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BARTIROMO: -- Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton holding strong leads and hoping for a sweep of today's contest. Candidates going on the offensive fighting for every last delegate up for grabs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I never saw anything like it. It's pouring out of his mouth and the cameras are on him -- I don't know, look. That is not presidential.
JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't have, you know, like Danny (inaudible) behind me giving me all this money. The reason why I'm in this race is I'm the only one that beats Hillary Clinton.
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Beginning of May, the Indiana primary will have even greater impact on the direction of this country. And if and when we win, it may feature like the Indy 500, a campaign crashing and burning and catching on fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Pennsylvania the biggest prize in both sides of the race. We will take you there live coming up.
Pro-ISIS hackers releasing names and other personal information of State Department employees. Details on this new terror threat ahead.
Tom Brady sacked his four-game suspension reinstated. How much it will cost him coming up.
The price tag for the perfect baby name, $30,000. Why expectant parents are paying this money for somebody else to name their child.
Turning to market this morning, futures pointing to a gain at the opening trading. A slew of earnings out today as well as economic data.
The Dow Industrials expected to open up about 21 point right here. Nasdaq, S&P 500 also in positive territory ahead of first quarter earnings, consumer confidence, durable goods and the beginning of a two-day Federal Reserve meeting.
All of that coming up in the program this morning. With us this morning, Fox Business Network's Dagen McDowell, former senator and Donald Trump supporter, Scott Brown and Fox News contributor, Meghan McCain. Good to see you, Meghan. Thanks for joining us this morning. Did you like that pretzel?
DAGEN MCDOWELL, FOX BUSINESS: Yes, I want some mustard.
BARTIROMO: I thought for sure you are going to partake.
FORMER SENATOR SCOTT BROWN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I would have needed a beer. It's too early. I'm going to take it home to the hotel tonight.
BARTIROMO: We got a "can't miss" line-up this morning. Stay with us. Cruz campaign national spokesperson, Ron Nehring is with us. Legendary radio talk show hosts, Larry King, joins us.
Continental Resources CEO, Harold Hamm, got to get his take on oil prices these days, and Trump Organization executive vice president and Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump will join us. You don't want to miss a moment of it.
The battle for the east is underway. Polls are now open in all five states. Delegates in Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Rhode Island all up for grabs this morning and all day. The polls close at 8:00 p.m. tonight.
Donald Trump still holding a commanding lead with 118 delegates up for grabs on the GOP side today. Rick Leventhal is live in Bluebell, Pennsylvania with the latest from the other side of the aisle. Rick, good morning to you.
RICK LEVENTHAL, FOX NEWS: Good morning, Maria. Poll opened here just minutes ago at this retirement community in Bluebell and turn out expected to be strong here and across the state where as you mentioned Donald Trump expected to do very well.
But also Hillary Clinton expected to do very well today, too. This is a time in this race in this state were delegates actually matter at this point for the first time in some 40 years especially for the Republicans.
This is a close primary so only registered Democrats can vote for Hillary or Bernie, but unlike Republicans in Pennsylvania, the Democratic delegates are bound and must votes at the convention for the candidate who wins.
It looks like again Hillary will be the Democratic winner if polls and predictions are accurate, 189 Democratic delegates up for grabs in Pennsylvania today, 384 total in five states including 55 Connecticut, 21 in Delaware, 95 in Maryland and 24 in Rhode Island.
Hillary predicted to win the majority of delegates in all five states. Rhode Island could be a question mark according to some analysts, but today could be Hillary's knockout punch to Sanders and she spoke at a town hall last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I have the greatest respect for Senator Sanders, but really, what he and his supporters are now saying just doesn't add up. I have 2.7 million more votes than he has. I have more than 250 more pledged delegates.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVENTHAL: Meanwhile Senator Sanders making his final frenzy pitch for support knowing he needs to surprise some people if he's going to have any shot at the nomination. Last night, he said he was the best candidate to make progress in Washington.
As you mentioned, Maria, the polls close at 8:00 tonight. We could start seeing results in Delaware as early as 9:00 and here in Pennsylvania around 10:00 this evening.
BARTIROMO: It's going to be an exciting night, Rick. We will be watching. Thanks so much. Rick Leventhal this morning live.
