>> will come to "squawk box." becky quick is reporting live this morning from omaha. she'll bring us her conversation with warren buff net just a few moments. but first, let's set this morning's market agenda. the april employment report forecasters polled say the economy likely to add 168,000 jobs last month. that's the number to watch and that's up from march's meager print of 120,000. the unemployment rate seen holding steady at 8.2%. and the other big news of the morning, facebook preparing to deck off that big ipo road show. the social networking giant aims to raise about $10.6 billion in silicon valley's largest public offering ever. the company targeting a price range between $28 and $35 a share, would give the value of the company at about $77 billion and a sweet $96 billion in

total. yesterday face back released a 31 minute road show video online and we'll show you you an interesting clip in just a few minutes. and in europe, it could be a tumultuous weekend for politics. france and greece holding wha s elections. we'll have a live report from london. but first let's head to omaha and check in with becky. >> hey, andrew. well, you said it yourself, this is the big weekend. there are tens of thousands of berkshire hathaway shareholders who are headed here to omaha. we are on the stage right how at the century link center which is where warren buffett and charlie monger will take the stage to address all the people. in fact andrew is on his way here, too. when do you arrive? >> i'm hitting the airport right after the show and i'll probably see you by maybe noon or 1:00 this afternoon your time.

>> okay. so andrew will be one of the many that are here. very soon. and this is that weekend where the shareholders come out, there's a bit of a party atmosphere here. of course this year a lot of people will be asking about warren pubuffett's health. we did get the chance to catch up with him last night. he says he feels great. he was going on his way into a bridge tournament that he plays every year with carol loomis of fortune, they play bridge with a lot of people here in the area. so he was on his way into the bridge club. we caught up with him and got to talk to him about a lot of different things including facebook which we'll talk to you about a little later this morning. his thoughts you know that he is not somebody who likes to invest in technology. but he had some interesting thoughts on facebook and what's been happening with social media. we asked him what things are looking look this time around. of course the big news of the morning is that jobs report and

andrew was just telling you that they're -- >> like my little boys say, uh-oh, we lost becky, but we'll get her back in a few moments. >> stocks to watch in the meantime this morning, we've got linkedin shares getting a boost, raising outlook after first quarter revenues beat the street. up ten points after hours. aig reporting it first quarter profit more than doubled from a year earlier. that topped expectations. up 47% year to date. ceo was on yesterday and here's what he said. >> the fundamentals of the company are strong. i've been saying for the last five quarters that we're emerging as a strong insurance company, we're continuing to

divest noncore assets. i think the made link 2 sale was helpful. 3 is being sold off. so we're cleaning up all the volatility in the stock. >> and dow component craft beat expectations by a penny. revenue roughly in line with expectations. the company rising prices during a quarter and shipping more easter chocolates. on track with plan it is to split into two companies later this year. and first solar posting a first quarter loss. analysts had been looking for a profit. revenue also fell short of expectations. solar makers have seen profit margins shrink over the last year as prices have fallen. first solar is also naming a new ceo. becky, i don't know. we sent someone up there quickly and they're tightening something on the satellite. a couple of loose screws or

something. >> i actually think it's the weather where you are. is there a big storm there? >> it's nice outside. >> been raining for three or four days and cold. how is it out there? >> nice and warm here. it's actually pretty humid. it's usually cold here. i see right now times square. yeah. much better weather here. so we're thankful for that. and don't worry, you'll get out there have and get here and there's really warm weather that we're facing. but i was just saying the news of the morning really has to be that jobs report. and as you know, buffett doesn't normally talk about individual numbers and things, but he has a really good idea about what's been happening in terms of the economy and the jobs picture just based on the 80 plus companies that berkshire owns and all the other big blue chip companies. so when we caught up with him last night, we got the chance to ask him about that and why don't you listen into what he had to say. >> we're looking for 160,000 at it point and i know you have a

pretty good idea about what's happening with the which i just from the businesses that you track. i know you don't -- would you take the under or over? >> probably the under. we're still seeing an economy that's improving, but it's not at a fast rate. it's been improving quite steadily since the fall of 2009, but the trajectory has been just, you know, very small angle. and that angle is not improved in the last few months. so if anything, the economy is better now than it was three or four months ago, but not a lot better. >> and why do you think that it's not improving at a faster rate? we talk to people all the time who will blame everything from washington to demand, but what's your take? >> it's because home construction hasn't come back. when we start needing to building as many houses as we have households formed, you'll see a major change in the

economy and in jobs in my opinion. and that will happen. but i'm gradually learning not to predict when. >> so he is going to at that time take the under. i don't think if you've come up with your predictions. the other thing that we talked a little bit about, did you see david einhorn's piece? >> i did. fascinating piece about the jelly donuts. >> i didn't understand what he meant. >> he said one jelly donut is yummy. he said three gives and you bit of a tummy and i can. by six, you have an eating disorder. he's talking about the fed and the easy money policy. and we got the chance to ask buffett about that, too. >> david einhorn compared it to a jelly donut policy. he said one jelly donut is yummy, three is something that can give and you tummy and i

can, and six you've got an eating disorder. have we reached that point shall. >> no question if the government bailed out a million dollars to every household in the united states, we would not have an a unemployment problem. we would not is a demand problem. but we would have a problem. there's a side effect to everything. and it would be great the if you were the only one that knew they were doing it. but if you you swamp the economy with money, it has a side effect. i've compared inflation, you know, a little bit to a venereal disease. there's a certain amount of fun for a very limited time up front and then all the problems are from there on and it's very hard to cure once you get it. >> he did say what he's told us in the past that he thinks that ben bernanke did the right hinge when t thing when the need was urgent

and the question is this time to be pulling back. he's told us for almost going on a year that he thinks enough had been done and maybe that's the time to lay off. he was not as harsh in talking about the fed as david einhorn was because einhorn said because he doesn't trust the fed, he thinks it's a time to buy gold. normally he would be selling gold, buying stock, but he says because he doesn't trust the fed, that it changes an investor's perspective. >> he's not a gold -- buffett in the past has never been on gold. i saw it in the huffington "post." i wondered why he went to that. i love tim arm strong and aol, but he needs to buy the drudge report. had you seen warren since his disclosure about his prostate cancer? >> no, i hadn't.

>> so barbara walter -- you can tell me what it was like when you-will-you're very close to him. you're good friends. what was it like when you saw him? he's got it under control, right? >> yeah, he was. and i have to tell you, i was looking for it because it is the first time that i've seen him. he looked the same as he ever did. his voice sounds the same. his walk was the same. >> good color? looked good. why wouldn't he. >> yeah, it's reassuring on see him because it's exactly as he had looked before. when you ask him about it he tells you that he's feeling great, that he didn't feel any different. you look that tat this weekend it's an enormously crushing schedule for anybody to be putting themselves through. i have a hard time keeping up with the schedule. i've told you about that in the past because the wake-up calls come in at about 2:30 and you're on your faet and you're running around until probably midnight. so there's a lot of running, a

lot of talking. he'll at that time stage here and he'll answer questions for six or seven hours from shareholders. and that doesn't include any of the other many things that he's doing here from meetings with people to dinners to the whole way through. the dinners started last night. i think he was at a dinner for the israeli company that they had bought. he met up with carol, at the grabbed sandwiches i think very quickly and then went to the bridge club where they played for hours. i mean, this is a hardcore weekend in terms of just being on your feet, running, thinking. answering any question that gets thrown your way. that's what people will be looking for, but it doesn't seem like he's pairing back that schedule at all. >> and you've got a lot going on. you bring all your -- >> i brought kyle with me. >> you brought all your equipment and you're lugging that stuff around. >> i brought five suitcases. and i'm not like the diva who is going to go traveling -- i

brought the pump, yes. i brought the pump. i know that's where you're going. i brought the pump. it's already been used. >> lugging that continuing around. okay. >> i never knew that it had to be done. that it would -- >> andrew, you note fun thing thing is i scared joe. like i've never been able to get joe with stuff. he used to always get me. but i warned him that if he doesn't behave himself, i'm going to lighten up his coffee. and he had no idea that it looked like real milk. i scared him to death. >> yes. >> it gets full and you need to do it. >> maybe as a present for becky -- >> this squawk ward moment has been brought to you by becky quick. >> you can challenge that. i challenged it yesterday and they changed it to andrew. andrew was talking about blow up dolls.

you missed that. >> this squawk ward moment has been brought to you by joe kernen. >> thank you. >> i'm going to have to challenge that. because i brought it back up. >> i'm getting a red flag. and a yellow flag and we can throw them on the table. no? >> becky, we will be -- when ross gets here -- he's a serious by. sorry, becky. andrew -- >> and he wears ties like this. >> a better tie than normal. normally he tries to shock and awe people. what happened here? >> it's a tie. >> not bad. >> somebody actually looked in a mirror before he came out today. >> my wife is on a campaign to have me tone down my ties. >> i wondered where she had been in the last few appearances. i guess she was out of town or something. i don't know. >> the hard time we give him and it's only 6:15 in the morning. thank you for wake up early for us. it is jobs friday.

this is the big day and the big number. we're joined on the set by chief economist at fao economics and he is wearing a nice tie this morning. >> thank you. >> so big question. warren buffett says the number is going to come in under 162,000. we were actually saying 168 was the number. let's get an idea of the real consensus. >> told man says -- >> i'm looking for 125. i think it will be a weaker number. i think the adp has been giving us the guidance and you look at the ism services report. there was a setback in that report. we see a lot of reports weaker over the last couple months. so i don't really feel like i'm going to forecast a high number. i think we've had a decelerat n deceleration. i don't know why. >> explain the april situation. i've read a number of reports

that have suggested that april is always a hard month to track. >> well, you're going -- it's transition. and what we had was we had an abnormally warm winter. and so what that does is it takes the transitional employment and move it is earlier in the year. in february, it is particular lay very short month and a lot of big seasonal factors. so when things happen in february that are different, they are really get blown up. so when those things happen early in the year and you start to make the transition to the warmer months, the payrolls have already put the people on and they're there and the seasonals are looking for more and you don't get more. you get smrks but you don't get as much as you usually do. and so it cuts in to the gains. that's the kind of thing happening now. apr april, march, you don't know if it's a winter month or if you're making a transition. it depends on the weather. >> a headline number. headline unemployment rate will be what? >> unchanged.

