reality, it seems that won't be enough. for the latest show updates, be sure to follow me on twitter, facebook and instagram, and i'll be back next week for more in-depth interviews right here on "the wall street journal at large." thank you very much for joining us. ♪ ♪ jack: welcome to "barron's roundtable" where we get behind the headlines and prepare you for the week ahead. i'm jack otter. congress is one step closer to passing president biden's $1.9 trillion covid relief plan. jared bernstein on the economic impact of the stimulus, the jobs report and more. and later, new cdc data shows a rise in covid-19 deaths among alzheimer's patients. the outlook for medical treatments and which companies are on the cutting edge. but we begin with what we think are the three most important things investors ought to be thinking about right now.

stocks shot higher and so did oil prices as investors reacting reacting -- reacted to solid economic progress. jeff bezos passing the reins to andy jassy as the head of amazon's cloud business. why cloud computing is the biggest story in the tech industry. and the fever broke this week for gamestop and the other mem e-trade stocks. we've got the winners and losers from the short-selling frenzy. my colleagues, ben levisohn, carlton english and jack howe. ben, i've got to give you credit. about two weeks ago you warned that the market was in the mood to take a breather, but, boy, was that a fast breather. >> it really was. last week the market dropped about 3%, a little more than that, and it felt like there was going to be more now. but we had the hedge funds, they really derisked last week. the short selling really caught them off guard, they pulled back, and i think they came into this week, and they were like, wait, what just happened? we don't own anything anymore. we started getting decent

economic data. we had good news on covid, the cases are falling, we're getting an emergency use authorization for a johnson & johnson vaccine, novavax had some good news, and it was like everything was back to normal. people were reloading on risk. we saw oil shoot up, we saw bond yields rise, and it was just an incredible rigging-on -- risk-on week, almost as though last week never really happened. jack: oil and bond yields going up is indicative of good news. how do you see it? >> for right now i think things are fine, but i the higher rates go, the more the market's going to worry about inflation, about overheating and whether the fed needs to step in and do something. and also higher rates make that argument of there is no alternative, makes that go away. at some point there is an alternative. but we're where neither that -- nowhere near that yet. jack: i really want to pivot to jeff bezos, carlton. amazon is such a part of our

everyday life. you've got to step back for a second and think what this guy did. he completely transformed retail, he changed logistics from something boring to something half exciting but also we expect, you know, to order a ginger ale now and get it in an hour. we created the cloud computing revolution. talk to me about what's going on with amazon in the future and the rest of that industry. >> well, i have something else he did. he is the only ceo who has launched a company and who is still ceo when it did a $1 is trillion valuation. definitely hats off to him on that. what's really interesting is with him stepping down as ceo and naming andy jassy -- and andy jassy was leading amazon's cloud service. as much as we like talking about e plaintiff commerce and getting that -- e-commerce, that amazon web service business is the driver of profits for amazon. and cloud computing really, i think, is going to be the next tech story in the next few years. we did talk about amazon hitting that $1 trillion valuation a

little while ago. if you look at aws, it's supposed to get about $50 billion in sales next year. if that -- if you took that and looked at it as trading at 20 times sales like a lot of traditional cloud businesses do, already you have a $3 trillion business -- 1 trillion business. so really with amazon, microsoft and alphabet which is admittedly a bit of a distant third right now in the cloud business, we are still seeing a lot of strain. jack: yeah. jassy was the head of that cloud business, and that $1 trillion valuation would make just that part of amazon about the fifth largest company in the s&p 500. so, jack, let's talk the gamestop revolution, the meme trade. that was the only thing on wall street last week with, but this week we looked at the little guys trying to stick it to the man. i think the man won. [laughter] >> it was mem if -- meme stock murder this past week. gamestop killed, amc

entertainment killed even quality merchandise like blockbuster liquidating got hit, jack. [laughter] we learned it wasn't all about the little guys on reddit sticking it to the wall street establishment. there's a hedge fund that's a $3.1 billion fund, they made almost 10% in january on a position in amc and some trading in gamestop. we saw that the treasury secretary, janet yellen, met on thursday with securities regulators. they had a statement saying, you know, regulators are, you know, looking into some of this trading, but it's consistent with investor protection and fair and efficient markets. we herald maxine waters -- heard maxine waters, she's seeking answers from robinhood and reddit and hedge funds. something tells me we will see future flare-ups of viral trading and chat room garbage. i just want to tell you there was one player in this that is not apparently seeing a lower profile right now, and that's

elon musk. on tuesday he tweeted to his 45 million followers, he said off twitter for a while. by thursday he was tweeting obsessively about the cryptocurrency doge coin. he said it's the people's currency. no highs, no lows, only doge. you're welcome. and then he said i am become meme, destroyer of shorts. elon, if you're out there, you are become weird, destroyer of yourself if you keep poking financial regulators with doge coin trash posts. jack: i think that's a reference to robert oppenheimer and the nuclear bomb test. i don't eat want to go there. we're going to take a break and move on. the house is expected to pass the senate budget resolution including a $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief package. white house economic adviser jared bernstein on how the stimulus will affect -- that is next, so stick around:

