one reason is inflation is running hotter than they had anticipated. >> also, watch the delta variant. the shutdowns we're stating to see in china, some of the worse we have seen since january amazingly the markets are pretty palace i, 45 minutes away from hearing from the president tyler, it's been a pleasure. thank for watching, everybody. "closing bell" starts now. welcome to "closing bell." aim will frill frost, a downbeat tone to start the week the dow climbing awful ways because a nearly 300-point drop. >> good to see you, wilfred. let's look at what is driving the action right now economic data coming in worse than expected. retail sales growing 8.5%. manufacturing also missed. slowdown energy the worst-performing sector of the market shares of tesla are weighing on

the nasdaq, down sharply on the news of a formal investigation from u.s. regulatorsinto the company's autopilot system we have 59 minutes left to go in the session, and we are positive coming up on today's show, boston fed at the present time eric rosengren will join us. he talk about very much more. plus the ceo of hyatt. we'll have why is now the right time to bet on luxury travel but, first, focus on the big stories we are watching. phil lebeau with the latest on the investigations into tesla. bob pisani is here on the broader market. >> the federal government wants to know exactly what caused 11

crashes where teslas, that were in autopilot mode, hit emergency vehicles on the highway. this is one of the accidents being looked into. there was one in mish a good, connecticut as well. at the probe on 11 crashes that happened between 2018 and 2021, a total of 765,000 tesla vehicles between 2014 and 2021 model years are part of this investigation. let's be clear here. tesla's model s uses a camera-based technology, and the autopilot system, tesla makes it clear, elon musk has said drivers mostust stay engaged a lot of people seem to believe in a elon musk has suggested that your vehicle in autopilot means you don't have to pay attention. look, you've been on conference calls, analyst calls and others, where he's been asked point-blank, and he said yes, you are expected to stay engaged when you are behind the steering

while. nonetheless look at the shares of tesla in the last month they are under pressure. the model 3 and model y, they are cameras facing drivers ultimately we'll see what the federal investigation comes up with and whether or not there's some type of a software update, there is a hardware update that needs to be made unclean if that's necessary, or if anything happens sat all, guys. >> that's sort of what i wanted to notice. wall street sees "probe" and immediately hits the sell b button it's been out there pretty public letter the last few years, and there any punishment possibilities for tesla here >> it's not necessarily there would be a punishment. if the federal investigation, if they finally look at this and say, look, we believe there's certainly safety features that are lacking or the ones there are not robust enough, what typically haas happens is nitsa

will say we believe you have to do a, b and c, and 90% of the time, they'll say, you're right. otherwise, they can be forced, but we're a long way from that possibility at this point. let's pivot to the broader market, and today's comeback bob pisani is on the floor of the stock exchange with the latest for the markets for us, just above the flate line there. >> we went positive after being negative all morning, but the delta variant is still the major concern. you can see it with the oil markets. the energy stocks are a very good proxy for global growth oil is as well you see most of the big names, occi occidental, these are what we call high beta names, all down about 2% or 3% same situation with travel and

leisure, though the most cases, the opening print was the low for them, host, caesars, a lot of casinos down, but again, off their lows freeport mac moran, all down, but also off their lows today. the low print was essentially at the open for these cyclical type of names elsewhere, defensive names have done well. we're sitting at the highs of the day, as well as some of the other medical care companies like, unitedhealth big tech continues to hold up fairly well. either side of positive or negative, but any day you get appearing up more than 1%, a few of the semiconductor stocks are on the down side as you heard from sara, folks, the market is holding up extremely well, given the fact the federal reserve is potential

talking about tapering earlier, and we haven't figured out the true extra jects story of the delta variant. now to the latest on the unfolding crisis president biden is expected to to give an address this hour on the escalatings situation. we'll take it live for you, but first ali arouzi is here with us. >> reporter: hi there. there are scenes of panic and pandemonium at the kabul airport today, as desperate people flee to the airport, with only what could be described as a chaotic exodus they're literally clinging on to u.s. military aircraft we've seen some very upsetting videos of people clinging to the undercarriage and fall off as the plane was taking off the u.s. is in charge of the airport, but their focus is on evacuation of american

personnel. as far as commercial flights go, it's a disorderly mess, with little security. we know, as of last night, the u.s. military had flown out about 500 embassy personnel. they're working on a capacity of getting up to 5,000 people out a day, but they're not there yet they need to work on the logistics to be able to move that many people out as for the afghans who have been working in various roles, it's a much tougher journey for them out of the country, especially afghans that are not in kabul, and in far parts of the country and just can't get to the airport and a safe haven their lives are in serious danger i can also report that the u.s. had to fire on several people at the airport. we're not sure if they are taliban fighters or part of the regular population, but the situation there is very fluid and very, very dangerous, as it continues to unfold.

back to you guys. >> ali, amazingly depressing scenes our thoughts, of course, throughout with the people there, particularly those who may have lost their lives today, as you said. what does it mean further afield for the region anyone actually celebrating this what about in iran, where you are? >> i wouldn't say they're celebrating it, but certainly adver adversaries are filling the vacuum the chinese, russian and iranians are in talks with the taliban. it's interesting that all at least of these countries i have just mentioned, still have that are personnel in afghanistan their embasses are open. the taliban has guaranteed the safety of all of these people in that country so they are willing to do business with them, as the west

flees the country. yes, this is an incentive for adversaries of america, to make friends with people who have been fighting america for 20 years, and it might inspire furse pushes to expel america out of syria, out of iraq, now that they have gone them out of afghanistan, which was always an objective for a country like iran. >> the world will be watching when president biden speaking this hour. we're expecting him -- he's flown back to washington he'll be speaking from the white house. what do you expect him to say about the responsibility and the intelligence failure that led us to this? >> reporter: well, you know, he's been blaming the afghan army for this. secretary blinken was backing up president biden saying, you know, that the afghan army should have been able to hold the country once the u.s. and nato fled. so he's blaming them for it, but

