have the tools necessary to make decisions. charles: senator scott, i always appreciate all the work you have done and i appreciate you sharing it with our audience today. thank you very much. >> thank you. have a great day. charles: liz claman, market moseying along here but moving a little higher to your hour again. liz: i know. so we are looking for anything, did you catch that one line where president trump tossed out that one particular stock at the end of his talk with the press? charles: yeah. it's a stock i think turning this thing around. i think it was boeing. liz: it was boeing. he kind of dropped it so i immediately was watching boeing stock and at first it was down to flat, then it immediately turned higher and then it's kind of lost some of that. that's what we have seen, folks. the president mixing diplomacy with deals as he hosted the emir of qatar. the emir just departed the white house after discussing security issues in the middle east, namely iran, but president trump's economic announcement stole the show. executives from boeing, ge,

raytheon, chevron and phillips chemical putting pen to paper just a few moments after that meeting with the emir, inking deals with qatari businesses, but do those deals negate the harsh truth that qatar is one of the few countries that will not cut its diplomatic ties with iran? we are about to get an answer to that in just a moment. while the president strikes deals with qatar, china trade talks lurching forward, kind of in fits and starts, but some u.s. companies are still terrified that tariffs could derail profits. jeff flock is live in milwaukee with that company on your screen, one company desperate for an exemption to keep the trains running. there's a new billionaire running for president on the democratic side. tom steyer, best known for his environmental activism and also this push to impeach president trump, but will voters buy into a billionaire who says he's running against corporate greed?

how did he become a billionaire? a former adviser to president obama and former chief of ubs of america, he knows both sides of the story and he's here with his assessment on tom steyer. a mixed picture on wall street. with the nasdaq up 34 because tech is really leading the nasdaq higher, materials and telecoms keeping the dow and s&p a bit under water ahead of critical testimony by the federal reserve chair in less than 24 hours. we are going to take you live to cleveland, one of my favorite places on planet earth ahead of tonight's all-star game. our "countdown" closer gives us his triple play defensive stocks and charlie breaks it live from sun valley, idaho. big story he's got. less than an hour to the closing bell. let's start "the claman countdown." liz: we have this news that just is breaking in the past hour or two on u.s./china tariffs.

u.s. trade representative robert lighthizer and treasury secretary steven mnuchin just got off the phone with chinese vice premier liu he. officials say both sides are continuing negotiations to resolve outstanding trade issues, but we really didn't give any detail so again, that's why i said fits and starts. let's look at the impact on the markets. you know, not really anything too dramatic. you could argue that everybody's waiting on federal reserve chair jerome powell's speech to congress tomorrow. it's a two-day kind of q & a opportunity, first with the senate, then the house. used to be called humphrey hawkins testimony. we are middling around. the dow jones industrials down 56. s&p about flat as a pancake and the nasdaq is climbing 35. let's talk about networking equipment giant cisco systems. both a nasdaq and dow stock. it's buying optical component maker for $2.8 billion. let me give you the optics of

the deal. cisco, which is up about a quarter of a percent right now, is paying $70 in cash for each acacia share. right now, that's at $64.94, even with a gain of 35% right now. so when cisco says you know what, we will offer you a 46% premium to monday's close, investors really seem to think that that, for the moment, is the right price. cisco says this transaction will allow it to build its switching, routing and optical networking portfolio, maybe even 5g. cisco is really kind of the company that might want to very much take on china's huawei. this deal will apparently close in the second half of cisco's fiscal 2020. other optical makers are getting a nice bump here on this. supplied opto electronics, moving higher, anywhere from slightly higher to 13% gains. and a lot of eyeballs on a

screen these past four days. we are talking about netflix. the mega-hit "stranger things" broke the record for netflix. the streaming giant saying that 40.7 million households watched the third season of the sci-fi show since its release on july 4th. right now, we do have netflix up 1% or $4 but at $380.19, you've got cowan citing "stranger things" as the reason netflix is sort of the boss of the living room at the moment. what a year it's been. year to date the stock is up 41%. good stuff. i'm waiting. no, nobody tweet me on what happened. dustin. he's so cute. let's get to boeing. now wore're watching it. look how choppy it's been. look around 1:00 p.m. that's when president trump threw out the name at the very end of a presser, where he said oh, by the way, we're about to

