Rep. Mike Pompeo on new terror threats against US
Congressman discusses the strategy against ISIS
This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," September 28, 2014. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARIA BARTIROMO, HOST: Good morning. The fight against ISIS takes to the Turkish border.
Hi, everyone. I'm Maria Bartiromo. This is Sunday Morning Futures.
The U.S.-led coalition now expanding its military operations to the area along the Syria/Turkey border. Several Arab allies have joined the fight in Syria while our European foreigners are staying in Iraq. Why the divide? We'll talk to a member of the House intel committee.
Attorney General Eric Holder calling it quits. Will the president name someone during the lame duck congress following the mid-term elections, or wait until there's possibly Republican-controlled Senate? Our panel will weigh in.
And what is Texas doing so right? The Lone Star State adds tens of thousands of new jobs every month even as it wrangles with immigration issues. The president of the Dallas federal reserve is here live to share the secret as we look ahead on Sunday Morning Futures.
Bombs raining down on oil fields and refineries as the fight against ISIS expands to the Turkish border. This as UK Prime Minister David Cameron commits his nation to air strikes in Iraq, but not in Syria, joining several other coalition European members.
So, how is this coalition working? Congressman Mike Pompeo is a member of the House intelligence committee. He joins us now.
Congressman, good to have you on the program.
REP. MIKE POMPEO, R-KS.: Good morning. It's good to be with you.
BARTIROMO: I'd love to talk, really, about three things. This international coalition and why the divide? Let's start there, congressman. I'd also like to get into these other terrorist groups we're hearing so much about like Khorasan. But start us off with this divide.
POMPEO: So the coalition is better than zero, but we've got a long way to go. We've had real partners step forward in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, folks who are serious about helping us defeat Islamic terrorism in the Middle East, in Iraq and in Syria. We need to do that.
But the coalition has got to be expanded. We've got challenges with folks who refuse to help us in Syria. We've got enormous challenges with our NATO partner, Turkey, refusing to do all that it needs to do. It has a huge obligation to stem the flow of radical terrorists into Syria.
There's a lot more work to do to get all of the powers that have a vested interest in the destruction of these jihadist movements to work together to assist America in defeating them.
BARTIROMO: Why are so many refusing to help us in Syria?
POMPEO: Everybody has got their own reason. Every country has got a reason to avoid it. Look, America has good reasons to be careful about what it does, as well.
But the nature of this threat, the magnitude of this threat, not just to America, but certainly to the bordering states, whether that's Jordan or Turkey or Iraq, these are countries that have to begin to help us tackle these Islamists wherever we find them.
And today, we find the most powerful force of the current time, ISIS, sitting inside of Syria. And we have got to take them out where they are. We cannot allow them to grow. We cannot allow them to operate freely. So we need these countries to join us.
BARTIROMO: Congressman Pompeo, stand by. A lot to talk about with you. We want to look at this two fronts on the same war, who is doing what and where in the international coalition to defeat ISIS. Fox News senior correspondent Eric Shawn with that angle.
Good morning to you, Eric.
ERIC SHAWN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Maria. And good morning, everyone.
More countries are stepping up, but critics say two key nations, Turkey and Qatar, have done far from enough.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): It is against this group that France has mobilized and was called to help by Iraqi authorities.
Also, the air operations, because there are no ground troops, these operations will continue as long as necessary.
SHAWN: There are now 62 countries in this coalition, as varied as Albania and Andorra as well as Israel and Moldova, but the variety of their contributions range from already launching attacks in Iraq and Syria to promises of humanitarian aid.
Britain, Belgium, Denmark and The Netherlands are the latest to offer the military, but have yet to launch any air strikes.
So far, the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain have done that while the United Arab Emirates, now famously took part with their mission led by their woman fighter pilot Major Mariam al-Mansouri.
But Qatar, which has supported and funded Islamic radicals is backing the operation -- is not backing the operation directly. And, of course, Turkey, which is facing that immense border refugee problem and that crisis and has helped fund ISIS through the oil trade and the flow of foreign fighters, well, Turkey has been refused of doing its part despite promises by their president to the contrary.
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): Of course, we will do our part. God willing, we will discuss it with our government. We will show our support in accordance with the decision that will be taken after those discussions.
REPORTER: Will it include the military option?
ERDOGAN (through translator): It includes everything, both military and political.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SHAWN: Well, so far, European nations have refused to attack Syria, as Maria addressed, not wanting to help the government of Bashar al Assad, which has not asked for the airstrikes unlike Iraq. That, though, could soon change as the new war, we're told, is likely to last for years -- Maria.
