By ,
Published May 14, 2017
This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," May 7, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: Good Sunday morning, everybody. The battle to repeal and replace ObamaCare headed to Senate now. Lawmakers set to dig deeper into Russian interference in the U.S. Presidential Election. And France heads to the polls, how will result there affect the economy here?
Good morning, I'm Maria Bartiromo, thanks so much for being with us. This is "Sunday Morning Futures."
A victory for President Trump as House Republicans pass the bill to overhaul ObamaCare. Now it heads to the Senate. But how much of the House measure will survive? House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and one of the key senators in health care fight, Senator Bill Cassidy will join me live coming up.
Also, FBI Director James Comey defending his decision to tell Congress about new Clinton e-mails just days before the election, but will critics on the left be satisfied? Former Assistant to FBI Director James Kallstrom with me this morning in the studio. Plus, the French Election and what it means for you. Why the outcome of the Presidential race there could have a big impact on the U.S. economy and American jobs here. I'll talk with Steve Hilton, a former Adviser to former British Prime Minister David Cameron as well as the Head of a leading French automaker as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
This week senators will take up the republican fight to dismantle ObamaCare. President Trump and Republican Leaders claiming victory late last week after the House narrowly approved the Health Care Bill. But it now faces uncertainty in the Senate. Senate Republicans are expected to write their own bill,
I'm joined right now by House Majority Whip Congressman Steve Scalise. Congressman, always a pleasure to see you, thanks so much for joining us.
REP. STEVE SCALISE, R-LA., MAJORITY WHIP: Good morning Maria. Good to be back with you.
BARTIROMO: Congratulations on this (INAUDIBLE) win last week for the House. What are you expecting as this now heads to the Senate?
SCALISE: Well, you know as you said, the Senators have been -- having their own task force put together. I talked to Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn. You know, and they're focused on doing the things they've got to do to pass the bill out of their chamber. And look, what we sent them is a really good bill that focuses on some main important points. One is lowering premiums for families that are struggling under ObamaCare.
Another is let people actually have control of their own healthcare decision, and we made extra care with multiple layers of protection that people with pre-existing conditions are protected. And I just want to make this point on that. No matter what kind of plan you have today, if you have a pre-existing condition under our bill, you cannot be denied coverage, and you cannot be charged more than anyone else. Those are provisions in our bill. Those can't even be waived by a governor if a governor wants more flexibility. But it is a good bill that focuses on lowering costs. And look, ObamaCare is failing, we're seeing, even more, examples, Maryland, some counties are going to be facing over 50 percent increases, Iowa's complete market has collapsed, this law is not working. The bill we passed over to the Senate is a really good bill and I hope they can make it better because putting that coalition together is complicated.
It was complicated in House but House came together because we wanted to fulfill that promise we made to the American people and we did.
BARTIROMO: Talk to us specifically about the pre-existing conditions issue. Obviously, the Senate filled with Moderates. What are the changes that you made do you think that will appeal to the moderates in Senate?
SCALISE: There were two things that were added along the way to specifically put more money into the areas for people with preexisting condition so their premiums can come down. Because look, ObamaCare says, you can't be charged more if you have a pre-existing condition, the problem is that costs are too high for everybody. And the real story for people with pre-existing conditions in ObamaCare are the deductibles. If you're paying a $12,000 deductible, that really almost impedes your ability to use health care because everything you do, you're paying out of pocket even though you have expensive insurance. In our bill, we actually put $8 billion in. That was the final change we made to the bill specifically focused on people that just got out of insurance marketplace altogether but have a pre-existing condition and want to get back in. They want to buy at normal competitive rates like everybody else. We put specific money to help them get back into the insurance marketplace at affordable rates so that everybody's premiums can be lower.
BARTIROMO: So how different do you think this bill looks once it gets through Senate?
SCALISE: You know, that's going to be up to Senate, I think what they'll find is I heard a lot of really good ideas by different senators. There were some really good ideas that House members had that number one, didn't fit the definition of budget reconciliation. You know, like buying insurance across state lines. We want to do that too. But that would have made this a 60 vote bill in the Senate as opposed to a 51 vote bill. So I'd encourage the Senate to add as many things as they can. But the main thing they're going to find too was that anytime you add something on one end maybe to please moderates, then some of the more conservative members might not like that. So you have to find the balance. You have to thread the needle. And we did that, it was delicate but all of our members got involved in figuring that out. I hope they do the same. But our focus was always on lowering premiums, and putting families back in charge of their health care. As long as the Senate follows that template, they -- you know, and they've got to figure out a way to put those things together and get 51 votes in the process, then we'll be fine. And let's get a bill out on President Trump's desk to provide relief for families across the country who are struggling.
