Rep. Scalise: Pence adds a lot to the Republican ticket
House majority whip reacts to Trump's vice presidential pick on 'Sunday Morning Futures'
This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," July 17, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning.
Final preparations underway for the Republican National Convention as Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence prepare to accept their nominations.
Hi, everyone. Welcome. I'm Maria Bartiromo. This "Sunday Morning Futures", live this morning from the Cleveland Convention Center.
We have a jam-packed program for you this morning, including RNC communications director Sean Spicer, Trump campaign finance chairman Steven Mnuchin, and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, who will address the convention tomorrow night.
We will also speak with House Majority Whip Steve Scalise coming up, about the effort by the Trump-Pence ticket to unify the party leading up to November. All for that and more as we look ahead this morning on "Sunday Morning Futures."
(MUSIC)
BARTIROMO: And the stage is set, with just about 24 hours to go until the kickoff to the 2016 Republican National Convention. With Donald Trump making it official, formally announces this weekend, Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate, telling the crowd Pence was his first choice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Indiana Governor Mike Pence is my first choice. He fights for the people, and he is going to fight for you.
GOV. MIKE PENCE, R-IND., VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is a good man, and he will make a great president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Joining me right now is Sean Spicer. He is the RNC communications director and chief strategist.
Good to see you, Sean. Thanks so much.
SEAN SPICER, RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR AND CHIEF STRATEGIST: Good morning. Welcome to Cleveland.
BARTIROMO: Oh my God. This is great.
SPICER: I know. Fox has done an amazing job with the setup. The rest of the Cleveland is ready to go. It looks amazing. The stage is set, as you mentioned. We're ready. We're fired up.
BARTIROMO: We are fired, too. And really, what I want to get at is what would be success from this convention from your standpoint?
I want to ask about Mike Pence as well, but let's talk about the convention. What do you need to see at the end of it?
SPICER: I think there are three things that I think is important. One, is I think people need to get to no know Donald Trump beyond just what they see on TV. You're going to hear from his family, from friends, from business associates, from people who worked for him from 20, 30 years. Understanding the man behind the guy that you see in TV a lot is important.
Number two, I think making sure that we draw a clear contrast between Hillary Clinton and the choice that's made and what's at stake.
And number three is I hope more people see the values and principles of the Republican Party on stage and say, I want to join that party. I think we're going to have an amazing convention and show people why we are a better alternative than the Democrats, why we stand for freedom, why we want to allow families and businesses and individuals to prosper and keep their freedom.
BARTIROMO: In terms of that platform you mentioned, I mean, is the party united on what that platform looks like? The border wall was put into the platform. So, the party is adopting Trump.
SPICER: I think what you're seeing last week between the platform and the rules is the party continuing to unify, great support for this ticket, and the Pence pick definitely solidified that heading into this key week.
BARTIROMO: What does Mike Pence bring to the ticket do you think? What is he -- what voters does he bring in? Where is this going in as a team?
SPICER: Well, I think a couple of things. Mike Pence is someone that social and physical conservatives believe in strongly and he has rock solid credentials on both. He's -- you look at the statements put out throughout Washington, praising Mike Pence as a pick. He is somebody that Donald Trump can use to get things done that's got amazing relationships in Washington. Trump is an outsider. He's someone who's made a success in business. He's coming to Washington and saying, I want to do better.
Mike Pence knows how government works and he's got a proven track record of success. So, that's important. There is a huge combination of outside success and inside success, and that's going to be just a huge tremendous asset as we roll towards November.
BARTIROMO: What about the differences in terms of trade, in terms of immigration? Have they ironed that out, are they on the same page in terms of where they want to go?
SPICER: Yes. I think, not only on the same page, but if you want everybody to be simpatico is ridiculous, right? I think what's important and what Mike Pence brings to the ticket is somebody who can tell Donald Trump, hey, this is what I think needs to happen, or this is why it needs to be tweaked. He's someone who knows Washington, who knows policy, who knows government, and I think he is able to give Donald Trump some real advice as he navigates how to get things done.
BARTIROMO: You know, it's interesting, because Trump obviously is a New York guy, has headquartered -- ran an empire, headquartered in New York, and Mike Pence is from a small, rural town in the Midwest -- totally different mentalities.
SPICER: Right, exactly. Yes, and they're both sons or grand -- whatever -- both of their grandparents were immigrants to this country, grew up in different ways, but they share a value and love for this country that is, you know, exhibited when you see them together. It's amazing.
