if shari redstone wins and has the control, she's going to decide who steps in and replaces him.ecause she's on that board. she's the vice chair of the cbs board. and if les is out, her voting control is strengthened. even before a court case >> so we're not just talking about les leaving. do you think we would see a mass leaving? either in solidity with les or because the others would be pushed out because they were seen as too close with les >> i don't know the answer to that one of the questions would be does shari redstone if in the driver's seat, does she appreciate the talent he's surrounded himself with? or would she in a small way wsh people >> ken auletta, thanks for helping us make sense of a situation difficult to make sense of >> it sure is. thank you. >>> joining us now is senior vice president of research at schaffer's investment research and also head of global fixed income strategy at jpmorgan asset management good to have you here. todd, let's start with you we had a guest on yesterday that said forget about trade and the issues the biggest risk to the market is

shari redstone is in a much better position. the futures are up about 4.6% for viacom.the disparities. four shareholders, 80% for the top, .8% for the four. there is a different governance issued here. they almost structure the company to be immune from normal pressures. alix: and when you have ceo and chairman in the same role, the qb pressure to have a vote to break up that role to be able to have oversight. if you have that kind of disallocation, that raises big issues. redstonehough shari has no love for les moonves and probably would be happy to see him leave, but there is a bigger question here. a lot of people accuse cbs of turning a blind eye to these issues if this is all true. they want to look at how much the governing board and shareholders are willing to make a change. shari redstone may not be the person because she has been a major shareholder for a long time. david: cbs news are already under investigation by an outside law firm. alix: where were shareholders? david: how many times have we asked that question? alix: a lot. david: many thanks to lisa abra

did you know before the ronan farrow article came out. >> and why did you plan on going against shari redstonef you knew this stuff was coming down the pike? isn't that ridiculous? you are getting involved in a battle knowing you could be blown up by the article. so if he appears, like i say, i believe it when i see it, but the plan is, right now for him to be on that call and answer questions and they are prepping him for it now. now, just so you know, again, i'm hedging here because this is such high-stakes stuff. i will tell you this, he's starting to go out in public. page 6 ran a story about him going to a restaurant in malibu. by the way, stories get planted like that. liz: at that level. >> you don't know he's just going to show up. he was smiling for the picture. i mean, my guess is they're trying to tell the investment public everything is okay, we're moving forward. he's fighting back. he thinks he could probably survive this, and you know, one other way you do that is to get in front of wall street, which he's generally good at and answer these questions. see thursday, again, ladies

it will be interesting to see how much she asserts herseshar shari redstone laurts have said probably not a great idea it makes more likely, jim, this deal will once again see the light of day why we saw the moves we did on friday. >> now, david, other articles say they're trying to pick it was like yeah to examine -- >> fox picked paul weiss it was disastrous. >> yeah. you have firms that you just simply can't buy and when they bring in a serious outside counsel, i think that -- >> disastrous you mean disastrous for the companies. >> right wells is back. because they got rid of -- it was the board that was in question and the fed reserve didn't like the board. wells addressed the issues so the stock is going almost back to where it was, but and fox, well, all is well it ends well the fact is, when they brought in paul weiss it was you did the chips may fall and chips may fall is damning. because if you verify that article, okay, and you interview those people, then i think the board is in advanced spot in terms of trying to keep les. i think that the conversations he's the greatest g

it pits moonves against shari redstone, who controls a majority of the voting shares in both cbs andcom, through her national amusements corporation. redstone wants to re-merge cbs and viacom. moonves does not. today, a high-ranking cbs executive who did not want to be identified told us "the new yorker" story is part of that battle, calling it "corporate hardball." ms. redstone's spokesperson put out a statement denying the allegations have anything to do with the battle in the board room. it said, "the malicious insinuation that ms. redstone is somehow behind the allegations is false and self-serving." moonves is quoted in the article as saying, "i recognize that there were times, decades ago, when i may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. those were mistakes, and i regret them immensely. but i always understood and respected-- and abided by the principle-- that 'no' means no, and i have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone's career." in a statement tonight, cbs corporation said its independent investigation of alleged misconduct at cbs news is ongo

