After iowa, new Jersey Governor Chris Christie made it clear that he had a plan to stop the florida center, then boom. On saturday night, christie went hard after rubio and wounded him, some believe fatally. Here is a reminder of how the weekend played out, starting with the debate. I spoke to Chris Christie, and then john caught up with him. I like marco rubio, and is a smart person and a good guy, but he simply doesnt have the experience to be president of the united states. Lets dispel this distinctive that barack obama doesnt know what hes doing. It is exactly what he is doing. He is try to change this country. Thats what he does the memorized 25 second speech. This notion that barack obama doesnt know there it is. The memorized 25 second speech. When we come back, what it means to be a conservative. Republican debate continues. Just about the same place we were before. I said what i wanted to say. It never hurts to answer. Does he seem rattled . Not rattled enough. How are you feeling about your performance . Really good. Are you guys what do you make of a person who, having seen the telegraph, sees the punch coming, react in that way . Not ready. Ive got to set down with your friends who pretend they are being hard on you it does not represent what its like with a live audience, and all the cameras are on. Its not that he cant answer questions under pressure, its that he doesnt have the experience to know what to do in a pressure situation. John today, marco rubio defended his performance in an interview. Every republican candidate says the same thing. Criticized president obama. But do you think you did yourself some harm, by the fact that you were mocked . No. What voters heard me say what voters heard me say was barack obama is damaging america, barack obama is tried to change america. Im glad i got to say that and i will pay people that are peoples lives for me, because it is one of the key elements of our campaign. John so rubio says no damage to him. There is no doubt that Chris Christie potentially changed American History on saturday. Will he be rewarded . John will lets just think about the incredible irony of this whole thing. You can get decimated in a debate. Marco rubio data to jeb bush. But he didnt turn bush into a punchline. This turned him into a punchline and there is nothing worse in politics. I think it is that for marco rubio. Whether Chris Christie benefits enough is not nearly as clear as one of the biggest questions swirling now whether christie will have any benefit, or if the people who will benefit will be john kasich. John christie started at the bottom of the establishment pack. If he had been starting at 12 or 30 , he could pick up five or six points. If he starts at four or five he could be in Single Digits when we wake up, and it might not be good enough. John all right. If Donald Trump Holds here, there are other candidates who could make that secondplace spot. In the final days, they are all ganging up on each other, each looking for the slightest edge. Ive been saying all week that sender rubio is not ready. He kind of validated the weakness of his campaign. We are now at a stage where i have a close to 35 million of attack ads run against me, many from jeb bush. The only time he worked with folks on the other side the aisle was when he wrote the immigration bill and as soon as he got hot, he ran away. To you regret your vote of the assault weapons ban . Going back and regretting i earned an a rating from the nra im disappointed that is either take the low road to the highest office in the land. He voted, in congress, for bailouts for the banks and for special interest loopholes. Mark so john kasich, Chris Christie, can all potentially pull in the second or maybe third. What will determine who gets silver and bronze . John they could be a matter of just a point or two, in which case the bronze and silver will be we wont even know what those things mean. But im looking at this tracking poll. You look at this, and is very confusing. It takes place over three days. Poll results from before the debate are included, results from super bowl sunday. There is a broad consensus, sort of, that maybe kasich and bush are rising right now, and that they could find themselves in two and three. If thats true, there is distance between rubio and christie, and they will be in a strong position to argue they are going on to South Carolina. But if they are all bunched up, and it is only a couple points, we can still have model. Mark christie says from too far back, cruz has not had a good week. That leaves you with bush and kasich, who a lot of people think are rising. If cruz and trump divide 60 of the vote between them, there is still that 50 left. At some point, one of them has a chance to get to 20 , but they might divided evenly. John if marco has fallen if christie bumped up a lot, that could pull the others down. We literally will not know even a tracking poll tomorrow mark if they are bunched up, who gives a speech early on, in a way that allows them to go out . We know that trumpet cruz are going on. John when we come back, the big dog off the leash. What bill clinton has been saying about the campaign trail, after this. Mark eight years ago, bill clintons decision to go against