The likes of which they have not seen since 1933, in the midst of a downturn for the month, the likes of which we have not seen since 2008 here we find ourselves this morning looking at a market that will open lower. Your thoughts . You go up 19. 9 in the s p, you can have two thoughts. One is that was the greatest bull market ever the other is, boy, is this market dysfunctional were not moving the way we should theres very little volume yesterday the machines took the dow up 500 points in the last 20 minutes. Im keying on oil. I think oil is something that the algorithms are keying in i wish there wasnt algorithmic trading, but its here to stay the quants are in charge you know, lets bring back the smith corona typewriter. The quants are in charge, they took it up and now theyll cashier the market and cash it in lets come back to oil for a second it does get lost sometimes in all of the volatility were seeing and our focus on the economic crisis, on the Health Crisis, on the equity markets. But jim, you said you think oil will go to 20 or below yeah. Why because well, we were pumping 13 million theres no place to put it the storage people have actually held back space because they think oil could go down to 5. I dont know if thats possible. Excuse me no, theres people that think it will go to 5 Scott Sheffield yesterday from pioneer with brian sullivan, he was talking about a handful of Oil Companies making it. Listen up. Go back on cnbc. Com and listen to it. It takes your breath away. Scott told me, you know, 8 Million Barrels a day that we would go to 13 we were headed to 17 i just feel like people have to keep their eye on oil. Its the wildcard. Its the thing that no one seems to be able to stop its deflationary not in a time we want to see deflation it feels so 1928 it is worth reminding people, of course, it is connected to the current economic crisis given the incredible decrease in demand from world economies. But it is also completely separate because of this fight that continues between the saudis and the russians. You have said for weeks you want the president to call up saudi arabias leader and say cut it out. But that hasnt happened, jim. It appears thats not going to happen the president i spoke to the president for many, many years about opec he hated opec. Opec is on the one now gasoline is coming down. I think look, it is good for the American People. Its just that if were in a fight for our lives to keep people on payrolls, you listened to danny meyers talking about restaurants. Restaurants a huge employer. You want to keep them on the payrolls theres another part of the American Economy that has been the strongest greatest job creator and Energy Independence and national security. Im not saying it could go away. Oil will always be in the ground im saying holy cow, this thing is not playing ball with the market if we didnt have the algorithms, heres what would happen, maybe thats okay. But if theres traders, hedge funds that key off of certain simple things, and theyre keying off of oil, they could take us down with them all right lets talk a bit about the broader issues of our economy right now and the house, which is going to actually its getting together right now theyll see if they have a quorum and get this bill passed that passed the senate we talked to secretary mnuchin yesterday. If and when the house is as expected to pass it one way or the other, theres still some question about how quickly you will get the money into peoples hands because they need it tomorro tomorrow i spoke to the secretary today. It took so long to get the money during the obama regime. It took a long time to get people the money theyre working to get this money in three weeks from the irs to you that would be amazing. And yet, david, i would contend the next three weeks are probably the most perilous point. Well get up every morning, hear dr. Scott gottlieb and say its this city now, that city now, this city now. Its like the classic movie red dawn i know you probably didnt see that almost shakespeareanlike movie. I think were up against an incredibly powerful enemy thats unseen at the same time the checks in the mail, but snail mail because we need that money now America Needs that money now people will be sitting around waiting waiting were going to have broian moynihan on later. His bank is offering forbearance. Will everybody forebear . Depending on the kindness of strangers . Decent play. No. I mean, thats the question you and i have been asking for some time unless you mandate somehow extended forbearance up and down all the way, its not clear you will get it. At the same time there are companies who are not paying their bills, small and large right theyre asking for discounts. Theyre not paying their landlords. So much going on now in terms of that were a few weeks into this now in a serious way with the markets responding the way they have there doesnt appear to be more clarity. I my day now is i can make more phone calls because i cant swim im not taking the subway anywhere, downtown, midtown, uptown to various offices. Yet the more people i speak to, the more diversity of opinion i get. Nobody seems im talk to one person who runs a large Global Advisory firm, they say this will change the way we behave for years to come. This will change the nature of work this will be a fundamental change in terms of behavior. And there are going to be so many different aspects of it in terms of how we feel it in our lives. Theyre not particularly positive in the weeks ahead. I will turn to somebody who is a senior at a private equity firm they say we already see some opportunities. We can make some assetbacked loan maybe we can do something with a cruise ship, where we can be backed by the ship itself. In a few months this will pass on to another hedge fund, a large one that tells me we will retest the lows. It goes on and on. I dont get clear answers from anybody. I dont either. You have a mardi gras that was fabulous down in new orleans you have our mayor, happy days, one month ago. Lets go down, do these things were strong new yorkers are strong were not that strong. Philadelphia was strong in the 1918 pandemic. I find the leaders are saying Different Things the Hedge Fund Managers saying Different Things i love the fact that private equity is happy. Thats one of the weakest points in the economy but youre right i think the most important point you make is that the world has changed the way we do business well hear from verizons ceo, i think theyre in the catbird seat wow. Were not going to work. The one thing that has not changed, a favorite paradise, you didnt shop before, you cant shop now thats true i cant even go anywhere except to the supermarket it is an introverts paradise i have been going to the supermarket. You have been were only half kidding, its not complete which half . Yeah. Thats a good question, too. I do miss you. I do i miss you i would rather be next to you. You know, facetiming my wife, wow, you look great. Thats terrific. How did that happen . Facetiming my daughter in madrid great city what a horrible time but its okay to have a little humor. I listen to everybody, wow, its horrible woe is me. Its already we did pass that gigantic bipartisan bill. Whoever heard of that term in the era of anger we do have some money coming to people thats more than a lot of them were making before they got fired, which i think is great to throw a lot of money at it chairman powell, he had a real gain yesterday on the today show. We got its not all horrible. A lot of it is horrible. My phone works you know what system i have . Segue verizon. Okay. That brings us to our first interview of a very busy morning in which we will hear from a number of leaders. But we will start off as you indicated, jim, with hans vesberg, the ceo of verizon. I know he was on with you on mad money not long its always good to have him back good morning to you. Thank you for joining us good morning. I hope you are fine in this unprecedented time yeah. Certainly are unprecedented. I would love to get to the business itself. You guys are doing a lot of Different Things here. In terms of the 5g cycle that we talk so often about as last year ended and we came into this year, something we talk to you so often about, is that no longer going to happen are the handsets that we thought that would start to be delivered into peoples hands to work on the network that youve been building now for years, is that delayed . So far no delays. We dont see that. We are continually rolling out our network when it comes to 5g and fortifying our network we have no indication on any delays right now again, we are all in serious, unprecedented situation, nobody knows whats at hand the next several months, but so far no delays that we can see do you see people going out and being able to purchase the next generation phone . That would be something thats hard to imagine given Current Conditions as weve seen, weve seen so many changes in social patterns in the u. S. The last couple of weeks. One is how you how you interact with communication devices and buying them. We see much more Digital Purchasing right now we only have 30 of our stores open its only for critical services, now were going to appointments only so clearly we are having closures, so its harder to do transactions when it comes to that but there are some critical things, Small Businesses that need the phones fixed or accessories or Something Like that of course the Health Care System is the most important we have in front of us, to make sure thats working. Second is financial and the Communication Industries has to work in these times. Im happy to report that our network is standing up very good in these times but in a very different way than we are used to seeing it of course there are so many different changes, as you say, in behavior as the leader of an enormous company with a huge Balance Sheet, capital commitments, are you thinking differently you indicated youre continuing the build out in 5g, but are you thinking differently in terms of capital given this uncertain time, unprecedented time that we find ourselves in . Yeah, were thinking differently. Already two weeks ago we decided to increase Capital Expenditures for this year. We guided up our capx. We guided up on that because we want to be certain that we continue to have the best and most rebuobust network. We thought its important that somebody is standing up and investing. So we look different on the capital at the moment. And we also did the bond offering when the market was open last week yes. We think different on the capital, but its more on the serving our customers in a time that is so important thats communication is working for First Responders, for consumers, for enterprises, small and medium businesses in order to continue to be in business hans, thank you so much for joining us the network these days has too much traffic on it ive had no degradation with my verizon line, but is it true were running a shortage if thats the case, what kind of equipment do you need to make to make sure we dont have one . We have a growth in