This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," October 23, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARIA BARTIROMO, HOST: Good morning. Sixteen days to go.
Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Maria Bartiromo. This is "Sunday Morning Futures".
It is crunch time for the candidates. Donnell Trump unveiling his plan for the first 100 days of office if he's elected.
So, what is the campaign strategy moving forward in this next two weeks?
Plus, Hillary Clinton's response to new WikiLeaks emails this morning by blaming the Russians for trying to influence the outcome of the U.S. election.
Right now, early voting is under way in more than 20 states.
What are we learning as we look right now on "Sunday Morning Futures."
(MUSIC)
BARTIROMO: Good morning.
Donald Trump choosing the symbolic setting of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, this weekend, to make his campaign's closing argument, calling it his contact with the American voter. The GOP nominee vowing his administration would hit the ground running on a number of issues, including new trade deals, enforcing immigration laws and putting term limits on members of Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Americans will be voting for this 100-day plan to restore prosperity to our country, secure our communities and honesty to our government. This is my pledge to you. And if we follow these steps, we will, once more, have a government of, by and for the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Joining me right now to talk more about it is Sean Spicer. He's communications director for the Republican National Committee.
Also joining me here on set Ed Rollins is joining me right now, former campaign for the Reagan/Bush ticket in '84, chief strategist Great America PAC, Trump super PAC.
Good to see you both. Thanks so much for joining us, gentlemen.
ED ROLLINS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
BARTIROMO: Sean, good to see you. Thanks so much for being here.
Let me kick it off with the Gettysburg speech yesterday. How would you characterize it? What did you think?
SEAN SPICER, RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, it was a very detailed plan. You know exactly where Donald Trump stands on a variety of issues in terms of national security, foreign policy, tax policy, creating a true contrast with Hillary Clinton into this final key point before the election. So, if people want to know what the difference is between the Hillary Clinton administration versus Donald Trump, they got it yesterday - - detailed on economic policy, on foreign policy, infrastructure, education. He enumerated exactly where he's going to take this country and the vision that he wants to lay out and give people that choice.
The interesting thing, Maria, is that there truly is a choice in this election. Hillary Clinton has been trying to paint Donald Trump as this risky choice because she has this trust problem with the American people. But if you look at Hillary Clinton's record, she's the one with a risky detailed record. Whether it was Libya or Syria or the failed Russian reset, or a handling of classified information, it is her record that shows that there truly is a choice.
She is a risky choice that Americans need to be concerned with when it comes to who is going to have trust of the American people, classified information and trust of our foreign policy. She has failed over and over again. She is truly that risky choice as we head into this final stretch.
BARTIROMO: Why is why, Ed Rollins, he came out with details in the so- called corruption that he sees and the fact that he came out with 28 specific things that he's going to do in that regard.
ROLLINS: This was the best speech he has given. Obviously, it got distracted by his attempts to go after the women who accused him of things. He needs to just not get distracted and stay right focused on this message. He may pick different places to argue the different points, but it's a good, comprehensive plan and my sense if he does nothing but talk about it for the next ten days, he'll be much better than he is today in the polls and certainly has a shot of winning it.
Obviously, Sean's the key here. Sean is RNC and his colleagues there have a very, very big role in this campaign and that's finding out voters getting into the polls and I think they'll do a superb job.
BARTIROMO: What about that, Sean, because even with two weeks to go before this election, you don't have the high-profile names with the RNC out there like Paul Ryan. You know, and people are wondering if, in fact, this lack of unity actually hurts Trump.
ROLLINS: Well, obviously, as we continue to go into the final 16 days, we need every Republican on board, we need more independents, we need more Democrats. I think we've assembled probably the most comprehensive ground game that anybody has ever seen.
If you look at where we are in returns, we're ahead of where we were -- right now in Florida, we're ahead in places compared to four years ago, in Iowa, in Ohio, in Nevada. We are bringing people home. We are getting them out early to vote. We are getting those absentee ballots in people's hands and then making sure they return them.
We've got our work cut out for us. There's no question about it. But we're going to keep working 24 hours a day for these final 16 days to make sure that we put that closing argument in front of people. That comprehensive list of issues that Donald Trump laid out yesterday, we need to keep talking about, making sure that contrast is well known and that will propel us to victory on November 8th.
BARTIROMO: When you look at the electoral map, though. I mean, is it even possible that he can win given the votes that you're expecting?
ROLLINS: Absolutely. And I think that anyone who says that they can't really, it's a shame on them because the American people are ready for change. And I think that Hillary Clinton clearly epitomizes the status quo in the establishment and her and Tim Kaine probably have more time in Washington than any candidate in recent history. So, people are ready for change, they can.
