bank of mexico raised interest rates by 50 basis points. didn't help. the dollar is still stronger against the mexican peso. this is all in the wake of the election and fears about donald trump. >> oakland raiders, 112 penalties or so so far this year. the refs are becoming too much a part of the game, slowing the whole thing down. >> right. thanks for watching "power lunch". >> no fouls on "closing bell". it starts right now. >> hi, everybody. welcome to the "closing bell." i'm kelly evans at the new york stock exchange. >> yes, this is the foul-free zone. that's for sure. i'm bill griffeth. we are on trump tower watch again today. the ceo of fedex and south carolina governor nikki haley just a few of the people who have been meeting with the president-elect today. we have japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, expected there at trump tower in just a couple of hours. we'll take you there live for the very latest. >> with so many people going

through, it would be fun to go stand there. >> i don't think this is fake news, i think c-span has set up a camera in the lobby there at trump tower jubs to see the comings and goings today. >> there have been so many of them, it would probably make for good viewing. as trump works to appoint his cabinet, that's partly why everybody is coming through. we've got somebody who says the trump team is shaping up to be an investment banker's dream. but larry kudlow begs to differ. that debate is coming up. >> momentarily. and jpmorgan is paying more than $200 million to settle bribery charges over his hiring practices in china. those details and whether the case is officially closed also coming up. plus, air b&b is expanding beyond just lodging, looking now to offer full experiences. could that cause more issues with local governments? the company's head of global policy will join us coming up in a first on cnbc. >> but let's start with who is coming and going at trump tower today, to see the president-elect. susan li has been tracking the action there on fifth avenue in new york city.

susan? >> reporter: yeah, bill, there's a lot of action down here. a whole list of visitors today. some speculated to be possibly for cabinet positions in donald trump's new administration. now, some we did see entering trump tower. some with a little bit more stealth. we did see congressman jeb hensarling entering the building and we spoke to him after his discussions with the president-elect. >> we were talking tax policy, we were talking dodd frank. we were talking trade. it was a wonderful conversation and i stand ready to help the president in any capacity possible. i have a great position in public policy today. if he wants to talk to me, obviously, about serving somewhere else, we'll look at serving somewhere else. but regardless, i'm on his team. i'm excited for what he can do for america. and it was just a real honor to be here. >> yeah, hensarling, one of the names floated to be possibly treasury secretary. now, in the meantime, we didn't watch sights of nikki haley, the

south carolina governor, who's been floated as a name more possibly secretary of state. though nbc sources now confirm and have told us that governor haley has been speaking to the trump team for several days and she might be up for human and health services and possibly even education, the appointments of education. we had a few corporate ceos stopping by as well. that includes fred smith of fedex and oracle's cass, but later on today in just a few hours' time, we are expecting the political meeting of the day, and that is the first foreign minister to meet with donald trump since the election. that would be japanese prime minister shinzo abe. this was a hastily arranged meeting. yesterday we didn't know when, where, or even if this meeting would take place, but looks like it's going to top at about 5:00 p.m. eastern time and top of the conversation should be trade. >> i think they had connected by phone and there was something about him being in town. this is probably one of the most important meetings that the president-elect could have, now

that the obama administration is not pressing ahead with the tpp. the way that throws the trade agreement that country has spearheaded up into the air. thank you, susan. trump supporters looking for a financial sector overhaul. well, what kind of overhaul are we talking about? political's ben white says bankers are celebrating the dawn of the trump era. >> ben joins us now to explain himself along with larry kudlow. cnbc's senior contributor and informal adviser to the trump campaign, as well. so, ben, i mean, you're sort of connecting the dots here. you see a number of wall street types parading to trump tower, and your conclusion is that this could be a big connection for wall street now. >> right, kind of interesting to see how larry disagrees with me. but you got, as youmnuchin. so a lot of wall street people around him. and you look at the agenda, jeb

hensarling, also a potential treasury secretary. he's ready to gut most of dodd/frank, something much of wall street hates, get rid of a lot of the limits on what banks can do, and at the personal level, you've got tax cuts, capital gains tax cuts, personal income tax cuts. so there was this thought that maybe trump would be a populist anti-wall street guy, and bannon to some degree is that, even though he worked at goldman. maybe they could have a resurgence. but he's not a pro -- an anti-wall street guy. >> so larry, i take it this is where you must disagree. bannon sounds more like bernie sanders than jeb hensarling. >> there's two great stories up from our friend, eamon javers, bankers celebrate dawn of trump era. somebody's got to be right here and somebody's got to be wrong. unfortunately, ben is wrong and

eamon javers has it right. >> no chance of that being right. you're talking about one guy in steve bannon and a steech that he gave in 2014 where he talked about, you know, not enough being done to bankers after 2008. will he restrain trump on wanting to deregulate wall street? he may. i think, you know, reformers, oddly enough, could look at him as the restraining influence. but the rest of the universe around him is very pro-wall street and congress, particularly led by jeb hensarling, really wants to gut financial reform. >> no, that's not the case. jeb hensarling would love to rewrite dodd/frank, okay? but the issue there, the issue there is too big to fail. there are still loopholes in dodd/frank that suggest we might be back in the banking bailout business. that's going to be the position of the trump administration, i think. i'm not speaking for them, that's my view. that's been jeb hensarling's position. the other thing i want to say is that mr. hensarling and others, including steve bannon and this article that's been cited, they

want banks to have much lower leverage, okay, and much higher capital requirements, okay? banks don't like either of those. these are exactly the right reforms. it has nothing to do -- listen, ben. the fact that you may have worked on wall street or you may have some time in your life worked for a bank doesn't disqualify you -- >> i don't think it disqualifies me at all. >> i think you're too much guilt by association here. and these are the policy facts. >> i don't think it's guilt by association. but i would be very surprised, larry, if you see higher capital levels and new restrictions on banks coming from congress and the trump administration. maybe you're right, and that will materialize. but i don't anticipate it's going to happen. he can also reshape the fed over the next several years, getting five of seven people on the federal reserve board of governors. and i'm not sure he's going to go for heavy regulators there. >> the point is -- >> hang on a second, larry. i've got a news alert, and it's something we'll want you guys to talk about here in just a moment. something involving mitt romney.

what do you have? >> so what we have right now is according to sources to nbc news, a source close to donald trump with direct knowledge of the president-elect's thinking confirms that this weekend, sunday's meeting with former governor mitt romney is to discuss the possibility of the position of secretary of state. so this weekend's meeting, there was a lot of speculation, why is mitt romney meeting with donald trump. again, a source familiar with the thinking of president-elect donald trump says it is because mitt romney is being considered for secretary of state, guys. back over to you, bill kelly. >> all right, don, thanks very much. larry, this is about the fourth or fifth person attached to state at this point. what do you make of that particular person, mitt romney, obviously, but of the people who have been considered so far? >> well, look, i really like the idea that mitt romney is sitting down with donald trump, okay? that's major point number one. it's a unity measure. they haven't been, shall we say, the best of friends during this

campaign. so i think that's a big plus. could mitt romney be secretary of state? absolutely. he's a very smart guy and probably would be a good diplomat. other names mentioned, registud giuliani, i don't want to pick winners and losers here, i'm not part of the transition team, i think they all have a lot of talent. and i'm glad mr. trump is really going across the party. i think that's terrific. and i also refer to yesterday's reports, where the trump administration, including mike pence, is trying to reach across the aisle speaking to democrats. i think this is exactly what mr. trump should be doing, exactly. >> all right, but let's remember the relationship that existed between mitt romney and donald trump, not exactly the best, to say the least. >> you think? >> where somebody like rudy giuliani was very loyal to him. does that give him a leg up, possibly, for a position like secretary of state, as a result? >> i think the problem with giuliani is some of the

conflicts of interest, given who he's represented in terms of private practice and that might derail him as far as secretary of state. and i want to fully agree with larry, i think it's terrific that president-elect trump is meeting with romney and democrats, but romney in particular. that's really bridging the divide to establishment republicans who did not support trump, are afraid of some of the things in his agenda. romney is beloved by that wing of the party. he's a statesmen. i think if you were to attract him to the administration in a position like that, secretary of state, i think that would go a long way to easing some of the nervousness among establishment republicans. i don't know if this is going to happen, from romney will accept it. but i think it would be a terrific sign and a terrific move for the president-elect. >> and i want to just come back to the other banking hole. ben white has dug himself into such a deep position and i'm not going to let him climb out. i want to remind you that the idea of lower leverage and higher capital requirements has basically been opposed by the banks. and respect to mr. hensarling, particularly, his idea here is

less onerous regulation, particularly regulation of small banks, which has just gone absolutely overboard, but to have the backup of better capital and lower leverage. i think that makes a lot of sense. and don't forget this, ben. one last point and then i'll let you respond. mr. trump and mr. bannon and others inside the campaign have talked about possibly going back to gla to glass/steagall. that is not something the banking industry wants. so i'm just suggesting to you, when you write your next article, to put these facts back into it so it balances out. >> larry, very quickly, i'll buy you a steak dinner if they promote glass/steagall reimplementation. if that happens, i'll owe you a very nice meal. and i don't think they'll put harder capital requirements on. what the fed has already done is probably all that's going to happen. i will buy you dinner if -- >> i would prefer a dover stoal. >> is that going to be smith

walinski or sizzler? >> wherever the president-elect goes to dinner, we'll go there. >> thanks, guys. appreciate it. see you later. let's get to our "closing bell" exchange today, with the dow up 20 points, it's been on either side of unchanged all day today. amy wu is with us today and jonathan corpina is at post nine, rick santelli checks in from chicago, as well. so, john, what now? we ran into some very good economic data this morning, housing starts, very strong. the jobless claims number, the lowest in 43 years. market just kind of sitting there on this. but what are you looking at right now? >> clearly, that's all good stuff. and that's what the market needed. we needed no surprises today. we had 20 fed chairs speak this week. having all of that information coming out of washington, i think the market was really just wanted to absorb all of this information and not have any bad numbers, any bad headlines. right now, i think we're looking at a couple of things hear. next week is a short week.