8.2. >> and are you predicting as so many others are that by the election, the number is under 8%, over 8% shall. >> i think it's probably under 8 ors. i think we're still doing better than we previously had thought. but when you look at all the federal reserve forecasts, it's interesting how they dealt with this. they reduced the unemployment rate they're looking for for the end of the year, but from 2012 onward, they have slower declines. so they admitted that things are doing better, but they're skeptical that that are continue to happen. >> did you read the david einhorn jelly donut piece? >> he had a couple jelly donuts. >> i did not. >> homer simpson likes purple. >> i like glazed donuts. >> i didn't read the einhorn hinge. >> the argument he made is that

the fed has overfed us, if you will, that the first donut might have been tasty and good and the second one might have tasted even better, but at some point, we have as he said an eating disorder. >> really not that profound. only thing profound is the jelly. >> the fed is the only game in town. fiscal policy is absolutely shot. those people are like having a cat fight in congress and they can't tie their own shoelaces. this has placed a lot who are burden on the federal reserve to do something. people say the fed should not engage in fiscal policy and some regard some of the advanced aspects to be akin to fiscal policy and bernanke is concerned as a student of the depression of the things that went wrong and not wanting to back slide. so it's about whether the fed

should be stepping other than over this lean becauine becauser guys aren't doing their job. >> thanks for being here. >> i thought the extra nearial disease was -- >> no, that was more clever than the jelly donut. >> i would have gotten the squawk ward moment for mr. buffett. >> that is more clever coming from a warren buffett type. i was more moved by that. >> he's come up with a lot of things that people glom on to. like swimming naked until the tide goes out. gets you to think about things like that. >> he has a nice racy side. >> he does. >> like joe said, he can get away with stuff like that. >> i couldn't say these things probably. >> you talked about your blow up

doll. anyway -- >> when we come back, we have well-known buffett biographer will be joining us. we'll get his guess on who the most likely mystery name in the berkshire ceo succession envelope is right after this. more than warren buffett fresh from this weekend's annual berkshire hathaway shareholder meeting, he'll join "squawk box" for three hours. plus becky sits down with charlie monger and bill gates. that's monday starting at 6:00 eastern. eastern. recently, students from 31 countries took part in a science test.

the top academic performers surprised some people. so did the country that came in 17th place. let's raise the bar and elevate our academic standards. let's do what's best for our students-by investing in our teachers. let's solve this. yeah, scott. i was just about to use... that's a bunch of ground-up paper, lad! scotts ez seed absorbs and holds water better. it's guaranteed to grow grass anywhere, even if you miss a day of watering. [ scott ] seed your lawn. seed it!

welcome back. we're live in omaha this morning. we're getting ready for tomorrow's much anticipated berkshire hathaway shareholders meeting. who better to talk warren buffett with us than his biographer, and we mean the man who has written the book again and again and again. andy kilpatrick is the author of permanent value which is the word on what warren buffett has been up to. and andy, thanks so much for joining us. w . >> my pleasure. >> we're in the century link center where tomorrow this is the stage where they'll be talking to about 30,000 to

35,000 shareholders. what's the burning question this year? >> i guess the burning question is the health question and then the health question is the successor question. so that has to be gone lieu. i think it's been aired out by everybody. and i think the disease is a very slow growing thing and a lot of doctors say it will be something else that he goes from. so i think he'll go a long time. but this question is out there. and i went to continue he last night and i followed this for years and all we talked about was succession. so i think that's the question. >> what was the topic around the table? what do people feel about the succession plans laid out and would they like to hear more? >> everybody has their opinion. most of this was who it would be. and then we're all guess and we're all been around the thing and none of us has a clue to as who it would be. and then people did say you know he's right not to think because the person may change or he may

buy another company with somebody else. or some star comes along. i think he's doing the right thing by keeping it crow to his vest. and you might have people get discontentsed and say i wanted that job, but i think he's doing exactly the right thing. clearly the board will study it harder under this situation. in february he said that the person whose name was in the envelope had been there for a long time. it's somebody who must have been at the company for a while because he has all these new companies that he's bought. you can run through the companies that have come in here. and i think that's what surprised me is that it's been the same name for a while. >> i think in the end report he

said someone well-known to the board for a long time and a good character. there are just sonl so much and i think it's the names that everybody is talking about. last night we were saying it could be somebody from the sid . but who knows. >> as a shareholder, do you feel good about the succession plan? >> i feel good about it. it will be somebody clearly -- buffett has spent his entire life planning this and it will be a good decision. will that person be buffett? no. but is he 87% or 97% of buffett? yes. it will be somebody fabulous, but if won't have buffett's personality or his swing. but coca-cola and ibm will be there, other things are there. either eye how the new personal low indicates the new money and that's a big issue, but it's become a little bit less of an issue as berkshire gets bigger and bigger. he's put so many things in place like the railroad and the so

much going on already that we're just now doing incremental stuff. >> there are people who say that the real factor, i think doug kass has brought this up, the new ceo won't get the special sweetheart deals. >> i agree with that. >> how big of a problem is that in terms of the valuation for the company? >> i think it's a problem, but i think you can get around it or you just don't get -- you miss one or two great deals, but i don't think it's the end of the world. it will still be berkshire hathd away with a huge credit and a ton of money. and, weshlgs i'm not warren buffett, but do you want $10 billion to do the deal or not? >> what do you think about you how the stock has performed? berkshire itself started buying back shares which is something they would never have done before.

>> i think it is undervalued and i think the stock has suffered because of buffett's age. and these questions. but i thought on the announcement of the cancer, the stock came back fairly quickly. even if something terrible were to happen, the stock already has that in there. i think it's already discounted three successors. i don't think a lot would happen. >> i want to thank you very much to coming in. it's a big weekend. we have another andrew who will be joining us later. and andrew, we'll accepted it ov send it over to you. >> very interesting stuff. >> we've been having a conversation here. about the upcoming election and did you see in the french debate, did you see they were arguing about the same thing that we're arguing here.

hollande said to sarkozy, all you do is favor the rich. and sarkozy shot back that you want to make sure there's many fewer rich people. i want to make sure there's fewer poor people. and that's the same debate we have over here. do we narrow the income disparity by making sure no one does well or do we try and narrow the disparity by trying to raise everyone's level? and that's the same argument. sarkozy is probably going to lose. france for a long time has watched the rest of europe. >> the great debate by capitalists. it's about up ward mobility and all the issues that we discuss. on monday, of course -- >> they say it differently. they did it a lot -- we don't use our hands. >> but on monday, we've got the

man of the hour, warren buffett will join us live. plus becky will bring us conversations with berkshire's charlie monger and bill gates. it will be a very big show. up next on squawk this morning, mark zuckerberg taking his facebook ipo pitch directly to the people. stay tuned. ♪ there's a place i dream about ♪ ♪ where the sun never goes out ♪ ♪ and the sky is deep and blue ♪ ♪ won't you take me american flight 280 to miami is now ready for boarding. ♪ there with you fly without putting your life on pause. be yourself. nonstop. american airlines.

[ crunches ] mmm. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] pringles... bursting with more flavor. [ crunch! ] [ male announcer ] pringles... bursting with more flavor. high schools in six states enrolled in the national math and science initiative... ...which helped students and teachers get better results in ap courses. together, they raised ap test scores 138%.

just imagine our potential... ...if the other states joined them. let's raise our scores. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. welcome back to squawk. top corporate story of the day, facebook, the company set to begin its ipo road show on monday in advance of that, facebook's executives took their message directly to shareholders in and online video. it's very interesting. here's just a small clip.

