>> oh. >> if it's hot out, i don't toast the bread, mayo or olive oil, sault and pepper. >> i like tomato pie. >> that is delicious too. >> thank you four watching "power lunch." >> "closing bell" starts right no now. >> hi, everybody, welcome to the "closing bell. i'm kelly evans with the new york strex. >> the white house press secretary sarah sanders speaking to the white house right now this as concerns over a government shutdown loom coming up, we'll talk to two congressmen on both sides of the aisle for their take on the debt ceiling drama. >> if we need to, we will go to that live. the threat of hurricane harvey swiftly moves closer towards the gulf coast we are tracking that megastorm we will see how it could impact oil markets and the population coming up. later, the big fightthis

weekend between colin mcgregor and floyd mayweather we'll talk about the big business of the big fight, massive fight. >> you are watching. >> i'll definitely be watching that i don't know about either sport. it will be a spectacle for sure. >> but you do it yourself or no? >> no. >> i wasn't clear here >> i'd probably ends up in the heavyweight's category and i would be destroyed. >> i was beginning to see that i'm kidding. >> yes, you would. >> no, i wouldn't. >> joining our "closing bell" exchange today to knock things around, we have chris constantino, jonathan --le the futures turn over by nine point, what's going on there? >> no major headline that's out there. >> sorry as soon as i asked you about that, we go to the white house.

>> a lot of shared goals, that's what we are focused on we are disappointed that obamacare they failed to get it repealed and replaced, but at the same time president trump has worked with leader mcconnell to reach out to other members and to work on those shared goals. we will continue to do that when the senate comes back from recess. >> the president hasn't signed a budget bill that doesn't have a bug for the wall. >> the president has talked extensively on this. he campaigned on the wall. he won on talking about building a wall and he's going to pike i make sure that that gets done. he will continue to fight for that funding and ensure it takes place. let's not forget there were a lot of democrat senators that also voted for border security and a border fence and hopefully some of those same individuals will talk to members in their current party and maybe we can get a bipartisan group to support that and make sure it happens, because this president is going to see it through

john. >> sar remarks it's my older bauts daughter's birthday, by the way. >> good, we'll cover that, too. >> it's my understanding when the president meets with senator mcconnell beginning of september when congress is back, he will ask him to take another swing at repealing obamacare. at the sarnlths a judge in new jersey -- at the same time, judge walls says senator menendez cannot come back to cast votes how does that work with what the president wants them to factor into the balance of power the vote count you need to get a repeal bill through? >> i'm not sure of the specifics of that case i know there is another still ongoing judicial process taking place. we're not going to get into that but i can tell you that the president continues to be committed to repealing and replacing obamacare and making sure america has good health care and the healthcare they deserve. >> it happened before the august

recess does he have a chance in getting it through >> look, we're committed to continuing to make sure we have the best health care we can. and if we can do that in that direction, i think that's great. if we can't, we need to look for other ways we can make solutions. john decker. >> thanks so much, sar remarks hurricane harvey appears to be bearing down on the southern part of the u.s., specifically texas seems to be in its crosshairs there, there is no replacement yet for general kelly at the department of homeland security. first question, does the president plan to name a replacement for him any time soon second of all, is this problematic in terms of dealing with hurricane harvey, the fact that there is no one at the helm right now at dhs >> no, there is someone at the helm you have acting secretary elaine duke, who is watching this closely, very involved in the process along with the acting director for fema. again, i think we are in great

same having general kelly sitting next to the president throughout there process and probably no better chief of staff for the president during the hurricane season and the president has been briefed and will continue to be updated as the storm progresses and certainly something he's very aware of and will keep a very watchful eye on and stays ready for resources, if feed needed. >> sarah the president promised over and over again during the campaign that mexico would pay for the wall so why is he now threat everyoneing a government shutdown and congress won't pay for it >> the president is committed knowing this gets done we know the wall at the border measures work. we seen that take place over the last decade, we are committed to making sure the american people are protected. we will continue to push forward and make sure the wall gets built. >> why are you threatening a shutdown over the bank again, he said, over and over again, he talks about the campaign, over and over again, he says, mexico will pay for the

wall he asked people, crowds chanted back, mexico is going to pay for it now he is pushing, threatening a shutdown about the government. >> once again the president is committed to making sure this happens. we will push forward matthew. >> sarah, a week ago on august 17th, the president again referenced a fictitious story about general pershing committing a confusion of built-ins. a couple questions on that, does the president know the story is false and, if so, why does he keep repeating it? and why does the white house think it's appropriate for the president to perpetuate this false story, if he had -- >> i haven't had a chance to ask him about. that so i can't speak it to. >> then on the broader point so the president is spreading false information via his twiths accou twitter account. no one informed him. >> i didn't say no one, i didn't have that conversation so i wasn't going to speak to something i wasn't aware of.

>> thank you, sarah. thank you. the u.s. has withheld funding to egypt over human rights record. president trump phrased him in april when he was here, why the change until now >> well, look, the united states has always been committed on human rights issues. we'll continue to do that and if i have further updates, i'll let you know, i'd encourage you to reach out to the state department april. >> there are two questions, on the economic of a government shut down, if the wall is not paid for the president likes to to talk about how the economy is doing well under his watch if there is a government shutdown, people could be laid off or for a moment or some people could lose their jobs, talk to us about the economics, what does he view the economics of it with this wall for the average american, what he's fighting for >> i'm not going to get into the weeds on that, i know the president is probably one of the strongest presidents we've had on economic issues, there is a

reason over a million jobs have been created since he took office there is a reason that unemployment is at a 16-year low, there is a reason that the stockmarket is the all time high he is very committed to job creation, economic growth and he will continue to do that >> there is a big back and forth about this summit, three of the organizations that are overtop of the htpus that basically represent them are saying this is not the time to have this stuff because of charlottesville and some of the school feel they were not given what was promised by this administration and there could be an ultimate summit by a congress woman what's going on here >> look, the hbcu summit has been going on for over 30 years. we have no intention of canceling it as of right now the summit is at a complete capacity with a waiting list with that type of engagement, i think it's best we move forward. >> can i see a list of schools

that made it we are hearing from schools saying they are not coming and a lot of leaders. >> i can only tell you who is registered and certainly we're at capacity for the convention center with a pretty lengthy waiting list in terms of whether or not we ootd release that i'd have to check on that and get back to you. >> what are the president's thoughts on the situation of the u.s. embassy we understand now 19 americans have been -- >> i know they have been going through the process of bringing the majority of those people back to have thorough testing and see what actions need to be taken and how best to move forward. at this point i'd refer you to the state department on anything further. >> does he believe that cuba is involved directly? >> i can't comment on that, at this time we're under a thorough review, as soon as we know something, we will let you know. >> it's important the president said the debt ceiling process is a mess is that accurate >> look, it's our job to inform congress of the debt ceiling it's their job to raise it

congress and the previous administration have obligated trillions in spending. we need to make sure we pay our debts. we are still committed to making sure that gets raised. >> that ceiling bill >> yes >> [ inaudible question ] is the secretary of state has deemed them, has the president been informed of this has he been briefed? >> he's been briefed, but again i think there is a thorough review taking place and at this point i'd have to refer you to the state department for any further follow-up. >> thank you, sarah. i will try a different question for you. >> uh-oh. >> does the white house have any reaction to the fcc approving the acquisition of whole foods by amazon? >> i'm not aware of that i'd have to check to see if there is official administration response. >> second question, i want to read the comments from senator bob corker i'm sure you seen them over a week ago about the president saying the president has not yet

been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful he also said he is not sure the president understands the character of this nation do you any response from that? >> i think that's a ridiculous and outrageous claim and doesn't dig fify a response from this podium. >> a follow-up on jonathan's questions, since the president is going full court press over the funding of the wall. does that mean he is abandoning any efforts to negotiate with mexico >> certainly doesn't any efforts are abandoned. an official happy birthday >> you mentioned in the opening remarks, honorable and victorious as the president did if afghanistan can you describe for the american people what both of those words mean to the president? honorable and victory? what does it look like what does that mean? >> i think when he spoke on