You look at states like Ohio, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire. They're all in play, Iowa. We are continuing to see a path and a lean forward in the last few days where all the polls are starting to shift back in Donald Trump's favor because people, I think, are finally ready for change and they're going to get out there and vote.
BARTIROMO: That's the thing, Ed. They're looking at this as a movement, not necessarily just for the man.
ROLLINS: Well, it is a movement. And I think what he has to talk about repeatedly is together we will change Washington. I'm happy to leave this revolution, but together, I need a Senate and I need House members, I need a whole team here, and, obviously, I'm willing to put myself on the line to go do what you need to have done.
BARTIROMO: You know, when you look at what's coming out of the Hillary Clinton campaign right now, Sean, it's almost like they're expecting that she's won this already. Their focus now on these ballot races -- let's go through some of those races. What are you looking at closest? Which races do you think are most important for the GOP to keep, whether it's the House or Senate?
SPICER: Well, I think we're going to do fine in the House. We've got a 30-seat majority there. I think we'll maintain that. Paul Ryan will be speaker, again.
In the Senate -- look, we've got a four-seat majority there. We've got a lot of close races. But the difference between this cycle and past cycles is that every one of these individuals went in two, three, four years ago in some cases and has really been focused on their state, on a level of accomplishments, building a world class campaign.
So, whether it's Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania or Rob Portman in Ohio, Marco Rubio in Florida, Joe Heck in Nevada, Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire -- every single one of them -- sure, they've got a tough race. But they have gone out and talked about issues that are important to their state for a world class campaign together, raising appropriate amount of money and I think in every one of them, you start looking that trend lines and they're going to win.
BARTIROMO: And so many of them, we know that they're not out there campaigning for Donald Trump. Is that the smart move?
ROLLINS: Well, the key thing at this point in time is there are going to be Trump voters out there that traditionally wouldn't vote Republican. And we've got to convince them that the team, again, is what's important. So, you've got to make sure whoever you're turning on as Trump voters, what Sean and his team will do, that they're going to vote down the ticket, too.
BARTIROMO: What is resonating more?
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: Yes, go ahead, Sean.
SPICER: The thing is that one of the things that makes this cycle really unique is that almost every single Senate state is also a battleground state. So, whether it's Iowa, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. They are all Senate states and battleground states.
So, when we go in, there is this unity of effort that is like nothing that's ever been seen before. So, I know a lot of times the mainstream media likes to talk about disunity in the Republican Party, but Ed's absolutely right. When you go turn a voter out to vote early or absentee or get them out on Election Day, you're turning that voter to vote for the entire ticket and so, it's not always 100 percent. The reality is that whether you're running for the Senate or president, you get that we need every single Republican and right-leaning independent and even soft Democrats to come out and vote for our entire ticket.
That's what we're focused on. And because the uniqueness of this cycle is such that you have all of the Senate battleground states being presidential battleground states, it actually makes a unity of effort and efficiency like nothing that we've ever seen before.
BARTIROMO: And the voter turnout in terms of enthusiasm seems to be on the Republican side.
SPICER: It does, yes, absolutely. And I think part of the problem is, is that there is very little excitement for the status quo with Hillary Clinton. She's been around for 30 years. She's got this major trust issue. So, even if you're a solid Democrat, you're really not happy about voting for Hillary Clinton.
BARTIROMO: Yes, we're going to talk about the WikiLeaks coming up because this Morocco exchange seems to be really damning, Ed.
ROLLINS: It is.
BARTIROMO: In terms of this Gettysburg speech yesterday, do you think it's too little too late? Do you think it resonated? I agree with you. It was probably his best speech yet.
ROLLINS: You know, I think it's the right message. He's got to drive it, one speech doesn't do ever it. I mean, you literally has six, seven days of big speeches ahead. You've got to get by next weekend, you have to really turn this thing around. Obviously, polls are going to come out this week. Probably close the race somewhat, but he has to basically make the final sale. He's a great salesman, and a great marketer. He has to go market himself and market his vision for the country.
BARTIROMO: Yes, the polls after the debate are going to be very important to look at and we'll do that.
Ed Rollins, good to see you.
ROLLINS: Thank you very much.
BARTIROMO: Sean Spicer, always a pleasure. Thanks so much, sir.
SPICER: Thanks, Maria.
BARTIROMO: We will talk to you soon, gentlemen.
They were big for Bernie Sanders but who are millennial voters siding with now? What is happening in the swing state of Colorado? Up next, the governor from that state and Hillary Clinton supporter John Hickenlooper is with us.