barack obama caused trouble for his wife. Yesterday, the former president seemed to head down a similar path, when he criticized Bernie Sanders for a host of things, including allegedly misleading voters, and for having supporters who troll clinton backers online. That the former president seemed to soften. How did this the more i wish i were just a former president , and not the spouse of the next one. You know. Mark that was more indirect, but there were some subtle shots today a Bernie Sanders. Change is hard. And it is worth the effort. I am so grateful for all the millennial young people who are supporting hillary [cheering] theyre just as mad as the ones who arent, but they know they have to translate their anger. Mark the moral of the story, if you cannot teach an old dog new tricks what is going on the bill clinton . John we started this while the New Hampshire primary was a week ago, and he said he would not let New Hampshire go. He wanted to fight every angle. And his frustration eight years ago, it was intense, and it ended up getting him cast as a racist by many in the democratic party, when he said that obamas war record was not a fairytale. Hes not a danger here because Bernie Sanders is a white candidate. Mark the clintons have never had a humiliating defeat in New Hampshire, and the campaign is a mess, and clinton is doing what he does hes great for himself, hes not as good for his wife. John and we will talk about the clinton rumor shakeups. Eight years ago, his main frustration was we should have taken barack obama out earlier. We let this guy get oxygen. We should have killed him in early 2007 when we had a chance. Hes frustrated. Today, bill clinton has the same frustration of Bernie Sanders. How did we let this guy live for the six months of 2015 . Mark in nevada and South Carolina, i bet he comes back. John we will see. Today, Hillary Clintons campaign was busy shooting down reports that there might be a Campaign Shakeup after in an interview with rachel maddow, clinton expressed confidence in her staff, saying i have no idea what they are talking about or who they are talking to. It will be the campaign that i have got. The Clinton Campaign manager said, theres zero truth to what you may be reading. It is wrong. Hillary stands behind her team, period. A lot of other quizzical denials. What is the real deal here . Mark with the clintons, everything new is old again, and everything old is new. Of course they are hearing from people that there is a problem. The message is messed up. She was very good last week, but the campaign has lost every news. Sanders is getting away with things she couldnt, and i am sure they are telling people, maybe we need to fix things. Its the worst possible thing for the staff right now, which has had high morale and has been relatively leakproof. John she has been a little more equivocal of these last hours. She said we will see what works, coming into different states. Thats a big door to doing what the clintons always do. A staff shakeup for the clintons is not firing people. They dont fire people. What they do is they bring more people on to layer on top of the old people to create a more unwieldy apparatus. But it is not about firing the campaign manager. Mark the problem is the candidate does not deliver a consistent message. The other problem is there is a clash of culture. There are some people who were not clinton people, and they are not used to working with a candidate and the candidatess spouse who occasionally insult people outside the campaign. John [laughter] if by occasionally, you been constantly, continuously, maddeningly. Mark Hillary Clintons campaign functions well when things are going well, and if not, they talk about a change. John i will be shocked if she wins tomorrow and we dont see old clinton people i just laugh. Mark coming up, george stevens. He joins us after this word from our sponsors. John our first guest tonight is a former mitt romney super strategist, not affiliated with any campaign this year. But he has been the most vocal antitrust voice in the Republican Party. He aired his frustrations about the republican primary today in a column entitled now is the time to stop trump. Thanks for being here. We were talking about this this morning. In this piece, you attack something the nuttiness based on the theory of lanes. This is somehow a fault for donald trump, and you blame us. So please elaborate. Well, i tried to blame you in all situations. I dont think this idea of lanes really works in a primarily this when you have most of the primaries more alike than not like. Most of the civil war the supporting the same candidate in november. There is some truth to it, but the notion that there are voters here that are not accessible to any candidate is frankly overstated. I think most voters are open to voting for most of these candidates, if they make a good enough case. They just have to go out there and try to get these votes. John this relates to trump in the sense that, by paying attention to the lane theory that has kept candidates are taking on trump, and trump is in no ones lane. That, and an assumption that somehow getting trump 101 is a good thing. The way you get it is because he won. Right now trump is a loser. This