monday, he laid out what the top priority was in this process and that's making americans safe and protecting the american people and moving forward with this strategy and making sure that afghanistan is never able to be used as a haven to attack the united states. i think those are certainly clear goals and part of that process. >> does that mean, therefore, that u.s. military personnel will be there as long as there is any type of terrorist activity or cell in afghanistan or pakistan? >> look, i think when it comes to the strategy in afghanistan, they're going to be focused on the conditions on the ground which will be determined by the generals in the military on the ground and certainly through the department of defense and general mattis and his time and arbitrary time tables and he'll be the one that can layout those specifics for you and what that looks like. >> i was asking, you mentioned terrorism, you mentioned thefts. there are several different

mechanisms, a al qaeda, isis, taliban, is the priority of this administration and the strategy it will pursue until it is accomplished until all of those terrorist cells, either afghanistan, pakistan, only then can victory be achieved and described as honorable >> i think that's a question that's best answered by general mattis and the department of defense. what i can tell you is the ultimate goal is a peaceful settlement between the government of afghanistan and the taliban that protects our interests and protects american lives, that's the focus. i'll let secretary mattis determine and lay that out for you more specifically. >> [ inaudible ] first of all, if afghanistan is working why are we still there if it hasn't been working, what do we find differently going forward? >> again, one of the things is that is different is the decision and whether or not when and how to withdraw would be based on conditions on the

ground not arbitrary time tables and making sure we have an integrated strategy that put all of our american power, diplomatic, economic and military in a way that's sustainable and cost effective making sure we have that integrated process is a big key. >> having troops. [ inaudible is that what that is >> no, again, we are not doing this based on a time table, but conditions oak and making sure we are defeating terrorists and protecting american lives. i think it's very clear when the president laid that out on monday >> hold on, wait, i have a second question on that whatever the final objective is, is it really worth the reported trillion dollars that it would cost isn't there anything better we might better spend that on. >> i don't think you put a price tag on american lives. >> the president talked about putting more pressure on pakistan and playing a constructive roam. he also talked about having a new closer strategic partnership with india, which is pakistan's prime antagonist

why does the president think drawing closer to india will prompt the pakistanis to play a more constructive role rather than becoming more defensive and playing more into a strategy of giving harbor to extremists? >> we think it's important that there is a regional approach and part of that is developing and strengthening that relationship and partnership with india they have been making important contributions towards afghanistan's democracy and their stability. we think it's important to continue that effort >> on the threat of the government shutdown, if congress doesn't secure funding for this wall how is that not a concession from the white house that mexico isn't actually going to pay for this wall and american taxpayers will. >> again, there is what the president is committed to, protecting american lives, doing it is a priority we're moving forward with it. >> he's not saying that mexico is going to pay for it. >> he hasn't said that not

either thank you. i think we've had enough on that subject from the past. >> the president's ban on transgender surface in the military, how close is the white house to sending guidance to the pentagon on that and the policy, itself, how much discretion would be given to the pentagon on implementing it >> when we have an announce p, i will be sure to let you know we will be sure to answer that >> thank you, sarah. two questions, please, first the beginning of may with great fanfare the president signed extreme religious liberty executive orders the last few days the head of the beckett fund, a group that fights for religious liberty in court complained that the executive order dealing with the johnson amendment, the tax exempt status for churches, whether they deal in politics and the affordable care act's

contraception clause were both still being enforced in spite of the president's orders that they not be what is the president doing about this and is he aware of these complaints >> i'm not sure if he's aware of the complaints or any specific places where that's being ignored. so i'd have to look into that and probably talk to our friends at hhs specific to the contraception thing and get back to you. >> my second question is, in russia, the major story there, is that the theater director carole subrenakoff, a well-known feature of the putin regime has been arrested and is being tried on what he said are trumped-up charges regarding his financing. there are massive demonstrations beginning, does this administration have a comment? >> i certainly can't make an official statement at this time. but i'll circle back with you.

fred all right. fred oh sorry. i thought i saw you in the back. >> yeah. one, given the personal happened of congress, there an elevated role right now for vice president pence having been in congress, speaking both languages in terms of working with congress to negotiating a budget and so forth? >> the vice president plays a key in a pivotal role in the administration in the white house. i think he is certainly always going to be an important part of the process of moving legislation forward on whateve that circumstance is or whatever the matter is. he is probably one of the best advocates here at the white house and certainly somebody that the president has a great deal of trust in and is happy to have on his team >> is that role elevated,

though considering there seems to be a risk >> i think that the vice president is the second in command, so it's a pretty high role where he is, certainly, again, a key member of this administration and somebody who plays a pivotal role every single day in the white house, no matter what the circumstances are. >> that is, there has been some increased criticism from conservatives about commissioner kostenen at the irs, there were 213 employees rehired after committing offenses that included some crimes for termination. i was wondering, why he is still a part of the administration and the president have any plans for replacement? >> when we announce something on that front, i will certainly let

you know. >> one on sheriff arpaio, is the president seeking recommendations from the deputy attorney general or is he asking for an fbi background check of in his consideration on that part >> i would imagine they go through the thorough and standard process and when we have an announcement on what that decision is after that's completed, we will let you know. >> more broadly, beyond arpaio, there are 2,200 other applications does the president have any pardon policy, pardon philosophy, any particular way that he would like to use his pardon power during his term in office >> i haven't had a specific conversation with him about that, but i know that his -- the white house council plays a big role in that and would certainly be involved in that process and any deliberations on that. >> alexis. >> the president being clear he wanted to work on tax reform we haven't we heard him say much about it t. politico talked to a

white house correspondent this week said the president has an imminent announcement about tax reform can you describe how he wants to kick off the fall campaign to get that accomplished and will we hear from him this week, next week what can we expect >> tax relief and the focus on tax relief for middle class americans is a huge priority for this administration. it will certainly be a big focus in the fall. we will look at different ways in which to talk about that and present that to the american people, working with congress, to make sure that that happens and we'll keep you guys posted when there is specific announcements. i think you can expect some of that to take place in the very short order, probably next week in following through to the fall >> it's customary for our presidents to get annual physicals, physical exams at walter reed. the president i think at last released information about his medical condition last fall, during the campaign. can you tell us whether the president intends to utilize the federal facilities at walter

reed this year to get a physical he sent information to the public. >> i'll let you know if that's going to happen. >> president trump said if we have to build up our government, we have to build the wall. does he stand by that statement? >> i think protecting american citizens is priority, something he is committed to, as i said, 12 times today, he is committed to seeing that through. >> a government shutdown to get the wall built >> i think i've answered the question. >> first, the president mentioned that he was, he seemed inclined to be pulling the u.s. out of the north american free trade agreement. his comments came after the first round of nafta renegotiation comments last week were those formed by the status last week if washington, he said this would be pulling the u.s. out? >> the president is being kept up to date on those

negotiations i think he has certainly been clear about how he feels about nafta and we get the best deal for the american people. he is committed to that. we will see how the negotiations go and go from there thank you so much, guys. >> and that's sarah huckaby sanders, addressed a number of different issues, first and foremost, she was pressed several times about the president's recent comments how he will shut down the government if there is not funding for a wall. >> exactly we got a repeat of the question, saying the president is clear. if you gauge the kind of difference of his clear tweets and not quite as equivocal of that. >> didn't back away, whether mexico is or isn't paying for it let's get back to our panel, shall we unless you pick it up where we left off i was originally asking you, why

we haven't moved forward we flipped lower how would you tie this all towing >> clearly the headlines and the overall theme of the government shutdown and debt ceiling is something we have been focusing on we knew the press conferences are waiting for today. if there was a different angle that was going to come out of it i think we are hearing different things as far as you said, as far as tweets are concerned. the market doesn't react to something like this today. i think there is not many people who are trading in this market right now. most investors are waiting to see what will come from other headlines and from the government next week. >> and i suppose even more encouraging tone on that topic came out of speaker ryan earlier. of course, it will be up to congress whether or not. he was very confident that they would pass that debt ceiling mohammed, if i bring you in, your take away on the developments over the political side over the last couple of days do you think it's already priced into the market, that we are not going to see much action on

things like tax reform >> well, not just the last couple of days, but the take away from the all of august is how well behaved market have been, despite a lot of political networks despite the politics and despite the latest tensions within the republican party. i think looking forward, my main concern is not about shutting do under the deposit, it's not about the debt limit that's going to be department with my main concern is that's likely to delay all the noise around these two issues and game of chicken that goes with these two issues i'd like you to delay further tax reform and infrastructure. that's what the market will worry about at some state? yeah, chris, when sarah was asked about the issue of tax relieve, she said it is a huge priority she emphasized the white house is working with congress, both reports recently to the contrary, you might expect news on it next week. what are you anticipating? >> well, certainly, everyone that's involved in these markets would like to see.

