that the fbi willingly and knowingly misled the fisa court and agencies beyond the fbi may have been involved in cheryl: it is 5:00 a.m. here are your top stories. the white house denying considering it is boosting the economy you by cutting payroll taxes. the president is pointing the finger at jay powell for any signs of the weakening economy. the big idea coming from the white house. lauren: big problems for big tech as the justice department looks into anti-trust violations. as many as 20 states are pursuing their own investigations. cheryl: joe biden wants voters -- jill biden wants voters to forget about his gaffes. the comments she has made that has people scratching their heads this morning. lauren: seems like every day there's a new way your digital

assistant is spying on you. now they may be setting you up for scams and robocall as well. it is tuesday, august 20th. "fbn: a.m." starts right now. ♪ ♪ meet me at mary's place. ♪ we're going to have a party. ♪ meet me at maries place. ♪ we're going to have a party. ♪ lauren: welcome to "fbn: a.m." good morning, i'm lauren simonetti. cheryl: good morning, i'm cheryl casone. lauren: u.s. stock futures looking to continue monday's rally. might be a struggle today. dow futures up 25, s&p up 3, nasdaq up 11. cheryl: we've seen an evening out for the 10 year treasury.

we're up 1 basis point. lauren: oil, big rally yesterday, prices giving back, actually gaining again this morning, up another 19-cents, $56.40 a barrel. let's check gold prices for you this morning. they are trading at $15.12 an ounce. cheryl: china setting the new prime rate, 4.25%, that could be really good for chinese real estate investors, plus another 90 day reprieve for huawei. as you can see, shanghai and hang seng a little bit of pressure. we saw gains there yesterday. lauren: mixed bag in asia, little bit of caution coming from europe, up arrows for the london and paris market. the berlin market is down 9 points. cheryl: the top story this morning, a white house official is denying a report that the trump ad medicine strayings is weigh -- administration is weighing a temporary payroll tax cut to head off a recession. the was washington post is repog the administration has not made up its mind whether to ask congress to pass a tax cut.

this comes as president trump is attacking, again, federal reserve chairman jay powell for his handling of the economy. lauren: this is what the president tweeted yesterday. our economy is very strong, despite the horrendous lack of vision by jay powell and the fed. the fed rate over short period of time should be reduced by 100 basis points with perhaps quantitative easing as well. if that happened, our economy would be even better and the world economy would be greatly and quickly enhanced, good for everyone. cheryl: the payroll tax funds medicare and social security and that is something that is very important to many americans. a group of states is stepping up the scrutiny of big technology companies. the wall street journal says as many a 20 states are gearing up to pursue an anti-trust investigation of google, facebook, amazon and apple. the inquiry expected to start next month and should examine whether the companies use their market dominance to suppress the competition. lauren: the big tech companies promise to fight a proposal by

france to impose a tax on their digital services there. let's get the latest on that from hillary vaughn in washington. good morning, hillary. >> reporter: good morning, lauren and cheryl. tech firms telling the u.s. trade representative yesterday that this tax could have bigger implications on the tech industry but also may be passed down to consumer as well. google's nicholas bramble saying this is a concern for international trade and wider economy, if there are targeted tax policies. the new tax means more data will have to be collected on users, specific to their location and actions online which could raise more questions about privacy and if the government would have access to this information through any audit. amazon's peter hill testified that they have not been collecting a lot of the data they would need to figure out how much revenue they make from french users. facebook's alan lee says the tax requires a, quote, massive reengineering effort at the

company to track and filter revenue by users' geo location and ip address. >> this is a discriminatory retroactive tax that's been gerrymandered to specifically single out successful u.s. technology services that are very popular in the french market. the objective is for french authorities to increase their tax base at the expense of u.s. firms. >> reporter: u.s. tech companies, apple, amazon, facebook and google and others need to make the first payment to the french government by november. it's not as simple as writing a check. a lot of the system they need in place to figure out how much tax they owe to the french government doesn't exist and amazon says a lot of the data they need to figure it out also doesn't exist. cheryl: facebook and twitter are accusing china of engaging in a misinformation campaign on social media about the hong kong protests. both companies say they removed numerous accounts that were used to sew political discord in hong

