carol: welcome to "bloomberg businessweek." jason: we are here at bloomberg global headquarters. carol: we zero in on conversations from the annual summit. most: some of the world's respected figures spoke at this event. andol: we heard from iac carol weaver.

we have a story on presidential leadership in the years passed. -- past. carol: and we have a talk about the year ahead when it comes to investors. group co ceo made through, run something he previously represented to his own investors. >> we have been talking about big data for a while. this is extraordinary. it is hard to figure out. let me give you the tagline we are using to solidify our thinking. we have seen this for a couple years being used more broadly. i am thinking about the impact

of data and where we are in the cycle. oil and data has been around forever. the first well was built in 347 a.d. a new era is our ability to gather it and refinement. earlyou get is consolidation. in the early days of oil, we had massive consolidation. getty and rockefeller in the titans of today. you had interesting things happen. valdez changed regulations for oil. we are seeing changing regulations for data around the world. all of that has been surrounded by testimony and scandal. i flash back to ron chernow's

book. rockefeller was in front of the courts in 1907. the senate did not lay a glove on rockefeller, just like they did on mark zuckerberg. 0 zuckerberg. mark four years later, they broke up standard oil. we have a scandal in the data world. these scandals will have effects on history. germany invaded russia when they shouldn't have because they needed the oil. we are watching data shape the politics of the world. products.about the the oil industry is not about not about the- is industry itself.

it's about the products. google monetizes data. company.is a data the idea of data products are going to dominate the years ahead. today, you can take your data and get reductions on your health-care premiums. you can take your fit big fobita walk when walking your dog. there are copy shops where if students give their info, they get free coffee. this info is sold to recruiters. around the world, you are paying for things with data.

these are not three's -- free services. what is the value of the data? how much are you paying for those services? around our portfolio, there is data everywhere. you can figure out your ancestry. we run the metering system here. the point is a note of caution. society always catches up with a new technology. we don't have 50 years now and we will see society catching up quickly. john gray is the president and his coo of black

-- the coo of blackstone. he has spent years building and running his real estate group. what are they going to be buying and selling in the get ahead? -- year ahead? we have had a great run in asset prices for a long time. the fed has begun to raise rates. we've had some issues in emerging markets. oil prices have come down sharply. natural that you have this kind of volatility at some point during the cycle. i don't think that is necessarily bad. for our business this is generally good.

asset prices could keep grinding higher. you have a business model like we do, we have discretion, where things drop in price and we could move quickly, and because you are not short-term finance or forced to sell. wow, there are lots around the world that have been repriced. of anould be more interesting investment environment going forward. jason: they have been repriced already? what was the catalyst? u.s. stock market is down 10% from where it was. credit spreads have gone out. classes, theret

has been more displacement. when you look at this decline in prices, multiples of actually come out. i want to go deeper into your line of business. help us understand the investing environment versus economics. interrelated, but not necessarily correlated, it feels like. people are nervous, given this volatility. the numbers are still pretty good. small business confidence is at an all-time high. unemployment is very low. what we are seeing with our companies is generally pretty

good. i think the issue back to my the fed isments is, going to move toward raising rates. that will put pressure on multiples. is the shift we are facing right now. you can see where economics continues to be pretty good. go up, thatwages impacts the bottom line of companies. multiples come under pressure. valuations don't grow at the same rate. you have a strong economy and less growth and valuation. up, ceos discuss what is in store for consumer brands. and we have a

transformation of a company continuing. is "bloomberg businessweek." ♪

carol: welcome back. jason: join us every day on the radio. carol: you can find us online at businessweek.com. food brands are continuing a wave of consolidation. no one knows that better than our next companies. jason: the president and ceo of mandalay'seo oof international tell us where they see growth in the year ahead. sectors, look at our

not everything is the same in food. in north america, this is probably not a good place to be in a. you're in a much better place outside north america. if you have growth segments, you will do well. i am not sure that consolidation is the way to go.

