Transcripts For CNBC Squawk Alley 20170330

Willing to speak with President Trump with the appropriate introduction. Cnbc europes Geoff Cutmore joins us live with the details. Hi, jeff. Reporter hi, kelly. This was ostensibly an event to talk about the arctic. And so we spent a little bit of time discussing the opportunities for cooperation between russia and other countries in the Arctic Community like the United States. But in reality i think there was only one question a lot of people wanted answered, so i put it. Lets listen. There is a Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing as to whether russia has used disinformation to affect the outcome of the last president ial election. Translator i knew it was coming to this. I wouldnt really like to have all this positive sentiment while were discussing the arctic region to be killed off by the issues in bilateral americanrussian relations, but i respect you personally and cnbc which is your company instructed most likely you to ask this question. Well, of course then president putin went onto issue denials. He said read my lips, no, there was no interference in the president ial election. And he said there are domestic reasons why people continue to lie about russia. I guess weve had the russian president in the past saying no disinformation wasnt used in the u. S. Election process. But i think he really wanted to press home the point here, of course everybody will have to make up their own mind as to whether they believe his words and those Senate Investigations will continue and hopefully will get somewhere closer to an answer here. Just to wrap up, kelly, one other thing i thought was interesting, there is no formal meeting arranged between president putin and President Trump. Probably not until july at the g20 meeting in germany. I asked president putin whether he would be interested in doing something earlier, possibly at the Arctic Council meeting in may. He said definitely yes. I take that to mean hes reaching out to the white house at this point. So maybe well see some progress on that issue. Back to you. Jeff, cgeoff, can you confir came up with that question on your own . Reporter i can confirm i came up with that question on my own. But hey, look, thats not to say that producers dont do a great job. I know there are enough of them listening in to this conversation that can make me look bad in future if i dont give them due credit. So lets just say teamwork was involved. Yes, well, were very glad you were able to put that question to Vladimir Putin this morning. Thank you for joining us. Thats cnbc europes Geoff Cutmore. The russian president calling the u. S. A great power this morning adding hes ready to get russias relationship with washington back on track, all of which could have Major Economic implications. Joining us is jean spurling and glenn hubbard, council of economics advisor chair for president bush. Welcome to you both. Mr. Spurling, what do you make of the comments of the russian president this morning . You know, i dont like i would hope most americans do not put a lot of trust in the word of Vladimir Putin. I tag everything with a grain of salt. And i dont see any reason why anyone should treat him otherwise. Glen hubbard, should anything other be expected from that pointed response . I dont think so. I agree with what gene said. I think well have to wait nor the Senate Intelligence committee investigation. So we have a bipartisan agreement on this issue. Let me start with you, dean hubbard, on the economic ramifications of a russian reset. There was so much hope for the russian economy going into the Trump Presidency that they would get a boost. And even still youre seeing the ruble at an 18month high against the dollar. Does that disappear and put russia in a weaker position economically . I think it might well. And of course a lot will depend on oil prices to boot. And oil prices have rebounded, gene, what are your thoughts on how this impacts the economy and russia and the United States in that relationship . Well, look, i think that for the United States, you know, what is going to be concerning is people are going to look and ask how much uncertainty there is in the u. S. And what are the other uncertainty spots in the world. Obviously people are looking more closely at china, but russia remains a more volatile political economy. As glen said they are highly dependent on the price of oil and gas. But more than anything they have shown themselves to be a destabilizer in the global Foreign Policy and thus that becomes a destabilizer in the economic policy. So, again, i dont have you know, i think that under this Political Leadership theyre just not going to be a particularly positive force for the Global Economy in any way. Glen, i want to talk a little bit of domestic politics. Were getting ready to head into the second quarter. You said the earlier the better on tax reform, pointed out that george w. Bush managed to get at least a tax cut going just a few months into his presidency. But were talking about the possibility of broader tax reform. How soon do we need to see the Republican Congress get something concrete done to have confidence thats going to happen this year . Well, i think its best if by the august recess. But soon thereafter is fine too, as secretary mnuchin has said. I think both the Trump Administration and the congress are working hard on tax reform. And it should get substantial democrat support too. A lot of democrats have voiced support for Business Tax Reform in the past. And hopefully theyll be there today. By the way, glen, what do you make of this report from the cbo this morning. Theyre talking about higher longterm deficits, warning about the fiscal situation, admittedly projecting a lot forward, but does that put additional pressure