our network in general, but we have no major problems with the network and with customers right now. We have 800 million calls a day, thats double amount of the calls on mothers day, which is the busiest day of the year. And the calls are 33 longer we have 9 billion messages a day. Thats equivalent to what you would have on the new years eve. Its enormous traffic in the network. On top of that, we increased gaming 107 in the network the applications using the network has changed. But our Wireless Network is holding up well. We are serving all our customers. Then we have priority for the First Responders in the network as well at the same time i think were serving some 160 Emergency Command Centers with technology to keep them up at the moment as well its a crisis. The Network Becomes extremely important. We prepared as we increased capex to increase more capital or more capacity but at the moment my engineers are doing a fabulous job but these are things they were building in the Network Years ago. Ive been asking ceos to take the pledge that no layoff for the next 30 days at least. It almost sounds like you guys must be hiring youre certainly not laying off. Were not laying off. No we have 110,000 employees working from home. Thats across the globe. Right now were open, and right now some store employees are working from home. Its important to get back to normal life and work during these times. Its a full day with activities and being a part of the company. Beyond your employees, what about your customers one would imagine given the economic distress that has spread throughout the u. S. , those jobless claims from yesterday being example number one. People may not be in position to pay their bills. Are you seeing an increase in churn . Are you concerned about an inability among the Customer Base to pay you . Its too early to say that. It might have an impact. For our small and medium businesses, we are waiving all late fees. We are also saying to consumers, if you have problems due to the coronavirus, we will work with your payment schedules and wave fees we are flexible in these times to see customers continue and focus on the most vulnerable in the network, that would be consumers as well as small and Medium Enterprises the Larger Enterprises we work with, some have much more demands. This has severe reduction and revenues you can see them and support them you work with all of these during this time, you stick up for your nation and customers. This is a time to take leadership and responsibility. Understood. What i hear you saying, correct me if im wrong, youre full speed ahead. Youre deploying capital in the same way you would have potentially. Youre concerned but not completely sure yet in terms of what your Customer Base will look like. Youre full speed ahead, youre not pulling back at all . Not even on advertising . Advertising we do that is appropriate. We dont advertise new products, wireless hubs, but we talk more about the technology in the network, the most vulnerable and what we can do for them during these times. We tried to split the days there. We have the highest crisis level in the company we need every day in the morning with the whole team going over everything then we also need to continue to work we dont know how long this will continue we know how important the network is the Wireless Network the fiber network, the fixed networks, that they are working for this nation at the moment. So we cannot sit here and wait and see whats going to happen we need to execute very, very fast and so far im proud of my team, their doing that and doing the most critical work in the field as well, which is needed during these times and were relying on it, i am right now, hans. Its working fine. Appreciate you joining us again. Keep us posted as things continue to change on such a rapid basis. Hans vestberg, ceo of verizon. Thank you well take a quick break on squawk on the street. When we get back, i think well have a mad dash. We have about ten minutes to go before the opening bell to end what has been another historic and tumultuous week on wall street we see harnessing natural gas unleashing the promise of clean energy. At emerson, when issues become inspiration, creating a better world isnt just a result, its a responsibility. Emerson. Consider it solved. And sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. But when youre with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Welcome back to squawk on the street. Time for a mad dash. We get to talk about an individual stock, lululemon is what you focussed on this morning. Why . They had a great quarter. The stock is looking down, what the hell, everything is looking down today, but i point out on the conference call, Calvin Mcdonald is saying we have early learnings from china which show us our business will bounce back once again, if youre in china, david, its a source of strength china is this is a couple companies have said that china is very good starbucks says china has come back strong. I like this story. Its not the story line you necessarily want, you want america to come back, you do have china coming back, it says dont give up. Lululemon, they will be down on profit taking, but come back to it chinas coming back. It will help them. Alibaba is killing it. Your buds alibaba, killing it. Alibaba, yeah, as you point out, shares down 7. 8 for the year its a buy. Were getting ready to start trading. Its a buy for Alibaba Softbank likes to hear that, masa, given their enormous position there five minutes before the opening bell well squeeze in a quick break were right back at leaf blowers. You should be mad your neighbor always wants to hang out. And you should be mad your smart fridge is unnecessarily complicated. Make ice. Making ice. But youre not mad because you have e trade which isnt complicated. Their tools make trading quicker and simpler so you can take on the markets with confidence. Dont get mad get e trade and start Trading Commission free today. Dont get mad get e trade and start trading there are times when our need to connect really matters. To keep customers and employees in the know. To keep business moving. Comcast business is prepared for times like these. Powered by the nations largest gigspeed network. To help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. Tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. And a team of experts here for you 24 7. Weve always believed in the power of working together. Thats why, when every connection counts. You can count on us. Show me reality. Tv. Where my hobbits at . Play lord of the rings. Play my straight outta the shire playlist. I want to see the king. Find lebron. Search more cartoons. Play the last o. G. Take me to the streets, play sesame street. Me want more cookies. Find the things you love with a voice command. Introducing at t tv. With live tv and access to streaming apps. Plug in and watch, with easy selfsetup. Shipped directly to you. But through goodt times and bad at t. Rowe price weve helped our investors stay confident for over 80 years. Call us or your advisor. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Welcome back to squawk on the street. Were getting ready for the opening bell, two, three minutes from now nobody mounts the podium any longer, its harder to tell. When everything goes green or red on the screen, i know were open what are you focussed on you started the broadcast by talking about oil. Your idea that it could go below 20 a barrel what else do you see in terms of trading today . I want to see these recession stocks not go down what im looking for is a theme. People saying its a recession we have plenty of stocks to choose from. Lee cooperman talking about stock selectionment against that, we have a downgrade of caterpillar from bank of america saying the dividend is not enough to cover it thats a strong statement. Schlumberger got a note this morning from simmons saying they dont know if they can pay the dividend theres Great Companies who are in the balance what caterpillar and schlumberger have in common is oil. 10 of caterpillars business is in oil oil is embedded in the greatness of what was happening in the economy. And we can fa can talk about restaurants and bars and travel and entertainment, we were doing something good in this country, getting oil out of the ground. Now we dont know what will happen i hate to see the saudis and russians become one of the reasons why we have big trouble in this country. Its a separate story, one of great significance as well were you surprised at all the high yield what about it oil, these guys bought they borrowed a lot of money yeah. Yeah energy its coming down and down and down as a dollar percentage overall of high yield. As an issuance percentage, it was quite large as you know. It has gotten better a bit in high yield of late, but certainly something were keeping an eye on. We talked about this as you see Investment GradeCompanies Getting downgraded, there are a number of people who would like to see the ratings agencies hold off. Dont do anything for six months not sure if thats the case. Everybody was supposed to forebear were all supposed to be fine. The ones who wont forebear are the rich landlords they never give up no, they dont. The opening bell for friday. As we get started with trading futures were pointing to a lower open well see that after what has been three historic days, up days, the likes of which we have not seen at least since 1933 bu but we are still talking about a dow down 24 , 25 . S p similar from the ighs. You know, david, heres one we have to watch the key to the market is zoom. Its a zoom economy. You heard hans talk about it its not changing. We are imdealing with bank of america later today people work at home there. Thats where people work from. Youre working at home look, i may be alien, but whatever it is, you have to get used to it but its whats happening. There are companies that are building out and spending fortunes to make it so when youre home, its like being at the office the only thing that you dont have is other people to talk to. Its true right you mention that. We dont talk that often about though its nice to when were through this. But what changes in behavior will stay with us for a long time there are quite a few people who believe this work life balance, the ability to work from home is not something we will abandon when this crisis abates, jim. And its interesting from an investment perspective as well, what it will mean for the digital economy, the cloud providers and Companies Like zoom even in your daytoday work life in terms of your ability to work from home and the Comfort Level that management has with when their work force is doing that we have theres a couple Companies Like crowdstrike, its easy to penetrate. I know cisco feels strongly, their webex business is much more difficult to hack the bad guys havefigured out this is just a paradise for them to hack. Heres one you always talk about. What happens to ford motor its a good question. People are driving less regardless we talked about the autonomous future which is still coming