good morning futures pointing to a higher opening and bitcoin passing the $50,000 mark for the first time in months. we'll show you what's moving along with these and a busy agenda this week with the fed's jackson hole symposium in focus and house democrats squaring off over trillions of dollars in spending squawk planner straight ahead. and hospitals in the south and midwest are sounding the alarm over rising hospitalization rates for kids with covid. we have the numbers, monday august 23rd, 2021, as "squawk box" begins right now. and good monday morning, everybody. welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc i'm kelly evans with joe kernen, becky and andrew are off today

let's get a check of the markets, shall we? let's start with u.s. equity futures. we saw this tone beginning last night, spreading all throughout the asia session, here we see it carrying over so far s&p up 13. nasdaq up 41 for the implied open and bitcoin as we were talking about a moment ago, top 50, still up there over 50k at some point in the overnight session obviously highest since may. still up 62, 64, joe >> there it is, 53.45. ethereum is up, everything is moving. >> are you an ether guy too? >> i got a little ethereum no doge, no other ones >> it is interesting that all of a sudden the change in tone, you know, weaker dollar, stronger asia, especially after what a train wreck it has been with a lot of chinese stocks. technology stocks come out again swinging in terms of wealth

redistribution and all of that and markets are shrugging it off. bitcoin rallying and there it is up. >> good to have you here i'm trying to figure out a way of steering into you and how -- you're a bonus baby. third thing here, rachel maddow, in the wall street journal, that she's staying. now -- >> i think you're very interested in this story >> she's making -- we have the same agent he seems to really work hard for her. do you now get paid in bitcoin with your huge rachel maddow style bonus? have you requested that? >> i did a -- i get upset every time people talk about paying bitcoin in anything. do you pay for anything in bitcoin? >> would i >> of course not. >> you buy a pizza and a ferrari a couple years later >> you pay capital gains tax on it you do it when you're down

i'll take the tax write-off or pay for my mortgage or pizza, but you wouldn't pay for anything in bitcoin. maybe you could get paid in it, that's different. >> maybe have the money for the irs just so they can watch people with crypto how do they monitor? that's another -- >> interesting to talk to some people i ask people about this question on the capital gains issue all the time and they say it is not a big deal, kelly, but that -- watch the stable coins all the stuff happening on exchanges, but i think the irs isn't watching, isn't paying attention, doesn't matter, give it three -- they always catch up with it, they always do. >> i would -- just happy to have you here you know that. you probably -- could you sleep last night, the excitement was -- we like to be together. >> this is a treat yesterday, for everybody -- did it not feel like 2020 all over -- we were stuck in the house, felt like we couldn't -- usually we take the kids and go to home depot and wander around and couldn't even do that. the stupid delta, it is not even

just to sit here and have some sense of normalcy. but -- >> i'm a swashbuckler. i was at a wedding saturday night in boston. so i drove down into the hurricane yesterday with my kids and i was not hunker down. >> did you have ever have covid? >> i'm a double vaxxed i got -- the day that i could have been -- that's why i said good news and bad news good news i'm able to get the vaxx, bad news is i'm able to do get the vaxx i was in the first group that was eligible i got it in january. second one in february two plus eight is ten. if they come to me and say here is your booster, i love -- i get grief from crazy people about talking up the mrna virus. we have francis collins on today. good to talk to him about that but the technology is so elegant and, you know, i see the anecdotal stories of things happening and i don't know how to tie things to that.

i sao he some anecdotal things happening about people who get covid that scares the heck out of me. >> don't go into it. my husband had, my two boys -- >> you got to pick one versus the other, go with the vaccine. >> i would be curious, my mom got it breakthrough, my mom was double vaxxed got it, i think we had delta, in may, i wonder what are the effects of people like that who got it. >> you never got it. >> i guess i never had it. >> eric had it how was his -- we might just talk until 9:00 like this. how was his experience hideous? >> he definitely had a bad flu it got to day three or five -- >> no hospitalization? >> no. >> he should be good. >> i should have been nicer, but, yeah. >> that goes without saying. >> it was stressful. >> nicer to him? >> yes, yes. i was, like, i can't deal with this you're sick, everybody's sick. >> suck it up! >> sort of.

>> an update now on tropical storm henri. i can just look out here to tell you what's going on actually it is raining. it was downgraded from a hurricane before making landfall yesterday in rhode island. sparing the region its first direct hit from the hurricane in three decades. the storm cut power to more than 135,000 customers from new jersey all the way up to maine made the trek north of boston down here. this morning, a lot of rain driving, and i took a parkway, which is better. a lot of cars drive on the parkway. the storm is moving inland, expected to weaken further as it heads northeast across northern connecticut and southern massachusetts. the slower speed poses a greater risk from just sitting there and i was watching, it was for a while it was about .4 inches per hour and there is a pool around my house. and i was -- it is a pool.

i have a pool. that is it is like this right now. and my fingers are crossed when it does overflow, all the surrounding stuff goes into it >> i will say driving in, it was not as bad as i feared it looks bad now did you hear about nashville this morning, i had to, yeah no. >> the rachel maddow drives herself. >> this is your story. and in nashville, the flooding they got, houses swept away, elementary schools under water, 17 inches, we did not get that we did not get that. >> no, we didn't like i said, good to have you here time now up for the squawk planner, showdown is coming this week in the house of representatives. at issue, when to vote on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that was passed in the senate. speaking of pelosi and the liberal wing of the party are pursuing a strategy how to tie that vote to the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package of spending on healthcare, education, and climate the budget reconciliation

process requires nearly all of our caucus on board to pass a procedural hurdle. a group of nine democrats is calling for a quick vote on the infrastructure bill, threatening to block efforts to tie the two votes in early tests a vote is set for tonight. don't we have -- >> josh heimer. >> yes >> he's accepted that -- he has accepted that name it is easier he knows how hard it is to say -- >> we have to talk to him about this strategy. if he's pursuing this. >> i think that's your interview. >> we talk about this a week ago monday. >> josh? >> yes >> we fast-forward a week, this is still happening >> does he still talk about -- >> i think he supports the repeal. >> he does he says he won't go forward if it is not there. >> i have to ask him, yeah >> also this week's agenda, a few notable data points, durable goods orders for july are due on wednesday. jobless claims and gdp revisions on wednesday

personal income and spending numbers on friday. tomorrow we'll hear from best buy and nordstrom. on wednesday, dick's sporting goods and salesforce thursday, hp, gap and dow. the week concludes with the headline event, the closely watched fed conference at jackson hole a lot of speculation about the fact it will be held virtually this year. what it means for the messaging, powell's keynote speech will be streamed live friday morning we'll talk to steve about this later on. >> we have to concentrate when he's talking. >> it is high level. >> it is we try to get some of it >> yes. >> that's all we hope for. >> if we understand a third to a half. >> then it is a good day. coming up, we told you what's on the calendar this week up next, how to prepare for it futures now up 144 on the dow. at 7:00 a.m., we'll talk about the surge of the covid delta variant with the director of the nih, dr. francis collins

quk x"omg ghback [music plays.] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ if you're 55 and up, t- mobile has plans built just for you. ♪ ♪

switch today and get 2 lines of unlimited and 2 free smartphones. plus you'll now get netflix on us. all this for up to 50% off vs. verizon. it's all included. 2 lines of unlimited for only $70 bucks. and this rate is fixed. you'll pay exactly $70 bucks total. this month and every month. only at t-mobile.

introducing xfinity rewards. our very own way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like movie night specials. xfinity mobile benefits. ...and exclusive experiences, like the chance to win tickets to see watch what happens live. hey! it's me. the longer you've been with us...

the more rewards you can get. like sharpening your cooking skills with a top chef. join for free on the xfinity app and watch all the rewards float in. our thanks. your rewards. markets could take a wait and see -- that's better -- this week ahead of the virtual annual meeting of fed officials in jackson hole, wyoming. let's bring in cary firestone

co-founder of oreus and cnbc contributor. jackson hole is one thing. what does that get ranked compared to the delta variant in terms of concerns for you, cary? >> not very high i think that the fed has had a very accommodated but also thoughtful approach and they're giving themselves a lot of flexibility. so we don't think the market expects there to be a lot of change in policy or direction. so, no, i don't think jackson hole is going to drag the market this week. people are watching it that's not the main concern. the main concern is the delta variant and what is happening, are we reopening or reclosing? >> and that's not monolithic throughout the country either. i guess we have to think of it that way what do you think, i mean, you're not obviously an epidemiologist, but are we closer to the end of this? which dr. gottlieb has been saying for a while

or closer -- the beginning or the end or the end of the beginning we're seeing with delta? >> well, you know, obviously we have vaccines out there. we know how to make vaccines how to address the virus and one would assume that moderna, pfizer and other companies with the technology can create vaccines that will address a variety of new variants that show up. so we think this is better news than where we were for sure in, you know, the spring of 2020 it is about how can we maintain the economic growth that we have seen and, you know, stellar form in the second quarter of 6.5% growth and not detract from that to the point that we're in a stalemate. we're assuming that the economy keeps growing. but as we saw in the second quarter, earnings were great, guidance was also excellent, and

the market over the last six weeks has essentially been flat. so it wasn't enough, you know. if right now had very high expectations for the third quarter earnings, and because of delta we have some, you know, on the margin slowdown, and supply chain disruptions, it could be that we move out acouple of months, three months, four months and still flat. that's part of why we think that the market is in a sense waiting, meandering, we're not getting a lot of direction you're not seeing either big surge again in growth stocks, big surge in the reopening trade. there is a wait and see. it is healthcare that has been the best performing group over the last six weeks also, by the way, if you looked at the top 25 performers of the s&p 500, recently, what you're going to find is there is healthcare names, but the majority of the names have under $50 billion in market cap, which sounds big but it isn't none of the big stocks are driving the market and that shows a bit of a lack of conviction right now

>> you mentioned the growth value, sort of dynamic, and you think you need to do both because it goes back and forth and it -- neither has necessarily -- growth is still favored. to some extent, or has won you think you need to have both. >> well, we do if you look at the market, year to date, it is interesting growth, value, large cap, small cap, they're all up between 16 and 18%, you know, more or less. it is the gyrations, so if you have various portfolios in one direction or another, you'll be whipsawed around and people get uncomfortable with that. we have a -- i would say a biased growth portfolio, but we own names like american express, united healthcare, those are good reopening plays and then we own a lot of the facebook, apple, google, paypal type names that will do well in any economy, did great in 2020, those are sustainable growth

firms that have big modes and a lot of forward momentum, wherever the economy goes. it is better we think to have that balance of both some growth and some reopening, which are often lower multiple stocks or american express, for example, booking, lower multiple, but facebook is not that high on multiple stock either right now. >> you point out that some of the growth names you have built in inflation protection. is that because you are not sure about the transitory nature of what the fed is claiming and others are claiming for what we're seeing >> we don't know what we do know is there is some inflation. you're seeing inflation and a lot of parts of the economy and it may be purely supply chain driven because of covid, that is in factories or at loading docks or because of people not coming back to work

therefore if you have companies that have subscription models, special force or netflix, peloton even, microsoft, these all have built in, you know, protection because they're subscription models, they can raise prices if you look at firms who have, you know, what we would call a strong market, sherwin williams, the housing market is so strong, they can pass on some of the costs in higher prices to customers or american express, visa, pay pal, they take a percent of revenues and if there is inflation and merchants start to price higher, they're taking their percent, so they're protected to that extent and that's a good hedge, make some sense in this kind of, you know, environment, where we don't know for sure >> when is the last time you spoke to peter litch