we do have a lot of economic data in the first three trading sessions, and we will get fomc comments coming up next week. probably not anything we're not planning for already, but something that we want to listen to and go ahead a couple weeks past that, clearly to talk about interest rates. investors are waiting to see what the fed's going to do. high percentage stake that they are going to make that move in december. but from there, it's really going to be interesting to see how the market reacts, compared to when it happened in december 2015, it was very shaky, those first few months. it is a different time now, a different economy now, but it should be interesting to watch and see. >> amy wu, as everybody has parading in and out of trump tower, the retail sector is playing ate little different. you're focused on what's happening granularly, to some exposure tiffany's having on fifth avenue to the mixed signals we're getting into the most important time of year for them. >> hey guys, look, first, a couple of comments, first, i think this is a game changer for

volatility. whether this be on retail or financials. listening to your earlier conversation about repealing dodd/frank or glass/steagall. specifically, you see names like macy's, kohl's, all these names that have secular fundamental declines just ripping on what we think is probably increased consumer spending or tax reform. but the reality is, we don't know yet. we don't have any idea. this is sort of a swath of reaction, and i think you're going to start to get more granularity in terms of black friday sales, holiday spending, all of these data points that will come out, and with volatility this low, put option volatility this low, i think that's an opportunity. >> rick, what did you think of janet yellin's comments to congress this morning? i mean, you could argue that she made it not perfectly clear, but she hinted pretty strongly that they're going to raise rates

next month. but beyond that, what'd you think of what she had to say? >> very incongruent. it seems to me that after 7 1/2 years of trying to accomplish a couple of things, trying to, of course, get a lower unemployment rate, traction for growth and higher prices, that we're on the verge of all of that and she seemed rather nervous about it. as a matter of fact, nervous to the point of almost saying that the trump fiscal plan shouldn't develop the way the markets think and the way three chambers under the same banner should be able to push it through, that there might be bad things associated with that. i couldn't quite figure it out. i do know one thing, is that when you constantly move the goalposts and all of a sudden you have a burst of fiscal stimulus, virtually at zero rates, virtually at full employment, these are the issues, the unintended consequences that many of us, like me, have been worried about a very long time. and as far as that last conversation, listen, i can't speak for ben, i can't speak for larry, and i can't speak for

trump. but ben, like many, i think he wrote on cnbc.com, didn't quite get the election right. and i think that if we start talking about the same negative wall street that the administration the last two terms has, you'll probably get the same results. you need to shake it up. don't think about it as pro-wall street. think about it as, it's nice to have a transmission in the car if you want to go anywhere! and that involves the banking industry. and it isn't necessarily too big to fail banks. they might whine about regulation, but they kind of love it. because they can afford to navigate it. they can afford to put lobbyists to put an end. it's all of the thousands and thousands of smaller community banks, all the small businesses, this is what the last administration missed, and obviously, i think mr. white missed. and i think the investors have not missed it, as evidenced by the last week of trading. >> all right. >> ripping those banks, along with the retailers, as amy mentioned. >> thanks, folks, good to see you all. appreciate your comments on

today's market action, so far. which has been up and down. not by a lot, but we are up at the moment, at least for the dow, up 23 points. nasdaq continues to be the outperformer, up two-thirds of a percent with the s&p up about 9 points. >> and we have some big earnings movers today. and another storm of earnings after the close, including sales force, gaap, as you can see, williams sonoma, all front and center and all rallying in this session right now. we'll bring you their numbers as soon as they hit the tape and some instant analysis. >> up next, jpmorgan settling this bribery case over its hiring practices in china. the price tag on that, $264 million. we'll have the latest developments on that story when kelly and i come back after this. ♪ okay, so you launched your bank's app. now what? how will you keep up with the new demands of today's digital economy? the fact is: some believe they won't need a traditional bank down the road,

so at cognizant, we're helping banking and financial services companies think digital, be untraditional, and reimagine what the bank of the future can be. our clients can now leverage customer intelligence to predict their financial needs and provide more contextualized products and services. we're creating new platforms across channels so customers can effortlessly invest, borrow, lend, transact-wherever-whenever they choose. and we're digitizing the way banks run, driving efficiencies and delivering new value for their customers in return. digital works for banking and financial services. lets talk about how digital works for your business. ♪ this car is traveling over 200 miles per hour. to win, every millisecond matters. both on the track and thousands of miles away. with the help of at&t, red bull racing can share critical information about every

inch of the car from virtually anywhere. brakes are getting warm. confirmed, daniel you need to cool your brakes. understood, brake bias back 2 clicks. giving them the agility to have speed & precision. because no one knows & like at&t.

welcome back. with the dow up 18 points, walmart, though, is one of the laggards inside the dow today. the world's largest retailer reporting disappointing sales, due in part to declining food prices. 55% of walmart's revenue comes from the grocery aisle. who knew. the company also blamed warm weather in the second half of the quarter, that cut demand for winter clothing.

>> shares down about 3.5%. jpmorgan settling a bribery race, involving hiring the in china, for $264 million. wilfred frost is here wither many of the story. wilf? >> yes, indeed. the fine that some charges brought by the s.e.c., the dodge, and the fed for engaging in, quote, a systemic bribery scheme according to the s.e.c., knowing that the company knowingly and persistently violated regulations. it relates to the company's h e hiring practices in china. they hired the children of chinese leaders in order to gain favor. according to the release, investment bankers at jpmorgan's subsidiary in asia created a hiring firm that bypassed the firm's normal process and nominated clients recommended by influential government officials with well-paying jpmorgan employment. during the seven-year period, jpmorgan hired the nearly 100 interns and full-time employees at the request of foreign

government officials enabling the firm to win or retain business resulting in $100 million. not a single referral hire request was denied. authorities did recognize significant cooperation from jpmorgan with the investigation, which helped them earn a non-prosecution agreement as part of the settlement. the company responding today, saying that the conduct was unacceptable, and that they stopped hiring -- the hiring program in 2013 and took action against the individuals involved. the company did also say it remains committed to the asia pacific region. the share price suffered a little bit, relative to the sector, but the banks all up a little bit today. >> i just wonder about the precedent it sets. the idea of hiring interns that do your company favors is so cliche, it's basically a subplot at any workplace, comedy, or drama. so what was it in this particular case that made it so egregious for this kind of fine to be imposed. and that having been the case, who might be next?

>> it's interesting you say, it's so egregious for this fine to be imposed, because the fine's not too big, for what feels on the surface like a similarly bad act of malfraction. in terms of relative expectations, we knew about this for the last sort of three years. this investigation was ongoing. it was priced into people's models, 200 million to 300 million range. the settlement today is not that shocking. there are others supposedly involved, but not according to the s.e.c. release. it's just reports that some others say, the likes of deutsche bank and goldman sachs could be, but that's not been confirmed by anybody. that's just in news stories. >> there was a definite connection they acknowledged on ledgers. if we hire this many, this is the revenue we'll bring in here. >> it looks like on the surface like a really shocking piece of action. and in that sense, no admission of wrongdoing in this three-year agreement to carry out compliance activities and $200 to $300 million, that's not a small figure in absolute terms, but it looks like in that sense, they got off relatively well. in terms of the pr, it's not something that's affecting the

consumer domestically in the u.s., so it's not getting the kind of attention that the wells fargo scandal did. >> more interested in those ripple effects. >> thank you, wilfried. >> enjoy your afternoon. >> yes. >> 37 minutes left in the trading session. the dow is up here 11 points as we head towards the close. >> and a couple of arrests and new charges resulting from a valiant pharmaceuticals probe. meg terrell will have more on who was arrested with, the kickback scheme they were charged with. and tesla ceos are voting on their prepared merger this afternoon. what's at stake for elon musk, the chairman of similar city, and ceo of tesla. that's still to come on "closing bell." energy is a complex challenge. people want power. and power plants account for more than a third of energy-related carbon emissions. the challenge is to capture the emissions before they're released into the atmosphere.

exxonmobil is a leader in carbon capture. our team is working to make this technology better, more affordable so it can reduce emissions around the world. that's what we're working on right now. ♪ energy lives here. hey, jesse. who are you? i'm vern, the orange money retirement rabbit from voya. orange money represents the money you put away for retirement. over time, your money could multiply. hello, all of you. get organized at voya.com.

there are the statistics on pancreatic cancer right now. 117 people die each day from that disease. it has a survival rate of only 8%. 71% of patients die within 12 months of being diagnosed. some scary but factual statistics. but maybe there's hope. >> former nbc chairman, bob wright, who's also the cofounder of autism speaks, launches the susan wright foundation to fight pancreatic cancer. his wife was diagnosed with the disease october 2015 and passed away nine months later. >> to the day, you said. >> yes, to the day.

