Skip to main content

tv   Squawk Alley  CNBC  April 2, 2020 11:00am-12:01pm EDT

11:00 am
live from different locations this morning on a fascinating day for markets. futures were weak but we have added to gains as our joe kernen speaks to the president and the president tweets about a conversation he had with the crown prince of saudi arabia saying he expects them, after having talked to putten as well, of a production cut of oil between 10 to 15 million barrels of oil and jon fortt, that has resulted in almost i think got to be an unprecedented squeeze in crude which was up almost 40%. >> certainly has carl, as jim cramer has been talking about quite a bit, equities are responding to the oil markets. this morning it seems to me that a number of networking and broadband players including our parent comcast, verizon, some cloud players, are responding positively not sure exactly why that is, but on all things stocks, you can go to our senior market commentator mike santoli.
11:01 am
jerky market from the pre-market to now any trends you're picking up >> i wouldn't say trends that last too long. i think this kind of choppiness, a little bit of aftershock navigation is what we're trying to deal with right here. i do think it shows you what happens in these tightly compressed markets like oil when you have a hint of something oou, you know, going the other direction and you will get this exaggerated pop. we're in the zone in a less extreme way with equities too. right now today we've traded within yesterday's range so even though it seems like we've been popping all over the place, we've essentially sort of operated within the bands that we set yesterday i don't think yesterday's 4% decline necessarily did too much damage to the idea that perhaps we're in this bottoming process, maybe a week ago monday was okay for a short-term extreme low but today's rally doesn't change the
11:02 am
sto story either that it could go either way the conversation perhaps is going to turn a little bit more towards policy stuff again after we showed the jobless claims today and the question of do we -- does the market crave a little more of a cushion from congress, facebook we're not hearing a lot on that front and that might become a little more of a talker. >> yeah. mike, if i recall, it seems like months ago, i think it was only a week, week and a half ago, when the markets took a particularly big plunge, the s&p closed at around 2480 i believe and kind of bounced around since then given that in the past couple days we had the estimate of potential deaths in the u.s. which was a shock to many, we just had this big jobless claims number this morning. i see the s&p is just above 2500 does that speak to the kind of potential bottoming you're talking about? >> yeah. if we go to the extreme lows
11:03 am
below 2200 on an intraday basis and closed a little bit above there. that's the zone we're kind of tentatively saying is perhaps some kind of a floor on the upside, the market hasn't really demonstrated all that much except for a bounce so far. it's very much a day to day. i think that it's one of those deals where we look at the past instances an i'm going to reach into mba jargon and people say trust process and the process is you tank first, have awful performance, that would be that 35% straight line drop, and then you're not really good, but you're improving and trying to monitor progress and have ugly gains along the way. in theory you get better draft picks at a pretty good bargain as you try to reinvest and then maybe you win down the road. that's where we're looking at if we can follow that path. >> mike, i want to go back to
11:04 am
crude right now. the move we're seeing in brent, 30% increase today, maybe it doesn't feel like a lot after all the volatility we've seen over the past month in the crude market but in jenle from a historical perspective that is a huge move and then the impact it's having on energy equities as well. we have president trump poised to meet with oil executives tomorrow and in the meantime you have the beginnings of bankrupts, whiting, for example, saying it's going to declare bankruptcy yesterday and that seems to be rippling out into the credit market and causing angst there as well. how much, if we were to see some sort of deal, how much does that actually calm something like the credit market? >> i think you would have to see it build from here to really calm the credit markets. if you're looking at implied default rates in high yield debt it's extreme at this point and really that's not going to be rectified by, you know, crude oil trading in the mid 20s unless it did stay there for a
11:05 am
while. i think the bar is relatively high for reversing the process, but to sort of get to a point where you say, the energy stocks were just completely sold out and abandoned for months on end and oil itself was very much a heavy short and people saw no relief in terms of supply or demand at least on the supply side you can say it interis rupts that feedback loop -- interrupts that feedback loop for a little while for all the things that have beset this economy this is the one area where a phone call between leaders can have material and you might have seen it right there >> yeah. this is headline risk on steroids dou dow jones saying the kremlin denies putin spoke with the saudi crown prince we have seen oil back off. until we get these production cuts verified and on the books it's going to be hard to trust,
11:06 am
