MARIA-01
Hillary Clinton Avoiding Tough Questions in Interviews; Texas Flooding
Continues; Sports Authority Bankruptcy Hurts Under Armour; Oil Up Nearly
100 Percent Since Recent Low; Countdown To California; The Case For Home
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Bello; Luis Gohmert>
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MARIA BARTIROMO, FBN ANCHOR: (HEADLINES) Historic flooding to report, devastating parts of Texas. Many forced to evacuate their homes as the river rose to the highest level in decades. (HEADLINES) A Wall Street darling under pressure, why Under Armour was forced to cut its sales outlook for the year. (MARKET HEADLINES)
Joining me this morning, FOX Business Network's Dagen McDowell; Rosecliff Capital CEO, Michael Murphy; and Maverick PAC National Co-Chair, Morgan Ortagus. Great to see you.
MIKE MURPHY, CEO, ROSECLIFF CAPITAL: Good morning.
BARTIROMO: Good morning.
DAGEN MCDOWELL, FBN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
MURPHY: How are you doing?
BARTIROMO: Big show -
MCDOWELL: It's a good day if you don't get called a sleaze.
[Laughter]
BARTIROMO: It's true. We had to report that, that was too much. Donald Trump's press conference yesterday.
We have a can't-miss lineup this morning: Trump National Campaign Co- Chairman Sam Clovis; WL Ross & Co. Chairman Wilbur Ross; and, the President of Ford America, Joe Henriks with us. Don't miss it; lots to come in the next couple of hours.
We kick it off this morning with the campaign trail and the countdown to California. Donald Trump launching an all-out attack on the media yesterday, during a press conference. The presumptive Republican nominee revealed details of its $5.6 million Veteran fundraising effort yesterday, at Trump Tower, in New York City, when he turned on a reporter, calling him, as Dagen just told us, a sleaze and dishonest. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The press should be ashamed of themselves; and, on behalf of the vets, the press should be ashamed of themselves. I like scrutiny, but, you know what? When I raise money -- excuse me. Excuse me. I've watched you on television; you're a real beauty.
When I raise money for the veterans, and it's a massive amount of money, find out how much Hillary Clinton has given to the Veterans. Nothing. And then I see a few guys standing out there, they don't even know what they are there for. They have no idea. They are there because Hillary Clinton's campaign sent them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Joining us now is Texas Congressman Luis Gohmert. Good to see you, Congressman. Thanks so much for joining us.
REP. LUIS GOHMERT (R-TX), via satellite: Good to see you, Maria. Good to be with you.
BARTIROMO: What is your take on this whole veterans conflict? Does Donald Trump have a point?
GOHMERT: Well, Donald Trump does have a point and I'm not one of his bigger fans, but it is a good day for me if sleaze is the worst thing I'm called. As far as Trump, for heaven's sake, he did raise money for the veterans. He's right. I mean, if you look at the veterans of Benghazi, we still don't know. Did Hillary go to bed and let them die? Did she stay away and let them die? I mean, what was going on? We still don't know. So it's kind of hypocritical.
If you look at the thousands, to 1000 or so FBI files that were in the Clinton White House, I can't forget that because my friend, Chuck Colson, went to prison for one. They had 1,000; some of them are veterans. They were using them for - well, it's just illegal to have them.
So, anyway, you can go back any which direction you want to. She has not been helpful to veterans. She has not stood up for them. When the VA was making long lines, yes, she's Secretary of State, but she's a cabinet member, and somebody, for heaven's sake, in the Obama Administration, should have stood up in one of the Cabinet meetings and said for god sake. We ought to be helping the veterans. Quit letting them die.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
GOHMERT: She was never there for the veterans. So it's a little weak now, if that's what she's going to raise. But, I do disagree with Donald Trump in his saying we don't need a third-party, because I think we desperately need a third target because Bernie Sanders has been jerked around. He needs to have the nomination from the third-party and be the third-party's nominee. He'd be great.
BARTIROMO: But wouldn't a third-party take votes away from Donald Trump and the Republicans?
GOHMERT: Not if it's Bernie Sanders, no.
BARTIROMO: Okay, not if it's Bernie Sanders. I want to get back to the press comment, Dagen -
GOHMERT: Yes.
BARTIROMO: -- because even though, you know, yesterday Jerry Brown basically supporting and endorsing Hillary Clinton and it all -- they start talking about the relationship over the past and they have got a debate, Clinton and Jerry Brown, where Jerry Brown basically said there are massive conflicts of interest. Back then, in 1992, Dagen, and now here comes Jerry Brown endorsing her, but no comment from the press. So they are all over Donald Trump about his donations, and we know that Hillary hasn't given to the veterans and no commentary, no reporting from the press on the other issue, and that is around the Clinton Foundation and the conflicts there.