- i'm norm. - i'm szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. we do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. - we've both been taking prevagen for a little more than 11 years now. after about 30 days of taking it, we noticed clarity that we didn't notice before. - it's still helping me.

i still notice a difference. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. sfx: [sounds of everyday life events, seen and heard in reverse] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ sfx: [sounds of fedex planes and vehicles engines] ♪♪ sfx: [sounds of children laughing and running, life moving forward] i knew about the tremors. but when i started seeing things, i didn't know what was happening. so i kept it in. he started believing things that weren't true. i knew something was wrong, but i didn't say a word. during the course of their disease around 50% of people with parkinson's may experience hallucinations or delusions. but now, doctors are prescribing nuplazid. the only fda approved medicine proven to significantly reduce

hallucinations and delusions related to parkinson's. don't take nuplazid if you are allergic to its ingredients. nuplazid can increase the risk of death in elderly people with dementia related psychosis. and is not for treating symptoms unrelated to parkinson's disease. nuplazid can cause changes in heart rhythm and should not be taken if you have certain abnormal heart rhythms or take other drugs that are known to cause changes in heart rhythm. tell your doctor about any changes in medicines you're taking. the most common side effects are swelling of the arms and legs and confusion. we spoke up and it made all the difference. ask your healthcare provider about nuplazid.

♪ jack: as lawmakers wrestle over president biden's $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief package, let's look at what's in it and how the administration hopes it'll affect businesses and the economic recovery. joining me now, a member of president biden's council of economic advisers, jared bernstein. i know you have got a bit of a to-do list, so i really appreciate you coming on the show. let us jump right in. [laughter] friday morning we learned that only 6,000 private sector jobs were added in january. how does this affect your thinking on economic policy? >> it's a great question. in terms of job creation, the labor market is in a stall, and here's how this informs our thinking. this stalker you know, we had a big negative last month -- i mean, in december and january, as you point out, 6,000 in the private sector. if you look over the past three

months, overall payrolls have added only 29,000 jobs a month. that's way too close to zero for anyone's comfort, and it's a huge down shift from a few months before that. that down shift occurred because we allowed there to develop an economic air pocket in the economy, and that's because there was too much of a wait and see attitude about the latest installment of relief. what the president is doing with the american rescue plan is looking a around the corner and thinking about how we can actually finally get control of this virus, produce, distribute the vaccine which means helping states and localities do so, reopen the schools, help moms and other folks taking care of kids get back to work and, finally, launch a robust and racially-equitable recovery x. that's how this plan is calibrated. jack: it's tough to argue with any of those priorities. as you well know, there have been some criticisms recently

that the $1.9 trillion is forward above the actual economic output gap. there's also the issue of the deficit, not a word we've heard much in the past four years, but at some point that's going to come up again. and there's other priorities, right in universal broadband access, how do you pay for all of this, and could we risk overheating into inflation in. >> the danger is doing too little, it's not doing too much. and, again, i think the wait and see air pocket problem, the risks of inaction, the costs of inaction are so steep. one that comes to mind, for every year that a kid misses a year of education, their lifetime earnings over the course of many decades to come are reduced by 5-10%. we learned this morning that over the past year 2.5 million women are out of the labor market. they're not even counted in the unemployment rate. now, in terms of the magnitude of the package, it's time to go big, to go strong, to finally

deal this virus and its partner in crime, the economic damage that the pandemic has caused, a knockout blow. so so the risk is doing too little, not doing too much. on the overheating point, look, i mean, inflation has been significantly below the federal reserve's 2% target for numerous years now, something like a decade. we know unemployment is about three percentage points above where it was before the crisis. if you look at african-american or hispanic unemployment, it's 9%. that means there's a great deal of capacity in what looks to me like much more of a deflationary economy, not one that's at risk of overheating. now, heat, sure. overheating? i think the risk of that is low. jack: that said, obviously, there is a political fight coming. another word we haven't heard much recently is compromise. is there room for dealing here?

