it is a huge blow for vaping giants such as philip morris international, who we re philip morris internationalooking to expand in india. that is because the country has around 100 million smokers. but it will be music to the ears of itc, india's largest tobacco firm. its shares rose around 1% after the announcement that india's government will be banning vaping. all right, thank you. it will be interesting to see those shows and if they move on that story later today when markets openin that story later today when markets open in the us. let's turn to huawei now. the chinese telecoms giant is launching its latest top of the range smartphones at an event in germany later. the mate 30 devices are loaded with expensive features — from superfast chips to full hd displays to high—end leica cameras — as these leaked pictures show. but there will be one major thing missing — the google software and apps most of us use all the time. the trump administration has branded huawei a threat to national security, claiming its 56 technology could be used by the chinese government for spying. claims huawei has

over and done with the key here, guys, is to why this deal is not happening now between philip morris internationalnd altria is because of this recent move toward banning vaping in various places now, remember, the product, it is not vaping, that is the philip morris international product that also is -- they share it with altria here in the u.s. but they were looking at this merger as an opportunity to pursue what was the open window in innovation in a more aggressive way and certainly that might have included other products. and would have included the relationship with juul it wasn't about economics anymore. even the declining value of the ownership that altria has in juul, it was about the inability to see ahead here in terms of navigating this whole idea of new problducts and where things would go and how that would impact the combined company. is it possible one day this deal comes back absolutely but for now, they just couldn't get there. >> philip morris growth company, was a growth company, overseas, they smoked more than we do, two companies split up, people may not remember, one was supp

a really big problem for vaping giantsjuul labs and philip morris international.the indian market but it looks like their plans will have to be cancelled now. thank you, jagdip cheema, based in mumbai for vape. cancelled now. thank you, jagdip cheema, based in mumbai forvape. —— in mumbaifor us. let's look at the markets. action in japan with the bank ofjapan meeting, and they did not change monetary policy at all this time but the indicated next time there will be more easing to try to help the japanese economy. today we also have the bank of england. a lot of central bank action this week. let's look at europe. as you can see, very flat markets in europe, the ftse 100, and the big loser is next, shares down after the back of its latest results. sales are actually up latest results. sales are actually ‘7 latest results. sales are actually up 4% but their chief executive talking about the pressure on the high street for companies like next to have to pay very high rental costs. more on that later, but for 110w costs. more on that later, but for now more about the

philip morris yesterday. joining us in a cnbc exclusive, is the ceo of philip morris international, andre calantzopoulos theyed without reaching an agreement, yesterday or the day prior. why were you unable to reach an agreement? >> as you know, we already have a relationship with altria because of the license for distribution in the u.s. what we looked at is if there's a better way to get value for shareholders, in terms of additional revenue, and inner jis. in additi more focus on both sides. the environment taken into consideration. shareholder sentiment. the effort required and the priorities on the market the best course of action is discussions on the merger. and focus, instead, on the forthcoming partnership. >> my understanding is there was a likelihood of a deal, until this vaping crisis, if we can call it that it began to become something of great significance do you think you would have reached an agreement, were it not for banning products in the u.s. and around the world. >> yeah. it is an evolving environment, just now in the u.s. and i think what we see is -- first of all, to look at the bigge

it's the product that philip morris international is now rolling out in the u.s.. safer product, at least in the eye of these companies. he has that strength in washington to deal with these regulatory issues. it remains to be seen what changes he can make quickly. taylor: i am glad you brought up phillip morris, because they announced they were ending the relationship with altria. am i correct in saying the merger is off and the ceo is stepping down, that i am tying those together? >> it is no coincidence, and the sources i spoke to today would agree that while these are companies that are maybe destined to be together, now is not the time, because of all these negative headlines and regulatory headwinds around juul. when altria invested, they did not think it would it so bad. nine deaths connected to this and federal investigations. it is not a time to announce a $200 billion merger with so much uncertainty. taylor: philip morrison announced today they will work on getting there product in the u.s. is there any sense of extra competition that creates for juul? >>

actually helped oversee some of the regulatory approvals for icos, which is the product that philip morris international is now rolling out in the u.s. that is viewed as a safer product, at least in the eyes of the companies compared to vaping. so he has that strength in washington to deal with regulatory issues, but it remains to be seen what changes he can make quickly because the story seems to be getting worse. >> i am glad you brought up millsap morris, because they announced they were ending the merger agreement they were in with altria. am i correct in saying that the merger is off and the c.e.o. is is stepping down, and tying those two together? >> it is certainly no coincidence. while these are companies that maybe are destined to be together at some point, now is just not the time because of all these negative headlines and read winds around julul. en altria invested, they didn't know it would get so bad with nine deaths. it is not the time to announce a $200 billion merger with that much uncertainty. >> and philip morris has that pocket. they said they are now going to work on getting that in