>> facebook's mission is to make the world more open and connected. and what we mean by that is that we think that people's lives are going to be better and really that the whole world will function better. >> we'll of that better on the ipo throughout the morning from our team cnbc reporters. you have never seen a video like this. it is like a half hour infomercial beautifully done, completely different than anything i'd ever seen. and actually really made the case to me in a way -- i'm very skeptical of a lot of these tech ipos. he made the case about how interconnected and pivotal these relationships and friendships are that people have online and what the defensive moat might actually look like. >> you're like the pope and you're talking about sex. i've never gone into -- kron about facebook. but i did think it was very slick the video. they got plenty of money to do that. who was that that they had

playing? >> it was not jesse. >> that's right. so a different guy. i got it. >> might have been the real mark zuckerberg. >> because he's not nearly as good at playing -- >> joe -- >> yeah. >> i think you were channeling warren buffett. you just said to andrew i'm like the pope and you're talking about sex and i don't understand you. >> i am, i'm channeling buffett. did you see that guy? i don't think he played mark zuckerberg as well as jesse eisenbe eisenberg. he's much more believable as the guy i know. >> i'm with you. >> and i saw a picture of warren savrin, that is not him. >> sean parker did not make a cameo. cheryl did.

i think the pope line is a good one. >> you've heard that before. >> i have, but you have to use again. in part because the pope probably does. >> does what? >> you know where i'm going with this. >> i'm definitely not going there. wow. let's get to the futures pits. the pope does what? snows about -- knows about facebook. okay. all right. >> thank you. >> i'm saving your sorry rear end. anyway, michael gurhka is standing by. now help save andrew, too. do you have a number, do you care about the actual number or just sort of the basic tone is this. >> we always care, joe. you know that. if we come out as expected today, the average for the first four months of the year will be 199. last year at the same time, the average was about 206. i clearly think we're going to exceed this number today. strictly because the baseline is so low. for the same reasons i think if we hit the upper channel here, which is near 200 a, but all of a sudden you get excitement in

the s&p well back above 1400 and then at the same time look where crude oil is this morning, another dollar lower than the 50 day moving average. so all this sentiment that will be building in the market that will be very positive. and then at the same time, you have the ipo that you're talking about on facebook which if they want to reach the upper band of the ipo price, all they have on do is take the majority of users that are high school and college age students and get on ebay, sell their outdated iphones and buy as many shares as they can. what do you think, joe? >> i don't know about that. i love when it comes out and you never know whether -- like with google, remember when that happened and it went on and on. but it hasn't been that way with some of these. i guess it depends. we got to go, though. michael, thank you. i'm just so excited about this new andrew. are you channeling me to some september.

becky, that was amazing. >> that was out there. >> he is letting it all hang out it now. which i like. >> i'm surprise wedding who didn't get a squawk ward moment for that. >> no kidding. >> as we have about 35,000 berkshire hathaway shareholders expected to ascend on this arena tomorrow, warren buffett and charlie monger will be on this very stage answering questions for more than six hours. we'll talk to one investor about what he would like to hear right after this. arrival. with hertz gold plus rewards, you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

welcome back, everybody. we are on the stage at the century link center which is where warren buffett and charlie monger will be speaking to a crowd of about 35,000 tomorrow. he'll be speaking to all those shareholders and they'll have a lot of questions. but we also got the chance to catch up with heim last night. we wanted to know what he thought about mario draghi and his position that the ecb has done enough for now. standing pat. listen to what buffett had to say. >> he put in a trillion euros and a trillion euros, call that a trillion, 300 billion or something. so he's entitled to rest. he's worked for six days. he can rest on the seventh. but it solved the funding problems for the banks. and that problem was serious when he did the first time.

they were really worried about funding. it doesn't solve the problems of whether the banks have enough equity, doesn't solve all kind of other problems. it did solve the funding problems. and that was a problem that needed to be solved. but there's still a lot more that needs to be solved. >> it doesn't solve the question as to whether or not the euro will still be here in five years. if you had to put odds on that, what would you say? >> that's one i don't know. it's such an interesting question because we know the present situation isn't sustainable and we know that it's a terrible problem to unwind it and we know that we'll face terrible problems if we don't do something. and the something has to get 17 countries all going in the same direction. and one of the advantages we had in 2008 is if paulson and the president and eventually the congress said here's what we're going to do a and we'll do whatever it takes, you knew they could do it. but if somebody over this says we'll do whatever it takes, then they have to look around and see if 16 other people agree with

them. >> the other big bit of news that we've been watching has been what's happening with earnings season. earnings have been coming in better than expected and that's certainly something that mr. buffer at the ti buffett has been paying attention to, as well. and watching the banks with particular in-stayiterest. yesterday meredith whitney made some comments about what she expects with the bank earnings. take a listen. meredith whitney made comments where she said she thinks that the banks in the first quarter have kind of seen their heydays. she thinks from here on out it's a lot tougher for the banks to put up numbers like that. as a big shareholder in we also fau go a if he also fargo and bank of america, what do you think? >> the banks will get squeezed and to some extent wells has 100 billion that they would love to

have out but banking bears no resemblance to four years ago. they've cleaned up the balance sheets, they have way more equity. and i sit and do a arithmetic about what i think wells will do and first quarter will not be their best quarter of the year in my view. >> why? >> just because of what i project out in terms of net interest income, other income, other expense, so on. i don't know the numbers obviously, but if i had to -- i would be glad to bet somebody that the first quarter would not be the best quarter. >> that's an interesting bet and we wonder who will take him up on it. joining us on stage is david roth, chief investment officer of the wedgewood fund which has a 7.7% of its clients' money invested in berkshire. and that's a pretty big stake. >> yeah, we typically only own 20 stocks in the portfolio. and berkshire is our second largest holding. so i'll be all ears tomorrow. >> you heard what he just said

about the banks and the bank earnings. have you given much thought to that? >> yeah, we owned a couple banks that we actually sold in the third quarter of last year. we thought we owned some of the better banks in the tough neighborhood. but the neighborhood's pretty tough. so we sold those and moved on. but with wells fargo and goldman sachs warrants, there's a nice little bank kicker in butch at the time's portfolio about they do better than what we think they'll do. >> you will be listening for a lot of things tomg, but what's the main point that you would like to have addressed? >> i would like six hours of minutia in all the businesses, particularly the ones that are driving the biggest transformation within the noninsurance side of berkshire, particularly burlington. it has been significant in changing the path of revenue growth and particularly the underlying profitability of the noninsurance subsidiaries. so anything and everything with

burlington. and also there's an extra railroad kicker within marmin and lubrisol. >> the portfolio has changed drastically. for the better or the worse? in your opinion in. >> if you go back to the better profit and, pretext margins right around 8%, 8.5%. we think they may come in around 12% this year and that is the significance driver of that is certainly burlington. so it's changed meaningfully for the better. >> and in terms of just the announcement with prostate cancer, how do you think he'll handle that? >> i think we've heard quite a bit already. thank goodness it's just sustainistage one. and i imagine he may have a couple opening comments and then we move on. >> david, we want to thank you very much for your time.

wael see y we'll see you here tomorrow. >> thanks. >> warren buffett will be joining us live on monday. if you've got any questions or comments, anything about things you'd like to us bring up, send us a tweet to @cnbc. you can use the #buffett watch. we'll feature your tweets throughout the show. and joe i'll send it back over to you. >> i may check out that tweeting stuff to see what you're doing today. i'm sure you're tweeting your little tush off. >> i tweeted last night. i haven't tweeted today. >> this is where you should tweet. >> i tweeted the stuff from last might when i talked to him, but, yes, i'll tweet a lot from the meeting here tomorrow and maybe stuff through the day. >> i don't know about facebook, but since it'm a twitter expert will is whats of created for. >> do you notice becky said

we'll have a tweet ticker on the -- >> i don't know what that means really. >> on the bottom, the tweets go across the bottom. >> right down here on the bottom of the screen. >> i'm not that good. anyway, we got to go. coming up, we have a busy week for the governor of florida. first he waded in to foreign policy signing a bill that takes aim at companies side to syria and cuba. and florida ranked as the second best state for business. rick scott will join us flex. introducing gold choice. the freedom you can only get from hertz to keep the car you reserved or simply choose another. and it's free. ya know, for whoever you are that day. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

and then treats day after day... well, shoot, that's like checking on your burgers after they're burnt! [ male announcer ] treat your frequent heartburn by blocking the acid with prilosec otc. and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. 

[ barking ] appears buster's been busy.

yeah, scott. i was just about to use... that's a bunch of ground-up paper, lad! scotts ez seed absorbs and holds water better. it's guaranteed to grow grass anywhere, even if you miss a day of watering. [ scott ] seed your lawn. seed it!

florida's job growth picking up steam. the state as heseen the largest monthly unemployment decline. joining suss governor rick scott. great to see you. a little built at the correspondents dinner. i wanted to let you talk about florida for sure but i don't know if you saw the journal today. there's a big scott walker piece about wisconsin. i couldn't help but see some of the parallels. wisconsin is moving up quickly in its environment for business, just like florida is. all of those reforms that scott walker put in in this recall, none of his opponents are talking about those reforms because they're all working in terms of even schools have not had a lay off teachers because

when you get your health care and some of your pension things in line and have public union employees just contribute a little bit, not even as much as the private sector, you don't have to lay off people. property taxes fell for the first time since '98 and you wonder. you took your lumps. you were down under 30% approval rating, right if. >> he's doing the right thing. follow what rick perry has bdon. he said we're going to make texas the place where people want to do business. >> mitch daniels. >> look at how he's moved up. you have to think like a business person. how do we make businesses more productive in our state in if they do better in our state, our states are going to grow. lower taxes, less regulation,

easier permitting. ultimately it's do i have people working with me that like business people? do they treat them with respect and say how do i make sure your business is succeed in florida? that's what perry's done in texas. mitch daniels has done it for years. they've done a great job. >> unfortunately at the national level i think the government feels that, well, you're not going to leave the united states. so they can't draw the same parallels from what they see happening in the states. they think, well, you're going to have to stay in the states but that's not true. >> we have the highest corporate tax rates in the world, we've got more regulation, more litigation. if we want foreign companies to headquarters here -- if you're a new person starting a business and up say i can do it in

business, i'll only by an american product, i'll pay a little bit more. you wouldn't. businesses can't do it, you can't do it and you won't do it. we've got to make america the safe haven for businesses because low taxes, less regulation, easier permitting. we've got to compete in the world market or we won't have jobs. i think about every day people making 40d,000 a year struggling in my state. they want a job. they want an education for their child and they want a job. >> it's another good piece in the journal. it would nice to put a maximum rate on student loans. how much better would it be if you got out of school and then got a job? instead of going college campus to could college campus, how

about going into and talking about how many jobs are created for these kids. >> what degrees are students getting? are they getting jobs? let's focus on those areas. maybe sure students know, you go get a degree in in area, there's no job. we're going to let everybody know in our state where the jobs, focus our degree on where the jobs are. >> if you got no job, it done matter if you sell at 8%. >> that's all you ever talk about, that's the within this evening that comes out of your mouth, jobs. i'm wondering how we can make some money, i don't know howin i investors can benefit from your advice. >> just follow the company in florida and they'll do really well. >> that's a good idea the basket

of florida numbers. corking up, get are ming up, get are --

[ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪ departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap !

you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

it's jobs friday. we got a preview leading up to that crucial report at 8:30 a.m. eastern. plus the oracle of omaha speaks out on the economy. >> why do you think it's not improving at a faster rate? >> it's because home construction hasn't come back. >> i'm talking about putting a mountain of money. >> and the second hour of "squawk box" begins right now.

