MARIA-03
Growth Slower than Expected; Travel Stocks Down Following Brussels Attacks - Part 2>
Ling Kent>
Jeff Flock, Scott Keogh>
Industry; Belgium; Donald Trump; Ted Cruz; Jeb Bush; U.S. State Department;
Mason Wells; Barack Obama; Hillary Clinton; Arizona >
And despite the terrorist attack in Belgium earlier, and I'm warning, you know, the President decided to attend a Major League Baseball exhibition game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team.
Saying during an interview with "Espn" that "the whole premise of terrorism is to try to disrupt people's ordinary lives".
And he shared a laugh at the game with former New York Yankee's captain Derek Jeter and doing something we don't see all the time, the wave alongside Cuban President Raul Castro.
All right, Maria, so a lot of headlines crossing out of Brussels, we're continuing to follow developments there.
And of course, the President today is in Argentina, we'll see what he does today. Back to you --
BARTIROMO: All right, Cheryl, thanks very much. Party frontrunners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton meanwhile scored big wins in the state of Arizona last night.
Voter sentiment being swayed by the terrorists attacks in Brussels hours before voters went to the polls.
Peter Barnes is on the ground in Arizona right now with the details. Peter, good morning to you.
PETER BARNES, FOX BUSINESS: Well, hey, good morning, Maria. We spent all day yesterday in a polling place here in Tempe, Arizona.
And if the issue of border security and immigration were on voters' mind, the attacks in Brussels put an exclamation point on the issues for voters. We talked to several of them about it, here is what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: For Trump. But the attacks in Belgium this morning reaffirmed (INAUDIBLE)
UNINDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think of it right away because of our security measures here, but I do think it's something that any candidate should take into account.
UNINDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Clintons have been in politics, foreign policy since I was, you know, first able to vote and I really think that that kind of experience and being just involved with politics for that long makes them tried and true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNES: And you probably also heard that the lines at the polling places here in the Phoenix area and around the state were very, very long. Turns out at least here in the Phoenix area, voting officials have cut back the number of polling places. At the same time they were predicting record turnouts because of the excitement over this race, the issues involved, and all the candidates coming here. As a result, a lot of folks had to wait two and three hours to get to vote, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Alright, Peter, thank you so much, Peter Barnes, with the latest there. Joining us right now is Republican pollster and Fox News contributor, Frank Luntz. Frank, good to see you. What about that? What Peter was telling us, in terms of the voter turnout, and the fact that they weren't the ballots that people expected?
FRANK LUNTZ, REPUBLICAN POLLSTER: How ridiculous.
BARTIROMO: Yeah
LUNTZ: It's pathetic. Look, we need to start calling them Trump Democrats because it's the same thing as Ronald Reagan. These are people who do not identify with the GOP, may not even call themselves conservative. But they like what Trump is saying, and they like how he says it. It's about 15 percent of the Republican primary vote. It's about 6-7 percent of the electorate, and it can make a difference. But the one thing you've got to understand about Trump Democrats is when they vote for the senate, they vote for the house, and everything else, they're still Democrats, and there is the chance that the Republicans are actually nominating the person that could actually cost them the senate and even the house as a result.
BARTIROMO: Wow, that's big news.
LUNTZ: We've been doing focus groups across the country. We've done about 50 of them since August, and listening to that anger that's also, want to correct a misnomer, it's not anger it's betrayal. They believe to use Obama's language that if you work hard and played by the rules you can get ahead. During their 50's and 60's, they're so far behind, they're still in debt. You now have parents who are paying their own college loans and their kids' college loans at the same time, and they don't think that they'll ever get out of it.
DAGEN MCDOWELL, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK: If you're Donald Trump, how do you connect though with younger people, women, Latinos, we're talking about the speech he gave at AIPAC? It was a scripted speech, but again, do you need to see more of that, more of a controlled conversation where he's parsed a little bit or not? I don't know.
LUNTZ: Look, he's done so well by doing the exact opposite of what people like me would have recommended to him, and he's really his own advisor. He's telling the truth when he says that. The problem is that what it takes to win the Republican nomination is different than what it takes to win the general election because the electorate is different. It's not as ideological, it's much more character based. And Donald Trump has to prove that not only is he angry, not only will he shake things up, he has to move prove he's presidential. They have to see him delivering the state of the union address.
BARTIROMO: He also has to prove that he's actually has a plan to defeat ISIS, right? I mean the number of policy -- foreign policy executive sent that letter saying, look, we're questioning even if the military will take, you know, take orders from him.