BARTIROMO: So, what are you looking forward to most? Is it Thursday night? Is it Donald Trump's acceptance speech?
SPICER: There's no question. Thursday night is going to be --
BARTIROMO: That's the big night.
SPICER: Yes. But I think when you look at the lineup that each night is going to present, it's going to be a different convention that either party has ever had in history. There's going to be celebrity, professional athletes, business people, average every day folks, and a lot of people from the Trump family.
So, this is not going to be your daddy's convention. This is going to be a real star-studded events and I think people are going to excited. And just like we saw with the debates and with the turnouts, it's going to break all sorts of records.
BARTIROMO: Really fantastic. Well, we are looking forward to having this front seat right here. Sean, great. Good luck.
SPICER: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Sean Spicer joining us here.
And on Wednesday, the Federal Election Commission will announce June fundraising numbers for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Let's get the news on Trump first right now from Steven Mnuchin. He is Trump's 2016 national finance chairman.
Steven, thank you very much for joining us.
STEVEN MNUCHIN, TRUMP'S 2016 NATIONAL FINANCE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. It's a pleasure being here this morning and I look forward to being in Cleveland with you tomorrow.
BARTIROMO: I'm looking forward to that. I will see you in person then.
But let's talk about the numbers we'll hear about. How is fund-raising going, Steven? Because up until now, we're continuing to hear how Hillary Clinton has all this money, and Donald Trump has had some trouble.
MNUCHIN: I think we couldn't be more pleased in how fund-raising is going. We pre-released the numbers last week. And the numbers were $51 million. That includes five weeks for the Trump victory and four weeks for the Trump campaign. I think we couldn't be more happier with that.
A lot of people thought we weren't going to be able to ramp up. We literally just started at the end of May with Trump victory, and terms of online for the campaign, we literally just started it two weeks into June. I think the other thing is we have never seen a Republican candidate that has this type of response online and with small donors. And I think we're extremely pleased with over 400,000 small donors last month in just two weeks.
BARTIROMO: Yes. I mean, the fundraising report for May was pretty significant obviously. Trump raising $5.6 million in the month of May, but we're looking at Clinton at $26.4 million.
Tell us what Mike Pence does to the fund-raising ticket. Have you seen a change in terms of donors? Have you seen any difference in terms of donors going into this June report?
MNUCHIN: Let me just comment on May because May really is irrelevant. We were not fund-raising until the last week of May for Trump victory, and really didn't start the online effort until June.
Hillary Clinton has been fundraising for over 10 years. So, despite the fact we had lower numbers, if you look at them on an absolute basis, people were blown away, and, you know, as we've said all along, we're not going to need to spend nearly as much money as she is spending on this campaign.
And in terms of Pence, we couldn't be happier. I mean, I think he is an incredible addition to the ticket. Donald has said all along, he wants a partner in this who will help govern. This is a person who has had tremendous experience not only as a governor and in Congress, and he has tremendous respect out of Washington. So, I think he is going to be another terrific addition for us.
BARTIROMO: So what does he do? I was reading a story that given the rules, that there are some donors who may want to give more, but can't because they are already dealing with him in terms of the pension fund of Indiana. Does Mike Pence change the dynamics in anyway in terms of fund- raising this?
MNUCHIN: I think it's only positive. There are certain issues, and it's a small number of people that will be impacted by that, and the campaign rules are very straightforward as they should be, to make sure there aren't conflicts. And we've said all along, this is a campaign that there're going to be no pay to play, there's going to be no buying influence. This is all about people who want to support this.
We have had tremendous input from people who haven't been traditional Republican donors in the past, and support from the traditional Republican donors and people are on the sidelines with Pence on the ticket will be thrilled and will part of this.
BARTIROMO: What happens after the convention? Once the convention is over on Friday morning, when we have heard the acceptance speech and all of the speakers, does that ramp up the fund-raising? Is that where the big work takes place? Tell us about the convention's impact.
MNUCHIN: Well, first of all, I think this convention is going to be the most exciting thing people have ever seen. This is going to be the Super Bowl of conventions. And I think that, you know, people know Donald Trump, but people are going to see this ticket and will be thrilled coming out of this convention and understanding the issues.
In terms of the fundraising, I mean, we have a two-tiered approach. The majority of our fundraising is with the RNC, and Donald has said all along, our focus is to fundraise with the RNC not only to help him, but to help the rest of the party. We're focused on spending money on the ground campaign and I think we'll have the money do that, and the RNC has done a tremendous job building the ground organization.