BARTIROMO: There is -- there is some skepticism around the Senate right now because perhaps they get overloaded, you've got health care bill right now, headed to the Senate, then you want to hope to see tax reform soon after. Is it too much? Do you think -- do you think you can still stick to this timeline of getting these two major pieces of legislation done this year?
SCALISE: You know, we set an aggressive agenda because President Trump wants to get big things done. And frankly, I think he's shown and proven in his actions already that he's pushing hard to follow through on the promises he made. And there are already a lot of really good results. I mean, of course, Neil Gorsuch is on the Supreme Court, the Keystone Pipeline is green lighted. We've gotten the President 28 different bills under his desk that has already signed in a law to create jobs and to reduce tax burdens for families. But this is a key part, ObamaCare repeal and replacement and tax reform. We can walk and chew gum at the same time.
We're working on tax reform, the Senate is going to, of course, be taking up the health care bill but we're going to doing all of them in conjunction. And hopefully by the end of this year, if you've got both of those things in place, you're going to see the economy take off like we have not seen in decades. You're going to see jobs being created and the middle class being rebuilt in ways that we haven't seen in a long time. And it's a good thing that -- you know, that wire pushing this agenda hard because families want this. This is what we campaigned on.
BARTIROMO: Right.
SCALISE: And that is what Donald Trump and our majorities we were elected on.
BARTIROMO: This is what -- this is what people have voted for sure. Let me ask you, because these two major pieces of legislation, health care reform, tax reform, are being done during -- you know, reconciliation where you can -- where you can get 51 votes versus 60 votes. How tough has it been to for you to come up with plans with zero participation from the democrats?
SCALISE: You know we reached out early to democrats and they made it clear, they didn't want to do anything that unraveled ObamaCare. And that's unfortunate because again, you're seeing ObamaCare collapse all across the country. But I guess they're more concerned about the net that legacy item for Barack Obama as opposed to the law that actually works for families across the country. So we said OK. We'll use the budget reconciliation process because it allows us to do it with 51 votes versus 60. So, in the end with tax reform, we're going to do the same thing, but if they want to play all the old class warfare games and try to pit one group of Americans against the another, we're just not going to do that.
Donald Trump doesn't want to do that. He wants to unite people and he wants to actually to lower tax rates for all people across America. And look, our plan actually is simplified, you literally will be able to put your tax returns on a postcard over 90 percent of families in America under our plan will be able to do their own tax returns on a postcard. That's something that's real refreshing in terms of a reform to Washington and the old way of doing things that people have went hungry for, for a long time.
BARTIROMO: Yes. I mean, certainly transparency is one thing that everybody agrees on. But there are some debate as well going on. Does it need to be revenue neutral, the tax reform package? Does -- do you need to keep some of those deductions that are so important to different pockets of the country? What are the debates going on right now around tax reform? And is there more common ground around tax reform than there was with health care? Because, you know, somebody might say, look, why should I believe that you're going to get tax reform done watching the massive fight and delay around the repeal and replace?
SCALISE: Maria, as we've seen, you know nothing important and big that the country really wants us to do easy, but it's necessary. You know, we said with health care, failure is not an option. And I think the same way with tax reform. There's a reason that you haven't had a major overhaul of our tax codes since 1986. It's complicated to do. But Kevin Brady, the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and his entire Committee have been working months on this. They didn't just wait until health care got passed onto the House. They literally been working for months to try to figure out the best way to do it working now with the White House. And all those questions you raised will be answered through the Committee, but the main focus is on growing the economy, creating jobs, and look, getting people back to work that have been struggling under an economy that's been growing less than 2 percent over the last 8 years. That is unacceptable. We can do better, we will do better with this pro-growth tax plan that simplifies the code.
BARTIROMO: Now we just saw the GDP up seven cents of a percent for the first quarter. Not good. Congressman, good to see you, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
SCALISE: Great being back Maria, thanks
BARTIROMO: We'll be watching the developments. Congressman Steve Scalise joining us there.
And reminder, tomorrow morning on the Fox Business Network on "Mornings with Maria," I will talk with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Where the (INAUDIBLE) the health care overhaul going through here. And tomorrow beginning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern on "Mornings with Maria", only on the Fox Business Network. Join us for that special interview tomorrow.
First, though, we head to -- from House to the Senate. What are senators looking for in this health care overhaul? Senator and Dr. Bill Cassidy with his vision next with me live.
And remember, follow me on Twitter @mariabartiromo, @sundayfutures. Let us know what you'd like to hear from Senator Cassidy. Stay with us, we're looking ahead right now on SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. Senators are starting to work on their version of the health care bill, this week. With Majority Leader Mitch McConnell taking over the reign. Many say that they will be digging deeper into the impact on voters.
