2024and "squawk box" begins right now. good morning. welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc. we are live from the nasdaq market site in times square. i'm becky quick along with joe kernen. andrew is off today. hello. >> hi. >> we're back together. >> welcome each other back. i was actually here yesterday. >> i know. >> only one day. i was out. >> i haven't seen you in a while. >> you haven't. it's summer. it's august. not really doldrums. >> the kids are on vacation. >> i can give you much better

than that. i can give you 77 days -- >> oh, good. less than i thought. >> 18 hours, 59 minutes and 12 seconds. >> until the polls close or they open? >> i'm not sure. it is down to the seconds. the seconds are ticking. 18 hours and 59 minutes. wait a minute. wait a minute. the update. 58 minutes now and 58 seconds. >> yeah. i was thinking it was 80 something days. >> time passes slowly or quickly? >> it is going by way too fast. that's what they say about childhood years. days pass slowly and years pass quickly. >> is this me? this is you. keep going. u.s. equity futures at this hour, as you see the s&p is indicate higher by one point.

the dow is down 18. this comes after the impressive rally. the dow added 237 points. s&p and nasdaq were bigger gainers. you had the nasdaq up 1.3%. the s&p up 1%. this was all part of this eight-day gain we have seen for the s&p and nasdaq. all of these things adding up over time. treasury yields if you want to look where things stand. the ten-year is sitting at 3.87. the two-year is above 4%, but barely. all these expectations about what's going to happen about the fed potentially coming. new overnight, veteran media executive edgar bronfman jr. submitting the bid to acquire national amusements for $4.3 billion. that is according to reports from reuters and the wall street journal. that bid was submitted before

the 45-day go shop period in a complicated transaction. if paramount chooses another suitor, it has to pay skydance a $400 million breakup fee. there was speculation out there looking. bronfman was mentioned frequently. other suitors looking around and who would come up with a bid and how it would satisfy shari redstone. >> similar to the other bid. his backers are friends, i think, basically, is where he is raising a lot of money. so strange and arcane. i don't know what they finally decide or when it happens. i hope it happens and i wish them luck before the election. time is passing slowly, but very quickly. >> it will be interesting to see on this. there's been so much expectation of what will happen with questions of shareholders. shari redstone and if she gets premium and others let down.

how the lawsuits would fare from that point on. >> after we saw the write down from discovery and paramount. i was trying to think -- i think as far as linear tv and cable that cnbc is in pretty good shape because we're news. if i were trying to get advertisers and i hate to say it, but let's say you have a slate of food network drivel or home improvement and this comes on at 7:00 p.m. and you are trying to convince -- you need to advertise on the show. what are those cable properties worth? >> they were worth more during the pandemic. it tie ns into the next story. people were staying home

watching that stuff. >> lineal cable tv that is not sports or news that you can watch any time. it's a different world. >> i will say when it came to food network and home improvement stuff, it was really hot during the pandemic as were home depot and lowe's. my read into that. oh, i'm going to do this. earnings of $4.10 a share. was actually better than the estimate of $3.97. the revenue was splooitlightly . the stock is off. $240 stock. there is quite a bit of other numbers here that we want to actually talk about. the company cut its annual profit forecast on weak home improvement demand. now sees fiscal year adjusted earnings per share of $11.70 to

$11.90. then i don't know how bad the same-store sales number is on face value is awful at 5.41%. comps in the period. >> weaker in the period. weaker than home depot. >> the company sees full-year same-store sales down 3.5% to 4%. i think the bananas are back with the flies back. >> the bananas or i'm back. >> that's gross. i don't think you brought -- you are like pig pen with the little cloud. joining us to discuss lowe's. if you see me doing stuff like that, i'm not doing that. brian nagel at oppenheimer. what was your estimate for same-store sales this period? how is 5.1 compared, brian? >> good morning, joe. we were estimating the range

down 4 to 6. this down 5.1 while weak, in my mind, is very much in line with expectations. what i think the real key here is when home depot reported a week ago, teed this up. i'm looking through this lowe's report this morning and it's very, very similar to what home depot said last week and that is results are weak and arguably weaker than we expected them to be than a couple months ago, but reflective of the difficult environment. like home depot, lowe's is also saying they are managing very well a difficult back drop. it's weak, but as expected. >> is it weaker than you expected it to be before you heard from home depot? >> yeah, that's a good question, becky. what i think we learned is one of my biggest take aways from home depot report last week is the business slowed rather significantly in the month of july. these guys report on a july

quarter. that's what home depot said. it was july. we are basically hearing that across retail. something happened in july. unfavorable weather or unfavorable consumer dynamics that took the soft spending to a softer spot. that is the surprise. that was the new information with home depot. i think lowe's with the results, while not common in the press release, i'm sure they will talk about it in the conference call in a few hours. i assume they are basically seeing the same thing. the weaker trend in july. >> a pressured macro environment. that's weird. macroeconomics environment. gdp seems pretty good. everything seems okay. the weaker than expected do it yourself sales. if they depended on me or andrew for those do it yourself? it would be zero unless it was light bulbs. these are big ticket items,

supposedly, people aren't or at least below what people thought. you mentioned unfavorable weather. i think they have a master earnings release ready to go every quarter and i think that's always there. i think they just leave that there. is it ever favorable? isn't it somewhere in some region there will be something where they can say this is not our fault? it's unfavorable weather? >> that's an interesting and funny point you bring up, joe. look, weather has been a wreck. weather the last three years has been erratic. >> that should be good for home improvement and fixing windows. >> bad for planting. >> having to fix things thatget hurt in the unfavorable weather. >> i hear you completely. this has become the easy excuse

for a lot of retailers. look, we had the abnormally hot temperatures. what happens in that dynamic is people aren't outside as much. it's too hot. becky made mention of this. they're not planting. no use planting a plant that's just going to die. in this case, the hot temperatures, there may be some incremental demand as a result, but on balance, it is probably a negative. >> it is also what we were talking about leading into this that so many people fixed up their homes during the pandemic while they were there and they shifted spending away. we're still dealing with that. if you saw weakness in july with the new fed survey that showed the highest level they have seen since 2014 when they started keeping reports of this. the highest number of people thinking they are unemployed in the next four months. that is indicative of consumer spending and consumer confidence. >> i agree with both those points. i talk about this a lot. i know it sounds like old news

now about the pandemic, but i still very much believe the pull forward in demand that happened in the pandemic is still having effects on demanded in home improvement now. the second point, becky, is a great one. we talk about as economists and analysts this is still a historically strong employment environment, which it is. unemployment today is higher than it was six or nine months ago. from the consumer perspective, that does have negligence tou negative implications. >> in fact, higher enough to, in the past, to have been enough to forecast a recession when it rises. it's weird because it doesn't take in the absolute value of where -- the absolute number of where unemployment was. if it goes up somewhere between .50% and 1% of added unemployment in the past where there is some rule that

indicates you could have two quarters of negative growth. it's weird if you start from 5 and go up to 5.5% or 6%, that is different than going up 3% or 3.3% to 4.2% or wherever we are. that could be the canary in the coal mine, brian. >> i agree with you, joe. we have to keep in mind what we are looking at the lowe's results today or any retailer, there is an emotional component behind consumer spending. one way to think about it, you are taking the lowe's consumer today versus the lowe's consumer last year. just in on that very simple ba basis, that lowe's consumer is less confident about their own personal financial situation today than they did one year ago. that's the comp store sales year on year down 1.5%. that is a big component of this.

there's very much an emotional component to spending, particularly on discretionary items. >> brian nagel, thanks. >> thank you. >> just estimate how many sports coats do you own? >> i've got a lot. i use them -- >> do you have an estimate? do you have 20? >> i don't think we're at 20. i bet it's a solid 12. >> solid 12. different patterns. that's not a suit today. that's a sports coat or a suit? >> it's a sport coat. one of my summer ones. >> what? >> summery. >> not crazy like you sometimes step out with. i'm surprised it's only 12. i'm surprised. that probably -- >> not just suits. >> he has suits, too. different pattern he wears. he's a pretty good consumer.

>> you wear it well. >> check out men's warehouse stock later. thank you, brian. when we come back, president biden passing the torch to vice president kamala harris at the democratic convention last night in a speech that stretched past midnight eastern time. we've got the highlights next. plus, kamala harris proposing a hike for corporate taxes. we have details on that, too. "squawk box" will be right back. in any business, you ride the line between numbers and people. what's right for the business and what's best for everyone who depends on it. solving today's challenges while creating future opportunities. it takes balance. cla - cpas, consultants, and wealth advisors. we'll get you there.

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vice president kamala harris is calling to raise the corporate tax rate to 28%. a campaign spokesman told nbc news that harris believes an increase in corporate taxes is a fiscally responsible way to put money back in the pockets of working people and than sure billionaires pay their fair share in their words. that would roll back a significant part of the donald trump tax lightning strike legislation from 2017 that cut the corporate tax rate from 25% to 21%. word of that tax proposal came out hours before president biden spoke late last night at the democratic national convention in chicago. megan cassella is there and has highlights for us. >> reporter: becky, good morning from the sleepy chicago united center where folks are waking up

or sleeping after a late night last night until after midnight on the east coast. the focus on night one was "for the people" and working class people and standing up to corporations. the highlight was a 48-minute speech from president biden. this was his farewell speech and pass the torch to vice president kamala harris. we heard him tout his economic record and lighting the recovery in 2019 and talking about the stock market and how much inflation slowed. and talking about the populist ideas and including the tax on billionaires. take a listen. >> we have 1,000 billionaires in america. you know what their average tax rate they pay? 8.2%. if we just increased their taxes we proposed to 25%, which is not

the highest tax rate even, it would raise $500 billion new dollars over ten years. they would still be very wealthy. >> reporter: now biden also spoke about how vice president harris and governor walz were the ones to continue that fight leaning to the populist agenda. we continued that theme through the night. we heard from shawn fain who spoke about the theme while wearing a shirt with "scab." here's what he had to say. >> our only hope is to attack corporate greed head on. corporate greed turns blue collar blood, sweat and tears into the wall street buybacks and ceo jackpots.

