press sec. psaki: i have not spoken to our national security team about this in particular, but his commitment remains. >> you mentioned americans should follow public health guides. -- some states have master mandates, others have schools open, others don't. what guidance should the american people follow? their governor's guidance or the president's? press sec. psaki: we are venturing to provide more concrete guidance from the federal government, cdc and health and medical experts for the important steps the american people can take to keep themselves safe. that includes the importance of mask wearing, of course, and how vital that is to keeping a safe. that includes the importance of handwashing, restricting travel -- these are all guidelines that have come in recent weeks from the president of the united states and our medical and health experts print as we discussed yesterday, there are guidelines including the safe reopening of schools that he signed an executive order on, directing the de

sec.ompeo: undoubtably. it is a challenging job, but if you have a great team, you can do wonderful things to keep our nation safe. david: as you have now served two point five years as secretary of state and look back on what you have achieved, what are you most proud of as secretary of state? sec. pompeo: we made progress at the state department, creating an ethos, the right people in the right places, built a planning system that will have real value at the state department. the leadership challenge that the secretary of state, a big organization, handing that off to the next is an important one. we have taken on america first, based on strength, realism, respect for other nations and their sovereignty. it is a central understanding, american capacity to do good in the world, do it without putting lots of people in harm's way and deliver on the things that matter. david: as you look back, what would you say is the most frustrating thing for you? is there something you wish you had a chi

sec.peo: undoubtably. it's the privilege of a lifetime. it is a challenging job, but if you have a great team here at the state department like i do, you can do great things to keep america to keep our nation safe. , david: as you have now served two and half years as secretary of state and look back on what you have achieved, what are you most proud of as secretary of state? sec. pompeo: we made progress at the state department, creating an ethos, the right people in the right places, built a planning system that will have real value at the state department. i do not talk about those things enough. but the leadership challenge that the secretary of state, a big organization, handing that off to the next secretary of state is an important one. around the world, we have taken on what president trump calls america first, based on strength, realism, respect for other nations and their sovereignty. we will talk about specific places and regions. it is a central understanding, but american capa

sec. rice: a few years. rep. shalala: most of our questions today were submitted by students. one of our students asked how do i get to be secretary of state? sec. rice: good question. let me start by thanking you very much. i have known president shalala as secretary shalala and also as my friend donna. thank you for having me here. [applause] i want to thank my good friends, the ambassadors for their service to the country and for their extra neri friendship. and thanks to you, university of miami students for having me here. how do you become secretary of state? you start as a failed piano major. [laughter] i actually went to college to be a concert pianist. i studied piano from the age of three. there was never any doubt that's what i was going to do. in the summer of my sophomore year, i went to something called the aspen music festival school which, a lot of prodigies were there and there were 12-year-olds who could play from site what i could play after only one year. they were 12,

sec. pompeo: undoubtably. it's the privilege of a lifetime. it is a challenging job, but if you have a great team at the state department like i do, you can do wonderful things to protect america and to keep our nation safe. david: as you have now served 2.5 years as secretary of state and look back on what you have achieved, what are you most proud of as secretary of state? sec. pompeo: internally here, i think we have made some real progress at the state department. we created an ethos for our team, we made sure we had the right people in the right places, built a planning system that will have real value at the state department. the leadership challenge that the secretary of state, a big organization, handing that off to the next secretary of state is an important one. we have taken on america first, based on strength, realism, and respect for other nations and their sovereignty. we will talk about specific places and regions, but it is a central understanding, american capacity to do g

press sec. psaki: the newly confirmed secretary of state and president biden are reviewing all aspects of our national security approach, including our relationship with china. we are focused on approaching that relationship from a position of strength. that means coordinating and communicating with our allies and partners about how we will work with china. it means strengthening our economy at home. it means determining the best path forward to address a range of issues, not just economic but strategic and also security. again, everything is under review. i do not have anything more on the china relationship. >> it is still in effect as the past administration left? press sec. psaki: everything that administration left in place is under review. i would not assume it is moving forward. we want to be from a position of strength, coordinating with allies, members of congress and making a determination before we engage further. >> a politico story about the president warning his family members to a