I'm joined right now by Senator Bill Cassidy, he's Republican from Louisiana, and a medical doctor who sits on the Finance and Health Committee. Senator, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.
SEN. BILL CASSIDY, R-LOUISIANA: Maria, thank you for having me.
BARTIROMO: So, I know that you're working on your own act and have been for a long time in terms of the health care bill. Let me ask you, are you planning to rewrite this bill start from scratch or add to it?
CASSIDY: So the bill that we put forward, the Patient Freedom Act, it's known as the Cassidy-Collins actually achieves President Trump's goals that he set in campaign. And those goals were to make sure people had coverage, care for those with pre-existing conditions without mandates and the lower premiums. Now if the House bill doesn't accomplish that -- we don't have a score yet -- I'll continue to push the Patient Freedom Act, the Cassidy- Collins plan because it does achieve the President's goals.
BARTIROMO: When will have you a score on the House bill? Why do you think that perhaps the House bill doesn't achieve those things?
CASSIDY: If you look at the first iteration, 24 million people it was scored as losing insurance. Now, you could say that the CBO over scored that. Then let's just say 9 million people lost their insurance, it also said that premium rose by 20 percent in the first year relative to ObamaCare. And ObamaCare premiums are going up 40 to 50 percent per year. So it would be 20 percent on top of that. So, clearly, it did not achieve President Trump's pledge. His contract if you will with the voter. And so, I'm basing on that previous score, we have to wait for next score.
BARTIROMO: So are you expecting the kind of fight we just saw take place in the House similar situation in the Senate?
CASSIDY: I don't know. As long as the President's contract with United States which is those four things -- and I added something to it called the Jimmy Kimmel desk -- you can lower premiums with a really lousy policy. Which when someone gets sick, they suddenly realize it only gives them $50,000 worth of coverage, but they now have liver failure, or heart failure or a car wreck and they need more. So if you also make sure that folks have the coverage that is adequate and the President very much has supported that concept, as has Mick Mulvaney, his OMB Director, then I think we come up with a product. And the product I think will end up looking somewhat like Cassidy-Collins, I've thought about it for seven or eight years, I'm a physician worked in hospitals for uninsured, taking care of folks. I kind of get it, you give power back to the patient, lower premiums, it works. If the House plan doesn't do it, we'll push our own.
BARTIROMO: So how does the Cassidy-Collins Act and the Cassidy-Collins bill differ specifically when it comes to pre-existing conditions to the House's?
CASSIDY: So, the way you really need to lower premiums is by expanding the risk pool. So if you have a few sick people and they're in a risk pool or a group of people ensured of 50,000 strong, the cost of the few is spread out over many. If you look at a fortune 500 company that's how all of them manage their illness. So our plan actually expands the number insured -- fulfilling Trump's pledge on that by the way -- by allowing states to enroll folks who are eligible, unless they don't' to be enrolled. So if you do that, you get a bigger risk pool. And instead of being older and sicker like the ObamaCare risk pools or premiums climbing up every year, is actually younger and healthier and therefore the cost of few is spread among the many. That's a key difference and our is more actuarially sound. Ours has been proven by experience with again, every fortune 500 company that manages its own health care.
BARTIROMO: Since actually you've been working on this for 7 years and you have a real feeling about what could work, and what won't work. But let me ask you this, what is your timing on this? I mean, are you expecting this to be, you know, weeks drawn out? I mean, we all know that you've got a lot on the agenda not just health care reform but then tax reform, expected to come soon after. Are you going to be able to get that done this year?
CASSIDY: I hope so. It's really important. ObamaCare premiums continue to climb. Insurers keep pulling out of markets, I'd love to have some cooperation from the Democratic Party, which so far they've not cooperated at all because it's important. Whether it's a blue state or a red state, these insurance markets are escalating and caused in and in some cases are imploding. So we'd like to get it done this year. If the other side decides not to help, it makes it harder.
BARTIROMO: But don't you know that they're not going to help? I mean, don't we that already? We've heard everything from Chuck Schumer calling this administration's swamp cabinet, to Elizabeth Warren saying people are going to die. You know, I mean, we know that they're not going to be there, so what's the plan B then?
CASSIDY: Let me start off as my perspective as a physician. And I had patients as I look back, some would have voted have voted for Obama, some would have voted for Trump but they were my patients. This is not a Democratic issue, it's not a Republican issue. If a senator looks at his or her state, and sees that the insurance market is collapsing and there's counties without any insurer at all, and they only come back in if premiums are allowed to arise -- to rise100 percent, hopefully that senator will look beyond partisan politics and say, this is not democrat this is not republican, this is about our patient. And if you look at Trump call that he enunciated in the campaign, his contract to the voter, that's something that we should all be able to endorse, no matter your party. Hopefully, patients will take precedence over party.