i know you're not going to show us all your cards, but could there be some dealing? >> i think there is some dealing. there's been ongoing discussions and compromise. one area is in discussion around the checks, direct impact payments. you have many members of congress saying they didn't want those checks to go too high up the scale. some thought it would be better to have a lower number. president biden has been very solid, he wants people to have $2 the ,000, and i've looked at the numbers, and they need it. not just low income families, but middle income families as well. however, when they start to get up to 250, 300,000, i think there's a cogent argument there for compromise, and that is the ongoing discussion as we speak. jack: we could keep on talking about this, but i really want to ask you about the so-called reddit can revolution and the idea about could we -- do we need government regulation to clamp down on some of this stuff we saw last week in the market? one idea is a minuscule transaction tax that would affect speculators but really

wouldn't have much of an impact on investors. jack vogel was a big proponent of that when he was alive. what are your thoughts? >> i've written about that, but it's certainly not anything the administration is currently talking about. if you listen to president biden's tax agenda that he talked about during the campaign, that wasn't part of it. as far as gamestop and the volatility and the speculation therein, you know, you mentioned government regulation. well, of course we have a regulator for that, and that's the securities and exchange commission, the sec, and they have been monitoring this, continue to do so, have been putting out information on it. and from where i sit, have been doing a good job therein. i think one thing to keep in mind is that we get -- we've been talking about the rescue package, the american rescue plan. when we didn't get to the recovery plan, that is a plan, that is a plan that the president has said for permanent measures he believes there

should be pay-fors. so some of his very progressive taxation ideas,they will be part of the recovery plan, not part of the rescue plan. jack: we're going to have to have you back. real quickly, can you make a comment on the $15 minimum wage? there's one argument that productivity has so outgrown the cost of living, to you need a federal minimum wage in. >> well, not only do we need a federal minimum wage, but we've had one since, i believe, the 1930s. jack: a higher one. >> yes. when you ignore the minimum wage, it loses ground to inflation because it's not indexed. so $7.25, which is the minimum wage in the some of the states you were mentioning, is just woefully low, and in the view of the president, completely unfair wage floor for essential workers, people who are helping to keep this economy going, fulfillment workers in warehouses, sanitation workers,

retail trade workers. so that's why he's proposing that low-wage workers earn a living wage, and he's pinned that at $15 an hour. jack: jared bernstein, thank you so much. i do want to get you back in here in a few months. we'll see how things go. >> thank you. jack: coming up, the rising number of baby boomers have some saying alzheimer's is to become america's next pandemic. it's our barron's cover story, that's next. repair your enamel with pronamel repair. our most advanced formula helps you brush in vital minerals to actively repair and strengthen enamel. so you don't just brush to clean, you brush to build. pronamel intensive enamel repair. research shows that people remember commercials with exciting stunts. so to help you remember that liberty mutual customizes your home insurance, here's something you shouldn't try at home. insurance is cool. only pay for what you need.

♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ stay restless with the icon that does the same. the rx crafted by lexus. lease the 2021 rx 350 for $429 a month for thirty six months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

(woman) i don't want to look like this anymore. h■ñsrú ■nga■■ (man) what is happening to my body? (woman) why can't i lose weight? (announcer) you may be suffering from insulin resistance. measure your waist. females measuring more than 35 inches and males measuring more than 40 inches may have insulin resistance. to learn how to reverse insulin resistance and lose weight effectively, go online to golo.com. once again, that's golo.com. ♪ jack: new cdc data shows a dramatic increase in the number of covid-19 deaths among alzheimer's patients. barron's associate you would editor joins the round table to discuss this week's cover story. reshma, you write that alzheimer's is on track to become the next pandemic in the

u.s. give us a sense of the scope here. >> yeah. i mean, the numbers are quite large. we have almost 6 million people today in the u.s. living with alzheimer's, millions more cheering for them x that's expected to more than double by 2015. this past year's been devastating for these families. about half of the residents in nursing homes have alzheimer's or dementia, and nursing homes accounted for a third of covid deaths, and we're still dealing with the covid crisis, but we could have this other economic and health crisis ahead. 80% of those with the disease are 75 or older, and the age group that the older boomers are now entering is just that. jack: economic implications, tell us more about that. >> so the cost of this disease is about to surge. one estimate puts the total cost at about a trillion dollars by 2050. that's a drain, of course, on medicare and medicaid budgets but also a bigger drag on the economy. much of that cost is due to care giving, much of that is borne by women who have to cut back hours