This will be a focus, and there will be a significant online focus that will help the campaign for small donors who want to help. And again, I think it's not just the money, it's the incredible support we are getting across the country. A lot of Bernie Sanders supporters, a lot of others, a whole group that supports the Republican Party has never seen before.
BARTIROMO: Yes. That is great. Well, the Super Bowl of conventions. I like that.
Steven, thanks very much. We will be looking forward this week. Best of luck this week. We'll see you tomorrow.
MNUCHIN: Thank you. Pleasure. Thanks a lot.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much. Steven Mnuchin there.
Senator Tom Cotton is speaking tomorrow night at the convention about a major issue on his party's platform, and he'll join me next live right here on set to tell us all about it.
Let us know what you like to hear from Senator Cotton, as well as congressman -- later on in the program when we speak with Steve Scalise, @mariabartiromo on Twitter, @sundayfutures.
Stay with us as we look ahead this morning on "Sunday Morning Futures" live from Cleveland.
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
The highly anticipated Republican National Convention starts tomorrow. That means the delegates will officially nominate their candidates for president and vice president. It includes adopting their party's platform, and among the key issues in that platform, veterans and the military. That's what Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton is slated to talk about tomorrow night.
He is one of the key speakers. He joins me right now.
Good to see you, Senator. Thanks so much for joining us.
SEN. TOM COTTON, R-ARKANSAS: Good to see you, Maria. Great to be here. Great to be in Cleveland.
BARTIROMO: Yes, you're kicking off this convention tomorrow night with your speech. Tell us what to expect.
COTTON: Well, I want to talk about the veterans and troops and how they serve us by keeping us safe and how we need to serve them better by making sure they have the money and resources necessary not to first and foremost to fight and won our country's wars, but hopefully to stop them from happening in the first place.
BARTIROMO: Why don't we have that in place already? I mean, it's been such a sad and amazing situation where our veterans are and the treatment they get when they come home.
COTTON: Yes, I just think the pace of reform at the V.A. has been much too slow. You know, we took small baby steps, created new pilot programs to give our veterans more choices in their communities two years ago, as well to allow the senior management of the V.A. to hold middle level managers accountable.
But the Obama administration simply hasn't prioritized. And then if you look at the military side, our military has faced over a trillion dollars of cuts over the last eight years, as the president has viewed the military as just another program, not the chief responsibility of the federal government.
BARTIROMO: That's quite extraordinary given the events of the day, isn't it? I mean, you've got the really the world on fire, whether I'd be what just happened in Nice or now Turkey. So, and give us your status check in terms of where we are on that front and what needs to be done?
COTTON: Well, the world has grown more dangerous over the last eight years, there's no doubt about that, that's in part because President Obama and with Secretary Clinton as his secretary of state has largely receded from the world. They have not seen as America's traditional role to try to preserve international stability and order. We don't do that because we are charitable or humanitarian, and we do it because it is in our interest, a continental nation with global interests around the world.
And the fight against the Islamic State, we have some gains in Iraq, but we haven't made any gains at all in Syria nor any gains in Libya, which Secretary Clinton helped persuade Barack Obama to launch over there in first place. So, we have to get much more aggressive in the places like Syria and Libya if we're going to stop ISIS's external attack capabilities in places like Nice or Paris, or Brussels, or here in the United States.
BARTIROMO: What do you think was behind the coup attempt in Turkey? I mean, there are stories right now in the media that Erdogan staged it himself, that, you know, there could have been, you know, efforts to stop the U.S. from air strikes against ISIS in the interim which, of course, we had to stop.
COTTON: Well, I think it's still a little too early to know all the details. But, of course, it's not a good thing when a NATO ally, the country of the second largest army in NATO after the United States has an attempted coup.
President Erdogan over the last several years, especially over the last three years, has been somewhat repressive of the courts and of the press and political opponents. I think it's a good thing that in the middle of the coup, all of his political opponents, the opposition parties opposed it, but I think it's important in the aftermath now that Turkey return to its tradition of western democracy that respects individual rights, that respects open and fair elections, and respects the results of those elections. Not that this attempted coup will used for excuse of further political crackdown.
BARTIROMO: Right, right. Do you expect Trump will increase or move to increase military spending should he win the presidency?
COTTON: I absolutely believe that Trump and the Republican Congress very early next year will substantially increase our military budget. I have had this conversation with Donald. He understands that our military has faced dramatic cuts over the last eight years, and that we need to serve our troops so they can serve us.