on Trumps Administration to come up with ways to pay for a lot of the measures theyd like to do . Well, the tax reform at least the congress was looking at is revenue new tr reven revenue neutral. The cbo notes long term entitlement problems and yes, the congress and Trump Administration should work on those. Even as theyre trying well, its not like he campaigned on that though, glen. Its not like he campaigned on a message of reforming social security, reforming medicare. And the critique from the Freedom Caucus was republicans plan on repealing and replacing obamacare amounted to a new entitlement. Well, i think the first and foremost step President Trump has to take is to raise the rate of growth in the country. We cant do that then almost all of our problems are difficult to solve. Then we do need to address entitlement programs. Theres a lot of interest in that in the congress, and i think there will be in the administration too. There has to be because its just math. Gene, do you see any scenario where moderate democrats can sign onto the Trump Administrations tax reform . I think its going to be very difficult, but it ultimately depends on the path theyre going to take. They have a very tough road ahead of them. Theyve just had a major loss, an embarrassment in health care. Now right now they are split among themselves. Remember, on this border adjustment tax they cannot lose more than two people in the senate. And there are over 10, 12 republican senators who have been against that. They still havent really dealt with the issue of interest deductibility, whether thats going to be politically acceptable to their side. And then i think the issue thats going to affect a lot of trump voters and democrats is what kind of tax cut is this going to be. The ones that candidate trump put forward and that paul ryan has generally put forward have been very tilted to the top 1 . Now, you have the secretary of treasury say theres not going to be any tax cut at all for the top 1 . But i think its going to be very hard for democrats to go along with a plan thats not just Corporate Tax reform and infrastructure, which is what president obama talks about. But one that says if you buy into our Corporate Tax reform or infrastructure, you have to be for repealing the estate tax, you have to be for major cuts for people worth 5 million, 10 million, i think thats going to be a very tough sell to democrats. Glen, im wondering if all conservatives are going to keep going along with this, because the attitude now seems to be growth covers a multitude of sins promised 4 gdp growth, and then you can stuff whatever you want into the budget. Doesnt have to balance. Just say growth will take care of it. But seems like when the shoes on the other foot the argument is, no, weve got to pay for all of these things. Weve got to cut, cut, cut. Can they keep having it both ways . This will be a huge issue because the easiest way to not have any losers in Corporate Tax reform is to have a deficit, you know, exploding plan, but then say because of dynamic scoring it will all work out. Gene, hate to cut you off but i want glens take on this as well. Sure. Basically a good tax reform will raise growth, much more toward 3 . I think 4 might be a bit of a reach. And rk yes, that would pay for part of but not all of a tax reform plan. I think the core element here is cuts in business income tax rates but also support for work and other things that President Trump campaigned on. And i expect that to all be part of the plan. But, glen, the president has come in basically saying i dont want to cut entitlements at all, plus i want to spend all this money on infrastructure. And justifying it all with a growth rate projection that a lot of economists think is not realistic. I wonder is there long term danger in republicans taking that tack . Its not how i understand President Trumps plan. I think that the infrastructure plan is a large number attach, but a lot of that can be Public Private partnerships. The rest of the president s budget offers budget cuts as well as budget increases. The real issue will be what kind of tax reform plan we have. And i hope its one that is revenue neutral or close to it but really focuses heavily on business taxation. I think if the president can pull that off, hes got a big win on his hands for economic growth. All right, before we go, gene, what do you think is the surest way to get to lets call it 4 growth . Well, i think with our demographic situation getting to 4 growth for any sustained period of time is going to be great challenge without huge productivity growth. But i think the most important thing this administration could start doing right now is governing responsibly, not creating instability about whats going to happen to the health care sector, are there going to be trade disputes because they have a border adjustment tax thats going to lead to, you know, retaliation. The one thing you have to remember when youre there, and i think glen and i both know this, is you own the economy. If you create uncertainty, thats that hurts your economy. And the president for better or worse, fair or not, gets a lot of credit or blame for what happens on their watch. All right. Gentlemen, thank you both. Gene sperling and glen hubbard joining us this morning. And still to come, a cnbc exclusive with the ceo of deere sam allen. His take on President Trump, trade, job creation and much more. Then the president reportedly ready to unveil a massive 1 trillion infrastructure plan, well be joined by the ceo of u. S. Steel mario longhi, another cnbc exclusive. And before all that, a handson look at samsungs new galaxy s8 and s8 plus. Weve got the plus here onset when squawk alley returns. U. S. Transportation secretary elaine chao confirming the president will unveil