Kasich: Republican primary is a four-man race
2016 candidate reacts to South Carolina primary results
This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," February 21, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARIA BARTIROMO, HOST: Happy Sunday, everyone. Good morning. I'm Maria Bartiromo. This is "Sunday Morning Futures."
Victory for Donald Trump. The billionaire businessman takes the GOP South Carolina primary. What is next? We will get reaction from presidential candidate John Kasich, and Marco Rubio supporter, South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy coming up.
Out west, Hillary Clinton beat out Senator Bernie Sanders in the Nevada Democratic caucuses, but it was a lot closer than expected. We'll break down all the results coming up.
And is your privacy at stake. We will debate whether Apple should comply with the feds to create a new software for its iPhones. We're looking ahead this morning on "Sunday Morning Futures."
Well, a new state of play in the GOP race for the White House after last night's primary results. Donald Trump winning with 32.5 percent of the vote, followed by double digit performances by both Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Ben Carson, Governor John Kasich and now former presidential candidate Jeb Bush all polling in the single digits.
Senator Marco Rubio writing off these candidates, declaring the battle for the GOP nomination as a three-man race now.
But that's not how my next guest sees it. The Kasich campaign saying last night marks the start of a four-person race for the nomination, adding he won the so-called "governor's bracket".
Let's talk about that with Ohio governor and presidential candidate, John Kasich.
Governor, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.
GOV. JOHN KASICH, R-OHIO, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks, Maria.
BARTIROMO: So, I mean, you've got Marco Rubio. I want to ask you about winning the governor's bracket. I think that's a good way to look at it. But first, you've got Marco Rubio out saying, look, this is a three-person race at this point.
Tell our viewers, governor, what the justification is for you to stay in this race at this point?
KASICH: Well, look, we've only had three -- two primaries and one caucus. As you know in New Hampshire, I did very well. And, you know, we just are going to continue to move forward.
We never expected to compete aggressively in South Carolina but now, you know, even yesterday, I was in Vermont, Massachusetts, I head to Virginia on Monday. We'll be in Mississippi, Tennessee. And think about what's coming. We've got Illinois, go to the Midwest to Michigan.
So, we feel, you know, this is a long way to go. I think there's 51 elections that are yet to go in this whole cycle. So, we feel like we're moving on. And, frankly, people didn't think I would get 1 percent of the vote in South Carolina. So, onward and upward.
BARTIROMO: So, were you --
KASICH: We think it is -- and we think it is a four-man race. And when people take a good hard look at the experience I've had and there's another thing, Maria, that's happening. People in the country are beginning to hear me. Look, these candidates have spent between all of them about $50 million. I spent about $15 million. And we just keep chugging along. So, we feel good.
BARTIROMO: But money is tight. And that's the issue. I mean, that's probably one of the key reasons Jeb Bush yesterday said, look, I've got to step down at this point.
How confident are you that you can go into all of these contests coming up. You're visiting all of these states given the money that you have on hand now?
KASICH: Well, it's a challenge for everybody to try to figure out how to get to all of these states and what you do is you put a strategy together as to where you think you can -- you should target. You know, we're having big crowds in Massachusetts. Same thing in Vermont. We're, guess, sold out tomorrow in Virginia.
And so, we'll make strategic decisions about where we want to go and how we apply the proper resources. But, look, you know, there's been 16 people in the race. It's really down to five, maybe legitimately down to about four. And we had a lot of governors in the race and I'm the land one standing and I feel very good about that.
BARTIROMO: Yes. Which is why your team declaring you the winner of the governor's bracket.
Look, you make a good point about substance, right, Governor? You've got the goods. You balanced the budget. You led the state of Ohio to greatness.
And the -- you know, the resume is there. And yet you have to break out and breakthrough in the face of Donald Trump who seems to be dominating the oxygen.
What's the plan to do it?
KASICH: Yes, he -- look, you just have to keep going. I think as this field has shrunk, people are going to have more and more of a chance to be able to hear what your message is. And that's really what it gets down to. It's a long way to go. I believe at the end people are going to decide they want somebody who actually can deliver and somebody who is going to be positive.
I stayed out here in constructive and positive lane and I'm getting great feedback on it. So, we're going to keep going, Maria. I mean, look, people said I wouldn't get in the race. I wouldn't be able to raise the money. I wouldn't get to New Hampshire. All these things. And here we are, we're still moving forward.
