Joining us here. There are reports that alphabet and other Tech Companies drafting a letter opposing the administrations temporary immigration ban, according to recode. An early draft we are a nation made stronger by immigrants. As entrepreneurs and business leaders, our ability to grow our companies and create jobs depends on the contributions of immigrants from all backgrounds. While security and vetting procedures can and should always be subject to continuous evaluation and improvement, a blanket suspension is not the right approach. As the president prepares to welcome key members of his strategic and policy forum to the white house tomorrow, henry, how important is it that these companies are getting together to write a letter, some argue, as strongly worded as this . I think together they do have a lot of weight. If it were just one, it would be much less so, but these are incredibly Important Companies to the economy. Theyre right in saying immigration has really strengthened the technology industry, which is one of our best industries. So i think together theyll be listened to. Is there a sense that if youre canada or mexico, youre putting in a call to the ceos of these companies to say build an Engineering Office here, bring your people here instead, make it the Americas Office and not necessarily just Silicon Valley . I dont know that you get that call immediately, but these are global companies. They can put people anywhere. If great engineers are in india, they will build out that facility if theyre not allowed to bring people into the united states. So if the Trump Administration wanted to try to prevent that, he would have to do a lot more than just say this particular country is off limits. Thus far, the response seems to have evolved from, well, lets just see, to people in these companies, including twitter lately making individual donations to organizations like the aclu, to now these kind of united front responses. Where do you think it goes from here if tech and big business in general dont feel like their feelings are being reflected in the Trump Administrations policy . Well, were going to have the big meeting today or tomorrow with a lot of ceos with President Trump. He does listen in those, clearly. At least thats the story that everybody tells after the meeting. So maybe there will be some influence there. But one of the interesting things about the immigration ban is nationally theres actually a lot of support for it. So this is a national conversation, and theyre very clear on their view. A lot of support for restrictions on guns and automatic weapons as well, but that doesnt happen. So i dont know this is true. This is true. You said that candidate trump was smart. President trump is pushing antiamerican policies, but hes all about America First. Why is he well, hes saying that, but on the other hand, if you want to crusade against the media and say its biased, the only truth is the white house, im sorry, thats just an antiamerican attitude, antiamerican to bash the media all the time. Sure, one organization, one story, maybe you say a particular outlet is biased, but to trash the free media . Come on, thats antiamerican. Weve had that from the getgo. Youre not going get a lot of arguments at this table. Thats a discussion for another time, perhaps. We do want to hit on facebook today, topping estimates, of course, and that mobile ad revenue strength continues to astound a lot of investors, but not to the degree it did last night. Julia boorstin has more on that this morning. Hey, julia. Reporter hey, carl. Facebook Beat Estimates on every single metric revenue, earnings and user growth. I speak with coo Sheryl Sandberg yesterday who said the outperformance was thanks to three factors one, growth in the community on facebook and instagram, businesses making the move to mobile on facebook and instagram, and ad dollars following, and a strong year for product announcements, including the big success of Instagram Stories and growth in video. Sandberg along with Ceo Mark Zuckerberg on the Earnings Call last night stressed the massive opportunity in video, saying they want facebook to be a destination for video content from both friends and professionals, which is why theyre investing in content and sharing ad revenue with creators, saying theyre committed to a great video experience across platforms. The stock is trading near a alltime highs. They did give up gains after last night, david a winner reiterated that Revenue Growth will decline meaningfully in 2018 while they ramp up expenses. Analyst reactions are largely positive. Goldman points to facebooks ability to effectively target ads as a growth driver, and Morgan Stanley says that facebooks video focus could lead to higher monetization. One downgrade from Pivotal Research cited guidance on Expense Growth and expenditures higher than forecast. Investors are looking forward to snap inc. s public filing expected in the next couple days. Well have to see if facebooks success with features similar to snap chats, such as instagrams stories, are impacting snaps growth. Back to you. Thats a lot. Julia, thank you. One of my favorite metrics, henry, four years ago, percentage of revenue on mobile, 23 , now 84 . Its staggering. Remember after the ipo when the stock was in the teens. Mark zuckerberg came out and said you know, we think mobile will one day be bigger than desk top. A lot of people laughed, and here we are. Its just extraordinary. We see this every quarter, but this company is executing so spectacularly across a whole number of fronts. And one of the things that came out on the call was this emphasis on video. And i can say, from being a facebook partner, they are very serious about that and they are very serious about working with video producers to create a great experience. Its not television. Its native facebook and its social, but its Getting Better all the time. And their context is growing pretty