a 1 trillion infrastructure plan later this year. For more on the future of american infrastructure and competitiveness under the Trump Administration, we are joined in a cnbc exclusive interview by the ceo of Deere Company, sam allen, welcome back. Nice to see you. Thanks, good to be with you. Were you encouraged, sam, to hear the infrastructure plan might be unveiled this year . Some were thinking it was a 2018 story. Yeah. It was. I think our group, specifically deere, but also from the councils standpoint that i represent here as well is thinking probably it would be in 18, but im very encouraged potentially it might be taken up this year, especially if they can bring everybody together in a bipartisan fashion and talk about passing something and funding it. Those will be the keys. Well, i have to say of all the major trump legislative items theres the most hope for bipartisan support of infrastructure. And thats certainly viewed by the market to be good for deere. The stock is up more than 20 since the election. What are your expectations for specifics on what that infrastructure plan would look like, where the money would go and how it would be funded . So let me start by saying my expectation even if everyone works together in a bipartisan fashion and it moves forward quickly, i know the administration is hoping to inject it into the marketplace quickly. But i would expect its going to take some time just like last time. Theres no such thing as shovel ready. So i would expect that it will be at least 18 months down the road once it passes and is funded that well really start seeing the stimulative effect. But it would be a very long term type effect. Its something that would probably affect our industries for at least five to ten years as those plans and programs were implemented. So its positive, but i would also say at least on a personal level my opinion is its going to take a while before it really, really has a major impact on whats going on in the marketplace. Sam, in the meantime the administration turning its attention to tax reform. Does that send shivers down your spine if it means the border adjustment tax is used to fund all of this even if the tax cut helps you . Where do you guys stand on this whole piece of legislation . As you mentioned the border adjustment tax actually would help us. Were a significant net exporter. So on a Deere Company level it would be a positive. Were very concerned, however, for our farmer customers. If as a result of the adjustment tax it had an unintended consequence of causing countries like china and mexico to buy their ag commodities from other countries, that would be negative for u. S. Farmers that do a lot of exporting to china, canada and mexico. So as it moves forward i think the real thing that we will be watching for and trying to also council on is make sure we dont have an unintended consequence that really impacts u. S. Ag exports. Sam, i want to drill down on that a little bit because the rhetoric toward china and mexico in particular has been hot coming from the Trump Administration. As a company that deals globally and needs to see growth in countries like that, if all attention starts turning to just doing business with Companies Inside our own borders and those countries do that as well, that hurts you, does it not . Yeah. I think without a doubt any form of protectionism or nationalism on the whole is not beneficial for a company like ours, any Global Company. We will adjust. We will have to adjust. But it takes time to for a manufacturer to adjust. Its much more efficient if we can have open free trade. Understandably fair trade, but free trade. We happen to be well positioned in both those countries, especially in china. We have a number of plants there that produce product for the chinese market. We dont export it from there. Its mostly for the chinese market. So in the nearterm it wouldnt be as impactful on us as it might be on some. But still in our view its not something that is a pro growth type of policy if we end up stimulating a number of countries to end up protecting their borders. Sam, you mentioned your farming customers and clients. How are they reacting . How is that Community Reacting to some of the recent immigration orders . Clearly its a big source of immigrant both documented and undocumented labor in this country. How are they reacting . Well, i havent had a chance to spend time with farmers all over. I have spent time with farmers especially on the west coast. There is definitely concern that it will drive awaylay bor that is required. Theres so many especially in vegetable production, citrus production, grape production, theres a lot of manual labor required in there. And certainly Migrant Workers are a very, very important part along the west coast along texas from an agricultural standpoint. So there is some trepidation as it relates to that. Hopefully as this moves forward it will be done in a fashion that we wont have that negative impact to the degree that people are talking about right now. Right now its mostly talk. I think the policy will be more supportive in the end. Crop prices have been down. You know, weve been talking to you for the last few years almost. I dont know if youd call it a recession, but you did sound an optimistic note in the last Quarterly Earnings call. Is the worst over for the agriculture cycle . Well, you never know. Thats one thing about the ag cycle, it is unpredictable. But tomorrow comes out the latest planting intention report from usda. And what i would say is the most people right now are predicting that there will be a move from corn planting to soy planting, could be even more than some people are predicting. And if that were to happen and you would get back to trend line yields, which is pretty realistic assumption actually then Commodity Prices could move up in the next year. And that would add to our growing optimism that the worst is behind us at this point in time. Investors look to be giving you the benefit of the doubt. The stock up 36. 