BARTIROMO: Would you consider teaming up with Donald Trump, with Marco Rubio as vice president candidate?
KASICH: No.
BARTIROMO: You wouldn't consider it?
KASICH: No.
BARTIROMO: Why not?
KASICH: Because I'm the governor of Ohio. I've got the second best job in America. Best first job is president and second best one is governor of Ohio. So, look, I don't run for second. I run for first and that's just the way it has to be, Maria.
BARTIROMO: So, tell me about the issues that are most important as you visit Vermont and Massachusetts. What are you hearing from voters that they see as the most important issue? I mean, I think the economy played out real high in South Carolina and in Nevada, by the way, this weekend.
What do you think is most important to voters across the country?
KASICH: Well, listen, we went to South Carolina with the same message. Interestingly enough, with late breaking voters, I did very well because, look, when I went -- two weeks ago, people in South Carolina didn't know who I was. And with late breaking voters as they learned more, they responded very positively.
What are the issues? People are worried about job security, their own job security. They're worried about the fact their wages are not going up. And they're also worried about the fact that their kids went to college and rung up huge debt and now, they can't find a job that's going to help them to have a good life.
That's what people are fundamentally worried about. And those issues can be addressed by balancing budgets, by reforming regulations, by making sure that you cut taxes. These things can be fixed. We know what the formulas are. We just have to apply them.
BARTIROMO: What do you think those voters with governor Bush will go at this point? Marco Rubio wants those votes. You want those votes. What are you seeing?
KASICH: We're going to see over this next week where a lot of those people move. But we've picked up a key number of them. Both people who are just key political supporters and those that raise money.
So, it will be a scramble to see where it all goes. It will settle down in a few days and we'll be looking forward to March 1st.
BARTIROMO: Governor, let me get your take on an issue people are talking about right now, that's our national security versus our privacy. Apple computer, Apple has a deadline of this next Friday, this upcoming Friday, to either comply or not comply with the FBI. They're facing this court order to unlock that iPhone that was used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.
If you were president, would you force Apple to let America know what was on that phone?
KASICH: If I were president, we would have had this resolved because we would have got grown-ups in the room and we would have sat down and said let's figure this out.
We don't need to be having press conferences. I mean, the worst thing here is just being in court over this. This should have been resolved and it takes a leader to bring people together to structure a compromise where of course we can be safe, but we don't get into the point where privacy of Americans is threatened and now, we're breaking into the phones for a whole variety of things like divorce cases or whatever.
I think there ought to be a process whereby when there's a national security issue and something at risk, that there's a way to resolve this. I think it can get resolved, Maria. It needs to be resolved.
BARTIROMO: All right. We're going to talk about that coming up in the program. Governor, we'll be watching. Thanks so much for joining us today. We'll see you soon.
KASICH: Thanks, Maria. God bless. Thank you.
BARTIROMO: John Kasich there.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio says it's now a three-man race. Meanwhile, what challenges does he face moving ahead? Can he get support from Jeb Bush voters? We will talk with South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy, coming up.
Stay with us as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, R-FLA., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This has become a three- person race and we will win the nomination.
Ronald Reagan made us believe it was morning in America again and it was. Well, now, the children of the Reagan revolution are ready to assume the mantle of leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Marco Rubio remaining confident after his performance in South Carolina yesterday.
My next guest is backing the Florida senator for the GOP nomination. He is South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy, joining me right now.
Congressman, good to see you. Thanks for joining us.
REP. TREY GOWDY, R-S.C.Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
BARTIROMO: How was yesterday? You just heard what Senator Rubio said about Ronald Reagan. Is that the way you see him and now what's your reaction to yesterday's results?
GOWDY: I thought yesterday was amazing. You know, when Marco hit the ground ten days ago after New Hampshire, it was a very different feeling. He worked so hard and had a guy Tim Scott waiting on him ten days ago and together Tim and Nikki Haley got Marco in front of the people of South Carolina, and to finish second last night after his obituary had been written in New Hampshire was amazing.
BARTIROMO: Yes, it was. You could see it now onto the next contest where it's really a tight race with Senator Cruz and as well as Donald Trump. What's next to take this to the next level?
GOWDY: Well, you know, we saw last night, Governor Bush decided to suspend his campaign and that lane of traffic that Marco is in is kind of crowded. So, as Governor Bush and perhaps Governor Kasich and maybe Ben Carson eventually evaluate their campaigns and whether or not there's a path forward. Marco clearly I think in a head to head can beat Donald Trump.