that i think mohammed hit the nail on the head i think the two pieces of legislation that the trump administration espoused during the campaign, the market was most excited about was corporate tax reform and infrastructure spending so we would certainly like to see only action on that. we'd like to see fewer self-inflicted wounds and more action from that perspective >> rick, just a quick comment in terms of what we expect on the fed front and the jackson homefront tomorrow, which nation in terms of the u.s. yields for european yields is leading the global yield picture at the moment what do you expect from that central bank tomorrow? >> you know, i think the closer we get to our september meeting, i really think it's the u.s. the euro has been moving a bit sideways t. dollar index is really tracking the ten-year note yield quite closely these days i really think that is what the world is focusing on but i think the ecb in the

grander scheme of things, they hold the key t. bank of japan holds the key. all the political issues are fascinating. lots of eyeballs, people are interested but if you really are worried about your money, it's what the big three central banks do the next 24 months that is really going to alter potentially, enhance or remove value from portfolios, that's what investors should pay attention to and the first chapter of that is september 19th and 20th. >> all right let's bring in eamon javers for his reaction to the press conference right now >> reporter: it's just my question to her. >> if you can hear me, we did catch that question. we will come back to him in a moment as soon as that's clear go ahead, will. >> i was going to say i think it's an interesting dichotomy of the three different tones we we heard over the past couple days, president trump unequivocal of saying he is willing to go to a government shutdown, it's not

unequivocal between the president, congressmen and himself. paul ryan, though, gave the opposite tone today. he didn't take the debate when he was asked that question he said we have a great relationship we will definitely pass the debt ceiling. let's get reaction, he is following that press conference with sarah saunders. >> reporter: hi, as you say, we we heard that press conference, one of the things that wall street was looking for here was a sense of whether or not the president is going to push for a clean debt ceiling increase or not a clean debt ceiling increase, meaning, will it be straight forward, increase the debt ceiling or will there be some measure attached to it? conservatives on capitol hill have often hoped to attach some important measure to them to a debt ceiling increase as a part of a negotiation with democrats on the hill in order to increase the debt limit i asked sarah huckaby about the debt creelings, he said the redpoegs process is quote a mess i asked her if that was

accurate here's what she said. >> look, it's our job to inform congress of the debt ceiling and it's their job to raise it and congress and the previous administration have obligated trillions in spending and we need to make sure we pay our debts. we are still committed to making sure that gets raised. >> that ceiling bill >> yes >> reporter: there you have it the president does want a clean debt ceiling bill. >> that might not be popular on conservativ conservatives who wanted negotiating room in the fall sarah sanders says, i we heard you talking a moment ago about the tax reform process if all of this an interesting choice of terminology, she was asked about tax reform she gave her answer about tax relief >> that seemed to me to be an intentional choice of phrases. i think part of it is, it will poll well. a lot of americans will be in favor of tax relief. reform can be ambiguous, also i think it might be an indication they are looking at significant

tax cuts as opposed to more broad institutional reform. >> a little less than we saw or our markets had hoped for. thank you for now. >> we got about a half an hour to go before the closed markets have turned south in the last hour or. so we are now down about .2 of a percent for the nasdaq and a tenth of a percent for the dow however, if we look at the second performance, consumer staples is weighing down 1.3%. >> that comes on the back of that news, amazon and whole foods will cut prices, you have wal-mart, costco, targets and the like sharply on the back of that news. >> we will have more on that shortly. president trump taunting paul ryan, house speaker over the debt ceiling up next paul ryan's reaction and we will speak to speakers on both sides of the aisle on their take of this possible shutdown next, we will talk to the ceos

of hp einc. and whadeloitte anda the two companies are working on, that's ahead next.

>> welcome back. house speaker paul ryan in washington today to view our

plans. it's contentious i feel they are under pressure on some of these agenda items. >> well, certainly, president trump's tweets this morning didn't help the matter, trump blamed both paul ryan and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell for making a mess of a debt ceiling saying they should have attacked a debt ceiling increase to a va funding bill i pressed paul ryan on this question here's what he said. >> i don't really think it as going after me look, that's an option we were looking at the va deadline came up. we were not able to do that then i am not worried about this. we have plenty of obligations ahead of us. we will hit the increase before this is penetrating. meaning we will pass a debt limit increase, plenty of options in front of us >> that one just wasn't available for us. >> do those options include a different creel something. >> i'm not going to negotiate to the media.

we have a lot of options, i'm not worried about getting this done, i know we will get this done and pass the increase before we hit the deadline. >> reporter: well, ryan has been criss-crossing the country on a tax reform road show, that's why he was out here in washington state. but president trump's tweet seems to be distracting against thattest i asked whether the president is out there stumping for this issue in order for it to succeed. >> we have the shared agenda t. president and congress wrerks eye-to-eye on this agenda and these priorities i have spoken to the president more times than i can remember on how we agree on getting tax reform done. so this isn't an issue where you have a difference between the senate and the white house we are totally on the same page on this. >> reporter: now once lawmakers get back to washington, d.c., ryan says they'll be looking to pass a short-term funding bill guys, even amid all these other

fights, he was inconsistent that tax reform will not take a back seat this fall. >> thank you for that. a great interview earlier. will d.c. come together and compromise let's bring in republican representative charlie dent from pennsylvania and his democratic colleague from new jersey bill pasqerel congressman dent,ly start with you. we just we heard from the speaker. he said he and the president see eye to eye on the issues of raising the debt ceiling and tax reform does he speak for all republican congressmen when he says that? >> reporter: no, he does not speak for our republican congressman. although, i agree with the speaker we will, in fact, raise the debt limit we have no choice. it would under mine the united states and obviously as a reserve currency as well so we will raise the debt ceiling and the speaker talked ability some options, there are plenty of options, we can attach

the debt ceiling to the resolution, we can do a bipartisan agreement with the cr and debt ceiling we can add children's health to the debt ceiling there are a number of options. i believe we will choose one of those vehicles we must do this. i suspect it's going to be done well before september 30th >> i was struck, congress pap, by these remarks by senator graham telling hugh hewitt republicans should make democrats say no, to funding the truth, to helping veterans, i don't know why we don't do that. he says he thinks that's what the president is saying. are we headed down that road >> i hope not. i hope in the vain that charles talked about, i think these one of the few people that are willing to speak up in fairness and mod moderation and reaching out to the other side. he not only talks about it he does it charlie dent is a great guy. she a great republican

she a great representative because he's gone beyond, i think. i can't speak for him, of course, but he's gone beyond the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003. we saw what trickle down economics did to this economy primarily leading to the catastrophe we had in 2007 and 2008 remember, when president obama took over the presidency what the unemployment rate was. >> congressman -- >> so we have a different situation now. this guy, the president -- >> are you saying you don't support the effort to reform or lower the tax rate >> i believe in and having total reform of the tax system we haven't had it since 1985 but i want reform. i just don't want tax cuts we're not going to be doing this again like we did in 2001 and 2003 to provide tax cut for the most well-to-do. we want to preserve the middle class. we want to -- you know, first we

got to ask ourselves, what itself the problem the problem is stagnant wages in this country so we want to make this reform responsive to that major problem that we face in america. that's what we need to do. and charlie's made some options, i would absolutely look at each one of them that he's mentioned. >> congressman, we we heard from sarah huckaby just now the phrase tax relief as opposed to tax reform, so if there was a simple tax cut, would you disagree what speaker ryan said earlier, he felt quite a few democrats would get behind that tax relief >> we are not going to support, simply tax cuts. we have been through that game before we won't do it again we want the middle class to feel the government is on their side. you need comprehensive reform. this is exactly what they did in the aca and i'm sure that's one of the reasons why charlie voted against that repeal.

