Is out, but john, mike, and me, post nine for the hour as the dows trying to repair early damage down about 30 points right now. The big story though, some of the redstone coming out on the battle for viacom. Sources tell us the deal is in place bringing to an end nine months of legal battles. Sumer in and his daughter are coming out on top. The settlement posted three lawsuits under way without putting to test the mental competency which has been called into question. The sources tell us viacoms ceo will step down immediately and coo tom dually will become interim through the end of september. He is not exactly losing. Hell receive a 72 million severance package, and thats on top of 491 million hes brought home in compensation from his past decade at viacom. Now he is among the most highly paid ceos despite the fact that viacom vastly underperformed the s p 500 and sumer in red media giant cbs. He has until he steps down as executive chairman on september 13th to prevent his proposal to sell 49 of paramount to the board, a plan that somewhere near redstone has vehemently patrol posed. Whats next now . This agreement will help remove some uncertainty thats been hanging over, but the pressure is on now for the company to find a new ceo since tom dually has been the right hand. Joined viacoms board back in 2006. They have been speculated about as an ideal choice, renewing speculation and viacom potentially recombining with cbs. The sources tell us lawyers are working out the final details of the deal, which is made in principle last night. We also expect an 8k to be filed some time this afternoon that might include some more details, carl. Julia, thank you for that. Were going to turn to ricohs executive editor who joins us on the phone, guilty or not guilty to you. Good morning. S. Id love youle to discuss some of the management dynamics, dually and theyve been a package deal for so long. How can one leave and the other remain . Because chaos happens all the time on wall street for those that dont perform, carl. If youve watched all the different deals to get rid of people essentially. This is typical. If i was a shareholder, id be furious. This is the cost doing business. And people who underperform get paid, i dont know, 72 million for underperforming and more than that because he was paid hundreds of millions for the year and badly managing viacom. And its not unique to the east coast, we remember castro at yahoo yep. Got in an exit package thats not too bad. Given the environment in 2016, certain populist i wonder if theres, i dont know if its a different lesson weve seen in the past. These payouts for performance thats best questionable and happening for quite a while, right . Yeah, but why do they keep happening, its ridiculous. You dont need a more perfect example of the rate thats happening across the country and whether or not its correct or not. Its still you see numbers like this, and someone who underperforms for a decade getting paid, you know, 600 million. Its just, you know, he says id like that deal. I wouldnt like that deal. I wouldnt like to be paid for stinking up the joint, but thats just me. Kara, once shareholders swallow the fact that he is being paid this much to leave, but at least we have resolution, right . We have some i guess. The hostilities, now what . Whats job number one strategically for the interim ceo an the eventual fulltime ceo to try to get things figured out . Oh, all kinds of things. This companys been underperforming for years, meanwhile the equal company at cbs are doing great because theres a ceo whose been outperformin people think, as julia says, theyll combine it or run it parately. Hell be a coat, ceo, with two companies. And, and well see from there. All Media Companies are under huge lenge. Here they are playing the ridiculous board room games, and meanwhile, other companies are moving into their area. And so they really have to move quickly because media stocks are troubled, as they have been, and theres all kinds of challenges, and so someone needs to be focussing on these challenges. The real problem is thousand manage a Media Company in the 21st century. That said, looking at year i mean, i know the markets up for the year, cara, thereve been buyers of the Media Companies considering them wellpriced, is that misguided . No, i mean, they are. Theyre really interesting assets. Theres all kinds of obviously theres always a price for something, but heres the company for ten years, that could have been really dominant position of buying. I just find it i shouldnt get so offended and im not surprised. I wish i would be surprised, but directors of companies would not allow this to happen. Theres been this trend it seems to me of Media Companies either trying to bulk up in general and join up with other Media Companies or vertically integrate and take some advantage of distribution that way. Given viacoms history, trying to appeal to kids and young people, the ones getting stripped away, especially