You can follow me on Twitter @MariaBartiromo, @SundayFutures. Let us know what you want to see on the show and what you'd like to hear from Governor Hickenlooper, next, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures" right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
A new poll shows Hillary Clinton in the driver's seat for one very important voting bloc. According to the latest Quinnipiac Poll, Clinton has a significant lead with millennial voters, those people between the ages of 18 and 34. Her numbers nearly double those of Donald Trump with that generation.
Joining me right now is Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who is Hillary Clinton supporter.
Good to see you, Governor. Thank you so much for joining us.
GOV. JOHN HICKENLOOPER, D-COLO.: Thanks for having us.
BARTIROMO: Does that -- yes, does that poll ring true to you? What are you seeing in Colorado in terms of that young generation?
HICKENLOOPER: You know, I think it does ring true. And we've been -- you know, in the last eight or ten years, we have been one of the top destinations for immigration for millennials and they are kind of more mission driven in their lives, not just their business, but their lives, and idealistic and they support kind of that selflessness. I think with Hillary and Donald Trump, there's a pretty stark contrast there in terms of ego versus service.
BARTIROMO: You know, I mean, obviously, they want jobs. They want a strong economy, but the skeptics of Hillary Clinton continue to say that her economic plan does not show a road to economic growth. Do you see that road to economic growth because when you look at what Trump is doing, lowering taxes, rolling back regulations? You can see a path toward perhaps moving the needle on economic growth. But Hillary Clinton wanting to raise wages, raise taxes.
Where is the path to economic growth?
HICKENLOOPER: No, I see Hillary with a strong path to economic growth. I mean, she's already got plans and laid out how to cut red tape in bureaucracy. She's talked to entrepreneurs all over the country in terms of how to help them start up, not only start up but grow their businesses.
I think her focus is, you know, with small businesses and how do you get more small businesses going and maybe she's -- I mean the large banks are not a primary focus of her.
BARTIROMO: Right. Well, the small business, though, are going to see their taxes go up because if you're raising taxes on the highest earners. That is going to mean higher taxes for small business. So, again, I get to the same place knowing they're going to have to pay higher minimum wage and higher taxes.
HICKENLOOPER: I'd argue against that. I think that is the -- I mean, I understand what you're saying but if you get all these businesses starting and growing, this is what we see in Colorado. Our unemployment is down in some parts of the state under 3 percent, and just job creation. At that level when you're starting all those businesses, what really matters is red tape and access to capital.
And those are two things she's really working on getting rid of. Getting rid of the red tape and making sure you have more access to capital.
BARTIROMO: Governor, I want to ask you about that red tape as it relates to ObamaCare. Very good op-ed in The Journal yesterday about the post- Obama care preview in Colorado. Premiums across the state expected to rise 20.4 percent on average next year. Some have concluded that the solution is more central planners with a doubling down on ObamaCare. Coloradocare.
You oppose this.
HICKENLOOPER: Well, I opposed it. A lot of us in Colorado opposed it. I think we've got to -- I mean, obviously, for the last 30 years health care costs have continued to rise every year. Almost every year in double digits, and I think now is the time not to throw out everything and start all over again. I think it's -- we've got to figure out what the solution to that is.
And I think having, you know, a single payer system however idealistic and well-intentioned is not the solution of this point. I think last poll I saw, it's down about 75 to 25. I think it's going to lose significantly in the polls.
BARTIROMO: And the best independent study on single payer was Vermont which, of course, abandoned the idea back in 2014. The governor there basically, a dealt Democrat, by the way, dumped his signature campaign issue once he figured out that it would require an 11 1/2 percent payroll tax and an individual levee as high as 9.5 percent. But isn't that what Hillary Clinton wants to do? She wants to go to a single payer system.
HICKENLOOPER: No, I don't think so. I think she wants to have a public option. I think if you look at it, part of the problem we're having is people with pre-existing conditions can now get insurance. Now, and that's almost everyone agrees that that's a good idea. The problem is that a lot of people who have serious, medical conditions are, you know, opting out and not paying their -- not joining on paying for health care until all of a sudden, they have a medical emergency and then, they sign up, they have to be covered, they get their medical treatment and then they go off, again.
So, they're kind of gaming the system. And we really got to figure out how to address that.
BARTIROMO: So, how do you address it, Governor? What would you like to see given what we are looking at right now in terms of this proposal to mimic ObamaCare with Colorado care?
HICKENLOOPER: Well, I think, obviously, there has to be some people that are cycling on and off. There's got to be some consequence. Otherwise, they're going to keep doing it, and as I said, gaming the system.
So, perhaps, there's some long delay. They've got to feel some risk or some, you know, some consequence if they continue this behavior that, you know, really, it's cheating the rest of us.