>> let's bring congressman dent into this with a final word. what is most important to you that you see in this bill that you think your colleague can get on board with? >> on tax reform and first bill pasquerel has been a great man, we served on the homeland committee. i think all of us would like to see a tax reform, that is where we clear out the deductions, loopholes, breaks, et cetera and lower rapts and we'd be paid for. now the other thing that could happen is, there could be a partial pay for that we partially remove many of those tax preferences and then lower rates, but it would not be fully offset or, as bill said, it could end up being a straight tax cut, which i know he would object to. my preference and i think all our preference, republican and democrat a like a full reform as closely paid for as possible that's easily said than done.

>> we were talking about the shutdown and the debt ceiling. now tax reform to circle back to those issues, since we are facing that deadline next month. this is a part of that process, clean debt ceiling hike, should you be worried about a shutdown? >> yes, the follow up on that, look, i can support a clean debt ceiling. i've done it in the past ideally, i would attach a bipartisan bicamera budget agreement along with a confronting resolution if we can't get an agreement on all these issues by the end of september, then we won't be forced to do a clean debt ceiling. i would support that we might be able to put the children's health insurance plan on it. there is no option the fall thing is not an option. >> that is a catastrophe so we can't go if that direction. i think bill would probably agree with me on that point. i think we will all work towing on that faith. >> leave it on that. gentleman, thank you both. up next, we will hear from the chief executives on their

latest innovations. >> and preparations are under way to brace for hurricane harvey, should you prep your portfolio, too we'll debate how the storm could impact oil stocks coming up. we are back in a couple of minutes. ronoh really?g's going on at schwab. thank you clients? well jd power did just rank them highest in investor satisfaction with full service brokerage firms... again. and online equity trades are only $4.95... i mean you can't have low cost and be full service. it's impossible. it's like having your cake and eating it too. ask your broker if they offer award-winning full service and low costs. how am i going to explain this? if you don't like their answer, ask again at schwab. schwab, a modern approach to wealth management.

>> inside jacks . we're back to "closing bell" deloitte and hp announcing a global partnership they will work towing to make sure more customers can take advantage of 3d printing technology. >> we have a c nbc exclusive, josh >> thank you, kelly, gentleman, thank you for joining us today. >> thank you for having us. >> i'll start with you, simple question, why does this partnership now? why partner with hp inc. specifically when a number of vendors you have chosen. >> it's great to be with neon deonne this is about the fourth industrial revolution, a 12

trillion dollar manufacturing in making it more effective where hp they're the leaders in technology, particularly in 3d printing we are the leaders in transformation, that's why this partnership. >> what about the industry if you think about it, industries and businesses will be most excited about takeing advantage of this technology >> well, a & d, medical, i know deonne has items to show you it's this entire manufacturing space that i think will benefit from this technology and alliance. >> deonne, when you talk about that collaboration, any insight in terms of revenue share, is deloitte getting a cut at any printer sold any insight there? >> that's not the way it works if you disrupt a $12 billion industry, you need an incredible ecosystem, partners that develop materials with us. it was important we had a partner expert in transformation, deloitte's global reach andable to transform organizations to a new

better way of doing things is exactly how you disrupt a $12 billion analog industry and do eight better way. >> my viewers, they have been hearing for years, dion, about the potential of 3d technology, what is different now? why is it now poised for a real breakout >> you are absolutely right. we said we wouldn't get into it, into this business until we could solve the problems of speed, quality and costs we're doing it in a unique and different way t. first partner was ever shown to me out of a 3d printer, was this hearn, they lifted the car up. the engineer working on it stood underneath the car that's a pretty confident engnary. we build this up layer by layer, it's built out of plastic. in what is called a quarter per pound. in less than a year, they showed me this part another chain link. built into this is a boxer level clang the electrical conductivity now it's alive when we hang

something off of it. it will report to your phone exactly how much weight is on the chain link so imagine being able to bring parts alive with electrical circuitry built into the path. >> thank you for coming on, guys we appreciate it. >> thank you kelly, i'll send it back to you guys in new york. >> i want to play with one of those little -- >> yeah, i like. that hang yourself on it and your phone can tell you how much you weigh. >> there we go thank you guys >> where are you going with that >> but, anyway, there we go. 12 minutes before the bell we've taken a little leg lower in the last 40 minutes or so mainly by consumer staples, which is the worst performing sector, the broader market is down about a tenth to .2 of a percent. >> up next, a full report on hurricane harvey and discuss how worried you should be about painthhurricanes, not only imctg e golf, impacting your portfolio stay with us we'll be right back.

♪ (bell rings) ♪ (screeching tires) (bell rings)

>> welcome back. eight nfl minutes ago, arthur said it's less than 50 million to sell. >> the u.s. national hurricane center has upgraded harvey to hurricane status, set to make

landfall on the texas gulf coast tomorrow should oil markets be worried? >> joining us are he lean and kyle cooper of ion energy. it says here you are worried i'm worried about houston, talk to us about the oil price. >> if we're worried about capacity the hurricane is supposed to potentially come into a range, one-third of the refineing capacity we are concerned about flooding. >> that is our big concern we're not as concerned about production we're thinking the refinery shutdown could cause gas prices to rise. on the flipside, bearish or crude. >> on the flipside, you think this won't have a huge impact on oil and gas markets? >> yeah, a couple things, number one the latest track has it going more towards corpus christi, i agree a lot more if this is headed where we are, it's 200 miles southwest of houston the refinery complex

there is much less intense than it is in the houston area and into louisiana. >> kyle, that said, when we see the trajectory the size of the storm, how slow moving it is, it sounds like there will be a ton of rain dumped on that entire area what could a near miss of houston imply? >> there is a concern, this storm has been updated significantly. most definitely, what you mentioned is the biggest concern. this is a slow moving storm. there is many forecasts out there that say this could produce record-breaking storms, keep in mind, there is an area southwest of houston that holds a 24 record for rainfall in houston or in the u.s. at 43 inches in a 24 hour period back in the '70s so that is the biggest concern by far, let's also keep in mind, this is not katrina. this is not rita, while it's been upgraded do a cat-3 which is major, it's not the same as a

3, 4 or 5. >> as you mentioned earlier, we seen wti down 1.6% on the base that refineries get hit, is it not possible this loads to lower inventories and that could be bullish? because the product has to be refined at some point? >> the big concern is we are getting out of driving season. this hurricane is hitting right at the moment we are going into refinery maintenance we're not talking about release of 14 million barrels. we think this is potentially negative head wind for wti now if it's a non-event. you can see wti ramally. again, we are very closely watching rainfall and shut down refineries. >> kyle, i know this is besides the point right now. but what preparations are being made, either by individuals? are people stocking up on gasoline in advance of this, for example? what are refineries doing? what are the plans now we are 24 to 48 hours away from the

landfall >> like you said with this landfall, about 200 miles south of houston, my wife called me and said, there is not a bottle of water in the grocery stores in houston on the way here she announced they are shutting school on monday, there is definitely preparations made. because we have gone through katrina, rita, the last 15 years, we've seen devastating storms i don't want to sound like this is a non-event it is a potential storm. it's about 200 miles for houston, it's not nearly the issue for corpus corpus has a serious issue. >> final word. >> this is the first major tax for the trump administration as a natural disaster we have a newly installed fema administrator. they can see senior agency that would fuel the type of prices, i do think there will be a task how the trump administration responds. >> we hope everybody is aware they need to prepare we appreciate it very much >> coming up --

>> we will be right back with the closing countdown, after the bell, don't miss our first c nbc interview with dana white. keep it right here, you are watching "closing bell." we're fn security events every day. ddos campaigns, ransomware, malware attacks... actually, we just handled all the priority threats. you did that? we did that. really. we analyzed millions of articles and reports. we can identify threats 50% faster. you can do that? we can do that. then do that. can we do that? we can do that.