5 in the last 12 months. Sam, good to check in with you. Thank for joining us from the council on competitiveness. Sam allen, the ceo of deere. And when we come back, handson with that beauty right there. Samsungs new galaxy s8. Even the plus i think. Is it enough to make users forget about that fire prone note 7 . Well find out. Later, the president ready to unveil a massive Infrastructure Spending plan. Former treasury secretary jack lew weighs in on the idea. The United States has an awful lot of capacity to build infrastructure. Where we lack the will is to pay for it. And if we could only figure out a way to pay for it, we would find lots of construction firms to do the work. Thats beltway humor. U. S. Steel Ceo Mario Longhi will join us to discuss in a cnbc exclusive. Squawk alley is back after this. Samsung unveiling its newest smartphone, the galaxy s8 and s8 plus, and the initial reviews are in, at least the initial takes. Some saying the phone is something out of the year 2025 looking drastically different from previous models. We have one of these onset along with Business Insider ceo henry blodget. So here is the galaxy s8 plus. Toipt hold this up. Heres a photo. I worked hard to get this photo, people. Thats not a very flattering one, jon. Its hard to capture, sara, in all of your glory. But this is a two dimensional representation. You can see the difference. Let me try to pull up. Isnt this one of the potential drawbacks . One of the only ones you were saying about the phone doesnt have the same Camera Technology that the iphone has . Well, actually, samsung is far ahead let me call this image up again. When it comes to display technology. And their Camera Technology has also gotten strong reviews. So the first thing youre going to notice about this phone is theres hardly anything but screen on the front of it. No buttons. Just a little edge here, little bit there. The screen just completely dominates. And when it comes to oled Screen Technology, samsung has Something Like 90 plus of the market. If apple wants to go into oled, heres a look at the screen of the s6 next to it. I dont have the 7 because i wanted to keep the headphone jack. But you can see the difference in Screen Real Estate right there. But samsung dominates when it comes to oled screens chrks is where all the smartphones are going. They manufacture them. Making them too. Thats right. Theyve got to go to samsung for this. Not only does this have the curved Screen Technology that samsung introduced with the edge line, now theyve just built that into the main line of the phone. I cant see the curve. What am i missing with the curve . Let me pass it down to you. You can feel the curve. It sort of wraps around. The screen wraps around. Oh, it curves that way . Its good for pictures. But this is horizontal. So, henry, what does this do . Bigger screen is better, battery sounds more powerful, which is great. Those are the two big ones. But i think were in incremental land in the smartphone market. Its a maturing market rapidly. Is this going to game change everything . No, i dont think so. Were also in this odd place where the screen matters more if youre watching video, but the interface is changing. Were talking to the phones through bixby now on this phone, which is the voice command, siri in the iphone. We say, okay google to google phones. So you have to touch the phone less. So in a way you need the screen less as an interface for everything but looking at it. So how much it matters, right, to the person who wants to operate a phone remains to be seen. How much of it is about the ecosystem versus the things that used to matter like screen size and the speed of the network . This also has a faster version of lte by the way. Ecosystem is important, speeds important. We still spend an awful lot of time looking at and interacting with phones. I dont see a lot of people moving to voice quickly. Id like it to relieve my carpal tunnel if possible. It aches. Youre too young to be falling apart, kelly. We need you. Even though its a maturing market, henry, we feel this year theres a lot at stake, both for the samsung. The firs one since the last phone debacle with the exploding phones that had to be banned and for iphone as well and their tenth anniversary. This is hugely important for samsung to bounce back. They had a phone that everybody loved and suddenly had the big problem with fires and exploding. So they got to bounce back from that. And then apples got to bring it with the next version of the iphone, which people have been waiting for for a few years now with excitement. Its the tenth anniversary. See what they come with. And the stock is at a record high. In the runup to that. Are you surprised to see this . Yeah, how well samsung also versus apple despite some troubles theyve had on the corporate side. Of course the phone issues that were familiar with from last year, both stocks running up. I think part of the reason for that is google did not seem to be able to make headway with its phone even despite samsungs troubles. Apple seemed to do okay with the iphone 7, which a lot of people said was a retread of the 6. Now the ball is in apples court assuming this does and should except for last years, weve got coming from summer. Is there a risk that apple actually with its big debut of this tenth anniversary phone is now a catchup or playing copycat to what samsung debuted today. Theyre playing catchup, but were talking about months here. The big beat that samsung had over apple was when they introduced the bigger screen before that everyone dismissed