eamon, thanks so much. appreciate it. >> you bet. >>> switch gears a little bit, taxes, taxes, taxes. the plan to help the middle class and what it means for the wealthy. new york mayor's bill de blasio revamping corporate taxes. plus, california is planning a sweeping tax overhaul to rake in billions. we'll talk about what's at stake. plus, get ready for earnings season, it's back. traders dealing with the most volatility in the stock market that we've seen in months. we have your step-by-step guide on how to play it in the weeks ahead with the dow now down 111 points. ♪ ♪ ♪ first impressions are important. you've got to make every second count. banking designed for the way you live your life. so you can welcome your family home... for the first time. chase. so you can. in my world, wall isn't a street... return on investment isn't the only return i'm looking forward to. for some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from inv

all right, eamon, stick around.acking of centcom's twitter account wasn't just bad for centcom. it also wasn't particularly good for twitter. so how bad is it for twitter and what is the company doing to mitigate the risk? for that part of the story julia boorstin. >> high, tyler. isis taking other centcom's twitter page was not twitter's fault. twitter servers were not breached. but rather it was the result of hacking of centcom's password. twitter is constantly working with companies and organizations to encourage them to protect themselves. urging the adoption of two factor authentication and verified accounts which confirm that the person setting up an account is indeed who they say they are. twitter also urges companies and organizations to keep a list of who has account passwords to change passwords every one to three months and to use password management tools like last pass and one password. now, a number of twitter accounts have been hacked over the years. burger king and jeeps were famously hacked two year

eamon, thanks. eamon javers with the latest. >>> all right, coming up, we preview the first college football playoff national championship game. you have to hear pete najarian's take on it, when we come back. i've been called a control freak... i like to think of myself as more of a control... enthusiast. mmm, a perfect 177-degrees. and that's why this road warrior rents from national. i can bypass the counter and go straight to my car. and i don't have to talk to any humans, unless i want to. and i don't. and national lets me choose any car in the aisle. control. it's so, what's the word?... sexy. go national. go like a pro. i was thinking about htaking this speed test from comcast business. oh yeah? if they can't give us faster internet or save us money, they'll give us 150 bucks. sounds like a win win. guys! faster internet? i have never been on the internet and i am doing pretty well. does he even work here? don't listen to the naysayer. take the comcast business speed test. get faster speeds or

eamon javers joins us now. what do we know, eamon? >> it's pretty obvious there for a while, u.s. central command's twitter account and its youtube account were spewing isis-related propaganda for a period of time earlier today. not clear exactly how long centcom lost control of those accounts. they say they are back in control of both of those accounts now and defense officials are telling nbc news that this was embarrassing, but not necessarily a major security concern, because those are public-facing entities. the twitter account and the youtube account are designed to put out information to the public anyway, so nothing classified or sensitive would necessarily have been on there. nonetheless, an embarrassing breach on a day where the president was talking about cybersecurity here in washington. and obviously, in the wake of the attacks in paris and the concerns about isis, propaganda and activity recruiting jihadists over the internet. all a focus of major international intelligence agencies right now. but as we know, right now, those accounts are back under the control of ex

what's going on eamon? >> hi kelly. that's right.capitol hill producer alexm oe is reporting paul ryan who ran for vice president back in 2012 is saying he is not going to be a candidate for president in 2016. paul ryan telling this to nbc news in a phone interview saying it is amazing the amount of encouragement i've gotten from people, from friends and supporters, but i feel like i'm in a position to make a big difference where i am, and i want to do that paul ryan said. now, where is he and what is this big difference he's talking about? well, paul ryan is expected -- or is the incoming chairman of the house ways and means committee, the tax writing committee. this decision by paul ryan so early on in the cycle likely to fuel speculation that he wants to get deeply involved in tax reform which is one of those issue areas where we thought we might be able to see some progress between democrats and republicans this year as republicans take over up on capitol hill. but the news here kelly s that paul ryan is saying he is not going to

eamon javers has more from havana. >> reporter: a small group of american tourists watched obama's speech on live television from a most unlikely location right in the heart of castro's cuba. >> it's an ironic experience to be in cuba and have cuba in the basement of the hotel nationale and watching obama's state of the union. i love it. >> reporter: people are watching in havana and wanting to burst into a flood after the obama administration opened up a total of 12 categories of travelers allowed to the isolated islands. >> when what you're doing doesn't work for 50 years, it's time to try something new. and our ship in cuba policy has the potential to end the mistrust in our hemisphere. >> reporter: wednesday, american diplomats arrived inavana to begin historic talks with their counterparts. the american delegation is led by roberta jacobson who becomes the first assistant secretary of state. this is the russian ship victor leeonov. arrived in havana harbor as the u.s. delegation was getting set to come here to havana. the russians say nothing meant by this just ordinary naval operati

