no no nenumbs ight ahead it's thursday, june 21, 2018 don't ask becky. "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ live from new york where business never sleeps, this is "squawk box. good morning welcome to "squawk box" on cnbc. we're live from the nasdaq market site in times square. i'm becky quick along with joe kernen, andrew ross sorkin is off. the prompter is back and mike santoli >> great to have you here today. amazing. they fixed it as we came up. >> they fixed it or they told you it wouldn't going to be there. >> was i looking down a lot? >> i wasn't looking at you, i was looking at my scripts. >> if we didn't have a prompter -- >> we would have no words. >> i think the show would be two

hours and 50 minutes >> or 4 hours and 27 minutes >> exactly there it is. >> we have not had a prompter all morning. they got it fixed just in the nick of time >> and the printer is fixed. and the new york phonebook is coming out what is -- >> earnings report sorry. u.s. equity futures, nasdaq looks like it will be down by 1 points it did close up yesterday. dow futures are indicated down by 95 points the dow has seen seven sessions in a row that it has closed lower. that's a long losing streak. >> why did we say the nasdaq was going to open higher >> maybe earlier this morning it was looking like that. fang sto f.a.n.g. stocks have been on fire s&p futures down by 17 1/2

points let's look at what happened overnight in asia. you'll see the nikkei closed up by 0.6%. the hang seng was down by 1.35%. so was the shanghai. looking at europe, at least right now, it looks like red arrows across the board. the dax is the biggest decliner. it's down by % the cac in france down by a half percent. the ftse is flat in italy stocks are down by 1.4% in spain, down by 1% look at treasury yields, which started picking up steam yesterday. this morning 2.991%. >> if you're watching the show in the northern hemisphere, get ready for the summer solstice. just five minutes away the sun will be over the trooper of cancer. >> we need a countdown clock for this >> that's the furthest north the

s sun will be. >> it will get darker from here on out. >> i alsmentioned to -i don't know could be the start of the rapture. mos died some time, billy graham died. the stuff i see on -- just twitter and the internet i told her, do you go straight up >> yeah. >> but the temple needs to be rebuilt or something >> be careful. you don't want to be on a plane today if your pilot gets raptured away. >> god is your co-pilot, hopefully. daimler -- don't know if we want to get into the whole rapture thing. fascinating. supposedly it starts now, but it could take seven years all kinds of stuff appens. >> what in the world right now

mriltical icall politically or otherwise makes it look chaotic. >> don't you see the parallel with calling a crash, though >> i do. >> it's going to be right some time >> there's no way the rapture -- we have the right guy for it. >> also hindsight. the 50s in some ways -- >> turbulent >> civil rights. cold war people thought it could be over at any moment. >> my mom was trained on how to get under a desk and cover your head during a nuclear strike >> andrew wants to go back to -- he's not here. daimler issuing a profit warning as trade tensions heat up between the u.s. and china. the automaker seeing retaliatory

tariffs on vehicles built in the u.s. would hurt sales of the suvs it produces at its factory in alabama daimler says the impact cannot be offset by shifting vehicles to other markets 2018 pretax profits from mercedes-benz are expected to dip slightly lower from last year daimler, volkswagen and bmw operate four assembly plants in the u.s. last year they made 400,000 vehicles in those plants shares of dim laimler, bmw and volkswagen all down. goodrx is in talks to be bought several people saying a deal could fetch up to $3 billion it's not clear who would buy the company, but mckesson was

possibly taking a look good rx offers people without health insurance as a way to shop for drugs good rx did not return our request for comment. you can read more about this on cnbc.com. couple of stocks to watch. micron technology's third quarter results and fourth quarter outlook were above forecast strong demand cited for its memory chips micron has been selling more chips at higher prices as customers look to store data and apps on the phones high beta stock. >> high beta, low multiple people are questioning whether this business is still as cyclical as it used to be. that's the big debate now. >> in the old days we would talk about j.r. simplot, lord of the

fries. big guy there. american outdoor brands fourth quarter results topped forecasts. the gunmaker and parent of smith & wesson expects the current sales to slump the company will limit promotion as a means to sustain its market share. hp says its board signed off on a $4 billion stock buyback on top of the $1.2 billion it has remaining on previous programs hp shares are up more than 13% this year. the fox hunt is on joining us to break down the prospect force cos for comcast y is dan ives, head of technology research at gbh insights also with us is brian weezer from pivotal research. dan, what happens next will we hear a response from comcast, do you expect

>> i think we'll see a response. >> a higher offer? >> a higher offer. we think the deal will get done there the $85 billion range. we still think it's disney's deal to lose iger put on the war paint and said this is not an asset they will lose. it comes down to they need it more than comcast. across the board, everything on espn, the streamline service next year for disney, they need these assets from a content perspecti perspective. you saw the stock reaction this is disney's deal to lose. now it comes to comcast and how much debt they're willing to put on >> brian, do you agree that disney needs this more than comcast does i heard competing views on that. what's your thought? >> that's probably fair to say

disney needs it more because of what they've been telling investors they need. there's a buying into what they say element that's hard to back off of comcast wants this badly they both believe and do benefit from this. the question i'm pondering, what are the internal models that each company is using to justify how high they're willing to go given the next best alternative approaches there are assets like itv, other assets for content production around the world, organic investment those are legitimate alternatives so there must be an alternative they have in mind that limits how high they want to go we just don't know what that is

for either of the two companies. >> clearly which ever company does not end up with the fox assets, the conclusion is they'll be fine. there are options and strategies we can hpursue, but this highlights the scarcity value. i wonder if the market is looking at the industry saying this will squeeze down into a handful of players and it gives you flexibility if you buy these assets what will the next few years be? investing in some areas, divesting in others. >> fundamentally it's golden assets that there's no alternative for disney here in our opinion. this is what they have to go after. right now for iger this is the window of opportunity. that's something that investors are giving them the leash to go

after. even up to 80 billion. >> brian, dan thinks 80 to 85 billion is the final price tag on this. does that sound right to you >> it's hard to have a few on this from where i sit. i don't know how they're looking at alternatives. i want to push back on the idea of scarcity. there's scarcity if you need a highly predictable contractually locked in revenue stream from content packaging. like cable networks in latin america. eight years ago we would have said content is relatively scarce, sorry, netflix but if you spend 8 billion, 0 bi 10 billion, you can make scarce more plentiful >> but you have to create lightning in a bottle every one of those seasons >> what is 8 billion a year

compared to 81 billion today >> dan, work with this the street looksat netflix and says this is amazing, we want you to continue doing this there's a chance the street's opinion could change on this was is the likelihood of that? >> it comes down to content is king netflix and hastings are atop the mountain this is a netflix driven initiative if you look at streaming, i think shareholders now realize more for disney than comcast, disney, if they lost this asset, it would be a devastating blow to iger and streaming ambitions for 2019 and beyond. if comcast loses it, it would be a small victory in the trophy ca, and they could go after other assets i think it's much more of a gut blow and negative if disney lost it versus comcast.

shareholders know it's content if disney doesn't get this, it would be one of the biggest regrets of iger's career >> brian, all these companies spend billions in content. if you're disney and in the franchise business, you can't make a bunch of series like netflix does every year, none of which will create a theme park ride >> the issue is you can't predictably do that. if you gave an existing studio head and said your budget is doubled, find something, establish something. again, it's possible creative industries are ready to invent >> you need to get a land line or something next time >> he may still be in cannes >> while i have you, dan, a lot of things swirling around.

yesterday, comcast down 1:00 p.m. sources said they would get regulatory approval within the next two weeks comcast went down 40 cents to up 80 cents is it possible they get approval that quickly and iger in the call read some -- quoted judge leon saying don't think this just means every other deal will be viewed the same way he tre tended t pretended the se aimed at comcast >> it was a shot across the bow. he's csaying we're six months ahead of you we have approval in the coming weeks. this is one of the last things that murdoch and fox want, any

sort of regulatory wnch. disney feels they have a glide path into the deal getting done. when he had that comment, that was saying don't look at judge leon and thinking this deal is done we have done our work, comcast you have not started that was the war paint getting put on >> that has to be politically incorrect, war paint i'm seeing more analysis about total bt to ebita. do you think it's factually correct to say that disney can go further without straining its debt ratings and everything els else >> i think four times leverage is the line in the sand. depending on sky, it can go 3.5, 3.6.

four times that leverage, if you look at the synergies, 2 billion, that would be enough that it wouldn't really have a ripple effect on the debt or the rating agency. >> comcast, if they knew they couldn't go as far as disney, would they come back at 80 billion? >> i think you're looking at a $43 -- >> a 43. okay comcast would go up another $8, and you think disney would go above that is there a reason for comcast to do that if they know eventually they're probably not going to win? would you do it to make disney pay 43 >> roberts and comcast view this -- they really want it.

with the $65 billion bid -- >> why not just take the international business and focus on that. >> becky raises a great point. comcast f they can get star india, sky, champagne is flowing in philadelphia. that would be a goldilocks scenario they think they can get the asset. but ultimately they continue to push it. they won't walk away with nothing. you get star india and sky that's a huge victory for roberts. >> thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> get ready for the holiday travel gridlock. we just went through this, didn't we? oh, boy. i hate traveling i was in a 1,000 horsepower car, i was stuck in traffic i'm never like this. a new forecast says july 4th

will set a new travel record details straight ahead >> that was on the way in to work this morning.

