MARIA-03
Increases in Obamacare Premiums; Down Ballot Races Heat Up; A New Study
Warns Teenagers in Particular the Dangers of Mixing Energy Drinks with
Alcohol; Two Veterans Speak Out about the Pentagon's Controversial Efforts
to Get Money Back from Them - Part 2>
Cheryl Casone, Juan Williams >
Jon Hilsenrath, Robert Richmond, Bryan Strother >
Donald Duck; Obamacare; Victoria's Secret; Australia; Robby Mook; Obama
Administration; Department of Health & Human Services; Sergeant Robert
Richmond; Sergeant Bryan Strother; Pentagon; Florida; Obamacare; Markets;
Economy; Stock Exchange; Eli Lilly; Twitter; Caterpillar; Investments;
Women; Brava Investments>
And that's when this letter came. So, it came at the worst opportune time. I was -- my medical insurance was expiring, and I basically was with the railroad and was furloughed.
At being furloughed, I had some money saved up, I was always a responsible saver, I had good credit, I had 800 credit score, I've always paid my debts.
And I decided to make an investment in a building to -- and a means to flip a house to provide for my family.
And I was ready to go, and then I had the paperwork sent in, and they had - - they had put -- they reported the all three credit bureaus that I had a $15,000 debt with the government that I had not paid, and it dropped my credit score nearly 200 points.
And I lost the money for the loan, I ended up working on this place for interest, and I wasn't sure what I was going to do. There is a time where things got so tough, the wife and I almost thought about legally divorcing so that we could get medical care for our kids.
Because I owned the house, and it kind of -- we weren't sure what I was going to do with the Obamacare. We went online and just tried to figure out what we were going to do.
Eventually, we got some insurance, and then I just put on the job hunt, had to move to Texas to support my family. Once we got to Texas, now that I'm here, my family is away again, I'm trying to get a home loan.
And my credit score is so low that I've been struggling just to get a VA loan, and they only ended right -- you get from serving in your country.
BARTIROMO: Incredible.
HILSENRATH: Gentlemen, this sounds so unjustifiable. How is the military explaining why it's doing this in the first place? It sounds just completely out of bounds. What's the -- what's the rationale?
STROTHER: There doesn't seem to be --
BARTIROMO: They said it was a mistake --
STROTHER: A rationale --
BARTIROMO: Yes --
RICHMOND: It's dumbfounding to me, it's -- I'm sorry, Bryan. It's dumbfounding to me it doesn't even seem logical. Such a pittance for the military. And we talk about honor and pride and duty in the military.
We talk about standing up for the constitution. Now, it's every soldier's constitutional right like anybody else's right to legal due process. And the army wants to deny us this legal right and for what? For nothing --
BARTIROMO: And what will this do to encourage other people to do what you two have done in terms of your courageousness in joining the military in the first place to see these promises be taken back?
We're proud and honored to have you both on the program this morning, thank you very much, we'll be watching the story and we will make sure to call it out, as this continues to develop.
Sergeant Robert Richmond and Sergeant Bryan Strother, we'll see you soon, gentlemen, thank you so much.
STROTHER: Thank you, Maria.
RICHMOND: Thank you very much --
BARTIROMO: And thank you for your phenomenal service to our country. Coming up, the fight for Florida, both candidates are headed to the Sunshine State today in the final push ahead of the election.
And then an investor strives to make women richer, how the company is helping to close the wage gab, we'll tell you about it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO,: Welcome back this Tuesday morning everybody. I'm Maria Bartiromo. It is Tuesday, October 25th. We're happy you are with us this morning. Here are your top stories, 8:30 a.m. on the East Coast.
We are in countdown mode, just two weeks left until America decides who our next president will be. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are on the attack mode as they hit the swing state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He became the first person running for president, republican or democrat, who refused to say that he would respect the results of this election. Now, that is a direct threat to our democracy.
DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When the polls are even, when they leave them alone and do them properly, I am leading. But you see these polls where they are polling democrats, how is Trump doing? Oh, he is down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: The very latest as the campaign focused on Florida today. Massive problems for Obamacare, what the staggering increases in premiums will mean for your wallet. Next year, on average, 25 percent more expensive at least.
More problems for Twitter, what the company may be looking to cut up to 8 percent of its workforce after not finding a buyer.