BARTIROMO: So you think you'll be able to do health care and tax reform this year then?
CASSIDY: That's my hope.
BARTIROMO: When would you expect the health care bill on president's desk?
CASSIDY: Well, that's in some way related to what the CBO scores, both the House bill and our bill, and the time it takes for us to get consensus, but I would guess sometime in the fall.
BARTIROMO: All right, we will leave it there. Senator, we'll be watching. We know you have you a lot on your agenda. Thanks so much for joining us.
BARTIROMO: Thank you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: We'll see you soon Sir. Senator Bill Cassidy there.
Most numbers seem to show that the Trump has set in the economy has been pretty positive. One key American though however, automobiles have seen a real slump in first quarter. What has happened in the first quarter? What does that mean for the President's effort to create jobs? We will speak with Carlos Ghosn, Chairman, CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. He'll join me in the studio as we look ahead of "Sunday Morning Futures" next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back, so where are the jobs, how is the economy doing right now? U.S. auto sales down for the first four months of 2017 after 7 years of steady growth following the near collapse of the U.S. industry in 2008. What does this slump mean for the broader economy and President Trump's promise to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.?
Joining me right now, Carlos Ghosn, he's Chairman and CEO of the Renault- Nissan Alliance. And Carlos, it's always a pleasure to see you.
CARLOS GHOSN, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, RENAULT-NISSAN ALLIANCE: Thank you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much for joining us. You've done so much in terms of your leadership at Renault-Nissan and I want to talk to you about that and find out how it was that you were able to bring these two companies together as well as you have. But first, let's talk about the more pressing issue and that is a slump in the auto industry. What happened in first quarter?
GHOSN: Well, I think it's a kind of reaction or consolidation to the strong growth we had for last few years. We were expecting something like this to happen. We -- I'm not pessimistic about the year 2017, I just think that 2017 is going to be flat compared to 2016, starting with the slump, I don't think it's going to be a really tragic or dramatically --
BARTIROMO: So you haven't seen a material change in the consumer?
GHOSN: I don't think so. I think -- there is a lot of competitiveness on the market, the market has grown a lot, we're just taking a little bit breathing.
BARTIROMO: Let me ask you about the economic story right now and an anticipation of change under President Trump's policies. Tax reform, good idea? The trade policy, good idea? From the businessman who's really a global business person what are your thoughts on Trump's economic policies?
GHOSN: You know, what we like are things which are lasting and stable. Obviously, there is and we can see the -- ome frustration about some of the trade deal that exists, so what you would like this to happen eventually be renegotiated so we can have some clear rules for future. Because --
BARTIROMO: Meaning clarity?
GHOSN: Exactly. We need clarity. And we will adapt to whatever rules will be finally decided. We think that -- statutes go which is always threaten because people are not happy it or because there is a -- there'd been very old, are not really reassuring. We'd love this negotiations to take place, no matter what is the outcome, we will adapt to it.
BARTIROMO: Yes. But I mean, the President has been talking about things like a reciprocal tax, an import tax, whereas if China charges us 80 percent in tax, we're going to charge then 80 percent of tax. I know that components that go into the car cross the border six, seven, eight times. You have these components that goes in the seat, and the seat is made in Mexico, you got to send it over the border and then come back over the border again. So what is a reciprocal tax or an import tax going to mean for you who's trying to get trade across?
GHOSN: Maria, without a doubt our industry is extremely complex because we have a lot of cross-border transactions and flow of parts and products, etcetera. That is why, I think, limiting our self to the idea which are being debated goes nowhere. What is important is just starting to establish your strategy after the decisions are being made. Now, we're in a situation of negotiation, discussion, things are going on in the table, different opinions are being -- I would say facing each other. It is too early.
BARTIROMO: So you're comfortable with what you're hearing?
GHOSN: Exactly.
BARTIROMO: You just want clarity?
GHOSN: I just -- we just want clarity, we think a lot of some of the opinions are valid but at the same time they're going to be tampered by the reality of the trade existing between the different country.
BARTIROMO: If we were to see the President's tax reform package materialized, that is a 15 percent business tax, a 15 percent corporate tax. A 10 percent repatriation, where you have hundreds of millions of dollars or like (INAUDIBLE) hundreds of billions of dollars over size, you're going to take that money back and pay only eight or 10 percent. Will that dictate behavior? In other words, would you as a CEO put that money --- bring that money from overseas back to the U.S.?
GHOSN: Without any doubt, this will have positive impact.
BARTIROMO: It will.
GHOSN: I mean, (INAUDIBLE) I mean, for business people obviously. That means preoccupation is going to be obviously how we did balancing from the other side. But without any doubt, reducing tax on corporation, helping (INAUDIBLE) of cash is going to be positive for the economy without any doubt.