or take time out of the work force to care for folks. that, of course, hurts their own retirement security, their family's finances, but it has broad or ramifications on the economy curtailing consumption and also lower female labor participation rates can really dampen economic growth. >> hey, it's jack howe. for people out there with loved ones with this disease, do you have any good news for them? >> you know, i do. there's bipartisan recognition that alzheimer's a problem, and the biden agenda, for example, included calls for additional support for home and community-based care that could keep people in their homes, which is what they want, also reduces cost. we could see tax credits for family are caregivers and tax benefits for long-term care insurance or use your hsa, for example, to pay for home-based care. really most of the optimism comes from the science, and we're finally seeing progress in things like biomarkers or even blood tests, early dedetection.

and also a diversityification in the types of treatments that are in the earliest stages of development. and, of course, the biggest buzz is around biogen and its treatment which could be the first drug in 18 years that the fda approves for alzheimer's. >> hi, reshma, it's ben. haven't there been some issues with the approval of that drug, and what does that mean for biogen? >> sure. it has been a bumpy ride. last month the fda said they needed more data, and they delayed their decision from march to june. there was an fda panel of outside experts that wanted evidence for the treatments, but the investors are still holding out hope in part a because of the unusual way that the company and regulators collaborated and also the fact that, you know, treatment has been elusive, so everyone wants to find something that could work. analysts think an approval could help push biogen's stock up as much as 70%. the drug could bring in the $10 billion in sales a year.

of course, the risk is to the downside as well. if there is no approval, especially because biogen's other drugs are facing competition from some rifles. jack: erik shah, very important story. thank you for doing that, and i'm glass at -- glad there's at least a few glimmers of hope. stay right there. ng spot? thar she blows! whoops! loading zone. darn it. pull hard to starboard! too small! seriously? because it...ugh. oh! follow him! steady... steady... oh! thunderation! to the northern lot where there be parking spaces as big as whales! geico. see all the ways you could save.

meet whitney and jane. -hi! -hey! they're always sharing tips on ways to save money and make life a little easier. cvs carepass... it's my savings secret. love. carepass members get 20% off cvs health brand products. whoaa! did you use all the bandaids? members also get free 1-2 day shipping... oh cool. plus, a $10 monthly promo reward to spend on anything... even nail polish? ...all for $5/month. thanks for sharing! join carepass today and get a $10 monthly reward as a thank you. cvs. healthier made easier.

mike shopped for the lowest mortgage rate and chose amerisave. a choice he'll never regret... ...unlike using perm plus, a shampoo which attracts cats. lots and lots of cats. visit amerisave.com now. lower mortgage rates mean higher savings.

♪ ♪ jack: jack, peloton created a whole new category, and this week you write that others are rushing into that space. >> yeah. of i'm an old school fitness guy, i use the 7-pound aerobic dumbbells that my wife lets me borrow. there is a big connected fitness boom, peloton said thursday its number of paying scrub scribers more than -- subscribers morn

doubled. the stock actually slipped about 6%. there was an issue with higher calls for expedited shipping, but one of the issues is the revenue surprises, those surprises are getting smaller and smaller. and the stock's pricey, right in they point out that the company recently had a market value of 22% of the value of netflix. they're only 3% of the paying -- 1% of the paying subscribers of netflix. i spoke recently with the ceo and cofounder of a company called icon health and fitness, and he said they're up to a million paying subscribers on their i-fit connected platforms. they are rumored to be, you know, going public at some point in the future. he didn't want to comment on that, but you have to consider if and when that happens, it becomes competition for peloton for the affection of growth stock investors. you can hear that conversation on my podcast. jack: i always get a little nervous when a sector looks so

exciting everybody wants to rush in and take their companies public. by the way, jack, i have heard you actually flip tractor trials, so don't give us the 7-pound stuff. real quick, actionable ideas, i'll start with you, carlton. >> you guys are talking about fitness, and i'm talking about the fifth largest pizza chain in the country, and that would actually be a convenience store, casey's general store. basically, it works as a reopening play. they're in about 16 states in the country and popular for picking up food and things like that. as people start going out again, as they return to work, definitely expect them to see sales increase by almost 20%. jack: thanks. ben, what's your idea? >> mine is called aes. it's a stock that's really gone nowhere for probably more than a decade. but it has a lot of solar, and with biden focusing on climate, it finally broke out of a range, and it looks like it could be heading higher. it's a very interesting idea right now.