>> reporter: now, guys, this leaning into the populist and progressive agenda follows the proposals that were released on friday. this is as they are urging the campaign to lean to the left side of the party and give them concrete proposals like a billionaire tax or higher taxes on corporations or down payment assistance for homeowners to give voters something that excites them and turn out in november. that comes at the cost of business owners. there is a risk that independent voters won't stick with the party if they leantoo much into that. i have spoken to some who are weary of the approach. distancing herself from the far left is the only thing harris needs to do to get the coalition of voters she needs to win in november. trump and vance will continue to campaign and calling the first night of the convention is

unhinged and cringed and detached from reality. >> megan, these proposals have been around for years. does this feel like this is leaning heavily into them? >> reporter: it does. we saw with the harris economic plan on friday, she was taking president biden's ideas and turbo charging them bringing them further to the left and raising money of down payment assistance and going further in other ways. she seems to think that is the way to win the voters she needs. she is carving out a progressive brand for herself. >> megan cassella, you mentioned a very sleepy chicago and you as well. you were up late, too. >> reporter: you bet. former president trump said he would offer elon musk a cabinet role or advisory role. if he wins, he would tap musk for such a position if he would do it.

trump also said he would consider getting rid of a $7,500 tax credit for certain electric vehicles. musk is not concerned about such a move because ending ev tax credit would hurt his com competitors more than it would hurt tesla. following the trump comment, musk posted on x saying i'm willing to serve with text that read the department of government efficiency which is one of the greatest oxymorons of all time. that is a nod to his dogecoin. we'll talk more about all these things. jd vance has a pretty interesting op-ed on energy. i didn't realize kamala harris

was the co-sponsor of the green new deal. that was unsuccessful, obviously, but she proposed if necessary, getting rid of the filibuster to pass the green new deal. we will talk to jennifer granholm. coming up, harley-diavidson is the latest company to drop the dei acquisition. and coming up, more from the dnc in chicago and including representative gerhakeem jeffri. tim, you are a rock star. using responsible ai doesn't make you a rock star. it kinda does. you are not rock stars. (clears throat) okay. most of you are not rock stars. oooh. data driven insights, and large language models.

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harley-davidson is the latest company to drop diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives phos following the campaign activist. it no longer spends money on training and make other programs to back away from difficuversit programs. harley joins tractor supply company, deere and polaris. the activist says he has already picked his next target and has a very conservative customer base which is kind of something you would say the companies we just mentioned so far, i guess, should have that in common.

tractor supply. reminds me of tim or the guy next door. >> who is he talking about? chipotle? >> i don't know. i don't know. i wouldn't want to brand anyone's shareholders as conservative. >> i eat at chipotle. >> i do, too. not on sunday, you don't. >> nobody does. when we come back, california cracking down on credi retail crimes with one recent cnbc investigation. right now, as we head to break, let's look at yesterday's s&p 500 winners and losers. >> announcer: executive edge is sponsored by at&t business. next level moments need the next level network. okay, team!

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good morning. welcome back to "squawk box."

live from the nasdaq market site in times square. we mentioned this yesterday. single digits all morning long. up two. down one. by the end of the day -- i said watch by the end of the day. this actually was by the nd of the day. by the end of the normal trading session, it was up again. >> it was 1% for the nasdaq and 1% for the s&p 500. boeing paused testing of its 777x plane and grounded the four plane test fleet. boeing said it found damage in a structure of one of the wide body aircraft during scheduled maintenance. they're calling it damage. it was like a crack. boeing said it is replacing the part and examined the damaged

component which is located between the engine and airplane structure. bad place, bad place for a crack, you would think. it has informed the faa and customer certification of delivery of the jetliners that was next year and it is five years behind schedule. the 787 dreamliner is r reviewing the cockpit seats. boeing warned back in march that a switch located on the rear of pilot seats that moves it up and back could jam if the mechanism is loose or damaged. that filed an incident when the flight took a nose dive after inadvertent seat movement pushing pushed the pilot into the seat column. it received complaints of the captain or first officer seats.

>> that seems like -- every car has a mechanism for where you don't want the seat to move. even maybe worse in a car if you're thrown into the brake or accelerator. >> it's a bad situation. we were just talking about the story on the starliner, the boeing starliner, that is supposed to be getting the iss. two astronauts on the international space station. >> we talked about that yesterday. i asked phil if they said nasa or somebody or boeing said elon musk, can you help us out here, could he do it? >> february is the next spacex. >> that's too long. these poor people. i know you don't want emba embarrassment from nasa or boeing, but is that why we're not doing it? could elon musk get it done next we're? >> you have a situation where nas a is trying debate what to

do. the two astronauts said they feel comfortable with the boeing starliner, but there are a lot of questions about it. mark kelly, a former astronaut, says it is a head issue when you get to the point you don't know when you're coming back. >> not to mention, you know, it would be hard to be shut in -- >> they were supposed to be there for eight days. >> it's hard. i feel bad. >> did you read the article that laid out how big it is? it is about the size of a football field, but the useable space is the size of a box car and nine astronauts are living there. >> i guess it is good and bad there are people there. otherwise, tom hanks talking to a soccer ball. >> a volleyball. wilson. >> yeah. you're right. california is cracking down -- >> different personality entirely.

>> right. california's tracking down on retail crime as governor newsom signed ten bills into law for shop lifting and organized theft schemes. one is in response to cnbc's selling stolen investigation this year. that law will boost prison time for the sale, exchange and return of stolen property. that is the bread and better of retail crime rings. gabrielle has been following this issue and joins us right now. this is a story we have been talking about for a long time, too. what is the significance of the new laws and will it help? >> becky, this is huge for california. they have been criticized for having an out-of-control retail crime problem. one of the most important things it does is it aggregate they offenses. one thing that california gets criticized for if you steal under $950 worth of goods, you

get slapped on the wrist with a misde misdemeanor. you may or may not get jail time tor or penalty for that. this law ago degrckn aggregates offenses. the law that was brought in response to cnbc's investigation addresses the middle men that are involved in the resell rings. based on the amount of goods stolen, your sentence will go up. the senator i spoke to get yesterday, he says this is a deterrent. >> this is not just california. states like new york and other places. if you talk to the retailers, outside baltimore just to name one place. the organized crime rings and they have free reign. >> this is a nationwide issue.

retailers -- >> it is worse in some states. >> it is an under reported crime and goes undetected. all you have to do is talk to shoppers. every time they go to stores, they are witnessing these incidents. they are candy bars and shampoo is locked up. >> i understand if you steal $100 one day and $200 the other day. it doesn't get at the root cause of the problem. you still have everything locked up because it is only $100. it is back to the no broken windows crime laws that bill b bratton called up. >> the broken windows policing going at the crime by cutting off the leg. that is what critics say. it worked at the end. day. now you have a lot of criminal justice experts looking at a different way of addressing crimes by having programs instead of going to jail, you

get counselling or job training. we are not seeing it work just yet. especially here in new york. >> gabrielle, thank you. >> thank you, becky. coming up, day one of the dnc's in the books. the expectations for the rest of the week. reminder, you can get the best of "squawk box" on your favorite podcast app and listen any meti. we'll be right back.

the dnc kicked off in chicago yesterday starting with speeches from president biden and former secretary of state hillary clinton. joining us now is the punch bowl

founder jake sherman. good to see you, jake, this morning. i wonder what we think of the best approach for democrats and how do you solve a problem like saying good-bye to the current president? he's going to be president for a while and should we read anything into it? it's late. he's leaving immediately. he's not going to be there for the rest of the convention. the baton has been passed. >> he's gone. he's landed this morning in california. >> is that weird? >> no, he is no longer the nominee. what is he going to do? >> the other former presidents are front and center. >> the other former presidents were pushed out of the nomination just a month ago, joe. >> i know. we're hearing that's not true. we will have hakeem jeffries on later. i guarantee you the co-chair of

the campaign saying again and again and again when pressed that this was a decision solely made by president biden with no coercion whatsoever on that weekend. >> politicians say what they want to say, joe. dozens of house democrats came out and said that biden was no longer their pick to be the nominee. president biden saw the writing on the wall and got out of the fight. got out of the campaign. let's be honest about this, they want this convention. i'm here in chicago. they want this convention to be about kamala harris and her plans for the country and looking forward, not looking backward at joe biden's presidency, all they they will talk about the progress they think they made in thelast three and a half years. the last two democratic presidents, barack obama and bill clinton served two terms. they left office broadly

popular. t there were obviously people who did not like both men, but they left office broadly popular. they need to keep the momentum up. there's only good signs for them right now. they are gaining ground in polls. the down-ballot races are looking good for democrats. they will, unless something crazy happens, gets a bump from the convention. how long that bump lasts remains to be seen. president biden did what he should do. he talked about kamala harris and left and went to california. that's what democrats were looking for him to do during this week in chicago. >> right. i wonder what about behind the scenes, you hear he feels i

embittered. >> wouldn't you? it was a huge distraction. i was talking to democratic members every day. if he didn't get out that weekend which he got out, there would have been more senior people, perhaps hakeem jeffries, maybe you can ask him. chuck schumer and nancy pelosi coming out publicly saying joe biden needed to step aside. he read the room and he got out. i think that is exactly what democrats wanted him to do. >> you know, you didn't read it for six weeks, it seems, or even longer. i heard he hasn't spoken, although he is still president. a lot of important things can happen now and inauguration day. i heard -- have you heard -- he hasn't spoken to former speaker pelosi? >> he has not, no. he has not spoken to former speaker pelosi.

