trump will meet. thursday may 12, 2016 and "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ good morning. back to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm michelle crews cabrera with joe kernen and scott wapner. a positive opening of 85 for the dow. after the big selloff yesterday. overnight in asia. a mixed report there. nikkei was essentially flat. hang sec slightly lower. shanghai flat. european equities higher across the board. and in crude this morning. wti is higher nearly 1%.

gain of 44 cents. 44.67 ber peril. brent at 48 this morning. and out of brazil, the senate has decided to proceed with a impeachment of dilma rousseff. vice president will replace her during the trial and permanently if she's guilty. >> 180 days guaranteed that she's out? >> yes. while they undergo trial. >> trial. >> and then they have a vote and the senate has to vote by two-thirds to push her out permanently. we think based on the trial. but nobody thinks the trial is relevant. they think they already know the count in advance. >> and interesting the way the stock market has reacted. it was at one point maybe it

still is the best performing market in the world year to date. >> trading on her eventual departure with the idea that the vice president is more market friendly. almost anybody could be more market presently than dilma rousseff. >> what's up? >> closen on fifty in oil. the market was down 200 and -- >> supposed to be co-related. >> -- doesn't work anymore. and then. >> where did they get that? >> "squawk box." >> the diamond banker. the diamond calls someone a jerk. put toint front page of the money section. but calls community banker a jerk. >> the perspective is he wrote, jamie diamond wrote an op ed i think on april 5th or around there if my memory is right. sort of as an olive branch. it was at least portrayed as between big banks and smaller banks and a time when big banks are sort of, you know,

continuously under fire. so jamie right this op ed and the head of the community bankers association responded with, i don't know, an interesting comment. it said just because jamie diamond says, you know, let's sing kumbaya -- >> right. >> -- it was take your olive branch and shove it yes. >> -- that was his response yesterday. said that guy's a jerk. >> you know him right? >> i don't think i've ever interviewed him. >> he's been on a million times. long time. over the last ten years camden fine, probably been on 40 times on this show. >> long time friend of squawk. >> you can't use jerk but maybe she's got a name for jamie we can elicit and then we can really get this thing going. >> reality show for -- >> i will see your jerk and raise you a -- can i say putts?

yank i don't think you are because it means something. >> is it so offensive we're not supposed to say it on television is this. >> yeah. >> let's just -- really? >> let's just move on. >> a stupid or worthless person engaged in inconsequential or unproductive activity. >> keep going. >> i was gonna say is this the third or fourth. >> only gives me those two. oh the yiddish. i see. okay. >> glad you're with us. [ laughter ] okay back in the u.s. a pair of economic reports top the agenda. weekly jobless and april imports both out u out at 8:30 a.m. import prices expected to picked up last month after the relative will flat showing in march. cleveland fed president, loretta mester and eric rose again and

kansas city fed pretester george all fomc voters this year. before the opening bell we're going to hear from nordstrom and shake shack then after the close. >> remember yesterday we were down 40 in the futures because of disney. and then macy's hit. and he we closed down 40. i couldn't believe the market was -- that shows -- >> spread right? >> well that shows you early on it does not necessarily immediately reflect what is going to happen in the regular session. there is not enough volume really early on. >> -- since the recession. >> right. >> that's how bad it was. >> right. and remember we keep -- i don't know we keep whistling past the graveyard. first quarter gdp -- then slowly

came down 5%. no no no first quarter is always week. no no no. >> jobs are real weak. >> makes you worry a little bit doesn't it? >> east with your does wrong time of the year. >> gonna to talk to some fellas that coming up here that things aren't that -- >> things are pretty tough out there. >> he's our retail guest. he has a name we'll tell you later. >> make up. is there any powder left for me at all? it's all gone. they sent out for like emergency, over to duane reed to -- no. to try to --. >> i was gonna wear your wig but. >> pull on it. go ahead. >> touche. >> i have seen the leaf blower test. i did. >> the leaf blower challenge. >> i did. yeah. >> the only people that call me folicly challenges are ones that just wish i was.

and if that doesn't work they say get a new colorist. corporate news, which is more important than this other stuff. aetna says it plans to continue its obama care health insurance business next year. that is a headline. here is an insurance company that actually is going to continue to be in obamacare. and it may expand beyond the 15 states where it currently participates. earlier this year aetna reported obamacare business has operating losses about 4% in 2015. rival united health one of the largest said it will exit most of obamacare exchanges next year. linn energy, the oil and gas producer has about 10 billion in debt. founded in 2003, went public in 2006. so it is a -- it is leaving. it is gone. 13 years and the epitaph. and nissan is reportedly gearing up to take a stake in mitsubishi buying out about a third of the

company in a deal worth nearly $2 billion. after of course mitsubishi admitted to overstating the fuel economy of a number of its models and the purchase would make nissan mitsubishi's largest shareholders. >> they say it gets like 45 miles to the gallon and it's only like 18. >> yeah. unless you are going downhill. much better. >> you know when i went to school. >> you walked. >> it was uphill. >> both ways. >> exactly. >> in the snow. >> there are golf courses, i've seen them. spy glass. it is all uphill. weird. mails sis. mines investor confidence on the street. and wreaking havoc. we'll hear from kohls and ralph lauren. and the some more stuff. did you know what was going to

happen yesterday. >> i thought macy's might -- i was expecting 4.5. did i know it was going to happen directionally? yes. >> how did you even know directionally? >> because i spend my life in retail stores and talking to retailers. >> people are buying apeapareap what are they buying. >> we know millennials are buying experiences. >> are they naked during the experiment os just wearing the same dirty old clothes. >> millennial have as many pieces of apparel in their closet as we did as baby boomers at the same anyone. it is not they are not buying clothes. they are buying them for a heck of a lot less than we are bought them for. what they pay for their clothes is dramatically less but they have just as many units in their

closet. >> so lower average ticket? >> tfrs not. it was traffic. but that traffic went to h&m, forever 21, you name it. places that sell the product one heck of a lot cheaper. >> -- fashion these days. >> not just fashion. tjx. ross stores. burlington stores. all the prices off price also are taking share. are they going to have great reports? no because all know there is too many retail right now. and we all know the biggest gain ner apparel is amazon. so online is really taking share. so between all of the factors and the worst crummy weather for the last year we've had for retailing, none of it worked. >> so not bad weather but bad for retail. >> a warm winter and cold spring that's awful. >> rained for for like ten days in a row.

>> the market can't go up till it stops raining. >> there is a data point. 48 square feet of retail space per capita. >> depends how you calculate it. but the point is on an apples to apples basis we have twice as much per capita retail space as any other place in the world. uk is second. they are half of what we are. so yes, we are the most overstored place in the world. >> what should that go down to? >>. >> it's going to have to go pretty fast because that doesn't even include what's going on online. if you did that you would be up another 10% or so. so over 50 square feet. it's gonna have to go down by at least half at some point in time. i believe over the next 1.5 yea -- 13.5 years --. >> how much in trouble, literally, are macy's and anchor

stores in the mall? department stores? >> well they are all in trouble -- >> i don't sales -- >> not going to go broke. macy's is very healthy. great cash flow. it is going to monetize the real estate. as of right now they are probably a biesmt however if you look into the future, not that far we have 1100 enclosed malls in erk many. we probably need 700. the top 250 will do find. the rest are going to struggle. macy's had 800 stores. they probably need 500. kohls and pennies between them have a lot of stores. doesn't mean we're going out of the mall business but we are going to need a lot less of

them. >> simon property group for example, that stock was at an all-time high two kay days ago. >> and they own a lot of malls. >> todman mall -- gp mall, they are winners. those malls are gaining market share. the bottom end of the spectrum, the c plus, b plus malls they are struggling. >> could go out of business? >> they are going to go out of business. it is just a question of how was and what rate that happens. >> purely location? >> no. it's volume, it's anchors and location. depends how good the mall is. garden state, roosevelt field, king of prussiprussia.

>> why would you go anywhere else but the short hills mall. >> yeah but the last time i've been in that mall i can't remember the last time. >> but we don't go to the mall. >> if i haed to goth to mall that would be the mall i go -- >> if that's why i gould. >> now i go to the virtual mall called amazon. >> those malls are gaining they are running positive comps. >> i've been there you know why. apple store to buy charger. >> they have every store. to jan's point. they have every store that you would. >> what did you call it? >> fast fashion? >> why did they say sign him to me? you said that and it immediately impressed me and i haven't said another word. >> i impressed you? stla

>> you're not a macro guy. >> of course i am i'm a rae re tailer. you have to be. >> there is a consensus that we're going to do 2% this year. no way no how we won't it is what we do every year and therefore we don't need to worry that the fed is at zero and we are going to go below two where they have no bullets left. will we do two? or can the consumer dictate that we've got a slowdown. >> the consumer is fine. they have money and more wages and there is nothing wrong with the consumer. we're selling cars like crazy. >> so macy's does that and it is not a recessionary. >> that is not the real problem. the problem is price transparence to other modes -- >> -- see it spread to the rest of the market. if you don't think macy's is reflective of overall gop. >> i think walmart is going to be fine by the way with their numbers and. they are the economy. >> okay. so was it a one day reaction in

the market yesterday? >> pointing out that when macy's numbers came out the futures numbers didn't go down even more and why not? to january's poi's point it is reflecting over overall. >> the wapner top. discussion of the diamond bottom. >> the wapner bottom is better than the kernen bottom. >> yeah don't try to pick a bottom. it's disgusting. [ drum roll ] thanks jan. >> it is a hard act to follow, you know. >> and he even had a rim shot. [ laughter ] no heed wi ed withad a drum. isn't that what it's called.

[ drum roll. >> in our next guest is o ophthalmoptimis optimist optimistic. -- >> accented snare drum back beat. >> that is what a rim shot is. >> tell our viewers what you thought it was. >> i thought it was something to do in a basketball game. >> that is a ring. >> it is a ring shot. >> hi ed. on that note. do you want to weigh in in on this? no please don't. just finishing this retail conversation. the market seemed to react through the day directly to

that. how concerned should we be? >> i just heard i think it is really a micro problem rather than a macro problem. a shift in the share of spending not necessarily the consumer is in trouble. i think the consumer will continue to drive us higher. not a tremendously fast pace. i think two-ish. not that things are great but we're continuing to move positively. >> how does the market feel to you. 1810 to 20080. come off a little bit there. does it feel a little precarious position? have we come too far for no apparent reason. >> we're basically at the same level as in november 2014. so we've been flat for a year half. and the main reason is simple is that earnings have been flat for year and a half. so the key this year is better growth in the second half of the year which i think likely to

happen. >> do you think the bottom -- >> is that bottom in? >> 1810? >> right. >> just mathematically, the market volatility is about 20% a year so there is a chance it will go lower than that at some point. but i continue to think if i'm right that earnings are better in the second half, we'll work our way higher between now at end of the year. >> what do you think got the market from the diamond bottom to where we are today. >> we started the year off and a whole bunch of scares came out. another china scare. and we'll probably get another one. but things got better. so you have a bunch of things early that dropped prices down and then people loorked around and said the market is a good buy. so fundamentally the dividend yield on the s&p is well higher than the 10 year bond yield. >> you think it is fundamentals.