there has been a dismal evacuation from afghanistan. nobody can deny that i don't think anybody expected the u.s. to leave in such a disorderly way you know, burning documents at the embassy, u.s. staff camping out at the kabul airport, just trying to get on a flight. so however he tries to justify the pullout, it still looks like a real mess in that country. worst of all, the afghans that have been working with americans for all of these years feel betrayed and abandoned this was not done in an orderly way. when you think about it, there is a point to be made that the afghan army, which is not as motivated and organized as the taliban, but when you've been working with americans for 20 years and suddenly see the bases and embassies empty, your morale will hit the floor that should have been organized a lot better i think that's what president

biden is going to get a lot of criticism for. he could have organized the pullout in the winter months when the taliban usually retreat and don't fight. this is their season for fighting, so you can also argue this was the worst time to pull out of afghanistan, but it is what it is now they have no more influence there. the taliban has taken over the country, and the afghan people who had opposed the taliban for 20 years, are going to go back to a very, very dark life under the tyranny of the taliban. >> questions about coordination with allies like in europe about journalists that are there, hundreds of them ali arouzi, thank you for your report from tehran we'll bring president biden's remarks here, and watch "the news with shepard smith" later at 7:00. after the break here on "closing bell," highial hotels booking a major deal today we'll talk to the company's ceo

about the brand-new acquisition of a luxury resort operator, as covid fears continue to weigh on sentiment here in america and abroad you're watching "closing bell" here on cnbc the dow has gone positive, but that's a session high for the day. we'll be right back. ♪♪

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leisure group from kkr, it acquires the 100 hotel properties, which includes the secrets resorts and spas brand, including the unlimited vacation club it's footprint into 11 new european markets highial hotels' ceo joins us for a "closing bell" exclusive interview. welcome back good to see you. >> good to see you too, thanks, sara. >> is not a sign of optimism and travel restricts >> well, yes is the short answer to your question we are optimistic about the durable base of leisure travel into the future. you know, leisure was the first segment to return and recover subsequent to most of the downturns in the last 20 years we obviously have seen a robust

recovery in this one sectly, i think we are not underwriting this transaction, but rather what happens farther in the future. this is a tremendous platform, highly desirable set of brands with a tremendous amount of embedded growth. we think this is going to be a growing segments the all-inclusive market within leisure and resorts is the fastest-growing area across the americas and in europe we're excited to have very significant presence in this market now >> i wanted to zero in on the leisure aspect, because that's obviously where all the business it vite now. business travel has not returned so are you expecting that to not return are you changing the strategy here to increase exposure around leisure with the idea that business won't fully come back

>> it's not a change in strategy it's a recognition that leisure is durable, and has been resilient. this takes our total mix as a company from about 45% leisure revenues, revenues for leisure purposes, to about a bit over 50 so it is increasing our relatively exposure to leisure, for sure, but with respect to business and group travel, i continue to be optimistic about it i think the core fundamental is, in the same way that people have found amazing fulfillment in going away on holidays with family, friends, loved ones, and it's really given them tremendous inspiration and opt optimism, the same is true for business travelers the c-suite executives of our major clients, with whom you've been in regular contact, they all tell me the stories of the first meeting they held, that

sense of connection against, that human connection in business is equalitily important, as it is to the human connections we experience in leisure travel so i'm very optimistic it's going to return. the short term is going to be disrupted, of course, because of the delta variant case rate, but the underlying demand is going to be there, and the pent-up demand will be very significant. we're veg optimistic about the return of business travel. >> mark, clearly all of your sector, including your own company have phase the struggles. it's been impossible not to in the hospitality sector do you somewhat wish you had moved earlier? could you have gotten a much better price six to 12 months ago? >> well, i think the answer is that we've been with this company for some time.

transactions are unusual in that they have to evolved to a point where something is actionable. that became clear that we would have an opportunity earlier this year, which is why we absolutely took hold and started to engage in a very affirmative way. i think because of the amassing really responsiveness and that ability of so much members in the past year, they put is in a position where we have a strong balance sheet and can really lien forward into the future and execute something like this. so i think the combination of the opportunity becoming actionable, and our position of strength and our strong balance sheet has led us to interest into this agreement we'll close later this year. i think that's really the dynamic. >> it's something this increases your european exposure

>> even those that are vaccinated what are your expectations >> so, i think the pent-up demand in europe for all kinds of travel is extremely high. i think it might be the business underestimate for next year is travel expansion in europe of course, some things have to continue to develop in a positive way, with respect to the delta variants, and countries getting better sin synthesized, but a lot of the european -- first of all, t this -- and the predominant source market for the resort in the mediterranean and the atlantic, all the way through

greece are european travelers. so it's a bit -- the eu has established rules of the road for how citizens can travel, and so we believe that there's going to be an ability to continue to travel for vacations but i also believe that out-of-has been one of the most disruptive regions we've been operating in, and they have lagged recoveries in the rest of the world, for sure. >> thank you so much no joining us today. >> thank you. . s&p 500 and dow also up now, well off the lows earlier in the session. we've got just under 40 minutes left oatly was out with earnings

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. hi, kate >> this morning's move was all about capacity increases the company said it wassent to overcome both in the first report since going public. its supply chain had been impacted for partners like starbucks. it says june and july were the strongest consecutive months in its history, only announced -- in its base capacity at the americas at its utah facility, and also planning to open a facility in ft. worth, texas, in 2023, a 200% increase in production output by the end of 2022 it is also guiding for full-year revenue for the $690 million, slightly higher than anticipated. back over to you. >> question, kate, with some of these new companies, it's all about the revenue growth, ken

goldman of jpmorgan was raising questions about how big and how competent they were in not just in the retail market, but the fool service as well the restaurant business, what do they say about that? >> you know, the company's ceo was very confident about that in particular, as they do ramp up production to continue to supply major carriers like starbucks, as i mentioned, they had sold out after saying they were exclusively, so they seem very, very confident, not only about demand, but future growth. down 3.4%. thank you, kate. kate rogers. we have about 32 minutes left to go.