shari redstone owns 80% of the company.f she could exercise that power, they would've already merged with viacom. you have the irony of this really strangely structured company and you are saying to the major shareholder, you don't get to say. alix: it does point to the fact that if shari redstone wants this to go on forever, she can do that. paul: it kind of shows you the influence that les has even though he is not a controlling shareholder. he has the support of the public shareholders and he wields that as well as anybody does but obviously his position is arguably weekend which raises the odds that shari will win in her strategy to put the two companies together. that is a positive for viacom and a possible near-term concern for cbs if they are forced to merge at some point. david: a second outside law firm because they already had an investigation going. alix: insert funny joke about lawyers. david: thanks so much to paul sweeney of bloomberg intelligence. coming up, credit suisse gives investors more reasons to stick

holders was set for september 10th that meeting was expected to focus on a court battle between shari redstoneher push to combine cbs with viacom. now as the board hires a firm and starts its investigation, the next event for cbs is its earnings report thursday afternoon. moonves typically leads the earnings call discussing the trajectory and future. we'll see what he says then. julia boorstin, cnbc business news, los angeles. >>> back to the earnings in europe, solvay shares are higher as strong growth in volume countered headwinds. >>> and sanofi shares are flat after clawing back early losses. the french drugmaker posted slightly higher than expected profits for the second quarter sales in the firm's genzyme division were up 30 cents. sanofi confirmed they're poised for stronger growth in the second half. >>> tesla is reportedly in talks with german and dutch officials to build its first major european factory according to the "wall street journal," the carmaker has held initial talks with two german states battling it out to hostess la's hostess -- host tesla's giga factory. >>> no deal br

. >> -- shari redstone and viacom. >> i suspect if les is gone, which is likely, shari -- liz: wait,sh back? cbs has to launch an investigation. >> they already announced that's underway. liz riz so i don't know that les is gone. i just want to make sure because i, you know, les moonves has been incredible to me -- >> i have to say he's a friend of mine, and i'm really disappointed and really saddened by this whole event -- liz: well, he was at the helm when charlie rose was removed. >> he fired charlie rose in two seconds, and les has always been, in my estimation, a champion of women's rights. liz: well, the stock is down, but we'll be watching that and more. just quickly back to fox, comcast, disney, all of them have seen pretty significant moves here. >> you're seeing the landscape of legacy media in a tectonic change. and old media, old television -- one of the suggestions that some of the analysts have made is maybe comcast should buy charter. actually, they should buy charter -- liz: well, there was news on charter today. it's not the cable side that comcast is interested in,

ran into les moonves by the way and he says he loves our coverage but when i asked him about shari redstonee ran so fast in the opposite direction. my producer, listen she ran into brian roberts. he couldn't runaway from her fast enough when she started asking about fox and disney and everything, so you know, there you go, but we try. but you know it's never the ceo 's that give it to you. you've got to pound the pavement and do reporting. liz: that's what you do. charlie thank you. thank you for breaking it all. we do appreciate it. charlie gasparino. charlie: talk to you soon. liz: the human stink bomb. charlie: oh, thank you. liz: good to see you. dow is up 209 points we are 10 make that eight points away, nine points away from erasing all of yesterday's losses. we'll be right back. problem & the staff needs to know, they will & they'll drop everything can you take a look at her vitals? & share the data with other specialists yeah, i'm looking at them now. & they'll drop everything hey. & take care of this baby yeah, that procedure seems right. & that one too. at&t provides edge to edge

there is on going battle between shari redstone, moonves. they are taking this one seriously as a company, investigating it closely. that being said, last but not least, how did we do for the week? nasdaq finished to the downside with the tech pressure. s&p, dow, finished higher. adam: nicole, thank you. cheryl: president trump celebrating a big bump in the gdp this morning. the economy growing 4.1% in the second quarter. the strongest pace in nearly four years. go to blake burman at the white house with what the president is saying about all of this? i'm sure it is pretty good stuff, blake. >> cheryl, the president and his team stem greating this one thinking it is vindication for the economic plan. days and weeks when they undertook regulatory efforts, what con souped the white house last year which is tax reform, what is consuming this president right now being trade battles. exports surged in last quarter adding 1% to gdp, half a percent above normal and the president said earlier today in the white house on the front of the north lawn,

