too. steph, what do you have, then josh and then jon? >> the match group it's a spin from iac and the total addressable market, 600 million global online singles out there so there's market share to be had. >> josh and then jon. >> jpmorgan is going higher. >> coty, the stock has nearly tripled since the september low. >> good stuff. thank you, guys. "the exchange" starts right now. and thank you, my end from i'm tyler mathisen in today for kelly evans, and here is what we have for you on "the exchange. stimulus done. the vaccine being distributed, but the virus still dealing a blow to consumer confidence. stocks looking for direction today and we look ahead to what could be the next catalysts for the markets in 2021. plus, existing home sales drop for the first time in six months, but don't get too worried. what is the red hot housing

market showing a little crack or two? plus, apple wants to make cars, peloton's big purchase and lululemon wants namaste-powering overseas that's good. that's all coming up in "rapid fire." n ha maste, mr. pisani, as we start with the markets. >> i'm sitting here cross-legged on the floor, as always. let's take a look at the markets. a bit on the flat side we've got a couple of problems we were weak going into the european close around 11:30 eastern time we've recovered a little bit, but the two problems are very simple the covid winter is starting to weigh on sentiment overall and the new covid strain over in the uk, can't figure out whether it's a macro risk to the market or not is the new virus more resistant to the vaccines? we don't know though the market seems to feel that is not the case so let's just take a look here the dow laggards that we've seen heroic the cyclical stocks that are largely tied to that reopening story here so we've

seen some weakness, flatness in industrials and energy stocks like chevron, even jpmorgan, the banks after a great run yesterday on the news on friday all weaker today again, these are cyclicals, want to go to the covid winter story. car max had good numbers, comparable use store sales down 0.8%, demand softening in the latter part of the quarter, those are covid concerns about demand overall here, so i want to keep an eye on these kinds of stories here meantime, mega cap stocks, well, they are split apple, of course, is at a four-month high and microsoft holding up the rest and am zorn flat for month google at a downtrend and facebook at a two-month low. not moving in tandem on mega cap. finally, what do they like the thematic tech etfs, young investors that buy these things like crazy

clean energy etfs. ipos at an historic high online retailers, internet stocks, solar stocks every single day, guys, i see new religious creations for these stocks and people coming in and buying them and having to bite underlining stocks and that's how you can tell. it's like a popularity contest when you're watching the fun flows and, boy, they love the thematic-tech etfs this year >> thank you very much. with the rollout of the covid-19 vaccine and way and congress passing another stimulus package what will be the key drivers joining us now is the managing director and private wealth adviser at ubs and ernesto ramos head o equities at bmo global asset management welcome to both of you angela, let me start with you and pick up on something that bob just mentioned and that's the push into what broadly could be said sustainable investing, whether it's emerging energy trends or other forms of

sustainability, renewable energy, smart mobility do you see that as a 2021 winner >> absolutely, tyler i see it as a short-term 2021 winner, and i see it as as long-term winner ultimately you have governments, corporations globally that are committed to carbon neutrality which means they have to bring the greenhouse gas emissions down to levels that they have committed to at the paris agreement. if you think of who are the biggest emitters, it's power generator, power transmission and whether or not you believe in climate change you're going to look at trillions of dollars of investment. you'll look at subsidies and look at regulation that on the positive side provides a great tailwind for sustainable investments. on the risk side for those companies that will have to re-look at their balance sheets and their business plan that could be a little bit challenging and we love the space, renewable energy and smart mobile we think these are fantastic

trends to invest in both in the short term and long term. >> before we move on to ernesto, i assume from what i sense this is not nearly a biden play this is a global thrust in this direction. >> absolutely. just last week you had 70 global leaders come together to say the commitments that we made towards an average global warming temperature level of 1.5 to 2 degrees celsius is not enough. we need to up the ante we need to ramp it up, and so if we just look at something like renewable energy, right now 8% of global electric production comes from wind and solar. by 2040 we anticipate 40% to 45% to come from wind and solar. same goes to looking at batteries and electric cars. 4% of newly sold cars are electric today that's going to ramp up also to about 40%, 45%, going from a $6 billion market to a $1 trillion market the opportunity again, whether or not, you believe in climate