as a fablet, no ones going to want that. Even apple denigrated it. Samsung had a couple of years where they gained huge share because people loved that. Here theyre going to have a few months. Dont see iphone 7 users saying, oh, i just cant wait another two months, ive got to go rush out and buy the samsung. We are awaiting paul ryan any moment. And i believe he is now ready. Heres the House Speakers does exactly what its title suggests. It gives congress the authority to review and reverse regulations that have been recently finalized. In its first 20 years on the books, congress was able to successfully use this Authority Just once. But since President Trump took office we have already sent 11 measures to his desk. And the senate is acting on another one today. Many of these initiatives are designed to protect jobs, especially for Americas Energy workers. With one bill we stop a rule that would have wiped out about onethird of the jobs in coal country alone. Combine our actions with the steps the president has taken to jump start pipelines and reverse president obamas assault on affordable energy, these things will help get people back to work. And after years of sluggish growth give a real boost to our economy. But with all of these measures we are doing something very, very fundamental. And thats the point i think is really worth seeing here. For too long we have had unelected bureaucrats running our laws. Weve been having unelected bureaucrats dictating the rules that we have to live under and the rest of government just goes along with it. But now we are turning power from washington back to states and communities and to the elected branch of government. We are giving people more control and more of a say in the decisions that are made in their classrooms, at their businesses, on their lands. This is Good Progress and were going to make more in weeks to come. Phil . Speaker, your policy of not responding to the president s tweets but this directly involved your conference saying of the Freedom Caucus we must fight them in 2018. Do you agree with the assessment that you need to fight look. I understand the president s frustration. I share frustration. About 90 of our conference is for this bill to repeal and replace obamacare. And about 10 are not. And thats not enough to pass a bill. Were close. What i am encouraging members to do is keep talking with each other until we can get the consensus to pass this bill. But its very understandable that the president is frustrated that we havent gotten to where we need to go because this is something we all said we would do. And so he is expressing his frustration. You all know he does that in various forms including twitter. And i understand his frustration. Mary. The senate today is moving forward with their russia investigation exposing the real immediate danger that russia poses to americas democracy. While the House Committee seems to be bogged down in politics focusing more on the president s tweets, is the House Committee missing the big picture . I want the House Committee to have a full and thorough bipartisan investigation. Get everything out there. Follow the facts wherever they go and get to the truth. Thats going to take some time. Im confident theyre going to do that. I think youre right this has gotten a little political. Lets take a pause. And lets just get all the evidence, all the documents and find out what happened. And what im worried about with russia is youve got elections coming online in europe, you know, this year. And so the russians clearly are trying to meddle in other countries elections. We have to help our allies prevent that from happening and uncover it. We have to find out what they tried to do here. We have to make sure we get to the bottom of that and wherever the facts go, but then we also in my opinion need to do more to help our allies guard against this invasion into their democracy from russia. Thank you, mr. Speaker. A number of republicans i spoke to this week said you need the 880 billion from medicaid savings from Health Care Bill in order to lower the revenue baseline and achieve significant now, its the other way around. Its not the medicaid, its the revenue. You know how this works, wong. Youre a budget guy. Do you agree theres a direct correlation between the medicaid and no, there is not a direct correlation. Thats not correct. Somebodys misunderstanding how baselines work around here. The medicaid savings, the spending baseline has nothing to do with tax reform. Its the revenue baseline. Its the obamacare taxes that themselves affect tax reform. Heres the way the math works. If we repeal the obamacare taxes, then that is a revenue baseline that we dont have to put into tax reform. If we dont repeal the obamacare taxes, it is my position that were just going to have to leave those taxes over there with obamacare and reform the rest of the irs tax code. But it does make tax reform harder. Its all about the revenue baseline. Has nothing to do with the spending baseline. Chad. Explain this idea of not wanting the president to work with oh, yeah, sure. On health care, but also some talk to chris collins, you know, big trump ally, he says the next time that the Freedom Caucus calls the tuesday group we should hang up the phone. He says were not going to hit health care again until 2019. You say were close. Why should anyone believe that . Well, because about 90 of our conference is there. And about 10 are not. 90 doesnt get to thats exactly right. But 95 does. Thats why i say were close because we are. Heres the point im making here. The democrats arent for repealing obamacare, we are. We work with democrats all the time. I mean, look, patty murray and i did a big budget agreement. So we have long histories of working with democrats. But i dont think its a