and the other thing that happened, marco rubio was right on trump's heels. third place in iowa, very close, almost got hit for second place, goes to new hampshire, rubio's got the early momentum and people are saying, if rubio could zoom up the here in new hampshire and you could clear the field, maybe rubio could beat trump and then this happened. >> when you're governor of a state, the 30-second speech when you talked about how great america is at the end of it doesn't solve one problem for one state. >> your state got hit by a massive snowstorm two weeks ago, you didn't even want to go back. they had to shame you into going back and then you stayed there for 36 hours and then he left and came back to campaign. those are the facts. here's the bottom line. this notion that barack obama doesn't know what he's doing is just not true -- >> there it is. there it is! the memorized 25-second speech. there it is, everybody! >> how good would chris christie have been as a candidate if it hadn't been for all that bridge stuff pip still wonder. at that point, he wasn

senator maco rubio says i have serious concerns about the nomination. there are many questions which must be answered. i expect the relationship to be front and center in his confirmation process. here with senator john mccain yesterday. >> i also, as a hundred of us, have to exercise our best judgment, but when it gets to the friendship award from a butcher, frankly, it's an issue that i think need to be examined. and again, that does not mean we should prejudge mr. tillerson. >> well, tillerson has heavyweight supporters, among condoleezza rice saying today he was an excellent choice for secretary of state. he will bring to the post remarkable and broad international experience. bob gates said i strongly endorse the president-elect's selection of rex tillerson to be the next secretary of state. another voice of support for tillerson is former vice president and former ceo of halliburton, dick cheney. he said tillerson for secretary of state is an inspired choice. i've known rex for many years, both as ceo of exxon and as a personal friend. i'm confide

i'm very pleased that mitch mcconnell has joined with senators mccain, rubio and others in a partisan call to make sure we get to the bottom of this and that we respond appropriately. i think this is a very big deal, chris. >> what do you think as an american of the fact of the evidence now that the russian foreign minister over there got involved in the campaign and in this case trump won. what do you make of that as an american, not a politician? >> chris, first, i led a bipartisan delegation to eastern europe back in august when we first got news this was likely happening. and it's striking to me how many countries across central, eastern and western europe have already been victims of overt and covert russian interference in their elections. this is something the russians are doing all across europe. as an american, i think this goes right to the heart of our country. we are defined as a democracy. if we allow this to go unchallenged, if we allow this to go uninvestigated, and if we allow this to go without a robust response, i think we're letting down america. >> why are they pic

pleased that republican senate leader mitch mcconnell has joined with senators mccain and graham and rubio and others in a bipartisan call to make sure we get to the bottom of this, and that we respond appropriately. i think this is a very big deal, chris. >> what do you think, as an american, of the fact that the evidence now that the russian, the former soviet union over there, if you will, from my memory. we can all remember the cold war, that that country over there deliberately got involved in our political campaigning so the one side, the one they wanted to win, in this case trump, won. what do you make of that, as an american? not as a politician. >> chris, first, i led a bipartisan delegation to eastern europe back in august, when we first got news this was likely happening. and it's striking to me how many countries across central, eastern, and western europe have already been victims of overt and covert russian interference in their election. this is something that the russians are doing across all of europe. >> what do they want? >> as an american, i think this goes right to the

and their view of that was, as you said, very different from what if it was jeb bush or marco rubio. the reality is, they're still sort much remembering this as a forum where what was going on in the campaign. do they have to blame themselves? >> you're right. it's a good freudian -- >> the trump and clinton aides also battled over the significance of trump's popular vote loss. that's an argument everyone's having right now. let's watch. >> i would say hillary did win the popular vote. we're talking about a majority -- no, no. just purely factual. oh, god, you guys. >> listen, you guys won. that's clear. you won the electoral cleng. be honest. don't act like you have a popular mandate for your message. >> this is just fighting words here. as you said, ohio state against michigan, they haven't changed. >> but to clinton's point of view, the clinton camp point of view, what's going to end up happening is the pre-election night polling which predicted that hillary would win by two or three points is true. because she didn't win in the right places. from the trump side, look, they were b