decently, too, though. How much of that do you think is just smart earnings management . Because they often say, hey, were going to spend a lot of money this year, so hold your horses, and then they dont spend as much as they said. And how much of this really is pursuing some of these video initiatives that they say are important to their Revenue Growth . Theyre doing an excellent job managing expectations. They have for many quarters, so thats good. On the other hand, they should be doing what theyre doing in terms of spending very aggressively. They get a 50 profit margin. That is exceptional. We could take it down to 25 and it would still be spectacularly profitable. So if they see a huge opportunity going forward, it would be a big mistake for them to say, no, were going to maximize profits in this quarter. So, i am as a longterm facebook fan totally behind them spending a lot, if they see the opportunity going forward. You think back to the ipo and so many skeptics looked at the headline and said facebook wants to be a blue chip, and they laughed and said social media is a fad, its a flash in the pan. But the success theyve had and the fact that their stock price has nearly quadrupled, do they set an impossible bar for snap . Theyve set it tough for snap, yes, in particular with facebook. They are doing all the right things for longterm growth. The stock still trades at 60 times earnings. Eventually its going to trade at 25 times earnings. Thats just what happens. So hopefully it happens slowly, multiples compress over time and you still get some appreciation. But as growth slows, thats going to happen. Snapchat, look, snapchat is also an incredibly powerful force, great company. Well finally get to see the financials, which will be very interesting, but its not necessarily either or here. They both can succeed. Although people are going to ask, right, when they come public, is it facebook or twitter or something else. As they should. And facebooks actually been directly attacking snapchat for years since they reportedly tried to make an offer to buy them and rebuff. And based on some recent statistics, they are making some headway. But i can tell you in our household, snapchat is still very popular with other than me. My son figured out how to use it, really. Although it is an issue. The companys trying to say most of our growth has come from users over 25. Were not just a millennial tool. But what do you think is the most important metric for them to put up in the echelon . User growth is very important. Youll remember with twitter, user growth started to slow and some of the bulls said, but look at that Revenue Growth, 100 year over year. Eventually, the Revenue Growths going to be capped by the user growth. So user growth is strong, and theyre early in the monetization curve. That bodes very well for the next few years. If facebook continues to nibble away and you see usage start to drop, thats a huge warning sign. Henry, a lot of ground covered. Thank you. Good to be here. Henry blodget at business insider. The president sits down with executives from harleydavidson today and other top union leaders. The head of the united steelworkers joins us to discuss that. A volatile few days of trading since the president s executive orders. The chief strategist at Td Ameritrade will join us. And later, paul ryan speaks about a busy week in washington. His comments live in a few moments. Announcer post 9 is sponsored by fidelity investments. Innovative ideas for serious investors. Nt 7. Eof epyoad see ihe ty smrinlls epyoad toetut onle s weasyoe find see ihe smr oirinlls epyoad were opening more Xfinity Stores closer to you. Visit us today and learn how to get the most out of all your services, like xfinity x1. Well put the power in your hands, so you can see how x1 is changing the way you experience tv with features like voice remote, making it easier and more fun than ever. Theres more in store than you imagine. Visit an xfinity store today and see for yourself. Xfinity, the future of awesome. President trump meeting with Key Executives from harleydavidson and manufacturing unions today as part of his manufacturing jobs initiative, part of that America First policy. Joining us this morning, leo gerards International President of the united steelworkers. Leo, good to have you back. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning to you. Harleys an interesting case because such an iconic american brand headquartered in such an important state politically. What is on the agenda, first of all, do you think . Look, im not sure whats on the agenda, but we werent contacted by the white house. In fact, theyve invited the president from our plant in milwaukee, and i think the president from the plant in york, pennsylvania. Harley is an iconic brand in america, but one of our concerns right now with harley is in recent years theyve been starting to import parts from china, and weve been trying to stress to them that in the long run this will damage the brand, that the reality is that weve said for a long time that harley was, as you said, the iconic American Manufacturing success. When harley was in bankruptcy, god, i lose track, almost 25 years ago, the Labor Movement help helped, and a trade case against the japanese helped to pull harley out of bankruptcy. And part of the way we did that was to talk about how this was a madeinamerican, firstclass motorcycle, and the brand came back roaring. So now were a little concerned, and hopefully, the president will talk to them about that and theyll talk to the president about that. Leo, during the campaign, in the waning days there was a bit of a dustup between the steelworkers and President Trump. Of course, we remember chuck jones of local 1999 talking about the issues at carrier. You brought up the fact that trump himself has used imported chinese steel in some of his products. And i believe you were quoted as saying that trump is nothing more than