stretch of the mind to suggest that the democrats disagree with us on repealing obamacare. Theyre not going to help us repeal obamacare. Thats my point. So if were going to do what we said we would do, which is repeal and replace obamacare and save the American Health care system, something tells me the democrats arent going to help us repeal obamacare. Theyre the ones who created it in the first place. Yeah. Around fiscal 17 will you send an 11 bill, will it contain the bill hasnt been completed yet . The appropriate tors are still negotiating. Its premature to get into the contents of the bill. Weve already done dod, so theres eleven other bills we would pass. The question is it one bill, two bills, i think thats one for the senate to decide how theyre going to package the bill. Its kind of about their calendar and how they work. But our goal is to work on the rest of the bills. And thats what our appropriators are negotiating, it would be premature to get into the contents of those bills. They think youre going to send them a spending yeah, thats right. We already sent them d. O. D. And i anticipate well send them the rest. [ inaudible question ] yes. You all right over there . Okay. That didnt sound too good. You okay . Yes, i think the answer is yes on your last part. But the lawsuits going to take some time. This is a separation of powers issue. And i dont know when the lawsuits going to get wrapped up. I think it goes into may. If we end up going to court, that could take us months. So its just a continue its currently an unresolved issue. But the payments should be continued while the lawsuit is being litigated the Administration Funds these benefits. Thats how theyve been doing it. And i dont see any change in that. Yeah . To follow up on that, you just said the 7 billion would stabilize the market and so why not drop the lawsuit . Oh, we dont want to drop the lawsuit because we believe in the separation of powers. We believe in congress retaining its law making power. But this lawsuit has not seen it hasnt run its full course. While this lawsuit is running its course the administration is exercising their discretion with respect to csrs. Our plan a here is to repeal and replace obamacare and have that transition occur where these markets are stabilizing. Thats what we hope to achieve. Yeah . So the health bill seems to be a little bit in limbo and youre encouraging members to talk to each other. Will you commit that there will be another similar bill . Im not going to commit to when and what the votes going to look like because its my job to help make sure that House Republicans can coalesce and come together and draw consensus. What im encouraging our members to do is figure out what solutions get us to a bill that everybody can vote for and pass. Thats the kind of conversations that are occurring. This is too big of an issue to not get right. And so im not going to put some kind of artificial deadline on saving the American Health care system from an oncoming collapse. I think its too important. Lets forget about all the beltway talk here and think about there are families that are hurting. There are families that arent getting the kind of health care they need. Premiums are going up double digits. Plans are pulling out of marketplaces. No one has a choice in a third of american counties. This is a problem. The Insurance Companies are telling us its just going to get worse. So its really important that we do something to fix this problem. And thats going to take us to continue to work to get consensus. And im not going to put a timeline on it because i just want to make sure we get this done right. Thank you very much, everybody. Appreciate it. And that was House Speaker paul ryan giving his weekly q a with reporters. Just less than a week after the his Health Care Bill failed because of his own party, the House Republicans there in the Freedom Caucus saying House Speaker paul ryan saying he understands President Trumps frustration with that wing of the party. Kayla tausche joins us now with the recap of some of those comments. He also talked about the prospects for tax reform and how they become a little harder, kayla, after that bill failed just from a logistics point of view on the budget. Well, yes. And, sara, because they were doing a financial approach to health care reform, he acknowledged the fact that without repealing the Affordable Care act taxes, it does leave a little bit of revenue off the table to pursue tax reform. He did say that 90 of the republican conference is onboard with the current or the previous draft of that Health Care Bill, but he said hes going to be devoting his time to getting the rest of the 10 onboard or at least the 5 he would need to actually have that vote pass. He did say that hes not going to set a deadline for doing this. He called it artificial to actually say if and when they are trying to have this vote on his health care draft. Although i will make an aside that june 21st is the deadline for insurers to decide how much they will charge for the 2018 plans and whether they will participate. So there is a couple months from now a deadline at least for companies to choose to participate in the Affordable Care act Going Forward. On spending he said theyve already sent a department of defense bill to the senate but that it will be up to the senate to decide how to structure a bill for the rest of spending. But of course it is health care really that looms in the distance just a week after his Weekly Press Conference was delayed multiple times, he held it today just a few minutes after 11 30, but he says his job is to get the republican conference back on track, to get that bill passed despite the fact that the president just this morning, sara, was tweeting criticizing the Freedom Caucus saying if they dont