eamon javers has more from havana. >> reporter: a historic day here in havana as the highest level of american delegation arrives on the island in 38 years. they're talking about normalization of relations between cuba and the united states and possibly reopening the u.s. embassy which was closed in the early 1960s. so far, we've seen positive statements from both the cuban side and from the u.s. side. the cubans spoke on camera a bit on what they had to say. >> the talks had been carried out in a very respectful flexible environmental way. i would foresee that we continue to work in the same spirit. >> this first round of talks has been a positive and productive dialogue. we just got real and concrete terms, the required steps for the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. >> reporter: as you might expect fairly positive and upbeat signal from both sides here but fairly vague on the specifics of what exactly has been agreed to as of now. one of the big issues of course in the u.s. for people coming to cuba has been what if anything are you allowed to bring bac

in havana i'm eamon javers for "nightly business report." >>> still ahead, millions of families use 529 plans to save for college but the president has a proposal to change them. could end up costing you. >>> millions of families use 529 plans to save for college. one of the reasons they're so popular? tax savings. currently, earnings are not taxed as long as the funds are used to pay for college expenses but the president is proposing to eliminate that tax benefit. today, white house press secretary josh earnest said the plan is part of bigger reforms. >> the reforms the president proposed for the 529 program are reforms that he would consider only in the context of the other education reforms he put forward and when you consider that entire package of reforms, the tax cut that we're looking at middle class families is $50 billion. >> john harwood is in washington with more on this proposal and why is the president pushing this? this is a very popular instrument for people of all different economic brackets john? >> reporter: well the president is trying to target federal resources to

let's head back to cnbc's eamon javers on the ground in havana.ll right now, sir, what do you think we would hear inside that room? >> reporter: i would love to know, craig. know the noises are under way. we know that the cuban delegation arrived first. neither side made a statement so we don't have any clue going into the room and what it is they are going to talk about. we do know generally what the issues are. we do know that the u.s. side wants access for the cubans for the u.s. intrasection here building that the u.s. occupies here on the island that doesn't officially have the status of a u.s. embassy. they want cubans to be able to be in there and want u.s. diplomats to get out and about here on island. no progress yet. we're expecting a statement later on this afternoon. i want to just highlight for you how it's being played in the state-run media. got the local newspaper here. this is called grandma. this is run by the government and named after grandma which is the boat that fidel castro rode. we have this story here about literacy and a

eamon javers is live with details. hey, eamon. >> hi, carl.hat we're looking at right now is live pictures of a news conference by robert ta jakobsson, assistant secretary of state and highest-ranking official to come to cuba in 38 years. wrapped up a series of talks with her cuban counterparts on a range of issues from how the two can handle oil spills offshore to how they'll both handle ebola if it makes its way to his part of the world. what we're expecting to see in the press conference some indication of what was achieved during these talks, if they've come up with a time frame for additional talks, time fame frame to reopen as u.s. embassy here. remember the embassy here was closed back in the 1960s and has not reopened since. also whether the cubans will be reopening their embassy in washington. a lot of talking points here ha we're going to be watching for, but both sides going into this have said that they've seen encouraging signs throughout the past couple days here. so positive noises and we'll see if there are any specifics here c

for "nightly business report," i'm eamon javers in new york. >>> solid growthchisefranchisees but hurdle for growth. that story next. >>> look for more auto recalls in 2015. that's what the head of the national traffic safety administrati e after millions of recalls last year with faulty ignition switches and other problems drivers and car owners are much more aware of design flaws and safety issues with their cars. >> and more alert to safety issues concerning their health that apparently thanks to the affordable care act health insurance exchanges and to expanded medicaid coverage. a new gallup poll said the share of americans without health insurance dips below 13% at the end of last year. a steep drop for more than 17% the year before. in the meantime just today, as of january 1, 6.6 million people selected a health plan through healthcare.gov marketplace. >>> good news about small business hiring. the national federation of independent businesses. picked up in december and new workers. >> another area that's expected to see a lot of growth during the next year is franchising. kate r