And investing around the world, this morning, focused on earnings. Eli Lilly, a big name, hitting the (inaudible) early this morning. The stocks are down after the pharmaceutical giant missed expectations on profit and revenue.
Caterpillar also missed; that has taken some of the wind out of the broader markets gains. Take a look at where we stand. The broader markets losing steam as the reports come in, but still we're expecting a higher opening for the Dow Jones Industrial average, up about 20 points; Nasdaq, up about 10 points right now.
In Europe, stocks are posting modest gains. Troubled Italian lender, Monte dei Paschi, announcing aggressive changes including thousands of job cuts and bank closures. That's part of an effort to win support for a rescue plan.
And in Asia overnight, markets ended like this, fractional moves across the board there.
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are stumping in the battleground state of Florida this morning, just one day after the start of early voting there. Adam Shapiro with the details now in Stanford, Florida. Good morning to you Adam.
ADAM SHAPIRO, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK: And a good morning to you, Maria. One of the issues that Donald Trump is hitting hard is this latest report about the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and its lack of affordability.
The fact that health and human services, the federal department, is saying that premiums on average are going to rise about 25 percent, and in Florida, they expect it to rise about 20 percent.
Some analysts have said that means an average of about $900 to $1000 increase for people who are in the middle class.
Donald Trump hit that hard, and pointed out that people are also losing the number of insurance providers, from which they can choose. Here is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Over two-thirds of the counties are losing insurance, and if you look at it, all over, they are losing the insurers, and one in five Americans trapped on Obamacare will only have a single insurer to choose from, and boy, are those insurers going to have a good time with you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHAPIRO: And so Mr. Trump will be here in Sanford, Florida today to rally his supporters as he has a done throughout the state. After that, he will be heading to Miami where he is going to have some roundtable discussions with Cuban leaders, and then tomorrow, he is out of the Sunshine State. Back to you.
BARTIROMO: All right, Adam. Thank you so much. Adam Shapiro in Florida this morning.
I want to bring in the chairman of the finance committee -- the Trump Victory Committee, Lew Eisenberg, with us this morning. Lew, it's good to see you.
LEWIS EISENBERG, TRUMP VICTORY COMMITTEE FINANCE CHAIRMAN: Good morning. It's good to see you.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much for joining us.
EISENBERG: Always.
BARTIROMO: So give us a status check on the money and (inaudible). We were talking earlier on the program that you need enough money to compete with Hillary Clinton's ads, you need enough money to actually go pick people up and take them to the voting booths so that you get the voter turnout. How do you characterize things (ph) two weeks to go?
EISENBERG: We finished last month with $100-million raise. Grant you, that's not the same as the $154 million or thereabouts that Hillary reported, but she spent the $154 million.
And she has been all over with negative ads saturating and I think as we speak today, we are within 5 percent of one another in most of the real clear average polls.
Donald Trump makes up for a lot of money that she has had to spend, and that is probably because he has got the right case for the American public.
BARTIROMO: So you don't think money is going to be a problem or is a problem.
EISENBERG: No. I think money is a big problem, but not the money on the race. I think the money of the American people that they have to spend and will have to spend is the big problem.
And it's pretty easy to see that one economic program that is presented, which is the republican Donald Trump program, basically will put more money in pockets of every American, that's the money that really counts.
And I think as we focus on that, and you pointed out I think, in the start of this show, that Obamacare premiums are going through the roof.
When the average American by tomorrow I hope, with great newscasters like you, emphasizing the fact that the average American is going to pay 25 percent more for health care, that is the money that is really going to count.
That message will resonate without any additional money being spent than we planned.
BARTIROMO: I was talking about two different things here. I was talking about the money in the campaign. Does Donald Trump have enough money? You are getting to the really nuts and bolts of this have campaign, and that is a two different economic plans.
EISENBERG: No. What I am saying yes, he has enough money in the campaign, you see that on television. But I think getting the additional boost of great clarification of the real money issue.
BARTIROMO: So let's talk about that, because many voters, the economy is the number one issue. Donald Trump is planning to cut taxes and reduce regulation. Hillary Clinton is doing exactly the opposite.
So, do you think that message is resonating? Because, I mean, you look at the CEOs, the number of CEOs behind Donald Trump, it is not a long list and as a result, people are saying, why isn't it an economic message? A 15 percent corporate tax rate, rolling back regulations which we all know has been strangling businesses, why is that not resonating to CEOs?