>> the firm is bullish on the chipotle's long-term growth, but downgrading it after concerns of the recent surge chipotle down about 0.5% still with a monster move. good interviews with their ceo. it's time for a cnbc news update here as what's happening at this hour, lawyers say they will issue a report on the investigation of governor cuomo. the committee was sharply criticized after announcing it would suspend the problem when the governor steps down. it does not mean that lawmakers will actually resume efforts to impeach. the paralympics will be held without spectators organizer saying covid concerns

do remain high medical experts say the surge was not directly linked to the tokyo games. soccer star karli lloyd will hang up her cleats, representing the u.s. in four separate olympics she scored ten goals, the most of any u.s. players. she says she'll finish on the the season with her professional team and play four more friendly games for the u.s. national team certainly a great role model for young people watching. back to you. all sorts of stuff thank you, rahel. still ahead, the peter thiel-backed company, the stock is jumping after reporting reports. and eric rosengren masse headlines last week. he'll join us later. as we head to break, a check on the bond yields the ten-year back down to 125,

and if you look at what's working in the stock market, utilities, staples, and health care, defensive groups that tend to do well with those yields "closing bell" after our break

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we're down on the s&p, a long way from where we were. we're now up 60 points, nasdaq still in the red shares of the psych dellics

company jumping after reporting their first earnings result after going public we'll talk to the ceo in the alternative drug market, as we head to break, here's a check on healthcare stocks. moderna and biontech pulling back sharply we're back in a couple minutes t 'cause you're only a man ♪ ♪ and a man's gotta learn to take it ♪ ♪ try to believe though the going gets rough ♪ ♪ that you gotta hang tough to make it ♪ ♪ you're the best! around! ♪ ♪ nothing's gonna ever keep you down ♪ [triumphantly yells] ♪ you're the best! around! ♪ [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade and take charge of your finances today. ♪♪

psych dellics company reporting, the stock is still up more than 20% since it started trading. joining us in an exclusive

interview is florian brand thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> first big-picture question, is just, if you can tell us more about psych dellics in general i know it's mental health related, addiction related, is it lick edlimited to that >> it could be broader there are primary focus areas, but there's indications like ptsd, for instance, so very broadly focused on all sorts of mental health, that are to a large degree not yet receiving the attention it deserves. there's questions around psych adelics, and especially the

ps psy psychadelics, and then the evidence was reproduced and it's very exciting from our perspective. that's why decided to get involved from a for-profit angle to fund the rigorous science to convince the fda and ultimately also for the treatment. >> how far are we from commercialization? do you envision that on your own or would it be a drug-by-drug deal or do you think there's a partnership to come with just one player >> there's multiple avenues here we built the time model also to have a lot of optionality.

we have already demonstrated on one of toes avenues that we can -- and in march, we entered a partnership with a leading company, a mental health company, and that's one way we could go, through collaborations, through development agreements then we are committed in general to develop those compounds especially the assist tiff therapy, because we believe we can leverage a lot of our enabling technologies we have on the platform to really make a difference here, but will it remain entrepreneurial to explore patches down the road. >> i think it's why you have attracted the likes of peter thiel, what, though, specifically is the timeline for when it goes from clinical trials and testing to actually being used in the therapy

session? >> yeah. so, in general, like we have, already, the based on the phase that patients can benefit from it there's been a lot of regular torrie support, approved throughout 2019, when it comes to our pipeline, we're three to five, six years out until we can basically reach the level where patients can benefit from that is compounds this time is required to actually generate the data to convince the fda, to demonstrate those therapies are safe and effic efficacious. >> you're obviously working on the medical benefits have you given much thousands on how you prevent the dangerous use of these drugs >> i think it's important to

emphasize that there will be administration in an inpatient setting, so there's a clear, you know, risk mitigation strategy also in place, so only given in a safe setting, add add mired by a therapist unit supervision, so very controlled therapies, nothing to be administered 59 home we also have therapies in development that don't have those hallucinogenic properties, and here the target profile is, yeah, adhome administration. >> got it. florian, thank you we'll keep an eye on it. >> thank you energy lagging, those stories and more next in "the market zone.

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sales are down from last quarter but we are hoping things will pick up by q3. yeah...uh... doug? sorry about that. umm... what...its...um... you alright? [sigh] [ding]

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dow and s&p 500 in the green any close higher for the dow or s&p 500 will be a record close at session highs, s&p 500 was up more than 100% from the pandemic lows of march 2020 crazy year or so that it has been to see that stock market double, basically. the s&p 500, anastacia, what is working today? defensive groups like health care, utilities, consumer staples, and growth is outperforming value, a bit of a reversal from last week. what is driving it >> yeah, that's right. i think the market is not really moving much, when you look at it on the surface, but underneath the surface you're noticing some we can't really m ly make up whh way it will break. and we're going to be just fine with the delta variant, but then

what's really playing out and dominating today, is we're not yet seeing covid cases peak just yet in the hospitalizations and unfortunately mortality is still moves higher, so that's what's winning out today. unfortunately, until we seed the count of new covid cases turn the other way, i think we'll continue to see it back and forth. i do hope we'll see it throughout the course of august. if i were to look through the other end of that, i would want to maybe sell a bit of stock on the strength we see today, and buying a bit of the names -- >> catherine, clearly yields have pulled back today, down to 126 again. do you think that will be short-lived? do you think people who have relased should be a bit more concerned? >> it's hard to tell they have sort of been all over the place. thank you for having me.

in a general sense, i think it will be in a trading range i keep believes what's really driving it is also what's going on in europe remember, the ten-year german bund is negative 50 basis points i think that's the main thing to watch. i don't think this ten-year in the u.s. going much higher than where it is now on that basis. >> finish your thought, catherine, go ahead. >> i think the main thing i'm concerned about is producer price inflation, okay? the ppi is up almost 8% on the year, the biggest move we've had in 20 years. there's a real question, are companies going to pass this along to their customers, or there they be able to absorb these changes? obviously cpi is also up 5%, so

i think these issues are something to keep an eye on. >> by the way, anything positive on the s&p or dow would be a report close goldman sachs sees a surge in corporate buyback activity it says the strong demand is why they photographed a 5% return of 4700 goldman highlighting 50 stocks in its buyback basket, that altogether have outperformed the s&p anastacia, do you buy into those sorts of names, or do you think that that's not really the things people should be doing at the moment >> no, wilf, i do think the 3w50iback trade is a very important one to be discussion remember it's not an issue when we are in the midst of the earning season

we're now in a big of a news vacuum when it comes to earnings, and companies can step in and execute on the buyback plans. i do think that's a very important support for the market now, if you look at companies biking back the shares on top of the dividends, even though different yields are not all that high, when you add the buyback yield to the equation, you have seen over 2.5% overall shareholder return, so that's really quite significant the other thing i would add, i think this is is a trend that is going to be with us for the foreseeable future companies are sitting on $6.7 trillion of cash now that the outlooks are a bit better, now that the expectations are a bit better, i think companies will be working to buy back shares, engage in m & a, and otherwise deploy this cash i think it's an important source of future returns.