nine months. 29th of october to the 29th of july. >> still miss her. >> it was a horror show from day one. >> since the government started this war on cancer, what was it, 40 years ago, you're pointing out that pancreatic cancer has seen the least progress -- >> never got in the war. the numbers that you showed up there, have really not significantly changed at all in 40 years. the worst one is the mortality rate. i mean, the acid test more diseases to kill people is the mortality rate. there are many, many cancers, all of the 12 larger cancers have moved the mortality rate down dramatically. really dramatically. prostate cancer used to be about 40%. it's 0.07. but childhood leukemia was in the 80s and now it's in the low -- you know, 8 or 9.

so this is 93% forever. >> and what makes it so vexing? has the drug industry tried? how much money has been thrown into this area of research? >> it's, you know, i've been -- the reality is, it's never, it's never had any pressure, realtime pressure, to do anything. there's been no focus on it. it's never been a priority. and when you have a disease without a priority, you have a -- the fact that it's gotten this far, before somebody raised their hand and said, this is unacceptable, we would never tolerate this in a business or anything. after 40 years, you haven't moved the dial. they'll tell you about all kinds of good things that have happened. it's like the team, they describe all the good players and they never win the game. you know, you say, well, that's nice but -- >> it's not working. >> so you're hoping to do with this, what you've done with autism speaks. and i'm wondering as we head into a new administration here. you know donald trump very well, you're the one who green lighted

"the apprentice" on nbc back in those days. so you've worked with him very closely. will you try to perhaps take advantage of that relationship to move the needle forward on this? >> absolutely. >> do you think he'll respond? >> well, i hope so. he has an opportunity here, because the reason you have 41,000 jobs to fill, 4,100 jobs to fill is because every political appointee in senior government has to resign, technically. the president doesn't have accept it, but all the people in health and human services, which is the largest of all these agencies, because it's the fda, it's the nic, the national cancer institute, it's all medical. it's medicare, medicaid, it's everything. and that, that's going to turn over. that whole team could turn over. and probably should turn over. and he will be the one that appoints it. and all of the change in direction, and we need to change in direction. it's money, it's always money.

but priority means you move money around. >> well, he has said he wants to reform the fda to make it more i meanable to patient needs. >> no, what he said -- yes, what he said was, makes so much sense. the fda has a line. think of a line with 4,000 people nit. they all have a drug they want approved. and the guy, the first guy in the line might be the guy with the green aspirin. and the last guy in the line might be somebody that has something to do with pancreatic cancer. they shouldn't be in the same line. and anybody's that's dealing with a mortality rate disease should be in the front. they should be in a separate line. >> one last question on this. there's a lot of fear out there, we had a reporter at the national institutes of health the other day, and they were sort of concerned about this idea of defunding or it's going to be a science un-friendly kind of administration. is there anything -- >> the only thing unfriendly that a lot of people at the nih might like is if they're held accountab accountable. if they have a situation where

you have to show priorities, the priorities have to match, in my case, mortality, which is a pretty straight forward way, and then you have to show where you're using your money. your money has to be shifted internally to that, and it has to be done quickly. this object of the labs are closed on weekends, anyone around the country, it's, there's no urgency here. when you see, you know, like the military is an example. they're very, very orderly, have all kinds of rules and regulations, anything happens to a serviceman in duty, anything, training, they throw everything at it, for that one service man. to everybody, anybody -- it's a company, to go search the woods, that's what they do. the police do the same thing. the fire people do the same -- you need to do that in this particular case. >> well, the old mantra is, it's not what happens to you, it's how you respond to what happens to you. and i can think of nobody who responds more forcefully and has over the years than you. and of course, suzanne, as well. >> well, i'm hoping that donald trump can pick a really good

person and give him that backing or her to get -- make these changes, which are necessary. >> all right. >> thank you. >> good to see you, bob. bob wright, former chair of -- >> the name of the program is code purple now. code purple is a hospital term, when a hospital has an emergency, they can't solve itself and they have to call out for other people, that's code purple. >> got it. >> thank you, bob. time now for a cnbc news update with sue herrera. >> best of luck, bob. i miss suzanne every single day. here's what's happening this hour, everybody. a wisconsin prison inmate whose case was featured in the netflix series "making a murderer" will stay behind bars while state attorneys appeal a decision overturning his conviction. brendan dassey's release from prison appeared imminent until a panel of federal appellate judges made their ruling. amtrak reporting a narrower loss in fiscal 2016 due to a

record ridership and revenue. 31.3 million people were onboard. nearly 400,000 more passengers than the previous year. it is the sixth straight year that amtrak carried more than 30 million customers. and christie's has auctioned off claude monet's pink and purple painting of a grain stack for a record $81.4 million. its owner had bought that painting back in 2002 for $12 million. the 1891 canvas, which was won by an anonymous collector bidding over the phone was expected to sell for $45 million. and du"duck dynasty" has ru its course. cable network a&e says the last show will air on april 12th after a five-year run. it's ranked as the most-watched nonfiction series in cable tv history. that's the news update this hour. i'll send it back down to you guys. >> we'll see you next hour, sue. >> you got it. >> thank you. heading to the close with 26

minutes left in the trading session. the dow is up 20 points. we have a leading trader joining us to tell us what he's watching into the close here. think bank stocks, coming up. also ahead, a valeant pharmaceuticals probe results in two arrests and fraud charges. but the stock is rebounding. meg terrell will tell us what's happening, just ahead.

all right. 23 minutes left here with the dow up 23 points today. joining us here, we have our friend, carter worth, thaed of technical analysis at cornerstone macro. and clearly, since the election -- >> a lot of things happening. >> and there have been certain sectors that are anticipating a growth initiative from the trump administration and banks are certainly one of those right now. >> certainly. so industrials, of course, have moved higher, but banks in particular as we've had this move from 1-7 to 2-3 on the ten-year yield. the interesting thing is, while it's usually right to stick with winners and abandon losers, the banks have come a long way. i thought we could look at that and put in perspective. >> off four-year chart here of the kbw bank index. >> that's right. and all the moving averages is an automated trend line. and you can get a little bit ahead of yourself from time to time. what this depicts here is where

the bkx is in relation to its average trailing prize over 150 days. this actual spread here at this point, we are now some 23% above the moving average. that's happened all of six times, going back to the inception of the data in 1992. and the odds of it correcting are about 6 to 1. and on average, you get a pullback of somewhere between 7 and 8%. >> so you're guessing that we're going to see a pullback here. >> this is already discounting a great deal of what might be coming. and if one has profits, one tries to book on it. and if one is looking to maybe get right side, i think you can do it at lower prices. >> so this is for what period of time? i'm thinking, a little longer term. do you think we -- >> sure -- >> does this launch -- >> that's what it is. you don't know who you are in the market and what your time frames are. if you're short-term, you can take profits and are short. what maybe you're implying is what are the longer term implications here? to be determined, but the market is clearly saying that something

has changed. . >> that is for sure. >> that is for sure. >> good to see you, carter. >> sure. >> meantime, valeant pharmaceuticals is rebounding after fraud charges filed against a former valeant executive in an alleged kickback scheme. let's brick in meg terrell now to explain. meg, the shares are now up 1%. >> reporter: that's right, the shares are rebounding on what may have initially looked like bad news for the company, but people are really breathing a sigh of relief, was these charges are against a former valeant executive a former fillador executive. specifically, these two former executives are charged with a kickback scheme around valeant's relationship with this specialty pharmacy, philidor. the two folks are gary trevor and andrew davenport, the founder and ceo of philidor. valeant cut ties with specialty pharmacy last year after a lot of allegations and the business practices there started to

arrive. this is what they are alleging here. that valeant bought philidor for about 100 million, at least an option to buy philidor for 100 million and that gary tanner at valeant worked with andrew davenport to support philidor within valeant. andrew davenport gets $40 million from that purchase as the owner or creator of philidor. it was his job to grow and promote philidor, and regularly communicating to his superiors what he's doing. today he's been charged with a crime for doing his job. we will demonstrate his innocence at trial. so you can see valeant's shares are rebounding from their loss earlier today on this. however, a lot of folks listening to the news conference today warned, this might not be over. take a listen. >> i'm not going to comment on

what particular things are still under investigation. i thought i've made more clear here than even i usually do that the investigation is ongoing and we're still continuing to look at a lot of different things in connection with valeant and the relationship with philidor, but i'm not prepared to talk about that today. >> reporter: so making even more clear than usual that that investigation is still going on. analysts coming out and saying valeant still has a lot of investigations on its plate and this may not be the end, guys. >> meg, thank you. keep an eye on it, meg terrell, on valeant. 18 minutes left in the trading session. the dow is up 23 points as we head towards the close today. >> a top airbnb executive joins us in a first on cnbc interview right after this. ♪

guyhey nicole, happening here? this is my new alert system for whenever anything happens in the market. kid's a natural. but thinkorswim already lets you create custom alerts for all the things that are important to you. shhh. alerts on anything at all? not only that, you can act on that opportunity with just one tap right from the alert. wow, i guess we don't need the kid anymore. custom alerts on thinkorswim. only at td ameritrade.

uh-uh

. airbnb announced just a couple of hours ago that the company is looking to expand beyond its lodging service into travel experiences. >> they're actually calling it airbnb trips. and the new product allows customers to book experiences like star gazing with an astrophotographer. that's one of my top ones. or a lesson in korean embroidery, for example. it will also throw airbnb hosts to hire themselves out for tour guides for travelers.