quickly by the likes of snapchat and instagram and others, which or some other advocate perhaps makes the most sense for viacom do you think at this point and you can figure out the right strategy. I think theyll unite with cbs. I think thatll be the first move. And then well see from there. I mean, theres a lot of very big buyers, and tamts, theres only so big as these things can get. I dont know which company would buy it. Steep price to buy a company. I suspect its an indication with the existing properties under this umbrella of national easements. And then well see what sherry redstone, emerged victory here after being on the outs for so long does with it. Finally cara, a lot of discussion about we talk about the Media Companies having trouble going after younger audiences, this week also brought the end of pivot tv and the end of the New York Times now app. Even those that are specifically targeted for those audiences are having tough sledding. Well, theyre just not good products. Thats okay. Good for you. You know what i mean, they tried them and they didnt work. Youre going to see that over and over again, and that says snapchats working, a lot of stuff is working. Well see where it goes. Its working and being met with interest from young people. I mean, you know, im not trying to be insulting, but somebody dumber could figure out if the that his life depended on and didnt. His life figured out on it. I think some of these things arent going to work. New york times now app its hard to do mobile apps. Its very difficult. I dont know, its a difficult thing. And i used the New York Times app. New york times now app was inadequate for a long of peoples uses. I used it and i didnt like it. Before go, cara, you did an interview with the harold. The headline, why is Silicon Valley afraid of a kara swisher . Thats familiar. You went into the themes youve repeated in the past and that is this ongoing worship of the socalled tech titan, didnt you . Yeah, exactly. Its the same thing. And sometimes all this is going to happen for them. It already is. You were talking about castro getting 100 billion for not performing, you know, a big package for not performing. Theres a lot of stuff that you have to really watch out for and we should be watching performance and how people do. And not everythings going to work, obviously. But you know, doing victory laps when you had not a success is something thats starting to emerge. And so, you know, the meme, i dont think anyones scared of me. I think its getting to australia, that particular meme. You know, theyre not fearful, theyre not fearful, but they just said, hey, this sells for this, its not a victory, im sorry, i dont think thats scary, its truthful. Its scary to people, its scary. I dont know why it would be. We didnt even touch gawker today gawker, oh sad, sad. In the days to come. Good weekend, well talk to you soon. Thanks, carl. Kara swisher. We to want check on the markets right now. The dow is up off its lows, up about 100 points earlier. Modest losses about 0. 2 . Nasdaq looking to put in another positive week which would billion its longest since 2010 if it did so is up marginally. Foot locker moving higher after earnings beat estimates. Retailer saw better than expected 4. 7 increase in samestore sales. And shares are also moving on earnings, seeing a nice game after those profits top expectations, a company also raised its full year profit forecast. See the stock up more than 8 right now, almost 9 . When we come back, National Finance chair for mitt romneys Campaign Says hes now voting for Hillary Clinton. Were going to take a closer look at the resignation of paul manafort. Plus moving higher on beating earnings. Raising the guidance, c going to join us in a cnbc exclusive and live to rio for the latest on the ryan lochte story in squawk alley comes back in a moment. Theres a lot of places you never want to see 7. 95. [ beep ] but youll be glad to see it here. Fidelity where smarter investors will always be. If only the signs were as obvious when you trade. Fidelitys active trader pro can help you find smarter entry and exit points and can help protect your potential profits. Fidelity where smarter investors will always be. Got a quarter . Paul manafort resigning as the chairman of Donald Trumps president ial campaign as trump visits baton rouge today. We are live in washington with the latest. Yeah, carl, thats right, big moment of change here for the Trump Campaign. Donald trump himself on the ground in baton rouge just within the past hour. He is touring flood damage there and republicans want to make the point that presint barack obama, who is on vacation, is not paying enough attention to whats going on in louisiana. Ian as that is happening, news that paul manafort, the campaign manager, is out. Here is the statement from donald trump on his campaign manager, i am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today, and in particular, his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process. Meanwhile, the