sign that tobacco industry is actually benefiting from this stand, the stocks for altria, philip morris international and british american tobacco went up with the news of trump administration was banning the most competitive alternative that is ending cigarette smoking for many americans. 2.5 million plus americans. there smoke-free journey is being threatened by president trump and it's very sad. >> harris: at the president of the american vaping association and i should note, many of the areas that i mentioned were vaping bands and such and senator dick durbin says vaping targets kids. the rising president trump -- this is bipartisan. you have democrats calling for a lot of things and we don't want to miss the point. at your advocacy is on behalf of vaping and the 13 million who do. but if there's a byproduct of something wrong in the process, are you advocating for regulating vaping? >> we need standards, we need to galatians. the fda has not done its job. there are thousands of illegal products in the market and the fda has barely removed one. we need regulation and standards, not prohibition th

not only that, two major tobacco giants, altria, philip morris international are ending merger talksith juul. we heard a lot of criticism towards the fda not doing enough to regulate this. if hundreds of people were getting sick or several people dying from romaine, our grocery shelves would be empty, why is not the same standard applied to vaping? a lot of questions from the cdc what is causing illnesses. they didn't have a lot of answers. they didn't know what brands, what product, what flavor what chemical is causing people to sick and some people to die. neil. neil: quick look at corner of wall and broad before we go to break. we're seeing a through the prism how the market sees things. you could argue depending on your political disposition whether this is warranted. they say there is no smoking gun but you clearly see in the phone call that the president is asking their president to investigate a potential rival. that is a trying to use a foreign power to influence an election. that is no-no. no promise of aid, stymied delayed or denied, there is nothing to go on here. that is

the latest country to ban e-cigarette sales which is bad news for companies like juul and philip morris internationalas not launched in india but it does have a team there doing due diligence. the ban follows news that china has halted sales of juul products just days after the company launched there juul has been rapidly expanding internationally. it's currently in 18 countries outside the u.s., excluding china. china has about one-third of the world's smokers and europe and asia together, they're a big focus for juul as it faces increasing regulatory risks in the u.s. speaking of those domestic headwinds, congress is threatening to subpoena juul for not handing over some documents in a probe over juul's role in the teen vaping epidemic the committee says juul's record is woefully inadequate among the documents they are requesting, the contract between juul and altria. this development comes after new york just enacted a ban on flavored e-cigarettes following a similar ban in michigan, and california also cracking down on e-cigs this week it will be going after counterfeits and issuing warning label

philip morris international, british tobacco, they went up with the news of the trump administrationning the most competitive alternative that is ending cigarette smoking for many americans. 2.5 million plus americans, their smoke-tree journeys being threatened by president trump, and it's very sad. >> harris: your reaction? >> we are continuing to keep on the market tobacco-flavored tea cigarettes. so adults using those as an alternative will continue to have those available to them. what we've seen is that there's an overwhelming popularity of fruit flavorings and the youth population. we've seen an explosion over the last couple of years of use of these things. over 20 percent last year, to about 28% this year. we have to be able to address that. we can't have america's youth growing up addicted to nicotine. so we have to take these things off. >> harris: i know, at least traditionally were historically, we look back. the younger you are when he started smoking tobacco products, the more likely it was that he would have an addiction that would be hard to quit. to cure. this of the

angle of, you know, 40% of that company's now owned by the araltria, in a potl merger with philip morris internationalat piper jaffray earlier this week said they're less confident is going to happen because of regulatory risks. what's the worst-case scenario now for people involved in this market >> remember, i also announced that we were intending to ban menthol and combustible tobacco, and that's also a product that's widely used by -- widely used in the marketplace called the combustible/noncombustible products what i heard from the secretary now is that they're affirming in this action that they also believe that mint and menthol contribute to this for kids. that's a question of whether or not they are going to extend the menthol band to the combustible products as we were seeking to do when i was at the agency. that's another wrinkle in this that's why you might be seeing the market react the way it is. >> dr. scott gottlieb, thank you for your time. appreciate it very much. >> thanks a lot. >> and we'll be hearing from the president shortly with more on this, continue to follow this developing