>> yeah. the flat earnings we had down earnings in the first quarter but sequentially if you look second versus first we're going to see probably about 8 to 10% jump in earnings. the head winds for s&p earnings from energy prices being low and dollar strong are dissipating. >> both of those things reverse, the weak oil and is it strong dollar. but we ran out of steam trying to get back to the old highs. the reversal of those two negatives didn't get us back. seems like we've run out of steam on those two things reversing. >> i think it takes a little while for that to work its way through earnings. again, year over year, second quarter would still be lower but on a sequential basis would be up and in the second half maybe 5 or 10% of earnings. we'll still have a lot of volatility because the concerns about china and other things have not gone away. just the fundamentals have been weak for a year and a half. >> the market can withstand a

fed hike whether it comes in the summer or fall? >> i think the fed will probably hike at some point this year although i think it is going to be tough to get over 1% because the national rate i this i is quite low. there is a lot of capital trying to find safe returns but i this i we can get buy thy that. if i'm right valuations are a little high but not high november to stop us in a world where other things are also expensive, capital has to go someplace and you get a better buy in stocks than other assets. >> coming up only in texas. $63 million for a football stadium. that would be a high school football stadium. that's next. >> plus vladimir putin's performance dropping sharply from last year on the ice hockey rink. you know it is always good video with vlad. "squawk box" will be right back.

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welcome back to "squawk box." we've moved chairs because the subject matter over here is m e

more. >> decorum. >> and over there we try not to engage. >> very serious over there. >> dicey over there. >> so we're going delve into this whole rim shot business. actually we're not. it's a snare. that's all it is. agreement on a 62.8 million dollar football stadium for high schoolers. but what is the name of the show? >> friday night lights." >> football in high school in texas. they got a lot of oil money and everything else. >> look at that. >> that is nice. >> beautiful. looks 62 million dollars though. >> what if they have a crappy team? >> something tells me they don't. >> right. >> -- bunch of stiffs out with a

stadium like that, right is this. >> high schoolers some of the best years of their life. are you allowed to play for eight years in high school? no 23-year-olds on the -- >> no. >> voters approved a bond program that included more than $50 million for the stadium and event center. it will seat 12,000 people. that is amazing. the district's current stadium seats about 7,000. but the school district has nearly 25,000 students. it is expected to be completed by next year. >> that is pretty amazing. >> infrastructure at the local level if they vote for it and approve it. it is wrapped in a $220 million bond is there may be things you liked in the bond and other things you didn't. you are stuck with the stadium. i love this story. it's within called the future of transportation. hyper loop one unveiled the prototype of its high speed pod. tested outside of las vegas on a

track about a third of a mile long. the goal is to transport people and cargo in pods at speeds up to 700 miles an hour. trying to prove it will work. wants to go one under the united states going east coast to west coast really fast. i who you would love that. >> it's a fast train. >> but you travel the speed of sound. >> it's a fast train. >> yeah. really fast. >> but a really fast one. >> i know. but you just want the structural integrity of the track to remain like that the entire way or else -- that is what squares me about trains, versus planes. you can hit turbulence in planes. but if you hit one break in a track. >> as we've seen. >> as we've seen. and that momentum there are 30

cars behind and it it is an ugly -- you better have that track -- >> spotless. >> yeah you better know about these structural integrities. and california? the slightest tremor out there? you know. scary. >> that could be interesting. like a roller coaster. >> just got me worried. i was so excited. >> well you just buy into this stuff without thinking about -- you know. aren't you skeptical about stuff at all? >> i don't know. i'm hopeful. >> i want to -- >> i do not. >> he wants the sing you later to happen. i do not. >> sing later. singularity. i've already reserved your avatar. i want to be you. i want to walk around you as you. in this case i really do mean it. >> russian president vladimir putin took to the ice this week. faced off with former russian

nhl players in an exhibition match in the amateur night hockey lead in sochi. notched one goal and two assists in his team's 9-5 victory. >> his team won? >> shocker. >> shocked. >> the guy was a bit of a slouch this year. he had 8 goals last year. only, what, one goal a coupling of assists. the guy's a good athlete though. right? >> as he tells everyone, yes. >> we've seen it. look at him. come on. vlad can, look he's pumping it there. he's a trainer there. guy's got skills. >> he did have his shirt on in hockey. >> and he shoots of course. kgb, of course. >> one handed. >> come on. [ "eye of the tiger" theme song playing ]

>> is there anything he can't do? during his years as russia's leader putin has frequently displayed -- there it is. you cannot do a vlad story without that. right? >> i've never done that. >> never done that? >> ridden -- my story was going to be on this guy he's 25. got a dating service if you want to marry someone from canada in case trump gets elected, so you can move to canada. i want a pledge from all of these people who they they are going too move. they never do. >> if you make a pledge i you should have to put down a down payment. a non refundable payment. >> maybe a pledge wouldn't work anyway since their signature doesn't mean anything anyway. >> no. >> but lena dunham. alec baldwin. >> make them pay.

>> they all need to move. when they say they are going to move. move. >> coming up a kud between big banks and community banks. jamie diamond called a jerk during his "squawk box" interview yesterday. camden fine, big jerk, is going to join us next. ♪ ♪ [crowd cheering] i could get used to this. now you can. when you lease the 2016 es 350 for $329 a month for 36 months. see your lexus dealer.

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war is on between big and community banks. long time community banker camden fine rejecting a wall

street journal op ed by jamie diamond titled "large banks and small banks are allies not enemies." fine says diamond is trying to use small banks to help pass his own agenda in congress. we spoke with mr. diamond ceo of j.p. morgan chase yesterday. this is what he had to say. >> i think the guy who wrote that's a jerk, okay. the fact is stating a fact. we are one of the biggest banks through community banks. >> joining us now to respond is camden fine, independent community bankers of america president and ceo. welcome to "squawk box." good so see you again. >> thanks for having me. good to be back on. >> trying to figure how we got here. seems as though it started with a diamond op ed on april 95 which said large banks and small banks are allies not enemies. you said just because jamie diamond says let's sing kumbaya

doesn't mean community banks are going to line up like a greek chorus to which he responded calling you a jerk. why did you receive his op ed in the manner in which you did? >> well dpirs first of all wow. i guess we found out yesterday that if you have a policy disagreement with mr. diamond you are a jerk. that is his response? really? i think he was channelling his inner mr. potter. because mr. potter said something akin to george bailey in the move it is a wopder life because potter wanting to turn bedford falls into the potterville i guess jamie wants to turn america into the jamieville and the independent community bankers of america have a legislative agenda. we have an agenda called the plan for prosperity, which is a whole package of community bank regulatory relief items and

whether the wall street too big the fail banks really want do is glom on to our agenda to try to push through items that they want. well, if jamie really is serious about wanting community banks or feeling sympathy for community banks to get regulatory relief, then what they should do is let our legislative package get through the congress and then they can promote their own legislative package and see if they can get that through congress for themselves. that is all we're saying. >> he said yesterday right here that i'm completely sth lly sym to the communicate banks that some of these regulations are killing under the circumstances. these regulation error meant for large banks. i agree with that. i want some of the burden resident deuced on theme that doesn't sound like a guy wanting to pick a fight what is wrong with that comment? >> nothing wrong with that comment. that is a very nice comment. >> are you saying hi disingenuous in making it.

>> words where just words. what we need to do is see actions, scott. what we need to do is is see that wall street will stop trying to impose their agenda onto the community bank agenda to try to get their agenda through congress our back. we have a legislative agenda called the plan for prosperity -- >> can you fif give us an example how the big banks are trying to kblom on to your elective agenda. >> well there are a number of regulate issues dealing with sifis. and they have their legislative agenda. there are a number of items that impact them that don't impa immateriimpact community bank and they want those items of their back.

that is fine if they can get their package of their regulatory reluf through god bless them. but we have a package and we have broad bipartisan support to get our package of legislative regulatory reforms through congress. but the sifis do not have broad legislative support. it becomes partisan all of a sudden. so we want to get our package through. >> shouldn't your arguments and anger be directed towards the regulators? the treasury department? critics of banks? why mr. diamond specifically? i'm also wondering just why him? why he's become the face of this for you? >> well he seems to be -- we don't have anything against jamie diamond. in fact i'm said some very nice things about him over the years. i think he's an excellent ceo. what we have a problem with is too big to fail banks trying to

leverage community banks to get their legislative package through the congress. that is what we have a problem with. >> why is it jamie diamond's problem? is that not the regulators issue? why aren't you -- >> -- spokesperson. jamie seems to be the -- i don't know if he's formally but at least informal lally kind of th spokesperson for the mega bank ceos. at least he's out there a lot. so it tends to be things he says and writes. we are upset with the regulators and we express that every single day. but to get those things changed you have to get congress to enact legislation that will ease the regulatory burden. that's all we want. we want our plan for prosperity to get through the congress. on the other hand there is another issue here. and that is an issue where less than 2% of the nation's banks,

less than 2% of the nation's banks control more than 70% of the nation's banking assets. that is not exactly a balanced financial system. and so you have a discrete set of banks that are not subject to normal market forces. the government is forced to step in and bail them out with taxpayer money if they make bad decisions or have wrong doing. you have to understand that nearly every regulation under which we suffer was triggered by some egregious act or legal violation by a mega bank and we are suffering those consequences. so what we're looking for is a level playing field where all banks are treated the same. >> understood. appreciate your time this morning. thanks for coming on "squawk box

box.". >> sure. and thanks so much for having me. appreciate it thank you. >> he doesn't seem like a jerk. >> he is the president and ceo of the community bankers association of america. >> so mag lev. magnetic levitation and there are mag lev trains so it is above the structurely above riding a rail. >> wouldn't have to worry about the track going bad. >> in an evacuation tube you could get up to 4,000 miles an hour. once you accelerate to up to that. but it counteracts gravity using magnetic forces and one w once you are at that speed you don't need any energy. you just need wind resistance. >> you are getting converted. >> i am. i'm getting excited. but i want to go somewhere though. i don't need to get home in like 30 seconds. >> would be nose though. >> coming up vimeo advertising

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a rumble in the streaming space. amazon unveiling a new ad supported video service, intensifying rivalries with the youtube and another content sharing site vimeo. joining now is ceo of vimeo. good to have you. >> good morning. >> so you are like youtube except that people have to pay for stuff right. >> vimeo has always been free of advertising on the site. >> so youtube has advertisements. you do not. >> correct. >> but the tradeoff i have to pay for stuff. >> for creators they pay us to get upgraded version of the content and we also empower them to sell content however they wish. we see a world where monetizing with advertising is one path. however for a lot of creators selling their work is actually the best way to earn the most

revenue. >> so i make videos for whatever reason about whatever. i can put them on youtube and then hope they get a lot of viewers and eventually i get advertising dollars because of the advertising structure. or i can go to you and i can decide to pay however much i want? >> exactly right. and when you think about it from the creators perspective. earning 10 dollars. you have to stream something thousands of times to earn $10. whereas you can sell it one time and eastern $10. vimeo has a large marketplace to launch your own channel in an ad free experience and charge whatever you want for recurring month subscription. >> are you getting enough eyeballs to make it worth it. >> we just launched the subscription feature on monday. but if you can get -- >> even with amazon and others.