change or like esg or sustainable investments ultimately there is going to be incredible tailwind that is supportive of these investments. >> ernesto, as we look at 20 20i think the story of the year, equity-wise, has largely been growth over value and big over small. the valuations of growth stocks versus value stocks are -- that gone is really as wide maybe as it's ever been do i see 2021 as the year that that compresses some or that value and small begin to close the gap on big and grow? >> i think that that should compress, and that means that the wad bad evolution gap between small and value which as a group and largely growth will start to narrow, and there's a lot of catalysts, but very simple police put there's going to be a very strong economic rebound in the u.s. economy we anticipate in 2021 as the vaccinations grow in terms of

having been given to more and more people as well as pent-up demand for -- for consumption is unleashed, so we're very excited about the prospects for earnings growth which at the end of the day is what will drive stock prices in the year 2021 from where we sit. >> at the end of the day, earnings always do, don't they i mean, really when you look at, it it's earnings plus -- plus dividends, plus some speculative value in there that determines the price of a stock so let me ask you, ernesto, with the growth stock valuations where they are, whether they are stretched or not they are high. you can make a case that they are not stretched relative to interest rates i suppose, but will 2021 be kind of a show me year where those companies that have high valuations, if they miss on earnings, they are going to have the -- they are going to hit a banana peeshlgs aren't they >> well, that's -- that's been the case for a long time now

these stocks, a lot of these stocks are priced for perfection. >> right. >> and there's no room for error. we see the opportunity in the cyclical stocks, even though today is not a good day for them, and it hasn't been for a number of years, but as the rebound starts taking place in the actual economy, perhaps with the second stimulus package, but certainly in the general rebounding and expecting interest rates to go higher as more and more supply to the market, we will see a rebound in the more cyclical areas of the market, in particular in the value areas of the market and stocks like morgan stanley, walmart, well, walmart is very defensive but atco might also do well in this type of environment. >> i saw angela sort of nodding her head in agreement. thank you both very much have a great holiday season. >> thank you. consumer confidence falling for the second straight month in

congress as congress passes through a $900 billion covid relief bill. the package includes $600 in stimulus checks, additional unemployment benefits, ppp loans and funding for vaccines here he's what it doesn't include, liability protection for businesses it is a major concern of our next guest, the consumer confidence number. they produce the head of the conference board, the president and ceo and a cnbc contributor steve, great to see you. haven't seen you in a while. >> hi, tyler, good to see you. >> likewise, it's really good. you know, when i see surveys like this come out and there's a little dip here, i've got a question i have to ask when was the survey done because that can often color the result. >> right it was done about ten days ago so this is post-election but pre-covid, you know, the vaccine news that is two-month decline here, and if you look at the components of the consumer confidence index there's what's called the present situation analysis and the future

expectations the future expectations meaning the next six months actually went up. >> right. >> last month so it's all about right now, and the concern is jobs, and if you look at it state by state you see the numbers go down significantly in the states that have gone done into lockdown, california, new york, pennsylvania, so those areas where businesses have been shut back down, restaurants, you know, are closed down again, you see worries about jobs and so this has come down so the question here is how is this going to impact the holiday spending season? you know, i'm a little less bullish than -- than other sources that on retail sales for this -- for this month i think, you know, if you look at what's happened in november, it's come down, you know, october was up a little bit, early sales, but i'm worried about the holiday season here. i'm worried about jobs, and i think our consumers around the country are as well. >> and i think you've really nailed it there. i think it's directly tied to the idea that businesses have shut back down