get onboard theyre going to threaten the rest of the republican agenda. An understandable position, says the House Speaker. Kayla, thank you. And henry, the speaker also talked about the russia inquiry saying that should go wherever the facts go, acknowledging that it has gotten a pllittle politil and encouraging people to take a step back. I wonder if that implies maybe nunes shouldnt make anymore visits to the white house in ryans opinion as he conducts this . Yes. And its nice to hear actually patriotism and standing up for america, which is whats going on. Some other corners of washington youre not hearing that, certainly from the president saying get rid of this, theres nothing here. Both sides should want to look into this in detail and find out whats going on. Even as we speak theres a Senate Intelligence Hearing Committee on russia happening right now. Henry blodget, always good to have you here. Great to be here, thank you. Chime in on everything from politics to smartphones. When we come back, a cnbc exclusive with u. S. Steel Ceo Mario Longhi on the president s 1 trillion infrastructure plan. Hes had a seat at the table in those white house meetings a few times. Well be right back with squawk alley. Former treasury secretary jack lew speaking out about the future for american infrastructure last night. Take a listen. The United States has an awful lot of capacity to build infrastructure. Where we lack the will is to pay for it. And if we could only figure out a way to pay for it, we would find lots of construction firms to do the work. U. S. Steel ceo and a member of the u. S. Competitiveness council, mario longhi joins us now in a cnbc exclusive with more. Mario, nice to see you again. Good morning, sara, jon and kelly. Good to be with you. So youve been inside a lot of those white house meetings with the president , have talked to him about infrastructure. What are you hearing and recommending the best way to pay for it as for the former treasury secretary lews point about the difficult part of all this . Well, first and foremost, its really very, very positive now that they are really speaking about the importance of infrastructure. I mean, youre all aware that we probably havent addressed it in the past five decades. The Civil Engineers have just validated a a grade of our infrastructure and the way we understand they are approaching it is an all encompassing approach. I think its a very positive thing. And one of the discussions taken place also involves the Public Private partnerships that have been applied in so many different countries. And it seems to have been producing the necessary results. So do you anticipate any federal dollars being spent on these Infrastructure Projects directly . Oh, very definitely. The government will have a participation in this, no question about it. Mario, im wondering, we were just talking with deeres ceo sam allen about the dangers of protectionism, especially as we see so much growth happening outside the United States and a Global Company wants to be able to participate in all of that. Do you think the administration thus far has taken the right tack balancing the argument for fair trade against accusations of protectionism . Or would you like to see them adjust in any way . Well, i for myself have been advocating the importance of fair trade in the globalized environment that we live in for quite a while. There is one problem that i see quite commonly when you discuss fair trade with the word protectionism. Protectionism many cases is interpreted as protecting in terms of give me something that i dont deserve, i just need protection. The word protectionism when it comes to the trade law is really addressing fairness under the rule of law. And i think if everybody plays by the same rules, American Companies have total condition to compete in equal equal terms win its fair share. I mean if you look at our business, for example, in steel, we do not in the country produce 100 of what we consume, so its just natural that imports come in. The problem that weve had is were dumping. So i think the term fairness has to be interpreted under the rule of law. Thats an essential element for a rule of trade to deliver the value for societies. Mr. Longhi, hows the pipeline steel coming . Well, unfortunately, the two pipelines that have been approved, they had already bought probably 95 of the steel that was going to be needed. But i think the initiative to try to give American Companies a fair Playing Field that we can participate, were fully capable of providing all the material that is required. For future ones that are coming. As i understand it, the reason why it was so interesting, the president decided i want these pipelines Going Forward built with u. S. Steel. I think at the time he turned to you and said, right . And the question is do we have the capability to actually do that in this country, not with this issue but talking about onshoring a lot of manufacturing . Oh, absolutely. The steel segments in the United States are fully capable and given a fair Playing Field were going to be there to participate in a fair, competitive manner to support the initiatives. Does the steel exist, though, for the pipelines . Is it something youre working on . Absolutely. Weve had this capability for a long time, but when youre dealing with unfair trade in an environment where dumping has prevailed, its pretty difficult to compete when youre competing in many cases against a country, not necessarily a company. But i guess another way of asking kellys question, how realistic is it given the fact that one of the first keystones that he approved, the keystone xl pipeline is not going to be requiring u. S. Steel, as was promised . American steel. Well, again, i think in a fair Playing Field where dumping doesnt take