at least four were killed in the storm. governor john bel edwards says he expects the death toll. many without electricity including most of new orleans. an estimated 113,000 afghans who still want to leave the country, according to the -- association- the united states wants japan and china to get more involved in the fight against climate change. special presidential envoy for climate in john kerry is in asia here the trip comes a few weeks after the release of a

report by the top climate scientist who warned the earth was warm by 1.5 degrees celsius in the next two decades without drastic efforts to eliminate treehouse gas pollution. a shakeup in greece's government during the prime minister replaced top officials in charge of security in the wake of massive wildfires but suffered an embarrassment when a new name -- a new was named before he was sworn in. the country is also struggling with a spike in covid infections that has sparked public discontent. global news 24 hours a day, online and at quicktake on bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. ♪

>> it is 1:00 p.m. in new york, 7:00 p.m. in berlin. i'm matt miller. welcome to "bloomberg markets." president biden set on afghanistan at 2:45 p.m. wall street time to discuss. we will discuss what we will hear and what the implications for his presidency and for afghanistan as u.s. troops pull out. ambassador hugo llorens served as chief of mission in kabul and will join us. we'll also get an update on hurricane ida that left the energy grid in tatters. it could take weeks before normal service returns in some areas.

back to the classroom good we will discuss the shift in landscape for education as the academic year kicks off with simon allen ceo of mcgraw-hill. let's take a look at what is going on in the markets. we don't currently have an all-time high on the s&p 500, but that could change in the next two hours, especially since it is the last day of the month. you have those going in and window dressing and driving the price up. we have very little change. we have seen gains and losses on the equity index, thus far 4527. going up to 12970 and the price going down but not a lot of movement. either the bloomberg u.s. dollar index down and currencies like the euro and the pound, 1146.

crude at four nine cents a barrel at 68.73. movements in wells fargo on breaking news. five years in the scandals that have cost the bank more than $5 billion in fines and legal settlements. regulators privately signaling they are still not satisfied with the bank's progress in compensating victims and assuring up controls for the actions that the bank has taken with guards to its consumer products. you can see the price of wells fargo down more than one and a third percent. we will update you throughout the program. let's at to what is going on in retail. we had consumer confidence data that dropped in august two a six-month low, missing expectations, suggesting

concerns over the delta variant and elevated prices, inflation weighing on americans' use on the economy. joining me is katie thomas kearney consumber institute lead. is it really the delta virus, real inflation, or consumers worried about these issues? katie: matt, it is more consumer emotion and anxiety and it has reality. we saw it on the consumer confidence and sentiment numbers more than the sales data. we thought we were out of the woods for the most part. all the delta variant is a concern, but it is driving up emotion around mask mandates and hesitancy with the market as well as supply shortages. consumers have varying degrees of knowledge about inflation in the labor market. you go to grocery stores and

retailers and you are starting to see the effect of the supply shortage. that is top of mind of consumers. confidence numbers are worse than reality. matt: for people that are in the markets, investors and journalists alike, payrolls is a huge data party -- data point. it is called the granddaddy of all economic statistics. does it make a difference? do consumers pay enough attention to big data points that this makes a difference in confidence? katie: i think consumers are increasingly aware of different data points but also receiving so much data at any given time and there are echo chambers in terms of what they see. i don't think they are basing buying decisions on these big data points until it affects them personally. that is what we have seen, pent

up demand. you saw apparel recovering another is hesitancy we talk about work from home extending. it aligns more to what they are actually seeing in their day to day and maybe reaction to data points as well. matt: do they still have a lot of savings to go with the pent up demand or have they gone through both the demand and their savings for one of the other over the summer? katie: you are still seeing savings and pent up demand. apparel is still on a strong trajectory. we haven't updated our closets in 18 months. you are also seeing it in hospitality. even with concerns around the variant and you would think people would be easing up on

vacation planning but they are still planning and we all want to just get away so there is optimism there. matt: we have seen rollover in high-frequency data when we look at travelers, tsa data, hotels. what i saw -- when i saw that, i thought it is the end of summer vacation and it makes sense. can business travelers fill that in or how do you see that rollover? katie: i think it will pick back up with domestic vacationers. there is still some reticence around planning and international vacation. in his changing week over week as the masked man that -- mask mandates change and people are willing to travel. we see potential impact around mandated vaccinations. you are seeing different organizations launching that as well and that will have an impact on business travel.