Trump Campaign really starting to try to act like an oldfashioned, traditional president ial campaign now. Airing Television Ads in a number of states. Heres the ad that donald trump is putting up in four states, this ad hitting Hillary Clinton pretty hard. Take a look. In Hillary Clintons america, the system stays rigged against americans. Syrian refugees flood in, Illegal Immigrants convicted of committing crimes get to stay contrast between Hillary Clintons america and Donald Trumps america. Now look at the contrast between Hillary Clintons ad spending and Donald Trumps ad spending, by comparison, state by state, what youre seeing, florida, ohio, pennsylvania, and north carolina, all big spens here by donald trump, but then look at that column for Hillary Clinton, and you see that she is spending more in florida, more in ohio, more in pennsylvania, and more in north carolina. Grand total, 5 million for clinton, 3 million for donald trump. So the Clinton Campaign has a lot of money. They are used to being a president ial campaign, well see if Donald TrumpsWhose Campaign so far has been about twitter, television attention, media frenzy, and big rallies. If he can make the script to more televisionpaid advertising mode going all the way to november 8th or its just a blip and hell go back to being donald trump before too long. Were going to be watching those handful of states, thank you very much. Staying on the campaign trail, former mitt romney business associate and romney president ial Campaign Staffer david pending an oped on cnbc. Com this morning. Its titled, ive been a republican since 1980, but im voting for Hillary Clinton from the column. Trump is the most dangerous major Party President ial in my lifetime. Joining thus morning is the investment manager, founder of president of the campaign, thank you. Thank you and good morning. Im trying to decide whether to be surprised giving the speech romney made months ago now. Has this decision been a long time in the making . Its been a hard decision to make because as you said, i have pretty consistently voted republican for president since 1980 and i spent six years volunteering as a fundraiser for mitt. So its not something you do easily. But, ive thought about it the, i thought about it as a father of three adult children, ive thought about it as a citizen of the United States first. And as a republican second. And i think its the right thing to do. This time. What do you say to those that argue that the policy are closer to their political heart and they can tolerate the behavioral issues that they have trouble with, whats wrong with that . Well, i think the issue is really about temperament, personality, and character, more than anything. We are electing the most powerful person in the world. My children are god willing, going to live until well into this century and god willing theyll have children too. I have to think about things like that. I have to think about as Jennifer Garner says, whats in your wallet . You look in your wallet, and you see money with heads of george washington, abe lincoln, you look in your pocket, thomas jefferson, and you see fdr, and if you look at mt. Rushmore, you see teddy roosevelt. I dont see donald trump on the money. I dont see him on the coins. I dont see him on mt. Rushmore. I dont think he has a president ial personality, i dont think hes fit to govern, and to me, that is the most important thing. I spent 38 years knowing mitt. I think i know what a president ial character looks like. Maybe you can explain the prague in atism in your politics. Excuse me if im reading this wrong, it seems like up until about nine, ten years ago,out mostly donated to democrats not to republicans when you look overall at local contributions as well. So, you know, your politics seem to be a little bit more sin tryst than people might expect from someone whos voted republican for president since 1980 as you say. The most important thing for me is to pick the right person for the job. Youre exactly right. Usually that has meant for me since 1980, voting republican at the president ial level. Move down the ticket, you make your choices all the wait down. This. Year in fact, one of the things that i think is kind of unfortunate is that so many people in the Business Community seem turned off by trump, that may may not be voting for republicans down the line. And that would be unfortunate because i think there are some real benefits to having branches of government in the hands of Different Party zblns david, of course well hear from viewers who argue just because you decide that trump is not fit does not mean that clinton is. So what possible proclinton argument can you make . Im comparing the personalities in terms of stability, decency, compassion, inclusion, as opposed to namecalling, scapegoating, victimizing. When trump says that a legitimate American Hero like john mccain is not a hero, when he comes down on the gold star parents, when