to be honest with you, maybe they will again, but nancy pelosi is now effectively publicly saying that she did what she did, which is field calls from democrats who were uncomfortable with him because she was nervous about winning the election. she has said publicly she was not impressed with biden's political team. many, by the way, are still with kamala harris. there are new figures in that orbit. he has not spoken to her at all. >> i think you're a really young guy and incredibly successful, but i remember certain things. i'm wondering if the country has really changed. what i'm trying to get to is we are seeing some policy proposals trickle out very slowly. it is very hopy and changy at this point with excitement and a lot of joy oozing from every pore, lots of joy. we have heard about some price

controls whether you call them that or not. maybe it is something you can call it trying to prevent price gouging. 28% corporate tax rate. i'm hearing rumors that gary gensler or senator warren, i don't know that is true or not. >> go ahead, joe. >> in the past, the country has been at its core center or center-right. do any of these proposals she co-sponsored the green new deal. anything she said in the past f she sticks with the progressive wing of the party, which she kind of led or went along with through part of in the senate. obviously, there are some policies that might go further left if she were at the head or not vice president or president. does that ever come home to roost with more centrist voters or do they go full-on trying to

satisfy the base? >> the reality is there are a sizeable number of voters who will not vote for donald trump and were looking for a reason not to vote for donald trump. i agree the country traditionally has been center right, for donald trump. i agree that the country traditionally has been center right, although if we have had one -- we now had one republican president for four years since 2008, which might -- it might -- you know, it might change that dynamic or calculous. remember, 28% corporate rate is where the biden administration was, and this is going to be the biggest issue in 2025. i don't -- listen, we will have to see what the composition of congress is and that's what gets lost in the debate, joe, is we are not ruled by a king whether it's a republican or democrat, but we are ruled by a president

that suggests policies and congress takes them under a advisement or does not. >> or a green new deal -- >> there's not a green deal now. >> there might have been with joe manchin. and it's a weird thing to fall back on, jake, and from centrist democrats, and they say you say this to try and be populist, and to try and look like you are doing -- but none of this is going to happen, and that's a bad rational for electing somebody -- none of the stuff, she doesn't mean what she's saying, so don't worry. >> donald trump does that, too. donald trump does that, too. >> tariffs and things like that, to energize the base. >> there were a number of things that donald trump said in 2016 and is saying now that will

never pass congress that can never pass congress. the say something you campaign in poetry and campaign in pros or something like that. i think people should take under advicement a lot of this is pie in the sky dreams. >> but there are things can you do, executive actions, and electricity prices are up 30% already. if we were to go full force on the transition and everybody else in the world building these coal plants -- we will talk to jen jennifer granholm with this. you are there, and you are there for us. >> chicago has very nice weather this time of year. it's a beautiful city this time of year. >> it's a beautiful city. let's not get too close.

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china's economy. "squawk box" is coming right back.

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♪ ♪ it's 7:00 a.m., and welcome to "squawk box" on cnbc. i am joe kernen along with becky quick. among today's top stories, boeing discovered cracks in its 777 jetliner. boeing said it will ground its test fleet, there's four of them, while it replaces the defective part. vice president kamala harris calling to raise the corporate tax rate to 28%. campaign spokesman told nbc news harris believes an increase in corporate tax sz a fiscally responsible way to put money back in the pockets of working people and insure that billionaires in big corporations pay their fair share. former president donald trump said he would offer elon

musk a role in his administration if he were to win a second term in the white house. following trump's comment, musk posted on x that i am willing to serve, with a picture of him that reads department of government efficiency or -- if it looks like a dog, why don't we call it a dog. i guess it's dozh is how it's pronounced -- e. it's his favorite crypto coin. it's weird, his mind does go all over the place at any given time. we are talking about a cabinet position probably, and he throws in the world crypto coin with, yes, i would serve in a cabinet position. and at the same time, i will say something about dozhe.

let's talk about the futures. s&p futures up, and the nasdaq up by 28. this does come after eight days in a row of gains for both the s&p and nasdaq and some pretty substantial moves for those two averages yesterday. the dow has been up for five sessions in a row. let's get over to contessa brewer looking at the premarket movers. you have been up for a while. >> it's midday for me. let's get to it, already. lowe's cut its full year out look. it cited lower than expected dyi sales and what it called a pressured macro environment, but shares this morning are on the rise. the analyst, michael baker, said investors are baking in the fact there could be more action on the fed cut last month, and what

we heard from the ceo is customers are putting off their projects because of the high interest rates and uncertainty and where the economy is heading, and you are seeing home depot shares and lowe's shares off slightly. and then there's an offer for national amusements and the offer could throw a wrench in the work for skydance media's $4.5 million deal. remember, they have a go shop window that expires tomorrow. we should get more information on that. paramount global shares are down 1 1/3. jpmorgan chase downgraded.

bank of america down by more than a percent in the extended trade. >> we will check in with you a little later this morning as well. a slowdown in chinese consumer demand is weighing in on u.s. companies this earning season. for more on that, we want to bring in our guest. we know about the pressures this put on some of the luxury goods companies in particular, and what is the real story on the ground? >> i think i want to start by saying there was a belief that somehow chinese consumers were going to have a blowout 2024 at the beginning of the year, which was misplaced and never going to happen. the reality is, chinese spend something falling apart, and hospitality, especially in the summer, they have done quite well. the problem is the data has been so choppy. it's not a consistent spending pattern you are getting here and

it's leaving the company with a china hole with their earnings and so forth. >> we were just talking with contessa about the lowe's reporting, and it's especially for big ticket items, there's not going to be a huge demand for and that how does that compare to what you see in china? >> yeah, the retail, the foreign ones have been complaining and they are not seeing a soft consumer spending report out of the country but they are losing to local competition whether it's mcdonald's or the hotel chains, the marriott's of the world. if you look at car sales, we are seeing weakness in car sales as well. that's another sector suffering. >> and another big market miss,

once again, first of all we need to establish, they are not interested in coming in with big stimulus plans, and juicing the housing rescue plan and so forth. that's no longer the economic model nor is that the target. the idea is what can we do to maintain a floor under the growth, and that's the limited stimulus from a fiscal side that you are getting. >> they are focussed on industrial spending. that has been a big concern if you listen to the treasury secretary or anybody on capitol hill. this idea that they are building industrial excess and that we are going to suffer as a result. >> yeah, they have absolutely doubled down on the manufacturing and the industrial sector. you know, xi calls it the new productive forces and that's a security driven lens driving economic policy. how do you become a real player in high-tech manufacturing and how do you decouple from the united states?

we don't talk about that, and china is looking to decouple from the united states, and that's quite a lot. >> what can we expect with the election coming? how is china looking at these two candidates and potential administrations? >> the difference is if you get a harris presidency it will be similar to the biden presidency, more tensions down the road versus a trump presidency where you get a chaotic avalanche of policy changes and more disruptive with a trump presidency than a harris presidency. a key player with a harris presidency is congress, and they will have a more aggressive china legislative session than used to. >> public school teachers have been to china 30 times. >> right. >> why? >> because he has a background that a lot of people think could be a strength of his, and a lot

of folks on the hill are going to be asking that exact question -- republicans are going to paint the democrats as soft on china, and it's going to be hard to pull off as a strength because it's coming off as a weakness, especially as the other side is concerned. >> thank you for coming in. >> you have been there a couple times? >> yeah. >> not 30. >> no, twice -- no, three times. >> i would be afraid. i would. fought kidding. coming up, former congress secretary -- but i am afraid of many, many things. space station, not going up there, and not going down in the submarine thing. former kellogg ceo, carlos gutierrez -- >> snakes?

>> i don't mind snakes. >> sharks? >> don't mind sharks, either. >> and coming up, the futures right now are mixed but the nasdaq is up. >> snakes are very dangerous.

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of co path. this is an issue that we have talked about over the years when you start looking at some of these new proposals that the vice president has rolled out taking a look at gouging and price controls and it comes to food companies. as the former ceo of kellogg, what do you think of these policies? >> well, you know, i thought we would have learned by now with price controls, they do not work. they actually have the opposing affect is they create inflation and shortages and create a black market. prous gouge something a concept that is very hard to enforce. it almost relies on intimidation, on rhetoric unless you are going to have an army of people auditing retail stores, auditing online retail. but it's just -- you know, it's just rhetoric. i don't believe that they will get price controls through.

if they get gouging, maybe they can go out and jail some people who are selling umbrellas for $50 during a rainstorm, but it's an abstract concept and very hard to enforce. i think if anything that perhaps it will create intimidation that we shouldn't be raising prices, but it's not -- it's not sound policy. i am just very surprised. it seems like they have momentum. harris has momentum. they have got -- they've got polls on their side. they don't need this. they don't need to turn off people who perhaps were thinking about taking a second look at harris. now, i think a lot of people are just going to walk away. how many? i don't know. conceptionally, i can see that happening. >> going after pop lizam instead of being middle of the road? >> what if you can't help

yourself? what if you are what you are, mr. secretary? it's funny -- does everybody have to be a sociopath and only say what is in their best interest to get elected? what if she truly believes that this is what needs to be done? if you look, the record that we have for a lot of the comments she's made in the past, many of them now are, oh, no, she doesn't want to get rid of the private insurance. no, she doesn't want to ban fracking. no, she doesn't want to get rid of i.c.e. no, she doesn't want to confiscate everybody's guns, and all of those things were said and you are ready to give her the benefit of the doubt on all of these things. >> no, i didn't say that. i think you made a good point, joe, some people are left wing and they believe it. >> yeah. >> they believe, you know, that billionaires and millionaires and ceos are the enemies of the economy. look at the math.