Meanwhile, on the Republican side of the race, Donald Trump going on the offensive. He is criticizing the alliance between Ted Cruz and John Kasich as they try to derail Trump's path to the Republican nomination.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you collude in business or if you collude in the stock market, they put you in jail. But in politics because it is a rigged system, because it is a corrupt enterprise, in politics you are allowed to collude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Meanwhile, Ted Cruz called out Donald Trump saying that the billionaire rival is too afraid to debate him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders think enough of the voters to be willing to subject themselves to the people and have a debate and they are scheduling a second debate. Is Donald here in the background?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: I want to bring in Cruz campaign national spokesperson, Ron Nehring with us this morning. Ron, good to see you, sir. Thanks so much for joining us.
RON NEHRING, CRUZ CAMPAIGN NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: You bet, good morning.
BARTIROMO: There has been a lot of debates, a lot of town halls, what specifically does Senator Cruz want to get out of another debate, one-on- one with Donald Trump?
NEHRING: I think the nature of the campaign has change, you know. We started with 17 candidates in this very exciting Republican fight for the Republican nomination. The discussion has changed. It is now narrowed down a great deal.
We would love to have a one-on-one debate with Donald Trump where, you know, voters are treated to an amount of depth in terms of the issues that we haven't seen before.
I mean, earlier debates where you have 10 more people upon the stage, this 30-second responses. That sound bites is not really getting to the heart of these issues that are so important right now.
So that we put the country on a path to recovery after seven years of very liberal Democratic leadership.
BARTIROMO: Senator Scott Brown is with us this morning. You are a Trump supporter. What about that? Do you think we'll get substance from Donald and will he debate Ted Cruz?
BROWN: First of all, I like all the candidates, but what has changed also, which is not being referenced right now is the fact that Ted and Kasich are mathematically eliminated. That's the difference so why we would debate someone who can't mathematically win.
You see right now Bernie and Hillary. It is over after tonight for Bernie. He's done a remarkable job, but it's over. Hillary is going to be the nominee after tonight and Donald is going to also be the nominee, much closer after today and especially after Indiana.
BARTIROMO: So what about that, Ron? I mean, if it's mathematically impossible for Ted Cruz to get to 1,237, what is he want to do? What does he think happens at the contested convention?
NEHRING: Well, you know, I like Senator Brown a great deal. I'm glad that he was able to serve in the U.S. Senate, but he's just wrong on this issue and that is that no candidate is going to get that majority of vote needed in order to clear it on the first ballot.
We will have been historic convention in Cleveland that will go more than one ballot and therefore, there does deserve to be a debate among those candidates who have a realistic pathway to come out to the convention ultimately as the Republican nominee.
What will happen at the convention is that you'll a first ballot, no one will get to a solemn majority and then most of the delegate are free to vote their conscience. That Donald Trump right now would lead the Republican Party to an unprecedented disaster in modern times.
Not only losing the White House but resulting in Democrats back in control of the Senator and probably the House as well and the Supreme Court going to the left for the next 25 years.
With so much at stake and it's so likely that it will go to a contested convention, an open convention. I think the voters of Indiana deserve to have a real substantive debate.
And let's see what the candidates have to offer. The Democrats don't seem to be afraid to debate on their side. Why is Donald Trump so afraid to debate Ted Cruz? I mean, we know why?
BROWN: Well, Ron, first of all, I like you to thank you. It's very thoughtful. But once again, I think that's a false premise. The whole thing, the sky is falling, we're going to lose the Senate, the Supreme Court. All of the other things I think is a false premise.
Right now you see the polling coming closer. Hillary and Donald both have high negatives. I think Donald has a chance actually to work on his negatives versus Hillary's, I believe were in stone.
But once again, getting back to the basics, Ted has said to Kasich many time, if you can't get the numbers, you should get out. Now he can't get the numbers and that is why he and Kasich are actually joining forces.
And that's why you're seeing I think a shift away from both of them to Donald Trump.
BARTIROMO: Ron, what do you say?
NEHRING: I'm shock. I mean, look, as we go forward here, Donald Trump is not able to consolidate the Republican base behind him. Normally at this stage of the campaign, if you go back the last several cycles --
Hold on. The Republican frontrunner at this stage is usually able to consolidate the Republican base behind him. Donald Trump can't do that.
Number one, because he had the highest negatives of any candidate to run for the presidency in modern times. And number two, because the guy keeps on insulting the planet. And as a result of that demonstrates that he cannot build coalitions.