have a big announcement in boeing. it was almost like a toss-away. immediately you see the spike, then it fell and fell even more, now we have boeing up half a percent, widely held stock right now despite reporting a 37% drop in deliveries due to, of course, the grounding of its max jets. the stock popped after president trump and the emir of qatar discussed the incoming order for the airplane maker. then a few minutes later, listen to this. >> today a very large transaction, you're going to be invited to the signing. it's a transaction that will be purchasing a lot of boeing jets and a lot of money spent in our country. that means a lot of jobs. liz: so then the signing ceremony, a flurry of signings, where the president put pen to paper basically flanked by a lot of the ceos involved. qatar airways purchasing five boeing 777 freighters. that order was announced at the paris air show but executives of other companies such as chevron,

ge, gulfstream and raytheon, also on hand to sign billions of dollars in deals with the middle eastern nation. let's bring in dick cheney's former national security adviser, john hannah. you know, john, what struck some of us here was that were we just watching at our national security takes a back seat to business deals because it's important to know that qatar refuses to cut diplomatic ties with iran. so could you interpret for us as a former national security adviser, what you saw unfolding here? >> well, thanks, liz. listen, this is a deeply important but also deeply problematic relationship that we've had for a long time with qatar, who has played a dual game with us. on the one hand, it hosts the largest american military base in the middle east. absolutely strategically crucial. we are allowed to do almost anything we want in various conflict zones from afghanistan

to iraq to potentially an iran contingency out of qatar. the qataris pay for almost everything. on the other hand, as you have mentioned, the relationship with iran, the fact that qatar is the world's foremost sponsor of the muslim brotherhood, that they own the al-jazeera tv station that just constantly incites hatred for the united states and israel throughout the arab world. it's a deep problem. liz: it does get vicious on one end, and yet as you say, we've got 10,000 american troops right there. could that end up, i'm trying to think like president trump, the businessman, could that end up being a bargaining chip meaning -- it actually wasn't even president trump but the former air force commander who suggested in an op-ed today that the president could demand that qatar either cut ties with iran or we close our air base. >> listen, i think everything needs to be on the table.

i think the u.s. should be much tougher with the qataris regarding their malign activities against u.s. interests in the region but i've got to tell you that i worked for the bush administration during the iraq war. they were awful, their involvement with al qaeda was really hurting and actually getting u.s. troops killed in iraq, and we tried to march up that hill of threatening the air base if they didn't fly right, and we never got there because the military value of that base is enormous to our troops who are in harm's way. they have a degree of flexibility to conduct lethal operations anywhere in the middle east from that base that nowhere else in the middle east yet provides us. liz: okay. well, from a business standpoint, because i don't like what you just said -- i mean, i understand what you just said but it is disturbing that they were not helpful to us and yet we need it so we would be cutting off or nose to spite our

face but whether it's general electric medical, striker, boston scientific, st. jude, these are american companies that have still legally been allowed to do business or there are so many others itching to do business with iran's 81 million people, second largest country in the middle east, do the europeans also want to do this but they want to do it without inflaming america's anger? >> listen, i think all foreign companies are looking at that iranian market and desperate to get in there, and i think that's the case. but nobody's going to be able to do anything so long as these crushing u.s. sanctions are in place. even if their governments wanted to do business with iran, their companies are voting with their feet, voting on their bottom lines. if it's a choice between iran and the united states, that's no choice at all for these companies. they go with the united states. liz: i just want to quickly, because we are running out of time, india, get to india, because the president today kind of dropped a brand new trade

grenade on india, saying enough, already, you just raised tariffs on u.s. goods that come into that country. you know, i thought we had a good relationship with india, yet now it appears that we have an unfair trade landscape there? >> this escalation in trade tensions with india, we have got negotiators going next week. the president undoubtedly wants as much leverage as he can going into that. the question always with the president, as has been the case with other european and asian allies, is do you want to be picking all these fights at once or would you rather be rallying everybody to the major challenge that we have strategically with china and its undermining american security and prosperity across the globe.

