good morning it's 10:00 a.m. at at&t headquarters in dallas, 11:00 a.m. on wall street and "squawk alley" ive. ♪ ♪ your love lifting me higher ♪ than i've ever been lifted before ♪ ♪ so keep it up good wednesday morning welcome to "squawk alley." i'm carl with morgan brennan and n fortat the new york stock exchange

busy morning, obviously, on the anti-trust front and pretty soon on the interest rate front as we wait for the fed decision in a few hours. >> absolutely. tomorrow we get ecb as well. this week is going to continue to move forward with a lot of activity, even with the dow barely moving right now, ahead of that decision, up about 7int >> big talker of the day, big approval for at&t's time warner buy, shining a spotlight on other media acquisitions 20th century fox trading at a new high comcast expected to make an all cash offer for the same yasz sets that disney is interested disney three month high. the pending sprint/t-mobile merger, and verizon might buy, we're joined by walter isaacson, advisory partner and former chairman of cnn, and roger mcnamee with us on set, elevation partners co-founder and early facebook investor. what a day, we will begin walter, i guess, are you -- do you applaud judge leon's

decision did you expect it this way >> i expected it this way because you and jon fortt both said it on the show a few times when i was on, that vertical integrations are not something that would be stopped, and you turned out to be right i think it makes sense is a huge tectonic shift we're seeing with multiple converging forces. at parela wineberg where i work we have the disruption lab and you see this in media and telecommunications with the fact that we will have more vertical integration, a lot of mergers, of people who have content and distribution, that's why comcast will be going in for the fox assets you also see other things happening, including comcast being out from under the behaval remedies it had to agree to when it did its universal merger. also, you have the end of net neutrality happening and we're moving into a world in which big data and data about

consumers matter so you're going to have experts in that field, amazon, netflix, ame.t's going to be a wild ride for the next couple of years when it comes to media, telecom, and content type convergences. >> so roger, we've seen this move now, what's the counter move if vertical is allowed, we're going to take a cue from this perhaps without conditions, what do you expect to happen next in silicon valley or outside? >> i think the really big question is, how long does it take before google or facebook or apple buys comcast or at&t? because if you're going to be allowed to do an in fy it in vertical integration, i agree with walter's basic assessment of the industry issues and so if in that scenario you're going to want to go to the person who controls the audience as the

value point, but i don't know that they're even thinking that way. i'm just saying that this clearly makes that a possibility where yesterday that was not something that we would have taken seriously at all >> walter, in light of that and this idea of controlling the audience, with these sort of bigger, traditional media ing bigger and become prelly integrated, the fact that so many more people are cord cutting or not even -- the newer generations are not going to traditional cable to begin how much of this is really jus getting bigger and potentially seeingr and higher prices as we t more m&a to protect a business that is fundamentally and structurally changing longer term >> well, of course, it's changing and yes, there's going to be cord cutting and yes, we're going to have 5g technology and other new techlogies a t of the convergence talked about will cause other people to find new ways to do distribution that is the silver lining or upside on some of this vertical integration and the end of net

neutrality, a company like google, like netflix, a lot of these companies will have to say how do we find ways to also control and get to the customer directly unfortunately also see cbs i mean this is incredibly interesting for one of the great players in this world, which is les moonves, he has cbs in a bit of a delicate dance and struggle with shari redstone and the viacom thing, but cbs becomes value, who knows, to a netflix netflix, it has a market cap that's now bigger or close to being bigger than disney and others, so netflix is going to get into this game and so i think you're going to see people find new ways to do new technologies to get to the consumer, to own that consumer data, and to make sure they can get their content through. >> where do you add -- this is such a basic question, where would you be adding long

positions in tech right now? >> well, obviously, you want to own the acquiries, right, because there are a lot of people whose lives have been turned on end in the whole telecom business today right. essentially, i look at this as, whatever your strategy was yesterday, you have to open it up more broadly today because i think the notion that this transaction has be approved without any conditions, is aig . >> yeah. >> and, you know, essentially, tential acquirer, which come for makes it by definition a best case outcome for the sellers because you get maximum value for whatever you have. >> who do you -- >> even though leon says d't make a mistake, this is a ruling about this specific case >> i sit there and i go, yeah, that's a rule about this specific case but the most recent case and it's not exactly an isolated example relative tt d have