matt: katie, thanks for joining us and for your insight as we get the data points and we have the mixed messages about what's going on in terms of the vaccine . are we recovering from the pandemic are we getting locked down? always interesting to see what they are doing. katie thomas kearney consumber , institute lead , i am going to remind you about wells fargo, they have paid $5 billion to regulators in settlements over the past five years, but regulators are privately signaling they are not satisfied with the bank's progress and they may seek more restitution and as a result you are seeing the stock fall further, down to end the third percent as the story develops. this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: this is "bloomberg markets." i'm matt miller. breaking news on wells fargo and a bloomberg scoop that wells fargo risked regulatory action over the pace of restitution, compensating victims for scandals that occurred, or started five years ago to see the light. it has now cost bank $5 billion in that time, but it may cost more. joining me is the bloomberg reporter who broke the story, hannah levitz. what initially got regulators to start probing the banks? hannah: wells fargo's issues

erupted in 2016, almost exactly five years ago, with the revelation that employees of the bank opened millions of bank accounts to meet sales goals. from there issues pops up and that led to regulatory action. there was a separate one on mortgage and auto. there has been a lot of this going on which has led to billions in fines and the resignations of two ceos and they had to bring someone from the outside. matt: so the bank signed consent orders with regulators years ago and were looking for more time to get things done. the regulators dissatisfied? hannah: that is what is reported. it is important to note the

orders are from april 2018. ceo charlie sharp took over in late 2019 and is coming up on his second anniversary and he spent that time coming to the issues and appointing new leaders. his tenure comes after the order itself. but the orders on the bank regulators -- from the bank regulators, the main aspect were related to compliance and restitution. so there are aspects of both of those. as it turns out, when you have however many accounts and they are not labeled as fake the system, it is a little harder to figure that out. matt: it is a complicated web to ennui. -- web to unweave.

matt: i wonder what dollar amount they could be hit with. hannah: that is something we will have to stay tuned. matt: hannah will continue to follow this story. nice job on the scoop, hannah levitt writing on that scoop. classes back in session for k-12 and university students. mcgraw-hill provides books throughout the world. joining to talk to us is simon allen. people know you are writing textbooks. the digital side is a bit newer but it is not something you just started over the last five years or decade. talk about a transformation over the covid pandemic. simon: it is good to see you

again. you and i spoke a few months ago and we talked about transformation, largely because of the emergency that the pandemic created. there was a significant shift toward remote, digital learning across all levels, k-12, everyone shifted online. that has continued. you see classes back in session. we see a very distinct, hybrid future. we have pivoted to our digital products across many parts of our businesses. we have been doing this for 20 years, shifting from a traditional textbook company into a digital learning company. over the past few years especially, we have seen huge growth. this past year we have reached

the inflection point, where our digital growth is now faster than the print decline. we have seen 82% in the upper levels. k-12, we just acquired another company and that will further enhance our digital delivery with wonderful supplementary products. we feel very good about our digital future right now. matt: i can imagine if ever there was a time for schools to take the lead and say, now we really do have to invest in a shift from traditional to digital, it was over the last year, and states, cities, municipalities got the money to do that sort of thing have you significantly raised your target in terms of revenue and

earnings? what do margins look like? simon: we are looking at a strong year this year and we had a good year last year. our k-12 business, we are doing well across our countries, particularly in the u.s., where he saw the effect of not just the stimulus funding around the states but also a general shift in view of all school districts and teachers to say that we really now have to get into a situation where we are able to teach remotely and serve our students in the hybrid future and we believe the opportunity to do that is not just enhanced, and the funding is helping with that because we are able to make sure students are connected, they have reliable conductivity, and everyone has the right access to materials they can use it digitally. there is no excuse now for not

really further increasing our digital business there. our margins are improved when we think about our digital growth. it is very encouraging for our business as we look ahead for the next two or three years. matt: and the acquisition from apollo was just completed. -- equity is now your owner and partner in building this business. what is it like working with them? how is it help you create a strategy you can really build up a fortress around this digital education industry? simon: that is a great question and you phrased it perfectly. the answer is yes, a very strong, healthy, enthusiastic yes. we concluded the transition from apollo 2 -- equity one month

ago. here we are in a wonderful situation to acquire such a good and we looked closely with platinum to make sure to make sure the investments are there platinum has the same feeling about education and the importance of delivering education and seeing students develop and improve. it is a great partnership. we couldn't be happier where it landed with platinum. it is going to be a good relationship for us. matt: simon, thank you for joining us. i look forward to having you back. simon allen, ceo of mcgraw-hill. i want that to something that caught my eye.