one would imagine in this world you might not want to have a driver drive you anywhere. It would be nice to have nobody in the front seat who could communicate disease to you were many years perhaps from that we thought previously it would be sooner. Its coming. What will that mean to overall demand worldwide for automobiles . You raise another point. If people are staying home, they may not be commuting as much we never thought the world would go from Movie Theater to netflix and it happened quickly. Maybe the world goes from office tower to home. Will Office Towers become the new theaters will they become the new amc i do think the changes are vast. Theyre happening so quickly there is shortages of equipment. David, you followed hp, their laptop business is on fire because everyone has to have a new pc at home theres micron talking about ill be interviewing them later. Theyre talking about the boom, the actual boom in equipment because of this stayathome new office that has to be created. Lets not forget, the carbon thats taken out by not having everyone on the road and the air is clear you must be up there theres probably bald eagles sitting on your porch there are some beautiful hawks here actually that i do get to watch out this window you a bird up there i used to see paulson in central park thats the one place people in new york are still able to go. I used to see him in his park with his binoculars, the former treasury secretary was an avid birder lets get to some stocks viacom why why do you do it not to put you in a bad mood. You trying to provoke me . Did you bakish me because its friday i would never provoke you did you read the article . No. Im reading the release from this morning its an obituary. We were watching that stock decline long before the virus started to spread throughout the world. This morning, as you might expect, this applies to so many other businesses, they say we cant well have an impact from the business. They also say theyre still online to have the synergies they identified previously of 7 750 million delivered tea talk abo they talk about their Balance Sheet, 200 million of Shortterm Bank borrowings, they have upcoming debt maturities, 300 million in february of 2021 a Balance Sheet like no other. Have you done your bracket how is your bracket doing . Tony romo is the only guy doing good at that place i know. How about paramount you like the movies . Youre getting it all you are backishing me canceling and reskewchedulinf sports, that could be material to the operating results, cash flows it and operating position. You can say that for a lot of Companies Including our own. What are the plagues that visited them grasshoppers you know locusts they got the ten plagues going on over there at viacom. No i think we have to its not a good situation you did that so my whole weekend is ruined. Im sorry the ad market is also under pressure when you talk about theatrical the stop panl pag production, what about netflix what will they do . Theres some question as to whether they would need to go to sort of the weekly episode format as opposed to the binge format because they need to spread this out over a longer period of time given theyll come up against it in a number of months when theres no product anymore that they had originally contracted for because theres nobody making movies talk about an achilles heel because ive been thinking what a great stock to own in this time of covid. Youre right its not where are you going to be able to make product . Is there a place on earth that covid has not touched . Antarctica a lot of movies about the thing or something where do you make a movie . Yeah. Where do you make a movie right now there are not movies being made. Its an interesting question netflix, as you pointed out, ha been a beneficiary of this the stock is up 10. 5 this year. I dont know the answer. There are those who are asking do they need to go to episodic to preserve the supply signups rule if you dont have new coffee if you dont have water cooler theres no water coolers anymore, but if you dont have people talking about a netflix show, you are not going to have signups we did see we got some gaming numbers from micron. People are gaming like its going out of style im sure they are what else i know thats going on in this house my wife does that thing she does the before she goes to bed, she takes the facebook feed god. Zuckerberg he makes it no matter what, doesnt he little boxes that come down. She fixes it thats what people are doing Activision Blizzard came off a little, call of duty selling well we have not heard from Strauss Zelnick lately, but maybe take two has something coming up. We should do the ultimate stayathome portfolio ive been relying on tech, now theres things to just keep you from being stir crazy. Thats a good one one that people have been exploring. Peloton is another peloton yeah its a real blue chip. But there is theres no doubt about it today were seeing the Procter Gamble upgrade, its incredible. Cut numbers, but they had some business hair care is okay. Steifel is good. Upgrade to buy the fabric and home care, sure thats right were washing everything how many times do you go over i what do i do . Im constantly wiping things its only me at home and im wiping im going to give it to myself doesnt matter you still keep wiping. You have to keep wiping. Its in the constitution, the new constitution you have to keep wiping you have to figure out a way to cut your own hair. Thats going to be interesting that well i have the edge on you there, partner. You do. There was a downgrade at jpmorgan we forget we wish jamie the best of luck but david, were worried about the fortress Balance Sheet there. Are we really worried are you being serious . The piece is about nonperformers. Im not worried. Jpmorgan should come through fine nonperformers are front and center we keep hearing forbearance. That usually means the bank is not getting paid this is like cold hard money yeah. Play monopoly with your daughter and son not yet but im looking forward to a family game that will go on and on and on. Do you play with social distancing do you have a board . They have a board . Were a unit. Were stuck together you have a deblasio method. Right . Fewer trains and pack em. He has the king oscar plan gosh. Yeah listen, we can only hope things peak in new york as soon as possible yeah. Jim, lets get to bob pisani, get more focus on the Broader Market and what were seeing good morning good morning. Good to see you. Good to see you, jim its been a difficult morning. Last night with the close we had, the green chutes crowd were all over the place have you noticed we got out of the bear market. The dollar is off its highs. We had reports of corporate insider buying the green chutes crowd was screaming the bottom is in thats not happening and the reason is because the spra dinty volatility is titanic in the stock market look today at the sectors, whats going on. Its gone back to where it was on monday. So the stuff thats not that is underperforming, energy stocks, bank stocks, technology stocks, Consumer Staples are down less. This is a pattern we saw many times on the down days, thats whats happening today if you look at some of the other things, companies withdrawing guidance, the list keeps growing. We keep this list at cnbc. Getting close to 30. We had gap, kb home, exotica, they trade in paris. Reits. Its going to get Bigger Companies will withdraw guidance or as the s. E. C. Allowed them, they may not follow the 10qs they have a 45day grace period if they face certain criteria. I want to show you the sp p 500 futures overnight. We swung in a 100point range overnight. That implies 4 , 5 move from high to low. Those are enormous numbers thats why were getting these vix numbers through the roof if you look at what going on for the week, talking about closing prices this week s p on monday, down 8. 9 tuesday, up 9. 8 wednesday, up 1. 2 thats a rare calm day thursday, up 5. 7 . These are not intraday swings. These are the closing numbers. The intraday swings are 5 , 6 , 7 these are unprecedented numbers. This is why the volatility levels are still elevated. If you look at the vix on just what the volatility we had for the month of march, not what we think it will be, but the month, the vix is 100 essentially its implying these enormous swings in the future as well when you try to get the vix, as we try to figure 30 days out thursday, intraday volatility was 5 people say bob, why is the vix at 65, 66, theres no way in gods green earth that the vix will go down when you have intraday price swings of 5 , 6 , 7 the vix is a guess its a guess about what the volatility will look like a month from now traders look at the last few weeks and they say my heavens, this is likely to continue thats why the vix is at 66. 66 is a real number. It measures something. It implies theyre estimating volatility swings of 4 to 5 in the s p 500 for the next 30 calendar days. People say what is it going to take somebody asked me yesterday what will it take to have the vix at 40 you have to get the realized volatility down in the 2 range, 3 range it has to get a lot lower before anybody starts letting the vix drop heres the futures contracts theyre lower, but even further out, way into june, were looking at numbers that are in the high 30s, early 40s. Thats a long way out, june. Still traders are still thinking its going to be volatile. That will drop if we get a string of days where theres 2 intraday swings on the s p and it stays that way. Those numbers will drop. Right now, guys, i dont care what you tell you, theres no bottom right now until we see things calm down a bit on an intraday basis david, back to you yeah. Thank you, bob to your point, we have an s p down about 3. 