kong. twitter removed more than 900 cowchts, suspended -- 900 accounts, suspended 20,000 mosser. lauren: carrie lamb says she's now willing to talk to the protesters. she said there were no plans to revive the controversial extradition bill that sparked the protests more than 11 weeks ago. >> we will start immediately a chance for dialogue with people with all walks of life. lauren: residents there and businesses are reportedly taking their money out of hong kong. the wall street journal reports that a huge swath of hong kong dollar for other currencies is taking place. hong kong's currency has sharply weakened against the u.s. dollar since this began. cheryl: other issues are inflaming u.s.-china relations this morning. china issued a warning to the united states over a potential

sale of military jets to taiwan. the trump administration reportedly has informed congress it plans to sell f-16 fighters were $8 billion to taiwan. china fiercely opposes all arm sales to taiwan which it regards as a renegade province. the government of taiwan disagrees with that. a formal announcement of the sale could be made as early as next month unless congress objects. lauren: the trump administration extended the huawei ban to 46 more affiliates. the chinese company was hoping the current ban would be lifted and called the additions politically motivated. the commerce department extended the temporary license for another 90 days. mike pence in detroit yesterday said china has proven it cannot be trusted. >> the chinese communist party used an arsenal of policieses inconsistent with free and fair

trade, policies like tariffs and quotas, currency manipulation, forced technology tran transfer, intellectual property theft and industrial subsidies, all the while not becoming a freer society. lauren: pence repeated warnings to beijing against taking violent action to deal with the protests in hong kong. cheryl: let's talk about earnings. investors going to be keeping a sharp eye on rel tailors this morning -- retailers this morning. first up before the bell, home depot. they have felt increasing pressure due to the rainy weather this season and higher lumber prices. depo.tariffs might be a key plar when kohl's reports later this morning. that retailer get 2-g 0% of its-tas -- 20% of its products m

china. lauren: let's go overseas. we have more russian nuclear monitoring stations going silent. cheryl: tracee carrasco has that story. tracee, good morning. tracee: days after a mysterious explosion and international arms control officials says four monitoring stations went silent. earlier it was believed to have only been two. this is causing concerns that russia is trying to conceal evidence that the silence from the stations is the kremlin's way to keep information about the weapon that was being tested a secret. the u.s. tested a missile previously banned under the arms treaty with russia. the pentagon announced the testing of a modified ground launch navy cruise missile off the coast of california. it was armed with a conventional not nuclear warhead, some analysts are concerned this could increase u.s./russia tensions after they abandoned a long-standing treaty earlier this month. u.s. steel is temporarily laying

off hundreds of workers in michigan. the layoffs are expected to happen at its great lakes facility in the coming weeks. the move comes after deciding to halt production at the facility. prices for steel have fallen due improved supplies and weakening demand. u.s. steel stock price has slid 73% since march 1st, 2018 when president trump announced his decision to crack down on foreign imports. and sugar concerns hitting juice box as parents and doctors worry about the health risks of sugary beverages. some popular brands are adding products that contain little to no juice or sugar. the question remains if children will enjoy these boxed drinks as much as the sweeter juice boxes. and that's what's happening now. cheryl: sounds like a podcast to me for lauren simonetti. lauren: we don't do juice in our household. tracee, thank you very much. every morning we check futures for you, big rally yesterday,

caution today worldwide of economies around the world are hoping for central bank stimulus. dow up 24, will stunning developments in the case against jeffrey epstein, the new details that are fueling even more speculation now into his death. plus, a free trip worth thousands of dollars with one tiny little catch. keep it here on "fbn: a.m.." ♪ well, well, you. ♪ you make my dreams come true. ♪ ctly to investors. and we have zero account fees for brokerage accounts. at fidelity those zeros really add up. ♪ maybe i'll win ♪ saved by zero

lauren: accused sex trafficker jeffrey epstein signed a will two days before committing suicide in his jail cell. court documents show he put his nearly $600 million fortune into a trust but no word on who the beneficiaries are. since his death prosecutors asked the judge to drop the case against him. under the law, charges must be dropped when someone dies. the u.s. attorney in manhattan assured the judge his office would continue to seek justice for the victims. dr. kathleen hawk sawer is the acting prison chief. cheryl: well, jp morgan chase's jamie dimon among the ceo as part of the business round table that called on companies to