BARTIROMO: All right, Eric, thanks very much for that. Eric Shawn.
More now with Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo.
And Mike, congressman, let me ask you about that. In terms of the air strikes, how would you characterize their success so far, whether it be in Iraq or in anticipation of Syria?
POMPEO: You know, I'm glad that the president has finally taken action. I would characterize these strikes so far as too little and at least a couple of years behind schedule.
These are attacks that are necessary. They've begun to take out some of the ISIS's capacity to regenerate wealth, whether that is wheat silos and refineries that are mobile. Those are good things, but those are tactics, Maria. There needs to be a strategy developed around these strikes so that we can win as news reported indicated, what is going to be a very long struggle against radical Islamic terrorism.
These attacks are a necessary component, but they're far from sufficient.
BARTIROMO: Are there things we should be doing to stop the funding of ISIS? I mean, clearly they're selling all of this oil on the black market making up to $3 million a day. How do we get our arms around that?
POMPEO: Enormous economy has been developed inside of ISIS, not only trading oil and crops, but getting money from outside from third party terrorist sympathizers, they also have drug trade, sort of like you'd see in the Mafia in the United States, getting money any way they can.
America has the capacity to shut this down. It will take time, and most importantly, it will take a president who is committed to it. This president has been drug into this by kicking and screaming. It's not why he ran for office. But they've declared war on America, and so we have to use these financial tools, everything that's in our arsenal to make sure that we can cut off their capacity to continue to grow, continue to arm, continue to pay folks to come and fight alongside them.
If we do those things and continue this in the context of a strategy to defeat them and not simply run into a little road bump and back away, if we do that, we'll be successful in this battle.
BARTIROMO: Well, let me ask you about the newly surfaced terror group, Khorasan. How many other terrorist groups like Khorasan are we not aware of? And was there an imminent threat to the United State which was the trigger for the air strikes within the last week and a half?
POMPEO: Maria, there are scores of groups that have of the nature of what is now being called Khorasan. Remember who these folks are, these are old-school al Qaeda warriors who have been fighting alongside Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri, now Wahashi in Yemen, these are at the very core of the history of al Qaeda. And ISIS is little more than an offshoot of that, that has not gained strength.
This is a continuous struggle. They will continue to try and build their forces until America steps in decisively and says, we're prepared to do this for the long run.
The imminency of the threat was real on America. I would tell you that that threat continues today. These folks want to attack not just in Mosul and Tikrit and Falluja, but in places like Omaha and Wichita, Kansas, that I represent. They are a serious threat to our nation and that's why it's required that we get this right, we get a strategy right to defeat them.
BARTIROMO: Is there anything we should be doing differently as it relates to the Qataris and the Turks to try and get them to understand -- to get on this coalition and be more helpful to the U.S. and its allies?
POMPEO: Yeah, two things come to mind immediately. With respect to the Turks, they are a NATO partner, they're a member of a group that has committed to participating in challenges just like this one. And so we need to make clear to them that NATO membership comes with a burden and a responsibility.
As for the Qataris, we have an enormous set of resources inside their country. We need to make clear to them that our expectations are that they will cut this off, that they will cease cooperating with Radical Islamic terrorists of whatever stripe. And in the absence of that, that America's willingness to continue to be in their country to do the things in their nation is not likely to continue.
BARTIROMO: Congressman, good to have you on the program. Thanks so much for your insights.
POMPEO: Thank you, Maria. You have a good day.
BARTIROMO: President Obama securing a UN resolution to address the growing threat of terrorism around the world. How does this play into the broad strategy for fighting groups like ISIS? Political activist and chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov is with us to give his strategic advice.
Hope you'll follow me on Twitter @MariaBartiromo @SundayFutures. Send me a tweet right now, let me know what you'd like to hear from Garry Kasparov. He's on his way to the set as we look ahead on Sunday Morning Futures.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. President Obama securing the unanimous approval of the U.N. Security Council this last week to address the, quote, "growing threat" posed by terrorist fighters around the world, the president telling member nations this measure, quote, "must be matched and translated into action if it's to have any effect."
So what should that broad strategy be? Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, now a political activist, chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, is here with more on that.
Garry, thanks so much for joining us once again.
KASPAROV: Thanks for inviting me.
BARTIROMO: Characterize for us the president's speech at the U.N.?