7 right now. As we are about 15 minutes into the trading day. On squawk box this morning, the crew did speak to leon cooperman, longtime hedge fund manager, now managing his own sizable pool of capital as well. His advice to investors, dont pani panic. Dont panic dont borrow money to buy stocks this is not it the last opportunity youll have. Be careful with your bonds limit your duration. Theres no return with plenty of risk somebody once said returnfree risk its funny he mentioned that, jim. Bonds in particular, i keep hearing theres a lack of liquidity now. Yes in that market. Even with the feds moves. Yeah. Look, in stocks we got a lot of stocks that trade in 4, 5, 6point increments people do panic. They go against what lee is saying you go youre worried about treasury markets we have not talked about the frozen Mortgage Market i do think i look at these stocks, you get a stock like apple. It opens down 8. We have some negative story about apple and how were doing with iphones United Health down 10. Caterpillar down 6 you get these moves. The moves say asset class broken asset class broken people dont want to put their life savings in this the people want to take their life savings out of this its a shame, they should recognize some things that lee talks about and that is the market has some rules they got rid of, they make it so its easy to knock over a stock stocks are being knocked over on nothing. Nothing. Or being taken up on nothing boeing was on 90, Goldman Sachs says upgrade, goes to 180. The you cant have a stock like that double in three days. That shows you the asset class doesnt work yeah. That was that was stunning. That was stunning. By the way, so is the fall in so many of these real estaterelated names reits. I failed to mention it its one of the first ive seen, howard hughes, theyre going to go for a primary offering of stock, try to raise money. They also say, bill ackman will potentially step up for half a billion dollars and a private placement at the same price they were able to sell whatever number of shares i did see it in the release the plan thats getting crushed today good to raise money when you can raise it look at a thing like Tanger Factory Outlet steve tanger the outlets are fine i find them at the beach house, i bought a Kitchen Table at tanger it has a 23 yield that seems like a red flag its got it sells at 6 bucks. You see these things, arent you just astonished where some of these stocks are simon properties, you know david simon. Is there anyone who is better at running a mall than david simon . Well, its i 14 yield but then again the malls are not a lot of traffic in the mall right no, not a lot of traffic in malls that are closed. Macies is a nonessential property they have these essential properties, nonessential people say that dividend, the yield is getting bigger and bigger it gets bigger and bigger until it goes away macys at 5. 30. May have to throw them some busy it is yeah im looking as you mentioned these names. It is shocking isnt it . Those dividend yields listen, obviously we know in an environment like this, you v. Got to raise capital any way you can and cut your custs acosts a expenditu expenditures schlumberger pays 1 1. 8 billion in dividend. I tried to get a job at schlumberger in 1983, i was told too stupid i didnt mind that i went to college to get stupid. I look at schlumberger, 14 yield, down 10 today . These are breath tataking breathtaking moves incredible lets get to Rick Santelli now, check the bond markets and fixed income overall good morning, rick good morning, david you know, early this morning we had data out many thought personal income and spending is something not to Pay Attention to im sorry, i think you have to Pay Attention to it. Up 0. 6 . The highest level, you would have to go back to december of 2018 to find a higher month over month increase in look at the to the core personal consumption expenditure, that ticked up. Up to 1. 8. Thats the highest pricing of that core pc, a favor of the fed since 2018 we need to be aware of that. Bank of canada for the third time in march cut rates again. 50 basis points. All three cumulatively 150 basis points that brings the rate to. 25. If you look at the fed overnight, the repos, six and three quarters billions. No takers on the longterm lets look at a twoyear chart back to november of 2013 at 27 basis points thats the last time we closed at this area were down three on the day. Found four on the week oneweek after tens hovering at 73 basis points. Its interesting they closed at 85 yesterday. They closed at 85 on friday. Theyre right now down a dozen basis points both on the day and the week if you look at a month of date to tens, the lowest close ever at 54 basis. Only a 19 basis point cushion as we sit here truly. Its very difficult to think were not going to give a retest theres no sustained bounce to the ounce in yields. In fact, weve had history outflows out of bonds and historic inflows in the cash thats over the last couple weeks. Thats by bank of america. Finally lets look at the wildest for an Exchange Market one week of the dollar index starting last friday and you could see we settle just a whisker shy of 103 we got down last night to 98 at the lows last night at 98. 78, it was down 4 these are huge moves david, back to you it seems to be the watch for it huge moves in so many markets rick thank you, rick. Lets take a quick break on the other side well come back to jim for stop trading stay with us for squawk on the street. Markets. The business of trading goods and services. Nasdaq operates among the largest markets in the world. And our Technology Powers markets from indonesia to chile. Great markets are built on a foundation of trust and integrity, forged through leading Edge Technology and a smart regulatory framework. As technology advances, regulation must keep pace to allow the markets to evolve. Today we see an opportunity to modernize regulation, to make markets more accessible to investors and entrepreneurs of all sizes. 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At emerson, when issues become inspiration, creating a better world isnt just a result, its a responsibility. Emerson. Consider it solved. Welcome back lets get to a stop trading with jim. Chipolte youre focussed on. The stock has come down a lot. David, doing incredible things a free order now free delivery they are going to be the winner when the smoke clears in the fast food. I think theyre going to be the winner because they remain the millennials favorite. They have come up with the best digital system thats incredible. Theyre also the best tech have a great idea. Great food and best technology if you have a longterm horizon, chipolte, i think you can buy it in stages. Buy 450. Thats my kind of stock for the ages jim, i did want to come back to what you opened the show with oil. Its down. It has large implications for the Global Economy and for other countries, and its just not a story weve been focussed on given everything else. Oil has to hold 20. End of story well keep an eye on it, and obviously the Broader Markets with the s p 500 down about 3. 6 a lot more squawk on the street for you including in this next hour Vice President mike pence will join us. Were back right after this. At t has connected us every day for over 100 years. And were here for you especially now, doing Everything Possible to keep you connected. Through the resilience of our network and people. We can keep learning, keep sharing, keep watching, and most of all, keep together. Its the job weve always done. It is the job we will always do. Good friday morning. Im sara eisen david faber and jim cramer coming to you live from three separate locations as we continue to practice social distancing stocks lower across the board. The glow of the morning was down 143. Gains for the week, though, of about 10 . The s p down 3. 4 . Breaking news on consumer sentiment. A fresh data point lets go to rick for the numbers. Rick yes these are march final. We toss the 95. 9 read mid month and replace it with a much lower number 89. 1 this should not be shocking to everybody that the equity markets have daned confidence. When was the last time we were here the last time we comped 89. 1 was 87. 2 in october of 2016. Lets go flu everythithrough evg 79. 7 on expectations that was versus 85. 3 mid month lets get to the meat of the bone this is the inflation data and this is actually pretty close and i point it out we saw the inflation in personal consumption ramp up a bit. 2. 2 on the oneyear outlook. Thats a tenth light and 2. 3 on the 5 to tenyear previous look was 2. 3. We are finally seeing some of the effects of the deadly coronavirus impacting some of the more recent data points, especially the march data point. Sara, david, back to you rick, thank you how do you read the current data we see sentiment drop. Personal income and spending pretty decent. You look at some of these company numbers. Lululemon last night theyre coming off a strong base the question is how much is that going to matter to investors considering the world has changed . The lululemon conference call, they had a lot of momentum they like many others are using this opportunity to say listen we dont know whats going to happen you know something i really do, sara, believe in that model i think theyre great. Some people are placing bets on whats going to happen on the other side whenever we get to the other side, and lulu is going to be a winner and brick and mortar is not that bad, but i see the great unraveling of retail with the exception of a couple of big boxes. Ive emphasized that i spoke to the treasury secretary about this you dont want to be slave to amazon, but i dont know this morning ill give you an example. I said oh, my socks have holes in them. Im doing the washing. I dont know what im doing. I buy gold toe socks from amazon i used to go to kohls i think weve been conditioned to say there isnt a place i want to go to so im going to amazon another very big winner. I think whats happening is the whole complexion of retail is changing radically, and i know you are very much of an athleisure person. What about nike . And there was a forward spin on it. The new ceo said we have a play book now nike has the benefit of dealing with this already in china and that play book is focus online keep the supply open and they saw 30 ecommerce growth in china and had 80 of their stores in china back online now the stores in europe and the u. S. Are closed and no question nike gets hurt if theres a global recession and pain in the developed world. But i think theyre feeling pretty good and i also think youre going to see a trend, jim, of the stronger brands. They have weathered crises before we hurt this from the ceo of cocacola. Weve been through these things before and our brand is strong and its going to get us through. I think thats where youre seeing the winners and losers right now. Pepsico upgraded look, the stock has come down a great deal that interview you got with james quincy is doing well i think the pepsico snacks is doing incredible we know they didnt do the 5 growth there is the Convenience Store level is has been weak. Theres lots of things theyre doing decent Online Business before i go to leave the athleisure, under armor, not a Strong Enough brand. Huh . I think if you were in stronger shape going in this cris crisis, nike, lululemon, you weather this better. Im eager to hear how under armor is dealing with store closures they just started expanding their business in china. They dont have the deep footprint nike has had for decades. Youre seeing a distinction here in terms of where the market is focusing on winners and losers i like this idea of the brands stay at home brands coming back procter has held up decently the last couple days down. Its led by tech and industrials. The money is going to flow back to the stay at homes franks, very good. I like i used it on my salad last night i have the same salad every night. My wife is cooking for everybody other than me in the hamptons. It goes on anything. Maybe david is even sitting in his lulu sweats. Im eating cereal for every meal we talked to the ceo of General Mills yesterday. They are getting a lot of life into that category which was left for dead ahead of this crisis as american stocks up, youre seeing soup, smuckers. Im bringing on all the ceos to hear how theyre growing double digits now how about the center aisle of the super market hormel