>> all this other free stuff? >> -- just getting into this game. >> the new wave we're seeing emerge now is we're about 10 years into the ad supported e eco system in anline video and just starting to see the billions of dollars move from traditional into online. the major second wave is going to be paid premium video. we're just now seeing consumers ready to pay for content and just seeing creators be in a position to be able to charge for it. so we're focusing on that second wave of premium paid video. and to a certain extent youtube is going after it. it is a massive opportunity and we are just maybe a couple of years into it. >> 200 bucks a year. >> if i do the 200 bucks a year does that get me access to everything? >> the 200 dollars a year is for creators to have our vimeo pro account which allows them to sell. >> they will be selling content for individual piece for -- >> so you make money by the 200

bucks a year. and then a piece of whatever they make. >> exactly right. >> what percentage do you get of that cut. >> we give 90% back to the creator for content they sell attractionry and for subscriptions we're taking just a dollar per creator per month. amazon by contrast is taking 50% of the economics. >> what volume do you have to get to be profitable. >> we don't disclose any numbers for vimeo. do you mean on a creator base or for the company? >> a number that when we get to x we're going to break even. >> we don't break any of those out. >> what sort of role do the facebooks the snap shats the periscopes play in all this? >> those are direct competitors? >> i don't view them as direct

competitors. they are not as good places for creators to build a business. and i think it is going to be a combination of free content that people are distributing with low, for example, and probably know monetization and we ultimately think those are going to be driving into like those w are empowering. >> the youtube experience feels junkie. you look for something and a lot of people put on false labels because they know you're interested. i assume that goes away under your model. who pays $200 a year to post junk. >> that's right. we've always provided the high-equality environment and vimeo is committed to giving people -- >> i still don't know that i would pay up. but it looks interesting. coming up, an equipment maker looking to gain a foothold in cuba. why caterpillar's ceo says the company is ready to move into the cuban market. >> wow. he's here and he's not here.

the ceo of caterpillar met with cuban ministers in havana wednesday. for years the company has been lobbying for a lifting of the u.s. trade embargo against cuba. and caterpillar could move quickly to sell products in the country. as a result of falling relations between u.s. and cuba caterpillar has picked an official dealer with cuba and is in talks to get a license to

sell products despite the embargo. >> you were there. >> yes. in cuba. >> we can assume the earth-moving equipment is in the same state as the -- >> sewing machines? >> yes. >> average automobile. >> yeah. >> they're using tractors that are like -- >> horses. they use horses and plows to till. yes. >> socialism. or is that communism? >> i've never been able to distinguish the two. both believe the government should be in charge of distributing resources. >> and it involves equally shared -- >> equal suffering. >> equal shared misery. >> yes. quick story, the guy in charge of the reforms said we'll never have land reform in cuba because, if we did, the farmers that were more productive would get richer and they would buy the other land from the farmers who were less productive and that would be unfair. >> who needs that. >> they would rather have lower productivity in food -- >> you're preaching to the

choir. i'm feeling the bern. that's the last thing we need. some people doing better than others. >> higher productivity would be awful. >> forget about it. coming up, our guest host will be -- >> you can't agree that socialism is bad? >> of course i can. why do i need to even comment, though? >> you can be sensitive. >> why do i need to comment? >> some people don't believe socialism is bad. some people don't believe social itch is bad. it's amazing. >> good for them. i mean -- >> you could get elected someday. ♪

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to embrace or not to embrace. donald trump, that is. that is the question today on capitol hill as the speaker of the house, paul ryan, and republican leaders meet with the presumptive nominee. we'll talk to former vice president dan quayle and tennessee senator bob corker about the big belt way summit. the dow coming off its worst one day drop in three months. with more shopping giants reporting and new data on jobs ahead, can stocks stage a rebound? we'll break it down straight ahead. it's rare to see a pitcher hit a home run in a major league baseball game. how about hitting two? >> he swings and flies one to deep center field. back goes peterson. near the wall. it's out of here! >> thor's big night in hollywood as the second hour of "squawk box" begins right now. live from the beating heart of business, new york city, this is "squawk box."

welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc. it was her! first in business worldwide. i'm joe kernen, along with michelle caruso-cabrera and scott wapner. >> both of you! >> and scott wapner. a fun hour. it's in the past. that was the previous hour. >> i was on the site that is the epitome of capitalism. our guest host is a cnbc contributor walter isaacson. we'll hear from walter in a moment. we were talking about cuba and socialism. you were not paying attention because you were on stub hub. >> trying to get hamilton tickets. >> you said whatever anyone wants to do. i go, it could affect you someday. you weren't paying attention. you want to go on record saying you are not a socialist. >> if it would affect me right now and make me not have to pay

$800 a ticket for "hamilton" i would disagree. with socialism the tickets would be free but nobody could get one. let's check some of the futures at this hour. they're up -- >> wow. >> they're too expensive. i can't pull the trigger on these things. >> for what. >> hamilton. >> they're like $800 apiece. >> it's good, dude. you get what you pay for in america. that's how it works. >> it's incredible. incredible. i want to go see it. because he's incredible. >> it is good. you should definitely go see it. >> okay. we have breaking news out of brazil. the senate has voted to proceed with an impeachment trial for president dilma rousseff. she will be suspended for

180 days during that trial. the country's vice president will take over during the time. and will replace rousseff permanently if she is convicted of using fiscal tricks to manage the federal budget. the bank of england, as expected, voted to leave interest rates unchanged. the consumer in focus following yesterday's retail wreck which saw weak earnings from macy's weigh on the sector. kohl's out with its earnings. missing on the top and bottom line. nordstrom and party city are out after the bell. it's a big day as well for fed-related speeches. cleveland fed president loretta messer and boston fed president earn rosen gren. all three voting members for the fomc. >> a good lesson there. people forget, you know, adam smith, economic supply and demand. >> we're back to "hamilton"?

>> yes. if you kept them at a hundred dollars or $50 a ticket there would be a five-year waiting list. when you let -- >> you let price clear the market. >> and match supply, it does go to $800. if you don't have $800 that's where you come in and do things and the government might be an appropriate -- >> we don't have to worry because "hamilton" is going to washington. so it will increase -- >> think about when you do rent control. no one can get -- the supply -- even think about health care in certain places where the doctors aren't increased by the amount of demand and where it's a two-year wait to see a specialist in that case, when you don't let prices clear. it's a really good -- i think you have been very instructive. >> thank you. >> i want to thank you for not paying attention to what we were saying and doing your own thing. it worked out well. >> my pleasure. speaking of not letting price clear the market, aetna --

>> go ahead. >> aetna says it plans to continue its obamacare health insurance business next year and may expand beyond the 15 states where it currently participates. aetna reported the obamacare business had operating losses of 3% to 4% in 2015. united health saying it will exit the obamacare exchanges next year. an apple report generating buzz. denying it plans to kill off the itunes service. it was reported they're considering aggressively ending itunes sales or prolonging the phaseout. some reports saying there is an internal conflict within apple on whether it should put for emphasis on the apple music service. shake shack is looking for 5 cents per share on revenue of

$52 million. shares have had a tough year, down about 47%. wow. look at the peak to the left! it will disappear soon. the dow coming off its worst one-day drop in three months. it's been a roller coaster couple of sessions for the industrials. what's next for the market? let's ask jpmorgan's strategist. gabriella, what's more representative of how we should feel about the market? yesterday's 200-point decline for two days ago, 200-point gain? >> neither one, let's say. i think things are not perfect. we shouldn't expect 1% increases every year -- every day. but it is also not as dire perhaps as it seemed yesterday. we expect a little bit more stability in the market, a little digestion for the next few months until maybe we get better data out of the next earnings season. >> i thought you were going to say based on the last couple

sessions more volatility. >> it can net out to more stability, let's say. but on a daily basis we can get big moves. that's because sentiment is so incredibly -- i wouldn't say bearish but reticent. neutral. you can get big moves intra-day. >> doug, where is the market? >> where we came back from february 11th. >> 1810 on the s&p to 2080. almost the top. >> where we're looking at driving market. the four cs. commodities, currencies, central banks and corporate earnings. the first three have been off the table. currency, the usa dollar is big news. took pressure off emerging markets. now putting pressure on the euro and yen. commodities and oil prices coming back and settling the market down. china did a trillion dollars of monetary and fiscal stimulus in the first quarter, that lifted

commodity prices. corporate earnings is the red flag. negative for the fourth quarter in a row for q 12016. that's what the fed are looking at. how come corporate earnings are so negative. i don't like that. >> how long has it been since we've had four quarters of corporate earnings do that? >> 2009. >> i don't think we should forget why we did have the drops in earnings, right? it was exactly the points you were mentioning about commodities and the dollar. we have had a lot of stability since then. we'll see we had a bottom -- >> why was the market so attached to oil? >> is that still the case? >> you are seeing the correlation come down to more normal levels between the market and oil. i think what we learned is that low oil is good until it gets too low, then we start having concerns -- >> $50? 60. >> more around that level. otherwise we start getting