there is concern in the community broadly about the virus and people are staying home and hunkering down a little bit because i think they are worried as this virus has spiked, but as you point out, the future predictions are pretty doggone -- pretty doggone good. >> i think the stimulus deal helps. >> sure. >> you talked about that, and, you know, the bill gives something to everybody we've got a little bit of help for the airlines to keep them going for a couple more months you've got direct stimulus payment. you've got extended unemployment which helps. you've got more ppp loans, especially to the smallest of businesses, and an interesting twist on it is that they are going to give interest -- you can apply for forgiveness up front if you've got a loan for $1500 less but with the big problem here is that, you know, we -- all the policy-makers are for small businesses which are the job-makers, but there's no liability protection in here, and you can say, well, why is it important? well, they are quoted as saying, you know, aren't these

businesses bad look, these food producers who are the in the meat plants early on had employees getting sick and it's terrible. they didn't do a good enough job and we ought to put them in prison and be able to sue them this is what is scaring the daylights out of small businesses because they can't afford these settlements they can't afford the trial attorneys coming after them if their employees get sick, so you're seeing bankruptcies skyrocket. you're seeing 20% to 25% of restaurants go out and probably will never come back. >> let me just interrupt you for a second as we're running a little tight on time i understand the threat here, that -- that businesses are worried about getting sued either by customers or by employees or vendors who say you didn't do a good enough job protecting me, and i -- you're completely right i think there are a lot of small businesses that have gone out of business do you have data that tie the one to the other, in other words, that those small businesses that have gone out of business say we went out of business because we are either afraid of lawsuits or we have

been sued and cannot sustain the settlements? >> up to this point the data shows that they are running out of cash, but when you talk to them about the future which is what we're concerned about here, they are saying that they don't know what would happen if they got sued because they don't have the resources to deal with it. large companies can deal with the settlement small companies cannot, and this will kill jobs going forward, and that's why it's important to have this coverage in some fashion. you know, forgot about gross negligence, you know, if people are grossly negligent, fine. >> right. >> there has to be a safe harbor, cdc rules, whatever it is, there's got to be a safe harbor in which small business kez operate. >> steve, thank you very much. happy holidays to you. >> and to you. >> stood odlin with the conference board and cnbc contributor. coming up, existing home sales dropping for the first time in six months is that a winter slowdown or a sign that the housing market could be cooling off plus, a cnbc investigation you will not want to miss.

>> he said i'll be fine and i said omar i think this is a matter of life or death and he said i'll be good. >> and as covid-19 started to spread, the trump administration added hundreds of screeners at u.s. airports yet they called it quits months after discovering it wasn't working at all dozens of screeners themselves got sick with the virus. some died. that story ahead this year, we learned anything's possible. even fast delivery on the perfect last minute gift from your walmart store. really fast. really perfect. let's end the year nailing it. ♪

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welcome back, everybody. we've got a news alert on ipos at the new york stock exchange and leslie picker has the details. hi, legs lslie. >> a big problem in direct lessings, specifically the s.e.c. approving had a new york stock exchange request to allow companies to raise primary capital while doing direct listings and also having that primary capital not be underwritten by a set of banks this is noteworthy because weave seen a slew of prominent direct listings, namely spotify, slack, asana, palantir that have gone public over the last few years none of them have been actually able to issue shares and raise capital as a result of doing so. this rule change will allow

companies to pursue this method of going public which is seen as a much more efficient mechanism for price discovery while also raising cash that they can then use to fund investment in their business quickly after this was announced bill gurley who has been a big champion of direct listings tweeting that this is a wonderful 2020 christmas present to the founders, employees and investors at vc-backed startups because the s.e.c. approved for them to add capital for a direct listing this rule did receive some complaint from the council of institutional investors. they petitioned against this rule change saying that it does not offer investors the same kind of legal protections that they have in traditional ipos, so definitely a development to keep watching in 2020 as we've seen a huge group of ipos in the pipeline that could now choose this method if they want to raise primary capital by going public as well as use this method for price discovery while not using an underwriter to do