welcome back 47 million americans are expected to take to the road, the rails and the sky for the fourth of july that's according to aaa. if those numbers hold up that would be the highest travel volume since they started tracking data 18 years ago that's despite higher transportation costs including gas prices up nearly 60 cents from this time last year today's average is 2.87 up from 2.28 a year ago. >> let's get to the broader markets. joining us is debbie cunningham from global liquidity marketsed a federated and phil guarco global investment specialist at jpmorgan private bank. phil, we'll get to you in a

second global is all we heard about from our strategists the last year, year and a half. could they have just been more america centric, investing in the united states? s that the wrong idea to just you've got to go global? could have just stayed here? i don't think it was the wrong idea necessarily but what has happened is we had revisions on economic growth so far this year. you have the u.s. accelerating where we'll have a print of 4% growth in the second quarter frankly europe has been decelerating how we expressed it in portfolios is we have moved a bit closer to home, kind of barbelling more tech, more financials with some utilities as well. i think there's still opportunities overseas, but

you're right not quite as much in the beginning of the year. if one wants to be contrarian, say in a place like europe, you go with the more global european firms who are selling in places like the united states and asia, which are still growing strongl strongly >> i can give you the -- they've been drilled into me so much europe is behind us in the cycle. they have qe stock market has not moved as much there synchronous global growth is just starting there. it was staring them in the face. tax reform deregulation all these tailwinds in the united states. they are still -- i understand diversification. you want some non-synchronized investments, but here we are they're dead wrong not dead wrong, but you could have been -- so simple, just buy

some domestic etfs or something. >> if you look at forward looking indicators, we see much more tlwinds for the u.s i was a bank analyst at moody's for ten years, one thing i like to look at is where commercial and industrial loans are going in the u.s. banking system because of that deregulation and maybe better term the partial deconstruction of the administrative state we had, what you're getting is a massive increase cni loans since the beginning of the year. that's just starting to happen that will continue to pay dividends. >> debbie, you're in the middle of -- you're in pittsburgh i trust you. you're not in this vortex. what are you seeing in terms of what people should do.

if there's one thing you worry about, the nascent inflationary upturn is that one thing you're worrying about >> inflation is something to keep an eye on the fed has been moving rates at a normalized fashion the last 2 1/2 years. that will continue inflation is slightly above target range, which the fomc has said is okay at this point >> do you have one foot out the door or do you structure the portfolio to anticipate higher interest rates and higher inflation? >> i think you structure the portfolio to anticipate higher interest rates and higher inflation. luckily cash is an asset class that is earning something, 2% or so as such people are easily able to go to cash without having too much of an impact on their portfolio. in fact, if you look at the first quarter, cash was the only asset class that had a positive

return >> so, stay -- you have not changed your asset allocation? have you raised more cash? is that what you're telling us to do under your breath or staying fully invested >> we're staying fully invested. several large clients have definitely changed some of their thinking and have put more into the cash and liquidity markets, just to sort of keep powder dry. if there is a market connection they can enter into it without trepidation or concern, and they have plenty of cash to do so great. thank you. appreciate it this morning we'll keep an eye on things. i'm thinking summer myself i may not be here next week. is that okay >> rapture >> no. no italy, feels like you've gone to heaven debbie, phil, thank you.

oh this is you. when we come back, kentucky is one of the states that would suffer the most in a trade war republican governor matt bevin will join ustalk trade and the pension crisis as we head to break, a look at yesterday's s&p 500 winners and losers greatness of an suv? is it to carry cargo... or to carry on a legacy? its show of strength... or its sign of intelligence? in crossing harsh terrain... or breaking new ground? this is the time to get an exceptional offer on the mercedes of your midsummer dreams at the mercedes-benz summer event, going on now. receive up to a $1,250 summer event bonus on select suvs. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing.

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welcome back

you're watching "squawk box" live from the nasdaq market site in times square. good morning u.s. equity futures at this hour indicating allred this morning down 6 on the s&p. down 80 on the dow nasdaq indicated down 10 china warning washington that trade actions will ultimately hurt u.s. workers. this comes after the president threatened an additional 2$200 billion in chinese goods india is slapping new tariffs on imports of u.s. farm products, steel and iron last month it filed a complaint

with the wto over u.s. steel and aluminum tariffs turkey also taking action today in retaliation for those steel and aluminum tariffs it is imposing tariffs on products ranging from cars to sunscreen. the european union will impose tariffs on a range of u.s. products starting tomorrow including motorcycles, blue jeans and bourbon. the eu's counter measures include various types of corn, rice, cosmetic the and tobacco products president trump has called trade wars both good and easy to win, but when you're on the ground in a state with a lot to lose, things can look different. joining us is kentucky republican governor matt bevin thank you for being here >> you're welcome. great to be here >> we're talking about trade wars constantly at this point.

the ratcheting up of tariffs and other threats, what does that mean to your state >> to any state there's the potential for disruption in the is the ture of business no matter what decision is made somebody will feel like they won something, others will feel like they potentially lost something. in any negotiation, which is what trade discussions ultimately are, there's going to be some disequilibriumdisequilim there's two reasons why people put tariffs on they put tariffs on because they want to defend an industry or capability within their country. or because they want to raise money. this is just a money grab by the eu because they don't have a bourbon industry it's a money grab on a popular product. we have an $8 billion business in bourbon

europeans will drink bourbon, but they'll pay more for it because their government will take some of it. >> it's a response to what they've seen happening from the united states and a state like kentucky has been targeted because the senateajority leader, mitch mcconnell, hales from your state. one thing that we've seen with a lot of thee tariffs is they are targeting republican bases >> there may be some element to truth to that. but the president is correct i'm not advocating we get into a trade war. i'm a free trade advocate. at the same time we have a 12 to $15 billion deficit every month with europe in this specific case 12 to $15 bill ron a month a trade war of the type you're describing if it were to happen, europe loses, so does every other partner with whom we trade. to that end ultimately the

consumers not just in this country and the workers not just in this country but the countries threatening these retaliations they too lose if we have deficits we lose less then they do, so they don't want this this is a game of moposturing. it comes at expense. it does affect the markets capital does not like uncertainty. they want levels of certainty including investors i'm talking to here at the collect usa conference >> let's talk about the pension reform law that you had been supporting it made its way through the government there now a judge struck it down as unconstitutional talk about what happened this would bring in some benefits that were promised to state workers. what happened? how urgent is this

>> it dose enrein esn't rein in this particular bill the judge is not a good judge, not a competent attorney he got elected that's because that's how you get get into this position he makes decisions based on politics this will ultimately -- his decision will be overruled this will stand because it doesn't do much. it simply makes changes for people who are not even employees yet but might be at some point in the future this is a 4 trillion to $5 trillion problem in america, the unfunded public pensions kentucky is as bad as anywhere we have 60 to 80 billion in unfunded liablabilitliability. what we've done is try to stop future bleeding. we have not begun to address how we will fix the current wound of underfunded status this is a problem for kentucky every other state watching this

and the federal government as a whole. if we don't fix it, it will be catastrophic for the united states >> my understanding was that the judge didn't rule on any of the changes to benefits, that this was a ruling on how it went through the house, the state house. he thought it wasn't given the three readings required in your state. can you go through, read it three times and pass it again? >> the reality is if we apply this same -- this is the first time somebody in history felt that was an issue. so many laws passed in our house and in others, and at the federal government would have the same problem this strikes down so many laws if it's allowed to stand that have been passed in recent years that it would be ridiculous to apply it it's why he'll lose. he doesn't care about the merits of the case. the fact this does or doesn't vol late a particular contract of course he didn't rule on

that he had no basis or standing to do so. he had no able to -- ability to strike that down he's a former cabinet operative in an administration sadly people play with peoples lives. >> i understand this may get overturned by a higher court, but is this such a contentious bill that it couldn't go through and be read three times >> i don't know enough about what games people might want to play in response to this i think it would be better to contest it if you use the same logic you would have to go back and read bill after bill that would be passed in recent years to try to do the same thing. we can't allow one renegade judge to overturn the way the process works mrpolitically because he has a political

motivation >> understood. governor you are there today because you're looking for more investment in your state, trying to get out the good word about what's happening in kentucky what are you telling people? >> we are talking about the incredible opportunity there's are in north america, in the united states and in kentucky specifically for getting return on investment. we are talking to people who have capital capital goes where it's welcome. capital goes where people want it this is something we're making clear. kentucky is the hub of america with u.p.s., dh world, the ability to move goods to market. the work force that is available. the monies we're spending on training that work force the cost of living low cost of energy lowest electricity rates in the eastern half of the u.s. these things matter to potential investors. for the last day plus and for the next day i will speak to the billions of dollars of potential

investors that are looking for a home in north america and making the case for kentucky. >> governor bevin, thank you for your time today. >> thank you. coming up, our guest host at the top of the hour, elizabeth corley and wilbur ross will join us to talk trade. and later kroger set to report we'll dig through the results with the company's cfo what do advisors look for in an etf?