>> not that long ago not that long ago. in fact, his daughter lived in the house two doors away from me i've seen him. i run into him sometimes i love peter lynch a wonderful guy. >> we don't hear from him. he left and when he left he left he was so amazing and talented and 1977 and 1990, 29.2% average annual -- can never be repeated. >> i worked for peter for years. it is incredible but he's around fidelity he's around fidelity >> i knew you worked for him that's why i brought it up i wasn't just hoping you knew him. yeah >> oh, yeah. >> can you get -- ask him if he would come on "squawk box" next time you talk to him would you do that? >> i bet if you called him, he would come if you called him, he would come on i bet he would. >> third time. >> i don't know.

what did she do? i don't know the news about rachel maddow today. >> rachel got a great new contract and is staying at msnbc. there was, you know, there was all this scuttlebutt whether she was going to stay or not i don't know she ever would have left that kind of stuff helps and it is, like, in the wall street journal, it is the third most important story. >> and to joe, it is the number one most important story. >> i'm happy i'm happy for msnbc. she anchors the -- called synergy. >> rising tide, rising tide is what you call it. >> called being a company man, company woman. >> is she getting paid in bitcoin? >> i asked her she's doing that now yeah, i guess kelly is asking. >> i'm not getting paid in bitcoin, nor is maddow >> thank you say hi to peter. >> thank you, guys you bet. take care. >> bye-bye >> boeing plans to invest in

richard branson's orbit. this is according to the wall street journal this is boeing stepping up with a big investment here in the virgin orbit spac. they're saying they plan -- the spac plans to list on the n nasdaq it isn't clear how much boeing will be investing, but still an interesting move, boeing itself obviously has aerospace, putting space in aerospace ambitions. coming up, big new gigs for familiar faces pending senate confirmation hearing, the biden's latest pics a lot of energy names on this list, look at devin energy, occidental, 4% rebounds today as crude rebound s to $64 we're back in a minute ♪♪

♪♪ i'm evie's best camper badge. but even i'm not as memorable as eating turkey hill chocolate chip cookie dough creamy premium ice cream and chasing fireflies. don't worry about me. i'm fine.

you can't beat turkey hill memories.

my son romeo has sought counsel with some strategic advisors. they suggest that we marry our fortunes with...the capulets. blasphemy! fear not. these advisors managed one of the largest mergers in history, creating billions in value. billions? plus, they have experts in global trade. this merger shall be a boon for our spice business. and set a course for growth. here, here! friars, send word at once. yes, m'lord.

welcome back, everybody. time now for the executive edge. president biden announcing his picks for several key diplomatic posts. two of the names familiar to squawk viewers, nicholas burns the pick for ambassador to china. he served with nato and greece he's also a former cnbc contributor who helped us cover international affairs. and rahm emanuel is the president's pick for ambassador to japan he served as chief of staff to president obama and mayor of chicago. >> second emanuel we mentioned today. maybe we'll get zeek in. what happened there. overachievers. >> in terms of picks >> in terms of those three brothers all being so -- new york governor andrew

cuomo is expected to relinquish his office at 11:59 p.m. tonight. he spent recent days signing bills and granting clemency to prison inmates as workers moved his belongings from the executive mansion to a rented uhaul. sounds horrible. >> as long as he's not driving it himself. >> he announced his resignation after a state attorney general report found he sexually harassed at least 11 women, the governor called the accusations of harassment and misconduct unfair and untrue. and lieutenant governor kathy hochul has been meeting with state officials and building a cabinet over the past two weeks. she is scheduled to take the oath of office tomorrow. coming up, lease maniacs assemble in the rundown -- it said liesman data in the rundown. it looks like lease mania to me. which fits the way viewers tune

in for segments. they're lease maniacs. steve joins us next with the preview of the fed's jackson hole symposium, now virtual. fly fishing, liesman and we'll talk to jim grant. here are the s&p winners and losers hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this... your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee...

yeah i should've just led with that... with at&t business... you can pick the best plan for each employee and only pay for the features they need. (vo) this is more than just a building. it's an ai-powered investment firm with billion-dollar views. a cutting-edge data-security enterprise. yes, with a slide. a perfect location for the world's first one-hour delivery. an inspiration for the next workout cult. and enough space for a pecan-based nutrition bar empire. it could happen. because there's space for any dream on loopnet. the most popular place to find a space.

good morning, everybody. let's get a check of futures, hanging on to their rebound. the dow poised to open higher. a risk on tone across all global markets if you want to call it that, going back to last night we talked about crypto earlier, picking up this risk on attitude no matter where you look in spite of the negative headline news on covid and a few other things, a lot of data on tap this week. we'll see if that can turn the tide from last week.

that brings us to our discussion of jackson hole and the taper. a lot of people are waiting insights from the taper from the jackson hole summit this week. it will be held virtually because of covid concerns. steve liesman joins us now with more steve, do you want to start with the whole going virtual and the idea that means as many traders are interpreting it that nothing major is going to happen >> yeah, well, i mean, it is all related, the idea of going virtual with the fed policy. you remember the idea of an in person jackson hole meeting this year always seemed risky a few brief weeks in may when it was announced it appeared the vaccine would vanquish the virus and top central banks could meet in the shadows to discuss the post pandemic economy. but a last minute discussion on friday amid the spiking delta concerns, the kansas city fed reversed course, decided to hold it virtually here is what i've been able to report as behind the decision. it quickly became clear this week that following the guidelines of the national park

meant not only guests but speakers have to wear masks on thursday, not easy to deliver 20 minute academic speech with a mask on. teton county upgraded the risk level to red travel was recommended for essential purposes only. and fed chair jay powell announced he would speak virtually rather than attend the conference in part because of concerns for his security people that would travel with him a spokesperson told me red status for teton county told us we were introducing more risks to the community and our guests than we were comfortable introducing. the result an event that might have been a symbol of a return to normal now is a symbol of eventual return to the pandemic economy. the jackson hole event gone virtual is a strong signal to markets that central bankers are taking delta seriously while fed officials earlier were talking about a faster timeline, at least one of those officials robert kaplan said if the delta variant starts to hurt the

economy, he would delay an earlier taper. so we're going to hear from numerous fed officials on thursday and friday this week, get their views on whether the delta variant needs a tougher outlook for the economy, but easier outlook for fed policy. that's all going to culminate on friday morning with the keynote speech by powell joe? >> are you bitter at all about the fly fishing or any of the -- you're okay with this? we're still going to get to the crux of the whole discussion, i guess, right but any disappointment, any -- >> joe, i'm not angry at all, joe. i -- not angry at all. >> you threw in the shadow of the tetons, i like that. >> i did >> there will be another time. there will be a -- you know what, who knows at this point. steve, stay with us. let's bring in -- >> i get to meet a lot of interesting people out there a view of the country, different part of the world. so it is -- i'm going to miss that. >> you know my junket.

i meet people at pebble beach. you meet people at the grand tig tetons, we both do a lot of important stuff when we're there. so you're talking about robert kaplan, talking to barons, i guess the reason you highlighted it is because it is like, the unintended side effects are starting to outweigh the benefits that's like stop the presses for you? like, yeah, maybe? is that why you highlighted that case you didn't highlight it because it was so profound, did you? >> well, you said that two weeks ago. and now he's all for reconsidering and evidently for extending what i would say is a net harmful policy for america we're talking about the risks of covid. how about the risks of unlimited

qe the fed has titled this meeting, the virtual meeting of the grand tetons macro economic policy in an uneven economy. i would title it gasoline on house fire or fire hoses in a hurricane. because $120 billion a month in an economy that is bounding and ready with good health, stock markets at all times, 4,000 in interest rates and on and on, you wonder why is the fed still in crisis mode and we're happy to talk. financial markets, happy to talk about such things as covid and whether or not the chairman will appear personally or virtually the biggest thing to me is the persistence of this unexamined premise the fed must be on full ahead flank speed at all times

why do we need this? why, why >> yeah, we love numbers like that i was going to bring that up that you are talking about financial conditions for the goldman sachs financial conditions index, the easiest since the inception of that gauge in 1984. then you say stock prices point out where those are and you can pick your number however valued those might be and then the bond market is at the lows of 4,000 years. i'll start using that. we haven't seen levels like this since minus -- since 2000 bc, the last time it was -- but the point you're making is self-evident and then you say, and i think people will call you cold and heartless, that the real risk of the delta variant, what it presents to life and limb, is small compared to the actual effect of further delay on exiting some of these monetary policies, that that

effect would actually be worse overall than just the health effects. i don't know whether that's true, but, i think you're trying to make a point there. >> well, these policies do have consequences and can have profound consequences and everyone, the bond market and the fed alike, are betting everything on this idea that unique policies will not be inflationary enand to the exten they are ininflationary, it will be transitory. this is seemingly absorbed without descent, no descent evident in the bond market what if that is not true what if the inflation, no longer a theory but a fact, what if this is persistent the entire financial world dangles by a thread of these ultra low interest rates, valuations dependent on them, and closer to main street, you

know, house crisis is ranging and affordability is plummeting, and i don't mean to compare life and limb with the adverse consequences of a unique and perhaps uniquely reckless set of macro economic policies. but, certainly, human health is not unrelated to the state of our economies and to the state of our finances. i say the fed is playing with fire >> steve >> two points quick, joe the first is i was convinced by the hold robert kaplan idea, which was that these $120 billion a month in asset purchases didn't do much for the supply side of the economy, which is the part of the economy where the inflation is being generated right now. i still don't see how the delta variant, where we have shown that we can have continuedand

strong demand in -- amid a raging virus, i don't see how that is going to change the demand outlook we still have an inflation problem. the other thing i think is interesting, i wanted jim's comment on this, jim, what we see in the fed policy is an acem tri asymmetry here i'm reminded about the 9/11 stimulus, where the greenspan came in, cut 75 basis points, but never took that 75 basis points back as a whole when it was clear that the economy didn't need it anymore and that's an asymmetry that keeps -- that pumps people like you to say, don't do it in first place, because you're going to be too slow getting it back, taking it back >> yes we noticed that the so-called crisis of 2019 turned into a permanent situation, rather than

a transitory crisis. we're left today with such spectacles as this reverse repo facility, garnering 1.1 trillion last week. these being footloose dollars that have no place else to go except to the five whole basis points the fed was paying for an overnight low, and so this economy is absolutely redundantly overflowing with the thing we call liquidity. this great nectar. and everyone is saying that it is not inflationary, this is transitory what is inflation if not this? what is inflation if not these raging house prices, if not the crypto boom, if not the things we see at every hand the -- who was it, mr. evans, perhaps, in chicago, said he wouldn't be so quick to move system la