BARTIROMO: Right. We will leave it there. Senator, great to see you.
COTTON: Thanks, Maria.
BARTIROMO: We'll be watching your speech tomorrow night.
COTTON: Appreciate it.
BARTIROMO: Best regards for that.
Donald Trump officially introducing his running mate ahead of the Republican national convention. Our next guest, House Majority Steve Scalise reacting to the choice of Indiana Governor Michael Pence, and what that tells us about unity. He tells us what he brings to the campaign.
We're looking ahead this morning on "Sunday Morning Futures" live from the convention center of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
Back in a moment.
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
Donald Trump teaming up with Indiana Governor Mike Pence to unify the Republican Party and defeat Hillary Clinton.
My next guest served with Donald Trump's running mate in the House and he joins me right now -- Louisiana congressman and House majority whip, Steve Scalise.
Congressman, good see you. Thanks so much for joining us.
REP. STEVE SCALISE, R-LA., HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: Good to be back with you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Your reaction to Mike Pence as Donald Trump's running mate?
SCALISE: I think he adds a lot to the ticket. You know, Donald Trump has already been doing incredibly well especially when you look at the swing states that are going to really turn this election, but a lot of people said they wanted to see somebody come in that has government experience. Mike Pence, of course, is a governor with executive experience and doing well in a Midwestern state, but also served in Congress.
I served with Mike. He is a real energetic guy, one of the leading conservatives in the House when he was with us, and he is somebody that's going to help work with Congress to get this country back on track, which is so needed. Donald Trump's met with us a number of time and said he wants to work with Congress to get the economy moving again, to strengthen our defense, to make America great again. And it's going to take this kind of balance ticket. So, I think this really strengthens us and helps us unify as we go into Cleveland.
BARTIROMO: So, where are we in terms of that unification? Here we are, it is in the week of the convention. I know you're on your way here, you're going to be speaking this week.
Tell us about the party right now. Are they getting behind Donald Trump? Here we are the week of the convention. It's now or never.
SCALISE: It's, you know, look -- you look on the Democrat side and they are fighting and they haven't got an nominee of vice president yet. But if you look in the last few days, you saw more unification. Some people said they were going to go to Cleveland and turn everything upside down and try to come up with a different nominee, and you see a lot more people come together and its strength on Donald Trump as he gets ready to go now with a ticket that's going to help us unify.,
And I think everybody is recognizing what's at stake. You know, you look at Ruth Bader Ginsburg's comments the other day and it reminds everybody that the Supreme Court is up for grabs too and you need people. I mean, there was a 5-4 decision that almost took away our Second Amendment rights. You can't have one, two, three more picks on the Supreme Court go against our Second Amendment rights. All of that is at stake.
And I think it's crystallizing people and realize that we've got to unify because it's either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. We need Donald Trump to win this election to get our country moving again.
BARTIROMO: All right. Let's talk about Hillary Clinton for a moment because the House is moving now with three separate agencies trying to get those agencies to investigate Hillary Clinton. What are you trying to do? I know you did not sign that letter that some of your colleagues have sent to these agencies, but what are you hoping to achieve in terms of Hillary Clinton and its investigations around her dealings?
SCALISE: Sure. Maria, what we have been trying to do for this entire time is get the truth out there and I think Trey Gowdy and a select committee on Benghazi have done an incredible job of getting the facts out. People now know that not only Hillary Clinton wasn't focused, not one asset turned towards saving those four Americans whose lives were lost, but then she lied to Congress, she lied to the American people and keeping a private server.
And the FBI director himself laid out the case that Hillary Clinton clearly broke the law. She's never denied that. She's just celebrating the fact she got away with it because her name is Hillary Clinton. Everybody else in America would have been indicted and be facing jail time. And Hillary Clinton thinks maybe it's a good thing she got away. I think it shows the American people how rigged this system is for elites like Hillary Clinton that the rules don't apply to her that apply to everybody else.
BARTIROMO: Yes. Well, they also want this investigation around the foundation because the foundation was given money from parties that she was dealing with as secretary of state. You look at the Iranian deal with the Russians, and others. So, do you think we will see new investigations around the Clinton Foundation.
SCALISE: I think you'll see more investigations around the Clinton Foundation, because there are still some very serious questions there, but also her testimony to Congress. She was under oath when she testified before Congress and her statements there are completely contradicted by what the FBI said she did. So, clearly, perjury is something that's being looked at by the FBI now. The FBI director himself actually acknowledged he hadn't looked into that yet and when he was confronted by the facts to what she said to Congress under oath was completely contradicted by the facts that were determined by the FBI. There's more serious questions.
