does the fcc -- is it your view that the fcc has been cooperating? >> we do not believe they have been cooperating with law enforcement agencies. 2 million people's identities were stolen, that is a federal crime. we should be referring these to the state attorney general. >> chairman pai, the fcc -- >> we have been investing -- we have been cooperating. in addition, i proactively have announced -- we would be changing our process to ensure that some of these issues -- 7.5 million comments, email generated -- those things don't happen. other potential solutions have been offered. >> i am still waiting for response -- reports about reports and memoranda and what you will provide. we hope you will provide that soon. >> we have been working with the inspector general with this. they will be issuing information. we require a letter from the committee -- >> is there anything that prevents you from speaking now? with that impact or proceeding? >> as i said, in consultation with the career staff and others, solutions like captcha and other mechanisms to --

the fcc transparency act? mr. chairman? >> absolutely, congressman. thank you for your leadership. >> yes, i agree whole heart lid with the bill. >> yes and yes, i think it codify goods government and is a step in the right direction. >> yes. for placed on or month meeting agenda. >> commissioner o'rielly, you're -- there's so much choice today in terms of children's programming. whether it's on a tablet, an apple tv very roku or broadcast tvs service you argue the government may not -- to be clear i support families and children having access to good, educational programming but i watch tv enough argue that competition and consumer choice have he never been greater for all audiences. if you don't mind, briefly summarize you're assessment of the video marketplace and choices available to consumers. >> thank you. will say i take only issue with your idea of roleback. we're trying to provide greater flexibility on the kid individual issue. the market place exchanged incredibly since the children's television act

does the fcc -- is it your view that the fcc has been cooperating? >> we do not believe they have been cooperating with law enforcement agencies. 2 million people's identities were stolen, that is a federal crime. we should be referring these to the state attorney general. >> chairman pai, the fcc -- >> we have been investing -- we have been cooperating. in addition, i proactively have announced -- we would be changing our process to ensure that some of these issues -- 7.5 million comments, email generated -- those things don't happen. other potential solutions have been offered. >> i am still waiting for response -- reports about reports and memoranda and what you will provide. we hope you will provide that soon. >> we have been working with the inspector general with this. they will be issuing information. we require a letter from the committee -- >> is there anything that prevents you from speaking now? with that impact or proceeding? >> as i said, in consultation with the career staff and others, solutions like captcha and other mechanisms to --

as well as the ability to complain directly to the fcc. we adjudicate any complaint that we get about prices that may be in violation of our rule. and if you look at the overall gist of our media approach, the notion is that price regulation deterred by deployment. if you are the owner of that infrastructure and there is heavy price regulation you would have less incentive to build out additional infrastructure. if you are a competitive interest you would be less likely to build the infrastructure of your own. why would you? we put our fingers on the scale and price regulation. also promoting an incentive to get more fiber out which the result speaks for itself. for the first time over 50 % commercial buildings in the united states are connected with fiber and we want every one of these buildings to be connected through fiber which we think it's a market-based approach to determine and it's the right way to go.>> let me ask you another question, you're aware of the letter for the fcc regarding the real-time location data and the companies

you are aware of chairman whitens letter to the fcc. on may 18 senator wyden calling you to recuse yourself an investigation based on your password representing them. have you recused yourself? >> i have not in consultation with the office ofe general counsel. >> did you get an>> opinion from the fcc as to whether or not you should recuse yourself? >> yes, i did. >> thank you. >> mr. walden, you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, madam chair. i appreciate again the commissioners being here and i believe we've sent a letter as well to the companies regarding the same issue. we all care about privacy and about data location issues. something we've been pursuing for some time. van. the national public radio commercial broadcast companies depend on it for content distribution to about 100 million households. that's obviously a lot of people in every state, every congressional district. oncongressional district. one of the challenges to ensure non- interference with downlink system of the exact locations of hundreds of thousands

i appreciate the chance to update you on the fcc works. before i do, i would like to thank the subcommittee for its assistance. it contained a host of provisions that are already having a positive impact on the work. perhaps most importantly it corrected a technical problem involving deposit. with this fix in place we are moving forward aggressively to options and moving a substantial amount of spectrum into the commercial marketplace. this year we are commencing this option followed immediately by the 24 gigahertz band. in 2019 we intend to hold the spectrums of 37, 39 and 47 gigahertz. combined, these will make almost five gigahertz of spectrum available and advance the leadership in the next generation of wireless connectivity. none of this would have been possible without the subcommittee's leadership. the fcc also benefited from the support in carrying out large priority is closing the digital divide. yesterday they kicked off the connect america fund reverse option that would provide up to $2 billion over the next decade to bring bro