EISENBERG: I believe that CEOs represent the 1/10 or 1/100 of 1 percent that basically this election has been all about, because it is the American people against the very privileged.
You know, if you are sitting at the top of your ivory tower, you can afford to take a very different stance in terms of people's money. But the country recognizes that, and I think when you see the crowds that Donald gets, they know. They get it.
I am frankly amazed that a CEO would be favoring a policy that is veered socialist in nature.
BARTIROMO: So, well she's going to raise taxes on the highest earners and that will trickle down to small business, and she is going to build on the regulatory environment which has been a negative. So that that is why I am -- I am stumped by this.
Let me ask you about the finance part of this and how you divvied it up from the RNC versus Donald Trump, because we know now Hillary's camp, they are completely expecting to win this thing, and now they are focused on down ballot races. How is the money divvied up in terms of money from the RNC and Donald Trump's money?
EISENBERG: OK, Trump Victory, when you make a contribution, a very small percentage, $2700 goes to the Trump campaign. The rest of the contribution goes down ticket and building the ground game, and the ground game I think is so underestimated.
Right now, Reince Priebus has put together with the Republican Party an excellent machine, and I think the Trump campaign recognize that when they came out of the primary and made the deal of combining forces with the RNC, that we had already started and will continue to put in an excellent ground game. We are just being underestimated, so the proof will be in the pudding.
BARTIROMO: What can you do in these next two weeks? What do you need to do in these next two weeks to get those money numbers up to actually -- and where do you allocate that money?
EISENBERG: I think you can sort of ratify this belief, but I think a lot of that time, if you will, I am told, is bought out already for two weeks.
So the contest I think will be close in terms of watch the swing state because there's where we are going to concentrate the dollars. Everybody said that all along, but when you mentioned Florida and you go through the other swing states, we will be there, we will be very competitive with money spent, and I think our ground game will turn out to be superb.
BARTIROMO: What do you do with that money these in swing states? I mean, obviously, Florida is very close. We had Renee Ellmers on earlier from North Carolina, and she said that there is a lot of voter interest in North Carolina. What other swing states are you going to be putting some money into?
EISENBERG: Well both ...
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: ... next two weeks.
EISENBERG: If I am correct, both Florida and North Carolina have already started their early voting ...
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
EISENBERG: ... and it's on the way. We are doing the same -- it is the same ground game. There is not an unusual twist in this. We are getting people out to vote, making sure they are registered.
But it's not something we started for these two weeks. We have been doing it pretty aggressively and with good success in all the swing states.
BARTIROMO: So you feel good in this final?
EISENBERG: I feel good about it, in this final stretch.
BARTIROMO: All right, we leave it there. We will be watching.
(CROSSTALK)
EISENBERG: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much for joining us.
EISENBERG: It's great to be with you.
BARTIROMO: You too. Lew Eisenberg joining us there.
Coming up, one entrepreneur with a new way to encourage women in business. The innovative investment into closing the gender gap, that's next.
And then more trouble for Twitter, another round of layoffs reportedly hitting the company, 8 percent of its workforce, jobs are on the chopping block, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. We are just 45 minutes away from the opening bell for Tuesday. Markets are looking higher, as you can see there. Earnings driving the story this morning.
A couple of names we are watching, Eli Lilly's stock is trading down, better than 3 percent in the premarket. The pharmaceutical giant reporting disappointing earnings and revenue. Results were hurt by higher expenses but the company is sticking by its full year forecast.
Watching Twitter today. The company reportedly is planning to lay off 8 percent of its staff, roughly 300 jobs. Twitter continuing to struggle to grow its user base. Shares of Twitter down better than 40 percent from the 52-week high.
And Caterpillar is certainly one to watch. The company reported weaker than expected earnings in revenue and guided lower. The CEO also stepping down, we knew that already, Caterpillar under pressure.
Obamacare premiums skyrocketing next year as insurers are dropping out. Just a couple days ago, I asked Obamacare architect, Dr. Zeke Emanuel about the costs of this plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EZEKIEL "ZEKE" EMANUEL, OBAMACARE ARCHITECT: For most of those people, they get their insurance through their employer, and employers have actually seen a slowdown in healthcare costs compared to what the healthcare costs under George Bush, and that has been a good thing.