consider customers, not just shareholders in business decisions. let's bring in michael lee. business round table has been around since the '70s. they wanted to change the mission statement and that's all it is. isn't it fair that ceos have to be able to navigate political waters and this seems to be a step in the right direction for them? >> this talk of placing stakeholder value above shareholder value i think is -- it's borderline on insanity. i think this is hedging ahead of a potential president bernie sanders or president elizabeth warren. but if they're actually serious about this, this could be devastating. it's the quest for profit and efficiency is what drives innovation. it's literally what's driven america to be the greatest. cheryl: the corporate raiders of the '80s drove us into harsh economic times. credit default swaps drove us into a great recession in 2008.

sometimes going for profits isn't the best business decision and it can be bad for the country. >> if you want to manage short-term goals with long-term goals, i mean -- cheryl: a short-term recession? look at 2008. >> that's what every ceo has to balance and it's a difficult balance but they have a legally binding fiduciary responsibility to the shareholder, not the stakeholder. if you move away from that, look, it could be devastating. i think the people they're trying to help which are the lower level, lower paid employees, those are the ones that are going to get hurt. i see some of the ceos taking 90 pay cuts, i don't buy it -- taking 90% pay cuts. cheryl: the highest paid ceos, their compensation 250 times their employees. they're looking to make a change. we'll see if there's meat to the promise. i think it's a good thing. i think they have no choice at this point. if you're the ceo of walmart, have you to think about gun sales.

the ceo of amazon those think about anti-trust and anti-competitive behavior. governments around the world are coming after them. i want to move on to the 1% rate cut that president trump is pushing now because we're already at 2.25% right now. that gives the fed no room if there's actually a fiscal crisis. i'm a little confused here l. the economy is looking pretty good according to white house officials like larry kudlow. but we need a 1% rate cut? why? >> with the rest of the world at negative interest rates, it's difficult to raise to a rules based system, the da taylor rule would get you between 3, 3.5%. the two-year treasury is around 1.5%. it seems it baked in a 50 basis point rate cut, if not more. the president's sentiments are echoed in the bond market at the moment. i don't know that we'll get it. i don't know that we need it.

cheryl: exactly. >> big news later this week with jerome speaking out. cheryl: he's speaking on friday. we'll hear what he says. michael lee, thank you, sir. >> thanks for having me. lauren: general electric is firing back against accusations, telling investors it believes the current reserves are well supported by the portfolio of investments, also defending the accounting for its oil and gas unit. last thursday, they were accused of filing inaccurate or fraudulent information with regulators. the ceo said theal le allegatios amounted to market manipulation. cheryl: we are seeing dow futures going into the red just a few moments ago, want to show you the numbers, the dow is down 9 points, the s&p is down by three quarters of a point, so a little bit of a drop, certainly not the volatility that we've seen for the last four sessions now for markets. as you can see, the nasdaq just

turning red on your screen, half a point. now it's back up. you've got to stay with us and watch the numb berms. squa -- numbers.squad members gd trump, this time over their ban for going to israel. what they hinted could be their next move. and president trump making a big promise if his greenland dreams come true. keep it here, "fbn: a.m.." ♪ the winds of change. ♪ blow in my direction. ♪

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who else could he be? there is the moment. beyond technology... there is human ingenuity. ♪ ♪ every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected, to do the extraordinary. take your business beyond. lauren: democratic congresswomen blasting president trump over israel's decision to ban them from entering the country. ilhan omar claims the president

wants to pit muslims and jewish people against each other. cheryl: we've got griff jenkins life in washington with israel's response and a lot of responses to the press conference yesterday. >> reporter: israel's defending the decision to bar rashida tlaib and ilhan omar and spoke out since being denied entry, omar accusing them of suppressing their freedom of movement and calling on congressional colleagues to make the trip themselves. >> we cannot let trump and netanyahu succeed in hiding the cruel reality of the occupation from us, so i call on all of you to go. >> reporter: criticisrael's ambr to the u.n. reiterating their position. >> we respect from all around

the world. we welcome all americans, if you call to boycott israel, we are not welcoming you. >> reporter: tlaib, what was granted a visa to visit her ailing grandmother, but rejected it, had this to say. >> i watched at my mother had to go through dehumanizing checkpoints, even though she was a united states citizen and proud american. >> reporter: a white house spokesman issued a statement says congresswomen rashida tlaib and ilhan omar have documented history of anti-semetic relationships. israel has a right to prevent hempeople who want to destroy it from entering the country. cheryl: griff, thank you, sir. lauren: elizabeth warren is apologizing to native americans over her false claim of having native ancestors.