GOHMERT: Exactly.
BARTIROMO: What do you think about that?
MCDOWELL: And the e-mail scandal. But I think that - so Donald Trump got upset and he pointed out that hey, you guys need to be -- I'm just giving money to veterans. You guys need to be shining a light on what the Clintons have been doing for the last how many decades.
BARTIROMO: And they're not.
MCDOWELL: And -- so that works to his advantage, but I want to ask Congressman Gohmert, because Donald Trump, the only issue is - it certainly does really well during the primaries to go after the sleazy, mainstream media if you will. Does it help him in a general election, do you think, because I looked at that and said, if you hate the press so much, stop caring about the press. The fact he got so upset is, like, you kind of care too much about all those people sitting out there, with their recorders and on their phones, taking notes.
GOHMERT: Dagen, I thought it was a mistake, but I spoke after him in Nashville last year, last fall, and he spent an hour at this hour and 10 minutes just talking about the press and how they done him wrong. I followed him and thought this is going to be a death knell, and it actually worked. I can't explain that. But, yes, you are right; it is the kiss of death for Trump now that Governor Moonbeam has endorsed Clinton. I mean, wow. With all of the Moonies and following him, why can Trump can have a chance. I think he can.
BARTIROMO: Mike Murphy?
MURPHY: Congressman, when you see what Donald Trump is doing now, and he's really -- he attacks everybody out there, but when it comes back at him it seems like his skin is a little bit thinner when people are firing back at him. I just think if you could speak to the mainstream media in the form of one Jeff Bezos, you know, this was big news earlier in the week. He just made no bones about it, that he's out to, through the "Washington Post" to dig up dirt on Donald Trump. So that is not the normal type of actions you receive from the press, right? I mean, it is specifically targeting --
GOHMERT: Well, the only thing that is not normal from the "Washington Post" is that they actually admit that they are doing nothing but trying to dig up dirt on a Republican. That is the real shocker there, because that is what they do. They put lots of media on conservatives and especially Republican that is nowhere near what they do to Democrats. I mean, they are in the Democrat's corner. So the big shock, wow, they actually admitted it. I've got to give that to "The Post." That's one for them.
MCDOWELL: The Congressman needs to explain, because you're dating yourself, and I knew who you were talking about, but Governor Moonbeam is the old nickname for Jerry Brown. It was coined in the Seventies because California was so wacky with environmentalists. It was coined by a Chicago columnist.
[Cross talk]
BARTIROMO: To the point that you're making, Donald Trump has been transparent throughout his campaign. Like it or not, he's transparent. He gave at least four formal press conferences this year. Hillary Clinton hasn't --
GOHMERT: Hillary hasn't given any.
BARTIROMO: -- given any press conferences and 2016, Congressman. I mean, --
GOHMERT: She will give interviews as long as they give her the questions in advance -
BARTIROMO: That's right.
GOHMERT: -- and they're puff questions. it's outrageous that she has any room to say anything about press coverage. It's really outrageous.
BARTIROMO: And yet, you don't see that kind of - you don't the 20 reporters on the Clinton Foundation.
GOHMERT: No.
BARTIROMO: So there is some truth to what he's saying.
GOHMERT: Absolutely.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
GOHMERT: No, there absolutely is. There absolutely is, and people are seeing that and that is why he's done so well. You know I didn't support him in the primary and I haven't - I mean, I'll vote for him if he's the nominee, and it looks like he's definitely going to be, but for heaven's sake, this is just outrageous for Clinton to say anything about press coverage and for her minions to say anything about it. Trump is right. I mean, where is what she has done for veterans? It's just nonexistent.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
GOHMERT: But, by the way, Governor Moonbeam came back; I mean, that phrase came when he ran again in the whole world was mystified. Governor Moonbeam is back? Holy cow.
BARTIROMO: By the way, can he beat Hillary Clinton, do you think, Congressman? Because I know you're not all in right now. You are not endorsing, but you say you'll vote for him if he's the nominee. Do you think maybe he won't be able to beat Hillary Clinton?
GOHMERT: Well, I think, you know, it's - yes, he can beat Hillary Clinton, but he could - but it's up for grabs. The one thing we know, the adage is correct; Democracy ensures people are governed no better than they deserve and absolutely, 100-percent, we are going to get who we deserve; whoever it is.
BARTIROMO: Congressman, good to have you in the program this morning. Thanks so much.
GOHMERT: Great to be with you, Maria; thank you.