>> one year goldman sells the s&p can rally another 5% this year let's hit energy, the worst-performing sector. pippa stevens has the details. >> hey, sara oil tipping after data from china showed the economy slowed more than expected in july the countries refinery output also fell to the lowers levels in 14 months this is important, was klein is the world's largest importer noting this is amplifies pessimism after the agency slashed the demand outlook amid a spike in covid case. oil is hitting the energy sector up three names bike dimeback, and more among the biggers loser. thank you both china clear ly, but do you

think this new delta wave, which is slowing, the second biggest economy in the world sol, in part, self-correcting the inflation problem that you're worrying about in commodity prices are across the board? >> yes, i think that is clearly taking place it's created a real question around a reopening trade it's probably the biggest question mark i think it's a good equilibrium you see what's happening in the u.s., the u.s. is discouraging oil production, it's finally energy independent, but now we're focused more bush so petroleum is being discouraged, but we're asking opec to increase product i think the other thing i just want to say quickly about it, but with less oil production and

more of a focus on alternatives, i am concerned we're relying too much on electricity. with the less reliance the good things about oil, if we do see oil going up, which i do, by the way, oil is a great hedge against inflation. it has always been so if you're concerned about inflation, oil is actually -- >> covid delta variant fears are continues to weigh on the travel names, as we've been discussing, seema mody has a deep irdive on that for us. seema? >> fred, over one month since the cruise line started sailing, and covid is a big issue carnival updating its policy, all passengers must show proof

of a negative covid test, regardless of vaccination status elsewhere, a slight dipping in hotel occupancy in recent weeks. this is a metric travel analysts are watching closely as concerns about the delta variant continues to grow. hotel stocks, booking operators are trading down today guys seema, thanks so much for that anastacia, you were saying earlier, this is a good time to buy some of these names. have you active in this space? what subsectors do you get drawn to >> yeah, i think you have to look at the broad swath of travel, leisure and hospitality stocks, whether it's cruise lines, or airlines if you look at it as a basket, it has underperformed significantly versus the s&p down 30% or so, relative to the s&p since the middle of march.

it's understandable, because i think peak growth concerns are being reflected. peak travel season is being reflected, but increasingly what's being reflected is peak delta concerns as well this is why, after this period of underperformance, this is why i'm drawn to some of they will names. you might say this obviously is a risky trade, but going back to the cash trade we talked about, a lot of these companies, whether they're cruise line or airlines, they have significantly built up their cash buffers, but clearly hoping for the best i think fundamentally they're okay, and i would be adding to them on the pullback >> do you like this deal, catherine? would you be betting on this sector >> i'm going to disagree with, you anastacia. you know, we sold delta around $45. i say thank you, lord.

pre-pandemic, revenues for delta were $47 billion in 2020, they went down to $17 billion. they have come up a bit since then, but you look at the debt they had to take on, they took $3.5 billion, very low-interest loans from the government. $8 billion in payroll, and yet we just don't see it coming back tsa passenger trends are up, they were up 80% over 2019 levels leisure has a sector that's been resilient. group and business is going in the right direction, but we're still very cautious about the sector i agree with you, it's going to be a growing buy at some point i'm not ready yet. two minutes to go. shares of roadblocks josh lipton is here to tell us what to expect from the company's latest results, which will be released after the bell.

>> the street is looking for q2 eps of 24 cents. as you noted, that stock is up around 80%, but also down about 20% from the june high one important metric to watch, average bookings there, the estimate $15.58. bulls will say roblox -- >> josh, thanks so much for that we have just win minute left of the session we are set for record closing highs. a far cry from the first couple hours of trade we're currently 100 points higher on the dow. the s&p is up 0.25%.

the nasdaq is still lower by 0.2% [ bell ringing ] >> energy down nearly 2% none of the other sectors are down as the bell goes, two record closing highs for both the s&p and the dow. the nasdaq is down 0.2%, sara. a mixed market down most of the day, but there you go two record closes for the dow and s&p 500. welcome back to "closing bell. i'm sara eisen here with wilfred frost. at session highs you can see we were soft most of the day, open lower, some concerns about the chinese growth slowdown. bond yields were a bit lower, all of that points to slower

growth, but then we climbed back through the session, ended higher at a record unitedhealthcare the biggest contributor to the gains health care led the way today. utilities, staples, all the defensive names, technology also had a pretty decent day. the nasdaq struggled, though names like tesla under pressure. invideo down lower, with recport on wednesday coming up, boston fed president eric rosengren. plus galaxy digital -- but first, president biden is addressing the nation on afghanistan.

