leading the charge for what could change for companies and investors. welcome back to "squawk on the street." gold prices today about a $20 pop at a session high. you have a weaker dollar today and a little safety trade and we're seeing a decline in equ y equities over the last few days. but you can see the etfs are doing well. the gdx, and the gold miners are having a run with it today. >> thank you very much, it is 11:00 a.m. at the white house and here on wall street. "squawk alley" is live.

♪ >> good tuesday morning, welcome to "squawk alley." we are at post nine on an incredibly busy news day. first it was tech ceo, then law marks, now wrapping up a meeting with pharma executives. meg has the latest from that meeting. >> pharma stocks are in the green after this meeting. trump strikes a more balanced done. he said that prices need to be brought down, be he also talked about streamlining approval. >> u.s. drug companies have produced extraordinary results for our country but the pricing as been astronomical for our country.

we need to do better. new drugs have lead to longer and healthier lives, but we have to do better accelerating cures. we're forced and accelerating approvals. >> trump talked a lot about accelerating the fda process. all of the leaders at this meeting today are all in the green. trump also saying he is close to appointing an fda commissioner who he is very happy about. a lot of the companies around the table are trying to stabilize the investment they're making in the u.s. listen to what the amgen and the merck ceo's told president trump. >> a drug, you may have heard that we have a drug that stimulates the immune stuff. we are bringing thousands to

you, mr. president. >> that was ken frazier, before that amgen ceo's spoke. i just heard from an analyst who was surprised to hear that amgen is creating 1600 jobs this year. they have been slimming down over the last few years and laying off workers. very interesting to hear that and we'll bring you more updates. >> a busy morning for you, mega, and a busy day. you probably already know the president has been called the ceo president. since taking office, his policies have put him at odds with the proposed tax. and the question now is can probusiness policies and protectionism coexist. for more on that, we're joined by the secretary for international trade, it is good to have you back, gary, thank

you for being with us once again. we're seeing another sector where the president says i'm prepared to offer you regulatory processes in exchange for a commitment to america first. is that going to work? gary, can you hear me? >> yes, right, i didn't know if it was to me or someone else. we will see whether or not it works. we had a lot of tweets to a lot of companies, it will be about six months before we know whether or not these companies have really increased their jobs and investments more than other companies that didn't get the tweets. certainly his package is both a threat, if you don't invest, if you don't increase jobs, we'll hammer you, particularly on your imports, but if you do we'll give you lower taxes and regulation. this is a big experiment.

we won't know for a few more months whether or not the tax size and the regulation side is a reality for several more months to come. >> gary, you said last week you think mexico will want better infrastructure for trade with the u.s. the u.s. will want, dealing with mexico, to change the threshold for tariffs under nafta. how far can the trump administration push this relationship with mexico before it benefits no one? i don't think very far. because they have a very low rating for the president in mexico. so nieto doesn't have a lot of space to make big concessions to

trump and have the leadership of the country. it will be a tough negotiation. and the whole relationship on drugs, the cooperation with immigrants coming in from central america and so on. this will not be an easy ride. >> we have been looking to the commentary of ceos because companies are the ones operating on the ground under whatever new trade agreements or new trade policies we have. just this morning, the ceo of mastercard, a hyper global company. they do business and transact all around the world, the ceo said he believes the u.s. is way too large of a marketplace for companies and businesses to feel they don't need to have a presence on the ground in the u.s. do you believe we truly in the united states have that many

leverage over the rest of the world? >> we have a lot of leverage. the u.s., the biggest single market by far, and it is growing like some of the other markets in europe and japan. so there is terrific leverage. but you know, you can push only so far. you can't ask these global companies to abandon their operation in the rest of the world and only create jobs in the united states. these companies, if they go down that path, they will see their earnings drop. so there will be a certain push back by the larger multinationals. >> gary, let's bring as well this morning the former lead negotiator thomas boyke. we have not discussed what navarro said about germany,

echoing things he said on our air before. merkel would not take the bait on that and respond specifically, but what do you think the significance of that statement is. as a statement, there is no question of a concern about value and how it is asking imports in the united states. what was unclear is that at the same time he said he was not concerned at all about the strong u.s. dollar and it's effect on u.s. exports. it's a little unclear where it is going, but it is a shot across the bow, and that the u.s. negotiations with the european union may not be moving forward any time soon. . >> the head of the newly created white house national council, but what was unclear is what

navarro's role in trade will be. what do you make of him injecting himself into this debate and the rattling that has pursued. >> it is a little ad hoc. the negotiations going on with the european union have been going on now for two or three years, and i think that we're around 14 or 15 into that negotiation. so if you were to suggest that those negotiations may not move forward, the negotiations between one negotiate and another, it seems an odd way to do that. >> our colleague jim cramer said he is breaking a lot of eggs to make a omelet, or he is just breaking a lot of eggs, but it will take months before the market can make up their mind on that.

