Gov. Kristi Noem on Michael Bloomberg’s controversial comments regarding farmers

close

Video

Gov. Kristi Noem on Michael Bloomberg’s controversial comments regarding farmers

Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg faces backlash over 2016 comment on farmers saying he ‘can teach anybody to be a farmer;’ South Dakota governor Kristi Noem reacts.

This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto,” February 21, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: All right, place your bets.

Less than a day away now from the Nevada caucuses, still no clear winner among the Democrats, as polls are changing as we speak. So is a brokered convention, one in which no one has the necessary delegates on the first ballot, looking more likely?

We shall soon know.

Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto. More on that in just a moment.

First, the Bloomberg campaign says its office in Knoxville, Tennessee, has been vandalized, and it is pointing the finger at Bernie Sanders supporters.

Peter Doocy in Las Vegas with more on that.

Peter, what's going on here?

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil, somebody tagged a Bloomberg campaign office in Tennessee with spray paint overnight.

And without any information about who did it, the Bloomberg campaign is ready to blame Bernie Sanders. The Bloomberg campaign manager wants a condemnation from the senator and explains why here -- quote -- "This latest incident at our Knoxville campaign office is exactly what we have been warning about. We don't know who is responsible for this vandalism, but we do know it echoes language from the Sanders campaign and its supporters."

The Bloomberg campaign is also now spending money in cities President Trump is visiting like Las Vegas to troll him with billboards that say things like, "Donald Trump eats burnt stake. Donald Trump cheats at golf" and "Donald Trump's wall fell over."

And while that's going on, Bernie Sanders is doing things the old-fashioned way in California, trying to talk to registered independents and trying to talk them into switching parties so they can vote for him on Super Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I hope very much that, in California, we have the highest voter turnout in this primary that California has ever had.

But in order to make that happen, those people who are independents, who are no-party preference people, have got to request a Democratic ballot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: And Sanders also just gave an interview to "60 Minutes" where he ridiculed Michael Bloomberg's performance at this week's Democratic debate, saying that if that that kind of performance was up against President Trump, that the president would chew Bloomberg up and spit him out -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, that's pretty clear and graphic.

Thank you, my friend.

In the meantime, there's a headline in Politico today that Bloomberg is quietly plotting a brokered convention strategy by poaching supporters from Joe Biden. Now, a lot of you might be saying, what? But don't say I didn't warn you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: That's my prediction, going to have a brokered convention, because the math doesn't support it being settled by the time they get to a convention.

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER: Exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's highly unlikely in this day and age that it gets to that point. It could, but I think we are likely to see...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: I think we're have a brokered convention.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I hope so. I hope you're right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me too.

CAVUTO: My latest theory on this money that's being raised is, it keeps more in candidates in the race longer than people would have expected otherwise, thereby increasing the likelihood of a brokered convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: He agreed.

Anyway, so a brokered convention where, again, as I say, a candidate doesn't have the winning number of delegates, in this case, 1,991, to close the deal, does that mean it is more likely? Then you go into a second ballot, where you have better than 700 superdelegates playing a role.

Messy.

Let's go to Kat Timpf, the host of "Sincerely Kat" on FOX nation, FOX News contributor Kristen Soltis Anderson, Democratic strategist Shavar Jeffries.

What do you think, Kat?

KATHERINE TIMPF, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think it's more likely now than it has been in recent years, even -- not even close, because I think that Bernie has a really good shot just because if you look at the way things are laid out, there for people sort of vying for this moderate lane, and then he's only competing with Elizabeth Warren for the more progressive voters.

And he's doing decidedly better than she is. So I think that if this were any other situation, I would say with absolutely no reservation that he's going to be the nominee, brokered convention not going to happen.

But because it is Bernie Sanders specifically, and we already know how the DNC feels about Bernie Sanders, how establishment Democrats feel about Bernie Sanders, I wouldn't be surprised to see them sort of conspiring, trying to do things to take the nomination away from Bernie Sanders.

So I don't think that it is most likely. I think it is more likely than it ever has been in the past.

CAVUTO: Shavar, maybe help me with this. There's another school of thought. And it's happened more often than it's not that whoever has the most delegates getting to the convention usually wins on the first ballot, because everyone sort of gloms toward that candidate.

But, normally, that means that candidate has a substantial lead in those delegates. What do you think happens in that event?

SHAVAR JEFFRIES, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think you're exactly right.

I think it depends, to the extent we get there, what percentage of delegates the front-runner has. I mean, if it's in the 40s, that's one set of conversations. If it's around one-third, that's a very different set of conversations, when two-thirds of the party have chosen another nominee.