he comes down on people who are different in terms of ethnicity or religion, those are not things that Hillary Clinton does. Those are not president ial things. So there are huge differences. A president has to be a leader, just like a ceo has to be a leader, they have to build a team, lincoln built a team of rivals from his rivals from the president ial campaign and governed wisely and well. I think hillary has the teambuilding capability, the toleration for diversity and disagreement that donald trump has not shone. Even todays news about the latest turnover. Its always something. Its always something with the Trump Campaign. Every day, theres a new insult, theres a new change, theres a new 180. That is not stability. That is not president ial. And are you prepared to spend the next four years wondering if your judgment was right on benghazi, or email servers, on the Clinton Global Initiative . We are always looking over our shoulders. And we are always thinking about that. One thing i would say in response to that question, is that i think bill clinton was a moderate person in his views. He did what he called drink angulation, i think Hillary Clinton will do the same thing. I am simply more comfortable with her experience, her temper meant, hero ability to hit the ground running than an erratic and ungovernable personality who feels to me more like a Game Show Host than a president. The job of a Game Show Host is to entertain. The job of a president is to govern. Those are two completely different things. And so far, looks like about 60 of americans agree with me. Final question before i let you go, david. Percentage likelihood that romney himself follows your view. Mitt is has been making some positive comments that ive heard about gary johnson and bill weld on the libertarian ticket. Im also hearing theres a man named evan mullen who is going to be running in ten or 11 states. I dont think that mitt is going to vote for a democrat, but i also am pretty sure hes not going to vote for trump. He will pick one of the two alternatives and who knows. Utah may be in play for the First Time Since 1964 and nevada may be in play too. David, we appreciate your time and of course direct viewers to your oped on cnbc. Com. Thanks so much. Have a good weekend, thank you. Thanks. And up next, the latest on the ryan lochte saga. Were live in rio in just a moment. So we can share our amazing trading knowledge. Thats a great idea, but why dont you just go to thinkorswims chat rooms where you can share strategies, ideas, even actual trades with market professionals and thousands of other traders . I know. Your brain told my brain before you told my face. Mmm, blueberry . Tap into the knowledge of other traders on thinkorswim. Only at td ameritrade. New developments this morning in the ryan lochte saga. Andrew joins us live from rio on a week where he probably didnt expect the news flow to be quite in this direction, andrew. Reporter i did not, carl. I didnt, but the soap opera coun continues. Finally now ryan lochte apologizing in a statement. It was released in digital form on instagram just a short time ago. Lets show you what he said. He said specifically i want to apologize for me behavior last weekend, how i describe the events of that Early Morning and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the olympics. He went on to say, quote, i should have been much more responsible in how i handled myself and for that im sorry for my teammates, fans, fellow competitors, sponsors, and the hosts of this great event. Im proud to represent my country in olympic competition. And this was a situation that could and should have been avoided. I accept responsibility for my role in this happening and have learned from very valuable lessons, guys. As for his teammates, we should tell you earlier this morning, two of lochtes teammates involved in the incident, gunner bentz and the other arriving back in the United States. A fourth team member and hes the last to remain. He appeared in a rio court where an agreement was reached early this morning. He must close to 11,000 to a charity here in brazil and hell get his passport returned as a result. We should tell you and i want to show you video. Yesterday i spoke with jeremy bloom, hes somebody whose known ryan lochte for quite a long time, he said strong words about what should be done next. If it comes out that he was completely fabricated and made up, Scott Blackman should ban him for life. He should never be able to compete for the United States again. If its true. Zplr these are certainly not the headlines that the ioc expected to come out of the rio games. And a couple of quick notes as you know, lochte does say he wants to play in the olympics in 2020 in tokyo. Theres, of course, the question about his sponsors and in terms of just the response thus far if if you go on to instagram or on to twitter, but instagram specifically, you can see the comments not clear that this apology, nonapology some people