let's listen. >> the unfolding situation in afghanistan. the developments that have taken place in the last week, and the steps we're taking my national security team and i have been closely monitoring the situation on the ground in afghanistan, and moving quickly to execute the plans we had put in place to respond to every constituency -- contingency, including the rapid collapse we are seeing now i'll speak more in a moment about the specific steps we are taking, but i want to remind everyone how we got here and what america's interests are in afghanistan. we went to afghanistan almost 20 years ago, with clear goals -- get those who attacked us on september 11th, 2001, and make sure al qaeda could not use afghanistan as a base to attack

us again we did that. we never gave up the hunt for osama bin laden, and we got him. that was a decade ago. our mission in afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation building. it was never supposed to be creating a unified centeringized democracy. our only vital national interest remains today what it has always been -- preventing a terrorist attack on american homeland. i have argued for many years our mission should be narrowly focused on counter-terrorism, now counter-insurgency or nation building that's why i opposed the surge when it was proposed in 2009 when i was vice president. that's why, as president, i'm adamant we focus on the threats of today, not yesterday's threats. today, the terrorist threat has metastasized well beyond

afghanistan. al shabaab in somalian, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, al nusra, and establishing affiliates in multiple countries. these threats warrant our attention and our resources. we conduct effective counter-terrorism missions against terrorist groups in multiple countries where we don't have permanent military presence if necessary, we'll do the same in afghanistan we have developed counter-terrorism over the rising capability that will allow us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on direct threats to the united states, and act quickly and decisively if needed i inherited a deal that president trump negotiated with the taliban. under his agreement, u.s. forces

would be out of afghanistan by may 1, 2021, just a little over three months after i took office u.s. forces had already drawn down during the trump administration from roughly 15,500 americans forces to 2,500 troops in country. the taliban was at its strongest militarily since 2001. the choice i had to make, as your president, was either to follow through on that agreement or be prepared to go back to fighting the taliban in the middle of the spring fighting season there would have been no cease fire after may 1 there was no agreement protecting our forces after may 1. there was no status quo of stability without american casualties after may 1

it was only the cold reality of either following through on the agreement to withdraw or forces, or escalating the conflict and sending thousands more american troops back into combat in afghanistan. lurching into the third decade of conflict. i stand squarely behind my decision after 20 years, i've learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw u.s. forces that's why we're still there we were clear-eyed about the risk we planned for every contingency, but i always promised the american people i would be straight with you the truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. so what's happened afghanistan's political leaders gave up and fled the country the afghan military collapsed,

sometimes without trying to fight. if anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending u.s. military involvement in afghanistan now was the right decision american troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves we spent over a trillion dollars. we trained and equipped an afghan military force of some 300,000 strong incredibly well equipped, a force larger in size than the militaries of many of our nato allies we gave them every tool they could need we paid their salaries, provided for the maintenance of their air force. something the taliban doesn't

have the taliban does not have an air force. we provided close air support. we gave them every chance to determine their own future we we could not provide them with the will for fight for that future there's some very brave and capable afghan special forces units and soldiers, and if afghanistan is unable to mount any real resistance to the taliban now, there is no chance that one year, one more year, five more years, or 20 more years the u.s. military boots on the ground would have made any difference here's what i believe to my core it is wrong to order american troops to step up when afghanistan's own armed forces would not. the political leaders of afghanistan were unable to come together for the good of their

people, unable to negotiate for the future of their country when the chips were down. they would never have done so while u.s. troops remained in afghanistan bearing the brunt of the fighting for them. our true strategic competitors, china and russia, would love nothing more than the united states to continue to funnel billions of dollars in resources and attention to stabilize afghanistan indefinitely when i posted president ghani and president abdullah at the white house in june, and again when i spoke by phone to ghani july, we had very frank conversations. we talked about how afghanistan should be prepared to fight the civil wars after the u.s. military departed, to clean up the corruption in government, so that government could function for the afghan people. we talked extensively about the need for afghan leader to unite

politically. they failed to do any of that. i also urged them to engage in diplomacy, to seek a political settlem mment with the taliban. this advice was flatly refused mr. ghani insisted that the afghan forces would fight. obviously he was wrong so i am left again to ask of those who argue that we should stay -- how many more generations of america's daughters and sons would you have me send to fight afghanistan's civil war when afghan troops will not how many more lives, american lives, is it worth how many endless roads of headstones and arlington national cemetery? i'm clear in my answer i will not repeat the mistakes we have made in the past

the mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict that is not in the national interests of the united states, of doubling down on a civil war in a foreign country, of attempting to re-make a country through the endless military deployments of u.s. forces those are the mistakes we cannot continue to repeat we have significant vital interests in the world that we cannot afford to ignore. i also want to acknowledge how painful this is to so many of us the scenes we're seeing in afghanistan, they're gut-wrenching, particularly for our veterans, our diplomats, humanitarian workers, for minute who has spent time on the ground working to support the afghan people through those who have los loved ones in afghanistan, and for americans who have fought and served in the country, serve

our country in afghanistan, this is deeply, deeply personal it is for me as well i have worked on these issues as long as anyone i've been throughout afghanistan during this war while the war was going on, from kabul to kandahar, to the kunar valley. i have traveled there on four different occasions. i met with the people. i have spoken to the leaders i have spent time with our troops, and i came to understand firsthand what was and was not possible in afghanistan. so now we're focused on what is possible we will continue to support the afghan people. we will lead with our diplomacy, our international influence and humanitarian aid we will continue to push for regional ditch sit and engagement to prevent violence and instability.

we'll continue to speak out for the basic rights of the an sigana people, for women and girls, just as we speak out ought over the world i'm clear that human rights must be the center of our foreign policy, not the periphery. the way to do it is not through endless military deployments with our diplomacy, our economic tools, and rallying the world to join us. let me lay out the current mission in afghanistan i was asked to authorize, and i did, 6,000 u.s. troops to deploy to afghanistan for the purpose of assisting in the despare of u.s. and allied civilian personnel from afghanistan, and to evacuate our afghan allies and vulnerable afghans to safety outside of afghanistan our troops you are working to secure the airfield and ensure

continued operation of both 9 civilians and military flights we're taking over air traffic control. we have safely shut down our embassy and transferred our diplomats. our diplomatic presence is now consolidated at the airport as well over the coming days, we intend to transport out thousands of american citizens who have been living and working in afghanistan. we'll also continue to support the safe departure of civil usage personnel of our allies who are still serving in afghanistan. operation allies refugee, which i announced back in july has already moved 2,000 afghans eligible for special immigration visas and their families to the united states. in the coming days, the u.s. military will provide assistance to move more siv-eligible

afghans and their families out of afghanistan we're also expanding refugee access to cover other vulnerable afghans who worked for our embassy, u.s. nongovernmental organizations, and afghans who are at great risk, with u.s. news agencies. i know there are concerns about why we did not begin evacuating afghan civilians sooner. part of the answer is some of the afghans did not want to leave earlier, still hopeful for their country. part of it because the afghan government and its supporters discouraged us from organizing a mass exodus to avoid triggering, as they said, a crisis of confidence american troops are performing this mission as professionally and as effectively as they always do, but it is not without