a hypocrite and someone who we should not trust whatsoever. Now, though, hes talking about making Keystone Pipeline pipe in the u. S. That could benefit the union. Is it possible to mend fences here . Well, look it, right after let me back it up a bit. We certainly werent as nasty to the president as some of the republican candidates were. But right after the election, we sent him a letter, because we said, if youre serious about repealing nafta, were with you. If youre serious about taking on china, were with you. If youre serious about rebuilding americas infrastructure, were with you. And to the tune of the things that he wants to do to rebuild manufacturing, i think that thats incumbent on him living up to that promise and put people back to work. Thats why he won the election. If you go through the industrial heartland, what youll see is that people who have been worried about their job they go to work on monday, wondering if theyll have a job on friday because of rotten trade deals with mexico, with permanent trade relations with china, in the wto, with south korea. All of those bad trade deals have lost millions and millions of jobs. Just this week, the Economic Policy institute put out a report that said we lost 3. 5 million jobs to china in the last ten years. So if the president s prepared to take that on, he can consider us an ally on that and well consider him an ally. Right, but leo, how consistent do you think the president s approach to unions and to labor issues will be . Because you mentioned some of these trade deals that he wants to rip up that unions have not favored for some time. Hes talked about wages. Hes talked about wanting to bring those jobs back. But on the other hand, people point to his labor secretary pick as someone who is against wage hikes, whos against certain employee protections, and im wondering where unions draw the line and how you pick your battles. Well, look it, i can tell you that were very, very disappointed in the nomination in fact, were disappointed in several nominations, but in particular the one for labor. Its mindnumbing that a guy is going to be secretary of labor, said hed like to be able to replace his workers with robots because they dont take a break and they dont need a rest. I think that that position, that secretary of labor is, as you put it, hes directly different from what President Trump has been saying, and President Trump has said that he wants not only to bring back industrial manufacturing, but he wants to have higher wages. Well, hopefully, hell get a chance to fight for a higher minimum wage, hell get a chance to direct his secretary of labor to do things that will be able to strengthen the ability of workers through collective bargaining to raise wages and bring about more income inequality. Right now weve got the most inequality weve had in the last 75 years. Leo, one last question on trade in general. Does the union worry at all about this America First policy discouraging Foreign Investment . I mean, theres workers in spar spartanburg who are grateful to bmw, but should they be worried that job is in jeopardy because of this some say antagonistic view . Well, look, if our preference is to grow existing facilities that already xest, in the parts sector, steel, aluminum, paper, we want to grow existing facilities, but if there will be Foreign Investments and work for high unionized jobs, well be for that. It doesnt matter. Aufz seen, weve had relations with global companies. Weve got good collective bargaining relationships and well be able to raise wages. But the preference we have that we grow the existing facilities the Steel Industry now just to make this point ten years ago the Steel Industry in america made about 125 million tons of steel. We now make 85 million tons of steel. Ten years ago, china made under 500 million tons of steel. Now they do 1. 2 billion tons, over 400 million tons of overcapacity, depressing prices in the Steel Industry, all around the world. Theyre doing the same with aluminum and with paper. So, if we can stop that destruction of industrial jobs because china cheats, we can grow the Steel Industry back without building new plants. We can grow the Paper Industry back without growing new plants. We can grow the aluminum industry. We had 14 aluminum smelters ten years ago and now have 4. China produces 32 million tons of aluminum when they only need about 7 million tons. So these are fights that if the president takes them on, hell have a good ally with us. You do sound a lot like what were hearing from the white house these days, leo. Uhoh. Its going to be interesting to watch. Appreciate your time. Leo gerard with the steelworkers. Looking forward to it. Still to come on squawk alley, volatility spiking this week following the president s controversial immigration order. Td ameritrades chief strategist weighs in on that and more next. And a tough quarter for Deutsche Bank. Details coming up in the european close. Stay tuned. Look at where we stand two hours into trading. Dow is up nine points, the s p is up two, the nasdaq is up nine and mike santoli is in san diego at the td ameritraffde conferen with a special guest. Thats j. J. Kennehan, tj ameritrades strategist, joining me out here by the pool. One of the seeming disconnects in the market is the markets been relatively calm, volatility levels have been subdued with some flurries with individual companies and sectors, despite whats perceived as a lot of policy flux coming out of washington, a lot of what seem like they should be destabilizing messages they should be from the white house. How do you explain what the markets are thinking and where the market is pricing . I think two things are happening. First, like you said, were in flux because the fed after the last 2 1 2 years being 1 a is now 1b behind policy. Everything is about policy. What youre seeing with the vix is interesting. While the levels are not increasing in the vix, what