>> live from bloomberg's world headquarters, welcome to "bloomberg west," where we focus on innovation, technology and the future of business. top headlines, russian president putin comes out swinging in the annual press conference. he blamed the west for the economic crisis that has gripped his country. >> what you can be sure of is we will overcome this difficult period. we'll find a way out of this difficult situation. i'm sure we will be stronger in the international arena and the

global economy. >> the rubeell steadied after his comments where he said this week's emergency rise in interest rates is appropriate, but not going to spend all of their money on it. is a merger coming between two of europe's largest networking companies? a newspaper said there are talks to combine with nokia. it is flush with cash after selling the mobal phone business for $7 billion. oracle, shares rose and the company saw a 4% gain. oracle is making transition to the cloud with revenue from the cloud business up 45% from a year ago. and amazon has launched a new one-hour delivery service available in certain areas of manhattan only, but amazon plans

expansion soon and called prime now and deliver products to customers in less than one hour. now to the lead, the u.s. will officially blame north korea for the massive cyber attack against sony pictures entertainment. a person with knowledge of the investigation said u.s. officials have enough evidence to determine that the north korean government is to blame. this news comes after sony scrapped a christmas day release of "the interview" and movie chains decided not to show the movie against threats of violence. "the interview" is about a couple of news guys who go off un. ill kim jung we know this announcement is coming. >> what we are going to hear as soon as today from u.s. officials ks investigators from

the f.b.i. have determined that they have been able to tie the government and north korea to this hack. there has been a big question. they are solid enough. >> it sounded awhile like a p.r. stunt from sony and people found it hard to believe that they re capable of such high-tech maneuvering. >> they are very capable on this front. there are couple of tracks and why they are doing it today, it is a public shaming mechanism. most recently in may with chinese packers. so there will be the law enforcement side of things. the big question that is riling up the white house is what do you do to respond? do you go back at them from cyber avenues, diplomatic streams. that is a big question. you are setting precedence with everything you do and how do you

want to set them? >> we have seen an outpouring from the hollywood artists decrying this as a big fail and giving in to terrorist demands, this is not the way america is supposed to work. how do you hear the response coming out of washington? >> it is viewed on the administration side in terms of what sony chose to do. the company is in a very bad place right now. justice department officials made clear throughout the course of the investigation sony has been very helpful and forthcoming. you heard the president last night in an interview with abc before sony pulled it saying americans should go to the movies. there is no indication that the threat of some type of terrorist attack was valid or real. they were wary of it. i think when it comes to negotiating with terrorists in this case, the administration's policies have been firm, don't do it.

but sony is an independent company and can operate on their own grounds. >> was there an official white house response to the discussion ? >> there was. this came up in the next day. the white house press secretary said to quote home, something that made everybody cringe. they weren't going to weighing in on the executives but the white house has been confronted with these issues. but they try and spin this as a way to say this wasn't a good idea and this is recognition of something that needs to change. try to turn it into a positive way. > thank you very much. now, this is obviously a major victory for the north korean hackers. the first time that any hackers have successfully canceled the release of a major film. sony's decision to pull "the

interview" has the financial and creative consequences, losses north of $200 million and the creative community up in arms about the decision. what will sony do next? we have a security stratist and an entertainment expert. katherine let me ask you, has the response been uniform. is everyone booing sony for giving in to these terrorist demands? >> everybody is up in arms. this is hitting us exactly where america stappeds from a cultural perspective, freedom of speech and creative expression is what we're made of. the question is not only is this a horrific situation but how is it going to affect movies going forward, books, magazines, comedy and tv shows.

everybody is disturbed because we don't know where it will end. >> if the north koreans can do this, anyone can. how, does it surprise you that they had these capabilities? is it something widely known in the security community? >> yeah. thanks for having me. it's amazing, the last three, four years, almost every developed nation building this capability, capability on the defensive side but the cyber offense capability and training people and getting tools and we see it on full display in the sony hack. >> if all they have to do is call in a 911 threat to get a film canceled, can we expect every country around the world getting a film canceled? >> it is a double-edged sword when you expose your capabilities. there is a lot of uncertainty