jack: and the marginal cost of sun to power those devices is nothing. thanks very much, carlton. thanks, jack and ben. to read more, check out this week's edition at barron's.com. don't forget to follow us on twitter@barron's online. stay healthy the, wear your masks, and we will see you next week on "barron's roundtable." sa bartiromo's "wall street." maria: happy weekend, everyone. welcome to the program that analyzes the week that was and helps position you for the week ahead. i'm maria bartiromo. thanks for being here. keeping china in check, i sat town with former secretary of state mike pompeo as president biden makes his first speech on foreign policy this week. pompeo's message to the biden administration coming up. and then later, it is super bowl weekend. a record number of americans are expected to place online bets for the big game. i'll be speaking with the cofounder and ceo of draftkings coming up, jason robbins. but first, 49,000 jobs were

added to the economy in the month of january in line with expectations as the unemployment rate fell all the way down to 6.3%. stocks having their best week in months on the heels of this report in hopes that congress will push through even more money, more stimulus, that nearly $2 trillion stimulus package looking like it is going to go through. joining me right now to talk about the impact is guggenheim investments chief investment officer scott minor, guggenheim with $300 billion in assets under management. scott, it's great of to have you this weekend, thanks so much for being here. where do you see the u.s. in terms of our economic recovery? let's start there after these jobs numbers on friday. >> well, you know, maria, i think while we still have a lot of ground to cover to get back to where we were before the pandemic, i think things are in pretty sold shape. -- solid shape. and against the backdrop of all the stimulus that is coming, plus all the stimulus that we already got in the december

stimulus package, i think, you know, the federal spending is going to keep pushing the economy ahead while the federal reserve is committed to keeping interest rates low, and we're seeing pretty strong indications for growth in 2021 which will obviously be good for stocks. maria: yeah, it's a great point, especially as we continue to have more stimulus thrown at this economiment but look at the -- economy. but look at the jobs numbers. we lost jobs in leisure and hospitality, in retail trade. even though the unemployment rate went all the way down to 6.3%, what's the impact of all of this stimulus? we are now up to $5 trillion in stimulus just in a year with this latest $1.9 trillion package going into effect. that has a real impact on growth, it has a real impact on where interest rates are, or right? >> well, for sure, maria. and let's face it, the reason that we have been able to maintain interest rates at these

low levels is largely because the federal reserve has accommodated the treasury and the congress by -- [inaudible] and so, you know, there is a limit to all this eventually, and, you know, it's going to be very interesting. as the economy natural wily starts to recover -- naturally starts to recover, as we start to see lodging come back, we start to see air traffic come back and things normalize, you know, we're going to have to do something to reduce the amount of stimulus in the system. and that's going to be a very difficult exercise to pull off for both the federal reserve and congress. maria: yeah. which brings me to the inflationary story, right? because we're look at commodities trading up in terms of price for orange juice, price of iron ore, copper, really whatever commodity you look at.

if it's in the food arena, even industrial metals, we're seeing a big spike. does that worry you, that inflation is starting to show itself, and does that also become a catalyst for the federal reserve to take the foot off the gas? >> well, i mean, certainly, you know, as milton friedman famously said, inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon subject to long and variable lags. so, yes, this accommodation by the fed when you see money growth in excess of 30% year-over-year, you do start to get worried about inflation. now, you know, it's really interesting, i'm old enough to remember this, back in the 19 1960s we didn't see a broad-based inflation, but we used to get these unusual spikes in prices of things like sugar and coffee and all kinds of other things. sort of, you know, anecdotally

what we're seeing today. but, you know, it took until the early 1970s when the oil shock hit to really get inflation to take off. so i think we're in a point here, maria, where it's a bit of a sweet spot. we're going to see these asset bubbles for lack of a better phrase whether it's in commodities or in real estate or in stocks or even, you know, isolated stocks where people basically see an opportunity to strive the prices up. but eventually -- to drive the prices up. but eventually this will cascade over into the broad economy. i think given how high unemployment is, we still have some time. maria: by the way, scott, what are your thoughts on what took place in the last two weeks with regard to the short squeezes, talking about people having the ability to push things up, we saw gamestop and the others in a massive volatile situation, and now we know that robinhood says it's going to remove any