>> yes, what he has done is the sweets and the individual companies, and the rest is opening negotiations with mexico and canada. telling china they're unfair. possibly having an open arms with the united kingdom. nothing will happen for a couple years on that. the biggest trade policy he might do this year could be a tax reform, if that goes through, and infrastructure. those will have more effect on trade, exports and imports, than any of the talk so far. >> so we're in for an interesting period where we have to string these pieces together. tom, gary, we appreciate your time, please hurry back. thanks again. >> meanwhile away from the pharma sector, a busy day on capitol hill.

democrats threatening to block nominations for cabinet nominees. and a supreme court announcement on tap for this evening. john harwood is in washington with more on that. what do you make of today's agenda in dc? >> the temperature in a partisan sense is rising across washington in the wake of the immigration order. the scale of the protests by liberals against the immigration order, so what they're trying to do is roadblock to the extent they can. they don't have the votes to defeat nominees, but the finance committee was scheduled to advance today. and tom price for hhs. if democrats boycott, which is what they have done, not attend the meeting to have the vote,

they can prevent republicans from having a vote. you don't have a quorum. however, the republicans at some point can waive those rules and move the nominees anyway. at what point will they do that? they put out a statement saying that steven mnuchin and tom price have not been straightforward in answering their questions. with mnuchin the stock price that he got, so they have succeeded in blocking these votes. we don't know what point they will step in on behalf of president trump and waive those rules, but at this point, those nominations are roadblocks. >> we're expecting tonight to hear president trump's pick for the supreme court. to what does this talk about immigration, renewed after the

women's march, and really set the stage for a confirmation hearing. >> it will be a war for that nominee, and the real key yes will be not whether or not they go to war against the nominee, they will, the question is whether or not republicans agree to series a nuclear option. testimonies made it a simple majority vote. you need 60 votes with the current alignment. but if republicans change the rules, they could put that supreme court justice with 40 plus one vote. that is the real drama here, whether or not mitch mcconnell will overcome the phfilibuster.

>> we know thats tend to stick around. when we come back, a big hour on "squawk alley." we will speak with the ceo of etna. later on, paypal cofounder has been vocal on the president's immigration order, the dow is still down. dolaal

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built for business. sizeable crowds gathering last night to protest trump's controversial immigration policies. dierdra was there. >> 2,000 employees for 8 different offices walked out yesterday afternoon. so we headed out to mountain view, that is what you're seeing right here. an ariel shot of the workers. they spoke about how they first

came to the u.s. they say there is a lot of work that remains to be done. i think it is important we stay the course and achieve an outcome. there was an an iranian born canadian citizen that has lived in the u.s. for 15 years. she wasn't sure if she could come back. that hit home for other employees that shared their story with us. >> i know that they really put a lot, they are the example of the american dream. >> we're all americans,. >> i'm a grand child of an immigrant, i work with a lot of people that are here on temporary permits and it's not something that i can be be

silent important. . they are supporting a lawsuit against the executive order. >> yes, amazon said to support some of those efforts, buzz that line up with your reporting? >> yes, we heard an internal e-mail that they were looking into legal options in conjunction filing a suit in washington and that seems to be the next step. they are looking at ways to file the executive order. it may have just gun, abegun, ay are looking to drop an executive order on the visa program that affects big companies that rely on it to import foreign workers.

>> when we come back, we'll speak with the ceo of aetna. first we're looking at under armour taking a big hit. they also announced cfo chip malloy is leaving the company for personal reasons. you see they are down about 24%. 'i