I think it's important, of course, though, to remember that we're in the first inning of a long primary process. I mean, I would expect, after Super Tuesday, the field will narrow significantly. And when we have fewer candidates, I think it dramatically reduces the likelihood we will have a brokered convention.

CAVUTO: Kristen, another thing is, is this canard that started and maybe an urban legend that somehow Bernie Sanders was robbed of the nomination four years ago, when, in fact, the popular vote kind of did in the end mirror the delegate awards.

We can go back in time and argue that nevertheless, but clearly you have a lot of Sanders folks who feel that they were burnt then, they feel they're about to be burnt now. And there's going to be holy hell at that convention in that event. What do you think?

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.

I mean, the irony is that a lot of the changes to the Democratic nomination process this time around came as a result of Bernie Sanders supporters who were aggrieved. They felt like the last time around that was inappropriate, that you shouldn't have these superdelegates wielding so much influence.

And so they really pushed for some changes where now you don't have any winner-take-all states. And so it's actually made the likelihood of a brokered convention more -- it's made it more likely, which in this case now actually hurts Bernie Sanders. It's hard to imagine anyone else running away with just enough delegates to get to the convention and have it not be contested, because Sanders has been doing so well so far.

I suppose if Bloomberg really knocks it out of the park on Super Tuesday, he could do it, but nobody else seems poised to have the momentum to ride into the convention with enough delegates.

It will be ironic if all of these changes pushed for in part because of Bernie Sanders not winning the nomination last time actually leads to a brokered convention this time, which, again, keeps Bernie Sanders from the nomination.

CAVUTO: You know, it modern times, I guess the closest we came to something like that was in 1976, with the Republicans, when Ronald Reagan was challenging Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination. Ultimately, it wasn't required. But it was a close call.

And the argument was always, Kat, in these circumstances, a brokered convention always means the party that's experiencing it loses it, when, in fact, back at the time of Abraham Lincoln, when he won in one, of course, he did OK, he won.

So we're just not used to it these days, but it was much more common in the past.

TIMPF: Right.

And I think that the fact that we're talking about this is just another symptom of what we sort of already know about the Democratic Party right now. People often talk about the progressive wing and then the more moderate wing. But when you hear a lot of Bernie supporters saying things like, I will never vote for a Mike Bloomberg, and then a lot of the more moderate people saying, I would never vote for Bernie Sanders, it's -- I don't even know if wings is the right way to talk about it.

It's like we're talking about different birds.

CAVUTO: Yes.

I do remember too, Shavar, when a lot of people take a look at division within the Democratic Party, they were certainly talking that way about Republicans four years ago, when candidate Trump was supposed to lead Republicans to total disarray.

We ultimately know what happened. Democrats are salivating at the prospect, yes, we can easily beat this guy. We know what happened. And I'm wondering if Republicans are doing the same thing in reverse now, assuming it gets to be Bernie Sanders, we are going to have a field day here.

I always say be careful what you wish for, and not just because I'm an old fart. What do you think? Because you're a young man.

JEFFRIES: Well, thank you. Thank you. My kids don't think I'm as young as I would like to think about that, but...

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Yes, tell me about it.

JEFFRIES: But I think you're right.

I think the primary naturally involves, frankly, a divisive contest. I mean, there's a lot of heated battles back and forth, but Democrats are going to be united come August and definitely by Labor Day, focus on removing President Trump.

President Trump is the one kind of entity that unites Democrats. So, despite the other divisions we may have within the party, we're going to be united after Labor Day to defeat President Trump.

CAVUTO: All right.

Kristen, one thing that kind of interested me, he is not a candidate on the Nevada ballot. But that has not stopped Michael Bloomberg from putting up a ton of billboards, where obviously the target is the president.

But it's just a reminder of the money he has to spend, even in states he's not on the ballot. That's an enormous financial impact on this race, you know?

SOLTIS ANDERSON: Well, it must be nice to be able to light that much money on fire in the process of trying to run for president.

(LAUGHTER)

SOLTIS ANDERSON: I mean, look, it may work out for him. He may not be lighting it on fire.

But I do think, for instance, some of these billboards, things like trying to make fun of Donald Trump for eating burnt steak, he's trying to provoke the president into tweeting about him. He's trying to provoke the president into making it seem like this is the general election, the Democratic primary has already been decided, it's me vs. Bloomberg.

And I just feel like it's a silly strategy on Bloomberg's part, because what it's doing is, if you have got any moderate voters, who they may love the president's economy, but they don't love his tone, they don't love the way he talks about his opponents, by doing the same thing, by taking these little petty shots, you bring yourself down.