>> what is going to happen are companies that are probably having more difficulty getting growth. bigger companies still have the same problem of not growing. there will be a shift coming, that's growth in food is going to be recognized. >> to what can brand producers like yourselves get married? >> we don't know a lot about retail.

i don't see us immediately getting into anything. i don't know about france. we have those private labels. we try to make the debt -- differentiation. the markets are very competitive. we also try to think about consumer trust in the future. how they would like to shop. how they can have a more

efficient journey in the store. there is a whole transparency in the supply chain. we try to be more conscious about food safety, where it is coming from. we are a trusted brand for food safety. those customs, they have the trust and -- of consumers. jason: ceos continue to adapt to their changing marketplaces. we turn to the ceo of weight watchers, managing massive

changes of their own. grossman is steering the 55-year-old company through the transition. >> we have a health solution business. we have spent a lot of time launching our consumer business. we will be launching that ofiness in the first quarter 2019 to really provide the same , but with a support gas board that can measure efficacy of health care costs. this is with satisfaction. when we lay down our goals here isthe end of 2020, what is going to happen in 2018.

we have also been doing a lot of work around emerging markets. we think this is an opportunity. the first priority was to relaunch the brand the markets were in it. the last two components were to expand our products. our wellness, travel, and .ospitality >> a big launch for the company. have a marketing campaign, i understand. this is our most comprehensive global brand campaign we have ever done in the history of the company.

>> you can announce it. they really represent health and wellness in the u k and in the united states. we want to be a partner in transforming people's lives. hard to be a brand ambassador, for oprah. we look at every market as a pyramid of ambassadors we look at micro influencers. that could be chefs in a particular category. it could be body positivity bloggers. that is what we call celebrity.

partner, we ask, do they want to inspire people to lead healthier lives through their action? it is not just people who need to lose weight. represent, iwho want to be healthier and this is how i live my life. of thousands of people about their perspective on health and wellness. if you asked that amount, would you like to lead a healthier life? they will pretty much all say yes. we know that we are not going to of thisour science program. we know that people want inspiration, not just information. that is what we are trying to give them. mindy came came --

to the company in 2017. this 2018 year has really been about getting into a transformation of the company. it is going to be a big year. jason: she even renamed the company. pac thatill ahead, the led a record number of women to office in 2018. industry: the energy is grappling with the threat of climate change. one ceo speaks frankly about the strategy of her company. carol: this is "bloomberg businessweek." ♪

jason: welcome back to "bloomberg businessweek." also listen to us

on the radio on sirius xm and in new york, boston, washington dc -- >> in the bay area and in london on dab digital and on the bloomberg business app. on lookinghis week's around the corner with insights from the annual bloomberg the year ahead summit. >> duke energy spoke with joel weber. the conversation very quickly turned to climate change. >> the issue really starts with the united nations report a few weeks ago. we have been focused on carbon reduction for over a decade. climate change is an issue that is going to be important to our customers and communities and investors. the important thing to recognize

we are building on a solid foundation. our carbon emissions are down 30% at duke. we are on track to meet our commitments around standards and we will continue. we has been able to use natural beennd renewables -- have able to use natural gas and renewables. this is front and center. i think the focus of our industry remains very high. talk about what that portfolio that you have looks like. this is what you are trying to

build toward when you look out to the future. talk about the progress that you have made and where you are now? duke would have been primarily coal and nuclear in 2005 - 2008. we are increasing our renewables, about 10%. we are one of the largest nuclear operators. if you were sitting in the carolinas, 50% of the power is coming from carbon-free nuclear. this is an important part of our strategy, to continue to keep carbon emissions low. joel: nuclear does not get a lot of love. why do you think this is so overlooked? lynn: it's interesting. industry has been a behind-the-scenes industry. it works.

are is making it work what the resources that really make it possible. carbon energy is an incredibly viable resource. it operates 24 hours a day. natural gas is also an important resource. solaren you bring a new and wind and battery technology and energy efficiency. you should be painting a picture of a portfolio. we have never been dependent on one form of energy. rubensteind interviews doris kearns goodwin.

carol: record numbers of women ired to runre -- insp for office in 2018. jason: this is "bloomberg businessweek." ♪