was saying its never really been bad. They have a great dividend record the stock is terrific. I know spam, there are documented cases of the surviving thermal nuclear bombs. Thats a joke. I think hormel is another stock you want to own. You want to own it its sara, i should tell you i had my life cereal this morning, but i always have it every morning. Life . I do too. I like cereal. That hasnt changed for me. A box of dominos is better for you than life. The two of you are also at least talking a bit about something that people are starting to focus on which is one day hopefully as soon as possible this crisis will come to an end, but what are the behaviors that are going to change for the longterm weve talked, jim, of course, about how people may change their approach in terms of work and whether they will still assemble in the same with the same regularity in Office Buildings and in places like that or whether work from home will be a more consistent feature. But also you mention brick and mortar one has to believe something weve been talking about for the longest period of time as in decline is only going to accelerate with both the financial handicaps they find themselves in as a result of this crisis and the changes again in behavior that are taking place every single day. I think one of the things thats happened is you may not think you have to pay. Its always been sacrosankt. Pay your Student Loans and rent. Theres a moment when you say im not going to pay knock yourself out so i think thats what a lot of the people who are capital, not labor, have to be shaking about. The idea that suddenly people can say other than in new york city where they always did it, im staying in my apartment. Ill get you the money when i get to you i think that could be a change thats not going to be easily undone jim, quickly on the Market Action right now s p is down 3. 3 . Are you surprised that its not down worse given you just had a tremendous rally in the last few days and the nuyou weres in the u. S. And italy and spain are horrifying almost 800 deaths last night in madrid. We should be down much more. I find it almost as if our next guest is so presentation that people are using this decline. Do you know millennials are coming in, buying like mad the buy versus the sell is incredible maybe people have horse sets younger people are not going to touch that money for the next 25 years. Theyre putting it to work thats what were seeing i think thats great i wish the market were a little less erratic and i dont like the machines. The machines create they take the up side is way too exacerbated. Im trying to distinguish the downside we need it to calm down. But yeah youre right maybe today is a good sign on that front host your system working . Youre not cutting in and out . I dont know. You have to send hans vesburg from verizon over to my place. Im sure thats his first priority, sara it is all about you thats perfect hes on his way he heard you its a joke lets work in at least i fixed my shot since you gave me some grief about it. New york times columnist jim stuart, i became a disciplined investor over 40 years the virus broke me in 40 days. Jim, thats quite a statement. How many crashes have you been through and why is this one different . Well, or i guess starting with 1987 which i panicked after that, and i sold everything. Jim cramer will remember that. I do. I sat on the sidelines and it shot up. I realized what a stupid mistake it was whoa, and so said i would never do that again. I went through the tech bubble where i had the opposite problem. I didnt fail, but i didnt do anything else. I just sat there while my portfolio went down. I came with a strategy i talked about it in the past. I put it in. It was tough, but i did it in the financial crisis it worked beautifully. We had a tenyear record bull market eventually everything i paugt bought turned out to be profitable so im ready for the next crisis it hit and, you know, was i ready no and i was thinking about it. I thought look, im going to write about this and be honest its so easy to have a rational plan when nothing in the world the world is turned up side down. When it does, i mean, jim, i mean, you all lived through this to actually act on a rational plan in times like that is so hard but you did that piece. It went out the window. That piece was so good. Karen cramer texted me this morning, an old friend of yours and said jim stewart is doing it right. Saying take the emotion out. Think longer term. Were not so young anymore, but youre still thinking longer term which i think is great. I know you said at one point i looked at the prices dont look at the prices if youre thinking about buying a company like pepsico, you dont need to look at the prices every minute i thought the column was fabulous, and everybody has to read that column you lay it out youre one of the few people who ever admits you might have made a mistake. We have people coming on air, theyve never made a mistake, yet, they still have time to come on air. I cant imagine a worse way to go through Something Like this obviously we all have bigger things on your minds than just our finances, but i think you can be compact and concerned and reaching out you can try to help people its not inconsistent with trying to make some smart decisions about how you handle your personal finances but i cant think of a worst way to spend this period than glued to my portfolio thinking what torture that would be. And one of the reasons i was so shocked when i did look, by the way, was the International Part of it. Most of the headlines are u. S. Markets does this or that, but the International Markets have been so much worse i was stunned when i saw the declines you know, james, i should have mentioned this immediately. Benjamins friend who is 40 in madrid, my daughter is in madrid now. How is he doing . Madrid is now the epicenter, worst city on earth, and i know that when lisa saw that, she said oh, my, this is 40 years old. In a coma. As he come out is he okay well, the good news as i mentioned at the very end of the story is he came out of the coma this past weekend after being in there for weeks. I mean, i hes a healthy, talented hes a professional violinist. This brought him down so fast. He got the virus he was diagnosed and the next thing i know i hear hes in the hospital and hes in a coma. Oh, my god, its over. That sounds dire but they hooked him up to all these machines, and he hung in there, and he did come out the doctors are saying its going to be weeks and weeks and weeks before hes back to normal, but they are optimistic. Thats really great news that is the first great news ive heard so close to death, near death experience we have to stop thinking its just this 78yearold person in milan. Even if it is, the numbers are lower, who wants to roll that dice and say am i the one who is going to be vulnerable . Thats whats scary. They say the symptoms are mild and symptoms are mild. But you dont know if you get it if theyre going to be mild. That is scary. Yeah. It is and we wish him well. Its hard for us to talk about this there is such emotion. Were talking about the human toll and this terrible tragedy happening and at the same time were trying to make sense of the markets and the economy. And trying to help investors do the rational thing, jim. Its a tricky balance to strike, and it sounds like for you its been difficult as well to try to figure out sort of how to do that and to hear big names i mean, lee cooperman, onrogers. All saying this is a great buying opportunity i mean, how do you make sense of that given the reality that were living in . Well, look, whats so different about this crisis from the other ones is none of those were being driven by a life and death phenomenon rattling the globe. Its adding a huge new global dimension. What are we supposed to do just ignore the economic and business consequences and the consequences of your personal finances i dont think we can do that i mean, thats what i had to force myself to do the temptation is to go into a cave and close the door and try not to think about anything, but i dont think denial is an sketiske strategy theres nothing inconsistent with trying to be rational and smart about your own personal finances and caring about this horrible virus and the impact its having on people both near and far, close to us, and who knows how many more people will get it i think its a service and you have to cover this and one of the things i sometimes think about on the occasions when i step in or something, i mean, youre providing some liquidity for somebody for whatever reason somebody has decided to sell they want to sell. They feel they have to sell, and they need buyers, too. So this is helping you keep with financial decline slowing even if its just a small part. James, back when we started smart money, remember, we were always talking big Growth Stocks is that philosophy try to pick up something that could be the next 30 years or are you going with staples im just buying index funds because you always had such a beat on them on what was going to be the next big growth thing you know, i havent really drilled down on some of the but one of the things that i was trying to do was you know, in times like this i like to be a little contrarian, and id be interested, for example, in looking at some of the transports here. I think they got really battered id be interested in looking at some of the banks. I mean, look at the dividend yield on the bank, and i know they had a big rally up today. Theyre getting hit today. I mean, some of it, if youre especially if you need some income or something, if you look at the yield on some of the solid stocks that you know are going to be there at the end of this, theyre incredible totally agree the drug stock yields you are so good, jim thank you jim stewart, thank you. Thank you, i wish i could see you in person. We appreciate the time. Great thank you. Bye. Soon. We hope to see you soon. Jim stewart of the new york times. As we await the Vice President coming to you in moments, we wanted to highlight something you said about who is betting on a rebound or stocks . You said millennials did you see the article showing 2800 executives and directors have been in this market buying stocks third highest level on both an individual and dollar basis since 19 88. Im wondering how you read that . Is it prescient . At first i thought they were painting the tape with that. But you take the buy with Charlie Scharf he made a buy. I think he was down 0. 78 after he bought it people saying he did it as a statement. No it was just a huge buy, and why not wait if its so dire there, why not wait longer . I thought some of the buybacks with the exception of the oils because thats a commodity, but a lot of the buybacks seemed to be you know what i finally got my chance here, and i love with jim said if you can trust the yield, now, maybe you dont trust Charlie Scharfs 7 yield. I want to believe. I didnt say i believe, because its a bank, and the banks act badly, but Charlie Scharf, a smart guy, ran visa. Now running wells fargo. Buys a huge amount of stock. 