The reason he calls a strategic alliance between Ted Cruz and John Kasich that was announced is because he doesn't understand politics and he doesn't understand the importance of coalition building in politics.
He called it something else because he doesn't really know what he's talking about. At the end of the day, when we have a clear shot, one-on- one contest, between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, we know that most Republican primary voters overwhelmingly do not want see Donald Trump as the Republican nominee and that's why Trump fears a one-on-one contest.
MCDOWELL: Ron, do have a one-on-one contest because John Kasich, he did not say, my voters and supporters in Indiana vote for Ted Cruz. In fact, he said I never told them not to vote for me. They ought to vote for me. So this alliance -- how much good does it do you?
NEHRING: I think it's helpful because what it does is it gives us a clear shot in Indiana. It removes John Kasich as a factor in the state of Indiana. That's coming up, you know, going forward.
Everyone knows that that will be an important state as we go forward. When we have a one-on-one contest either in Indiana or in some of the states, thereafter, we know we will do well.
BARTIROMO: Let me ask you about narrowing the list for VP because as we are coming down to the wire here, we are hearing more conversation about the vice presidential pick, Ron. Multiple reports suggest that Cruz is vetting Carly Fiorina. Is that his pick for VP?
NEHRING: Carly Fiorina is someone who has been a tremendous asset to the campaign. She is one of the five former presidential candidates who has endorsed Senator Cruz in this contest as he's consolidated the Republican base behind him going forward.
She's been terrific. Senator Cruz thinks very highly of her. But the same time, Senator Cruz is going through that process of vetting a vice presidential candidate and he will be ready to announce who that person when he's ready to announce it.
BARTIROMO: Yes. It looks like a good ticket that's for sure. Meghan McCain, Cruz-Fiorina ticket?
MEGHAN MCCAIN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Ron, I personally love Carly Fiorina. I hope that's what he is going for. I just want to ask you, you know, Donald Trump is bleeding female voters, 72 percent of women in American have a negative view of him. Millenials is even higher, I believe.
What is Ted Cruz planning on doing to reach out to women and young millennials in order to pick up the slack that we're losing right now?
NEHRING: You know, one of the biggest challenges facing millenials today is number one, a tremendous amount of college debt that they will have taken on as a result of a variety of their policies put into place that accelerated in the Obama administration.
And number two having the worst economic recovery post-recession since World War II, and that limiting of opportunities is really having the most negative effect on those people who were just entering the job market or aspiring to enter the job soon.
So at the centerpiece of Senator Cruz's economic reform plans is a low simple flat tax, which has been widely praised that some of that would spur economic growth that make it simpler from a paperwork standpoint, but would help get this economy moving.
He also takes a very skeptical view toward these successive regulations that have just ballooned under the Obama administration and recognize the negative impact it has on economic growth and opportunity.
BARTIROMO: Yes, it's an excellent economic tax plan, Ron. We've been covering it. It looks good. Ron, good to see you, sir. Thanks so much.
NEHRING: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Ron Nehring joining us there. Make sure you tune in for our special coverage tonight. All the action tonight for Super Tuesday three, it all starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern tonight on the Fox Business Network. Join us tonight at 7:00 for all the coverage.
Still to come, can't think of a baby name? Break out the checkbook. The new service that will make naming your kid, but it will cost you.
As we take a break, check out barista artist, Michael Breach, putting a new twist on the term campaign poster. Too bad the Kasich campaign is not giving these out of the rallies. We will come right out with some delicious coffee. Back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. There is a new list that you do not want to be on. Cheryl Casone with the story right now -- Cheryl.
CHERYL CASONE, FOX BUSINESS: I'll tell you what, Maria, yes, you do not want to be on this on. Hackers with a pro-ISIS group calling themselves the "United Cyber Caliphate" have reportedly come out with a kill list that appears to include dozens of U.S. government personnel.
This list includes 43 games to people linked to the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and a number of other federal departments.
The hackers' list phone numbers for each person, many of which are general numbers for institutions, maybe their offices, but several appeared to be correct, current office lines for these government employees.
OK, another hacking incident reportedly hitting a cool different story. Beautifulpeople.com, have you heard of this? It's a dating website which only allows attractive people to sign up. Sensitive information including addresses, telephone numbers and sexual preferences from more than 1 million people allegedly is being sold online.