the kinds of issues that are raised here are pretty fundamental relative to the way heecom markets and frankly the entertainment markets are organized and i look at this as who knows what the next judge is going to say, but i know investment bankers and i know they're freshping up their books today and they're going to go around proposing everythingu things -- as you know, they're sold, not bought so i suspect you're going to see a lot of fine dining in restaurants around america as people start to debate what happens next >> go ahead. >> i was going t don't kns next i think that the s is going to cause a lot of market activity. >> who are the acquiries we're talking about amc, charter, discovery, cbs has come up a name nobody is talking about is dish the third worst performer in the s&p this year >> anything is possible, morgan. i look at this as, if i were

google or if i were facebook i would be looking at the change in net neutrality, looking at this transaction here and asking the question of, do i get benefit by vertically integrating into the pipes >> you know -- >> they may conclude yes, they may conclude no, right. >> the thing that jumps out at bout this decision is that it's really about data the judge seemed to hammer that home when it's about data, it's about consumer data and the customer is the one not really being valuedhey, prices are likely go go down for certain content-related services advertising gets more targeted which is good for at&t and good for monetizing the content, but in viewer who is going to get more poked and prodded and surprised and targeted in order to make this model work. isn't that where we're likely to

see some of the future changes in law and regulation come down? >> yes if you read judge leon's opinion, besides the wonderful exclamation point, the fact that he keeps hammering home it's about customer data a thing everybody interested in the disruption happening should really focus on. customer data means you're the one that has a direct relationship with e consumer, whether you're t cable company or at&t or whatever, and you get to market to them and monetize their data this is where the world is going, and it may not be a great thing if you look at what happef you look at amazon and all these companies, that's the most important. and that opens up new possibilities. to me, the most creative player and smartest, sensible player in ths bob iger of disney he's been making a play for the fox assets comcast is going to come in. i suspect he's looking, too, i'm a rationale , let me

figure out other options we may have now that we can remedy something disney doesn't have, which is that direct to the consumer pipe, and i think you're going to see disney also look around and play in this game because iger gets what's happening here. >> really quick, walter, are you willing to bet he wins those assets >> no. i think if comcast and others come in with all cash offers is too much, bob iger and disney board are very rationale and will not do something th just for emotial purposes and that means they might find a more rationale approach somewhere else >> do you agree? >> there's so many targets now we've expanded the universe really dramatically, which is part of why i think the dish question is out there. they may get left behind simply because there's so many other attractive things for people to do. >> hope to have you back, maybe tomorrow. >> exactly. >> walter isaacson and roger

mcnamee. >> hi, eamon. >> carl, the white house is officially fighting back against a provision moving up on capitol hill in the senate that would block the president's ability to cut that deal with zte i spoke with mark short the president's legislative director leading theffort here so says the white e is reaching out to the committee chairs and leadership on capitol hill they would like to change that language he says they've got more education to do up on capitol hill and that the president very much believes that this zte deal is part and parcel of the overall negotiations with china over north korea the president views this deal as something that's important to him. i also asked mark short, by the way, about the at&t/time warner decision you guys have been talking about. he said there's not a lot of chatr in the building here at the white house about that decision, despite the fact that we had the president campaigning against it in 2016 and commenting on it as president of the united states, opposed to the merger the president's position got rolled yesterday by the federal judge, nonetheless, though,

they're saying here not a lot of chatter at the white house about the merger decision. back over to >> all right thank you, eamon javers. >> coming up, seattle lawmakers backing down from their watered down head tax, giving big companies in that city, including tech companies, a big win, plus the approval of at&t/time warner perhaps leaving the door open for more mega mergers in media former ceo and founder of usa networks kay koplovitz joins us with her take. we'll be right back. .

all the major averages slightly higher ahead of the fed's decision on rates. alan greenspan joined "squawk on the street" suggesting growth is peaking. take a listen. >> most forecasts that i've seen which redible show while we are at currently close to the 3% annual rate, it's not going to stay there. >> joining us now is citi's chief global political analyst gina and stifel's ron, which is in boston which they're hosting an insight conference. good morning and welcome to both of you ron, when you look ae environment we're in now, where so many in pointo us just firing on all cylinders, is there anything that concerns you? do you buy into the idea that

