Squawk Pod

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) offers his party’s perspective on the Iran War, the President’s delivery on the economy, and America’s affordability crisis. This week, the market digested multiple economic data sets. On Tuesday, the producer price index, a gauge of pipeline costs for final demand goods and services, made the biggest 12-month gain since February 2023. Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that U.S. import prices rose less than expected in March, and petroleum import prices increased 9.4% as the war in Iran drove energy prices higher. CNBC’s Steve Liesman and Rick Santelli break down the data and the market’s expectations for that data, and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack explains what the numbers could mean for the Fed’s next interest rate decision. Plus, CNBC’s Phil LeBeau discusses the potential for airline mergers in the current administration, Anthropic is reportedly turning down VC money, and Kevin Warsh’s Fed nomination hearing has been scheduled after a delay. 

 

Phil LeBeau - 11:13

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries - 19:33

Steve Liesman & Rick Santelli - 36:48

Beth Hammack - 42:47

 

In this episode:

Hakeem Jeffries, @RepJeffries

Phil LeBeau, @Lebeaucarnews

Steve Liesman, @steveliesman

Rick Santelli, @RickSantelli

Kelly Evans, @KellyCNBC

Michael Santoli, @michaelsantoli

Joe Kernen, @JoeSquawk

Katie Kramer, @Kramer_Katie

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Lowe’s is launching annual subscription service HomeCare+ to deepen the company’s relationship with customers. CEO Marvin Ellison discusses the initiative, the investment he’s making in trade skill training, the future of the labor market, and the ideal housing environment for his bottom line. Then, Robert Frank reports on the Iran War’s impact on luxury shoppers in the Middle East and, by extension, on luxury conglomerate LVMH. Plus, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby reportedly pitched a merger with American, and CNBC’s Steve Liesman reports that the NFIB small business optimism index for March of 2026 fell to its lowest level since the Liberation Day tariffs in April of 2025. 

 

Steve Liesman - 6:46

Marvin Ellison - 16:24

Robert Frank - 33:19

 

In this episode:

Steve Liesman, @steveliesman

Robert Frank, @robtfrank

Kelly Evans, @KellyCNBC

Joe Kernen, @JoeSquawk

Katie Kramer, @Kramer_Katie

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President Trump has announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after peace talks between the U.S. and Iran failed over the weekend. Founder and senior chairman of Evercore Roger Altman discusses the business community’s response to the conflict, CNBC’s Dan Murphy reports from the UAE, and former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discusses the perspective of U.S. allies around the world as the Iran War continues. Plus, McDonald’s is exploring an expansion to its beverage menu, and Rory McIlroy won the Masters for the second year in a row. 

 

Dan Murphy - 08:27

Roger Altman - 21:37

Jens Stoltenberg - 34:16

 

In this episode: 

Dan Murphy, @dan_murphy

Kelly Evans, @KellyCNBC

Joe Kernen, @JoeSquawk

Katie Kramer, @Kramer_Katie

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ March CPI data revealed an annual inflation rate of 3.3%. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg discusses the pressures on American consumers, including an Iran War-prompted energy price surge and DHS funding. NYT investigative journalist John Carreyrou spent years digging into the real identity of bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto and concluded that it is famed computer scientist, Adam Back. Adam Back, though he’s made notable contributions to the foundations of bitcoin, denies the conclusion. Back makes his case directly–and explains why anonymity might be good for bitcoin. Plus, OpenAI has fired at Anthropic in a new memo to shareholders, Kevin Warsh’s Fed nomination hearing was delayed, and a fake research paper fooled AI models. 

 

Pete Buttigieg            15:09

Adam Back                  31:29

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The state of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire appears fragile amid Israel’s strikes in Lebanon. Council on Foreign Relation president Michael Froman discusses the fog of the Iran war, the confusion in negotiation, and the many stakeholders in the region. Head of policy at Palisade Research Dave Kasten discusses Anthropic’s newest model Mythos, an LLM so powerful the company isn’t rolling it out to the public. Kasten shares his worries about the AI race, including developers’ increased tolerance of AI “bad behavior” in the name of innovation progress and speed. Plus, Anthropic has lost its bid to temporarily block the Pentagon’s blacklisting, and a few Polymarket users won big on particularly well-timed Iran war bets. 

 

Dan Murphy - 3:42

Michael Froman - 21:03

Dave Kasten 31:04

 

In this episode: 

Dan Murphy, @dan_murphy

Andrew Ross Sorkin, @andrewrsorkin

Becky Quick, @BeckyQuick

Joe Kernen, @JoeSquawk

Katie Kramer, @Kramer_Katie

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.