Again, she shouldn't be celebrating. She's got more questions to answer to the American people. It's why a lot of people don't trust her still to this day because what she has said don't mesh out with the facts that are out there.
BARTIROMO: All right. We will leave it there. Congressman, we'll be watching the convention. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
SCALISE: Looking forward to it. Thanks, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Congressman Steve Scalise there.
New details this morning on the terrorist attack in Nice, France. The new arrests and the victims still clinging for life. New York Congressman Peter King weighs in on this and the Obama administration's response.
We're looking ahead right now on "Sunday Morning Futures", live from the convention center in Cleveland. Back in a moment.
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
New details this morning in the wake of the terrorist attack in Nice, France, that claimed the lives of 84 people this week. French police announcing two more arrests this morning, as prosecutors say they have released the estranged wife of the attacker.
Meanwhile, health officials say about 85 people remained hospitalized, 18 of them in life-threatening condition, including one child.
Let's bring in New York Congressman Peter King. He is a member of the Homeland Security Committee and the chairman of subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence.
Congressman, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
REP. PETER KING, R-NEW YORK: Thank you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Your reaction to what we're dealing with at this point, whether it be Nice, Turkey now, it feels like things have obviously gotten more dangerous. What has the response been from America?
KING: I believe the president's response has been inadequate when it comes to Islamist terrorism, even going back to Orlando, the fact that he was somehow not really willing to identify this as Islamist attack, was merged in with guns, with attack on a gay club. The bottom line is, it was an attack by an ISIS supporter, someone who was radicalized by ISIS. And yet, the president always tries to somehow defuse it to spread it out.
And as far as France, again, this was an Islamist attack and the president again, the next day showed more intensity I thought defending Muslim- Americans than he was outraged about what happened in Nice. He's always one step forward and one step to the side, and again, I think this is his reluctance to go all out and identify ISIS and Islamist terrorism as being the evil in the world today.
BARTIROMO: So, you are saying right now we know that ISIS is, in fact, behind the Nice attack.
KING: Well, he was at least inspired by ISIS, and that's important, because that's not something that just happens. ISIS has really managed to find a way to radicalize people on the fringes in society. A number of these recent attacks being carried out by this type of people who are influenced by ISIS, who may not be on a radar screen, and the only way to get them on the radar screen I believe is having increased surveillance. People have radical tendencies, who might not rise to an FBI level of what a terrorist is, but nevertheless, potential terrorists, they should be watched and surveilled by local police, the FBI should hand it off to the local police and keep these investigations open.
BARTIROMO: So, Congressman, tell us how Donald Trump would be different than what we are seeing right now. I mean, you know, a lot has been said about the fact that Donald Trump he is an outsider, obviously not a politico, doesn't know his way around Washington. How will he be able to bring the goods forward to actually know what to do in national security and fighting terrorism? What do you expect?
KING: The most positive aspect is he has the right instincts. He knows that Islamist terrorism is the enemy and we have to go all out. So, for instance, as far as fighting against ISIS and Iraq and Syria, you never tell the enemy what you are not going to do. I think we need more air power and also, we have to use ground troops. We can use them in certain cases. But you don't tell the enemy what you're going to do.
I think Donald Trump he realizes that. You don't telegraph your punches. You don't tip the enemy off as to what you are going to do.
Here at home, we have to have increased surveillance. My understanding from talking with Donald Trump is he agrees with that, we have to put political correctness aside. We're not talking about violating the law or violating the Constitution. We're talking about very stepped up legal police activity at the national state and federal level. That just has to be done.
As far as advice, it's very important that Mike Pence is going to be the vice president. Mike, I served with Mike for 12 years in the House. Mike Pence was on the foreign affairs committee. He always believes in strong American defense, and stronger set of American foreign policy. He was very, very solid on the issue of homeland security.
So, I believe that right there, right there in the Oval Office with him will be Mike Pence who knows his way around Washington. Not only is he knowledgeable as far as dealing with foreign affairs and national defense, but he also knows which buttons to push on Capitol Hill, and he's extremely close with Paul Ryan, the speaker.
BARTIROMO: Yes, he has obviously been able to negotiate with both Republicans and Democrats.
KING: Yes.
BARTIROMO: So, you like the Pence pick. You think that will increase the strength on the military side.
Compare that to what we're seeing out of Clinton campaign. What would Hillary Clinton do in the face of terrorism?