that's the big question the administration faces. liz: john, thank you very much for your perspective. we appreciate it. john hannah. all right. from dealings at the white house to testimony on capitol hill, we've got to wait another 19 hours for what is expected to be the defining market event this week. that's when federal reserve chairman jerome powell kicks off his two-day testimony before congress. why is this so significant, considering he spoke to a group today? because it will be his first public remarks since the trade cease-fire and the latest jobs report which was rather strong. while criticism from the white house has rained down on jay powell in recent weeks, just this morning, national economic council director larry kudlow bestowed little bit of sunshine on the chairman saying powell's job was quote, safe at the present time. okay. at the present time? boy, did kudlow leave that open to interpretation because it could all change tomorrow if powell says something during his speech or even during the q & a

session after that that displeases someone at the white house. what might that be? to our floor show traders. john corpina, what will, could, jay powell say that could once again raise the ire of president trump? >> you know, i think the message that we heard before from the fed that they act alone, that they're not going to be influenced by the white house, and if they say something that's contradictory to what we heard coming out of the white house, i think that might spark that conversation, that criticism. let's just also be clear. president trump has made it, you know, very very clear from the beginning that no one who works in the government is safe. at any given point, we have seen that revolving door at the white house continually turn around. so i think this message of he's safe for now, that comes out of the white house, is something we have heard over time. this is just to kind of spark some criticism. liz: yeah. phil, the perception by the fed funds futures traders, the guys who bet on the odds that we will see a rate cut at the end of this month when the fed meets,

have diminished dramatically. we just showed it. first it was 93% but as soon as we got the jobs number, it fell to 7% because do you really want to use one of the arrows in your quiver when you need to save them for really difficult times? >> yeah. i mean, that's the big debate that traders are looking at. that hits home, why this testimony is so important. that's what traders have to find out. has the recent jobs numbers changed his view on cutting interest rates? is he still concerned about the u.s./china trade war? all of that is going to come into play. i know the one thing he should come out and say, he should come out and say i don't care what donald trump says, that's not my job, right? he should declare fed independence. he probably will. but the last time i saw him talk about that, where he said listen, you know, i'm scheduled to serve so many years and i plan on filling it out, it seemed like he was getting that pressure from the trump administration. he has to go beyond that and say listen, the president can say whatever he wants, i've got a

job to do and my job is as i see it, just potentially cut rates at the next meeting as long as we're moving in this direction. liz: well, i don't venture to guess what members of congress will ask, but i will say this. somebody's going to say will you cut rates at the end of this month. it will be really interesting. i think both of you, it's going to be big. john, phil, good to see you both. thank you so much. all right. investors are ripping down the post-it notes, with the closing bell ringing in 45 minutes. 3m stands for minnesota mining and manufacturing, is the biggest drag on the dow at this hour after rbc downgraded the maker of sticky paper pads and scotch tape to sector perform from outperform. rbc also lowered its price target from $207 down to $176 a share. still below that at $165 right now. aside from pressures on its auto and electronics businesses, perhaps a bit more worrisome is the concern related to ongoing litigation regarding 3m's role in water contamination from a

toxic chemical which was shown up across the nation from alabama to minnesota. shares are already down 11% so far this year. up next, the trump tariff train barreling into companies both big and small. jeff flock is riding the train in milwaukee with one all-american business hoping it won't be the next to get derailed. "the claman countdown" will be right back. (vo) the hamsters, run hopelessly in their cage. content on their endless quest, to nowhere.

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billions and billions of dollars in tariffs are coming in and china's paying for it, not our people. liz: but as neil cavuto so often gently says, to clarify, it is our people, americans, who pay the tariffs on chinese materials coming into the u.s. as american companies have been trying to absorb as much of the cost as possible, without hiking their own prices for their customers, the president consistently warns there could be more tariffs coming down the track if china does not meaningfully change their ways. so what do bicycles, cell phones, microwaves and yes, model trains have in common? they are all among the items included in the additional $300 billion worth of tariffs being

threatened against china. maybe the upcoming ones, right? well, leading companies are already clamoring to head that off at the pass and desperate and ask for exemptions for their products. is there some relief? the office of the u.s. trade representative today announced exemptions for 110 items, some of them on your screen here. on the first round of $34 billion in tariffs. take a look at some of these. everything from heat exchangers, that's the first item on the list, to humistats. jeff flock is at walthers, a milwaukee-based manufacturer distributor of model trains and model train parts. tell us, are they looking for an exemption ahead of this, jeff? reporter: oh, you betcha. you're looking at main street middle america. i tell you, if you're into model trains, you know walthers. this is a company four generations of family. can you see the other camera?