growth is peaking? >> not yet i will tell you, you have a lot of fiscal stimulus i have to tell you i'm up here at our conference talking to over 300 companies the optimism is incredible you look at what's happening i not only in media and telecommunications but financial services is going to see a lot of activity and a lot of optimism earnings strong. i think it's good times right now. >> and tina, from your perspective, how much does it matter how many hikes we get from the fed the language around them, given where we are with the markets these days >> well, the markets are watching the fed most closely of all, but i think it's important to remember we've got a whole generation of investors and traders who have never managed through a rate hike or geopolitical risks, the other things that we're going to be

talking about today. there's a lot of good news out there, but i'm sitting in london and have been talking to ceos ancios all around the markets and it's not as bullish from here >> tina, in light of the vix around 12 today ahead of this decision later today and what seems to be closely watched statement and expectations around whether we can see more hikes this year, how many we'll see this year, you know, we've got sort of the dow moving sideways right now, but we've had an incredible news week. we had this north korea summit, we had the coming off of the g7 and more potential trade fears, the possibility of tariffs being unveiled as soon as friday, why do you think markets aren't reacting more strongly right now? >> well, i've been doing this for 20 years now and one of the obvious points has been that,

again, for many people, geopolitical risks have not been a factor in their careers. talk to older investors it's a bit different. wall street loves the tax cuts and has been selective about the other risks and i think the inconclusive and not bad news outcome from the summit with north korea has, you know, made it easier to focus on the good news story and the good news story is compelling. it's my job as a chief political that might disrupt that e things scenario but the growth risks to -- from a trade war rather and any reference to that in the fed statement is going to be very important it seems to me >> ron, i wonder what your reaction is to the light that at&t got with time warner and the message that that sends to the market? on the one hand a lot of these companies are in reaction mode to the likes of google,

facebook, amazon, netflix, on the other hand, it could be seen that this is a good thing for their prospects into the future. how do you look at it?>> i justd telecommunications, the content providers and the delivery of content is going to come together very quickly. it's the, you know, the direct access to the consumer and this industry is going to restructure very quickly on the back of this decision >> very quickly. it's been a long time since media has done anything quickly, but we will see. tina and ron, thank you. >> everything is relative. >> yeah. >> thank you >> just a day before the world cup is set to start in russia, fifa announcing the 2026 host countries are the u.s., mexico and canada we'll get the inside scoop from the ceo of u.s. soccer

and prime minister theresa may taking a play out of the playbook hosting a tech round table despite concerns about brexit. she will join cnbc in an she will join cnbc in an exclusive interview. its multi-cloud complexity creating friction... and slowing innovation. with sdefined solution like hpe oneview, you can tame the it monster. hewlett packard enterprise. less complexity. more visibility.

welcome back to "squawk alley. i'm seema moody. modest moves in european stocks today as we wait aision from the fed. analysts are putting together their predictions ahead of the ecb policy decision which is due tomorrow morning tv security says the ecb faces a delicate balance they are expting an un press release, though, analysts predict the ecb president should remain upbeat in the press conference stressing growth is above potential. jpmorgan is expecting the ecb tomorrow to confirm a reduction in stimulus that will happen in the fourther of 2018 now data ahead of tomorrow's ecb meeting shows that eurozone

industrial production fell more than anticipated in the month of april. each of the eurozone's five largest members saw a drop in output with the netherlands witnessing its biggest decline at 4.4%. in the meantime the euro is rising 1.17, that's a two-week high against the dollar. keep in mind, though, still down about 2% so far this year. moving on to stock stories, sky is moving lower as you heard from david faber, our parent comcast expected to unveil its bid for fox assets later today after a u.s. judge approved at&t's deal to buy time warner fox owns 39% of sky. we're looking at that stock down 1.5% carl, back to you. >> some big moves in media all around thank you very much. >> when we come back a courtas cleared the way for at&t/time warner is a wave of media consolidation ahead and where will it go we will talk to the founder and former ceo of usa networks kay koplovitz with her thoughts. dow up 18. "squawk alley" is back in a moment many small businesses,

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comcast,. hi, everybody. i'm sue herera your cnbc news update at this hour white house counselor kellyanne conway telling white house reporters it will take some time for north korea to completely denuclearize >> this president wants north korea to completely denuclearizeso, obviously, that has to be complete, verifiable and irreversible and

that will take a while. >> the u.s., canada and mexico will jointly host the 2026 w cup. soccer's governing body voting in favor of the north american bid over morocco 48 teams will play a total of 80 games, 60 of which will be in the u.s. russia voted in favor of the bid, but north korea voted against it employees of a law firm at the top of st. paul's ubs tower, take a look at that little guy, say that raccoon, whose death-defying climb has captured the attention of people all across the world has safely been trapped. the little guy is okay there he is. the raccoon tried for two daystr quickly trended on twitter you're up to date. that's the news update at this hour as a matter of fact, he has his own twitter account apparently someone created one for him. his first tweet was "i made a big mistake. there you have it. back to you. >> of course he does >> thank you, sue.