. >> you also have the controlling shareholder in the form of shari redstone representing national amusementsmeeting, as well or part. perhaps she's choosing to sit back now i think i know how the movie ends but, you know. >> one reaction came from ste n stephen colbert on cbs about moonves who arguably made his career take a listen to this. >> les moonves is my guy he hired me to sit in this chair. he's behind the show while we were struggling to find our voice. he gave us the time and the resources to succeed and he has stood by us when people were mad at me. i like working for him but accountability is meaningless unless it's for everybody. whether it's the leader of a network or the leader of the free world. >> see how that plays out over time. >> any resolution at this point. i'm not nearly as negative about viacom. >> you aren't? >> i think there's more to the company. i think every one of these things would be a disaster i mean, look it's a disaster like mission impossible. >> yeah. >> no mission impossible i thought -- >> no, i'm saying that we continually think that paramount is a bu

thegations against him comes up at a time it pits him through shari redstone. redstone wants to remerge cbs and viacom. moonves does not. a high ranking executive who does not want to be identified said "the new yorker" story is part of that battle calling it corporate hardball. misreadstone put out the statement denyinging any of the allegations have to do with the battle in the boardroom. the malicious accusation is false and self serving. moonves is quoted in the article in saying i realize decades ago i may have made some women uncomfortable making advances, those are mistakes and i regret them immensely but i always stood by the principal no means no and i never used my pogsz to harm or hinder anyone's career. >> anna werner, thank you. we also note to add that moonves's wife cbs's julie chen also released a stamtd defending her husband reading in part, quote, leslie is a good man and loving father, devoted husband, and aspiring corporate leader. he has always been a kind, decent, and moral human being. >>> president trump is spending the weekend at his ne

has a huge impact on the stock and on top of that, he is embroiled into the controversy with shari redstones to wrest control of cbs from the controlling redstone family, all the controlling shares. how does this weaken or help impact his position? that will be asked. charles: a lot of questions about the board, even dealing with this, in terms of crisis management they knew this was coming to a degree. they were caught flat footed. >> james stuart in the "times" wrote amazing column. you would think if they knew this was coming they wouldn't have rolled the dice. charles: already had an investigation, or would have taken the sort of measures that people want, particularly from a publicly-traded company. >> as someone who covered ceos for a long time i remember one ceo telling me, what does your board say about this? he goes, my board is my board. especially someone like moonves has enormous control over board and independent directors. they're not that independent. charles: rubberstamp boards are problem for investors for decades. this continues. >> this might be a key example of that. we'

with the latest on these expected allegations that are reportedly coming in a new yorker article shari redstonehareholder of cbs just issued a statement quote, the malicious insinuation or today's reports is false and self-serving. redstone hopes the investigation of these allegations is thorough, open and transparent the story continuing to develop. we'll be back as we get more >> you're going on vacation. >> i'm going on vacation, two weeks. i'll be watching, though, for sure >> thanks everybody for watching "power lunch." >> "closing bell" starts right now. >>> happy friday, everyone it's time for "the closing bell." i'm wilfred frost at the new york stock exchange. we have a tech wreck on our hands. we'll spin forward and preview apple who report next week >>> i'm julia boorstin in los angeles. reports of sexual misconduct allegations. the stock taking the news. i'll have more on the fall out coming up. >>> in washington, d.c. with the real estate makeover forget the old boring for sale sign i'll show you