KASPAROV: It was a good speech. I mean, he named names and he called Putin's actions "aggression" and "invasion." And he talked about the real threat posed by ISIS. But at the same time, I think he was not very specific explaining why we're dealing with ISIS now. Let's not forget that six years ago ISIS was not in the picture, or three years ago, it was not in the picture.
And, in my view, it's very important to recognize that ISIS as a phenomenon is a result of -- of this infamous red line that Obama drew on Syria, and demonstration of weakness always leads to -- to thugs around the world getting stronger and more arrogant.
BARTIROMO: So compare that to what you see in Putin and Russia?
KASPAROV: Yes, but, again, don't forget that Russia's support to Syria was fundamental -- for Obama to walk away -- and creating the vacuum which was filled by ISIS. And when we look at -- at Putin's actions, I mean, we should remember that, if ISIS can be defeated militarily, Putin cannot, because he has nukes.
And I think that, if we look strategically on the global picture, Putin presents even the biggest threat because he is destroying the world order. So America is the most globalized nation. America benefits from global labor, finances, economy, and Putin is trying to bring everything back to the sort of regional blocks. And the way that Lavrov spoke in the United Nations -- and I think it was in direct response to Obama's speech -- it was the most aggressive speech, in my expectations.
BARTIROMO: Right.
KASPAROV: I mean, he called Ukraine "undivided security zone." This is a 45-million nation. And it was very clear that Russia is not going to satisfy even the slightest of the -- of Obama's expectations.
BARTIROMO: Yeah, Lavrov, the foreign minister there, spoke at the U.N. on Saturday. And there was a real sharp reaction to what he was saying because he was so aggressive.
KASPAROV: Well, he was very, very aggressive. And he blamed America for everything that happened in the world in the last 15 years -- just anything that went wrong, it was America's fault, and he was not ready to -- to give an inch of the territory, both literally and figuratively, that Russia has been occupying.
And it seems that, you know, Crimea, eastern Ukraine, it's all under Russian control, and it's very important, when you just look back to Russia and the propaganda machine, they don't -- the Russian elite -- and that's Putin's message -- they do not believe that the sanctions will last. There -- I think there's a general belief that sanctions will be lifted.
And when you look at the Russian budget, they do not even make projections for sanctions in 2015. And at the same time, there's a 41 percent increase, for Russia today, the propaganda machine for Kremlin. I guess that Putin's message for Europe comes directly from "Game of Thrones": "Winter is coming."
BARTIROMO: Yeah, exactly.
(LAUGHTER)
BARTIROMO: Winter is coming, and it's getting colder.
KASPAROV: It's getting colder.
BARTIROMO: Everyone will need energy.
KASPAROV: Absolutely. And you can hear voices in Europe saying "ISIS is the real threat; let's pay attention to the terrorists, lift sanctions; let's make a deal with Russia," ignoring the fact that, you know, if we let it go, Crimea, and the fact that Russia destroyed the security system built in Europe since 1945, that will have global consequences.
BARTIROMO: Yeah. You know, it's interesting, when you look at the companies that are doing business there, like, for example, Exxon, right now in the cross hairs of these sanctions, because they're actually finding oil in the Arctic with Rosneft. This last week, there were reports that Russia is looking to seize foreign property in retaliation of the sanctions.
Now, I recognize the sanctions don't feel like much, and you're saying they don't matter...
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: But the Russians don't see them as mattering?
KASPAROV: Exactly. But, again, they do not believe that the West has resolve to -- to play the long game.
It's -- it's -- Putin used to play the game, poker game, I always said, and he expected the West to blink. And, unfortunately, every time his expectations were met.
BARTIROMO: And we should point out that this Monday Putin is meeting with the head of Iran.
KASPAROV: Yeah, but, also, again, (inaudible) limitations for the Western media in Russia, that also, now, they moved the deadline for Google, Facebook and Twitter to share information in Russia, to host in Russia, from January 1st. So there are many moves in this direction to demonstrate that Putin is willing to continue this war because, again, he doesn't believe that Obama's strong words will be met by the same strong actions.
BARTIROMO: That's the bottom line. Garry, always wonderful to have you on the program.
KASPAROV: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much. Garry Kasparov, joining us.