the fcc is an independent agency.make sure that it's the facts that guide us and the law. it shouldn't be part of our consideration whether or not the news outlet at issue has flattered this administration or earned the president's favor. >> you know, they certainly broadcast pro-trump commentaries but i had a bunch of sinclair reporters e-mail me, text me saying i hate that the president is calling us conservative. that's bad for our brand. we just want to be reporters and don't want to be identified on trump's side or other side. but there we are. what is actually happening with the sinclair deal? >> it was about a year ago that sinclair filed an application at the fcc, seeking to merge with tribune and create the nation's largest broadcast company by far. over the course of that year, the agency, often over my objection, bent and twisted a lot of its policies, seeming to clear the way for this merger. but two weeks ago, that stopped. the agency decided that it didn't have enough facts to support the merger before u

liberty. ♪ >>> fcc chairman not bowing to pressure from president trump.sident taking to twitter, slamming the fcc decision on sinclair proposed merger with tribune media, calling it disgraceful and unfair the chairman stands by the commission's unanimous decision. >> decisions i've made haven't always been easy, so long as i have the privilege as serving as chairman of the fcc, going to find the facts, follow the law, and call them like i see them. >> joining us now, fcc commissioner, good morning thanks for being with us >> good morning, thank you for having me. >> i find this interesting a lot of people expected this call to not be unanimous for chairman pai, they go in a different direction here what was the conversation like around this and are you surprised at the president's comments >> well, it is for months and months i have been the only one at the fcc expressing concern about sinclair's transaction with tribune. but over the last few weeks my colleagues also had concerns and we came together unanimous in the last week and decided this transactio

how can we get the fcc, the our u.s. and the nta to work together so we are not duplicating functions, or we are actually working together to a dress broadband, connectivity, so every member mentioned that is part of as part of their discussion. i'm looking for advice and consultation so when i go in there can be more impact. >> there are extensive provisions in the house and there is also the kind of program that was created as part of last year's budget bill. they have the potential to provide duplication with existing programs. the chairman has done a wonderful job working with different agencies. it requires consultation. us before alk to decision is made. doesn't get you prohibition on duplication, it requires a consultation. >> so we didn't know about the duplication. >> if you look at the house bill it is tony 53 compared to where we fund -- and i recognize the speeds and funding we do is what people would like. we are trying to stretch our dollars as far as we possibly can with 14 billion people that with 14 mill

we are looking forward to an fcc that gives us have -- gives us a clearer path forward. misused in the fcc determines it so then let's take action. >> what was your take on douglas mcmillan's wall street text dirty secret? the app developer sifting through your email talking about gmail, saying of the internet giant continues to have outside software developers scanning in boxes of millions of gmail users. morgan: it is an interesting question that you raise in the context of your earlier comment about differences between apple and android. i think what you are looking at is, first of all, it is what they are doing in terms of --the user is not aware of his or has not agreed with it. if that is true then there should be action taken against them. if it is misled or deceptive, then action needs to be taken. if it is an application where the use of your a mill is something the application is doing, i am going to look through your a mill and pullout calendar information or other information that is actually relevant and vital, then that is ok. is get back to the big problem

. >>> coming up, huawei fighting back why it's taking on the fcc >>> a check on where we stand in thearkets. dow jones industrials average up by 88 points we's been higher but also a lot lor. s&p and nasdaq higher as well. don't move, stay with us i woke up in memphis and told... (harmonica interrupts) ...and told people about geico... (harmonica interrupts) how they could save 15% or more by... (harmonica interrupts) ...by just calling or going online to geico.com. (harmonica interrupts) (sighs and chuckles) sorry, are you gonna... (harmonica interrupts) everytime. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. >>> let's get over for the european close >> reporter: stocks are on the rise today with trade being the big focus. take a look at the automakers. leading the way higher following a report in a german publication that the u.s. has offered a solution to the ongoing trade dispute. the u.s. ambassador to germany has said to have told ceos of vw will stop tariffs on cars imported from the eu if they stop tariffs german chancellor angela merkel said she's open to th

we do throughout rural alaska without the programs that have been available and administered by the fcc and other parts of the government. we really take -- we believe responsibly to use the funding wisely for the purposes which it was intended , too deliver services for as many communities and residents throughout alaska as he possibly can. to be able to make plans and take advantage of economics and deliver efficient services those programs need to be stable and predictable or else it's difficult to bring the private investment alongside that is unleashed by theirs programs. if we don't know what will happen in the near future or even in the midterm, as well. certainly, programs change but as much stability as possible really helps us bring along the private investment alongside that is necessary to take the different cases a new technology that drive it deeper into citizens so we can reach that broadband divide that many experience and we have to overcome to have everybody have the same opportunities and get similar benefits of operating in the digital world. it is moving fast and we