regardless of what the president or state media in saudi arabia say. >> although interestingly, the tell sometimes will be if the story is refuted and the market still trades higher, it was such an extreme point at least even the hint there could be some change the iin that equation is probable enough for today. >> mike, what are you looking for from here, whether it's today, whether it's throughout the rest of the week as far as how the market behaves whether it's volume, reaction to particular news to get a better sense of where we are? >> i think it's a matter of containing the selloffs. yesterday was, you know, down 4.5% day on almost every major index but it was slightly less intense than the week ago monday and then a couple rally days in a row, you want to see breath expand on the rallies. you want to have a couple of these days where 80, 90% of volume is to the upside and
11:07 am
volatility will continue in that context probably to drain away a little bit it seems like a little more of a trading range as opposed to just this pinball type action that says there's no conviction within the market on the buy and sell side so the market continually has to go vast distances to find willing buyers and sellers. that's the environment that essentially is hard to handicap until it settles down. >> mike, along those lines as we get the march jobs report tomorrow which is really being shrugged off given what we've seen in more real time in terms of unemployment claims, the 6.6 million reading on top of a record last week, but as we start to get more of this data, which so far has been back dated and has been in many cases while weaker has still been better than expected, what holds the most stock right now what matters, if any of it >> i have to say, the incoming numbers, they need to build up more in the coming weeks and months in order to get some kind
11:08 am
of a picture of this arc, this story line we're going to be able to tell in terms of whether we front loaded the impact evident in the claims numbers and then we are going to be monitoring the wear and tear on business activity and credit markets and all those things that are knock on effects and state budgets and this stuff i think the macro data, there's a high burden of proof for when that becomes relevant in an immediate basis. i think you have to have it accumulate for a while now >> mike, always great to see start the show with you. mike santoli. fema making efforts to coordinate medical supplies in the wake of the coronavirus. elon has more for us. >> president trump has been talking about a new white house initiative that's designed to get those critical medical supplies to the u.s. faster. it's called project air bridge and essentially fema is
11:09 am
chartering planes to get the gear from overseas to the u.s. in a matter of hours or even days this plane left shanghai yesterday. it arrived in columbus, ohio, at 6:00 a.m. this morning it's carrying 83 metric tuns of cargo that includes masks, hand sanitizer, the gloves. the federal government is not directly purchasing this equipment. it's shipping it fema told us the goal is for 50% of the product to go to high-risk counties that have been designated by the government and the other 50% to go into the private market now there is a lot of frustration amongst state and local officials over the process for getting the items in the private market and say it's a free for all while the federal process, they say, is opaque and confusing. it's not clear if all of that equipment that you see in ohio, will even stay in ohio if they will be getting any of it, even though the state has said it is face something critical shortages
11:10 am
on twitter president trump dismissed some of the complaints and wrote, massive amounts of medical supplies, even hospitals and medical centers, are being delivered directly to states and hospitals by the federal government some have appetites and are never satisfied. politics remember we are a backup guys, this is a sign that the president is trying to sort of shift the blame from the government to the states for the shortage of supplies, even though we know that everyone is scrambling to get their hands on what they need. >> yeah. elon, scrambling being the key word there i'm curious, because even though the air freight data, the traffic is down, we're getting reports that rates right now to transport some of these goods on airplanes, on aircraft are surging. any sense of who specifically is working with the government to move these supplies? is it your fedex and ups of the world or others as well? >> so we don't know exactly what
11:11 am
is being paid in order to move this critical medical gear we do know that the white house has convened a supply chain task force that met at the white house on sunday being led by jared kushner trying to coordinate some of these efforts. part of the frustration that we have had and also that the state and local leaders are having, it's really not clear who is getting this product at the end of the day, where it's goingp and how much anyone is getting we're trying to find out all those details. hopefully we'll have more visibility into this process that has been one of the central issues with the supply chain states aren't sure why they're getting what they're getting and why they're not getting the things they've asked for. >> elon, thank you especially during a crisis of this magnitude i don't think many people are looking at the federal government as a backstop they're an essential coordinator. don't miss ajit pai on the
11:12 am
latest efforts amid the virus ayitustbak st wh issues facing our world, what do you see? we see a billion more people breathing free. we see access to fresh food being the global norm, not the exception. we see homes staying cooler, without the planet getting warmer. at emerson, when issues become inspiration, focusing core strengths to create a better world isn't just a result, it's a responsibility. emerson. consider it solved. so it doesn't make a whole lot of financial sense for them to stay in this great big house. but, well, this is home. it's where they raised their three boys. could they downsize? sure. will they? not as long as thanksgiving is a holiday.
