for "nightly business report," i'm leslie picker, san juan, puerto rico. >> and you can read more about what's at stake when puerto rico goes to the polls on our website, nbr.com. >>> the u.s. is mostly clear to provide unfair support to boeing. that's where we begin tonight's market focus. the world training organization rejected claims by the european union and airbus that boeing had benefitted from billions of dollars in illegal subsidies. it also ruled the u.s. failed to eliminate a tax break in a key state. both boeing and airbus claimed victory over that decision. shares of boeing were basically unchanged at $190.03. >>> the federal trade commission staff is advising the agency to prepare a lawsuit to block walgreen's nearly $10 billion deal to buy rite aid. that's according to a report by the trade publication capital forum. walgreen's initially bid for its smaller drugstore rival back in 2015. shares of walgreen's dropped to $80.99. shares of rite aid plunged 15% to $3. >>> sirius xm will make a $480 million investment in the music streaming company pandora. the satellite radio

look forward to more updates from you leslie picker, watching amazon/whole foods. >>> with us today,inning columnist jim stewart who can talk about this deal and his piece with ge and jack welch and jeff immelt were you surprised when you saw this >> very surprised, definitely. i mean, it's absolutely fascinating. first of all, i love whole foods i have been shopping there from the day the first one opened in new york city. i have to thank god it's a great store. but i think whole foods is at a critical juncture. i have been puzzled myself where are they going to go is there a distinct premium grocery store segment that's separate from the giant, you know, walmart, kroger, that sort of thing i mean, they keep flip-flopping on that. i mean, one year they are emphasizing low prices and then they're not. then they are. then they're not so i think they have to resolve that issue secondly i have noticed in the store near me in midtown they're moving kind of in this model where there's more prepared food they're trying to get away from the commodity grocery store model which i think would

. >> we have some breaking news regarding nestle our leslie picker has that story from the breaking news desk. this didn't take long, leslie. >> it sure didn't, scott this is a response, of course, to yesterday -- or actually, sunday, rather's, third-point proposal, which we broke down all day yesterday. so nestle coming out and saying that early in 2017, they began a review of their capital structure and as a result of that review, nestle determined that capital spending will be focused on high-growth food categories, such as coffee, petcare, infant nutrition, and bottled water and that they would be expanding their presence in high-growth geographic markets they also, and this is something that third point suggested yesterday, they continue to assess opportunities for margin improvement through targeted efficiency programs. that's a direct quote there from their statement. most importantly, for investors here, they have announced a buyback program, which amounts to about $20.8 billion or $20 billion swiss francs that is to be completed by june 2020 you can see here, a slight increase i

leslie picker is back at haurs with t headquarters with the latest on blue apron. >> reporter: they sayan't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. the same could be said about investing in ipos. blue apron which sends a box of gree gree greechbt ingredients to your home, with many of these brand-name ipos, expected retail investors will also buy a significant chunk here's what the smart money will be paying toen ining attention o they'll like the revenue group and blue apron taps into consumers' resign for fresh sustain sustainably grown food blue apron insiders are maint n maintaining 98% control. the real question mark is the potential for competition from amazon and its planned acquisition of whole foods just today, michelle, blue apron added this line to i, it said "business combinations and consolidation in and across cities in which we compete could further increase the competition we face and result in competitors with significantly greater resources and customer bases than us. blue apron needs to show investors it has the barriers to entry to keep amazon at bay. there's plenty

leslie picker has more from san juan this morning. leslie? >> hey, guys. that's right.ngs on the ballot this sunday. one is of course statehood, becoming the 51st u.s. state. another is sovereignty. becoming completely separated from the united states. and of course, maintaining that commonwealth status, which is something in between and going to the polls this weekend, it's a particularly interesting time given that the island is currently undergoing restructuring. it's bankrupt. and so we've spoken with a variety of residents here on island to get their take ahead of the vote. and some see sovereignty as the best way because they blame the u.s. for some of the economic malaise they're currently experiencing. while others say that the u.s. could be the best way out of this economic mess. >> we would want, you know, a bailout i'm not saying very much. i think we need to assume responsibility for what's going on here. statehood is an equal playing field for u.s. citizens that reside on the island. >> the topic is so important to elected officials that they've spent $7 mi