LUNTZ: How easy is this? You have Hillary Clinton who has jumped on Barack Obama's agenda, basically given him a bear hug, and with each of these examples of terrorism it is clear that the Obama strategy isn't working. So, this should be one of the most easy elections for the Republicans, and yet he is behind six or seven points in almost every survey.
MCDOWELL: But, his policies sound just to much like Barack Obama. If you actually list what Donald Trump has said about the U.S. shouldn't be the world's policeman, and kind of removing ourselves from what, the Middle East, from Asia, even from NATO, in terms of funding there, it sounds like Obama.
LUNTZ: Mark my words, if there's a terrorist attack on our soil, you'll see Trump's numbers go up, four, five, six points because everything he's saying is about protecting this country. It may not be helpful to Europe, which is frightening to all of us here, but it's about protecting this country and at least he's talking about it.
BARTIROMO: By the way, we were just talking about an article, I know you've got to get in him, Michael. But we were just talking an article that Dagen and I keep retweeting, and this is an article from the New York Times in January. And here's the headline of the story, OK, Donald Trump finds a new city to insult, Brussels. He called it. He has been talking about radicalization in Brussels. I mean, so it's hard to say he hasn't been spot on with some of the issues that he's raised.
LUNTZ: Not only he's been spot on, but he's done it in a way that the public believes him. He says what he means, he means what he says, he speaks it in such plain English.
BARTIROMO: Yeah.
LUNTZ: . that the intellectuals can't stand it, so I get that. And I actually enjoy it to some degree.
ARTHUR AIDALA, FOX NEWS CHANNEL LEGAL ANALYST: Everyone enjoys it. I mean he made it a spectator sport that you can't turn it off sometimes. I just want to ask you because it's you area of expertise, the 6 to 7 points that he's behind in march, I mean that's a margin that can be made up between now and November, correct?
LUNTZ: But you name the people. He's doing worse than most Republicans do among Latinos. He's doing worse among women, and he's doing worse among voters 18 to 29.
BARTIROMO: But the Democratic vote offsets that, right, because he's getting Dems.
LUNTZ: That's the problem is doesn't offset it enough.
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAEL BLOCK, RHINO TRADING PARTNERS CHIEF STRATEGIST: You know Frank, the GOP platform obviously is social conservativism, and Ted Cruz who just came on and I thought spoke really well is extremely tied to that. That perhaps might be a barrier to getting centrist to vote GOP in November. Do you think that Donald sees that and will that be something, you know, deemphasize or toned down in general election for November versus now?
LUNTZ: I have no idea how he's going to do a platform. So let's be blunt because no one is been talking about this, he doesn't know how to run a convention, his people never put together a nationwide campaign. You're going to need a billion dollars for the Republican national committee, the Democrats will have it, and he talks about self-funding himself.
BARTIROMO: He doesn't have the liquidity for that.
LUNTZ: And the party has to do so many of these things that he has no idea, his team has no idea. You guys have to do your show in Cleveland and you want to do it exactly one block away because you'll be surrounded by hell, and it will be a story that you'll tell your children and your grandchildren how you got hit in the head with a tomato because you were there in Cleveland. You've got to see it. It's going to be one hell of a show.
BARTIROMO: So what will a contested convention look like? Or do you think, for example, Ted Cruz who was just sitting here a minute ago, can actually get the number of delegate votes going into the convention.
LUNTZ: He's half right. And by the way, the questions you asked him were perfect because it's exactly what voters want to know. He can prevent Trump from getting the majority, but he can't get there himself. He is too far behind. Just yesterday, great example is, yeah, he went to Utah overwhelmingly, but Trump still picks up more delegates in Arizona. The math doesn't work and Kasich is not strong enough. It actually might have been advantageous if Rubio stayed in and collected a few delegates here and there. But I'm not convinced that Trump gets to the number that he needs before convention day.
MCDOWELL: Here's the problem, should he at least change and start running, and talking direct people as if he is the nominee now. So he begins to communicate differently with people.
LUNTZ: I don't know if he can. I mean the great thing about him.
BARTIROMO: He is who he is.
LUNTZ: He is who he is.
MCDOWELL: Listen, he tweet -- he was the first presidential candidate yesterday morning to at least respond to the Brussels attack. And it was a short tweet with a misspelling in it. It is 7 o'clock in the morning.
BARTIROMO: But he took it back and he did it again and spelled it right.
MCDOWELL: . but Kasich and Cruz, well prepared parsed carefully worded statements.
LUNTZ: Once again, it works perfectly in a primary situation. It is much different in the general election.