say, is going over well and whether people are really going to accept his words at this moment just yet. Yeah, well thanks for the reporting, andrew. Great stuff out of rio. Quite a story, quite a story. Not what we expected at all. Meanwhile markets are closing in the uk and across europe. We are back in headquarters with that. Posting their biggest weekly losses, midjune. The Broader Market now down in five of the last six sessions. Reflecting concerns about a possible u. S. Rate hike. Also had that hawkish rhetoric comes from various officials. Italy down more than 2 , in fact, check out the italian banks where the focus remains, the ceo and former chairman of the italian bank are reportedly being use accused of market manipulation and false accounts. A 2 decline in the trade. Another italian bank down 6 and if we switch over to germany. Some of the big auto names, a bearish note from goldman sachs. Theyre siting concerns and writing there are multiple question marks about earning stainability, bmw downgraded to neutral from buy. Now the underperformance in these auto stocks and energy pushing the german dax still in bull market territory. Angela merkel begins her tour next week, shell meet with four countries, 15 government heads to construct a coordinated response to the brexit, make sure to watch for the headlines. In the meantime, the euro, witnessing the best run trading at a postbrexit high of 113 against the u. S. Dollar. And if you stick to currency, the notable rebound in the pound this week. Predicated on the better than expected Economic Data as people get inflation, employment, retail sales. The immediate aftermath of the brexit hasnt had a huge influence on the uk economy. At the same time, theres still growing expectations that the bank of england will ease further. Bank of america this morning putting out a note been it sees another cut in november from the governor in the big bank of england. Lastly, weve been highlighting the big move in bond yields across europe, portugal remains the outlier where we are announcing yields spike once again above 3 . Very sharp contrast to what were seeing in jeremy and france. John, back to you. Boy, how times have changed when 3 yield for portuguectugu debt is a spike. When we come back, look at applied material stock. Thats moving higher after raising guidance for the current quarter. Ceo of Applied Materials joins us in a cnbc exclusive next. When squawk alley returns. W. Where, in all of this, is the stuff that matters . The stakes are so high, your finances, your future. How do you solve this . You dont. You partner with a firm that advises governments and the fortune 500, and, can deliver insight person to person, on what matters to you. Morgan stanley. Good morning once again everyone, im sue herrara, here is your cnbc news update at this hour. The u. N. Relief agency say that they are ready to go back to syria now that russia is backing a 48hour ceasefire in the city of aleppo. The u. N. Suspended operations yesterday after fighting intensified. Food supplies and medical services are immensely strained for the roughly 250,000 people believed to be trapped inside eastern aleppo. The red cross is calling the disaster in louisiana the worst to hit the u. S. Since superstorm sandy. The agency expects to spend at least 30 million on disaster relief. At least 13 people have been killed and more than 40,000 homes damaged. Gop nominee donald trump is in baton rouge today. After years of delay, londons subway system will begin this weekend with 24hour service tonight. Its being dubbed the night tube. Right now, the expanded service is only on the central and Victoria Lines on friday and saturday nights. The increased service is expected to boost the citys economy by some 100 million a year. And nasa astronauts board the International Space station have their work cut out for them today. Theyre installing a new docking port in anticipation of more private spaceship traffic. Its expected to take at least six hours to complete, but what a view. And thats the news update this hour, back downtown to squawk alley, john. Have a great weekend. You too. And Applied Materials reporting record earnings after the stock is up almost 50 since the start of the year. Joining us now in a cnbc exclusive interview with the ceo of Applied Materials. Gary dickerson, and thanks for being with us. Thank you. Congrats on the report. You say that number of different trends that are fueling the rise here 3d nand, led screens, augmented reality and you make the case that this can continue. My question is more around that. Chinas been a wild card for a lot of companies when they see the American Company doing well lately. It seems uncertain whether theyre going to throw any regulations at you. How can you be so certain that all of these trends will continue to the point where youll be able to predict performance in several quarters ahead. This is an incredible sad time. The Technology World is demanding new solutions. So