BARTIROMO: Congressman Luis Gohmert joining us there. Coming up next, dangerous floods in Texas forcing residents to abandon their homes. The severe weather is far from over. We will bring a status check and the details, ahead. Then, check your pantry. The common household product being recalled for a possible e. coli outbreak, flour. Then, it looks like there's a chink in the armor. How one company's demise is taking a toll on Under Armour's great success. Back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. Dangerous flooding in Texas continues today with no signs of slowing down. At least seven people have been killed, hundreds others evacuated from their homes as the state sees its worst flooding in over 100 years. Heavy rains causing the Brazos River to crest at a record 54 feet, that's the highest level in decades. There's little relief in sight for the region, as experts have warned that thunderstorms could last into the weekend.
FOX News Meteorologist Maria Molina following the developments from the FOX Weather Center right now; Maria, good morning.
MARIA MOLINA, FOX NEWS METEOROLOGIST: Hi; good morning, Maria. We are looking at a lot of heavy rain in forecast out there, and I want to share with you just how much rain we have picked up across parts of Texas over the past week. You can see some of these numbers, about eight to 12 inches of rain just to the northwest of Houston, also just East of Abilene; and heavy rain as well across areas near San Antonio. The forecast here is for as much as six to even higher amounts of rainfall, in terms of inches, out here across portions of Texas, and even extending into Oklahoma, Arkansas and portions of Louisiana. So, a lot of moisture being pumped into this region and that's what is keeping that flood threat high.
River levels, of course, also running at flood stage out here, across portions of Texas, and that could be another concern, coming up, over the next couple days as that water will take some time to continue to recede out there, across portions of Texas. Again, some of those rivers, even setting some records out there and spilling over their banks and producing all kinds of devastating flooding across portions of Texas. So make sure you stay safe out there. Do not drive through any flooded roadways. That's going to be something we watch very carefully over the next couple days.
East of that messy weather though, temperatures really heating up, feeling like summer out there across places like Atlanta, Orlando. You're going to make it into the 90s this afternoon. Warm as well across the Northeast, with Buffalo, New York expecting highs in the 80s.
Maria, out West, temperatures a lot cooler, only forecast to reach the low 70s this afternoon.
BARTIROMO: All right; I think they'll take it. Maria, thank you so much. Maria Molina with the latest there. The first baby has been born with a link to Zika in the New York Tri-State area. Cheryl Casone with those details and the other headlines right now; Cheryl?
CHERYL CASONE, FBN CORRESPONDE: That's right, Maria; good morning. (HEADLINES) And, finally this, Sports Authority's bankruptcy hitting Under Armour. The American sports apparel company cutting its sales outlook for the year, saying it would take a $23 million write-down in the second quarter. Under Armour was only able to receive a quarter of the revenue expected from Sport Authority this year because that company, Sports Authority, going out of business and once those stores close people can no longer purchase any of the merchandise. By the way, Sport Authority, all those stores closing by the end of August, Maria. The new forecast for Under Armour though, still implies 24-percent revenue growth from last year. So, there is a little bit of a silver lining for Under Armour on this story.
BARTIROMO: -- silver lining, Cheryl, but at the same time this company has been so incredibly successful that any impact, from any negativity, is a story. That's for that, Cheryl.
CASONE: YOU bet.
BARTIROMO: Mike Murphy, what do you think about that? I mean, Under Armour's outlook for the rest of 2016, is this going to mean we are going to continue to see rough quarters, you think?
MURPHY: I don't -
BARTIROMO: Stock has been trading down going into this, we should point that out.
MURPHY: Stock is down about 10-percent, year to date, and down about 5- percent in the last 52 weeks. So it hasn't done much on a company that, as Cheryl mentioned, sales are growing mid-20-percent year-over-year. So this is still a huge growth story. They still have Steph Curry. They still have Jordan Spieth. This is a momentum stock that you want to buy cheap. I think down here the company is trading at levels that is a good buy. I think the stock will trade up after this. This is a short-term downward movement.
BARTIROMO: I agree with you I think. I like this company.
MORGAN ORTAGUS, NATIONAL CO-CHAIR, MAVERICK PAC: But, Mike, isn't this space really becoming quite saturated, the athletic wear space? I mean, you look at Beyonc‚ and Kate Hudson, and you have all these celebrities that are producing their own yoga lines. I'm the target demographic for these companies, you know, LuLu Lemon, etcetera, and it seems like it's becoming quite a saturated space for the athletic wear, especially for women.
