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>> good monday morning welcome to "squawk alley." i'm jon fortt along with morgan brennan and contessa brewer live at post nine at the new york stock exchange carl is on assignment, as you probably heard this morning, in hanoi, vietnam he's going to be reporting live all day tomorrow on that country's recent manufacturing boom and its role in the u.s./china trade war a lot more do not miss our live coverage. again, all day tomorrow. and meantime, we begin with facebook, google, and your data. exactly how much is it worth that is the question senators mark warner and josh haolly are asking as they propose new legislation that would force big tech companies to put a price tag on user data and guys, this i find fascinating and very confli complicated. because one person's data, the way i understand it, is worth very little, but everybody's data is worth a lot. and i don't think it's as simple as just doing division like, you divide the total value

of the data by the number of people some people's data is worth a lot, but once you have so many people connected together, the sense of how to target is that much better. >> we should be clear. senator warner isn't suggesting that customers would get paid for their data >> well -- >> no, what he's saying is he wants to make it explicit and have the companies put an aggregate price tag on it. and the companies themselves are arguing, look, it's too -- to your point -- it's too complex, we can't do it it's not like that there's a -- it's more intangible, there's no a specific number. but in california, you have governor gavin newsom who says, he would support sort of this fee-based system, where california residents would get a payout in exchange for their data >> i think this is really fascinating. i think this idea of being able to sort of collect the data, try and monetize or i guess add a value to the data and then maybe report it to the s.e.c. or

regulators would potentially set the way to have further scrutiny or further regulatory action down the road. it almost seems like a first step to me but going back to your point, jon, very, very complex. because some of the parts, in many ways, it is more valuable than the individual. >> what i like about it is, it pushes aside this notion that the services are free. and that there's no value to participating in them. like, yeah, data is valuable but i worry about valuing data in the wrong way so people get this idea, oh, well, if facebook has a couple billion dollars worth of data, well, then, i want my share of that that might be harder to calculate. and so for more on exactly that, let's bring in our first guest this morning, kara swisher, who has written a column about this and other issues she wrote a column most recently last week about the comment from tim cook, talking about a chaos

factory. if you create one, you can't dodge responsibility for the chaos that results kara swisher is recode editor at large and a cnbc contributor and she joins us now from paris. paris, kara? >> paris, what do you want i just ran here from the art d triompfe what do you want >> so we're talking about this data value question. it's one thing to say that all of the data has value, but when you start slicing it down more narrowly, how much is your data worth more specifically? and does that mean you could be due a check? what do you think this means >> it's interesting, years ago, when aol was doing this, they were valuing each user at say, $50 or whatever it was i one time put my hand up and said, steve case, i would like my $25 or half of it, at least and it's really interesting to

question, what is the value of your data or how you bring it apart. the same thing you could do with television, what's the value of what you're watching, the free television you get and it's so dispersed and so large. and the data moves all over the place. so i think this bill is going to be very hard to get through and very hard to enforce it's a directional idea that this free is not free, which is something that mark zuckerberg from facebook and many others have tried to put out, that they're giving you all of these free services and therefore you should be thankful and don't worry about the data and i think this is the first move in that direction, to try to figure out what what you're wort and what your data's worth and how protected you should be. >> kara, i just wonder, i realize that this proposal is very specifically focused at the big tech companies that are collecting all of that data and finding ways to make money off of it right now. but every company that's worth its salt is in some form or fashion collecting, using, analyzing data does it become a slippery slope?

>> well, you know, they're setting it at a number the 100 million users, you know, they have a size issue they're not going to have smaller companies. or a retailer, when you walk into a safeway and you buy things, they know what you buy and keep track of that, especially if you have those loyalty cards. or a riteaid or anywhere else. so you can think about it very largely or you can think about it in a social media sense, which is much smaller, especially if you're just charting the big companies, and that would be facebook and google, primarily. and then some others, as you move down -- you know, as you move down the numbers. >> you know, i mentioned gavin newsom's support for what he calls a data dividend, actually paying customers for what they're giving up. i'm just curious whether you've encountered a sense among the tech companies that they should beat the regulation? why would you want the government to regulate you on this front if you could step in and assuage some of these concerns >> well, they haven't done that.