And I think it makes it potentially harder for him to be someone who, say, a suburban woman who may not love the president's tweets, but does love his economy, decide to go for Mike Bloomberg. If he's just sort of playing this goofy game of, oh, Donald Trump cheats at golf, I mean, it's just silly.

And it's so beneath running for president. And it just puts him on a lower level.

CAVUTO: Yes.

When did we get to that point, where it was beneath running for president?

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: All right. We will see.

Guys, I want to thank you all very, very much.

In the meantime, this alert for you, Harvey Weinstein just leaving that New York City courthouse. He will have to wait until Monday now, at the earliest, to hear his fate.

The jury in that rape trial dismissed, after saying it was deadlocked on some of the morning serious charges. They will resume deliberations on Monday.

Bryan Llenas is there right now with the latest.

Hey, Bryan.

BRYAN LLENAS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil. Well, good afternoon.

Look, this is a little bit complicated. So stay with me for a second. The jury at about 2:15 came into the court, and they alerted everyone that they had reached a unanimous decision on three of the five counts against Harvey Weinstein, count two, a criminal sex act charge, and counts four and five, which are rape charges.

These charges all have to do with the accusations directly involved in this case, one, the alleged accusation that Harvey Weinstein forced Mimi Haleyi to perform oral sex on him in 2006, and the other that he raped actress Jessica Mann in a New York hotel room in 2013.

The jury, however, said they were deadlocked and could not come to unanimous decision on counts one and three. These are predatory sexual assault charges, the most serious charges again Weinstein, punishable by up to life in prison.

The jury asked the judge whether a partial verdict was OK. The defense said they were willing to accept a partial verdict. The prosecution said no.

At that point, the judge said the jury needed to come back with a unanimous decision on all five counts. They were sent back to deliberate, and they will be back here on Monday for a fifth day of deliberation.

Now, in order for this jury to find Weinstein guilty of predatory sexual assault charges, counts one or three, prosecutors needed to prove that Weinstein had committed a prior sex crime. And in this case, they relied heavily on the testimony of their star witness, actress Annabella Sciorra of "Sopranos" fame.

Now, Sciorra says that Weinstein raped her back in the early '90s. So in order for these -- this jury, Neil, to have come back with a decision those counts, one and three, the ones that they are a hung jury on, they needed to not only come up with a decision the two charges that they were facing, but they also needed to have believed Sciorra's account from the early '90s.

And that's where it seems like they're having a tough time is on one and three. And we will see what happens -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Thank God you're all over this and know this far better than I.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Bryan, thank you very, very, very much.

All right. I want to let in on a little development we're getting now and a response from Michael Bloomberg on these NDAs, or nondisclosure agreements, that apparently affect three women who he is now open to allowing them to be released from that nondisclosure agreement.

Now, some of these cases go back, we're told, 30-plus years. But they have identified three, again, agreements that were signed with these women, and he is open to having them make their case.

Quoting here: "I have done a lot of reflecting on the issue over the past few days. I have decided that for, as long as I'm running the company, we won't offer confidential agreements to resolve claims of sexual harassment or misconduct going forward. But in the case of these particular women, if they want to make a statement or be released from that NDA, they can approach the company and will be given a release."

More after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I could teach anybody, even people in this room, so no offense intended, to be a farmer.

You -- it's a process. So, you dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, add water, up comes the corn. Then we have 300 -- you could learn that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: You know, it's probably the one comment among many over the last, what, couple of weeks that stings the most for 2020 for presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, not so much for its controversy, as to, well, its utter cluelessness, all but telling farmers they're dopes.

That is how South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem sees it. And no amount of Bloomberg apologies are going to erase that image and that memory.

The governor joins us right now.

Governor, so you're not convinced of the apologies since?

GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R-SD): No, Neil.

I mean, it was an ignorant comment. I was thinking about all the things you have to do when you're farming. You -- GPS-controlled tractors, the computer systems in your grain handling equipment, the chemistry, biology, genetics you have to understand.

When you plant corn, actually, it specifically has to be at a depth that matches up with where it will get optimum yield and growth. And so it's just extremely arrogant of him. And I think that's the difference between him and President Trump, is, Bloomberg is constantly belittling everyday people.

And the president gets up every morning and is fighting for the everyday person, for the farmer, for the minor, for the worker that's out there trying to pay his bills.

So that's the big contrast we have right here between those two men.

CAVUTO: You know, a lot of people have been piling on that, and a lot of Republicans -- I don't know if you're among them -- saying, Bernie Sanders is the one who's getting snookered here, and he's going to get robbed.

And I always get the feeling, Governor, it's because Republicans feel that's the guy they can trounce, not so much Michael Bloomberg, who, dumb comments at all, is spending upwards of, what, a half-a-billion dollars to have an impact. And that's got to have an impact, right?