syste stimulus because a few people are alarmed about inflation. i see that as a wholesale derogation of duty on the part of the fed what are they doing? and what i hope for is people will at least begin to ask $120 billion a month in the economy that is -- the forecast for the next quarter, steve, 10%, annualized why? why? what does it say about the foundations of our finances that we need this extraordinary money printing saturated -- super saturation of credit just something wrong and i know that life goes on, sun rises in the east, grand tetons are monumental and no one is dying at the federal reserve with respect to the timing of my warnings that the inevitable is certain, but not always

punctual so i am -- yeah. >> okay. jim, thanks and, steve, thank you, and we didn't get to talk about powell and whether he gets reappointed and whether it is just about not -- i don't know what the far left wants, steve, whether it is just more regulation on the financial sector or for him to be even more dovish, which -- to provide more stimulus. that calculus we haven't talked about either probably wants to be reappointed, don't you think he's got constituencies to satisfy even though as we know the fed is not political but, you know -- >> i think he wants the job. >> i think he does too i think that means that plays into some of the stuff steve liesman, go ahead, jim. >> i would love to be jay powell 2012, you can't keep pressing rates lower forever. distortions and misallocation of capital, private equity guy, he was eloquent and persuasive and

whatever did happen to him >> exactly all right, that was lived up to its fanfare, liesman, lies mania. people are saying lies mania. >> we'll talk later about the citifield list. >> i was reading about that horrible thing that happened, that dude seemed pretty cool the ceo of a liquor company, tried to do a body flip and fell two stories and died horrible at the dead concert. the dead and company concert. >> yeah, watch that one. >> coming up, hospitals in the south and midwest are sounding the alarm about kids and covid we have the alarming new numbers next and reminder you can watch or listen to "squawk" live anytime on the cnbc app. we're back after this.

you have the best pizza in town and the worst wait times. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire baaam. internet that doesn't miss a beat. mthat's cute, but my internet. streams to my ride.

adorable, but does yours block malware? nope. -it crushes it. pshh, mine's so fast, no one can catch me. big whoop! mine gives me a 4k streaming box. -for free! that's because you all have the same internet. xfinity xfi. so powerful, it keeps one-upping itself. can your internet do that? hospitals in the south and the midwest are treating more children with covid than ever and preparing for more surges once schools reopen. children, as you know, under 12, aren't eligible to be vaccinated and vaccination rates for those between 12 and 17 remain relatively low most recent data from the cdc shows a sharp uptick in pediatric covid hospitalizations in august, children's hospital

say they're bracing for a school related surge in areas with high community spread meantime, another high profile breakthrough infection, the reverend jesse jackson and his wife have been hospitalized after testing positive for covid. jackson is 79 years old and vaccinated he received his first dose in january during a publicized event as he urged others to receive the inoculation as soon as possible. he previously had been diagnosed with parkinson's a statement from his nonprofit organization said doctors are monitoring his situation and would provide more updates as available. coming up, "jeopardy" looking for a permanent successor to alex trebek come on, david faber what happens next for the syndication giant. and check out shares of uber and lyft, falling after a california judge ruled late friday night that the law that classifies drivers as contractors is unconstitutional and unenforceable. that will be at field. uber andyft is lth morning we're back in a minute

here is the guest host of jeopardy david faber. having also played as a contestant with alex, i understand just how important it was to him that the players were able to perform at their very best and i hope and intend to honor that standard as a guest host this week >> that of course was our own david faber guest hosting "jeopardy" to rave reviews

i want him to do it but then he would not be able to be here with us. the search for a full-time host is underway again after mike richards said he's stepping down nine days after he got the gig controversial statements he made on an old podcast. "jeopardy" and "wheel of fortune" earn 1$125 million for sony i think there's big ramifications here in terms of the cash flows if we sort of assume or speculate that viewers could really tune out. i think there's implications for linear tv given this is one of the last sort of scheduled tv events, my own family, my grandfather, my dad, everybody, they sit together in front of the tv, they watch this. who knows what happens after pat and vanna. they end up handing over the reins as well. you have this major transition, cynthia. do you think it's a risk here?

>> i think very well so. this whole drama that nobody could have predicted around "jeopardy" has certainly been a black eye for sony pictures but it has reinforced how much america and the world loves this show, feels invested in this show and felt invested as if it -- as if the fans should and will have a say in a final search for the final permanent host in this situation it's really an extraordinary kind of outpouring that kind of just reflects all of the cross turns in media right now. >> what happens if just 10 or 20% of the viewers that have been tuning in to these two series go away talk us through the implications >> well, as you mentioned, "jeopardy" and "wheel f foof fortune" are one of the few existing -- they transcended tv

shows at this point. they're kind of institutions they're part of the fabric of tv they're one of the few monday through friday shows that reliably brought millions and millions of viewers, particularly live viewers, something that draws a big crowd on a regular basis as real value to advertisers so there's significant risk here. >> a colleague of ours, this gives me an excuse not to watch. from their point of view, what's the best way to smoothly deal with the situation and make sure that you're not permanently alienating a whole generation perhaps of viewers >> it's tricky it's absolutely tricky and this whole prosets has shown how hard it is to pass the baton from a beloved host like an alex trebek i think they go back to the drawing board on some level.

they had along run of guest hosts starting in january including cnbc's david faber who did rate fairly highly on many of the fan surveys i think they go back to, they have a pool of people who have had on air auditions i think they cast a wider net and look outside the pool of hosts. there is no doubt a scrutiny on the process even more so than the first time around. that definitely has to raise the stakes and the tension for the people that are calling the shots. >> yeah. we appreciate it, cynthia. i can't imagine even these don't move the needle for sony, do they >> no. sony as a company has been battling way bigger challenges "jeopardy" is a reliable cash engine for the company in

english and french i think "jeopardy" in this format has proven it's strong enough to endure this small period of controversy and if anything, it in some ways emerges even stronger. >> it's been the sub theme, the importance of hosts. cynthia, we appreciate having you here this morning. thank you. >> thank you time when art flynn is not going to be able to be replaced. pharma news. the host of j"jeopardy. i used to watch it when i would go home with a tray. >> and do people say -- >> it went away for a while and came back. pharma news just breaking, a small deal but we're going to tell you about it. pfizer has announced the acquisition of trillium

therapeutics they had a $700 million cap. 2.26 billion pfizer already on the stake of trillium. >> if you're a trillium bivestor, it's pretty g. >> 198% shares are up but who's counting ♪ ♪ i had the nightmare again maxine. the world was out of wonka bars... relax. you just need digital workflows.

they help keep everyone supplied and happy, proactively. let's workflow it. then you can stop having those nightmares. no, i would miss them too much. whatever you business is facing... let's workflow it. servicenow. [grunts] ♪ ♪ [grunts] pnc bank believes that if a pair of goggles can help your backhand get better... yeah! ...then your bank should help you budget even better. (laughing) virtual wallet® is so much more than a checking account. its low cash mode feature gives you at least 24 hours of extra time to help you avoid an overdraft fee. you see that? virtual wallet® with low cash mode from pnc bank. one way we're making a difference. (chimes)

i'm dad's greatest sandcastle - and greatest memory! but even i'm not as memorable as eating turkey hill chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream with real cocoa. well, that's the way the sandcastle crumbles. you can't beat turkey hill memories.

stocks are looking to bounce off a rare down week futures are decidedly down this week what's the deciding force? at the same time, bitcoin is bouncing back to above $50,000 as crypto has mounted a comeback find out what's moving all of the digital assets higher. plus, the fda ready to give pfizer's vaccine full approval dr. francis collins joins us to discuss the latest in the battle against covid. is the president's more than $3 trillion spending plan at risk we'll ask the co-chair of the problem solvers caucus, josh gottheimer the second hour of "squawk box" begins right now

good morning and welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc i'm joe kernen along with kelly evans. becky and andrew are off today u.s. equity futures are up 158 points the dow up 44 and the nasdaq you can see the s&p indicated up 15. i'm going to stop being your publicist. >> now that it's seven -- >> you don't need a publicist, do you >> no, i don't i have you if you were watching at six i may have referred to kelly as the rachel maddow of cnbc. >> no one would understand that analogy. she hosts a primetime show this is -- >> she's a very well thought of talent at msnbc that's important to the network. >> this is why the story is important to joe this morning. >> no, i'm happy happy for msnbc, jeff and caesar

and ari. >> are you looking at any options? >> no, i'm not i'm just happy for our sister here's what's making headline at this our the fda is set to grant full approval for pfizer vaccine and biontech they're currently being administered under an eua, emergency use authorization. we'll see whether that increases the pace at which we're vaccinating people that are still unvaccinated. >> younger kids, is that still the holdup >> there are too many unvaccinated people. i'm not saying it in a political or geographic way. there are places and not only does it potentially cause hot spots for the virus but it is a breeding ground for new variants which could affect people that are already vaccinated

we're going to be doing this again and again and again. >> you think the full approval is going to change that situation? >> that's the question, whether people then say -- i'm not sure it will. if you can't figure out that the potential side effects versus what happens with covid -- for me it was so -- you read about long haulers, you read about icus, ventilators, not coming off ventilators, side -- all those things and then to take that off the table mostly. it's up to your immune system. that's what we have to keep stressing to people. this is not a therapeutic. it doesn't kill the virus. they stimulate your immune system so you can kill it. if there are any problems, there's going to be breakthroughs because it's going to be up to you for your immune system to take care of things. >> it's weird because it's even as we're -- astrazeneca versus pfizer in order for delta, for all of us who got pfizer would

it have been better -- >> no. i do know people that have gotten moderna and then a pfizer, that have mixed it i don't know if you're antivaccine, you're antivaccine, there's no -- doesn't matter whether it's azarenka, johnson & johnson or pfizer even though there's been tens of millions administered, if you get three unexplained cases, that's what you're going to see on twitter >> we'll have a moment. >> we'll talk to him about a lot of things. >> talk about what's moving in the premarket this monday. a lot of green dom chu joins us with a rundown. dom, this all goes back to china, asian markets and a positive tone? >> yeah. china, asian markets, a little bit of the worry coming off the economic concerns as the chinese government tries to crack down on certain aspects of their business economy with the covid variant, there's

been a big selloff there's fear people are going to consume less fuel. that has run its course enough to where oil prices have fallen seven days in a row. down 20% the seblg tore overall since mid june at this point wti crude prices, losing streak at 3%. some of the premarket move so far on relatively thinner margins have been big oil and gas names. occidental petroleum among some of the names more active even though eog is jumping around between gains and being flat the energy trade, certainly a big mover. as you noted, bitcoin prices generally speaking no matter which kind of measure you want to look at, what exchange, what price, they're the highest levels going all the way back to may 14th or there abouts so those prices higher that's leaving some big premarket moves on decent volume