risk as we carry out this departure, we have made it clear to the taliban, if they attack our personnel or disrupt our operation, the u.s. presence will be swift and the response will be swift and forceful we will defend our people with devastating force, if necessary. our current military mission with a shortened time, limited in scope, and focused in its objectives get our people and our allies as safely and as quickly as possible once we have completed this mission, we will conclude our military withdrawal. we'll end america's longest war after 20 long years of bloodshed. the events we're seeing now are sadly proof that no amount of military force would ever deliver a stable, united, secure

afghanistan, as known in history as the graveyard of empires. what is happening now could easley have happened five years or 15 years in the future. we have to be honest our mission in afghanistan has taken many missteps over the past two decades i'm now the fourth american president to preside over a war in afghanistan, two democrats, two republicans. i will not pass this responsibility on to a fifth president. i will not mislead the american people by claiming that just a little more time in afghanistan will make all the difference nor will i shrink from may shire of responsibility for where we are today and how we must move forward from here. i am president of the united states of america, and the buck stops with me.saddened by the ft

we now face, but i do not regret my decision to end the war fighting in afghanistan, and maintain a laser focus on our counter-terrorism mission there and in other parts of the world. our mission to degrade the al qaeda and the taliban -- in afghanistan -- it was not, and i wrote and believed it never could be -- i cannot and will not ask our troops to fight endlessly in another country's civil war, taking casualties, suffering life-shattering injuries, leaving families broken by grief and loss this is not in our national security interests it is not what the american

people want. it is not what our troops who have sacrificed so much over the past two decades deserve i made a commitment to the american people when i ran for president that i would bring america's military involvement in afghanistan to an end while it's been hard and messy, and yes, far from perfect, i'm honored that commitment. more importantly, i made a commitment to the brave men and women who served this nation that i wasn't going to ask them to continue to risk their lives in a military action that should have ended long ago. our leaders did that in vietnam when i got here as a clyoung ma. i will not do it in afghanistan. i know my decision will be criticized, but i would rather take all that criticism and pass this dec-- than to pass this

decision on to a fifth president, because it's the right one, it's the right decision for our people. the right one for our brave service members who risk their lives serving our nation it's the right one for america thank you. may god protect our troops, our diplomats, and all brave americans serving in harm's way. president joe biden not taking any questions today in the east room of the white house, atsds addressing the nation on afghanistan, saying he stands squarely behind his decision to withdraw u.s. forces from afghanistan he did say this did unfold more quickly than we anticipated, the taliban takeover of kabul in afghanistan, that is, but he said our mission was never about nation building. let's bring in our eamon javers for more analysis.

he also promised to continue to evacuation afghans, americans and our allies. what did you make of that? >> he says he is the president of the united states and the buck stops with him. still, you can't let go of the fact here, sara, what we have seen unfold in afghanistan, the collapse of the afghan government that the united states has supported for 20 years, the collapse of the military that the united states had trained, armed and financed for 20 years, that's been a disaster for so many thousands of innocent afghans. politically a disaster, the image we have seen, for the biden administration, the president knows that as he deals with the situation unfolding, much more quickly than he led the american people to believe, and perhaps he believed that would unfold still, this is a president who is committed to removing all

american military forces from afghanistan to ending the u.s. commitment to prop up the government there, and saying ultimately the collapse we have seen over the past 48 hours was going to happen, whether it was five years ago or 15 years in the future, he says this was going to be the outcome, and he was the president who had to take the painful decision to simply end this conflict now, and end u.s. involvement in the civil war, ocn the grounds he thinking it's wrong to ask service members to serve and die in a war that it's clear that the afghan government and military clearly had no will to continue it. >> eamon, i thought -- dare i say, somewhat callous to say what you mentioned there, we couldn't provide them with the will to fight for their future, but that point aside, what i

wanted to ask your view on, was the bigger pitch that sara mentioned at the top, to say this mission was never about nation building. he said that the mission and any other mission going forward in this country or others should be narrowly focused on anti-terrorism i just wonder what people in other countries around the world, from iraq to taiwan, will be thinking watching that? and the level of boost it will give to other aggressive nations to see those words come out of president biden's mouth? >> sure. look what the president has decided here, and history there tell whether he's right or not, that the short term he hopes, pain of pulling out of afghanistan now, dealing with this problem now, is worth it in order to refork cuss the foreign policy and military establishment around other more 21st century goals, and the nation building in afghanistan is a failed project

that failed early in the 21st century and has been limping along on autopilot for more than a decade he talked about the mission to stake out osama bin laden, and there are those who argue, and biden seemed to be doing it implicitly here, that the united states should have gotten out of afghanistan after that mission was complete we inept there there to get the people who took part in that terrorist attack once that was over, the united states had no more obligation to build a modern democracy and functioning government, that that was too heavy a lift. he says he concluded that years ago and has written extensive live about it, and is saying the u.s. foreign policy needs to be oriented around two strategic opponents, and we need to pull forces out in order for focus on that, and notcontinue to ask u.s. military members to fight and die in a conflict that the

afghan government appeared military, clearly over the last 48 hours, were not willing to continue to fight. president biden's comments there in the east room in the white house, taking no questions or follow-up no doubt there will be more questions that continue to be thrown in his direction, in his administration's direction, as the fallout continues. still ahead here on "closing bell," boston fed isn't eric rosengren on the increasing chances that the fed will announce a taper we're back here in a couple minutes.