still in the sony hack. who was it really that launched the attack? was it folks that were just sympathetic, was it folks from the government. there are a still of pieces of this that we will be finding out over the weeks and months. >> katherine, obviously, now if iran doesn't like a move yes, they can hack a studio. the implications -- obviously, it's a slippery slope. >> people in hollywood wished they would continue on with the release of the film, in the theaters or dvd or netflix or amazon and sony will have to work with their cybersecurity units and find a way to put up -- this is not my area, -- could work on how to get these movies out and not bow down to terrorism that could come from any country. these are people that are

cultural fanatics and trying to censor the united states. >> let me ask you about something in your area of expertise, how come we didn't see other studios rally around sony? why didn't the hollywood community get behind this company and say, if you can shut at the them down, you can shut us down, too? >> that's a good question. we are in unchartered territory, people didn't want to make the first move because it sets a dangerous precedent. the other studios are rallying around saying we support your creative expression but i don't think anybody wanted to make the first move and god forbid something happened, they would be part of the liability as well. everyone is watching closely. >> how, what if a studio said, look we had these threats of violence but going to go ahead

and put this film out because that's what we do in this country? how do you prepare for that sort of thing? >> it's challenging. we have already seen on display that capabilities this group has, but you can achieve some level of security and recovery. u go back in and do a full forensic investigation, how did they get in, what kinds of tools did they use and it's a wake-up call for a bunch of different industries that haven't historically focused on security to say that those industries are potentially at risk. there is a lot we can learn from this attack and certainly there is great cybersecurity capabilities out there in the marketplace. it's a call to the companies to bring those in-house. >> how do you see those cybersecurity threats cross over into real physical violence?

i read a couple around the silk road case and i was surprised to see it come from the internet to a gun shop. >> if you think what's happening online now outside of the sony of we are connecting all these devices now to a network connection and have moving parts that can do things. it's becoming a very serious issue of how do we get those things, those devices, these companies secure online. and i think we are making a lot of progress, but with this attack and several others over the last year, to be quite frank, have shown us we have a lot of work to do. >> thanks for joining us. how and katherine, we appreciate you joining us. couple of headlines, white house press person is saying the hack

is still under investigation. he is saying the white house is holding a daily meeting and this meeting is being treated as a national security matter. the white house taking fairly seriously and we will bring you headlines. more questions about the way uber screens its drivers. one driver is accused of raping a woman. you can watch us streaming on ur tablet, phone or at bloomberg.com. we are all over the place. ♪

>> a boston man who works as an uber driver is charged with taking a passenger to a secluded area and raping her. they say, quote, this is a diss pass cabble crime and our

thoughts and prayers are with the victim. they have been working closely with law enforcement and will do everything they can to assist in the investigation. it comes as they say will do more background checks on their drivers. the former chairman of the new york city taxi and limo commission. matt, thanks for joining us. we were talking about -- i was asking, uber drivers here in new york are vetted by the t.l.c., right? >> when i was working for the mayor, we put in great reforms in the 1980's, where you get thin 24-48 hours, a criminal history which is better and more ack rate than the others they are doing in cities and states. which is just a name check. >> uber has different regulations for its drivers in

different cities around the world. >> the chairman of the public utilities commission in california just resigned. he and the commission were responsible for allowing this thing called ride sharing. this is hitch hiking. my parents said you shouldn't do it, it's dangerous. you are using an app. what they are doing and i encourage all the legislators, whether new jersey, illinois, california, they are starting to revisit these laws in colorado, too. they have been lobbying and spending millions of dollars to have less background checks to do it themselves when every other taxi and limo is going through a fingerprint, which is more accurate and will catch fraud that is occurring with fake names and i had tepts. it's good that uber timely acknowledged -- >> uber has announced, even before today's case came to

light, they are going to do more background checks. deeper background checks, but also kind of weird things like a lie detector test, right? >> the expense they will go through on their own to do this is crazy. the government can do it. it doesn't go far enough. the government needs to do it. they are trying to have a special exemption in the different states to do it themselves. for costs about $50 to $70 the drivers to be vetted. our hearts go out to these people. >> to be clear, even a yellow cab driver could commit and have committed horrible crimes. people from all walks of life, regardless of any background check, sometimes do commit horrible crimes. it's not just an uber driver and there was a ride-sharing attack

this weekend that may have been a different company. >> consumers need to know there is a greater risk with uber because they are doing checks that are not as accurate. the u.s. attorney general years ago did a study that looked at florida employees as well as licensed applicants and over 10% them, name check versus biometrics, you aren't going to catch everybody. people have right to rehabilitation, but d.u.i., rape, murder, they should not be behind the wheel. i call it control, alternate delete. we have control over our destiny. other legal licensed aps that do government background checks and we have the option to delete this app and also the cybersecurity issues, we talked about sony.

