>> welcome to "lunch money." we tie together the best stories, news, and interviews. we have a special tax day pregame here, including how not to pay uncle sam. in sports, make that two green jackets. bubba watson is up there with arnold palmer. and herbalife is getting another follower. it turns out, the fbi. and the starbucks ceo talks about minimum wage and their partnership with oprah.

and william shatner has something completely different. first, we kick it off with what everyone is talking about. the standoff between ukraine and russia. >> tensions rising in ukraine. pro-russian militants continue to occupy buildings despite a deadline to leave. an emergency meeting of the un security council. the u.s. and russia blame each other for the violence. >> tensions between russia and ukraine are kicking up a notch over the weekend. at least one ukrainian service member was killed in a shootout with a pro-russian gunmen in the eastern part of the country, which has a large russian-speaking population. cities in this part of the country that we are talking about our kiev and others, that had flareups last week. >> we have just seen of a police unit changing sides. we cannot say that this is just the russians.

there is obviously a part of the local citizenry that is pro-russian. there have been suggestions of russian involvement in organizing these bodies. >> that is not what the russian foreign minister says. >> we do not interfere in internal affairs in ukraine. it is against our interest. we do not have agents there. >> those, by the way, are russian intelligence agencies. partly the remnants of the kgb. what is their position within the battle that is happening on the borders? >> russian aims in ukraine are not territorial expansion, but fomenting unrest inside of ukraine and challenging the legitimacy of the government in kiev and destabilizing the government ahead of the elections.

>> we're talking about the ukrainian elections. a lot of this will be ironed out in the democratic process. >> may 25, when they have their preidential elections, is when they decide what their future direction will be. until then, i think russia will let the ukrainians do their work for them. let them continue and see how bad this can get. this can just prop them up. it will not devolve into more deterioration. >> the u.s. wrote its own check today. jack lew is signing off on a $1 billion loan guarantee to ukraine. he did not shy away from more russian sanctions. >> i made it clear to them, including the russian finance minister, that the united states will continue its assault on russia for its illegitimate intervention and occupation of crimea.

>> money is only part of the problem. if you listen to john mccain, he wants to give guns to ukraine. >> we ought to at least give some weapons with which to defend themselves. so far, this administration has not only not done that, but they will not share their intelligence with the ukrainian government. i can tell you from my conversations with people in the government that they feel abandoned by us, and rightfully so. this is shameful. >> right move, wrong move? former white house security advisor, what do you think about senator mccain's position? >> he is wrong in this case. it is a very appealing position, but if you are not ready to go the distance and alter the military balance in a significant way, you are throwing fuel on the fire. that is not going to go your way. ukraine does not have a viable military solution to this problem.

>> that could leave the u.s. in a pickle. we have a perspective from the wall street journal editorial board. matthew says -- for the first time since 1654, when ukrainian cossacks formed an alliance with moscow, ukraine looks like a loser. just how dearly will the u.s. pay? >> the ukrainians will feel like they were encouraged take this tough line against russia. when push comes to shove, they will find out that the west really does not have their back. this is what happened in hungary in 1956 and czechoslovakia in 1968. it is unfortunately a motif in american policy. our support for democratic movements sometimes gets ahead of our willingness to put power on the ground. >> to this point, it probably

will take more then sanctions to stop someone like vladimir putin. what about a man like bubba watson? make that two green jackets for the eccentric golfer. we will talk about that coming up in sports. we will also talk about taxing americans. we will show you how the wealthy are dodging the tax man. by the way, it is perfectly legal. we have something else for you. look what we found. the obama's tax return. they paid just over $98,000 in taxes on $481,000 in income. that is the tax income rate of 20.4%. they did not give us much in 2013, about 15%. ♪ >> in nation, taxing america.

tomorrow is tax day.

today, we're taking an in-depth look at american taxes. from the future of the mortgage deduction to how you should handle bitcoin profits. first, let's go to the anti-tax movement. the wealthy have gotten around taxes with a plan that they can reduce their exposure even to zero. this is completely legal. we explain how clever citizens dodge the tax man altogether. >> did you pay your taxes this year? if you did, you're a sucker. here are three legal ways to give the taxman the slip. the option option. an executive is negotiating his contract. the company may offer millions of shares. who wants to pay taxes on millions? take options. gains from options are not taxed until they are exercisable.