fidelity investment plans to make 9000 new hires across the u.s. by year end. this comes as the company sees record growth amid a surge in stock trading. it added 1.7 million new retail accounts in the second quarter, a 39% increase in the same period a year ago. the majority will be focused on client interactions and tech. i would have said if you are the boston area is great news, but now we know with remote work they are likely to be hiring around the country. they will add twice as many people in 2021 as it did last year, so that is what growth does in this kind of is this and industry in terms of adding to headcount. still ahead, zoom has for its worst rout in nine months in

view of the fact that there growth may be over. this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: this is "bloomberg markets." i'm matt miller. time for the stock of the hour. zoom media passed $1 billion in quarterly sales for the first time but had a mediocre outlook and a cautious tone coming from the sec -- fcc, taking the deal lower. dave wilson is looking at the effect for both companies in today's stock of the hour. dave: the tie in is that last month zoom video agreed to by this company 59 that was at $14

billion. you see what has happened to fi ve9 shares, it has come down to the point of 10.8 in terms of value down 23% from where it started. it stands to reason that if you are buying a company for stock that it shares should follow the shares of your acquire and that is what is happening. you take a look at five9, and it isn't growing as fast as zoom has. you are talking 33% growth last year and projected for this year. compare that to zoom whose sales more than quadrupled last year and expected to be a 52% this year, even after we saw in terms of the second quarter in the company's forecast. the quarter was fine in terms of beating analysts estimates, but

came out ahead in terms of earning and revenue when the company went public in april 2019. when it comes to the second half, analysts were a bit more optimistic on the high-end than zoom was in terms of its outlook and that explains why the shares are taking a beating here. matt: thanks very much, david wilson with your stock of the hour. we are going to discuss the crisis in afghanistan with hugo llorens, who chirped -- who served as chief of mission in kabul. this is bloomberg. ♪

mark: i'm mark crumpton. nato says it is committed to helping anyone at risk leaving

afghanistan following the u.s. military exit from the country. secretary-general spoke today with bloomberg television. >> the airport in kabul is a vital link to the world to get humanitarian aid in but also to enable safe passage for those who want to leave. nato allies have strongly stated that we will not forget all those who are still in afghanistan who supported us and who are at risk and we will continue to work to ensure they can leave afghanistan. mark: he added that nato allies have the capability of conducting long-range strikes against terrorist groups in afghanistan. the death toll from ida has climbed to at least four. a fifth person in louisiana missing and presumed dead after being attacked by an alligator while walking in floodwaters. more than one million homes and

businesses in portland and southern -- in new orleans and southern mississippi left the power grid in tatters. it could take weeks before the service is fully restored. insurance coverage in the united states improved last year. according to the cdc, more than 90% of americans are on a plan. the number of uninsured has fallen slightly from 2019. among adult 18 to 64, almost 14% were uninsured. in northern california, thousands ordered to leave south lake tahoe. a fast-moving wildfire is threatening one of the tourist hubs and the surrounding resort areas. the fire erupted two weeks ago east of sacramento. it has detroit 472 buildings and burned 170 -- it has destroyed 472 buildings and earned 170,000 acres.

global news 24 hours a day, online and at quicktake on bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. ♪ matt: this is "bloomberg markets." i'm matt miller. a check on the markets. we are looking at the essen the 500 losing -- the s&p 500 losing .2%. we are getting closer to the last eight and august so it will be interesting to see if we make yet another record. i believe we hit 53 record highs for the year, which would make this year the year with the most record highs on the s&p 500 of all-time, the second-highest being 1995, where we had 51

record highs on the benchmark index. the 10 year yield rising at 130. dollar index not doing much at 1147. wells fargo shares down 4.5% after a bloomberg school that regulators are not satisfied -- after a report that regulators are not satisfied with their restitution in the payments they have made for settlements, $5 billion over the past five years. we will bring you more on that developing story. the departure of the last u.s. military plane from afghanistan, it left the region facing uncertainty with the taliban seeking to cement control. joining us is bloomberg news u.s. government deputy governor,

wendy sims. it was a quick and critical mission in terms of the withdraw. does the u.s. government you this as a success? wendy: i think they view the evacuations as a success. i don't think anyone in government views the wave -- the way the taliban swept in a success. today biden is going to try to close the page. he is speaking in an hour and he will be followed by the joint chiefs of staff to thank the troops for serving in the longest war. i think today is an effort to close the page on what no one thinks was a terrific success. matt: what will be his biggest