Up next, Texas leading the country when it comes to creating new jobs, adding more than 20,000 new jobs just last month alone. What is the Lone Star State doing so right despite all the challenges it faces when it comes to immigration? We'll talk with Richard Fisher, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: National unemployment numbers for September due out at the end of the week on Friday. But one place not sweating those stats, Texas. It is the leader in job growth in the country, creating more than 20,000 new jobs in August alone, giving the Lone Star State an unemployment rate of just 5.3 percent. All of this, even though Texas is constantly struggling with immigration issues at the border. So what is Texas doing so right? Richard Fisher is the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He joins us today. Good to see you, sir.
FISHER: Thank you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much for joining us. What about Texas? Why such growth, vitality in an economy nationally that some might say is sort of bumping along the bottom?
FISHER: I'll tell you what's interesting. If you take Texas out statistically from the nation as a whole, and you go back and look at where we were before the recession hit and where we are now, the nation still is about 300,000 jobs short. That's Texas. We've created over a million, 150,000 jobs. So if you mix them together, the country is ahead of the curve. And we're going to be releasing some data on Monday and Tuesday, our new surveys, that I think will just knock your socks off. It's amazing.
BARTIROMO: Why?
FISHER: Why? Well, first of all, it's a diversified economy. Energy certainly helps enormously. I have over 900 of the nation's 1,900 wells (ph) in my district. But that's only 2.5 percent of the jobs in Texas. About 12 percent of our output. So it's a lot of value added there. It's a highly diversified economy. It's a pro business government. You know all the reasons. Zero income tax. Bad social services, no question about that, but people come there to work. And we're seeing massive immigration. That number you just gave for unemployment, remember, the denominator is growing very fast, so the numerator is growing very fast. We were creating jobs in the second quarter at a rate of 5.8 percent. Again, way ahead of the nation.
BARTIROMO: So it's a mix of good policy. No income tax obviously has lured business.
FISHER: Yes. Of course, there's sales taxes and there are real estate taxes and so on. There's a small business franchise tax. But here is the thing. It just demonstrates the fact that with the kind of monetary policy we have, if you only have good fiscal policy, this nation would be growing much, much faster. Because at the margin, the state government has a significant impact. But if the federal government would only get their act together and be more like us, we would be growing as a nation much, much faster. Although that second quarter rate of growth, which nobody foresaw, was uber strong.
BARTIROMO: I'm going to get to the GDP, 4.6 percent, in a moment, but let me turn to your concerns over some time now. You've been saying interest rates need to go back to normalized levels. Federal Reserve should get out of the way at this point. You've done your job. What specifically are you seeing that is so concerning, whether in the high yield debt market or the equities market?
FISHER: Well, before we get to that, if can just talk about unemployment for just one more second. We're seeing wage price pressures in our surveys that are the highest since before the recession in my Federal Reserve district. We've also done some studies here state by state going back to 1962, that once you get below 6.1 percent employment, there's more of an acceleration in terms of wage price pressure. So we'll have to see and test this out.
What bothers me is that the fixed income markets have been awfully robust. I've talked about the junk bond markets. We saw a little break last week, and we've seen some of this continue. We've been fueling the markets, and at some point trees just do not grow to the sky. So I hope people are prepared for the fact that as we normalize policy, when we normalize policy, it's not going to be an easy game anymore. They're going to actually have to work and do analysis, which people haven't done for too long.
BARTIROMO: We saw a big sell-off in stocks last week. Is that the beginning of this?
FISHER: I have no idea. Markets are manic depressive mechanisms, Maria.
BARTIROMO: The GDP was 4.6 percent. That's real vibrancy. You just got in from Italy. You were with Bank of Italy. Thank you for flying in from Rome for this interview. Was that GDP number real for the U.S. and what's going on around the world? We have the jobs number out next Friday.
FISHER: We're definitely pulling ahead of the rest of the world and the Brits have done, as well. So we're fortunately in a much better position. They're in a different stage than we are in terms of quantitative easing and all the things the ECB would like to do. But Mario Draghi makes a key point, which is you've got to have good fiscal policy. There's a limit to what monetary policy can do.
So I think our wounds have been healing. We have these enormous growth centers like Texas and Florida right now. A little bit on the upper -- the northwest, meaning San Francisco, is just on fire. But the rest of the country is still lagging. But nonetheless, we're ahead of the Europeans, and here is the deal. We only have one dysfunctional government to deal with. They have to deal with 18 dysfunctional governments.