look, there's been hacking and misuse of data it's not clear what data you're giving up. you know, sometimes they put stuff together with third party data i think the problem is, they're not specifically selling your data, but they are selling insights into the data and so that gets even more complicated. it's not like they hand over your data to pg&e or something like that. that's not what's going on but it's something akin to that and it's not precisely that. so how do you value that again, you could say, well, television networks do the same thing. they use data about their audiences to sell advertising. so the question is, what they're -- i think, insight into what they're doing with your data is actually fantastic and it would be very interesting. the other question, of course, is, do people care do you want to know what they're doing with all of your data? many some of you do, but many people just click, let me have, and that's it. and they don't think about the trade they're making, typically, which is a bad trade, typically. >> and kara, there's another problem i see here, which is that like it or not, some people's data is worth more than

others and i've fooled with facebook's advertising system in a sense, people who live in certain zip codes, it costs more advertising wise to meet them. people who buy stuff on facebook people who have certain luxury cars people who fit in certain demographics, their data is worth more to advertisers. so then, are we putting a dollar value on people in the digital realm that's going to really have a new lens on inequality? >> well, it's not a glaring insight, they do that every day of the week in advertising so it's not like they -- like, for example, my data is worth much more than -- >> you can see more value up against somebody else's. >> yes, a hundred percent, a hundred percent. and a lot of people who can afford to opt out of these data models by paying or something else, that brings a whole another question a lot of people who can afford to will opt out of these data supermarkets, essentially. and then you're left with people that don't have a choice and

need to use theseservices for free and so it does create inequality and it does -- it's -- it brings in to relief what's already been happening, but it certainly does -- that issue is another issue to deal with and that's -- i don't think this is addressed in that bill at all that can i see >> yeah, fun times we'll see how this shakes out. kara, thank you for joining us from all the way across the pond and you can read her latest column in "the new york times" once again >> yes >> when we return, billionaire investor milwaukee bucks owner, and the founder of fortress, wes edens joins us on the other side of this break. and tomorrow, do not miss carl thrilive from hanoi, vietnm here's a sneak peek. >> if you were an american manufacturing facing tariffs, would you be moving jobs out of china and here to vietnam? the 95 million people who live here certainly hope so the only question is whether sissnam can handle that new bune live reports from vietnam all day tomorrow on cnbc johnson & johnson is a baby company.

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welcome back to "squawk alley. virgin trains usa, formerly known as brightline, breaking ground today in orlando, florida, marking phase ii of the only privately owned and operated intracity passenger rail service in the united states joining us now to discuss and a cnbc exclusive interview is virgin trains usa chairman wes edens. he's also co-founder and co-ceo of fortress investment group as well as co-owner of the milwaukee bucks. wes, congratulations on

groundbreaking today thanks for joining us. >> well, thank you so much it's really great to be here >> let's talk a little bit about virgin trains usa. you're breaking ground on this final leg for the florida rail i know that's integral to the bigger, broader business model taking shape for the railroad. that said, there already seem to be some critics out there that believe the company could suffer the same fate that we've seen for other passenger rails in the past, given how hard it's been to turn profits, historically, for passenger railroads. how would you respond to those critics out there and why do you believe, as you are breaking ground on orlando and also focusing on other railroads in the western part of the united states, why do you believe that this will be a different type of business model >> well, the city pairs model of too far to drive, too short to fly models around the world have been very successful so london/paris, you know,

madrid/seville, rome/milan, those are all very successful, very profitable lines and that's the model we are emulating here this is not a commuter line. commuter lines, they are difficult to make a profit on. these longer lines, you're competing against airlines, competing against a long and difficult journey by automobile and are proven to be very successful washington, d.c. to new york city has been a very successful service on acela so we don't have to look very far to find a business model that leads us to believe this is going to be very successful. >> so far, has ridership met your expectations? >> it has. we've had over a million people have ridden already. so we opened the line, as you know, down in south florida from miami to west palm beach a little over a year ago have averaged about 100,000 people each month that are riding it's a section of the line that we think is less desirable than, obviously, going all the way from orlando down to miami, but it's a very good segment, as well but the ridership has gone up

incrementally every quarter. it's been, you know, very successful in terms of sponsorship. so it's very much meeting our expectations so far. >> i want to get your thoughts on infrastructure spending obviously, it's no secret that there needs to be more projects, there needs to be more updates across the u.s. in many different areas. what do you think the private sector needs to see from government to spark more investment in bigger-scale projects right now >> i think the key from a private sector standpoint is access to financing. so the financing that we have here is tax-exempt financing, pabs financing from the federal government through the conduit here in florida. the same model that we're pursuing out in the west on our next line, which would be the los angeles-to-las vegas line. beginning access to the debt is the critical component of it there's lots and lots of kpechlt capital in the private sector, many billions, trillions of dollars, actually, that is interested and willing to invest in infrastructure projects getting the debt on the construction phase is the criminal aspect of it. that's what took us a long time