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♪ ♪ (bell rings) ♪ (screeching tires) (bell rings) welcome back to the "closing bell" less than two minutes to go

we are down 27 points or so on the dow, 0.175%. we have taken a break in the last couple minutes. natural gas is up in light of that hurricane coming into the texas. in fact, energy, one of the relative better performances, very clear, consumer stapled down, likes of kroger, target, wal-mart all taking a move lower when whole foods announced the price cuts on you made a take away today >> we saw the market on tuesday, 200 points with esaw the market go down w. we had a rally on the start of the day. it goes down when the president tweeted criticism of ryan and mcconnell, saying they didn't follow his advice on putting the debt ceiling together. they don't like this course. this is a republican leadership. yellen will take the stage

tomorrow i wonder, new home sales numbers, home builders have down 4 or a 5% this week. >> we look forward to that tomorrow the main decline, consumer staplestocks it's home stock resources, kelly evans has the second half of "closing bell" for you [ music playing [ music playing >> thank you, welcome to the "closing bell," everybody, i'm kelly evarns we started strong before the bell we gave that up and then some t. dow dropping, a drop of about a tenth of 1%. meantime the s&p 500, a lot of big individual movers in that index. you have jewelers up 10% both on earnings

we will circle back to that in a missouri the nasdaq composite is lower today t. russell 2,000 interesting bucking that trends, up about a 33rd of 1%. 13.73 as that dollar index is higher, about 93 and change at the moment and we are tracking the path of hurricane harvey we will bring you the latest details on the big storms, set to hit texas we are two days away from the pay weather mcgregor matchup ahead, we will speak with ufc president dana white >> that is a first on c nbc interview, joining me, michael san tolly here -- santoli is here great to have you on board, there are so many big stories, we nieto the surface, we should start with a turn around, we were up 66 before the bell, down 30 at the close. >> i think chopping around very gently in this range we have been in for a few days i wouldn't make too much in the

intex, in terms of what was driving inter-day, yes the sectors were pretty interesting. it really mostly was about reverting away from trends, a lot of winners were sold, like amazon and the big techs a lot of stuff beaten down, retailers were bouncing. also, though that movement within consumer products companies as well was very fascinating. like smukers, all the rest. >> huge amazon news, to your point you had a company guess up, cigna was up 20. that's been a tough trade, abercrombie and fitch up 14% stephanie, these are big numbers. >> at within point, we had stocks the lowest stocks actually had been very bad performers, on average down 27% year-to-date. there is a 19% short interest. to make's point, have you this

reversion trade. we'll see if it sticks i think that's the important point. up until now, we've had these early big moves like in a target, like in a wal martd, like in a tj and they haven't stopped they kind of have given it back. so we'll see if it sticks. >> one second before we get further into this. what about all of the walk issues quarantined the debt vealing, how that is going to happen the shutdown, and whether or not that's going to get hung up on the wall, tax reform that's a lot, you know, to piece every day. i wonder if that's partly why we have so jumpy. >> it's late august. i think there is a subdued tone out there. people are not willing to project out a lot of good news on the policy front. the kind of adds to that sentiment. we will not place many eggs in that basket and take anything good that comes down the road. you have to swing hard, about treasury bills will mature, they look like a higher yield, to me,

that's not really a matter of outright panic. >> at least you have the big pick we do have washington, i think next week we have, no, very few earnings, so we will get a lot more washington and macro and big pick i think we have to wait until september when people get back to the office and they're doing -- >> it will be moving at the end of the month arthur cashman said the rally rolled over from the president and paul ryan, himself, tried to tamp it down a bit when he gave an interviewer earlier this afternoon, tried to say, stick to the big theme we're working together on this, we are all on the same page on tax reform. >> as a long-term portfolio manager, sometimes you have to ignore what's going on obviously, tax is a very big part of investing an companies will certainly benefit from that however, if you follow this up day-to-day and you trade day-to-day, that's just not my thing. i got a thing of fundamental,

good earnings. where stocks are mispriced for example, today, amazon whole foods news, costco. >> i want to ask you about costco supermarket stocks were rocked, like stephanie said, amazon, a day after the fcc gave them the green light on all this they came out with details and they were talking about, you know, maybe you can try the checkouts. they are talking cutting prices on amazon foods and they are moving pretty quickly there they are moving quickly there are bold changes, there had been plenty of speculation amazon would slash prices for one, i'm not sure many expected it to happen so quickly. >> that may be what is catching investors off guard. croaker shares, i want to mention they are at their lowest level in three years amazon as you mentioned, it expects the whole foods acquisition to close this monday, finally giving us clues, what does it look like customers, suppliers they have all been anxiously

awaiting first amazon/whole foods will start monday on a collection of staples across the stores with more to come it will also begin integrating amazon prime into the whole foods points of sale system. later on, it will give prime member savings and benefits much like the way they do if book stores many were wondering about t distribution impact, they have 450 stores with the deal now we know details. amazon lockers will be available in whole food stores >> that means customers can have them shipped to their local whole foods, amazon knows this is just the beginning and very much an indication amazon will be integrated whole foods into the sprawling co-system in a big way, kelly, back over to you. >> all right good stuff here, thank you we are also bringing in kevin o'leary here, the fed chairman what does that mean? c nbc chairman, i think you are a c nbc contributor, that's what i think. what do you think about this

announcement today and amazon's plans for whole foods? >> i think it's clearly what's going to happen. i think i sucked earlier, it was a little earlier than mark anticipated. what's happening in the entire retail space now, this was an area investors like me used to love, because cash flows were very high in the entire sector, extremely predictable and stable all of that in the last five years has been thrown out the window and now, retail, including this announcement, look what happened to the grocers during mid-day as this came out t. volatility in this sector is unprecedented and i don't think it's investible yet. i just simply wait until we find out what the new normal is going to be. let's wait 12 months to see what the prices look like in krogers and if whole foods let's see how much the margins are crushed by amazon's entry. remember, they don't make money. they don't care about makeing money, they don't even pay tax so they get a free pass on doing whatever they want

this will cause havoc in the grocery space. >> stephanie, i was pretty amazed, kroger shares were down 8% on the bell they've taken a big hit when the deal was announced, another move today. >> i don't know who would be surprised by the amazon news today, it was clear as can be. the thing, what happened with kroger and even with costco, they actually bounced off their lows, they rallied all right, so now have you costco back to where it was when first the news officially came out. it kind of settled around low 150. i think kroger has more issues i think a lots of the packaged food companies have issues they will get squeezed i think there are players that will survive, just like the retail discretionary space the off priesters are doing just fine, look at the dollar tree this morning. >> sure, absolutely, there are winners and losers, i think you got to do your home work-to-physical out where have you the comfort. i think for this situation with

amazon and whole foods, i think costco actually will be just fine they have many more skews. their prices are low by the way, amazon is not the lowest price out there for all of their goods. >> all the time. >> let's just take a step back half a second. i'm using that as an opportunity. >> i totally agree the marks should not have been caught flat but i do think what 70 days after they announce this deem, prime members will have benefits at the register. it's all in place and it's immediate and we just closed a deal yesterday and monday. so that's the part of it where it's like okay they're not fooling around, it's not just about having pickup in whole foods, it's not about having touch and feel of high end customers. so that part of it may be, reflexing if a liquid market to have this happen although i do think the point about how this is pervasive all over the place, consumer product companies dealing with that horrible kind of pricing situation from their perspective. >> 9.5%. >> the coffee business looking

awful, retail coffee business. then dick's sporting goods talking about okay that's a war in terms of pricing and promotional activity there, too and tomorrow we will -- >> are they going to be talking about amazon and cell phones >> i think why inflation is sticky, they can't get it up one reason for it. okay, i don't think organic avocados are pretty good in the basket but you know it doesn't help their effort and it is an effort to get inflation higher. >> smucker was a big mover you said harmemfoods, target is back you also had wpp coming out saying its advertising growth was fought there so all of a sudden the other part of the amazon announcement, they're going to be selling 355 products as well, stephanie. if i can order the generic, sends me something organic and cheap and fills xbox, do i need the brands with the populated