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jason: welcome back to "bloomberg businessweek." carol: still to come -- >> two individuals solving big roblems,ns -- p including the mayor of flint, michigan, and the mayor working on new york subways. carol: first, we have to talk

about politics. hosteddavid rubenstein his show on bloomberg television kearns down with doris goodwin to talk about her book on leadership. carol: this contains lessons for business leaders as well. leadership is about human nature and the way a businessman or a politician builds a team. and they can bring that team together at critical moments. abraham lincoln and franklin delano roosevelt did. eleanor roosevelt was always willing to question his presumptions and speak truth to power. any team needs that, inbusiness

or not. not. business or whenever she wanted something person e would bring a to ton't want to speak the dinner table because he brought in an alternative point of view. fdr loved to have people who were down in the bureaucracy come into his office so he could question them against department heads. oneut people against another and would give the same assignment to two different people. they all had ways of getting new opinions into their heads. carol: a great conversation. you can get more in an upcoming episode on the david brewer signed show. -- david rubenstein show. will: more than 100 women

be sworn into the u.s. congress and 2019 -- in 2019. carol: you had organizations that were incubators of sorts, and splitting up to support women in congress. one nonprofit is devoted to helping women pursue public office. the loss of hillary clinton in 2016, it has set the stage in 2018. >> i've been working in politics and womener of years, are proving their viability to institute -- viability to institutional players. i look at all the money that goes into politics. i look at the hours spent. more often than not, we are going backwards in representation.

the research shows that the number one reason why women aret run is because they not recruited and encouraged at the same rate as men. you have men represented and elected in office. is harder for women to break into that. in 2011, we wanted to figure out a way to provide men and women alike an opportunity to tell us about running for office -- office. how many did you start with? we learned a lot of lessons on how to get someone to tell

you they think they should run for office. we are just over 21,000 women who have been asked to run for office through our work. 14,000 of them are preparing to run for office. [applause] carol: significant. carol: if hillary clinton had one, would we be having the same conversation? erin: we would not. we looked at the landscape and looked at where we could add work to a logical place for women to start. people could get a feel of what it was like to run for office.

we launched that program before the 2016 election. we were assuming that hillary clinton was going to be elected president and our work was going to be much harder. we had plans for how difficult it was going to be to get into the program. election day came and went. i was thinking of rewriting everything we were doing, and then the floodgates opened and we got thousands of women in the program pretty immediately. carol: when we thought of what ruen might running -- be nning for president in 2020, some of the usual suspects came .ut, warren, harris another prominent woman

in politics over the past year yates.ly she was fired by president trump for refusing to defend that travel ban in 2017 when she was the acting attorney general. carol: that was within a few days of the trump administration. spoke with our bloomberg editor-in-chief. whetherou can debate you agree with a particular , but tryinga judge to undermine the very legitimacy of that judge for our judicial something that is not only knew but really dangerous. we cannot expect at the end of this presidency that we are enough to where the public confidence bounces back to these institutions. for a lot of the reasons we were talking about a few minutes ago, these institutions really only

if the publicrly has confidence in them. they can only function of the believe of this country decisions are being made based on the facts and the law. are the questions being asked about this similar to watergate, life?er eras of public sally: i cannot suggesting -- am not suggesting decisions at the department of justice aren't being made for political reasons, but it sure is not for lack of trying on the president's part. --ol: next

jason: the president of the new york city transit authority. can he get the subways in shape and 2019? -- in 2019? carol: this is "bloomberg businessweek." ♪

>> you can also find us online at bloomberg businessweek.com and on our mobile app. jason: when you look at big global issues, some of them can best be understood by looking at some local examples. we see is also a problem around the world. this is not always the case.

karen reaver is leading the way. >> what happened in flint was criminal. of aad to the poisoning whole community. children are going to be impacted. one of the things they are the numbers ofis deaths attributed to an ammonia, they were wondering what was going on there. i was talking to someone earlier and i was saying it is really easy to put a cost on infrastructure, and what we need

that way. when you look at the human factor, we don't know what that is going to be. carol: is it a reminder our society values people differently? there for other cities in the state of michigan. it put cost over the public health and where fair of the people. people.re of the carol: who should be gone after? karen: we've said that for every level of government. everyone from top to bottom to be accountable. carol: are all the pieces in place?

karen: i hope people are paying attention to what happened in flint. this should never have happened. carol: where are we today? karen: we had three years in which to fix these pipes. we have until the end of next year. we are ahead of schedule. we have less than 150 to go. fixed, we are still on bottled and filtered water. you still have a public health risk until we get those hikes removed and replaced.