KING: You know, we don't know. The reason I say that is because she sends mixed messages. Right now, from listening to her, she would be an apologist.
I mean, the other night, after the Nice bombing, the Nice attack, the first thing she said was we shouldn't get into a ground war in the Middle East. Well, no one is calling for that, but it's leading with a defeatist's tone. Telling the enemy what we're not going to do, somehow making it clear that we don't want to get engaged if we don't have to. So, that's a wrong signal.
She's been again all over the place on Syria. She's been all over the place really as far as dealing with ISIS. She has given in too much to the Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren pacifist wing of the Democratic Party. So, again, she has become so beholden to the left.
I thought for a while during the Obama administration that she was a voice for stronger policy. But as the campaign went on, she got further and further to the left and got co-opted by the Sanders left wing people.
BARTIROMO: That's right. And now, she is very tight with Elizabeth Warren. Elizabeth Warren tweets out every comment she has about what's happening on the Trump side.
Congressman, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
KING: I'm going to see you in Cleveland.
BARTIROMO: I'll see you in a few days in Cleveland. Thank you, Congressman Peter King there.
Let's get a check on what's coming up on "MediaBuzz" top of the hour. Howie Kurtz standing by, also in Cleveland.
Howie, good morning to you.
HOWARD KURTZ, MEDIA BUZZ HOST: Good morning. I can practically see you across the room, Maria.
BARTIROMO: There you are.
KURTZ: Glittering line up here to tackle some very important media questions, such as, has the coverage been very negative about how this Cleveland convention is going to unfold, perhaps setting a narrative? We'll look at the intense veepstakes coverage. Is it Pence, is it Christie? And also how the mainstream media are treating the choice of Mike Pence, and former congressman and Indiana governor, all that coming at the top of hour.
BARTIROMO: All right, Howie. We will be there. We'll see you in about 20 minutes, Howie Kurtz, with "MediaBuzz".
The terrorist attack in Nice, France, how it affects our fight against ISIS. The former assistant director of the FBI, James Kallstrom, will join us after this short break, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures".
Back in a moment.
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
The prime minister of France warning, quote, "that terrorism will be part of our daily lives for a long time." This as investigators try to find concrete signs of an ISIS link with that truck driver behind the massacre in Nice.
Joining us right now is James Kallstrom. He's former assistant director of the FBI and lead investigator into the crash of TWA Flight 800. Of course, today is 20 years from that crash.
Jim, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.
JAMES KALLSTROM, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE FBI: Hi, Maria. Nice to be with you.
BARTIROMO: Well, I guess let's start on terrorism. I mean, we heard from Jim Comey on terrorism, and now, we're hearing it will be with us. That's the way it is.
KALLSTROM: Yes, isn't that a sad reality? You know, we have to wait another seven months I guess for the right response. You know, the FBI is terribly crippled by political correctness. I'm not going to say why because I don't think we should talk about that, but it's not a good situation.
And I would love to see the FBI director go up on Capitol Hill, talk to the oversight committees, talk to the intelligence committees privately and explain to them under oath, you know, really what the problems are because they are substantial. They have to do with resources and they have to do with the terrible guidelines that the FBI operates under now that are just stupid, is the best way to put it.
I'm not talking about --
(CROSSTALK)
KALLSTROM: Excuse me?
BARTIROMO: This is a huge deal what you are saying. I mean, for the FBI to be crippled with political correctness, Jim. Explain that.
KALLSTROM: Well, you know, it's the whole government. I don't want to get into what it does, but they should be leaning forward. The FBI should be leaning forward. The FBI should be doing a lot of things the NYPD was doing because that's all changed with the new mayor. He wanting to be fancy and nice, but the FBI really can do a much better job.
They have done a good job. It's amazing under the regime that regime that manages them, the attorney general guidelines. The attorney general in my view should step down. I mean, her asking the FBI to look up whether or not it's practical to charge people under the RICO statute that climate change deniers.
I mean, that's just beyond belief, and she said equally same things about people that say things about Muslims. Does she not know about the First Amendment? And then the meeting in the tarmac in Arizona.
But I would love to see Jim Comey be more aggressive and change some of the rules on his own. Take some risk, stand up.
And believe me, the explanation of doing that, the American people will applaud if we have a little more leaning forward FBI.
BARTIROMO: You know, it's interesting because I think the world really saw this play out in real time during that testimony by Jim Comey on the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal and the fact he was very specific in terms of how careless she was, and yet at the end of the day, no charges recommended. He didn't record the conversation, the interview with Hillary Clinton. That happens on July 5th.