supermarket? >> i completely agree with you i truly think packaged foods markets are a serious risk particularly the private label guys and those that don't add value. >> that said, they're darn expensive, 22.3 times combo qqu, they are getting flat growth you add this, that's not a place i want to be overweight. >> we have earnings out, that stock is moving significantly lower. >> let's look at alta. they did beat on profit by 5 cents. comp sales were up 11.7% a. strong number, but we've seen strong numbers like this auto of ulta in the past t. revenue outlook is good. the earnings is a little weak. the range they are giving is $1.63 to $1.68 i like to point out the salon

komps, those are up 7.7% you can't get on amazon, you have to go in there to get a service done, it's important to watch those trends, this is one that has to continue to really, really overdeliver, what they give investors, because the stock has run up so high back over to you guys. >> that's for sure, courtney, thank you, ulta is down about 5% after hours. kevin, you can comment on that if you want. i was going to bring it back to, you know, what do the grocers do and maybe this goes, you know, to a company like ulta as well is kroger in trouble because of everything that's happening or does kroger, itself, become a part of the online to brick and mortar supply chain that amazon, itself, seems to be building out right now? >> i think it becomes both after all, in grocery, particularly with some people, they'll always want the experience of going to buy and look at meat before they buy it. at poultry, et cetera.

having the right locations matters a lot. if you do that i estimate that will remain to be half the business in perpetuity, in real estate and the communities its services if they never provide an online competitive position against amazon, they'll just become a commodity and eventually acquired by someone who does i worry about that for them. i worry about the shifting sands of all of retail paramedics prevalent in all categories. which is why i go back to my theme. it's extremely hard to invest in it every day you get a landmine, as something changes to acquisition or what happened today in grocery is disturbing, because that story is about margins compression. the fact that so quickly we've seen compression in the highest margin grocery business, which is the whole foods model, all of a sudden you are saying, you know, fresh avocados that have no pesticides are a commodity. that's basically what we are talking about. anybody can get them at a lower

price. i finds that very disturbing for investors thinking they're in a safe place remember, cash flows were the paramount metric of this sector a decade ago now it's all over the map. every quarter it changes. >> yeah. we got to o. real quickly, you want to responds to that stephanie >> i agree, i do think there are still winners in the space i think you have to dig very hard to find them. there clearly are. we've seen that this week from the likes of the off pricers and i think at the end of the day, you will see some of the traditional retailers will be fine. >> figure it out. >> i think they will. >> it's a survivor, it's a matter of just how brutal is it going to be in terms of that even eeking outs the profit that they manage to right now by the way, somebody always wants to, you know, squeeze the avocados, not just like let somebody out there quick cap one for you. >> if i trust it's going to be good, if it's 80% there, i'm fine, i'm fine, stephanie, kevin, thank you both very much.

some big battles shaping up. we will have them both ahead on closing bell first the president tweeting the gop leadership is to blame for the debt ceiling crisis. we will hear what house speaker paul ryan had to say about that. also the floyd mayweather conor mcgregor is days away. we will speak to dana white about the business fight of the century, send us an e-mail with your thoughts on avocados. you are wahi ctcng nbc, first in business world wide.

>> welcome back. president trump may be pushing the market lower house speaker paul ryan returned the volley who joins us from everett, washington. elan >> reporter: kelly paul ryan tried to talk about taxes. at least today president trump had other ideas, that tweet this morning, criticizing both house speaker paul ryan and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell for not having raised the debt speaker already. i sat down with paul ryan

earlier this afternoon at a boeing facility here at washington state here was his response smr i don't think it as going after me look that's an option we are looking at i'm not going to negotiate to the pedia. we have a lot of options in front of us. i know we will get this done and we will pass the increase before we get to the deadline. >> reporter: ryan is out here trying to build up tax reform. that means taking on the biggest most popular deductions like perhaps the mortgage interest deduction. >> we recognize acknowledge and believe you need to maintain the mortgage interest deduction. whether it can be improved and how it works, that's a decision and a seduction we will have on an ongoing basis that's how they have their hearings and process for t. point being, we will maintain some of those critical things, homeownership, charitable giving, saving for retirement, these are things everybody needs to do, everybody wants to do if conjunction with a dramatically

simplified tax code. >> reporter: they're not saying it will be eliminated. maybe it will be changed maybe lowering the cap on the size of the deduction, ryan acknowledge income that interview with me that there are some tough tradeoffs when you talk about tax reform, but that everybody is going to have to give up some goodies if you want to try to lower the rate for all house holsd. back over to you, guys. >> elan, good stuff. earlier, the president threatened a government shutdown if there was no funding for his border wall. sarah huckaby sanders at the white house. >> reporter: just a couple minutes ago, a white house official told me something new, which is the white house does not plan to release its detailed proposal for tax reform. instead they will let capitol hill take the lead on. that we expect maybe the house ways an means committee will be the first to put out legislation in detail t. white house saying that i will not put out a

detailed proposal from here and emphasizing they never committed they would do that so that is an interesting legislative strategy remember this white house was criticized back during the obama reform effort for fought having a more detailed proposal of its own and letting the hill take the lead it looks like they're taking the same approach in terms of letting the capitol hill folks go first and not putting out a detailed proposal from here. on the mexico border wall, are you right, sarah huckaby sanders was asked specifically why is the president threatening a shutdown when he said mexico would pay for the wall why does he need that funding from capitol hill. here's how she addressed that question. >> this is something the president is committed to. he is committed to protecting american lives and doing that through the border wall is important, it's a priority and we're moving forward with it. >> he's not saying that mexico is going to pay for it. >> he hasn't said they're not either. >> reporter: also the question of the debt ceiling that battle looming in september, likely, sarah huck a guy sanders horse

not said the white house has not said whether or not they want a clean debt ceiling bill. i had an opportunity to ask her that during the press conference here's what she said. >> look, it's our job to inform congress of the debt ceiling and it's their job to raise it and congress and the previous administration have obligated trillions in spending and we need to make sure we pay our debts. we are still committed to making sure that gets raised. >> on a clean ceiling debt bill? >> yes. >> reporter: a clear answer from the white house, they do want a clean debt ceiling bill, that means they don't ryder's attached to the bill that's something the conservatives might not like on capitol hill, a number of them wanted to attach various must pass on their own. the white house saying they don't want to play that game, they want a clean bill >> all right eamon javers, we'll let you both go, thank you very much. >> this one is on game stop for the second quarter, game stop

actually beating here on the bottom line and on the top line, reporting earnings per share of 22 cents analysts were looking for 16 cents. the revenue is 6.9 billion that expectations, comp sales are up. analysts have been looking for those numbers to fall about 5% so because of the strength of this quarter looking for the full year, management now expects full year comp sales to be at the high end of the previous range but still that means somewhere between down 5% to flat. they're reiterating their full year earnings guidance there, continue to strengthen, intend to switch sales, collectible sales up 36% digital sales up 28% and they expect to see some strength in some of their business after the new hand sets including the new iphone comes out this fall. >> thank you, game stop shares are down about 7%. hurricane harvey is heading to the texas coast to possibly we'll be right back after some

on tourism and we will head to the city manager of galveston next to talk about preparations there and the economic impact. we will go to jacksonville, wyoming, for an interview of glen hubbard under president george w. bush stay right there we'll be right back. well jd power did just rank them highest in investor satisfaction with full service brokerage firms... again. and online equity trades are only $4.95... i mean you can't have low cost and be full service. it's impossible. it's like having your cake and eating it too. ask your broker if they offer award-winning full service and low costs. how am i going to explain this? if you don't like their answer, ask again at schwab. schwab, a modern approach to wealth management. 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico. goin' up the country. later, gary' i have a motorcycle! wonderful.