it will be interesting to see where they go from here. >> leslie picker, her reporting so good they changedce while she was on >>> coming up, dr. toby cosgrove will join us and tell us why he's opposed to the senate healthcare bill. >>> as we head to break, a quick check of european markets right now. as you can see, lower. when this bell rings... ...it starts a chain reaction... ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business, from the largest financial markets to the smallest transactions, by sensing cyber-attacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected. that's the power of and. chances are, the last time yoyou got robbed.an, i know-- i got a loan 20 years ago, and i got robbed. that's why i started lendingtree-- the only place you can compare up to 5 real offers side by side, for free. it's like shopping for hotels online, but our average customer can save twenty thousand dollars. at lendingtree, you know you're getting the best deal. so take the power back a

leslie picker joins us to explain. >> so for there be sellers of ipos, there must be buyers of ipos thatres with more than 2,000 during the five-year increments in the 90s and early 2000s. and people are increasingly turning to the biside for the explanation of why we're seeing lower ipos it's the active fund managers that attend road shows and help determine pricing and issue allocations. but they're experiencing outflows into passive. and active managers are also bulking up in size to survive. and with billions of dollars in management, they don't have the time or will to devoted to these smaller ipos these were all topics brought up yesterday in a panel with the icc on how to get more companies going public but it's unclear whether the regulatorers have any power to change anything. guys >> all right, leslie, thank you very much. let's talk about what this means for the market going forward i mean is this another unintended consequence of this mania we're going through for passive investing right now? >> yeah i think as leslie just pointed out there's no question that passive funds do

leslie picker says a key driver of that fall is a big sale by a large investor. a source tells cnbc the investor sold 5.9 million shares this morning. despite that, box is up this year. back over to you. >> silicon valley has been shifting focus and money towards washington since the election. ylan mui with more on what's driving that. ylan? >> reporter: more people are tuning into politics now in the trump era, courtney, and that's driving money into startups building a business out of activism. the co-founder of phone to action is a tech platform that organizations use to run issue campaigns and one feature helps voters connect with their lawmakers. >> calling now to patch you through to your legislators. >> hi, this is alexa. i'm going to patch you through to your legislators. >> we will now connect you to your representative donald beyer. >> don beyer's office, how may i help you? >> reporter: this company has doubled in size to 50 employees, added 60 clients in the first quarter alone and patagonia is one of them. now the sector is brand-new but some big-nam

leslie picker's live in puerto rico with that story. >> we've been speaking with residence, investorsvernment officials ahead of sunday's vote. we'll tell you about it when power luch is back in two. we created the ripple: the doughnut in a doughnut in a doughnut. right away, it was a success. i mean, it really took off. what people don't know is that it all started with points from my chase ink card. i bought the ingredients, utensils, even custom donut cutters. wow! all with 80,000 points. what will you create with your points? learn more about the ink business preferred card. hthis bad boy is a mobile trading desk so that i can take my trading platform wherever i go. you know that thinkorswim seamlessly syncs across all your devices, right? oh, so my custom studies will go with me? anywhere you want to go! the market's hot! sync your platform on any device with thinkorswim. only at td ameritrade [ eerie music playing ] it takes a monster... she did something to me. ...to defeat a monster. the essence of evil calls to you now. the mummy. rated pg-13. i'm ricardo, a sales and service