it is not just icing, either. it is often the cake. larry ellison earned $1 in salary in 2013 and was awarded millions in options. the estate tax eliminator. a wealthy parent with millions wants to leave earnings to their kids. but he wants to avoid the estate tax. who does not? the parents set up an annuity trust and list kids as beneficiaries. they contribute $100 million to the grat. step three, profit. whatever return they earn in excess of interest remains in the trust. it is free of income tax forever. not just icing, either.

the no-sale sale. some executive has $300 million of shares he wants cash but does not want to pay the capital gains taxes for selling. the executive borrows from an investment bank and use his shares as collateral. now, he has cash. to free the value, he buys options, granting the right to buy and sell shares later and -- at a fixed price. if he keeps the price, he has to handle the shares. the tax bill comes years after the initial borrowing and his money has been working for him the whole time. >> very clever. if there is anyone who wants less tax, it is grover norquist. he is the creator of the anti-tax pledge that every republican in congress signed. where are we on changing the u.s. tax code? >> at the federal level, nothing is moving for the next three years. in the states, 24 states have a republican governor. they're cutting taxes and

reforming labor laws. 13 states, california, illinois, and maryland, have complete democratic control. they are turning themselves into greece as quickly as they can. >> if you look at the tax burden on a childless single individual, the average level is just below average in most country. isn't that something to brag about? >> we need to grow faster, rather than slower. close to where europe is is not where we want to be. we started this country with a tax rate of 2%. we decided we could not stand it anymore. 2%. there has been backsliding since then. >> grover will not rest until he

gets the no-tax system. there's one tax break the millions of americans take advantage of. we're talking about the deduction for interest payments on home mortgages. the ceo of the mortgage bankers association warns that getting rid of it could cause more problems. >> i would be concerned in isolation -- as you said, 38 million americans take part in mortgage interest deduction. the vast majority are at the lower end of the range. for example, 91% of all mortgage interest reductions are below $200,000. two thirds are below $100,000. we're talking about a benefit that is appreciated by those who file tax returns, younger americans. americans under the age of 55 are the predominant users. under the age of 35 actually make up the largest majority. >> then what is the rationale behind doing away with it? so many people said it just helps rich people.

this is the opposite of what you're saying. >> i think that is one of the misnomers. those who call on us to lower the maximum cap on interest. it may make americans feel good. it will not do much for the tax revenues for the treasury department. you have to smack at middle-class america for that to happen. the brookings institute today combined study and estimated that you would have a one-time effect on home prices. >> $70 billion per year? that does not sound like a little bit of money to me. >> in its entirety, you're right. it is a big amount of money, but it would affect housing demand, which is 20% of the gdp. not an easy solution here. you're talking about a core provider of jobs and revenues, tax rolls, etc. that $80 million or $100 million

in tax relief -- that creates jobs and brings tax revenues in for every home that is sold or built. you lose one to pay for the other. >> corporate tax rate is another thorny issue among executives. here is former aig chief ed greenberg and bob pozen with betty liu. >> we now have paul ryan as head of ways and means. they are very creative guys who work together to put out an interesting proposal on medicare and they're ready to do something different. both of them realize that the biggest problem is the $2 trillion that we have staying overseas. u.s. profits are not coming back. if it comes back, it is taxed at 35% under u.s. law. if it stays there, it is taxed at nothing. we have to find a way to get

that back, because right now it cannot be used to build factories, to get jobs, it cannot even be used to pay dividends to shareholders. it is really bad and it is the biggest constraint that i believe is on economic growth. they want to change it. these are two younger guys who have the creativity to do it. >> you are singing hank's song. he has been pounding the desk, saying we need to bring the money back. >> yeah. if they invest the funds, they ought not to be taxed. the incentive is to bring it back. if you do not do that, we should give them the option to pay a lower tax. or invest funds. one or the other. >> why can't they do something with that money overseas? >> they can invest overseas. that is what they are doing. that is why it is counterproductive for the u.s.

you have companies like microsoft with $80 billion overseas. they can invest overseas and they will. if it costs 35% to come back to the u.s. it is not a sensible thing for the u.s. to encourage that. we encourage these companies to invest overseas. what we need, as hank says, is an intermediate rate. if you look around europe, the tax rates have fallen. the marginal rate is 17% or 18%. that would be a reasonable rate. if the company has paid in france or u.k., 17% or more -- if it is in a tax haven, it has to pay the difference. 17 minus 0 is 17. that is an intermediate rate that people could live with. >> watch "taxing america" all day.

it is all good until you get that 1099 form. coming up, what does the nasdaq ceo have to say about michael lewis's claim that the stock market is rigged? and we will take you inside the luxury golf retreat that wall streeters are retreating to. and it is marathon weekend. there was a course record on the london marathon. and in korea, the pyongyang marathon welcomed amateur runners for the first time. 225 runners took advantage of the open policy. the only requirement was to complete it in less than four hours. hurry up! ♪