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>> welcome back. hurricane harvey suddenly intensified today off the gulf coast t. weather channel has more from north padre island in

texas. >> reporter: i am here on north padre island in texas. you see off to my left an angry gulf of mexico, far rangryier than yesterday, off in that direction, a strengthening hurricane harvey right now a category 1 hurricane t. forecast to is for a kraej e category 3 landfall sometime in the next say 24 to 36 hours right here in this year of the texas coast t. last thiem this area had a direct hit of a land falk hurricane, it was 47 years ago. >> that also is a category 3 hurricane. celia, which devastated this area as well as corpus christi, people are rushing completions, preparations are under way right now. but they're hoping for the best as we're awaiting for the approach of our first major hurricane in years here across texas. the last time was 2008 this was hurricane ike, that also caused devastation. we're hoping we don't see a repeat here in texas, but time

will tell. it's not only the coastal concerns, inland, fresh water flooding, maybe a foot to a foot-and-a-half of rain possible through the beginning of next week a lot of concerns here in texas. okay, we will cover it here on the weather channel. back to you. >> it's a ton of rain. we have fresh memories of hurricane sandy here in new york joining us with how he is preparing to handle harvey is galveston city manager brian maxwell. we really appreciate you joining us we'd love to know what kind of preparations you have under way and what impacts you expect at this point. >> right now we are preparing for the onslaught ofwhat we think will be 15 to 18 inches of rain and a two to four foot storm surge on the island, comparatively speaking to ike, it's quite a bit less. nonetheless, it will cause us major problems with drainage and street flooding over the area over the weekend. >> how much did ike cost you >> it cost the city of galveston in the billions of dollars we're not anticipating that level of destruction here with

this particular storm. but we are watching it closestly to make sure that we can stave off as much damage as we can >> what made ike so damaging and is it the different nature of this storm or has the city done things to also help shield it from impact of future storms? >> both. ike was a very, very strong, had a high storm surge in the 14 to 20-foot range, which inundated 80% of the homes here on the island causing that level of loss in addition to that, prior to hurricane ike falling in the subsequent work afterwards, we have hardened most of our infrastructure, we have spent several hundred million dollars hardening our water and sewer infrastructure on the island, which was the biggest loss after the storm. it kept many people from coming home we're if food shape on that right now. >> how is the flood insurance coverage in dpaflston? >> well, we're covered by national flood insurance just like everybody else on the coast. it's certainly not cheap but we are flood to have it.

>> i imagine we'll let you go i know you have a lot of preparation to do. i appreciate you joining us today. >> no problem. thank you very much. >> that's galveston city manager brian maxwell. time now for c nbc news update let's get you over to sue. >> hi, everyone, here's what's happening at this hour a. gunman who stormed a charleston, south carolina restaurant, killing one, holding several other hostage is now in custody t. tense standoff lasted two hours and happened at a popular tourist spot during the height of lunch hour. rescuers in brazil are searching for survivors after a passenger boat with more than 100 people on board sank in a bay near salvadore. authorities now say that 22 people died in that accident the state department is now confirming 16 americans working for the u.s. embassy in cuba have been sickened in what is described as an unprecedented incident it is believed that the attacks may have included the use of

ultrastonnic sound waves t. diplomats are reportedly suffering from severe health problems, in some cases even brain damage. and border patrol agents in california found this little guy sitting in the front seat of a car, trying to cross into the united states from mexico. agents say the driver planned on keeping the bengal tiger cub as a pet. which, of course, is against the law. that's the news update this hour kelly, he's a cutie pie. >> oh, sue, i'm so troubled by that cuba story, i can't even look at the tiger cub s. that terrorism? they're having -- i remember when this first started to come out. it seemed they couldn't possibly be they did that apparently they have. >> yes. >> that is unbelievable. >> it occurred at a time when relationships between the u.s. and cuba were thawing to a great extent they don't know how it was done or why it was done or who did it the state department remaining quiet on that.

i think they're still trying to piece together everything, but it is a really awful story >> yeah, major incident to sa i the leastful thank you for now despite saying they were both low interest rate people, president trump hasn't said whether or not he will keep fed chairman janet yellen around for a second term, glen hubbard joins us next from jackson hole. listen up, heart disease.) you too, unnecessary er visits. and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. and fragmented care- stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. every single one of you is on our list. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done.

>> welcome back. the feds summer camp if wyoming is kicking off steve leaveman is there with the council of economic advisers steve. >> reporter: hi, kelly, thanks very much. jackson hole, they're about to begin the meeting this evening with a kickoff dinner and speeches tomorrow, janet yellen, mario draghi speaking. policy and the issues surrounding global growth, which is the topic of the conference, glen we had a bitter rebound in global gross profit. how consequential for the u.s. do you think >> i think it can be

consequential. it's a definitely good news story for the u.s. i expect that to come up. >> did you say continuing what the congress and the president are doing you don't mean in the past you mean in the future are you optimistic there will be tax reform >> i am definitely optimist -- tax reform i am definitely optimisticic i would say continuing the ongoing efforts that are going on in the congress and in the trump administration, i'm very optimistic this comes about and particularly on the business side, which is what will drive growth and productive. >> you want 15% corporate tax number what number do you think he can get? >> i think the president is right to go bold i think 15% is difficult in a tax reform package to be revenue neutral a. number like 20 strikes me as more possible, but to most business leaders and investors 20 versus 35 that's day and night. that's a big deal is there what's your opinion of fed policy now they're about to launch this idea of reducing the balance sheet. there is concern about this mixed rate hike because of

inflation. is that something that spooks you, other than the feds wait and see because the numbers aren't showing up? >> i think we do need to begin the balance sheet normalization. i think this is a good time to do that. i this i we ought to continue normalizing rates. i don't know that we have to be in such a hurry to do it very rapidly. i don't see inflationary pressures as being that strong, although they have picked up to me the bigger question for the fed is what's the flamework goi -- frame going forward? >> talk about where we're going, it sounds to me they're moving down from the term fal rate where they would end up this rate cycle from 3% down to 2%. does that make sense to you? could they ends at 2 >> you can add 2%. if you think the long-term real interest rate were 1%. >> that givers you 2%. three gives you four, zero gives

you two, i am enough of a believer i think zero long term doesn't round right to me. i don't see two as being a plausible terminal number unless itotally wrong on growth. >> your name comes up as one potentially for a fed chair, or the fed? is this something you are interested >> the only this inc. that matters is president trump and his choice t. good news is there are a lot of excellent people who could run the federal reserve system t. biggest question i would argue for you leaders right now is what do you want the feds to do the then you can decide who can do it >> do you think gary cohen. >> in you do not need to be an economist to run the fed i think the fed would benefit from having a diversity of views. you do have to have an understanding of technical problems obviously at a technical level. i don't think every member of the fed has to have a ph.d. in economics. >> i'm afraid that's all the time we have

>> ply pleasure. >> thank you for joining me. look forward to the conference kelly back to you. >> yeah, i'm at nnnce sum -- nye summer camp. >> shares are soaring after the cloud and big data repeat the top and bottom lines ed a judd earnings, two pennies better than expectations, revenue of $280 million better than analysts estimate of 69 million. third quarter guidance, revenue guidance, 307 to 309 million that was also solid. splu splunk is up. we will have details next. we're two days away from connor mcgregor and undefeated champion boxer floyd mayweather

dana white joins us next on a c nbc interview with a big e siness behind the fight. aryou watching c nbc first in business world wide.