youre seeing is people selling cost, willing to give cnbc news updat updateside to protect downside. Its almost like the yield curve. Youre seeing a shift in the curve, known as rescsku. The volatility levels not necessarily increase, but people are still buying protection. Were at alltime highs. I think people are struggling with what do i do from here. And we talked about the fed put for so long. I think theres almost a text tax put right now. If we can get the tax policies through that President Trump talked about on the campaign, i believe thats whats keeping support in the market. People believe if that happens, we have the potential to explode to the up side. I wonder your view on investor positioning. Youve seen the surveys surge in terms of confidence levels with individual investors, professional investors. Basically a similar message saying look, its a new investing regime under trump. Now, is money following that sentiment . In other words, are you actually seeing investors get position either in higherrisk areas or for more growth . I think the position for more growth. Talking to all the you know, we had over 2,000 registered Investment Advisers here, and one of the messages theyre talking about is their clients are calling more often, very excited about whats going on. And one thing ill go back to on a Bigger Picture is think about the ceo calls of the last nine months. Nine months ago, they were like, well continue at this rate and do okay. Now you hear we expect growth. Jamie dimon talked about the fact that the u. S. Is poised to grow big. Asia and europe are growing small. I think theres a change in how the ceos are looking at everything. J. J. , thanks a lot. You people should check out the fun game you have with a tool about social sentiment, ranking super bowl ads. This sunday well do something through social streams, follow nicole and steve on twitter. Well follow the super bowl ads. Dorito has a big one. How will the ad affect their Parent Company in pepsi . Its a way to show how the ads are used and how the companies perform. Carl, back over to you. J. J. Knows football, we know that, mike. Thank you, mike santoli. Well get the european close in about 4 1 2 minutes. Seema modys at post 9. We have a mixed session in europe, some gains across spain and the uk but a lot of attention being put on the pound. The pound decline accelerating after the bank of england left rates unchanged in its most recent policy meeting but raised its shortterm growth forecast. It also said its willing to tolerate running its inflation target above the target over the coming months. Those comments a bit concerning. Governor mark carney also made some interesting comments about how we are coming to the last seconds of the central bankers 15 minutes of fame, perhaps highlighting the rebound were seeing in growth and inflation and shift towards fiscal policy, which of course is being well telegraphed in the bond market as well with yields on the rise, not just in the uk but across europe. Now, speaking of the uk, an update on uk politics. British government publishing its white paper on the brexit after parliament provided overwhelming support for the bill that enables the government to trigger article 50. That basically emboldens theresa mays position to push forward with the Brexit Process in march of this year. Now, when it pertains to financials, Deutsche Bank is in focus, reporting a second full year net loss, earnings hit by litigation, restructuring costs. This also comes after many analysts were expecting an improvement in profitability from european financials with those yields on the rise, but perhaps for germanys largest bank, it will take a bit more time. Shares down as much as 4 on the day. Commerce bank, hsbc also lower. On the m a front, Reckitt Benckiser up about 4 after they said they are considering buying baby foodmaker mead johnson and nutrition. M a is hitting an 11year high in the month of january, so perhaps for these companies its not impacting dealmaking at this point. Thank you, seema. And still to come, iac profits soaring in its mostrecent quarter. The company owns brands like home advisor, the daily beast and vineo. Well speak exclusively with the ceo coming up after the break about advertising online video and a lot more. But first, were moments away from House Speaker paul ryans weekly briefing. Well bring you those comments live. Much more squawk alley coming up next. Good morning once again, everyone. Im sue herera with your cnbc news update. Defense secretary jim mattis meeting with south koreas Prime Minister in seoul. On the agenda, the Trump Administrations policies on asia as well as reconfirming strong u. S. south korean ties. More than 100 workers were injured following a huge fire at a factory south of manila. Amateur video shows the flames and the thick, black smoke billowing from the site. Three people remain missing. Israeli forces removing the last remaining settlers from two buildings in the west bank outpost of amoamona. Benjamin netanyahu vowing to build a new settlement as soon as possible following the courtordered demolition of the illegally built outpost. And we might be in for a long winter. Punxsutawney phil saw his shadow early this morning. Look at that poor guy. And that means were in for six more weeks of winter. Groundhog day has been celebrated in the u. S. Since 1887. That poor guy. Thats the news update this hour. Back downtown to squawk alley. Dragged out of his cage once a year. Poor thing. That seer of seers, sue. Thank you, sue herera. Were moments away from the House Speakers weekly news conference. When the q a begins, well take that live. Meantime, eamon javers outside the white house as we get ready for this meeting between the president and some harleydavidson executives. Thats been moved up to noon eastern time. Eamon, good morning to you. Reporter good morning, carl. Were keeping our eye on the street outside the white