11:13 am
planning for the future is about more than just money. let equitable be your guide.
11:14 am
on a day when we have record jobless claims and multiple people who are working are trying to work from home, joining us to talk about cyber security risks for business, is ceo and shark tank investor robert good morning great to have you back.
11:15 am
>> good morning jon, morgan, carl, thanks for having me. >> i want to start with small business and the employment picture. many people know you from "shark tank" as an investor in small, start-up businesses. the weekly jobless claims are at 6.6 million, double last week's record number. we just last hour had dallas fed president robert kaplan on and he was talking about small business and questions about how tough it is for them going through this period, how hard it might be for them to recover what are you advising your invested companies to do when it comes to employees these days? do you think they're going to be able to hold on to them? are they going to have to let many go? >> yeah. you know, it's really tough. i saw that report. we've been advising our small businesses and i've been talking to a lot of small businesses every day and it's really painful. these numbers are of biblical
11:16 am
proportions. the key for every small business is you have to survive i think it's easy to say, don't let anybody go and do the right thing, but nobody really knows how long this is going to last our advice to small businesses make your own decision because you have to survive. if the business doesn't survive, there's nothing to come back to. a lot of our businesses they break into two camps people who saw it comingen and moved quickly and now people who are seeing the reality of these numbers and i think we're going to see more layoffs in april. >> wow does this in down to the importance of cash and having access to it, having it on hand? >> yeah. the first thing we said to all our businesses and the advice to the small businesses out there, is hoard cash. not physically in your house, but in your bank account take anything on your balance sheet that you can put into
11:17 am
liquid cash right now and do that then look at all your expenses and put them afteoff. that's awful every time you don't pay a bill that's another business that's affected but you know yesterday was represent day and i have to tell you my gut feel tells me very few people paid rent today and now we're going to start seeing the ripple effect of that. >> yeah. certainly a the lot of ripple effects. i'm curious, i want to get your take on the c.a.r.e.s. act and what that is going to mean for small businesses since tomorrow is date where they can begin to connect with their lenders and start to take on these loans, hopefully i guess potentially on a first come, first served basis to be able to weather the situation. is it going to be enough is it clear enough what companies are going to be able to do and the steps they have to take to be able to hook into this government assistance
11:18 am
>> first of all i think the government has done an amazing job with the c.a.r.e.s. act and i'm happy and optimistic with the amount of stimulus being put in i think we're going to need another stimulus act in about a month. here's the challenge everybody is going to file immediately. it's like the unemployment numbers. i saw a report you were doing, people can't get through on unemployment think about how many people are going to file for this right now. i think there's going to be a challenge in getting it out there, but it's coming again, you've got to sur vive t get that stimulus. if your business isn't around there's no point in getting the stimulus, but i think you got to apply right away and make sure that you can qualify for it. it's a great program >> yeah. we'll see what the execution is like it's going to be tough i mean we'll see how the servers
11:19 am
perform tomorrow i want to go back to your point about rent i'm looking at some is forecasts of mortgage delinquencies, you might see 10 to 12% this month how high do you think that number can get >> i think it's going to be quite a bit higher than that i have to tell you i think people that have a business and the general population are going down different tracks people that have a small business or medium-sized business or a large business in some cases, the reality of this situation is very stark for them and anything they can do to push off costs or expenses they're doing right now. i don't know if the delinquencies are going to be high it all depends on how long it goes for the next two to three months, a lot of people aren't going to pay their rent. a lot of people are going to push off those kind of bills it's going to be interesting to see what happens if the entire population goes
11:20 am
back at once, which i don't think is going to happen, but if parts of the population start going back, things are going to slowly return. the if extnext two months are go be brutal for mortgages, commercial paper and leases. here's the reality, what are the commercial landlords going to do they're not going to kick anybody out because it's not like anybody is looking for office space right now they have to take it then you've got so many more companies where their workforce is operating remotely right now and you've got to think some of that might become a more permanent structural change as well and what is that going to do for commercial real estate longer term which brings me to another question on another topic for you, there's a lot of focus on privacy right now on some of these different apps being used so heavily, zoom, for example, today, which has doubled its user numbers
11:21 am
rapidly. how do businesses an consumers and students and employees navigate those privacy issues and make sure that what they're doing on-line right now is secure and safe? >> yeah. this is the golden age for hackers and people like that i mean you couldn't have picked a more perfect time to hack somebody you know, we run a pretty large cyber security business and we're seeing alert volumes way up and we're seeing the amount of i.r., remediation work, people who have been breached, way up we've seen more work in the last three weeks in that area than in the last 16 years. the hackers are definitely out there. in terms of zoom, there's a lot of privacy settings in zoom. if you just go to settings and add passwords and encryption and a lot of people aren't doing that because they're just rushing to zoom. we encourage people to do that