(upbeat dance music) (bell ringing) . the countdown is on. there are two days left until the highly anticipated ufc fight between floyd mayweather and connork gregor some are forecasting the revenue will gen rate $7 million globally the joining us is ufc president dana

white. welcome. >> thanks. how are you? >> good. how are the ticket sales because we understand that's like the main thing going into the weekend. are people going to pony up do see this live, dana? >> yeah, we are over 65 million in tick sales, 60 saleticket sa' doing well. >> the word is they're cutting prices on the website, they're having issues selling him out versus others. if you guys get $700 million from tv viewership how important to you that people are paying thousands of dollars to sit rieng siring side? >> you know it's all important at the end of the day, the fighters are going if there, putting on a fight you know, they get a piece of this, so it's all important. but i think early on, a lot of people were focusing on the tickets and is that an indicator of how well the fight will do? i mean, it's over $65 million.

there are still a couple days to go, this thing will do over 70 million in ticket sales. i think we are doing all right as far as the gate goes. >> we mentioned the pay per view sales so far, which looks like they're tracking close to perhaps a record i wonder if longer term it might concern you if, in fact the odds makers are right and the betting markets are right, this looks like a lopsided match that it's really novelty value that people are paying for right now longer term, do you think this is something that can be sustained when you have fighters and different disciplines going up against each other? >> well, no, this is obviously two of the great guys in the right place at the right time. you know, it doesn't matter what fight happens. you never know how a fight is going to tournurn out. if the fight is going to be a one -- conor mcgregor fought jose aldo the only champion in the ufc. he knocked him out in 13 seconds. so you never now how good a fight will or won't be

it's a part of the excitement of it. >> so i understand he had to do special, not you dana, conor had to do special training for this, his typical fight lasts less than nine minutes and a boxing match with may weather could go far longer than. that how is he getting ready for saturday night >> no, he's prepared he has been training hard for this fight he's brought in a lot of the right people he's got ready you know, he's ready he's ready and i was with him yesterday, he said i am going to knock him out. she too maul for me. he thinks the 8 ounce gloves are real and weighs in his favor. >> the first time i spoke with you, this was announced, you thought he was going to make nearly $100 million. more than that what is the number conor is getting? i understand floyd is something like $200 million, right

>> these guys are very close they cut the deal on their side, we cut the deal on our side. both guys will make a lot of money. it's the most distributed fight ever if combat sports history. over 200 countries will get the fight. boxing usually doesn't do digital. we're very food in the dinl stal space t. dig stal vibes are off the chart. they get a piece of the pay per view they both will do very well. >> 125 150? what is the number for conor mcgregor my hypothesis, this theory, he should go off into the sun et sunset, save his brain from any damage, done you think >> well, listen, i got guy as part of the ufc deal that were lawyers that never came back and never worked again, so who knows. for conor mcgregor is a fighter. this is what he loves to do. i think if he makes 100 or $150

million, i think he will fight again. this is who he is. the guys who become fighters were put on this earth to fight. i think he will fight again. he's only 29 he just turned 29. >> you said that you know he is confidence, of course, you hear that from fighters i'm sure mcglekor is getting a lot of -- mcgregor is getting a lot of advice what would you be telling him in terms of tactics? >> well, he's the younger, bigger stronger guy. i think he needs to move forward, he needs to rough floyd mayweather up. floyd mayweather will be standing on 41-year-old legs so conor needs to rough him up stand in his face. put pressure on him and conor is a knockout artist. when he hits people, they get hurt when they get hurt, he usually knocks them out. it will be the case with floyd, too, if he catches him. >> soda na, what do you think comes after this he had a big fight two years ago. he had this one, it's cross

discipline with two big stars, but the last one underpines the brand a little bit because it wasn't that interesting. what happens if that's true tomorrow night how do you get people excited for the next big thing >> whoa, that last fight wasn't mine may weather versus pacqio was not my fight no way hey, the worst thing about that fight is i bought ten tickets to that fight so don't put that one on me. >> well, you know what i'm saying then. i mean, someone like me, let's be honest, i don't know that much better. i this i watched the last one, it was a did you do. i probably watched something saturday night it better not be a did you ddud. >> you can't guarantee the super bowl is going to be the best football game you ever saw i will tell you this, connork greg-- conor mcgregor, it's almost impossible for him to be in a bad fight. >> i got to be honest, it's hard

for me to watch it in general. i watched that one a month or two ago. my brother is really into this it's brutal. they're destroying each other. we talk about how bad football is do you think this is going to be a lasting sport, dana? can you really build a long-term franchise out of this, especially if these guys start to have more health problems >> in over 20 years, there has never been a death or serious injury in ufc. cheer leading can't say that most ports are contact there's been head trauma in soccer you know, football, all these other things, these guys are grown men. this is what they choose to do, this is what they love to do do i think this is going to continue to grow i don't care what color you are, what country you come from, what language you speak we are all human beings we get it we like it. >> i know how you can top this i want to see conor mcgregor versus dana white. i want to see if you would take

these brutal hits to the head. yes. >> i'm almost 50-years-old, getting on a treadmill is brutal for me >> dana, thank you very much for joining us today oh is there thank from ufc. you going to watch it? >> i probably will my history is that i say i'm not going to and then i'm never doing anything else on saturday night so i'll probably buy it. >> i'll come over to your house and watch it for a few minutes i'm not contributing, just free loading. the robot dance off. how many robots it took to set a new world record ahead on "fast money" nicholas johnston said something that could turn into a nuclear event for the market he'll reveal what that is. warren, to help me deal. isn't that right warren? well, you could get support from thinkorswim's in-app chat.

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>> welcome back. time now for today's fast take we begin with international authorities cracking down on bitcoin fund the ticker is bitcf on concerns about its assets and structure canadian authorities put out a strong warning how these securities cannot sir come fent the rules. >> the price of bitcoin didn't respond to this. it shows you the vehicle people use to play -- you saw that chart. it chased thebitcoin price higher you have to be careful about disclosure and how these things are set up >> what you're saying not so much the bitcoin itself all these funds piggybacking just because you're telling us you're software done mean you're software

if you're securities your subject to these laws. >> that's the big threat down the road regulators squelch it. >> social capital offering a back door ipo. >> it's an interesting opportunistic move the need for it is regrettable for markets. they have all these private companies that are big now be public but reluctant to do southern plains they don't want the transparency these guys will take stakes and do a quasi-public offering we've done this before similar type idea. sort of unusual this cycle that we're in there is this need for some kind of safe place to get liquidity >> i want to see how these companies respond. finally there's no reason to fear the robots. they just want to dance. over 1,000 in china broke the

record for the most robots dancing simultaneous they can do tai chi. they have l.e.d.s and have intelligent technology >> i mean, i think impressive stunt is the way to characterize it isn't it one of those they promise us fine cars and we got dancing robots i would be more impressed if they were not just programmed to do this choreograph but learned how to dance in a reactive way like in a club >> that's where we're heading robots dancing in a club >> intuit is up 18%. the ceo weighs in on what tax reform could mean for his bottom line in our sound bite from the future next. the governor has declared a winter weather emergency... extreme risk of burst pipes and water damage... soon, insurance companies won't pay for damages.

that is, not if they can help prevent damages from happening in the first place. at cognizant, we're turning the industry known for processing claims into one focused on prevention with predictive analytics, helping them proactively protect the things that matter most. get ready, because we're helping leading companies see it- and see it through-with digital.

if there is a simplification of the tax code which we're for those 85 million people that still go to somebody to do their taxes will have the self-confidence to do it on their own. they will use a piece of

software or smartphone and we think that would be a huge stimulus for growing the do it yourself category. we're excited about tax simplification in the absence of that we'll do the job for congress we'll simplify the taxes so people can get them done without worrying about making a mistake. >> sounds good to me that was intuit ceo speaking with "mad money" jim cramer. >> what's interesting the folks at h&r block will use that same line it will be fine for us we'll be okay. i think they almost say with a confidence that basically never happen you can have it go both ways >> even the latest reporting from paul ryan maybe we'll tweak -- you're basically adding layers upon layers of exclusions and deductions >> the return on the postcard dream is still way far off >> i like to dream could it

happen income tax, maybe corporate tax. i don't care what the rate is. i basically have no idea how any of it works. >> such an industry now. obviously the corporate side especially it's really hard to dismantle. >> much more coming up on "mad money" that does it for us on closing bell "fast money" starts now. it sure does we're live from the nasdaq market site overlooking new york's times square. i'm michelle caruso-cabrera in for melissa lee. our traders are on the desk. tonight on "fast" two storms are blowing. a full fledge hurricane barreling towards the coast of texas. we'll bring the latest on that another storm in washington, d.c. as president trump wars with his own party and threatens a government shutdown. and that according to nicholas johnston could turn into a quote, his words a nuclear event for the markets. he's g