>> for the second time in three years, bubba watson has won the masters. he shot a three under 69 to win the tournament by 3. he actually gets that green blazer for a second time. now, he is noted for his winning twice in six attempts. only arnold palmer has done that. where does he go to celebrate? the waffle house, of course. a couple of excited diners tweeted out pictures of watson. bubba obviously keeping it real. and there is a new ultra lux fitness center in manhattan that could help you. it is attracting a lot of guys who can pay the price. members of the pga tour, wall

streeters, a few celebs. matt miller got to go inside. >> it is a tough choice that new yorkers have had to deal with for years. the golf club at chelsea piers is closed. bethpage costs $65 to play, but good luck getting there. after three decades in the pits, they saw an opportunity in the new york golf scene. >> you can read a tip in "golf digest" on how to treat your body, but we get so deep into it. we all come together and work on it. it is a one-stop shop. >> aimed at wall street shut-ins willing to pay $12,500 to start, golf and body will get you back in shape when it counts.

it is a 25,000 square-foot facility, one block from penn station. schiff gave us an inside look at what it offers. fitness equipment, world-class trainers that work with top golfers like luke donald and jason day. a private living room to entertain, a café, and hd golf simulators. the area is equipped with leading golf radar that cost $25,000. it gives data on your club handling and the ball flight. adam scott has been in to train and jimmy fallon is a member. the managing director at deutsche bank started training at the complex last year. he subsequently won the british amateur open. >> everybody who is a member here enjoys playing golf. it is even more refined in that everybody wants to get better at playing golf. it is a toolkit to get better.

>> it is hard to resist. for high rollers with no time, but money to spend, and a drive to play better. we would not be surprised if there are more opening in the near future. matt miller, bloomberg news. >> time to get off the greens and back to business. bill ackman has victory in his war on herbalife. the starbucks ceo on where he stands on raising the minimum wage when we come back. ♪

>> this is "lunch money." we are fully digital, we are online, we are on mobile, we are on apple tv, everywhere you are. today's moving pictures -- troops from venezuela's national guard fired tear gas on protesters in caracas. this came days after the president held talks with opposition leaders in an effort to end the crisis. the antigovernment demonstrations are entering their third month and have left 39 people dead. firefighters in chile are struggling to control a massive blaze that has destroyed more than 2000 homes around the city.

it started two days ago in a forest outside of the city before spreading to nearby homes. 12 people have been killed and 8000 have been left homeless. the search for the missing malaysian airlines jet has entered a new phase. they have deployed an unmanned submarine to scan the ocean floor. it is being used after they stopped picking up an underwater signal. today, bill ackman scores a victory in his war on herbalife. the fbi is investigating the company, according to a person familiar with the matter. they're looking into the marketing practices, which ackman has called a pyramid scheme. he told stephanie ruhle that he is prepared to go all the way in this fight. >> what we focus on is not the stock prices any one day or month, but the business progress. we're telling the story of regulators and making sure they understand what the issues are.

they could issue bonds to do it. we were forced out of the trade. we replaced the position with credit default and we keep it going. this is not a trade for me. we will take this to the end of the earth. >> herbalife says it has no knowledge of the investigation. is this finally bill ackman's moment in the sun? stephanie ruhle has been following it closely. >> to call this a saga is an understatement. it was 1.5 years ago. bill ackman has a special conference just for this, to say this company is pure evil. he is going to take this trade to the end of the earth, for the betterment of society. he believes that they are taking advantage of low income people. since he came out as this major source, everybody and their brother in the hedge fund space

was against him, from the likes of carl icahn -- many have gotten out of that trade. some are still in there. bill is the only one who is notably a short. stock was down. bill has his moment in the sun. >> what will the feds be looking for? we have adam, a senior investigator. >> the government is going to look for three things. they're looking for evidence of lies, cheating, and stealing. what the government is likely going to focus on is whether the company is selling or not really selling its products to real salespeople, but giving it to distributors in exchange for a fee and claiming those fees as real revenue. >> this is what ackman has been calling for for months. they have said that this investigation is going on. how real is it that we will get

an outcome that ackman wants to hear? how bad does it look? at the end, you say there was nothing there? >> i do not think that the justice department will be concerned about how it looks at the end. i think that, my guess is that they are treading carefully here. they do not want to do the bidding of an activist investor. it is possible that this has been going on for some time and they have been quiet about it. >> how could herbalife -- do you buy that they say they had no idea that the government was looking into them? >> hard to know. hard to know whether they had no idea. it may be true that they were never contacted directly by the fbi or the justice department, in part because, as report shows, there were other regulators looking into this already. it is possible that the government has been getting information from them instead of reaching out directly.

