Squawk Pod

As 2020 election results trickle in, Al Gore’s running mate former Senator Joe Lieberman reflects on the 34 controversial days between Election Day in 2000 and Gore’s final concession. His lessons from that infamous election twenty years ago: at some point, for the good of the country, a peaceful transfer of power must ensue. Pollster and political strategist Frank Luntz considers what’s next for...

As votes are counted across the country, David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-executive chairman of The Carlyle Group, expects market jitters to continue until a clear winner emerges. He and IAC Chairman Barry Diller consider what political division in the U.S. means for the next four years of policy, business, international relations, and the American psyche, regardless of the election outcome. Di...

Election Day 2020 is finally here. At this culmination of America’s anxieties, former Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos discusses social media’s strategies and obligations to curb misinformation ahead of the final results. In a podcast original interview, The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern shares how she found her anxiety fix in a social media blackout. Plus, regardless of the electi...

Dr. Atul Gawande, Chairman of Haven, surgeon, and staff writer for The New Yorker, shares his expectations for coronavirus vaccine supply and American confidence in preventative drugs. CNBC’s Steve Liesman breaks down results from a CNBC All America Survey, revealing American faith in health care companies and the demographic disparities between those who are wary of and confident in a potential v...

Ken Frazier, CEO of drug maker Merck, maps out his timeline for a coronavirus vaccine as cases continue to rise around the world. In a conversation with Yale School of Management’s Jeff Sonnenfeld, Frazier discusses the duty CEOs have to encourage voting, civility, and faith in the democratic process. Politics took precedence at big tech’s big (virtual) day on Capitol Hill. Former White House Chie...

Robinhood, the trading app that took young people and financiers by storm, now boasts 13 million user accounts. Its zero-commission trading model prompted an overhaul of the online brokerage ecosystem, although the company has run into SEC investigations, hackers, and performance outages along the way. In an extended interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin, CEO Vlad Tenev discusses the role Robinhood pl...

The National Institutes of Health has halted one of Eli Lilly’s coronavirus antibody trials, having found that the combination of Lilly’s antibody drug and Gilead’s remdesivir does not result in a marked improvement in hospitalized Covid-19 patients. Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks discusses what’s next for the antibody that’s proven successful in treating milder Covid cases, and he addresses the compan...

Coronavirus cases are on the rise in Europe and in the United States, and former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb says things stateside are likely to get worse before they get better. Big tech is gearing up for a big week; major players are expected to report quarterly earnings, and the CEOs of Alphabet, Facebook, and Twitter are slated to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee to discuss...

Pollster and political strategist Frank Luntz breaks down the last Presidential debate before Election Day. Luntz emphasizes the volume of mail in ballots expected this cycle, and projects that we won’t have a final vote count for days after November 3rd. Plus, Facebook’s former Chief Privacy Officer and General Counsel Chris Kelly discusses the challenges ahead for big tech players and the regula...

Paul Tudor Jones, billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist, discusses today’s market, 33 years after Wall Street’s Black Monday. Jones considers the U.S. economic environment after the election, the value of bitcoin, market volatility, and Joe Biden’s tax plan. The Washington Football Team plays the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday, in a game dubbed “DMVotes Game,” part of Washington’s campaign...

Amazon is rolling out grocery pickup at Whole Foods, but Bezos may still have a few kinks to iron out to make the effort a success. Netflix reported disappointing results for its third quarter after missing subscriber targets, but Snapchat surprised the Street with a strong delivery for its investors and its advertisers. Lightshed’s Rich Greenfield and CNBC’s Julia Boorstin discuss the two platfor...

Rapper, actor, and activist Michael Render, AKA Killer Mike, has launched Greenwood, a digital banking platform aimed at supporting Black and Latinx Americans who are unbanked or underserved by the traditional banking system in the U.S. He explains why support from financial institutions is critical to Black and brown America building wealth and participating fully in the economy. John Hope Bryant...

Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb looks ahead to 2021 for vaccines and a possible end to the coronavirus pandemic. He says we’re nearly through, but the hardest road is still ahead. AMC movie theaters are starting to reopen in New York, and CEO Adam Aron is optimistic about cinema safety but concerned about consumer demand. He emphasizes that movie releases, not limited theater capacity,...

Description: LinkedIn co-founder and “Masters of Scale” podcast host Reid Hoffman has joined a number of prominent business leaders in speaking out on election integrity. The entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author is calling for patience and civility in awaiting election results, and considers the best options for American stability moving forward. GOP pollster Frank Luntz says undecided vot...

Four months after the 200 American CEOs in the Business Roundtable committed to combating racial injustice in this country, the group has released a set of policy recommendations to hold themselves accountable to their goals, and to encourage other business leaders to do the same. Walmart CEO and BRT Chairman Doug McMillon discusses strategies for keeping the spotlight on racial inequality amid th...

Business magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates sits down (virtually) with Becky Quick for an extended interview. Gates discusses the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, explains the Gates Foundation’s partnership with Eli Lilly to find a vaccine, and addresses Covid conspiracy theories. Amid mounting regulatory pressure on big tech, Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, reflects on his own time l...

Larry Fink, co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of BlackRock, gives his outlook for the markets, the U.S. economic recovery, and fiscal stimulus. For the second time, BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, is working with the Federal Reserve to help prop up the American economy. Larry Fink considers the promise of SPACs and retail investing platforms like Robinhood, and he underscores the role co...

As Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the U.S. Dr. Scott Gottlieb discusses drug treatment distribution and potential supply issues. The New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Thomas Friedman weighs the biggest issues for voters just three weeks before the Presidential election, and considers innovation in a post-pandemic world, from social media in Silicon Valley to the wo...

Lloyd Blankfein, former chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, joins for an extended interview to discuss the stalemate over more federal stimulus, more federal aid for airlines, the state of the bank sector and more. The National Football League is now experiencing a pandemic crisis sparked by Covid-19 outbreaks that started with the Tennessee Titans. And like Major League Baseball, outside skepticis...

Regeneron and Eli Lilly have both asked the FDA to grant their experimental Covid-19 antibody treatments emergency use approval. President Trump, who received Regeneron’s antibody cocktail in his own coronavirus treatments, is urging regulators to approve them for widespread use. CNBC’s Meg Tirrell breaks down the journey ahead for the treatments with Joe, Becky, and Andrew. Pollster and political...

LA Clippers Chairman and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer discusses the prospect of breaking up tech giants after the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee released its 450 page report on Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon. Ballmer, also the founder of USAFacts, addresses misinformation and the value in fact-finding ahead of the Presidential election. Chevron CEO Michael Wirth shares his compa...

After the President’s return to the White House, CNBC’s Eamon Javers discusses containment, messaging, and recovery in the West Wing. Pandemic-bruised airlines await a federal bailout, but Southwest Airlines Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly plans to save his business and his employees with or without the government’s help. Chef and restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson is lobbying Congress for restaurant stim...

President Trump remains at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and treatments for his coronavirus diagnosis include an experimental antibody cocktail from Regeneron, dexamethasone, and Gilead’s remdesivir. CNBC’s Eamon Javers tracks the timeline of events since the President’s announcement, and CNBC’s Meg Tirrell explains the drugs in the President’s treatment plans. Former FDA Commissio...

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, prompting further economic and political uncertainty just 32 days before Election Day. Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb says the President is likely to recover, but “the risk is still high.” CNBC’s Eamon Javers breaks down the whirlwind of Covid contact tracing currently underway at the White Ho...

The high profile, highly controversial Palantir has finally gone public on the NYSE after 17 years of near-secret operation. CEO Alex Karp shares the company’s journey to this point, its pathway to profitability, and Palantir’s list of “cool” customers, from government agencies to the world’s most influential corporations. Journalists and CNBC contributors Joanne Lipman and Alex Kantrowitz unpack...