he tags sec enforcement.did get a statement minutes ago from the sec that they are actively monitoring the ongoing market volatility, working with fellow regulators to assess the situation and review the activities of regulated entities, financial intermediaries, and other market participants. other market participants. who might they be, in your view, david? >> they certainly may be looking at market makers, they certainly may be looking at the quality adequacy and accuracy of information that is being disseminated. -- disseminated by those market participants. one of the tools the sec has are trading suspensions. they can suspend trading of the stock for 10 days based upon the public interest and the protection of investors, based upon concerns about the quality and accuracy of the information being disseminated, particularly market makers, their role in connection with that. that is a tool in the sec's arsenal. i'm sure that is something they are looking hard at now, for example. emily: emily: meantime, we

sec. blinken: thank you, good afternoon. let me start by saying my first ambition is to be known as the man who wrought net price to the state briefing room. that is a mission accomplished. in all seriousness, thank you everyone for coming here today. this is my first full day on the job as secretary of state. and to restate what i said before, it is an honor to be in this job, and i am gratified that the president seemed to fit to entrust me with this responsibility. i am incredibly excited about the work ahead. especially working with the men and women of the state department. to serve the american people and represent our country to the world. i want to spend a few minutes with all of you today. i want to say how important i see the work that each and every one of you does. some of you may know that i started my career as a journalist. it was something that i took tremendous pride and pleasure in, and something i have deep respect for as a result of my own experience for being on both s

but has been a key part of my job at the sec . we noted very well she's forgotten more about this than i'll ever know. the communications act of 1934 outlines the reasons why our agency was created including for the purpose of national defense and the purposes of promoting safety of life and property and consistent with those charges i have find aggressive action , identifying threats to communications and taking aggressive action to counteract those threats have been on the hallmark of the sec during my four years as chairman. at the time when communication technology has underlined every aspect of our economy and our society is technological change is quickening it's become more important than ever that governments be proactive. that's we have to. understand how far we've come , it's helpful to describe where we started. it seems like ancient history time when a week feels like a year but the united states government orientation to geopolitical cracks and the fcc's orientations were national security were entirely different when

press sec. psaki: i think you have a hard out too. >> i want to talk about impeachment, nearly every republican senator voted to throw out the impeachment against president trump. does president biden have a reaction. does he trust congress to hold president trump accountable for the insurrection, or does he see action against president trump as a viable alternative to conviction? press sec. psaki: the president respects the role that congress has. senators and the senate are overseeing the trial moving forward and determining the pace. this is for holding the former president accountable, that continues to be his belief. in all of the conversations he has been having with members about the recovery plan, he has -- they have said they expect from him that his focus is on covid relief and that is how he will use the bully pulpit and speak to the american people and they are eager to speak with him on it. that is where his focus remains and what steps they take, he will leave it to them. >> what p

>> the sec certainly has subpoena power. remember civil subpoenas because the sec is a civil enforcement agency. in the one hand the sec has power to go look at situations like this and i would be very surprised if they are not doing so or planning to do so. when you're there there's others in the media saying i guarantee those people are calling over the commission and saying what's going on. i'm sure they are planning to look at it. you're raising a second question that is very complicated as to whether how it works with social media sites and revealing people that kind of thing which is a whole other topic, different from the sec power. liz: michael, right now what we have seen the charles schwab and the td ameritrade crowd which of course these are online brokerages, schwab bought td ameritrade but were seen other problems with online brokerages. they are preventing people from making certain trades, they are restricting them from buying these names, what happens when those restrictions are lifted and do you foresee we s

but the sec has never even completed its rules defining what mark manipulation is. so that means, in effect, what you've got is a casino and you don't even know if anything in that casino is honest you can't tell who the players are. and you there are very if you restrictions on what the players can do we need an sec that's going to step up, that's going put some clear rules in place and then that will be willing to enforce those rules. that's when we can see a lot more traders -- i want to see more traders in the market i want to see day traders in the market i want to see them have an opportunity to be able to evaluate companies and say this is one i like, this is one i don't like but i don't want to see them be able to get in the market so they can get fleeced by insiders who are pulling the strings in the back corners and they end up getting cheated. there is going to be an investigation here we know there are going to be people who are going to turn out to be hurt from this all because the sec has not stepped up, has not put clear rules in place, and has not ha

