Nine and cnbc contributor and former ceo of the daily mail, john steinberg. John, good morning to you. Good to be here, guys. The market here having a pretty nice monday. Dow up 182. Stocks essentially in rally mode. Oils helping out on a great day for the price of oil, up 7 . Of course, youve heard about the pound today and some of these key materials prices getting back to some important levels. In the meantime, apple and ceo tim cook urging the government to withdraw that request to break into the iphone, one of the killers in San Bernardino. Cook wrote a letter, saying the move would set a dangerous precedent. Eamon . Good morning, carl. That letter to his employees came out early this morning and continued a war of words between the fbi and apple that lasted through the entire weekend. Heres what tim cook said in part in his letter this morning. He acknowledged the awkwardness that the Company Finds itself in now that it is dueling with the fbi. Cook writing, apple is a uniquely american company. It does not feel right to be on the opposite side of the government in a case centering on the freedoms and liberties that government is meant to protect. Meanwhile, fbi director james comey posting his own blog post on a legal blog last night, writing, the particular legal issue is actually quite narrow. The relief we seek is limited, and its value increasingly obsolete, because the technology continues to evolve. So carl, one of the key points here is whether or not this technique, if apple is forced to use it, could be replicated again and again in other cases. Law enforcement officials across the country have said they have other iphones they would like to get into, but the fbi very much at pains to make this just about this one iphone that belonged to syed farook, one of the two shooters in San Bernardino, california, back in december. They say there could be possibility information on the phone and they simply cant rest until they know what it is, carl. Eamon javers, thank you. We talked about this a day after the story broke. But its clearly evolving to what comey is saying now. Cooks reasoning is getting less compelling, to be honest. It seems to me his theory it could run amok and there are hundreds of phones the fbi wants to crack now or local Law Enforcement wants to crack, it doesnt strike me as compelling. And this issue is a moot issue, in my view. If a terrorist has plans on a phone that have not yet been executed or someone is kidnapped and the kidnappers phone is recovered and that child or person is still out there, obviously, the ethical conundrum is clear. At that point, you have to open up that phone. So this may be an edge case, but real and present posing daj is not an edge case. We try and draw analogies in the physical world and on the website, cook says the Digital World is entirely different. If you create a master key like this, it could and will end up in the wrong hands. Despite all of the arguments against whether the u. S. Government should have the ability to override this encryption or override the ability for the phone to Self Destruct after a certain number of pass codes. It does seem like cook truly believes yes. That within 48 hours, china would have its hands this is almost like in a few good men. Somebody needs to put tim cook on the stand and say to him, tim if we have an iphone that has not been executed, will you unlock that iphone. And he would need to have a lot of words to go around to say he wouldnt. Thats the question to ask and this whole thing is resolved. How about this argument that happened over the weekend that apple is executing a marketing plan. This is really about maintaining sales in other countries . I dont believe that. I think that he believes that this would be so damaging to the product and so damaging to user trust and those different things. I dont think its a marketing gimmi gimmick. I think thats so over the moon. I think he thinks it will be really bad for the company and bad for user trust. But i dont think there is some terrible capitalist desire baked into this. Could you see any situation, though, between now and friday when apples formal legal response to the fbi and to the court that ordered them to respond to the fbi . Do you think there is any way the companys stance changes or that the situation evolves so their position is different . Well, the thing is, im watching andrew ross on billions where they come into the office dont spoil it. Minchts question for eamon, does the fbi show up at the office, do they take tim cook away in hand cuffs . Could that happen . I mean, it seems to me that would be pretty amazing. Eamon, i think you are still there. I am. We havent gained this out to a raid on apple or contempt of court. Were going to test my legal knowledge here. I think that that is, at least theoretically possible at some point if you have a court order. The interesting dynamic here, though, what apple would be required to do is not just turn over data that it already has. But to write new software that does not exist right now. And the question is, how would those guys in the wind breakers youre talking about walk into apple and force them to write the software . That gets into a very weird area here. And thats why apple is arguing in part this is unprecedented. They would have to create something that simply isnt out there right now. And they say would be dangerous if they did. That is the key difference in this case. Not like turning over something you already own. As apple would argue. Eamon, thanks. Were going to move on here. Plenty of news out of barcelona at the mobile World Congress. Our john fortt has already had a busy day there. Hey, john. Reporter hey, carl. Yeah, i mean, theres been a lot about Virtual Reality, phones. But an important topic certainly in the air here is what we were just talking about. Apple versus fbi. I just talked to intel ceo, about that. Intel has its own security division, intel security formerly known as mcafee. And he took the