. >> there is still a lot that needs to happen, leslie picker irs joini is joining us now. >> reporter other states have gone this long without a budget no states have ever been downgraded to junk status yet. but, s & p says if the governor failed to pass the budget then illinois will become the first everywhere here in chicago and both sides of isle, we sat down with the chicago's mayor, a democrat who has some criticism for governor bro for the governor >> if you have gone to $3 billion to $15 billion, you are the first state to face junk status kids are leaving your university for the first time given the university of illinois is the premier in technology. i would look in the mirror and wonds wondering if you deserve to give yourself an a because everybody else is not. >> illinois powerball have stopped sales and megamillions are due to be hold tonight the state does not have enough funds to pay out the winners it will shut down road construction projects beginning today and it can cause thousands to be out of work. if illinois is downgraded to junk status, things will only get wor

well, earlier today, our leslie picker sat down with rahm emanuel for a story she's doing and broughtup to him she said, well, what's really going on here? here's what mayor emanuel had to say. >> i sent my team out there, a group of people who work in transportation and they were impressed and came out with a date in the next three or four weeks we've got dates that we're going to narrow down and to look at the city of chicago >> so they are going to continue talking. this animation was released by the boring company about a month ago and it basically shows the vision for these tunnels that elon musk's company is building. and what it could be, a high-speed rail, so to speak, vehicles on a sled that could move through southern california at a very high rate of speed it would help with congestion. it's very interesting that at least mayor emanuel is saying, look, let's talk with these guys could they help us develop a tunnel between downtown chicago and o'hare we'll see. we're a long ways away from this becoming a true project. if you've grown up here like i have, you know these ideas

. >> leslie picker is squoinijoins she was on "squawk box" earlier. have you heard a positive word about this company yet going public during these discussions today? >> i have been looking for one, michelle, and i'm having a hard time finding that. herb brought up a great point. the timing they decided to go out right after this amazon/whole foods deal was announced are they rushing this out before things get worse, before they face a momentous amount of competition? i think that's why we're seeing so much skepticism >> here's the thing. the world is so contrarian on this ipo i mean, it's so negative i am so negative we've all cited the very obvious things. >> the sentiment of snap going into its ipo, it's got giant competitors in facebook or which ever competitor that you want that is bigger than snap and was there this shout that snap had to get things out before things turned >> yeah. >> are we looking at everything with such a skeptical eye these days >> absolutely. i think blue apron really needs the cash they had about a quarter left of burn th

immelt announced he's stepping down, a move as the company faces pressure from nelson peltz our leslie pickerks so much. the relationship appeared amicable at first. trian disclosed the stake in ge in october of 2015 -- at the time it was the largest and at that time came an 81 page white paper saying that they're aligned with trian to enhance the shareholder value. and then immelt wrote, to be honest, i don't think activists are necessarily bad for companies. the relationship garnered a bit more heat earlier this year in march trian put out a statement saying it had intensified its dialogue with senior management and ge agreed to ramp up the cost cutting efforts and change the executive compensation structure, a move that trian applauded. still, the ge investor base remained fatigued as the stock price lagged the news that flannery would be the ceo made the stock price go higher he can make bigger, bolder moves with the portfolio and ge would not explicitly discuss trian's role in the announcement and they declined to comment but ge did say that the succession plan has been in the work pors

leslie picker has more. >> hey, kelly.es of shares, and one billionaire investor behind it all, david einhorn. one of the largest proxy battles of the season will come to a head tomorrow in detroit, as gm's investors are set to vote at the company's annual meeting. einhorn does not frequently engage in proxy battles, but his frustration with gm stock price performance drove him to take more of an active role. other investors share his look at the lagging stock price. proxy advisory firms recommended that shareholders vote against his nominees, and his plan to split gm stock in two. credit rating agencies said his proposal could lead to a credit downgrade, and could unlock as much as $30 billion in value. einhorn has opened a stake in gm for at least six years and now holds up to 3.6% of the company, plus call options. kelly? >> all right, leslie, thank you very much. michael, we have that coming up tomorrow. sounds like a lot of people waiting for thursday. >> without a doubt. the next couple of days it will be a little bi