for some names tied to cryptocurrencies coinbase a big exchange operator robin hood gets more from cryptocurrency trading micro strategy holds bitcoin and then square up about 1% as well. on the cryptocurrency side, watch that one other place to keep a close eye on, kelly, as we take a look at the premarket trade, a look at some of the top searches for tickers. this is from friday's session. nvidia, alibaba, tesla, microsoft ran up the top five. i post the rest of the top ten on my twitter feet at the domino i'll send things back to you. >> dom chu as we noted a moment ago, the fda is expected to grant full approval to the pfizer vaccine. joining us now for what full approval could mean, dr. francis

collins. welcome. does full approval unlock vaccination availability to younger kids >> well, no. let's be clear, the full approval, which is anticipated imminently, quite likely today, means that the pfizer biontech vaccine, which has been available under emergency use for individuals 16 and older, will now have full approval. it'll still be emergency use for 12 to 15-year-olds and those under 12, that process is still underway to try to figure out what would be the safe and effective dose and that will be probably a couple more months. but the big news today is that this coming announcement, which i do think will probably happen this morning, will say that if you had any doubts about whether the pfizer biontech vaccine is safe and effective, and most of us haven't had those doubts, but let's be sure we've checked every box here, fda is going to

tell us, it seems, that those doubts can be removed and the hope for all of us who are looking what's happening in our country is that that will be one more reason for those 90 million people who have still not gotten their first dose to say, okay, i guess it's time. at least i sure hope a lot of them will be polls have indicated that has been an issue that's been holding some people back and i hope they'll be now feeling fully released into confidence to roll up their sleeves because we have a terrible surge happening right now across the country. 150,000 cases a day. we didn't think we would see that again and here we are because of delta and all of those unvaccinated folks who are sitting ducks for this particular variant which is out there looking for them don't waste a minute if that's the thing that's been holding you back and they announced this today, find that place near to you. it's not hard. go to vaccines.gov, they will tell you where to go and get that immunization

started. >> a follow-up for kids. for many people this is going to unlock what they're able to do and the way that they're arranging their lives even over the next 9 months, the next school year. so on the one hand you're saying we're going to get full approval from the fda, everybody go ahead and get the vaccination but on the other hand, what are we waiting for to administer this to younger kids? is it that we didn't have enough trials why is this taking so long for all those parents who are about to send their kids back to school now for a virus that seems to be more dangerous to kids than alpha was, no protection other than masks, just explain to us why this is such a large, glaring omission still. >> i wouldn't call it an omission, kelly. i would say we want to be really careful in terms of

administering something to kids under 12 that's the place that's still having the studies done. let me be clear though, if you're talking about kids between 12 and 15, they can get immunized right now. sadly only 1/3 of them seem to have gotten those doses even as the school is getting started. that's a lot of school rooms that could be done my grandkids certainly have those jabs the kids under 12 though, remember, kids are not just miniature adults, their metabolism and physiology is different. do you give the same dose, 100 micrograms that you would to an adult? do you scale it down if so, by how much are there any surprise side effects you want to watch for? so fda is being very tough on kids proposing to watch kids under 12 you have to try this on a very rigorous trial we have to look at at that data and only then are we willing to allow it i think that's the right thing

to do. i know people are impatient. i am, too. they're tired of having to wear a mask in school if you want to keep your kids safe, that's part of the answer, too. >> doctor, are you still irritated with china's response? we need more transparency and china needs to open up on the investigation. any progress since you said it in may, in june, in july, it's now august have we gotten anywhere? >> gone backwards, i think china basically refused to consider another who investigation. just said, no, not interested. it will be an interesting week because tomorrow is the day of the 90-day deadline that president biden set for the intelligence community to do all their poking around that they could to see if they could come up with anymore insights as to how this virus got started in china. that's all going to be pretty classified i suspect there will be some information coming out of that.

a double cgg nucleotide. it sliced in is that totally just crap. >> they're way outside the data

here i loved it, joe. there are various ways that you can code for an argenine amino acid and cgb is one that is used. >> but never happened in a coronavirus before that these guys said. the two of them together would be -- i don't know what the odds are for picking that way out of 35 to do it twice. the odds would be very high. >> i don't agree i think they did some math that was a little bit fanciful and if you talk to every virologist except those folks, they thin finding those protons is not that exciting. >> how about david boton he was leaning towards possibly it was a lab escape and then he looked like he moderated his viewpoint. >> i think he had an immediate

knee-jerk reaction and said that's interesting you know, that's not that big of a deal the vast evidence from other perspectives this has been under study secretly at the wuhan institute of virology and got out of there. the virus itself did not have the earmarks of having been created intentionally by human work. >> the question about gaming a function if you are studying a bat genome and you're studying it to find out how it would jump to humans, wouldn't you by definition be looking at the way it would gain that function that it went to humans if we're funding this research that's looking at that genome, why does that not gain a function if that's what they're looking for to see how -- wouldn't there be some research

that was being done on the spike protein or the way that it attaches to bat cells versus human cells? isn't that just semantics to say it wasn't gain of function research, doctor >> joe, we get into all kinds of semantics about terms and definitions. terms of art gain of function, you just reported pfizer has bought trillium what does trillion um do? they do gain of function tests when you take a pathogen for humans and you do something with it that would enhance its virulence or transmissibility. they were not studying a pathogen for humans. these were bat viruses this was looked at explicitly carefully by all of the reviewers of that research in anticipation that this might come up was that this did not meet the official description of

what's called gain of function research that requires that oversight. i know this has gotten a lot of attention -- >> that's weird though because if it's not a naturally occurring human pathogen but it becomes a human pathogen based on research that was being done, i don't see how that's a good enough delineation to not call it gain of function. >> joe, it did not become a human pathogen based on this business of shifting spike protein from one backbone to another. this was interesting work to try to understand something about that family of bat viruses again -- >> if it was spliced in, if cgg was spliced in, that would have been gain of function research, right? if they actually tried to get that to see if they could get it to infect the human cell >> again, it would have to be that this was a human pathogen that was altered in a way to enhance the transmissibility and virulence. that's pretty fanciful

i think, joe, those cggs need to be sell the aside as an indication of any mall fees sense that looks to the rest. >> is there anything left in china that will tell us once and for all what happened, doctor, or is it too late? >> wouldn't it be good if they opened up their lab books and let us know what they were doing there. >> we may never know. >> find out more about the cases and those people that got sick in 2019. >> in the lab. in the lab we'll never know though. do you think they've mopped it up and gotten rid of the stuff and we're done, we're never going to know? >> i don't know. i'm going to be really interested to see. >> how excited are you about messenger rna and the application and therapeutics we have a great future, don't we >> absolutely. absolutely. >> we may be talking about that in 100 years we may be talking in 100 years

and i look forward to it, doctor. >> think of what this mrna might do for cancer vaccines. >> that's what i mean. exciting it's great i have more to say, i do i would like to talk to him more maybe later. come back. >> okay. i'd love to. >> okay. thank you. >> dr. collins, thanks very, very much this morning quick check on markets risk on. we'll be right back.

introducing xfinity rewards. our very own way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like movie night specials. xfinity mobile benefits. ...and exclusive experiences, like the chance to win tickets to see watch what happens live. hey! it's me. the longer you've been with us... the more rewards you can get. like sharpening your cooking skills with a top chef. join for free on the xfinity app and watch all the rewards float in. our thanks. your rewards. coming up, going to talk crypto regulation and where prices may be headed somewhere different than where they are and the problem solvers caucus, ngssn sh gottheimer will join us. "squawk box" coming right back

creamy premium ice cream and chasing fireflies. don't worry about me. i'm fine. you can't beat turkey hill memories. (vo) this is more than just a building. it's an ai-powered investment firm with billion-dollar views. a cutting-edge data-security enterprise. yes, with a slide. a perfect location for the world's first one-hour delivery. an inspiration for the next workout cult. and enough space for a pecan-based nutrition bar empire. it could happen. because there's space for any dream on loopnet. the most popular place to find a space.

here with new data makes me feel young that i own some kate. forever young. >> these new investors are more bullish on cryptocurrencies. this is according to our new invest in you next gen survey conducted by cnbc and

cryptocurrencies, more experienced traders. also tends to be more optimistic more than 1/3 say they think coin prices will be higher this year that's compared to 1/4 of the larger investor base headed to investors giving a three-month high of $50,000. individual stocks are still number one with about 1/3 of new investors holding shares of individual companies in a close second 26% of new u.s. investors own crypto it's more than what real estate is doing

they own crypto. men are twice as likely as women to hold digital assets 1/3 of those 18 to 34 say it's risky while those over age 64 much more skeptical. more than 2/3 describe it as a high risk investment guys, back to you. >> let me ask you just one thing, banks, wall street banks, brokerage centers to this new investor base. saw how important it was to robin hood's results. >> one of the big take aways is having a good mobile interface the new investor group that we surveyed is more than three times as likely to place a trade on mobile to really highlight the importance of having a sleek interface. it's just the importance of cryptocurrency overall we'll see if a year from now

it's more than robinhood and coin base. another interesting finding is they're likely to find investment advice. more than twice as likely on the average to get the picture for the financial advisers in that instance >> kristin smith, executive investor of the block head i haven't seen you in a while, anthony. you have noted some underlying things happening in bitcoin arena in the last month or so. things like on twitter negative sentiment versus what was really going on underneath. can you explain why you saw some things indicated and you found some, what, 28,000 28 to 50 is a pretty good move, is it not?