so tyler? >> leslie, thank you very much leslie picker. >> sales of existing homes fell from october to november the first time that's happened in six months while at the same time housing inventory dropped to the lowest level on record. with the read on real estate let's bring in diana olick hi, di. >> hi, ty. this incredibly hot housing had market just continues to break records but not all of them good ones sales did pull back ever so slightly for the month that hasn't happened since may but sales were still up 26% from november of last year so i wouldn't read too much into the monthly drop the headline is supply there's just none of it. down 22% from a year ago to a 2.3-month supply, lowest on record and the lowest account for homes for sale the median price 15% higher than a year ago a lot of this is a mixed shift because there are far more sales on the high end than on the low end. sales of homes priced between

750,000 and 1 million are up 88% year over year and sales of million dollar plus homes up 85%. below 250,000, sales are flat to much lower, so what does december hold? well, not the usual winter freeze for sure. realtors say their lock box indicators, the little thing on the door to let buyers in, shows a lot of foot traffic. >> a hot market stays that way despite the dip in november. after the first month drop since the summer is, could this housing market be headed for something a little cooler than that my next guest says not likely. let's bring in ryan gorman, president and ceo of coldwell banker ripe, welcome. good to have you with us i mean, i've got to agree with diana there and most people. the 2.5% drop in november looks like a little blip, maybe it's a blip down but overall sales this year up 22% or 25% from this

time a year ago. what kind of year have you all had at coldwell banker compared with last year >> certainly been a remarkable year, and i think that strength that you referred to continues i wouldn't read anything into this other than a little bit of the seasonal decline, still the year-over-year numbers which i encourage you to pay attention to year-over-year numbers, incredible strength and i would say that strength is really more universal than i've ever seen it across gearingfies and price points and real across product types with single families and attached town homes leading the with a i. >> diana pointed to affluent buyers and sellers, growth there. huge, above million dollar, huge is that what you've seen in your business >> certainly luxury properties as well as i would say kind mid-point properties, a little higher than the average sales price. for coldwell banker we sell more than million dollar homes so we're certainly exposed to that trend. we're seeing a big lean into that, seeing people accelerate life plans and seek more indoor

and outdoor space and increased likelihood that they are going to explore those and weather climates a little more favorable to them but the higher end but as well the mid-end. >> give me a ballpark number here if you were to compare total transactions that came through your system in 2020 compared with 2019 what have you seen >> well, be a little careful we haven't disclosed this quarter's numbers but the nar numbers do tell the story and that's what i'm seeing in mlses around the country there's more consistent strength than what i've seen before and a continuation of that mostly of what we've seen throughout the year which nar supports is we've made up for that incredible slowdown in april and may. >> right. >> and if the trend continues we'll more than make up for that with the national numbers. >> is the 2021 market going to be dependent on two things, one, the continued low rate of mortgage loans, interest rates, number one and, number two, this

trend of people away maybe from inner city urban areas and out to the suburbs or to tax havens or warmer climates >> i think '21 will depend mostly on a continuation of the life changes so some of what you mentioned is definitely true low rates support this market but nobody moves three states away because of a great rate on a 30-year fixed rate it's really people seeking more space and as well as a continuation of those trends and based on the open transactions and nar sites it appears the momentum continues. >> ryan, thanks very much. have a good holiday. >> thank you you as well. >> appreciate it. coming up winners in a losing sector. a look at the stocks in utilities that outperform this year, plus the nba getting ready for another season my son could not be more excited about it this is going to be very different. there will not be a bubble it's not all taking place in orlando. this will be road games and travel we look at how the nba plans to navigate those challenges amid

covid. "the exchange" returns in two minutes. different. some things are good to know. like where to find the cheapest gas in town and which supermarket gives you the most bang for your buck. something else that's good to know? if you have medicare and medicaid you may be able to get more healthcare benefits through a humana medicare advantage plan. call the number on your screen now and speak to a licensed humana sales agent to see if you qualify. learn about plans that could give you more healthcare

