crisis have been paid off. the portfolio was created during the financial crisis to buy distressed businesses. the treasury department owns 60% of aig. at the moment they're in the green, not the red. mexican billionaire carlos slim has bought more than 8% stake in argentina's biggest energy company, ypf, and is said to be a stake in telekon austria. and microsoft has a deal for yammer, the price more than a billion bucks. we'll keep our eyes all over that. joe? >> steve liesman joins us. he's been digging into this reuters story about central banks ready for action in case the outcome in greece turns nasty. the economy improves globally or we make it improve? >> let me start off with what we know. mare draghi making clear what i think the market knew. in the event of a make other market disruption created by the greek election, he and the ecb stand ready to act. >> the ecb has the crucial role of providing the sound bank in return for collateral. this is what we have done throughout the crisis, faithful to our mandate of maintaining price stability over the medium term. >> draghi adding that liquidity will be provided to solvent banks. this a day after the governor of the bank of england announced extraordinary measures to pump loans into the economy. central bankers i spoke with downplayed a reuters report that they were prepared for coordinated action. they say they almost never announce actions ahead of an event, especially a political one like an election, and cite sources in the story, g-20 official, usually don't know about central bank actions, but it was a statement that was routine and obvious in the post-crisis world, the provision of liquidity in the wake of severe market disruptions. all of this with growing expectations that ben bernanke will take action next week to stimulate the u.s. economy. apost possibilities are more quantitative easing from the fed. as we have been reporting, there are intense discussions around a banking union in europe along with a way to recapitalize banks. but no agreement. so this report comes out yesterday. this was one of the more fascinating things. i'm criticizing the report, then mervin king makes statements that were apparently planned for him to make for a year and this seems like it's confirmation of this story about central bankers acting. the overall framework is accurate. the central bankers will come in if there are market disruptions but are they saying rite now there's coordinated action? >> the weird thing is having this report out there makes it seem go ahead, greeks, vote however you want. we'll take care of all this and make sure we step in. that's weird. >> i have been reporting on central bankers for longer than i care to say, i have never seen them want to interject themselves into a political event. >> let's hope for the best, prepare for the worst. what i saw, they're saying planning for 2008. just in case. that's the thing about 2008, we can't forget it. every context we're thinking uh-oh. at least we're thinking about it. now we know black swans are around every corner. >> which is probably rowrong. >> i was on the phone with a banker overnight -- >> official banker or private banker? >> private banker. >> your private banker in switzerland. >> an executive who you know the name of. >> you talk with bankers all the time because you are -- >> in terms of this disruption -- >> what did you say? >> i remember you on msnbc, they paint you as a -- >> is everybody going to agree on what the disruption is and what the tipping point is? >> i don't think there's too much question about what a disruption is. what central bacnkers care abou is they want to make sure bankers can lend to each other. you remember reporting on the gc repo rate spiking up, the overnight funds rate spiking up. >> appropriate collateral. >> that's the big question. in general, during this crisis, one of the action central bankers have taken is agree to take collateral of lesser an lesser quality. that's been a way to inject liquidity. >> that's the other big question. what are we constituting -- we talk about solvent banks and what will constitute collateral -- >> gold. >> right. if we get to this point where there is disruption. >> is it fair to say the central bankers are dying that the story is out there and hate it? >> i don't think they started it. >> right. >> from what i can tell, you know, i talked to some central bankers yesterday. it was not clear they wanted this story out there in this way. look. if they want to send a signal, they can do it easily and definitively. i will give you a quote from one guy who says we don't talk to senior g-20 aides. if they wanted to send a signal, there are people they can talk to, ways they can do that. this was not it. on the other hand, they're reminding us, look, this is what we do. >> i think it's nice they stand ready. i'm glad that they're there. >> someone is walking that walk the. >> how many nights a week do you have dinner with a banker? it's like every night. right? >> not dinner. now that i do the show -- >> lunch. >> more lunches. >> drinks. >> we will continue this conversation with steven in a bit, but a new report showing pro bail-out party ahead in the elections, but the country has straight rules on what can and cannot be said about polls. hopefully we can find out more about these polls. >> the secret polling that goes on, they're not allowed to be published, but both parties conduct them. the two leading parties are neck and neck, within a margin of error, perhaps a shift to the pro bailout party. i was glad to hear steve's report throw cold water on the story, because here in europe they have woken up to the idea to front-page headlines that the central bankers of the world are frightened of what could happen here in greece over the weekend. the website saying the ecb stands ready to act in case of greek turmoil. japan stands ready to act, the uk will be acting and europe will be lenient on grease but only if the pro bailout party wins. they are frightened of what is known as the syriza party, led by alexis. we have join melios, one of the