NOEM: Oh, absolutely.

I mean, the dollars that he can pour into this race certainly make him viable. I just think the American people are smarter than that. I think the American people are smarter than supporting Bernie Sanders. At least, I hope they are.

Hope -- hopefully, they will look at the fact that they have got more money in their pockets, that their energy costs are lower, that their regulations and doing business has gotten so much better. That's really what this president has done.

Go back and look at all the things he said he would do when he was campaigning that he followed through on. And, at the end of the day, on Election Day, I'm hoping that's where they put their vote.

CAVUTO: Are you nervous with what's going on in China, besides the virus thing -- and there are very real health scares there -- but that it is going to delay any benefit to your state on this trade deal we have with China, and maybe for quite some time?

I know the president has talked about helping farmers with credits and the like, but that's not going to quite even the score. What happens?

NOEM: No, our farmers have needed these markets open for quite some time.

And China has specifically targeted farmers. When -- when this whole trade agreement started, and negotiation between the president and China, they specifically went after farmers, because they knew they could hurt them and that they feed the world, and that the -- this president cares about farmers.

So, the fact...

CAVUTO: But are they worried now, Governor? Are they worried now that there could be maybe a legitimate delay -- some say that the Chinese might use this as an excuse -- but there could be a delay buying a lot of stuff they have committed to?

NOEM: Oh, absolutely, they are.

So they're waiting for those opportunities. We're going to hold China accountable. But, yes, this virus is a real threat to getting things done in a timely manner.

CAVUTO: All right, we will watch it closely.

Governor, thank you very much for taking the time.

NOEM: Thanks for having me, Neil.

CAVUTO: I hope this impasse for farmers will be resolved.

By the way, we are getting a word of a potential agreement, a settlement, if you will, on the part of Wells Fargo with federal regulators. Remember, when they were Wells Fargo -- this goes back years now -- opening up extra accounts for people who never signed up for them?

It was one litigation after another. But this seems to be sweeping, and will call for Wells Fargo committing $3 billion to the Justice Department Securities and Exchange Commission to remove all of the accountability around that.

This might be it, or so they hope. We shall see -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)  CAVUTO: All right. Thought everyone was off that Diamond Princess cruise ship? Well, you might want to think again.

Dr. Arnold Hopland and his wife, Jeanie, thought they were going to evacuate to the United States, until she tested positive for the coronavirus.

While Jeanie remains in a Japanese hospital, Arnold still on the ship.

Doctor, how you holding up?

DR. ARNOLD HOPLAND, UNDER QUARANTINE: Well, Neil, thank you for allowing me to speak to you. I'm doing fine.

I have spent a great deal of time in constant contact with the news media and other sources about the situation on the ship. And you have the platform that I love to address.

CAVUTO: Well, platform away, Doctor. What do you -- what can you tell us? What is it like right now? How's your wife doing right now?

HOPLAND: All right.

Actually, Jeanie is without symptoms in the hospital. There's no treatment for this illness. So when they take you to the hospital, basically, they feed you and ask you if you feel well, and eventually after they have tested you negative twice, they set you loose.

And so she's fine. And I remain on the ship. I haven't been tested for the last six days. So I wouldn't be a bit surprised if I'm also infected, because prolonged exposure to the infectious environment on this ship just guarantees more -- more people that come down with the illness.

CAVUTO: How many are still on the ship, Doctor?

HOPLAND: Right now, there are less than 200 as of yesterday, and we probably are going to evacuate the ship entirely within two days, although the CDC has ordered me to stay on the ship for another week or so.

That's contrary to any common sense, because that won't be allowed by the ship.

CAVUTO: When they tell you they want you to stay on longer, obviously, they're worried about exposure that you might have had to your wife and all that, but do they -- do they say that?

I mean, because to your point, there's conflicting advice, no, everybody off.

HOPLAND: Yes.

Well, let me put in order my take on this. I'm a physician with 40 years' experience in primary care, and 20 years of interest in pandemic management. And so I happened to be on the ship when the COVID was discovered on February 5.

It -- in the evening of that day, when I saw the plan for holding us in a quarantine on the ship, it was clearly a foolish plan. And so I immediately began trying to contact the U.S. government. It took five days to break through the logjam to get the communication through.

And Dr. Phil Roe finally put me in touch with the HHS emergency response team leader, Dr. Kadlec. And they're American heroes who organized that first rescue flight, which was obviously successful, even though it was opposed by the CDC.

Well, the entire world community immediately followed our lead and evacuated their citizens. And they're now gone to effective quarantine at home and whatnot.