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career-to-date basis but with the utility sector not the worst, not nearly as bad as energy still though down 6% on a year-to-date basis as a lot of folks focus on growth stocks as opposed to the value dividend-oriented ones out there. as for what's driving the underperformance within the utility sector these are many so of the names with the biggest losses. you take a look at these ones. here's how you're saying first energy down 30% and ppl down 25% and con edison down 27% and center point energy down 22% as well there's four stocks in the sector that have been positive year to date and are holding things up, not the least of which is the top of the less, nextera energy up 22%. i focus there because it's by far and away the biggest component of the overall sector, worth 17% of the utility sector there. american water up 28% and aes up 20% and excell energy up 3% as well also carries with it a 2.7%

dividend so some dividend looking for that kind of trade as well. as you look towards utilities, tyler, are the dividend payments are key but an underperforming sector for sure. that's the sectornomics for this month. >> thank you, professor chu. and now from sue from chu to sue for a cnbc news update hey, sue. >> hey, ty good to see you. here's what is happening at this hour california's governor gavin news come has appointed alex padilla to serve of the remainder of kamala harris' term. for the fifth year in a row americans' life expectancy edged up to 78 president 8 years however, the number of deaths hit a new record and 2020 is expected to set another high with more than 3 million deaths driven, of course, by the coronavirus pandemic. in southern england, there are now nearly 3,000 trucks waiting to cross the english

channel. more than 2,200 are parked at an airport. sky news reports a deal to reopen the border could come a bit later today. and if you think alligators and sewers are just urban legends, take a look at that guy. that is a six-foot gator stuck in a storm drain in venice, florida. it took four deputies to lift a concrete slab and let that little guy, she said tongue in cheek, escape to a nearby lake >> yeah. thinking of moving to florida? >> think again >> think again >> all right thanks very much, sue. >> you've got it, ty. apple could be planning to hit the road quite literally and peloton's manufacturing move pushes it to new highs and cruise line working to stay financially afloat "ridirahd nd more eain ap fe.

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hi welcome back, everybody. let's catch you up on a few stories that should be on your radar. it's time for rapid fire, and here to break down the headlines is josh lipton, seema mode he

and dom chu. great to see all of you. the news that has techies and robinhoods all aflutter. apple is accelerating a car programming capped tech giant. they have their eyes on a 2024 release to produce a passenger vehicle that could provide breakthrough battery technology. the report has apple shares up more than 3%, giving a lift to some of the stocks that make self-driving technology. tesla, a lackluster first day in the s&p yesterday. that stock is down by about 4% today. josh, i guess you have to look at this and say this could be a rival to tesla it's no surprise i mean, if apple comes in with all its cash and capital it would chill just about anybody >> yeah, that's a great point. listen, i think if you're a company you never want to hear apple is moving into your market, not with that balance sheet, those deep pockets and

design and tech shops. again though, ty, we've been discussing these reported attempts by apple to move into this market for it's got to be five or six years at this point, so if you are a tesla investors it's not as though that headline caught you off guard you knew that was a potential ring you mentioned there, tyler, that report says by 2024 they would like to have a car on the road >> i don't believe it. >> that seems very ambitious that would be -- think about the effort that it would take just in terms of building out your supply chain, ramping up your production, and four years is a long time. i mean, tesla is going to be around by that point you have to assume it's going to be bigger and more entrenched maybe elon is doing more than a million cars a year. it's tough to look at that and think that that's somehow a tesla knockout punch. >> you would think of the regulatory things and safety concerns that apple would have to go through to get approval to start to market, let alone the idea that they don't have any automobile manufacturing