restrictions for anybody in terms of some of these heavily shorted stocks. what's your take on what took place last week? >> well, first off, i would say that, you know, the short base under gamestop, 130% of its float, you know, it was not exactly the most responsible short to have. it made you vulnerable to somebody squeezing it by buying up the stock. but when you look at what's gone on with robinhood and these basically trading services where you have no visible transaction costs because they don't charge you any fees, you know, it's encouraging more and more speculative activity by people who are sitting at home and maybe don't have the real understanding of what's going on. and so, you know, there's a debate here, maria, which is is this the democratization of the

markets because we're allowing the small guy to get in and do a lot of stuff, or are we, are we essentially destabilizing the markets by allowing people to participate who basically are not informed and that basically can run speculative campaigns on individual assets whether it be silver or gamestop. maria: right. and is it, at the end of the day, manipulation? all right. real quick, scott, before you go, how are you allocating capital right now having said all of that? you talked about a brit -- a pretty good backdrop in terms of the economy. do you want to stay with companies tied to the cyclical environment? are you looking away from equities? what are you doing now, scott? >> certainly, given where we are in the cycle, stocks should continue to perform pretty well over the next few years, and i certainly think they're going to perform well, you know, through the first half of this year. you know, maria, a lot of tech

companies have had phenomenal runs, and, you know, we're starting to see the erosion in the room for continued appreciation there. so we're turning our attention more to things like value, small cap, places which haven't participated as much and looking overseas. so i think that that for the small investor out there it's a good time to maybe rebalance away from the growth in technology story and get into value in small cap stocks. maria: well, there certainly was a big difference between those groups in 2020. scott, it's great to talk with you this weekend, thanks so much. >> maria, always a pleasure. thank you. maria: and to you. scott minerd from bag guggenheim investments. quick break, and then the chinese communist party putting sanctions on former trump officials. i spoke with former secretary

pompeo, his response coming up. ♪♪ ♪♪ [ engines revving ] ♪♪ it's amazing to see them in the wild like th-- shhh. [ engine revs ] for those who were born to ride, there's progressive.

♪ ♪ maria: welcome back. president biden calling china the u.s.' most serious competitor in his first foreign policy speech this week. he is vowing to take action. i spoke with former secretary of state mike pompeo to discuss the real threat from china. he was among the trump officials who were sanctioned by the communist party just one day after president biden was inaugurated. pompeo told me this was really a message sent to the new administration from china. >> it was to send a message to the next administration, the biden administration, that says if you're serious about protecting america, american sovereignty, american jobs, american wealth, all the things that matter most to the people that are listening to your show and watching, you will be punished. and so they were trying to send a message to the secretary of

state, the national security adviser saying, careful, don't do the right thing for america, don't protect america. if you do, you will personally e be punished. that was the message. it's kind of a badge of honor in some ways. we took seriously 50 years of failed policy from america flipped on its head, and we put a real premium on protecting americans from the threat that the chinese communist party presents to each and every one of us. maria: yes, you did, and you were the first administration, the first secretary of state to actually change the approach to china in this 40 years of engagement, because ever since nixon first went to china, we were under this impression that china was going to open its market, that china was going to see democracy, see what's happening in hong kong and say, okay, we'll move to the middle. that is exactly the opposite, what has actually taken place. and you and your colleagues in the trump administration recognized that. is that a fair statement? >> it is, maria. we recognize that the strategy that had been in place -- this

is democrats and republicans both -- the tragedy that had been in place for decades was one of appeasement, of tolerance, it was about chasing the dollar for some cheap labor inside of china. it was a huge detriment to the ordinary citizens across america. tens of millions of jobs lost because the united states refused to tell the chinese you can't dump your products here, you can't steal our intellectual property. president trump and our administration turned this on its head. we allowed them to grow and build out their military on the backs of american wealth that was transferred to them over all of these 40 years. they now have a gigantic military capacity, the people 's liberation army. and then, maria, we did one of the worst things, we let them inside the gates. we let them come lobby here, influence here, we gave them the capacity to build on chinese technology inside of our country to that they could spy on us here in the united states of america. these were things that the american leadership failed the american people on for decades and decades. this policy with china matters to every one of the people who is out there seeking employment.