concerns about defaults and spillover effects to the economy. >> what you are seeing is the oil supply glut is working off with the canadian wildfires, some corporations not doing the arctic leases. there are a lot of cut-backs which is helping sustain oil. >> i want to call your attention to shares of kohl's under pressure. continuing the theme of what we have been speaking about about retail weakness. estimate -- earnings fell short of estimates on the top and bottom line. the stock there is down nearly 5%. that follows a big decline yesterday from macy's. >> and kohl's. the two-day decline on kohl's was 10%. >> new low down from -- >> oof. down 50% in one year. >> that's not a reflection of the consumer. the consumer is really -- they're buying -- >> everybody says it's a reflection of amazon. >> instead of buying clothes they're buying autos and houses. >> experiences. >> the consumer has -- i say, is

in a virtuous cycle. full employment. low energy prices. low mortgage rates and it's really jobs, jobs, jobs. >> the half percent gdp means nothing to you in terms of a read on the economy? >> no. a lot of it was because business spending collapsed and went down 6%. with low oil prices it looks like that will work its way off. but first quarter -- there is an anomaly in the first quarter. >> the fourth wasn't good either. what was wrong with the fourth? >> certainly there is economic weakness out there. >> that was an inventory blah, blah, blah. a reverse in the first quarter and wasn't reversed. >> one thing about government statistics which gdp is. you hear there's lies, damn lies and government statistics. it gets restated. it's positive but we see a 2% trend. it's going to reverse in the second quarter. >> one of the interesting things you just mentioned, it's the

amazon factor. it would be cool to ethe correlation of amazon stock getting above 700 and kohl's going down. to what extent do you think there is an amazon factor in there? >> i don't want to pick out particular companies but there are idiosyncratic risks. some companies win and some fail, but there is a big transition with technology. >> it happens all the time. you saw it happen with apple. do you know how many competing companies market caps were rolled into $700 billion of apple. we can think of 30 different companies. >> it also allowed other companies to rise. whole new industries came up because of the iphone. >> you know you're preaching to the choir. >> consumers are smarter now too. they'll shop. >> amazon has a lot of capital market in other places. thanks. sydney blumenthal coming up. he's got a book out on a

republican. the last one he liked, actually. abraham lincoln. >> he is joining us after the break. later, tennessee senator bob corker will be our guest. we'll talk to him ahead of donald trump's big trip to capitol hill today. his take on the race, the white house, the economy, valeant and more. "squawk box" will be right back.

our next guest has a new book out this week examining the life and career of abraham

lincoln. sidney blumenthal is the author of "a self-made man, the political life of abraham lincoln." he is a former senior adviser to bill and hillary clinton. good to have you. >> thank you. >> what's a democrat like you writing about a good republican like abe lincoln? >> i group up in illinois. i always had a picture of lincoln in my school room. i was taken to springfield as a boy and i have always admired lincoln. i finally got the opportunity to really explore his whole life. >> there are surprises in the book as well. it's not the -- but positive surprises. i mean, it's hard to get a better, i think, narrative or legacy than abraham lincoln. >> the greatest american story, joe. and, you know, the lincoln that i found in -- was a discovery. he is not the alabaster, marble lincoln on a pedestal.

he is a real politician. he starts as a poor boy who makes himself, through self-education, to a capable lawyer and the floor leader of the when you ig party in illino >> he was political. he was honest abe not because he was always telling the truth. didn't he mediate horse races? he would pick by a nose and you could believe him. it came from a gambling sort of background. >> people trusted him. and they learned to trust him, and he was somebody who could make deals too. he was -- he was into the art of the deal as a floor leader in the illinois legislature. >> moving on to politics. >> oh, boy. is that all we get for the book? why write a book right now, man? you know you go on the book tour and you'll answer some -- >> you'll get flogged. >> if you write a book about lincoln you know, since lincoln is a politician, that there will

always be politics. >> she is asking you whether you talked to the fbi. she'll beat it out of you. >> my fellow wellesley college graduate, is she furious that bernie sanders has not dropped out yet? >> she went to the end with barack obama. she said bernie has the right to go to the end and let's see what happens. >> he doesn't have a fighting chance. he is forcing her to fight in a primary. >> in 2008 when we -- when hillary ran i was involved in na campaign. >> you still are. are you still -- >> i have no formal role. >> formal role. >> you're still emailing each other, aren't you? >> as i said, i write lincoln and i write hillary. and one of them responds. >> which one? >> one through, you know, esp. but you know, the obama people said in 2008, the math was against us, and it was. and you know, mathematically

bernie is really eliminated right now but he wants to go on. >> you are saying she doesn't want to be a hypocrite. >> let me ask you a question. why shouldn't he go on if he continues to win states? >> well, he can't win the nomination, but i think he has a different calculation. i don't want to put ideas into his head or speak for him, but he has -- he wants to go to the convention and appear before the platform committee and fight for certain positions. he could do that in any case. we'll see what his true intentions are. i think he has a long game that he should think about about being in the senate and his relationship with the new administration and possibly a democratic senate. >> who will she pick for vp? >> search me. >> you have no idea. >> i have no idea. >> would she pick bernie? >> i don't think anyone has really come down to a serious decision yet. we are still involved in that part of the campaign. >> have you met with the fbi about the emails? >> well, as i have said, i can't

comment on an ongoing investigation. >> at least you called it an investigation. so you're off the reservation there. it's not just a -- what did you call it? a security review. comey yesterday said, i don't know what that is. the word "investigate" is in fbi. federal bureau of investigation. this is an investigation. so we cleared that up. and you know the certain news networks have gone back and framed the 10 or 15 times she's said either security review or security -- and play it one after another and have superimposed comey saying it isn't an investigation. i understand politics and even back in lincoln's times there were politics. here is a question that i think is partly responsible for the high negatives for hillary or for the crooked hillary or the dishonest sort of word that you always hear attached to that name. so you couldn't really join the state department, and i don't know whether that was just because of bad blood between you and the obama administration or

whatever it was, but then you are representing some clients in libya but still able to influential the secretary of state and on the payroll of the clinton foundation. is that all aboveboard? does it just look bad or is it actually -- is there something there that it's unethical? >> that's not really an accurate representation of what happened. let me say i testified before the benghazi commitment. i answered all their questions. >> they said -- it wasn't televised but they said it was a cordial testimony. >> i testified for nine and a half hours. i wanted it to be public. second i came out, i said i wanted it to be public. on the question of so-called clients, i had no contracts with anybody. i didn't invest in anybody. no one made a nickel. no one spent a penny. so -- and i had a real job at the clinton foundation working on educational projects.

that was a separate matter. all these were -- all these were clarified. >> you weren't being paid by libya? >> no. >> should we think that there was ever influence in state department affairs that were influenced by donations to the clinton foundation? i don't know whether we've totally vetted whether that's -- it's certainly -- it certainly has the aura of perhaps there is something untoward -- or at least certain people think that in certain circles. >> i think the reports show that there were not donations to the clinton foundation that had any influence on state department policy. and you know, about the benghazi committee, i have urged for the release of my transcript. i have always urged for it. i want it to be completely public. >> how would we know that donations wouldn't affect policy? i mean -- >> how would you know? >> yeah. >> well, i think there have been

some examples that have been reported, and in the "times" and they have been debunked. >> the iranian and all that? >> are you or the clintons at tall concerned about the film coming out in the next several days from cannes, a documentary about the clintons and the money? >> i don't know anything about that. >> okay. >> it's tough flogging a book. they drag you out, the publishers. you're going to take it. >> i'm on lincoln. >> i have to hand it -- you write the book, you go on the book tour and you're ready for the questions that come. we appreciate that. >> i have been on the other side too. >> you didn't have to say anything because -- >> one last question about the book. >> you may. >> which is, 1850s, that's where the book ends. he is in the whig party. whig party disintegrates around him. he is a tough politician. and a third party starts, the

republicans. do you see any resonance for today? >> i do. i think that the republican party is in danger of going the way of the whigs. parties do break up. they do disintegrate. they disappear and they become something else. the reason that the whig party broke up is the same reason that is dividing the republican party today. the whig party broke up in part over race and the question of slavery then, and split into northern and southern wings and it broke up over immigration. there was a huge wave of immigration and part of the whig party broke off and formed the kno know-nothings or what they called the american party. they were nativists. lincoln was very much opposed to nativism. it took a long time to put together a new party. in order to do that he had to figure out how to deal with the

radical app libolitionists. it sounds similar not only on the republican side but also on the democratic side today. >> history doesn't repeat itself but it rhymes occasionally. >> a whig party would immediately bring back all of them. >> thank you very much. coming up, former vice president dan quayle joins us to talk about the race for the white house. futures suggesting we'll have a positive open. "squawk box" will be right back. actions speak louder. something we'll show you. through small things, big things, and spur of the moment things.

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former vice president dan quayle weighing in on the race for the white house, announcing that he will support presumptive gop nominee donald trump. he joins us now. veep, it's great to see you. thanks for joining us. >> absolutely. >> is that too familiar? mr. veep? mr. vice president. >> that sounds good. the only thing that would sound better is mr. president but that didn't happen. >> you should have been a media pundit. how long ago was that when you said trump very likely will be the nominee? how long ago? >> i indicated that back in november. >> november! >> i said, look, he might win. i didn't think he was going to. i said but he might. that put me in sort of a rare

category saying that he might. i still thought somebody else would probably win. but who would have predicted this? i didn't predict it when he got in. he knocked off 16 republicans. and a lot of them were very good, solid people. and would have been good presidents. >> yeah. >> and he one by one by one they're gone. and he wins. >> you know all these establishment republicans. you know them all. i've gotten to calling some of them farosees. now i've seen them called the establishment powders. >> cardinals. >> bill kristol. just outraged that people in the country could go against what they know to be the best thing. almost like the current administration, where the people actually are making decisions instead of the smartest people in washington. but these guys, do they realize how -- it's either him or hillary. it's a binary choice at this

point. >> look, look, you know, anybody expected donald trump to be our nominee, the presumptive nominee. nobody expected bernie sanders to take this race on to california. you know what, if he wins california, which he could, that's going to be an open convention or a possibility of one. who would have predicted that we would know who our nominee is going to be before the democrats do. >> mike murphy can't throw the hand back into the deck and say deal me a new hand, right? >> going to -- i don't want to go back to that stuff. >> but you're backing him. and many aren't. >> no, i am, because we need unity in the party. we -- if we're not unified it will be much more difficult to win. but look, as i said, he is a winner. he knows how to win. now he's in the general election, he has won the primary. general election, the bar all of a sudden goes up. >> we have establishment republicans on all the time who say he can't beat hillary.