it's cute unless you le in the suburbs and deal with raccoons every day. >> that's true >> take a look at shares of caterpillar right now. the dow component is increasing its quarterly dividend by 10.3% to 86 cents per share. this comes as the maker of heavy machines hds its shareholder meeting in texas this morning. nonetheless if you take a looka are down about 1% today after a big run in 2017. this is one of those names that has seen higher in put costs and has become something of a lightning rod for traders and investors when you talk about tariffs and the potential for trade war. >> we have rolling three month sales up 24, but in europe, up 16 so the slowdown in europe, the middle east, definitely getting backed up by caterpillar's numbers today. the doj losing its anti-trust gamble with at&t the judgment will have far reaching implications in m&a

amazon an apple investing in media the decision could mean big things for big tech. joining us with who could buy what is josh lipton. hey, josh. >> carl, the ruling has far reaching implications for media, telecommunications and big tech. what are some targetthat tech giants could now pursue. let's start with apple gbh thinks apple could buy a movie studio, a smaller one like a-24 he says, which is responsible for hits like "lady bird" and "room," would move apple into the content game. walter of btig reminds us that apple doesn't traditionally pursue big m&a the biggest deal they ever did, remember, 3 billion for beats. apple's strategy has been to build out their own content. we remember that disney's bob iger does sit on apple's board what about amazon given its studios and pull position in video games with twitch streaming service. one analyst i talked to said why

shouldn't bezos take a harder look at video game publishs like activision, ea and take two as well as private companies he said like bethesda game studios. also keep your eye on warner brother s, time warner's video game division, thinking there is that time warner could need to make othercquisitions of io build out that business for alphabet, could they be interested in content m&a too. brent till at jefferies sees it as a low probability as for youtube it makes more sense, he says, for them to continue partnering with content creators, not buying them. and then we're focused on other bets like cloud technology the ruling must have all these big tech companies thinking about their m&a strategies still smart to build, not buy their way into content john, back to you. >> josh, thank you very much josh lipton, going to be a fascinating next several months. we're keeping an eye on the markets. tight range ahead of the fed decision in about three hours or so we'll watch that rick santelli has had a busy

morning with wholesale prices. what are you watching? >> you know, i'm watching the reaction to wholesale prices being a bit hot, hot, hot. why it didn't move much after the brea whoooo. when it comes to travel, i sweat the details. late checkout... ...down-alternative pillows... ...and of course, price. tripadvisor helps you book a... ...hotel without breaking a sweat. because we now instantly... ...search over 200 booking sites .. the lowest price... ...on the hotel you want. don't sweat your booking. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices.

busy fed day let's check in with rick santelli and get the santelli exchange hey, rick.

>> good morning, carl. you know, it should all be so easy we see inflation ramp up, we look at a good deal of the rate structure on the curve below what many perceived the rate of inflation to be, and, of course, our currency, albeit off where it settled last year, higher on the year, settled around 92, not up by much, especially when one considers how far down the rate increase and, of course, balance sheet reversal route we are on versus other central banks and we know we live in a globalized central banking world where policy washes ashore of other countries, even if it is unwelcome to some extent. let's take yesterday a today you know, yesterday we had hotter cpi, especially some of the year over year numbers today, pretty much everything from top to bottom on ppi was hot, from the month over month changes, headlining out to the year over year numbers

but yet, it looks to be the ninth day in a row we will set until the 290s we had a stretch in february and march where we had a long string well over 22 sessions that closed in the 280s this seems like a market poised to sell off and push rates higher it's had very few major corrections and what felix had, meaning rates moving down, were attributed to some really wild times. think italy, the volatility in italian rates, think howhat impacts some of the european central bank policy decisions potentially, and here you are. now as you look at a chart of today's 10-year notes on a one week basis, we've had inflation today and yesterday, can you pick it out over the last several days it's next to impossible. maybe you say well, hey, look at the break evens they're hotter and they are, but today would be the seventh quarter point tightening, the first in december of 2015, let's look at