to get organized we're 100% financed here, which is why we're having this wonderful event here in just a few minutes. but if i was giving advice to anyone in government, i would say focusing on that is the way and the path to really stimul e stimulating other projects like this around the country. >> do you consider it at all competition from elon musk's the boring company after all, she's just landed this deal to do a first commercial project in las vegas for the convention and visitors authority. could that prove to be competitive for you? >> i haven't seen any of the numbers behind it, so i have no idea what it is. i think one of the big challenges in railroad development is getting a right of way so in theory, getting the right of way below earth would make it a little bit easier. it would need to be a cost effective both in terms of the cost of drilling that hole as well as the operations of it and never discount anything that elon says he can do. he's had a lot of success at tesla. i applaud that

but from our standpoint, the at grade development, using existing rail infrastructure or medians of highways, which we're doing on i-15 in the west, we think that's the most inexpensive, fastest development, and therefore the best solution for it but i haven't seen the math on the boring company, so i can't really respond >> wes, i want to shift gears in terms of infrastructure. lng, new fortress energy is your company, as well a lot of focus right now on the energy complex, thanks to geopolitics, trade talks but in terms of the lng export piece of the equation, there's been a lot of talk for years now that we're going to see an unleashing of these exports. it's going to change the global market place it's going to buoy gnat gnat ga prices we haven't necessarily seen it in a very meaningful way yet why dupg that o you think that ? >> it just takes time. the long-term for natural gas production, lng production in this company is incredibly positive and what we're seeing around the world. we've got terminals in jamaica and puerto rico, mexico, i'll be

in cabo san lucas tomorrow, angola, we signed a memorandum of understanding a couple of weeks ago, so the general conversion of oil-based power to gas-based power and renewables is such an obvious and long-term trend that i have no doubt that it's going to be incredibly successful over time it just takes time for these projects to get up and going i think it's merely a matter of if, not when -- but when, not if, it's going to happen but the lng production in this country is going to go up substantially in the next five years and i think demand around the world will go up even more so so i'm very, very positive on the prospects for this business. >> wes, for this orlando-to-miami route, how full are the trains going to have to be and how much are you going to have to carjaharge for the modeo work >> you know, it's -- we have to capture a very small percentage. there are hundreds of millions of trips that happen in whole or in part from miami to orlando and vice versa a capture rate of 3, 4, 5% of

the line is very, very full and very, very profitable. the overall cost of it, the way we've modeled it is a fraction of the cost per mile of the northeast corridor we use that as a signpost, as it were, of what we think is viable in this country. we prices, we expect anywhere to be half to two-thirds of what they are in the northeast corridor at that level, it's roughly a $100 ticket to go from orlando to miami we think that's highly achievable and profitable at that point >> i want to get your thoughts on e sports. you own a franchise, flag quest. how big is the growth opportunity there? where do you see the most on potential on what is really an emerging industry right now? >> yeah, it's a gigantic industry i mean, the numbers dish mean, 100 million people play "league of legends" every day. so especially outside the united states, but here, as well. it's a huge, huge part of the landscape and the way that people spend time on it. it has implications on the gaming side, it has implications on the infrastructure side, frankly, because they're such bigger users of electricity and

other infrastructure that's necessary to make those gaming things work. i feel like it is the top of the first ining in that business so we have a franchise, flag quest, that we got when they franchised them out a couple of years ago. i think that the business model for that is going to follow the model of other sports franchises so the bulk of your money eventually will come from media and from sponsorship we're already seeing, you know, the tailwinds that are happening kind of around the world but it's very, very early on but that i think e sports as an enterprise is alongside with soccer, because i'm a part owner of the premiere league team over there as well as the bucks here in this country. but basketball, soccer, e sports are the really -- those are the prime sports you're going to see develop around the world >> and i have so many more questions for you, but i know we've got to let you go in just a moment to get to this official groundbreaking so just one more you mentioned the bucks. a lot of focus on basketball right now, especially with free