what we see is that smart phone companies are driving differentiation. And Going Forward, youll see an increase in adoption in organic led displays. Also an increase in silicon content, increased ban width, higher performance, and longer battery life. Were also seeing an explosion of data from social media, 4k video, and internet of things. And also, really exciting new markets where companies in Silicon Valley are making increasing investments in virtual reality. Augmented reality, smart vehicles, Artificial Intelligence and deep learning. And all of these markets really are driving higher performance computing, advanced memory, and better displays. Its also driving big influxs in the Semi Conductor and the display industries, bigger than weve seen in decades. Did. Were out of time the fundamental technology underneath all of this is materials innovation and apply ed materials in the leader no merles innovation, and thats why were delivering record results today, and we are betterpositioned than weve ever been in the history of our company for longterm growth. I do get it, and you guys have a long history of providing the tools and materials that are needed to produce this innovation, my question though is about being able to predict the direction of these things. We saw what happened with solar panels, that was a much more treacherous market than people expected, vr and ar is still developing with. The nand market, granted just getting off the ground, but it can be volatile. Sure. What gives you confidence in those particular things it and the continuing trajectory . Led is great for the smart phone market has been flattening out growth wise over the past couple of quarters. Yeah, i think the great thing for Applied Materials is really our position. This isnt in the industry story. This is an Applied Materials story. So let me give you an example. In the memory business, we see an explosion of data, and there is no question that memory demand is going to go up in the future. What really has changed in the semi conductering business is a huge influx going to smaller yes only drinks to 3d scaling. Materials enabled scaling. And that is the biggest change that weve seen in decades. Applied materials is the company that is enabling that transition and may remember, and were still in the early innings of those in that transition. Another one is in displays, organic led displays, the Consumer Experience in the smart phone is a key differentiator. And with e will see Going Forward, significant adoption of these new organic led displays Going Forward again its materials innovation that is enabling that adoption, in this new memory and in these new displays going up by a factor of three. So, again wide materials is an incredible position. So what trends would you say youre most closely tracking when it comes to this . I mean, youve named a number of things, ar, vr, which is still small, 3d nand which is going to be huge because we know how much is being used throughout for consumer and enterprise. Led is going to be big as well. As we track your broad potential and try to imagine it over several quarters, is there one of those categories thats going to be more important than the others . I would say near term, were in the early innings of some big multiyear waves. Organic led display adoption is going to be huge. And applied in a unique position relative to that particular wave. The memory trend also this is the biggest change that weve seen in decades. Were in the early innings of that wave, and applied also in a great position. You also mentioned china. Our business has doubled in china in the last two years. And applied has the 32year history in china, incredibly strong position with domestic and multinational companies. And china has announced they are going to invest over 100 billion and theres no question that market will still grow and applied is an incredibly strong position for this wave also. Well, very impressive earnings you delivered and a sunny outlook as well. The stock up nearly 7 so far in trading. Thank you, gary dickerson, ceo of Applied Materials for joining us here, have a good weekend. Thank you so much. When we come back, whats a sold new. Robert franks is looking at a new trend where classic luxury cars are getting younger and younger. Dont go away. Coming up top of the hour, halftime report, outrage over the exit package. Many argue this was not a ceo that brought shareholder share value. Which do bring the most upside for the stock . The professor has done a lot of work on that. Questions, going do to go through his list and name names as well. Forget about data. We have the ceo of a Company Selling pictures of outer space to investors giving them a big leg up. See what they see today on the halftime report. Noon eastern, mike, well see you in about 15. All right scott, well be there, thanks very much. Meanwhile, classic cars continue to get younger, unlike the rest of us. Robert frank is live in pebble beach with more, hello, robert. Yeah, mike, with more and more todays rich in the 30s and 40s, the cars are getting younger too. Dozens of cars from the 80s, 90s, thousands being sold. Super cars two or three years old. All eyes are on the first two ferraris ever to sell at auction. Theres this black one being sold, this could be sell for 4 million. It retailed for 1. 