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u.s. equity futures are lower. red across the board futures, fair value and implied open dow jones indicated down 78. s&p down 6 and the nasdaq down 10 u.s. pork producers are bracing for a second round of chinese tariffs due to take effect next month. most u.s. pork products got hit with a 25% tax in april. then on july th the tax will be increased. bringing import duties in china

higher by a total of 71% the u.s. shipped 4$489 million o pork to china last year but shipments have been near a halt since april. >> you're happy, keep your bacon. >> they have some of our bacon over there >> they own a lot of the producers. does 450 million sound like a lot? they bought via that channel >> it's weird. the whole soybean issue, they need soybeans because they have so much domestic pork production i don't know if they need that >> the thing with ag stuff, it doesn't keep >> i think bacon does. >> bacon can hang around for a while. >> do you ever throw out bacon that's been -- >> yes >> but you won't keep the hogs -- >> it has an expiration date >> smoked. not really >> it has an expiration date

>> i never got sick from eating it >> at your peril. a group of republican and democratic lawmakers are urging google to reconsider ties it huawei in a letter the group of lawmakers say they are concerned about google's partnership with huawei which runs a version of android on its mobile devices. the u.s. government accused huawei on working on behalf of the chinese government and an update on a story we told you about earlier this week tesla sued a former employee claiming he hacked the electric carmaker's trade secrets and transferred large amounts of company data to third parties. the employee is accused of transferring several gigabytes of data to the third party musk said earlier this week an

unnamed employee conducted damaging sabotage to the company's operations, and they were wondering whether that person was working in concert with others or an isolated incident >> fascinating >> it is >> with the lawsuit, we'll get more details when we come back, a new way to tackle diabetes epidemic in america. a new food therapy next. right now, as we head to break, a quick check of what's happening in the european markets. at&t provides edge-to-edge intelligence, covering virtually every part of your retail business. so that if your customer needs shoes, & he's got wide feet. & with edge-to-edge intelligence you've got near real time inventory updates. & he'll find the same shoes in your store that he found online

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has a bit of a mouse envy. this move brings them to the overall company disney looks like >> it's time new for another edition of modern medicine now to a story about food therapy used, is this -- have there been other editions? >> of modern medicine? >> have you come on with us? was i in was it actually called modern medicine when you did it >>f time, joe, it's been going or for about a year. we did one on all the primers. i'll revise that one >> this one is diabetes.

we know millions of americans have die beechlts it'sdiabetes it's a very 50 billion disease >> rita lost 100 pounds as she walk more the scale stuck there and her struck toll control her diabetes then she received a different kind of prescription. >> we're standing in the fresh food pharmacy. >> reporter: a prescription for fresh, healthy food. >> hi. >> come on in. >> reporter: per sins is a part of a new program for diabetes patients, not with more medicine, but food >> in health care, we spend an awful lot of drugs and devices, because it's business. but we spend a very small amount on preventative medicine it's sort of like we're upsidedown and backwards

>> i guess i better get some peaches. >> reporter: the program has resulted if dramatic improvement in patient's health, from cholesterol, to weight loss to blood sugar, some have been able reduce diabetes medicines. it saves money, too. >> financially, we've seen probably a decrease in health care claims paid out on our geisinger patients by over two-thirds >> this is the plate i used to eat on now i am down to this size of a plate. >> reporter: perkins receives ten free meals a week for even in her household she says the program helped her drop another 45 pounds and is setting a new pact for their family >> they're learning to eat a healthier way than what i was. >> later today on modern medicine, we dig into a silicon valley startup of a business model of helping people improve their diet system.

giegser is implementing this around the country >> it's amazing to see a health care provider putting its money where it's mouth is. >>ry the perkins says i neff heard of a hospital doing this thing. they're giving free food >> it's lessons along the by a, lessons we can use all the way >> all of your reports are modern med zblin this one is a bra -- medicine, this run with has a brand. >> play it again, guys can you play it for him? >> let's see >> you see that little thing on the left there, it says modern medicine >> oh, there you go. >> wow oh okay it's sponsored, too, it's a great segment. >> thanks, joe, i'm really glad you like it. >> looking forward to it every month this year or every quarter? >> every quarter

>> last year it was every month? >> yeah. >> what happened >> i don't know, you have to talk to our sales team. >> thank you to meg terrell. becky, what's wrong? everything good? >> everything is good. >> excellent >> you know what, is it not feeling like the longest day of the year, sort of? >> yes, and the day is young, it's :53 a.m opec and non-opec oil minsters are gathering this week. saudi arabia and russia have been trying to convince other producers to rise global demand. iran argues opec should reject pressure from u.s. president trump to pump more oil obviously, a lot going on in the background around that the iranian deal squashed by president trump. the decision is expected tomorrow we hear from brian sullivan. he is in vienna, he will join us next hour. when we come back, a former ceo of elian's global investors and

our news makers of the morning also another news maker of the morning, congress secretary wilbur ross will join us to talk trades and tariffs after the break. "squawk box" will be right back.

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the china trade war front and center, commerce secretary wilbur ross joins us for a news making interview a peck meets and trade fears takes center stage

today's guest host is elizabeth corey of elians. plus, disney upping theante for fox. will comcast strike back we'll discuss as the second hour of "squawk box" begins right now. [ music playing [ music playing >> live from the beating heart of business, new york. this is "squawk box. >> yeah, that's an old one good morning, everybody. welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc we are live from the nasdaq market site in time's square i can't concentrate with that music in the backgrounds in studio with us this morning, guest host and global ceo of global investors >> former. >> former. thank you, joe former >> you have no responsibilities

anymore? >> that's why i'm so happy >> smileing from ear to ear. >> exactly >> we will hear from elizabeth on the marks and much more in a missouri let's take a look at the u.s. equities at this hour. you are looking at another new high potentially for the nasdaq once again this morning. dow features being down this morning, up, down by about 46 points this morning. then the s&p futures indicated down by just over 2 points >> snacks now up i was right. >> you were right. just early >> in the meantime, at&t unveiled its skin my bundle television service it's called watch tv the service will cost $15 per month. offering 30 live channels, no sports or local news channels. it will be free with wires will data of at&t all of this following the purchase of time warner.

the war of words between china and u.s. of the war of trades continues to escalate. they said u.s.s capricious and u.s. workers would ultimately be the ones to be hurt and called technology transfers a distortion of reality. we will be getting the labor department's weekly look at initial jobless claims in just about 90 minutes time. economists expect it to have risen to a total of 220,000. >> that would still be the lowest level we've seen in five decades. to our news maker of the morning, u.s. commerce secretary wilbur ross. mr. commerce secretary, thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you for having me on. >> you are welcome how was it yesterday once again it depends on where you read things, but i am reading something here that it sounds just awful what you went through from the washington post the casualties are now beginning to return home from the

battlefield in this trade war that the president said is easy to win then the writer goes on to talk about a lot of the senators yesterdacomplain, corn, wheat and beef are sufficienting market declines, soy bean market is collapsing. steel and auto producers, that will hit ohio harder than own e any other state. kraft heinz may move its production facility to canada. these are just republicans that you heard from mr. commerce secretary. what was it like yesterday did anyone say you were doing a good job >> well, the purpose of the hearing was to let people vet a bit and to discuss the problems they're finding with their constituent. i do think of the some of the things are a little exaggerated. the idea that heernz would move all of its facilities from the occupation to canada when canada is one-tenth the market size of

the united states seems a little bit of he per bole -- hyperbole me, some were individual proushs getting their exemptions cleared. mechanical things, a typical hearing. the more important thing is the economy is booming jobs are up. unemployment is down, capital expenditures are business confidence is up. i don't think there is a lot for anybody to complain about. >> we don't know some of the we wouldn't be seeing it, you are confident that the unintended consequence of helping certain industries is not going to actually ends up

being deleterious to a greater number of workers that are that's the netanyahu, you try to help one group you ends up hurting many more. that won't happen. we won't see it. >> it won't happen, the reason you won't see it is the steel and alittle up in tar refs are small, one percent of fraction of gdp and consuming industries, it's less than 1% on the price of a car, less than a penny on a can of budweiser, less than a penny of campbell's soup and a can of coke. so the fact that there are more workers in those industries doesn't matter i don't think any of those industries is within a fraction of a penny of discollusion

>> in this same mark they describe your attitude as cavalier and breezy. they mention the campbell's soup can that you held up it goes on to say something we touch on here the next thing is what do you care, forbes is reporting you are making out with a bandit with your personal holdings tied to the chinese government and even some to vladimir putin so i will say this article begins if forbes, it begins with the president had cabinet secretaries like neofight scott tillerson and unprepared betsy devos, that was the beginning of the piece, you knew it wasn't

going to be good when tray dohei like that. >> it's ancient news, etching that has been done has been done in compliance with the government office of ethics. peel are guessing. >> i'm sorry to interrupt, but divesting is in the eye of the beholde beholder, are they in trust now that be benefit your family and does that count as an investment the thrust is if you are still dealing with china and russia and be tough with all these places and your family is still going to benefit from a lot of these investments in trust, even though it is nominally on the ethics committee defacto you are still benefiting >> well, that's simply not true. we've divested the assets.

i have no control over the purchases in sales in trust. we are not income beneficiaries. i have no economic interests in those trusts but many were not put into trusts only things difficult to sell. everything readily available was sold so the idea of trusts that meet very specified criteria has been a part of government for a very, very long time it is not true of the trump administration it ist true of all prior administrations. people may say, well, tough cut. the fact is that's the established practice >> that the ethics rules that are currently in force are woefully unprepared to deal with

a trump administration and people in his cabinet. absolutely it is a global marketplace now and i watch your career for a long time, you hit all over the place for years and years and years. i can imagine how complex it is. >> i don't have any investments in russia. i never have what they're doing is innuendo a company that i was invested in happened to have a russian shareholder. >> okay. >> another kane happened to do business with some companies in russia a shipping company they take little tiny things and make them into something that they are not tapped worst of all is that they don't pretend to do the research they make short claims >> the short sell, i red what you did.

that's not what they should have focused the article on, because you didn't have the sha irs to sell at the time so this is done all the time you sold the shares. then you replaced them as soon as the shares were able to be tut back in. >> secretary ross, can we talk about that a little bit. i realize that's not illegal it doesn't sound like illegal trader either. i do want to ask you about the sale of the navigator holdings explain it to us that was situation, i read a lot of stuff to figure this out the "new york times" said they sent you a list of questions, at least ten questions related to first half fator holdings. three days later they say you opened a short position and they published the article. is it just from optics that makes it look like you knew there was going to be a negative story written. can you explain what happened?