But it's tough when there are four or five other folks in the race. So, people just need to evaluate the likelihood of their success and then make decisions like Governor Bush did last night.
BARTIROMO: So, you think those voters that were with Governor Bush will eventually make their way to Marco Rubio?
GOWDY: Well, I think it's natural that they do. If you're with Governor Bush -- Governor Bush and Donald Trump didn't have a lot of things in common having watched their debates and watched their interaction. So, I think Marco is most people's second choice. He happens to be my first choice. He's most people's second choice.
So, as I -- I mean, look at Pataki. When he dropped out, they went with Marco. Santorum dropped out, went with Marco. Bobby Jindal dropped out, went with Marco. I think that's the trend.
BARTIROMO: So, yesterday, I was watching some found bites and senator Rubio was saying that now Trump needs to step up in terms of specifics, in terms of real solutions and get granular. Is that what Senator Rubio is going to do? And knowing that the economy is one of the most important issues for voters and then national security, what are those specifics that Senator Rubio is going to be focused on?
GOWDY: Well, I think Mr. Trump so far has survived on capturing. He's done a great job of capturing the frustration and anger of my fellow citizens. But there's not a lot of specificity when he lays out his agenda. Just to simply say we're going to win again, we're going to win so much that you get tired of winning, perhaps it's just me, but I have no idea what means.
I mean, I don't know what his tax plan is. I don't know what his foreign policy agenda is going to be. I do know that he changed positions on some social issues, but I welcome converts.
But at some point, he's going to have to say this is what I'll do on day one if elected president. And I haven't heard him say that yet.
BARTIROMO: And Senator Rubio has a tax plan, very solid and is trying to give tax breaks to families included in that tax plan.
Let me ask you about immigration because, obviously, this is the sensitive area for senator Rubio. How is he going to convince voters that he's going to protect American jobs and not have so many green cards issued and immigration open borders so that foreigners don't take American jobs?
GOWDY: Well, I think Marco has to keep saying what he's saying and folks like me on House Judiciary, in fact, I'm the chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee on House Judiciary, we have to help him. I don't know anyone whose position on immigration hasn't changed in the last three years.
I mean, Lord knows Ted Cruz's position has changed and I have the videotape to prove it. So, Marco just needs to let people know that in light of new facts and new evidence and the fact that American people have spoken pretty loudly, his position on immigration is different than it was three years ago and he's a security first, border employment, to your question, interior security first and then see what the will of the American people would be for that 11 million or 12 million that have otherwise abided by the laws over the past, say, ten years.
BARTIROMO: Let me move on and ask you about a bit about the Democratic side of the race. You had Hillary and Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton won in Nevada. Now you, of course, have been talking about big wins in getting information around the Benghazi situation, as well as the e-mail scandal.
What can you tell us in terms of those two situations that you're watching and how that may impact Hillary Clinton's chances?
GOWDY: Well, I'm a pretty lousy person to pontificate on the Democrat primary. I don't know a lot about it other than what I watched. I can tell you with respect to our committee, we have a dozen witnesses left to interview. We've done a number since she appeared in October. We do them behind closed doors where they are more productive.
We're going to write a report. Our report is not about Hillary Clinton. She's an important witness but she's one witness out of what will soon to be close 80 witnesses. With respect to the e-mail, I trust the FBI. I'm not looking into her e-mail. It's outside my jurisdiction. And I trust Jim Comey to do the right thing based on the evidence.
BARTIROMO: Do you -- are you surprised that it feels like some of this stuff is not sticking in terms of Hillary Clinton's advancements in the campaign?
GOWDY: When you say not sticking, I don't think anybody in the world thought she would be in a dog fight with a Democrat socialist from Vermont. So, there is an argument to be made that apparently something is sticking or she would already be the nominee.
BARTIROMO: Yes, that's a fair point. It is quite extraordinary that Bernie Sanders is as close as he is to her. You think it's because people don't trust her?
GOWDY: I just think it's on unusual cycle for anyone that ever held public office before. That's true on our side and I suspect it's true on their side. Bernie Sanders captures frustration and anger with folks on their side like Donald Trump does on ours and how they sort all that out, they have not come to me for advice, my Democrat friends and colleagues have not. So, I try not to weigh in on their process.
But I know no more than what the polling indicates and the polling indicates there's a credibility issue with her, and people will forgive you for being wrong. They will not forgive you for being disingenuous.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
GOWDY: That's something that we all have to keep in mind.