marco rubio and i, the far from florida, we have legislation that we've introduced that focuses on sanctioning. but also, focusing intensively on getting humanitarian aid there. >> here's what a form he energy minister told engel about the incoming administration. let's watch this. >> the trump election and the new administration the way it is being shaped. it is a gift. he couldn't have dreamed about that a few months ago. >> so trump and his team are a gift. how do you react to that in. >> it is a reality that i think concerns not only me but a lot of the american people. you have this fascination that the president-elect seems to have with vladimir putin. i hope that when he is president, after he takes oath of office, i hope he makes it very clear to the american people that he will be very tough with russia. hold them accountable when they everybody gauge in the kind of activity they've engaged in in syria. and i think the way he should view vladimir putin is the way i view him. as close to a 24-hour bad guy as you go get in the world stage. constantly intervening. even in our elections a

marco rubio, lindsey graham, john mccain, raise concerns about trump's stance towards putin, about russia meddling in the election, and about rex tillerson's stance towards russia. so, maybe there, but even then, i see it at just really more showmanship, and that is what, of course, so much of these confirmation hearings tend to boil down to. >> all right. ken vogel from politico, thanks, as always. >> thanks, steve. >>> all right, up next, the "hardball" roundtable is going to be here. they're going to talk about trump's war of words with president obama. plus, word that trump's tweeting isn't going to be ending once he takes office. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. >>> welcome back to "hardball." over the weekend, donald trump took to twitter to propose a nuclear arms race, take credit for the booming economy since his election, and to remind his followerthat he doesn't care about a-list celebriies coming to his inauguration. there's no secret that trump loves twitter and here's what incoming white house press secretary sean spicer has to say about it. >> he can put h

is it marco rubio's ambitions to be president himself? is it -- is there some -- is there some lever that can force republicans, despite their partisanship, to take this seriously? >> i think there are two things. one, on the way out the door, president obama can declassify a lot of this material and put it out there. and once he does that and it's in the press, i think there's going to be plenty to push the white house and push congress towards a more open proceeding. the other is to use, frankly, the confirmation hearings to do this. we haven't talked about rex tillerson, the ceo of exxon, who lo and behold, happens to be a great pal of vladimir putin. and obviously, both democrats and republicans have an opportunity to make all kinds of questions out there and put them all to rex tillerson in the context of a confirmation hearing. but i think a great deal is going to ride on what the obama administration does before they leave office. >> yeah, absolutely. and you know, david, rex tillerson is one of many putinites that donald trump is

marco rubio, lindsey graham, john mccain, raise concerns about trump's stance towards putin, about russia meddling in the election, and about rex tillerson's stance towards russia. so, maybe there, but even then, i see it at just really more showmanship, and that is what, of course, so much of these confirmation hearings tend to boil down to. >> all right. ken vogel from politico, thanks, as always. >> thanks, steve. >>> all right, up next, the "hardball" roundtable is going to be here. they're going to talk about trump's war of words with president obama. plus, word thattrump's tweeting isn't going to be ending once he takes office. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. if you have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's, find out how american express cards and services and your sympt

former senator marco rubio tweeted, being a friend of vladimir putin is not an attribute i am hoping for from the secretary of state. senator gram said, if you received an ward from the kremlin, order of friendship, then we're gonna have some talking. >> that would color his approach to vladimir putin and the russian threat. but that is a matter of concern. we will give him his chance. that's what the confirmation process, that's what advise and consent is all about. when he gets the friendship award from a butcher, it's something that needs to be examined. >> trump adviser kellyanne conway defended the future secretary of state. >> it's not like they're intimate friends, but they deal with each other through business interests, and i think most importantly, anybody who is in president trump a cabinet, particularly the secretary of state, the fourth ranking person in government, that person will be in advance of the u.s. everywhere. >> a former u.s. ambassador to russia. steve edwards is ambassador at large. what do you think of tillerson as secretary of state? >> well, i have the sa