>> first of all, i began selling navigator six months before that this was not a sale that was made what came about is these were shares that were originally a part of the director compensation program some of them never really found their way physically to me so when i found that there were some more shares than what i had sold months earlier, i got them moved into ank so i could sell them it takes a while to effect that transfer and under the new york stock exchange rules, which is where navigator trades, you got to deliver within a couple of days so to be sure that i didn't violate the rule, it was netech physically a short sale. >> it was a long sale. you owned the stock. you were selling the stock it was a short sale in the sense that you didn't physically have

the stock to deliver on settlement date to the shares that were sold >> did you go back and find those shares because of the information that was september was eight situation you wanted to be out of >> no, no, no, i had been working on it for a while, finally the shares came through. but the fact is whether the stock went up or down after that had nothing to do with anything and, indeed, the stock is higher now than it was when i sold it >> what was more troubling, wilbur, is you are still dealing with these companies and being tough with them the thrust of the forbes piece is your family will benefit from these investments. you call them divested maybe you are not making decisions now, but if you continue, if you still have an interest in what happens and there are -- >> no, no, no, i have no owe glow is it a family rust >> yeah, it is in a family trust and so were holdings of all,

many prior cabinet people. anybody who has had a substantial portfolio for years and years and years has gone into trust this one is even more severe in that we can never have any economic interest. in many prior cases, they were so-called blind trusts, which this also is, meaning simply that the cabinet person didn't know the transactions that were occurring. well, that's true here but it's also true that i have no economic interests now and never can in the future. so it's actually a more strict arrangement than many prior cabinets holds. >> this article seems to think your family still has an interest in navigator. is that correct? >> well, yes, they do until the trustees make whatever decision they do about selling. >> that's been diveftd some navigator in the trust as

well it actually wasn't sold. it was judy vested into the trust? >> no, the navigator was actually sold in the open market it was a readily saleable affair >> right >> many of the holdings i have are not readily saleable those are the ones that went into the trust, the ill liquid ones. >> it's not a navigator. >> it is it's not the same type of security you were able to sell a different navigator security that was ill liquid that is now in the trust >> no, what itself in the trust are the residual interests in certain of the private equity funds that left from my work before >> okay. >> the ones that were readily saleable i've sold to a third party, a professional investor the ones that were not saleable are the ones that got put into the family trust even if everything had been put into the trust, it's still is

one that has been used time and memorial, it is clearly an appropriate thing to do. so if forbesants to rewrite the way the government handles things, that's fine. the reporter is entitled to his penalties. but to make an allegation that there is something inappropriate about a practice, that's a very common place practice and has been done in prior administrations as well is simply silly >> how about, this was a lot of stuff in the article over the china sovereign investment with the fund, the china investment corps, it seems to imply that you were trying to curry favor with the chinese government to get the sovereign fund to invest in your funds that you are managing then you get a lot of fees and you know you get to charge for managing the money and that was

apparently implied here, just to curry fave with the chinese government this is sill a part of a family trust too, now have i got that right? or this is gone now? because it would seem that that would cause you to go easy, let's say, with china so they wouldn't withdraw the funds from the sovereign funds from your fund >> well, first of all, they cannot withdraw them, because the funds are partnerships that could go on and on and on. these are not open end mutual funds. if they were, it would have been very easy sim mr. i to redeem out. >> okay. >> so that's also a mischaracterization of the activity it is true that the cic had been one of our investors, so have been a large number of state pension funds, large number of city pension funds, some universities, lots of foundations. we've had a very large number of

institutional investors over the years. there was nothing very unusual about that at all. the normal thing in the private equity world but i have no beneficial interest if any of those situations and will not. >> wilbur, can we talk about trade? because wall street keeps tr to figure out. >> sure. >> if this is a situation where we will get into a full scal trade war or we will side step back and use this as a negotiation to a better scenario how do you see this playing out? >> well, the ultimate objective of the president is to reduce they'res, reduce trade barriers and make an open level playing field for u.s. companies all around the world whether it's in china or whether it's anywhere else so that is the end game that we

are seeking. in order to get there, we've had to do some other measures and here's why under the world trade organization rules, there are two basic principles that govern the tariffs you can put on in the normal course. one is called the most favored nation clause. >> that means you can't charge a higher rate to one country on a particular product than you charge to another. in the case of u.s., those are very low res the second one is called the bound rate, which is the highest tariff that you can put on that product even if you applied most favored nation in the case of u.s. take cars, our most favored nation rate is 2.5% so is our bound rate there is nothing we can do in the normal course about our tariffs on cars.

but, europe has a 10% tariff china until recently had a 25% tariff now it's 15. so if we're going in a trade negotiation to europe and saying please get rid of your 10% and in return, we'll get rid of our 2-and-a-half, they kind of scratch their head and say why would i make a concession to you? that's much bigger than your concession to me so what we have to do is create an environment where it's more painful for these parties that have these huge trade barriers, both tariff and non-tariff you got to make it more painful for them to keep those barriers than to get rid of them. and that's a lot of what all this exercise is about and in the particular case of china, it's compounded by their disrespect of complextual properties the forced transfers, the cyber

security breaches. all the various things that you are well familiar with that they do we are trying to make it painful for them to continue those practices so that we can protect our future things like steel and aluminum tariff deal with the world as it is today intellectual property controls the world. president trump is determined to protect the interests both in the so-called old industries and in the new industries. toots w that's why this is such a wide reaching and powerful phenomena. >> i don't know what you are able discuss on this, whether you are able see some movement on some of this stuff. there is a report about germany and the eu tax on cars are we in the upswing of doing

more and more on the offensive side or have we turned the corner where you are starting to see only countries say okay, let's talk, if we are in a better position, you would think you would start to see onsome o these companies having resolve are we starting to see that? is this happening with germany >> well, i don't know so sure about germany. ki talk about the steam and alluminum tariffs which has been ffect quite a little while after we put those in, suddenly europe started a whole bunch of safe guard actions to protect their own borders against dumping of steam and alluminum before we put our tariff, they hasn't done that, similarly japan. japan had never had a trade enforcement group. now they have a 20-person enforcement group. that's spreading throughout the world.

so it may sound strange but the fact that we put tariffs on the goods coming out of them has modified their behavior and induced a pretty high degree of international cooperation against dumping. dumping is a global problem. china, but not only china. it has to be dealt with on a global basis and in a very firm manner >> commercing is, thank you, thanks for all the time, answering all the questions. we appreciate it we hope to see you againeal soon thanks >> i hope you will thank you very much. >> you are welcome all right, let's talk about the broader markets right now with our guest host elizabeth corley you heard what the commerce secretary had to say about trade. that's been a hugely important thing for the markets. what did you take out of that? what are your thoughts in terms of this? >> what i heard is a concern out

of it. markets will go one way or another out of it the reality is there is concern about a future trade war. we are still in the foothill, are we going up, leveling out. we don't know yet. some of that volatility is useful we were too one direction before some of that igood the other issue is u.s. is pretty well secure in terms of the impact of trade wars i mean 70% of gdp is u.s. consumer driven. compare that with germany, with some of the countries where there is much more exposure to exports to drive gdp growth. we've got that and the fiscal stimulus we've got the best ever quarter inni earnings in q1 and q2 with 90% of earnings. if ever you were going to do a trade war, now is the time to do it there is a philosophical operation about multibilateral,

given the complexity of the new emerging economies that are coming, based around data, based around tech. based around artificial intelligence >> the advantage you cite about the u.s. markets being somewhat insulated. the markets do reflect that right now. you see emerging markets have a struggle right notice the divergence between the u.s. market and over seas has been strong i guess the question is can the u.s. marks remain insulated at a time when the fed is tightening when the rest of the world is not? >> the fed is tightening they are doing a good job of normalizing. if you go back a year, there was a real worry what will happen when we move from this quantitative easing environment we've had? you have to say inflation is heading nicely without spikes, towards 82%. we've got good jobs growth you will get the latest information. it might tick up a bit it's still in extraordinary confidence there is a good consumer confidence with s&p 500.

for me the leading indicator will be if we see a drop in consumer confidence. i think that itself the thing to start watching around the u.s. >> you didn't hire elian, did you? >> no. >> you know him in >> yes >> is he difficult to work for >> you know the last time i was on here as a guest host, you asked me exactly the same question i've good a good memory. >> you were a guest host on the show before? >> yes, but i wasn't wearing glasses, joe >> okay. >> did meg terrell do a modern medicine segment i'm not sure i was here that day. >> take another sip of coffee. >> i think i had too much coffee coming up, elizabeth corley on the market then the bidding war for fox may not be over yet. research analyst nathan moffett. i always bring him up. "squawk box" will be right back.

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welcome back to "squawk box," everybody. we are cnbc. we are live from the nasdaq market site in time's square garden restaurants, stills are out. that's the parent of olive god gua garden and raised its dividend that stock right now up by 8 tony 7% the bank of england leaving interest rates unchanged. however, it did say it would reduce the bond portfolio when the interest rate reaches 1.5% aaa expects a record number of travelers for the upcoming july 4th period nearly 47 million americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more from july 3rd through july 8th. >> joining us now, richard fisher, former dallas fed president along with our guest

host elizabeth corley, senior adviser and former ceo of elian globalesrs richard, it's been a while there is a few data points that you can opine on number one is the atlanta fed's current gdp incident they're up the charts. they're always high. it may not happen. few split the difference, it's a number we didn't think was possible again >> remember, the atlanta fed number changes every minute. >> right >> but it indicates a direction. if you look at the new york fed numbers, they're stronger as well. >> where are they? >> above 3%. >> above 3 >> it will be a three hands him or a four handle just blow you away >> i remember right after the election, larry summers, steve ratner, et cetera, your favorite comment, the "new york times," who you love. >> with all my heart. >> i know, all your heart, those guys were so pessimistic and remember we were tpped in this

mindset of secular stag nation. >> sugar high is there we don't hear about secular stagnation anymore. >> they have to switch their narrative. it will be in a stronger economy, we threw a bunch of gasoline on the fire, now there is no workers. >> it's better than secular stagon, 20 you will be back to one-and-a-half that's what he will say. >> it comes down to all these famous formulas. we had models. this woman is good with all this stuff. it comes to c but g my nice ex consumptions, governments, exports. all your farables we are doing better, consumption isening stro, consume were index is strong, recent manufacturing survey is strong

we're doing well almost every slener is pumping right now. you and i have not been pessimists. >> i know. >> you are an enigmarapped in a riddle surrounded by a conundrum. you are like a texas independent. i don't know what the -- we keep an eye on all this economic stuff. i don't know where you, the other side comes in ever >> we are common sense people. >> in texas, you are so anything on the inflation front that causes to you go, oh. we're behind the curve >> everybody wondered, where is the so-called philips curve, your employment inflation, it wamitigated or moved, now by technology we are running up against resource complaints. i would not be surprised you have views on this, if we saw total comp pressure. we begin to see it now i would be looking at the new york fed inflation series as the best thing the fed has going for

it on that front right now we're beginning to see settlements coming in at the 3% level. 2.8% was the last number that came through formally. they're closer >> that is thought what monetary policy is about right now. you look at what chairman powell, j. powell said in portugal yesterday, if we reread here -- remember we're going into our tenth check expansion in july -- we don't have enough rate increases to get back to mitigated down turn. i think they're getting mitigated exercise, they're trying to get as many quarter increases as they k. i like to say j. bowl ispowell is a circle puts nuts in a tree. >> that gives them room if they want to expand the balance sheet. but i think they're going to continue to ratchet it up. the marks are still very accommodating. >> i completely agree. i hope i can disagree.