challenge going forward? is it going to be the afghan allies, by some counts more than 100,000 that we left behind? is it going to be the possibility of terrorism, a terrorist harvard by the telephone -- harvard by the taliban, the treatment -- harbored by the taliban and the treatment of women and girls? wendy: yes all of those will be. first on their mind will be trying to figure out which americans want to leave and getting them out. whether that is by private commercial jets or state department efforts or other european allies helping i don't know, i think certainly that is the first priority. then it will be figuring out what kind of relationship the

u.s. is going to have with afghanistan and what kind of relationship russia and china have with afghanistan going forward. matt: thank you very much, wendy benjaminson , talking to us. joining us is ambassador hugo llorens. he served as chief of mission and kabul and lead the u.s. diplomatic effort under both president obama and trump. he was a key in transmission between those -- transition between those two administrations. what is your feeling on this day? are there concerns, is this a weight, are you concerned about the way we did it? hugo: matt, good to be with you. my reaction is i am sad about

the results. i honestly think this did not have to happen. we had two commanders in chief, president trump and president biden who i worked for, both made strategic wonders of the highest order. the first was the signing of an agreement with the taliban, cutting our allies out in kabul. in a sense it was a capitulation agreement. it called for the unilateral withdrawal of u.s. forces by may 1, 2021. there were some conditions on the taliban but they were nebulous lee written and -- nebulously written and there was no way to follow-up for apple mentation. president biden -- four implementation. president biden has ozment ace kept it and he -- president

biden has always been a skeptic and he made the decision to get out. it was a precipitous decision. the only reason you are talking to me today is that it resulted in a complete collapse and the fall of a pro-western government. the forces that had been leading the fight had been doing 90 for -- 95% of the fighting and 99% of the dying. we had a small force and a small number of advisors and a small air contingency and 120 aircraft, but we had a very good base. we could keep the taliban at bay. matt: why do you think president biden, and is not just him, he's got a lot of experience and

skilled statesmen around him, as well as military leaders. with such a small force still there and with such small treasure expended, why was he so eager to get out so quickly? hugo: my sense of my period serving president obama is when he was the vice president, and we are going back in 2010, 2011, 2012, the most adamant about just withdrawing, just walking out was vice president eitan. -- vice president biden. i thought he would've looked at it much more carefully. this is my world. i can imagine all the senior military people, career people and senior diplomatic career people would have advised the president not to leave. if you would have decided to

leave, to not do it so quickly and to pause and think about a withdraw at the end of the year and go to the taliban and say you are not keeping your side of the agreement. rather than minimizing violence, you have ramped up your offensive operations. there is no evidence the taliban was negotiating with the government in kabul and there was no progress made in the talks. even as the president wanted out, to pause and give it another six or seven months and take a closer look, he pulled the plug out right away and the consequences of a catastrophic. matt: i want to ask about our afghan allies on the ground there. of course, there has been a lot said about which level of ally

they were, what kind of trust they placed in us, what debt we owed to them. are there people you worked with that are still in the country? are you concerned we left allies in the country and should have honored their trust? hugo: i devoted the last several week to try to help get some of our people out. some of these people worked for me on my staff. i was fortunate to get some of my own translators who did the translation for my protected detail when i was in afghanistan. it was miraculous we got three of our key people out. some people were left behind, some who worked rightly for the u.s. ambassador. these people's lives are at stake. we tens of thousands that work with the military, our embassy and the coalition partners. i agree we have an obligation to get these people out. point number one in dealing with

the reality with the taliban government is to ensure there is safe passage for those afghans who were loyal to us so that we can get them out and they can come to the united states. these are people who are incredibly courageous. they risk their lives for us. matt: one final question i want to ask is about contractors. this administration and even some of the military leaders we have seen speaking over the last couple of days have said time and again, 2400 american lives were lost during this war. general mckenzie yesterday said the cost was 2461 killed. the washington post reported almost 4000 contractors were killed above and beyond that number of military servicemembers.