sec. blinken: it is my honor and privilege to welcome back our new secretary of state, tony blinken. he has a familiar face in these halls, having served previously first and the bureau of european and canadian affairs and most recently as deputy harry secretary of state. he is well and favorably known to the department of state and career professionals. we are excited to have him as our new secretary of state. this is an unusual event. normally this room would be packed with thousands of cheering employees, i assure you that we had to take extraordinary measures to keep them away at this time. but, do not let that deceive you in any way, there is enormous enthusiasm from the career professionals who have worked with sec. blinken over the course of this year. he has a man of honor, integrity, vision, and character. he will lead this department and advance the -- on behalf of the career professionals, are locally employed staff around the world. it is my great honor and privilege to present

it is too bad we don't have a chairman at the sec.thing is in a holding pattern waiting for the new chairman. we need to confirm him and let him get his staff and let them start getting on how to figure out what is the cause of the problem. vonnie: wall street bets moderator tweeted they were answering questions that everybody has. one of the answers was that they have not been contacted by the sec and perhaps that's the reason. if you were part of the sec, what could you contact them on and what would be the questions you would have for them? james: this is a long-term question. before you start taking action, you need information. the minimum amount of information i want -- would want is to figure out first of all, of that universe of purchases, how many of them were covering shorts? how many of those purchases were the result of exercising actions? i am particularly interested in the exercising of options. that has become the currency of the realm. this is my hypothesis that using options would be the realm of the small traders wan

there is so much we don't know but based on what we do know right now, do you believe the sec will orion >> well, i think the sec should do something the question is should they take a paction, it's an organization made up of people who really do some serious thinking before they take action so there is -- they can do a number of things the sec certainly will study this and look at it in detail to see what happened. they have access to all of the data so they really can see behind the scenes. a lot of stuff we just don't know the other thing they can do is based on what they find, they can determine whether any of the laws have been broken and in those cases, you know, they can bring cases now for market manip manipulation so i think there will be a lot of -- >> okay, back in 99, lisa, okay, we had the yahoo message boards. we had people pumping stocks, but what they were doing was creating fake research reports publishing stuff that wasn't true people believed it and would buy stocks, many of the companies no longer exist in your experience, is there anything wrong or illegal about a

at the sec headquarters in washington "squawk box" is live. ♪ >>> happy tuesday, welcome to "squawk alleyi am here with carl cantonea and julia boorstin we will talk about what could be screening regulatory changes from theen coming biden administration ahead of tomorrow's inaugural jags and fcc chairman ajit pai. and platform getting citrix buys reich. >>> parler has found its way back online partially. angel investor and founder joins us to talk about what big tech has been through over the last couple of weeks. welcome back, jason, good to see you. >> good to see you, carl >> where has your head been on parler and what is significant about their return, if they can make this stick? >> yeah, i mean, parler was like the island of like the misfit children everybody who got kicked off of twitter, you know, found a home there. and it was pretty gnarly i have been on it since it started. and they were doing very little policing people were saying some pretty crazy incendiary stuff on there, including somebody who was pretty high profile saying they should take bp pence and you know have him

itself does not fall under the perview of the sec.o see bitcoin etf introduced that certainly does fall under the perview of the sec and i know many of us, including my firm coin shares, are optimistic that under mr. gensler's leadership, who i've had the privilege of working with and testifying with in congress about cryptocurrencies, will be a positive shift in that direction. it's great for investors. it's great for institutions and great in helping merge what's happening in the bitcoin echosystem into our legacy capital markets. ashley: why is it so great? if i want to get some money out, i'll just go to an atm. i can't do that, can i, with bitcoin so really it's all based on how would you answer those people who say well it's great and all, but it's just telling me on my computer i have this amount but i can't physically touch it. >> well, look. at the end of the day, right? if you own a share of tesla, which tesla has sky rocketed over 700% in the last year, you have a similar experience, and the great thing about bitcoin is the

i want the focus to shine on them at that meeting to label the market people know that not just the secommissioner but the fcc career staff has really delivered value over the last four years but they deserve the spotlight and i want to help shine that spotlight on them. >> given facebook and twitter's aggressive actions this week it seems they have identified and played a role in enabling the spread of misinformation from president trump and his many supporters. i wondered do you think the fcc should have done more to regulate social media over the last four years and you know, given that we were beginning to articulate and identify these issues? >> guest: i'm not sure what regulations you are other advocates of that position might have in mind but what i will say is on november of 2017 long before this was the dominant strain in the public discourse is that social media increasingly defines the public square when it comes to political speech and we need more transparency and understanding how these decisions are made and how certain content is allowed or not allowed on these platforms