MURPHY: In a sense, yes; but I think if Kevin Plank, the CEO of Under Armour, if Beyonc‚ was his biggest concern, I think he'd be doing all right. A lot of people are getting in there, to the female, kind of, athletic yoga leisure space, but Under Armour is also in there and they've been getting some traction. LuLu Lemon kind of at the top of the run there, but Under Armour has been getting it. So, no, I think there's a lot of upside for them.
MCDOWELL: Their strength is in their footwear, which is, I think, their fastest growing segment, where, regardless of how small or big you are, you buy athletic shoes, particularly with the Steph Curry endorsement. I've never made - I can't get my head around an industry about Ath-leisure as the country - the country is not getting fitter. We're getting bigger.
BARTIROMO: People are wearing that stuff all day long.
MCDOWELL: Right.
BARTIROMO: You know, they're working out with it and wearing it all day long.
MURPHY: -- yoga pants.
MCDOWELL: I won't buy that Fabletics stuff, Kate Hudson, because I don't look like that in it.
BARTIROMO: But the Lulu Lemon stuff is quality stuff -
MCDOWELL: She's too skinny.
BARTIROMO: -- and I think the Under Armour is quality staff. Under Armour and Lulu Lemon, don't you think?
MCDOWELL: Under Armour is, like, serious athletic wear, but I think that the footwear business is kind of the key to their future success.
BARTIROMO: Real quick, judge finds Michael Dell and Silver Lake underpaid in 2013. Another business story that we've got to get to.
MURPHY: Absolutely.
BARTIROMO: We'll talk about it, Mike; I want to get your take, coming up. Still to come, and massive recall underway that could impact your kitchen. Why you may need to put your baking ambitions on hold right now. That is coming up. Then, the Dow and the S&P extending their longest winning streak in two years in the month of May. Can that euphoria last into the summer months? We are talking money, coming up; stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. Today kicks of a new trading month. The Dow coming off its fourth monthly gain in a row. It is a busy week leading up to the May Jobs Report out on Friday. Today we get construction spending, the ISN Manufacturing, PMI, vehicle sales as well. Mike Murphy with us this morning. Do you think investors kick off this new month cautiously or this buying continues? Four straight months of a rally.
MURPHY: I think they're going to be cautious, Maria; and the reason is we've rallied almost 20-percent off our lows. People forget how bad the start of the year was, right.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
MURPHY: Worst start ever. So, now, the market's stabilizing and rallied hard. Oil is up almost 100-percent off its lows, so oil has been a massive contributor here. But the market isn't going to go up in a straight line. So I would advise people to be very cautious here, chasing the market, because we are range bound. I would want to buy on a ten to 12-percent hold back. I would not be chasing up here at these levels.
BARTIROMO: Especially when you consider the fundamentals. Earnings are down, right?
MURPHY: Earnings are overall, down, yes.
MCDOWELL: But there's, in terms of the strength we've seen, home prices back near a record, which we saw in the Kay Schiller Report yesterday. The consumer spending number was -
BARTIROMO: It was pretty good yesterday.
MCDOWELL: -- at the fastest pace in seven years. There's a lot of consumer side strength. That's why I worry about if oil continues to rise, you get gas prices much higher any kind of juice you have in the consumer economy loses something.
ORTAGUS: And the international markets have affected our markets so much, especially earlier this year, you know, related to China. The OECD cut the growth forecast for Britain, of course, probably related to the Brexit. So, I would imagine there would be definitely some volatility in the next few months as we still see quite a tenuous international scene. Venezuela, wouldn't be surprised if there's a military coup.
BARTIROMO: But then you've got the Fed; June 15, the next Fed meeting. What's your take? Do they raise rates, given what Dagen just told us, that things have gotten better?
MURPHY: I think at some point this summer they do raise rates because, again, they've mentioned so many times that they are data dependent, and the data now supports a quarter-point rate hike. So whether it's June or July, it's coming. The market has been able to handle that, but I think that could be a short-term pullback, could cause a short-term pullback in the market.
BARTIROMO: Maybe today we're looking at declines just because we been up so much in four months.
MURPHY: Absolutely; we're range (inaudible). We're at the top end of that range now.
BARTIROMO: Let's talk about this Dell story. A court ruling yesterday that Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners underpriced their nearly $25 million buyout of Dell by 22-percent. They're saying, basically, that Silver Lake and Michael Dell should have paid more money for Dell.
MURPHY: Yes; this just looks bad for the company, for the way they handled it. There was a lot of pushback when this deal originally went through. People argued that Dell with under paying for the asset, and now it turns out he did underpay for the asset. So I think it looks bad, but I don't really know what the recourse is. They were forced to pay up about 20- percent, roughly, and now I think, privately, the company, Dell, is doing extremely well.