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aetna posting fourth quarter earnings that beat estimates after a deal to buy humana was blocked by a federal judge. meeting with top executives earlier today. a first on cnbc interview along with bertha coons. >> mark, congratulations on the

earnings. it was driven by stronger margins, but you're caution on 2017. certainly a lot of uncertainty, not the least of which the fate of your deal with humana. what will be the ultimate factor in that suggestiodecision? >> i think one of the things that we need to consider, and we have until february 15th to make the decision, that's when our merger agreement ends is an option we could pursue to try to get this combination done. we think it will provide a better product for seniors, for the medicaid population. more affordable and simpler. we are disappointed where we are now, but until february 15th we don't really need to make the call. we're doing all of the home work necessary now to understand what the next steps could be. >> one of the things you assume

is that you may not be able to complete the deal and that the obama care insurer fee could go away. have you had a conversation with the administration about that? will it happen with the executive order? >> in our forward projections for 2017, we have the insurer fee starting again. the health insurance fees and taxes starting again throughout the year. and that we collect those fees before the year starts because some people bridge between 17 and 18 that would have a negative impact on our earnings. the bigger risk for us is that in the aca we lost $450 million last year. $100 million more than we

expected. the risk pools continue to deteriorate, and we're still on a number of exchanges with 240,000 members of which half are still new. the risk associated with that population as the risk pools change, as the risk adjusters are the only solution for paying for high risk individuals, other parts of the program then create head winds for us in 2017. >> mark, john fork here in new york. i'm wondering about your meeting with the president this morning with pharma ceo. and i think john bates accused your company last week of being misleading about why you are dropping out of obama care. he said aetna tried to leverage participation for favorable treatment for regulators and it

didn't do so for business reasons, but what you said seems to counter that. >> let me address the later first, the department of justice and the courts look at things by county. as a business, we operate by state. we can't have offices in every county. so the analysis of 17 counties that were part of the complaint is really an interesting analysis. but really in the halls of justice -- but in our business we have to operate by state. we made our decisions by state. we made our decisions based on our forward looking earnings for 2017. we had to file our rates for 2017 in april of 2016, and we're seeing the deterioration of those markets as we expected to create a greater risk for us in 2017. the issue is that we stayed in some markets and we looked in the past at staying in markets

and opening up this issue. >> speaking of states, one of the corner stones of what they want to put in any new health care law is the idea that insurance should be sold across state lines. that would enable more competition. i'm wondering if you think that would actually work this time around given that it has been attempted multiple times before and if you have had any discussions with gop and congress about what the new law could look like. >> we're providing input, but quite frankly the idea of selling insurance across state lines -- they are tightly aligned with networks, so buying insurance from another state that is tied to a network in another state doesn't work for people seeking care. i think the concept is time warn and something that we should not be considering fully in the next generation of the affordable

care account. >> mark, you are still in four states on the obama care exchanges at this point. yet we don't know what rules will be for 2018. how does that influence whether or not you continue to offer coverage there next year as you look to develop a rate plan? >> well for the plan, it will probably be business as usual. if you look the notion of policy development, legislative language, regulation, the nearest time we could have a complete program is -- it will be a transition year, and we need to look at it like that. >> when do you need to know at this point. this morning you have the senate finance democrats says they're not going to go forward on tom price's confirmation. we don't have a exact timeline for when they will have a replacement plan. what is your drop dead date?

>> on april 1st we need to file rates for 18 and our assumption is the plans will look the same as they do for '17 and we don't expect any changes until '19. >> do you expect to get an invitation to go to the white house and what's your reaction to the president's discussions with pharma this morning. >> costs of drugs are the fastest rising costs we see across the spectrum. rates are controlled for hospitalization, physician visits, and outpatient. drugs are double digit increases year over year driven by specialty drugs. we have to find a solution to making these programs more affordable. we played around with value based design for pharmacy. we are not there yet. so if we're looking for a way to make premiums more affordable, we have to address it sooner

rather than later. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> carl back to you. >> good stuff, bertha, thank you so much. as you see, we're getting the close in the u.k. and across europe. minor losses in europe. trump's immigration ban continues to create a public outcry across the world. today it is comments from trump's trade chief that are getting some attention in europe. germany is using a grossly under valued euro to exploit the u.s. and partners. she said germany has had an independent policy. hitting the highest level since december of last year trading at 1:07 against the dollar.

they say expect currency manipulation to be part of the trade discussion. very interesting to see that inflation data is getting calls to scale back the stimulus program. the annual rate raising to 1.8% in january. that is the highest in four years moving cloeing closer to target. also on the economic front, euro zone gdp edged up half a percent. the jobless rate falling to may of 2009. the european landscape is starleting to improve. stocks on the move, h&m, the sweden based retailer rising. the stock is still down 10% in the last ten months.

they missed estimates in five of the last six quarters. >> hard to believe the last day of the trading month. stocks in europe are basically flat and so far it is under performing the s&p 500 that is up about 1.4%. >> thank you for that. let's get other to sue herera for a news update. here is what is happening at this hour. france's foreign minister meeting with his iranian counter part in tehran to discuss their nuclear deal. iran will not confirm if they conducted a missile test saying the program is not part of that deal. they will hold an urgent meeting at the u.s. requests. >> briefly trapping more than 200 coal miners under ground, an e electricity substation was damaged in the shelling and it

caused damage to the mine. alexander bissonnette entered court last night when he did not enter a plea. >> oprah winfrey will become a special contributor to "60 minutes." >> that is the news this hour, carl, back to you. >> sue, thank you so much. apple as you may know reports after the close tonight. all eyes on tim cook trying to make good on that promise to return the company to growth. we'll talk about that, the dow is down 171. r dg whsto ererarste?