And now we're left with 100 Americans held hostage by a virus, rather than a terrorist group, but abroad. And they have been abandoned by the U.S. government. And it's been directed by bureaucrats and the CDC. As you might guess, if I sound upset about that, I'm angry about it.

CAVUTO: No, I can't blame you, Doctor.

But what do you do just to pass the time? I mean, aren't too many on that ship. You're without your wife. I assume you're alone in your stateroom or what have you. But what are you doing?

HOPLAND: I'm full-time communicating with the news media all over the world, to be frank with you.

And I have had very few moments of idle time. But this fiasco is an embarrassment for the whole world. And it's -- because America is capable of record its citizens abroad, while they can still safekeep citizens at home. And it would seem that the message that we're giving is that we can't do that job.

But timing is critical. If we -- if this initial response to the outbreak wasn't bungled, there would be fewer or no Americans infected. Now there's over 60 Americans infected.

CAVUTO: Wow.

HOPLAND: And, more likely, they may take immediate action.

And so they need to immediately repatriate all Americans involved in this fiasco for treatment and or quarantine on U.S. soil, as whatever's needed.

And I think that Dr. Kadlec with the HHS emergency response team needs to be empowered to complete the job that -- despite an objection by the CDC bureaucrats in their...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Yes, they're fighting back and forth.

But, Doctor, we will see what happens. Be well. My best to your wife. You sound like, with your expertise, you know exactly what's going on and how to help a lot of folks as well.

Be well, sir. Thank you.

HOPLAND: And thank you, Neil, for allowing this to be aired.

CAVUTO: No, it was my honor. Please hang in there. I know it's got to be very, very tough.

Meanwhile, you think the Russians tried to mess up the 2016 election? Wait until you hear what they're supposedly planning to do in 2020.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: Does Vlad want to help Bernie? Reports now in The Washington Post that Bernie Sanders has just been briefed by U.S. officials that Russia is trying to help his presidential campaign.

No one knows what method, what strategy, or ultimately what goal -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The do-nothing Democrats, they said today that Putin wants to be sure that Trump gets elected. Here we go again.

Doesn't he want to see who the Democrat is going to be? Wouldn't he rather have, let's say, Bernie? Wouldn't he rather have Bernie, who honeymooned in Moscow?

Wouldn't that be...

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: These people are crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: Well, if The Washington Post is right, the Russians do want Bernie.

There is a report on this very issue, that the Bernie Sanders campaign has been briefed by U.S. officials that Russia is trying to help his presidential campaign. When told about this, Sanders apparently told The Post: "I don't care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president."

He went on to say: "My message to Putin is clear. Stay out of American elections. And, as president, I will make sure that you do."

But what to make of this latest wrinkle, development, whatever you want to call it?

Former South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy.

Congressman, sorry to hit you with this without much warning. We didn't have much. But what do you make of it?

TREY GOWDY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: That Russia is our enemy.

They want to sow the seeds of discord in this country. They want us to question the legitimacy of elections, no matter who wins. They want us to spend years and years investigating one another. So I have the same reaction I did last night.

I don't think Russia -- Russia wants Trump to beat Bernie Sanders. But in defense of the Sanders campaign, they won't whatever causes the most amount of discord in this country. And, quite frankly, Neil, they have had a good couple of years.

CAVUTO: Do you think that everyone should double up efforts to watch that they don't do that again, whether you think in 2016 their efforts were to help Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton, or now help Bernie Sanders, the notion being that that, if he is the nominee, would help Donald Trump?

That's the way it's being played, but that everyone should double up and make sure, whatever they want, they don't get?

GOWDY: Yes.

Neil, we are Americans first. And we are welcome to fight among ourselves, but no foreign country, friend or foe, should attempt to influence our democratic process. So if anything should be unifying in this country, it should be a rejection of Russia interfering on behalf or to deter or to defeat or deflect anybody else's campaign, regardless of who it is.

CAVUTO: No, I see what you're saying.

There are a lot of people -- and this is what makes the chafe and Republicans chafe -- that, if not for the Russians, he wouldn't have won. That's been proven to be debunked.

But, nevertheless, I can understand the position the president has when this comes up again and in 2020 just to have maybe a hands-off approach to that. What do you think of that?

GOWDY: Well, I think Russia wins when Democrats or the media say what you just quoted them as sometimes saying, that Trump wouldn't have won without their help, because that sows the seeds of discord.

It causes people to question the legitimacy of the 2016 election, and, therefore, Russia wins. They're not our friend. It's not like they like the Democrats more than Republicans or Republicans more than Democrats. They don't like America.

CAVUTO: No, you're right.

GOWDY: So, if you want to be unified...

CAVUTO: And, Congressman, the numbers clearly show that they didn't tip the election in his favor.