11:22 am
the second part of that is phishing 85% of all malware still comes through phishing attacks and phishing preys on our ego, on our vanity and on our weaknesses people are looking for information right now, so we're seeing a lot of covid-19 update or how to apply for an sba loan update and all those kind of things we're encouraging people to be very, very careful of those. if you don't know the link, one of the easy ways to do is hover over the link when somebody sends you an e-mail if it doesn't appear the way it is in the e-mail, it could be a phishing attack. just be very careful the final point that we're seeing a lot of people that work for big companies are working from home with secure connections. they have a secure laptop or connection here's the challenge they go out to the bathroom or they go get breakfast and leave
11:23 am
their laptop open and their teenager comes along and starts opening another session. you've got to make sure every time you're on a secure connection you're not using it, make sure you log out and log back in. >> a lot of great information. we started off talking broadly about small business, got into some cyber security. i want to get a little micro with you talk to us about how you're managing your business right now, maybe some changes over the past week as we've gotten more clarity on the depth of this situation and some measures that you're prepared to take to make sure that as much as possible, your assets remain healthy >> yeah. you know, i have to tell you one of the things that's been really hard for us, we have 350 employees, and about three weeks ago, went through a pretty dark time because, you know, you always think i've spent a
11:24 am
lifetime building my business and my reputation and brand and the thought of it possibly all going away is really scary i don't care if you're a shark i don't care how much money you're worth or a small business people take a lot of pride in their small businesses nobody starts a small business just for a paycheck. they have their entire ego and who they are and everything tied into that. so it's been really hard and then, you know, you have to let some people go in our case we had to do some initial layoffs to non-essential services so that we could increase our services people it was about 8% of our staff and i got to tell you, it's brutal it's absolutely painfully brutal you feel guilty. you feel bad but i always like to think of it that we still have over 300 people that i feel incredible
11:25 am
responsibility to and we're seeing a bit of an uptick in our business now i'm optimistic, but i think the emotion for every small business owner is really difficult and what we're telling people is, the one thing you have to control is yourself. you cannot panic you cannot let somebody else make you feel guilty for the decisions you have to make for your own business. and nobody started a business to take the easy road this is a hard road and we're going to get through it but you have to make sure that you survive to see the light at the end of this tunnel. >> so many small business owners can relate to exactly what you're saying and we see the pain for workers reflected in this big number this morning thanks for sharing that and thanks for being with us >> thank you for the time being we are holding on to gains. s&p up about 36 points
11:26 am
not quite highs of the session take a look at f.a.a.n.g. as we go to break, "squawk alley" will be back in just a couple minutes. - did you know that americans that bought gold in 2005 quadrupled their money by 2012? and even now, many experts predict the next gold rush is just beginning. so call u.s. money reserve, the only precious metals organization, led by a former director of the united states mint. as one of the largest u.s. gold coin distributors in the country, u.s. money reserve has proudly served hundreds of thousands of clients world-wide. there may have never been a better time to start diversifying your assets with physical gold and silver. and right now, it's easy to get started. pick up the phone right now, call to receive the complete guide to protecting your hard earned assets. don't put it off another day. the call is free and you'll speak with one of the u.s. money reserve account specialists, who will get you your free information guide in the mail right away.
11:27 am
- i enjoy buying gold, gold has protected me. i feel comfortable. when i got involved with gold, it's something i could physically touch, and i could hold. no one can take it away from me. i have it and i have it secured. of all my years' involvement with buying gold, it's only gotten better, in my faith, in the company, the u.s. money reserve. that's the company i do business with and i don't see doing business with anyone else. they're trusted and they've always done right by me. - [announcer] if you've bought gold in the past, or would like to learn more about why physical gold should be an important part of your portfolio, pick up the phone, and call to receive the complete guide to buying gold, which will provide you important, never seen before facts, and information you should know about making gold, silver, and platinum purchases. - pick up the phone and call america's gold authority, u.s. money reserve. with nearly two decades in business, over a billion dollars in transactions, and more than a half a million clients world-wide,
11:28 am
u.s. money reserve is one of the most dependable gold distributors in america. coming up on 11:30 on the east coast let's get the european close with seema moody. >> stocks in europe losing a bit of steam into the close following two days days of losses here. at the top is british energy giant john wood group.