look at that. liz: yeah, we see it. looks great. reporter: fascinating. model trains are big and a lot of the pieces, this company has been making trains for decades, a lot of the pieces come from china. i have the president of the company, fourth generation president of the company. is there any way around this? if you don't get an exemption, what happens? >> if we don't get an exemption from the list of tariffs, we will have to raise prices which we do believe will depress demand. reporter: number one, the president says as liz pointed out, china is paying the tariffs. actually, you would be paying the tariffs. >> yes. we would receive a 25% additional import duty and that really has to be passed along. our merchants can't support that. reporter: some people say if you can afford to buy these trains, you can afford an extra 25%. true? >> you know, there are probably people, sure. however, the general market and the general marketplace is made up of all sorts of people.

we want our hobby to be accessible not only to current customers but also to the newcomer who wants to get started. reporter: these things are fascinating. look at this layout. i tell you, model trains is just one of them. this goes from shoes to, you know, lots of items. the folks that make florscheim shoes, take a look at the quote from them. this tax, they call it a tax, would force us to try to increase prices which is very difficult to do in this price-sensitive area of the market. obviously shoes, very competitive and model trains, too. you know, the thing about model trains, in this connected society that's all about phones and that sort of thing, this kind of brings people, this is like quintessential american hobby. >> we really think it's relevant today for that very reason. in this kind of ironic life we live in where the world is more connected, it's more disconnected than ever. if you can come together and build something where somebody has one skill and somebody has another skill, you can learn and

grow together whether you are a baby boomer or a kid who needs to get off his phone. that's something of value. we really think we can build a more connected community where the little things matter. we really think we can. reporter: spoken as a mother of teen agers there. liz, i love this. liz: me, too. oh, don't derail it! reporter: didn't knock it off the track. liz: almost, man. the schnozz almost knocked that off. thanks to the great folks at walthers. i love those trains. fabulous. you guys know me. i always say cleveland rocks. with the closing bell ringing in 36 minutes, dow is still down about 84 points but fans are getting up and set for major league baseball's all-star game tonight at play ballpark in cleveland. oh, check that out. yeah. you know, what's an all-star game without that kind of ziplining, right? that's the t-mobile zip line. here's how a few of the mlb rock stars are doing today.

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liz: baseball's best and brightest, the all-stars, are about to take the field in cleveland for the 90th annual mlb all-star game, and you know, cleveland so rocks it that mlb, major league baseball, has granted the city its sixth time to host, more than any other franchise. go, indians. take the browns with you. no. last night, new york mets rookie

first baseman pete alonso won the home run derby but there have been a few groans from major league pitchers that the ball being used is different, causing for a spike in home runs this season. we head to cleveland, greatest location in the nation, where connell mcshane spoke with one of the game's best lefties on the issue. hi, connell. connell: hey, liz. i know you love this city and they are excited about the game tonight, no doubt about it. who knows, this is an official major league baseball i have been holding today. you know, i couldn't tell you whether it's juiced. some of the pitchers will tell you they can tell just by feeling it there's something different about it, that's why all those home runs are being hit. we talk when we come to a story like this about the business side of whatever an event might be all the time. if you look at baseball from a business perspective, it's interesting, you look at one hand at the revenue, it keeps going up. last year it was over $10 billion. been going up for 16 straight seasons, coming into this one. that's obviously good news.

attendance, though, when you average out over all of the teams has been down for six years. that's one of the reasons some people are concerned, is there enough action on the field, are there enough balls in play, too many strikeouts, all to your point, or too many home runs. the lefty you referred to is dodger great clayton kershaw. we put that question to clayton kershaw, got a little worked up about whether or not there are too many home runs. here he is. >> what do you want to do? yeah, what do you want to do about it? everybody has these articles written. what do you want to do? unless there's a solution, i don't worry about it. connell: all right. unless there's a solution. to that question from mr. kershaw, what are you going to do about it, another all-time great, former pitcher for the atlanta braves, john smoltz is our guest next hour. he will sit next to joe buck for the call of the all-star game on fox. they start their pregame show on the set right next to where we are out at center field at 7:30