♪ come sail away with me, lad come sail away with us this morning. good morning and welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm andrew ross sorkin along with joe kernen. becky quick is in omaha. i'm going to get on a plane in a little bit, too. we have a small green arrow, if you will, ahead of that market open and ahead of the jobs number, which we'll get at 8:30 eastern. consensus about 162, 168. steve liesman is on the set. we'll see if he has his own view. >> it is jobs friday. the number from the labor department will be released in

less than 90 minutes. steve liesman is here with a preview of the data. kind of got one from you yesterday. you have done more work? i like when you do work. >> i didn't do any work this time because i didn't think it was worth it. i really didn't. if you do all these regressions and looking for trends and stuff, i think this time around it's useless. markets hit this number with an unusual amount of unsrnity. bulls and bears are part apar in the outlook but both sides have a striking lack of commitment in their forecast. the april dow joan is 168, 170 for reuter, seen unainged at 2%, the adb report, less than expected and march at 120,000. gdp came in less than expected, leading to the concern that we are at the againing of another springtime swoon and then issues about the weather givething and

takething away. and searching for what is the trend. is it down closer to 100 or up closer to 200,000? a weak number looked like a pretty good until yesterday. it wiped out most of the april growth in the market. they point will way her job days. we'll look for weather sized chuf remember on about. the three-month average, 211,000, 1 one year, 158,000. remember that number. maybe it's just co incident. it looks like the economists have leanedon the long runs average. it includes weakness from last spring and strength from the summer and that may not be a bad debt. when in doubt, average it out. eye going to mark that don't and

i'm briere coming in -- >> where are you then? >> i'm at 193. and ask me what my confidence level is. my 95% confidence level is plus or minus 75. >> sandy is lower, too. >> i was dead wrong last month. i was right the madeor. did you see louf green? we won. >> i know that's. nas why i'm saying it. >> why would you -- >> because i read it yesterday. never debt go to the pam. wein drawn by lou greening. i that's what he finally brought

sktor. louis alexander, bhanageing director, chief economist at wol more ot ra. you're looking for 195 and lieu breen is looking for 100. is he a slap around uncertainty. you have a lot of things pushing in different directions. i think the weather story has been overdone. if you look at this evenings look claim, but it's a pretty moderate slowdown. we had dropped growth of average 250,000 for the three months into february and we ratcheted down below that but i don't think -- i think going all the way down to a hundred is way too car. >> who was is the other guy, 60

minutes? an why is this lou so wrong? >> i think the anomaly was the throw months. six priers prior to january, february data, the annual was best 120. then the reports in northern states for things like good producing and the leisure and hospitality sector that i think an easily adjusted, drove it up to the 2:40 game. in march when the snow cover have gone away, then we back to the prevail. i don't think we're looking for the down draft. we had the up draft and we're back to -- >> i have to say i got a headache reading your reports.

it's not that they're so long, what's just is they really are interesting. 3/what's the trend? what's the economy? what due think of the jobs trend here? >> i think the market is back at where was, the six months that existed before the december, jnt, and february media. >> an, and i little bow. in the not seasonally adjusted data, there's a higher hurdle to reach. >> could you answer the same question? the person key back idea, which was really pay back for from the

low are job growth that we about and he as to and it's really the ent action between those two ng. . >> now we've stepped back from that. then what's going on productivity? to get back to those numbers, you have to believe at that productivity has picked up. it's possible but i didn't see any strong evidence of that. you didn't see it in productivity numbers yesterday. i would argue i don't think we're seeing a different trend in coming through on corporate earnings. so the bottom line is i think the downthift etermining factor.

>> the trader productivity has coincided with the spike. is that the case now? >> you can certainly look at the march numbers and look at the indication of new obvious. the chicago fed survey, the philly fed sur i say, all to continue through through hiring. i guess i'm still skeptical about that. >> we don't ever expect the consensus to be right. the consensus is a gauge watch the market is pricing in. but i'm afraid since the an dp number and claims number that there's another number out on the street. what number do you think the market is really looking for here, lou green? >> as you said earlier, i think people have rel hifl little confidence in this number. part it have is just the mathematics. . i think there's a skew because

of the weather effect. it a very uncertain thing. most people would probably say their confidence in their number is loper than it normally would be. i think that the consensus -- haven't heard anything wildly different from the average in that 160 range. >> okay. >> okay. >> james kill p-- kilpatrick. >> i don't know who played them. >> jane curtain. >> back on "saturday night live." i think i was calling lou green -- are you okay with that? >> i'm surprised it's four minutes after saying louie, louie, we don't have the music yesterday.

>> i can't speak to that. >> i have i called you loul! >> are we off the rails? >> no. he doesn't have "louie loy oy! in the back. >> do we get a penalty for that? >> we should have a red flag for that wp maybe race the longest epo, $2837-$66 billion. one of the safety morgues and racing the air force base flag. this video from earlier this morning. the flag has now been taken down

temporarily because of the serious rain storm moching through the city. and another story that has a lot of people talking today. yahoo!'s board plans to review a discrepancy in the resumé of their ceo. he's adding the computer science. he started adding the computer science when he got to paypal. >> that's like saying that, you know, i was taking economics and i got a number in german literature. >> no, burr ur said it was

around to get the books. now it tutsier sciences and accounting. >> but it's really crazy. how do you have make an inadvertent error like that? i don't like that either. >> right. >> you didn't read the press release? that was not an inadvertent area. that's i was trying to pass myself off as something else. >> it went out in more than self s.e.c. filings. >> that's not a typo. it's not i fear got to take the comma out of the paragraph. >> how about "when i got back from vietnam." remember that one? the guy had never even been in asia i don't think. >> and no, they cannot say stuff like that. it is not acceptable. you would have thousand the

activist investor raised the issue u, tried to demonstration heism use on miz. it stand for michigan -- i do have a degree. >> supposedly cornell. >> did anybody anyone check into that? >> not yet. but after the show it may become trouble. >> annual they're shoulders meeting taking place in omaha this weekend. that's where we find becky this morning. back to you, beck. >> we were just talking about jobs a minute ago. we did talk to warren buffett his take on the jobs number when in doubt that number is above 6 5 would take the over/under. i wasn't sure what to expect because he doesn't like getting pinned down on what a moves but

he came out pretty quickly and take the under on this wp, it had some trouble getting belop for they number today, he said he would teak between, asking everybody what they. we're getting some interesting responses. we'll try to pay attention to that. >> and drool doesn't know a whol lot about. people were stunned when he got into ibm chair because he always said he doesn't want invest things he did say he would not be investing in state be. then i asked him does it remind him of anything we were saying in the late 90s with the dot

krom p come raises. listen to what he had to say to that. >> we aren't in any -- it's extraordinary what happened to that company. we have not long it happen go way the last few days. so it is not a bubble. >> so this is not what we were seeing in late 1999 all the way into 2001, early even. he doesn't understand he's not going to touch it. pu alsos will had had to saech times before. we had a chance to talk about a lot of be different things. the banks she said she thinks have earned their peak in the first quarter. they're going to have a tough

time replicating that. he said he doesn't believe that's the case and he'll take a bet with anybody. and those other porters, they'll have better numbers then. >> so andrew, have i a favor to you ask. >> yes. >> you're coming out here right after the show. >> yes. what do you need me to bring? >> i forgot my glasses. can you bring them with you? >> just tell me where they are during the commercial break and we'll make it happen. >> it's awful. i was tried triing to read my blackberry like this last night. >> thank you. >> i guess on monday we can do this. we had a little bit of michael lewis on. he's an eighthor, got his own opinion about things. he doesn't want the volcker rule. he wants the super voler but in

terms of breaking them pup up buties got an buflt would say about whether a bank can really -- i wonder if he can do all the normal stuff where there's never any question or nuance about whether you're acting as a principle and an agent. like a bridge loan. a bring loan you're exposed. >> we'll ask him on monday but you noe who has some really strong thoughts that were right in line with what he was saying yesterday is charlie munger. i'll bring this stuf up with him. he has some really strong thoughts. he have seen these guys dealing with accounting and dkrier. i pact. >> it's a great thing to talk

about. we'll have warren here 6:00 to 9:00 on monday. >> i'm also in the fact that double's not going to -- >> and coming up, health care costs. >> next week on "squawk box," three hours with warren buffett. his first live interview after speaking of berkshire hathaway conference. "squawk box," where investors and business leaders turn first.