BARTIROMO: That's true. With the euro (ph). So the U.S., you are expecting pretty good job growth and overall as we look at --
FISHER: What I'm worried about -- I worry we're behind the curve at the Fed. Monetary policy works with a big lag. We don't know how long that lag is. I don't want to fight the last war. To be fair, I was against QE3, as you know, to begin with. But we've put it in place, we've tapered it back, we're ending it in October, as we've announced in the last statement. And then the question is how quickly we move to sort of normalize interest rates. And that will be debated within the committee, but I don't want to fall behind the curve here. I think we could suddenly get a patch of high growth, see some wage price inflation, and that's when you start to worry. I'm not worried about it yet, but I've seen it in my own Federal Reserve district, and I think it could happen to the nation as a whole.
BARTIROMO: Interesting comment that we talked about during the commercial break, and that is the grandfather of Vladimir Putin was actually --
FISHER: Stalin's chef.
BARTIROMO: Stalin's chef.
FISHER: Can you imagine the pressure of that job? One little stomach ache and you're finished.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
FISHER: But I only learned that from the diplomatic corps in Italy while I was there.
BARTIROMO: Richard, great having you on the program, thank you so much for joining us.
FISHER: Thank you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Good to see you. Richard Fisher, president, CEO, Dallas Federal Reserve.
The White House is now hinting it may try to replace Attorney General Eric Holder during a lame duck session of Congress. Our panel is next, weighing in on the political fallout as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Thanks so much, Eric. There could be an eruption on Capitol Hill if the White House tries to push throughout a new Attorney General during a lame duck session of congress. Eric Holder's resignation right before the midterms has Republicans warning against an early move to seek his replacement, especially if the election shifts the balance of power in congress.
We want to bring our power Ed Rollins, is the former principal White House adviser to President Reagan. He has been a long time strategist to business and political leaders and he is a Fox News political analyst.
Judith Miller is adjunct at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. She is a Pulitzer Prize Winner author and journalist and a Fox News Contributor.
Steve Moore is chief economist for the Heritage Foundation. He's a Wall Street Journal contributor and a Fox News contributor.
Good to see everybody.
Eric Holder, out, finally, after a lot of calls to get him out. Does the president use this window before the mid-terms, before the GOP takes over the Senate, to push through his guy?
ED ROLLINS, FRM. ADVISER TO PRESIDENT REAGAN: He has to. If he doesn't have someone of reputable reputation who is not viewed as a political hack, as Holder was, then I think to a certain extent he'll have a real battle on his hand. And everything that the Justice Department has done, all the various cover-ups, all the missteps that Holder has taken will basically be front and center in the hearing.
BARTIROMO: Any new person coming in is going to want all the evidence on all of these cases from the IRS down to what happened, why there were no investigations, it opens everything up.
ROLLINS: That's why I think if you get a good federal judge, typically a woman, he could probably get them through or a prosecuting attorney, you know, one of these U.S. attorneys that basically is reputable.
STEVE MOORE, THE HERITAGE FONDATION: You know, a big complaint about Eric Holder has been that he's been one of the most partisan attorney generals in this country's history. Now there have been partisan attorney generals. But you mentioned the key fact that the major scandals -- Benghazi, the IRS scandal and others, Eric Holder has done nothing to investigate these.
Meanwhile, he sort of elevated the race issue, which I think has been a mistake. We're supposed to be a post racial society with President Obama being in the White House. But the high profile cases that he's taken up, Maria, have almost all have the central theme of race.
BARTIROMO: Absolutely.
JUDITH MILLER, JOURNALIST: Yeah, but I think what he's done in the area of voting rights and what he's done in the area of civil rights, the cases that he's brought have been a very important legacy and the president is going to be hesitant to deviate from that legacy.
On the other hand, the idea that Al Aharpton is now advising the president on a successor, I think, should make us all nervous.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: I agree with that. I certainly agree with that. And look, I just think if the president wants his last two years in office to be productive, he has to stop veering so far to the left. Why not choose an attorney general that has 100 to 0 vote, someone like a federal judge that would have broad-based support?
But that simply hasn't been the modus operandi of this president
BARTIROMO: But, you know, push -- getting Eric Holder to leave now weeks before the mid-terms, I mean, what's the rush? It has to be that he wants to push somebody else in.
Let's go through some names that you think perhaps could take over.
ROLLINS: There's a lot of political names, the governor of Massachusetts and others. I don't think if they throw another political person in there they will have a real war. I think they really have to find someone reputable. None of the people that I've seen listed so far to me are going to be controversy free.
MILLER: Well, but someone like Janet Nepolitano I think would have an easier time in -- you know, with the congress.
But I don't see anyone. I see a hard road ahead no matter what happens, because I don't think -- why should a Republican congress give him what he wants?