i really do. there is always that risk one inflation starts to run as you know that is slightdown side risk some of the precious of the availability of scarce labor and skilled areas. that's true. but etching else is a real tail wind right now these quarter point increases are really helpful they're giving more of a war chest should there be a difficult winter ahead >> it's clear they will get to 2-and-a-half they will be beyond that >> that's the question, the marks have to figure out at what point the fed is normalizing for the right reasons and when, what you have drawn here is the fed will overshoot we don't know what level above which. >> overshoot >> i wouldn't say that >> i wouldn't say that >> i would not say that. >> we would not say that who ill the situation is appropriate and why you are managing things in a very smooth way the quarter rises, why not continue to do that until you reach a point you believe you

will normalize the market is not scared >> the fed usually raises until it breaks. >> that's cycles post-world war ii they've over done it in ten. >> they're very knowledgeable or familiar with this phenomenon. they've done it. that's why they're so careful in communicating things and talking to fed funds futures up. which they do very well now. i'm very comfortable so you know with j. pow emas chairman. he understands credits he understands markles he has a different tool kit with three immediate predecessors i think he's the right guy at the right time you have to understand credit and that wasn't the tool kit as they were. >> it's not europe are you worried how they will manage, they're stuck in the muck again >> who's that? i think europe is the systemic risk >> your friend says when it goes down, they can't get out >> he has a grade phase, which is becky's buddy

when the tide goes out, you find them swimming naked. there are a lot of ugly bodies, this isn't st. bart's or the islands in europe. they're bad credits. if you are paid to take money, you will make bad decisions. so as that tide recedes, this has to be their biggest worry. they're not growing like we are. not as dynamic. >> no. >> all right we got to go somehow, so you are on at&t's board, you know that, though >> i know i'm on that board. >> you see the skin my bun him >> do you get the new skin my bundle, you get it for free, right? i don't think it has cnbc on it, does it? >> the news or are you going to get that have you seen it? >> you asked me for pledge >> you get perks being on the board. talking about the skin my bundle a lot today. >> i use all their products. i think they're first rate >> i have triple play comcast,

you haven't seen really good service. >> we will have randle cut you off. >> i am sure yours is great now they think about it. thanks, richard. >> peace be with you when we come back the latest on the media battle for fox assets. research analyst michael nathanson joins us after the break. check the futures this morning yesterday was a mixed market the dow down the nasdaq hitting a new high, once again the nasdaq up by five points, dow futures down by 72, s&p up by 2.5. from farm, to pot, to jar, to table. and serve with confidence that it's safe. this is a diamond you can follow from mine to finger, and trust it never fell into the wrong hands. ♪ ♪ this is a shipment transferred two hundred times, transparently tracked from port to port. this is the ibm blockchain, built for smarter business. built to run on the ibm cloud.

welcome back, everybody, disney's bob eiger and comcast chief robert back nose-to-nose, robert nathanson is the founding partner at move fet nathanson. thank you for being here >> good morning. >> we were talking about this yesterday. at one point it's sayi this is kind of the beginning. jim cramer points out he does not think it's the beginning we are reaching close to the end

of this thing. do you think comcast will respond? >> thank you they stort started th this >> what will they have to do in your thought process >> it's going to be harder one of the things is a rumor that did my is close to getting an approval in two, three weeks. if that's true, you have a certain close in the next two months, com kals has to put in a bid bigger than the current disney bid to get fox sports to think, oh my god, we should stop the process to close an open it up with com kals they have to almost put it in a much bigger than we thought. >> who leaked that would it be a doj? >> i would think it has to be someone on the fox disney side >> yeah, how would they know they knew from regulators i want mating to the doj?

>> we're down the path on the call with disney, they said we have been at this six months we started day one hay said we have been doing this a long time. >> that's not a new theme, that's something i have been hearing. >> we talked about this last week, which was the judge decision kind of opened the door for comcast, right etch thought, okay comcast can walk in with a leg latory framework equal to what it's like, which is approvals, likely on disney, bob eiger threw cold water on that. >> he doesn't know >> in the decision, though, the judge was so specific about how awful this particular case that the government presented was in certain circumstances that he explicitly said don't extrapolate from this. >> it doesn't mean you can't exstrap late from this eiger says you can't >> the board has to be

considering all these issues we are back to saying disney can get by with less whatever, if congress can get back for you, would fox say, no, or they'd say we'd like 38 or does it have to be 42? >> how high can that i go without the leverage becoming a worry for their investors? >> i'd say you get to the 42, 44 level, people start worrying. >> they can't go to 40, they can go to a 42 >> why would you go to 42? it's $4 bucks more, 10% more >> why is one a bird in the happened the other is not. >> if you actually think you are two months away from closing on the disney side, you haven't gone approval yet. if there is no doubt on the doj, they would not approve it. the fox brooke can say i got $38 locked in for two months time. why would i lock it up another

year. >> you have $38 locked in short term have you tax advantage, fox owns 20% of disney going ahead. potentially that itself not going to be stagnant forever >> that value can grow >> we talked with joe about disney going 150, that have f have you the option to have disney stock, few believe i do, this combination is a go combination, you have a chance to get aid more than $38 right? what's attract siv disney has with fox assets makes tons of cents. >> they can make "star wars" films and go back to 80. nobody knows >> so is it possible that in the back of brian robert's mind he will go to 43 just to make disney pay more? >> i don't think it's pressure from the shareholder base. >> do you think he'd do that knowing he wouldn't eventually

get it >> we always wonder what his plan b was you come out with a bid you have to believe it's going to be top. it has to be obvious even if they thought it was e it wasn't obvious >> the pressure is on the stock. >> sky is not resolved, fox is not resolved either. fox doesn't have a second bid yet. as brian put his weight to get sky. that's his second prize. >> maybe that's his real play. actually it's sky in that streaming service is really key the question is i know they are precluded under the agreement? that perspective, if there were a deal, it's a beautiful win- n

win-wi win-win. >> would someone say something to disney, maybe, it would have to be six degrees of spiration, how does one company get the word without talking to them >> probably the advisers would say we're willinging to go here for fox. if you put 33 on the table, we'll match you. sky at 13 point 50, we probably wouldn't touch it. that's how you would do it disney has not walked back their interest in sky. when we do the math, sky is a good asset for disney to have in terms of getting the deal to work that's going to be the next week, too. we'll find out where they get sky from yea yeah >> it's new and interesting. >> keeping us busy >> michael, thank you. >> good to see you on whether to raise output

brian sullivan joins us with a preview of what is coming up, that's where you were yesterday, hopefully you got out an about it's a flait great place >> reporter: it is, it's spectacularly hot, by the way. coming up after the break, it's heating up as well inside terms of negotiation guys. in fact, even though it's not an opec number, russia is playing a very big role here maybe you want to call it ropec. we will tell you how close the two sides may be to making a deal to raise the oil output by as much as a billion barrels a day. >> that returns when we return on "squawk box" right after this a shield annuity e from brighthouse financial, which allows them to take advantage of growth opportunities in up markets, while maintaining a level of protection in down markets. so they can focus on new things like exotic snacks.

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surprise! i got a puppy. add an ipad to select packages for just $5 a month for 24 months. upgrade online now. >> welcome back, everybody, fortnight battle royale has made a whopping $100 million just in its first 90 days in the app store. the most impressive part of all of this is the game is free to download and play, that $100 million was earned exclusively through inapp purchases. can you say addiction? >> let's go to vienna. opec meetings are ongoing, you saw bryant he is there, joins us now. let's film in all the details. hi brian >> it kind of feels like

fortnight for oil. there is a lot of players, they're in the game maybe one person is emerging as a victor that will be winners and losers. you got the opec nations, saudi arabia and a couple others, they're pushing for more oil output they want to put more oil onto the mark president trump may be helping that as well, giving saudi arabia a bit of a number they have lined up with russia as well. not an opec member but it's presence here is so big some people started calling this ropec, adding the r for russia in fact, earlier today we got an clusive interview with the secretary gem of opec. we caught him on world wide exchange live. he said something that surprised a lot of people which is that russia will be actively involved in the announcement of the output decision tomorrow liste listen >> as soon as we conclude the

conference on friday, the president of the conference will address the press to announce the decision and on saturday we will have a joint press conference by the federation and they will jointly adeal the press. >> reporter: so, guys, you knew russia loomed large. they will maybe be involved in the announcement of the decision, which will come tomorrow there is talk of another press conference on saturday >> that itself big thing if you think, i know there is not a lot going on behind me right now. they're in session it is bonkers here joe, when the oil ministers come out, it's like oil paparazzi, it's like brad pitt or the beetles come out of the "ed sullivan show" its like 1964 the saudis are here, that tier kings of opec.