it's 80% of the people who work in the u.s. work for business, so they are just -- they are just hurting the economy. it's really interesting, hypocritical, that we want to compete against the world. we want to compete and beat china, yet we are holding back our companies, not just with this -- let's just say they do put on price controls. try and get a merger across in the ftc, across the ftc, it will take months and months and months, and in the meantime your competitors are getting stronger, and business is not the enemy but it's an easy target. that is what, you know, makes me think twice. >> carlos, let me read from the "wall street journal" today, and probably some of the reason people are feeling this way and maybe the reason harris is putting this up, u.s. consumers now spend more of their income

on food than they have in decades and many food companies posted their biggest profits in years and fielded complaints from advocates in retail prices and some are pushing to curb further increases because they are afraid of backlashes on these issues. you understand why there's activity around these issues. what is the proper way to go about it if it's not price controls and anti-gouging messages? >> well, i think it's let the market take its course. let the market drive decisions, which is what we have done. it's what our system is. if we are going to do something, let's make sure it's effective. price controls don't work. they create more inflation. they create shortages so why do them? you know, the point that joe made, yes, politics, there are people that have ideology left and right, but i do believe that

politicians have the ability to move depending on the currents. she could easily move to center left if she wanted, but she's not because she thinks her base requires that. maybe they think they are going to pick up some of the populism from trump. i think companies need to watch this very closely. i will say something that is not very popular, but if something like this is in the works and companies are really at risk of being under price controls, they should start taking anticipatory measures, whether that is a price increase, cut costs, they are going to start changing the packages so they can sell less for more, whatever it is, but companies have to survive. if they don't survive -- >> but, carlos, we had the cfo

of johnson & johnson and said the 21% corporate tax rate right there was the reason that a plant was built here instead of somewhere else for johnson & johnson. so just talking about 28%. i know it's not going back to 35%. does that seem like a good idea to raise corporate taxes in the -- you know, because of paying their fair share? what about a million dollars not deductible if you pay a ceo more than a million dollars? what about no buybacks? we heard that last night. these are all anti-business. it's either rhetoric or policies and they have consequences. all the center democrats, yeah, but, you know, it's a split congress, and they actually say none of these things are going to happen so don't worry about it, just vote anyway for kamala harris. >> look, you are right, joe.

the idea that business is the enemy, for me it's a repugnant argument. >> right. >> because business makes it happen. we employ business, the private sector employs 135 million people in this country. the total employment is 160. that means 80% of the people in this country work for private companies. >> unbelievable. right. you should want them to succeed. >> let me go back to what you just said, though. did you recommend maybe -- i want to make sure i heard you right. did you recommend that companies actually raise their prices again to get ahead of it in case there are price controls that come into play? >> not in general terms, no. but if a company is seeing cost increases, if they are losing margins to the point where they can no longer invest, where they can no longer keep the number of people that they have so they

can -- so they have to start taking people out, then, yes, companies have to do what they need to do to survive. >> but we just said many food companies posted their biggest profits in years. >> you know what happens, becky, is, you take a price increase, and yes, during the first several months you will have sort of a lead lag effect. you will have higher margins, and then those margins begin to come down as inflation takes effect. it doesn't mean they will have higher margins forever, but it's a timing factor. >> when you said this during the covid situation, when you said to get ahead of inflation companies had to do that, it really struck me and made sense at that point because companies were facing higher energy prices and higher supply issues and higher wages that were going into all of these things, but it seems at some point maybe you have to slow down and maybe the

retailers are right on this, some of the grocery stores and others that say hold up, we are not going to take additional price increases and you are not going to be on ourselves if you do that because we are at the point of a consumer backlash right now? >> yeah, and we have seen that before. that doesn't mean you can't go to a retailer and say look at my costs, and look at the numbers i am seeing and look what is happening to my company. you want me to invest in brand building and giving you more promotions? well, here's the reality. there's a way of getting it through and i have been through that. everybody has been through that. i am not suggesting across the board increases, but companies need to defend themselves. they need to defend their business and employees and their future, and the problem is that, you know, people are being convinced that the problem is

business and the solution is business and the only way we will compete is business, and by the way, that's our system. let's recognize that that is our system. you know, i can -- i can pay attention and listen and try to rationalize just about anything, but not anti-business. that, for me, crosses the line, because that's who we are. >> secretary gutierrez, thank you and good to see you. >> thank you. bye. still to come, new data from eli lilly about its weight loss drugs. details, next. alaska air and hawaiian air, one last step before takeoff. phil lebeau joins us.

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94%. they had a decrease in weight compared to 2.1% to those on placebo during that period. the stock is up by 1.6%. david ricks will be on "squawk on the street" at 9:45 eastern time. >> let's say you lose the same amount of weight without using one of those drugs. >> 22.9%. >> does the risk of diabetes go down? >> i would assume. >> is it fixing diabetes or is it where fatness causes diabetes? >> i would assume -- i don't know this, but i would assume the weight loss -- >> well, it started out as a blood sugar type of control

thing, so probably has -- it may have a, you know, an additional -- one plus one equals three, maybe, for them. >> those are all great questions for david ricks. coming up at 9:45 eastern time here on cnbc. he will be on "squawk on the street." when we come back, a major hurdle cleared for alaska air and hawaiian airlines. we'll talk about that, next. and then jennifer granholm will join us for day two of the democratic convention. "squawk box" will be right back.

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sometimes the tough thing to do is to get help to prevent serious damage. i like your sensitive side. don't mess with your melon. if you hit it, get it checked. welcome back, everybody. alaska airlines and hawaiian airlin airlines cleared a major hurdle in their attempt to merge. phil lebeau joins us. >> this is a step a number of people never thought would happen. the doj had until 12:01 a.m. this morning to file a deal to block the merger, and they let it expire and this is their way to say we approve the deal for

alaska to buy hawaiian airlines, and it was announced back in december with the hawaiian brand, even though it will be part of the alaska air group, it will remain standing. you can still fly hawaiian and it's part of the alaska network and the alaska family. this still needs dot approval, and the big hurdle is the doj, and so what does this mean in terms of market share? we had folks crunch the data and this adds another 1.9% to alaska's market share and that pushes them up to 8.5%, and solidifies their position among the u.s. carriers and it's domestic market share only. keep in mind alaska is proposing -- or did propose to pay $18 a share, and that's why you see the move up at the end there. when it became a little more

clear the doj was likely to approve the deal, and, again, it still needs to be cleared by the d.o.t., and that's not expected to be a major hurdle and is expected to happen perhaps in the next few days. we will have to wait and see. there you have it, for the first time since 2016, we have an airline merger, guys, and the last time we had a airline merger, it was alaska buying virgin america. >> why do you think this deal got a stamp of approval even though there's not an actual stamp of approval? why was this thing blessed, and what would it been like if spirit went through? >> that was a deal where the doj said, look, we compare what you are going to see if you put jetblue and spirit together, and you are taking out, in the words

of the doj, which led to them successfully blocking the merger, you were taking out low fares, and you have to say that the doj, not that they agreed with it but they didn't disagree with that, and competition is not going to change primarily to the hawaiian islands and there's competition from the legacy carriers. southwest added a ton of flights from california and the west coast to hawaii. so the argument from alaska was, we're not hurting anybody by putting these two together, and we are strengthening alaska's network, if you will, on the west coast of the united states, and we think we will be a stronger airline but we are not hurting competition. >> does the merger make as much sense from a business perspective if you are not hurting competition? because, let's be honest, monopolies are what seriously

help all companies. >> good question. look, there's a -- most people i talked to in the industry, and i was with a few people within the industry last night in chicago, and they all say the same thing, which is, yeah, this deal is not going to be the end of the world in terms of competition. this is not going to box people out of hawaii. >> yeah. phil, thank you. we will see you later. >> you bet. coming up, internet analyst, mark mahaney will join us next. here's the futures. kind of quiet and mixed this morning. "squawk box" will be right back.

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top stock picks, and amazon and doordash replacing alphabet and shopify. joining us now with more, mark mahaney, head of internet research. this is in the wake of the second quarter. i guess the first thing we can say is the internet is more

important than a fax machine. what year was that? i don't remember what year that was. >> i don't remember either, but that sounds like an actual true statement. >> after this earnings report, i think we can put that to bed once and for all. it has been a big trend, the internet in all of our lives. you are making some moves. is there some overall change in your view on the whole sector after the second quarter results? >> yeah, let me try this. i had two takeaways. the more is do we get more soft or hard landing data points, and looking at the whole swath of names in there, and i think they more guided you towards a soft landing than hard landing and there were issues in some of the travel names in particular, and most had fundamentals that materially improved like netflix and spotify. i thought the takeaway was more

soft landing than hard landing. and the second point is anybody showing a return on the artificial intelligence spending, and is there an roai. if you look at amazon and google -- the three biggest spenders, i think you are starting to seat returns. aws growth acceleration, and meta improving its products and experience in seeing returns on ad spends and there's evidence coming in they are getting a little bang for all of the bucks they are spending on ai. >> a little bang, and you are turning dollars into digital nickles and dimes? >> i don't think it's that bad. meta went back to almost 30% revenue growth. they are growing dollar wise faster than anybody else and they used ai to rebuild their ad tech and user interface to get

us engaged and if it works for them it could work for other companies. >> travel across the board seemed weak? >> yeah. >> why? >> it's the most discretionary part of spending and the internet has been around for long time. one of the earliest manifestations of it, the use of it was booking travel online. and doordash and uber, they have a fair amount of growth ahead of them. >> doordash is one of your top -- >> top three picks. >> doordash, amazon and uber. >> uber, and even with the robo taxi concerns. i think we will look back and say they won with the emergence of robo taxis. we are seeing them in san francisco, so just wait. >> we were talking about that when lyft was on.