Why are you pointing at, Dagen? She was happily married. Would you pay for your baby's name? As more parents trying to find unique names for their children. Many baby name consultant firms are getting very busy.
You can buy your baby's name for several hundred dollars from a New York based company. There's also a Swiss company charges $30,000 to name a child.
BROWN: And we'll do it for 15.
BARTIROMO: I don't understand what you're buying.
CASONE: They do a trademark search. You can actually trademark the name.
MCDOWELL: See if you can guess this movie, big S, small A, small N, big D, small E, big E with a start to end. L.A. Story, Sarah Jessica Parker's name. That's how desperate people have gotten to like make their children's names unusual. It is like they are spelling them in such a way that it will forever be misspelled.
MCCAIN: If you can't grow up and be a CEO or a rock star depending on what your name is, probably the wrong name. One of my friends named her child a pretty trashy name. I'm not going to say it on the air.
BARTIROMO: I never know what I'm going to learn on the show.
BROWN: Can you imagine paying money to have somebody name your kid. It's the most important thing that a married couple or anyone together does. They have list and you sit down, you talk about it, you work it through.
It's amazing to me that someone would give that up. It's almost like giving up cutting the cord. Why would you not do that?
BARTIROMO: I don't get it. Coming up next, recent terrorist attacks taking a toll on the travel industry. Changes could be coming to river cruises. We'll tell you what is at stake.
Then later, the six season premiere of "Game of Thrones" may not have been a hit among critics, but it was among pirates. The alarming amounts of copies downloaded illegally. You'll want to hear this one. Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. Time to make some summer plans, close to 13 million North Americans took a European vacation last year. About a half million of them went there specifically to take a river cruise.
It's a big business with a lot of competition. Ashley Webster is standing by live from the banks of the Danube River with the details. Tough job, but somebody's got to do it, Ashley.
ASHLEY WEBSTER, FOX NEWS: Well, OK, I was going to whine about the weather. It 30 miles an hour wind, pouring with rain. Yesterday it snowed. I'm actually on the sun deck here. Given you a shot down the Danube. You're actually in Austria. This is actually Southern Germany.
We are actually leave port here in about half an hour. As you said, Maria, becoming increasingly popular, the amount of people taking these cruises doubled in the last eight years and it's becoming increasingly popular.
It's a great way to see Europe if you float by. It's in luxury. This particular vote was just christened yesterday. It's 442 feet long and only takes 169 passengers, which is very common for a lot of people don't like to go on ocean cruises where its 12 stories high and 5,000 people. This is the complete opposite of that.
By the way, everyone gets a butler. I have two because I'm very high maintenance, but there are many you can take. Starting all the way up in Amsterdam, all the way through to Vienna, Budapest, all the way to the black sea.
There are many, many options and ironically this is the sun deck and it's now started to hail. Again I know you don't have any sympathy for me at all, but I have to throw back to you because I'm about to keel over.
BARTIROMO: Actually you are all wet. You are all wet, but you do have two butlers. You're so high maintenance. I love it. Have you guys ever taken a river cruise? What's your advice for Ashley there getting soaked? Senator Brown says drink heavily.
MCDOWELL: I just thought Ashley was perspiring heavily.
BARTIROMO: No, that's the wind. That was great shot. That looks really beautiful. You can imagine the business gets impacted when you have a slow economy, people worried about terrorism.
BROWN: Safety concerns in that region are unbelievable. I have a lot of friends and I myself love to go back to Europe. Maybe we will go another direction.
BARTIROMO: We'll take a short break. Still to come, another year, the same old saga for Tom Brady. Why deflate-gate just won't go away for the New England Patriots superstar. Plus who could forget this?
(VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Yes, it's the reboot of "Ghostbusters." It's preparing to hit the big screen. One popular kids' drink, though, is making a comeback alongside of it. Back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. I'm Maria Bartiromo. It is Super Tuesday part 3. Your top stories right now at 7:30 a.m. on the east coast. The battle for the east. Polls are opening in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware right now.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton holding on to strong leads. Candidates on the offensive, but also looking beyond today's contest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John Kasich has decided to pull out of Indiana to give us a head-to-head contest with Donald Trump. That is good for the men and women of Indiana. It's good for the country to have a clear and direct choice.