capability that i know of. maybe they go out and buy somebody they does or partner with a toyota or a mazda or somebody, and -- and so, seema, would you ride in an autonomous car? >> listen, if apple can bring the design, the sexy design of its products to the car, then i think it could certainly, you know, really give tesla a run for its money. i think, you know, we've seen tim cook, he's dominated the living room can, that extend to the garage to josh's point, what does that look like? is it actually an apple-branded car or through the idea of software and licensing it's technology >> dom, what do you think of these autonomous vehicles? you like what do you think? >> i would not be a first mover with regard to going into one of those things i'm one of those folks who waits for, you know, a few months to pass before buying an iphone let alone putting myself and my family in a car like that. >> i'll let lebeau do it.

>> i would be more comfortable in one of those vehicles if it wasn't apple that was building it if they went through seema and josh's point the design and technology behind it and partnered with somebody else to actually make the vehicle. that could be a big step we're all speculating at this point. >> we're all speculating, who knows, hand they have proved me and many others wrong, has apple, many times before let's move on to peloton yo. can't talk enough about peloton, flexing its muscle, looking to buy the exercise company pre-cor, i think it was a stepper i had in my basement for years, unused but a good project. news of the deal which should close earlier powering peloton to an all-time high and key bank raised its price target on peloton to a street high on the pre-core acquisition saying the manufacturing capacity should help alleviate the biggest impediment to growth here's another one where a partnership looks like the smart way to go for peloton. would you agree, dom

>> here's what i would say i think there's a lot of positivity because this could be viewed as a vertical integration and horizontal integration as well vertical in that they are shoring up their supply chain and manufacturing capabilities like many analyst notes are pointing out right now they have the capacity with the manufacturing at precore to turn out more product and it's horizontal because precore is like a competitor. >> sure. >> they make equipment that goes into the physical gyms you have a high-end one having one in your home a lot of people don't have the precore machines at home they are very much found in the mid to higher end gym facilities so with peloton you're talking about a company that has the capital both from a figurative and literal standpoint to make this kind of an acquisition. the positivity here is just because they have got a consolidation play here that kind of takes on a competitor and one of their comply chains as well. >> regulatory worries to dom's point that this could be seen as a horizontal acquisition, that they are taking out a competitor >> it doesn't look to me like you would have some type of

regulatory challenge there i think what is potentially interesting there, tyler, we were just talking about apple whereas who is peloton competing again? they will head to apple. apple just launched its own fitness service and our own crack tech review. todd hazelton said it's all sweaty and happy listen, we have to do whatever we can to strengthen and build out our own ecosystem here when you're watching those kind of chess moves. >> i have a pelt crop, use it a lot. it's been really the only in-house device that i've ever stuck with i hope those instructors who have been there a long time. i hope they got some stock i hope they got some stock they ought to. finally 2020 was the year of loungewear and athleisure, sweatpants, yoga pant, tops. shares of lululemon up more than 10% from its 52-week low hand now the company has its eyes on global growth. according to "the financial time "lulu trying to harness the worldwide yogawear boom to more than triple its overseas

revenue. last quarter the company generated 14% of its revenues from other countries the lieuu ceo calvin mcdonald saying to "the ft" there's into reap why that can't be 50/50 in years to come. i don't see why it captain seema. >> athleisure, baakye, not just a u.s. phenomenon and anecdotically speaking, having zoom calls with folks in london and dubai, work plows on top and athleisure on the bottom and spending more of lululemon's time and marketing focus on the other markets, like europe and asia that may not be aspen traded as the u.s. seems to make sense, and having also lived in london i will say walking down kensington high street, are you don't see a lot of european athleisure brands. yes, sportswear like adidas, but not too many athleisure brands so there certainly seems to be an tonight there. >> yeah. i don't -- i hope my wife is not listening because i was in a lululemon store on sunday, okay, and it was crowded, and -- and