joining us now with more is our own deirdre bosy along with airbnb's head of affairs. >> and i also saw violin making. there's a lot of interesting stuff on tap. chris, thinking big news. you're calling it the company's biggest news in your eight-year history. but you're essentially becoming travel agencies. they have been there and been spending a lot of money for many, many years. how quickly can airbnb scale this business? >> it's a great question. i'll point a little bit to our history, which is in 2008, you had a couple of millennials in an apartment building in san francisco, who came up with an idea of making available homes, beds, whole houses. and agts years later, there's over 140 million guest arrivals on this platform. i think they've demonstrated that they know the secret sauce. and this secret sauce is really putting humans together with one

another. the human-to-human question. brian chesky talked about the fact that we want to put magic back into travel. and the real element of connecting people with each other. and i think that's really at the heart and soul of trips. it is an end-to-the end travel platform, how you're going to get there, where you're going to stay, what you're going to do while you're there. but ultimately, it's about connecting people with people, to have tremendous experiences at the local level. >> okay, today your ceo and cofounder is on stage, giving a great presentation. you also said that airbnb was getting ready to i po as soon as possible. we don't know how long that is, but we have to assume sorting out a lot of your regulatory and legal issues throughout the markets that you are in will be a big part of this. you need to resolve them. does that look any different under a trump administration, and especially for regulation or de-regulation as a whole. >> it's a great question, and it may be shocked the to know that i've gotten that question a few times in the last couple of days. >> that's what everyone wants to know. >> it's a great question. we've always seen ourselves,

before the election, on election day, even after the election, as a platform to help create economic empowerment for the middle class. we are democratizing capitalism. the middle class person gets to make 97% of the money they list their house for. we'll have similar types of economics on trips. whether you're a democrat or republican, i think there's one common reaction in this election, and that's how do we actually help the middle class. i go over all over the world. typical middle class american paychecks about 7,500 a year. and i ask elected officials, whether they're a democrat or a republican, do you have a program that's going to create 7,500 bucks for the middle class? i have yet to see a government that's doing it. we are doing it. and our proposition for governments is, we want to work with them to come up with solutions that work in their cities. and you know, since last year, when i started in november, we've done over 200 partnerships, globally. memorandums of understanding, regulatory partnerships, tax deals. so every day we're putting more and more of those in place. and i think at the end of the

day, people recognize it as an incredibly valuable social proposition here and they want to work with us. >> bill's got a question. >> sure. >> chris, in the spirit to have deirdre's first question about getting intoed a crowded space, and it's really not the same kind of business model that you've had to this point. and i wonder if all of these regulatory issues have gotten in airbnb's way and puts a cap on your growth strategy going forward and the conflicts with localities out there that worry about your impact on the local rental market, to begin with. so i wonder if you're going into this travel leisure space, because you see that as a way to grow your company when your traditional business model is not growing as fast as you want. >> i would say a couple of things. first of all, trips has always been at the center of the very homes concept. homes is about authentic experiences. trips is expanding that. brian talked earlier today, that even when they did their initial trips in san francisco, their initial home experiences, it really was about that deeper authentic human experience.

secondly, if you just look at our growth on the homes piece alone, you know, it's been pretty exceptional. i just mentioned that we're over 140 million. there is a network effect out there, where every single day, more people are doing this. you look at the size of our community in a place like paris or san francisco or seattle, almost 20% of the people who live in those cities are on our platform, either as a host or as a guest. the final thing i will say, global tourism, travel and tourism is growing about 10% a year on a steady basis. almost 10% of the global gdp right now. it's bigger than big oil. it's a big economic pie out there. it's growing every day. we think we bring something unique to it, which is that magic, that people-to-people connection that folks are looking for when they travel. >> and now we'll see if the regulatory environment will change for the better, for those disrupters like yourself. chris, thanks for joining us. chris lehane there from airbnb. ten minutes to go. i'll look up my violin lessons.

>> they have cooking lessons, too. >> you should offer those! that would be a great -- >> the dow is up 25 points right now. our next guest saez says the pain trade will move higher into year end. he'll explain what that means after the break. instead if getting caught up withhe crowd, the investment managers at pgim take a long term view, teaming specialized active investing with risk-management rigor, to seek out global opportunities. we manage over a trillion dollars this way, attracting many of the world's leading investors. partner with pgim. the global investment management businesses of prudential ma buys a little lamb. one of millions of orders on this company's servers. accessible by thousands of supplrs and employees globally. but with cyber threats on the rise, mary's data could be under attack.

with the help of at&t, and securityhat senses and mitigates cyber threats, their critical data is safer than ever. giving them the agility to be open & secure. because no one knows & like at&t.

running a little tight on time with seven minutes left in the trading session, the dow is up 25, and the s&p is close to its all-time high. >> 21.90. a couple points away. >> john from cfi group joins us right now. and you think the pain trade will grow, going into the end of the year. what do you mean? >> i think that there's a chase for performance, as we go into year end. obviously, people got a little faked out by brexit, faked out by the election. so really right now, there's not a lot of resistance above where we are. there might be a little bit of an air pocket. >> i'll give you credit as one of the very few people who's gotten what happened. the whole trump momentum and as soon as it happened, the way things were -- it was like, what are your four ts again? it's like taxes, time -- >> time, technology. >> is one of them -- >> well, tax reform is final "t." i think everybody's buying into that right now.

so everybody is saying that uncertainty is higher. it's actually much lower, right? ceo confidence went higher. economic uncertainty went lower, because we have three houses of government right now. and with republican holding the sweep, 15% is the the average gain per year. >> by the way, though, that does not warrant what's happened in dry ships. >> no, no, that was all -- that was a short. >> but health care? banks. >> financials, yep. >> financials. industrials -- >> stick with all of it? >> i think that's still the place to go. i think if you look at the book value on citibank and bank of america, still very low compared to where the stocks are trading. citi might go up to 70 to get to book value. i think as we go into the year end, hedge funds, portfolio managers have to chase performance, as we go higher. and they're going to have to leverage up. >> all right. we call in the human news wire. >> he is. >> he keeps everybody informed. john, good to see you. with the dow up 23 points, we'll come back for the closing countdown in just a moment.

>> stay with us. weeks away. changes to medicare plans could impact your healthcare costs. are you getting all the benefits available to you? new plans are now available that could increase your benefits and lower how much you pay out of pocket. to update your coverage- or enroll for the first time -- call healthmarkets. we'll help you make sure you have the right medicare plan. hi, i'm doctor martin gizzi. it's a new medicare year. that means more changes... and more confusion. here's what i tell my patients... start by asking ... what kind of care is best for your current situation? have there been changes in your health or medications? the key question is: what can you do now, to ensure you get the care you need in the coming year? to find the coverage you need, call healthmarkets today. new medicare plans in your area may offer better coverage and lower costs. healthmarkets has access to thousands of medicare options from leading insurance companies nationwide. plans that may... cost less... cover more ...

with more choices... like dental and vision care. and the freedom to choose your own doctors. all at a price you can afford. we help find the right plan for you. and we do it at no cost. there were so many benefits i wasn't taking advantage of. healthmarkets can find me the right plan. and their service doesn't cost a cent. when i try shopping on my own, i get nowhere fast. healthmarkets takes away the confusion. too often i see my patients paying more than they need to because they don't know what they're entitled to. make sure you have what you need to get the care that's right for you. you have only a few weeks left. if you miss the deadline, you may have to wait another year before enrolling. call a licensed healthmarkets' agent now. call now. call this number by the deadline... and let healthmarkets find the right medicare plan for you - without cost or obligation. call now. this is my retirement. retiring retired tires.

and i never get tired of it. are you entirely prepared to retire? plan your never tiring retiring retired tires retirement with e*trade. i'm in vests and as a vested investor in vests i invest with e*trade, where investors can investigate and invest in vests... or not in vests. sign up at etrade.com and get up to six hundred dollars. inside the two-minute mark, as we head to the close. i neglected to mention the market on close orders was helping the market. the s&p, when you look at that today, as we move a little bit higher here, we're getting darned close to an all-time high

for that one. >> we are essentially at all-time highs for all of the major. let's not quibble about a few points here. it's really been rather remarkable. not only s&p, but the russell, the midcap, the nasdaq, they're all sitting right there. yields continue higher, as janet yellin was testifying, making it as clear as she can possibly make it that they are planning to raise rates next month. >> and the economic news really was very supportive. the housing starts numbers, lowest jobless claims in 43 years. >> and oh, by the way, the mexican central bank raised its benchmark rate by 50 basis points today, but the peso continued lower against the dollar. >> the dollar moving higher against the peso, i guess because they were expecting 75 basis points or something. >> it's a hard one to play off of. i think the important thing is, we're continuing to get a reasonably broad rally. bank stocks are at 52 week

highs. even a few other oddballs, chevr chevron's at a 52-week high. the big problem is retail investors are starting to get very bullish, bill, and that worries a me a little bit. >> the s&p up nine for today. we're expecting a shareholder vote supply coming up on the second half of the closing bell with kelly evans. see you tomorrow, kell. >> thank you, bill. welcome to the "closing bell," everybody. a rally across wall street again today. the dow up 34 points to close at 18,902. that's quite close to its closing high. the s&p making moves of a ten-point gain to close 21.87. it is three points shy of reclaiming its prior closing high. the nasdaq, again, the outperformer today at three quarters of a percent. as bill mentioned, tesla also