i don't know if we will get a deem i have somebody we got to grab lima croft well known to the "squawk box" audience. are we getting a deal? >> i think we are getting a consensus the question is, how they will administer the king pin of opec, he comes out and basically said a million barrels. sit going to be a million barrels or closer to 600,000. >> >> how about a million gross, 400 thank you off line, that would be net >> i think that's what expectations are there could be a couple holding out on it still. i think we will get an agreement on friday. >> we will get a name badge. >> here's how it works you have to grab people when you can. >> exactly we give our best to laura croft. so. >> reporter: no relation, but they seem very similar, don't they

>> swinging around yeah, doing heroic things. >> fighting off, yeah. >> hey, you are not mobbed like the opec types >> here's my fan right here. >> you got one >> all right very thankful >> that is sad >> that is really -- >> i tried to get -- i have no fans >> some day. you know, tens of dozens of, i don't know >> thanks. >> i got two fans and mom and dad are both watching. >> yeah. see you later. thank you. >> when we come back, at the top of the 8:00 a.m. hour, house ways an means chair, kevin brady will be joining us let's take a look at the futures. it's been a mixed picture the nasdaq indicated up by just over 5 points after setting a new record yesterday can you see the dow futures

indicated down 50 and s&p indicated down by less than one point. "squawk box" will be right back. ♪

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washington >> we are trying to make it painful for them to continue those practices, so that we can protect our future >> we will talk to a congressman who has been outspain about trade, ways an means chair, kevin brady. >> new this morning, at&t reveals how it is putting reaction ahead. one of the biggest grocers out with quarterly results a first on cnbc interview with kroger is coming up as the final hour of "squawk box" begins right now. >> live from the most powerful city in the world, new york. this is "squawk box. >> good morning, welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc live from the nasdaq market site in time's square. i'm joe kernen along with beck

qui quick and mike san toll. andrew is off. our guest is former ceo o elian global investors she knows mohammed let's get a check -- let's get a check on the marks right now the futures. they have been improving a little bit they're down 80 or 90 the dow now down 50. the nasdaq is now up, up 9 i said it would be the top of the show i hope it's not a mistake. the s&p, i'm watching that santoli, your pause is at 2772, we are five below that the jury is still out. >> we have been paused for week now. >> is that good? >> that's right. for a short. >> that is a victory >> the larger point, first of all it's a punitive thresh hold you are moving, it's ten below >> the fair value, you can't come on when it's down ten points and have 2782 >> anyway. >> no no >> the mark does not seem --

>> now do you want to pull your pause number out and go back to long >> i think it's -- >> stick with the pause. stick with the pause >> before the next leg up. >> you know that fox song -- >> by the way, that's pretty bold >> i don't think, you know, short-term things. you know that fox song is, i do know what it is, it's what the fox sees i didn't recognize the song. i remember it was out. yeah >> what do the animals say what does the fox say? >> you want to know what the fox is going to say about -- >> disney yesterday. >> versus comcast. now i get it >> it's 8:00 it's well done >> the most annoying sound >> it's pretty good, though, it gets stuck in your head. >> what does the fox say >> that's, yeah. okay shut the front door. >> all right folks, here's what's happening

at this hour, shares of kroepger ju -- croakow -- kroger jumping. revenue beating forecast the company raising the lower end of its full-year profit outlook. stock is up almost 10% guess what, we will talk to the ceo in a few minutes check out darden, this is the parent of olive gardens and other chains it raised its quarterly dividend to noon cents a share. it's up by so.5% >> let's get to our host we thought about that, having a camera running off all the time. because we don't just talk about like movies. we talked about brexit and i thought it was interesting what you had to say that you were among some of the doom sayres near term 2017

2018 you think that there is a day of reckoning on the way for 2019? >> i wouldn't say day of reckoning, joe i think it'sust that there are going to be some head winds. we will have to navigate a couple years of uncertainty, slow economic growth that's just the reality. >> you have a more practicing matic view than i was pushing back against, that itself the entire union with the single monetary is so ease to do without a fiscal authority controlling thing. have you multispeed economies. everybody has the same interest rates. it doesn't work. we've seen in the past i don't want how it finally works. >> i agree with you. >> we couldn't i mean, the idea of having the test before we went in was genius, frankly. >> i'd say etch else shouldn't have gotten in there, too. >> there were different motives. as you say, it leaves very limited ability to resolve the chronic issues

we were talking about italy off line a little while ago. the challenge there is they weren't growing even before in the current troubles so the head wind to do something in this current political mess is really difficult. >> it's weird. >> would put in place really to sort of not put a muzzle but germany, you have to, you know, we think about germany and the history of what went on and so the whole eu is a way to sort of, i don't know call germany? >> no, not at all. i think the original origins in terms of the trade, that trading block was genius to actually have owe glow that's all it was? >> the original orins. we are a trading block the political consequence. if we don't go to war with trading partners that was the genius idea it was a trading partnership there was a sense of okay this trading partnership can get bigger it was a grand design the trouble is in the core of the

euro zone the ambitions got bigger so did the membership of the european union so have you this not just a fast lane and a slow lane the fast the medium the slow and itsability to balance those within the eo and those without, it's a massive challenge. if you go to europe, joe, the u.k. >> we'll go on friday. i'm glad why the euro is germany ended up getting a great deal because they got the weak currency because of the weak economies everywhere else. >> i think that was intention am i don't think that was intepgal. -- intention -a intentional nobody talks ability currency. when you are doing the deem, what is the future currency outlook? you think about the dollar and the dollar strength him it's one of those challenges that you can't really look at a decades long view the difference really is the question of discipline applied to government spending

and to fiscal discipline and there has been a different mindset on what discipline is. >> i can't believe it's worked this long with the disparate language and culture maybe you should pat themselves on the back for getting this far. >> i think there is more you have to also think about it's a very uncertain world. there is more that unites those cultures than divides them they are very different. >> it's good to have the fre flow services across borders >> and democracy and an independent judiciary and property rights and respect the conversation you had earlier on intellectual property in china and the challenges there >>oo bad you are leaving >> i completely agree. >> what happened geeze. >> we talked about that. >> is it going to happen you are slow walking it right now. >> i think it will happen. it's a one-way street the period of transition will be longer there will be an almos

kicking the can down the road. >> were you at the royal wed something. >> no. >> you didn't get to go in >> no, i didn't get a lottery ticket that allowed you to go. were you at the wed something. >> no, i didn't. >> maybe it got lost >> my closest possibility was wolf i don't think he got to go did he brother get to know >> i think you are not supposed to talk about the guest list >> that's probably why you didn't get to go >> you are not saying anything >> of course, not. >> you are indiscreet, that's why. elizabeth is our host for the rest of the program. china is warning its trade actions will ultimately hurt u.s. workers commercing is wilbur ross speaking out on a c this bc interview, here's what he said about trade. >> what we have to do is create an environment where it's more painful for these parties that have these huge trade barriers, both tariff and non-tariff you got to make it more painful

for them to keep those barriers than to get rid of them. >> earlier this week, president trump threatened additional tariffs on $200 billion in chinese goods. some lawmakers celebrating today is tax reform-aversary joining me is representative kevin brady of texas he is the chairman of the ways an means committee mr. chairman, thank you for being here >> good morning, becky how are you doing? >>ed go, it's great to see you -- good, it's great to see you the economy is soar eight long at this point. a lot of good things are coming out of this. we are talking about cross currents and issues with trade i wonder if trade will undo some of the goods in place. >> it has the potential. to the first point, look, it's very early in tax reform we all acknowledge that. there is almost no indicators

that aren't markedly better today than six months ago. i like to point out, we ask the nation where are the jobs to a nation where are the workers it's a problem it's a good problem to have. so trade we think maximizing this economic growth we need two things, one, more customers, that's a good pre trade agreements, including nafta and more workers we think there is a good path for there as well, so i think on trade, there is no question, both parties, absolutely support the president, targeting china's unfair trade practices i think the frustration is because the white house initially exempted as we asked our country's trading partners who farley trade with us canada and europe. there is an exclusion promised for farley traded products, steel and alluminum, for example, will be exempted as well so people are willing to give the president some patience to pursue the strategy.

since this either of those exceptions are working, i think the frustration is american workers, family, farmers, businesses are feeling more pain today than china is and that's where we're urging the president to adjust you know the whole approach as he goes after china. >> chairman brady, you said something most people wouldn't have batted ap eye at a few months ago you said countries that barely trade with us, like canada do you believe canada trades fairly with us or do you think u do you believe the rhetoric from others in the administration saying no that's not the case? >> the answer is not completely. canada we've had long standing trade disputes with canada and europe as well they need to be resolved arc pro growth, modern nafta could, should address those issues and canada have been reluctant to come to the table, has stuck to some outdated we think unfair trade practices and agriculture

and intellectual property. no doubt about it. on steel and alluminum, that's not the case that's why both canada, mexico and europe on the steam and alluminum outlook to be exempt so we can use them, work with them on allies on china's practices. >> do you think we'll get a new nafta? >> yeah, i certainly hope some i think it's within the grasp. there are big economic wins i think for the u.s. there and when you put the strengths of mexico and canada together with us, we can compete and win, especially now we have a new tax code, frankly with ecwe can compete with europe and asia i think it's important it needs to be done this year, that's when congress wants to see ite, it needs to be done right. >> you mentioned you think we need more customers and more workers, how do we fine more workers? is that the reason the two bills are being considered in the house? >> i think it is, this is those stranls. we need to get the immigration policy right we have a chance to start that

today. we need to get the work force right. we have training and apprenticeships prachlts they are not turning out the work force needed we need to turn the volume up. the house ways an means approved a new welfare reform we have millions of americans on the side lines we think are very important to economic growth to moving them into the front lines of employment. we can do this as happened in 1996 so i think all three matter. in today's bill, i think bills, excuse me, are very thoughtful, very smart solutions >> which bill do you support, the more conservative bill or the one that speaker ryan is backing? >> i'm often conservative. so i will support both i think the common grounds bill, the second one, where they put together sort of the thoughts and principles across our conference, those are key things it shuts the back door of illegal immigration, the way we