11:29 am
a notable group for energy producers following news that russia and saudi arabia could cut production and manufacturers and industrial operators of hershey equipment, cnh, industrial, among others are trading higher at this hour. goldman sachs still says there could be more pain ahead for european stocks, economists there estimating a 45% decline in profits for european companies in 2020 versus the 30% decline they're estimating here in the u.s even on valuation, goldman points out europe is trading around 12 times forward looking earnings, no the as low as europe traded during the sovereign debt crisis when stocks traded 7 to 8 times earnings something to take into ekts kayla tausc -- account as stocks close higher there. >> thank you. the latest on the coronavirus outbreak frank has those head lines back at hq. >> hi there, morgan. here's the latest. house speaker nancy pelosi announced the formation of a
11:30 am
bipartisan house select committee to oversight of the committee plan the committee charged with reviewing how $29 trillion is spent. nbc news is reporting a deal has been reached to let sick passengers off two cruise ships off the florida coast waiting to dock four people have died on the "zaandam" and nine others tested positive a 179 showing flu-like symptoms governor desantis said the sick passengers should not be dumped in his state. the top infectious disease person is warning the u.s. could see a death toll similar to italy's. >> italy got hit hard and it's clear we're getting hit very hard right now the epi center in the united states is new york city, but as you see it's not going to be confined to new york city we're going to be seeing this kind of thing in other large cities. >> for more coronavirus coverage head to cnbc.com back over to you >> thank you, frank. that is a heavy warning.
11:31 am
after the break we'll hear from fcc chairman ajit pai stay with us
11:32 am
11:33 am
the fcc is announcing it is enabling world broadband providers to waive fees and scheduling an april 23rd vote on boosting wi-fi speeds during the coronavirus crisis we're joined by the chair of the fcc ajit pai it's good to have you back welcome. >> good to be with you. >> i don't know whether you ever imagined we would see the kind of demand for bandwidth in this country we're seeing under your tenure, but what kinds of moves are necessary and possible and how would you gauge right now the ability of the bandwidth to handle the kinds of things we're doing right now? >> well, great questions a few weeks ago when we realized millions of americans were going to be transitioning back home working from home educating their kids at home and the like, we recognized and it was
11:34 am
critical for america's broadband providers to step up to the plate. i asked them to sign my keep americans connected pledge that includes three parts -- not cutting off service for any consumers who are unable to pay their bills due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic as well as for small businesses as well secondly, waiving late fees that may be incurred and third, opening up the wi-fi hot spots thus far over 650 broadband providers covering the vast majority of american consumers is taken the pledge. i'm proud to say those consumers remain connected to do the things they do with broadband. some have lifted data caps, increasing speeds without charge, low-income consumers specialized services and the like going beyond that we made sure we pull out the stops to ensure that broadband connectivity is going to be there. as you might know the president signed the c.a.r.e.s. act last friday and i put out a plan executing the $200 million telehealth authority congress gave us on monday and on tuesday the sec approved my plan
11:35 am
a major new telehealth initiative to help those health care providers and the patients in the countryside who might not be able to go to a brick and mortar facility to get the care they need. we're doing everything to make sure broadband is there in every facet of daily lives disrupted as they are. >> where would you say the strain is right now? is it urban or rural can you explain how easy it is to add capacity in areas where you are seeing the system get stretched? >> those are a lot of key points in fact, just yesterday i held a conference called with all of the nations major broadband providers as well as the trade associations representing all over 1,000 of those broadband providers and they told me the network capacity -- the new york usage has increased about 20 to 35% depending on the part of the country and the time of day. interestingly, a lot of the usage as you might expect has migrated from urban areas to some suburban and rural areas where people tend to reside.