senator franken is really questioning what the alleged, not just the alleged rapes and stuff, but the alleged spying and tracking and use of data by uber. i don't know what's going on there. hopefully we will know in the future what the deal is. when i put the g.p.s. in the new york city yellow cabs years ago under mayor bloomberg, we cut a deal with the new york civil liberties union where we said that we, by law, have to have security provisions of that data and any cab driver will not know and any owner where you are going in a new york city cab right now. do they have the ability to? we have laws that say it's illegal for the new york city taxi cab developedors that run the system to know where you are going. it's illegal and do the same thing for uber and the ride shares. >> maybe they will call you up and ask for your advice.

i want to read a statement from uber. they say in november, uber's safety team began a global review to assess the areas where greatest investment is required. as we look at 2015, we will build new safety programs and intensify others. >> if they call me, i will talk to them. >> hopefully 2015 is a better year. matt, thanks for joining us, talking about uber. a venture up, capitalist thinks he can live to the ripe old age of 120. find out how, coming up next. ♪ 4

>> peter teal is known for building paypal and outside

investor of facebook. he is hoping to live to the age of 120. emily sat down with him. >> i know you thought a lot about the extension of human life. you think you may live to 120. >> i certainly hope to, yes. >> what are you doing differently, taking immortality pills? >> i'm investing in a lot of exps. on the nutrition side, there are some basic things that can be done. should not eat sugar. >> do you not eat sugar? >> some. but not as much as i used to. >> what do you eat more of? >> a paleo-type diet. you will need new technology and new innovation to have longer and healthier lives.

>> like what? >> cures for cancer and alzheimer's and restore organs when they're falling apart, go all the different ways that people's bodies break down. growth hormone on a daily basis. >> what of the benefit is that supposed to be? >> it helps maintain muscle mass. so you are much less likely to get like bone injuries, arthritis as you get older. and there is an increased cancer risk. >> you're not concerned about that? >> i'm hopeful that we'll get cancer cured in the next decade. nutrition thing that is happening is the biome, where you have about as many bacteria inside of you as you have cells.

and so i think one of the things that's going to happen in the next few years is people figure out ways to reset your ecosystem. you figure out what healthy ople's ecosystem and replace yours with theirs. ♪ . .

>> you are watching "bloomberg west" where we focus on innovation, technology, and the future of business. i matt miller, and for emily chang. hampton creek is hoping to change the future of food and now it has more money to do so. the company behind egg free mayonnaise has just raised $90 million in series c funding. andfacebook cofounder horizon ventures have hitched in. cory johnson, before he lost his voice, set down with hampden creek ceo to talk about the

company's plans will stop >> it all starts with the basic premise that about 99% of what we eat is not any good at all. how can we use a different approach? we want to be able to put out product where we have the ability to make it better. in the case of mayonnaise, how do we make something that is more helpful. same deal with cookie dough? inlike making products that a quick people emotionally. mayonnaise you put on everything, cookie dough there's a natural authenticity to it. we will be coming out with pasta next toward the end of next year. conflicted about your business. it sounds like frankenfood. the way you talk about it, it's quite the opposite in terms of natural ingredients. it is --ink about what

there are 400,000 plant species. the world has only searched through about 4% of them. what we do is search through the the best of them and then use the best of them to make food better. cookie dough. it is certified by the non-gml project. we're not doing any synthetic or chemical engineering. we using plants that grow in open field as a way to make food better. best chemistry has to offer if you are going to use the test that mass has to offer? >> part of it is perception. it's important we connect deeply with everyone. we don't want to get political and the second as we don't need to. we can use plans and without synthetically engineering them, that enables us to do what we need to do. next so it is a marketing

decision? >> i would say it is a bit perception and if we can do it without doing it, it's probably better to do that as well. >> the thing that is most intriguing is in the products themselves but the idea you are using some notions of how to develop a product from the technology and math world. choice of codify that how you run your business? >> our approach is let's use data science. our vp of data was formally the head of google maps and youtube. we screen the plants, we have all of the data from these plants and we have computational biologists and hopefully food scientists that take their relationships from the data and try to bring it together to make better food. the reason we take that approach tried aginally different approach and it ran out of money.