kevin: coming up, fcc is raining on sinclair's parade.hat the hearing order could mean for the sinclair tribune merger, ahead. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ kevin: this is bloomberg markets: balance of power.i am kevin cirilli in washington, d.c. shery: i am shery ahn in new york. kevin: they have pumped the brakes on the sinclair tribune eggmerger, already the local television operator in the nation. sinclair signed off on a $3.5 billion purchase of rival tribune media. the fcc is calling into question how transparent sinclair was to regulators and is ordering a hearing. that could take months. joining us to weigh in his bloomberg's sec reporter, thank you. are they going to get the merger done or not? >> that is the question, we don't know. the fcc late this heavy hit on the merger the last few days, sending them to the hearing, which could take a long time. has no telling how long it will take. months, plural, for sure. sinclair said this was troubling and we have not heard from sinclair -- tribune said this was troubling, and we have not hea

well low and behold today, they're starting to come down and the approvals at least on the fcc side isd for this deal. the sec basically said no go to this deal as it's structured right now. liz: well the stock is tanking sinclair is down 11% right now. charlie: is it? liz: 11%. charlie: this is bad for the deal when the fcc which even more than the doj, i mean doj can say listen, it's not anti- competitive but the fcc says it's illegal based on the current communications law, it's donald that's what they basically said right now. now they can go back and fix stuff but in order to fix it it would maybe negate doing the deal so what you have now is this big media mega merger, big mega deal which i'll tell you a lot of conservative opinion talent was being eyed by these guys. i'm telling you i won't say names, i'm sure there's people. liz: but fox, 21st century fox the parent of this network, is down. i would have thought a negative for sinclair -- charlie: i think it's down on other reasons and i think it's down because our assets that are being sold to disney is probably not a bidding

we are talking about many of the fcc safe harbor, changing the way companies talk to workers. we are not talking about radical revision in the tax code, so i mentioned a few ideas but i think it's a sufficiently big problem that warrants a big solution. there is a lot we can do right now. >> albin, thoughts? whether it's capital or other ideas or things we ought to look at, data points? >> we are working with companies and investors to address these issues and our-- the companies that are performing the best according to the topics we are talking about, pain better, who's investing in communities etc. are outperforming the market and we see from our 2017 list and a percent higher return on equity. there are also paying people significantly more, significantly fewer five and regulation violations, so part of this conversation needs to be that there are companies that there is a whole range of balance, but also this broader question are things good or bad. you know, recognizing that there are corporate leaders that are outperforming both on topics we are working on and outperfor

understand the fcc did not report to the president. it is an independent board and republicans criticized when he went on the internet to say the fcc should reclassify broad band to get that neutrality rule into place. the president generally speaking shouldn't tell the fcc what to do. president trump and obama seem to have no problem with it. >> okay. thank you. >>> we have new video of a rocket launch. it went up at about 4:45 this morning. they have more upgraded landing legs which speeds up the turn around time for reusing the booster. >>> mountain view's google is giving back to the community with a million dollars grant to assist the homeless. they say the google gift will provide a new group of resources that includes cold weather shelter, showers and expanded program and kitchen that will double as a job training site for the homeless. >>> get ready for candy topia. it just wrapped up a pretty popular run in l.a. they call themselves if confection nar exhibit. everything is made out of sugar. it will open in september. you do h

fcc says no.t today and said here wie going to reapply for this and we're going to do some different divestitures maybe real divestitures. here is what i would say, liz. the problem that they have and this thing has probably gone before an administrative court judge, the problem is that in all these things you have to have a certain degree of candor with the regulatories and the fcc is looking at the notion of candor and that's where this deal might get mixed and if this deal gets mixed it's a huged miss opportunity. sinclair was building a media powerhouse, liz something that was ready to rival fox news and particularly in the sort of right wing content arena. this is a big blow if they don't get this and it looks like they're not getting this. also, i heard sarah huckabee sanders talk about red headed spies i was thinking of you immediately. liz: i'm not a russian spy. i am red head and i am half russian. >> [laughter] liz: i am not a russian spy. did she just plead not guilty? okay she just ple

the fcc says no. even if the doj approved it without the fcc, this deal is not happening.nell: a lot going on with trump, putin. this is a big deal in the media world. >> if it wasn't for the trump-putin thing i would say this is huge story. how a lot of news gets transmitted to people. face it, they were putting up a competitor to us. now it looks like it will not happen it will not happen. charlie gasparino. thanks. melissa. melissa: taking on amazon. how retailers step up to compete with amazon prime day. that is coming up. >>> historic day in finland. president trump just speaking with fox news's sean hannity ahead of his show. we'll give you a sneak-peek. we'll play it for you next. ♪ i'm ray and i quit smoking with chantix. i tried cold turkey, i tried the patch. they didn't work for me. i didn't think anything was going to work for me until i tried chantix. chantix, along with support, helps you quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. i needed that to quit. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some