>> i know that i have made mistakes. i am sorry for harm i have caused. i have listened and i have learned. lauren: warren has been criticized for years over her ancestry which led to a controversial dna test. it found warren does have a native american ancestor, roughly six to 10 generations before her. the couldn' controversy surrounr dna has led president trump to call her pocahontas. cheryl: the president is pushing for a deal to buy greenland. here's what he tweeted yesterday. the president promised not to build his signature large scale developments in greenland. there was an edited photo showing a tall building e emblazeened with trump. he said he promised to not do

that with greenland. 17% of americans said they would offer the same amount former harry truman offered in 1946 which was $100 million. lauren: we have a small pullback this morning, but globally very cautious market as we await central banks and what they do to stimulus and rates around the world. dow is down just 3 points, nasdaq up 5. bernie sanders on the attack, the progressive candidate setting his sights on joe biden but also kamala harris. will it sway voters his way? and bush's pumpkin spice haled d seltzer taking the internet by storm but there's a catch. ♪ my heart is falling too. ♪ i'm love with your body.

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cheryl: we want to take a look at futures this morning. we're seeing something we rarely do, and that is a flat market. the dow is down by 5 points in the premarket, s&p and nasdaq were lower earlier. now each of those indexes just ticking higher by literally a fraction. we're getting breaking news right now, want to bring it to you. we're learning that alonso animal health is buying bayer's and mall business. this would create the second largest animal health company by global revenue, the deal expected to close by mid-2020, subject to regulatory approvals. there's the year-to-date chart on alonco, bayer is the stock to watch today, $7.6 billion, that may move bayer's stock in the

next few moments. we'll keep on top of it for you. lauren: jill biden is stumping for her husband. yesterday she said the former vice president is the candidate to take down president trump. let's show you the clip from msnbc's meet the press. >> your candidate might be better on healthcare than joeys. but you've got to look at who is going to win this election and maybe you have to swallow a little bit and say okay, like so and so better but your bottom line has to be that we have to beat trump. lauren: is the gaffe-prone candidate the democrats' best chance to win 2020? here's republican strategist and young americans for liberty president, cliff malone and we also have democratic strategist and former obama administration appointee steven cob. steven, i want to start with you. all right. the former vice president's wife is saying that about her

husband. so how electable is joe biden really? >> well, according to the polls right now, he's pretty much beating the president across the board and has the highest numbers of any of the democratic candidates. so i think she's really trying to push on the strength here and highlight the fact that really everywhere you look, the former vice president is doing just incredibly well. and so if you look at also the polls of the democratic electorate saying what is the number one issue for 2020, i its winning so she is staying on message. lauren: it's also, cliff, healthcare. healthcare is a big issue. bernie sanders is trying to gain back some of his momentum and he's now attacking kamala harris on her healthcare plan. you have to remember the back story is that she co-sponsored his medicare for all plan, now she's tweaked her own plan, saying let's phase in medicare for all and let's not completely

take away private insurance. your thoughts, cliff. >> i would like to see her make up her mind and tell us what she supports. by the end of the campaign, hopefully we'll find out what her healthcare plans are. what you're seeing is bernies has been this unabashed let's just say socialist and he's pushing a lot of these candidates and it's really forcing them, because they're going after the base of the party, to come clean and i think that's a democrat problem right now that they're having to move as far left as possible to try to win the nomination. it's not going to bode well in the general election. lauren: bernie sanders keeps pushing them. kamala harris and i'm going to ask you this again, cliff. she was at a fundraiser in the ham tons and bernie wrote this. i don't go to the hamptons to raise money from billionaires, cliff, and he's also attacking joe biden for his you've got bernie coming out, he put out a