BARTIROMO: You are stepping down as CEO, you have done a tremendous job bringing two companies together. Nissan, Japanese company Renault, French company creating the Renault-Nissan Alliance, as you step away, tell us what was most critical in terms of bringing everybody together, getting them on the same page and doing as well as you have.
GHOSN: Yes. In fact -- in fact, the basic element has been how can you maintain different identities, different brands autonomy of companies and at the same time, building commonalities. That has been the conflict between these two trends. Because commonalities create synergies and synergies are going to your bottom line. At the same time, you don't want to create too much commonality because you know, you end up cannibalizing all your brands. We're talking about Renault-Nissan but we're talking also about Mitsubishi. So I remain as Chairman and CEO of the Alliance, CEO of Renault, I'm stepping out of some of the operational jobs in order to make sure that these -- I would say corporation between the three companies, three companies.
BARTIROMO: That they stay aligned.
GHOSN: Exactly, they stay aligned without losing their own identity.
BARTIROMO: And one of the ways you've done that is through electric cars -- autonomous cars.
GHOSN: Obviously, technology plays a big role. I mean, electric cars, autonomous cars, connected cars, on top of all of the things on which you need to compete which means designs, comfort, security, emissions, all of these need are blended in product. That's why this product is not a commodity.
BARTIROMO: And you -- and you're expecting a Renault-Nissan to be the top automaker in the world this year --
GHOSN: It may -- it may happen this year. Yes.
BARTIROMO: Wow.
GHOSN: We're already in the top three. It may happen this year. Obviously something objective.
BARTIROMO: That's a --
GHOSN: The objective is to make sure that nobody gains advantage on you in terms of scale.
BARTIROMO: That is an incredible feed after all you've done at Renault, Congratulations.
GHOSN: Thank you, Maria
BARTIROMO: Real quick, before you go. French elections were now obviously based in Paris, what do you think happens tonight?
GHOSN: No, I think Macron is going to be elected. Frankly, in my opinion, the election was placed two weeks ago already. I did not see you know, an extreme party taking the Presidency in France. It was really, really very far shot. And today is going to be the -- really the demonstration of that.
BARTIROMO: And do you think that's good for the economy?
GHOSN: I think it's going to be good for the economy. I think he's a moderate, he's more on the center side, so I think they're - the market is going to react about it well to -
BARTIROMO: Because any idea or thinking that Le Pen would win, people are worried markets are going to sell-off. Zero, plummets - she's talking about bring -- taking them out of the Euro.
GHOSN: Yes, but this was a far shot.
BARTIROMO: Carlos, it's great to see you this morning.
GHOSN: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much. Carlos Ghosn, Chairman, CEO, Renault-Nissan alliance.
The FBI Director James Comey, meanwhile, defending his decision in the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation. Will it be enough for his democratic critics?
Former assistant FBI Director Jim Kallstrom is with me next, live as we look ahead right now on "Sunday Morning Futures."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back, FBI Director James Comey standing by his decision in his handling of the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation. When he alerted Congress about new evidence just days before the 2016 Presidential election, and Hillary Clinton continues to say that that's what caused her to lose the election. Joining us now right now is James Kallstrom, he's the former assistant director of the FBI. And Jim, it's always a pleasure to see you.
JAMES KALLSTROM, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Nice to be with you.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much for joining us. Were you surprised at Comey's testimony the other day?
KALLSTROM: No. I mean, you know, right from the very beginning when the criminal referral came, you know, a long, long time ago for the FBI to look into this thing, it had to be obvious to the director at that point. There was not going to be a serious investigation because the Attorney General would not approve a grand jury. So, I mean, look, it's a hard job being the FBI Director, and I feel for Jim Comey but I think for him to go along with this hollow investigation with no grand jury, no subpoenas, you know, and begging interviews and begging to look at a court and then all of this stuff, and have that interview of Hillary Clinton. And then they have him, and his people -- not his people -- him, say that his people thought she had no intent because she didn't know what was going on.
You're telling me that this woman that's been called "the smartest woman in the world", that was the first lady of the United States, that was the Secretary of State, doesn't understand about encrypting secret information, doesn't understand about those networks? That is baloney. You know, wiping it off with a cloth, you know, that was all - anyone to believe that story, you know, that's just their way out, you know? And then for the director to basically take on the responsibility of the Attorney General, and let her off the hook after she visited with President Clinton on the tarmac, which was an outrage.
And then, basically, I think he was trying to do the right thing by laying out all the elements but they left all of these felonies on the table. I mean, there's about 10 felonies they left on the table. And not to exclude all of the other people that worked for her, you know, they all got a pass. You know, then a notion of Weiner, Anthony Weiner. Well, what do they expect to find? Do they expect to find something on that computer that was more - that was worse than what they've already left on the table? I don't think so.