fcc said no on the divestiture plan. charles, in the media world this is a big deal.was looking to literally compete with fox news, cnn, msnbc, you name it. they were doing it on the local level to get penetration of 70% of all, all homes on a local basis and on top of that feeding it with some conservative commentary. the fcc divestiture plan, they had to divest from some networks to make this thing work was not legal. they were forcing this to a committee hearing. sinclair came back today, rejiggered its deal. now here is the rub, what we do know is that part of this whole thing, you could see this within sinclair's statements today, they were being completely honest and transparent with the fcc, the fcc is investigating sinclair whether they are candidate with the commission about their divestiture plan. if the fcc says they were not candidate, if this thing goes before administrative law judge the way sin klauer was divesting from the networks, i tell you this is funky divestiture, if you look at it. they were divesting from certain networks that is actually contr

legally challenge it saying it misled regulators president trump tweeted, so sad and unfair that the fcc wouldn't include the sinclair broadcast merger with tribune. this would have been a great and

the fcc may be cashing in on your complaints. >> hm.ch would you have to pay the fcc to do their job? details ahead. >> as we head to break right now, the time in a moment. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> man harassed a woman for wearing a t-shirt with puerto rican flag shirt. he asks areou a citizen. the woman can be heard a oing thefficer for help and telling him she's uncomfortable. the officer is seen walking away while the man continues to harass that. w other officers later arrive and helped. >> got a complaint for the fcc? get ready to possibly pay up $225 to be exact. the agency will meet on the fee. until now they have not had to deal with consumer complaints. >>epublican congressional candidate katie arrington is ready again to hit the mpaign trail after survi a horrific head-on collision. accident just days after scoring an upset primary victory over representative .ark sanfordo return to the trail ne week with fundraisers and meetings with supporters. >> special dedication to senator john mccain. it's dicated a missile destroyer to the senator

fcc cast a 5-0 vote to defense on the band.e final until the second vote at the agency, has yet to be scheduled. what the issue is is whether companies -- u.s. companies may spend u.s. telik munication funds on gear from companies, awei, so it is a ban on subsidy funds. scarlet: thank you. you have written about this in june. talk about a trade group representing these leading american broadband and wireless providers, and where they stand. ctia, a have heard from big wireless association, but i do know world carriers have filed and said this will cause problems for us. gear mainly seem to be in smaller carriers and for smaller carriers, it is a problem that they cannot spend the subsidy funds to upgrade the gear. they are objecting. youlet: todd shields, thank from washington with the latest on the fcc moving ahead with the on federal subsidies to buy equipment from manufacturers such as huawei. mark: let's get to turkey, with their inflation rates falling to the highest level in 15 years. reporter joins us now. that confidenc

peter: are you finding that the current fcc is amenable to your needs? ms. pidgeon: there's always conversations about ensuring that it's the right balance, i guess, of meeting hours or more important our customers' needs, and also meeting the needs of the sec of ensuring that programs are being used in the way that they are intended and delivering the best services possible over long periods of time, so to the extent that is a between dialogue participants in those programs and the regulators of those programs, then, yes, that dialogue is going well, and i expect it to continue and to evolve over time. reader -- peter: prior to joining gci as general counsel and senior vice president, tina manager of regulatory affairs for that company. what is your view of washington now that you are a little further away? ms. pidgeon: i'm glad my experience went along the path they did, which was to have the opportunity to work and experience washington, d.c., and being able to take that experience back here to the company here in anchorage, and say,time, i would obviousl

the fcc said the news was misleading. roseanne barr got an apology do-over after the racist tweet about jal are you jarrett. reeseian who said she thought jarett was white. said this. if you are watching i'm so sorry you thought it was racist and you thought my tweet was racist because it wasn't. it was political. i'm sorry for the misunderstanding that causedy ill-worded tweet. and i'm sorry that you feel harmed and hurt. but she has got to get a new haircut, seriously. howie: that's better than the youtube video she posted where she called jarett the b word. herself-humiliation was pretty sad. this is pretty sad, but maybe it stops the bleeding. i'm howard kurtz. check out my new podcast. you can subscribe at apple itunes or foxnewspodcasts.com. i post my daily columns. we are back here next sunday. we'll see you then for the latest buzz. [♪ >> it is monday july 30th, this is "fox & friends first" happening right now at 4:00 a.m. fox news alert. state of emergency, wild fires raging in the west with the death toll risin