what les moonves wants to do break away from viacom and shari redstone, sell it to another player.onnell: what is more likely to happen moonves is forced out or removed or suspended how does that affect that, or we don't know? >> if moonves is forced out or suspended i don't see how you stop the controlling shareholder from exercising her duly constituted rights, you know what i'm saying? whether it is good or bad for shareholders of cbs. the fact of the matter it is two dual classes of stock where you can own a minority of stock and still control the company which is what they have there. what i think is what happened, what we have here at 21st century fox. i'm not sure it will be that after the disney deal but it is not uncommon. connell: a and b shares. >> right. you basically give her a lot more power. connell: you don't have as big or powerful voice on the other side. >> les moonves is loved by wall street. when i say loved, he basically ran a very good financially good ship. connell: yeah. >> he brought cbs back in terms of ratings. he was, so he was liked essentially as a ma

acquisition targets, cbs and viacom as well as the controlling shareholder of both of those companies, shari redstone on quarterback today, escalating bids for these companies point to the value of content and media companies. also the scarcity of media company assets back over to you >> there is so much talk about the tech companies being the next acquirers do they have representatives in sun valley as well >> i'm sorry say that again >> do companies like google and apple rumored to be acquired of content. are they present >> yeah. so we haven't seen tim cook or jeff bezos yet we expect them both to be here they're both on the list there has been a lot of talk those tech giants would be the next big buyers of content it might make sense for a company like amazon to make an acquisition of cbs or viacom to bulk up their contents one thing that's interesting to no note, there could be backlash there. he pointed out the concern that there are these potential culture crashes. which is whae he saw with the merger 20 years ago. he sort of brought us that history lesson we do think there will be interest fr

. >> with all the directors are expected to focus on cbs' court battle with shari redstone and her pushm since the news of these allegations broke on friday, cbs shares are down about 11%. viacom shares are still up about 2.5% now as the board works on hiring a firm and starts its investigation, the next event is due out thursday afternoon we have to see what he december then >> thank you, julia. appreciate that very much. stay where you are want you to be part of this conversation as well brian weiser is joining us from pivotal research group your take on this given where you sit, do you think the board has made the right decision in terms of how their approaching this >> oh, absolutely not. i mean, the bigger problem at this point is beyond les moonves. it's a board problem rumors of this had been around for months when you put in context -- all reporting that it had come out months ago the fact that the board hadn't already been investigating this matter is not stunning, i guess, but disappointing certainly. when you put in context of cbs which is not exactly a company known for dive

. >> we don't know if shari redstone will be involved in these deliberations, right? arch nemesis. liz: listening in, talking about the deliberations. she has her own stake. charles: that would be tough also. she is fighting back pretty hard people are saying timing is suspicious. liz: she is rejecting that. charles: she is adamantly said she is not involved. some are questioning the timing, if you have two decade-ol' allegations why are they coming out right now? >> when they could hurt him and the present board. charles: we learned a another cautionary tale. who is first breaking news, sometimes -- ashley: attribute it to someone else. >> charles, you did the right thing. charles: nasdaq is breaking key support, here is connell mcshane. >> do you have to follow tech stocks. i'm connell mcshane filling in for neil cavuto coast to coast on next couple hours. which i will be as they usually are quite busy president has been talking with conte even though he clashed many european leaders. you will have a joint news conference next couple hours. you expect trade

, content media, next step forward, les moonves is here, ceo of cbs fighting for control with shari redstone see cbs guy asked questions about sasha baron cohen on his air mocking disabled american vets. love to see that question. thank you very much, deirdre. see you later. >>> coming up, trucker shortage. something we've been discussing on this program. a congressman is trying to fix it introducing a bill that would allow 18-year-olds to become professional truck drivers. 18-year-olds? president trump is meeting with russian president putin, isn't that what reagan did with gorbachev? we will have a reagan author with us soon. you're trying to lower your very hwith a healthy diet... and exercise. and maybe even, unproven fish oil supplements. not all omega-3s are clinically proven or the same. discover prescription omega-3 vascepa. the one that's this pure... and fda approved. look. vascepa looks different... because it is different. it's pure epa. vascepa, along with diet, is clinically proven to lower very high triglycerides by 33% in adults, without raising bad cholesterol. that's pure p