BARTIROMO: Governor, a lot of speculation that should Hillary Clinton become our next president, you will have a role in her administration. Are you expecting to have a role in Hillary Clinton's administration?
HICKENLOOPER: Well, I'm going to give her all the best advice from Colorado, that's for sure. And I do think -- you know, I think she is so well-prepared. I spent a fair amount of time with her in June and July. I never met anyone who knows policy at more depth and knows more detail than she does.
I think, you know, we might disagree. I think she's going to be a great president. I really do.
BARTIROMO: And what role would you have?
HICKENLOOPER: Well, I think I'm going to stay as governor of Colorado. I think she is -- part of what she needs is to have strong support all over the country and have a chance to bring Republicans and Democrats together. We do that pretty well in Colorado. I think we can be a great model for her.
BARTIROMO: Do you see the kind of enthusiasm, I know you said millennials are all in for Hillary, but are they going to come out and vote?
HICKENLOOPER: Well, that's always a question with young people. It's been -- you know, back when I was a baby boomer as a kid, they said the same thing about us. I think they are going to come out and vote, and I think it's been a little, you know, their enthusiasm wasn't there a couple months ago.
But now, everywhere, I go I see more young people and I see more energy. The more they're fired up. So, I think they are going to vote.
BARTIROMO: All right. We will leave it there and we'll be watching. Governor, always a pleasure to speak with you. Thanks so much.
HICKENLOOPER: You bet. Thanks, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Governor John Hickenlooper there.
Voters are already headed to the polls in more than 20 states. Early voting is under way. What are we learning so far and what swing states are the most important for the next 16 days? We're breaking down the numbers, next, with Byron York.
Stay with us. We're looking ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures" this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
Early voting under way in some key swing states who want to know what's going on at this hour. Around 5 million people have already cast their votes, including thousands in Nevada where early voting started yesterday.
Meanwhile, analysts say they see a trend favoring Hillary Clinton in Florida. While Donald Trump appears to be doing well in Ohio and Iowa.
Byron York is the chief political correspondent with "The Washington Examiner" and a FOX News contributor.
Byron, good to see you.
BYRON YORK, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Good morning, Maria.
BARTIROMO: What is your takeaway from these swing states in early voting so far?
YORK: Well, it's a bad news for Trump in Florida, no doubt about that. Good news for him in Iowa, but we kind of knew Iowa seemed to be going pretty well for him. Ohio very close.
The deal is, you mentioned 5 million people have voted early so far. In the end, by Election Day, more than 40 million people are expected to have voted. That's out of the 125 million, 130 million total who will vote. So, this is a huge thing.
And the thing to remember is Democrats have always made a much bigger deal of early voting. I remember being at an Obama rally in Ohio about a week before the election in 2012. Everybody had voted already there.
And I ran into a woman who told me, said, you know, my phone is ringing all the time. I can't go to the grocery store without the campaign people coming. I kept saying, have you voted yet? Do you need help getting to the polls?
I mean, they're very, very extensive Democratic ground game that far outstrips the Republican ground game in early voting.
BARTIROMO: All right. It's hard to really analyze early voting and get a true trend because there's so much more to learn. Let me ask you this, we're waiting on polls post the third debate. Do you think we're going to see a big change in the polls after that final debate where Chris Wallace did such a great job?
YORK: Well, we have a brand-new poll from "The Washington Post" which shows Hillary Clinton up by 12. A couple weeks ago, they had one with her up by four. Now, the new one may be an outlier, the 12 seems kind of big, but it did show that people had an enormously negative reaction, one to Trump's treatment of women and two to his refusal to say that he would accept the results of the election. That he would wait until the time to tell us.
So, we haven't seen -- I mean, the debate was just Wednesday night and it's Sunday morning and you take a few more days to figure out exactly what the effect was. But the early signs don't look good for Trump.
BARTIROMO: So, what happens in these next 16 days? Lay it out for us in terms of how the twists and turns may change things. Is he -- do you think he sticks to that Gettysburg speech and just continues to enforce the things that he feels he's going to do for this country in the first 100 days?
YORK: Well, that's what his advisors and all Republican politicos hope that he will do, because that Gettysburg speech laying out the ethics reforms he would make, the trade initiatives he would make, a lot of the things he would do in his first 100 days in office I think really made a lot of Republicans feel good. They feel that he should have been empathizing this for a long time already.
Remember, the long preamble to that Gettysburg speech yesterday was talking about how all the women who accused him are lying and the news media are so bias against him. Those are kind of the two Trumps in this race. The one sort of, you know, airing his grudges and the other outlining a list of policies that if really pursued would probably be popular with the voters.