what the 10-year break even rate is it's a whopping 14 basis points higher than december of 2015 when the fed was embarking on its journey which thus far at least has ended up in six quarter point rate increases it doesn't seem very responsive, whicingse to the crux of the matter, most traders talk to say, a, it's self-fulfilling. if today we seen a 10 basis points jump when the data was released it would have turned out different. the number one answer of why the markets are acting this way, it's not about what the markets and traders think about inflation necessarily, at this point it's what fed thinks about today's and yesterday's numbers and how that may effect policy jon, back to you >> all right rick, thank you. a big win for at&t no concessions, no asset sales, and at&t is looking to close the deal for time warner within a week joining us now former usa

network ceo kay koplovitz, also the founder currently managing partner at springboard growth capital, also with us hampton pearson. good morning kay -- >> good morning. >> i wonder what you think the follow on moves are going to be in the industry? it seems to me that distributors and content providers who aren't already vertically integrated would be the most likely to react? >> they are going to react this is let the games begin as far as i can see i think this is an absolute decision, clean decision on the deal, it's very clear it might be challenged by the justice department, i don't know, but i think that you're going to -- people have en sitting and waiting for this decision. i think you're going to see more m&a move quickly in the market i think some of the smaller players will be gobbled up i think, you know, it's the time of a massive change where these big tech companies direct

distribution to the consumer, really the big play here that's what people are going to go for we only have studio left out there and that's paramount. you wonder what's going on over at cbs and viacom and paramount is over at viacom, look at that, someone like john malone, who has been an advocate of consolidating content for some time there's going to be a lot of movement in the marketplace as a result of this decision finally being made >> hampton, as someone who has spent times sitting in a courtroom and listening to results from judges, judge leon what he wrote and the comments he made, how unusual was that in terms of this outcome? >> it certainly shocked all of us who were in the courtroom the courtroom was packed you could feel the tension and almost cut it with a knife before the judge started to speak. to pick up on what kay was talking about, a real surprise in the courtroom was the idea that not only was it approved

and a clear win for at&t/time warner, but the no conditions piece, some of us had speculate that number one, it was uphill for the government all the way d thgeneral consensus going in was people thought at&t would, quote, win, but thought conditions might be attached either related to possible arbitration of one kind orothert frankly was hoping for that okay, the deal would get approved, but at&t and time warner would be forced to divest itself of perhaps direct tv or controlling interest in the turner networks. obviously those things didn't happen the judge flat out said, you know, this deal should go forward with no conditions we've had 18 months of delay and he really, his strong admonishment of the government, basically not to seek a stay and think twice about going for appeal, collectively all of that, you know, just added to kind of the totality of the

at&t/time warner legal victory here. >> that's a goodoint, hampton. kay, given the clarity of the ruling, given the motivated buyers that we have, you've already talked about sort of the sense that there are not that many nice houses left on the block. what do you think happens to multiples here how much do these buyers risk overpaying for assets that are left >> well, i think that the prices will go up and i think one of the big beneficiaries is going at the comcast/disney battlehink for the news corproperties, you know, their content properties, is going to escalate now. i think very likely that brian roberts is willing to pay up and stepped up already and may step up again disney may have to respond to that i think that's very likely i think that those prices will go up and they will bring up other prices with them i'm pretty confident in that >> hampton, the judge very

interestingly to me, acknowledged the market power of vertically integrated tech, talked about the impact of amazon, google, facebook, apple, netflix, in the market their ability to reach the consumer, alsoroduce content i wonder at the same time as many are trying to cast these as monopolies, perhaps in different segments outside of media, how this language from the judge and decision might reverberate into other issues >> well, the judge also had sort of the ultimate diimer at the end saying, this was only about the evidence in this case and yoshouldn't really use my decision as a road map going forward. however, the whole trial was really an education about how the video distribution and content business really works. that's where the government kind of fell. they were giving an old-world view, if you will, where

at&t/time warner constantly day in and day out pounded away at the reality of cord cutting, the advertising supremacy now, you know, that netflixs and amazons and googles are benefiting from, this what is we're up against and why we have to compete, so to that end, there is at least a textbook orts that if you marshal your facts and can prove what the real-world market is in place, in real time, then you've got a pretty good shot at getting your proposal past regulators and past the courts if it comes down to that >> kay, in light of this merger moving forward and the fact that everyone i think expects so much more deal making to now happen out of this, looking long term at sort of the ott wars that are going to continue to emerge out of this, who do you think the potential winners are? it's going to take a lot of investment and it seems to me that consumers are not going to be spending money across the board with all of these