if we get this wrong, maria, we will live in a world that is so deeply different. we will see these sanctions on our leaders pale in comparison to the pain and the absence of prosperity that will be here in the united states of america if we don't get this right. maria: president biden's nominee for commerce says that she sees, quote: no reason to lift trading curbs on chinese company like huawei or zte, but it seems this decision keeps going back and forth. will you make the case why your administration put in these limitations in terms of investing in chinese companies tied to the military and how important this issue is? so far it doesn't look like they're going to lift the restrictions. >> i'm counting on that. i think the american people need to be counting on the fact they won't lift these restrictions either. there's two things, maria. first, the money, the wealth. these companies are tie ld to the people's liberation army, the a military that wants to control the east china sea,

south china sea and, ultimately, support china's effort to become a hegemonic global power that controls -- we're looking at you are to kids and grandkids living in a different world. the flip side is these technologies that infiltrate the united states and europe are things that our kids use, that we use, that are in our cars, our television sets, in our handsets and phones. this information also, american information whether it's our personal information about where we live and who we hang out with or information about our medical conditions and our dna, that information goes back to the chinese national security state. it will be used for bad intent, it will be used to harm the united states of america and those sanctions were put in place by our administration to protect the american people from these twin evils. maria: so they're using it as leverage to try to blackmail people. is that one way they use our data? >> yeah. absolutely. maria: yeah. >> they are use that information. they will use artificial intelligence to gather it up, and then they will turn around to tell us that if we don't act in a way that's consistent with

what the chinese communist party wants, they will impose real costs on the united states. maria: the biden administration is planning to reopen a holding center in texas for migrant kids detained at the border. it's going to house up to 700 people over the next two weeks, and it comes just days after president bidenen signed a number of executive orders aimed at reversing trump era immigration policies including a task force to reunify families separated at the border. what are your thoughts on these executive orders relating to immigration? >> i worked hard on immigration issues, maria. the american national security depends on a sovereign united states of america. we have to know who's coming in and out of our country. we're a compassionate people. everyone all across the world wants to come by here in america, but we have -- be here in america, but we have a responsibility to the people here in the united states to make sure that we have secure borders, that we know who's coming in and out of our country and that a we regulate our immigration in a way that

preserves jobs and prosperity and wages for the people who are here in the united states. maria: my thanks to former secretary of state mike pompeo. it is super bowl weekend, and there is a lot of money on the line. with a record number of americans placing their bets online, the ceo of draftkings is here.

time to start brushing with parodontax toothpaste? if your gums bleed when you brush, the answer is yes. the clock may be ticking towards worse... parodontax is 3x more effective at removing plaque, the main cause of bleeding gums parodontax

♪ maria: well, are you ready for the big game? a record 7.6 million americans are expected to make online bets for the super bowl this year, up 63% from last year, according to the american gambling association as more states adopt legal betting. joining me now to tell us about it is the cofounder and ceo of draftkings, jason robins. thank you so much for being

here. first up, what are you seeing on your site going into the big game? >> well, we're seeing an absolutely enormous explosion of traffic right now. you know, if we look back, a lot's happened in the last few years since the supreme court overturned the federal ban. we were in one state two year ago for online sports betting, new jersey, last year we were in five, now we're in twelve which is more than any ore online operator -- other online operator. so lots of new customers being able to bet on the super bowl legally for the first time. maria: that is incredible. you've got a pretty exciting super bowl, too, right? the kansas city chiefs facing off with the tampa a bay buccaneers if, arguely the best quarterback of all time versus the best up and coming quarterback of all time, right? >> this is the dream matchup, you know? the greatest of all time against the heir apparent. and, you know, it's in the tampa home stadium, it's the first time ever there's been a super bowl where the team was playing in their home stadium.

it's going to be an in. incredible game, really looking forward to watching it and seeing how this all turns out. either way, i think it's going to be a great game. maria: so what does this mean for draftkings? you've got 23.25 million americans expected to place bets on the final nfl game of the year, and you're seeing all of this traffic on draftkings. this, obviously, results in a lot more awareness for people, a lot more business for draftkings. i know you're in a quiet period, but things are -- it looks like game-changer because you're in so many more states. >> well, it's been really great to see how quickly states are adopting, but, you know, the thing that's amazing is when you cite those numbers betting, the majority of that by far is still being placed in the illegal market. so there's still a lot of work to do to, hopefully, get more states onboard with taking this out of the illegal market and bringing it into the light where you can have strong consumer protections, great experiences for customers and yen rate real,

meaningful tax revenue for states. hopefully, we'll see more and more over the coming years decide that this is something that they should do in their state. maria: yeah. i think that's such a great point because for years and years so many have been, you know, relying on underground bookies or going overseas in order to make that. but that's changing as we see more legalization. tell me about this year's game and what draftkings is doing, some of the engagement that you're seeing with fans. >> well, what we're trying to do knowing what i just mentioned, that there's still so many states that you can't legally bet in, is we're trying to have something for everybody. we have a really big promotion, a $55 million free to play pool where you make predictions about the game. top prize in that is a million dollars, and everybody who enters, even if you finish last place, gets a free prize, up to $that -- $25,000.