7 yield. I dont know to me theres something there. Theres something there. I think thats kind of interesting. We talked about the banks but also the earning power a component of the bill that allows them to treat deteriorating credit in a different way, at least in terms of acknowledging it, some are concerned about that as well thats another benefit to the bangs that was buried this that bill an 08 era rule theyre suspending for some period of time but i dont know about the earnings power of the banks. Thats what i wonder about its unclear. If were no. I mean, i have a prime bank of america when you see all of the different ways to not have to pay bank of america back, any bank back, then you start thinking wow, wait a second. Theon performers are going to spike. I was talking about that you have to believe the tangible book value is no longer as serious, and you have to also expect that the that this is one of my big fears, that the property they lend against, maybe we have declining asset. Maybe its 1929, 31, where what you borrow for goes down in value. We wouldnt want to say that that was a replay of 2007, 2009. I do respect the giant buyback right david, i wanted to ask you about the fun flow data. Record amount of money inflows into cash. 234. 6 billion. Obviously not a surprise, but what was interesting was the bond data. 109 billion. For the first time in nine weeks people took money out of government bonds and obviously there were some concerns around liquidity and pricing and i was curious about what youre hearing about the dynamic. Whats happening in the bond market where the bubble might be bursting just the fact that it hasnt been such a safe place over the last week and a half. It hasnt now, i would draw a distinction between treasuries and short term bond funds that are investing and trying to get yield and investing the Mortgage Backed securities. We saw a lack of liquidity and serious dislocations that impacted the overall Net Asset Value of the funds in a way i think that holders would not have expected. Because you suddenly saw what you thought was your safe short term bond down 7 . Not to mention municipals which were also whacked due to liquidity. Thats a bit that was scary, i think for some who said lets just get out, because these things dont seem to be what we thought they were. Its different than just a treasurybacked bond fund thats going to return to virtually nothing at this point but would seem to be safe. What do you theres liquidity issues. Sara, again coming back to whats happening the moiillennials are saying ths is my chance people have a longterm view maybe the millennials are as stupid as a bag of hammers, but when i see the inflows there which are hey i think isnt thats whats supposed to happen you have a once in a lifetime thing . Nobody talks about this. Let me pause at this what happens if we find an antiviral that gets people out of the hospital . Do you imagine where this market is with this liquidity is anyone even thinking anymor theres something going on and any drug company that actually may have an antiviral holy cow, you have the short squeeze of a lifetime. The moils will have gotten in. Theyre going to look back and be rich for the rest of their lives if we get an acute therapy. Dont laugh, david i agree im not laughing. There are Clinical Trials many Clinical Trials. Remember, you had to stay inside for polio, and then one day you went outside because they cured polio now, i know this is harder and its i know that ventilators and its not just a regular cold but ihave just been marveling that people think that our Drug Companies dont have good scientists and that everybody who was smart went into social media for a generation they have smart people and youre betting against science if youre getting longterm short here you are. Youre betting against science sucker bet you have ever measles . No. I had the vaccine. I was one of the early persons you went into your class. You were in second grade or first grade. Everybody had it you got measles. One guy had measles, you all had measles. People dont even know what measles is anymore people died from it. Jim, your point on the antivirals is a good one and perhaps one we should be more focussed on. I think the vaccine as far away as it may be, but the antivirals and efforts by regeneron and gilead and others who are working to mitigate the effects of the virus is key, and the sooner the better, its something to keep a close eye on definitely, and its my hope. Not to mention the immunity test that jim, i know jimand i have been watching or the amazon idea. If they can get cut down the false positives. There are people doing things. Its not just static were not just a bunch of pitiful helpless giants. Well, meantime the u. S. Navy is sending a medical ship to the port of los angeles. That is good news in an effort to revive pressure here on hospitals and try to alleviate some of their concerns jane wells is at the port with more jane reporter hi, sara. Yeah this is an exclusive first shot that were getting here of the u. S. Navy hospital ship mercy. It should be in the port in about an hour. The mercy is here at the request of Governor Newsom to help relieve the strain on hospital beds which is starting to get pretty bad as more people are testing positive for covid19. The ship has 1,000 beds which will be used for noncovid19 patients regional hospitals will begin moving patients to the ship to free up space. The l. A. County department of help says there are 23,000 hospital beds in this county over 10 Million People heres the number. There are only 2200 icu beds and of those 2 200, only 10 , 220 icu beds are currently free. Over 1200 people in the county have tested positive heres a disturbing number yesterday the head of the county Health Department said if people do not stay away from each other and continue to shelter in place, in a few weeks we could have a million cases here which could mean there could be a need for 2 00,000 hospital beds were going into our second week of the stay at home order in california the port, by the way, still fully functional all 27 terminals are working nobody here as reported sick theyre working at about 80 of normal but again, this hospital ship with 1,000 beds will be for noncovid19 patients that will be brought here and the navy wants it and the port police want people to understand you cannot come to this ship if you are sick you have to go to the hospital first. Guys jane wells, thank you very much for that update speaking of the federal government, lets get to our special guest, mike pence. Sara, thank you a very good morning to you, mr. Vice president , and thank you very much for joining us. Im sorry im not there in person, but were following social distancing rules. Thank you i want to kick off mr. Vice president , with the call that the president had last night with president xi of china it seems from the president s tweets that it was positive and constructive, perhaps more so than people may have expected. And i wondered whether its possible that the tariffs on china could be lifted temporarily while all countries are working together to fight the virus and fight its economic effects. Well, as the president said publicly, he had a lengthy and positive call with president xi last night, and as was the focus about this time yesterday with g20 leaders, President Trump is completely focussed on confronting the coronavirus here in the United States but we are working with china. Were learning the lessons i know they spoke at great length about chinas experience with the coronavirus, and were applying those lessons here. Were listening to our top scientists and were analyzing the data, and we are now about almost to the end of our 15 days to slow the spread, and these measures in addition to the strong measures that governors have been taking with our full support in places Like Washington state, california, and of course new york and now adding louisiana and michigan and elsewhere, were going to continue to lean into this were going to continue to identify supplies around the country and around the world, and i know the president had a productive discussion with president xi as he said with 19 other World Leaders yesterday. As you said, mr. Vice president , nearing the end of that initial 15 days and the president said recently hed like to see the economy opened up again if possible by easter right how likely is that and what conditions need to be met for it to happen . Well, the president expressed really an aspirational goal that as we continue to follow the data, as we continue to call on every american regardless of whether theyre in an area where theres a significant outbreak of coronavirus, to put into practice the 15 days to slow the spread and were incredibly inspired by the way the American People and businesses have been stepping forward to put these mitigation practices, social distancing into effect we think the more we do that, the more we can hasten the day that the president said he would love to see it around easter, but whenever that day is that we can responsibly begin to open up portions of the country, but let me be very clear theres going to be areas of the country where we need to continue to lean into mitigation efforts and notably it would be the Greater New York city area including new jersey were tracking new orleans and detroit. Of course seattle and california but there are areas of the country as dr. Deborah birx said yesterday at our press briefing where theres very little outbreak of coronavirus and as the president cold governors in a letter yesterday, were going to be examining that data on a county by county basis, and in the days ahead, were going to be giving guidance specifically to different regions of the country about how we might be able to open the country as soon as we responsibly can and get people back to work. Mr. Vice president , how closely is the white house watching the stock market, and you were on a call with some high profile investors what were some some of the best suggestions we had a good call with leaders in the financial industry, but weve also convened at the white house at the president s direction, leaders in health insurance, in nursing homes, manufacturers, educators. You know, this is a president who leads by asking questions. From early in the outbreak of the coronavirus, hes been pulling together not just the best minds on our team and not just a full partnership with governors who are leading the frts in their states, but weve been drawing on what people are hearing and what their best counsel is, and while the stock market has ebbed and flowed, President Trump and our Economic Team believe all the fundamentals continue to be strong and as we deal with the coronavirus, that this economy will come roaring back once we see our nation through this challenging time here in new york the numbers are clearly worrying the government here describing it as americans epicenter hes taken decisive lockdown measures to slow the spread for new yorkers. But people are still traveling in and out of