that was the lucia versus fcc. can you talk about that? this is administrative law judges and the court had another case which we are not talking about which involved a different set of judges -- justices. they said that is not who you mean when you say judge. these law judges work for the securities and exchange commission. the adjudicators and disciplinary and similar cases against a broker, dealer. the commissioner has the right to review the decisions but they have the first line review and often there is no review by the commission. this is somewhat contested. whether it is because nobody asked or because alj has final decision making authority but they hear an awful lot of disputes that come before the fcc. the fcc is an agency and there is no dispute that the agency could appoint them but the agency has not chosen to do so. they decided to have their chief allie -- alj who is not appointed by the president.the other aljs. that implements the clause that says the president can employed -- appoint the officers but congress may vest th

. >> the strongest bill in the nation -- >> you may remember in december, the fcc repealed obama era net neutrality regulations, allowing internet providers to charge tech giants like netflix and google to guarantee their services are seen in homes across the country, while relegating the smaller websites who cannot afford to pay to the proverbial slow lane, making people less likely to use their size. the fcc commissioner insists that consumers will be protected. >> we have empowered the federal trade commission to take action against any bad apple in the internet economy. >>> still, more than 20 states are suing the fcc for cutting the rules. now, california is going one giant step further, introducing legislation that would essentially reinstate net neutrality rules in the golden state. >> this is going to be a fight. >> the ctia which represents the wireless industry says that sb 822 is flawed and a consumer unfriendly approach while the california cable and telecommunications association says it is unlawful, discriminatory, and unnecessary , adding state-level policies regulatin

fcc of control.ld trump has applauded their coverage like crazy. that is unusual for this is now getting to the point where it looks like tribune has second thoughts about staying in the deal and it was interesting that we reported that tribune was dropping out and they put out a statement right after we reported that said yes, we are considering it and we are weighing our options. what was interesting as they do not run the statement by sinclair. tribune did it separately. it shows there's divergence between the two companies and some separation. so, they may not drop out in the end and they may we had here but it looks like the steel if you're reading the tea leaves the steel is starting to fall apart and not just from the government standpoint but inside the company. again, the player may pull a rabbit out of the hat and the ceo of sinclair came out with a new proposal for the fcc and what some people would say is a more aggressive divestiture of the stations he needed to sell in order to make the

was this an expected move by the fcc? what happens to this deal? >> thank you. unexpected , whofrom the fcc chairman has been a vocal supporter of consolidation in tv broadcasting. some of his criticism from his -- is a cozy relationship between him and sinclair's management. this was not expected at all. what this does in terms of the deal is, it causes significant delay at least until the fourth quarter. sinclair is going to have to restructure some of the deals. it agreed to divest about 23 stations to comply with the 39% ownership cap. what has happened is the fcc is raising issue some of those divestitures are not cleanly structured. they are somewhat like sidecar arrangements. sinclair still has a stake in the revenue and programming of those stations. sinclair is going to have to come back with a new proposal, make it squeaky clean and present it. that was soing fascinating is that some people criticize this deal as a consolidation of too many local stations underwent ownership and it would give a conservative voice to local news stations. interesting tha

the fcc will consider having an administrative law judge review that deal. >> tribune fell by 16% to 32.12. the aviation industry is in the midst of one of the longest and most proffistableuns in its history. and the assent may not be over yet. the industry's fortunes could climb even higher despite the overhang of rising trade tensions. phil lebeau reports tonight from outside of london. >> the global aviation market i soaring to new highs. airbus has announced quarters of at least 17 a-350 airplanes. boeing has booked $11.6 billion in orders for 68 planes. >>e're seeing a strong marketplace. predicting a$8.1 trillion market over the next several years. the world will need fewer airplanes in the next 20 years. >> why is business taking off? on the defense side. countries are increasing military budgets. especially as president trump calls on allies to pick up more of thef costs global military alliances. meanwhile, the comrprcial aine business keeps growing as the number of people flying is d increasingue to a strong global economy a relatively low air fairs. >> we're in a super cyc

and as we reported, fcc rejecting the deal. the deal's going to go before an administrative court judge to approve the purchase of tribune. that's a very heavy lift. if the fcc rejects it, generally the judge agrees with it. and that's why. they had to sell some of these assets, and we have a whole write-up why the fcc doesn't like the divester plan. i am not going to wrap, i'm going to finish my hit. sources are telling the fox business network that even with sinclair coming back trying to rejigger the deal, change some of the terms of the divestiture, we understand that tribune with may be pulling out. it is weighing whether to pull out of the deal. sources are telling the fox business network i believe they have until august 8th to do so. and that is an existential threat to this deal. so even if sip claire is going out trying -- sinclair is going out trying to revive this thing, we do understand sinclair is looking for a hobbyist paying 15 grand a month. in an initial report, i said it was 12,000 a month. tribune may pull o