11:36 am
network capacity has also scaled to meet that demand. overall the message i got from the broadband providers is that they architect their network to handle the peak expected traffic. thus far even though the usage has gone up the network has capacity to deal with that we're monitoring that carefully from the wired and wireless side to make sure that continues to be the case but thus far i'm proud to say that american broadband economy has been very, very strong which has been a linchpin as you know for many american families. >> yeah. that is good news. chairman, it's jon fortt good to see you again. >> good to see you too >> last week we had on commissioner jessica rosenworsl who had a suggestion, a national report on broadband performance, particularly during crises like these so the public can see in detail how broadband is performing and perhaps understand broadband better as an essential service for the economy during times like this
11:37 am
are you behind that idea >> well, we certainly want to know what state of the network is and why i've been in contact with the broadband providers they're the ones that own and operate the networks and have the most insight you can go right now to the websites of many of the trade associations, cable trade association, telephone companies, that have websites to monitor the network performance, the cable one includes a state by state analysis of how the networks are holding up. so is by and large i'm proud to say the broadband economy has been very, very strong and we're going to continue to monitor that going forward and in the meantime we're going to do as much as we can within our authority to increase the capacity of those, including by making a lot more wi-fi spectrum available which is critical for american consumers right now >> chairman pai, i'm glad you brought that up because given the fact that you are moving to make some changes in terms of that allocation of public air waves to increase wi-fi speeds right now, something -- a
11:38 am
proposal you're expected to vote on later this month, there's proponents of it and critics of it and i think it raises the question with all of the spectrum that is currently in play and that the fcc is analyzing, how do you determine who gets what? >> that's great question it's always a challenge because there's very little greenfield spectrum these days. everybody has a use of some part of the spectrum or the other in particular, this six gigahertz band i proposed to make available for wi-fi has been described as one of the biggest breakthroughs in wi-fi in a generation. the reason is, the consumers are increasingly relying on it right now i'm relying on wi-fi to do this interview and i'm sure many of you are as well, many viewers might be as well. by makings the spectrum available for wi-fi while protecting the incumbent users and broadcasters and the like we're able to have the best of both worlds. continue to enjoy wi-fi and
11:39 am
protect some of the uses our decisions at the fcc are driven not by politics or press releases but the physics i sat down with our engineers and went over the technical details to make sure we are doing the right thing. this in the public interest and we're confident we will have unanimous vote in a few weeks. >> chair pai, zoom has 200 million daus now, spacex has banded on security privacy concerns how much do you share those? >> we're always concerned about consumer privacy we work closely with the federal trade commission which has primary jurisdiction over privacy issues when it comes to the internet economy and i've been following the privacy issues that have been raised as consumers migrate to some of the on-line platforms. that's one of the things we want to make sure although the connectivity is great in terms of giving people a connection to the outside world, we want to make sure some of the personal information is protected the fcc has taken steps from everything from on-line platform usage to robocalls to make sure
11:40 am
the consumers are aware their personal information is important and going to be protected and we all have a stake in making sure that our privacy is maintained. >> chairman, you mentioned robocalls and that leads me to ask, complaints about fraud are those up, are there new wipes that you're seeing out there that public should be aware of >> unfortunately, the fraudsters follow the headlines like anybody else and we have seen a number of fraud-related robocalls, scam calls and texts. if you go to the fcc's website, physici fcc.gov/consumers you will find sample audio and text which robocallers have asked consumers for personal information and suggesting a fake testing kit can be sent to your home or cure if you hand over information we want consumers to protect themselves not answering the call if it's from a spoof phone number and personal information. i can't disclose what we're doing on the enforcement side
11:41 am
but the fcc is determined to be an aggressive cop on the beat at all times and especially during a pandemic when those who wish consumers ill would prey upon them when they're at their most vulnerable >> chairman, carl mentioned spacex in the process of building out a satellite constellation for broadband service. one of its biggest rivals, one web, a start-up backed by softbank, filed for bankruptcy a couple days ago. amid everything going on with coronavirus an the economic fallout right now, obviously a key priority for the fcc has been to close the digital divide and increase connectivity particularly in the hard to reach places like rural america. how concerned are you right now, given the circumstances, that some of these satellite efforts to boost connectivity are at risk >> that's a good question. one of the things that we've made it a hallmark of our administration the past few years is making sure we promote innovation in the broadband
11:42 am
ecosystem that includes space. spacex, one web, some of the other companies. this is a difficult time for a lot of these providers, especially the nascent ones. we're confident companies like spacex, still launching satellites and others, with will provide an alternative in some parts of the business where terrestrial deployment is too tough. we're going to be monitoring that to make sure we do what we can to make sure we relax regulations and the like and to encourage all these companies to continue to innovate it is a concern. on the terrestrial side it only underscores the importance of the fcc's efforts i've talked about for a long time in making sure that we push ahead with some of our rural broadband initiatives. a lot of voices in washington that want us to postpone the first phase of our rural digital opportunity fund the first phase is a $16 billion fund to get broadband, high-speed, high quality broadband to unserved parts of the country. i don't want to do that, especially when we've seen now that there are many parts of the country that really need that blood band connection to live their daily lives.