agency bucks have really transformed under you in the last couple of years. i think fans want to know, what's the mood to get the bucks to the next level to become the best team in the east? >> if i knew that, i'd be a richer guy, right? so we're very focused. we've got the best players in the world. i'm headed to los angeles later tonight to the nba worlds and i'm home he'll be the mvp of the league he deserves to be. we've got an incredible core of young guys around him. and the reality is that with michael jordan, lebron james, kobe bryant, a lot of those guys didn't win championships when they were 24 years old just the passage of time and keeping this core together gives us a great chance to kprecompetn holding that larry o'brien trophy is what it's all about. so we're pretty excited about it >> wes edens, thanks for joining us today >> thanks, morgan. really appreciate it as we go to break, s&p

coming off its all-time high of 2019 leading tin dex even higher, you have electronic arts, tyson foods and western digital. don't go anywhere. we're back after a quick break al: hi everyone! al roker here. as a guy with his own catchphrase, i appreciate that after 75 years smokey's only said... smokey bear: only you can prevent wildfires. al: but, i'm filling in because there's a lot more to report! like when there are parched or windy conditions out there, you gotta be extra careful with things like burning yard waste. after all, wildfires can start anywhere, even in your neck of the woods. go to smokeybear.com to learn more about wildfire prevention.

the flexible class schedules d me tremendously. allowed me to go to work full time, run my catering business and be a mom and parent. when i reached this accomplishment, it was like, it's here, it's happening, it's now. we at southern new hampshire university are the ones who succeed. we are the ones who break through.

we want to highlight a big deal in casinos this morning el dorado resorts buying cesar's in a $17 billion cash and stock deal, that includes debt, which is sizable it creates the largest gaming company not only in the united states, but in the world 60 owned and operated managed casino resorts across 16 states. cesar's total rewards, by the way, which cesar's has always considered one of its most valuable assets, now when they combine that with el dorado, there will be $65 million people in the database. you want to talk about how incredibly valuable data is to casinos, i want really is. they say it may be the way to grow these revenues on the el dorado side one those players join the cesars total rewards.

let's talk about sports betting. because there are so many properties across the united states, it creates new opportunities there. and these two companies say they've already identified $500 million in cost synergies. they say it will be realized in year one one other note, one of the trends in casino gaming follows kind of this model of marriott and hilton, where they sell the property itself to a reit and then they operate the property well, vichi has agreed to buy properties in atlantic citi as well and create some revenue in that $1.8 billion. the one thing that caught my attention on the call this morning, sthey have spent all of this money and on the call this

morning, el dorado's management said, we're a domestic casino company, the opportunities would have to be stupendous for us to consider an international move all the other casino companies are aiming -- even hard rock hotels and resorts are aiming for a japan license. >> and they're keeping the headquarters in arena. >> this is causing a lot of consternation. the sources in mind have said, it was amateur hour getting to this they don't think a company that's used to running regional casinos with run a property like cesar's. for example, day don't even have a media relations person there's no communications team at el dorado they funneled all of the inquiries to their investors relations guy. so there's going to be a ramp up to a global casino brand like ceasars. european markets set to close shortly. seema mody joins with us a breakdown of the action. >> stocks trading lower following new data on business sentiment in germany, which

dipped lower in the month of june for the third consecutive month. meanwhile, daimler cutting its forecast, citing higher than expected costs related to its diesel vehicles. but as we trade near record highs here in the u.s., it's worth noting two of the develop three etfs are based in europe we're talking greece and russia rallying more than 25% since the start of the year. let's also pivot to turkey, which is seeing its currency gain ground after president erdogan suffered a huge defeat in istanbul. the vote has prompted hopes for economic and political change, a slowing economy, and soaring unemployment has weakened support for erdogan over the past year. turkey's country etf, one of the few trading down in 2019 but barring any health problem or a possible coup, steven cook of the counsel on foreign relations shows erdogan staying in power until the next presidential election in 2023. the prospect of u.s. sanctions on turkey following its purchase of a russian defense system has strained relations between the two countries.