their products are very, very good i think that's -- the basic message there for lululemon for me is that the products are good whether it's for men or not. dom did, you use some of their golfing gear, golf pants. >> i absolutely do i never thought i'd be -- i don't own any yogawear, put it that way, but i cannot believe how much i've come around to their pants and shorts and to the point there, lulu, we were talking about competitors to peloton, right i mean, lululemon is one of them they have the mirror product out there right now. >> right. >> but if you look at the way lulu is stacking up, the lululemon in my town always has had a line outside of it so it tells you a bit about the traffic. this is also a stock that's up like almost 200% from the lows we saw back in march maybe it's already priced in >> i have i've got to say that the vision, the visual of you wearing tight yoga compression or me, the same, it's just too much information, right, it's just too much, no way. >> do it, dom. come on.

>> i love that >> no one wants to see that. >> no one wants to see, that do they >> all right, guys thanks very much always fun to be with you. all righty, terrific. we've got breaking news on walmart and sue herera has the details. >> hello, ty yes, we do breaking news the justice department is alleging that walmart violated the controlled substances law. they have filed a lawsuit against walmart. the justice department's suit claims that walmart sought to boost its profits by understaffing its pharmacy and pressuring employes to fill prescriptions quickly. that made it difficult for pharmacists to reject invalid prescriptions, and the justice department alleges that enabled widespread drug abuse nationwide, so they are saying that walmart is complicit in the opioid crisis. walmart anticipated this it's the country's largest retailer by revenue. it says it has been expecting the complaint. it sued the federal government in october to fight the

allegations preemptively basically, there's a couple of headlines here they violated the controlled substances law they ignored warnings from their own frontline pharmacists, according to the justice department, and -- and they understaffed their pharmacies and pressured them to move pills. that is the allegations in the suit as we said, walmart pre-sued against the justice department in october you're up to date, ty. you can see walmart there on our chart. i'll send it back to you. >> two titans going head-to-head in the ring. >> absolutely. >> the government put hundreds of screeners -- put on hundreds of screeners at the airport to mitigate the spread of covid-19 but a cnbc investigate found the program not only didn't work, but the government stopped it months after knowing it was failing and months after dozens of screeners came down with a virus. we'll hear from one woman who lost the love of her life. "the exchange" will be right back

welcome back, everybody. international travelers entering the united states during the first nine months of the year became very familiar with a different type of frontline worker, customs and border protection officer doing a health evaluation or a cdc analyst taking their temperature. the administration deployed as many as 7506 these screeners to find sick passengers bringing the virus into the u.s., but we found it was a failure that put federal employees and contractors at risk. kayla tausche reports in hour cnbc investigation, flying blind. >> it's irresponsible. it's murder. the and it's just undignified. >> yvette williams lost the love of her life omar palmer to covid-19 for 17 years palmer served as a customs officer at new york's jfk airport.

he was also a body build we are, a feed and in williams' words a protector, but by the end of march with palmer donning protective gear to screen passengers arriving from overseas she wanted to protect him. >> i said omar i think that this is a matter of life and death, and he said i'll be good. >> reporter: as the virus surged outside the u.s., the white house coronavirus task force established the ountry's first line of defense at airports assigning nearly 700 screeners from the departments of homeland security and health and human services to check international passengers for covid symptoms arriving from a growing list of countries. >> these prudent, targeted and temporary actions will decreation the pressure on public health officials screening incoming travelers, expedite the processing of u.s. citizens and permanent residents returning from china >> the only problem, it didn't work grow grogan led domestic policy for the white house until may.