i know a lot of those contractors are former military personnel that the state department and cia and missions like yours probably hired to do military services and to be soldiers for us. are they being forgotten? hugo: that is a great question. the contractors were great. former military, intelligence officials, and they did critical work, particularly in standing of the afghan security forces. you look at the afghan air force, a small force but it was kept in the air by our contractors. and they did everything. a lot of the logistical work of keeping the security forces going, keeping the government going, the contractors made a pivotal role. they exposed themselves in high numbers. i agree with you. they are brave people, highly professional, very well-paid,

they were in the most dangerous situation and i think we should honor them. i agree with you and that is a great point. matt: thank you for your time, hugo llorens ambassador hugo llorens, former chief of mission of the u.s. embassy in kabul along with other services for the united states. this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: this is "bloomberg markets." i'm matt miller. the u.s. officially ended its military presence in afghanistan. bloomberg spoke with the nato secretary-general who said nato remains continued to aiding

anyone at risk leaving the country. >> to ensure that afghanistan doesn't once again become a safe haven for international terrorists. the reason why nato allies joined the united states going into afghanistan in 2001 was a direct response to a terrorist attack on the united states and hundreds of thousands of canadian and european asian -- european soldiers have assisted. we have kept it from being a safe haven for terrorists. so we will monitor the new rules in kabul closely and make clear that the nato allies have the capability to strike from long distance if they try to reestablish themselves. tom: i want to focus on the

important support missing -- mission, the italians and the germans with norman alliances and the turkish flag in the middle providing support to afghanistan. turkey is in a unique position. explain nato's position with erdogan and the new afghanistan. >> nato ended its existence in afghanistan as the united states did i would like to commend all those who served their peer their efforts and service were not in vain. turkey -- who served there. their efforts and service were not in vain. turkey will continue to support the airport and the airport in kabul is a vital link to the world to get

humanitarian aid in and support safe passage for those who want to leave. nato will not forget all those still in afghanistan supported those who are at risk and will continue to work to ensure they can leave afghanistan. tom: will that mean nato support on the adjacent borders to continue to get people out? >> nato allies are working on how to make sure the airport can continue to operate. we expect the taliban to live up to their commitments on safe passage but also on open land borders and what they are promised when they are granting terrorist organizations to reconstitute in afghanistan. tom: how can nato assist your

partners from ambassadors and congressmen and others, they circled back to a relationship of a new afghanistan with china and with russia. how can nato respond to that perceived new alliance? >> for us it is obvious that all of the countries in the region including china and russia, it is dangerous to have an afghanistan where terrorist groups like isis k and they cannot have attacks against any other country. there are many inferences between russia, china, and the allies in the region but we all have a common interest in

preventing afghanistan from once again becoming a place for terrorists organizations can plan and conduct terrorist attacks against other countries. matt: that was the nato secretary general speaking with our own tom keene. we will have an update on the aftermath of hurricane ida, next. this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: this is "bloomberg markets." i'm matt miller. hurricane ida has left the power grid in louisiana and mississippi in tatters. a million ones and businesses without electricity. governor john bel edwards said it is still not clear when electricity will be restored. here is our power and renewable energy reporter will wade.

what is being done here, because clearly you are going to need power to clear out a lot of this water and to treat people who need help their. with -- help there. will: i spoke with entergy and they said they have to assess the damage and that will take for days before they can start restoring our. it will be close to the end of this week before we can get a sense of when people will have electricity, and the damage was extensive. they lost 2000 miles of transmission lines, all eight of the major transmission cables that feed new orleans with electricity are down. some of those had survived hurricane katrina and got taken out by ida. a lot of work to be done. matt: what is this damaged like

compared to katrina? will: the people in new orleans are telling us katrina was a huge water event and it was a lot of flood events. this time we were lucky and this was a big wind event and this is why we have seen miles of power lines down, homes and billboards and cars blown all over the place, but not as bad as katrina. i don't think we will suffer as much. matt: bloomberg power and renewable energy reporter will wade there talking to us about the damage from ida. from berlin, i'm matt lerner. this is bloomberg. ♪ -- i'm matt miller. this is bloomberg. ♪

mark: new orleans managed to

escape the floods from hurricane ida but now faces days or weeks without power. it is not just new orleans, more than one million homes and businesses across the region are in the dark. officials say they are grateful the system of levees, floodgates and pumps installed after hurricane katrina in 2005 past their biggest test. there is still an estimated 113,000 afghans want to leave. that's according to the association of maritime allies and is based on reports of afghan employment. group say the numbers do not include afghans eligible for u.s. special immigrant visas but are at risk under taliban occupation because of their roles in the afghan government or their identities as activists and journalists, female leaders or religious minorities. john bolton says he is concerned the u.s. may have slipped ba