we'll go to breaking news with leslie picker. >> mcconnell -- that news is based on a letter exclusivelyaid to the board. >> now, several months after mcguire disclosed a 6% stake in deckers. in the letter, mcguire says the process has lacked transparency. he adds the current board and management team has a history of missteps that caused him to be concerned whether a sale will result in the maximum value for shareholders he points out the chairman martinez started a campaign to be the mayor of santa barbara. marcaa is up by 8% this year >> it is hard to run a congress and the economy >> it is >> this is a shoe company, right? >> i was going to ask. >> santa barbara though. >> surfer shoes for australians. >> yeah. >> put them on cold feet >> just a little bit random tribute. >> thank you >> senate pushing back its vote in the healthcare bill until after the 4th of july, senate's recess, mitch mcconnell is set to speak momentarily we'll bring it to you live today it is expected that shawn spicer will be on camera and is expected to join by rick perry, we'll take you live to the white hou

leslie picker is out in chicago are how the land of lincoln is dealing with the budget battle and howto get ill i will out of this mess. today the illinois house has made some progress, passing a $37 billion spending plan but it's sorting out the hard part, how they are going the pay for it time is running out as springfield is less than nine hours away from a deadline to produce a budget for 2018. blowing through midnight could be a big problem s&p said it would likely downgrade illinois's debt to junk the first state to reach that level and the house speaking madigan would ask them to delay any changes to their ratings but it's clear patience in the state are running thin illinois announced it would shut down road construction projects because it can't pay road construction workers without a budget and the illinois lottery doesn't have the funding to pay its winners so power ball sales have already stopped and mega millions is due to stop today. bills keep stacking up it's currently at $15 billion, that's money owed to everything from hospitals to non-profits. there has been plenty

leslie picker is in san juan and spoke with some of the residents who were hit hard by puerto rico's ant to see happen on sunday. leslie. >> reporter: hey, guy, that's right t. battle to recoup pennies on the dollar during the bankruptcy is largely epitomized by wall street's wealthiest. citing with them were the residents of puerto rico who bought into these bonds in droves. at the time they were seen as a safe bet. puerto rican bonds are tax exempt. they're not, at the time they weren't legally able to file for bankruptcy, but all of that changed last month and now many of the creditors we spoke with are facing thousands of dollars in losses when they can least afford it. a judge is, of course, determining how much of the remaining funds could be used, could be divied up in terms of whether they will go to government services or to pay these creditors. >> we are hard working people. so why, and beside that, so why i have to contribute not less i guess, we are expecting a decision of the judge. why would we have to contribute 75% of my savings? >> reporter: we spoke with about half a

leslie picker, thank you good to see you. are you -- are you standing outside the trump hotel? i am, indeed. >> there's nothing wrong with that it's a nice running path it's the marine towers, spectacular city >> and the chicago river >> it's the best big city -- i'll be picking up my family there in about three hours, leslie, next door, i'll see you there. it's sad -- >> awesome >> for the best big cities in america, and it's going through this which means the schools, the copps, and everybody else, or any issuing debt has got to pay 8%, 9% on their debt it's downward debt spiral. >> exactly well you want to hear a crazy statistic there? because chicago public schools hasn't received the funding it needs, it took out a massive loan from jpmorgan, which is paying $70,000 in interest per day on that loan that's according to the chicago tribune. >> what is that a -- >> think how many teachers you could hire with that >> time not sure what the interest rate is on that >> there are -- >> -- the chicago tribune study. >> some of the school debt is yielding 9% or 9-plus percent. >> i

. >>> puerto rico trying to become the 51st state joining us is hector negrone and leslie picker whojust back from san juan. a hardship duty. >> no complaints on my end >> let's talk about what happened over the weekend. >> they did decide en masse to become the 51st state. 97% of those who voted chose statehood. but only 23% of the registered voting population actually voted with the opposition parties, the nonstatehood parties, parties to remain a commonwealth or independent, urging residents to avoid and boycott the elections. >> why does that matter? >> the boycott >> yes >> it challenges the legitimacy of the results from yesterday. what happens now is that the governor of puerto rico and elected officials in puerto rico have to take these results to congress, which in order to become a state, congress has to make by statute them the 51st state. so they need all of the fire power going into washington, it doesn't appear they have all of the necessary tools to make it a slam dunk. >> hector, if you're an investor what does it mean? >> it is further confirmation of the fact that t