BARTIROMO: Well, he said there were thousands and thousands of e-mails that were transferred from Huma Abedin to her husband, Anthony Weiner on his laptop, where, of course, he was doing sexual whatever on -
KALLSTROM: Yes. In most likely, that's a federal violation, that's a federal felony, you know. And so, I mean, there is a lot of disappointment in the - in - not bureau, the agents are doing great work protecting the country, the terrorist taskforce is doing great work. I have nothing but the highest esteem for the - for the agents. But, the people running the agency, I mean, I just have a - I have a problem with some of their decisions. I have no - I have no intimate knowledge of any of these investigations. Senator Leahy made a statement that, you know, Giuliani and I had some kind of a pipeline, I never talked to anyone that had personal knowledge of any of these investigations.
BARTIROMO: Well, I want to ask you about that because that's now what people are focused on what Leahy said in terms of information that might have been leaked. Listen to this, I want to get your reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, D-VERMONT: Anybody in the FBI during this 2016 campaign have contact with Rudy Giuliani about the Clinton investigation?
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: I don't know yet. But, if I find out, that people were leaking information about our investigation, whether to reporters or to private parties, there'll be severe consequences.
LEAHY: Did you know of anything from Jim Kallstrom.
COMEY: Same answer, I don't know yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: So there - your name comes up in the hearing as one of the people receiving information. Nobody leaked anything to you, you're saying?
KALLSTROM: Nobody leaked it, I would never ask for it, I wouldn't accept it. But I did talk to hundreds and hundreds of retired agents, and a number of agents in the FBI that had no intimate knowledge of these investigations. That was a very compartmented investigation. Like most major investigations are, so I never - I never seek it at all. I didn't want it. When I was in the FBI, I would fire people for that - for that. I -- you know, that's not how we should operate. So that's just all bogus. And Senator Leahy knows that that's bogus.
BARTIROMO: In my interview with the President, President Trump said that Jim Comey saved Hillary Clinton because of just what you just said, all of these felonies that they left on the table. And yet, we still see this open investigation into Russia, we still see this, you know, unwillingness on Jim Comey's part to actually call out what Hillary Clinton did.
KALLSTROM: Yes. And that's -- people are very confused, and I talked to a lot of the public, I give speeches from time to time, and hundreds of people come up and say, "What's going on at FBI?" You know, it seems like inconsistent statements, you talk about this, you don't talk about that.
BARTIROMO: Right.
KALLSTROM: OK. You have a hearing before the Congress and you're asked, "Do you know anything about the wiretapping of the Trump people?" And the FBI director and the NSA director saying no, yet, these published reports said there was a FISA (INAUDIBLE) so how could the FBI director not know?
BARTIROMO: Senator Rand Paul tweeted out something the other day that, really, I was struck by, and he said, "Did the Obama administration surveil all of the candidates?" I think he was asking the question, "Was I surveilled?" I mean, and you know, at the time when the President said it, people laughed at him. In fact, it's exactly what was going on. And I guess one question is, after all of that that we know about the servers, about the lying, and about the destroying evidence, why wasn't Hillary Clinton's interview recorded with the FBI? It was - it was not on the record?
[10:40:08] KALLSTROM: Well, the interview in my view was a joke. I mean, the co-conspirators were in the interview. She laid down all of these rules about, you know, what could be answered and what couldn't be asked for. And I'm like --
BARTIROMO: It sounds like she said she wasn't going to come talk to them.
KALLSTROM: You know, the whole thing in my view was crazy. I mean, because they had no process, they had no grand juror, they had no subpoenas, they were begging people to turnover their equipment, and crazy things. On this unmasking, you know, if you can believe what's in the media, thousands of people unmasked. I mean, this is a serious, serious problem. This has the potential to show a little bit of a third-world country here, if it's true. I'm sure the majority of the names unmasked were for legitimate reasons. These laws are there to protect the United States of America, that's why it's so risky to step outside the boundaries of what you should be doing. You know, the National Security Council is not an investigative agency, the FBI is. So, what are they doing unmasking these names? The Attorney General of the United States needs to - needs to put a special grand jury in place and get to the bottom of what this is about. So, this is serious.
BARTIROMO: Is Jim Comey taking it serious?
KALLSTROM: Well, he was asked about unmasking. I forgot his answer was, but it's almost sounded like he didn't know a whole lot about it. But I would think he would have intimate knowledge of anything that the - was FBI information.
BARTIROMO: Well, we're going to keep following this, for sure, because this is a very - really serious situation. Jim, it's great to have your insights.
KALLSTROM: Thank you very much.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much Jim Kallstrom joining us there.