BARTIROMO: Congressman, good to have you on the program this morning. Thanks so much.
GOWDY: Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
BARTIROMO: We'll see you soon. Trey Gowdy.
So, which candidate does have the best plan to create jobs and change the tax code? One of the nation's top real estate investors, Sam Zell, will weigh in next as we look ahead on SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: The economy front and center in the 2016 race, especially with candidates offered their ideas for growth.
My next guest knows plenty about where growth is and how to get there. He is leading real estate investor in the United States. Joining me right now is chairman of Equity Group Investments, Sam Zell.
Sam, good to see you.
SAM ZELL, CHAIRMAN, EQUITY GROUP INVESTMENTS: Good morning, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Thanks so much for joining us.
Let me talk to you about a growth plan. Do you see a growth plan out of all of the candidates out there, both on the right and on the left? Do you see an economic growth plan that makes sense to you?
ZELL: No. I don't see anybody advocating a growth orientation that is likely to produce results. I think everybody is pandering to various sides of the equation, free this, free that, free education of -- you know? And the answer is nobody has talked on what anything costs.
BARTIROMO: Yeah. It's interesting because when you say free education, free this, free that -- that's Bernie Sanders.
ZELL: Yes, but --
BARTIROMO: What's your take on what's going on between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton right now?
ZELL: Well I think she is pushing -- she is being pushed further and further to the left and I think that -- that makes her less attractive and less likable.
BARTIROMO: She is being pushed further and further to the left because Bernie Sanders is basically saying that she's not liberal enough and so she's trying to make it look like she is. But do people understand what Bernie Sanders plan may mean? I mean, he's telling you I'm a socialist.
ZELL: Yeah. I just -- I just don't think anybody really understands it. I think if Bernie ever became the mainstream candidate, I think the numbers would doom any kind of candidacy on his part.
BARTIROMO: And in terms of Hillary Clinton? She's really not resonating with young people. What's the problem, you think?
ZELL: Well, I mean, I think that -- you know, people have seen Hilary for a long time. You know, she talks about the war on women and then she buries Bill's bimbos. And, you know, so there's this constant back and forth and I think that she's done a lot of damage to her inherent credibility and people's confidence in whether anything she says means anything.
BARTIROMO: On the Republican side, Donald Trump continues to surprise. Here he is continuing in the lead. Have you ever worked with Donald Trump in a real estate deal, first of all?
ZELL: I've had interface with him in real estate. We've never been partners.
BARTIROMO: What's your opinion? How was he as a business guy?
ZELL: Tough. And I think that, you know, I think Don has a different approach to real estate than most people do. I think his focus from day one was branding, and I think that he's done some great real estate. I think he's done some not so great real estate. But that's no different than anybody else in the business.
I think that it is very possible that we will go into the Republican convention without a, quote, "designated candidate." And I don't think that's occurred in 15 or 20 years.
BARTIROMO: So --
ZELL: And I don't know what it means because it hasn't occurred in 20 years. But, you know, once you get to a convention without a defined candidate or one that, you know, everybody expects is going to be nominated, all kinds of different things could happen.
BARTIROMO: Do you prefer a flat tax or a -- sort of a hierarchy of the system? I mean, you know, like Marco Rubio, the highest rate is 35 percent. Then you've got other plans like a Ted Cruz at 10 percent flat tax or 15 percent of flat tax from some of the others.
ZELL: I think that a flat tax would be -- with no deductions -- would be the most effective tool we could use.
BARTIROMO: That's what Ben Carson has.
ZELL: Well, then I'm not endorsing Ben Carson, I'm not endorsing Cruz.
BARTIROMO: I got you.
ZELL: I'm just saying that in pure terms a -- not using the tax system as an incentive for other activities, I think it would be very beneficial for America.
BARTIROMO: And you think that would unlock growth?
ZELL: I think it would be very pro-growth. Having said that, the political reality is that, you know, every single one of those thousands of pages of IRS regulations got there because somebody had an interest in it. And so, if you're going to, quote -- you know, castrate everybody all at the same time -- it's tough to get the votes.
BARTIROMO: Do you think we're in a recession already?
ZELL: If we're not, we're very close.
BARTIROMO: So, you're expecting recession at some point -- in '16, if we're not there already, then?