So, my guess is like we have seen all the way in this campaign, we'll see a mix of those two things.
BARTIROMO: What about the WikiLeaks dump? Is this resonating with voters, the fact that now we know that a senior staffer at the State Department tried to do a quid pro quo with the FBI to get them to change the classification of an email. We know that there was pay to play going on now with morocco, government officials, as well. Is it resonating?
YORK: Well, it is in the sense that it is continually eroding Hillary Clinton's honesty or trustworthiness. Her belief that she has told the truth about the emails or about anything else for that matter.
So, those numbers have eroded. But it doesn't seem to have affected her standing in the polls. And one thing we should say is we don't know what we don't know. We don't know what's going to happen in the next 16 days. Is there some huge WikiLeaks revelation? Is there some other -- is there some oppo that the Democrats will drop on Trump?
That kind of stuff is unknown, but, clearly, Clinton believes right now that she can kind of cruise to the election. We're seeing stories about how she's thinking about winning, making sure she wins the Senate, down ballot races. She's thinking about the cabinet. She's doing, you know, measures the drapes sort of stuff.
And she's not campaigning that much. She's not spending that much time on the actual campaign stump. She thinks she's pretty much got it.
BARTIROMO: Too presumptuous?
YORK: Well, you never want to do that sort of thing because we never know what is going to happen. And there is a scenario. There is a scenario for Trump to win. Remember, you know, FiveThirtyEight says, well, there's 87 percent chance that Hillary Clinton will win. Well, that's a 13 percent chance that Donald Trump will win and stranger things have happened.
So, yes, it looks pretty presumptuous when you have reports of Clinton, you know, basically planning her administration at this point.
BARTIROMO: Right.
All right. We're going to talk more about that coming up. Byron, good to see you. Thank so much.
YORK: Thank you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Hillary Clinton is facing new allegations of pay to play this morning involving the king of Morocco. What is her response?
Former Attorney General Mike Mukasey is with me live. He'll weigh in next as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures" this morning.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
Hillary Clinton grappling with new pay to play allegations this morning after WikiLeaks releases more of the so-called Podesta emails. The latest documents purportedly hacked from the account of her campaign chairman, John Podesta, appear to show that Clinton helped negotiate a $12 million foundation commitment from the king of Morocco.
Here's what she had to say about it last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have nothing to say about WikiLeaks other than I think we should all be concerned about what the Russians are trying to do to our election and using WikiLeaks very blatantly to try to influence the outcome of the election. I have no concerns about the first question whatsoever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Joining me right now is Judge Michael Mukasey, former U.S. attorney general.
And it is great to see you, Judge. Thank you so much for joining us.
MICHAEL MUKASEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Good to be here, Maria.
BARTIROMO: First of all, do we have any evidence that Russia is, in fact, behind all of this?
MUKASEY: I don't know what the evidence is. I know that many people have said they are. Candidly, that's secondary to what it is that's being disclosed.
BARTIROMO: Exactly, the contents of the emails.
I want to get to an important email between Patrick Kennedy. It is about Patrick Kennedy who is a State Department aide. Email from Clinton aide Huma Abedin to Robby Mook and John Podesta, this is January 2015. The condition upon which the Moroccans agreed to host the meeting was her participation.
This was Hillary's idea. Our office approached the Moroccans and they 100 percent believe they are doing this at her request. The king has personally committed approximately $12 million. I'm going to get to the State Department email with Patrick Kennedy in a minute. But, first, let's address this Moroccan email.
Obviously, she's involved in money from the king of Morocco to her husband's foundation, the Clinton Foundation.
MUKASEY: Right.
BARTIROMO: While she's a sitting secretary of state.
MUKASEY: So, she left, she left the position in 2013, I believe. So, the question is whether she is actively involved at that time that she was secretary of state. But that, that, of course, would be a crime.
But it almost hardly matters. The Department of State had issued a report that was critical of Morocco, said it was corrupt, said people were subject to arbitrary arrest. That's the Department of State that she headed.
BARTIROMO: OK.
MUKASEY: Fast forward a short time. She is hitting up the king of Morocco for $12 million to host a Clinton Global Initiative conference in Morocco that is going to enhance the prestige of the Moroccan regime and going to make it seem like, hey, there's nothing wrong with Morocco. Why the former secretary of state herself is at a conference in Morocco.
It turned out that she didn't go, although Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton did go.
So, again, it cuts against the message of her own State Department that this is a corrupt and arbitrary society.