Unfortunately, what a lot of employers have done, has transferred more of the costs of healthcare onto their employees and that is why employees are feeling bad, not because healthcare costs are going up so fast, but because employers have said, you know, we're going to make our employees pay more. They keep making huge profits and transfer more of the cost of life onto their employees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: And that continues as prices are going to go up, at least 25 percent next year. Joining us right now, the host of "Varney & Co.," Stuart Varney.
Stu, it's incredible. That interview was exhausting because he kept pushing back on what we all know to be true. The plan has failed!
STUART VARNEY, "VARNEY & CO." HOST: It is laughable. He's blaming George Bush? For Obamacare? He is blaming employers? How he dare. The whole thing is a total failure.
My point is this, one of the reasons for the decline of the great American middle-class is Obamacare. They are in the middle. They are squeezed. Poor people get it free, richer people can probably afford it. All but middle America, they are squeezed on all sides. And they are particularly hard- pressed by those deductibles, thousands of dollars a year out of your own pocket before insurance kicks in.
As you say, Maria, on November the 1st, we are all going to get - the people in Obamacare, are going to get notification that the average premium hike is 25 percent. And one in five of people on Obamacare will have no choice. It is take it or leave it, because there is only one insurer in their area.
I think we are going to be in for a period of real chaos, because you cannot fix this in the short term, and on November the 1st we get notification and enrollment begins and they are not going to enroll.
BARTIROMO: Yeah. And people are not connecting dots of what this has meant for the economy, generally speaking.
(CROSSTALK)
VARNEY: Right.
BARTIROMO: You speak with the small business owners they say, I can't hire any more than 49 people. I will be forced to offer benefits.
VARNEY: Plus, it is those deductibles. That disposable income that you may have for your family which is being eaten up by thousands of dollars' worth of deductibles that you got to meet out of your own pocket before the insurance kicks in.
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: Yeah.
VARNEY: I think it is a disaster, a disaster for middle America and a disaster for our economy.
BARTIROMO: Right. By the way, I know we're talking about an average of 25 percent, but in some states, I mean, Tony Sayegh, what did you tell me earlier about New Mexico?
VARNEY: New Mexico 93.2 percent, if you were in the Blue Cross Blue Shield system. And what happens? I mean, you are presented with a whooping great premium increase, what do you do?
You can't say, I am not going to pay that. Well, they will fine you ...
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: Yeah.
VARNEY: ... if you don't have insurance. You can't pay a 93 percent increase, what do you do?
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: Right.
VARNEY: You are squeezed.
BARTIROMO: You got to cut back somewhere else, that is for sure.
Stu, we'll see you in about 10 minutes. I know you have a lot more on us. "Varney & Co." begins everyday at 9:00 a.m., Eastern, right after "Mornings with Maria". Join Stuart in 10 minutes.
Coming up, investing with the cash, we will talk to an entrepreneur that will put millions into a company as so long as it benefits women, back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back. Making a profit and changing the world for the better, not mutually exclusive for one company, Brava Investments focuses on companies that adhere to one condition, they must financially benefit women.
Joining us right now is Brava Investments CEO, Nathalie Molina Nino. Nathalie, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.
NATHALIE MOLINA NINO, BRAVA INVESTMENTS CEO: Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.
BARTIROMO: Tell us about the structure of your business.
NINO: Absolutely. So we are inspired by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. The idea is we're focused on scale and we're focused on companies that yield results for investors, first and foremost, but then second to that we are focused on companies that can prove that they are economically benefiting women in some way.
BARTIROMO: How would they benefit women differently than anything else? I mean, like, when people say all of those (ph) speaking at a woman's conference, they would say, well, you know what? It is sort of just marketing. Women want the same thing as men, no?
NINO: Yeah, absolutely. And what we know is that there are certain examples, right. So we know, it's not just payout, right? It is things like Venture Capital. Women get 4.7 percent of all Venture Capital, we definitely have more than 4.7 percent of all the ideas. I mean, we can all agree on that.
And so the idea is we already have a number of funds that focus on investing in women-led businesses. I feel like that is an amazing effort, and what this is, is another tool in the toolbox.