criminal justice plan, he's going after the frontrunners. you see the tweet. he is really trying to step up. i think what bernie's realizing is he hit his ceiling. let me say one thing about joe biden. i think originally it was amtrak joe, then it became uncle joe. i'd like to say it's almost sloppy joe. you're seeing him have these moments and they don't want him speaking on the trail. you're seeing this. they're avoiding events. they're doing things to try to pull him back because, look, like my colleague said, he might be leading in the polls but the reality is, he's just trying to say nothing kind of coast along. the american people don't want that. they want a message. they want bold solutions. and i just don't think he's going to be able to withstand it through the end. and especially i don't think he wins the general. >> one of the important things to focus on, bernie sanders isn't a democrat and his campaign isn't going anywhere. he's lashing out at a bunch of different candidates. i don't think what you saw from the last debate was him pushing

people to the left. i think what you saw was most of the stage pushing back on senator sanders. lauren: he's running as a democrat though, steven. >> he's a democrat when it suits his political needs. that's absolutely true. lauren: is joe biden still your candidate, steven? >> i haven't made up my own personal mind yet but i think when you're looking at the polls for most of americans right now they're still settled on the former vice president as their candidate of choice and that's really been the case since he got into this race. and despite some missteps on the campaign trail, that really hasn't changed. i think one of the things with the vice president -- this can cut both ways -- is that having been in the public eye for so long and over several decades is that most people have their opinion made up for better or worse on joe biden. and so i think when it goes wrong as it has -- lauren: we've got a lot of time left.

we'll see if sloppy joe becomes sleepy joe again, it's a marathon. thank you very much. >> or president he joe. lauren: or president joe. you are correct. cheryl: well, attorney michael avenatti is claiming free speech. he said he was exercising his first amendment rights when he allegedly demanded $422.5 million from nike. he's accused of attempting to shake down the sportswear. hillarysportswear giantover a over a scheme. the l trial if it happens will start in november. lauren: okay. so some bad news for pumpkin spice and hard seltzer lovers. bush was just joking about it. busch beer reportedly posted an image to their social media that looked to promote a hard seltzer and a lot of people wanted it. a representative from the company confirms that the

beverage is not real and it was meant to be a joke. this will likely come as a disappointment to many. cheryl: they should creat creaf there was that much demand and excitement for it. the message is britain's prime minister boris johnson wants to make a big change, you know that but how he may have thrown a wrench into any hope of getting a brexit deal is a new twist in the saga happening in britain. is nothing sacred anymore? whoppers, sausages, now we're talking about plant-based eggs. where and when you can pick up this new breakfast food. keep it here on "fbn: a.m." ♪ folks reaching out to capture a moment. ♪ everyone knows it's wendy.

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♪ against the wind. ♪ we were running against the wind. ♪ we were young and strong -- lauren: talk about running against the wind, some witnesses are calling this the great mattress migration of 2019, dozens of air mattresses taking flight in denver, amazing footage of the flight shows mattresses tumbling across a field as people desperately try to run and grab them. the air mattresses were picked up by the strong winds in colorado over the weekend. cheryl: let's get you caught up on global market action this morning. first taking a look at futures,

it's nice to say this. we've got a flat market this morning. we've had so much volatility over the last six sessions to be honest with you. this is nice to see. the dow is up 7, the s&p is up 2 and a quarter, nasdaq up 8 and three quarters. now to asia, that 4.25% lending rate, the bank in china actually implementing that overnight. it didn't help markets there, though. the shanghai and hang seng both slightly under pressure. the nikkei is higher. now to europe, let's take a look at what's happening. the ftse, the cac and the dax are all slightly in the green. all of this as british prime minister boris johnson is telling the european union a a brexit deal could be approved by u.k. lawmakers but the eu has to agree to drop the irish backstop. craig urlem joins us from london. could this proposal head off the hard brexit on october 31st? i thought markets already baked that in. >> i mean, it's difficult

because the eu said it's not interested in a deal that doesn't involve the backstop. it seems that no deal becomes the most likely option considering the red lines have been drawn and it seems impossible to cross. the difficult you at this we have is the closer we get to the 31st of october, we have to remember the default under a no deal brexit means a border has to appear somewhere, whether between northern ireland and the republic of ireland or between northern ireland and the rest of europe, it's very difficult to see where this compromise arises around if a solution is found. it is all open to question. cheryl: we will see a market bounce. look, bank of i think p land, pressure over -- england, pressure to lower interest rates, sounds familiar as we deal with the fed in this country. what do you think the boe is going to do? >> nothing. i think the boe is going to stand by and wait. i mean, there's no incentive. inflation's on target, growth is not great, unemployment is low

and there's this massive overhang of brexit on october 3 october 31. why act now an now, why not waie what will actually happen. cheryl: thanks, craig. lauren: student loan debt is a big issue on the campaign trail with some promising to wipe it out completely. there is one study sounding the alarm on what damage it could do. and we'll have an update on how walmart plans to make the next trip to the supermarket a little more tasty. keep it here on "fbn: a.m." ♪ it's not about the money, money, money. ♪ we don't need your money. ♪ dear tech, let's talk.