issue straight on. Take a listen. I can i think there is a balance here between those two. Im absolutely not in favor and dont believe we should do back doors. But there probably is a way that working together with agencies we can find a way to get them the data they need to really protect the citizens from the terrorists. And i think its best when the engineers get together and actually solve the problem, rather than the escalation. Reporter if we can get to the engineer solving the problem, it will certainly be a different point from where we are here. But beyond that, of course, samsung introduced the galaxy s7 last night, also the gear 360, which is a camera that can take immersive 360degree video. Htc, which is right over here behind me. Has their own vr setup they are talking quite a bit about here. And Mark Zuckerberg is going to take the stage in a few minutes and address a lot of these topics. We also expect to hear him talk about facebooks plans to bring to areas of the country that dont have it all. To create Wireless Networks in entirely new ways to do that. And, of course, weve got ralph de la vega, at ts ceo of Business International will join us in squawk alley in a couple minutes to talk about international expansion, as well. So busy times here in barcelona, carl. That floor looks absolutely hopping, john. Thank you for that. Our john fortt in barcelona. And as jon mentioned, one of the highlights here is zuckerberg, showing up to speak about vr. Zuckerberg posted this picture on his Facebook Page after the event, which has been widely talked about on twitter. You see zuckerberg coming down the aisle, everyone in the house wearing headsets. Is this the future, john . Im reminded of the Neil Stephenson line where he says the sky above the port was the color of television tuned to a dead channel. Or even, you know, snow crash. That book about the met averse we all live in. Zuckerberg is building a social vr team. Thats what he announced there on the samsung stage. So it makes me think were going to have some 3d world were all Walking Around in, as our overlords walk past us, all jacked into these systems. Its an overlord nature of that picture that has drawn some criticism to what happens when everyone is in their own world, created by these leaders, whether technology or governmental leaders. And youre not really aware of what theyre doing in the background. I think that he posted that picture thinking, wow, this is a really funny picture. Im surprising that im all coming up stage while theyre jacked into the system. In reality, its just like we are kind of all of these oblivious, like kind of sacks of sauce. Almost like the movie walle. Or the matrix where were batteries the matrix reference somebody should do a meme mashup with these people. This is a water shed moment, at least for the mobile World Congress. Five years ago would have been hard to imagine a world like this. A big post at the end of last week about whats next in computing. Its in the guaranteed that vr is whats next in computing, but it certainly feels like it. And the fact that facebook is taking this big bet on vr, thinking it might be next i think is bullish for the company. Theyre investing this capital. It sdnl looks like were all going to have this stuff in a few months. Samsung has a version that comes free if you buy the 7. It doesnt need a computer. Its the near now. Although when you look at a picture like that, it just drives home the point that the experience appears distinctly antisocial. When youre living within this fear of whatever is in front of your face, you are not interacting with the people next to you. Look, its a dystopian picture. There is little doubt about that. And i think that google has this big bet on magically, which is this hybrid Virtual Reality real reality. Its something on your face. Is that how you want to watch a Football Game . Me . Youre asking me . Yes. Do you want a ball game at all . First of all, i dont want to watch a Football Game. Is that the way i want to watch hamilton if i cant get to the theatre . Yeah, i think its pretty cool. I preordered it. It goes one of two ways. Either we get made fun of or the mainstream does get it. And i think everybody is going to have one of these in a few years. Google lessons aside. You think this is going to happen. I thought that google glass would be huge. My only track record, i do think that everything will be huge. So your gadget graveyard speaks for it is. Mark zuckerberg has a good track record. That maybe the version the geeks get and everybody making it a lighter weight version. If youre sitting at home and doing this with your phone, thats a better version of this. John, good seeing you. Dont go too far around the room. Bye. When we come back, at t announcing a new deal with intel to dramatically increase the range of drones. The ceo of at T Business Solutions will join us in barcelona. And rumers of the yahoo sale getting a big boost today. And a Top Republican congressman in a fight against the fbi. Congressman darrell issa joins us live to explain why. Dont go away. Welcome back to squawk alley. Im jon fortt here in barcelona at mobile World Congress with ralph della vega, ceo of business for at t. And i believe youve got some news. We broke the news we signed a multiyear exclusive agreement to be the provider for porsche cars. Its on the heels of announcing we reyou said the audi contract and for the first time connecting gms cars in europe. So our internet car business is booming. We now have 10 of the top 50 manufacturers in the world signed up with us. And its the confidence i thought we would have that we could grow it in a big way. How does this fit into at ts broad are business . I would assume that when somebody has got a car they actually connect to your network, theyre less likely to turn their phone off of your network. You get a bigger share of wallet overall. What are you seeing thus far . Thats exactly what we have seen. At this point with the directv