ROLLINS: Homeland security is probably the most ill-run -- poorly run agency in--
MILLER: But it's hard to go up against a woman with her background and experience.
BARTIROMO: Wow. It's true, though, about Homeland Security.
What about Bharara who has also been named -- talked about?
ROLLINS: He has got a good reputation. I mean, I think he's -- you know, the best thing he can do is he indicts Cuomo here he'll basically get my vote. I don't have a vote.
MILLER: Very tough on terrorism in New York, continuing this tradition in the city, going after terrorist cases. Very strong reputation there.
Less so on some of the financial matters, but more so than what Eric Holder has done. I mean, Eric Holder did not bring anyone to be held accountable for grand disaster at the mortgage financing mess.
MOORE: In a lame duck, you mentioned the possibility of a lame duck appointment. I think that would be a disaster quite frankly for this president. It would only increase the partisan nature of this appointment.
And you know you've had so many judges already that have been appointed during lame duck appointments that I just think it would be a setback for this president.
Again, why not find someone who the vast majority of Americans can agree with?
BARTIROMO: Right.
Well, you made a good point in terms of all of the scandals that have occurred, whether it be Benghazi, IRS, you mentioned others in terms of getting someone there independent who will come up and ask for--
MOORE: I kind of doubt that's going to happen quite frankly. I'm not so sure they want to know the answer to those questions.
ROLLINS: Well, Holder has been the protector of this administration's bad record. And I think to a certain extent they may want to do someone like that. He's probably the most political attorney general since John Mitchell and we remember what happened to John Mitchell's client and John Mitchell.
So I think at the end of the day, someone really reputable. Let's move on to other things, because the president is going to have a tough enough time in the last two years of this administration.
MILLER: Let's hope it has -- it's someone who has a better attitude towards the press and doesn't want an open leak investigations hither and there.
BARTIROMO: No, that's a good point.
All right, let's get a good look at what is coming up on media buzz and check in with Howard Kurtz -- Howie.
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, MEDIA BUZZ: Maria, we'll look at everything from the coverage of Barack Osbama as a war president to a major screw up at the Daily Show. We're also going to focus on Lois Lerner who gave a big interview to Politico in which she talked about everything except the IRS scandal, which is the only reason anyone would want to hear from her. And so the question is do you sit down with somebody like Lois Lerner, essentially allow her to take the fifth while painting a fairly sympathetic portrait of her as somebody whose life has been ruined, but she still won't answer the questions.
BARTIROMO: Howie, that really disappointed me, because I do like Politico. But to have Lois Lerner on and ask her about everything except the IRS and about her e-mails, what do they talk about? I mean, seriously, Howie, what do they talk about, tax inversions?
KURTZ: No. They talked about how she's spending a lot of the money on legal fees and how she's having a very difficult time, but that was the deal. She sat there with her lawyers and she wouldn't talk about the scandal which of course is what makes her newsworthy in the first place.
BARTIROMO: My producer said to me earlier -- well, maybe they asked him, "Boxers or briefs?" You know, what...
(LAUGHTER)
Thanks, Howie. We'll be there in 20 minutes, watching your show.
(LAUGHTER)
KURTZ: Thanks, Maria.
BARTIROMO: It was a huge foreign policy week, meanwhile, for President Obama, who worked to rally nations across the world against ISIS, many countries agreeing to join the U.S.-led coalition. But some notable ones are not on board. Who and why? We're looking ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures," next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. President Obama dealing with several major international issues, such as ISIS, Ukraine, the outbreak of Ebola. How effective has the president's foreign policy been?
We bring back our panel, Ed Rollins, Judy Miller, Steve Moore.
Big week for the president, with his U.N. speech. How do you characterize this week?
ROLLINS: Well, I think he stepped all over the environmental -- this was supposed to be the environmental week and, you know, starting the ISIS, all we talked about was terrorism and what's going on there. And I think, to a certain extent, I was always trained you never fight on two fronts at once. He clearly has now made everybody panicky about terrorism. And I think this, at the end of the day, the ISIS thing is not going to basically be successful unless we put troops on the ground.
MOORE: You know, you're so right. And the thing that shocked me about this week was the climate change speech. Because here we have a war on terrorism going on. We have ISIS. We've got, you know, Ukraine, Russia, all this international turmoil; we've got Ebola. And the president chooses this moment to talk about climate change. And I called this, sort of, "climate change derangement syndrome" that's going on in the left in this country.