>> a meeting this morning with the speaker of the house who said i'm not sure i'm going to support him. >> i can't get inside paul ryan's head but here is my view of that. >> inside romney's head? >> oh, i can get there. >> but why? >> don't go there. >> no. seriously, i think paul was surprised that cruz folded as quickly as he did, right after indiana. all of a sudden he goes, whoa, i'm going to have to make a decision here. i was anticipating an open convention. i am the chairman of the convention. obviously i'm going to have a lot of influence in the convention, and i can help get some of my ideas -- not only the platform but whoever the nominee is going to be. boom, within two hours cruz is out and trump is the presumptive nominee, and he says, i need a little time. okay, fine. he's got a little time. he'll go down there -- my prediction is that paul ryan, he is a team player. he is a republican.

the great majority of his caucus will support donald trump without qualification. getting back to the so-called establishment folks still aren't on board, i'm sure there are probably a few. i think they'll eventually come around. but look, everyone missed what's going on out there. >> right. >> they missed donald trump. they missed bernie sanders. everyone dismissed these guys. the reason -- i mean, here is bernie sanders, calling for a political revolution. how do you think president obama thinks about that? here is my democrat -- independent democrat socialist in the senate calling for a political revolution and getting half the vote. >> can trump beat hillary? >> absolutely. this is the year of the outsider. if you want to look about qualifications, of being an outsider and being successful, he wins. >> what talking points would you give him for the meeting with paul ryan on capitol hill today? >> you know, he is going to find out, as he starts to go around capitol hill, that folks in congress they need a lot of

stroking. you got to be nice. now, he -- he could be nice when people are nice to him, right? and i think it will probably be a very cordial meeting. paul ryan is a very substantive person. he has a lot of ideas. they're going to share their ideas. there are probably some things that they can agree on. there will be things they disagree on. if trump becomes president he'll have to deal with paul ryan. it's not like in business. in business, you try to get a deal. if it doesn't work out, guess what, you go to the next deal. in this situation as your president, if you can't get a deal, you don't -- you go on to the next deal but you're dealing with the same people. so you better understand that these people aren't going to go away. he's going to be the speaker, and the congress is there, and you're going to have to deal with the congress. so this is part of the process of stroking. donald trump understands politics. >> should he release his tax returns? what do you make of the fact that he refuses to do so? >> he's not going to do it. >> i know he's not going to.

but should he? >> it's his call. >> everybody since '76 has done it. >> so what. you better be prepared for an unconventional election. >> it's 40% of primary voters might not like him anymore if he doesn't. >> look -- hillary clinton is saying she released, what, 3,000 pages and all that? he is not going to release it. you know what, it's a story today. it may be a little story tomorrow. end of story. he says he's not going to do it. he kept saying until the audit and all this. he's just not going to do it. so what. >> how do you get along with the bushes now? i know it's not a monolith but -- >> i get along with them. >> how about jeb signing the pledge and now -- is he going to eventually? >> i hope so. he did sign the pledge. >> the pledge that he would support the nominee. >> yes. >> it's bad form. you respect someone dand think they're great -- like romney.

i'm not sure what to think of him at this point. didn't he have some kind of harry reed release your tax returns as well? how can he with a straight face -- >> i actually think donald trump called for mitt romney to -- if i'm not mistaken. when is that book coming out? >> when is his book going to come out? i tell you what. it's expect the unexpected. that's the whole thing. you guys are all journalists. no one has ever seen a year like this. and it's clearly the year of the outsider. i just -- i was a -- in china not last week, the week before, and i didn't meet with the political leaders, but i met with a lot of the business folks over there. of course, that's all they wanted to talk about was the presidential campaign. and so i took them through it and all that. then i would ask them. i said, okay, who did you guys think would be best for china? there was a strong consensus

that they would rather deal with donald trump than hillary clinton. >> why? >> i pushed that point, why. when she was over there as secretary of state she didn't have quite frankly a lot of authority. they didn't say this, but they cut her out as secretary of state. we would go over and have conferences on human rights and women in the work force. a they would have these i call them hectoring issues. china does not like to be lectured to publicly. the genesis of the relationship between china and the united states, it's with richard nixon, a republican. they've done well with republican presidents. whether it's nixon. ronald reagan. george w. bush, george h.w. bush. >> hittiananmen square happened 1989. so we had sanctions on. neither the president nor i in those four years travelled to

china. he was an ambassador. counsel. his ambassador was in taiwan then. but he was the council general. he and barbara had three or four fabulous years there. he is very close to china. >> would the veep make a difference for trump in the general election? >> don't you know that these presidential elections are always dependent on who they put on that ticket? the vice president -- i mean, he carries the president every time. >> you have three -- who is your top three for trump? >> the two obvious ones would be, i think, rubio and kasich. marco rubio, john kasich. senator from florida, governor from ohio. but the one i think would be a really good choice, not on too many people's lists right now but he is substantive, got all the credentials, would be a good teammate for trump, and that's

rob portman from ohio. >> you don't put a woman on to combat the hillary factor? >> if that's the reason the people will vote for a woman, they'll vote for the top of the ticket, not the bottom of the ticket. >> i know portman personally. it's awesome. great idea. >> his bouackground. he has it all. >> he is very much in favor of more trade deals. and that was a major issue. >> that would be good. because look, everything is negotiable with -- with our presumptive nominee. everything is negotiable, including trade. he just thinks there have been bad trade deals. you can make an argument that we could have gotten better deals. every deal could always be better. but having rob portman right there and being involved, i think that would be a great choice. people would say, he is serious. and that's what -- you know, look, the nomination process is over. he won that. now he knows he has to win the

general election. he knows how to win, so have at it. see what happens. >> we didn't ask you anything about the global economy. i was going to ask you about skin cream. why do you look the same as when you were on the ticket? >> golf. he is golfing. >> something i don't know about? skin cream, restalyn. you're looking good. how is business? >> it's good. >> is it a 5% employconomy or a sub-5% employment economy? >> we think it's slow growth. the real unemployment is obviously higher than the 5% that's out there right now. the thing is, i have said this for quite a while. we're a lot like japan, unfortunately. look at japan the last 20 years. low growth, low inflation, low interest rates. that's where we are right now.

now, you -- i have heard you all talk about this, is this the new normal? could be. everyone is now talking about we have had eight years of recovery, right? seven, eight years. when will the recession come? well, we don't know. hopefully it will be a while because, if it comes now, janet yellen has no tools in the box to fight a recession. what are you going to do? negative interest rates? i suppose you could, you know, talk about that. japan's done it. germany has done it, you know. does the united states follow? i hope not. she is talking about raising rates. my guess is that it won't happen until december. she is not going to do this during the campaign. it's too risky. she doesn't want to do anything that's too risky. particularly she would rather have, i am sure, rather that hillary clinton than donald trump. >> you think she has done a good job, janet yellen? >> well, i think she is extraordinarily cautious. i think most people will say that she missed a real opportunity several years ago to

begin to raise the interest rates just in case something happened to have some -- as i said, some tools in the box. she is very smart. she is cautious. but you want your central bankers -- you don't want them to be not cautious. i think we'll have to wait and see. we'll have to wait and see. >> indiana. goes for a socialist. rolling over -- you're not dead. rolling over in your grave. can you believe that? the great state of beyond goes for a socialist. that's the state of the democratic party right now. it's unbelievable. >> you talk about our so-called tea party. donald trump is sort of an evolution of the tea party. he is an outsider. that's theirs. and, you know, no matter what happens in the election, everyone thinks if she is president she'll be more like bill. i have my doubts about that, but they think she'll governor center of the left. she has a huge left-wing

progressive movement that will be right there and watching her every step of the way. if she doesn't toe the line they'll primary her and she will be looking over her head so domestically i think she'll have her hands tied. internationally it's a little different story. >> well, come back. >> but donald trump will be the next president so we don't have to worry about that, right? >> we'll see. come back. cool stewudio. isn't it? >> i like it. coming up, the baseball world is buzzing this morning after a mets pitcher does something not done since 2007. as we head to break, take a look at u.s. equity futures, trying to bounce back after yesterday's decline. doing a decent job in the premarket.

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it's a new day in retail, and together, we're building the store of the future. digital works for retail. let's talk about how digital works for your business. welcome back to "squawk box." among the stories front and center, retail stocks in focus again today after that big selloff yesterday in the wake of the earnings miss by macy's. kohl's shares sliding premarket after it too missed on the top and bottom lines pointing to challenging first quarter sales conditions. off 7% premarket. two economic reports coming out about an hour from now. the government reporting on

weekly initial jobless claims as well as import and export prices. oppenheimer shutting down a two-decade-old commodities fund. it will be liquidated in mid july. it's not posted a positive return since 2010. doesn't that reek of a bottom? that means the commodity bottom is over. right? >> i like the name of the fund. total return. total return has been zero since 2010. that's the total -- it's like ironic. your total return -- you're lucky you're getting some return on principle at this point, i think. when we return, a republican senator bob corker of tennessee joins us. he has been mentioned as a possible running mate for donald trump. find out if he would take the job, next.

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we are just over an hour away from donald trump meeting with house speaker paul ryan on capitol hill. we do countdown clocks. it's silly but we do. >> everybody does countdown clocks. >> there was one last night. 15 hours and 39 minutes to when trump and ryan were going to meet. i am looking at it. it's like, wow. i needed to know that. 15 hours and 39 minutes. senator bob corker. i am sorry, senator. we should have had a clock saying the minutes to corker. chairman of the senate foreign

relations committee and a member of the senate banking and budget committee. thank you, senator. we haven't seen you in a while. good to see you today. >> always good to be with you. i miss you. >> i miss you too. so, have you noticed that it's kind of a -- we're in political season. there has been some stuff going on. i don't know how closely you've been following it. how would you characterize it? and we've talked already a lot about the establishment republicans. i don't know who is who now. i don't know who is tea party, who is conservative, who is populist or for trade or against trade. did you ever expect this? >> no. i think what you are seeing is a campaign that, if you think about it, there were 17 candidates and instead of people being different on policy issues, it became somewhat of a personality campaign as people tried to differentiate. the american people decided they wanted someone who was irreverent, strong, anti-establishment -- anti-washington, if you will.