house to see if we can see those harleydavidson executives rolling up to the white house here and also as you talk about paul ryan, hes been on talk radio already this morning talking a little bit about what the president had to say and what this white house had to say yesterday about iran, as general flynn came to the White House PressBriefing Room to say that the u. S. Is putting iran on notice. Not a whole lot of detail about what on notice necessarily means, but paul ryan supporting that statement in his comments on the radio this morning. Well wait and see if he supports that again today. But there will be a lot for the press to ask him about, including the president s apparently contentious phone call with the Prime Minister of australia this week. Thats getting a lot of attention this morning. And then, obviously, we are waiting for this meeting tomorrow with a whole host of ceos who will be here at the white house. There will be some questions from those ceos we are expecting on the issue of immigration and the executive orders that the president signed last weekend. So, all of that sort of in the mix here for paul ryan as we watch this fascinating relationship where paul ryan and donald trump not necessarily on the same page during the president ial campaign, but now these are two political leaders who very much need each other to accomplish their respective agendas, but you do sense there is some distance between them. Paul ryan also saying at some point today that hes growing to appreciate the tweets from the president , and he said this will be an unconventional presidency, something hes said time and time again when asked about donald trump. So, watch this relationship, because that will be the key to whether any tax deal or anything else can get started here. Eamon, lets go to the speaker. [ inaudible question ] im not sure youre familiar im not familiar with what youre talking about, so im going to pass on that. We dont want the Little Sisters for the poor to be forced to buy cupboards that violates their conscience. If youre talking about that, then im in full support. Casey . [ inaudible question ] dont know about the veracity of those reports, dont know about the content of the call or even i didnt hear about john mccain until what you just said. I know Prime Minister turnbull, he was in my office a few months ago. He is a very important ally. Australia is a very central ally, they are and will continue to be. I think its important that president s and Prime Ministers, heads of state are able to have candid and private conversations with one another. A twofer. [ inaudible question ] oh, did he . Did he do the accent or the say that again . Arnold schwarzenegger tweeted to the president that perhaps they should switch spots, the president to the apprentice it. Im not going to comment on this stuff. Lets talk policy. Let me go in the back. [ inaudible question ] yeah, the models the plan that we ran on last year. You can go to better. Gop and look at. We think that you want a vibrant individual market, a vibrant employer market. We want medicaid to work so that the states can innovate and so that doctors actually take medicaid patients. We want medicare to be solvent. We want medicare to be something you can depend on and know that its going to be there when you retire. So what we mean is choices. We dont want one choice. Thats not a choice. We want to have more insurers and providers in the marketplace competing against each other for our businesses, consumers and patients. We want patients and their doctors being the driving force and the nucleus of the Health Care System, instead of some government regulator telling you what you have to buy, where you have to buy it. We dont want just one insurer. We want a lot of insurers competing for our business. Thats what i mean when i say choice. The whole point of this is its the cornerstone of the Free Enterprise system in america. The more choices you have, the more competition there is, consumers benefit from that, and that is obviously true in health care, and it is one of the big reasons why obamacare is collapsing. Look, as you heard me say how few choices and options there are because of obamacare. It is not coincidental, then, that we have doubledigit premium increases every year, that the deductibles for Obamacare Exchange plans are three times as high as the deductibles for people in the largegroup Insurance Market that they get the health care from their jobs. So, clearly, this law isnt working. It is collapsing. And yes, this is what we call a death spiral. Youre not getting the kind of pooling that needs to be allowed with choice and competition to get rates down, so we had to step in and replace this law before it gets too late, before people lose what they already their insurance. [ inaudible question ] the words youre talking about. Right. [ inaudible question ] no, id say theres just a miscommunication or a misinterpretation of what were trying to say. Our job is to repair the American Health care system and rescue it from the collapse that its in, and the best way to repair a Health Care System is to repeal and replace obamacare. Its not an either or. If you want to repair the American Health care system, youve got to repeal the law that is destroying it and replace it with a system thats much better. Yeah. Thanks for i know most of you, but thank you for saying who you are. [ inaudible question ] Sexual Identity or Sexual Orientation . No, i voted for that in 2004 or Something Like that . I cant remember when that bill was. So, no, i just dont believe in discrimination in the workplace, period. But back to your Health Care Point what was your Health Care Question . Timeline, yeah. So, ill defer to the chairman when he wants to have his markups, but we want to be moving our obamacare legislation by the end of the first quarter. Yeah. [ inaudible ] for employeesponsored plans . Theres no secret. I had a bill when