you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. yeah, scott. i was just about to use... that's a bunch of ground-up paper, lad! scotts ez seed absorbs and holds water better. it's guaranteed to grow grass anywhere, even if you miss a day of watering. [ scott ] seed your lawn. seed it! departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

our next guest has expert perspective on where health care costs are going and potential impact on the economy. david is the president and ceo of significacigna, the nation's

largest health insurer. i want to talk with a couple of things. your profits declined 10% but you raised your full-year view. i really want to talk about the curve, bending that curve and utilization. when you look at utilization in the past quarter, even over the past year, how is that looking and what's that doing for the business? >> for the first quarter we had another great quarter in the company, both in earnings and a growth standpoint because in part we're able to, as you said, bend the curve. we see the utilization of some services, the rate of growth is muted over historical averages. but within our portfolio we see the utilization of prevention, wellness and certain other services going up. we see a good change and mix but still a slower rate of growth in utilization than historical averages. >> david, did up see that big piece in the "times" a couple of days ago?

it was fascinating that since the recession, utilization has moderated a lot and people are -- almost-- seem to be payi attention to managing their own ca care, not rushing to an emergency or doctor's room because maybe co-pays are higher? it all looked as if it was starting to work. i don't know if that's just a recession and there's less money for people to spend or whether it's a lasting thing that would be a real pod rating for health care costs? >> i did see the article. what's transpired is benefit programs are changing and they're trying to more effectively engage their employees as being part of the ownership of their overall health care solutions. true, significant and a half is -- paying physicians more

based on the value of services versus just the volume and the kour and got a better result, more prevent, more wellness if you're in a chronic airport ramp. >> david, is it market forces? this has happened before obamacare has been put into effect. if we were to open up the ibt state bor -- interstate borders, there would be competition. we need to add all these people into the system somehow obviously but would the cost curve start to bend on its own? >> to your point, first off we need to expand the accessible for affordable solutions for more people. yes, it's market based two-fold. the design of benefit differences are three accord in

which it helps companies like, for example, you're paying a physician more, maybe twice as much. you're paying realtime based on activity and, three, in many cases we're embedding health coaches, lifestyle coaches or nurses in physicians office or in hospital to try to get the coordination of services. all of that is taking waste out of the system and pry pro-describeding better quality of care for individuals. >> there's a much longer conversation to have. i'd love to get your view at some point. we're returning out of time today but we'd love to you have back very verk soon. >> i love prg. >> the first was.

>> it already happening. coming up, we check in with becky, who is going by the long time later, remembering historical buyouts. >> time faux nor today's aflac trivia question. what is the name of the winged, divine hours of greek mythology? . aflac! ha! isn't major medical enough? huh! no! who's gonna help cover the holes in their plans? aflac! quack! like medical bills they don't pay for? aflac! or help pay the mortgage? quack! or child care? quack! aflaaac! and everyday expenses? huh?! blurlbrlblrlbr!!! [ thlurp! ] aflac! [ male announcer ] help your family stay afloat

at aflac.com. plegh!

with rent2buy from hertz car sales, you skip the lots... and pushy sales people... it's a fast, easy way to buy a used car. three days to try. zero pressure to buy. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

now the answer to today's aflac trivia question. what is the name of the winged divine horse of greek mythology? the answer: pegasus. >> aflac! welcome back to squawk. it's 7:30 on the east coast. we are about an hour away from april jobs reports. economists looking for a nonfarm payroll additions of 100,000 and

unemployment rate to stay steady at 8.2%. and service sector in china now at a six-month high. china pmi rose to 54.1 in march from 53.3 in april. the rate of new order growth was the highest in ten months. and the fallout on the walmart bribery scandal. the company's board and embasthy walmart breached their fiduciary duty. you can send us an e-mail and follow us on twitter. up next, a big week as we get ready for the berkshire hathaway meeting. becky is in omaha. >> we have some familiar faces

who are here in omaha. they'll join us live to talk more right after this. they say,u wanted a firm bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. oh, wow! that feels really good. it's about support where you find it most comfortable. to celebrate 25 years of better sleep-for both of you - sleep number introduces the silver edition bed set, at incredible savings of $1,000 for a limited time. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car, and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness, where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer a hassle-free lifetime repair guarantee,

where the repairs made on your car are guaranteed for life, or they're on us. these are just two of the valuable features you can expect from liberty mutual. plus, when you insure both your home and car with us, it could save you time and money. at liberty mutual, we help you move on with your life, so get the insurance responsible drivers like you deserve. call us at... or visit your local liberty mutual office, where an agent can help you find the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance, responsibility -- what's your policy?

welcome back, everybody. we are live in omaha this morning at the centurylink center where is where warren buffett and charlie munger will take the stage tomorrow to address the berkshire hathaway meeting. all the shareholders here, among 35,000. mario gabelli joins us right here on stage. mario, it's great to see you this morning. >> it's terrific to be here. and we'll watch warren. you've been a berkshire shareholder for how long? >> i first meat warren back in the early 70s when he was at pinkerton. i went to columbia business school as warren did so he, you

know, had been great success, roger murray and tonight we'll have tyler santos, who is also on cue to help continue the philosophy of value investing. >> this is a mecca for value investing. >> it is. there's no question it's a very important fundamental but it goes back to the core competencies. on the other side of the coin, warren always argues if it wasn't for ben graham, he would have been successful but not as successful. what we'd like to do is have warren and the gates foundation back to the columbia business school and, you know, a billion dollars is not a lot. >> a billion dollars. >> why not. >> why don't you talk about your connection with columbia -- >> i've been on the board for 25 years. the mayor and glen hubbard have been very helpful in continuing that tradition.

>> when you look at value investing and you look at who's investing in the stock market today, do you think value investing is as strong? is it stronger, weaker than it used to be? >> becky, 40, 50 years ago, you'd come in and tape and you'd watch the tape, the traders would look at stocks. but commissions were fixed until may of 1975. fast forward, we have ets, bundled products, you're taking stocks, treating them like commodities, beans, corn, up the limit, down the limit, making it easier for organizations that want to do flash trading, co-locate computers closer. we're investing. we're buying businesses. you're talking about ipos. how do you create the linkage between venture capital, capital fromle old hewlett packard, money in the garage to creating some really interesting new opportunities. that's the linkage.

that's why we're investors. we want to buy a business, look at the intrinsic value and how do we make money? >> when you look at the market overall, do you think this market is cheap or expensive at this point? >> i kind of have to have a comment on that and i look at the cash flow. how is a company going to grow, how is a u.s. company completing globally, what's happening to companies around the world, what are its earnings, where are they coming from. you need two elements, one is in interest rates, which in theory is over time through inflation, which is not the case now because they're being rigged and the second is confidence. so when i look at the elements that are in place that could continue to keep market valuations higher, those are the elements that i would think are positive. >> so at this point positive meaning stocks are undervalued?

>> if you assume a ten-year treasury at 4% to 4.5% and underlying inflation higher than it is, nominal earnings would rise and indicate stocks are not expensive here. >> overall you like the market. >> i'm not biography the market. a cincinnati stock closes down. we like financial engineering. another company announced a deal this morning in the global satellite business. we have a conference coming up on new orleans, talking about spectrum. they're going to announce results. how do we compete globally? how do we give you and i as consumers speed, mokt. how do i watch cnbc anywhere,

any time, anyplace? and there's a juggernaut and it's called spectra availability. the broadcasters have it. how do we reallocate it, how do they get paid? >> you're always thinking. andrew has a question for up. >> i have a really quick question, mario. it's a dark subject -- >> only one? >> it's one question but it's dark, pretty dark. it's something that was said about warren buffett recently, talking about what would happen about warren buffett, after his death. he says i wanted you respond. he said a far greater risk to shareholders is that buffett begins to lose it mentally and make bad decisions and the board won't take away the key. do you think the board will be able to identify if there's ever a moment that warren can't be the ceo of the company? >> andrew --

>> i said it's a dark question. >> andrew, you start off at 4:00 in the morning and finish at 10:00 and you're getting on a flight. warren tomorrow is going to be here -- >> it's unbelievable. i'm with you but i'm curious of the larger issue. >> you're raising a hypothesis that you want me to address and i don't agree with the fundamental hypothesis. notwithstanding that, let's look at facts. the stock is 123,000 a share, 1.7 billion shares. what's the value, what's the ebidta, why can't you assume someone would come to the table and split it up? each plays bridge, think dimensional. our minds will go before warren's, andrew. good luck! nanding that, it's not a hypothesis we need to address today. stay tuned. we'll being back over the next five years. >> it's not my view and it's

dark. >> it's not your view but you're articulating it. come up with a better one. he hasn't gone elephant hunting. >> mario, i will see you. andrew, it's a great question, it's not dark, it's appropriate. we'll talk about it tonight.

wow. this is new. yep. i'm sending the dancing chicken to every store in the franchise to get the word out. that could work. or you could use every door direct mail from the postal service. it'll help you and all your franchisees find the customers that matter most: the ones in the neighborhood. you print it or find a local partner. great. keep it moving honey. honey? that's my wife. wow. there you go. there you go. [ male announcer ] go online to reach every home, every address, every time with every door direct mail. yeah, scott. i was just about to use... that's a bunch of ground-up paper, lad! scotts ez seed absorbs and holds water better. it's guaranteed to grow grass anywhere, even if you miss a day of watering. [ scott ] seed your lawn. seed it!