It wasn't on the record and it wasn't under oath. How -- is that strange? Is that customary for the FBI to interview one of the major subjects of an investigation not put them under oath and not record the conversation?
KALLSTROM: The oath part isn't that common. It's against the law to lie to the FBI anyway.
But I think the American public needs to know, what did she say? Did she take the Fifth Amendment 30 times? They said she didn't lie, but what does that mean? I mean, we have an election coming up and we need to know that.
Hillary Clinton the other day --
BARTIROMO: But don't we know that she lied to Congress? I mean, don't we know that she lied to Congress and that was under oath?
KALLSTROM: Yes, it sure looks like she lied to Congress. I would think so, absolutely. Of course, he is, I assume, being beaten down by the same political correctness that it's why homeland security doesn't work.
I mean, look what's going on there. We've got an INS and we've got a border patrol that's been told to stand down and we have a wide open border. That has not changed. We have talked about this, Maria, over and over and over again.
What is it going to take? A weapon of mass destruction going off here in the United States? We are the number one target. They are picking on the French because the French through their naivete have let so many radicals into their country and we have Donald Trump is correct.
We should not let immigrants here without some sort of background investigation. If they practice Sharia law, they should not be allowed in the United States. It absolutely, you know, does not jive with the Constitution of the United States.
BARTIROMO: Yes, any thoughts 20 years later after the TWA crash? You obviously were running the region at that time, regional director of the FBI. Does it feel like 20 years to you?
KALLSTROM: Yes. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years. It's still something that I think about quite often. I think about the parents that were left behind, the wonderful people that I met. The sorrow, just the notion of the teddy bears and the backpacks floating on the ocean and the relatives coming to see the plane and the seats that they sat in and it's just so emotional, Maria.
I'm so proud of what the FBI did, though. We really ran it to ground and it was not an act of terrorism. I would have bet my meager government pay it was, but it was not.
BARTIROMO: Yes. Jim, thanks very much. We appreciate you joining us again. We'll see you very soon, sir.
KALLSTROM: Thank you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Jim Kallstrom joining us there.
The Trump-Pence ticket, how it will play on the ticket. We're live this morning. Who is on Hillary Clinton's V.P. short list? As we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures" right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
OK. The Republican ticket is all set. Now a preview on what to expect at the GOP convention that is set to nominate Donald Trump as president and Mike Pence as vice president, Indiana governor.
We want to bring in our panel. Ed Rollins is former principal White House adviser to President Reagan, he's a Fox News political analyst. He's also the chief strategist for the Great America PAC, Donald Trump's super PAC.
Caitlin Huey-Burns is with us, Real Clear Politics national political reporter. And Jamie Weinstein is a senior writer for The Daily Caller.
Great to see you, everybody. Thanks so much for joining us.
Your reaction to Pence-Trump.
ED ROLLINS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: He's a good choice. Pence is a good choice. The critical thing is you want someone who is not going to hurt you and create controversy. He's going to help us conservatives. I think it's a good, solid choice.
BARTIROMO: Caitlin, he also brings economic savvy. He's done well in Indiana.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS, REAL CLEAR POLITICS: Right. He has. And he brings governing experience, executive experience, he has congressional relationships. You heard him applauded on Capitol Hill this week. And he really helps Trump with that immediate hurdle, which is unifying the Republican Party. You've had a lot of conservative activists who are reluctant to support Trump at this point, excited about this choice. We'll see if that holds throughout the week.
BARTIROMO: That's what we heard from Steve Scalise, Jamie, and Peter King. He also, it's not a swing state, Indiana, but he gives us that Midwest take to voter.
JAMIE WEINSTEIN, SR. WRITER, THE DAILY CALLER: You kind of feel in his gut he might have wanted Chris Christie or Newt Gingrich. But you might see with this pick he's going to have Pence unify the base, as Caitlin said. So, maybe he can move himself to the center on certain issues he moved right on during the primary.
So, Pence might be that pick where he can point to and say, conservatives, trust me -- even as he might move to the center for the general election.
ROLLINS: The good thing about him is he's grownup, you can send him out on his own airplane, travel the country, he's not going to create any controversy. This campaign is going to be about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
BARTIROMO: Well, people don't vote for a vice presidential pick, right, Ed?
ROLLINS: They don't. They sometimes vote against it. But never for it.
BARTIROMO: But here, it can be helpful.