and, you know, it's interesting, of course, it's appointee of this administration running the fcc. i think somewhat unexpected when they said, you know, it doesn't appear to us that the divested stations of sinclair says its divesting it won't have power over them. that was why they decided to send it to an administrative law judge, which is likely where it will die but it does simply raises more questions about the regulatory structure. for example, what many massa comes to the white house and promises something and you get a tweet from the president that says i think sprint and t-mobile together would be awesome. does that have an impact on the doj and the like >> it makes you think about at&t and time warner. >> yes. >> the fact that the government is now appealing the ruling after it failed to argue. >> if you want to make any other, you know, gain any other insight from this, he continues to come after our parent company comcast and nbc news, and so it does yet again layer on another concern that might have been there should comcast continued in the pursuit of fox. it undermin

securi a sions'terd the fcc wants to know if facebook adequately warn investors about privacy issueshat cambridge analytica mined user information without their knowledge. the fcc wants more information from facebook. >>> and the pay-your-age promotion at build-a-bear workshops turned out to be too popular. stores across the country could not handle the crowd, and shoppers were turned away for safety. you could pay your age up to a max of $29. build-a-bear says it knows customers are disappoint and plans to reach out soon. some were given $15 coupons. >>> and after sunday night there will be just one blockbuster video store left in the united states. the last two blockbuster stores in alaska are closing. the video rental company has shut down in most of t u alaska because internet is so expensive and folks rented video. the last store is in bend, oregon, where the general manag manager has no plans to close it any time soon. >> if i'm feeling nostalgic about the 1990s, i'll head to bend, oregon. thanks a lot. >>> still ahead, the iconic look of "air force one," well, it may be changi

what they didn't have is the fcc on their side, the fcc, we did a long story, i did, lydia moynihan myucer did a big piece on foxnews.com laying outsources. amid this defeat where sinclair is nearly shut down by the fcc, a miracle could save the deal. an administrative court judge say yes i could approve it. without the fcc's consent it is a big, heavy lift. here is what we know sinclair broadcasting has gone out looking for a lobbiest, a little late, looking for a washington, d.c. lobbiest in the aftermath of this stunging defeat. we understand they're paying at a minimum of 12-k a month for this lobbiest. i know people that have been -- neil: how? >> i'm, my sources are people that have been approached. so in the middle, i guess the question is, what does it mean that they're hiring a lobbiest? you really can't lobby an administrative court judge, just so you know. that is where this gets weird. maybe they pull the deal. makes me think -- neil: pull it to rework it or pull it all together? >> pull it to rework it. maybe start over or maybe pull it period and then just repair its repu

the fcc will send a report to congress. senate passed a companion bill in november. >>> top lawmakers are calling for a lawmaker coal here to resign after yelling racial slurs on camera. >> good. louder. >> america! >> good. >> jason spencer featured on sacha baron cohen's showtime series. he said he was punked believing he was making an anti-terrorism training video and started screaming the "n" word as a form of defense. >> because of who you are, you could be the victim of kidnapping by isis. you have two seconds to attract attention. how do awe tract attention? -- how do you attract attention? >> scream and take your clothes off. >> in america, there is one forbidden word. the "n" word. i'll be the terrorist. >> [ bleep ]! >> are you crazy? the "n" word is no-no. not this word. this word is disgusting. >> got it. >> spencer has not returned cnn's calls. he told the ajc he was played on fears he or his family would be attacked which was brought on by death threats when he brought forward legislation on muslim women to st

the deal is being reviewed by the department of justice and the fcc. in february, the fcc revealed it was conducting its own investigation. coming up, it is one of the important days on the amazon big dar and it has already snafus. we will talk to the executive in charge of prime, next. this is bloomberg. emily: a major hiccup on one of the most critical shopping days of the year at amazon. the prime day sales promotion ran into some major technical glitches on the website and the app about one hour after the sale kicked off spiking around lunchtime. according to website down detector.com. we are bringing in our guest. guru hariharan, a former executive at amazon. analysts are quite frankly shocked that amazon would not be prepared for this kind of traffic. amazon says they are working on it. what do you make of it? guru: prime day is like the super bowl of e-commerce. the day when amazon is putting its best offers in front of everyone on its website and now the ecosystem including companies like walmart and the consumer package groups behind that. and