I am concerned with the idea of businesses. I will give you example. A business that sees himself as supply chain efficiency. They go into factories, they make them efficient. They don't see themselves as being impact-oriented, they don't even see themselves as being gender-oriented.
But what they end up doing is they end up being more profitable and making the lives of everybody in those factories better. I asked them what percentage of their workforce is women, and they say over 90 percent. That is a company that is male-founded but is clearly benefiting the lives of women, so I would invest in a company like that.
TONY SAYEGH, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: What are the impediments to women gaining opportunity? You talk about Venture Capital, women only getting 4.7 percent. What are some of the structural impediments that you are trying to overcome?
NINO: You know, I think it's also historical. Women are coming from not having been in a workplace before the last century and I think that there is a shift of just women entering the workforce.
And now, at this point, you know. Women are more than 50 percent of doctors, women are very present, they are getting more degrees than men in terms of college. So, you no longer have a pipeline issue and so I think structural issues, we have a pool of people that are ready to be fully participating in the workplace and what we have is this is the time that is not necessarily hiring them at the rate that we should, promoting them at the rate we should, and especially in the case of all women, not just women CEOs, we're not paying them at the rate that we should.
JON HILSENRATH, "MORNINGS WITH MARIA" CO-HOST: So are most of your investments in companies that are run by women? Or can you find -- it seems like you could find a reason or an excuse to invest in almost any company if there are women employed there.
NINO: I love that you say that because in fact, yeah, one of the questions has been, are you narrowing the pool? So, for example, if women are only getting 4.7 percent of all Venture Capital and I am going to focus only on women-led businesses, then aren't I limiting my pool of possibilities? And that premise is I am not.
I'm focusing on investments that are founded by men or women, provided that they can prove that they are benefiting women in a measurable way. I am talking not (inaudible), I'm talking about are you putting more money in the pockets of women? If the answer yes, then we should talk.
BARTIROMO: What kinds of things do you believe benefit women specifically?
NINO: I think both investing in women-owned companies. I think putting more money in the pockets of women in terms of what they get paid. I will give you another great example, this is one of my favorites.
We have not gone public because we haven't closed any deals on investments yet. we just launched last month, but a company that I am excited to just know exists is a company that is a company that is developing, a drug for children with autism.
Autism disproportionately affects little boys, and so you wouldn't necessarily think that would fall freely in my thesis, and if you look at the economic impact of autism, I learned recently that over 90 percent marriages involving a child with autism results in divorce. It's insane.
And so think about the economic impact. We know that when divorce happens, women take on the majority of the economic burden.
So this is a company that doesn't have to do anything special for women, they simply have to exist. If their drug hits the market and if their drug is successful, then they are going to be putting more money in the pockets of mothers of children with autism all over the world. And so that is probably my best example.
BARTIROMO: All right.
HILSENRATH: How much money are you managing?
NINO: Our hope is to start with family offices, in the beginning, and then our hope is eventually to be able to position ourselves to be the solution for big institutional investors.
So we are talking about pension funds, we're talking about endowments. I got to know, for example, the folks (ph) -- they are just sitting on $10 billion of an endowment and they are getting pension to divest from toxic investments, right? They want to be able to have a large-scale investment pool like ours to be able to say, OK, we are putting our money some place that is going to be non-toxic and that we can prove it's actually benefiting the world.
BARTIROMO: Is there any evidence that investing in women businesses where women own them and are largely the employees, have better performance than those of men?
NINO: The FDA just released a study, actually a couple of weeks ago that says that generally when it comes to both diverse fund managers and diverse actual investments, they have, I think, like, a 10- or a 15-year track record showing those investments tend to perform better. My thesis is that the same is true when it comes to focusing on women.
BARTIROMO: Nathalie, good to see you. Thanks so much. Nathalie Molina Nino there. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: All right, it has been a great show. Tony Sayegh, Jon Hilsenrath, Dagen McDowell, a great morning to you guys. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Glad to be here.
DAGEN MCDOWELL, "MORNINGS WITH MARIA" SHOW CO-HOST: I'm raged over Obamacare.
BARTIROMO: I know. And we're going to continue talking about that as prices move up.
Thanks for joining us everybody. That will do it for us. We'll see you tomorrow. "VARNEY AND CO." begins right now. Stuart, take it away.
VARNEY: I will, Maria. Thank you very much indeed.
END
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