week, more campaigns didnt go after donald trump, didnt do it in the debate. Why let him get stronger . I think its an assumption that 101, trump will lose. Thats probably true, but it is a White Knuckle assumption. Id rather go after him. Campaigns are about conflict. When you go out and define yourself by who you are into the other person is in, thats a great thing. Trump is a huge gift to a lot of these candidates. John you are a longtime businessperson. Christie had a great saturday night, but he is still by most accounts going to have to really move up. One thing he is doing is trying to get mitt romneys endorsement. What you know about that . I dont know anything. I dont know if he will endorse anybody, or what his timing will be. Mark people like mitt romney, paul ryan, other republicans are saying on the sidelines. Under your theory of going after trump, should people like that, should they come out and say, im against trump, or for the other candidate . I think i thought its one of these things that if you have too much, it can play into trumps hands. He can say all the powers that be are against me. Im not sure how many votes it would change. Ultimately, these things have to be done by the candidates. The men and women in the arena. Mark the one who has been at the most is jeb bush. How has that worked for him . The problem is that he has been backed up by his super pac. Its as if we should really just fight on the ground, and he said great, you are right. If he was backed up, if the super pac had spent 50 million come testing jeb bush and donald trump, this would probably be a Jeb Bush Donald trump race. Mark if you are the chief strategist for Chris Christie, who decided to go guns blazing after marco rubio, would you have advised him take that brawler temperament and put it on the big guy . Given where the two candidates were, and given the contrasts there, i thought he did it beautifully. Its hard to argue with what he did. I think it was a great moment, about something bigger, this argument that he has made that he is a prosecutor, that he can prosecute Hillary Clinton. In that moment, with his arm up on the podium, it was very comfortable. He had that background and skills that no one else does. I think it is attractive to voters. John you would disagree that kristi is in a good position to take trump on. I think he is the most effective prosecutor. I think he could do as well. I think they all can do it well in their own way. John if trumps first, he will go forward. The other four tuesday night and wednesday morning, the gap betwen i think john is there any reason for the guy who finishes sixth to not go forward . Absolutely not. Look at 2012. Look at what happened with gingrich. He did terribly in iowa, terribly in New Hampshire, and ended up winning South Carolina. Look at santorum. He won iowa, though not for a couple weeks, terribly in New Hampshire, didnt do well in South Carolina, driven from the field in florida. With super pacs, no Campaign Ends because they wanted to end. It ends because they run out of money. John stuart stevens, great to have you here. When we come back, jeb versus marco. You can also listen to us at bloomberg 99. 1 fm. The conference call. The ultimate arena for business. Hour after hour of diving deep, touching base, and putting ducks in rows. The only problem with Conference Calls eventually they have to end. Unless you have the comcast business voice mobile app. It lets you switch seamlessly from your desk phone to your mobile with no interruptions. Ive never felt so alive. Make your business phone mobile with voice mobility. Comcast business. Built for business. Ladies, welcome. So your candidate had a rough Night Saturday by some accounts. By some. The big question is has it hurt him . Youre an Interested Party but talking to people, talking to the campaign do you think that performance might impact him . I dont. I spent a lot of time talking to friends of mine in New Hampshire. Ive lived here for 40 years. Ive been around voters of New Hampshire all that time. I realize that there is a big fascination with this by the press but i dont think it had the impact on the people im talking to. There is a new cnn tracking poll the campaign is touting showing senator rubio basically unchanged. How well do you think he can do . Can he finish first, second . I think that were all still expecting donald trump to finish first here. I think it surprised a lot of us honestly. That donald has done as well as he has in New Hampshire. The numbers have held rock steady. The thing i think we cant know about it, however, is whether his people who support him and come out are actually going to go to the polls. There are a lot of people there who are either people who havent voted before or maybe people who are in the other party who are interested who think that they can change their affiliation. Lets not assume they wont be able to. But inc. There are people who think they can change from democrat to republican on voting day which you cannot but you can firsttime register. Well see if theyre motivated out. We were surprised in iowa that it didnt turn out as we expected and i wouldnt be surprised if things turned out differently in New Hampshire. By differently, i dont mean tha