But first, the leaders of the pack, donald trump and ted cruz. Some observers thought that last night could finally be the time when we would get a showdown front runners. While cnn try to incite conflict, either cruz nor trump took the bait. I was in arizona for the trump debate rally, where he reflected on his big night. Mr. Trump some of the people in the stage i really like. You saw last night that ted cruz was very nice to me, and i was nice to him. Actually, most of the people were nice to me last night. Mark john, they held their fire last night after the debate. Trump made nice with cruz. My question is what now would the trumpcruz true to break . Truce to break . John i thought it would break. Im taking responsibility for my wrong prediction. I think it is obvious that there is an explicit or implicit bargain between them, probably more implicit, where they both decided cruz decided that eventually trump will collapse and you wont have to take them on, and trump feels that cruz is not a threat to him. They both have an interest in leaving each other alone. Mark it might be more explicit than you suggested. Their staffs talk a fair amount, and trumps a political genius on this, and realizes that despite the efforts of some others, that hitting cruz within the context of the republican nominating isnt easy. He did flick at him a little bit at the rally last week. You saw that talk radio went after trump. I think this thing lasts until january, when, if trump thinks the only way to win in iowa is to go after cruz, he will do it, but i dont think reasonable go first. I dont think cruz will ever go first. John i also think its possible that trump will go first all the way through the caucuses, and it might take trump beating him in iowa for trump to say, ok, cruz beat me, i have to take the gloves off because this guy might win. Mark if trump thinks he will lose iowa he will be negative on cruz. But again, i dont think it will be till january. John i will no longer predicts any violence between these two. Having been so wrong on this one. Ald trump hit back from holding back from hitting on ted cruz. Marco rubio decided to take an entirely different strategy. He continued to hit those topics today in an email to donors. Rubio continued to trend on fox news. All this tough talk, ted up there saying he will destroy isis, anyone can say that, but what are you going to do it with . When you support a budget like he does that cuts defense spending, when you vote against every defense spending bill before you, how can you argue that the bill that pays for the military, how can you stand there and say that . I will destroy isis but i wont pay for it or support it. John mark, the read on this between those two guys was that it was a draw. Today there is still a draw, but more negative about rubio than cruz. I ask you on the basis of that performance last night in the assessment of it, what is rubio currently thinking . What is his current theory about how he can get past trump and cruz . Mark by being the last establishment candidate standing will still playing the game. Christie is dead because if he rises up there will be too many negatives to go after. Kasich hasnt caught on. He just has to peel off some of cruzs support in iowa. When he gets down to rubio, trump, and cruz, the establishment will go to the guy. People like him and people will see him as the alternative to trump and cruz, which a lot of people in the party will look for. John one of the most striking conversations happened last night after the debate. People talked about jeb bush, john kasich, and Chris Christie, all of them somewhat mystified about why marco rubio thinks at this moment he has to go after ted cruz and why he is not just focused on building on his establishment strength and taking away vote from them. They are delighted but mystified by it. I dont get the theory that marco rubio has. If i were him i would be going for the establishment vote. Mark it mystifies me, too, particularly because he is scuffing up his brand of being a good guy. Lets go on to Chris Christie. I gave him a b last night. I thought he did a good job, as he does in the previous debates. Same question given his , performance in the message he is driving now, what is his current theory about how he gets into the finals with trump and cruz . John he has a very clear geographic theory. It is, do well in New Hampshire and do well enough that coming out of New Hampshire there are two establishment candidates left. If you has cruz and trump, they can win from that place going forward. I dont know if i think they are right, but that is the theory. That is the theory within christ ieworld. Mark there is another thing with christie. Strength is the key thing. Christie is coming off, as he has in the past, trying to be the strong guy on National Security, to stand up to all these others. I know christie thinks he is tougher and stronger than kasich and rubio and bush. John i saw him this morning in las vegas and he was one happy guy. We also saw jeb bush, who was not that happy. You gave him a b on your report card. He came out strong against trump last night, called him a chaos candidate. My question to you is the same question about these last two candidates. What is the bush theory about how to get past trump and cruz . Mark jeb seemed pretty happy when i saw him offcamera. It was 3 00 in the morning when we saw him in las vegas where he did not look the happiest in the world. Jeb went after trump and i know the strategy is that they are surprised that rubio and others are not taking on trump. They think the market here, backed by super pac money, is the guy who will call trump out and say this isnt the person who should be our standardbearer. I think bush right now, and i have been saying this a long time, is wellpositioned, assuming that what he sees as the flaws of the establishment candidates bear out. They all have flaws. John we will be in the disagreement