BLOCK: Let's be honest thought like a few months ago everyone would have said, oh, he doesn't have the right apparatus to get this done. Hey, he's winning.
LUNTZ: Yeah, I agree.
BLOCK: Can that translate in November? Can that translate to a convention? This is a wild card, but what about November? Why can't it translate?
LUNTZ: How can I buy the pay-per-view rights for the debates?
BLOCK: Sure.
LUNTZ: It's going to be nationwide, more people are going to watch it nationwide, but globally they'll watch the Super Bowl.
BARTIROMO: Right.
LUNTZ: If I could just get one dollar per global viewing.
BARTIROMO: That's a rewind, too.
MCDOWELL: I have one quick question.
BARTIROMO: Go ahead.
MCDOWELL: So lying Ted, little Marco, how does he brand in two words Hillary Clinton without seeming like he's attacking her as a woman. What can he call her?
BARTIROMO: That's going to be the question.
(CROSSTALK)
LUNTZ: It's not two words. He used a line which is really ugly and it's funny, but ugly, and he said publicly and I'll say it here.
BARTIROMO: Do it.
LUNTZ: I have permission. If he can't -- if she can't satisfy her husband, how can she satisfy the country? It is what -- you gave me permission.
BARTIROMO: That's not going to work. That's not going to work.
LUNTZ: But that's what you're going to get in the debates. You're going to get that kind of, oh, my God, I can't believe he said it. Make no mistake
BARTIROMO: Not the FBI investigation, not the charitable foundation?
LUNTZ: No, he already talked about the male anatomy. You think he's going to hold up against her? No way, and that's why everyone is going to watch, and how do the five of us get ownership of pay-per-view?
(LAUGHTER)
LUNTZ: You will not have to be on Fox -- I mean I may not be on fox ever again. But we will not to be if we own that.
BARTIROMO: Unbelievable, Frank, always a pleasure.
LUNTZ: Thank you.
LUNTZ: Always fantastic info from Frank Luntz there. Up next, we'll bring you the very latest in the privacy fight between Apple and the FBI, what it means for the future for the technology giant. Then fans maybe raving about Nike's brand new self-lacing sneakers, but investors aren't so thrilled with the latest quarterly numbers. We'll bring you all the details there. Back in a minute, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. The iPhone encryption fight between Apple and the FBI is over for now. The technology giant looking to have won the battle, but it may not have won the war, Jo Ling Kent, on those details, Jo.
JO LING KENT, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK: Good morning, Maria. The war certainly isn't even close to being over. The fight for now is on ice, but is expected to continue. The department of justice still not revealing which third party has been able to unlock the iPhone 5c used by Syed Farook, one of the terrorist in the San Bernardino shooting. Apple has not further comment about the case, there is a Reuters report saying an Israeli company has been able to help the FBI on this, but Apple again, not saying on this issue. But sources asking us to be cited Apple lawyers in fact, they told L.A. Times, they never called their software unbreakable. Even though the hearing is canceled for now, it may be rescheduled after what Americans are thinking on this issue. A new Reuters poll shows that 60 percent of respondent say they agreed or strongly agreed that they trust Apple to protect their data from hackers, only one in ten says that encryption, security codes, pass codes, and all that protection was the most important feature when they go out to purchase a phone. So the business model idea, that argument is called into question with this poll.
BARTIROMO: This whole thing, that's why they have to put up the fight that they did, right, Michael, in terms of the FBI. So that people believe that in fact, they have this privacy. That's what they it for.
BLOCK: Well, they put on quite a show, they seems like heroes, everyone likes to, you know, champion civil liberties, and that's great, is part of what this country is founded upon. What's interesting, Jo, as you mention is sources with an Apple, some of their council is back tracking a little bit, doing a little tap dance here, rather than acting all indignant that someone would dare break their phones, is that accurate?
KENT: Well, it seems that the ongoing -- the tone of Apple's counsel, the attorneys that work with them is very much that the FBI continues to blindside them and surprise them with different moves, including this sudden source that could possibly hack into their phone, and then stepping away from this hearing and vacating that.
MCDOWELL: Well, Apple is the one that stopped working with the FBI, all of the sudden threw their hands up at the end of the year, when they helped extract data from at least 70 phones in the past. And Apple just essentially stopped working with the FBI and now they're crying.
BARTIROMO: Do we know why they did that, Dagen?
MCDOWELL: . now they're crying foul. I don't know. I can guess why.
BARTIROMO: Yeah.