haven't seen in a long time. it starts to fix the front door, legal immigration, which has been broken too long it creates a permanent family reunification process. we think that's important. i think more importantly, it provides for those who earn it the dreamers who work, who get an education, serve in the military, a legal status and a certainty, that i think we can all agree on so i think it is the second bill, i'm strongly supporting that as well >> mr. chairman, we had commercing is on earlier i heard some similar comments, we were kind of summarize some of the comments from actually some gop senators yesterday in the ongoing issues with the trade negotiations i don't want to calm eight war yet. i think that's probably overstating it all the skirmichs. he recounted all the great things happening in terms of the jobless rate and possible gdp

for the second quarter and i'm just wondering you are a conservative you typically roble would not like to put on tariffs, et cetera are you okay with this do you think we can win trade skhes cae of our, the importance of our economy to everybody else are you behind the president on this 100%? >> i believe america is in a position of strength now is the time to address these unfair trade practices how you do it really does matter because you really have to target those unfair trade practices. right now what we see because of the exemption process and this exclusion process is not working, so we are seeing a new uncertainly on trade back home in our local economy now, i don't think -- i don't think it's reached a serious degree yet i think there is people, i think most are willing to give the president the space to take these approaches

if it results in fair trade practices long term, but there is no question because a couple of these areas are not working, like theic collusion exemption process more pain is inflicted on the economy that can be fixed. >> i know how hard you work for your tax reform. everything is going along so well i'm wondering, you finally get this have you ever said that? like alone in a room or something? >> well, as you know, i'm not a tariff guy tariffs are taxes. so lower is better zero is always the best. so that's where i want us to go. one thing i will note, yesterday, manufacturers who are always the most pessimistic about the future are now the most optimistic in 20 years. we are seeing the growth in jobs we've all worked hard for, so let's find a path and keep that

going. >> thanks. always a pleasure. hope to see you again, call us if you think, oh my god, we have to stop. will you >> yes, sir. >> coming up, what is keeping executives, top executives up at night? exclusive results from cnbc's global cfo counsel survey next one of the guys, out with a rngs and mike at schlottman will join us with instant will join us with instant reaction right after the brake.

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welcome back to "squawk bo it could be a rough month ahead according to trade tensions according to our global cfo counsel survey the counsel represents some of the largest companies in the world collectively manages more than $4.5 trillion in narc cap and the looming trade wars become the top worry, tripleing from the fourth quarter last year and in total 65% of north american respondents say they are expecting u.s. trade policy to have a negative impact on their businesses however, those same members seem willing to overlook a looming trade war. 60% say the benefits of tax reform outweigh what could happen as a result speaking of tax reform, we ask

what they're doing with the cash and the top responses a debt reduction in one-time employee bonuses. wink, wicnk they're doing that kroger just out with earnings. the some higher after the supermarket operator beats street forecasts both the top and bottom line. kroger raising the lower end of its full year profit forecast. i wasn't talking act you, mike mike schlotman of kroger and cfo count sell, i don't think buybacks are a bad thing and you need demand to you know, for cram outlay capital outlays, increases in compensation. all those things happen organically. i was going to ask you something about organic growth in a minute not organic foods. you mean growth at kroger any acquisitions, start? >> yes, that's right

good morning i think the key question when you are modernizing so rapidly to retain market share, one of the challenges is this balance between what you do organically and inorganically. i wonder if you can share a couple thoughts on that. >> so we had a great quarter on the top and bottom line as joe said our supermarket sales grew 1.4%. when you put etching we sell to a customer, including our online business, we grew 1.9% >> that would all be organic growth that's in the face you were talking about the tax reform a minute ago we talked in march about a third of the savings from the tax reform we were giving back to our customers in the form of a higher service in some departments that we were a little under staffed in like produce and some of the deli counters another third of it were investing back in our associates a third is going to the bottom line so we're very happy with the balance of what we've used for tax reform as well as our

customer's reactions to the changes we've made in service as well as some lower prices. when you lower prices, don't forget about the fact there is a slide head winds of sales, our units in the growth was very strong we are pleased with the final results of the sales dollars >> those were all, yeah, i like all three of those uses. that's what i can't understand, people, that are still sort of grouseing about it especially when it comes back here it used to be over there anything that you use it for, i don't care if it's buyback it's all better than if it was left >> we chose to go a little different path of our associates we didn't go down the path of a one-time bonus we chose to an institute leaning and one of the best 3r58s for continuing education for folks in the country if you are a part-time worker for more than six months, you qualify for an annual 3500 stipends for education you think of a person going off

to college you work ten hours a week in kroger in college turning a little exkra spending money, let's say you work $500 a year, that is like earning another $7 an howard county it goes directly towards helping you pan we will help educate america guess where those students may want come for a job and we believe it will be a huge rething for us as well >> do you see the tariff head winds? that's the worry, that we make up some grounds there or lose ground on this front anything yet >> i wouldn't say we've seen a great amount we have a lot of manufacturing plants, processing plants. so we buy a lot of alluminum and those kind of products for those plants we are 100% u.s.-based company we don't have any stores outside the border of the country. so all of our sales are

domestic so we're a little more insulated. surely we bring in products, general merchandise products, things like that from overseas we'll see where all that kind up shaking out. >> mike, we heard earlier from chairman brady, that it's great what you are doing on education. great what you are doing to really help your associates lou the challenge is it's not coming out of the education system. looking at what you need to do in terms of artificial intelligence, what are you doing ab those sorts of skills and technical competencies >> we are investing quite a bit in technology and artificial intelligence i would go back to the there are 3500 year help for our associates going to college. those are precisely the kind of disciplines we hope a lot of our workers decide to pursue in college. we believe we help them pay for their education bill within they graduate college, they look first to kroger.

we are trying to build on that thing, that a lot of people come here for a job and wind up staying for a career why wouldn't they want to stay for a career when over the course of four years, you wiepdz up giving them $14,000 towards their college education if they work part time for you we think it will be a great connection and we will feed the pipeline of very high skilled workers for us comingout of college as we help them pursue a secondary education. >> hopefully they go to xu, you see, not like ku or university of kentucky. >> joe, it qualifies for uk as well as even uc. >> uk? don't go down there. >> folks for whatever reason dropped out of high school this will help them get a ged and have that amazing growth as well it's a wide ranging benefit. >> maybe kroger. >> let's look at it. >> see we might have a new, she's -- >> that's great. the thing we are working on the

most is zero hunger, zero waste by 2025. so that's certainly a huge social issue >> all right excellent. reds have won a few lately i noticed that it's a miracle thanks, mike appreciate it. >> thank you >> when we come back, weekly jobless claims about to hit the table. we'll take you live to the cme for the numbers. later a beck hearing on capitol hill today about crypto currency and legislation. we will talk to a coremangssn who will be in the room. that's next.

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>> my guess is fox goes over $50 by the time we're finished >> that will appeal to murdock for tax reasons. >> it's been long said comcast has a mouse envy this move brings them closer to the overall disney company looks like. welcome back to "squawk box. rick santelli here live breaking news, initial jobless claims expected to be in the $220,000 neighborhood. well, 218,000. now, 218 was the number last week, but they change ltd. it to 221. so we subtrack 3,000 to kind of get back to where we started before the revision. we look at continuing claims 1.723 million and thatfollows 1.701. so a slight uptick there june read, philly fed index 19.9 a big miss there we were looking for a number closer to 30 few recall, our last number of 34.4 was the best number since

february when it was 35.3. on the other hand, 19.9. it's not only the weakest number of the year, it's going to take us back quite a ways we're going to have to go back all the way to november. it looks to me like november of '16. november of '16, when it was 10. so that is really a bit of a miss there it's very strange. traders really pay attention to chicago and philly chicago pmi. philly business outlook. so it's very key to pay attention to interest rates, you know, we're never far from 290 the overnight news, of course, morning news, swiss national bank doesn't do anything with rates. >> that is not shocking the bank of england monetary policy committee didn't do anything with rates in the ends, they're looking to raise rates before they even dribble off any of the balance sheet. so there is a lot of competing strategies, none of which are obviously as good as the fed which is removing. removing, removing is the good

policy, joe, back to you >> thank you, rick yes. the removal. we got new guests here actually, and it's a hot button issue. i'm actually going to talk about it today in washington, sec chairman jay clayton will testify before the house financial services committee on crypto currency regulation, congressman warren davidson will be there he joins us first on "squawk box. what itself the bottom line here, congressman? what do you want to see happen what needs to happen >> well, good morning. i think the big thing is reneed a light touch regulatory framework for the marshall the sec started to weigh in. just last week bill hinman indicat indicated ether was a commodity etching looks like a security to a securities regulator we want to make sure the

occupation chemical markets stay strong and vibrant one of the ways is to provide regulatory certainty >> how would -- what does a light touch actually mean? under whose per view what would it look like? is it sketchy in terms of what the final product would look like >> yes, we still haven't put together the first draft we've worked with people across the industry, including regulators in terms of how should this take shape so it drives capital right now there is an arbitrage going on, essentially, companies are doing white papers, instead of security offerings, they're selling securities, that's led some to be incredibly concerned about fraud, we have to protect consumers. some are concerned about things that start a trading war as a currency in the bank secrecy act, know your customer

provisions that make sure we protect ourselves from a list of uses >> i mean, a part of the -- i don't know exactly how it's all going, no one does, obviously, whether it becomes a stable currency, whether it's always sort of a speculative investment or whatever it is, but there are certain benefits to the inregulated aspect of the whole arena, i just think that's what supporters are worried about, that you are sort of, you know, that's why it gets a light touch. you go too far, all the benefits of crypt jo currency, they're not there anymore. right? >> yeah, i think that's the big thing. everyone says crypto currencies, you see crypto security, crypto commodities. the swiss have put a frame in place frankly is driving capital flows there. so there is certainty. in the u.s. there is a concern we will have this desperate

patchwork of court rulings that doesn't provide a coherent whole. so we want to protect that mark, blockchain is truly transformative programs in the way the internet was in terms of how the distributive leger could applied to a broad range of technologies that's why you don't know when somebody does an initial coin offering whether they're watching this distbutor product that is going to be a security or if it works different like ether and bitcoin have essentially been commodities. >> are you concerned of any of the use for crypto currency, used on the black market for elicit things of very thing that makes it desirable which it's untrackable? >> i think there is a perception it's untrackable it's more trackable tan cash it's more opened than a new york. >> why didn't you ask for it why is it something seen as the currency of choice for people doing imliss it activity