>> in fairness, the company still has big supporters like carl icahn. he has a 17% stake. herbalife says it has no knowledge of the investigation. still ahead, the nasdaq ceo and what he has to say about high-frequency trading. and from starfleet commander to priceline negotiator, william shatner tells us about his latest adventures in technology. severe storms in the great plains. a tornado touching down in texas yesterday. about 100 miles north of houston. a line of thunderstorms produced hail and high winds across parts of texas, oklahoma, arkansas, and louisiana. ♪

>> this is "lunch money." we are also streaming live on every device imaginable, including amazon's new fire tv. president obama wants state and local lawmakers to join the feds in raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. opponents argue it will lead to job cuts and higher prices. here is what howard schultz thinks. >> i read that connecticut is the first state that is going to $10.10 per hour. they are not doing this until 2017. >> that is what the president recommended? >> yes. the inequality in america is very significant. the question is, do people have as much access to the american

dream as they did when our parents and grandparents -- probably not. i think raising the minimum wage is a good idea. i am on the wrong side of the debate for most people. >> they say it may cost jobs. they say they will have to increase the price. >> we have to see about that. i think there will be unintended consequences if we go to $15 per hour. at starbucks, we have always looked at total pay. we pay above the minimum wage. between equity and stock options, we are way above it. i think that we will have unintended consequences if we go above $10. >> the conversation turned to their partnership with oprah. >> we're going to do for tea what we have done for coffee. i have known her for many years. she told me how much she loves tea. we have always dreamed about doing something together, but

never could find it. i think her values match ours. we want to do something to elevate tea, but also do something to get access for those people to education. oprah chai will be everywhere come mother's day. only her could raise that. >> the nasdaq ceo also paid a visit to charlie. here's what he had to say about michael lewis, who alleges the stock market is rigged by high-frequency traders. >> he did say that. i think it was irresponsible on his part. let me tell you why. i also feel -- >> you don't disagree with what he said? you disagree with qualifying it as rigged? >> a little of both. his description of how it works is not accurate. -- not inaccurate.

i feel poorly for the academics. our markets are researched more than any other market out there. we have had 100 academic papers written about how the u.s. market operates. there are a similar number overseas. when you see the stack of papers there, it is about this high. i have read a lot of them. you have people come out in favor of them and against it. >> high-frequency trading? >> this is what academics spend their life work studying. this does not really allow itself to devolve into a story. it is not a storytelling issue. it is a dense academic paper. >> hft's have an advantage because of speed? >> i would say this -- with the analysis of the market, it has to be data-driven.

it is not storytelling. i compliment the fcc for the rules they have made. when you talk about the decrease in the cost of trading over the last 19 years, you have to take credit for it. it is interesting, if you look at this in two ways -- we have to make sure that we give equal access to all investors. that is our primary responsibility. >> proprietary? >> completely. we have, at our data center, we make sure that you are ten feet from the exchange, versus 100 feet. you have the exact same experience. we put a coil close. >> that is exactly what these guys did. >> we have been doing that since 2008. >> i thought it was a genius stroke. >> we have been doing it for a long time.

it made for a good cover. it is good for the coil business. >> you can watch the interviews on "charlie rose" tonight at 8:00 and 10:00. from "twilight zone" to "star trek" to priceline commercials, william shatner has a long resume. we will find out what he is up to next. and a game of cricket for the royal couple on their trip to new zealand. the duke and duchess of cambridge taking to the field. they were urged by a maori elder to have more children. he told the pair to do what princes and princesses do, increase your family. there was plenty of talk of kate doing exactly that, but she put it to rest. she seemed to be fine at a local vineyard. ♪

>> this is "lunch money." we are streaming live on every device imaginable. he is a legend, captain kirk. he is also the priceline negotiator. did you know that william shatner is an author, a recording artist, and the owner of his own ios? he explained the whole thing to cory johnson and emily chang of "bloomberg west." >> in a business venture that i am starting, the results of which will be out in the end of the year, an app that ties to a website that feeds you pictorial and verbal information, so that all of those separate applications combine. this whole new technology --

bloomberg, when it began, it was bright, spanking new ideas. it has now matured. you guys are progressing. there is so much more out there. i sat at a table last week with three kids who were popular on vine. i have done a lot of tweeting with 149 characters and getting around that. these kids were the most popular people where i was for their six seconds of communication. they didn't know who i was and i did not know who they were. there was a turmoil going on in this industry. >> right. >> there is such a burgeoning thing going on. we're barely able to see the horizon. >> you are big on twitter, though. you recently quit and came back and un-quit. your fans are pretty upset.