fcc saying opposed to it. doj backing off any official announcements our sources are saying approving the deal. we hear if the doj had to decide today it would be a jump ball. for intents and purposes this deal is dead. here is the next step. there will be a hearing. when fcc schedules a hearing amid serious doubts for a deal, usually not good news. a lot of these deals die in the black, black hole of an fcc administrative hearing. by buying these tribune stations they would create one of the biggest media powerhouses in the country, dominating local news with conservative commentary as well. they would have penetration into 70% of all u.s. households if this deal went through. it faced massive amounts of opposition from consumer groups, from, left of center good government groups, from some competitors, that they didn't like the day the deal was structured. sinclair was getting around caps in ownership caps how many stations they could own through sort of finagling, any way you put it, fcc put kibosh on this

it instantly goes into the court record and fcc and everybody pretends those were the actual words.tle fought against him. >> federal commission said wbai was wrong in playing the record but fcc imposed no punishment immediately and supreme court agreed. >> i was raised in time when using bad language was associated with people of low intelligence. he helped break that. no such thing as bad words but bad intentions. that was freedom. >> as soon as it's desensitized it's normal, then it's not offensive. then it's not offensive, not afraid of it anymore. everything george carlin said was him looking at world going grow up, grow up, grow up. >> [ bleep ] [ bleep ] [ bleep ] [ bleep ] [ bleep ] [ bleep ] [ bleep ] and tits. that was the original list. we've added some words since then. added fart, turd and twat. and there are other words many of you are wondering about, why not considered or shown up on the list thus far. we're looking at them all very closely. some of your favorites might make the list later this year. [ bleep ], snatch, box, [ bleep ], [ bleep ], [ bleep ], [ bleep ],

but i do believe this is what the fcc historically has looked at. and the question ought to be whether these kind of commitments could be really spl solidified. >> uh-huh. >> with the fcc's review of the transaction. it's just not usually what the justice department likes to engage in. >> uh-huh. mr. slover, agree? >> yes. i think the question will be whether the incentive to build out in the rural areas will be sustained at the same level when there is just one company that is pushing it, rather than two companies that are worrying about who is going to push it first and harder. so i think it's going to be potentially an advantage to keep them both of them in there that the justice department will look at. >> okay. then my last question, mr. kimmelman, you raised this earlier on. millions of customers rely on prepaid plans to access all of the services. and for many people, again, this is a primary connection to the internet. how is this combination sprint, boost, mobile and t-mobile metro pcs under common ownership going to likely in your mind aff

legally challenge it saying it misled regulators president trump tweeted, so sad and unfair that the fccouldn't include the sinclair broadcast merger with tribune. this would have been a great and much needed conservative voice sinclair-tribune stocks are trading up higher both nearly at 3% this after both stocks plummeted early last week on the fcc's move to stall the deal now, this is an unusual commentary about a merger. and it comes amid concerns that sinclair with the attribution of tribune would be the nation's largest broadcaster bringing the conservative programming to 233 stations in 108 markets. now, pai's concerned that some of sinclair's proposals to comply with limits on media ownership were misrepresented because they would be selling to stations to individuals with relationships to sinclair. so what is next? the administrative judge will review whether sinclair misrepresented the deal and would violate the scc broadcast ownership limits this could delay the deal by months the question is whether it killed the deal entirely guys, back over to you. >> thank you, julie. inter

the fcc could likely move pretty fast inside government.e've been talking to government officials that the fcc does indeed approve it. this may all be a head fake as we know the trump administration come you never know until you read it in the press release. but you know, friday seems to be a day that we could get this deal approved, that the doj antitrust division and the fcc are looking beyond some of the regulatory ownership rules that are in place to allow sinclair essentially to get the approval and be a very, very big competitor. i must say be a better competitor to us. on a different way. not a national way, but by the local broadcast networks. we should point out from what i understand we haven't been able to get concerned that the ceo, chris ripley is expected to make the trip here to sun valley, along with our chairman, fox chairman rupert murdoch should be here. this'll be interesting because there is no love lost between these guys. comcast ceo -- excuse me, disney ceo bob eiger and comcast brian roberts was a lot of question be

and chinese telecom equipment maker fighting back against a fcc proposal >>> and later we'll speak toe farmer onowhe tariffs between the u.s. and china is impacting the beef industries. (indistinguishable muttering) that was awful. why are you so good at this? had a coach in high school. really helped me up my game. i had a coach. math. ooh. so, why don't traders have coaches? who says they don't? coach mcadoo! you know, at td ameritrade, we offer free access to coaches and a full education curriculum- just to help you improve your skills. boom! mad skills. education to take your trading to the next level. only with td ameritrade. is this at&t innovations? yeah, wow... this must be for one of our new unlimited wireless plans. it comes with a ton of entertainment options. great, can you sign for this? yeah. hey, uh... what's in that one? that's a shark. new and only with at&t, you can get unlimited data, 30 plus channels of live tv, and your choice of things like hbo or amazon music. more for your thing. that's our thing. visit att dot com. >>> welcome back to "the closing bell." break