What I'm asking you is, a lot of people, when rational people look at this, regardless of their political bias, know that. I'm just wondering then, if the president, Republicans join Democrats in just making sure that, look, you're not going to be interfering again, no matter who you think it's going to help or hurt?

GOWDY: Yes.

So, when I was in Congress, I said the president cannot do enough to punish Russia. President Obama, I wish he had done more in the fall of 2016. So, regardless of who the president is, you cannot do enough, for me, as a South Carolinian and an American, to punish Russia for trying to interfere with the principles of our democracy.

CAVUTO: All right, we had a statement, another one, sir, from the Sanders campaign, from Bernie Sanders himself.

"Unlike Donald Trump" -- quoting here -- "I do not consider Vladimir Putin a good friend. He's an autocratic thug who is attempting to destroy democracy and crush dissent in Russia. Let's be clear. The Russians want to undermine American democracy by dividing us up. Unlike the current president, I stand firmly against their efforts."

Do you think that the president should personally get in front of this and stop those efforts?

GOWDY: I think the intelligence community should do a really good job of briefing the president on what their evidence is.

So the reason you and I are talking about this now is because a House Democrat leaked to The New York Times an assessment made by the intelligence community. So when I hear the word assessment, Neil, that's just a long way of saying opinion. That is their opinion.

But he's the commander in chief. You need to go convince him. You go take Mike Pompeo and whoever else he has confidence in and convince him that Russia is trying to mess with this country, and I bet you will get a forceful response.

CAVUTO: Trey Gowdy, we shall see.

GOWDY: But it's got -- it can't come from The New York Times. It's got to come from somebody that he actually trusts.

It can't come Schiff leaking to The New York Times.

CAVUTO: Or The Washington Post.

GOWDY: Send the head of the CIA over there.

CAVUTO: All right, Trey Gowdy, thank you very, very much, sir. We will see where this goes, if it develops into anything.

Again, a Washington Post report working on news that the Soviets or -- I'm sorry -- the Russians are actively involved in trying to meddle in the 2020 campaign, in this case by promoting the cause of Bernie Sanders.

All right, in the meantime, forget the candidates who are running. Focus on the cash that is running out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, you're looking live at Las Vegas.

The presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is holding a roundtable discussion. He might be passing the hat, because his campaign is, well, needing some dough, setting a $13 million fund-raising goal by Super Tuesday, as he and a lot of other Democrats are running short on cash.

The Wall Street Journal's James Freeman, bestselling author as well, on that.

It's an interesting piece in your fine paper talking about the irony being here that, even with the money issue and everything else, we could still see people drop off and still have kind of what is a traditional quadrennial event here, the field winnows down.

What do you think?

JAMES FREEMAN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.

Kudos to the reporters on our news site and for pointing out I think what a lot of people didn't realize, because this has been a campaign characterized by lots of candidates raising lots of money. But as of January, the one with a lot on hand still after spending for the various things in a campaign is Bernie Sanders.

So he's got a big cash advantage as of the end of January. Now, this is very fluid. People raise money after good debate performance, but what they also point out is that Buttigieg, Warren, Biden, Klobuchar have not reserved much television time for the Super Tuesday states, suggesting they are low on funds.

Sanders and Bloomberg, of course, have been buying lots of airtime. So it suggests that, although it says that Bernie is financially strong, I think it may actually, counterintuitively, not be good for him, because it means some of his rivals could drop out more quickly than expected.

CAVUTO: And then you would have more of mano a mano or...

FREEMAN: Yes, instead of four moderates all splitting and each getting 10 percent, maybe he ends up pretty quickly within the next few weeks against one or two alternatives.

CAVUTO: But, you know, it's Super Tuesday with better than 1,300 delegates at stake. You're still a long way from the 1,991 you have, even with those candidates before they drop out, because they get apportioned out.

FREEMAN: Yes.

CAVUTO: Can you see a case where -- and this is more traditional than people think -- he gets to the convention with the most delegates, that is, Bernie Sanders, but not the majority of delegates?

FREEMAN: Yes.

And I think his camp is certainly to argue that plurality wins, that whoever is leading when you get to the convention...

CAVUTO: In the past, it's been plurality if it's a big plurality, if you have a substantial, let's say, a couple of hundred delegate lead over your next -- right?

FREEMAN: Right. 

And also this is unprecedented. He's not really a Democrat.

CAVUTO: Right.

FREEMAN: He's attempting a takeover of that party. Most of that party, most of the politicians in that party have spent years saying, no, we're not socialists.

So this would be a big leap. I'm not sure every member of that party is ready for it. But I don't think it would be like other situations where you would kind of give the person the edge, because they're not that different from the other competitors.