now we're going through the second phase that is usually first where i think there is more focus on policy issues. so my sense is that the trump effort is focusing a great deal on those issues. there's a lot of evolution taking place. and i think you are already seeing that in many of the statements and comments coming out. and i think -- i actually think today's meeting with republican leaders is likely to go very well. >> it's too bad, too. jack welch has been on a few times talking about, okay, i have noticed the tone. i got it. big hands, small hands. i noticed all that stuff on the republican side, but you've got a couple of social -- hillary is not a socialist but look at the policies and how far left they're moving on the other side. everybody is focused on, you know, these ridiculous arguments about, you know, low-energy jeb and little marco. on the other side you've got a party moving its center to socialism. and it also unnoticed. >> i think what's happening on the republican side is there is a coming together that's taking place. on the other side, there are

deep divisions that are occurring. bernie is still going strong, and it's going to take a while for that to heal. i think you're right. the focus has been on one side, but actually there's a lot happening on both. again, i think -- i think there is going to be a lot of coming together on the republican side over the course of the next two or three weeks. >> have you endorsed trump yet, senator? >> i have always planned to support the nominee. i have said that from day one. >> so that's a yes? >> we have had conversations. we obviously, you know, are -- when asked, we're giving suggestions on certain things. but i think, you know, we are watching this evolution. i have no doubt that at the end of the day we're going to support the nominee. and i like the way the campaign is evolving. i thought the foreign policy speech was a step in the right direction. >> you give them an atta boy. >> exactly right, sir. >> it is weird. how about your -- some of your i'm sure friends of yours that

are never going to endorse him? they take their ball and go home, play another game, get a new hand dealt? wait until 2020? what? >> that's -- my comment there, joe, has been just to chill. i mean, this is -- again, this campaign was sort of done in a backwards way. i think you're seeing policy points coming out now. i saw yesterday where now they're focused on entitlement reform and now they're redoing their tax policy. for the people who have said never, my advice is chill for a while. let this evolve and get a better sense of what policies will be put forth. my sense is a lot of people who have been resisting will become more comfortable but we'll see. >> senator. it's scott wapner. >> hi, scott. >> one question relating to the valeant hearings where you said, quote, i have been fascinated since i have been here by the role hedge funds play in trying

to shape public policy. what did you mean by that? >> well, there's a huge influence of huge money being spent on all kinds of groups to help shape policy. i think you're seeing that play out right now in the puerto rico issue, which is not something i have been particularly focused on. but i think around the issues of the gse. there is no question that there are three hedge funds in particular that just them alone have an opportunity to make $17 billion, just in their three funds, in the event these entities are reipoed. a lot of money sloshing around here. public relations groups, civil rights groups. there was a lot happening. it's amazing to see how that might -- how that -- >> right. have you met with bill ackman privately about the issue of fanny and freddie? >> i noticed an the calendar we're set up in a couple weeks, maybe two weeks from yesterday. we are going to sit down.

obviously that's one of the things we discussed in the hearing. >> i was going to ask you if you know whether you're being vetted but we don't have time so you're going to dodge that one. >> i have no reason to believe i am being considered. thanks a lot. >> thank you, senator, we got that in. hope to see you again soon. coming up, senator amy klobuchar, a democrat from minnesota, she has been mentioned as being on the possible list for possible running mates. actions speak louder. something we'll show you. through small things, big things, and spur of the moment things. big things, hey kevin. hey, fancy seeing you here. uh, i live right over there actually. you've been to my place.

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new this morning, mr. trump goes to washington. presumptive gop presidential nominee meeting with republican leadership in an effort to unite the party. retail wreck, redone today. kohl's shares crushed after earnings fall short. this one day after macy's miss sparked concerns about the retail sector. and everybody dance now. big business meets intense electric music. the end result, even bigger bucks. we'll jam with the company behind this weekend's electric daisy carnival as the final hour of "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ live from the most powerful city in the world, new york,

this is "squawk box." welcome back to "squawk box," here on cnbc, first in business worldwide. i'm joe kernen along with michelle caruso-cabrera and scott wapner. becky and andrew are off today. wow. this is -- >> the electronic dance fever from electric daisy. >> what's that in "the big lebowski." >> yes. autobahn. but there is a real one. craft works or something. >> this could be your theme song. >> i know. >> you like? >> this is annoying. i don't like it. yours is too. >> you could ask him about it. less than 90 minutes away from the opening bell on wall street. the futures right now have been improving. not quite back to getting 50% of a retracement of yesterday's big selloff. but 83 points at least is not an

extension of those weak equity prices yesterday. and, yesterday oil up over a dollar. it didn't help the equity markets. today up another 50 cents. not quite halfway between 45 and 50. i would say that a five-handle is -- it wouldn't be that surprising, probably. >> yeah. >> in the not too distant future. the bang of england holding interest rates unchanged today, as expected. in a statement, the bank of england said a u.k. vote to leave the eu who push up unemployment and stoke inflation. they say growth is slowing ahead of the brexit vote. more on that in a minute. that's in june. other global news. brazil's senate voted to proceed with an impeachment trial of dilma rousseff. she'll be suspended for 180 days during the trial and the vice president will take over touring that time.

global gold demands soared to the highest first quarter total on record, maybe due to negative interest rates. strong inflows into gold-backed etfs. retail hit hard this morning. kohl's missing the mark, falling short of estimates on the top and bottom lines. the retailer points to challenging first quarter sales conditions, to say the least. the stock was down yesterday in sympathy with macy's and it's having its own problems this morning, down 51% over one year. this morning it's down 6 1/3%. monsanto on the rise this morning as takeover talk swirls around the agricultural chemicals baker. both basf and bayer are interested in bids for monsanto. basf is said to be working with investment banks on the bid. the company formerly known as computer estimates beat estimates by three cents. gave better than estimated

full-year forecast as it expands its cloud and mobile software applications. back to this morning's top global market story, the b.o.e. warning a vote to leave the eu would damage growth. frost is following the story. you have the latest polls? >> i don't have the latest polls but we've been listening to mark carney's press conference following the decision to keep rates on hold as you mentioned. he has uttered the "r" word. he said the consequences of a brexit, quote, could possibly include a technical recession. he also said that sterling's weakness over the last year, a figure he put at 9%, had been half down to brexit fears. he said that there could be, quote, perhaps a sharp fall further off sterling in the event of brexit. he warns of materially low growth and notably higher

inflation if we saw a brexit. he did also say that monetary policy alone might not be enough. of course, fiscal policy is not in his remit but seems to suggest that you might see a broad response from the government and bank of england in the event of a brexit. he has meant to be impartial. a tweet from prime minister david cameron who said the bank of england is right to warn leaving the eu could cause lower growth and unemployment to rise. the question on whether the bank of england, which is meant to be impartial, is overstepping their mark. mark carney maintains that he has to make inflation forecasts and growth forecasts and this is the main event on his horizon that he has to consider. for now i'll send it back to you. >> we'll -- we want to know, whether it will happen. i don't know what to say about

the whole experiment. all you did was talk about the effects on u.k. we just wonder about the effects, if there is a brexit, on the whole eu. >> i think it's an important thing to consider. so far we've focused on what the pound is doing day to day. i think as we get closer to the vote we have to also consider with the euro does. you're rightly suggesting that this would have big liquidity impacts. more on the london than on the oo u.k. >> you can vote. >> i'll be doing it by proxy. >> what will you vote? >> i will never say what i'm going to vote. >> okay. give you a pass. >> i have a pretty good idea. >> i don't know if you do, joe, i don't know if you do. >> really? >> wow! >> you know what i think, so are you saying i am wrong? >> i'm genuinely torn. but i know which way i'm going

to vote. i think that's indicative of how this is going to go. the polls have a big portion of undecided voters. a big swing factor. at the moment the odds and pound have suggested with a little confidence that we'll remain. he feel the slight confidence that the vote will go remains perhaps overdone. it will be closer than expected. even if the polls don't change sterling back up at mid 144. even if the polls don't change, as we get closer to the vote i think we'll see more sterling weakness, which happened ahead of the scotland vote as michelle knows. the polls never changed too much but as we got closer the uncertainty increases and you see softness in serling. >> good job not taking the bait, will. >> i can't believe he is voting for brexit! to u.s. politics. a new cnbc millionaire survey out this morning which finds the country's top earners plan to vote for hillary clinton.

with support for trump growing the outcome is not so clear-cut. robert frank joins us with more here in the studio. >> hillary clinton still has a double digit lead among american millionaires but trump is moving up the wealth ladder. the survey asked millionaires who they planned to vote for in november if it's a head-to-head contest between trump and clinton. 44% of millionaires plan to vote for hillary and 31% for trump. that's up from the 9% who said they supported trump six months ago with a more crowded field. 15% of millionaire voters are still undecided. hillary wins 90% of democratic millionaires, 42% of independents and 8% of republicans. trump gets 61% of republican millionaires and 22% of independents. investments for millionaires,

42% said hillary clinton's election would be a good opportunity for investing. 39% said she wouldn't. as for trump, 36% said his election would be a good investment opportunity. 41% said he wouldn't. the most important issues for millionaires in this election, foreign policy followed by political gridlock and then taxes. they also said trump would be the best candidate for business and the wealthy. >> foreign policy being terrori terrorism. >> foreign policy, global leadership and terrorism. all that stuff wrapped into one. >> boy, trump would be the best for the wealthy, but the wealthy are voting for hillary clinton. >> right. which shows -- >> democrats -- they're in tax-frees. i told you how that works. they got theirs. >> it could also mean they're setting aside personal interests when they vote. >> i somehow doubt that. >> well, that happens quite a bit. >> yeah. you see wealthy people

advocating higher taxes all the time. >> it's not in their self-interest to vote for things that end up hurting people -- >> correct. i am saying -- that's exactly right. our next ghost -- our next guest. we don't have ghosts. >> we don't have ghosts. >> next guest said to be on the short list for the vp spot if and when hillary clinton secures the democratic nomination. joining us now to talk about the race for the white house and jobs and ending the embargo and cuba and more. senator amy klobuchar from the great state of minnesota. >> thank you. >> great to see you, senator. i hope i can get you to talk a little minnesota. i do a little bit myself. you betcha' real good. >> there you go! >> senator, thanks. >> do you -- i mean, would you know if you were being vetted? >> it's always an honor to be

mentioned for these things but i think, yeah, i think you would know. like you would probably have to start giving information to the campaign, and i haven't heard if that's happening. i know i haven't been contacted. i will say this is the first time i have ever followed a segment about a poll of millionaires. i was so eager to jump in. pretty cool. >> did you want to vote? >> no. >> some are actually good people. >> i wouldn't qualify. >> some of them are good people, senator. >> what i thought was interesting about it -- no, no. i come from a state that's second per capita for fortune 500 companies. 17 of them. we're very proud of them. what i have picked up from business people -- i was interested that the concern about trump -- that the international factor was there and that you had a number of people still in there supporting hillary clinton. and i think, when you listen -- you mentioned terrorism, but when you think about what he said about nuclear weapons and countries in asia that don't have them, with the talk about building a wall to mexico.