we were debating obamacare that did that. So, my position is very clear. Where Congress Goes on this is an open question. Thats one of the ways you can finance tax credits. There are a lot of other ways of financing tax credits as well. [ inaudible question ] im wondering if youre totally comfortable with the executive orders and divisions yeah, sure. Thats a good question, because you know this is not a muslim ban. If it were, i would be against it. We are a tolerant, pluralistic country. We are and we will be. Its really important. The bill we passed last year, if you recall, after the paris shooting, it became clear to us that one of the terrorists infiltrated the refugee population coming from syria, so we wanted to make sure that that didnt happen here in this country. Thats just sort of Like National security 101. And then when we inquired among our professionals at Homeland Security and the fbi, can you properly vet these people to make sure that this doesnt happen in america, they said, no, we cant. And so, thats why we passed legislation with 289 votes, big bipartisan bill, saying lets pause this program until we can figure out how to get it right. Thats effectively what this is about. So, to your point about religious persecution, president s always and often put preferences in refugee populations. I think president obama had one for Sexual Orientation. They didnt call that a Sexual Orientation test. He put a preference in for Sexual Orientation. Religious minorities are being persecuted. Theres nothing wrong with preferring religious minorities from persecution. Yazidis are being persecuted. Sunnis are being persecuted. Christians are being persecuted. So theres nothing wrong with saying were going to take into account minority religious persecution with this. Jed. What about the question on australia, had a question here about the executive order what about the perception . Do you have concerns . No, of course i do. Of course i do. [ inaudible question ] well, like i said, i didnt read the transcript, so i cant speak to the president s even if thats not true, theres perception but i do think that there is a perception issue, and i think this loose rhetoric that suggests that this is a religious test or a muslim ban is wrong because it further that perception because this is not that. So i do think its important for people to pause and look at the actual context of this. Look at the press conference that secretary kelly had oopsion to put this in proper perspective so that it is not misinterpreted as to being something it is not. [ inaudible question ] i said this on tuesday. I think the rollout could have been done a lot better. Look, green cardholders. I mean, nobody wanted green cardholders to get caught up in this. So i think, yes, the rollout could have been done much better. I think we all know that. But going forward, lets make sure that were not saying this is something that its not so that we further misperceptions. Tell me who you are. [ inaudible question ] Rex Tillersons confirmation. Are you concerned [ inaudible ] well, my position on things is pretty clear. I think Rex Tillersons going to be a great secretary of state. I think people who dont know him or havent followed him closely, will be pleasantly surprised. This is a very, very capable man and i think hes a good model for secretary of state. I dont know what their policy will be for russia. Im a russia hawk. I think sanctions should have been done a while ago. Sherman. [ inaudible question ] oh, youre talking about the executive order . Yeah, i obviously think that they could have done a better job on the rollout of the executive order. I think that they they dont even have a full cabinet in place yet, so i think its pretty important to get the cabinet up and running so these interagency reviews can be done well. And i think going forward, theyre going to do a better job of these things. Yeah. [ inaudible question ] from the president directly about and australia. Is it problematic [ inaudible question ] no, i dont think australia should be worried about its relationship with our new president or the country, for that matter. I know your country well. Ive met with your leaders continuously over the last number of years. So no, australia is an important, essential ally and its going to continue to be. You havent been to many press conferences. I typically dont quote or comment on the tweet of the hour. Last question. Laura. No, laura, wall street journal. Sorry. [ inaudible question ] i would be in favor of additional sanctions on iran. I think id like to put as much toothpaste back in the tube as possible. I think the last administration appeased iran far too much. I think they went too far with iran, and i think as a result, iran is far more active than it otherwise would be. Iran, dont forget, is the largest, greatest sponsor of terrorism in the world, the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Iran writes on their missiles death to america, death to israel and then tests them. So this is not a friendly country that has global peace or National Security interests in their mind. So yeah, i think we need to have it tough on iran policy. [ inaudible question ] i think we should stop appeasing iran. That is speaker ryan weighing in on several different fronts, this phone call between the president and the australian Prime Minister, the aca, the difference between whether you call something a repeal or a repair, the immigration order, of course, saying it is not a muslim ban and that if it had been, he would be against it. Eamon javers, as he spoke, reuters out with some headlines from the president , saying he has serious concerns about nafta but says hes indifferent to whether it is changed or renegotiated entirely. We assume well get more clarity on that once this meeting with harley begins. Reporter yeah, thats right, carl. So, whats going on, were having a bit of a news bonanza today. Up on