>> i'm not sure it is the currency of choice it is definitely easy to transmit through time and space and it's distributed you don't need a central clearing who us to complete the transaction. the ledger provides ease of use that way if you look at how cases have been soft, there are ways to trace who is the beneficial owner once you exit the ledger then there is ways to incorporate what kind of traceability is in there bitcoin was launched in a way where it's more anonymous by design but should certain times of transactions be structured that way? >> yeah, i suppose one of the questions, at what point does the amount of crypto current syan issue become a systemic concern that this is going outside the what is invisible in currency markets of the currency and it's unpressed asset in other areas. >> right now the market is pretty small i think half a trillion dollars,

if you take all main stream currencies, bitcoin, itself, is almost half of that. the market is not enormous, certainly jamie dimon has been a bit dismissive of the currency aspect, broadly supportive of distributed ledger applications. so all the things that go out with a coin or token essentially aren't even trying to be currencies, they're a means of exchange and in some cases, it's a different way to raise capital. and so, but it does provide benefits over traditional securities offerings. >> okay. great. congressman, thank you we appreciate it if you hear anything really amazing, you know, call us back. we'll have you on and you can update us on what we will do andrew will be here, too he loves bitcoin >> thank you >> all right you are welcome. when we come back, at&t unveiling new details on what it plans to do with time warner's stable of content.

the details next. plus with rewill talk to analyst richard greenfield of btig "squawk box" will be right back.

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disney raising its bid for fox assets >> this is the opening salvo it's going higher. the question if it gets to a $45 hand him >> silver fox $71 billion. >> it's a bidding war, all out business war >> my guess is it goes over $50. >> it's been said comcast has a mouse envy this brings them to what an overall disney company looks like. now it's official, at&t unveiled its new skinny bundle tv

it will offer 30 live channels but no sports or local news channels maybe it coffers u offeoffers c. all of this follows the purchase of time warner in the day j dejour. >> a safe haven. >> coral prescription. >> disney upping the ante in the battle for fox asset topping comcast's bid the war is likely far from over. our next guest believes comcast will ultimately win the fight for fox. joining us now is rich greenfield, tech analyst btig i don't know we've updated you on that. last time you were on i think that you were giving the odds to comcast. are you still there, rich? because are you in a shrinking

group it seems like. >> look, i think this is far from over. i mean, ok, the isuleses a point where both sides will walk i don't think $38 where we are now is where this ends you know, i think the reality is comcast had to know when it made its $35 bid that disney was going to come back, either match, maybe exceed a little bit. i think $38 from disney is really just the next step in this process we always thought this would go into the mid-40s, disney wants to knock comcast out they may have to go to $50 this is going meaningfully higher this does not end here at all the key here is that there is no other asset like fox and sky this is really a unique asset and both companies believe it is quote/unquote a must win >> so the new wrinkle. you acknowledge that, that is, do we believe it in if there is a source that says disney is close to getting regulatory

approval do we believe it >> that was the story yesterday. that throws a wring him in this. which means comcast has to move even quicker, right? >> first of all, it's a little hard to believe, there is always the believe e belif, i fall bact time what went wrong in the at&t trial, cnn bad, fox news good. if you kind of flow that through, this may be anything sort of rupert murdock and fox want to get done they can get done it would certainly being shoingly unpress departmented fast time frame. the vote hasn't been voted on by shareholders it has been approved by the government which has been obsessed with at&t-time warner when you say a wrink him, i wouldn't saw it's a wrink hlewr. if we believe they spin off the regional sports networks the

only u.s. assets the government would care about, the only things we are talking about is nat geo and fx i think you can make the statement this could be pushed through quickly even on a comcast acquisition of fox this is really an overseas transaction. i think both deals are very approvalable on very short time frames this is really about global. this is not about the occupation so i think disney's comments, especially bob eiger's personal attack on comcast yesterday in terms of the regulatory risc does not have any basis in reality. >> i can tell you disney has its mignons out whispering about they got more money, they got, it's easier for them to go higher in terms of debt to ebitda everyone that comes on seems to be fed something by somebody that flies in the face of your side of things here.

is it easier for them to go to 50 can comcast go to 50 and not break the bank in. >> joe, first of all, mignons is your movie or a universal movie. i won't touch. that i did see that play on words. the reality is both have substantial capacity it's possible you can see comcast have a partner, financial or strategic in terms of taking off the rsns i think there is a number of scenarios to play out here in terms, could disney go further? look, disney had to pay 35% more and cut their buy back so this has come with meaningful pain for disney him yeah, could disney go a lot further? historically, they have been a disciplined company. they haven't levered up. they had to cut that in order to do this. so i don't know how much further they're willing to go. i'm sure they're willing to go higher how much higher?

i don't know i think comcast is willing to go, i would sense at least until the mid-40s. then we'll see disney wants to, if a quote up quote knockout blow is 50. we'll see who is willing to go there first. but i don't think rig latory will be the deciding factors here both deals look approvable >> i think that case should be made, if you are selling, i will sounds like a broken record, if you sell your house, if it's a there are more you tack it, wouldn't you >> who wouldn't want the higher price for what they're selling the story last week, joe, if we go back to what we were talking about on air last week, there was this whole conversation rupert wants stock, he doesn't want cash. that's out the winds right now that entire story. >> how is that out the woipdz, rich when diz incy offering - >> this is now a 50-50 deal the idea this is a full stock deal is what disney was offering originally that whole story, rupert prefers

heants to be a stockholder he doesn't want to pay taxes this is now a taxable transaction, everyone will get cash and some stock likely now you are in a much more even trade. ing into a decision by the murdochs and by the fox board it would seem to come down on the side that, yes, comcast would have to have a significant premium in the nominal price just because of the stock to cash mix and the balance sheet capacity of disney the fact that disney had an agreement first with fox and they opted for disney over fox once, now twice. i just think it's interesting that you have to essentially use that to handicap how this plays out. >> you do, although i would say the fox board almost without doubt would have chosen to shift their focus to comcast yesterday if disney hadn't rebid disney, basically, cut off that process by raising their price,

but i certainly assumed yesterday morning the fox board of directors would have said the comcast bid was likely to be superior because of the increase in price look, if ccast went to $43, $45 over the course of the next week or two, i think it would be very difficult for the fox board to say that $38 was superior to 45 the regulatory timeframe is slightly shorter and i don't think it's that much shorter and more importantly, that dollar value is so significant, i don't know how a shareholders wouldn't want to wait a few months for that much increase in value especially if comcast will do whatever they can to get regulatory approval and i don't think this is a regulatory risk deal to begin with disney owning one out of every two box office dollars seems much more risky from an industry standpoint than comcast making this acquisition >> rich, you're talking as if this bidding war is limitless, and that the existing

shareholders don't care about leverage and the ratings system don't care about leverage and i'm curious into why we're in a bidder takes all because the logic here that sky has made it more by comcast. why is it winner take all and why do you think the bidding war is limitless >> just to kind of put a financial rounding around the numbers, i haa half a turn of leverage raises it $1 billion. there is meaningful capacity for comcast without overwhelming the balance sheet to go further not to mention if there was a strategic or financial partner that could significantly change the economics and go further i don't think this can go forever. i just don't think $38 is where it ends and in terms of why it's winner take all. i think both companies need a look at the global look at this.

i don't think you can separate these two assets and everybody wants everything i don't think there's a slip the baby scenario. >> stay near your phone, rich. we'll see you again soon thanks >> thanks for having me, joe when we return, jim amcrer will join us live. will join us live. stick around

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get down to the new york stock exchange jim cramer joins us now. we're back we love it because we're media, jim, i understand that comcast versus disney, but are the dollars different? do you think disney dollars are prettier or better or something? >> highest bidder. too many index funds involved and the index funds will go for the one that's highest and murdoch will determine it. it's may the highest dollar win not the best man or woman. >> the highest dollar win and that could get interesting do you think eventually the spoils are divided or is it just too much >> no, not really. i just think that someone will win and someone will buy back the huge amount of stock and that's why both stocks is going up it's a pretty good situation for

both and the reason why people should own one or the other or both i work for comcast and someone's going to win someone's got to win >> all right, jim. thank you. we'll see you so a wlle ghbackonnde' b alerts -- wouldn't you like one from the market when it might be time to buy or sell? with fidelity's real-time analytics, you'll get clear, actionable alerts about potential investment opportunities in real time. fidelity. open an account today.

all right, welcome back, everybody. we want to thank elizabeth coraly for being our guest. >> thank you >> and mike, thank you >> folks, this does it for us today. we have one more day left in the week i thought it was friday when i came in, but no, it's only thursday so i will see you back here tomorrow. right now it's time for "squawk on the street. ♪ ♪ good thursday morning. we welcome to "squawk on the street" with david faber and jim cramer the philly fed comes in with the best in four years europe is red and in advance of opec's decision this week and our road map begins with stock futures pointing to a fixed open as they simmer the eighth straight loss and the nasdaq