And the reason it's important from a foreign policy perspective is, look, it almost reduces the impact that he's not serious about taking on the terrorist incidents when he's talking about something that is, you know, stopping the rise of the oceans.
BARTIROMO: Yeah. Judy?
MILLER: I really disagree, Steve. I think that what the president did this week was really remarkable in that he totally reversed himself rhetorically, if not in terms of action yet. He is now the wartime president. He was sounding every bit like George W. Bush. And I know that just drives the left wing crazy, but you look at the program that he laid out, the 60 members of the coalition, the financial war against ISIS, the media war against ISIS, now the bombing of Syria. The tide of war is no longer receding. This guy has totally changed his tune.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: Except that he's a reluctant warrior...
(CROSSTALK)
ROLLINS: Except every serious military leader, on the record or off the record, has said we cannot do it with air power. Petraeus said months ago we can't be Iraq's air force. That's what we're doing.
BARTIROMO: Yeah.
ROLLINS: And I think all these people that are signing up saying we're going to march up there -- there's no troops coming. The one female pilot from Saudi Arabia is flying...
MILLER: No, United Arab Emirates.
ROLLINS: United Arab Emirates.
BARTIROMO: After the midterm elections -- does the no-boots-on-the- ground statement go away after the midterms?
MILLER: Of course. It has to, because everyone agrees.
MOORE: Every general says it has to.
BARTIROMO: Every general. I mean, when you -- when you hear General Petraeus say it, it...
MILLER: Whether or not you call them advisers or special forces or sandals, I don't care, but you're going to have to increase the number of Americans there. Teaching this now discredited, demoralized Iraqi army how to take back their territory is the problem.
MOORE: You know, but the issue you raised, though, is an important one. Does this president have his heart in this battle? And I'm not entirely convinced he is, in the way that Ronald Reagan did in Grenada and other places. And I think that degrades his ability to rally international countries behind us.
Because every time he set a line in the sand, Putin and others walk over the line and there's no penalty.
BARTIROMO: All right. Let me get your take on what's going on in Hong Kong and what that is telling us about, really, a new -- a new normal for the world.
ROLLINS: This would be a big front-and-center story if it wasn't for all the other stuff going on. I mean, this is not Tiananmen Square. I mean, the Chinese are cracking down on free speech. They're going to choose the elected people who can run there. And Hong Kong was always viewed as the first road to real democracy in China. And I think it's a giant, giant step backwards, and I think it's something we have to watch very carefully.
BARTIROMO: All right. Next up on the panel, the fourth quarter kicks off this Wednesday. Should we believe that 4.6 percent GDP number going into the end of the year with the biggest month for retail spending about to strike? Our panel weighs in, as we kick off a new quarter and look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. Our panel is with me, Ed Rollins, Judy Miller, Steve Moore. The fourth quarter of the year -- wow -- kicks off on Wednesday. Going into the quarter, we had a very strong GDP number, 4.6 percent. What are the important elements in the next three months for the fourth quarter, Ed Rollins?
ROLLINS: I think -- I think the jobs numbers are important. I don't think they're creating new kinds of jobs. I don't think the jobs are as good as the old jobs. I was a little shocked by the stock market drop earlier this week, by a little -- off in the tech industry. And that just shows there's some volatility there.
BARTIROMO: Well, it's an interesting comment that you make. Because we are seeing about 200,000-plus jobs created every month. But they're not high-paying jobs. The quality of the jobs are being questioned.
ROLLINS: And they're not the same jobs that were replaced. And the people that are going back are not getting better money.
MILLER: They're actually part-time jobs, which is part of the problem. Because you have to have two people -- two people, you know, to do one person's -- it's just -- the productivity increases that we expect, and the fact that Americans still feel their lives are not improving, this is really dragging the economy.
MOORE: It's been a really weird expansion. Because -- and, by the way, I do think the economy is picking up. I think we're going to get some good numbers next week on jobs. You know, I was in Houston and Pittsburgh this week, two cities that are just booming.
BARTIROMO: Well, I know what you saw in Houston. I was in Dallas last week and just blown away.
MOORE: Amazing what's happening. And so you've got some states, as you talked about with Richard Fisher, that are just booming today. But I would say a couple things. One is corporate profits are very good. The dollar is surging. I think jobs are picking up. But the problem with the economy has been, you know, as you just said, that the average worker still isn't feeling it. Five and a half years into a recovery...
BARTIROMO: That's absolutely right.