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dow and s&p 500 closing down with record highs, but nasdaq closed in the red. karen, great to have you with us we just heard from president biden. the focus all day has been on afghanistan, where there's no direct market link, and the market does have a history of looking past the geopolitical

events, but it could hurt president biden's agenda with trillions after stake. does it change your view about what is likely to pass in terms of fiscal stimulus, what that will mean for the economy and the markets? >> unlikely. we're at a place where, as you said, the geopolitical events, while moving to all of us, will not have a very direct impact. the most important thing is we're on the cusp of passing what is likely to be the biggest stimulus package we have ever seen out of the wartime, in direct response to covid-19. the reason it's likely to have staying power is it's not a response of fiscal stimulus meant to offset something happening in the economy it's very much structural, very much intended to reshape the economy and happy over quite a number of years. the fact that so much of part of the package is bipartisan, both

the big focus odd china, with things like paying for -- research and development in science, as well as the infrastructure package that really underlies a lot of what make the economy productive, and the reconciliation likely to pass is on social and environment goals, this is a huge, huge impact on the economy markets over many years. >> does that mean the fed has cover to reduce its -- what is the effect >> absolutely in our view. any way you look at it more or less, the fed looks well behind the curve. policy is about as easy relative to conditions as it's ever been in history so when you have zero interest rates in that kind of inflation, the quote/unquote real rate is

about as negative as it's ever been in history. when you listen to companies, and what they're saying, it doesn't seem like very short-term transitory. it looked like that wage cost spiral is kind of well underway, and so when you add that up and start getting the biggest fiscal push you have ever seen into such a booming economy, it makes a lot of sense for the fed to pull of other direction, to stop some of the mass amount of gas they're providing. >> karen, thanks so much for joining us today much appreciated. >> thank you. let's get news on the 13-f filings we've been waiting for leslie picker has some of the headlines for us >> hey, wilfs this is from berkshire hathaway, filed recently while the president was

speaking, but some clear schemes here we don't know in warren buffett was behind these, but paring back their healthcare exposure, shrunk is the stake in abbvie by about 10%. sold out in a stake in biogen and peered back bristol-myers by about 13%. the firm did maintain positions in johnson & johnson and teva, in non-health care spaces. it boosted kroger's stake, and also sho also sold about 10% of the -- this is about june 30th.

they may have changed in the six weeks since, but in the second quarter paring back some of the healthcare exposure. another mover, roblox, earnings are just out. josh >> they reported a loss of 25 cents, unclear if eighths comparable to what the street was looking for. daus up 28%. hours gained up 13%. average bookings per dau 15.41 remember heading into this, the stock was up about 80% from the market debut, down about 20% from the june high back to you. josh, thanks so much for that time for a cnbc news update. rahel solomon has it for us. here's what's happening at this hour.

tropical storm frank coming ashore earlier than expected it made landfall in the eastern part of the for a florida panhandle. it's expected to move into western georgia, and lose strength quickly. in california, ballots are going in the mail for the recall election of governor newsom. leading republican candidate larry elder says he w-- on the news, more fights over masking up in schools and how some schools are closing because of the covid outbreaks. that's at 7:00 p.m. eastern. the cdc is raising travel warning to turkey to its highest level because of covid cases, and lowers its advisory to india down to moderate the voting wasn't even close. alabama was voted as the best by

three fourths of all reporters polled in the ap. up next here, on "closing bell," eric rosengren is call on the federal reserve to start tapering in the fall. and night novogratz will join us. that's coming up on "closing bell."

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let's get out to our steve liesman, who has an exclusive interview for us >> thanks very much. we are joined by boston fed president rosengren. let's got to this idea that, could the fed be tapering as soon as september? is that something you support? is there enough support on the committee? >> as you know, the criteria for tapering is substantial further progress, relative to where we were at the end of last year i think my own view is that, on

the inflation side, we have certainly met that objective we have running well over our 12% inflation target while i think most is transitory, i think there's enough persistent that we'll continue to see inflation a bit above 2% next year as well so i have no concerns about us hitting the inflation part of our mandate. on the labor part, we have just come off a very strong lair report two months in a row we have created more than 900,000 jobs if we get another strong labor market report, i think i would be supportive of announcing in september we are ready to start the taper program. i do think that another consideration, in addition to meeting the stageal further progression is my own view that the purchase program is not nearly as effective now as it

was when we were coming out of the financial crisis that is primarily because we're experiencing shortage of supplies in both labor and materials, and as a result, the intersensitive sector is not adding much employment the employment is coming from the opening of the economy so in areas like restaurants, bars, hotels and retail, and we're not seeing that much in construction, motor vehicle and parts. so i think it's less effective now, and we are likely to meet, by the september meeting, the criteria we laid out the remaining is whether remaining problems with the delta variant starts to slow down the labor market. so far we haven't seen that. hopefully to get another strong employment report. >> let me ask you to lay out your vision of how the taper actually works do you begin as early as

october? and how many months do you go for? >> the committee hasn't decided the exact framework. i've said i think it's appropriate to start in the fall i certainly wouldn't want to late any later than december you know, any time this fall i think would be appropriate in terms of when the taper practical went in, my own person preference is equal amounts, and that we finish off the program midyear next year. that just reflects the fact if it's not being particular effective, there's no reason to drag it out as long as the economy continues to progress as we expect. >> what comes after that i mean, you made a series of emergency rate cuts. how deliberate will you be

when dowel it would be time, and what will be the criteria? >> the criteria for raising rates is different than the criteria for tapering the program. the criteria is we see outcomes consistent with a sustainable inflation rate, and that we're at full employment i do expect that we're likely to see inflation over 2% next year, but we haven't seen those outcomes, so we'll have to see if that actually -- though forecasts turn out to betrue. >> eric, you know the news we reported today you're talking about it now. why does it strike you that interest rates are unmoved by this that the probability of rate hikes are unmoved by this as

well as stocks seem to be okay with it? does it give us motivation to keep going >> i mean, our guidance was substantial further problem, relative to the end of last year i think people are seeing it will be appropriate to start the taper program, so we're seeing the same numbers we're seeing. markets tend to react to surprises. i think this has been well communicated. >> we're a bit crunched for time because of the president, as you might imagine. i wanted to ask you this question inflation has a certain persistence to it. are you concerned right no that the fed may have to act more

aggressively next year to be prepared to do that? >> i'm not expecting inflation to be going up much more rapidly than kind of 2.1, 2.2% if that forecast turns out to be incorrect, and we start to see wages starting to go up much more quickly than anticipated, that could be a -- but i'm not expecting that it's still not particularly worrisome so we'll see how the data comes out that was -- i was making that up before -- this is the last question here. talk about the delta variant, if you don't mind are you seeing any impact right