place, we will be able to compete, and we have a high expectation that our level of competitiveness is going to allow for us to win. I mean if we are here at the council of competitiveness having a discussion about initiatives and infrastructure and all that. If you look at the ability to create the technologies that allow for us to not just improve, but improve at a pace that is required to compete, its sitting around america. We have been leading this process. Given the fair Playing Field, i am sure that we can provide everything that is going to be needed for these projects. Mario, i hear what youre saying about the fair Playing Field, but i wonder as we extend that, the Trump Administration has been talking about hire american, buy american, talking about contracts that the federal government is doing, using american specific products. With nafta up for renegotiation, one of the things being looked at is this agreement that governments would take bids across the nafta zone from companies everywhere. If were going to say countries should buy from companies internally, does that not hurt when youre trying to do business in mexico, in canada, in asia, for example . Well, the way i look at it, i want to see the real facts that are going to come out of these negotiations, and i think that that is the moment where were going to find out what conditions are going to be existing to allow for the buy american and hire american to prevail. I also think that you have to understand that there are other initiatives related to, you know, the upgrade of our tax system, all of the initiatives that are going to make america more competitive. Once theyre in place, i think that then we can have a better assessment of how that is going to go. But i look forward to seeing the context more factual so we can make a proper assessment of all this. Well, we know that the commerce secretary, wilbur ross, has a long history in the steel industry, so i am sure he is with you. Mario, thanks for joining us. Mario longhi, part of President Trumps manufacturing council. Take a look at these markets as we head to break. Dow up 62, nasdaq up 6, oil giving some help here. Well be right back on squawk alley. Your Insurance Company wont replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. And if you have more than one Liberty Mutual policy, you qualify for a multipolicy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Your insurance on time. Tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . News flash nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. And if you do have an accident, our claims centers are available to assist you 24 7. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™ Liberty Mutual insurance welcome back. At t partnering with the federal government to run a nationwide emergency network. We caught up with the ceo of at t, randall stevenson, and heres what he had to say. This is a model for not just telecommunications and First Responder networks. Here is a model, as ive said, thats going to attract a lot of private investment. This is going to work for air traffic control, it can work for airports and roads and bridges. Just seems like a logical model to apply if you really wanting to get Infrastructure Investment moving in this country. Thats the ceo of at t, randall stephenson. They just had a major 911 outage across at t. Dont know the details of what happened there. Obviously this is a priority and well see how from the telco side they could string this together. That was something that was being broadly watched. This contract definitely something that gives at t a good position when it comes to spectrum usage. So well see where this relationship between telecom and the administration goes, whether its m a or broadband expansion which is going to be a part of the infrastructure rollout. Also the decision by the house for at t and our parent company, comcast, they no longer are barred from not getting that information. Consumer privacy advocates have sounded the alarm on that but for those companies its good news. In a way it is, but its a question of whats the next shoe to drop. Its one thing if you want the rules to be the same for isps and googles and facebooks of the world. But then what are those rules going to be . Are lawmakers going to impose new standards on making sure consumers have control over their data . Well see. Are you talking about the ftc fcc yes. Got it. Its also so important for at t and their time warner tieup that that goes forward. Personnel choices from the administration saying maybe it will, but i saw ads in the paper this morning where theyre talking about how they have the biggest unionized workforce in the country, at t drawing attention to their that is going to be the biggest question of the administration for this company. Are they going to allow that deal to go through. Telecom has pretty much underperformed so far this year, down about 5 . On that news, commerce secretary wilbur ross who made the at t announcement this morning, will be live on cnbc at 2 30 p. M. On power lunch. We should mention as we head to break, markets are a little off their highs. The dow hanging on to a gain of 47, john. Snap down 2. 5 , not doing as well today, but a number of other stocks up, about half and half. Thank you to both of you for joining squawk alley. Lets turn it over to wapner at the half. Welcome to the halftime report. Our top trade this hour downward dog. Shares of lululemon slammed today, the worst in nine years. Is it a sign the redhot athleisure trend is over. Lets begin with lulu, those shares getting crushed on that weak outlook, raising questions about what has been one of the bright spots in retail. Pete, yesterday going into this number i was bullish and all the numbers and jim cramer, i heard him talking about