MCDOWELL: . I can guess that with this request they said from a legal perspective, you can't follow through with this because of what they're asking to do with writing the special software because.
KENT: That's exactly what the lawyers have told them.
CROSSTALK)
MCDOWELL: . it's a precedent that they're going to ask to do this in the future. This is not resolved not by any stretch of the imagination unless congress acts, it's going to be bought in the court.
KENT: And actually, I caught up with CEO Tim Cook in the hallways at Apple's headquarters, and I asked him how he's feeling about this overall battle. I said, are you worried, are you nervous about the business model, and he held me that he's optimistic.
MCDOWELL: You better come out with a better phone than the 6's.
BLOCK: He said, hey, you (INAUDBLE)
MCDOWELL: Right. He'll be, I'll Worry about the phone and not fighting the government.
BARTIROMO: All right, Jo. Thank you so much, Jo Ling Kent. Coming up next, the New York auto show coming to town showing all the luxurious new cars out on the market, we'll take you there live right after this break. Check that one out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. The world's automakers unveiling their most luxurious and expensive offerings at the New York auto show this week. Jeff Flock is live at the Javits Center, standing by with Audi of America president, Scott Keogh, will join us for a first on Fox interview, over to you, Jeff.
JEFF FLOCK, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK: First on Fox interview and a first on Fox look at perhaps the sexiest car of the show. That is the R8 Spyder, wow, that's quite a car. But, Scott, I've got to ask you first, I want to show people up close and personal that first, but given this terror situation right now, you are well-positioned, but that's got to throw some fear into you about the market going forward?
SCOTT KEOGH, AUDI AMERICA PRESIDENT: Look, the first thing for me is that I have to look at the humanity aspect of it before the business portion of it, you know. We have a factory there in Brussels, I had a brother-in-law who is in the city who works for another company, who was there, so our thoughts obviously are with the people, and with, obviously, the, you know, the terrible situation there. In terms of business, certainly, when there's disruption like this, clearly, it's not good for business, but that's within our thoughts. In our thoughts is the humanity.
FLOCK: That's your headline right now. Well, speaking of the headline of the show, maybe Ben comes out here and gives you, Maria, a better look at this. This is a super car. The R8 has a great history, we see its brother over there, older brother, I guess.
KEOGH: That's the crazy brother.
FLOCK: . the racing version of this. And this is the one that I could -- well, not I, but someone like me with money could buy.
KEOGH: Well, yes, you could. You know, when you introduce the car, you said perhaps the most stunning car of the show, I just like they get rid of perhaps. I think this is the most stunning car, V10 engine, made engine super car, 540 horsepower. And you're exactly right, this car gets its DNA from the race car, and that very car as you know.
FLOCK: Yeah, maybe better, sees the race car the green one.
KEOGH: . we've just won the 24 hours of Daytona, same exact engine in both cars, and so we have racing credibility.
FLOCK: You've got to feel good about this market going forward for you to invest the kind of money in the development of this vehicle, correct?
KEOGH: We do, and look, brands need a halo car. And if you look at the R8 when we launched the first generation car way back in 2007 and 2008, and you look where the Audi brand was then and where it is now, this car really sent the north star for all of Audi.
FLOCK: Really quick, I asked you about terror. Does the U.S. presidential race scare you at all?
KEOGH: I'm not a politician, I'm a businessman.
FLOCK: So is it good for business?
(LAUGHTER)
KEOGH: Politics usually not, but either way it goes we're going to follow our business model, and we're going to continue to do what we do. I'm not walking into that one.
FLOCK: I have to try it, Maria, but Scott too sharp for me, long island boy, too sharp for me.
BARTIROMO: Well, he's obviously enjoying one of the better parts of the economy, we'll see if, you know, that's impacted by the presidential election, but the auto sector on fire, great cars there and we appreciate it.
FLOCK: So far.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much, Jeff, we will see you later. We're watching some stocks on the move this morning ahead of the open. Nike set to open down 5 percent, that will shave about 21 points off the Dow Industrials when they -- when trading gets started. Nike under pressure this morning after reporting earnings after the close last night, they posted a 20 percent increase in profits, but sales growth was slower than expected, and that has the stock down 5 percent. We're watching travel stocks this morning taking a big hit yesterday following the terrorist attacks in Brussels. Shares of Royal Caribbean, Spirit Airline, Trip Advisor, Priceline, all down better than 2 percent, looking mixed ahead of the open. Let's talk market for a second here because it's a quiet week ahead of a long holiday weekend, Michael, but you got the GDP out Friday, the jobs number out on April 1st, as well as first quarter earnings season is about to begin.