is it pepsi versus coke, and pepsi has all this other stuff and coke, just beverages. does lyft needs other things, and the question was uber was trying to do too many other things, and is that lyft's problem? saturday night live, coke, pepsi coke. >> i'm with you. what you have with aouber is a global play, and it's just in the u.s. and that means it's adjustable market is smaller. you don't normally make money investing in the number two player, and there's more opportunities around lyft, but i don't think it's a long-term investment vehicle, and i think it's cheap versus its cash flow. >> does your thesis about the payoff for ai starting to trickle in, do you now feel okay about valuations in technology at large? >> i don't know about at large,

but the names i look at, i look at a tkpwogle and meta trading at 18, 19, 20 times earnings and maybe a slight premium to it. these valuations are a lot more attractive than in the past. these companies have grown up under your eyes. they are paying dividends and buying back a lot of stock. they are doing the right things with their cash. they should be doing buybacks and they are. >> i heard we may not be allowed to do those anymore either, and nothing surprises me anymore. there's no ai fluff in the nasdaq right now. >> oh, i am sure there is. i am sure there is. you know, what it seems like, it's the largest companies that can really afford to spend a lot on ai. it's a very expensive investment proposition and those are the ones that will see the returns. >> they can afford to blow a lot of money if it doesn't work? >> and you need to blow a lot of

money in order to get those returns. >> the metaverse, and -- >> yeah, i was thinking, metaverse, and everybody was like, no mas, no more spending on this. >> yeah, they are losing $17 billion on the metaverse. it's sizing the bet to the opportunity. ai, though, you know, the improvements we are seeing, and listen to what walmart was saying, how much productivity was improved by ai. >> do you have enough energy to power all of this? this is part of what we are looking at. >> i don't know about that. that's an open question and there's probably great derivatives in the energy space because of that. >> the whole idea -- the whole metaverse, it's like, i would rather go to tuscany than, like, look at pictures, right? is that ever -- >> no, i think --

>> who is going to live in the metaverse? >> it seems like a very small number of people. >> all right. well there will be plenty of room, at least. won't be crowded. thanks, mark. >> thanks, joe. up next, here comes the tax man, the irs is turning up the heat on high-end earners, and we have details on that next. later, house democratic leader, hakeem jeffries will join us. we'll be right back. (grandpa vo) i'm the richest guy in the world. hi baby! (woman 1 vo) i have inherited the best traditions. (woman 2 vo) i have a great boss... it's me. (man 1 vo) i have people, people i can count on. (man 2 vo) i have time to give (grandma vo) and a million stories to share.

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there's the futures this morning, not a whole lot to write home about. the nasdaq is up. big day yesterday, continuing the rebound from the recession scare, i guess. at some firms actually raised their probability of a recession, only to two weeks later go back down, with the -- with their -- >> we had that brief moment. i was looking -- checking, because i haven't paid super close attention over the past couple of weeks, but watching what happened with the markets kind of taking off again. eight day in a row of gains for the s&p 500, and for the nasdaq.

>> soft landing was back. >> and you're talking about a couple of these indexes that are just over 1% away from their all-time highs. >> right. >> we are hoping to speak to jennifer granholm -- >> the energy secretary. we had a miscommunication in terms of timing. >> central time versus eastern time. we thought we were going to have her right here. we'll hopefully have her by the end of the show. >> and you throw in daylight savings time, you don't know who does it and who doesn't, and you don't know what time it is. that's half my problem, anyway. >> the energy department, they set the -- the whole reason why we have daylight savings. >> this is not daylight savings. >> this is eastern central. >> but! join us now. i mean, we -- it's a big step down from jennifer granholm, jason trennert, chairman and ceo was walking by. jason! come in here! granholm messed up the time. >> no shame in my game. i'm here!

>> strategas research partner -- >> no, we begged him to come on and he was going to be on anyway, at some point. i don't -- you know what, can we just talk -- i don't even -- if i let you start going on vice president harris' policy initiatives, people are going to get so upset with me for letting you -- >> so why don't we do it? let's go for it. >> let me just ask you this. when you hear things like price controls or 28% corporate tax or if you look back at some of the comments she's made in the past, aren't some of these things to a person like you just like outrageously beyond the pale and how did we get here? >> especially on the price control front, right? and to be fair to people -- >> not on getting rid of the filibuster, banning fracking, getting rid of private insurance, abolishing i.c.e., making it a civil crime to cross the border. none of those things? >> they all bother me too, joe. but we'll try to -- i figured i

didn't have to fill in all the blanks there for you. but i'm here for you. on the price control things, of course, republicans did it. nixon did it in the 70s. it was a disaster. >> people have pets down in venezuela. it doesn't work down there. >> especially on something like groceries. if you look at kroger, a pure play, 2% profit margins. microsoft has profit margins of 35%. google has profit margins of 27%. who's to say? who's being greedy? in commodity-type products, price controls don't work. it increases the problems that you're trying to solve. it only makes them worse. >> some of the greatest companies in the world are great companies that employ hundreds of thousands of employs pause they're so good at what they do, they're able to earn large profits and employ a lot of people, and pay a lot of taxes.

>> profits are the mother's milk of capitalism. that's what allows people to have jobs, invest in new capital -- >> and pay taxes, too. >> precisely. the whole idea, again, that the big difference between the two candidates is largely, do you want central planning, which is the harris plan, or do you want free markets, which i believe very strongly, i believe, even more strongly every day, especially given what i've seen with the fed over the past 13 or 14 years, that free markets are the best ways to -- >> how should we prepare for that -- >> capital -- >> we need to stoic markets. there are others that would say, none of these things are probably going to happen anyway. and if you have a deeply flawed individual versus someone who we're going to be told is -- >> is also deeply flawed -- we're all deeply flawed. >> maybe we are. but whatever you want to use -- whatever you want to se, there are people who are saying, i just can't, because of character

issues, i don't care what the policies are, because they don't happen anyway in a divided government. are you preparing now for what some of the continuation, a maybe even further left than the biden administration. are you preparing for that with your portfolio. >> and mainly, we just wrote a report on friday that said, hard to be short before the election. one is, fed is going to start easing. the second is, all presidents do this for both sides, but the biden administration is doing this to a level i've never done before, they are greasing the skids in terms of fiscal stimulus and regulatory stimulus. employer retention tax credit, forgiving student loans. strategic petroleum reserve. you'll see a lot of stimulus moving -- >> $25,000 for a home. >> but that won't get passed before that. all of these things that can be done by executive action or regulatory changes or interpretations, between now and the election. you'll see both fiscal, regulatory, and monetary

stimulus fwbetween now and the election. hard to be short. the real question in my opinion, the thing i'm watching the most closely is the ten-year treasury yield. that will tell you when the market has had muff of this profligate spending that we've seen really from both sides. >> we're at all-time highs in energy production in the country. can that, if executive actions with the epa or with a mandatory move to net zero, or with a rush in energy transition, none of those things, all the rhetoric that -- i thought the left wanted to end a lot of the fossil fuel production. now they're bragging that it's at an all-time high. i'm trying to figure pout whether they failed at ending it or what, but now they're bragging about it. will we have a problem in the next four years meeting energy demand? electricity prices are already up 30%. >> yeah, listen, i think -- you want a supply side approach to this, which is, you want as much supply as possible.

and i don't doubt for a second, in my own opinion, that a harris administration would seek to limit and re-regulate or continue to regulate the energy sector. the irony is that that tends to be good for energy stocks. if you want energy stocks to do well, if you want to enrich shareholder energy companies -- >> keep prices high. >> you want to vote democrat. if you want to empower consumers, vote republican. because they'll have cheaper energy prices. and of course, as we know, ai uses ten times the electricity that a google search uses. >> crypto does, too. >> if you want to inforvest in these new technologies, you need as much energy production as possible. there is no country in the history of the world that ignored or didn't take advantage of its own natural resources. in the 1945, most countries would go to war over access to natural resources like oil. this is insanity. the best way out, the best way to make the environment cleaner is to have productivity, to have

growth, and then we'll have technologies that will allow us to have cleaner air, cleaner water, all the rest. >> and you kept it together, all your thoughts, you were rushed in here, got no sleep last night watching the convention until 1:00 a.m.. >> it was tough. pills, self-help tapes. i got through. >> is that what it was? tony robins. >> all right, jason trennert, say it front ways, backways, pali palindrome. >> trennert. >> i'm just happy it's not. >> see, jason. >> thank you. >> it is just after 8:00 a.m. on the east coast and you are watching "squawk box" right here on cnbc. i'm becky quick along with joe kernan. andrew is off today. among our top stories this morning, home improvement retailer lowe's reporting mixed second quarter results and cutting its full-year forecast. lowe's says it expects

do-it-yourself spending to weaken, that's similar to what we heard from home depot last week. as a result, the stock is actually up by about 54 cents. reports say that media executive, edgar bronfman jr. has submitted a bid for national amusements. that's the company that holds a controlling interest in paramount globe. bronfman's bid likely complicates a deal already in place for skydance media to buy paramount. that 45-day go-shop period ended tomorrow. and alaska airlines says that its plan to acquire hawaiian airlines has cleared department of justice scrutiny. through the department of -- although the department of department of transportation still has to way in on this merger, but the department of justice let the deadline pass. all right. futures, which we looked at not too long ago, same story. different time, 8:02. >> same as the first. >> nasdaq is up 14, dow is off a little, s&p up 500.