it's worth noting, the u.s. stores 90 nuclear weapons at turkey's incirlik, air base and this has been a debate about creating other options for the united states. morgan, back to you. >> it certainly has, seema seema mody let's get over to bill griffeth now for a news update. >> good morning, morgan. here's what's happening at this hour mark esper is now taking over as acting secretary of defense. his predecessor, acting secretary patrick shanahan resigned last week amid reports of domestic family issues. president trump has said that he plans now to nominate esper to that position. and south korea says that president trump's going to visit that country this week to discuss ways to revive denuclearization talks with north korea. mr. trump will arrive in seoul on saturday for a two-day visit following the g-20 summit, the group of 20 summit in japan. and clashes have erupted in the west bank between israeli forces

and palestinians against the upcoming peace to prosperity wo workshop in bahrain. the plan calls for massive infrastructure projects and job creation for the palestinians. meanwhile, a destructive tornado rolled through northern indiana yesterday, leaving a path of destruction. it damaged buildings and downed trees and power lines. happyfully, though, there were no reports of injury i have lived through hurricanes and earthquakes, but never a tornado, and may that ever be the case you guys >> bill griffeth, thank you. may that never be the case, you are right. >> that's correct, yes tomorrow, with china tariffs looming, companies are racing to find a new place to produce their goods like vietnam carl reports live from hanoi on the country's manufacturing boom th iall y ats datomorrow do not miss it we're back in a moment woman: my reputation was trashed online.

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welcome back senator s mark warner and josh hawley introducing a bill that would require big tech to put a price on user data ylan mui has the story from washington ylan >> reporter: well, jon, this is a bipartisan effort. warner is a democrat, hawley is a republican their bill creates a crucial link between privacy and price they want tech companies to evaluate the data of all of the data they collect and disclose that number to their users

this would apply to companies with more than 100 million active monthly users and the s.e.c. would be in charge of determining the formulas that determine the value of the data. they would have to annual reports every year and allow users to delete their information. one user told axios last night that this is a step towards a bigger transformation. >> what clearly i don't think will end up being the long-term status quo case is that all of this personal information that is being sucked out of us oftentimes unknowingly, as we use our phones and devices on a regular basis, that that is not something that is entirely owned by the platform company. >> now, warner is not on the breakup bandwagon just yet, but his cosponsor, josh hawley certainly is in a statement, hawley called targeted ads creepy and said the bill will return control of data back to consumers. now, how far capitol hill is willing to go will depend in part on how silicon valley responds to bills like these

guys, back to you. >> all right, ylan, thank you. now for the stock impact of what that legislation might bring, we are joined by lgh investment advisers, larry haverty and eaton vance, portfolio manager. guys, good morning >> good morning. >> good morning, john. so, larry, if you're an investor, hypothetically, looking at this data line, as it might appear in the future, is that an asset? do you expect it to grow in value over time as revenues grow how would that work? >> well, you know, i think one of the things that has made these stocks terrific stocks over time, john, is that they've understood how the advertising works. that when you're general motors or apple and you advertise on facebook or google, you actually can calculate the return on

investment pretty clearly. and that, in my opinion, is the driving force of the stock and i don't think this is going to change that equation. i think this is what they call in kind words a beltway issue and this is the third lady of the presidential/electoral cycle. and everyone in washington is hellbent on keeping their jobs so in order to do that, they have to show that they're doing something. and this is their something. and as far as mischief can be construed, this is probably less mischievous than many things they could do. so i think it's onward and upward with these stocks the big risk is that you're looking like a real problem right now. and that could make the numbers a little less pleasant than the market might like. >> yes but lou, is it practical because some of this data isn't

just specifically, where do you live what kind of cars do you like, et cetera. it's how often you open facebook messenger and who exactly your friends are. where in the country they are, et cetera, et cetera is it even possible to qualify this in the ways that the senators want? >> yeah -- i don't think so, john >> that's for lou. that's for lou, larry. >> facebook with over 2.2 billion daily active users, it's very, very difficult to. it each user's value as you know, some users have more value than others, and that creates a real difficulty in implementing this type of legislation. but at the end of the day, i think people need to recognize that while facebook, google, amazon and the like generate value from their users, i think you need to spin it around a little bit and think about what the value that facebook, google, and amazon create for their customers. and i think to me, trying to

come to some sort of equilibrium in that realm may be makes a little bit more sense. but that is even more difficult to qualify, right? >> larry, if you actually say, i know we're talking about some of the proposals from lawmakers right now, but in general, regulatory risks here in the u.s., if you do see anti-trust probes move forward against amazon, apple, facebook, and/or alphabet, are there companies that are going to be the winners as those investigations unfold >> i doubt it very much. my -- any trust, morgan, understand it starts is a very slow, tedious process. and we're talking about since it hasn't started, three to five years to unwind. and in that period, probably, you could have three or four good investable cycles and anti-trust requires harm and it's very, very hard here to find out who has been harmed