6, just two years ago. And then there is a red one being sold. The question is whether the red is going to sell for more than the black or which is the win per. Now yesterday, we actually took a ride in the red la ferrari that bonds is selling. The red is going to win the race ppz. People want what they cant have. Its probably the best thing. And ferrari is famous with that. You had to be someone to be able to get the privilege of buying a car for the 1. 4, 1. 6 million. Now here at mecum, theyre selling the holy trinity of super cars, a laferrari. Now this green car, which i call the Green Lantern is actually could sell for more than 3 million. It was the first p1 ever delivered in the u. S. Come over here, youve got to check out the interior of this car because i have never seen anything like it, even on a super car. That is a lot of green. Guys, back over to you. Unbelievable live shots all morning long, robert, thank you for that. Look at that smile. Robert frank joining us there. Lets get to the group, Rick Santelli and the santelli exchange, hey, rick. Hi carl. Well, listen, many participants in the marketplace have their own views of central bankers and specifically our fed. But no matter what your view is, we all know whats coming up, jackson home. And i have an opinion on jackson home. I think Jackson Homes main topic should be, get the u, and again the n, out of unconventional. We need to see more conventional policies. Now, one could say, ah, its semantics. Normalization, unor nonconventional. It isnt definitely just about normalization. Unconventional basically means experimentation. Feds models havent really done what theyre supposed to, issues of negative rates throughout the globe and the fed isnt unique in this. Think about it, think in the unintended consequences that have occurred. Negative rates are supposed to accomplish something, one of the somethings is not increasing Savings Rates or buying saves in the states of japan, stashing cash and the counterintuitive notion of negative rates being accompanied by a rallying currency. The problem with unconventional is that one when you are there, you cant go back in time and use models or use comparisons or Economic Strategies for times that were conventional or normal. Just doesnt work. And the second issue that isnt going to be at jackson home, but its what everybodys thinking is can the fed, can central bankers in general get their credibility back . To me, thats as easy as it comes. Less talk. Now, i would probably say less talk followed by more action, but even if its just less talk, thats a good thing. You know, i know that theyre moving into all sorts of new digital media, listen, that isnt going to make a difference. You could scream it, scream it in six languages. The market is rejecting these policies. Now, one of the things thats being talked about, targeting a higher rate of inflation, like 3 . Let me get this straight, going backwards in time. 1. 2 gdp,. 8 gdp, 2. 6, 2. 0 going back six quarters. I hear 2. 6 less growth. Learn to calibrate, come on, central banks. You cant target 2 or 3 when you have 1. 5 growth. It makes no common sense. John, fort, back to you. All right. Calling it like you see it. We appreciate it, have a good weekend. When we come back, the secret behind snapchats success what rivals like twitter and instagram are doing about it. Jeremy lou joins us to discuss. Well be right back. Youre here to buy a car the launch of Instagram Stories and yesterdays twitter downgrade by evercore, indicated the real threat known by snapchat. Cuts in innovation with filters videos now ads is heating up the fight for users and ad dollars. Joining me, manager and director and early snapchat investors and also chief of the information. Good morning to you both. Good morning. Good morning. Define, if you can, what snapchats secret sauce is . Theyve done so many things. Is it the ability to help people tell stories in ways and with tools that really appeal to the things that human beings just like to grasp on to . Twit hearne been able to do it yes, but instagram is taking a stab at it. Yes. A little of those things, jon, but most important, part of popular culture. That really is kind of the thing that has separated snapchat from a lot of other aspirational messaging and social networks. When you become part of popular culture, when you become something that people want to use, want to talk about, whether it be for the stories, for the messages, store the discover, for the lenses, so many aspects of it that in their entirety have become a homescreen app for hundreds of millions of people. Jessica, twitter was certainly part