the sec did warn that, quote, extreme price volatility has the potential to expose investors to rapid and severe losses, but so far it hasn't stepped in, at least not in a way that's been made public. some experts say that the regulator should have been more forceful in halting trading in certain stocks >> my view with respect to the sec is what it should have done several days ago is use its trading suspension authority i think the sec had an ability and has an ability to create a more powerful pause as these companies blow through the circuit breakers >> but timing is everything, of course, and the sec is currently operating without an official chair. president biden has nominated gary gensler to run the agency, but his confirmation remains in limbo, shep. >> leslie picker tonight on gamestop and the reddit rebellion, which is taking up a lot of oxygen in washington too. but the white house, the white house is not going there >> in the wake of the gamestop trading incident, is there a public role the white house can play in educating people about the dangers of this type of trading?

robinhood, chief legal officer, former sec commissioner, former sec chief of staff, head of regulatoryee, how can anyone have confidence that these companies, big businesses are properly regulated when the people regulating them know that as soon as they are out of their government job, they get a job with the very companies that they were supposed to regulate. that's all being exposed. so i think the more that we talk about this, the more likely we are going to get positive change in the long run. stuart: does it end in tears for the little guy? steve: well, i think that they're playing the game now on the same basis that the rich and powerful have for a long time. and you know better than anyone, that if you do that, you can lose out. but they are doing it with their eyes open and they don't want to be old in a patronizing way, we will protect you from your own actions. they want to play, they want the freedom to do it. that's what america is all about. risk taking is part of this country. it's what made this country great and it's so patronizing for the elite to say, well, we are al

sec is keeping a close eye on the situation.k about some of the potential legal fallout is securities attorney and northwestern university adjunct law professor andrew, also the author of waging war on wall street, andrew, welcome. >> thank you so much. mike: should we expect a roller coaster ride for the stock market this week, more of what we saw last week? >> yeah, absolutely. why not? the sec hasn't stepped in to stop this calamity so i would expect this sort of volatility to continue for as long as the sec stays on the sidelines. mike: what should they do about it? >> it's simple. we have stock manipulation with respect to the stocks. it's still stock manipulation, violates 1934 securities exchange act. the sec needs to step in and prevent, investigate it, peel the onion and find out what's going on and potentially halt trading in the securities because very clearly stock manipulation. manip i feel like sec is saying that's okay, let's see how that plays out. mike: massachusetts senator elizabeth warren is sounding the alar

why just punt this to the sec? >> we are looking closely at this and the broader policy questions associated with the equity markets, but the immediate reaction is appropriately being investigated and looked into by the sec that has regulatory authority over those issues. our immediate focus is on putting a floor under this economic crisis because if we're not able to take decisive action right now the people who will struggle will be american families across the country and small businesses on main street. we've got to keep that as our focus in the immediate term. >> brian deese joe biden's top economic adviser. you have a lot on your plate and we really appreciate you joining us this morning. thank you. >> thank you. >> you just heard from the administration. up next one of the key republican senators they are hoping to bring onboard rob portman is here to respond. >>> plus while the majority of the republican party appears to be sticking with donald trump his own lawyers aren't. all of his impeachment defense at

the sec would rightfully crackdown on all of us.ve sympathy -- it is very democratic in a way that is happening, but it seems that is a little bit of what is happening. if they are doing it because they believe gamestop is worth $22 billion, that is one thing. if they are doing this to "punish" shortselling hedge funds -- by the way, we are not sure any of the stocks right now -- in that case, they are just trying to move the stock price, and that seems it would need some scrutiny. caroline: gabriel grego, wonderful to have this time with you. really thoughtfully spelling out what is his issue here. managing partner a quintessential capital management. we will have our one-hour special covering all this retail mania. emily chang hosts gamestop phenomenon. we are going to dig into all of the intricacies, the market moves, and joe, romaine, phenomenal in terms of bringing back of the feel-good factor when you walk into blockbuster, get a tootsie roll, and to get a dvd. but if netflix falls on the back of these trades, it is a whole ot