eastern time, then take to the booth at 8:00 for the first pitch. so we will talk to john about that. he's one of these guys who says he can just tell by feeling this ball if there's something different about it. you will hear his answer on that question next hour. pretty good stuff. liz: okay. you have to go to flyman's for corned beef sandwiches. connell: okay. liz: with all your free time. connell: the whole crew. it's on you. it's on you. we will put it on your tab. liz: no problem. i have an open tab right there. i can't believe, you know, t-mobile, they always do something different, right. that zip line is cray. i can't believe it. connell: yes. that, i'm staying away from for a number of reasons. speaking of tabs, we wouldn't want to see the insurance bill if something were to go wrong. put it that way. people are having fun. these events are really fun, right, because it's a chance to see players you don't see all the time, whether it's basketball or football, major league baseball all-star game. the fans love to see people they couldn't see all the time and they have a chance to see that

tonight. hopefully they will have fun tonight at the game. liz: i want you on that zip line. connell: no chance. liz: okay. one of the camera crew. connell: well, yeah, some of the washington guys are with us. our producer, he could be a guy on the zip line. we would have a whole new set of problems. liz: that would be slightly disastrous. all right. thanks, connell. connell mcshane. stick around for special coverage of the major league baseball all-star game. this is at the top of the hour because connell mcshane will be right there live on location in cleveland, and do not miss fox sports' coverage of the annual battle between the biggest stars of the american and national leagues. coverage of the 2019 all-star game begins 7:30 p.m. eastern only on fox. ♪ limu emu & doug

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obviously corporations don't have hearts or souls or futures. they don't have children. they have a short time frame and they really care about just making money. if you give them the unlimited ability to participate in politics, it will skew everything because they only care about profit. liz: that is former hedge fund investor tom steyer. earlier today, mr. steyer threw his hat into the crowd, very crowded ring, to challenge president trump in 2020, but despite his anti-corporation stance that you just heard there, the move made by the billionaire financier has some democrats scratching their heads over sort of the optics of income inequality. steyer plans to spend at least

$100 million on his campaign, exceeding the total amounts raised over the last three months by democratic front-runners, joe biden, pete buttigieg, elizabeth warren and bernie sanders and kamala harris combined. what does this last-minute shakeup mean for the 2020 race? our next guest was president obama's top wall street adviser, having run with some of the biggest names in the financial world, as of course the former head of ubs america. robert wolf joins us now. great to have you back. >> i just want to say "the claman countdown." i was hoping to be on the first day. i love it. i thought that's what it was for years. i love it. liz: a little bit of alteration. >> love it. well deserved. liz: thank you so much. >> now we can go back. liz: let's find out if it's well deserved for tom steyer. you have met him a couple of times. how can a guy who made his fortune in hedge funds or business, then turn around and say businesses have no heart and no soul? >> well, certainly his video was a bit dark, right? you had madoff, you had the

pharmaceutical industry, you had the banks, you had the fossil fuels. he went right into that progressive lane and that's kind of where he's been for the last five years. he's been at the forefront of climate change, obviously impeach trump. tell you what he has that surprised -- that doesn't surprise everyone but he has $100 million and he has those boxes he's going to check off but also, he has a donor list from the impeach trump, getting the names for election registration and getting the names for climate. he has a big list. i think that he's going to have a lot of air waves, a lot of coverage. i don't really see a lane for him winning the primary but i certainly am not surprised he put his hat in the ring because i know that he feels like impeach trump should be the number one, number two, number three issue. liz: well, he's also big on, you know, tamping down on the use of fossil fuels and climate change. i get that. but do you think that this

country is hoping for somebody who is optimistic and we haven't really heard that that much, and if his plan is to go heavy on the impeach trump, then it makes me wonder, plus what appears to be a bit hypocritical, he made his money in finance, now he's just dumping all over corporations, that i'm wondering if investors or voters will buy it. >> i have been very clear, this impeach trump being the lane for the democratic party, i don't agree with. liz: not going to work. >> we have to be for something. we can't be against something. i think when people go in, they pull down that lever because they like what someone stands for. i think a lot of people don't show up if you are just against something. obviously, i think with climate change he's been at the forefront. voter registration, at the forefront. i actually think from a policy basis, there are people who will have better policies than he has and also, i thought his video was pretty dark. liz: you make this great point, about 8.3 million people he has on the list who signed this