cnbc's eamon javers. we've got a reid alert right now. this is from yemen, where officials say that country's president and his cabinet have all resigned after days of escalating violence at the hands of yemeni rebels. presidential officials say that the yemeni president, who's a close u.s. ally, resigned after being pressured to make further concessions to the rebels. yemen's president has agreed to some political concessions. he did that yesterday after his residence and presidential palace came under attack. >>> now to a suspicious death at the navy base at guantanamo bay. u.s. navy captain john nettleton, the commanding officer at gitmo, has been relieved of duty after allegations he was having an affair with a woman on the base. that woman's husband was recently found dead. nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski joins me now. how was all of this uncovered? >> even for the u.s. navy this is really a strange case. this is about two weeks ago when the body of a civilian employee at the u.s. navy base at guantanamo was fo

eamon, the king had been a u.s. ally in the region. tell me about salman? >> reporter: good morning, jose. you could see from the picture there's in mecca the funeral as well as all of the people that turned out in the country in mourning really indicates to you how much the country right now is grieving but in terms of the succession saudi arabia has had this in the works for some time. the man who is now king of saudi arabia, king salman is one of the younger brothers of the original founders of saudi arabia. he has been one of the most well-known individuals inside the kingdom dmkingdom. a true power broker. governor's riyadh the capital of saudi arabia close to 50 years. so he knows the royal family very well. it's a tribal system in that country. he's a person who has kind of risen aboss the fray so to speak, because of his ability to navigate those tribal relationships and those familiar relationships within that family, but more importantly he's an individual who's most likely going to continue the path that the late king abdullah took saudi arabia o

eamon javers is down there with 100 bucks. you just got a big bump in miles. so this is a great opportunity for an upgrade. sound good? great. because you're not you you're a whole airline... and it's not a ticket you're upgrading it's your entire operations, from domestic to international... which means you need help from a whole team of advisors. from workforce strategies to tech solutions and a thousand other things. so you call pwc. the right people to get the extraordinary done. ♪ ♪ who do you work for? your boss? yourself? your family? our financial advisors are free to realize a plan to fit your family's unique needs. we'll listen. we'll talk. we'll plan. baird. >>> welcome back. 250 point rally on the dow today. this after the european central bank became the latest to pursue quantitative easing. the markets are marking it up right now. 1.5% gains across the board. there is the heat map. a lot of green. >> u.s. as we know and cuba holding high level talks to restore diplomatic ties that we haven't had in more than 50 years. >> and eamon javers is on sp

good morning, eamon. >> good morning. historic moments here in havana.arrival of the american delegation, we just got video in of their arrival this morning. it is the highest-ranking delegation to arrive in cuba in 38 years. they're going to talk about the future of the bilateral relationship between the two countries, so at odds over the years. this, just a day after president obama called on congress during his state of the union address to reform the embargo against this nation. take a listen to the president speaking last night. >> what you're doing doesn't work for 50 years, it's time to try something new. and our shift in cuba policy has potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere. >> reporter: we had a chance last night to go to historic hotel here it's a hotel that was once owned by american gangsters. it featured in the cuban revolution castro's picture all over the place. we talked to american tourists at that hotel about their reaction, as they watched the state of the union. they said they're going to tell all of their friends to

it was fascinating. >> yeah. >> eamon? >> go ahead.bout chris kyle you don't know this was true story, this was a great movie. tremendously entertaining, a lot of value. >> what do you think the value is of -- >> it's a great story. a story if you in fact as the director was saying a story as post-traumatic stress disorder addresses how these vets come home. how they reeblter society, poses challenges. from that perspective, a compelling, thought-provokes very emotional movie. >> but -- >> when you juxtapose it with the real chris kyle in the story and emerged what kind of personality he was in his own words, very -- >> talking about the story when back home in texas, which may not have been true? >> a lot of stories when back home in texas, a lot of his own personal opinions what he was doing in iraq. how he viewed iraqis. people described as his racist tendencies towards iraqis and muslims going on these killing sprees in iraq on assignment. there are issues -- >> wait, wait. killing sprees? chris kyle was going on killing sprees? >>

eamon javers joins me now. it's interesting that some of the representatives that met with jacobson disagreed with the president's policy of opening up. they think it is in the framework as she just told me of the rewarding cuba for not -- >> that's the same -- >> not producing progress on human rights. human rights is defined differently by the cuban. >> not just an issue of lost in translation, but diplomatic translation what exactly you're talking about. you hear the same sentiment among cubans in miami, that a lot of this is rewarding the castros and you've heard that from some republicans on capitol hill as well. there is say little concern when you talk to the average cubans on the street in havana as we've done this week that some of this opening up of the u.s. will sort of deluge havana and they are not ready for it in terms of every day practical things like infratrukt infrastra tukt. there's real practical concerns and diplomatic concerns about all of this. >> despite the fact that the talked conclude