other than some noisy special interests in the beltway that really don't reflect the public's use or utility for these products so i think this is a false issue. it gives us something to talk about, but it's not something that you want to change your investment decisions on. >> never underestimate the power of special interests in washington larry, lou, thank you. >> thank you well, still more on today's top tech movers, straight ahead. meantime, getting a check on where we stand across the major averages right now the dow is up 56 points. the s&p is up 2. it's above its record closing high, but still bew lothe ent intraday one struck last week. we're back in less than three.

i'm scott wapner here's a look at what's coming up on the "halftime report." with a final week of the first half, set up the markets for even bigger gains ahead. you've got the g-20, another fed meeting, earnings, all ahead and our investment committee will size it all up for you plus, two of our panelists invested in our call of the day. and our committee taking sides on nike ahead of its earnings, all coming up at noon on the half contessa, we're about 15 or so away and we'll see you in just a bit. >> waiting with bated breath thank you, scott still to come, beyond beat gets into ground beef. what does it mean for the stock and what's been the

top-performing ipo so far of 2019 is it really ground beef or is it ground beef-like substance? later, disney's dominance at the box office a big open for "toy story 4" this weekend we discuss after the break stay with us

all right. take a look at shares of beyond meat falling 8% this morning, 17% in the past week the company is debuting its

ground meat option this morning, ground meat-like substance aditi roy is in san francisco with the story hi, aditi. >> reporter: hi, contessa. meat in air quotes the share is in the red for the fifth straight trading session the company is launching its plant-based ground meat which you'll be able to find on store grocery shelves in the coming days it will be at safeways, albertson's, kroger, and more. a one-ounce package costs $10 while beyond's patties are about $12 per pound. introducing new products is one way the company is trying to stay ahead of its competition. it's investing in growth by spending on r&d marketing and expand supply. but that's resulting in widening net losses but the competition is fierce. nestle, tyson foods, perdue and impossible foods are all launching their own alternative meat products in grocery stores this year. shares of beyond meat fell last friday after tyson foods' ceo

told investors it's willing to hike up marketing spend to compete in the plant-based protein category keep in mind, for all the attention beyond meat is getting, last year, it made up only 2% of the growing u.s. alternative meat market according to euro monitor, but it is the only pure play company in the public markets in the space, which could account for the investor interest. beyond meat appears snioptimistc about its prospects. still, the company did say in its ipo filing that it may never sustain profitability and in fact has never been profitable investors, though, are still betting on beyond with shares up more than 450% since its ipo back to you guys >> aditi, thank you for the numbers. in the alternative meat world, the dominant players, impossible foods and beyond meat are battling for brand dominance and they're relying on a growing list of national partners to really drive sales joining us now is the ceo to have burger fyi, the first national burger chain to offer the beyond burger.

curriy w cory winograd, good to see you this morning why did you choose beyond meat over impossible foods? >> well, consumers are very conscious about what they are eating these days and plant-based or meatless burgers are becoming more and more popular. at burger fi, our brand philosophy is changing the way people are thinking about eating burgers. and when we were launched eight years ago, we decide to create menu offerings that no one else in the better burger space had and this was years before meatless or plant-based burgers came to market so we decided back then to make sure that we would have beef that would never, ever have any antibiotics, steroids, growth hormones, chemicals or additives. and that's been our philosophy

since day one. when we started to learn about meatless or plant-based burgers, we're hearing from research development personnel in our office and we tested and sampled many different products. ultimately, it came down to beyond meat and impossible and at the time beyond meat had g mor gmos and gluten in its product -- excuse me, impossible had those in its product beyond had 20 grams of protein, no gluten wit, no soy, and cholesterol free so for us -- >> you felt like it fit with your portfolio better. i'm just wondering if there's any new concerns in your mind now that people are questioning how healthy it really is considering the ingredient list, the chemicals that are in it it's highly processed.