>> yeah. i think what's happening right now is folks are focused on the narrative, but in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency world, there's something called on sheet metrics. there's a whole new industry popping up what those metrics have shown us is nearly 70% of bitcoin is being held by long-term holders. over 80% in circulation are being held by long term holders. the last time that happened we saw a 500% move upwards. when you go through the on chain metrics you can see that realized bouncing back is very, very bullish ultimately it's manifesting itself in this supply chain thesis during this year we're going to see wild price action to the up side >> kristen, it almost seems like

when we get more sort of clarity on what regulators are thinking, that it -- that crypto starts trading higher. >> crypto has a community of users. it's activating and organizing and weighing in. if there was a pay for in the package, that relied on getting revenue from cryptocurrency. at a very high level, that's a very good sign we still need to work on the

details. being on the ground in washington, i've never seen the crypto industry or crypto community more organized at least from the u.s. perspective i think that we still have some work to do but that we're going to ultimately get a good outcome on the regulatory front. >> anthony, i thought you wrote an interesting piece, we should note, so many wall streeters that i know are following your work as kind of the way to watch what's happening in the crypto space. your points about western union vis-a-vis the events in afghanistan, what the lightning network is trying to do with bitcoin, what would you tell people in the traditional money transfer firms how quickly do you think their market share could be eroded or replaced by what bitcoin network is trying to do? >> yeah. i mean, it's simple. get out and get away i don't know what the time frame is but when you look at something like bitcoin, it allows through the lightning network for anyone to send

pennies, literally pennies anywhere in the world with instantaneous settlement with strike they can stream payments and when you start to look at something like what happened in afghanistan with western union at the time of need of literally millions of people, they pulled out of the country. they stopped supporting it they blamed it on agent capacity whether or not that's true, i don't know bitcoin brings a censorship resistant program to the world what we're watching is young people specifically recognize the technical superiority. they are used to these digitally native platforms so they're starting to shift. over a long period of time, the legacy payment systems are in trouble. do we embrace this, disrupt or selves or take it on the chin and i tend to think that bitcoin and the cryptocurrency world is going to win in that battle. >> it was interesting. i got an email from venmo saying

they would pay me $10 if i bought $10 worth of crypto on your platform. what would be your advice to people we heard from robinhood how much a portion of their trading activity is in crypto. in a way you can access it more easily than ever which one is more useful >> i stay away from recommending any one platform the more important part is the timeless investing principles. things like dollar cost averaging, holding a great asset for a long period of time, et cetera what i think is the generational divide is the older generation looks at this as the highest risk as possible i have over 90% of my investing in bitcoin they call bitcoin boomer coin. i think that generational divide is playing itself out in markets

right now. i tend to think bitcoin, i can't reiterate enough, i think we are going to see very, very fast price appreciation through the end of this year in 2017 bitcoin went from 10,000 to $27,000 in 18 days. it would not surprise me to see something that crazy in years. >> pomp, did you ever hear the saying you taught him everything he knows but only 10% of what you know do millennials realize that -- i've seen everything they've seen and then also 30 years before that. so i can add the 30 on to their -- >> are you wanting tweets? >> do they realize boomers were around for the total sum of their experience i have in addition to watching the moon landing, okay? >> joe, you know the saying. the saying is the more things change, the more they stay the

same >> that's right. >> there are a lot of similarities here. >> you had some number about last time bitcoin had this type of underlying technicals, i don't know, it was ready for a big move up. are you predicting a big move up, multiple move, 2, 3, 4 times? >> since 2019 i've said $100,000 before the end of 2021 i'm sticking with that it would not surprise me to see much, much higher than that before the end of the year. >> kristen, anthony. thank you. when were you born, smarty pants? >> '85 >> that's a millennial, is it not? >> little on the older side of millennials. >> you flourish. i talk to you. >> i flourish? >> you talk away. >> you should see me on the weekends. >> you live in the basement. do you have a hover board? >> no, nobody does we should have asked him about your -- anyway, we'll talk more

about cold storage and -- >> no, not about coinbase. >> there's no way i'm writing down all of those things and putting them somewhere safe. >> boomer coin that's what we're talking about. still to come on "squawk box" today, the house is back in session. we're speaking with congressman josh gottheimer. solving problems or creating them, he's pressing his colleagues to pass the bipartisan iraruurnfstcte plan we'll have full details on this in just a moment like..like it's a mirror, dad. you know? alright, okay. how's that? is that how you hold a mirror? [ding] power e*trade gives you an award-winning mobile app with powerful, easy-to-use tools and interactive charts to give you an edge, 24/7 support when you need it the most and $0 commissions for online u.s. listed stocks. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today.

eunice yoon. >> they announced that they heard to zero delta covid cases this weekend here's the delta variant 800 people have the newport terminology.

>> at risk of losing na. that there have been 40 officials >> in terms of the relationship and zero tolerance here it is

>> they say they still believe. >> that was the way to go. and who knows. they pass the infrastructure bill with the taper all the take on that

it's understated, yet over-delivers. it is truly the mercedes-benz of sports sedans. visit your local mercedes-benz dealer today for exceptional lease and financing offers. ♪ ♪

i'm dad's greatest sandcastle - and greatest memory! but even i'm not as memorable as eating turkey hill chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream with real cocoa. well, that's the way the sandcastle crumbles. you can't beat turkey hill memories.

and there you have it- woah. wireless on the most reliable network nationwide. wow. -big deal! ...we get unlimited for just 30 bucks. sweet, i get that too and mine has 5g included. that's cool, but ours save us serious clam-aroonies. relax people, my wireless is crushing it. that's because you all have xfinity mobile with your internet. it's wireless so good, it keeps one upping itself.

this morning what we can expect. the caucus

can you allay my -- 3.5 trillion anything that would stop that. >> i'm talking about that. the infrastructure package was bipartisan if you remember, historic largest in the century that's roads, bridges, rail, water infrastructure, broadband, help to fight climate change, electric vehicles, resiliency,

get the gateway tunnel built very strong package came out of the senate included bernie sanders and mitch mcconnell. all we said as a group is let's make sure we vote on that first, make sure we get that vote in the house of representatives then we can move onto the debate, reconciliation and what should be included in there, what should the size and scope be, looking at revenue raisers and s.a.l.t. and health, hearing, dental, vision, pre-k, priorities like that some of my colleagues are saying, no, no, no, let's actually wait and vote on infrastructure let's finish the 3.5 trillion package. if we like what we're seeing in that package, then we'll continue voting on infrastructure this is huge all we've said is let's vote on that first then we can move on to other things let's not hold it hostage for months on end and say they may

never vote for it. that's what the difference is about. i'm optimistic we hope we can work through that and get this all done. >> you know that it's impossible based on what the moderate members like you are saying and what the far left members are saying you're both holding each other hostage. both groups are holding the other hostage. you're saying we're into the doing anything until we do this. the other side is saying we're not going to do that until you do this and they are diametrically opposed so right now there's -- it's not going to happen if both of you stick to your guns, both sides. >> well, i -- i'm more optimistic than that i think we'll work it out. you've got 2 million jobs a year on the line for infrastructure i'm going to visit with some hard working men and women of labor this morning, building trades people who build these roads, bridges, tunnels, dealing in fact in jersey we have the third worst roads in the country. we have the crumbling gateway.

we have a tunnel we want to replace with gateway which is 113 years old between new york and new jersey i think we'll figure it out. everybody recognizes we need it. >> congress, this is ritchie torres frankly, if we were to pass a bipartisan bill first, then we lose leverage. it's a recipe for gridlock because i can assure you members like me have no intention of budging on our position. >> i love ritchie. he's a great member. so we'll figure it out >> do you have any intention on budging? will you go -- will you budge? >> on what -- on which part of it i'm -- >> will you pass the 3.5 first so you can get to infrastructure >> no, i don't think we can do that the next package, reconciliation package what you're referring to in the end, we have to debate that for months. it's a significant, important investment in the country. there's going to be lots of differences. that's okay. that's what we're supposed to

do all we're saying is let's get infrastructure done first. let's make sure we pass that the votes are there in the house of representatives i know we can get that done. then we'll move on and frankly i'm very optimistic we can get there. we've got some differences that's always what happens right before you get to an agreement and we've talked about this before it always seems toughest before you get there and i think everyone recognizes just how important it is that we actually make progress on both things i have said -- sorry >> it just seems like -- no, that's okay. i'm sorry for interrupting you it seems like when it finally happens there are a lot of people will have said things that aren't true speaker pelosi says she's never going to do it unless you do the 3.5 trillion first she's eventually going to have to say, okay, never mind everybody says okay never mind the public thinks about what was that all about in the first

place? understand negotiating, making sausage, making sausage is even worse than we even thought and if you've actually seen what goes on, it's pretty bad, josh. >> i think everyone watching the station appreciates in any deal getting done there's always a lot of back and forth and it gets ugly and then it gets done. i believe what's most important at the end is that this infrastructure package gets passed that's what i'm focused on it's key to our economy. it's key to the 2 million jobs all i'm saying is let's get it done, let's get shovels in the ground, people to work, then we can move on to reconciliation. i've been completely public saying once we get reck infrastructure done we can do the budget reconciliation. >> what's the maximum you'd accept for the budget reconciliation and you need s.a.l.t. in there, you've said that you're going to -- supposedly you're going to hold out for

that 3.5 trillion what would you like -- what would you hope for what's the maximum you'd hope for? >> you know -- >> 2 trillion, 1.5 would you do 3.5 what's the maximum you would vote for as a moderate in congress >> we've said before here that i think 3.5 is a little aggressive but of course i'm not going to negotiate. >> 3.4 better? or 1.4 >> what i'm going to look at at the end of the day is how does it affect my district? what does it look like in terms of revenue raisers what does it look like for priorities that affect my district i'm sure we'll be on plane to talk about it. first and foremost, let's get this done. we can't let this wither on the vine for months. we have to get it done and move across the finish line i think we can get there and move to the next package.

>> is he your guy? >> i think so. >> ridgewood, josh >> yes. >> are you she's over here just seatething she thinks you can find her and audit her. >> i'm struggling to see what's changed since last week. is none of this going to happen? do markets not care? well, the fed is fine so we don't need the infrastructure. we don't need the budget the debt ceiling i'm kind of with joe on this one. i don't really understand. are we going to get past all of this have we passed everybody have we passed nothing >> without a doubt if you have a pothole problem, call me in the meantime, the physical infrastructure bill is going to get done the fact that it came out with 69 senators, huge support in the country for it, all i hear about are let's get this done, my roads are a mess we have to get the gateway tunnel fixed, got to deal with transit. we have to get that done we're going to get something done on reconciliation too

we're going to debate it so this is just the back and forth and i think this deliberation is important because you're dealing with such important issues like the ones in front of us, we should take our time and focus on it and do it right the infrastructure package, i've worked on it with my colleagues and democrats and republicans. >> huge bipartisan win that's a time to get done and we'll move back. we should consider it and move to debate reconciliation this is the way congress is supposed to work, debate on issues, look at them and make a decision and move forward. >> you never tell us what you'd settle for so i don't know what to ask you what does the final s.a.l.t. compromise look for you and your colleagues that think it's really important to change that? would you accept a higher cap? is that what it's going to be do you think? >> my position on that is -- remains unchanged. we've talked about it here

before full reinstatement of the state and local tax deduction. no reason we should be paying taxes twice. this is a middle class issue in new jersey we've talked about in bergen county the median tax is over $50,000 now it's time to reinstate it and get them tax cuts back here. a teacher and a firefighter who really would get relief if it's done and 1/3 of new jersey will benefit from t. that's my fight on the reconciliation package. we're going to fight for it and do it too. >> you don't like higher taxes in general on anything that whole $3.5 trillion boondoggle, you're going to be voting for taxes out the wazoo, josh >> we haven't actually seen -- let's look at the total impact on -- i'm going to focus on one thing, the total impact on my

district >> on kelly. >> i'm making sure kelly is okay. >> i think it's bad messaging. >> we'll look at that when the sbil written. >> i have to draw you out. >> i think s.a.l.t. is a problem. you can't be for s.a.l.t you're helping the wealthy there are a few people in town that are married to people on wall street. i don't think it's helping the middle class. >> i'll introduce you to a lot of people who are real middle class who need help. >> josh love coming on and facing us. i called you congressman josheimmer >> he's arrived. (vo) while you may not be running an architectural firm,

tending hives of honeybees, and mentoring a teenager — your life is just as unique. your raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your passions, and the way you help others. so you can live your life. that's life well planned. what the world needs now... is people. people who see energy a little bit differently. where a switch to cleaner power

means a more resilient grid... with renewables and gas power providing energy whenever it's needed. because seeing a more sustainable world isn't far in the future. we're building it... now. ge building a world that works. ♪ ♪ i had the nightmare again maxine. the world was out of wonka bars... relax. you just need digital workflows. they help keep everyone supplied and happy, proactively. let's workflow it. then you can stop having those nightmares. no, i would miss them too much.