we're joined now by jason trennert -- oh, wait a minute, we already -- >> i'm still here! >> all right. let's get to contessa -- contessa, you're not a second choice. >> no, no, thank you for that. >> the pre-market movers contessa -- >> unless jason wants to do it. >> what time has alarm clock been going off this week? z >> i set mine for 2:00 a.m., it's early, but not the first time many my career i've done that and it's probably not the last time. >> it's 7:00 p.m. somewhere, i think. >> that's the way i look at it. as long as someone around the world is awake, i am too. let's get to the money moverses. tesla shares moving higher in the plef market after the european commission revised its tariffs on chinese-made electric vehicles imported to the eu. you're seeing they're higher by almost a percent in the pre-market. tesla has argued that the rules should take into account how much subsidies the manufacturers actually receive in china. and on that basis, the

commission said, well, okay, tesla is going to face duties of 9% on imports rather than the anticipated nearly 21%. a few other car makers saw a fractional reduction in the expected tariffs, but nowhere near what tesla got on that. eli lilly shares on the move. the drugmaker said late stage studies on zepbound found the weight loss drug significantly reduced the progression of diabetes. andi lilly its top pick among pharmaceuticals. some key catalysts could push shares higher over the next year and that the company has built an impressive moat to stave off competition. and boeing shares are moving lower. the company announced its pausing flooights of its xxx

aircraft after finding done to some of the structures. monday, the federal aviation said it will require inspections of boeing 787 dreamliners following an incident in march when one of the planes went into a midair dive. the faa said that could have been done to uncommanded movement of the captain's seat that caused the auto pilot to disconnect. those shares are off by a little more than a percent. joe, you are never second choice. >> no, thank you, contessa. none of that sounds good, though, when you think about it. you know, in your own car, if your seat is not, you know -- if like -- >> in command. >> yeah, and if it's like stuck pulled up and it's moving wherever it wants to go, you can imagine that's -- >> i feel like this shot would be better on a full screen so that the viewers who are paying attention could get a full sense of what you're actually showing -- >> like, i'm fidgeting in my chair -- >> yeah, i used to do that all the time.

i would just be -- it used to be much faster when that would happen. i'm finally. i . coming up, house minority leader -- >> are you feeling short. would you like to join me? >> i am. i'm feeling inadequate. hakim jeffreys is going from the democratic national convention in chicago. leader jeffries will be right with us. stay with us. ( ♪♪ ) morgan stanley is partnering with the women's tennis association to remove boundaries... ( ♪♪ ) because this game is for everyone. so, you know, han is 22 years old, and we've been together most of my life. not often do you have a childhood dog that, that lives this long so i think it's really unique and special that we've

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the u.s. open tennis tournament less than a week away, but fans are already gathering at the billie jean king national tennis center in queens gearing up for the main event. joining us now from arthur ashe stadium, lou scherer. good to see you, mr. scherer. welcome. >> thank you, joe. good to be here and excited to be talking about tennis at a time that the u.s. open and the whole sport across america is experiencing such unprecedented growth. >> there's two u.s. opens and i

think they're separate but equal. i get just as excited about both, but certainly, the tennis experience is much longer and offers a lot more for spectators, i think, because it's over such a long period and so many different matches and everything else. let me ask you, the state of it right now, lou, are we at a point -- i mean, women's tennis is always exciting, always great, but i miss, obviously, the williams sisters, i think people do. a lot of up-and-comers. it seems like we're going through a little bit of a change -- a change of the guard with men. but there's some rising stars, obviously. >> yeah, no, you're exactly right. we have absolutely seen a changing of the guard in our sport, and interestingly, it's happened really without a hitch, right? we had some of the greatest of all time, serena williams, venus williams, roger federer, rafa, right, none of those athletes are here at this u.s. open, but

there is so much excitement around coco gauff, carlos alcaraz, some of the other young players that have just stepped into those shoes. and of course, we still have novak djokovic, who is the greatest of all time, certainly on the men's side, competing in this championship. joe, we also have five american men, five american women, both in the top 20 now. and that's the first time we've had that sort of success at the highest echelon of the sport in nearly 30 years. >> that's pretty key. and i don't -- i'll tell you, i'm a little bit ignorant. i could not name the top five on all of them on either side. and that's why this will be not a transition year, but it will be an important year to get to know who we're going to be watching, probably, for the next 10, 15 years. >> yeah, no, you're absolutely right. certainly, coco gauff on the women's side, jess pegula,

madson keyes. danielle collins, all names that you would know. emma navarro, a familiar name. and on the men's side, francis tiafoe, ben shelton made it to the semifinals last year, taylor fritz in the top 20, tommy paul. we've got a great group, sebastian korda who won in d.c. this summer. there's a great group and they're all young. >> we could use a star on both sides, obviously. it's been -- the last u.s. open won by an american, was that andy roddick? >> andy roddick. it's been a little while. but as you know, joe, here at the u.s. hope, our fans come out, they follow all the greats in tennis. the world has gotten smaller, american players, kids growing up are inspired by serena, inspired by roger.

they're certainly inspired by the americans, and it's great to see the americans. you've got sloan stevens on court right behind me, here today, this morning, so there's a great group of players that are inspiring more and more people to play. and that's what we're seeing around the country. right now, tennis participation in america, after having been stagnant for really a generation, has grown by more than 35% over the past five years. so we're seeing more and more people coming into this sport for all the health benefits that tennis can deliver. >> lou, i may have buried the lede, i think. ly not on one of those 15-minute games. i will not be stuck in the tunnel leading into the stadium anymore. that's really changing? did you see that, becky? >> i did not. you can go out? >> you can go out now between games? >> yes, no. instead of waiting on the changeover, you'll now have the opportunity in between every

game to move to your seat and back and forth and that really is an attempt on our part to try to address what we know has been a pain point for fans. we understand that the athletes need to focus that ball oftentimes can be coming at 120, 130 miles an hour on a big serve. but, you know, if you had to wait on a changeover, you could have spent 30 minutes, depending on the length of matches, depending if you were going to the restroom or the concession. we're excited this year, we think our fans will certainly appreciate the opportunity to get back and forth to their seats more quickly. >> you know, lou, with all of the discussion about of pay parody in sports, if you wanted to, you could just totally, like, brag and stick your chest out. i mean, it goes back to billie jean, the great billie jean king and why that happened, but it's a little different, isn't it? because in some respects, unlike some other sports, women's

tennis, i think, is more popular, or can be a bigger revenue generator than men's. so it makes sense to be able to do that. does it make sense on all sports, or can other sports learn something from the way the u.s. -- the way tennis has handled this issue? >> yeah, you know, joe, i think other sports can learn a great deal. and it's not just what we've done sort of today. it's 50 years of history. so if you think back, last year, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of equal prize money at the u.s. open. that debate is still happening in many sports today. that was resolved here 50 years ago. but it's not just equal prize money, it was equal presentation of the sport. so when you see our prime-time matches, we alternate, men's matches, weemsomen's matches, e session in arthur aeshe has a mn match and a women's match.

we don't differentiate between the athletes as we're thinking about the presentation of our sport. it's been great for business. this event, no matter what filter you use to look at it, attendance, viewership, tennis participation in america, the reality is we are 50/50 right down the middle. prize money is another reflection of that. so in some interesting way, as we talk about the growth of women's sports today, tennis almost gets left out of that conversation, because tennis has already achieved a level of parody that, you know that the west wnba and u.s. and hockey -- >> but it's wnba and nba. >> but also, the money is not there all the time. >> yeah. >> and it is -- >> wnba is building for sure. >> all right, lew, i play a little. i keep thinking i can play tennis standing in the same spot. and i find -- that's why i lose to my wife 6-0, 6-1.

you need -- you can't do that. you can't reach. you know what i'm saying? >> joe, we have a new variant for you. there's a new version of tennis played with a larger, softer ball on a pickleball or shorter court that may be perfect for you. it's great fun, a lot more social. >> that's an idea! can i -- and i won't -- can i stand in the same place? that's probably not a good -- >> absolutely. >> really? >> may not be the best strategy, but -- >> yeah, right. all right, thanks, lew. lew sherr. >> it may not be the best strategy, but you do you. >> i find myself doing that. it's like, you know what, definitely had to move for that one. >> all right. when we come back, we have much more on the democratic national convention and kamala harris' emerging economic plans. american action forum president doug holtz-eakin is going to be joining us. and later, we have house minority leader, new york's

hakeem jfrs.efie stay tuned, you're watching "squawk box" and this is cnbc.

vice president kamala harris wants to raise the u.s. corporate tax rate to 28% if she wins the presidency. this is harris' first major proposal to raise revenue and try to finance some of the spending that she wants to pursue if she wins the white house. joining us now, douglas holtz-eakin, president of the american action forum. and we have -- how are you, doug? it's good to see you. >> i'm good. >> we don't need to summarize the philosophical differences between the two parties, but they are significant and this is not surprising and the

proponents of something like this, you know, i listen to what they say, and i guess they make some good points. what would you say? >> well, i have real reservations about this proposal. number one, let's look at the facts on the ground. prior to the 2017 act, the u.s. was losing the headquarters of about five american corporations every year. and there were profound political battles about it. you can remember the benedict arnold firms and all of that. we got the rate down 21%, about the middle of the pack, and that problem has gone away. there hasn't been one firm left in the united states since. so it's not broken. don't mess with it. second thing is, i understand, and i applaud the need for revenue. if you're going to be serious about the debt outlook, you'll have to be serious about paying for proposals. but the rule of thumb in economics is, you first broaden the basis as much as you can before you start raising rates. so to start with the corporate rate, which is the most sensitive rate, and one that has the biggest impact on growth, i think it's misplaced priorities.