ZELL: Yes, and by the way, I know, ever since the great recession, everybody attaches the word, you know, horrific to the word recession. The answer is we've had lots of, quote, "mild recessions" over the years. I'm not looking for a dramatic elevator shaft kind of recession, but clearly we have a problem with growth and we need to focus on creating more growth.
BARTIROMO: What's happening with the housing market right now? When you look at residential real estate, it's become really hard to get a mortgage today.
ZELL: It has and, you know, I think we're probably at the highest FICO scores ever for getting a mortgage.
BARTIROMO: In other words, you have to have a really, really good credit in order to get it.
ZELL: Yes. And that's a natural reaction to the fact that we went through four or five years of almost no standards. You know, liar loans, et cetera, et cetera. So now with -- the pendulum has gone back the other way, and that's one of the contributors to the fact that we're building about half the number of single-family houses that need historically built over the last 25, 30 years.
BARTIROMO: So, the supply has gotten much smaller?
ZELL: Well -- but that's because of the demand. In other words, it's not supply, it's that there isn't demand.
BARTIROMO: Wow.
ZELL: So if there isn't demand -- within reason, they ain't going to build it.
BARTIROMO: Sam, great to see you.
ZELL: My pleasure.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much.
ZELL: Thank you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Meanwhile, the FBI and Apple feuding on whether the tech giant should help in a terrorist investigation. Why Apple is fighting orders to comply, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures," next. We'll get into it. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
Protests are planned across the country to lash out at the FBI as they battle with Apple. The FBI obtaining a court order requiring the technology giant to make it easier to unlock the iPhone issued to San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook by his employer.
Apple is fighting this, arguing the special software sought by the FBI could be used to break into millions of other iPhones. The Justice Department now accusing the company of not complying for marketing reasons.
Joining us now is Utah Congressman Chris Stewart, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on intelligence and the subcommittee on emerging threats.
Also with us this morning is Max Levchin, CEO of a firm, co-founder of PayPal, of Slide, of Yelp and many other companies.
Good to see you both. Thank you for joining us.
REP. CHRIS STEWART, R-UTAH, HOUSE PERMANENT SELECT CMTE ON INTELLIGENCE: Good morning.
BARTIROMO: So, Congressman, let me kick this off with you. What are you expecting Apple to do if in fact they create a back door, it's going to create a vulnerability for everybody else?
STEWART: Well, I don't know what they'll do honestly. I'm not sure what the administration is going to force them to do.
I will say this: This is kind of a tough one for me. This isn't one where I'll stand on a soap box and preach one way or another. One of the things that makes us American is we expect our privacy. We expect government to stay out of our private lives.
But on the other hand, I can tell you, the intelligence community recognizes that we're moving in a dangerous direction within just a few short years with encryption the way it is, we may be entirely dark and it leaves us in a situation where we may have to go to families and explain to them why we didn't gain access to information that maybe would have prevented a tragedy like we saw in San Bernardino just a few months ago.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
Max Levchin, I mean, you have started a lot of companies from PayPal to Slide, and firm, to Yelp, you were on the board of Yahoo for so many years. You have a very clear understanding of protecting people's data and their privacy.
Is it true, do you believe that if in fact Apple were to hack into this phone, open up this one iPhone, that that would make us vulnerable to that back door being used by the bad guys in so many other phones?
MAX LEVCHIN, CO-FOUNDER, PAYPAL (via telephone): I think it's a little bit more complex than that in the following way. Apple could do this and hand it over to the FBI and there would be case closed. But, of course, it creates a dangerous legal precedent, which is what this is all about.
Apple is worried about setting a precedent where FBI and other agencies can come in and ask for this kind of help and then the can of worms is opened permanently. It will wind up in the Supreme Court because simply this is going to be exactly what the congressman just said, a fundamental debate between privacy that we come to expect which I sort of expect being a believer in strong topography, very much opposed weakening any form of privacy perception, and the fact that we have bad guys that don't really believe in laws and don't have any territorial affiliation anymore and act at our soil and others, that we need intelligence to get them.
BARTIROMO: But do you think if Apple were to just open up this one phone that that would create a backdoor for others to have access to our information?
LEVCHIN: If they hand the can opener to the FBI, yes, if they don't, presumably they can destroy the software the second they use it once but precedent would have been set.
BARTIROMO: Congressman, how are we supposed to trust that Apple opening this up giving the government this over-watch, this ability to snoop on people's conversations, how are we supposed to believe that it's not a slippery slope that the government won't just be looking at other information and tapping into people's phones and creating this environment where you don't know who's watching you?