eamon, the criticism of the argument is that this will pop up the regime.he counter argument is that we haven't taken down the regime in 60 years, let's try something different and see -- >> that's what the president said on state of the union. let's try something else might be time to do that. there's so much eningenuity, you see the old cars cruising up and down they have them jury rigged with old soviet and american parts. on the american side you see the ingenuity of american business. there's one company in alabama exporting telephone lighting poles under the agriculture exemption to the embargo because those are wooden and grew as trees so therefore they are agriculture. they are finding ways to get around. >> it's going to take a while. the infrastructure not just the tourism infrastructure but communications infrastructure. it's so difficult to communicate with internet and phones it's going to take a while. >> i was talking to a cuban economist yesterday and he said the ingenuity of the cuban people -- we've seen it over the years, it's extraordina

with eamon javers in washington. >> just a few moments ago white house press secretary was briefing reporters at the white house and issued veto threat against the keystone pipeline bill. there had been doubt about whether or not the president would sign a keystone pipeline bill if passed by congress. josh earnest saying if it is passed the president will not sign it. that is going to be one of the first orders of business of the new republican united states senate which is being sworn in today. clearly the white house has decided it is in their political best interest not to sign this bill. part of the calculation that will go into that of course is the crash that was seen in oil and gas prices. that boosts the president's political position here in making the calculation shat he would veto the pipeline. >> that is going to be an interesting fight down on the hill. >>> ford is pushing investment in connectivity with new platforms that will keep not only ford drivers connected behind the wheel. phil lebeau is live in las vegas with details on that. >> you know it's not only about connectivity

. >> and eamon, we want to talk about this attack on a libyan hotel. ten people killed including an american. how worried are we should we be, about what's going on there? >> well we should be extremely worried on two fronts. one is the rise of this group now that is claiming allegiance to is or islamic state in syria and iraq is a significant development. they've demonstrate add capability to carry out sophisticated attacks targeting a hotel. that was pretty secure. certainly had a lot of layers of security to it but in addition to that libya is descending into a full blown civil war if it hasn't already. the implications for the united states and for the region is tremendous. libya has a tremendous amount of stockpiles of weapons holed over from the gadhafi regime. they're flooding the black market. a lot of people with a lot of battlefield experience, if you will, from fighting in the libyan war and from elsewhere have joined that fight and that could pose a security problem for neighboring countries like egypt and other countries on the border of s

we mentioned the fire bombing attack back in 2011 eamon talked about the fact that was connected, potentially to a cartoon featuring the prophet mohammed. but also they took no prisoners and they targeted figures of all religious stripes. obviously part of the reaction all around the world right now is condemnation of this blow to free speech. we've got ambassador mark ginsburg, a former white house adviser, as well to tell us a little bit about the u.s. response to this. we've heard john kerry come out and condemn this. president obama come out and condemn this. and all of the u.s. officials who are speaking right now say loud and clear, we're standing up for free speech. >> absolutely. well look to juxtapose this with what we just went through with "the interview" and north korea. at least no one in the united states so far has been harmed as a result of viewing or showing. but it has the same principle at work ronan, which is the fact that there are fascists, there are terrorists that have determined to kill free speech and journalism. what is unique here about charlie hebdo, and i've been

joining me now is eamon mohyeldin, and matthew levitt.e first start with you as we learn more about these suspects. cherif kouachi's biography is both totally hum drum in a way. he didn't really have -- he went from job to job, pizza delivery man, fitness instructor grew up in an orphanage and had parents who were from algeria and it is now totally extraordinary given the ghastly events in which he is implicated. i wonder when you sort of heard initially who he was and where he came from how much did that dovetail with the now what appears to be standard biography for radicalized islamic youth? >> it seems to be very much in the norm of at least some of the people that i've always kind of read about and the groups. he comes from a group and a background of people who i would say are in a category of high risk to carrying these kinds of attacks out because of so many of the issues that you were just talking about. more importantly, i think when you look at several issues and there aren't several issues that make a person prone to these typ