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stocks are continuing to sell off. looking ahead to after the bell, apple out with results today. let's bring in the cofounder john broad here at post nine. welcome to both of you, steve, taking a look at the iphone's unit sales, and to me it kind of looks like it perhaps is topped out if you compare year over year. how important is it to see unit growth versus revenue growth. >> tim cook promised it last

quarter, but people are really looking forward to the iphone 8. i think the street is expecting realtively weak. it is a more mature product, but we expect it to grow. >> john, is that a big deal for you? >> considering the trouble that s samsung had at the end of it's line. >> i think 63% of revenue, and i think services is critically important, right? that is the growth engine that is 20% growth year over year. i think that will be as important as the hardware itself. >> we had have services number. it gave us a sense of the growth

year over year. is that important in this call for color, perhaps? for projections on where apple will take from here, or will the mac book pro be a second thing to grab investor protection? >> we expect about 40% growth which is very high margin. but a is a platform company that is primarily selling hardware and the services there support the premium price. so one has to be careful. it is not a services company. but it is a great revenue line and we think it has a very high margin, and it is coming down on the iphone. >> john, what obligation is he under to provide for how policy will affect the bid?

immigration and tech or if they should be joining the brief, i think it is important to the extent that he can, we're still in day 12, it is a little unknown, but 116 billion is s currently over seas. so repatriation is important, stock buy back, what is the tax code reforms going to look like. i think all of that is critically important going forward. >> steve, how do you model that stuff? >> with great difficulty. the repatriation would be a huge positive. we think apple as a first priority would buy back stocks. that is modelled in. but given that we don't know exactly what trump policies will be, we think it is very unlikely you could move much of the supply chain back to the u.s. >> and that takes a long time

with the stock over 120 a share, it will be quite a report. john, steven, thank you for joining us today. >> when we come back, har much words over the president's immigration order. the dow is down 165. rick santelli, what are you watching. >> listening to all of these ceos regarding immigration, but what i'm really looking at is how the nude of the made, and news yet to be made, may be affected markets, like the dollar index.

today on the "halftime report." guidance and the trump rally. missing expectations, under armour is getting slammed. and the two top analysts are reporting. >> and how president trump's meeting with pharma expects will move the stocks. >> all right, sounds good, scott, see you then. let's go down to rick santelli and the santelli exchange. >> thank you, it is interesting. we live in a great country. things are not the way you like them, you can protest. we hope peacefully, that's the way the rules dictate. and ceo's have a right to their

comments. maybe they would have had a better ending if they voiced opinions more loudly before inauguration. it is not only ceos that may move the market, and they may, they could make stops. i'm thinking about a border adjustment tax. there has been a lot of talk about it. it has not even been vetted on the floor. not all of the politicos on the right side are even necessarily for it. i think the sellers that are currently batting the dollar index had something to do with bat. as you look at the october thwart, i want you to look at the start for the index and for

the dollar yen. we talked about how important the dollar level was in the index, and i mentioned that the japanese may be allowing their currency to breathe to the upside a little bit. they're very observent. some call it a heavy hand. the president is lobbies for the country. part of the reason he got elected this is not a pattern drawing. we did an exchange saying maybe this is a head and shoulders and a reverse of pattern to go down. it doesn't diminish the notion that we're now half a cent through the hundred level and this is super significant. one thing that i think contributed to it is so many traderins i talked to with a border adjustment tax issue, and

the notion that the dollar index had to appreciate about 25%, not that it needed to, but that it would, and the dynamics for the math and how it works. with regard to my comments on the end, the same type of pattern. i think there is a lot of volatility that maif give it reprieve from the upside for awhile. what does janet yellin and the fed fear the moth? strengthening of the dollar. >> we'll see what they do in the afternoon. up next, is the white house's pro business agenda at risk? the market selling off and silicon valley finds itself at

the center of the debate. max levchin will join us, next.