the fcc will send a report. the senate passed a companion bill in november. >>> top georgia republicans are calling on a state law packer to resign after drop -- lawmaker to resign after dropping his pants and screamed racial slurs on television. >> america. >> good. one more time. louder. >> america! >> good. >> that happened. republican state representative jason spencer on sasha baron cohen's showtime show. >> because of who you are, you could be the victim of kidnapping by isis. you have two seconds to attract attention. how do you attract attention? >> screaming. take your clothes off. >> in america, there is one forbidden word. the "n" word. i am going to be the terrorist. you have three seconds to attract attention. >> [ bleep ]! [ bleep ]! >> crazy? the "n" word is no-no. >> spencer has not returned cnn's calls for comments. they convinced him to participate by playing on his fear that he or his family would be attacked. fears sparked by death threats after proposing legislation from barring muslim women

it was a disappointment to trump that sinclair got banned by the fcc. so we don't know.down just a quarter of a percent right now. porter, great to see you. >> great to be here. [laughter] liz: never a dull moment in media land. >> never. liz: closing bell, 36 minutes away. chevron, yeah, well, it looks actually really good. it's pumping up the dow 30 heat map in the number two position. what's interesting here is that shares initially fell before the open because earnings missed estimates, but then we saw them reverse course after the announcement of a $3 billion stock buyback program. very interesting. not so for exxonmobil. no reversal of that slide. shares are falling three and a third percent after that oil giant also missed expectations. a 7% production slide and spending of more than 600 million to upgrade refineries in france and canada, texas and saudi arabia are what hit profits. coming up, a twin rejection. why the sec says no for a second time to cameron and tyler winklevoss and their attempts to be the true kings of the crypto market. nonetheless, bitcoin's

robocalls make up roughly 60% of all complaints to the fcc.worsening problem and some tips for consumers. good morning. >> good morning. we all get them. you won a cruise. qualified forrs ringing from mo until night. robocalls are disrupting the lives of millions of americans with seemingly no end in sight. >> i get about five or six robocalls per week. the area codes are from all over the country. >> reporter: carol is one of millions of americans plagued by robocalls daily. >> i have a baby and i'm always concerned it could be something about the baby. >> reporter: those calls can be more than just a nuisance. roughly 25 million americans lost an estimated $9 billion to phone scams last year. and certain parts of the country are bigger targets than others. a report by u mail found atlanta was inundated with the most robocalls with a whopping 183 million in june alone. followed by 97 million in dallas, 93 million in miami and 88 million in new york. so why do those callseem impossible to stop? margot saunders at the national consumer law cent

santa clara county has appealed the fcc. >> we're not alone.the fcc is working its way back through the courts and ultimately making its bay back to washington in the next few months. >> reporter: washington and oregon have already passed their own net neutrality laws. >>> after decades of serving faithful customers, a routine in richmond is closing. >> you can blame this on the restaurant and the landlord. laura has the story. >> reporter: hi. this is a rather festive atmosphere, more smiles than tears, part of a two-day good-bye. no one is counting this woman out. she will be back. these folks are counting on it. >> thank you very much. >> i love you. >> i love you more. >> it's a bittersweet birth for min, one that marks the end of one chapter and the start of another as she says good-bye for now. >> i decided to close this on my birthday because 23 years ago today i got in america from italy. >> reporter: originally from ethiopia, she came to the u.s. from italy with nothing, homeless with an infant son and started working as a hostess and

second leg is fcc approval, which they have to get. ownership cap that fcc has to approve. the way they got around the ownership cap, you can't be in a certain amount of homes, take up too much time to explain how they invaded that ownership cap, but i'm telling that you the fcc has to approve it as well. d.o.j. approves it on antitrust aspect. they have to get the ownership cap approved by fcc. that's another step. stock is reacting positively to the news bouncing around in sun valley, and another step for them, they're being challenged in d.c. circuit court of appeals by a consumer group on the propriety of the merger. if you get the two government approvals, the deal is done. sinclair is going to be a mega media company, a competitor to fox news and to a large extent, particularly our opinion programming, they tend right of center, this is a big deal and in a lot of homes. the other stuff that is big news we've been reporting for the last couple of weeks, comcast, what is their intentions? i hurt your stock portfolio last week when i reported that disney bankers were say