there is a lot of business in my state in getting immigration reform passed when we have a 3.7% unemployment rate. >> are you worried that trump could beat hillary? >> i think that you have to prepare for any election seriously. i don't think you can take anything for granted. when you mentioned odds, the odds are with her. she has been running a strong campaign. when you look at this immigration issue from a business perspective, when 90 of our fortune 500 companies -- this is an old stat, but were formed by immigrants. 200 formed by immigrants and kids of immigrants. 30% of the u.s. nobel laureates born in other countries. this is a lot of american business's story, the way we've been able to bring in talent from other countries. i know that she has said this is one of her top priorities when she gets in. it's certainly one of my top priorities. i think it's an interest business argument when they talk about foreign relations as one of the reasons and you look at the numbers with independent millionaires which are decidedly

in her favor as they are with the general public right now. >> i called it a great state, and i think of how -- been reliably blue. i remember hubert humphrey. senator mondale. so i understand -- >> you're forgetting the michele bachmann era, though. we have a -- >> how can we forget? >> mar yi, pa lenti was our governor. we get along quite well. >> now you're ruining my intro. >> i just need to do that. >> i was wondering, even in minnesota, are any eyebrows being raised by the rise of acceptable socialism as an economic model in the united states? >> well, i think, first of all, i am in support of hillary clinton, and i was listening as my friend bob corker was on a few segments ago and he was talking about the divides. i think what's very clear in our state and in our country that, in the end. our parties will come together.

senator sanders has run a strong campaign but has made it very clear that he is going to believe in a unified party, that he's going to be supporting our nominee. so i am not as concerned as some are or as bob was mentioning. >> some are disheartened that there have been so many republicans who have disavowed trump but so few democrats who disavow bernie sanders and socialism. it's strange to me. >> well, i think first of all we are just simply in a different place than the republicans. they have had vicious, vicious commercial -- >> is the democratic party against socialism or not? >> i think that you'll find a lot of people who are much more focused on mainstream democratic economics than on socialism. bernie sanders is the only one in the senate that identifies as a socialist. that's an elected leader. >> you are against socialism, right? >> i am a democratic -- i believe in democratic economics. i believe in a strong economy. i work across the aisle. i have never subscribed to socialism.

that is correct. >> when you said mainstream economic policies, that's what's scary is that socialism somehow, among a large part -- people in indiana, people in west virginia -- democrats in west virginia, socialism has become the mainstream economic policy of the democratic party. >> if we could step back a little. i think that a lot of people who are voting for bernie sanders are not self-identified socialists. i simply think that they are concerned, one, about what's going on, what they're hearing from the other party and, two, they're interested in getting involved. they're concerned about student loans and they're concerned about a lot of things. i believe in the end that these candidates will come together and that there will be support for hillary clinton. >> it is amazing that -- yep, both sides, the presumptive nominee has to worry about the other half of the party and whether they come -- whether they come out to vote in november. it's really weird. it's very weird. surreal. is it the end of days, walter? i think it's twitter.

when everybody starts popping off and anonymously saying nasty things, i think that's the beginning of the end. i think that's what caused it. >> i do think anonymity on the internet has caused a lot. senator, you went to cuba. you've been part of lifting sanctions there. what do you think the prospects for american businesses down there are? >> oh, i think there are some real promises there for american business. you were talking earlier about the head of caterpillar having been down there and the port he wants to do business in. i've been there. that is so much promise there. right now it's brazilian finance and they're using chinese computers. pretty soon, if we start to lift the travel ban, which i hope we do and the president has done some of that, we'll have 5 million people a year visiting a country 90 miles off our shore. pretty soon they'll be sleeping in spanish hotels and eating chinese food because that will give that critical mass so that

more business will invest in foreign companies. if we don't lift the embargo we'll lose that business. that's why i am leading the bill to lift the embargo. it's a bipartisan bill. we have 24 co-sponsors in the senate and there are -- >> who are the republican co-sponsors. >> jeff flake. mi there are a number of republicans and certainly a bunch of republicans who said they will be supportive of the bill moving forward. rand paul is supportive of opening the embargo. you have many others, especially midwest republicans that may not be on the bill but who would vote for the bill. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. it was great to be on. coming up, a retail winner amid many losers. we'll talk about it when "squawk box" comes right back. andrea sikon. medical doctor from cleveland clinic, watson, let's review the electronic medical record

of the next patient.. no problem. it's a pretty huge file. done. sorry for the wait. that was quick. as part of our research, i also compared lab results with notes about prior treatments, then cross referenced it with thousands of medical journals. and i get the benefit of much more data, and a lot more time to plan the best treatments. i stay focused 24/7 and never sleep. you sound like a lot of medical students i know.

welcome back to "squawk box." shares of ralph lauren. sales dropped 1% during the quarter hurt by higher discounts to clear inventory. weak north america.

shares higher in the premarket by 3%. ♪ coming up, platinum portfolio, picks from the energy and telecom sectors. stay tuned. you're watching cnbc. i like this theme song! ♪

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recent months. in the past month it's on the upswing to the tune of about 11%. here with some ideas in her platinum portfolio picks is sara kett rer, the chief executive officer of causeway capital management. good to see you. >> good to be here. >> it's interesting, some of the plays you have in the energy space. you got rid of an energy stock and then got into royal dutch shell. why the switch? >> the point of it was to lower risk. the stock that i removed from the platinum portfolio -- this is reflecting what we do for institutional clients at causeway. taking out some crude beta and replacing it with a very stable, very well managed company, royal dutch shell, that had made an acquisition of bg group. it's now consolidating that and becoming more efficient. a large dividend yield, over 6%. >> you think it's safe? >> much safer. less crude oil sensitivity because it's an integrated oil company. so we're still, for our clients,

taking advantage of a rising oil price. we're expecting oil to get to as high as $65 a barrel, brent, by the end of 2017. >> i was going to ask you where you think oil is going as it starts to push closer to 50. >> up is the answer. >> you think it's sustainable? >> yes. that has a lot to do with the supply situation, which we believe is going to continue to narrow. and as supply adjusts and shrinks, that should push up the oil price. it's difficult to call. but with royal dutch there is quite a bit of safety. from a value manager perspective, all that income compounding plus the financial strength, and the cost-cutting. so that all makes a very attractive package. >> what does royal dutch do that makes them so much safer? >> because they're integrated they have both the refining as well as the upstream.

and so they'll benefit as oil prices rise. because they're also using oil as an input, they kind of get it both ways. >> do you look at whether they're going into alternative energy sources? >> absolutely. we're convinced that it's the integrated oils and the oil majors that are ones that will be the biggest spenders in alternative energy. they'll get us there. they know energy. so from a long-term perspective rather than the one-year platinum portfolio outlook, royal dutch is also a good choice. >> can i ask you quickly about barclays. there has been certain about the yo european banks. >> it is the anchor in the platinum portfolio at the moment. what's fascinating about this particular stock. there is a new ceo. he came from jpmorgan. he is a very talented individual and has figured out this, again, is a restructuring story. but barclays trades at half of its tangible book value.

so it's blindingly cheap. there is a lot of margin of safety in a company that should see a considerable improvement in focusing on their core franchises and credit cards. >> good to have you here. >> thanks so much. coming up, joseph. >> ha, ha. saved it! coming up. breaking economic news, weekly jobless claims. the numbers and instant market reactions coming up next. actions speak louder. something we'll show you. through small things, big things, and spur of the moment things. incredible blnow comes with protection an incredible big things, double your money back guarantee. always discreet is for bladder leaks and it's drier than poise.

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♪ welcome back to "squawk box." breaking news. our latest read on initial and continuing claims. initial claims jumped up 20,000. 20,000! that's pretty big. from 274,000 to 294,000. so we're going from numbers that were sub-250, haven't seen since the early '70s, back up to something closer to 300,000. now, this might start to get close to a threshold for investors might pay attention. we want to watch yields. the april look at import prices on a month over month basis. half what we were expecting. up .3%. looking for a number up .6 last month.

increased. on a year over year perspective down 5.7. last month 6.2. originally released. now stands at minus 6.1. carney worried about brexit. says there is more room to ease. there is always more room to ease. left of zero on a time line goes to negative infinity, doesn't it? their currency market, the pound not moving much. the equity markets, ftse doing a bit better. nothing hugely surprising there. but we see the stampede of demand for anything that doesn't have a negative yield, whether it's corporate, high-yield or sovereigns. today is no exception. 30-year bond on tap at 1:00 eastern. mcc! back to you. >> thank you. steve liesman is here looking at the numbers. i heard you say wow! >> it was the claims number. economists were watching the claims number for closely

because of the april weakness. the 160,000. the question is it confirmed in jobless claims. the weakness is confirmed here. getting close to 300,000 is something to raise your eyebrows and look at and think maybe perhaps the jobs market is weaker than we thought. maybe april was not the aberration. next week will be the tell. that's the week of the job survey. so the claims number will be more important next week, but this is worth watching. >> when was the last time we were over 300? >> i don't know. i have to look. it's been a while. we have had a string of very, very low numbers. and one of the things we are watching is not just the claims numbers but also, you know, the jolts came out. that was strong. a little bit of push and pull in the data. i think this is enough where we'll see where the forecast for may come down a bit. it may be more in the 150,000 range. this is not the end of the world when it comes to jobs, but it is weaker.