the sec says they're watching this closely in a rare statement.y did say, in addition, we will act to protect retail investors when the facts demonstrate abusive or manipulative trading activity that is hinted -- prohibited by the federal securities laws. but a former regulator that we talked with said that it will be hard for the sec to find a violation. >> i think that when it comes to regulating speech or regulating content, that's a huge challenge. and certainly from the securities regulation perspective e, i don't think the sec can ever regulate speech. other than fraudulent speech which everyone has the power to regulate, charging a crime for doing it. >> reporter: and the small investors organized this through reddit and facebook chat groups. both of those platforms have removed those groups, further angering lawmakers on capitol hill wanting to know why. on friday you have lawmakers converging with small investors, small investors and regulators converging with big tech. it all started from a brick and mortar store that a to lot of us prob

it's not about technology as much of money and resign the sec the right venue for something like this? you expect the they will really handle the line to a blog post publicly available primarily is that they do have in the comments to address. section 230 is part of the communications act under section 201 communications act as well as supreme court cases, the general counsel and fec has been recognized by the provisions of the act so it's more of a legal issue as opposed to issue or even economic issue. many different factors and we will see for the. >> is huge, this is one of those issues that is so large, the technical agents you're not likely going to be the vehicle for resolution for a big policy issue like this. this is how america thinks about things now. it is a fascinating question. i thought your presentation was terrific. we talked about national security focus of the ftc and i am glad you did. i thought that was really, really important. the question that i put to you is, is the bcs culture both regulatory and encouraging your both encouraging but also regulating things. t

sec. blinken: thank you for that incredibly warm welcome. more importantly, for serving as acting secretary of state, for leading the transition period at the state department. the department has been in excellent hands with you, and i thank you very much for that. i am honored to begin work as our nation's 71st secretary of state. i am excited about all that lies ahead. it's a new day for america, it's a new day for the world. and today does feel a little bit like a homecoming. 28 years ago i walked through those doors for the first time to start my job as a special assistance in the front office. a little odd, a little bit intimidated, a legendary institution, and a new culture. it did not take me long to figure out one thing, and that is how long the talent and expertise that presides in this building is so important and so important to listen to the men and women of the state department when thinking about america's place in the world, and our foreign policy. your knowledge, your experience, your generosity was the springboard that broug

the former head of the commodity futures trading commission will head the sec, and a sec member is being named to run the consumer protection group. there is that screening of the 25,000 national guard troops coming to washington for the inauguration, and according to the washington post they are concerned about extremism among the soldiers. a number of writers who stormed the capital turned out to have links to the military. in china the economy exceeded its pre-pandemic growth rate in the fourth quarter, gdb row -- rose 6.5% in the final quarter. for all of 2020, the chinese economy grew at a time when major peers such as the u.s. in japan contracted. the u.s. and the european union have condemn the russian decision to detain the opposition leader, as russian police took him when he arrived in moscow after being treated in germany or poisoning. i 30 say he is accused of violating his terms of a suspended sentence. he is a russian credit of the russian -- critic of the russian president. global news 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journali

here is a little bit of her responses. >> the sec issued a new statement this morning or just before i came out here and i certainly point to that and others to that, trying so hard on this. i know the big story but our focus is getting the american people back to work. >> is this the kind of thing the administration should weigh or not? >> absolutely something they should weigh in, they are in charge of the regulatory agencies, executive branch agencies and the sec has been absolutely silent and absent. the press secretary making those remarks reminds me of the lifelock commercial where the bank robbery is underway and the security guard does nothing, even as he is implored to do so and he says we simply monitor the situation, we don't actually do things and that sums up what is happening with the biden administration, all of this chaos on wall street. this requires action and the sec first and foremost should have been stepping into this and if necessary the regulators, including the federal reserve have a role here, robin hood's defense to this point is pitiful and inexcusable. it

the sec now investigating after amateur traders joined forepersons to battle wall street hedge fundsg boys billions. abc news chief correspondent rebecca jarvis has more on how all of this could impact your investments. >> tonight the sec rchg the extreme volatility rocking wall street. today the dow plunging more than 6 oh oh points. >> it's a casino atmosphere there. >> but companies like amc and gamestop saw stocks shoot back up with amateur investors buying again after trading apps like robinhood lichted restrictions. frank fritz decided to jump in. >> it's a weird time we're living in. i had never thought i would invest in stocks casually like that. but i saw the opportunity, downloaded the app on my phone and did it. >> the newcomers going online to swap stock ideas with each other and red i had and trade on robinhood spent weeks buying up shares in struggle companies like gamestop forcing powerful hedge funds betting against the same companies to pay to cover their bets. >> the sec will probably look at two things. one, to what extent do platforms have some sort of obligation