let's order lots of commercially available ingredients out there. let's see if we can make mayonnaise with it or cookie dough. aboutnowhere and earned $130,000. this was my dream to start this company and we didn't get anywhere. sciencewe bring in data we with each subsequent one brought in, we got a little better. it's almost as if we didn't know any better. >> do you have a similarly revolutionary product on the roadmap to get onto shelves? next we are not really in the business of paying fees for our project. they are excited enough about it will stop we are the number one selling mayonnaise there. whole foods was the first company to introduce the mayo.

we are in walmart. our most important partnership is not in retail, it's with compass group, the largest food service company in the world. they serve 4 billion meals a year. to your point about margins, it's not just about creating something that tastes better. we want a cost structure that enables us to sell these things at a price that is more affordable. >> one of the secrets of general mills, unilever and the companies that have all these rent customers identify with is a bye forever. they hook them when they are young. budweiser, i will throw in philip morris. do you have a similar approach to get consumers when they are somewhat new to the markets to identify with you? >> two groups we care about -- millenials. to certaint fixed

brands. they don't mind changing it up. >> to the nightmare of food companies. >> definitely. and surprisingly, the single mom. between 23 and 57 who is confused about what the hell to feed her kids. she didn't know what to buy. the two groups are how we break into it. names in has some big tech. what do you think it is about your story? >> i think it's two things. trillion dollar plus sector. it's antiquated and not efficient. in order to make it better, we have to try different approaches. i think they see and opportunity to feed people better and use food as a mechanism to solve big

problems and i think they like the fact that technology can be used to do that as well. it is a new euro for u.s. relations with cuba. will the island nation finally join the age of the internet and what implications could there be for tech companies down there? ♪

>> i matt miller and this is "bloomberg west." ofer more than 50 years isolating cuba, president obama's going to restore diplomatic nate -- diplomatic relations between u.s. and the island nation. among the changes are greater internet access for cuban citizens.

>> i believe in the free flow of information. onortunately, our sanctions cuba have denied cuban's access to technology that has empowered individuals around the globe. i've authorized increased telecommunications connections between the united states and cuba. businesses will be able to sell goods that enable cubans to communicate with the united states and other countries. these are steps i can take to change this policy. >> but internet freedom in cuba is among the most restrictive in the world. how fast can things change and what infrastructure is needed to make it happen? gentlemen, thanks for joining us. how openart by asking is it from this side? u.s. to sending

goods and equipment and selling stuff in cuba? >> i'm sure u.s. businesses would like to sell into cuba, but i think you have to realize every other major country in the world has been selling goods and services into cuba for decades. not that cuba has an antiquated internet and antiquated telecommunications market purely because the u.s. embargo. access from every other major company in the world for -- every other major country in the world. >> cuba is a poor country and has restrictions on what its citizens can and can't see. doug? are you hearing me? i think there is a problem with doug. but to your point, they have a two g network down there because

they probably cannot afford to upgrade to a 3g network, let alone 4g lte. also, a lot of them are not allowed. there restrictions to a cubans can see anyway. >> that's right. the problem in cuba is that it large prisony a state. the government controls everything that goes on there and that is not conducive to having a very good internet. the salaries of people in cuba as state workers is about $20 a month. economy -- cuba's economy needs to go on a rehabilitation program and that begins with dramatic changes in the government and the way they operate there. u.s. embargo is not going to immediately lead to changes in the way cubans experienced telecommunications and the internet without

dramatic changes in the way their government operates. >> it turns out we are talking to doug on a two g network. can you hear me now? >> yes i can. >> what is the appetite in cuba for broadband internet access? >> i think there is a lot of pent-up demand. if the cuban government can play this the right way, they could experience something not unlike what happened in myanmar the last couple of years. it's a great case study for how to do this right. a couple of years ago, myanmar open their country to the outside world and had an open auction for licenses and networks. the two winning companies, one atar norway and one from q paid $500 million for 15 year license and limits to string up 90% of the population.