CAVUTO: Yes, I don't think they would do that. I don't think they would do that.

But it's fascinating. It might spoil my theory of this going into multiple ballots, but I'm still standing by that. So you might just run away from me on that.

FREEMAN: It could happen.

CAVUTO: Yes, we -- could happen.

FREEMAN: Yes. I will stay with you.

CAVUTO: You have been very gentlemanly about it.

FREEMAN: No, could happen.

CAVUTO: James Freeman, great seeing you.

FREEMAN: Thanks, Neil.

CAVUTO: In the meantime, Burger King thought showing this moldy burger -- have you seen this? -- was a surefire way to kick the competition.

So why does it look like it only ended up kicking Burger King in the buns?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)  (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This year, we had a movie. They said best movie. They announced a movie from South Korea. I said, what's that all about?

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: The movie was made in South Korea.

Look, I get along great with South Korea. But I never saw that one before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: It was a good movie, but the president taking aim at the Academy's decision to award "Parasite" the Oscar for best picture of the year, a South Korean film.

But you know the drill. The president thinks it should have an American film.

Anyway, the studio behind the movie firing back at the president saying that it's "understandable, he can't read," referring to the English subtitles for the South Korean film, which gets a little tacky.

Is that warranted?

Let's go to our Gen Hexed, whether they're hexed on this.

"Your World" audio technician and author of "Blood in the Streets" Dion Baia. We have got Townhall columnist Gavin Wax, and certainly not last, but least, Kristina Partsinevelos.

Kristina, the attack line was, it's a foreign film, subtitled, are you kidding me? What do you think?

KRISTINA PARTSINEVELOS, FOX NEWS BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Best director over the last 10 years, there's been a lot of foreign winners as well.

But I don't -- I really think that you shouldn't be focusing on something so petty and juvenile like this.

DION BAIA, FOX NEWS AUDIO TECHNICIAN: Yes, it's weird.

PARTSINEVELOS: Really, talk about the strength of the economy, which is -- I know he did continue on. Talk about what's going on with the coronavirus. Talk about trade. Talk about anything else.

Why are you belittling yourself by going on with what actors are saying?

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: I know a lot of it is built on the idea that, hey, we have this foreign film get in there and getting all the top prizes and all.

BAIA: But it's not -- nothing new.

(CROSSTALK)

BAIA: We have had movies, "Life Is Beautiful," Roberto Benigni.

We have had movies before.

(CROSSTALK)

PARTSINEVELOS: The silent one, that silent movie.

BAIA: Yes.

CAVUTO: Did he know that?

BAIA: I don't know.

I mean, it's weird, because it plays to his base, which I understand. But I think since it's an election year, you would think he'd be trying to go after undecided votes and people like that.

And that's where this, I think, is alienating people, when he starts making fun of people or calling people names. The base is going to vote for him no matter what. But if he wants the African-American vote or he wants...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Whatever your point of view on the subject that, hey, there were a lot of great American films.

GAVIN WAX, TOWNHALL: Right.

I see where he's coming from. But, at the end of the day, who thought that he was like a hipster movie critic? I mean, he's not telling you the latest coming of age film out of like some emo, stressed girl in Wyoming.

BAIA: Yes.

WAX: He's telling -- I personally his favorite films may have been maybe "Die Hard" or "The Terminator," something really '80s. But I guess it's "Sunset Boulevard" and "Gone With the Wind."

PARTSINEVELOS: Well, he brought up "Gone With the Wind," which is, by the way, the highest grossing film ever adjusted for inflation.

(CROSSTALK)

BAIA: There was a backlash to that a couple years ago, like...

(CROSSTALK)

BAIA: ... perceive racism.

(CROSSTALK)

BAIA: But it's just so weird to just go after that, because then the studio's response is also kind of like, ahh.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Childish tit for tat.

By the way, speaking of childish tit for tat, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, they're going to stop using the Sussex Royal brand. Apparently, that's a crucial distinction here, because Queen Elizabeth reportedly took issue with the couple keeping the name after stepping back as senior members of the family.

So now without that she's saying no way.

BAIA: Yes.

I think, with or without their -- she doesn't want them to use the name royal in that, which I can understand, because I guess...

CAVUTO: But it doesn't take away the fact that they're royals.

BAIA: No, but she doesn't -- she was looking at it like -- which supposedly wasn't their intention -- was the commercialization, using it for marketing and stuff.

Their response is, they wanted to make sure that, look, people are going to put that brand on other apparel. We want to grab it first and trademark it.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: They're still going to make a lot of money. Right?

(CROSSTALK)

BAIA: Yes, of course, regardless.