pipes removed and replaced. what guarantee can you give your citizens this won't happen again? we can't take wallet -- water quality standards for granted. we have been working on that in the state of michigan. i said, i am not signing off. i haven't told anyone to drink and i willthe tap not tell them. right,e going to do it let's do it right. we then have to have the medical community to sign off. flint has had troubles for decades.

some of these conditions have been in the works for years. jason: the new york city transit old, ands massive, complicated. u.k. native was hired to fix it. he has worked on will raise all around the world -- railways all around the world. this looks to be his biggest challenge. the biggest problem is reliability of the service. that is the biggest challenge. we do move 8 million people a day. there has been a slow decline and the reliability of the service. in the reliability of the

service. we can build a compelling case for what needs to be done. this job was done not that long ago. ten months? your first day you knew what you were getting into to some extent. this is not the oldest system you have worked on. what has been your biggest surprise? the biggest has been the scale of the task. we worked on the third transit in north america. this itself had myriad problems. there was a bus depot. new york city transit has 50,000 employees.

i think it is the scale of the job. it is the scale of the challenge we are dealing with in some cases. nearly 100 years old, that is ridiculous. jason: so old that the manufacturer does not even make it anymore. are you kidding? andy: we must prevail in this conversation. if we want to rebuild this thing, and give the transit system they deserve, we need to have a plan. it is called the fast-forward plan. we don't need tinkering. we have to bottom, every aspect -- to modernize transit from top

to bottom, every aspect. it can be done, but it comes with a cost. jason: what is that? andy: billions of dollars, around $40 billion over 10 years. jason: coming up next, looking at 2019 in the digital world. this is "bloomberg businessweek." ♪

jason: welcome back to "bloomberg businessweek." inol: you can listen to us new york, boston, washington, dc -- >> and in the bay area and on the bloomberg business app.

spaceschecking out to continuing to evolve quickly, digital media and luxury. carol: we need to talk about the digital space. >> what we think about data is the price to value exchange. this has the user's consent. can be a tricky thing. >> even people who are relatively tech savvy do not understand what they are giving up. you need to give control to consumers. cambridge analytic, this will

some personality test thing that had no real value to consumers. placesed in a lot of that consumers would never have imagined. in of those things were accidents. the operators of that business have to be doing a price to value exchange. they have to look at themselves in the mirror. they have to look at their colleagues and say, we charge a fair price for this thing. that price was user data. people have to understand it and it has to be fair. it is crystal clear. you pay $20 a month and you get access to this. cambridge analytic

is a rotting fish. where does facebook sit on the spectrum? i don't think they were doing it with that intentions. responsibility -- >> i think people were surprised by the power of that platform. and the extent to which misdeeds would or could be done. perhaps possible that facebook did not even understand the price they were charged. when this data can be used in people areize way, giving up much more than they understood. you have done a lot of

business with facebook? have advertised and we have been partners. i don't envy what they are going for. ough.r i think they have been incredibly innovative as a company. this is going to slow them down. i think they will power through. it's an unpleasant time right now. carol: last, we have to talk about luxury. ason: ian trager is the perfect person to talk about it. he created the very concept of a boutique hotel. ian: what has happened in europe, which we usually follow, in london, you have the aristocrats.

you don't have much of a middle-class. you have a big segment of the population. responsive.o be and then you have another group. what i found in the hotel business, wealthy people want to get a good bargain. roomu stay in the hotel and you get the same kind of feeling and experience you get in a much more expensive hotel, people would like to get that bargain. if you can have the same access to entertainment and excitement, rather than paying more people to take it, not to millennials,

anyone. carol: bloomberg businessweek is available on newsstands. jason: and online and on our mobile app. carol: what can you take away from this conversation? jason: i loved getting that to johnek of talking gray, talking about volatility. private equity guys love that because that is how they make their money. carol: i loved talking about and digital image technology. you can watch the entire year ahead to summit on bloomberg live's youtube channel and on bloomberg.com. jason: check out our daily business week podcast. carol: we caught up with the

mayor of columbus, ohio. jason: more bloomberg television starts right now. ♪

i am a family man. i am a techie dad. i believe the best technology should feel effortless. like magic. at comcast, it's my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. my name is mike, i'm in product development at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome.

♪ emily: hello, i am emily chang and this is "best of bloomberg technology." apple up, ample does loses its grip. over apple.ok plus, facebook battles accusations of racism. about a memosively about being