the state and indeed, all across the country why no nationwide lockdown well, youre absolutely right. And Governor Cuomo and the president and i speak to him frequently he was right the epicenter of the coronavirus virus in the United States today is not just new york state but the Greater New York city area more than half the cases in the country today have come out of that region. Its the reason why were building field hospitals its the reason why the u. S. Navy ship comfort will be headed out tomorrow to the new york area we have a fema team on the ground with hhs assisting in the response and well continue to flow resources last night cdc posted guidance while we were telling people that residents who may have left the new york area to go to other parts of the country that we want them to monitor their health, monitor their temperature, and selfquarantine for two weeks, last nights cdc published guidance for critical infrastructure, truckers and others that are moving in and out of the new york area about how to do so in a way that will protect their health and prevent the spread we really do believe that the best broadbased guidance today is the 15 days to slow the spread this is what every american can do and tens of millions of americans are doing with social distancing working from home where you can. Avoiding unnecessary travel and the like, but supporting governors like the governor of new york, the governor of washington state, the california, new jersey and elsewhere and the strong measures theyre taking will continue to be the approach. The president when he stood up fema in the lead and declared a national emergency, he made it clear. We recognize that in a Health Crisis, and this is something i learned when i was governor of indiana. In a Health Crisis its your local Health Officials and Health Care Workers on the front lines executing the response its statemanaged and federally supported. And we hope before the end of Business Today the house of representatives will vote to pass the care act and speed vital resources to families direct payments to families, payroll support for Small Businesses, significant Lending Facility to be made available to our Critical Industries and really make it possible for the American People to be confident that this too shall pass we will use the full power of the American Economy, the full weight of our government at every level and well see america through the coronavirus. Mr. Vice president , last night dr. Scott gottlieb, your former fda commissioner said im worried about emerging situations in new orleans, dallas, detroit, chicago, among others in china no province outside hubei ever had more than 1500 cases. In United States 11 states already have that total. Epidemic is likely to be national in scope, end quote is dr. Gottlieb wrong . Well, Great Respect for dr. Scott gottlieb hes been advising the White House Coronavirus task force but to his point, were tracking those same numbers and were able to do so because now more than a month ago the president brought together the top commercial labs in america quest, lab core and others working with Companies Like roche and others and as of yesterday, we had actually done more than a half a million tests around the country. Were working right now on a point of care test that can be administered even at your Doctors Office and by rapidly expanding testing happening all over the country today, and getting that data back as we are on an increasing basis from hospitals and labs around the country, we have much greater visibility on where the hot spots are. And our team whether it be dr. Anthony fauci or dr. Birx, theyre going to bring the president recommendations about where we need to focus our mitigation efforts and be supporting efforts at containing the spread of the virus. But the encouraging news that we see is that because so many people across this country have embraced the president s 15 days to slow the spread, because so many have heeded the guidance of state and local authorities, we do believe that in the days ahead, we will see that we did significantly imfact spread of the coronavirus and ultimately save lives and its important always to say that were tracking the numbers in terms of consequences, you know, that most americans that contract the coronavirus will have very mild symptoms or flulike symptoms, and while we grieve the loss of every american who has succumbed to the coronavirus, our hearts go out to their families. The mortality rate still is running somewhere around 1 in the country. Its to say most people that contract this disease will recover, and so were going to lean into this effort. Were going to focus on those most vulnerable. Were going to focus on the areas most at the point in the need were going to surge testing and supplies and resources and mitigation mr. Vice president , one more very quick one on this topic from me and then jim cramer has a question for you you mentioned the governors taking Decisive Action and that you were a governor yourself if we do see a big spike in cases like in new york state in another state in the weeks ahead, whose responsibility will that be . The governor of that state or the federal government well, i think its a responsibility of all of us at every level to bring our very best science, our very best recommendations and counsel to the American People, and to american businesses. And you know, its been a little more than a month since i was tapped to lead the Coronavirus Task force if every american could see what ive seen in terms of the selfless dedication of our Health Care Workers and communities that have been deeply impacted by the coronavirus, if they could see the incredible partnership that President Trump has forged with governors in every state and territory in this country, if they could see the dedication of all the incredible professionals working in every federal agency from fda to hhs to cdc and of course the 20,000 strong people at fema, theyd be as inspired and as grateful as ive been, and they could be confident that were going to continue as President Trump often says to do whatever it takes. Congress will act today on the third different piece of legislation the president has called for, building on the progress weve made before we want American Families to know were going to see you through this crisis. Were going to see our businesses large and small through the coronavirus, and i truly believe that the more the American People act on the guidance of their state and local authorities, take it seriously, and the more that every american acts on 15 days to slow the spread, well do just that. Well significantly reduce the impact of the coronavirus in our country. Well protect our most vulnerable and well heal our land mr. Vice president , jim cramer thank you for coming on cnbc hi, jim i am as someone who is trying to practice all the things were doing and i love slow the spread and believe in everything youre doing, i get confused. I listen to dr. Fauci. Sometimes he makes me feel a little nervous hes such a hero i listen to the president. I so much want to get back to work people want to get back to work. This weekend im in the new jersey area and reading the new Jersey Health commissioner goes im definitely going to get it we all are mr. Vice president , i dont want to get it. Are we all going to get it its one of the things were tracking dr. Birx last night at the briefing spoke to just this. Theres been a lot of what they call modelling in the science of Infectious Diseases thats been done that is now being understood to have been really wrong. And what im pleased about is whether its dr. Fauci or dr. Birx who is probably one of the leading experts in Infectious Disease in the world were really following the data here in terms of the infection rate that weve seen, what we know of china, the data from south korea, from italy, from other places around the world, i would just i would just commend your viewers to take a look at whats being published and being written in recent days about that its been a lot of people that have been restating it our team from the very beginning has been questioning the modelling, saying were going to follow the data. The truth of the matter is it does appear to be significantly lower than a lot of the earlier projections, but that being said, every american should do exactly what youre doing and that is put into practice the social distancing. Use a drive through at your local restaurant for the time being instead of going in. Avoid nonessential travel. All the kinds of things that in personal hygiene that are keeping us safe, because as i said a moment ago, the risk of serious illness to the average american even if you get it is very low but the risk of seniors with serious Underlying Health conditions or everyone be immunity issues, is sufficient thats why every one of us needs to do our part to protect our most vulnerable and slow the spread its david faber. Youve noted that fey it wiatale roughly 1 . Its scary but not as scary as some might have thought. That depends on getting supplies to our hospitals in need, what they need. I think the hospitalization rate in the new york area is something about 15 . Other areas as well. If they dont have the ventilators and the equipment they need, that fatality rate could rise are you confident at this point in the crisis that well be able to provide the ventilators and other equipment to our people on the front lines so they can keep the people who go to the hospital alive david, i want all of your viewers, particularly those amazing Health Care Workers in places like seattle, the Greater New York city area, california, and other metropolitan areas being impacted to know that we are leaning in to the effort of personal protective equipment. The president recounted the millions of m95 masks and supplies weve already shipped out. We are in the process. We just distributed to new york some 4,000 ventilators but one of the exciting things is and this is where i want to thank American Society of anesthesiologists. In one of the meetings i was talking about the different groups the president has convened, we learned from anesthesiologists the device they use in Outpatient Care for doing their work can easily be converted to a ventilator for someone struggling with a respiratory illness. The fda rapidly issued guidance for that last weekend. The American Society of dr. American peterson and others are hosting a webinar today to explain to Health Care Workers how they can change one vent and it literally will increase the supply of ventilators by tens of thousands across the country that and the manufacturers that were working with today to add supply, we we are absolutely determined to use the full weight, Contracting Authority of the government, full support of all of our states to make sure our Health Care Workers have the protective equipment to be safe. Were requiring it every day and also the ventilators to take care of patients that are truly struggling i want to say one other thing about masks. You know, it was the president s insistence on extending