that is why it is we need an sec investigation. but understand, what's happening with gamestop is just a reminder of what's been going on on wall street now for years and years and years. it's a rigged game. and it's been a set of players who come in and manipulate the market. they've turned this stock market not into a place where you get capital formation to support businesses but more into a casino. they've been doing all kinds of market manipulation, pump and dump. companies that buy back shares of their own stock so they can inflate stock prices. we need a market that is transparent, that's level and open to individual investors. it is time for the sec to get off their duffs and do their jobs. >> beyond that, i know there are new regulations that you think need to be put in place. can you talk a little about what you are proposing? >> sure. we need more regulation about market manipulation. and look, what has happened back and forth with gamestop, they aren't the ones who invented this kind of activity going on. look at stock

sec. markey: thank you. in the most recent relief bill that we passed at the end of 2020, we were able to include $300 million for relief for the fishing industry, something you are very familiar with. so i would love to hear your views on how quickly, expeditiously that funding can get out into the hands of the fishing industry and all of its various manifestations. gov. raimondo: thank you, senator. i know you are very committed to the fishermen in your state. we have talked about it and like you, i come from a state with thousands of fishermen. should i be confirmed, i will assess that quickly and make sure it is distributed as expeditiously as possible. fishermen are struggling, like so many others now, and we need to do our best to get the money out the door quickly and effectively and transparently. sec. markey: thank you. noaa is just such a critical agency in terms of protecting our country against the impact of climate change, and i have a number of pieces of legislation, one with

the sec clearly knows who these people are.hey can go to the brokerage firms, go to robinhood and say we went the account opening documents. we want to know what accounts are trading. but we don't know that. that is one of the more interesting things. this does not happen to the shorts. usually, they just go crush the stock. they do what they want. nobody likes it. nobody likes the short, they think they are bad guys but it moves on. this is sort of like twitter, someone throws out some statement and everybody jumps in and fights with them. this is the new technology. the new kind of stockmarket bobble. -- bubble. unlike the one you saw in 2000. even 2008. this is different. now you have multiple sides. before, all you ever saw was the so-called bad guys. the shorts are just traders like everybody else, not bad guys but everybody thinks about them like that. you saw them pushing down and making money. not so much anymore. emily: tom, it sounds like some diligence on the part of the fcc is needed to find out who these people are

is the sec is the right venue? is that the arbiter how we will really handle section 230?>> that's a good question the general counsel for what's publicly available in his view it's a legal issue the fcc does have the competence to address. section 230 as part of the communications act under section two oh one with the supreme court cases like the iowa utilities board said the sec does have the authority to interpret various provisions. is more of a legal issue than a technical issue. >> there were many different factors of it we will see where it goes. >> this is one of the issues that is so large, you will be the technical agents but you are not likely going to be the vehicle for resolution like a policy like this. this is how america thinks about things. it is a fascinating question. about your presentation was terrific talking about the national security focus of the fcc am glad you did. i thought that was really important. the question that i put you , is the fcc culture regulatory and encouraging? you are encouraging the development and also regulating things. the na

retail traders in wall street with everyone paying attention a lot of people are worried, you have sec, congress, janet yellen, the treasury secretary in the new york attorney general as well as texas the texas attorney general say they will look into the massive stock in trade restrictions on trading platforms. robinhood announced they would restrict trades of heavily shorted stocks this is gamestop, amsi, et cetera today robinhood as well has set new limits on trading heavily shorted stocks so there is a few restrictions out there just as robinhood does seek a line of credit they say they have enough liquidity but a? around that. but nonetheless users are furious. >> too intentionally crater a stock at the expense of all your customers, that is criminal in my mind they had to know this is coming, nobody is that stupid to spit in the face of my entire client base and they'll be okay with it. >> the sec announced today they're looking into them put out a statement the commission will closely review action taken by regulated entities that may disadvantage investors otherwise unduly inhi