PARTSINEVELOS: Yes. But the trademarks that they filed for all of those names have now been deleted, which shows that they did want to capitalize.

Maybe it was for their charity cases, but, at the same time, they can make money off of it. They chose to leave. Therefore, they don't hold the right to capitalize on that royal thing. They need to prove that they can earn the money, like Kylie Jenner, you know?

(CROSSTALK)

WAX: The only way this is going to be settled is if they take it to, let's say, Judge Judy, and adjudicate it live on national television, because that's the state of the royal family now.

They are a few degrees away from real-time television.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Do you think they lose their sizzle?

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: They're in the media now. But I guess they always be...

BAIA: Can you imagine Wapner? Duh-uh-dun.

(CROSSTALK)

BAIA: Entering the court now is...

WAX: Exactly. Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

PARTSINEVELOS: Instagram is popular for them.

(CROSSTALK)

BAIA: And the queen just wanted to make sure that they weren't going to be -- yes.

CAVUTO: All right, meanwhile, our last subject, call it fast food Friday.

KFC is rolling out a chicken and donut sandwich nationwide. Hello? And Burger King releasing a moldy Whopper ad to highlight the sandwich's real ingredients. This one kind of made me sicky-poo.

BAIA: This is hilarious, because I'm not going to name the franchise, but a couple of us audio guys here a couple years ago bought a cheeseburger, put it in a drawer, and kept it there for a year.

We took it out. We uncovered it, and it was exactly the same, except the cheese had gone away. No mold. A little harder.

WAX: Mystery cheese.

BAIA: I'm not saying what it was, but it wasn't Burger King.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: That was the one you gave to me.

BAIA: I know. And you were like, this is hard, but good. This is great.

CAVUTO: Thank you.

WAX: The real story here is that how Burger King ripped off SpongeBob's Nasty Patty.

I mean, this is a huge plagiarism case right now. It was the Nasty Patty. They took it.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: What were they trying to say here, that the chemicals and all that, do you really want that?

PARTSINEVELOS: So, they're removing the artificial preservatives. They're removing everything from it, so that you can actually see now that it's going to act like regular food should.

BAIA: And go off.

PARTSINEVELOS: McDonald's did this in 2018, the same exact process.

But this is an ick factor that sometimes we talk about on TV, like, we can't say certain things because it's a little bit too icky for the regular audience member. That image...

(CROSSTALK)

BAIA: Yes, that stays with you.

(CROSSTALK)

BAIA: It's like seeing gore.

CAVUTO: You're a vegetarian, right?

(CROSSTALK)

PARTSINEVELOS: It's showing that they're listening, though, right, that people want to know what's in their food, and they are more healthy.

(CROSSTALK)

WAX: Way too far.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: All right. All right. I mean, can it there. All right.

Kristina is probably saying, I don't want to do this.

BAIA: We got a Whopper.

CAVUTO: All right, meanwhile, for Nevada voters, the wait is almost over. But what if I told you, even after it's over, it might not be over?

I will explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)  CAVUTO: All right, can Nevada see the same type of caucus chaos that hit Iowa just a few weeks ago? Well, they say no.

FOX News' Jacqui Heinrich has been following this very, very closely.

So, they don't see a repeat possibility, I guess, huh, Jacqui?

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're hoping not for a repeat. That's for sure.

A memo, though, sent to the campaigns today from the state party created a level of question at least among the campaigns, saying that they are no longer going to be using the Google form they planned to use to report the results, and instead will report the results through a phone-based system with phone calls and text messages.

Now, it's unclear how much of a role the Google form will have in tabulating the vote totals. But, of course, there's a lot of anxiety around the technology that the party and the state plan to use following the Iowa caucuses, the DNC trying to manage expectations, not committing to release any results on the day of the vote, saying accuracy is more important than speed.

Now, the state party originally planned to use an app developed by the same company behind the bungled Iowa caucuses, but, after Iowa, they scrapped that app, with less than three weeks to put a new system in place, instead distributing 2,000 iPads to caucus sites pre-loaded with that Google software to send data to the cloud.

As a safeguard, totals will also be called in over the phone and written down on paper. But there was some concern, of course, about the security of the iPad networks that they are using, as well as the tech-savviness of the volunteers, who have to use the Google forms with little training.

Nevada Democrats reportedly held a few sets of training, scrambling to get everyone up to speed. And they're saying that the most important thing here is accuracy, not speed, Neil.

CAVUTO: I got it.

And I know you will be all over it tomorrow, as will we, with the Nevada caucuses tomorrow, 10:00 a.m. to noon Eastern time, looking at what happens there and whether it carries over anywhere.

Here comes "The Five."

Content and Programming Copyright 2020 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2020 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.