trading higher today, as both its shareholders and solar city vote on merging the two companies. phil lebeau is monitoring tesla meeting, which is scheduled to start right now and will bring us the votes on that $2.6 billion deal as soon as we have them. and some big name reporting earnings this hour. courtney reagan will bring us results from gap and williams sonoma with some good reads on the consumer and tech there. thanks, guys. we'll see you in just a moment. on the panel today, cnbc senior markets commentator, michael santoli. along with stephanie lee, and for more on today's market action, "fast money" trader tim seymore stops by as well, mike. so some strength especially in the s&p and nasdaq today. >> it was pretty sturdy yib even below the surface. the dow made it look like kind of a nothing day, but actually about two-thirds of all stocks up, the average stock up about half a percent. so i do think it's probably somewhat encouraging. i think sentiment is the thing to watch right now. watch for it to get a little bit

too ebollient. i don't think it's a full-on change, except with the possible exception of the bank stocks. >> i think it's about the chase, about seasonality, and we're awaiting fiscal stimulation. but i think you're seeing a little bit of the chase in a variety of different sectors. but the data was good today, right? the initial claims and the housing data, and that actually is what turned around our rate picture. and once our rates turned, the financials turned and those have been the leaders and they continue to be the leader. >> the housing data starts for single family homes was the best in nine years. just a huge surge kind of out of nowhere. >> i wonder if it's that hurry up and get ready for higher rates, so you see more activity and anticipation of higher rates, so you can lock in kind of thing. that mentality kind of thing. but that whole sector did very well today. >> and i think in a related

area, the retailer is doing well. the reason that might be encouraging, it's not policy. it's not all about what might come in january. >> let's get to some news on valeant. meg terrell has more from the company. >> a developing story today after these charges filed against former valeant and former specialty pharmacy, philidor executives, representative elijah cummings coming out with a statement about those charges. he has held a number of hearings on drug pricing offenders as part of the oversight committee in the house. he's saying in a statement today, quote, i commend the u.s. attorney's office for aggressively pursuing an investigation to hold those account -- executives accountable for their corrupt business practices. i have repeatedly requested interviews with mr. tanner and several other valeant employees to determine how deep their involvement was with philidor, but valeant refused to cooperate, he says, with congress and prevented information about their relationship coming to light sooner. so saying there that valeant, not cooperating enough with this congressional investigation. this isn't the only congressional committee that's been investigating valeant, but

this plays into analyst's concerns that the focus here on valeant, just because these charges have been laid against former employees, doesn't mean the legal focus is over. i have reached out to valeant and haven't heard back yet, guys. >> thank you, meg. the shares did close a little bit off their highs as that statement came out. what do you do if you're a valeant shareholder here? >> i'll tell you what. this is a story where this isn't even a binary outcome, it's a legal outcome. it's a case where the company's core business still looks decent. there's so much uncertainty here, if you are still a shareholder, off basis for saying, look, i look at the balance sheet and looked at the core assets, and this is part of the company has. there's so much uncertainty left. as we talk about the broader market and what's changed since the elections, the focus on regulatory, especially the pharma sector, is still something that's going to stay there, even though it might not be the hot spotlight. valeant has a couple of players that probably need to be scapegoats for the entire

industry. let's see what happens. >> what about you guys. what do you do with the health care, pharma space broadly as this kind of continues to go on. >> health care has had a nice bounce since the election. less fearsome, actually. i don't know if you want to chase it at this point. it's had a nice run. i think that the pricing environment certainly has gotten better or less bad, as i just said. but i don't think that means they're not going to have an uphill battle with pricing in general. and earnings in general. and i have a problem own iing a company where earnings are going down. i like services very much, the hmos very much. i like the devices. i know they're overowned and i know they've been great performers, but i feel like your risk/reward for those at this particular point is where i still want to be. >> this used to be the leadership sector. go back the last couple of years. >> if you take valeant and set it aside as a unique situation, you look at the specialty pharmaceutical stocks that got kind of tainted with the same

brush, and they did bounce a lot. and they went down to six times earnings, seven times earnings. nobody expected anything. the question is, has this been one big burst? >> meg, before we let you go, any sense in terms of timing or follow-on steps now that are going to be taken? >> well, preet bharara made pretty clear today this is an ongoing investigation and these charges may not be the only ones filed, but he obviously didn't say whether there would be more. but this is one of about a dozen investigations into valeant. analysts expect those could start to play out over the next year. it's a very interesting time to think about whether to invest in this stock, as they are talking about potentially divesting assets. that excites a lot of people. other analysts are warning, this is still not a good time, things are still too uncertain. >> meg, thanks for joining us with that news on valeant, a widely followed story. tim, for the rest of the market, what do you think is going to happen? >> i kind of agree with stephanie. i think there are some sectors

that if you think about what's worked since the elections and what was working before the elections, think about transports and industrials and even banks. they were the outperformers. it was a stock market that was really having trouble with valuations at some point. and i think this is what's going to continue to work. value where you're seeing at least some improved fundamentals in the core business, seeing a reduced regulatory environment, that's going to continue to work. it's hard to buy banks if you look at the rsis, the relative strength indicators that are above 80. except for the fact that the valuations at these banks were significantly held back at a regulatory environment and a yield curve, both of which seem to have changed quite a bit. >> we're getting some news in now. let's first get to salesforce earnings, which joshua lipton has. josh? >> kelly, salesforce reporting eps of 24 cents. that is a beat. revenue, 2.14 billion. the street was at 2.12 billion. looking ahead at qr guidance, they are guiding, kelly, 2.267 to 2.277 billion.

eps for q4, 24 to 25 cents. the street was at 25 cents. full-year 2017 guidance, they're raising that, looking for 8.365 to 8.375 billion. and their full-year 2018 guidance year, 10.1 billion at 10.15 billion. that is a bit above the street's estimates. on this call, kelly, i was talking to kurt materne, he was looking for more insight and more color about this guy. what do executives have to tell us about margins, looking ahead, about buildings, looking ahead. and also, this is a salesforce call, so usually some color about competition, specifically that longtime rivalry with oracle. and finally, you could expect some questions about m&a, given all that talk about linkedin and twitter. that call starting at 5:00 p.m. eastern and we'll be on it, kelly. back to you. >> thank you, josh. the shares are up about 6% right now. we'll come right back to this topic.

salesforce ceo marc benioff will be joining jim cramer tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern on "mad money." we want to bring you some news out of tesla at this hour. the shareholders just voting on that merger with solarcity. phil lebeau has the results. >> shareholders for tesla and solarcity have both approved the merger of those companies. more than 85% of the shareholders who voted, and remember, elon musk, who owns about 22% of the shares of solarcity as well as 22% for tesla, he abstained from this vote. of those who voted, 85% voted yes. you're looking at the webcast of tesla's ceo, elon musk, after the vote was announced, 85% voting in favor. elon musk said, your faith will be rewarded. we'll have to see what happens over the next year, because as you know, kelly, there are more than a few analysts out there who say, this merger make is no sense at all. there are some who think it's a good idea, but there are also many who said they do not think it's a good idea. more comments from elon musk coming up. >> phil, thank you.

mike, what do you think? >> strategically, i don't think it's any better or worse than you thought it was when they announced it, necessarily. some people are trying to -- some synergies and all the rest. but i think the market got this. that they priced solarcity pretty much up against where the value in terms of the exchange for tesla shares. it's going to get a slight bump after hours and it's going to settle this chapter. >> how about the fact that yesterday, stephanie, first solar cut more than a quarter of its staff, is restructuring in the face of steep price declines and challenges from china. >> this is kind of head scratching, but i think we have to get past this and then we have to get to the fundamentals. and can they deliver on production? that's what this stock really does trade on. and i think that if they can deliver on that, then the stock is attractive here. but i don't really have a great visibility, because it's been very inconsistent with regards to production levels for this company. >> tim, you got anymore insight

here? where's this all going? >> this is the $1 trillion idea. with an enormous amount of headline risk. and this is great for solarcity shareholders and in a circular way, this is also something that's good for tesla shareholders. because if solarcity fails, doesn't the halo effect around elon musk at least suffer a bit? again, a phenomenal innovator. one of our country's most interesting and powerful guys, except for the fact that he's trying to do a lot more than possible, i think, right now. and i think you've got to simplify the idea and i think tesla, like stephanie said, it's about deliveries, it's about cash flow, it's about cash burn, and clearly this story is one of cash burn. solarcity couldn't make it. >> 85% of the shareholders who voted, voted yes. that's a pretty -- that's enough of a mandate. >> if you have a vote, you bought into the vision of elon musk, and therefore you kind of have a sample that's going to be more likely to back it up. >> so true. there are the shares of tesla and solarcity, they've largely priced this in. the outcome in favor of this

merger going ahead. let's go back to salesforce. those shares is were popping after its earnings report came out, was a beat on the bottom line by about three pennies. was a small beat in terms of revenues and looks like their guidance was raised a little bit, too. this company has kind of been through the ringer this year. they had leaked documents about potential takeover targets. it was so back and forth about whether they'd buy twitter or not. and marc benioff said, shareholders will look at it saying, we do need to focus more on the core business. a lot to hear from, from him. >> that's why the stock is down year-to-date. this really lagged some of their cloud peers. but if you look at some of the numbers, the subscription revenue up 24%. that's a little bit better than expected. deferred revenue growth of 23%. that beat the 20% expectation. so underneath the surface, the quarter looks like it was a good one. we'll have to get details about their guidance, but that should be well received, especially for a laggard like salesforce. >> i definitely disagree with all of that, although i do think that the company is still dealing with kind of exiting

hypergrowth mode and the street is trying to figure out what you pay for this company. it's still at, you know, a 60 times forward multiple or something like that. i think the sell side loves it too much. 90% of something of analysts love it. the average price target is 94 bucks. it's performing and executing. >> i think you're totally right on the sale side, loving it, but the buy side doesn't. >> tim, the last word to you? >> i think the sentiment of the stock was actually pretty low. this was actually a quarter where the comps were easier to beat. fourth quarter, i think, execution recovers. but you're talking about 17% year over year billing growth. not the growth mike's referring to. fx is also a big issue for this company. i think you're neutral here. i think we need to see a little more how the business is evolving and the m&a will develop, >> sharing are up about 6%. we look forward to hearing more from marc benioff. be sure to stick around and catch tim joining the rest of the group on "fast money" today. roger mcnamee will tell him the

one stock he would invest $1 million in right now and that's at the top of next hour. now, the presidential transition tango continues at trump tower today. a nice alliteration there. up next, we'll discuss who may be in, who may be out, and what we're learning about how the future trump white house will operate. and we'll get a further read on the consumer when williams sonoma and gap report their earnings. we'll have further analysis of those earnings. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide.