KASICH: Look, this is a matter of resources. We are running a national campaign. We want to (inaudible) resources where we think (inaudible) effectively and it's all designed to stop Hillary Clinton from becoming president.
TRUMP: Don't worry. I'll give it up after I'm president. We won't tweet -- not presidential.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Meanwhile, Turkey deported more than 3,000 expected Jihadists, but there are no details on where those people are headed now. More on this developing story.
Tom Brady sacked, his four-game suspension reinstated. How much it will cost him coming up.
"Game of Thrones" season six premier, a huge hit, especially for pirates. The show illegally downloaded more than a million times.
Checking futures. We're expecting big day for markets. It's a big day for economics and earnings news. We are waiting on consumer confidence, durable goods, the beginning of a Fed meeting, Bank of Japan meeting on Thursday. And there you have it.
Markets are expected to open higher this morning. Dow Industrials is up about 30 points. This is, by the way, the peak week in terms of first- quarter earnings. A third of S&P 500 companies report this week.
A new law in Maryland allowing convicted felons to vote in today's primary for the first time. Fox New's Peter Doocy live right now in Rockville, Maryland with the details.
Peter, good morning to you.
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Maria. As many as 40,000 felons may vote in Maryland for the first time, including some on parole and on probation still because of the new law that lets ex-cons cast ballots immediately as soon as they get out of jail, even if their victims are recovering from injuries and even if they've not only fully paid restitution as ordered by a court.
And if you're trying to forecast who this is going to benefit politically, well, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have expressed their desires to see more felons at the ballot box when they get out. But none of the remaining Republican candidates still running are pitching this as part of their platforms, and some have asked me why just after Virginia did something similar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: If you allow them to go, they're going to vote Democrat, and that throws off the balance totally. And I think it's really unfair and not a good thing.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know any reasonable person who looks at democracy and says the thing we need is more murderers voting, more rapists voting, more violent criminals voting. I don't that makes a whole lot of sense.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOOCY: Maryland is the fourteenth state that lets felons who haven't finished their sentences vote. There are 20 that have restored voting rights of some kind, the folks that have done time.
Lawmakers that think it's a good idea to let felons vote say they've repaid their debts to society, so it is their right to go back and vote. But some more skeptical Marylanders say if that's going to be the standard, that they paid their debt to society, then why can't these ex-cons, these convicted felons, also by firearms, because they still can't do that here in Maryland. Maria.
BARTIROMO: It's a pretty unbelievable story. Peter, thank you so much. Peter Doocy with the latest there.
Joining me right now is legendary talk show host, Larry King. Larry, good to see you. Thank you so much for joining us.
LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING NOW: My pleasure.
BARTIROMO: Well, you've been interviewing these candidates for so many years, so we wanted to get your observations on this election. How many times do you think you've interviewed Donald Trump, 20, 30 times?
KING: Probably 30.
BARTIROMO: So --
KING: Going back a lot of years.
BARTIROMO: -- you've seen him and his empire evolve.
KING: Sure have.
BARTIROMO: Your observations on who he is today?
KING: Donald Trump, there's no one like him. Got to say that.
BARTIROMO: Yes, for sure.
KING: And he's been threatening many years to run for governor, to run for president and I would always challenge him, are you really going to run? And he would say, I'm seriously thinking about it.
Roger Stone, his aide, would come on and say he's going to run. And then at the last minute, he wouldn't run, and then it would be seen as a man promoting his business developments.
So this year, last summer, I ran into the in Craig's restaurant in L.A. And I said, you going to run? He said, I'm thinking about running. I said, it's old soup. No, he said, I'm thinking about running.
And then he entered the race, and then he didn't just enter. He boomed into the race --
BARTIROMO: He sure did.
KING: -- and he affected the race immediately, carrying on almost the first night of that Fox debate when it pushed Bush aside as non-energy and --
BARTIROMO: Yes, low energy, right.
KING: -- made fun of this guy's small and this guy that, and racked up the field. He racked up the field.
BARTIROMO: And it -- and it worked in terms of sticking theses nicknames on people. It resonated.
KING: Oh, he's number one.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
KING: He's ahead in the polls. He's an incredible story. Like him or dislike him, he is an incredible story. He is the story of the year. I think win or lose, he would be "TIME's" man of the year.