i wouldn't start there. i would start with other things like the tax code. >> is it -- it is okay to sort of sow the populist discontent, doug? i guess we shouldn't be surprised, but it's just so easy not to connect the dots between all of the prosperity that a country enjoys, based on the private sector, and it's just really -- it's really easy to bash corporations as greedy profit mongerers, that need price controls, and you know, should be precluded from buying back stock, and need to pay their fair share. when no one, if you were to really pin 'em down, no one wants the government to be the main provider of jobs. there's never been a country in the world that's succeeded when the government provides the jobs. what's the disconnect? is it just trying to win elections? >> well, a fair amount of it is

just trying to win elections. in election season, fear and anger are very powerful emotions. they move votes. so playing on people's fears, playing on their anger, a big corporation something that politicians do. but you do it at some risk. because the reality is, if you start pointing fingers at corporation a, you start asking the question about corporation "b," you have to start deciding, hey, who are the good and bad corporations and how are we going to treat them? and pretty soon your economic policy is a muddle. you're not setting out clear ground rules on which market participants compete and deliver benefits to american customers. you have them coming to washington and trying to beat up their competitors by getting in with the government. that's a recipe for disaster. so i worry a lot about the current vogue on the very left and the very right. to use the power of the state to get even and to pursue their own agendas. that's not going to be successful economic policy. >> what -- short of raising corporate taxes to raise

revenue, how would you address "a," do you think there is a revenue problem, or is it a spending problem? i guess, what are we, at about 17 or 18% for revenue? that's about where we've been historically. or should it be a little bit higher? we're at 23% of spending. that's obvious, that that's a problem. >> yeah, and i -- you know, one more time, will come on to this show, as a former cbo director and implore the american public to recognize that it's great fun to talk about taxing somebody else. but the reality is, we do have a spending problem. and it's a spending problem that both candidates have said they're unwilling to address. that's social security and medicare. those programs are $36 trillion over the next ten years, well more than anything else you can imagine, total annual proportion will be 21. that is the money. and they grow faster than everything else. they're going to grow at 5.5, social security, 7%, medicare. that's faster than revenue will grow. unless you deal with getting the

growth rates in those programs down, you'll never solve the problem by just raising revenue. you'll raise revenue, the gap will be a little bit close, and it will widen back out. we'll be back where we started. deal with the spending problem. yes, you might want to raise some more revenue in the process, but you can't just start with revenue. that won't work. >> it must be incredibly frustrating for you and really for -- no, for all americans that we're going to go through these two conventions and hear so much bluster and so much rhetoric and so much, you know, really, just a lot of bs. and neither convention is going to address the elephant in the room, to any large extent or how to solve it. neither party. >> i mean, to my eye, in the 21st century, we have two big problems. we have poor trend growth, standard of living doubles every 56 years now. it used to be every 29. and we have very big federal debt. they go hand in hand. so it's time to address the big problems, and you know, let's get over taxing tips and other

sort of side shows. it's time to get some real issues on the table. >> tariffs, i don't know. there's another issue. you know -- no, if you're a -- you know, you're a person that has certain principles in the country and you're like, where do you run? which party do you run to? >> neither right now. so, there are things on which they are agreed and i think really mistaken. the tariff policies would be that. i would be hard-pressed to name what we got out of draconian tariffs on china. i don't see the behavior changing. i don't see any great benefits to u.s. consumers. so the tariff policy, you know, in the end, mr. trump's $3 trillion tax increases on american consumers, that's not particularly appealing. there are places where they differ, and it's important to point that out as well. >> well, if we were to go on a full -- if you were to totally not worry about what things cost and just worry about climate

change, that has implications that can be put through with executive order that will have major ramifications for inflation, for groe, for how our economy works. if we were to try to get to me zero by 2030 or 2035, that could be a big -- that could be a single single-issue vote, just like abortion is to the left. >> i would argue that it's just as important to ask, how do you get to net zero, then wanting to get to net zero. and this administration has chosen the skmmost expensive an inefficient way to get to net zero. it's rife for corruption. you know, do something that makes sense. price emissions, let people react, the market will solve this problem. if you make it the american business community to reduce emissions, we will reduce emissions. that's all there is to it. >> i don't know whether that's something worth trying to do either. anyway, depends on which

emissions, i guess, you're talking about. doug, thanks. douglas holtz-eakin. we'll have hakeem jeffries on in a little while. i may play a couple of your sound bites for him so i don't have to make him mad. but see you later. thank you. >> happy to serve. >> okay. >> all right. when we come back, some new comments from the ceo of lowe's after the second quarter results that the company released this morning. and as joe mentioned, house minority leader that hakim eem will join us from the democratic national convention in chicago. right now, the futures still bouncing around a little bit, dow futures down by 28, nasdaq up by 13. this comes after the eight-day winning ning streaks we've seen the s&p 500 and the nasdaq. here's a notable statistic from oppenheimer. the past four times that the s&p 500 has seen an eight-day winning streak in a given year, the index has ended that year

like this, up by 27%, up by 29%, 19%, and 30%. those are the numbers if you go back to 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021. this year, the s&p 500 is up more than 17% so far. it could be a pretty good sign. stay tuned. you're watching "squawk box" and iss bc. (luke) this will be a gold mine of local intel. (marci) so, tell us about this corn festival. (stylist) oooh you got your corn pudding... (marci) so...is it safe around here? (stylist) sometimes.

[luke gasping] (marci) no eyebrows? (luke) think of how light it'll feel in the summer. we gotta run. eleven thousand more neighborhoods to go! (vo) ding dong! homes-dot-com.

lowe's reported earlier a mixed second quarter results. melissa repco spoke with the company's ceo and joins us now. good morning. >> good morning. investors are reading the latest clues from retailers this morning that came from lowe's, which reported earnings and its revenue coming in short of wall street's expectations. it warns sales will be weaker than expected in the back half of the year. for the full year, the companies that it now expects total sales of between $82.7 billion to $83.2 billion and expect same-store sales to between 3.5 to 4%. i spoke to ceo marvin ellison, who tells me that consumers are waiting for the federal reserve to make a move, and added they're under pressure from the economic backdrop.

he said, inflation remains high and big-ticket purchases are being delayed as customers sit back and wait for interest rates to fall. he said, there's been -- they have not seen a dramatic shift one way or another in overall consumer sentiment, however. about 90% of the company's customers are homeowners and most have fixed rate mortgages of less than 4%. so that explains some of the hesitance, he said. his comments echo home depot, which also lowered sales expectations for the back half of the year, and they also spoke of a more cautious consumer with deferral mind-set. one other factor that ellison mentioned to me is that consumers seem to be prioritizes experiences and services over diy projects, joe and becky. >> yeah, yeah, we talked about that earlier. if they were depending on me for diy projects, they would have zero every quarter. what do we do in diy, we have zero. zero revenue. services, on the other hand, i feel like i'm making a call

almost every day. good that you have access to marvin. he's one of the good ceos. it's tough operating environment. >> it is a tough one. what's interesting is, is there something specific about the home backdrop right now? we've heard this from home depot and lowe's, from walmart, while it wasn't necessarily a rosy picture, they said they hadn't seen deterioration, and maybe some positive signs in discretionary merchandise. so we'll get more data points tomorrow with both target and macy's, indicating whether, you know, is discretionary overall still under the same amount of pressure, or is it different to buy an outfit versus tack on a wing to your home? that's really the difference here. and the consumer that home depot and lowe's has, like i mentioned, it's very different. 90% are modhomeowners. so it doesn't make sense for them to get a new mortgage when they have such a low rate. >> the biggest diy thing that matt has been able to -- >> oh, he's done a lot. >> he does do things.

>> are you attracted to him when he does that, as sort of a handy person? >> i would say that, sure. >> see, i think that's -- >> something missing? >> yes! i do! i think i would be more -- i don't know -- >> good thing you're married. >> yeah, exactly! yeah, it's good to get married, stop dating, stop exercising. >> perfect! let's talk a little bit more about this latest earnings data point from lowe's and the overall picture of consumer that's emerging. joining us is michael zekler, the five new digital founder, also the author of "the new retail." michael, what do you think? you heard what melissa just said about this. is this an issue that you think is just for big-ticket items, or something where the fatigue is going to be settling in for lower-priced items, too? >> i think the good news is, overall, last month, consumer spending was up by 1%. and even when we take out gas and cars, it was sill up by

0.4%. also, consumer sentiment was up month over month. that said, home depot and lowe's, if we're looking at winners and losers in the current environment, they're definitely on the losing side at the moment. people just aren't investing in discretionary big-ticket items. they're not spending as much on big tvs or home projects. but where they are spending money is they're spending money at walmart. >> yeah, if i take a step back, i think it maybe is a little bit more concerning of a picture, if you're looking at july, was the month that was the surprise for both home depot and lowe's, they saw additional weakness that came up that month. if you look at what's been happening with some of the travel sites and spending that's been slowing down there. and if you look at this new federal reserve survey that shows consumers are really getting anxious. the highest level we've seen since they started keeping track of it in 2014, versus how many people who think they might be out of work. add all of that, that doesn't sound like a consumer that might

be ready to go gangbusters. i don't think they're ready to go gangbusters, it's just where they're spending it on. people are thinking longer and harder about where to spend their money. certainly, travel fatigue has set in. a recent survey showed that 38% of 4,000 americans polled said they can't afford to go on a summer vacation. it's going to be interesting to see how that plays out with the holiday season coming up. >> you mentioned walmart being a big winner. is that because consumers have to go there for bigger prices, or is walmart doing something, too. >> i think it's a mix of both. walmart has successfully transitioned to appealing to the higher-income consumer. so we're seeing almost every income level shopping at walmart. a, i think it's for the prices, but "b," what walmart has done at other retailers haven't is they have created an integrated ecommerce, online, offline

ecosystem. so they've been using things like their realm, their presence on roblox, buy online, pick up in store. they're providing convenience and price and quality, and they're really beating the competition. >> with the presence of roblox, what are they doing with that? >> on the way actually have a walmart world in roblox, that is now shopable. and it's actually quite fun. and they've done it very well. and then they've created something called realm, which is a virtual experience, and they have shops that are actually created and run by regular people, by creators. and so they're really being aggressive in looking to the future of that integrated retail model. and that's why they're winning, that's why companies like amazon are doing well. it's the companies that are providing an immersive experiential environment for retail. you know, i call it marfa, you