as a supervisor at pg&e, it's my job to protect public safety, keeping the power lines clear, while also protecting the environment. the natural world is a beautiful thing, the work that we do helps us protect it.

public education is definitely a big part of our job, to teach our customers about the best type of trees to plant around the power lines. we want to keep the power on for our customers. we want to keep our community safe. this is our community, this is where we live. we need to make sure that we have a beautiful place for our children to live. together, we're building a better california.

welcome back. we begin with dominick chuy and an earnings alert. >> we have marvel technologies group up by about 8% on 160,000 shares worth of after-earnings volume. this after the chip company comes out and says earnings share is 20%. that beats the average estimate of 20 cents a share. analysts were on average looking for $616 million. also getting some comments with regard to guidance, current quarter earnings per share guidance coming in relatively strong. however, the revenue guidance for the current quarter coming in light. buts on balance, shares up by about 8%. 161,000 shares. kell, back over to you guys. >> thank you, dominick. there's been a parade of vip arrivals at trump tower today. ceos, governors, advisers, and

there's more on the way. japanese prime minister shinzo abe is expected to arrive shortly for a meeting at 5:00 p.m. eastern, and we're all waiting for the president-elect nominees for cabinet posts. there's a look at some of the potential contenders, keeping in mind that they will have to be confirmed by the senate. joining us now to discuss it all, robert costa, national political reporter for "the washington post." robert, welcome to you. and i don't know where to begin, but i guess this mitt romney news, that he would be potentially considered for secretary of state. what do you make of that? >> senator sessions of alabama, a top confidant of donald trump, came out to speak to reporters. he said romney will be at bedminster, trump's golf course on sunday. romney's in the running for secretary of state, a late entry to the conversation, along with governor nikki haley of south carolina according to some trump sources, they might be trying to build a team of rivals. >> which is all very good, but mitt romney, is this somebody who appeals to the people who

elected donald trump? or even to democrats. it's an interesting choice for a position if he was going to try to do an olive branch thing to try to bring people together. is mitt romney that guy? >> and he might even be sim pat cowith donald trump, when it comes to an issue like russia. so much at the forefront of foreign policy, romney has a very different view. is hawkish when it comes to vladimir putin. a few years ago, romney has been devoting himself to foreign affairs. i met up with him in park city, utah. he gave a presentation on foreign policy. secretary of state, his friends tell me, is something he would like to do to emerge from political winter. but, again, they have to really figure out, is he the right fit with trump's world view? >> right. mike? >> robert, there's so many different names floated. and this happens, of course, during transitions. i'm wondering if you attribute any kind of tactical model to what's going on here? in other words, are all of these different voices coming out and floating names for a purpose of

kind of sending signals in any particular direction? or do you think it's just kind of a leaky situation and kind of haphazard? >> it's a bit of both. there are certainly overtures to be interpreted from what's happening at trump tower. what we can really glean from all of it is trump's making an overture to the republican establishment. the mainstream gop. he's meeting with nikki haley, he's meeting with mitt romney on sunday. he's been having pence, the vice president-elect, go to capitol hill. all of it signals that trump wants to work with the establishment, within his own party. even as he brings on populists, like steve bannon. >> stephanie, what do you think? >> well, it's not really surprising that he would take this kind of tactic, because this is what he's done in the business world. he's tried to bring a lot of different parties together and one of his best traits, i think, is negotiating, to try to get things done. if this is, in fact, his strategy, which it sounds like it is, but i don't know wib, i d obviously be very happy about

it, because maybe we couldn't get something done. >> it was interesting to hear nikki haley's name, south carolina governor. it first came up in relation to state, also, but then maybe with human services or education or something like that. what are we to read into this? there are people who have been critical to trump in the past, so eahe's reached out, too. but she was very pleased and vocal about it. >> inside of trump tower, there is some concern about the public face, trump and his incoming administration sent to the world. is it too confrontational, too strident. and if you had governor haley in there, a younger generation, a daughter of sikh immigrants, could she present a different kind of republican to the world. whether she was secretary of state or secretary of education. the question for the governor is whether she wants to give up being governor. she's a the two-term executive in south carolina and a lot of her allies says she has a political future, perhaps a presidential candidate one day. >> yeah, one final question, which is just sort of the unique way that donald trump appears to be not only having a chief of

staff, but also acting in that kind of role, is that going to work -- in the business world, we're always talking about how co-ceo roles work. how do you think that will play out? >> trump surrounds himself with an inner circle that has competing factions. bannon's more of the big-picture thinker. how will trump look ahead to 2020. how is he going to keep the grassroots of conservative movement behind him? >> well, we'll just wait for you to tell us. thank you for joining us, robert. robert costa there from "the washington post." we have a trio of retail earnings reports. let's get right to them with courtney reagan. >> let's start out with gap. gap's third quarter earnings per share coming in line, exactly, at 60 cents adjusted. that's what the street was looking for. revenues beat estimates slightly at 3.8 billion. analysts were looking for 3.74. and we knew that the comps were

down 3%. gap and the banana republic are the chains that are continuing to do the weakest. old navy was also negative, but a little stronger. merchandise did improve a little bit. gap did reaffirm its full-year guidance. shares are trading lower on gap after hours, but on very little volume. and then if we could move on to ross stores. so ross stores, remember, is one of these off-price retailers we talk a lot about in tandem with t.j. maxx. and ross stores actually did have a pretty strong quarter, beating across the border for earnings, revenue, and comps. comps up 7% when the street was looking for up 2.6%. but the problem is, the guidance is very light for ross. and the ceo has some interesting comments saying, we're entering a holiday season and we're also facing the most challenging multi-year comparables. ongoing uncertainty in the macro economic environment, political, and retail environment could lead to a very promotional season again. so that's sending shares of ross stores. we were down, now we're higher here again, like i said, that

the quarter was a very strong one. the guidance, though, was a little concerning. and then if we move on to williams sonoma, which rounds out our trio here today, we do see a beat for earnings, 79 cents, 2 cents beating the street. the revenue is pretty low, and the comps are pretty down more williams sonoma. within the brands, pottery barn teen and pottery barn are the weakest, west elm is the strongest, up 12% looking at comps. but the fourth quarter and full-year guidance for williams sonoma is light. and the ceo says that the current environment is less certain. they will control what they can. a lot to digest here and some mixed messages continuing for retail going into the holiday season. >> courtney, thank you for all of that. so it's interesting, exactly what you were saying. on the one hand, ross stores are great, especially relative to rival t.j. maxx. on the other hand, they're telling everybody that it's going to be a very promotional

season. >> it is, i think we all expect that, especially given the warm weather nationally. but the ross, the comps at 7%, that beat expectations, which were about 3. they out-comped t.j. by 200 basis points this quarter. and they were flat last quarter. so clearly an acceleration, and you like to see that. very tough comparisons. these two stocks, t.j. and ross have done very, very well this year. and this is not where you're going to get the leverage in terms of wanting to get the boost, but very solid business, very solid momentum. >> still up 3% there. let's get back to dominick chuy for a market flash. >> we have yum brands have upped their purchase authority by $2 billion. this $2 billion incremental, and in addition to anything else they had outstanding from their previous authorizations. those shares are up by about a little over a percent on 22,000 shares worth of volume in the after-hours. but again, a company that recently split off its china operations is now yielding about 2.5% in terms of dividend yield.

the ceo of this company and the management there has really, really put forth this idea that they want to return capital to shareholders. this time around through a stock buyback, and it still pays a 2.5% dividend yield, guys. back over to you. >> dom, thank you. there's yum. there's so much flying at us. >> yum, i think this is the kind of thing you would see them doing after the spin-off. they're not a very fast-growth business, the stock is good deal off its highs. not really depressed, but definitely off its highs. back to gap a little bit. not really a surprise to me either. the stock's up 20% in the last two weeks or so. i mean, this has been a hated name, very cheap. and i do think it could run a little more. you had 16% still short. >> those gap shares are still down about 3% after-hours. meanwhile, the nfl suffering from a tv ratings drop this season. up next, we'll hear from a top nfl executive on what's behind that, what the league is doing to fix it, and what it means for

its lucrative broadcast parents. later, president-elect trump promising to lower everybody's taxes. we'll look at what kind of relief you can expect and what you should be doing with that extra cash. ♪ mapping the oceans. where we explore. protecting biodiversity. everywhere we work. defeating malaria. improving energy efficiency. developing more clean burning natural gas. my job? my job at exxonmobil? turning algae into biofuels. reducing energy poverty in the developing world. making cars go further with less. fueling the global economy. and you thought we just made the gas. ♪ energy lives here.