>> we weren't finding anybody. we were finding like zero people so it became pretty clear relatively quickly that it was from a public health perspective as far as identifying people who are covid-positive, it was a failure. >> the centers for disease control and prevention says between january and september 776,000 passengers were screened only 9 cases of covid were detected that's 1 out of every 85,000 screens. and as travel bans went into place, bottlenecks formed at customs, at jfk's terminal four where palmer worked in, dallas, in chicago, the risks rights for workers on these front lines. >> basically no travelers were detected to have covid through this process how many of the screeners themselves ended up getting sick >> more than people we identified is what was reported to the task force. i think it was a few dozen is my

recollection, but it was a pretty stark data point when it was relayed out that not only are we not finding anybody, we're getting more cdc and dhs employees infected with covid as the airports than we are finding people >> reporter: six task force officials tell cnbc the group discussed multiple times removing the screeners from their posts. ultimately they decide the the role of these person pell as a deterrent and show force outweighed the costs the officials requested anonymity because they still serve or do business in the administration one official says the debate was not about the screeners themselves telling cnbc we were aware that they were getting sick but it was a question of whether the testing was effective. another official says it was a running discussion for a couple of months. ken cuccinelli represented dhs in the early response. the. >> there was -- there's always risk for people on the frontline, but what we have found including with our own

frontline folks that those individuals, the ones who have caught the virus have done so at rates similar to the communities in which they were working. >> reporter: the cdc ended the screening program september 13th, eight months after it began, six months after the task force first knew it was not effective. a november study released by the agency acknowledged the prom was resource intensive with low yield of positive cases because they were only looking for people with symptoms so how would you respond to allegations by other task force officials and some employees and some unions that this program was more dangerous for them than it was as a country as a whole >> well, i find it hard to believe, you know, there weren't people just missed who had the virus, that we were trying to screen for with the only tools that were then available. >> for omar palmer, passenger operations would be his last

assignment he went home april 1st after being exposed at the airport and died one month later at 40 years old. now williams wonders what could have been done to save him. >> to know that so much was known atravel, but as we now

know contagious covid can also be invisible tyler. >> kayla, wonderful piece. a couple of quick questions. the obviously this protocol was put in place before the nasal swab tests were widely available. that's nothave symptoms, do youa fever, et cetera, right? >> that's right. so -- so the customs and border protection staffed the first line of defense, so when people were

a lot of these bottle necking were forming and the task force knew early on it wasn't catching anybody. >> kayla tausche, marvelous store. >> it looks different than one two months ago and don't forget, you can watch us live on the go. "the exchange will be right "the exchange will be right back." i made a business out of my passion. i mean, who doesn't love obsessing over network security? all our techs are pros. they know exactly which parking lots have the strongest signal.

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welcome back to "the exchange." the nba season kicks off tonight and amid a surge in covid cases, players will not be living in a bubble like they did at the end of the 2020 season eric chemi joins us with what's behind thatity signatur itdecisn >> that was meant to finish up a season that had been mostly

completed before the pandemic hit. it cost the league almost $200 million to have that bubble. the nba decided against creating a bubble for this entire full season that's about to start, the commissioner saying it was a serious mental toll for players to be cooped up so long away from their family. so they'll do daily testing of players and staff and be sure everybody keeps safe behaviors here's adam silva from earlier today. >> i'm not ashamed to say we're balancing the economic factors as well, not just for the players in this league but for literally the tens of thousands of jobs that are dependent upon the nba continuing when we weighted all those factors together, the teams together with our player association, we decided this was the right time to go forward >> there are certainly some differences from last year compared to normal this season is starting two months late, it's ending a month

late and ten games shorter and because of the canadian government, the toronto raptors will be playing home games in tampa, florida only a handful of scenes will be allowed and even those numbers will be very limited commissioner silva saying the league is prepared to change its schedule tyler, back to you >> thank you very much, eric chemi reporting. next up on "power lunch," rick caruso will join us to discuss the california shutdown and how his properties are faring. i'll join rahel solomon after this quick break it's been a tough year.

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good afternoon, everyone welcome to "power lunch." here is what is on the menu today. nasdaq mihitting a record high,a the tech trade dominates, apple driving the gain is this as good as it gets for growth stocks. and as two vaccines are being rolled out, california shutdowns are rocking the golden state during what's supposed to be the busiest season for