BARTIROMO: More evidence that she, OK, she's not in the office any more. But she is intimately involved in money from the king of Morocco to her husband's foundation. Then you go back to when she was secretary of state and the uranium deal with the Russians.
The Russians want to buy 25 percent of the stockpile of the U.S. and for a long time they have wanted that and the State Department pushed back, pushed back, pushed back and she allows it at the same time they're giving money to the Clinton Foundation.
MUKASEY: Right.
BARTIROMO: How is she going to explain this? If she won't explain it, she explains to Russia with no explanation whatsoever about the content.
MUKASEY: And so, how is she going to explain it? She's going to have to explain it only if she's pressed by people in the media. And if she's not pressed, she won't explain. You saw on camera a great example of what her explanation is going to be.
Her explanation is going to be, explanation in quotes that this is from a polluted source. "I think we should be more concerned with the source than the content and I'm not going to comment on the content."
BARTIROMO: What is your take on the contents of this other email between a State Department official, Patrick Kennedy and an FBI agent where basically it is clear that the undersecretary of state to management Patrick Kennedy is asking for a quid pro quo. If you declassify this particular email, we will allow FBI agents to go in foreign hot spots as you wanted to go. That, obviously, did not end up happening.
But is it pretty obvious and straight forward that that was a request for a quid pro quo right there?
MUKASEY: The issue is less -- yes, it is a request for quid pro quo than what was actually being done, which was obstructing an FBI investigation and possibly obstructing a congressional investigation of Benghazi, because the underlying email related to arrests in the Benghazi investigation. And those, of course, would tend to undercut the cock and bull story that was being told about how this was -- all the attack was due to a video.
BARTIROMO: Jim Comey, the head of the FBI who is at the end of the day who put Martha Stewart in jail for lying to the government.
MUKASEY: And appointed the prosecutor who went after Scooter Libby when everybody knew that Scooter Libby wasn't the source of the leak.
BARTIROMO: And yet we know Hillary Clinton lied and, no problem, according to Jim Comey.
MUKASEY: Yes, very disappointing. For those who had high expectations of him.
BARTIROMO: Which is why you say it's up to the media and the people because it's not happening the way you would expect it to happen from our government structure.
MUKASEY: Correct. It's not. The ultimate, the ultimate authority here is going to have to be the media and an aroused public.
BARTIROMO: Judge, good to see you. Thank you so much. Judge Michael Mukasey there.
And now, we want to get a look at what's coming up at the top of the hour on "MediaBuzz". Howie Kurtz joins us.
Howie, good morning to you.
HOWIE KURTZ, HOST, "MEDIABUZZ": Good morning, Maria.
We've got Chris Wallace talking about his moderating role in the third debate and reveal something very interesting about how he repaired for fight night in Las Vegas. Also look at the coverage of the fallout of that debate, Donald Trump's speech in Gettysburg yesterday, a policy speech where he also talked about the suing the women who accused him. That created plenty of headlines. And more WikiLeaks stuff. It's amazing about coziness between certain journalists and the Clinton campaign.
BARTIROMO: We'll see you in a few minutes. Thank you so much, Howie. We'll be there in 20 minutes.
We've got 16 days left. We are headed into the home stretch. We're breaking down the race with our panel, next, as we look ahead right here on "Sunday Morning Futures". Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE MCKINNON AS HILLARY CLINTON: Hello, Chris. In the first debate, I set the table. In the second debate, I fired up the grill. And, tonight, I feast.
ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: Chris, I'm going to start this debate in the quietest voice possible. In the past, I've been big and loud, but, tonight, I have a sweet little baby Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is good to hear.
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BARTIROMO: Well, "SNL" has had a field day with this election. The cast of "Saturday Night Live" poking fun at the third and final presidential debate this weekend as the candidates get down to serious business. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigned, drawing up their final strategies to reach out to voters as we close in on two weeks until Election Day.
Let's bring in our panel on that note. Ed Rollins is former campaign manager for the Reagan/Bush ticket in 1984. He's the chief strategist for a Trump super PAC. Steven Sigmund with us this morning, senior vice president of Global Strategy Group and a Democratic strategist. And Mary Kissel here, editorial board member for "The Wall Street Journal."
Good to see you, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us.
Let's talk about the Gettysburg speech right here. That was the highlight of the weekend, Mary.
Your reaction?
MARY KISSEL, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, Trump is good when he focuses on policy. You saw in the third debate that's where he won over Hillary Clinton.
In the Gettysburg address, similar, some of those policies are terrific -- school choice, cutting taxes, getting rid of ObamaCare. Some of it is terrible, terrorists, anti-trade, the same that we heard from Trump.