>> it's a hit for those who have been making the argument that the accurate read on the economy, or more accurate, is not so much with gdp, it's with jobs. if you have softening in the labor market, that's going to throw a little water on that point of view. >> yeah. it's good for those who like the world to agree on both sides of the ledger. i don't like it when you have one piece of data going one way. it may be -- i have been saying this all along. that the q1 weakness which has been -- we showed it was something that was an aberration. this one might have been real this time. the weakness that we had in the first quarter might have been down at the 0.5 range. petroleum and import prices up 4.1%, a big number for april. however, year over year they're down 37%. don't get too excited about that. prices are still falling overseas. all imports down 5.7%. export prices down 5%. what i have been confused about

on the retail level -- you have had this retail weakness out there. what we know is that prices, for consumers, are falling at the retail level, but they don't seem to be helping profits. input prices should also be falling. here is a chart that gives you a very different look on what's happening in retail. this is retail ex-autos. look at the inflation adjusted number. when you adjust for what people paying, retail looks very healthy. it's the nominal number that is really very weak and has caused the concern. so i am confused as to why retailers are not making profits. it may be as joe suggested in the 6:00 or 7:00 hour, all those many moons ago now, that it's amazon gobbling up share out there and gobbling up share at a low price. >> that's becoming clear this week. steve, thank you. >> sure. presumptive. getting tired of saying that. presidential nominee donald trump -- who else is it going to be? slated to meet with paul ryan.

mitch mcconnell and rnc chairman reince priebus in just under 30 minutes. john harwood would give anything to be a fly on that wall. but obama might catch you and smash you if he saw a fly. anyway -- you remember when this happene -- when that happened, i know, john. how is the scrum? does it look like someone will have to be pulled away if they get too close to the trumpster? >> major scrum outside republican party headquarters. donald trump has landed. he is on his way here for a series of meetings with republican leaders. mitch mcconnell, as you mentioned, who has already endorsed him. the most important one is with paul ryan who hasn't endorsed him. what he said yesterday was he's going to try. >> this is a big ten party. there is plenty of room for different policy disputes in this party. we come from different wings of the party. the goal here is to unify the

various wings around common principles so we can go forward unified. >> the thing to remember, though, is that the policy differences are real between paul ryan and donald trump, and it's stylistic differences are very real as well. paul ryan is somebody who cares about philosophy and policy and ideas, especially limited government, lower taxes. donald trump is more of a transactional politician, is not somebody who has shown a great attachment over the years to particular policy proposals. and paul ryan has got to figure out whether he can be comfortable with how donald trump will approach this campaign both in the tone and substance. and we don't expect a resolution of their issues after this meeting, but as paul ryan said, it's the beginning of a process. >> all right. thanks, john. we'll be watching. big events the day. coming up, a multi-billion dollar business booming, electric dance music or edm. outperforming all other music genres when it comes to

streaming. we'll talk to an edm pioneer about the festival landscape. "squawk box" will be right back.

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none of this works. come on in. welcome back to "squawk box." here is what's making headlines this morning. takeover talk continuing to swirl in the ag chemicals industry. from german companies.

basf and bayer now reportedly eyeing bids for u.s.-based monsanto. monsanto was rebuffed in its attempted buy of rival last year. more recently dupont and dow chemical struck a deal. tiffany leaving one of the world's largest anti counterfeiting groups. it did not give a reason for leaving the international anti-counterfeiting coalition following the departure of guchi and michael kors from the group. kors leaving due to the admission of alibaba. apple denied the report that it would phase out downloads of music and emphasize the streaming music. the electric daisy canivern. pascal rotella started to host raves as a los angeles teenager

in the '90s and has turnede the parties in a global festival. he joins us now. the qu. i keep wanting to say pasqual. convince me this is a big business. i am a skeptic. >> it's a huge business. i have been doing it over 20 years. los angele las vegas has produced -- brought in over a billion dollars over the five years that we've been in las veg as. >> live events are great in the internet age. people want to go to them. you can charge for it. >> as opposed to downloading free music. >> there is nothing like being at an event. the 360 audio-visual experience. nothing like it. >> if i go to citifield this weekend how much does it cost? >> about $75 a day depending on the ticket you get. and what -- what was the other question? >> what do i get?

what happens? >> you get lots of art. you get, of course, music, it's not just about the music. it's a full experience. you know, there's art installations. the stages themselves are art pieces. and we have the actual -- >> how long? how many hours? is it a 12-hour day? >> it's about a 12-hour day, yeah. it's going on for two days, saturday and sunday. it's not just what we bring to the table. the people who attend edc, they're part of the attraction. it's the best crowd in the world. they get all dressed up. it's a blast. >> so that we can feel a little bit hip now, you're doing more trans-themed music. tell us what the next genre will be that we can look forward to and feel like we'll know what we're talking about. >> trance music is one genre of dance music. there are so many different styles of dance music. >> what's coming next? >> house and techno have been buzzing for a bit now.

they still are. where there was big room house, the massive tracks that were crossing over to the mainstream. that was big for the past five years. now it's split up into, you know, house, techno, and even break beats are coming back. >> are you worried that the world is over-festivaled. the world is overconferenced. festivals are becoming more pervasive for the reasons that walter highlighted. it's much more profitable than streaming music. we're over the edge to me. how do i know this isn't a fad? >> well, it's -- i can tell you that we're growing every day. not only are we growing within the united states, but we are growing internationally. next year we're going to be in japan. we're going to india. we just did brazil this past year. we're selling out events and adding more here in the states. >> with all those festivals, do you have to compete for talent?

do you have to pay the performers even more? do your cost inputs go up as you see more and more of these occurring? >> it is competitive in some markets. some markets are wide open. some markets don't need another festival. it really depends on where you are. but it's definitely not going anywhere, and you know, our 20-year anniversary is in five weeks. >> 20 years! congratulations. that's great. >> we're already thinking about the next ten years, what we're going it be doing and how we're going to use technology to enhance the experience. it's an excitemeing time. >> what has tesco done for it? how much money does he get paid. >> he deserves it. >> what sort of influence has he had and well-known djs in this

kind of space done for electronic music, house music and things like that, and bringing it back popular again. >> the artists who are making great music are the ones taking it to the next level and helping people understand it more. especially those who have collaborated with artists who aren't dance music. that was happening a lot. it started about five years ago. black eyed peas with david guetta is when the big crossover was coming on. >> sounds like a great combo. i love that. >> that's when things started to blow up and more people who were outside of just the dance music culture started to open their ears to the music. >> a moment ago you talked about technology. taking it to the next level, what's the new big tech thing that will happen? >> virtual reality. i have a meeting with virtual reality probably every other shall you know -- i could have one every day. have to focus on the core business, of course. there is what can you do at a

live event with virtual reality, how can you enhance the experience. >> do you have sponsors? who are they? >> we do have sponsors. >> you haven't mentioned them yet. we're already six minutes in. you should have had them at the top. i am teasing you. >> we don't do sponsorships the way they used to at festivals. it's about them bringing -- enhancing the experience. we don't brand our stages. our events are about edc and everything that that means. 7up is a great sponsor, for instance. they'll set up a stage and they'll actually hire artists and set up -- do a whole setup where you walk in and you're in this -- it's our seventh stage at edc. so they'll enhance the experience by doing special things like that. >> you'll get how many people this weekend? >> this weekend we'll do about 75,000 over the two days. and then in -- at edc we do -- in las vegas, 420,000 over three

days. >> wow! >> has running this business made you rich? it's okay to say yes. it's better to say yes, in fact. >> i am very happy so, yes, i am doing well. >> what are the tips for somebody who wants to get into the business? >> you know, you have to be passionate. it's hard. it's not a party throwing a party. it's a lot of work, and there are no shortcuts. it's -- you need a great team behind you, of course. >> you were a club kid, party promoter or -- in your younger years? >> the '90s. >> i started off as a raver going to warehouse parties and being a fan. when it collapsed and there was no more events to go to, i said, you know, i can't not have this in my life, and that's why i started. >> thanks, pasquale good luck this weekend. >> appreciate it. when we return, jim cramer, a product of a lot of raves, i think, joins us from the new

york stock exchange. check out the price of oil. up almost 1%. you're watching "squawk box" on cnbc. first in business worldwide. you won't see these folks at the post office. they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue.

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jim cramer joins us now. the retail group did drag down the market. the market was up. that correlation was broken, at least temporarily with oil. >> i think sometimes it's just the facts get in the way of oil. when oil is doing well, the world is doing better. but we're not getting that story out of china. if you destroy that correlation, then you're left with the facts and the facts are things -- it

looks like it's coming from macy's and kohls, which are undifferentiated and you can't stop the onslaught. >> do you think it's amazon and not necessarily a weak consumer? >> i think it is. i'm not saying it's disingenu s disingenuous. we'll see home depot next week. and that's the kind of company they can't beat amazon. is it the kind of stores and where it's located. the people who run macy's are very, very good but the people who run amazon are not the same

people. >> coming up, we'll play a game of rapid fire with walter isaacson with the big stories of the day. do not miss another exclusive. brian moynihan will be on the closing bell. that's at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. i asked my dentist if an electric toothbrush was

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today's top political story. donald trump in washington arriving at the rnc headquarters in d.c. today. he will meet with reince priebus. we'll have continuing coverage all day long. there is mr. trump arriving just moments ago at rnc headquarters in d.c. our guest this morning, walter isaacson is the president and ceo of the aspen institute. he also a cnbc contributor. i don't know. do you wish you were still cnn? or are you glad you're going back -- >> leonardo. >> that's a few years ago. there are some interesting

things going on now. >> sometimes it's unnerving what's happening now. i do think if i could go back to something, it would be going back to being a political reporter at "time" magazine which is where i got my start. i'd love to be on this campaign trail now. >> pointing out the absurdities on both sides of the aisle, i guess, huh? >> would it be equal, fair and balanced or would it be "time"? >> "time" magazine was always perfectly fair. i'll tell you what "time" magazine was. it was a sort of center right republican but it was very establishment. it was very much what the rebellion is against these days, which is sort of that east coast media establishment, even though it was henry loose and claire booth luce were republicans when they founded it. >> just because you're sorry

identifiable with the steve jobs book and just about apple, the stock has undergone some turbulence of late and people are raising questions about tim cook's moxie, whether he can pick up where steve jobs left off. what's your read on that as you've had a little bit of time now to step back? people are critical at whether he can be what is necessary to take apple further. >> i think tim cook is a great ceo and steve jobs always thought he was great. the question on apple and i have no inside information now is every four, five years beginning in 1998 when steve jobs came back, there was just something like, oh, my god, i did not know i needed a thousand songs in my pocket but i can't live without this absolute thing of beauty, the ipod or the often. it transforms my life or the app store or the ipad. i'm looking for the next big thing and i don't quite feel the -- i got the watch but i don't use it that much. i'm not sure the watch is the next big thing. i think we have to look and say

what is the next breakthrough they're going to have in. >> we had one guy from stanford who said tim cook, great operations guy but they need an elon musk, they need a great visionary, somebody who pushes them hard to replace the steve jobs reflect. >> well, nobody can replace steve jobs. he was the greatest genius in knowing intuitively the type of thanksgivi things that would be objects of our desire. when i once asked steve jobs what was the greatest product, it want the iphone that got put in place, it was the team that was put in place. what may be missing is the unbelievable visionary like a steve jobs, but you just can't say, okay, let's replace a steve jobs. it just doesn't happen. he's a genius.

>> does he have to be mickey mantle to joe dimaggio or can he be just good enough? >> well, not good enough. one of the thing steve jobs said to tim cook is don't wake up every morning and say what would steve jobs do? >> on that note, thank you. "squawk on the street" is next. >> good thursday morning. welcome to "squawk on the street." the new york stock exchange, big morning taking shape. trump meets ryan, retail earnings, three fed speakers, brazil's senate backs impeachment, jobless claims at one-year high, futures in europe are solidly in the green. washington europe today. the iea