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lauren: student debt forgiveness may be popular on the campaign trail but most

economists right-hand behind the idea. a recent survey shows 64% of business economists believe that forgiving student loan debt would negatively affect the u.s. economy. 20% said it would be helpful. in june, student loan debt reached $1.6 trillion, the largest amount of non-mortgage debt in the country. senator elizabeth warren released her plan to cancel nearly half of that $1.6 trillion. cheryl: apple ready to take a bite out of the streaming wars. they're going to reportedly launch apple tv plus by november of this year. that's going to cost about $10 a month for consumers. it was originally announced in march of this year as a direct competitor to netflix and amazon prime and especially disney's upcoming streaming service. lauren: walmart and buzzfeed's tasty wants to make it easier for you to make a tasty meal at home. they're getting together so when you find a recipe you like on the tastery app, -- tasty app, you can put those ingredients in

walmart's online grocery cart. the move enhances the relationship between walmart and tasty. you can currently buy tasty products at walmart. cheryl: big news out of the government, the cdc is launching a brand-new investigation into the health risks of vaping. lauren: tracee carrasco has the disturbing details. good morning, tracee. tracee: 94 cases of severe lung illnesses involving e-cigarettes users are being looked at. they are looking at people who vape. new york has 11 reported cases. the american vaping association notes that it's not nicotine which is found in the products but illegal drugs or thc that likely caused the illnesses. meanwhile, e-cigarettes maker juul raised $325 million in an equity and debt to move ahead with global expansion. the plant based meat craze is moving to eggs.

kroger stores across the country are rolling out a plant based egg alternative. it claims no cholesterol, saturated fat or artificial flavors. it hits store shelves later this month. what would you do for a free honeymoon? hotels.com is giving away $15,000 towards a honeymoon but there is a catch. you need to incorporate hotels.com into your wedding vows. they need to be recorded between now and september 23rd and uploaded to instagram or twitter. the winning couple will be chosen on october 1st based on creativity and originality and that is what's happening now. cheryl: sounds like a good idea. lauren: i wouldn't do it. cheryl: somebody will.

we are minutes away from dow component home depot's earnings report, this could move markets. what the retailer could say about the state of housing and the consumer. and is your favorite home assistant giving you up to scammers? the shocking new details, we've got it coming up. "fbn: a.m.." ♪ want to put this song on replay. ♪ i could listen to it all day. and zero minimums to open an account. at fidelity those zeros really add up. ♪ maybe i'll win ♪ saved by zero

♪ cheryl: maybe don't call me, that's this next story. first reports that your digital assistants are spying on you, now they may be opening you up to spam call. lauren: if i get another spam call i'm going to go nuts. brett larson is here. they are so annoying. >> they are annoying. it's always like i would like to talk to you about your car insurance. which car is that that i don't own? [ laughter ] >> and i hate to say this, this next pack is genius, whoever thought of this. you know when you google search for something, like you search st. maarten vacations and you see an ad from delta airlines, says will fly you to st. maarten. that's what's going on here. when you ask your virtual assistant, when you say alexa a, call home depot. of course it's going to call home depot. but if somebody was smart enough to buy the key word home depot and have it maybe call a local

hardware store or maybe lowe's bought the word home depot, then you're going to be connected to a different -- cheryl: alexa's not smart enough to know it's a spam phone number it's calling. >> the artificial intelligence hasn't figured out that someone can buy this, someone can buy an ad that matches all the criteria but calls a different number. easy fix for this is obviously companies are going to have to step up and figure out how to make sure that when you say call -- siri, called united airlines for me, they're going to call the proper number but if you're jetblue and you want to buy united airlines, you're going to have people start calling you and maybe you can win over customers. cheryl: we download apps to protect is from robocalls, turns out those are scams too. >> all of this falls back on the consumer because we're using these things, thinking we're the consumer on these products when