even if you miss a day of watering. what happens when classroom teachers get the training... ...and support they need? schools flourish and students blossom. that's why programs like... ...the mickelson exxonmobil teachers academy... ...and astronaut sally ride's science academy are helping our educators improve student success in math and science. let's shoot for the stars. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this.

let's take a look at the futures board, ahead of those jobs number we're going to get at 8:30 a.m. eastern. the dow looks like it would open about 9 points lower. get what? that number will likely change very, very soon. it's time to present another blue chip book award and it goes to one of my favorites, "bar bar -- barbarians at the gate." brian joins us now. congratulations for joining the club. i should also say this book was co-written by john hallier. >> by the excellent john hallier. >> who probably doesn't get enough credit actually. >> now toiling away at one of your ex-competitors. >> that is true and we won't

name that competitor. this is one of the all-time great narratives. if you could go back in time and rewrite the book now, would you do anything differently? >> well, i looked in and saw my great friend jim stewart the other day and he answered the question if he could have done anything, he would have trimmed about 5%. i think now 20 years later there's almost in a you right that isn't going to little bit better. we were talking about the phrase barbarians at the game and i remember writing obituary for teddy forceman unfortunately and i understand he gave you the die on the golf course. >> he painted the picture of barbarians crossing the bridge

coming to the city. >> carlisle group went public yesterday. good investments, bad investments? is leveraged buyouts good, bad for the universe? how do you think about it now. >> i don't think about this as a matter of fact. i don't follow it the way you guys did and i thought was a incorrectly and increasingly -- >> it should have been perfect for -- well, it didn't turn out to be a great investment. it took them a while to go flat. >> it took them a while to go under. people worried it might drive kkr's return seriously downward. at some point america came after

tobacco. >> hbo made the movie of the film. who made more -- how much more did andrew make? >> i guarantee he must have made lots more than i did. how did you like the movie compared to the book? >> i was very happy that the check didn't bounce. >> good way to think about it. you working on a new book now? >> i am. >> can you tell us a little bit about it? >> i'm writing a history of the major underground groups in the 1970s. it's fascinating and difficult. >> cough probably get that great interview with somebody that is still underground. >> there are very few that are still underground. i condition even think of one right now. >> what was it a year or two ago they found that lady after, i don't know -- >> i think it was more like five years ago.

>> things go fast, don't they? >> i do a certain amount of jailhouse interviewing. >> wow. >> go ahead. >> sgs, the gap, the panthers. >> they began the black liberation army and about four other groups. >> the sla, that was one? >> they were the most idiotic in some way. >> i know. >> kanye. we've asked dh question to many of the officers, including mike el yesterday, your favorite books. michael lyrics gave us the interesting fiction, two books people should pick up today, addition alex poshier i have to say maybe the i've read would be

the book called "the informant." people don't remember that book because they think, oh, gosh, it's boring. it's fascinating. there was a movie made with matt damon. the movie did not rise to the level of the book but the book is one of the all-time great books out there. >> foo often overlooked. >> i've seen some calm material of what's going on for you with goldman sachs. do you have views? >> no. >> i'm an election -- william koeppen. how to diks the te-- let us giv

blue chip book award right here. it's a beautiful thing. are you going to put this on your shelf? >> i'll give this to my co-author, john hallier. >> we'll get you two. we'll get you two. this is one of the great classics. congratulations. you'll see i did not put that. i didn't bring up bill ayers. don't say i always go there. hold on, hold on, get him a pen. we can put this on the shelf. thank you go. >> you can thank me for that. >> let go to rovell. the 138th run for the roses set for tomorrow afternoon. it's set for louisville kentucky at churchill downs. to tell us which kentucky -- you

know what? i figured you'd have a hat on but look at you with your bad miami vice pastels. >> hey, i listen, this is the pink. this is my outfit. if you buy a horse at yearling, one-year-old, the odds of making it to the kentucky derby is 1 in 700. the owner bought daddy nose best for $35,000, which is about 35,000 less than the average at the annual sale. it's possible to make honey m horse racing. even zollas' investment has let to $600,000 on the track. he says by the time you add up all the upkeep, it's not as

easy. >> it's a fine line between a successful horse and one that can't cover his food. it's very difficult tolt say it been good business but i think if you treat it like a business, you can be successful at it. >> it will be much harder to lose money if daddy nose best wins the derby, about $1.5 million from the prizes. also from the greeding rights, probably about an $8 million guarantee for about business kind of as an economic indicator. chris to and moore, who does 25% of her business on the derby tells us last year it just happened to be an economical play because the small -- they say people are not skimping on investing in a hat. >> people will spend money on a hat because it's the center part

of their outfit. so they'll still spend the money. they'll skimp on other thing, maybe not buy a new dress. >> by the way, my favorite story about the daddy nose best for $35,000. a horizontal sold for $2.2 million. the horse hasn't changed. and obviously the coverage of the derby will kick off but first i have to tell you about our show. let's see if i can do this. is this this way? >> oh, god. >> you know, that's very distracting. it's very distracting. darren, you know, we all hope for a trip many crown all the time, don't we? the first thing we do the minute we get a derby winner and it's been like 35 years. you saw this blog of my

daughter. if you do get a triple crown winner, the stock market, you're in for trouble. it goes down typically. the last time we almost had one was big brown. do you remember that? >> yes, i do. >> do you know what year that was? >> 2009. >> 2008. we were down 30% that year. >> who do you like, bode -- >> bodemeister. >> i can't even talk to you with that hat on. i don't know what you're saying. >> do you want me to take it off? >> no, i want you to take everything else off and just wear the hat. >> this "squawk box" moment has been brought to you by -- >> you cannot be -- this conversation jurs can't be a serious conversation. >> no. >> here you did.

>> no, no, no. who has a 10-1 that has never lost or that -- the only one that scored over a hundred on that test as three times that bode stop wherever it is. if you look at a jack mo that came through that is been 50 tof 1 basically over the past five years. i do the box thing. not just the horse to win. >> hmm. all right. i got to right last year. i don't know how and i don't know anything about it. but i'm afraid to pick a florida one. >> i think he ought to take the hat off. >> you don't get any credit if you pick a 4-to-1. >> bring the hat back. >> i will wear it, just the hat hat. >> coming up, we are just over 30 minutes away from the annual

jobs report. we're live with instant reaction from the market. all that and lot more coming up on the next hour of squawk. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. [ crunches ] mmm. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] pringles... bursting with more flavor. [ crunch! ]

departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

the countdown is on. the pivotal jobs report is only 30 minutes away. >> there's going to be some changes around here. >> and we're covering it inside and out. instant analysis. plus what the numbers mean for the race to the white house. the smartest minds in the business are here to break it down. >> oh, oh, and i almost forgot, i'm also going to need you to go ahead and come in on sunday, too. okay? >> the third hour of "squawk box" starts right now. ♪ welcome back, welcome back here to "squawk box." you following the derby? >> not yet. >> we are first in business worldwide. i'm joe kernen along with andrew

ross sorkin. we'll check in with becky if a few minutes live from omaha, covering the berkshire hathaway. you can't pick a 4-to-1, right? it's too boring. >> remember mark -- >> he never -- he on got it right once. >> i got last year's right. >> did you? >> i don't know who to pick this year. >> 4-to-1 is okay? >> no. >> you want the 50 motor vehicle 1. >> that's why they cool it a dark horse. >> giving your money away. >> no, i'm not going to bet! >> this is like his third -- >> do you bet on the employment number? >> no. >> we are counting down to the employment report. liesman probably does bet on it. >> that would be like pete rose betting on baseball. >> i don't bet on it. >> 168,000 nonfarm jobs were

added last month. that's what the consensus is. the unemployment rate is seen holding steady at 8.2%. i think that goes down, steve. >> unemployment rate? depends what happens to anticipation. >> oh, you're in the conspiracy camp. >> u.s. equity futz down by 10 points. it's not going up. >> not allowed to. >> no! no! that guy will get audited if he lets that happen. down to the penny. >> you don't have to be revisionist last month. they don't reviez the unemployment rate. they only republic viez the payroll survey. >> we have another big story today. i know you cannot fathom this but there is a big story and kay lar is outside a mortgage company right now because the company is beginning its road show and it begins in a way.

well, not inside what they're pulling in and they you the most important thing of of the things that are running this fuel. basically the indent is coming here today to start a pitch for not only cannock banks of the entirety of their sand force. that's not the case for the other underwriters, jpmorgan and goldman sax will be heading out of this. jpmorgan putting big light seens in the word owe and had to prepare. it's basically a lesson in hour to pitch the deal of the century. if you're trying to value a social network at up to $96

billion, sell 334 million share at a price of $35 million, you better know what you're selling. i'm told these meetings involved equity specialists in the case that final insert has been brought that they want every single person on that sales dessides desk to answer questions. it didn't happen for gm, a variation didn't happen for visa's deals several years ago. it's wave practice for what's been called a pretty young management team, especially with mark zuckerberg. official live kicking off back here at morgan stanwood duvally.

lead and head to the chair ton to get do a group there is tipping march and kind hl. >> and talking about all the financials are going to be key and those are going to be the management numbers on the road today. i hear step is in new jersey. they're trying to get flow's atwork has gone on. >> there's a family air force base been i think about it taylor. would it mean a lot to them honestly? would it -- if you build it, it will do it. i finally got on my situation right before the --

>> you're calling. >> rye, that ipo will go badly. >> they're camming this the concernian's premium. >> are you a air force baser honestly? i'm on facebrook stilling chasing after my oonds. >> do you put pictures on? >> i don't. i don't. but i should. >> i don't. i put some professional ones on there like in the middle of hurricane to make people think i'm really hard and tough. other than that, no. >> kate some change will kaleb. thanks so much for that. youshire -- what's the pope got on his facebook page? >> were you here earlier?