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. markets selling off for the fourth day in a row on the s&p. three days in a row for the dow. reacting in part to the idea that the president's prohibition agenda on taxes and regulation may be sidelined by a fight over

immigration. tech has been outspoken, everybody from tim cook speaking out against it. max levchin is the cofounder of paypal. he's been among the most in his opposition for trump's policies. he joins us this morning in a cnbc exclusive. good to have you back. >> great to be here. >> you say in your thoughts that this is a as zenophobic assault if there ever was one. you believe that trump and the white house are simply trying to keep the country safe. why did you feel it was important to say this? >> i think border security is absolutely essential. and there's a way to do it right. and there's a way to send a message. and the message that we're sending with this policy is the land of opportunity is closing its door on the folks that either need its help or want to come here and contribute to our greatness. so i think the way the policy

was designed, constructed, communicated, shows lack of consideration and just sends the absolutely worst message possible. and with respect to the refugee crisis that's happening particularly in syria but in many places around the world, just inhumane and wrong. >> max, from what i'm hearing from various viewers and online a lot of people see this as binary. either we want to improve border security and security when it comes to immigrants and visitors or we don't. you say there's a better way. can you articulate what you think exactly about the way the trump administration rolled out this order? what was wropg wing with it and would be better? >> i'm certainly not a border security expert so it's a little -- not for me to advise from public television, but i think the very least what could have been done is a thoughtful considered message, what the purpose is, how we're going to

implement it, who is going to be impacted, allowing people to at least communicate with their families, to change their travel plan, et cetera. many, many people got swept up in this both actually swept up and just distressed and harmed through trying to figure out what to do, how to travel, how to come back to the country, et cetera. that's one part of it that's just really inexcusable. at the actual border security, this is just the most blunt tool inmanageable. we're going of close the door on 100 plus million people until we figure out in 90 days or more. surely with all the people from tech that are advising the new president to the national security apparatus that is around him, we could have done something a little bit more nuanced. >> on paypal itself said it had six employees effected by the confusion over the executive order over the weekend. just this morning speaker paul ryan said it was regrettable that the rollout was confusing but on ago forward basis his

confident secretary kelly and his team will be able to manage this in a way that is a little bit clearer to everybody involved. do you have any confidence that that will happen? >> remains to be seen. i'm at the very least encouraged by the fact the administration has heard the peaceful protests, the rhetoric that's come out over the weekend against his policy and particularly against its implementation. so i certainly will keep my eyes open and look for improvements. but words don't really do the job, you have to do the work. >> you talk to thiel much about this? >> i certainly cannot speak for peter. i will have to speak my mind to you and anybody who wants to listen. peter can speak his. >> i wonder, max, to the heart of that question, there seems to be different approaches coming out of silicon valley about

this. full engagement from peter thiel, partial engagement from the likes of elon musk and combining these policies from some like yourself. i wonder where does it go from here? you gave a little bit of detail on how you wish this order had at least been communicated differently. but if silicon valley is going to be against it, it's about innovation, how does it different way forward gets proposes? are you working with lawmakers who you feel agree with your point of view in how do you turn this even more constructive? >> i think it is essential to turn it constructive. i think the one thing that you nights us is we all love this country and we want to work towards improving everything from border security to economic greatness, et cetera. so engagement is important and what the british call the loy call opposition or the truthful speech to power telling where you disagree with your elected officials is really essential. so i encourage everyone to talk to their senators, their

representatives, to engage in the political process from protests to speaking out. all of that is really important now as our nation entered this presidency so divided. s a as ans a side, what's really important to understand about this immigration ban and the intended policy, it is not a silicon valley response, it's not a silicon valley issue. it's an impact on the entire nation. we're a nation that is built by many, many immigrants. 25% of americans are either first or second generation immigrants. almost half of fortune 500 is founded by first and second generation immigrants. we have an enormous amount of contribution we derive from folks who come here and try harder. i'm one of them. i was a refugee 25, 26 years ago. i earned my right to be an american and i take great pride in my american passport. the reason silicon valley is responding is because we have a

vis rceral sense of how importa this is and how essential american welcome was for us to create a new life, create better place for us and our neighbors in this country. so that's where all of this is coming from. >> max, we appreciate your time. thanks for coming on. max levchin joining us today talking immigration and tech. let's get over to wapner and "the half." >> and welcome to the "halftime report." i'm scott wapner. our top trade this hour, under assault. that is what under armour shares are today following the company missing earning, cutting guidance. the question is what should investors do with that stock today? with us for the hour, joe terranova, josh brown, john levin that and stephanie link and the brothers pete and jon new jers najarian as well. shares are being punished today. joe, what do you