capitol hill you saw paul ryan speaking. We were listening to those comments. As that was happening, the pool of reporters was brought in to a meeting that the president s having right now here at the white house with congressional leaders. Theyre expected to be talking about taxes and trade. The president has made some comments to those pool cameras. Im seeing the Pool Reporter right now, in which he says maybe we should do a new nafta. He says i have very serious concerns about nafta. And the prison hesident has appy said maybe put an extra f in nafta, for free and fair trade, because right now trade is unfair. He says i dont care if its a renovated or new nafta, and talks about wilbur ross, in the meeting with him today, saying he is one of the greats and will be fair to the country. So the president and top staff talking to congressional leaders about trade right now. We are expecting to see the president also meeting with harleydavidson executives. Hes now expected to greet them on the south lawn of the white house as they come in for that meeting, and thats a meeting that has a lot of bearing on tariffs as well. Of course, theres a long history of harleydavidson as a company and tariffs in terms of foreign competition for u. S. Motorcycle manufacturers, so you can expect there will be some more on trade here at the white house today, carl. All right. Of course, this all sets up tomorrow, eamon, where we get the likes of steve schwartzman, jamie dimon, mary barra. Thats a truly impressive list, if we can go on whats been reported in terms of invitees. Reporter we can, and cnbc has been confirming a lot of those names and we have a lot of those pinned down already. Elon musk will be here. By my count, carl, that will be the fifth time that elon musk has met with the president since the election. So theres a ceo who views a very close relationship with this president as important to himself and to his company, and you can imagine why. I mean, tesla is a company that has benefited from Government Programs and access in the past. Presumably, musk doesnt want to lose that and also wants to be a voice in this administration. But ive talked to some of the ceos who have walked up and down the driveway here on the white house north lawn as they go in to meet. Some of them have a clear sense of what they want to do and say here, and some simply tell you, look, i am here because im a good america and when the president calls you to come for a meeting, you come for the meeting. Or in kevin plank from under armours case, who says hes a good american, you might also live down the street from the white house. Its easy. Its good for you. I wonder if the priority for a lot of the executives coming to the white house tomorrow will be tax reform. We did get paul ryan earlier today in some tv appearances saying that the rollback and replacement of the Affordable Care act is priority number one, hell do that by the end of the first quarter, but tax reform will be tackled in the spring. So now a lot of these executives have a couple months to actually have a seat at the table and tell the president whats important to them. What do you think theyll say . Well, look, ive been asking the white house this morning for a specific agenda, what exactly does the president expect to get out of this meeting tomorrow . Theyre not offering that up and theyre not confirming the list of ceos that will be here, but you can imagine they will have the opportunity to say whatever they want to the president. And at some point here, were going to get to a tipping point, right . Because the initial meetings with ceos here at the white house over the first week of the Trump Administration were really sort of introductory sessions, get to know you sessions. You saw the president going around the room asking each ceo to identify himself and say a little bit about why he was there. In this case, you might imagine they might get to some more contentious issues, particularly on immigration, which is vital for some of these companies, and a lot of the companies have expressed real dissent with the white house in what it did last weekend. So, how will the meetings go that are more specific and not as general, and really express some dissent with the administration. How will the president respond to that . All of that is sort of part of the anticipation here as we go ahead into tomorrow. Yeah. Initial niceties might be over and the sleeves are rolling up. Heres the president. Good to see you. Good to see you. Mr. Trump. Good to see you. Got it right the first time. Good to see you. Hi, there. How are you . Nice to see you again. Nice to see you again. Okay. Hello, everybody. Mr. President. Nice to see you all. Thank you. Good to see you. Were going to start getting our trade in order. I know you like that. Good. Going to be one thing well really get along on, right . Yes, sir. I think. So thank you all for being here today. Great honor. We have put together an allstar team of toplevel people working on trade. We are working very, very hard and will be very soon as soon as we get the go ahead. Well have the 90day period we have to think about. But we want to get that whole thing kickstarted and going. We have some statutory limits. We dont want to have those statutory limits. Its very important. I have very serious concerns about nafta. Nafta has been a catastrophe for our country, our workers and jobs and our country, leaving our country. I want to change it. And maybe we do it. Maybe we do a new nafta and we put an extra f in the term nafta. You know what the f is for, right . Yeah. Free and fair trade. Not just free trade. Free and fair trade. Because its very unfair. So all of the statutory guidelines we are adhering to. I would like to speed it up, if possible. Youre the folks that can do it. Its so important. And we will make great trade deals and we will have something that will i dont care if its a renovation of nafta or a brandnew