zone only because i think there are some elements of what i with bush is what you saw with ted kennedy. You solid with Hillary Clinton in 2008. They become liberated once they realize they cannot win. Somewhere deep in his psyche, allow me to be dr. Freud with jeb, he knows he will not be the nominee, but he wants to do one good thing for his own reputation, and that is takedown trump. Mark we will see if the super pac feels the same way. A deeper dive on last nights debate. Later the program, we will take a look at other political moves, the fallout from the feds big rate move. The mistrial in the freddie gray case in baltimore. That and more when we return in 60 seconds. John today after a jury deliberated, a baltimore judge announced a mistrial in the case of Baltimore Police officer william porter. He was charged with manslaughter , seconddegree assault, misconduct and Reckless Endangerment in the death of freddie gray. He died at 25 years old on april 19, is ago after an , injury to his spinal cord that he obtained while in police custody. Immediately after the decision was announced, protesters gathered outside the courthouse in baltimore, and the city was bracing for the possibility of further unrest like the unrest that broke out last spring. Mark, this officer was the first of six trials in the freddie gray case. As you know, criminal Justice Reform in the black lives Matter Movement were fueled by the freddie gray case and at the forefront of the democratic race. My question for you is, if no one goes to jail in this case, what will be political impact the . Impact be . Mark well, i think this is a great example of how the president ial race so dominates that it distorts the discourse. Republicans care a lot about National Security, because trump has been so interesting, the sandersclinton race less so. People assume all that matters is National Security but there , is no doubt that for tens of millions of americans there are huge issues. It will be incumbent upon clinton and sanders and omalley to speak up about this, and maybe tell the republicans if people in baltimore and other countries dont think justice is being done. John we dont know at this point why the jury came down. It is the first of several cases that will be heard. The premise of the question i asked is flawed. We could easily end up with some convictions and nonconvictions. I do think that somehow no one is punished in any way, it will be a vaccine in baltimore it will be a bad scene in baltimore. More unrest in baltimore would really revive what was a pretty ugly period and would not be great for national power. National dialogue. Mark over the past few days, the focus has been on the republican sprint to the iowa caucuses, but on the sidelines, Hillary Clinton seems to be playing something of a long game. On tuesday, she laid out her 360 degree strategy to protect the u. S. Against homegrown terrorism and domestic radicalization. Today she held an event in omaha, nebraska alongside Warren Buffett, and she backs the socalled buffett rule which , would require anyone making over 1 million to pay a tax of 30 . Looking at the symbolism and substance of these events, what do they tell you about how Hillary Clinton is positioning herself . John they tell you she has an eye on the general election and on the nomination, but she still has to get through. She said today she would go further than the buffett rule. She would endorse it strongly and said she wanted to go even further. Although we dont think of Warren Buffett as a left winger, that is a pretty progressive cause to be endorsing. That is aimed at the nomination fight. The speech yesterday was aimed much more about the general election. Mark in the general election she assumes she will be the nominee. She wants to use middle class economics as a big wedge. She wants to have her National Security credentials fully furnished. In a targeted way, she wants to do social issues. She wants all three of those, and those are mirroring the three legs of ronald reagan, th National Security and social issues, these two events did not get much attention. But they are laying the groundwork to make her a more formidable general election candidate, popular on Economic Issues and very much focused on feeding impregnable on National Security being impregnable on National Security. John i dont disagree. Earlier this morning, Speaker Paul Ryan released an agreement for over 1 trillion in tax package. Republicans claim some victories like getting a 40yearold ban on crude oil exports, and taking out some policy writers on syria refugees and planned parenthood. Yrianlicy riders on s refugees and planned parenthood. Ryan in a press Conference Today said it wasnt ideal, but it was the best he could do, considering the not so clean barn he inherited. Speaker ryan i said i inherited this process. Let me be the first to say that i dont think this is the way government should work. This is not how appropriations should work. We play the cards we are dealt with as best as we possibly can. Inheriting a process i know we need to restore for regular order. I believe we have made the best of it. John mark, that paul ryan and his beard are not declaring victory, but they are declaring something. Do you think they struck a better deal than his predecessor john boehner would have in the same circumstances . Mark i think he got a better deal for america and for the republicans than boehner what have. He had to delay the deadline, but i think ryan is using the leverage he got, taking over for boehner. Republicans say hes cleaning up the barn. I think this is yet another example of why republicans and a lot of democrats ryan is the right speaker, at least through the election, to deal with these issues that are otherwise intractable. John i will go further than that. To me, it is simple. A deal is a good deal. Keeping the government open is a good deal. Its a good deal for republicans, democrats, and america. I