different potential skinny bundles, they're going to pick just a few >> well, i think that, you know, in the ott world, you've got a clear leader in netflix. there's no question abt that others are chasing them. prime, amazon prime is chasing them i think one of the players we have to look at closely apple. apple's got a lot of resources to put to play there are a -- they are a little slower to the marketplace in some of the content market they may be looking at some of these acquisitions i think they will rise, you know, compy. you know, i think those are going to be some of the big wis out there. but i think disney, depending on what happens with the fox properties, disney is going to be a clear winner i k if they wind up with those properties even if theyhey have already acquired a lot of content. i think you have to look at companies like that as some of there.al clear winners out >> a lot of news to look forward to thank you, kay koplovitz and our

own hampton pearson. >> a win for team nafta. the joint bid from the u.s., canada and mexico has won the right to host the 20 26 world fifa's announcement a day ahead of this year's world cup. coming up, we're joined by the u.s. soccer ceo. more "ua aeyafr issqwkll" teth it can grow out of control, disrupting business and taking on a life of its own.

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welcome back keeping an eye on shares of home builders let's get over to dom chu back at hq.

>> morgan, we are watching those home builders. they are falling generally speaking this morning. two of the most closely watched etfs in this space, this is the u.s. home construction etf ticker itb also the s&p home builder etf ticker xhb both on track for their worst days in trading since mid-may. driving the action those strong ppi inflation numbers this morning ahead of the fed meeting this afternoon that producer price index producing the strongest year on year gains since last year dr horton and henar and pulte among the woperformance in the s& lennar on pace for the worst day in a month as we talk about rising interest rates or the threat of, home builders certainly ones to watch. back over to you. >> thank you dom chu at hq. the united states will host the 2026 fifa world cup after a three-way bid with mexico and canada was granted staging rights at post nine the -- here's the president of fifa making the

announcement >> the member associations of canada, mexico and usa have been selected by the fifa congress to host the 2026 fifa world cup thank you. dan flynn, the socc ceo and secretary general, is here at post nine with us. thank you for joining us today. >> it's great to be here anks for the invite. >> why do you think north america won the bid? >> i think a couple things i think the sense of unity, having our partners north of the border with canada and south of the border with mexico, the sense of unity it's the first time that the competition will have 48 tries participating, so i think a larger footprint resonated well and then the certainty that our stadiums are already built, compared to our opponent and i think that resonated quite well. >> so will there be moretureroje worko this >> there will be nothing major in the way of stadiums there will be some minor

modifications in some stadiums we haven't selected the final group of 2that will probably go to around 16. there will be some of that i would generally say relatively minor. >> fifa -- >> soccer in the usa needed some good news.news so this is timely. i wonder, how much do you think the u.s. is going to be able to do over the next eight years to really build a culture around soccer because there have been efforts for years. and it just really hasn't stuck the way it has with other sports >> i would slightly disagree with that in the sense i think the sport has grown quite a bit in the lt decade experiencing what's going on in portland and seattle and in major league soccer, just announced their 25th franchise >> the biggest sport in the world, but not here. >> it is the biggest sport our challenge is our product on e field. we're not competing this year in russia that's a big negative. i think what we can do in eight years is capitalize on the plans we have in place developing a player isn't something that you go in and out

of it's a long-term project we have to stick to the plan i think the world cup br great deal of aspirational part for the young players. it's really about the 15 to 17-year-old that woing to need in 200026 so we have a very strong league. it's growing and getting better every year eight-year runway gives us a wonderful platform to build on many levels. >> we talk aboutfl and ratings and all add, we have attention deficits, so the league is toying with the clock. and some of the rules. do you think there's room for that in soccer, especially when the rest of thrld has no problem with it? >> i think our league is really very traditional i think that america had to look at that at times, but i think we're well beyond that now and i think we're actually very traditional with the one thing that we're different is our time of season. it's different versus the rest of the world that poses challenges. but nonetheless, what we have

now has worked very well, and we think the next eight years provides a positive platform for us >> a number of experts have suggested this could be positive impact for mls valuations. future media rights deals over the next two cycles. do you think that's the case >> i think that's right. i won't speak for mls. i'll let the commissne that clon the media side, we think we're in a very positive position we're looking for that both on thbroadcaster level and at the sponsorship level. >> i have an amazon question because they acquired the rights to some premier league, exclusive rights, not just simulcast. if you had your druthers for distribution in 2026, d you be on a traditional broadcaster or a streamer? >> not to be safe, i think to be determined i think the marketplace is changing and this is the world's largest event. i think we have to be careful in how we distribute it and make it available to as many as possible but i don't think we should tak.