It is the final round of voting in the French Presidential Election, meanwhile. And by all accounts, going to have an impact here in the U.S. Steve Hilton will join me with a look at what that vote could mean for the U.S. as we look ahead next on "Sunday Morning Futures." Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back, the people of France headed to the polls today for the Presidential Election there. It is the final round of voting between Centrist Emmanuel Macron and Nationalist Marine Le Pen. In the balance, France's relationship with the European Union hangs. And there could be lasting effects to the U.S. economy as well.
I'm joined by Steve Hilton right now, he's former Director of Strategy for the former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, he's also a Fox News Contributor. And Steve, it's always a pleasure to talk with you. Welcome.
STEVE HILTON, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Great to be with you, Maria, on a Sunday morning.
BARTIROMO: Let's talk - yes, let's talk about the implications here. A Macron win versus a Le Pen win, what are the impact?
HILTON: Well, if Marine Le Pen wins, that is a political earthquake. And I think this - the most immediate implication would be, probably, to see the beginning of the end of the E.U. as we know it because there's no way that the current direction that the E.U. is going, and more centralization, more regulation, more bureaucracy, the end of nation states, the pooling of sovereignty, that just brought right to a dead stop if she wins. And it's probably going to be reversed. On other hand, if ma Macron wins, and frankly, most people think that that's going to be the outcome, it's kind of a, you know, a victory for the elite, he is a creature of the elite, he's part of the establishment, he's very familiar to the international organizations, you saw President Obama backing him. And so, in a way, a Macron win, I think, will be a kind of no-change outcome.
BARTIROMO: So, it's more of the same if Macron wins and a political earthquake if Marine Le Pen wins. Let me ask you about that because she has talked a lot about closing borders, perhaps, you know, leaving the E.U., going back to the French Frank. I guess, if she were to win, and I know it's a long shot, markets here in the U.S. will sell-off tomorrow.
HILTON: Yes, they - there'll be a lot of uncertainty, because as we know, business and markets above all likes certainty, predictability. They know that they can see years into the future and then what's going to happen. And no one knows what will happen. She have said she wants to - if she wins, she said she wants to leave the Euro, as you said, and have a referendum on the E.U. Now, the thing is in the French constitution, she can't just decree, a referendum on leaving the E.U., she needs to work with parliament. There are parliamentary elections coming up just a few weeks' time. So they'll be tremendous uncertainty if she does win.
BARTIROMO: But, obviously, just the fact that she is on the docket, and this is being discussed, there's a lot of unhappiness in France, people are worried about borders, they're worried about the refugee flow. Give us a sense of how we arrived here, Steve.
HILTON: Yes, you're exactly right. And, in fact, even if Macron wins, as is expected, those problems aren't going to go away, those underlying problems. The first is economic. France along with many of the other countries in the E.U. have a sclerotic economy that's not producing the jobs and incomes that people need, you've got many, many millions of people left behind by the modern economy. And they are angry at what's been done to them by the elites over many, many years, elites from both parties. You've also got the cultural aspect of it from immigration, and particularly in France, the issue of Muslim immigration and a sense that traditional values and culture are being undermined. And Marine Le Pen spoke very strongly to that. Now, even if Macron wins, those issues are going to remain on the agenda in France. And he is talking if he wins, about reforming the economy and reforming the E.U. We've heard that many, many times from candidates in France, and it has never happened.
BARTIROMO: Yes. Were you surprised that President Obama came out supporting Macron?
HILTON: Well, he's got a track record. I mean, he did it for Brexit, he did it against Trump, he's very clearly fired up about the need to beat back this populous movement wherever it appears.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
HILTON: And so, I guess, it's part of - part of how he's been approaching these elections everywhere.
BARTIROMO: Yes. And in fact, he said that if Britain leaves the E.U., they're going to get to the back of the queue when it comes to trade. I think President Trump just put them at the front on the actually.
HILTON: Exactly, exactly right.
BARTIROMO: Steve, great to see you. Thanks so much for weighing in.
HILTON: Thanks, Maria. See you soon.
BARTIROMO: We will see you soon. Steve Hilton joining us there.
After weeks of talk the house is finally voting to pass the ObamaCare repeal bill, but how big of a win is this for President Trump, our panel is next on deck. We're looking ahead right now to what is going to be a busy week right here at SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:52:48] BARTIROMO: Welcome back. President Trump celebrating a victory after the house voted last week to repeal and replace ObamaCare, but there is still a tough fight ahead in the senate. We want to bring in our panel on that. Ed Rollins, former White House adviser to President Reagan; Susan Ferrechio is chief congressional correspondent with the Washington Examiner; and Brad Blakeman is former deputy assistant to President George W. Bush, and it is a pleasure to have you all here.