11:43 am
we're going to continue pushing head with bigger to make sure people have the connections they need to participate in the economy, despite some of the disruptions. >> mr. chairman, there's a lot on your plate andwe're lucky w went into this in some ways with this a priority for the administration our thanks to you. we'll talk to you soon, ajit pai. >> thanks to you and i hope you all stay safe. >> thank you and we are just getting the latest numbers on covid-19 from new york governor andrew cuomo those local numbers. here he is moments ago >> number of cases continues to increase we're up to 7917 the number of people tested again is the highest rate in the country, and per capita higher than china and south korea we tested 18,000 people, total tested 238,000 a lot of people, but remember, new york you're talking on base of 19 million, so number of
11:44 am
positive cases up to 86069 92,000 total in the state. predominantly in new york city, but you see westchester and nassau which by percentage is a troubling number remember, new york city so much larger than westchester and nassau or suffolk. those numbers are concerning and we're watching those you look to see in nassau county, 1,000 new cases. >> all right those are the latest confirmed case numbers out of hot spot new york from governor cuomo still to come, the u.s. army on a mission to combat the coronavirus. we'll speak with the secretary of the army ryan mary teccthafr this break stay with us
11:45 am
11:46 am
11:47 am
welcome back the s&p up 1.5% let's get to wilfred frost for news and updates regarding bank lending hey, wilf. >> i spoke to a senior executive at a major bank responsible for the paycheck protection program at their bank and the bottom line, it is, quote, beyond optimistic end quote that this will be ready by midnight tonight or any time on friday. this senior executive says while they can't speak for the other banks, been on lots of calls with them and gets the feeling the other banks are in a similar place and been giving feedback to the sba and treasury have been for the last couple days. not suggesting they're falling on deaf ears, simply the target was set before consulting the banks and an unrealistic targets. what happens if there's fraud. but i'm being told it's more simple than that they need the guidelines on what
11:48 am
needs -- what is needed from customers to extend a loan and they haven't got thatyet kate rogers, in fact, tweeted out that an official at the sba familiar with the project said that guidance had not been finalized yet. that's the problem and that's what we're waiting for and this executive at a major bank suggests we're too close to deadline now even if we get the guidance today it's highly optimistic they would be ready by midnight tonight. guys >> all right wilfred frost, thank you let's get to eamon javers for some details on white house efforts regarding the oil industry and supply. eamon? >> yeah, jon, we're expecting the oil ceo meeting at the white house tomorrow i've been talking with an oil industry source over the past little while who gives me an expectation of what the industry or the players in the industry will be asking for from the president and the main thing is, this issue of oil tariffs which some players in the industry
11:49 am
believe the president is inclined to do here even with this announcement in the past hour or so on a potential deal with the saudis and russians they're concerned about that so a number of the players in the meeting tomorrow are expected to argue to the president tariffs are a bad idea and they are going to argue for royalty and leasing relief for drilling on federal lands and storing excess reserves in the strategic petroleum reserve, something that d.o.e., department of energy, is coming now. also jones act waivers, that's the law that mandates that if you're shipping between u.s. ports you have to use american ships that drives up costs we can expect they might make a push for that one as well. last night, two of the big trade groups and the american petroleum industry sent a joint letter to the president making the case against tariffs here saying american families have benefitted mightily from american energy dominance in the form of plentiful oil supply and
11:50 am
affordability. taking steps to restrict that supply could jeopardize these gains. so some folks in the oil industry not liking the idea of tariffs. i'm told one of the
11:51 am
>> thankings for having me >> the army is really just to use your own words, is the tip of is sphere out line what that means especially when it comes to hospitals, vaccines and how quickly you can move >> we have three lines of operation. on the prevention we're working on diagnostic testing. we're on five different tracks 24 different candidates we're working with the private sector and other government agencies at various levels of maturity we have two field hospitals deployed in new york city from the 101st airborne division and two field hospitals that are deployed up in seattle,
11:52 am
washington we have,0 thousands of u.s. personnel involved >> for the military it's not just about protecting the country from this threat but the force itself that's not something that can be easily done with the most advanced weapons systems you'd see in traditional conflict or war. how are you keeping those personnel safe >> homeland defense strikes to the heart of the army's mission. we have i think over 10,000 deployed at present across multiple states. thousands more that are preparing at various stages to respond to this crisis our national guardsman come from our communities. they have been involved with first responding to distributing logistics so this is a core mission for the u.s. army and we have been prepared and we are responding accordingly