this is where i trade andrs. manage my portfolio. since i added futures, i have access to the oil markets and gold markets. okay. i'm plugged into equities- trade confirmed- and i have global access 24/7. meaning i can do what i need to do, then i can focus on what i want to do. visit learnfuturestoday.com to see what adding futures can do for you. welcome back. nfl ratings did bounce back sunday night, but it's so far been a rough year for the league. how concerned should the nfl and its broadcast partners be? julia boorstin asked and has the details. julia? >> kelly, that's right. the nfl's evp of media, brian

rolapp, tells us that the nfl doesn't know if the ratings decline is behind them, but they've always seen some ratings decline in election year and they know that other factors are in play, such as cord cutting and cord shaving, and they continue to look at whether the nfl needs to make changes to keep up with consumer tastes. >> in this world where, you know, the consumer is conditioned to no commercials on netflix or a 15-second preroll on youtube, how is the pace of our game? are there too many commercials? are the commercials too long? are we taking too much time to review commercial plays that add to the length and pace of the game? so we're looking at all of these, but that's not new. we really do that every year. >> the first ten weeks of the seasons saw total viewership decline 14% from the prior year, two past games this sunday saw a notable rebound. the patriots/seahawks games up 16% from last year and the

cowboys/steelers game drew the highest rating for any nfl game this season. so all eyes are on how tonight's game on nbc will perform and whether it will continue the rebound. >> it's sort of weird talking about our parent company at the same time, but with all this, julia, thank you. it is a huge issue. frankly, it was surprising just how consistently poor the ratings were. >> and you did have just not the election, but you did have a couple of prime-time games that were good matchups and kept the audiences through the end. all of this might be moderating itself. i think one thing that's not talked about as much is suburban families, not letting their kids play football. i think there's a secular issue, related to -- >> so that includes not watching it? >> i think that it's a loser attachment to the game. >> yeah. >> so -- >> you see what happens with boxing? >> it's not that ufc is -- what are they watching? e sports? baseball? >> i don't think you lack for an alternative right now, right? you just stream something. >> some show. thursday night football does begin tonight on nbc. the new orleans saints take on the north carolina panthers at

7:30 p.m. eastern, it says, don't miss it. time now for a cnbc news update. let's get back to sue herrera. sue? >> hi, kelly. here's what's happening this hour. citizens of mosul fleeing the easterncities. people in the midwest are noticing cheaper gas prices. in omaha, nebraska, prices at the pump for regular gas are as low as $1.82 a gallon. aaa says about 30% of surveyed gas pumps in the state were below the $2 level. mr. black friday is at it again. jarvis johnson has been in line outside a best buy in arizona since last friday. two full weeks before black friday sales. he dubbed himself mr. black friday after he became an internet sensation in 2015. so, why does he do it, you ask? turns out he's sponsored and paid by best buy.

and science celebrity stephen hawkings says the only way humankind can escape mass extinction is to find another planet and the clock apparently is ticking. during a speech at oxford's university, he says, we might only have another thousand years left on earth. on that uplifting note -- >> i'm thinking about mr. black friday. that's hilarious, best buy pays him. >> he's sponsored by best buy. >> how much? >> that i couldn't find out. i should have ended on that instead of mass destruction. >> that's okay. if we only have a thousand years to go -- >> you have to make the most of it. >> get that flat screen tv and watch some football. sue, thank you. >> sure. tesla and solarcity shareholders -- i'll never get that -- approving their memorier a few minutes ago. is this deal really in the best interest of shareholders or just the best interest of elon musk? we'll hear from a top analyst,

next. and buy stocks, pay off credit cards, or take a nice vacation. those are some choices you'll have to face if president-elect trump fulfills his promise to cut everybody's tax. how you should be allocating that extra cash, later on the "closing bell." mary buys a little lamb. one of millions of orders on this company's servers. accessible by thousands of suppliers and employees globally. but with cyber threats on the rise, mary's data could be under attack.

with the help of at&t, and security that senses and mitigates cyber threats, their critical data is safer than ever. giving them the agility to be open & secure. because no one knows & like at&t. but they demand the best shopping experiences. they may want the latest products and services, they're your customers. and by blending physical with digital, cognizant is helping 8 of the 10 largest u.s. retailers meet their demands with more responsive retail models... ones that transcend channels and locations, anticipate expectations... creating new ways to engage at every imaginable touch-point. 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. here's how refinish today on wall street with gains across the board once again, the dow is up 35 points. but the s&p and nasdaq was stronger. the s&p gaining ten to close three points shy of its record high. the nasdaq up three quarters o of a percent to 39 points to 53.33. breaking just a few minutes ago, tesla and solarcity shareholders approving the merger of the two companies. joining us right now is ben callow from robert w. baird. apparently 85% of the shareholders, excluding musk, voted yes. >> thanks for having me on. i think it was a controversial deal when it was announced, but i think the vote when it's coming in here now shows that investors are beyond elon musk and the vision that eestablista a couple years ago, many years ago, when he started tesla. >> so, ben, as you now have this company that's going to be, you

know, united, what are you thinking about it in terms of how they interact, if at all, or is it just about, you know, what tesla bought is, you know, a little bit less distraction for elon musk and maybe there's some rationalization there. >> that's a good point. a lot of people question the timing. when you say distraction for elon musk, it's less distracting for solarcity to be under the umbrella of tesla, where he has more control and more oversight of the company. but i do think there are some things tuyou can do together on the energy side that can advance that faster at the giga factory or battery factory outside of reno gears up. >> so do you think now that the deal is approved, musk will go on the road and tell his story as to why he wanted this company and how synergistic it can be and how shareholder value friendly it can be? >> yeah, i think over the next couple of quarters, we'll hear more about how solarcity evolves into part of tesla and their business model changes, less

capital intensive. i think that's one of the things that, you know, people that were negative on the deal focused on, how capital intensive when they go out and own their own solar cities. they're going to move away from that, more to a cash generation type model, cash up-front. i think that's important. but it's going to take time. it's a complicated business model at solarcity. and it will take time for all of us to digest it. >> and ben, as stephanie's made the point, this stock largely trades in production numbers. going forward, i feel like every day in the praaper, there's a n article. and a lot of these electric cars looked great. and gm is trying to overcome this range anxiety thing with the bolt. you have a $338 price target on the stock. what happens now that everybody else seems to be clamoring into this space? >> we just heard from gm that the bolt's not going to be able very widely outside of california and maybe one or two other states. and if you've seen a picture of it, it's pretty ugly. and just on that front, i don't

think it competes head-to-head with tesla. >> you know the others that look pretty sleek? >> yeah, and those are all targeting 2019, 2020, or 2021 productions. so tesla still has a couple years ahead of them, and they're still making strides in their technology. so, you know, we watch competition closely, but that's not my biggest worry right now. >> all right. ben, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> fresh off that vote, tesla will be trying to buy solar city. we have a news alert on newt gingrich now. sue herrera, what's happening? >> basically here's what's happening. former house speaker newt gingrich confirms to nbc news that he will not be in donald trump's cabinet. he tells nbc news, quote, i want to focus on strategic planning for the emerging republic majority from the local government through the executive branch. so confirming to nbc news that he is not going to be in the trump cabinet, as discussions continue in new york city about that. back to you. >> sue, thank you.

i don't know if we have the wall, if we have to take him off of it, but we'll see who remains by the end of the week. donald trump has had some tough talk for japan on the campaign trail, suggesting that he might oppose the transpacific trade deal. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, is set to meet the president-elect in just about 20 minutes. what could happen behind closed doors, coming up. but first, trump promising to lower taxes across the board. what his tax plan means for your finances. that's next. keep it right here. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. [pony neighing] what? hey gary. oh. what's with the dog-sized horse? i'm crazy stressed trying to figure out this complex trade so i brought in my comfort pony, warren, to help me deal. isn't that right warren? well, you could get support from thinkorswim's in-app chat. it lets you chat and share your screen directly with a live person right from the app, so you don't need a comfort pony. oh, so what about my motivational meerkat? in-app chat on thinkorswim.

only at td ameritrade. [and her new business: i do, to jeanetgo. jeanette was excellent at marrying people. but had trouble getting paid. not a good time, jeanette. even worse. now i'm uncomfortable. but here's the good news, jeanette got quickbooks. send that invoice, jeanette. looks like they viewed it. and, ta-da! paid twice as fast. oh, she's an efficient officiant. way to grow, jeanette. get paid twice as fast. visit quickbooks-dot-com.

small business saturday is our day to get out and shop small. a day to support our community and show some love for the people we love. and the places we love. the stuff we can't get anywhere else and food that tastes like home. because the money we spend here can help keep our town growing. on small business saturday, let's shop small for our neighborhood, our town, our home. on november 26th, get up, (all) get together and shop small. mobility is very important to me. that's why i use e*trade mobile. it's on all my mobile devices, so it suits my mobile lifestyle. and it keeps my investments fully mobile... even when i'm on the move. sign up at etrade.com and get up to six hundred dollars.

welcome back. when president-elect donald trump takes office, it could have a major impact on your taxes. if trump sticks to his campaign promises, we could see corporate tax rates cut, a reduction in the tax brackets from 7 to 3, and capped itemized reductions at $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for joint ones. the president-elect seeming pretty optimistic on his plan after meeting last week with paul ryan. >> a very good meeting, a very detailed meeting. and we're going to lower taxes. >> so for more on the impact this tax plan could have on your wallet, let's bring in ted enginekin, the founder of oxygen financial, a firm specializing in xny. so what's the first thing you're telling people to do here if plans become reality?