Liability Protection to industrial masks that are made by Companies Like 3m and honey well in the last bill that passed that vastly increased the availability of masks that will protect our Health Care Workers from respiratory illness. Let me recall every business in america. Go back to your warehouse. If you have masks you can spare, load them in a truck, call your Health Officials or fema, or even drive them to your local hospital youll do a Great Service to america. Mr. Vice president , i know were out of time, but one final question from me if i may. Im sure you saw the news Prime Minister johnson in the uk has contracted the virus i wondered if there was a plan in place if the president contracted the virus what would happen . Well, i would refer you to the white house physician that i know is always very attentive to the health of the president and the first family but obviously we send our very best wishes to Prime Minister boris johnson. He is a great johnson he is a great leader, the president admires him, we consider him a friend, whether its the uk or the other countries in the world, the president spoke on the g20 call yesterday, were going to continue to focus on the health of America First as america always does, were going to continue, continue to provide support and guidance to nations around the world im absolutely confident that the day will come that we will put this behind us we have therapeutics being developed through pharmaceutical companies, the president organized more than a month ago. Those therapeutic medications may be available quite soon. You see the way the president made available medications like chloroquine that its a malaria drug, but fda permitted off label use. Were distributing that. Were doing a clinical test in new york, but its available for any american whose doctor prescribes it. Of course in record time, we initiated initial trials on a vaccine which could be ready in as early as a year and a half or slightly less. Were going to continue to lean into this effort were going to bring american creativity i just know with the cooperation of the American People, as we put the president s 15 days to slow the spread into practice, with listening to your state and local authorities, taking to heart the guidance theyre giving to you and your family, with the incredible cooperation of american businesses, ingenuity and the prayers of millions, well get through this well we will respond to the coronavirus the way the American People always do with courage and generosity and well heal our land mr. Vice president , thank you, as ever, for your time. We appreciate it stay healthy thank you all thank you, wilf, thank you, mr. Vice president lot of great stuff there to devour we want to bring in the bank of american chairman and Ceo Brian Moynihan its always great to see you and to hear i know you are a calm voice in the storm because you weathered the turmoil of 2007 and 2009, whats the difference between this time and that time for you, for bank of america, for the country . Well, sure, thanks, jim, for having me on and before we get into the facts about the company or markets or whats going on, we have to step back and realize this is a humanitarian crisis and you heard the Vice President talk about that. Theres real people, real families and we have to help them and make sure we get them the best treatment in our company with our teammates and their families and all your companies. Thats the number one thing. Dont ever forget that as we get in numbers and facts and figures. The second thing is, this is a war and the nice thing, compared to all the other wars anybody has been in around the world, were all on the same side to defeat the virus were seeing that. As we think about how to go to war as a company, whats different this time is clearly our capital liquidity, the work that was done in our company and industry across the last decade plus with the regulators, the laws, the rules and regulations and everything that changed has led the Bank Industry to be in a Great Condition to serve its clients continuously through the last few weeks as this thing has hit and hit the economy and youve seen loan draws and things like that running the company now, its been more about operational matters versus risk matters, which is how do we get the people deployed, 150,000 teammates working from home and things like that much different than walking down sixth avenue in 2007 and 2008 and being worried about risk. Thats a great point because i also remember 2007 and 2009 layoffs. I think you are taking the pledge not to lay off, which is a rather remarkable pledge you have a lot of people on your team we have 208,000 talented teammates and we hired more than 2,000 people in the month of march alone to continue to do what we need to do for clients and customers. If you think about that, of course we dont want our tooemtz to worry about their jobs during a time like this. We told them theres no issue, youre going to be working now through year end no layoffs, nothing. Well continue to pay everybody. Even those who cant work from home because they just dont have the type of work they do isnt doable from home we are continuing to pay those people and well continue to work with them ultimately to get them back helping us work on matters. Our teammates should be rest assured and were doing even more, raised the wages and our branch teammates dealing with clients everyday, increased the overtime in centralized processing groups and weve continued to take good care of our teammates in tells of social distancing and the types of things you heard the Vice President talk about and changed our Health Care Benefits to allow free testing and unlimited teledoc and doing everything we can to make sure our teammates and the 600,000 family members behind them feel good. I dont want to conflate human life with money, but were on cnbc and i have to wonder, does book value take a hit do nonperformers spike . You have many things that youve done in the last 40 hours that weve always wanted our bank to look out for us, you are doing that at the same time, if im an investor in bank of america should i worry about capital and a spike in loans that arent being paid back . Well, lets talk about on a client side if you think about two broad groups of clients that obviously will have impact, one is more ahead of us and one current. On the commercial side, just the month to date and the month in march weve probably extended almost more than 50 billion of loans, outstanding loans, during the month to help those clients build the cash they need to survive so they can keep their teammates employed we basically put our capital work to increase the new lines of credit that draws on the lines of credit, Investment Grade clients getting to market, so were helping to build the cash base for those clients to weather the storm here on the consumer side, what weve told people is well defer payments if you had a cash flow interruption because of your employment and need to defer your payments for 30, 60, 90 days, call us up, 150,000 requests so far, implementing daniel capabilities people can do it with two clicks. On the digital about 25,000 and over the weekend well implement even more. The idea is you call in. This will be for the mortgage side we have to wait for some regulations to come from the federal government, defer the payment so they can help through the cash flow issues that might incur, the employment or wages are interrupted and let them get back on track on the other side of this. You had to suspend your buyback, all the big banks did warren buffet is a big fan of buybacks whats he been saying to you about the idea that the banks cheapened, its an interesting time to buy and wishes you could do it. As the large banks, we all suspended our buybacks on basically when the Federal Reserve came up with all the support that they came in with to help provide and theyve done a tremendous job of the pace and the amount to stabilize some of the markets. Obviously for banks, it was time to make sure you had the capital. We all suspended our buybacks individually made the decision on the theory that even though we would buyback 6 billion in the first quarter, the idea is that we had already decided to stop, frankly, before the announcement went on the theory we need to stop to make sure we had the capital to help our customers and clients. As we look forward, were going to make sure we maintain Strong Capital ratios and liquidity right through this crisis. I need to know about this 150,000 people at home because thats a paradigm shift. I know that you were the most digitalized groups and just millennials, your client based regarded one of the great sites i used, whats changed you probably had to put equipment in everybodys house do you see this as being the new way that a lot of people, youre an environmentalist, a caring person, many different ways, a lot of good things that come from working at home both for community and also for the environment. Could this be the new bank of america . Well, i think the you wouldnt want to do it this way at this pace to give you a sense weve gone from 10,000 people having a monitors at home to 50,000 people in five weeks, so the pace that the team has deployed, this technology, the capacity of the networks that we built up in advance of this have all performed very well, but its not something you want to do frankly, from a standpoint of culture and how you want to work with people, you want people to come in the community of working together, think of a trading floor, we put traders in other locations, and we have traders trading from home, thats not the right way to work. Theres other jobs where people on the road, commercial relationship managers, always on the road even if they have an office, it will have an impact but i dont think it will have quite the impact people are thinking right now. About the money to your customers, secretary mnuchin, its a monumental to get that much money in peoples pockets in three weeks are you confident that money can get there . Just the actual physical nature. I think every day as you say, wartime footing, every day matters, how are you feeling about this i think if you think about the programs in the new bill which hasnt become law, hopefully today that is taken care of, if that becomes law, you know, we are waiting like every other bank i was on with a group of the top 40 banks in the country this morning all awaiting the regulations and implementation of the Small BusinessLending Program ultimately the main street facility powell talked about the other day and the other facilities, were all waiting because we need the implementation to come from them and well do everything we can to get that money through the system i think people you have to be patient to make sure that we do it the right way, meaning they come out with the regulations because its their money, the taxpayers money and we have to make sure its applied the right way and done right by us we have to wait until they give us regulations do you get a run every day about how many people came down th