>> it's getting racy. it's gotting hot in here is what's happening. let's get to becky now in omaha. >> you can feel it all the way here. joe, by the way, in terms of picking stocks, we should warn everybody you did buy an ipad recently, right? >> i got it so i can get my e-mails on the sy pad but i've had it for a while. >> you and i are both pretty bad with these things, refusing to switch over to some of these things. >> and he's got new underwear that i will not try. >> you weren't here yesterday. we're all wearing tommy johns restaurant. i did hear about these shirts, though. you guys are weird. you talk about my we things. let's talk about the news of the morning. it is less than i think 22 minutes to go before we get that job report and we've been

talking all over about prepare dikss. he doesn't ally out on on whewh they're going. butch we met up with here at berkshire hathaway. we got an opportunity to talk to him about jobs and here's what he had to say. >> we are looking for 160,000. would you -- i know you don't normally look the numbers but would you take the under or over at 160,000? >> probably the under. >> why is that? >> 3. >> rick: it's been behind since the fall of 2009. that angle has not improved in

the last few months. the economy is better now than it was three, four months ago but it's not a lot better. >> why do you think it's not improving from washington to demand. >> it's because because construction has hasn't a huge effect. when we start leaping the buildings, as many as we have households for, and u see a change in the economy and my grab, i will tell me. i'm gradually learning not to predict when. >> hmm. there you have it, warren but ek the um ber,io. >> whatever he's picking. >> that's a good question. i don't know that he's -- i'm not going to see him but i guess

we could try and -- i don't want to wake him up if he's sleeping. >> no, don't. have i to have one by the end of the day. why not take a shot. >> warren's guy providing the veterinary medicine. >> i got to look up some odds here. >> let's get to our panel because it's an important day. the derby is tomorrow. meszaros financials ceo, we had her pick -- oh, no, this is all about the jobs report. >> we may get both. >> business professor, former chairman of the white house economic adviser. did we not spend some quality time at the correspondent differenter? i mean, we hugged. it was a little weird but that's okay. >> it was man hug. >> that's right. there was nothing to it. >> you got a pat on the head. >> then i think large vanny will

join us eventually but our own steve liesman is here. when i saw you in dc and die and you will get to you in what second, irhad negative number and i have to say your prognostication was pretty good. >> yeah, look, i think the reality, though i'm still trying to get over till -- you think. we should go short europe because some guy in kentucky spit out his m-- >> you go short europe. >> i was giving you a chance to change the subject. you want to go back to that insanity you can. people are going to think something's in the air over there. >> and big brown was 2008. that's the last time something got close.

there is a kentucky indicate. >> you don't have -- all this prove of verbial -- >> he's an economic power? >> i think -- where is your number now? is it 120? >> yeah, i'm back 125. weep started growing a bit last year and you saw the numbers get better. now we're back into some more modest growth, you're not going to benefit too much from that. >> i forgot my hat today. disappointed about that. >> do you have a derby pick or are you not following it?

>> i do. it's actually a secret that i take with my house. >> really. wow. >> and sabercat. austin, you do not have a pick, auscontinue. my name is i'm horsing, getting i lock over and they're cute. >> not to say nbc's spelling me off on the top of that race. >> my triple crown indicates or is no less than that what was the still? how did that work out? >> that wasn't me but second of all, that's very misleading as you know. >> wee got your clone. i was going to ask you to play

zandy. mark whaerks your a number? >> what's that, joe? >> what's your number and or desher winner. >> derby winner. i'll give you my number. 140 on payroll employment. the risk to the down side but this is all technical and temporary. it's a weather payback, it's seasonal adjustment issues, sim pling problems in the retail sector. there's an incredible last of august i think we'll be back to trend -- >> you know, i'm a little angry at the whole panel here. >> including me? >> i'm angry. >> what did we do? >> you're all bullish going into last month's thing. i number comes in lower and you give up the -- >> wait, wait, wait no, no, no.

wait approximately. >> we're -- we're talking about the admiration of the good weather, which skewed things too high. when that went away you call that the -- >> let me do the arithmetic. >> the average monthly game clay was boosted up about -- there's a giveback of 150 k. i thought it was going to be april and may but it started in may. so we'll be weak in the next three monies. but trend growth extracting from the effects of weather and other technical issues. 1 it's 175 to. >> we took a hundred off.

there's another 15 to come off now in your opinion? >> rwell, in your opinion -- >> it's a record decline in a two-month period in retail in a time when retail is doing fine. that's go to be revised away either today or if it's revised up, it means april will be weak are or it's going to add strength to the april number. weather is the aberration. >> weather is the aberration. i'm looking at creative cause here. >> pick bubba watson. more from the man? >> you change your mind. >> much more squawk ahead. news from the jobs department at 8:30 eastern time.

first another blue chip book award, this time for apple's co founder, steve woz nick.

arrival. with hertz gold plus rewards, you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

welcome back to "squawk box" on this special jobs friday. the market with open slightly down, though the numbers may change in about ten minutes. we are very happy to introduce the book club. we've been kicking it off all week with classics that belong in the library. today's blue chip book award goes to steve wozniak, how i invented apple computer and had fun. >> i'm so glad. when you write a book, you write

it for certain kinds of people like yourself. >> it represents a kind of -- i wanted to talk to you about the book. when you wrote this book, what was your goal? >> the reason i wrote it more than anything else was that other young people who were playing with technology, reading things, thinking about what they could do, exploring, trying to keep their own little programs, maybe on an sy phone sort of spoke, this exthis is a path you you go through for a very important. thaent you'llly that important but i know you haven't read walter's book. were you surprised steve jobs difficulted -- he's been doing this he's not dpoing it for the money, he's going it for greater visions of what he can do for the world. i think he does admire things a lot.

he said steve had him talk to everybody openly, just wanted it to be truthful, even if steve wouldn't like it. >> reading the book you really against the sense that he's a control frequent. i would have imagined he bo h e have -- he would have maybe wound up about 70 and had a great impact on products and still openness on other things in the world and niceness to people. but i haven't read the book. it's only hear say i'm glad. i would want a bik to me about genuine and the ruth truth. >> steve wozniak.

very, very by, girl. he's a good fren. he talked about a complex relationship with steve jobs. >> that's a good way to put it. >> big admirer of himself. >> he was a big admirer of himself. >> where's mack? he's going to put this on the shelf. you're not going to make a joke about mack's cell? have more authors who wrote "the world on wall street. and we have a number of other biggies coming up. joe? >> we are in final countdown mode. >> i've got an initial pick. >> the april jobs report is still going to happen. >> we'll have the labor

department numbers.

welcome back on this jobs morning. facebook aims to raise about 10.6 billion in silicon valley's largest public offering, valuing the company at $96 billion.

jpmorgan is among those raising the flag on the offering today. facebook is telling the banks the sales force outpitched that ipo. it's the big quitter news of the morning, which i think you would know. >> i don't. >> demi moore finally changed her twitter handle from mrs. kutcher to @justdemi. >> i'll follow her. let's see if she follows me back. ahead of the numbers, dow futures are not doing a whole lot. wasn't great earlier. but we do have our panel. are you part of the panel liesman? >> why not. >> what's your number, rick?

>> 161,000 and done talking for the kentucky derby. >> done talking? >> done talking. >> what an unusual pick for you, rick. >> i was think of the ben bernanke. it done talking. >> there's too many. >> what's the nose ♪ bleeding nose? >> and there's something about daddy? >> 15-1. who's your daddy? >> i have to get my paper here. >> you never take the over. i have no idea where anybody's at. have i a little model i crunch and it spits out 161,000. that happens to be close to the consensus but i didn't let that detour me. >> i say the rates can never go up again. >> oh, i agree with that. i agree with that.