STEWART: Again, I'm not someone who trusts our federal government. I understand that completely. It sounds likes Max and I are a little bit in the same realm here in that we're both torn by this.
I would point out this isn't entirely new for Apple. You know, 70 or 80 times over the last few years they've done the same thing by helping to break into protected phones and providing that information under different court orders and I think that's an important distinction here.
These aren't people willy-nilly breaking into these things. This is a legitimate court order. It has the weight of law behind it. I don't know how I could encourage Apple to not comply with that.
But on the other hand, I'm so glad that we're having this conversation because I think the American people need to decide how much do we value our privacy versus how much do we value our national security? How much are we willing to give up to protect ourselves? It's a conversation that we're really due to have.
BARTIROMO: Well, how is it possible the government doesn't have in a world where what's gone on with Edward Snowden and we know that there's privacy that's gone anyway, how is it possible the government can't do this on its own?
LEVCHIN: Actually, this one is a true technical detail. The only way according to Apple this can be accomplished is that Apple needs to create a special version of iOS and sign it with their master key which is secret and government doesn't have them. Thanks to strong crypto, the government will not be able to have it unless there's a court order that nullifies the mathematical protections.
And so, the government probably cannot do this on their own and this is a real thing, which, of course, makes this a thorny issue.
BARTIROMO: Wow. And, Max, how much do you think this is sort of PR and the fact that Apple has to make the word believe particularly international friends, China, Russia, they have to make everybody believe that in fact they're not going to just kowtow under the government. I mean, is part of this that?
LEVCHIN: I'm not sure that's PR, but I think it is in Apple's best interest as a global actor to send a strong signal that privacy is something that they value and protect privacy of users. So, I wouldn't classify as a PR stunt, but it is something they had gone public with to make a point. The FBI has gone public with saying, you know, we want you to help us get information on very bad guys.
So, this is being played out in public which I agree with congressman is not a bad thing at all. We need to make this decision and my take on this is the legal weight of every one of these hacks is the only way possibly to go down before we get to slippery slope where the government has a chance to read our e-mails.
BARTIROMO: So, do you agree with that? This is likely headed to the Supreme Court?
STEWART: Well, I don't know. I'm not a legal expert.
I think that it may. Again, it depends how far the administration is willing to push on this. But once again, this fundamental question as a people we have to decide this. We have to understand what we're willing to give up in order to protect our own security.
BARTIROMO: I guess so. Congressman, good to see you.
Max Levchin, thanks so much for your insight. We appreciate it, gentlemen. We'll talk to you soon.
LEVCHIN: Thank you.
STEWART: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Let's get a look at what's coming up at the top of the hour, "MediaBuzz". Howie Kurtz standing by.
Howie, good morning.
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "MEDIABUZZ": Good morning to you, Maria.
We're all over last night's results from South Carolina and Nevada. The pundits finally coming out of denial about Donald Trump's strong chance of becoming Republican nominee or they still somehow hope he'll self-destruct.
And we'll look at Trump versus the pope, Trump versus George W. Bush, Jeb Bush dropping out, plus, commentators on left and right choosing on sides on whether the Senate should act on President Obama's eventual nominee for Antonin Scalia's seat. Are they acting out of principle, or this is just partnership? Lots to talk about.
BARTIROMO: All right. We'll see you in 20 minutes. Donald Trump dominates. Jeb Bush drops out following the South Carolina primary. The panel is next breaking down what's next for the remaining candidates, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A number of the pundits said well if a couple other candidates dropped out and if you add their scores together, it's going to equal Trump. These geniuses, the geniuses, don't understand that as people drop out, I'm going to get a lot of those votes also.
JEB BUSH, R-FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken and I really respect their decision. So, tonight, I am suspending my campaign. Yes, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: That was Donald Trump and Jeb Bush last night in South Carolina. The former Florida governor suspended his campaign while Trump won with double digits.
According to The AP, Senator Marco Rubio edges out Senator Ted Cruz for the second place as candidates now shift their attention to Nevada.
I want to bring in our panel right now. Ed Rollins, former principal White House advisor to President Reagan, Fox News political analyst. Hank Sheinkopf with us today, former Democratic consultant for the Clinton/Gore campaign, and Alfonse D'Amato, a former New York Republican senator and Fox News contributor.
Gentlemen, good to see you.
ED ROLLINS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Reaction, Ed?