>> well, we know that many consumers, burger lovers are becoming what are called flexitarians flexitarians are people who are moving to a plant-based diet in part, no in part, not always. and beyond is perfect for flexitarians some days of the week, burger lovers will come to burgerfi and have a beef burger or other days can have plant based >> you ruled out the beyond burger at burgerfi locations what has demand for the product looked like and has its cannibalized demand for other products in the store? >> no, it's been incremental revenues to us when we rolled it out back in

the summer of 2017, we weren't really sure whether it would cannibalize, but for years we had been asked by vegans who are, you know, burger lovers but oftentimes they were only able to have a vegetarian burger. and we do have a vegifi burger but it has cheese in it so it's not for vegans but the beyond burger is something that vegans love and we have a vegan build. we have a vegan bun. they have it here on a multi-grain bun with all the toppings lettuce, tomattomato, and other things >> yeah. so corey, i'm not on any kind of strin strict diet, but i only let

myself have a burger once, maybe twice a week you probably hear that from a lot of customers does this meatless, you know, plant-based thing change the game for you where it's like salads where you think people will let themselves eat at burgerfi every day >> yeah. and it's a combination of traditional burgers that have that antibiotic-free beef. that plant-based like the beyond burger we have hot dogs we're also looking at the beyond meat hot dog type product which is really incredibly tasty plus we've rolled out chicken and other products you know, burgerfi is every day of the week eating for those who are gourmet burger eaters. >> corey, i'm ravenous right now. i can't remember the last time i talked about food for such a long period of time.

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we are getting some news out of washington. kayla tausche has that

>> president trump in the oval office says he's signing an executive ord their will impose new sanctions on iran after iran downed that unmanned drone that was operated by the united states last week the president is making these comments to the press pool which he unexpectedly called into the oval office just moments ago he says these sanctions which he had been touting on twitter would focus on iran's supreme leader who would not be spared from this fresh round of sanctions. he says it's tied directly to the actions of last week he does say he would love to get a deal with iran but we will wait and see if we get more details on exactly what these sanctions are and when they would go into effect and who in addition to the supreme leader they would target >> all right kayla, thanks. meantime, speaking of the white house and geopolitics, rahal solomon has more

>> i'm at the fancy food show from the specialty food association. this is a conference they do every year the specialty food industry is a $150 billion food industry they're in the middle of the tariff war that's flown under the radar. flying is at the heart of the issue. the aerospace issue. the u.s. says it's at an unfair advantage. the u.s. trade representative robert lighthizer said if the eu doesn't stop with the subsidies, that the u.s. would impose tariffs on a list of specialty foods including imported cheese, olive oil, jams, jellies, meats which are behind me at this conference here. and at atlanta, it's a major food importer here in the u.s. they provided this sha cute ree board that shows the value of food it's quite a big difference. i spoke to the president of the company hen ae told me if the tariffs were imposed, it would

ripple across across the board take a listen. >> any fine cheese that you buy. you find imported cheese anywhere from whole foods, walmart, al ddi it runs the gamut. >> they're awaiting for the world trade organization to weigh in that could happen this summer. they're trying to get a resolution to this but the tariffs could be up to 100% of a product's price. obviously a big difference that's what everybody here is waiting for. a lot of people are worried especially the european companies. one woman i spoke to, one business owner i spoke to said they're down right terrified can they survive this, can they make this? and i think the biggest issue is people are just asking what does the food industry have to do

with the aerospace industry? it is a big concern for these companies. back to you. >> but rahel, isn't this -- you're talking about fancy foods. aren't these customers a little more immune to price hikes due to tariffs >> so that's what you would think, but these are brands that are sold at aldi which is a low cost grocer, i think a reasonable grocer. wegman's trader joe's. if you're buying something that's already 5 bucks that then becomes 70 bucks, it's not just the cost of the product but jobs as well. from the farms all the way through the supply line, there are a lot of people impacted by this they can absorb some of the cost, but not all of it. that's the problem, contessa >> all right thank you for that >> just american cheese on that burger if that happens. that would be a problem. >> i can't with all the jokes -- the cheese jokes right now it's like, i'm flanked

it's a cheese sandwich. >> well, we want to keep our eyes on the markets as well. the dow not doing too much it's up just 42 points s&p and nasdaq just about at the flat line. we'll see what happens with the major indices and stocks as the day continues. that'll do it for "squawk alley. we'll send it over to judge and the half >> thanks. i'm scott wapner the final week of the month. it is 12:00 noon, this is t"the halftime report. tech run the sector up 10% this month apple is up 14%. but there are other names that don't get a lot of attention analog devices, up 18% xerox soaring 15%. says joe terranova about key, sight, it's up 14.5% plus the dow closes in on record