11:53 am
>> maybe you can give a sense to which you do prepare, you do train for a scenario like this >> one thing in particular there are many similarities of that like a hurricane where we respond in the various communities with providing medical support, logistical support and take a lot of that burden off of the state and localities these are similar missions we perform in the united states but as well as all over the world. >> mr. secretary, we're seeing pain in the aerospace sector boeing, the latest the announce voluntary layoffs. whether it's that company or one of its many commercial suppliers that have announced contingency plans in recent days we're talking about the same contractors that are crucial not
11:54 am
only to commercial aiviation, hw concerned are you about some of the issues we're seeing play out and how is the army working to mitigate the financial strain? >> obviously, very concerned we're in constant communication with our largest vendors. you mentioned boeing who makes several great products for us and served us well for decades we're in constant communication. there's opportunity with another potential funding bill that congress is in the midst of discussions. we have looked at ways to put some things on order faster to help with the cash flows of these companies. then as well as other authorities to use under the a public health emergency but these are mission essential. if you put the protocols in place they can still bend metal and make products during the midst of this crisis
11:55 am
>> mr. sdaecretary, just a quick question on the navy and the sailors in guam being quarantined. how much are protocols being shared between branches given that it's affecting so many of them >> secretary asper convenes updates of all the senior leaders of the services, the office of secretary defense as well as commanders we had a two hour meeting this morning. we did talk about the teddy roosevelt and others we're look at about protocols to put in place with additional testing capabilities so we create these safety bubbles and move personnel in larger groups to get them from point a to b safely >> we do have foes that are looking to take advantage of the
11:56 am
focus on coronavirus efforts yesterday alone, president trump warning iran against a potential sneak attack against troops and deploying military forces to combat drug cartels and the increased activity happening there. how is the army and the pentagon more broadly balancing response efforts, keeping personnel safe and then maintaining operational readiness in the midst of some of these threats >> over half of our brigade combat teams are at highest levels of readiness. we are ready to fight tonight. to anybody that challenges the united states of america we have over 191,000 people deployed worldwide in over 140 countrie countries. we have moved testing capabilities to iraq and haf afghanistan. we have made adjustments to put
11:57 am
a bubble around them and enshurp they can be ready to go just like you saw the 82nd airborne on new year's eve. times are challenging for us >> to the extent that you can, give us an update on the army supply of tests of protective equipment of ventilators which are surely to be essential equipment for this fight even as it comes to the troops itself. >> the army baseline, the total protective equipment that would be required to support our forces as well as be in a position to surge, if necessary for operations anywhere in the world. the operational plans that we have in place for contingency operations what the delta associated with that, we looked at a defense
11:58 am
wide pool to be able to support the domestic fight we have on hand >> finally, i just want to get your take on the contracting process that's happening now and what that means not only for the defense primes for but the small and medium businesses that compromise so much of the supplier base in general you continue to doll soumt of those awards you've seen some down selects in recent weeks will that continue to be the case that you'll continue to hand out these contracts and help these companies through this difficult process
11:59 am
>> absolutely. it's going to be critical to find a way to support those second and third tier suppliers. work with the states to find ways to get workers safely from their homes to work and continue to develop these capabilities and push them down those assembly lines because we need to continue to put new capabilities in our formation. the world is very complex and daejs right now. >> 2345uthank you for joining u cnbc u.s. army secretary ryan mccarthy >> thank you the markets close to session highs. dow is up 362. governor cuomo talking about 400 new deaths in new york over the past 24 hours. also saying that he does expect
12:00 pm
the apex, a range of how long it could take the state to reach the apex but anywhere from 7 to 30 days. he thinks it might be closer to the shorter end of that curve. 3m saying the demand for n-95 masks exceeds capacity for now we'll keep our eye on that let's get to the judge with the half thank you. it's good to have you back with us we do have a special guest joining us today for an exclusive interview. our investment economy is here too.

80 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on