whatever you business is facing... let's workflow it. servicenow. good morning futures turning to gains at the open after a rare down week last week up 162 points now on the dow mohamed el erian is here to get you ready for a big week for the fed. very few people, very few people get to sit on set. in this case we feel like we're the lucky ones because he's right next to me he's between kelly and we're both going to have questions for you. are you ready? >> i'm ready

do you have your coffee? >> i have it right here. >> how did you sleep last night? >> very well. pfizer set for full fda approval could come as soon as today. dr. scott gottleib joins us straight ahead plus, a new warning out on hedge fund performance in the third quarter. china's crackdown on the tech sector. that could be to blame we're all mini violins playing all over for the hedge fund guys the final hour of "squawk box" begins right now good morning, everybody. welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc live from the nasdaq market site in times square where the rain has let up now finally nothing like it was in tennessee overnight. i'm kelly evans along with joe kernen becky and andrew are off today dow looking to open up 155 s&p up 13.

nasdaq up 38 treasury yields, everything across the board pretty much reflects this risk on sentiment. joe mentioned china did start in the asian session overnight. 10 year, 127 is the taper priced in do people think it's going to be priced back. er one is talking about the spread of covid. a whole lot to get to this hour. mohamed el erian here to do it >> yup. >> is this me? >> i think so. i'm joe. you're kelly let's get ready for the trading week ahead elmer fud. mike santoli mike, were you on vacation where the hell you been? >> yeah, i was off i was watching, you know, from the sidelines last week, joe. >> missed you. >> i think i'm going to be there on that set at some point in the next couple of weeks too. >> awesome. >> what i do observe coming back on, i guess i missed 2% down side wobble in the s&p 500 take a look at the chart essentially last week at the

lows, went back just to sort of the prior month's peak we've done this a couple of times. didn't even get down to the 50, the average which has happened 60 or 70 times the dip was bought the prior month we did that. nothing too unusual going on what was going on last year at this time, you are about to embark in a furious ten day 5% ramp driven by fang. that preceded the 10% decline. we're not in a similar mode. take a look at a picture though of what has been a couple of months of a global growth scare captured by the s&p 500 over the last two years compared to the msci asia ex-japan index plus the goldman sachs commodity index. this shows you the s&p 500, it's a growthy index. defensive. much more big, durable profit streams than here but you see we're talking about since early june really, asia coming off and

bouncing today the commodities index. so the question is have we already set a discount at a deceleration globally sufficiently to rebuild from here that is going to be the question through and beyond jackson hole. finally, take a look at the credit situation it is not at its best levels of the year this is the high yield bond et ff price versus the high great or investment grade. you see it's been amazingly steady corporate high grade bonds, investment grade bonds have rallied along with treasuries. therefore, the yields have come down high yield has more or less gone flat that spread between the prices has compressed a little bit. we're probably off the best levels for loose financial and highly quit at this. very much in that mode not seeing a lot of stress no alarms being rung right there, joe. >> that's true mike, good did you -- you didn't take a plane anywhere, did you? or did you

>> did took a plane there and took a plane back. >> you did >> within the country. >> within the country? >> yeah. >> very good okay was it -- >> full compliance everything was fine. >> can you give us any additional color was it bigger than a bread basket did you go south, north, west? >> west, actually. northwest. >> northwest northwest. >> boise. >> i kind of zagged. >> getting warmer? >> are we getting -- montana maybe. that's mohamed's guess like yellowstone. >> further west. >> further west. >> wow >> now i -- >> he's a private man. >> now i embarrassed myself, minnesota? thanks, mike >> all right >> we won't press you any further. >> but let's bring in our special guest for the hour who can press away, mohamed el erian. he's also the president of queens college cambridge

me and joe were saying very nice. >> rare fied air, dude. >> maybe i'll start mentioning this idea that we're supposed to be starting another school year, remember when everyone was coming to work after labor day do we all know that's out the window now even the three of us being on set together, are we heading for another year where this is just not going to happen? i'm curious what you would tell people who are saying how much is 2021 into '22 going to look like last year instead of a return to normal the journal has an article about now this has been going on for to you years it's going to stay like this forever. >> i think we're learning to live with covid. that's the key issue we've understood it's not going away and we're learning to live with it. we compromise on certain things. most businesses will not come back full time, at least until next year but there will be more interaction than there was a year ago >> right so we are in some ways the muddled middle we have a lot to figure out.

we have to be particularly careful about new mutations. >> so why does none of this -- >> we would have thought when delta started spreading, we saw a market reaction. we're seeing a market reaction nothing like 2020. why? >> i think the market condition is very strong look what we learned last year last week. we had a wobble and we came straight back. we shouldn't be surprised. >> why did we come back? just because we were down? >> we didn't come back because growth concerns have disappeared. they're still there. we didn't come back because inflation fears have disappeared. they're still there. we didn't come back because the fed somehow is not going to taper earlier. the reason why we came back is because this market is deeply conditioned to buy the dips and it has worked extremely well and the market will continue to buy the dips a major shock to this marketplace to shake out this behavioral conditioning.

>> is the fed papering over, let's put it this way, the sort of -- look, goldman took down the gdp and i think 9% to 5.5% for the quarter. you can say that's strong. we're in a semi-work from home, semi-pandemic. is it because of fed liquidity what is holding everything together >> fed liquidity the fed is not going to be able to taper in october or november, that when push comes to shove they will wait why? because covid is slowing down growth now ironically covid is pushing inflation higher because we're getting more supply disruptions than we did before it's a really difficult time the market deep inside is absolutely convinced this is an incredibly dovish fed. >> we've seen dip buying for as long as i can remember, buy the dips people have been conditioned in the past sometimes things change and they change quickly

there was some statistic out about how long it's been since we had a 5% correction which in this writer's -- these financial journalists always need a hook so they can do the click bait, oh, i want to read it and it's never really true. debt makes this market more over valued now than in a long, long time because we haven't had this 5% growth. being conditioned works to buy the dip until it doesn't work. so i don't know -- otherwise, there would never be another pull back if it was just the condition. what's going to change so that we do have a prior -- >> i came to the market late in life so i didn't drink the koolaid. the trend is your friend and don't fight the fed. >> those are two good ones. >> they are very good ones they have worked extremely well. what do you need you need either a major policy mistake, the fed being really

late in easing the foot off the accelerator or alternatively you need a market accident the markets are offside and you need an accident that cascades through. right now neither are being factored in by the marketplace >> but it could be tomorrow, it could be next week i mean, how long are you giving me on this how long have i got to live? >> i'm giving you way beyond tomorrow way beyond tomorrow. >> the dip buying. >> yes we're not going to find out whether we made a major policy mistake until the end of the year i think we are i think inflation is not transitory i think people under estimate inflation dynamics we're not going to find that out until the end of the year. >> to emphasize what you said a moment ago, you basically don't think they're going to taper in november in october, maybe november, maybe this year and it's interesting because you can read the commentary, you know, for the last couple of days. everyone is trying to figure out is the market okay with the

taper and it's priced in or is it assuming the fed pushes it off and now we're headed to jackson hole and powell has laid the groundwork and we'll see if we take it inside or if people are assuming they're going to push it off and that's why the market is holding up well. >> the history for the fed is every time they had a window to try to normalize, they didn't do it by the time they want to do it, it's too late. i think they're going to do the same thing the reason i've been saying for weeks, for months, taper now, is because that window may close. now some people will say what does that matter it means that every time you start you start with a more abnormal, more distorted market. so every opportunity you miss to taper has costs further down the road i think the marketplace is convinced that they had the opportunity to taper they did not taper now when push comes to shove they're going to look through the covid uncertainty and say, you know what? let's keep it going for a while.

>> you don't do draftkings we were talking about the mets i lost you don't do draftkings. if you did do draftkings, what would you bet on powell's second term do you think it's even money do you think it's highly favored? do you think he doesn't get it what do you think? >> i think it's highly favored i think every indication we've got is it's highly favored and it may come a lot earlier than people expect. if you are sitting with the biden administration now, you think, do i really want to disrupt markets? i have so much going on. >> the left wants -- the far left thinks he's -- i don't know, they think he's ronald regan. they think everything is -- right? >> yeah. i mean, remember there's two issues there's monetary policy where i don't think the left can complain at all. he has been one of the most dovish people on the fmoc. >> and regulation. >> regulation. regulation is where they have issues with him. >> they don't like him at all

and biden seems to like them in terms of -- >> so where do you put it? let me put you on the spot >> i thought it was a slam dunk but, you know, i look -- i don't know where the geographic center of that party is right now i'm totally -- i have no idea. nothing surprises me anymore fewer cops means less crime. did you know that? >> i wonder if what mohamed is saying post afghanistan do you think it's more likely he's reappointed? >> you have afghanistan, you have covid how many -- how much fluid at this do you want in the system right now? that's the big question? >> yeah. mohamed, you'll stay there be here with us for the rest of the hour we appreciate it. >> you're all vaxxed and everything >> i'm totally vaxxed and tested. >> did you get one of those tat tattoos? he got a vax card tattoo. >> it would save some work in pulling it out. >> it would. coming up, gig economy stocks getting pounded this morning after a key legal ruling in california. that's next.

then dr. scott gottleib joins us on the latest vaccine approval headlines in the spread of the delta variant "squawk box" will be right back. . i know some consultants with great ideas. can they help us improve our digital experience? absolutely. they've invested over $2 billion in tech. that could really help us manage inventory. and save us a ton of dough. then let's take back our market share. checkmate, chess heads. girls, i said “bedtime”! you founded your kayak company because you love the ocean- not spreadsheets. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

it's taken a lot to get to this moment. mat ♪ grew up at midnight -on. the maccabees ♪ dreams are on the line. you got this. refresh... it all, comes down, to this. ♪♪

welcome back to "squawk box. futures indicated higher up 155 points. nasdaq indicated up 41 and the s&p indicated up about 14. we're watching the shares of some of the gig economy stocks that do business in california like uber, lyft, doordash all down sharply late friday a california judge ruled that the state's gig worker's law is unconstitutional voters that approved a measure allowing the companies to treat the drivers as independent contractors is certain to face appeals. it's not the end of what happens here i don't know what an uber ride is going to cost if it's an independent contractor. >> it's already up there morgan stanley is saying uber is a topic. even with all of the uncertainty, you're still seeing people -- 80% up side. >> what should we -- as a --

let's pretend that i like the virtue signal because i see it a lot. do i want them to be able to be independent contractors or do i want them to have full benefits? >> the only way out here is the third way, right you want there to be a third place they can go and get benefits maybe everybody -- doesn't that seem like -- that's what's happening with work. >> speaking of virtue signal i'm kidding. what do you think we should do the reason that it works is because there's false print. they have to have a way to make money. it's not the red cross whose side do you come down to >> if i were to ask your question, if you want a virtue signal, quote, unquote, what do you do you want to give them the choice you want to have them opt in automatically but they can opt out. >> what happens on the business model if they all demand benefits >> then the business model is going to have to evolve. >> evolve? evolve to bankruptcy