But, again, Trump always loses when it becomes about him and his ego. He goes off on these tangents about globalism and the establishment and Clinton machine. You know, that's time that he should be spending talking about Hillary Clinton and what life would be like under a Clinton presidency. I don't think Gettysburg really change the dynamic of the race in a way that he needs at this late hour.
BARTIROMO: Which is why I can't believe, Stephen, that the race is where it is right now. If it were anyone else, a lot of these missteps that Trump has done would have taken him out and, yet, she's so disliked. And that keeps haunting her.
STEPHEN SIGMUND, SR. VP. GLOBAL STRATEGY GROUP: Yes, I think that is some of it. But, look, you know, you had a poll out this morning, maybe an outlier but has her up by 12 points, right? I mean, the thing that is remarkable about Trump is that he may be the first candidate since 1940 or the third candidate since 1940 to not even get 40 percent, right? And the only other two were George McGovern and George Bush who was in a real three-person race.
So, this notion that it's a movement, it really isn't one because he keeps hurting himself and really only talking to his base, just like the Gettysburg speech when, you know, he makes this whole speech and then goes out and starts attacking the media and saying he is going to sue his accusers, which is red meat to his supporters, his 38 percent of supporters but not for any swing vote.
BARTIROMO: But he does try to communicate that it is a movement. When you see things like the Project Veritas tape and when you see these things like people worried about voter fraud, people want the corruption to end. They want a fair situation.
SIGMUND: Absolutely. That's true. But he hasn't -- he hasn't translated that to swing voters, to suburban women, to independents, right? I mean, he's at a point where he is going to have a tough time getting to 40 percent at the moment.
BARTIROMO: That's a good analysis.
Ed, what do you think?
ROLLINS: Well, I think we're going to have an election in two weeks to see which polls are right. Right now, there's Rasmussen Polls and some others that have a dead even race. Obviously, the ABC/Post has a 12-point difference. I assume there'd be a bunch of polls come out this week, post- debate polls that have her with a substantial lead.
The critical thing for him is not to lose the momentum. He had a good performance in the debate and a good speech yesterday. The inconsistencies are when he goes after the women and talks about suing them that are much better stories to the media. He has to focus on his agenda and how he's going to change the country.
SIGMUND: But I will say, what's been consistent about all these polls, even when he was doing well, is that he has a hard time sort of breaking in the low 40s. So, it's very hard to see how he has something changing in the next two weeks how he gets from that into the sort of high 40s numbers that he needs.
ROLLINS: It depends on the independents. If the independents stay where they are, stay at 10 percent. Obviously, it makes it more difficult. If for some reason people decide it's a two-person race and let's break it out here.
KISSEL: I mean, his problem has always been his temperament and the third debate did nothing for him on that matter and neither did the Gettysburg address. Voters want to be given a reason to vote for Donald Trump. And he also hasn't prosecuted the case against Hillary Clinton.
You look at the guts of the FOX poll that came out, Clinton is beating him on all the major issues. Issues she shouldn't even be close to him on -- health care, terrorism, immigration, the economy. It's because when he talks about himself, he's not talking about his opponent and talking in a way that give those independents and those female voters a reason to go for him.
SIGMUND: Yes. I mean --
ROLLINS: The most telling thing on that poll is that she is viewed as the change agent where, obviously, that's been his great strength.
BARTIROMO: Incredible.
SIGMUND: Yes, I mean, he's continued to make it a referendum on Donald Trump and he's done that to himself frankly. In a lot of ways, that has helped her. I mean, she still has this terrible numbers on honesty and trustworthiness, but she has kind of presented herself particularly through the three debates as the steely women and that, you know, that's very positive her and I think that sticks in the next few weeks.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
KISSEL: And they're going to keep her out of the news. All she has to do is sit back and do nothing. She is not going to hold a lot of conferences. She hasn't been on the campaign trail.
BARTIROMO: No interviews.
KISSEL: Yes, he hadn't been campaigning with Tim Kaine and there is a reason for that, because they know they're in a good position and just try to let Donald blow himself up. Again, 16 days to go, it's been a volatile race.
BARTIROMO: Incredible. All right. We're going to take a short break.
And the Clinton campaign shifting its resources in a way that could pay major dividends on November 8th. What that strategy is. Take a look at some of down ballot races as well.
We're looking ahead right now on "Sunday Morning Futures." We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
With 16 days until America votes, the Clinton campaign is shifting its resources to downed ballot races in the hopes of not only taking the White House but tipping the scales on Capitol Hill.
We're back with our panel -- Ed Rollins, Stephen Sigmund and Mary Kissel.