impeach trump -- >> plus the ones for voter registration. i think it's north of ten million. much more north of ten million. liz: really. okay. well, again, we are watching what he does. he is very socially progressive. and there are people in this country who say they might be fiscally conservative, but more progressive socially than perhaps the administration in current control might have at the moment. he as a businessman might check those boxes. >> he's had a great voice for the party over the last few years, and he's put his money where his mouth is. i don't, you know, have any -- begrudge anyone who's made a lot of money, then goes spend it on things he desires to change. he's an incredible philanthropist. but him being our next president, i think you opened it the right way, he has to thread that needle which is very tough being being a capitalist on how he made his money, then acting like he's a total populist the other way. liz: can i go to this? we have breaking news right now on another democratic candidate, joe biden, joe biden has just

released his tax returns from the years 2016 to 2018. these are both federal and delaware state tax returns. we are looking at all of them at the moment. i can open, i will just open the 2017 federal tax return. does this now bring up the whole new issue of president trump, who has consistently said he has irs issues right now and therefore, he will not until he's done being audited release his tax returns? >> listen, it's a smart move by the former vice president, because one, it talks about his transparency. as you said, it's completely the opposite of what president trump has done. and i think it just shows that, you know, he's been a public servant and my guess is between him and his wife, who is a teacher, outside the book he's done, most of his money's gone to his cancer foundation for beau. liz: speaking of money, it looks like i am looking at his income,

adjusted gross income was $4.5 million. $4.5 million. would that be from speeches, do you think? >> i think that's his book. it's been speeches. i know he's given a lot back to cancer. i will just tell you, when i was at the sandy hook promise event, he gave us a check for -- on gun violence prevention. this guy is definitely a giver. liz: good to see you. >> thanks. once again, congratulations. liz: on? >> "the claman countdown." liz: what? say it again? thank you much. >> like we didn't see it. liz: just lovely. thank you so much. really appreciate it. mega-deals and streaming wars and social media, oh, my. with the closing bell ringing in about 15 and a half minutes, look at the dow paring some of the losses. we are down just 55. the most powerful wizards of media and tech getting their day in the sun. sun valley, that is. oh, yes, charlie gasparino already live on the ground causing mayhem, spilling all the

secrets from the annual closed-door gathering of the entertainment world's elite. charlie breaks it next on "countdown." tomorrow, get out your popcorn, because imax's ceo is joining me on my everyone talks to liz podcast, sharing his amazing story of success and how he went from shining shoes at 8 years old to getting your favorite movies on the biggest of big screens. check out our lightning round q & a teaser with rich on my twitter. all podcast episodes available on apple and google podcast and fox news podcasts.com. rate, subscribe, listen. let me know what you think. "the claman countdown" is coming right back. hopes you drive safely. but allstate actually helps you drive safely... with drivewise. it lets you know when you go too fast... ...and brake too hard. with feedback to help you drive safer. giving you the power to actually lower your cost. unfortunately, it can't do anything about that.

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murdoch, iger, just a few of the c-suite titans set to descend upon sun valley, idaho for the annual meeting of the megaminds in technology and media. oh, yeah, and warren buffett is supposed to be showing up, maybe, too. a parade of high profile arrivals just moments away. who better to send into the fray armed with his ego -- i mean, microphone, than charlie gasparino. >> by the way, i haven't been thrown out yet. i just want to make that clear. that's a fox news alert. liz: there's still time. >> there's still time. this is an interesting crowd. you named some of the names. [ inaudible ] liz: are you being kicked out? >> can we walk backwards? stay with us. liz: i'm right here. >> you met the head of security

here. you met the head of security here. nice guy. i had my problems with him in the past but we're all made up and everything is good, including the fact that you're going to get a lot of deals coming out of here. two major deals. cbs/viacom, shari redstone is here. bob bakish, joe ianiello and also sprint/t-mobile. that deal is being hammered out in d.c. we hear no decision made yet on that. however, the head of softbank is here. from what i understand, he's coming here. i think you are going to have some news coming out of this conference. we will keep on this. we will try not to get thrown out of here from the cops. it's a little difficult. we got to play by the rules. what we hear, no decision today out of d.c. on the