ROLLINS: Well, it was a big victory for Trump, and it was across the board. No one had a worst week starting with a bad debate, attacking the former president who was popular blaming him for the war and the whole nine yards, you would think that would destroy you. He had across the board win.
I think at the end of the day, you can't take it away from him. He won every county but two. He won all of the electoral votes, 50 electoral votes. He walked away with 44 of them yesterday. He'll get all 50 by the end. No one else got any electoral vote.
BARTIROMO: Bottom line, you said last week if he wins South Carolina it's off to the races. Will he be the nominee?
ROLLINS: I think he'd be very hard to stop at this point in time.
BARTIROMO: Hank?
HANK SHEINKOPF, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Trump is on the roll and Republicans should pray they don't lose more than ten seats in the Senate if he's the nominee. That's likely what's going to happen.
BARTIROMO: Why?
SHEINKOPF: Well, he's not going to be popular in largely Democratic places. there are Senate seats at risk. He'll be very controversial and hard for Republicans to hold the Senate.
BARTIROMO: Senator?
ALFONSE D'AMATO, R-FORMER N.Y. SENATOR: The whole story is Trump. The entire campaign has been Trump. Of course, Bernie has added a little to it.
BARTIROMO: Right.
D'AMATO: He's made it an event that Americans who genuinely don't give two hoots and a holler about politics have become involved very early on. They watch. They can't wait to see and to hear.
It was a big victory for him. He goes all the way.
BARTIROMO: Now, you've been a support of John Kasich.
D'AMATO: Yes.
BARTIROMO: He came on the show this morning. He's continuing the fight going forward. What's the justification for him to stay afoot?
D'AMATO: Well, you know he's done a better than anyone has thought. He's underfunded. He certainly has the ability and the talent. There's no doubt about it.
If Republicans want to win and one of the reasons I supported him was not only because of the great job he did in Congress and spectacular job for his state, but you've got to carry Ohio.
BARTIROMO: Right.
D'AMATO: I was interested when you said would you take second place and he said no. Well, he had to say that.
But I would hope that if Donald is the nominee and I think he will be, that he would go to Kasich because that would be a terrific team. It could help him governmentally and politically in November.
ROLLINS: I'm a big fan of John's. I'm a friend of his for a long time.
The problem is there's no place that he can win that I see ahead before Ohio and by then, there's a momentum and he may not win Ohio. He may not have money, the resources, what have you.
So, my sense is everyone got out of the race and leave Rubio there and endorse Rubio, Rubio could give Trump a run. Otherwise, it's a long hard battle and Trump is going to win it.
BARTIROMO: But it doesn't look like others are stepping. Do you expect more resignations here?
ROLLINS: Absolutely not.
BARTIROMO: Following Bush? No?
D'AMATO: They're hanging on until the end.
BARTIROMO: So, let's talk voter turnout for a moment, because in South Carolina, you had a huge turnout. Not so much in Nevada.
ROLLINS: Republicans are turning out in record numbers everywhere. Iowa, New Hampshire, yesterday. They think this is a very important election. They want to participate in the process, and, my sense, were energized. And even with Trump in the race, they'll get more energized before the end of the game.
BARTIROMO: What does that tell you?
D'AMATO: They're energized and they're angry. They're angry at the establishment. They're angry with the United States Senate and Republican control when they permit it.
I say permit it, the acquiesce with this deal with Iran.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
D'AMATO: They expect that the Republicans in Senate to stand up and maybe even shut the government down. They thought this was that important. They thought that the Senate should voting on this, instead of this deal being shoved through.
So, there's real anger out there and resentment of doing business as usual and Trump is tapped into it.
BARTIROMO: Right, that's on top of immigration and that's on top of ObamaCare.
ROLLINS: To that point, they elected a House Republican and they didn't do much. They elected a Senate majority and they keep think Obama beats them back. So, why shouldn't we just throw them all out and they start --
SHEINKOPF: But we are dealing less at an environment of ideology than we are at an environment of personality, charisma, and saying the outrageous. We haven't seen this in a while, which fuels the vote on both sides of the aisle.
BARTIROMO: Don't -- I mean, I know that people -- I said -- I made the comment earlier that people don't necessarily want to know how you make the sausage. You just want to know it's made. So, maybe that's one of the issues.
People here, Donald Trump saying it's going to be great. They just believe him. They're not demanding specifics.
SHEINKOPF: What they are seeing is anger which is what they identify with. The outcome is secondary to what the emotion is at the moment.
BARTIROMO: It's amazing.