>> so they are -- you should really -- i don't know if you've read the recent book called "the call of wheat," that's a fascinating book >> is it like a village or something? >> we were the debacle. >> yeah. >> that wheat. >> that wheat. >> covid is accelerating the way that work is accelerating. you either need to be fully attached or not. it's way too expensive to hire employees. everybody is going to freelance, part time, contract work there needs to be a place where people can go for benefits i do believe that. dr. scott gottleib joins us next we'll talk about the rise of the delta variant and a whole lot more that's next. as we head to break, let's check in the price of crude. rebounding and down almost in the bear market. high was 77. got down to 62 at the end of the week back up to 64.

accidentals up nearly 60%. we'll be right back. actively managing investments in the world's public and private markets. outscale, with the resources to serve 1,500 clients in 52 countries. and outlast, with long-term conviction that looks beyond today's volatility. join the pursuit of outperformance at pgim. the investment management business of prudential.

i would expect they would be a little bit later in terms of gaining a fall profl. >> what do you expect in terms of the adoption of the vaccine by getting an uptick once they get fall profl or willagencies be able to mandate >> i think it will be the latter i know in some of the surveys people cite the fact that the vaccine isn't fully approved that's one of the reasons they're hesitant to approve it it might lead to, you know, an easier discussion on the part of physicians with certain patients in terms of trying to get them vaccinated i don't think there's going to be a rush of people who have been waiting for this binary moment in time going out to cvs and walgreens because it's been fda approved there will be some, but i don't think that will have a significant effect in terms of

actually showing up in the numbers. more likely to be gradual. with respect to businesses, i have talked to a lot of businesses that have said they don't feel comfortable mandating the vaccine until it gains full approval they feel they'll be on stronger legal ground so i would expect them to be mandating it once it's approved. >> i don't know what to make of some of the headlines. is it different than the original variant for children? does it seem to be more virulent for children >> i thought there was an indication that the south was peaking. the south has peaked it doesn't feel that way because we're still -- we still have a lot of new infections on a day over day basis and the hospitals still have very hard weeks they're going to continue to get maxed out. very clear evidence you look at states like arkansas, louisiana,

you see the cases coming down. you look at sites like covid.org. it's below the line in the south. it's 8.6 yesterday which shows a contracting epidemic if you look at the data in florida, cases day over day are coming down for every age category except children at the age of 18. you are seeing outbreaks in schools that are driving the infections if schools weren't open in florida, i know they are, if you didn't see that outbreak in children, florida would be coming down in terms of day over day cases. in terms of the pathogenicity of the virus, there's no clear evidence that this is more dangerous in people when they get infected it's simply far more contagious. we have a denominator problem. we're seeing a numerator of people getting infected, in trouble, hospitalized. we don't see the denominator.

>> one growing with higher immunity either because they're vaccinated or had covid and the other one shrinking, unvaccinated in just a small amount of time or the continuum because of new mutation where it gets much more difficult to predict what's next? >> i think your first premise is correct with the caveat that people who have immunity acquired through natural infection from the first wave of this epidemic, the old wuhan variant, people who are further out from the original vaccination, people who are vaccinated december, january probably have declining immunity and don't have the same level of protection that they have

against past epidemic services they need to get re-immunized over time. that will happen because they get infected on top of their prior infection or vaccination or certain groups of people are going to require boosters, older individuals who are further out from their original vaccination. immunity is going to be something that evolves over time needs to be reacquired in different increments as this virus continues to evolve itself >> we're looking there, dr. gottleib, across pfizer, moderna, all the vaccine makers. astrazeneca whose efficacy seems to hold up a little bit better should we all get boosters why eight months wait for the booster? why not six? why not fewer? given that we look at the charts and if you have pfizer/moderna you're on a downward sloping curve. astrazeneca holds up better

after several months time? why an eight-month booster >> yeah, look, there isn't a magical number the government backed into eight months because they have a lot of things coming together in september that are going to facilitate the boosters. it takes time to ramp that up. they have to mix and match study coming out of nih which will demonstrate you can mix and match pfizer and moderna they'll have data on the moderna 50 microgram dose as a potential booster, lower dose of the moderna vaccine. they have stuff coming out i don't think they want to back away from that there's nothing magical about september 20th, the date they said they'll begin the boosters. the reason why you'll see more durability in the u.k. and astrazeneca was used in the u.k., they spaced those out longer by giving the vaccines on a shorter schedule which is what israel did and we did, we got more immunity in the population

to deal with what wasat the time a raging epidemic the two additional doses would get in together and they didn't provide for the same durable response it might be the case some people believe that you would have gotten a more durable response the two vaccines essentially worked atz two primes. this third dose is effectively going to be the booster. a lot of pediatric vaccines are given in three or four doses it's not uncommon to require repriming of the immune system to fight off a pathogen. this might be the same thing here where the first two vaccines served as primes. we're now going to get a third booster. that might deliver much more durable response in terms of why you see much more durability out of the u.k. data, that might be the reason why people postulate that. >> why not six months? i think i got mine inapril at some point the difference between six and eight months puts you in the heart of the winter when, i don't know, maybe in places we're all indoors

again we could see an additional wave i mean, why not just open that up to people a little bit sooner >> it effectively will be opened up once the vaccines gainful approval it will be subject to physician discretion at that point if your doctor wants to send you for a booster earlier because he or she feels your clinical situation merits it, they're going to have full discretion to do that. i think patients are going to have discretion to seek out those doses. they backed into eight months, that was the timetable they were on nothing magical about eight months or six months declining immeub knit at this over time. if they didn't get as durable and immune response as initial inoculation, they might want to consider taking a booster. immunocompromised patients, that's what's happening with the cdc's recommendation people who are immunocompromised

who are more likely not to have gotten a durable response from the vaccine now are given permission from the cdc or authorized to go seek out a booster. >> yeah. dr. gottleib, great to see you this morning as always, we appreciate it. >> thanks a lot. coming up, dom chu is back with a look at the day's biggest premarket movers hedge performance in the third quarter and why incha's tech crackdown could be taking a toll "squawk box" is back in a moment tailor made or one size fits all?

made to order or ready to go? with a hybrid, you don't have to choose. that's why insurers are going hybrid with ibm. with watson on a hybrid cloud they can use ai to help predict client needs and get the data they need to quickly design coverage for each one. businesses that want personalization and speed are going with a smarter hybrid cloud using the technology and expertise of ibm. nice bumping into you. staying up half the night searching for savings on your prescriptions? just ask your cvs pharmacist. we search for savings for you, from coupons to lower cost options. plus earn up to $50 extrabucks rewards each year just for filling, at cvs pharmacy.

welcome back hedge funds set to hit a return. >> unusually weak is how goldman sachs is talking about hedge funds. 1/3 of hedge funds holding american depository receipt of a chinese company in the start of the third quarter. since february the average chinese company trading in the u.s. has been cut in half with most popular ones lagging the less popular ones. alibaba has been ranked as the top five for 11 consecutive quarters in q2 it dropped down. j.d..com, baidu and didi

goldman notes that the quote, overall popularity of china adrs registered as the highest in our data history making clear that hedge funds were generally not prepared for the regulatory shift and its impact on share prices as a result, goldman's hedge fund vip basket has lined the s&p 500 by 13 percent take points during the past six months matching 2008 as the worst stretch on record. kelly. >> mohamed has a question, leslie. >> hi, leslie. leas leslie, do we have a feel where hedge funds are after the notion that chinese stocks are becoming uninvestable >> that's a great question in the second quarter data they were very -- they were positioned for little change in the way of chinese regulatory scrutiny clearly they were surprised by the third quarter revelations on

that front it would be expected to see in the next quarter of data that they have taken down their positions just given where the market has gone so far however, historically hedge funds have been much more weighted towards china than overall investors, overall active managers even have been because they've been able to generate alpha there's a sentiment among hedge fund managers that you have to be invested in china because of the growth potential there it will be interesting to see in the next quarter of data about their strategy, how that's really changing and whether this is just a pause or whether they'll ultimately get back in or it's kind of a permanent sea change in the minds of hedge fund managers. >> mohamed, what do you -- somebody who's known and followed the country deeply. the fact that hedge funds were caught completely flat footed by this no one in terms of their intelligence was ahead of the

curve. do you think it's uninvestable >> i think if everybody looks to get out, like leslie said, china was viewed as the next big convergence trade and people looking for what is lagging in valuation went to emerging markets. they're suddenly realizing that's not as obvious. you take on a lot more risk. >> do they wait for the dust to settle and go alibaba is still going to exist and it's just going to -- is this just a valuation reset? >> it's a difficult call when you know others are in the same trade, that's why i was asking leslie to what extent have people exited if they haven't exited, their inclination is very high at this point. >> if they have they might say -- >> correct. >> -- you don't want to be the last one off >> correct the trouble is we won't know until it's too late. >> very interesting. we appreciate it leslie picker, mohamed el erian

with us. when we come back, jim cramer's thoughts on it boeing and richard branson's planning to invest boeing up 1.5% journal saying virgin plans to list on the market by issuing a blank check run by george mattson. not sure how much boeing will be investing. don't miss sir richard branson and dan hart in a cnbc exclusive coming up around0: a. 130.m eastern time we'll be right back. go aflac!!! what the heck, troy - that's not your kid! the aflac duck is just covering for sophie. same way he got me money to help cover her hospital bill when my health insurance didn't pay for all of it. but this isn't fair! that's exactly what i said! but then i learned health insurance isn't even supposed to cover everything. wait...for real? for real real. luckily i had aflac. aflac!!! get help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover.

go aflac! !mm-hm! get to know us at aflac.com. jerry is here! j! mate, how are ya!? it's so good to see you. good to see all of you, yeah! why is jerry so... popular? it's been like this ever since we started using workday. what do you mean? it makes it easier to develop great relationships with our suppliers. now everyone, everywhere loves jerry. they sure do. they do. they really do. mmhmm. workday. finance, hr, planning and spend management for a changing world.

wondering what actually goes into your multivitamin? at new chapter, finance, hr, planning and spend management its' innovation, organic ingredients, and fermentation. fermentation? yes. formulated to help you body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness, well done.