sprint/t-mobile deal. maybe tomorrow. but charlie ergen involved, i mean, don't be surprised if this thing goes the other way. i'm just saying. liz: let me just clarify one thing. for people who haven't been following the story, charlie ergen, who is sort of the wild and crazy guy who has run dish for many, many years and basically founded it, he's the one who says let me solve this problem by taking spectrum off your hands which is what the doj would very much like t-mobile and sprint to not have too much of that on their books. he's the one who says okay, i'll do it but you're saying maybe that might noot wot work out? >> he needs financing to do it. where's the deal? listen, i think it's going to happen, okay? if i was betting it's going to happen but i have been saying this for how many weeks now. i do know he needs financing. not an easy thing. his balance sheet is not that

great. dish's balance sheet we're talking about here. again, our guy says tuesday or wednesday. we didn't hear from him today. we are told it's unlikely we will hear any decision out of doj has hwhich has to approve t deal. i will say this. we believe you have a legitimate fourth carrier in dish buying the spectrum and some other assets from sprint/t-mobile. that's what they're looking at. but you have to finance that. charlie ergen has to come up with the money. it's not easy. that's why this thing is taking so long. there have already been curveballs. that's why this thing [ inaudible ] came back at one point and said we needed more finance. anyway, you get the drift. there are a lot of people here and i'm trying not to get thrown out. liz: you just got kicked out across -- >> it almost happened again. liz: on camera. what timing.

>> i think i have a cop magnet on me. liz: you have more than that on you. thank you so much. charlie gasparino live from sun valley, and the bigwigs are about to arrive. trust us, charlie will get in there and get them. we'll be right back. don't go away. the dow has erased nearly all of the losses. we are down just six points. . .

liz: we're almost there. the s&p was negative. the dow was briefly positive. before slipping back into the red. now down about seven points. we have the s&p and nasdaq near session highs. so the world's largest money manager says it is time to play defense. blackrock says it is raising the cash position and trilling its overall equity or stock risk as it heads into the third quarter. today's "countdown" closer suggests, well he already did suggest that. in fact he suggested that to you

a month ago on the "claman countdown." he has three stocks he says will make for all-star defensive unit. llc portfolio manager jordan kimmel. >> great to be with you. i love the name of the show. i love the new name. liz: thank you so much. kimmel "countdown." >> one thing at a time. liz: you already warned our viewers a month ago get slightly defensive. >> people are caught up trying to keep up with the nasdaq, and what is the qqq? what about the "fang" stocks? they're getting all carried away. you don't need to. we had a long cycle. the bull market is still running. it is time to take the food off the pedal, get more defensive. i started income with growth, it pays 5% dividends. we're in companies like pepsi, mcdonald's, mastercard. these companies pay more than the bank pays, they raise their

dividend every year two. you don't have to be all that aggressive to do real well. the key, i'm not saying market is about to crash. i'm not worried about things. it is just that this is not the time to just get very, very aggressive. liz: cautious slightly. mcdonald's, pepsi, mastercard. these are all-star defensive plays. why? what is the common thread? >> these stocks are doing real well. they have the facts, the corporate governance. they have now dividend being raised every year. so it's a defensive kind of an all purpose type of account where, you want to have growth, you want to have some bonds too but you have to have companies that raise their dividend every year. not the risky plays that look like they have a high dividend because they're down in price but the companies raising the dividend. we'll get you there the summer and we'll get them in the fall too. liz: jordan kimmel has half a billion assets at getter man.

mcdonald's, pepsi, mastercard will add to your wealth. [closing bell rings] liz: s&p and nasdaq appear to snap a two-day losing streak. that will do it for "the claman countdown." melissa: trying to get a comeback in the final moments of trading. investors cautious ahead of fed chair jerome powell's congressional testimony tomorrow. the dow fighting for green but not getting there. look at that. down about 19 point at the close. looks like the s&p 500 will close positive territory. nasdaq, snapping a two-day losing streak. i'm melissa francis in new york. this is "after the bell." connell: connell mcshane live today at progressive field at this year's baseball all-star game. the mlb is on center stage tonight after one of the wildest home run derbies that we ever