know, making retail fun again. that separates the winners from the loser. >> what's amazon doing to make retail fun? they certainly make it convenient for me. >> so, the big news that was announced by amazon last week is that they've inked a deal with pinterest and tiktok shop. so now people who are watching videos on those two apps can actually shop amazon products without leaving the app, right? so amazon has been very much a catalog-like experience. they see the future in immersive and in video commerce. they're also making big moves in ai, according to a report from r re-think retail. something on the order of 75% of retail executives expect to incorporate ai into their retail operations in the next two years. >> wow. >> that will be interesting to watch, too. michael, thank you. >> my pleasure. >> michael zekler. also, a programming note on the

retail front, don't miss target's ceo, brian cornell. he'll be joining us tomorrow morning following second quarter results that they release as well. >> coming up next, an interview on kamala harris' economic plans with house minority leader, hakeem jeffries, live from the democratic national convention ayun..cago st ted you're watching "squawk box" on cnbc. for the #1 hit maker. thanks for swingin' by, carl. no problem. so, what are all of those for? ah, this one lets me adjust the bass. add more guitar. maybe some drums. wow, so many choices. yeah. like schwab. i can get full-service wealth management, advice, invest on my own, and trade on thinkorswim. you know carl is the only frontman you need... oh i gotta take this carl, it's schwab. ♪ schwaaaab! ♪ have a choice in how you invest with schwab.

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it's been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president. i love the job, but i love my country more. i love my country more. from all of this talk about how i'm angry with all of those people who said i should step down, that's not true. >> that was president biden at the democratic national convention last night. joining us now, from the

convention to talk about the party and kamala harris' economic agenda, house minority leader, hakeem jeffries. leader jeffries, good to see you! always a pleasure. >> good morning! great to see you. >> let's talk about how -- some of the stuff that we've been hearing. whenever we have you on, you always emphasize that when it comes right down to it, our capitalist. and totally appreciate, you know, the system that we all operate under here in this country, that generates a lot of the prosperity. do you ever raise an eyebrow at some of the -- maybe it's politicking, i don't know what you would call it, but do you ever feel like maybe the corporations or the private sector is an easy target for populism and maybe that the party goes too far? >> our view is that we want a properly regulated market-based

economy, that is good for the american people, good for commerce, good for industry, and good for business and job creation, that is also, of course, anchored in a strong social safety net, connected to things like social security and medicare. we just want to, under the leadership of kamala harris, lower costs, grow the middle class, and build an economy that works for hard-working american taxpayers. that's the plan, that's the vision. and joe, that is the track record anchored in the things that have been accomplished over the last several years, thanks to president biden and kamala harris. >> it just seems like there is a common thread running through a lot of what we're seeing. and for the past couple of years, as well, that there's almost an anti-corporate rhetoric that comes, maybe not from the mainstream of your party, but would you at least acknowledge that maybe, at the

far left that there maybe is too much anti-corporate sentiment, or eat the rich sentiment? or is that populism to try to win elections? would you floacknowledge that, leader jeffries, or no? >> i can speak on behalf of the house democratic caucus and the track record of accomplishments, which is how we should be judged based on when we had the ability to govern, in the previous congress, under the leadership of president biden and vice president harris, democrats in control of both the house and the senate. we passed an agenda that was anchored in the center and the center left. from the standpoint of how we approach economic issues. we rescued the economy from a once in a century pandemic. the economy has now emerged as the strongest of any economy in the developed world. then we passed a bipartisan

infrastructure investment and jobs act, that is investing in our crumbling infrastructure, and creating millions of good-paying jobs. we passed the chips and science act, which is bringing domestic manufacturing jobs back home to the united states of america, anchored in a public/private partnership around the semiconductor industry. and then, of course, we passed the inflation reduction act, which is striking a dramatic blow against the climate crisis, setting off the planet on a sustainable trajectory forward, and building a clean-energy economy through the use of the tax code to once again incentivize public/private partnerships, and we're seeing a clean energy economy develop all across the nation. that's our track record! >> but leader jeffries, the stir -- the stir of the drink, what makes it all happen is the private sector. and whether it's a partnership or whether it's government, in some way assisting the private sector to succeed on a global

playing field, that's really the role of government. maybe sometimes i think that might be lost. let me ask you about just price controls. and you know, you've studied economics. you know how these things work. in the past, that has not been the most effective way to do things. and you know, to blame a lot of the current inflation on corporate greed, for 40 years, inflation didn't reach the levels that we saw from a couple of years ago. so it's just hard for people to understand how the price gouging, corporations were unable to do it for 40 years, and suddenly, they started doing it a couple of years ago, right when president biden took office. and that that is largely responsible for the inflation that we saw. why wasn't -- why suddenly were corporations able to do that, leader jeffrey? why hadn't they done it all along if they were greedy and

profit mongerers and everything else? >> first of all, i haven't heard vice president harris talk about price controls. she's talked about making sure that there is no price gouging that takes place, so that we have a properly functioning market, where the ability to purchase the goods that they need at a fair market-based price without any unlawful activity that occurs. this should not be a controversial thing from the standpoint of wanting to make sure that we are lowering costs, allowing corporations and companies to function in the context of a properly regulated market-based economy but we are driving down the high price of things like lifesaving prescription drugs, making sure that people can afford groceries because there are millions of americans who are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. that should not be the case in

america, the richest country in the history of the world. and we're going to try to lower costs, grow the middle class and make sure there's an economy that works for hard-working american taxpayers. that's not too controversial in the communities that i spend time in all across the nation. >> you would attribute the 40-year highs in inflation in i think overall it's about a 20% increase in the cost of living, you would attribute most of that to price gouging? >> you're putting words in my mouth. >> no, i'm asking. >> let's talk about the economy. let's talk about the economy and let's level set. inflation is down. the stock market is way up. last time i checked the dow jones was north of 4,000. that should be something that you and other people should be very pleased about. more than 15 million private

sector jobs have been created. there has been tremendous progress made for the men people but we also recognize that there are challenges that remain including the need to address the cost of living. now, president biden inherited three different ka tacatastroph covid-19 pandemic and donald trump's mismanagement of that, president biden inherited an economic catastrophe connected to the shutdown of the economy necessitated by the covid-19 pandemic, and president biden and kamala harris also inherited a democracy catastrophe connected to the january 6th violent assault on the capitol incited by the former president. and in the context of these three catastrophes, i think that president biden and kamala

harris have done a very good job navigating america through a very turbulent point. on the economic -- >> i'm sorry. go ahead. >> on the economic catastrophe which i presume you're getting ready to ask about, clearly you had the economy shut down and so the supply chain suffered consequences connected to that. the economy re-opened. demand came roaring back, and there was supply issues. now, eventually supply and demand should have met up with each other and it's not clear that in some of these instances even when talking to retailers, some of the major retailing companies that the prices that the american people are experiencing are consistent with what the market should bear. that's a reasonable inquiry for us to look into on behalf of everyday americans and i think

that's the starting point. that's the starting point. >> proponents of lower tax rates for corporations say that there's been a lot of manufacturing, a lot of headquarters brought home or that haven't left at the 21% rate and a lot of the positive things that you're highlighting now about jobs, manufacturing, the economy, the stock market, it's all happened at 21%, which makes our corporations more competitive domestically to keep things here. there's a move to go back to 28%. is that -- in the interest of people say we want corporations to pay their fair share, but is it economically smart to raise it back to 28% and to, you know, kill the goose that is laying the golden egg because the prosperity comes from the private sector, i think you agree with that, not the government.

>> the prosperity comes from the hard work of everyday americans who wake up each and every morning go to work, pour their heart and soul into it and are working as hard as they can to experience the great american middle class dream. that great middle class that was built in the aftermath of world war ii when the greatest generation came back home, built the best middle class in the history of the world. that's our view in terms of how we center anything moving forward in the context of the economy. and with respect to the corporate tax rate, i think you make an interesting point which is to say, we're going to return it to where it was at, but that wasn't 28%. that was 35%. and when we had a debate around the time when donald trump decided to implement what we affectionately refer to as the gop tax scam, there were many

ceos who came to see democrats and republicans on the hill who suggested that in order for america to be competitive with respect to our corporations that we should lower that tax rate from 35% to somewhere around 24 or 25. it was donald trump who decided to blow through the 28% number, blow through the 24 and 25% number that ceos were asking for and drop it all the way down to 21% so i do think it's reasonable to ask what is the fair tax rate at this moment in time? >> okay. thank you and we got, what's today? is it tuesday? i think it's tuesday so you're going to be there tuesday, wednesday, thursday, a lot of big name speakers coming up and we'll be watchinleerg ad jeffries. thanks for your time this morning. all right, "squawk box."

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all right, a new development in the media bat that will we've been following. earlier we told you that edgar bronfman jr. submitted a bid for national amusements. now, that was the bid that was very similar to the existing bid

that had already been put in by skydance media. i'm told by a source that that bid has been increased this morning to $5.5 billion. the bid from bronfman jr. national amusements is the holding company that holds a controlling interest in paramount global. it could be that this bid even goes up from here so it sounds like it is game on when it comes to this and we'll continue to watch and see what happens with it. all right. that does it for us today. see you back here tomorrow. right now it's time for "squawk on the street." good tuesday morning, welcome. i'm carl quintanilla with jim cramer. we'll hear from faber momentarily. the s&p and nasdaq going for their ninth straight gain today. the longest streak for the s&p in some 20 years. >> oh, my. >> as we're about 1% from all-time highs. s&p, nasdaq an