acquisition, jon, i think the worlds best provider. So we can give a customer what they need. Whether its connecting their cars, securing their homes with home security, broadband, wireless and tv. And we think that more customers sign up with us for those services, the better the return, the more loyal they are to us and a great model for the customer, as well. Reporter and you want them to connect their drones. We want them to connect their drones if they have them. We announced an agreement with intel to connect their drones. This is really important from a safety point of view. You want to make sure that those drones when they fly out of range, out of visible range, could still be able to control them, along with the regular frequencies used for wifi. They have a wide area connectivity. They can always be talked to, always controlled. And this is the same thesis we practice with autonomous cars. Autonomous cars are great, theyre going to be super huge in the future. But you want to always have a link to connect and talk to them no matter where theyre at. Reporter safety is important, security also important. Apple versus fbi is a topic that a lot of people are talking about. Even here in barcelona. Does this particular case change the conversation at at ts level, at the carrier level about what the acceptable level of access for the government is . I think it changes the conversation for everybody, jon. Its a very interesting case. Our personal view on this is that there has to be a balance between privacy and security. Right now the laws are a little muddled. We think congress should take the leadership role in setting up clear laws to be followed by the land. That balances the security with a privacy aspect for the citizens of the country. I think thats the right way to settle it. Reporter versus doing it in the courts. Versus doing it in the courts or any other form. I think we need to do it in a way that balances those two rights for the benefit of the people of the United States. Reporter youve talked here about investing 10 billion, i believe, in at ts global network. Whats different about the approach youre going to take with that 10 billion . Talk about Software Defined net working and what that allows you to do, to pursue markets. The beautiful thing, were leading the world on this. We can give customers our top enterprise customers, and we serve nearly every single fortune 1,000 form globally. The capability to give the same services no matter where they are in the world. And their softwaredriven services. The whole economy is moving to the cloud and softwarebased services. We can give those customers the same service they could get in the u. S. , mexico, in australia or europe. And thats what customers are asking us for. By the way, that 10 billion investment is in 2016. I wanted to point out one thing for you on our investments. In 2015, we invested 7 billion in mexico. And we invested in mexico, because we like the fact that mexico has a pro investment policy. They Just Announced today that the Foreign Direct Investment in mexico went up 25 last year, and they said their reason for that is at t. The reason that is so critical, as we look at 5g and the internet of things, its going to require us to invest in our networks. We were willing to do so when we have assurances that we could earn the right return of those investments. So a pro investment policy, regulatory process, is critical. Quickly, if you can. American airlines, not happy with go, go over in flight internet service. That is an initiative you guys almost jumped into and dropped when you pushed international. Any chance youre going to jump back into that business, since it seems like the providers in there now, at least arent pleasing everyone . Thats an area i think has to be improved. At this point, were not going to comment on any speculation. Well, i always have wifi on my flight. Hopefully somebody gets it right. Ralph de la vega, Business International arena. Great to be with you. Back to you, kay l. A. Thanks. Well see you later on this hour. Next, new details on the future of yahoo including potential buyers. Plus a Top Republican backing apple in its fight against the government. Congressman darrell issa joins us live later on this hour. Squawk alley will be back in a moment. After yahoo created that new committee of independent directors to look for strategic alternatives, there are now reports the company could approach potential buyers as soon as today. Bloomberg and the New York Post reporting verizon, at t and comcast, cnbcs Parent Company are interested along with bane kkr and tpg. The post also reporting that at the same time,ia yao has quietly been hiring advisers that specialize in fights against shareholders. Jeff smith has been involved in the yahoo situation, being vocal about what yahoo should and shouldnt do. Carl, the plot continues to thicken. Youve got to keep one eye on that whole process, along with the remedies theyre trying to make to the core product. And signs that traffic and clicks remain challenged. Its hard to think of another company in so many fires at once. This is getting a lot more interesting. When we come back, more on apples fight against the fbi with a charmer chief Technology Officer of the United States. Anearby chopra joins us live. A tight range up 192. Dow and s p positive for the month. Out of what they sometimes call correction territory. Next thing to watch today, of course, is the close in europe. Just about five and a half minutes away. Back in a minute. Good morning, everyone. Im sue herrera. Here is your cnbc news update. Libyas Government Forces say they have pushed back in several areas of benghazi. Dozens of militants and 20 soldiers were killed as the army carried out a number of attacks. Libya is rapidly turning into the new front in the fight against isis. Americans drove 4 more miles in december than they did a year ago, according to the department of transportation. And you can credit falling gas pr