Mary, a funny thing happened about two weeks ago on Wall Street which I'm sure you saw in the markets. They all traded down because people were worried about a Democratic sweep. They were worried about the president, the House and the Senate and what that's going to mean for pharmaceutical stocks, for biotech stocks. We had a big selloff in the market.
What are the implications if the Dems take the Senate?
KISSEL: You could get a repeat of Obama-Pelosi, 2008 to 2010. What did that give us? It gave us ObamaCare. It gave us Dodd-Frank. It gave all the policies that are crushing this economy and leading to the worst growth since to the Great Depression. That's what Democrats want to repeat and they want to go further.
They want single payer health care. They want far left Supreme Court that we've had in many, many decades. They want to further make the financial sector an armed of government. They want more regulation.
This is -- this would be a disaster for the economy, and it would have implications for our foreign policy, too, because it would weaken us here at home. No one is focusing on this, but they should.
BARTIROMO: This is a really important point, because when you look, today, look at where our economic growth is, we'll have the GDP report next week, this upcoming week, 1.4 percent is the last GDP. Maybe when Obama had both chambers in his corner, he should not have stuffed ObamaCare down everybody's throat and instead focused on economic growth.
ROLLINS: By one vote, I remind people. The truth of the matter is, there are six Senate seats still in play. Five are Republican, one is the Nevada seat is the Harry Reid seat, and they're neck and neck. And that's clearly what's going to be the margin of who controls the Senate.
And the likelihood of 51-49 or 50-50 is very, very high and the reality then is any senator is king. Any senator can make the deal. So, the House, obviously, I think most people concede to losing 10, maybe 15. That will be a dramatic emotional thing as much as anything else, and it will take the margin away.
It's going to be different in Washington, D.C. come next January, and obviously Republicans have to be smart, they continue to control and control what the narrow margins and they got to make sure they have an agenda that matters.
BARTIROMO: Can you support this, Stephen? I mean, as the Democratic strategist, what you're hearing from Mary, what you're hearing from Ed in terms of, if the support goes down?
SIGMUND: Yes, of course, I can support it. I mean, look, Republicans have had an electoral strategy over the last decade that is essentially just about tearing down the president, right? And that's worked for them in off-year election but it hasn't worked for them in presidential elections, and it looks like it's repeating itself right now. I mean, Democrats are going to pick up at least two seats in the Senate, and that said, there are a lot of competitive seats in North Carolina, in Pennsylvania, in Florida in particular, which could go either way.
And so, you could end up with a Democratic Senate but you'll end up with all likelihood with divided governments.
BARTIROMO: What's important to be watching in these next two weeks, Ed?
ROLLINS: The Senate. The Senate is the most important. Places like New Hampshire, places like Florida, North Carolina. Those three Senate races are very important. Rubio is still ahead in Florida, but it's a close race. Those are the ones that are important.
BARTIROMO: What about the presidential office, Mary Kissel? What do you focus on in the next two weeks in terms of getting a better sense of where this race heads?
KISSEL: Well, you just have to look at Trump himself and see if he can stay on message, then you start looking at the polls like the Philadelphia suburbs, for instance. Some of these House races are going to be bellwether races. Mike Coffman in Denver, Barbara Comstock in Virginia.
But, look, Maria, very quickly, the scenario I outlined is if the Dems take control of the Senate and the House --
BARTIROMO: Right.
KISSEL: -- I don't think that's likely, but if this ABC News poll that Steve talked about, that 12-point, what would be a landslide victory, then the House becomes competitive if that poll isn't an outlier and if that actually is where we're going.
BARTIROMO: Which is why the market sold off a couple weeks ago on that speculation.
We'll take a short break. Then, I'm going to ask my panel for the one thing they're watching in the week ahead, next on "Sunday Morning Futures". Back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: And we're back with our panel.
Cut through the noise, what's the most important to focus on now, Ed.
ROLLINS: The big polls this week, they can't be the 12-point gap. They have to be much closer than that to encourage the Trump people to turn out.
BARTIROMO: So you want to watch the polls, obviously.
Stephen?
SIGMUND: Yes, me, too, to see if he can get at least 40 percent. In this divided environment, you could nominate a cardboard box and get 40 percent.
BARTIROMO: Mary Kissel?
KISSEL: The battle for Mosul, the American servicemen was killed there this week. We are at war over there. We have thousands of troops on the ground.
How is that battle going to go? What is ISIS going to do? Is it going to be a factor in the campaign?
BARTIROMO: We just showed his picture. Our condolences to the family and friends.
Thank you, panel. Great panel. We appreciate it.
That will do it for me. I'll see you tomorrow on the Fox Business Network. Join me.
"MediaBuzz" begins now.
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