of philip morris international. who is that, andrew? complicated. their app makes trading quick and simple so you can strike when the time is right. don't get mad, get e*trade and start trading today. >>> that's all for us today. david faber now waiting in the wings with the big interview here from the nasdaq in a moment make sure you join us tomorrow "squawk on the street" begins right now. ♪ ♪ ♪ uno, dos, tres ♪ >>> good thursday morning. welcome to "squawk on the street, with jim cramer at the new york stock exchange. we'll have an interview with the ceo of philip morris international. the futures are green. we'll get a look at the whistleblower complaint, ahead of

altria and philip morris international in talks about an all stock merger we told you there are no premiumhe two stocks did react to that initially on that day in question i think it was just a week ago one other deal that certainly i followed for so long, before it occurred, but since then many investors are probably sorry they ever followed it all is cbs and viacom, don't know if people paid attention since the deal was actually announced, talks did nothing but go down. you can take a look, viacom and cbs, they trade more or less in line with each other if you look at the last few weeks, you'll see not the reception perhaps that had been hoped for, though the two companies continue and will continue to extol the virtues of their potential union. we'll hear more about it, i would expect goldman sachs media telecom conference next week some conversation there, i'm sure todd unger, negative overall, i shouldn't say that, he's been negative on these companies for some time at bernstein he comes out a piece this morning saying in his opinion, even though they keep talking about spending as mu

philip morris international has the icos product, a heat not burn product been approved. to be here in the u.s. because the fda is still the stamp of approval. gives you the road map to take things worldwide and they want to be able to innovate around what they think is the first wave of these products as they watch their business go away for tobacco and so if and when it seems to be likely they do announce this deal, you're going to hear a lot more about r&d spending, enknow vacation, the window is now, we got to get to market with these kinds of products that are going to be our future and that while synergies are going to be helpful here, it is going to be about that 70% overlap in the shareholder base of these tw what is fascinating is the market cap combined is less than it was when it was announced you feel like somebody will benefit and somebody will lose, if you got 70% overlap, why are shareholders opposed why will they be if and when they continue to be opposed. >> the architect of the breakup, just to give him his due, at its peak, this was the greatest value c

is funny, you bring that up, it does remind me of the continued talks between altria and philip morris internationalit is not imminent but designed to get a deal done between the two. there is a lot of pushback from shareholders particularly -- on both sides. but we got a negative spread, so at this point, there is a belief that the pmi has to raise the bid to get altria shareholders to vote in favor what i'm hearing at least from those behind sort of the talks to some extent is well maybe our shareholder base doesn't understand how bad things are. and how much this market is changing and how quick the decline is or how much it is accelerating, which is why we need to do this. hard case to make when you're really not saying much as you're trying to get a deal done and deal with all the social issues and everything else, merger of equals, it is more pmi buying them, buying them for no premium. >> people feel it is cold. it is cold they feel oil and gas is cold. these are declining industries millennials don't want to own the stocks juul is their savior >> they have no control at juul. they have a sig

another deal, guys, i wanted to also or a situation they wanted to also discuss as well was philip morris international, of course andal altria i've updated a couple of times. it is moving along but slowly, as you might imagine this world wide potentially regulate and/or ban vaping is having an impact it is having an impact we all know that philip morris owns 25% of juul they paid $8 billion for that stake. it does not have a control position it's not an economic issue necessarily. but it is something perception wise that is figuring into this in terms of how philip morris is perceived and negotiating a deal of this type against this backdrop of ever changing and seemingly higher restrictions on vaping is having an impact so it is moving slowly that's about all i can share at this point i'm not getting a great deal of -- they got lawyers all over the place as you might imagine as you also might think, it is having an impact on their ability to get this deal. >> i had michael corn -- on, these ceo -- >> whichal altria also owns. >> i think the amount is substantially. >> i'm sorry, the billion? >> the j

philip morris. there is domestic and international. they could come together that will be a huge win-win.can cut costs and have the globe as a playing field. stuart: do you have any moral qualms investing in tobacco company? >> i personally don't support that. on other hand he there is ace market for it. they have huge stake in kronos, medicinal marijuana. they are going where people are going. stuart: david, you make your case, 7 1/2% yield is 7 1/2% yield. thank you so much. >>> bernie sanders last night defended his brand of socialism. he said it is nothing like what is going on in venezuela. what kind of socialist is he? we're asking a reformed socialist about that in just a moment. >>> we're going to set the record straight on china trade. a lot of confusion. whether the u.s. will make a short term deal with china. the man who has the ear of the president will join us this hour. >>> president trump's gop challenger mark sanford is on the show. he says the republican party has lost its way. he is on the show. we will allow him to make his case. ♪ fact is, every insurance company hopes