MOORE: You know, the amazing thing, Maria, the average family in the United States in this recovery has lost $1,500 of income. That's the political problem for the Democrats, is people feel like there's a squeeze on the middle class.
BARTIROMO: How does that translate going into the midterms?
ROLLINS: I think the midterms are pretty much set. I think we're going to win the Senate. I think we've got some excellent governor's races, which you're going to talk about. I think we're going to pick up some House seats. I think it's going to be a good election for Republicans, with a low turnout.
BARTIROMO: Low turnout?
It's never high turnout in the midterms.
ROLLINS: It's 50 million -- it's always 50 million fewer than in the presidential election.
MOORE: Thirty-six governor's races this year.
BARTIROMO: Thirty-six?
MOORE: When you talk to political people, they're all talking about the Senate races. The Senate races are not nearly as important as these -- Florida, California, New York, my home state of Illinois, Connecticut. You're going to see some big changes in governors offices. And you're -- Republicans have a lot of tough holds in states like Kansas and states like Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania. So it's going to be -- those are the races people should be paying attention to because these governors have a huge impact on the economy.
BARTIROMO: In terms of the economy, I'm also worried about Europe and the drag of Europe...
MOORE: Yes.
MILLER: ... and the fact that there is zero growth projected for Russia. And what's going to happen when these sanctions really kick in to Russia and to Europe? Will they drag us down?
BARTIROMO: Well, it's a good point because, you know, Garry Kasparov, on the show earlier, basically saying, look, winter is coming. The bottom line is, it's getting colder. Europe needs that oil and gas from Russia.
MOORE: We've got to export it, Maria. I mean, this is, like, a no- brainer. We're producing so much oil and gas in this country. If we start exporting our natural gas, it's good for our economy; it helps Europe and also reduces the sway that Putin has over Western Europe. So it's a no- brainer. Why...
BARTIROMO: Even Larry Summers, on the show last week, was talking so much about the energy revolution in the United States. And we need to capitalize on it.
MOORE: In five years, we can be energy independent. Amazing.
BARTIROMO: That is the expectation.
All right. We'll come right back with the one thing to watch for the week ahead from our panel. That, on "Sunday Morning Futures." Stay with us for our one thing, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: We're back with our panel. What is the one big thing to watch for this week?
Steve Moore, what's your one thing?
MOORE: The scuttlebutt in Washington is the Republicans might finally come up with some kind of agenda for what they would do if they took control of the Congress, the House and Senate. How about an energy plan, Keystone Pipeline, corporate tax reform. Republicans have to give Americans a reason why they would vote for them.
BARTIROMO: Seems like an easy list: energy reform, tax reform, immigration reform.
MOORE: It doesn't exist right now. There's a lot of talk. We may see that list, a new Contract With America.
BARTIROMO: Judy?
MILLER: I'm watching Major Mariam Al Mansouri, who -- the UAE pilot who took out 12 refineries in Syria flying an F-16. I want to see if she can get Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to man up and join the coalition.
BARTIROMO: Wow.
(LAUGHTER)
That's important.
MILLER: It is.
ROLLINS: I'm watching Afghanistan. Afghanistan has now put this crazy coalition together where the loser is the -- is like the chief of staff to the president.
It was announced today they can't pay their civilian workforce. They're asking the U.S. for $535 million in emergency aid to keep them alive and well between now and the end of the year. I think that thing has the potential of falling apart.
BARTIROMO: All right. Ordinarily, I would say my one thing is the jobs numbers out next Friday. We need 200,000-plus jobs. But this week I'm going to choose -- I'm watching, will the money follow Bill Gross? Bill Gross has left the $2 billion bond fund, Pimco, and he went -- he's going to Janus. He starts tomorrow at Janus.
Are a lot of money managers to going to follow and put their money in Janus? That's why the stock traded up?
MOORE: Stock is up on Janus, big time.
BARTIROMO: Yeah, we'll see about that. So we're watching all of the above.
Thanks to our panel for joining us, as usual. Great to see you, Steve Moore, Judy Miller, Ed Rollins. We'll see you soon.
That will do it for "Sunday Morning Futures." I'm Maria Bartiromo. Thanks for being with us. I'll be back tomorrow morning on "Opening Bell" at 9 a.m. Eastern on the Fox Business Network. Take a look at where to find the Fox Business Network on your cable network or on your satellite provider. There are the channels. You can also click on "Channel Finder" at foxbusiness.com. Thanks for being here. Have a wonderful Sunday, everybody.
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