i think they are pumping a billion dollars worth of infrastructure into that country. that is the model i think they want to have. they don't need to do this themselves. myanmar was not equipped to do that. they -- that's not a knock on them, all cuba needs to do is create an open market and have these companies come in and compete for licenses. that, would it be 4g, would it be wireless, or would we actually lay down the cables and expensive cable down there? >> all of the above. going back to the example of myanmar, it's a similar thing where you have a country of underserved telecommunications.

ruling out power is the fastest thing they can do to extend service to the population but those towers are going to need some sort of fixed line that goes along the ground and they will have to install that as well. in comparison, cuba would be far less of an unforgiving terrain to try to navigate as far as but iling equipment, think the companies would come and they would pay the government of cuba hundreds of ,illions of dollars to do that provided the cuban government were to set up a very investor friendly arrangement. surely roll castro once $500 million. $500 million. have we seen the signal he is ready to open the market that much?

>> well castro could have opened his market anytime in the past few decades. there has been no embargo. >> did he have to wait until fidel was on his deathbed? it's so much easier now that we are not even sure his brother is alive anymore. >> that may be the case. all we know is the united states is lifting its embargo and the people of cuba have been very poor for decades and are likely to remain in that condition until their government decides to change things. myanmaru take the example, did we see a similarly closed government all the sudden decide you know what? we're going to open up to the highest bidders. >> that's exactly right. from theconsultants world bank and other business consultants coming in to help them set up because they would not know how to do this themselves. and had experts come in advise them as to what was the best way to create an investor

friendly market. the things they dispensed with our things like requiring a local partner they have two work through or a cap on foreign .wnership investors know they could come and do that thing that they do and not worry about some sort of requirements that reduce their profit potential in the future. gentlemen, thank you very much for your time. coming up, an entire day powered by new york city startups. how much easier can your life be if you swap average day-to-day activities with services divided by these companies? we will show you, next. ♪

>> you are looking at san francisco, but we are in new york, because i'm in for emily chang today. technology is fueling major changes in how we live by making it possible to order coffee, get dressed and plan a dinner party, all services offered by

startups. we got a handful of these startups to do the test by replacing activities with their services. let's see how much time and money she actually saved. >> i can't start the day without my caffeine fix. i normally had done to my local starbucks, but today i'm getting a special delivery from kraft coffee. good morning. why is this better than going to my local starbucks westmark >> we source from over 40 states from grocers around the country. verdict -- it saves me time, it's cheaper than my starbucks and it showed up at my door. half anly takes about hour to do my hair and makeup, but i'm getting help today from the glam squad team. >> any changes you want to make?

>> i love it. >> it took about as long as i do my own hair and makeup. the price point was high but they did it all in my own home to stop -- in my own home. now cinderella needs a dress. we are at the -- rent the runway lets people rent designer dresses at a lower price. i picked out a few online and ended up picking out this one. it will run me 50 bucks rental, but it was $250 off the rack. i say that's a good deal. so now i'm here in the east village, about to take a cocktail making class. let's meet the bartender. >> let's do it.

>> that is really good. the verdict -- it did not save me time because i had to look for the class. but it did save money -- $70 is cheaper than the usual $100 you would spend, but i wouldn't do it every day. now i'm home preparing for a dinner party for a few of my friends. but today, i skip the shopping, cooking and cleaning. what are you going to make westmark >> am going to make cod and green beans. >> the kitchen meal is delicious, but for $25 a head, i don't know if this is right for every night. if i'm entertaining, it's something i might consider, but it might be a little too pricey

for what i am looking for. >> very well done. that looks like a lot of fun and a dinner looked delicious. the dinner seemed cheap, but that dress seemed like an expensive thing to do. you have one nice su -- $300 every dress and you have to it good every day. >> that's right. one blazer every day. we are going to kick off the bwest might -- alex is here with us, so what is the bite today? code amazonttan zip will deliver to you within one hour. only this one zip code, down by the empire state building. it's where they have their work and mortar store. out toe testing this potentially rollout in other cities. >> i feel like they could deliver anything on the island of manhattan in an hour. >> a few special folks can get

their toilet paper. >> excellent job on the video. ♪