BARTIROMO: Yes; I mean, the judge is basically saying that they shortchanged shareholders by $6 billion, Dagen.
MCDOWELL: Well who was responsible for that? If you are the buyer, isn't the point to get the lowest price? Isn't it the board's responsibility to vet these offers? At the end of the day, by the way, a lot of investors because of the Delaware law, they're not going to get compensation for this.
MURPHY: Right,
MCDOWELL: So it might be a ruling that looks bad, but, in terms of money from it, not going to happen.
BARTIROMO: Okay; well, we'll take a short break. Straight ahead, U.S. technology giant signing an agreement with the European Commission to tackle the spread of hate speech online; hate speech online, we will tell you about these new rules. Then, a massive sinkhole shutting down an entire freeway; we will take you to California with the latest there. Back in a moment; stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. Good morning, everybody. I'm Maria Bartiromo. It is Wednesday, June 1st. Your top stories right now at 6:30 a.m. on the east coast.
Eyeing the golden state, Hillary Clinton facing more pressure from Bernie Sanders forcing her to schedule more events in California leading up to the big primary Tuesday June 7th.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When 400 superdelegates come on board a campaign before anybody else indicated that they would be running and eight months before the first ballot was cast.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's probably going to be her because it's rigged. The whole superdelegate thing that's ridiculous. So I think that they're going to have to make that determination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Meanwhile, new developments in the San Bernardino case, Los Angeles prosecutors looking to prevent one of the shooters' families from get $250,000 life insurance payout.
A massive sink hole shutting down an entire freeway. We've got the details coming up.
And check your pantry, ten million pounds of flour has been recalled. General Mills says some of the products may be contaminated with a strain of E. coli.
Summer drinking season is here. sangria, a popular drink in the summer months. We are taking a look at the fastest growing brand in the business.
Turning to broader markets, today we are seeing selling on this. The first day of a new month for the markets. Weakness across the board overnight in Asia. Take a look, Nikkei average in Japan, down one and two-thirds percent.
Manufacturing data out of China really weighed on sentiments that set the tone. In the last hour, Japan's prime minister announced that the government will delay an increase in sales tax by more than two years. You would think that would be a positive for markets. Market had already closed, though.
We are also seeing weakness in Europe this morning. We had a reading on manufacturing out on the euro zone, that was below expectations and that has most of the major averages down between two-thirds and 1 percent.
In the U.S., we are looking at a lower opening right now. We are at the lowest of the morning right now with the Dow Jones Industrial Average expected to open down about 60 points that's one-third of 1 percent.
On to the campaign trail we go, all eyes on California as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders make their case to voters before Tuesday's primary.
Trump holding a rally in Sacramento today. Sanders is holding four events of his own in the golden state, and Clinton, well, she is wrapping up her New Jersey tour early making extra time for a final push in California.
Joining us right now is Sam Sorbo, wife of actor, Kevin Sorbo and the host of the "Sam Sorbo Show." Sam, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.
SAM SORBO, WIFE OF ACTOR KEVIN SORBO: Thanks for having me.
BARTIROMO: So what's your take on this? Is California warming up to Donald Trump? And what do you think about Bernie Sanders' odds in California?
SORBO: This is great. It's great news that he's doing so well in California. He's doing so much stuff in California, but I can only think that the reason that he's doing so much in California is because he knows he's behind Hillary. That's her base.
I mean, that's where she -- those are her peeps out there. As for Trump, it's early days yet. I think the campaign still has a long way to go. And I'm kind of excited to see the battle, let the battle begin between Trump and Hillary.
What's so funny is all the time before they were saying that it was going to be a big battle at the Republican convention and it looks like it's the Democrats that are going to have a great big blood bath.
BARTIROMO: Here's Morgan Ortagus.
MORGAN ORTAGUS, MAVERICK PAC CO-CHAIR: Sam, you're a big advocate of home schooling, which I think is fantastic and some of members of my family do that. I wanted to ask you a little bit more about that because the average American family they're lucky to have a two-parent home.
But they are also really lucky if they can have someone to stay at home and work. Most people can't so how was your message on home schooling relevant to American families where both people need to work?
SORBO: Well, it's only relevant in the sense that the schools form a wedge between the child and the parents. And so the schools become a non-option for the family. Home schooling is not nearly as difficult as people think it is.
The education bureaucracy wants you to think that you just can't do it. But I want to read you a little quote here. This is from (inaudible) who's influenced the entire public school movement.
"Education should aim at destroying free will so that after people or thus schools, they will be incapable throughout the rest of their lives of thinking or acting otherwise then as their school masters would have wished."