welcome back to "squawk box. s&p indicated up 15 or so and the nasdaq up 36 dow up 174 one of the items we've been talking about out of washington is this showdown coming this week in the house of representatives. kelly's just beside herself. >> not about the showdown -- >> just about? >> s.a.l.t. >> the issue on when to vote on the 3$3.5 trillion spending the budget reconciliation process requires nearly all of

her caucus on board to pass a procedural hurdle, but a group of nine centrist democrats is calling for a quick vote on the infrastructure bill and threatening to block efforts to tie the two votes. it's an early test vote is set for tonight. we spoke at length with congressman gottheim. >> what is going on with these bills, do you think? is it all going to pass or not pass >> are you trying to get me into an argument with joe >> everything is infrastructure. >> what do you think >> i don't know. i can't make that political call that's a tricky political call i don't know what's going to happen. >> not soon enough >> so you still don't know >> 10 trillion. >> no, i don't think anybody does because the democratic party doesn't have the sort of coherence right now, unity that you would require to get this through quickly. >> do markets fall apart if it

doesn't happen >> no. i don't think markets will do anything at all. i think markets have realized even the infrastructure program is not going to have an impact until the long term. i think markets look at that, it is what it is, political >> budget wise, debt ceiling, anything in d.c. that becomes a market moving event. >> the only thing that becomes a market moving event is the fed. >> this other stuff is interesting to look at but ultimately it will not have much of an impact. >> how do gottheimer and pelosi figure this out if they don't have a market selloff, they don't have anything pushing them to that finish line. >> that's absolutely right >> we'll see >> as we said, they're not tied and people say they're tied together they're not really they're totally tied together. republicans are being led to the slaughter by this. are you disappointed at how gullible they seem to be. >> you mean the idea there's not

more push back against the budget plan? >> this is not the tea party anymore. >> not your father's republican party? >> don't you think that's true don't you pick up on that in the air? i think people go, i don't know what's going to happen i'm going to go buy bitcoin. it feels as though it's not as much high stakes it seems like the ship has sailed. >> the romneys, the portman's, the ones that have passed it, i don't know, i guess they think there's a benefit to saying we can get something done then there's a whole group -- >> wish you were on camera. >> i think everybody knows it's easy to come together and spend money. was there bipartisan support for all of that? that ran out at six months time. >> the word trojan horse is used scratching your heads, what are you doing? >> on your twitter feed, how much is people who care about the $3.5 trillion budget >> all my people care.

i bought the people who don't care >> well, that's a different story. >> let's get down to the new york stock exchange. i don't know what jim's thoughts are now on the auto block. i love auto block. sometimes i do auto mute because then i don't want them to get the satisfaction that they were subjected to the auto block. are you jimmy chill or are you still -- >> imy chill, but i also have a fellow who looks at it for me to be able to get rid of what i regard as being at best -- i hate to -- >> is that -- >> it's just a lot of things -- there are a lot of things meant to make it so that no one ever looks. it's a concerted group of people to make it look that it's pornographic i've tried to get twitter to look at it done my best, but the pornography which is really hateful and quite frankly astonishing makes it so that it's very difficult to read any comments, even when i do stuff about cooking or gardening

so i don't know, joe to some degree my twitter feed has been destroyed and i think people want it destroyed doesn't bother me. i have a lot of things to do in life my wife has urged me. all it does is say that i should suffer some consequences that i think some regard as being frightening and some regard as being requiring security >> wow jim, what's on your radar? we've got gridlock sort of i don't know who finally folds on that. i don't know whether that matters to you we rebounded on friday and we're looking good today that was a pretty brief pull back. >> once again, we had people -- i was listening to jim grant this morning of course, i happened to -- fortunately i have a neck tie that's already put on or else i would have of course hung myself i look at things through research, and there's so many commodities that are falling it was iron this week, oil last

week, copper the week before i do have to believe before that with autos not being able to -- they can't make all of the cars they want because of the chip shortage i think the housing companies are holding back because there's no sense in buying whirlpool this high. i think we're going to surprise them i think powell's going to be right. i think i'm kind of a minority to powell's wife and -- it's all right. >> mohamed's here. i know that -- mohamed was not -- i didn't -- i may have been depressed after jim grant but now i'm happy again because he says that, you know, it's such a strong inclination to buy the dips, we have time, we have the rest of this year, jim. >> i think momphamed's right. he's been good i'm sticking with good i don't know about gottleib. gottleib may be too bullish. for the first time i feel like he's ahead of things he did say it's going to be

rocky. mohamed i think is going to be very right again and there's a lot to like here you can look at a lot of different -- this time the rotation's in the drug stocks. they've been bad mohamed, you know that the rotations have actually been quite bullish. >> they have jim, first of all, keep tweeting because we do appreciate your tweets please don't stop. >> thank you. >> let me ask you a question if you were advising powell as to what to say on friday, what would you tell him would you tell him just avoid the issue completely don't talk about when, how you're going to taper, focus on longer term issues or would you tell him, go ahead and say something? >> i think that a lot of what he faces is public health and, therefore, i think he should take a pass because public health has been so wrong you go back to june when the cdc said you don't need to test anymore. how wrong that was remarkable the cdc now and still not approving, nih not approving the

monoclonal antibody to keep us out of the hospital. they're just insane in the south. these are public health issues i think if gottleib is right, we have plenty of time. he can opine but right now if all of the professionals are saying the wrong thing, i don't know who he can push. >> all right jim, we'll leave it there. we'll see you. >> thank you for the time. >> we'll see you on "squawk on the street" in a few minutes futures indicated higher like they were two minutes when i checked them we'll get you ready for the trading day. there they are in just a second

welcome back, everybody. here's a look at today's morning moveres. dom chu is with us. >> here's what we've got so far. we're checking out shares of robinhood because they are on the move cryptocurrency is having an effect there, giving it a boost, but there's a lot of coverage in terms of analyst initiations out with this stock today. goldman sachs, jpmorgan, citi deutsche bank, they are all out with generally speaking more neutral-type ratings on this

particular stock goldman sachs has a neutral rating with a $56 price target they're talking about payment for order flow, whether that's an overhang. jpmorgan analysts came out with an underweight rating and a $35 price target they think that the regulatory risks amongst others could weigh on that particular stock still on balance robinhood up 4.5%. still up 18% from the ipo that we saw just a little while back. also taking a look at what's happening with chinese internet stocks they are catching a bit of a bid following up on friday's action as some of the concerns about the government crackdown ease a little bit when i say ease a little bit, in context many of these stocks have lost a lot of their market value over the course of the last few weeks alibaba is up. one of the big etfs that tracks it, is up 1.5% at this stage catching a bounce here

then we pointed out some of the most popular ticker searches some of the three that are trending this morning on cnbc.com, kelly. pfizer for obvious reasons around the vaccine and possible approval today coinbase up 3.5% on that big move high herb, above 50,000 for cryptocurrencies on the bitcoin side of things so your top trending tickers. >> and the rest are on your twitter feed thank you, dom. we're just over half an hour away from the opening bell let's get one last check on the markets with liz young, head of investment strategy at sofi and our guest host, mohammed we bounce back, as i said to cramer last week and today, is the market in good shape again for a continued move higher? >> well, look, joe, i think after three days of pullbacks it's natural to have a little bit of a bounce back so it looks good today it looked good on friday i like the idea there's good

risk appetite in the market today and small caps are leading in the futures market. but i still think that we have rough waters to come for the rest of august and a lot of september because we're leading into not only a time when it's usually more volatile in markets but there's a lot of things we have question marks about. obviously jackson hole is at the end of this week i don't think we'll hear a whole lot of new information from the fed at jackson hole but just the idea that it went virtual so maybe if we thought tapering was going to start in october, it moves out to november or december in reality i don't think it matters whether or not it happens in that 60-day period earlier or later it's really the talk around rate hikes that i think could scare people in september. we're going to get another dot plot at that september fed me meeting. so there are things weighing on us and i think the market will see little bouts of volatility as we get through the end of september. >> they have been talking about whether that great jobs number that we had, whether it's not as good and that there will be some

delta effect on not just jobs but other indicators i don't know whether we're seeing it yet in the potential for a reclosure or however you want to look it still seems like we're going pretty well. do you think we're just not seeing it yet and it will become ap apparent or will be get through this without any negative consequences >> i think we're feeling it. we've heard many companies push back their return to office dates. there's a lot of restrictions in the metro areas. i'm in new york city and we have to show proof of vaccine before we eat indoors so there's some sense of renewed restrictions weighing on sentiment so that's why we're seeing that effect in the sentiment surveys taken in august that's another reason why i think september may be tough we may not see it in the data until everything reported in september. so the market may react to that depending on how positive or

negative of a surprise it is, we'll see some of the effects when we look at whether it's the jobs data, maybe inflation backs off in september, consumer spending probably backs off in the data in september. there's still some of those leftover effects yet to be seen. but the good part about that is when it happens, when that data gets reported, we'll excuse it by saying maybe delta peaked in august so this is the worst of it, now we can move forward. i don't think delta will take us back into a full-on shutdown i really don't think that's going to happen. >> liz, you made a big sdinz between tapering and rate hikes. can you speak a little bit more as to why you think that's such a big difference >> yeah, i think it's different, number one, because we tend to resist the urge to listen to the fed. they continue to tell us that they're not necessarily one and the same they're allowed to taper and not immediately raise rates afterwards i think there's been a lot of assumption that as soon as they

start tapering and get further along, they have to start raising rates. i don't think that that's the case i think that jerome powell and a lot of the fed officials realize that rate hikes are going to spook the market more than a taper will we've been talking about talking about tapering for so long, i think we're ready for that we have to remember why they started buying assets in the first place. they started buying assets because the credit markets froze up and we couldn't afford for the largest and most liquid credit market in the world to freeze up. that is no longer the case if we started to taper off those asset purchases, credit would not freeze up. so tapering is a much more benign effect and they can wait to raise rates as long as they want out into the future i don't think that it necessarily has to happen one right after the other. >> i was curious what you also said about has the fed speak been very confusing on this point. >> it depends who you listen to. if you listen to the fomc as a whole, yes, it has been

confusing. there's a whole range of views, people who think you should start tapering now and people who don't want to address it however, if you listen to who really matters, which is powell, williams and clarada, incredibly consistent so the other stuff is just indicating to you that chair powell is going to have a challenge in keeping the harmony, if you like, and the integrity of the fomc but the marketplace only cares about the top three. >> do you think he has that internal capital >> i think most chairs have that internal capital, but i do think there's merit in him trying to regain the narrative at this point. >> liz, you would agree with that >> yeah, i would agree with that obviously there's going to be more rhetoric around will powell get reinstated come february i would tend to agree that i think he will get reinstated i do think he has that capital the risk is that we wait too long and we're too careful,

right, or that something happens in the meantime that then they don't have enough tools to fight that mini crisis, whatever that may be it's usually what we do see coming that hurts us the most. i do think there's plenty of capital there but we have to be careful about the timing of rate hikes. >> all right liz, thank you this morning. we really appreciate it. >> we've got to say good by. thanks, mohammed, thank you, kelly. >> thanks for having me. >> time now for "squawk on the street." good monday morning. welcome to "squawk on the street." i'm carl quintanilla with jim cramer david faber is back. the bounce continues futures are green, the market looking for more signals that maybe the delta variant is peaking out in the south and that risk is to the doviish side this weekend at jackson hole the fed's annual symposium is going virtual as the fda prepares to give