BLOCK: Yeah, earning season and before that pre-announcement season coming up, you know. Nike, he had, you know, as you mentioned profits look good, sales were a little light, future sales looked actually OK, but you have an example here of a stock within a sector that's traded really well. What I'll mention about the market here, it is looking overbought. The index is looking overbought for the first time since November. That was the last top we had. I'll also point on the sentiment side the institutional investor poll was out this morning, shows the highest percentage of letter writers on stock market, bullish. The highest percentage in nine months, tends to be a contra-indicator.
BARTIROMO: Yeah, you were nodding your head, Dagen.
MCDOWELL: No, I'm just reading your mind.
BARTIROMO: OK.
MCDOWELL: . in terms of the market.
BLOCK: My apologies, my goodness.
MCDOWELL: . being over bought at this point.
BLOCK: Yeah.
BARTIROMO: Alright. We got -- well, I mentioned the first quarter earnings, really the first two weeks of April we're going to see lots of banking earnings to kick things off. Belgium officials meanwhile just wrapped up a news conference, finally an update in the investigation in yesterday's terror attack in Brussels, Cheryl Casone, now with the details there, Cheryl.
CHERYL CASONE, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK: Maria, here is what we've know right now, we've learned a few things in this press conference. First, the numbers, 31 people killed in the attack, 270 injured, and that includes, we should say here, nine Americans. The Belgian authorities are also sayings that several people possibly linked to yesterday's attack are still at large and probably still in Belgium, this coming from the press conference just moments ago, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: The experts are still carrying out an investigation, and the investigation will continue for hours and maybe for even a number of days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASONE: OK. A number of days, the Belgian federal prosecutors also uncovering a will on one of the terrorist's computers believed to be linked to the attacks. Belgium authorities confirming the two bombers were indeed brothers. Now, here's the third man wearing the white jacket on your screen, at Belgian's main airport, again, he is at large. They have reported earlier that he was arrested, that all of those reports taken back, and we should also say that the airport there is going to be closed at least until tomorrow night, Maria, as the investigation continues in Brussels, back to you.
BARTIROMO: Was there anyone detained? I mean, they're taking back the report that this third person was actually arrested, Cheryl?
CASONE: Correct, they are taking that back. So what they're saying is that people are still on the loose. They also gave us some information about the timing of the attacks at the airport, those bombs went off exactly 37 seconds apart at the airport. They also shared that with us just a few moments ago. But they're saying they're still in Belgium, which is the frightening part on all of this.
BARTIROMO: Did you say they found a will?
CASONE: Yes, on a computer, yes, of one of the suicide bombers that we saw.
BARTIROMO: So they do care about their assets, a will. They don't care about life, suicide bombers, but has a will.
CASONE: We don't know what's in it though.
AIDALA: You're looking at the wrong guy. Look at me, even though I'm a lawyer, I don't know why that guy has a will.
BARTIROMO: All right, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. I think it's fair to say we've learned a lot during this lineup of guests this morning, final thoughts here, Dagen.
MCDOWELL: Gentlemen, do not bring the wives into it, that's my advice.
BARTIROMO: That's your bottom line.
MCDOWELL: Yes, don't do it.
BARTIROMO: What do you think, Arthur.
AIDALA: Our hearts go out to the, you know, the tragedy that took place in Europe, and you have to be -- you have to say that Donald Trump is a direct recipient, positive recipient of us protecting ourselves.
BARTIROMO: So you think that Donald Trump gets the nomination is what I hear and understand.
AIDALA: I think this helps him tremendously. It brings the issue right to the forefront and for the grace of God, go us.
BARTIROMO: Michael Block, your final thought.
BLOCK: I'll bring it back to economics and the markets here, what's not mistake stock market rally with economic recovery, we're not out of the woods, there's a lot of woods to chop her.
MCDOWELL: Abacus man.
BARTIROMO: Just look to GDP, Friday, right, Dagen, what are they expecting?
BLOCK: One percent.
MCDOWELL: One percent.
BARTIROMO: One percent?
BLOCK: Yes, they vision the Q4 numbers are still have a two handle for Q1 right now, so a 2 percent, 2.1 percent, I think that's too high..
BARTIROMO: There you go.
BLOCK: . that's going to come down.
BARTIROMO: Michael Block, Dagen McDowell, Arthur Aidala, that's why she calls you Abacus man, by the way. Thank you for being with us today, we'll see you tomorrow, same time, same place. Varney & Co., begins now, let send it right over to my bud, Stuart Varney.
END
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