SUSAN FERRECHIO, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Good morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much joining us. Walk us through this fight now.
ED ROLLINS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISER TO PRESIDENT REAGAN: This was a very difficult vote for many member, many republicans on an imperfect bill that's not going to become the law. Hopefully, ObamaCare is going to repealed but it's not going to be this law. It's not going to be this bill. This bill will be changed. It was a must-win for the president, a must-win for the speaker, a must-win for Priebus. And I think they all worked together to make it happen, you know?
BARTIROMO: The senate has been watching the trials and tribulations in the house. You would think that they have a clear idea of where they want to go. Is it not?
ROLLINS: They don't want this bill. And that's very -
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: They don't want this build, period.
ROLLINS: I think - I think Senator Cassidy is going to be very influential in drafting a - I think they'll draft a new bill. Let's see if -
BARTIROMO: He just - he just joined us a moment ago, talking about the patient act.
FERRECHIO: He did. Yes, I've talked to him a lot about his bill. Senator told me and the leadership that there plan is to write their own bill and not to take up the house bill. They haven't really started on that. They've been watching what the house has been doing, many of them wer questioning whether anything would ever happen in the house. And so, they haven't really been doing a lot, and that's going to slow everything down when you consider they are more moderate, they've got a tighter margin with 52 votes to try to pass this. They tend to be more deliberative, they take longer. ObamaCare in 2009 took the better part of a year for senate democrats, they've debated on the floor for almost a month. So, try to do it now compartmentalizing --
BARTIROMO: Well, Senator Cassidy told us earlier in the show, he's been working on this for seven years.
FERRECHIO: He has -
BARTIROMO: And that's exactly what people think as well.
FERRECHIO: He has but not the leadership, not the rest of the group. They've been waiting for the house.
BARTIROMO: This is another long haul, are they going to be on time in terms of tax reform? I mean, does the other major piece of legislation get impacted here, Brad?
BRAD BLAKEMAN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, they've got to do it together. As I see the healthcare bill, in reconciliation, is a trifecta. You've got taxes to deal with, you have entitlements to deal with, Medicare, Medicaid, and you have the deliverable of healthcare. So, I backed the clock up from December 31st. Because, 2017 has to be a year of action on repeal and replacement of ObamaCare, 2018 is going to be a year of reflection of the American people. We gave the republicans all this power, majorities, and you still can't get anything done?
BARTIROMO: If they don't get it done this, Ed Rollins, this is going to be a massive black eye to the Republican Party.
(CROSSTALK)
ROLLINS: -- and I think the President will make every effort to get it done, and I think the - eventually the senate will come around, I hope. The key thing here is there're 20 or 30 members who made a very tough vote, and they're going to be very seriously challenged until '18. And they better go defend this bill, they don't get to defend the senate bill after defending this bill and the camp say, "Oh, I didn't read this, I didn't do this." Because democrats are coming full bore. They lost 63 seats in 2010 when they passed this. We're not going to lose that number of seats but we have 2021 that is certainly in play.
FERRECHIO: That's a really important point already. The (INAUDIBLE) political report has switched rankings for 20 seats for republicans and pushed some more toward a democratic possibility because of voting for this. That's one thing the senators are very - really focused on, although they're only elected every 6 years, they don't want to have the same outcome. If they vote for healthcare bill, they'll get kicked out of office next time they're up for re-election. That's governing body -
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: Well, they can get kicked out of office if they got nothing done also. I'm not sure if they think it's better to do nothing and let ObamaCare collapse than put their fingerprints on this state and then they own it. I think that's part of the debate right now on Capitol Hill.
BLAKEMAN: And by the way, the most important part of healthcare is yet to come, after they get through reconciliation and that's phrase 3, where you talk about selling across state lines and using the power of the purchase of --
FERRECHIO: I think that'd be easier.
(CROSSTALK)
BLAKEMAN: Well, look, they can't get there until they get here. But, the real stamp on healthcare is going to be the ability to make it marketable.
ROLLINS: And governors and state legislations will be more governors, more state legislations than we've had in 60, 70 years, are going to have to deal with the Medicaid part of it, which is a very, very significant funding effort here.
BARTIROMO: And that's a tough medicine to swallow. Great panel, as always, thank you so much.
ROLLINS: Thank you.
BLAKEMAN: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Great to see you all. That is it for us on "Sunday Morning Futures," I'm Maria Bartiromo, see you tomorrow morning, bright and early from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern on the Fox Business Network. Join me for "Mornings with Maria". Every weekday, we'll have Kevin McCarthy tomorrow. Stay with Fox News, "MediaBuzz" begins now.
Content and Programming Copyright 2017 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2017 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/scalise-i-hope-the-senate-can-make-the-health-bill-better