now? do you think we might retrench again into economic lockdowns? is that part of your forecast? >> there are a lot of people that have been vaccinated -- so the need to dramatic shutdown that occurred at the beginning of the pandemic i don't think will be necessary. nonetheless it's important we get personal health, public health, economic health coinciding with people masking up and getting the vaccine it is a problem. if we start having people nervous about going to restaurants, nervous about getting on planes and going to hotels, we've seen a lot of the employment growth on the service sector, that is the opening up part, so it would be worrisome if the delta variant started to become severe enough that people stop being comfortable doing activities >> i polic

apologize for being tight on time we hope to see you soon. thank you for shares a bit of your show with me so we could bring you that interview. >> steve liesman, thank you. our thanks to president eric rosengren. up next, reaction to the fed's potential september taper timeline when we're joined by mike novogratz

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eric rosengren just announcing he would support tapering in the fall joining us is mike novogratz good to see you. >> how are you doing >> pretty well, thank you. good to see you. my question not so much about what the implications of tapering are towards crypto, but a broader question stepping back to what has the super-loose policy from central banks around the world over recent years allowed crypto to grow as big as it has. >> it's a wildly part of the story. people look at budget deficits, the behavior of central banks, the treasury depends, and say we're running up deficits we can't pay back this is kind of past the point

of no return how do i hedge myself against either a slow or fast debasement of -- currency crypto was made for this we have hit the adoption cycle that's so strong, more and more people coming into the crypto is going up rather risk assets and other inflation hedges might not be you look at gold versus crypto there is a huge dislocation. >> so do you fear tapering and rates going up as something that would derail crypto or not any more >> listen, i think if we really see the fed move on rates, the economy is that strong and they feel confident to move rates and tapeir in a big way, it is good for crypto i don't think this collapsed crypto because of this adoption cycle. people are buying into a theory of salon and uno for other than just the currency. it probably

hurts bitcoin than the rest of crypto but you think we're still so early in this movement, in this eco-system that crypto could do okay. >> it does raise the question as to why the dollar hasn't strengthened more. i know you trade currencies for a long time. the dollar is down and it is the strongest growth area, we were the first to get high vaccinations, the first to taper and potentially talk about higher rates and inflation all of that should mean the dollar is going up, shouldn't it. >> we have this giant deficit that we're going to have to fund but we've been the reserve currency of the world and that is status is being -- you look at afghanistan today and the twitter conversation what the rest of world thinks about american leadership isn't great. so you have places like china that wants to hold -- and russia that is holding no interest, and

this idea of dollar dominance is under attack for a long time on the margin, us tapering, us raising rates will help the dollar but within the geopolitical context, i'm not sure that is not going to be outweighed. >> mike, i know you're a big believer across the crypto spespec wum. i wonder if you bought into the sentiment that bitcoin has slightly lost its attraction relative to some other cryptos likager in particular. >> i think they serve different purposes bitcoin's lane is just for value. it is digital gold and the people buying it as the hedge versus the currency. the theory in salon and luna and the level one solution, people are investing as a venture bet

on what the future of finance could be it could be the currency of culture, right and nfts to mostly be built on the platform and so that excitement of them plus nft thriving money to that space so real different reasons. i think their cousins. they'll coexist but they don't serve the same purpose >> what about the crypto community's loss when they fought politically or organized for the first time that we've seen on a grand scale to remove the language in the infrastructure bill that would be potentially harmful from a tax perspective. what do you think it said about the political community and the activism and where lawmakers stand on this. >> i don't think we lost at all. i think d.c. was shocked at the roar of the crypto community n. three days we activated, we were

on phones and i think for the first time they woke up and said, wow, this is a real industry trust me, i was in the south of france on vacation and spent a good three days on phone with people in d.c. and i think the reason crypto didn't go down is because it is a realization that hey, this ain't going backwards. it was bad legislation that was snuck into the infrastructure bill it was a back door way of trying to regulate the industry it got called out. i think congress was a little bit embarrassed by the whole situation and the crypto community and the market believes by the time in 2023 that legislation is supposed to be enacted, it will be -- will work on something that is good for america, good for the crypto community. >> mike, just want to get your pulse check on broader markets as well. and all of the moving factors we just talked about. would you be heavily over weight u.s. equities or do you think

they're do for a pullback? >> they make new highs every day so you're supposed to ride the train. it worried me that they make a new high every day there is a tremendous amount of option in the space. the market sells off and rallies right back if you're waiting for a sell-off, wait until the end of the month when the options expire but there is still plenty in the space. the fed is buying $120 billion a month and buying its way into the s&p and the u.s. stock market so no real good reason to fade the market yet listen, covid has some people scared and the delta variant has a impact and the numbers that came out last week were weaker than they have been. and so a couple of data points and everybody has a sigh of relief so that the party could go on. >> mike novogratz, good to talk

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[ no audio ] we know right now that the consumer is on fire and that is in really good shape and the balance sheets are doing well and there is a ton of stimulus but that z that continue xrt has done well. it is tripled since the march lows how does it react to some of the earnings after the weak consumer confidence report on friday for the month of august. >> i was going to say, the consumer confidence data was poor there is other little pockets of soft data as of late the ten year back down to 127 today as we stand. also just showing sort of the signs that maybe that macro outlook isn't as good as everyone felt. but as mike just mentioned, still continuing to hit the record highs for the dow the nasdaq hasn't hit one for a

while now. >> and i think there is a realization even with a taper that is coming, the fed is all in in terms of super low rates and not talking about rate hikes any time soon. dow and s&p both closing at a record high fifth day in a row of gains that is it for us on "closing bell." "fast money" begins right now with courtney reagan. >> thank you very much live from the nasdaq market site overlooking times square this is "fast money. i'm courtney reagan and in tonight for melissa lee. tim seymour and karen fieder man and nadine terman and guy adaumy the stock falling 4% as u.s. highway officials launch an investigation into the auto pilot system of tesla. and we're tracking the after hours shares of ten cent music we'll take you inside of that quarter. and later eaou