We'll take a short break.
Hillary Clinton may have won Nevada but Senator Bernie Sanders says he has momentum. The panel on where we stand on the Democratic side of the race next as we look ahead to "Sunday Morning Futures."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
Hillary Clinton holds on for a narrow win in the Nevada caucuses yesterday. Clinton beat Senator Bernie Sanders by the slim margin of 52 percent to 47 percent.
Back with our panel.
Assess Nevada for us, gentlemen.
ROLLINS: It was a very tough win for her. It's a win, but at the same time, Sanders is still there. He had no support a month or two ago. The young people are still not with her.
So, I think he'll hang in there all the way. I don't think he's going to beat her, but he'll hang in there to the bitter end and he has money and energy.
SHEINKOPF: Sanders is temporarily blocked. That's the good news for Hillary Clinton.
BARTIROMO: Why?
SHEINKOPF: It slows him down. It slows him down significantly.
People want to see winners, they don't want to see losers. When you're not winning you don't get as much money but the revolt inside the Democratic Party, young versus old, I mean, it's pretty interesting that Bernie Sanders at 73 looks fresh which is fascinating. When you think about this, it's --
BARTIROMO: And then you look at when they do rallies, all the people at Hillary's rallies are older people and at Bernie's rallies, they're all young and vibrant.
SHEINKOPF: And Trump's people are young, too, if you look at the skewing of the vote and how people are turning out.
BARTIROMO: But when you look at Nevada, Senator, you didn't have a big turnout. You had a small electorate come out and caucus.
D'AMATO: It underscores the vulnerability Hillary has. The machine put her in. By the machine, it was the workers, the casino workers, the unions to push them out, Senator Reid, et cetera, and she just squeaked through. Just squeaked through.
The vulnerability is, number one, people and all the polls say this, they don't trust her. She has a very big trust factor. And in the general election that's going to be huge.
And that is not to mention the vulnerability if there is a referral from the FBI, and I think there will be because you have seen General Petraeus on much less than what was revealed, they indicted him. What is the Justice Department going to do? I don't think they can play politics as usual.
So, it isn't over. She escaped in Nevada. She may win in South Carolina, probably will, but there is out there the feeling of distrust for Hillary.
BARTIROMO: Yes. Well, that's the issue.
How do you think this plays out, Hank?
SHEINKOPF: How do I think it plays out?
BARTIROMO: Bernie Sanders versus Hillary Clinton, who does --
SHEINKOPF: She probably wins it because the deck is stacked. There's 600- plus delegates, the superdelegates, they're almost all pledged to her, they're going to vote to her.
BARTIROMO: Well, I mean, people see this whole superdelegate story as another issue, another fix. Bernie Sanders beating her and she comes out with this, you know, what, 300-plus superdelegates in her pocket.
SHEINKOPF: Bernie Sanders challenges to prove that she is the establishment and the fix is in not only to stop him but to stop the people he represents. If he can make that in a very loud voice, he may have a shot, but it's hard once you get stopped. He got stopped in Nevada. The numbers are significant but people say it's close but a win is a win.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
ROLLINS: The danger is again the young people. Obama won by the great turnouts of young people. If she doesn't get them back, young people think the superdelegates which are mainly the establishment members of congress, national committee member them, tip the balance and they're going to be angry.
BARTIROMO: Real quick, who wins, Trump versus Sanders?
ROLLINS: Trump.
BARTIROMO: Trump?
SHEINKOPF: Trump.
BARTIROMO: Who wins Trump versus Hillary?
D'AMATO: I'm going to say and most people don't think it, I think Trump has tapped into the anger and people are going to support him. He will do better than the establishment thinks.
ROLLINS: I think if Trump runs a good campaign --
SHEINKOPF: It depends. Depends on the kind of campaign Trump would run.
BARTIROMO: All right. Let's take a short break. The one thing to watch in the week ahead next on "Sunday Morning Futures" from our panel.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
Real quick, you all think the Nevada Republicans are the thing to watch this week.
ROLLINS: On Tuesday, if Trump is going to romp there. But if Rubio has to make a race there, he has to come second there to be considered the runner up.
BARTIROMO: All right. We'll leave it there. Senator, Hank, Ed, great to see you all. Thanks so much.
Thanks for joining us. I'll see you tomorrow. I've got Mark Fields, CEO of Ford, on "Mornings with Maria", Fox Business Network tomorrow.
Have a good Sunday.
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