what happened and why come back? >> well, come back so i can tell my audience and every other audience -- april 24 is a very important day. you'll love it. there was a terrible mixup. the story is too disorganized to tell you, except that i quit and came back on within a moment. it just got away from me. i never intended to quit. it is too important. >> last question. of all the roles you have played, what is your favorite? >> that is not a progressive question. that is an old question. talking to you, how is this? talking to you this morning is my favorite moment of the day. >> so what is your favorite

moment of the day? if you are like cristina alesci, it is actually finding new tunes. it could be any moment of the day, unless the download is too slow. >> come on. tired of new devices not fast enough for vinyl? where do you go for music? streaming music services like beats, spotify, and pandora let users access millions of songs. which one is right for you? think of each service like the kind of car you might buy. option one, pandora. it is like a mercedes s class. so high-tech, it almost writes itself. choose frank sinatra and it will pump out music by old blue eyes as well as necking coal. it is free, but you will get some ads. don't want the ads and it will cost you four dollars a month. it is a limited library and you

cannot always hear the songs you want on-demand. for that, go to spotify. i call it the mclaren. it is high-profile, flashy, and really powerful. do you really need that much car? if you are a music and tech freak, maybe you do. it has a killer catalog and incredible sharing features. the free service comes with commercials, but do yourself a favor. pay $10 a month to lose the commercials and you can listen while you are not connected to the internet. if you want it all, you may want to go with beats music. it is like a ferrari. it can go from 0 to 100 in a few seconds. you do not have to pick an artist or song, you can just make a playlist by using their version of mad libs. beats does not have a free option. it is $15 per month for five accounts are $10 for no one says one. blending style and substance comes cheap.

>> on the markets is next. ♪

>> it is 56 past the hour, which means that bloomberg television is "on the markets." i'm olivia sterns. u.s. equities climbed, rebounding from the worst weekly drop in nearly two years lastly. there was a midafternoon sella.

the s&p climbed in the final hour. it is up by about 15 points. the nasdaq closing up by almost 23 points. at one point it get below 4000 earlier today. stocks got a boost earlier this morning after we had better than expected results for retail sales in the u.s.. theose by 1.1%, which is biggest gain since september 2012. it helped that best it -- it helped boost the mood. everyone wants to know -- where do stocks go from here? liu askedng, betty oppenheimer chief marketing strategist if he thinks it is over. >> we expected people to pull back since the beginning of your great we got one in january, a little bit more than 5%. we went up from that, about 8%. now we have about a 3.5% pullback. >> are we done? >> i think that we could

intermittently returned to the downside and move up again. overall, the fundamentals remain intact. the fundamentals are getting better. 1% the years up today. adam jones has a look at what is going on overseas. >> a tale of two markets on insight and action. let me show you what i am talking about. a perfect mirror image of one another. emerging markets year to date up 1.8% as opposed to s&p 500, down 1.8%. perfect mirror opposites. if you look at the past two weeks, curious. people have been going into emerging markets as we have been in the selloff here at home. look at this. the emergening market and bond fund have seen their shares outstanding rise by the most of all out there.

emb and eem. curious, isn't it, that that is where people have been going. it has been the emerging markets that have attracted the attention. earlier today, we had the chief equity strategist from black rock on the show. he explained why. for investors with a strong stomach and a long time horizon, -- ok, his hedging a little bit -- we suggest emerging markets for a combination of value and growth. in other words, they are cheap and growing faster. that is why you go to emerging markets. he said that because of the volatility, you may want to add another layer. that is dividends. stocks, orrkets companies, whose stocks pay dividends. who is that he likes as an example. dvye. thatrobably know the dvy. is dividend paying companies here in the u.s.. that is the same thing for

emerging markets. it is about 4.5%. you look at the chart and there is the upswing he is talking about. emerging markets reemerging. >> speaking of what is going on overseas, let's take a look at the currency markets. the dollar a little stronger today amid escalating violence in eastern europe but also stronger against the europe as the head of the european central bank signaled that the bureau continues to appreciate against the dollar. it may merit a prompt for quantitative easing europe. that doesn't. ♪