and you can play that 50 states, canada, really anywhere, so you don't have to have legal betting in your state. and then for states that do have legal betting, we have what we call a no-brainer promotion where if either team scores a touchdown, doesn't matter which, you can double your money on a bet. i don't know if there's been any super bowl without a touchdown scores. if so, i can't imagine there's been many, so i think that's a great bet for customers who are looking to try something out that's relatively low risk and double their money. maria: yeah, that's very cool. i mean, i think the whole industry is looking better and better. not just your company, but you've got, you know, more crative situations because of the states that are legalizing operations. there's a report this month saying that the industry could be worth $7.3-10 billion in total revenue by 2025. when you look at the overall industry, jason, from 30,000 feet, do those numbers sound believable, or is that doable in

your view for the industry? >> well, the real question is how many states adopt this and how quickly. i think if the states go faster than expected, you could see an even bigger number. maria: pretty incredible stuff. jason, it's great to have you this weekend. thank you, sir. we'll be watching. >> thank you for having me. maria: jason robins from draft kings. don't go broken windshield... take 1... hey guys, my windshield just got broken, i feel like i need to blow off some steam. let's go... 1, 2, 3, 4... mr. blanks? there's no need to be stressed. geico makes it easy to file a claim online, on the app, or over the phone. yeah, but what if i never hear back? that's gonna make me want to go jab...jab! nope! your geico claims team is always there for you. that makes me want to celebrate with some fireworks. 5,6,7 go...

boom, boom, boom, boom boom boom boom boom boom, yeah! geico. great service without all the drama. the lexus es, now available with all-wheel drive. this rain is bananas. lease the 2021 es 250 all-wheel drive for $349 a month for thirty six months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: for $349 a month for thirty six months. try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey. kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette living with metastatic breast cancer means being relentless. because every day matters. and having more of them is possible with verzenio, the only one of its kind proven to help you live significantly longer when taken with fulvestrant, regardless of menopause. verzenio + fulvestrant is for hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after hormone therapy. diarrhea is common, may be severe,

or cause dehydration or infection. at the first sign, call your doctor, start an anti-diarrheal, and drink fluids. before taking verzenio, tell your doctor about any fever, chills, or other signs of infection. verzenio may cause low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infection that can lead to death. life-threatening lung inflammation can occur. tell your doctor about any new or worsening trouble breathing, cough, or chest pain. serious liver problems can happen. symptoms include fatigue, appetite loss, stomach pain, and bleeding or bruising. blood clots that can lead to death have occurred. tell your doctor if you have pain or swelling in your arms or legs, shortness of breath, chest pain and rapid breathing or heart rate, or if you are pregnant or nursing. every day matters. and i want more of them. ask your doctor about everyday verzenio. carl shopped for the lowest mortgage rate and chose amerisave, a choice he'll never regret... ...unlike the choice to hitch hike. ahhh!

which ruined his hand modeling career... it's over. don't worry, carl. things are looking up. visit amerisave.com now. lower mortgage rates mean higher savings. ♪ maria: welcome back. i hope you'll tune in every friday night at 9 p.m. eastern for another edition of "wall street," we are planning another big show next friday night, so be here at 9 p.m. friday x. this weekend, i'll see you over on fox news on "sunday morning futures," 10 a.m. eastern live on the fox news channel, exclusive interviews with former chief of staff mark meadows at the white house, ken paxton, a.g. of texas, senator ron john and peter navarro. all coming up this sunday, 10 a.m. eastern live on fox news. and right here on fox business

start smart every weekday morning from 6-9 a.m. eastern for "mornings with maria" on fox business. i hope you will join us every weekday. that'll do it for us. thank you so much for being with us this weekend. have a fabulous rest of the weekend, and i'll see you again next ♪ ♪ ♪ gerry: hello and welcome to the "wall street journal at large." two weeks into the joe biden presidency, the political dynamic of our times seems to be clear. we have a democratic administration that's intent on ramming through its radical progressive agenda on the slimmest of majorities while the republican party descends into conflict about its everyone direction. joe biden promised to work for unity. he told people that in his five decades in washington, he'd learned the value of working with the opposing party. but this week we got the clearest indication that he lead