nafta. But we do have to make it fair. And its very unfair to the American Worker and very, very unfair to companies that do business in this country. Thats why theyre leaving. One of the many reasons. Really, the taxes are too high and were going to take care of that also. You all know wilbur ross, who is one of the great people of wall street, and hes going to be representing us in negotiations, along with his a lot of other great people. So we have really assembled tremendous talent. Some of the best in the world. Carl icahn called and said i cant believe you got wilbur. Wilbur is known as wilbur and one of the greats. And hes fair. And hes fair to other countries. He will be fair to other countries. And i think were going to have a whole new a whole new picture by the time were finished. I just want to thank you for being here. Were starting the process and i think its going to be a tremendous thing for our country, for the workers and for our countries that employ the workers. And thank you all for being here. Okay . [ inaudible question ] that is the president surrounded by obviously you heard him say, wilbur ross, one of the great people of wall street, who will be point man on any nafta renegotiation, which the president hopes to do sooner rather than later, apparently. Also in the room, steve bannon, Jared Kushner and so on. Eamon javers, what did we learn just now . Carl, what we learned is the president is convening this top session, and you look around the room to see who is there. Because so much of the negotiation depends on who actually has access to the president. We are told, its hard to tell, the side facing us in that shot was the side where the congressional leaders are. We were told that senator orrin hatch and senator ron wyden of the finance committee in the senate were supposed to be there and also congressman kevin brady and congressman richard neil in the house ways and Means Committee in the house of representatives. Those are the tax committees who were there in that meeting. And what happens after they escort the press out and you get the introductory marks is they get down to some actual business. The fact that democrats were expected to be in the room, as well, you can expect that there might be some early table setting here in terms of trade and tax policy. So thats what we can expect. Well try to do some reporting when they come out and figure out if they got anything done here, at least initially, guys. This tape has displaced the regular santelli exchange. We want to get ricks temperature after what we just heard . Ill tell you, carl, whether its about policies that are pro business, like lowering corporate taxes, whether its about trade and changing trade agreements, the market and investors continue to be more or less half full versus half empty. But it is very difficult. Think of the three words were talking about here. Status quo, change and uncertainty. With regard to status quo, whether its on generic issues, the country is pretty evenly split, which means half like status quo. Change means youre going to alter status quo. Its not going to be easy. And change could go in either direction. But when it comes to certain issues, as uncomfortable and uncertain as change may be, things need to get done. And an adage of keeping things the same that are running at a c minus at best, and trying to improve them is still going to break a few eggs to make a better tasting omelette. And the last point, and i think this is a biggy, and more than semantics. Uncertainty has a common denominator with logic, as well. Many things were necessarily businessfriendly. Yes, theyre uncertain but more pro business. And i think that has to be weighed, and i think the market is weighing that. And i think its a continued underlay meant of much of the activity we have seen since the election. Rick, any concerns about the fact that our relationships with neighbors, like mexico, certainly, canada and then our frequent partner, australia, put into question during all of this change . Absolutely. Absolutely. And i think that thats where many of the tensions lie. But at the end of the day, this president has said time and time again, hes going to do what he thinks is in the best interest of america, being an american president , and well have to see where that takes us. Rick, thank you for that. Rick santelli and eamon javers in washington. Dow is down 34 in all of this. Back in just a minute. Alal. Its . Vae pitah,t thama alal. Its . We are awaiting executives from harley davidson, the iconic American Motorcycle Company to arrive at the white house. Ceo matthew will he vattich and other leaders meeting with the president and members of his staff. Thats expected to take place at noon eastern. It was originally scheduled for 1 00. Shares of harley were down earlier in the week after softer than expected earnings. But it will be interesting to see what comes out of this meeting. Stocks up 44 in 12 months versus s p 19. Interesting, i thought. Last night, Company Tweets hash tag united we roll. And says america has never faced a problem americans couldnt fix by looking each other in the eye, shaking hands and firmly resolving to hammer out a solid solution. Well see if thats the tune they take today. Thats optimistic. We have also got amazon earnings after the bell, which we will be watching after facebook did well and apple, as well the day before. What a week for tech. Lets get over to the half. Back at hq. Guys, thanks so much. Welcome to Halftime Report im scott wapner. We begin with the markets and whether the trump rally is at risk from rising global tensions to uncertainty over the feds next move. A lot for investors to consider today. With us for the hour, joe terranova, jim labor en that will. Also, paul richards, the president of medley global advisers. So doc, you tell me. Im just wondering if investors are complacent, too much so, to some of the risks that seem to be out there