>> if you have high credit card debt, no matter what happens in the markets and you get a cut, you absolutely want to pay off that credit card debt, or you want to try to max out your 401(k) or even a health savings account. if you get a little bit of money back in your pocket, the average family that makes about $60,000 will save about $600, start to pay down some of that debt and max out some pre-tax plans. >> i thought student debt might be one of the first things you mentioned, given the populations you focus on. is there anything there that's prudent to do here, as we enter a new administration? >> well, look, you know, interest rates may go up here. obviously, in december. maybe twice again next year. so if you have an opportunity to refinance your student debt, you may do that now. but if you have student debt at 6, 7, 8%, as much as you would like to make money in the stock market, that's a guarantee you can pay off and probably a good idea with your extra cash flow you get from the a tax save. >> given that we don't really know with any level of detail or certainty what might be in these tax provisions come next year, let's say, does it make sense to

change how you would do things, like recognizing taxable gains or losses this year, before we get to december 31st? >> i think it's fairly certain. one of the things that's interesting, they're talking about the corporate tax rate going from 35% to 15%. a lot of people at home don't realize if you have an llc or a partnership or an s corporation, that net profit will also be taxed at 15%. so whether or not it gets down to 15%. even if it was at 25%, it can be a great idea to make purchases now to reduce your taxable income, and even if you make mup in future years, you may pay a lower tax rate on that mup, which is really fantastic. >> ted, how do you get people to get in the mind-set of lowering debt versus going out to a restaurant or buying another suit or buying something else that's discretionary? how do you explain to people that the -- that reducing debt is really the most important thing when you have a little bit of extra money in your pocket? >> well, it certainly takes not only a financial toll on

families, but it takes an emotional toll. we like to put people through something called the 21-day budget cleanse. this is a process from head to toe in 21 days where you sort of shop your bills and figure out how to increase your disposable income. a lot of people today, they don't pay by cash or check anymore, they pay by debit or credit and lose transparency over their money. we want to get them to have transparency of their money first. a great way to start off the new year in 2017. >> i've got to go, but you also say, maybe get out of muni bonds and start your own business, going back to the point about corporate taxes, right? >> no question about it. if the top tax rate goes from 39.6% to 33%, as you're seeing already in the markets, it's putting a lot of pressure on muni bonds, and i love starting a business right now. what that great time to invest in starting a business. >> the country needs more of it. it's a big risk, but maybe big reward. ted, thanks for joining us. ted jenkin from oxygen financial. >> mcdonald's announcing it's rolling out its restaurant of

the future concept nationwide. we'll hear from the ceo of the company when we come right back. hey, jesse. who are you? i'm vern, the orange money retirement rabbit from voya. vern from voya? yep, vern from voya. why are you orange? that's a little weird. really? that's the weird part in this scenario? look, orange money represents the money you put away for retirement. save a little here and there, and over time, your money could multiply. see? ah, ok. so, why are you orange? funny. see how voya can help you get organized at voya.com.

welcome back. nike announced it is hiking its quarterly dividend, bringing the annual dividend yield to 1.4%. the shares are up 1.5%. what do you guys read into this? >> nothing too specific. it's a widely-held retail stock, it makes sense to keep the yield above 1%. it's sharing the wealth a little bit in a year when it didn't have fast growth. >> one of many companies that

seems to be rolling out these kinds of things. mcdonald's announcing its rolling out its restaurant of the future concept nationwide. the company will now offer table service in the u.s. as well as introduce mobile pay and ordering and self-order kiosks. we caught up with the ceo this afternoon. take a listen to how he described the changes. >> we're changing our attitude. we've been very successful over the past 60 years, but now customers are demanding more choice and control over their lives. we need to adapt and evolve our business model to fit around their needs. for those who want table service, that's a great option. frankly each time we convert a restaurant in the u.s., we see the results. the next day, business pickets up, customers enjoy the experience and they come back more often. >> i've used those mobile ordering kiosks, that's cool. table service, minimum wage

keeps going up, how will you afford all these extra people? how does it fit with this company's history? isn't this a bigger deviation and departure than he makes it sound like? >> it is. but you see the same thing at panera. it's all about service. >> it's not traditional table service, it's we'll bring the food to you. >> exactly. it keeps the whole thing running smoother so you don't have people crammed in the area where you're picking up food. you can still do that, but it's less cluttered, the experience is a little bit better. technology is where all the fast food companies are going. >> you can sit down, tap into the kiosk at your booth and get it brought over. it's not white linen tablecloths with forks and knives. donald trump is meeting with japanese prime mince shinzo abe in a couple of minutes.

susan li, what can you tell us? >> reporter: the president-elect is set to have his first face-to-face leader with japanese prime minister shinzo abe. the trump camp has told us 5:00 p.m. eastern is when shinzo abe will be meeting with mike pence and president-elect donald trump. 24 hours ago, the basic logistics of this meeting was unknown to us, when, where, or even if this meeting was set to take place. this really breaks away from protocol, it wasn't arranged with the state department, what they call a private meeting, something less formal between the two. we won't get any video of any arrival of shinzo abe or this meeting at all, we'll just get a released private picture of the two after they finish their discussions. why are they having this meeting? security and trade are the top two issues between japan and

u.s. the tpp, that's central for japan. this is a way to counter rising chinese economic power. now that donald trump seems set against the tpp, abe is hoping for one last chance to convince him of its merits. security is another top agenda item. they've been allies since the formal signing of a treaty in 1960 but trump has talked about pulling forces out of japan unless japan pays for the cost, $5 billion annually. shinzo abe is only one of many people who have arrived at trump tower today in a long list of visitors, including some speculated to be in trump's future cabinet, including south carolina governor nikki haley, also we call congressman jeb

hensarling and/ oracle's ceo in attendance. it's been a busy day at trump tower. it's not over just yet. >> try to see if the traffic is moving over there, gridlock has been an interesting side effect. susan, thank you. susan li there in midtown for us. sales force reporting stronger than expected earnings earlier this hour. we'll look at the stock ahead of its conference call and what you should be listening for, when we come right back. since i added futures, i have access to the oil markets and gold markets. okay. i'm plugged into equities- trade confirmed- and i have global access 24/7. meaning i can do what i need to do, then i can focus on what i want to do. visit learnfuturestoday.com to see what adding futures can do for you.

the medicare enrollment deadline is just a few weeks away. now is the time to find the coverage that's right for you ... at the right price. the way to do that is to explore your options. you can spend hours doing that yourself ... or you can call healthmarkets ... and let us do the legwork for you - with no cost or obligation. healthmarkets has access to thousands of medicare plans from nationally recognized companies. we find the coverage that's the best fit for you ... at a price that fits your budget. and we'll do it at no charge to you. just tell us what you're looking for ... what deductibles you prefer ... what doctors you want to see. let us know if you want prescription drug coverage ... or vision care. not sure what you want in a plan? at health markets we evaluate your needs and offer options that meet them. at no cost or obligation. you can talk to us over the phone ... or meet with a local licensed agent in person. why pay a penny more that you have to for a medicare plan? healthmarkets has already enrolled americans in more than 3 million insurance policies ...

put our free service to work for you. at no charge. britt of indiana did. and she writes ... when we became eligible for medicare, we were overwhelmed. i called healthmarkets and they helped us find the right plan. leon of california says ... healthmarkets was excellent. they explained all our medicare choices and followed up at every level. and here's what judy of indiana writes ... medicare shopping was very confusing - if only we talked to you first! at healthmarkets, we make finding the coverage you need fast and easy ... because we know you have better things to do. call this number and let healthmarkets find the right medicare plan for you - without cost or obligation. you have only weeks left call now before the medicare deadline. call now.

welcome back. here's a sort of surprise mover after hours. salesforce is up after raising guidance for fiscal year '17. the call is about to begin. what will you guys be link for? >> certainly what their guidance implies in terms of margins. we want to see margins expand for sure, and they're on a plan to do that. revenues going forward, a subscription-based model, transition from transaction to subscription. that's what's positive, that increases your deferred revenue. that's what you pay for in a

fast-growing company. >> they've gone away from the idea of a big social media acquisition, at least for now. what are they looking for in an area that is consolidated? >> they have so many different names on that list. you saw the movers tableau, for example. they put that together for that big selloff last year, the valuations are very different. >> it's interesting, everyone thought we were hearing so much about m&a is because the growth was gone, the story was over. this is hardly over, with growth numbers in the mid-20s. and this is a very mature company, not like servicenow. impressive that they're able to put up this kind of growth. >> in terms of the m&a wish list, spit balling list, whatever it is, many big companies had numbers like that. >> they were using glassdoor to evaluate the quality of their targets, of the target companies, trying to figure out how are they really evaluating the marketplace. >> the culture. >> the culture, all of those

things. we also have williams sonoma moving the other way, ross shares higher but maybe cautious comments about the holiday season. marvel up strongly after hours, and of course tesla. we'll let you guys go, thanks for being here. "fast money" begins now. "fast money" begins with breaking news. we're looking at trump tower in midtown manhattan where president-elect donald trump has been hosting meets all day. he is meeting with the prime minister of japan, shinzo abe, right now. our susan li is outside trump tower with more. >> reporter: i can tell you just in the last few minutes there's been a heightened police presence across trump tower. we suspect there is a head of state heading towards this facility tonight to meet with the president-elect donald trump in his first