of the popular culture, but seems to have hit a growth wall. What do you see as the main challenge for others who are trying to compete with snapchat in allowing people to communicate through video in a way snapchat seems to have latched on to so well . Well, snapchat has wonderful positions, but a competitive market and we have to remember this is a company thats still, snapchat still has to prove out its business. Its growing very quickly. All signs reported in the information more than 300 million in revenue, very steady growth, but you have instagram, youtube and youve got all of those new upstarts that might come up. I think its an exciting place to watch and i do think instagram ask going to get a little mojo back with its snu sto new stories lunch. To followup on snapchat the mission, seems they really want to maneuver fast, stay a little ahead of the competition, experiment with things without necessarily having to deliver those neartime results. Thinking of twitter, soon as they went public, all about monetizing and user growth. Is this an incentive for snapchat to remain private as absolutely long as possible, do you think . I think there are strong incentives. I also think as ive writ than snapchat will be ahead of the curve on the next group of ipos, because i think it doesnt pay as much attention to what Silicon Valley does, being based in l. A. Absolutely snapchat is enjoying being a private company. One example we reported this week is an acquisition of a Company Called verb in the search space. 75 was stock, when youve got a currency thats highly valued in the private markets youre going to spend it. And snapchats been doing that with a little bit of an acquisition spree. Jeremy you say youre not going to talk that much about verb itself, but im curious. How inquisitive do you vi snapchat will be from here on out give than naysbofacebook uss to fuel continued growth in ways it couldnt have on its own . So the company doesnt really talk about futurelooking road maps, but you can look backwards and see some of the successful acquisitions the company has done in the past that really have kind of helped fill out this, you know, this role as kind of a core home screen app for its users, and you know, the lens product so incredibly successful came through an acquisition and the emoji a successful launch for the company, also to acquisitions. I think theyll selectively use opportunity to use functionality and highquality teams as it makes sense. Right. Certainly doesnt seem snapchat will be disappearing anytime soon. Thank you jeremy liu from light speed Venture Partners and jessica lessen from the information. Have a great weekend, guys. Thank you. Thank you. When we come back, the 2017 nba allstar game officially has a new home. More in a moment. There are many things you dont want in industrial strength like cologne. Morning but theres one thing you do. gags its called predix from ge. The cloudbased Development Platform thats industrialstrength strength freshly made in the tokyojapanese tradition, each batch is small. Special. Unique. Every bowl blurring the line between food. And art. When you cook with incredible ingredients. You make incredible meals. Fresh ingredients. Stepbysteprecipes. Delivered to your door, for less than 9 a meal. Get 30 off your first delivery blueapron. Com cook. Theres a lot of places you never want to see 7. 95. [ beep ] but youll be glad to see it here. Fidelity where smarter investors will always be. If only the signs were as obvious when you trade. Fidelitys active trader pro can help you find smarter entry and exit points and can help protect your potential profits. Fidelity where smarter investors will always be. The nba announcing new orleans will host the 2017 allstar game. The news coming after the league decides to pull out of charlotte, north carol because of the Discrimination Bill discriminating against the Lgbt Community some believe. And the mens Team Continues to do well advancing to the semis. Nice to get back to talking about what athletes are doing in the field of play, and looking forward to that allstar game, and cant help noticing amd is up 10 so far today. Amazing that theyre regaining those 2012 levels that we havent seen in quite a while and Applied Materials well as well. Applied materials after breaking to the upside out of a 15year range. Trading at 2,000 peak price. Finally after 15 years, momentum. Next week, of course, jackson hole along with some earnings, best buy, toll broeb brothers, hp, medtronics, dollar general. A lot to get to in the coming days. Enjoys weekend. Over to scott wapner, the judge, and the half. Guys, thanks so much. Welcome to the halftime report. Im scott wapner. Our top trade this hour, viacom bombshell. Word outgoing ceo felipe daweum is leaving. And following the money, julia boorstin. Reporter scott, a number of pretty shocking numbers in the last chapter of Sumner Redstone and fip illpedaumans leaving viacom. Expecting him to be paid to step down