actually we're the thing that's being sold, we're actually the product being sold. lauren: seems the scams have to do with digital assistants and artificial intelligence. >> the hackers have been able to stay ahead of everyone. these are savvy people. lauren: it's easier to manipulate a computer, i suppose. >> it's easier to tell the computer to call this number instead of this other number. cheryl: everybody loves their alexas but now they have to watch out. lauren: how about the phone book, the yellow pages. cheryl: catch brett larson on fox news headlines, 24/7, sirius xm channel 11 l 5. lauren: we are minutes away from home depot's earnings. can the streak continue? gene marks of the marks group joins us now. home depot is going to tell us a lot about china and the health of the housing and retail sector. what are you looking for?

>> lauren, you're absolutely right. great to see you. home depot is going to be telling us a little bit about what's going on in the economy right now. most analysts and i think as well is they're going to meet expectations. they had a pretty good quarter this last quarter. the stock is up 18% already year-to-date and people are expecting them to show a 5% same day, same store increase this year compared to last year. so that's all good news. unfortunately, i want to keep an eye on the outlook for the end of the year because there are some storm clouds potentially on the horizon. if you're home depot, you're selling to a lot of small contractors and individuals that want to remodel their homes and although consumer spending has been strong, certain indexes are telling at least me, th the architectural billings index, where they report what future billings will be, it's down. plans for new home designs are at a 10-year low. the executives at home depot, it has to be concerning for the

future whether people will be buying stuff to remodel homes. lauren: it is and it has been. in may after the first quarter earnings they offered a full year outlook that disappointed. what could benefit them is that while there will be an impact from tariffs, it might be muted. 70% or so of their goods are u.s.-made, domestically sourced so that helps them. having said that, they are facing tariffs, for instance, canadian lumber, korean washing machines, that means the price of those items goes up. >> very true. but executives there said the impact of tariffs really affects about 1% of their sales, lauren. so this is a company that is making north of $100 billion a year in revenue. it would have a $1 billion impact on margins and right now executives are planning on absorbing some of those costs, not passing all of them down to consumers. so that's good news for you and me. and they're expecting it not to have a significant impact on their year-to-date earnings. we will see. lauren: that earnings report is

imminent, just minutes away. let's pivot to kohl's, speaking of tariffings. tariffs. they have major chinese exposure. what are you exhibiting from kohl's? -- expecting from kohl's? >> 20% of the products they sell comes from china. they're more exposed to tariffs than home depot. they have been struggling of late. people are not expecting that great of an earnings report this time around. however, lauren, kohl's is making investments and partnerships. just hitting it in july is the new partnership with amazon. so now if you and i we buy something, we want to return it to amazon, we go into kohl's. and colme kohl's is partnering h other companies like for example planet fitness and aldi who are leasing available space from them as well. they're making plans to increase foot traffic through their stores so we will be seeing that over the next six months, whether the plans are going to return some more sales for them. lauren: gene marks on kohl's and of course home depot.

we appreciate you. >> thanks, take care. cheryl: we appreciate you watchings "fbn: a.m.." "mornings with maria" starts right now. maria: thank maria: good morning, everyone, happy tuesday to you, i'm maria bartiromo, it is tuesday august 20th, top stories before 6:00 a.m. on the east coast, breaking news from retail sector, we are awaiting earnings from home depot out any moment, could be market mover, could give signs of state of housing market, plus close eye on any impact tariffs could be having as well, as soon as the numbers hit the tape we will get them to you with full analysis, kohl's and tj maxx, fractional gain this morning, dow futures up 3 points, s&p 1 and a half and nasdaq up 9 and a quarter. take a look at the numbers yesterday at the close,

president trump pushing the federal reserve for a bigger rate cut, the president asking for 100-basis point cut, criticize federal chair jarome powell. mornings with maria begins right now. ♪ >> big show this morning, joining the version this morning jonas max harris is here, real clear politics cofinder and president tom beven, great to see you, guys, this morning. >> good morning. maria: waiting on home depot and also jack keane on hong kong this morning. house committee service's membe