the race is a political football. a one decimal point number and you can pretty much have any unemployment rate you want. >> austin would know what they actually do but he wouldn't tell us. he might tell me at the correspondents dinner -- >> you did good at the water. dirty joins us. up 115,000. april nonfarm payroll increase by 115. the unemployment rate 8.1%, no change in average hourly earning. private sector job throw, that's below the consensus forecast. we added an additional 53 jobs. that 8.1% unemployment rate is the lowest in a little over three years. the last time it was low or lower, january of 2009. but the way we got there, both

the household survey had both the plout and unemployed this ringing dramatically. the labor force to 63.6%, job growth, plus 6,000 plus 29 thousand, health care plus 19, manufacturing -- biggest job losses, warehouse, transpooration and local government in particular losing 15,000 jobs. we had no change in the oat at fix stands at 14.5%. total unemployed at 12.5 million, 41.3% unemployed for six months or longer. back to you guys. >> let's get some reaction. i think austin probably came the closedest. so if you were playing wries his

droch. were you the closest on the number? >> yes, i was the -- >> not with the revisions. that's right. i'm a good race ca-- rate calle. i can nail the rate every time. >> earlier he always said when i facts change, i change my mind. what do you do, sir? >> well, obviously this isn't a great report but this is exactly as expected. you know, this is with the revision. we were level of employment is up 160, 165,000 in the month of april. so very consistent with the idea that the slowing and job creation is related to weather payback. and that has we move into the

summer, he will revig rate effectively. the imagine program expired in nine states in april, that's measured unemployment rate. >> so that's going to fall further. >> what are we making a participation right here? >> well, of this number getting down to 8.1, which seems like a relatively poor -- >> mark made the point that the unemployment is down. people who were previously looking for a job are no longer looking for a job. >> steve, you're making faces over there. >> i'm just looking at the details here. i think there are some interesting details. one of the things that's interesting here is the fall off on transportation workers

when -- i'm a little confused by that. the bounceback in retail was interesting and a little unexpected. it had fallen off the rebounded at the temporary was help. 21,000 the revisions to the prior months, guys are, what were the government numbers? >> they were down slightly. but, steve, also what gives? how come the market at this point is actually trading higher? >> each cancer has to -- i'm a little confused where the job loss sez coming from. the 130 on the april number, the upward revision -- strong upward revision february and march i think think cra-- that's it, ths

it,ets generalry running 30, 40k. >> six flags is supposed to be bringing on workers in april. maybe not six flags. >> can i just point out -- >> now they're bringing him on again. >> austin. >> one thing to point out. we've had three years go a row going from the pal into the winter and it comes in very strong and it goes down. i wonder if there's not some adjustment to the seasonally i justing factor. >> let me tell you when i was scaring about vocational hours is up addictive, 40 time hours predict for other lengths in we're up 14 years. mark, what's happening in the manufacturing sector of this economy and how is it being reflected, rightly or wrongly, in the jobs report?

>> it's blind the manufacturing base is strong. week sales we saw last month, rising steadily. mateness and transportation, my ge is that's also -- you got trucks moving around, moving the employees around. >> moving the stuff around that is built in april. >> yes. >> there -- instead of some of the weakness in the economy, investment was not strong in the first quarter but inventories have shown that they're trying to drain them a little bit, some of it is overbuilding that we saw. the respect that moves down into the next -- >> guys, what you say what's happening on the bood side of the economy.

we were doing a 200 print now it's down around 100. >> i have a different question, which is we always talk about this election year and we talk about the 8% number being some kind of magic number. is it now a lock and is it a good thing given what weir seen about. >> i'm going and what do we think of that? >> first of all, i don't think you tem anybody what the jobs market is like and what is going on in your old rule. the second thing is pretty are pretty sophisticated. i don't think it's quite as advice rahal as it is odd tonight. >> listen to the 7:00 and 6:00 news, steve. i dote totally disagree.

it's the provened onnence home -- >> want to stand up for the statistic state official scum. >> i didn't say it was a conspiracy. did you it didn't given the rise in the unemployment rate didn't read the elt m-- >> you know what, steve, back up your words with some facts. it's been a disturbing trend for people really worried about people finding jobs and not political spin. i say it's a problem no matter what side of the aisle they control. >> what's the problem? >> the on that we count people

pays tarkes. >> no, what you do see is that tonight the headline number that people are going to talk about is 8.1. they're not going to talk about some of these underlying issues -- >> i think "nbc night live news" -- >> what's your view on that? >> austin? >> it's not a lock it's going to go down that much in the economy rate. if you saw the include -- >> guys -- >> the question is how much does it flow, how much do we pick up? if we see in the two and a half range, whun very small couldn't, which is i think the big was barktinged? all of a sudden that was a good number for once. what was that, 260? >> 264.

>> we have to leave it there. our thanks to our special report. facebook and yahoo!. let them get down two. markets filling up. it's somewhat surprising i think. >> well, i think the market -- although 115 is lower than a lot of college hockey teams drk a lot of traders were bean when he came back and banged on this big thing that we're seeing, even and town. >> we are going to get reaction toot number in the 9:00 hour and then in the is is hour and their rehan, as somewhat of a talking point, as will the waut.

i know you're for how long this i think that. >> no, that's our viewers. that's our viewers, carl. >> hey, guys, do you have views on scott thompson and some of those resumé padding issues? accounting? >> i think the yahoo! came out immediately and said the iron hard redding is hysterical, second paragraph maybe it says after doing a wish amud mentory search on google -- >> you see low blood thinner. >> rick: you go if you're a college coach, you have to do felt from home. >> they have to as a long short but i'm going through it.

>> did you a familiar in that race. until i feel link i was watching the knicks implode again. >> you do know this is a big event tomorrow, right? >> i know the nicks played last night, that's my only point, that that's all i'm going to exactly. south carolina, wow! i know there's a cod big for you. okay. >> i'm sticking of doing something two knows best. >> thanks, guys, we'll see you. >> thanks be watching your thanks. coming up, an up.

i can remember the last closer. it was the acura, when he took office. when it manse for the both camps. the economy is. zap technology. arrival. with hertz gold plus rewards, you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

an accident doesn't have to slow you down... with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer... with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance,

responsibility -- what's your policy? departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

welcome back to "squawk box." the futures have turned lower, down 37 point or so. the economy will be at the center of the battle for the white house. joining suss jared bernstein, senior fellow and a cnbc contributor and joe watkins is a former george h.w. bush white house official and republican strategist. it's like every month -- welcome both of you. >> good to be with you. >> every month both sides have something. by all indications it, looks like it could be a 7 handle by the time of the elections.

you don't like even being above 8, right? >> you're exactly right. i'm not seeching a ton of sunshine in here. i get the point in the tick down in the unemployment rate but it's not the kind of tick down we want to see. look, i appreciate your introduction. while it's always temple pting to go to the political space, i think the thing that's mattered most to me is labor demand. we are stuck with labor demand that is just too darn week. can you be some wiggles of a around 1830, 120. i'm not pleased with what i'm seeing. >> now we come back to the question that we will be having you on to talk about, you and joe whn now and november. in you're spend more and do what

that's all we're going to be about until we're blue in the face. >> look, if there was ever a natural experiment on how this notion of you a tear expansionism just plain -- this austerity stuff is absolutely hurting us. >> joe would probably say the expansion of government and activist agencies is why we're seeing it here. right, joe? >> i would indeed. one of the things we have to worry about is the growth. republicans say what you don't want to do is expand government, you don't want to grow government, you want to grow the private sector. it's good when you see more private sktor jobs being -- republicans don't like to see expansion of government. they like to see a relux in the said of government costs.

>> i would totally agree with you if we were in the heart afro bust expansion and the unemployment rate was bumping up at 5%. with the economy moving along away around 2% and these reports of things beginning to downshift, that's a type of very different kind of approach because the austere mesh years you've seen here and in europe have demonstrablely not been working. >> what about some of the labor reforms and the bright spot in europe where they've made some of the structural reform here. >> no, i take your point and i have seen some of those strubtier reforms in here, we've got we have a deleveraging cycle. even bernanke.

they're all correct. this is not a normal -- >> i'm with you joe. >> that's my point. >> what i mean by public if the president's white house arrives to spin a positive sign, this is going to come down to five or six states on the electoral map. so you've got to look at those states to see what the employment picture looks like. i'm telling you. there's a lot of weakness in the economy. you have foe remember that those numbers don't take into account all the people that have stopped looking for work. >> and while i've got you hear, i don't know if you saw the journal piece, but we had rick scott on, too. when you see things like that, wisconsin, there's some things that are going pretty well.

there's a you'll, too. but it's ranking and the deficits. i mean, things have gone better by just asking some public unions just to chip in a little. they haven't had to layoff teachers. skbl i think the latter part of what you said makes sense to me. it is tough when the decembispa is so deep. but broadly speaking, what really matters, in states like that and the kind of ref eon dumb they're dealing with. and there i think you see the economy is just not really functioning the way you wanted it to be. corporate profitings are as high as they've ever been. i think that's a wisconsin problem, as well. >> this is not good-bye. >> i hope not. >> this is only until we meet

again. >> coming up, the biggest story of the morning. what if i -- something happened. if i pass out or something? >> you're always here. zorkin is here. and he's bringing my glasses. i thought your pump broke. >> anyway, we will head to break. and then i'm going to talk to becky when we come back.

yeah, scott. i was just about to use...

that's a bunch of ground-up paper, lad! scotts ez seed absorbs and holds water better. it's guaranteed to grow grass anywhere, even if you miss a day of watering. [ scott ] seed your lawn. seed it!

welcome back to "squawk box." >> joe? it's your conscience speaking. it's your conscience speaking. >> you know what i'm doing? i need a dart. i'm looking at -- it's impossible, becky. there's 20 horses. it's impossible. >> zorkin took saber cat. did you pick one? no, i don't en know who the horses are. >> you do know it's an nbc thing tomorrow? >> i do. but i got a little busy. >> i'm going to have my pick and you pick one before we come back. we're going back to break. you are watching "squawk box right here on cnbc. look. it's so simple. [ male announcer ] in here, the right minds from inside and outside the company come together to work on an idea. adding to it from the road, improving it in the cloud

all in real time. good idea. ♪ it's the at&t network -- providing new ways to work together, so business works better. ♪

we have a big show coming up on monday. three hours with warren buffet. did you pick one? i might as well use a dart. but we're looking sphereward to that show on monday. who are you going to go with? >> i'm taking the two daddies. daddy long legs and daddy knows best.