dont think boehner could have gotten a deal at all, given the dynamics in the house caucus that drove him out of the speakership. No doubt that this is a better deal than what boehner would have struck. I tend to agree with you on the fact that there is some reason to hope that this is just a first step toward a much more productive speakership. Mark we hear a lot of democrats and some republicans in washington talking about the kind of deal that speaker ryan and president clinton could strike. People are saying it could be a lot of business if that ends up being the combo. Coming up, more about last night s republican debate, trumps performance, cruz versus rubio, and Everything Else you saw on your television screen. Andre joined by your friend ours, al hunt, after this word from our sponsors. John we are back with al hunt, jr. Always incredible to have you, especially on the day after a big debate. Wish you had been there at the blackjack table. Lets start with donald trump, the front runner good night . Bad night . Something in between . There was that sneering, rooted bullying exchange, and he had no earthly idea what the triad was. Its at the centerpiece of american National Security policy but it wont matter, because it doesnt affect him. John al, what is it that makes him impermeable to suffering any kind of damage whatsoever from making what , would be considered horrific blunders . Forget about the provocations and controversial things he has said, just something basic like the triad. Why does that not hurt donald trump . I think because he is that were that you cant say, you. People like that so they dont even care about whether he has even skeleton knowledge of National Security or the other things he said about people like john mccain or megyn kelly or muslims. It sends a message of screw you. Mark id love to hear you weigh in on this rubiocruz thing. Rubio for so long was saying i will not say anything bad about anyone, and now he is aggressively going after cruz. What is your sense of why hes doing that . Al as you all mentioned, he wants to be the establishment alternative. They all make the assumption that somehow trump will falter. I dont know if that is right. I think he is lining himself up. He is very attractive on television. Just watching him last night, he more than held his own. That will come back to haunt him. When you talk about the disagreement over nsa, eyes glaze over, they are not quite sure with the new ones is. With the nuance is. But when it comes to immigration where marco rubio was on the right side in 2013, but not many grassroots republicans will concur with that, i think hes going to be hurt. John if you want to be the establishment candidate, why go after the cruz voters . It requires him on some issues to attack from the right, but also emphasize more socially conservative decisions, which may not help them be the establishment candidate. Al im not sure its a smart strategy but the thinking is that he galvanizes antitrump , anticruz crowd. Instead of splitting behind four others, they say, lets rally behind marco. John there was a consensus view last night that both Chris Christie had a good night and jeb bush had the best debate hes had all cycle. Those two guys are clearly establishment game players. Who will come out better . Al neither one. If jeb bush had been that figure four months ago he would be at 5 today, but it is too little too late. Chris christie i think is overrated. He has a one state strategy in New Hampshire. He does not have much going after that. I dont think he has to do well in New Hampshire, he has to also win it. And i dont think hes going to. John we just talked about the problems of marco rubio. You just said jeb bush is dead and that Chris Christie is way overrated. Have you come to the conclusion that no establishment candidate is likely to be the nominee . Al yes, i think it is unlikely, at least at this stage. That doesnt mean one wont be a finalist and if i had to id bet i would bet on rubio. Isnt herman cain or Newt Gingrich or others from years past. There has been a steady, solid block of support for the antiestablishment wing of the party, whether it is cruz or trump or carson. Mark no more debates this year, the holidays are coming quick. Do you anticipate any super pac outside group or Campaign Running negative ads in december, working think they will run in january . Or will they run in january . And who goes first . Al i think they will start in january because christmas is a hard time to do it. There will be some antitrump stuff going on. Iowa is interesting. Will anybody go after cruz . I think cruz has a formidable lead, so who is going to go after the front runner . You mentioned earlier, will trump go after him if he thinks hes going to lose iowa . That will be a fascinating field. Let me say one more thing about the debate Carly Fiorina is a sworn enemy of facts to say that david trias that they did the trias and jackd petraeus keane resigned because they disagreed with barack obama its as big a whopper as donald trump has ever told. John al hunt, god its great to have you on the show. It makes me so happy. Stephanie ruhle will join us live in the studio to talk about the fed decision in just one moment. John janet yellen announced the main Interest Rate will be raised by. 25 . This is historic because it is the first time the fed has raised rates in 10 years. It seems like the fed feels the country is finally seeing recovery after the 2008 financial crisis. With us now to talk about what all of those words mean, host of bloomberg , stephanie ruhle. Hi stephanie. Stephanie janet yellen nailed it today. She nailed it because the last thing we need is more uncertainty and volatility. The street liked it. It was steady as she goes. Why do we like that . The election is coming. 1. 375 is where it should be by the end of 2016. The number is still very low. John yeah. Stephanie what does this mean for the general economy . The