ROLLINS: Again, the only issue, I think, talking about Indiana being a swing state, Obama did win it the first time and it went back home. My sense is you have a big Senate race in Indiana, we're going to have a new governor candidate. So, it could be a competitive state.
HUEY-BURNS: And Indiana has played a particularly important role for Donald Trump, it's kind of where he started to clinch the nomination, it's an important state for him, so he has some connections there. Interestingly, though, he doesn't have a relationship with Mike Pence. I mean, they're still trying to get to know each other, build up that chemistry. So, that will be interesting to watch as they campaign together.
WEINSTEIN: And remember, Pence didn't endorse Trump in the primary. So, that's kind of an interesting aspect.
BARTIROMO: Yes, that's true. That's interesting.
All right. So, let me show you this new poll we have out this morning and it shows still Hillary in the lead at 47 percent, but Donald Trump has been able to narrow the gap. Now, he's up to 43 percent.
ROLLINS: First of all, you shouldn't pay a whole lot of attention to summer polls. That poll was a dramatic poll the last time, she had a very big lead last time. It's now down to -- pretty much everything else is at the margin. And my sense is this is going to be a very close race, going to be come down to two or three points, and that's the way it will be the rest of the way.
BARTIROMO: Wow.
HUEY-BURNS: I agree. I do think the polls after the convention will be interesting to watch. I think that's when we'll settling down. It's been kind of a roller coaster nationally and in these battleground states. But he is proving to be competitive.
I do think we're starting to see in these polls, the effects of the FBI investigation, the effects of recent events playing a role in these tickets.
BARTIROMO: So, you think the Comey testimony, because he was so straightforward about carelessness, et cetera, even though he didn't recommend charges, you think it did hurt her?
HUEY-BURNS: Right. I think that it has an effect in these polls certainly, because the national polls taken after that recommendation was announced, we saw it tightening, and you also saw tightening in the battleground states which is where the election plays out.
BARTIROMO: What are your thoughts on a V.P. pick for Hillary?
WEINSTEIN: Well, the question is what she wants to do with the V.P. pick. Does she believe she needs to bring in those Bernie supporters? If she believes that, then she goes with someone like Elizabeth Warren. But if she thinks Donald Trump is enough to bring those left wing supporters in on its own, maybe she goes with someone kind of more steady that appeals to moderates like Tim Kaine or even Tom Vilsack, the secretary of agriculture.
BARTIROMO: Well, I'll tell you, Elizabeth Warren has been very vocal.
ROLLINS: Warren would be very good in a campaign, she would excite their base. She would be difficult to govern with, though, she's certainly be -- you don't want a vice president who's thinking about being president someday sitting across the hall from you.
HUEY-BURNS: And she has the potential to overshadow her. So, Elizabeth Warren will play a role in this campaign whether or not she's on the ticket. I think they might rather have her out campaigning for various candidates, maybe not on the ticket.
WEINSTEIN: What would be the effect of Elizabeth Warren on Wall Street money for the super PAC and places like that? Wall Street might not be as generous to Hillary Clinton's campaign if Elizabeth Warren is on the ticket.
BARTIROMO: Well, she keeps talking about breaking down the banks and holding banks to account.
All right. We want to take short break and still to come, our panel will tell us what they believe is the important thing to watch in the week ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures".
Stay with us.
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BARTIROMO: Back with our panel and looking at the one big thing to watch in the week ahead.
Ed Rollins?
ROLLINS: This is Trump's big week. He has to knock it out of this box and has to make a great television show. And he has to hope international events won't overtake it.
BARTIROMO: He says he wants it to be glitzier than past conventions.
ROLLINS: I don't know that glitz is the thing. I think substance is the thing.
BARTIROMO: Yes, for sure, substance.
Caitlin, what do you think?
HUEY-BURNS: I'm watching some of these speakers like Ted Cruz. He's going to speak at the convention. He has not endorsed Donald Trump yet. I'm interested in how he positions his time on that big stage.
BARTIROMO: Good point.
Jamie?
WEINSTEIN: I think Ted Cruz is going to position himself as Reagan '76. I think he wants to be the nominee in four years and wants to opportunity to set an ideological vision.
BARTIROMO: All right. Ed Rollins, Jamie Weinstein, Caitlin Huey-Burns, thank you so much. Great panel, you guys.
That will do it for "Sunday Morning Futures". We'll see you tomorrow morning bright and early right here. I'm Maria Bartiromo. "Mornings with Maria" on the Fox Business Network begins tomorrow at 6:00.
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