>> that says a lot, even despite the space between now and then >> correct, a dynamic marketplace right now. >> how that the rise of streaming and mobile changed the way the customer is experiencing the game of soccer and how important is it for you guys to keep up with how those technological changes continue to evolve over the next eight years? >> it's really been key. the millennial has attached themselves to our sport. the demographics in our country. and the whole digital world is right in that sweet spot so we're going to need to continue to invest in that and developing the fan base. but we've got a very strong fan base as it is right now, and we look over the next eight years to grow it quite considerably. >> i have always been amazed given how many of our kids play, age do they o you know what i mean >> i think all sports has a littleit of a challenge in terms of a falloff for us, i think product

development really is the key. and we have just invested in the last three or four years a tremendous amount of resources on the coaching and coaching development. it's not coaches coaching players. we need coaches to teach about the principles of the game at a very young age when that product development comes out and i think over the next eight years you'll see there's an awful lot of work that's been done particularly at the professional level with depment teams anee that come to fruition in eight years. >> just to go back to this news of 2026. fifa is coming off years of corrupti scandal how much do you think that and sort of that need to clean up the image contributed to north america getting this >> i would say the process was very transparent and very straightforward. we follow that to a tee. so i think that process was very helpful. i think without that process, i'm not sure our board w have let us actually chase the bid, if you will so i think that was incredibly helpful. and i think the united part of our bid with two other

countries, i think, mexico and canada are great partners and that resonated very well as well >> dan, thank you for joining us dan flynn. >> tnks for allowing me to be here >> just a reminder that telemundo will have the spanish language rights to the 2026 world cup. >> when we come back, a busy afternoon headed our way as we await the fed decision at 2:00 eastern time dow is up 12 points, in a bioft a hoing pattern. back in a minute ♪ approachinmedicare eligibility? you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. keep in mind, medicare only covers about eighty percent

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the seattle city council repealing the head tax just a few weeks after first approving it this tax would have charged businesses like amazon and microsoft, well, if microsoft were based in the city of $500 per fullemployee in order affordable housing and services for the homeless a business coalition including companies like amazon and starbucks fought the tax, supporting a no-tax on jobs campaign, saying they didn't trust the city to spend funds appropriately. guys, this was a tax that initially was supposed to be twice as high. gau got watered down and four weeks later is pulled back entirely. >> an incredible aboutface

there's a shift with housing prices and affordability and this idea that big businesses are potentially driving that up. instead of stoking the local economy. >> yeah. tremendous lobbying ter the fact in this case. >> yes >> no question they are driving up the cost of living. making the place better for a lot of people who are in that tier of the economy, but i was just there talking to satya nadella, the tent cities under bridges in seattle, a new feature over the past few ars. he acknowledged to us that companies do bear some responsibility for helping the cities to thrive for everyone. so we'll see where they go from here >> interesting how it colors the hq2 debate as well we're waiting for that >> markets, you know, in a holding pattern ahead of the fed coming up in a couple hours. we'll be keeping a close eye on the press conference for any mention about trade or the hot wholesale inflation number we got earlier today. >> disney is leading the dow

the worst performer, verizon speaking of the media m&a scenario we have been talking about. >> comcast not doing so hot. probably investors expecting they're going to spend a lot more money >> huge volumoon names like nizny. and we still have adobe earnings before the week is out let's get over to melissa lee and the half >> and welcome to "the halftime rert." i'm melissa le for scott wapner top trade this hour, getting ahead of the fed here at post 9, joe terranova, steve weiss, sarat, and also lisa, great to have you with us. and by just about all accounts, the fed is likely to raise interest rates at 2:00 p.m. by a quarter of a point, but for the market, the most important thing will be the statement and whether or not the fed charts three total or four tal rate hikes this year. joe, how are you positioning here >> i'm positioning for higher rates. i truly believe that