eamon, thank you for that report.ntime we've got breaking economic data coming up. we're going to get you the durable goods numbers and talk the fed especially given the drags on the do u. you're looking at this right now. they are dragging everything down. take a look at u.s. equity futures. red in a big way. down about 245 points in the dow. s&p 500 down close to 20 points. nasdaq looks like it would open down 52 points. back in a moment. >>> welcome back everybody. we are just a few seconds away from durable goods numbers. rick santelli is standing by in chicago. we've been waiting to see what happens. and after all the numbers that we've gotten from earnings today, they've been pretty disappointing so we'll see what the government has to say as well. go ahead, rick. take it away. >> december durable goods orders headline a bit late, obviously, it's the weather. well we are expecting up around .3%. still don't see it out. i'll do a little tap dancing here. here's what i find fascinating. we still haven't challenged

eamon javers in washington with more on that. >> that's right.mney is telling folks he will not run for president in 2016. that puts the end to a little boom that we've had here of mitt romney news. a lot of people speculating he might run and this morning, we heard that he was convening a conference call at 11:00 a.m. for his close supporters to tell them what his decision has been. nbc news is learning that the decision is not to run. that will clear the field now in the republican -- on she republican side for jeb bush of florida to make his move. they were pulling from the same group of donors and particularly staffers. we saw the key romney aide from iowa report to the bush camp earlier this week. that was a key defection. carl clearly mitt romney now clearing the way, jeb bush looks to be the big winner of this decision this morning. >> all right. thanks very much. maybe ann romney got her way when she said, no no no. thank you. more on amazon google apple, big movers in today's sessions. "squawk alley" all over it. we're back in two. good

. >> and eamon, talk to me about these black flags behind alancy's shoulder. what do they say or what are they about? >> reporter: the flag has been useed by groups like isis and other militant groups. the flag is pretty much the same at the oosies flag. similar, the same slogan. the declaration as known in islam, a declaration of faith. a banner used during the rise of islam when it was, when the prophet and others were going into battle. so the flag itself and the expression that's on it very widely used very common by a lot of different groups but this has become the symbol if you will in recent years with the rise of militancey both in iraq and syria and elsewhere, this black flag with the white declaration declaration, synonymous. for people who may be looking at it and not knowing the difference it is a similar flag that is also used by isis but very different groups. >> in tel aviv thank you. >>> and chair of contemporary middle eastern studies at the london school of political science joining us live from london. good to see you. let's talk about this

eamon javers a stepping in with that. >> just within the past hour, u.s.ls have announced charges against three alleged russian spies active in the new york area. the government officials are saying that two of them were posing as russian diplomats but were actually russian intelligence offers. one of them was what they call a knock, a nonofficial cover person. this person allegedly posing as an employee of a russian bank. what they were interested in here in the united states though is not clear. the press release on this gives some of the details but it's a little bit vague. saying that they were recruiting young women at a new york university, also saying that they were targeting a consultant in new york and also saying that they were asking questions at one point about the new york stock exchange itself, not clear at all what their questions were about the new york stock exchange. i have been e-mailing with some fbi officials just over the past half hour and they're all staying pretty buttoned up about this, just sticking to what's in the press release

eamon javers, what's happening?ontrolled senate just passed that keystone xl pipeline bill. the measure passed 62-36 here. two senators not voting today. obviously, republicans backing in control in the united states senate. this is a big priority for them up there. we're going to have to wait and see now whether they're going to reconcile this with the house bill or simply send this one along to the president of the united states. ultimately, though it's expected that president obama would vito a keystone bill. sol all of this might be sort of a political exercise at this point. but republicans putting a marker down saying, they're now in control in the united states senate. >> yeah, we were watching to see if they would get 67. eamonn thank you very much for that. meanwhile, our julia boorstin is digging a little bit deeper into those amazon results we're just getting. julia, what else are you seeing request m >>m? >> a lot of people are very interested in amazon prime. a lot of investors were hoping to get a tota

>> what eamon did at wendy's, that was a trash franchise doing badly.tch a quick double. so these things can be fixed. burger king really terrific. yum. i know they stumbled in china. if they didn't that stock would be at 90. the fact is that mcdonald's is about a factory. it's about making product and getting it to the customer. good tasting and not difficult. clean the stores. i don't think the franchise is going to put more money towards this company as long as thompson was running it. easterbrook, big turnaround in the uk. very social media oriented. i think he can make this a better company. not unlike when shultz came back to starbucks. it'll take 18 months. that's how long it took shultssz before you see anything positive. but i think we'll see real positive momentum after that period. >> i hope you're right. i don't miss photo mats. dropping that stuff off. i will care if something happens to mcdonald's. >> this is about cash flow. it's about franchisees buying in. yesterday they said hey, enough is enough. enough rabbits pulled out of the hat.