economic advisers to tsipras. >> thanks for having me. >> when alexis tsipras shot nearly into first place after the last election, world financial markets plummeted. when we got news that the pro bailout party might win, world financial markets rallied. this morning on cnbc europe we had one analyst say i hope the central bank of europe is ready in case syriza wins. should world financial markets be frightened of alexis tsipras? >> not at all. we are part of the left party of europe. we have contributed in our common program, and we are a party which wants the sustainability of europe and eurozo eurozone. we fight not for an exit of eurozone. we are the victims of propaganda that we are against europe and the eurozone. this propaganda has hit the country, hit the banks, hit tourism. we are going to show the financial markets, the people of greece and all over the world that we have a program which is meant to stabilize the country, to stir prosperity but at the same time balance the budget by raising revenues, by bringing justice and democracy in the country. >> i want to push back. you and i talked about the program yesterday. you want to restore wages to previous levels, restore collective bargaining agreements. you don't like the idea of privatization. you dislike a lot of ideas that economic consensus says would make greece more competitive. when economists look at your programs and think greece will be less competitive and less able to pay back debts. >> this is not true. when the crisis started, the debt was 115% of the gdp. now it is 165. austerity has destroyed the economy and the society. what we say is that we have to stabilize the minuimum wage to the level it was before. not to restore all wages because now this is impossible. we have to boost growth, and we have to fight corruption. the problem of corruption is that the number one problem in this country. and our political opponents are part of the old system, the system of corruption. we want to bring effective tax system to the level, to the level of the european zone -- the eurozone and europe. the eu. we are not externalists. we are people who want to restore the unjustties that has been done to this country. we have here in athens 60,000 people seeking food in garbage. this has to stop. >> obviously raising taxes and cutting spending in a recession is only more recessionariment when you say you are not extremists. i want to show you a poster we saw in the office yesterday. it says it's not enough to be angry. fight capitalism 100%. what is the core spirit of what you believe in? is capitalism a better way to organize and distribute the resources of the society or is socialism better? >> this is a theoretical question. socialism is better -- >> tell me that again. >> i think that socialism is better, but now we don't fight pore sociali pore socialists. we fight to stop the catastrophe of the economy. like the occupy wall street movement, we are the 99%. we want democracy. we want redistribution of the wealth that is produced in this country in a way that we will both boost growth and have social justice. the social question is not the question of the present moment. it's a discussion that can go on and as you know there are different ideas about socialism, soc sociodemocratic views, radical views. >> so the consensus among analysts is monday morning, the market reaction, if syriza wins, markets fall. but if the other wins, there are riots in the street. >> i find this approach a little simplistic. i think that if syriza wins, after one or two days we will see financial markets soaring again, going up. because everybody is going to understand that we have a program of stability, a program of growth. european program. >> mr. milios, thank you very much. >> thank you also. thank you. ladies and gentlemen, back to you. >> michelle, my head is spinning. makes sense. redistribute the german wealth from all their hard work to the greeks that haven't carried their end of the bargain. >> you want me to ask him. >> one of our anchors says okay, redistribute all the germans wealth to greece who don't necessarily work as hard. >> it's not the german wealth. >> you don't have any money. >> we are talking about tax evasion. we have an enormous problem of tax evasion, because all the governments, the corrupt system has taxed the poor we have to tack the people who have the money according to what our constitution says. >> 50% of zero is zero. >> who is going to leave? >> the wealthy. >> no, we are a service economy. services produced. the moment something is consumed. they will not go away. most of them are patriots and they will not go away. >> they're wrapping up because of a commercial break. >> okay. you have done a wonderful job. >> you got a good reading list for him. michelle, give him a reading list. you know what books to put on him. >> i will give him capitalism freedom by milton freedom. i'm sure he has read them. >> road to freedom. >> too big to fail. >> add that to the list. >> michelle, thank you very much. >> man. >> a quick programming note. we'll have coverage of the greek election on sunday. michelle's greek tragedy airing sunday at 8:00-point lead p.m. >> that is mind boggling. we will put the greek election aside for another fiery topic, health care. on his way to the set is toby cosgrove of the cleveland clinic. he will vitalk about the health care debate. "squawk box" will be right back. are bursting with more flavor. [ crunches ] mmm. [ explosion ] [ crunches ] [ explosion ] [ crunches ] [ explosion ] [ crunches ] [ explosion ] [ male announcer ] pringles... bursting with more flavor. buy 4 cans of pringles, and get your speaker... ♪ [ cheering ] ... to turn up the flavor! [ crunch! ] all in one account. keep watch on the markets. or use our exclusive tools to help find ideas. it's powerful, easy-to-use technology for trading stocks, options, and futures. keep trading whether you're at home, in the office, or on the go. optionsxpress, the broker smart traders deserve. open an account today at optionsxpress.com. the the supreme court is set to decide on the legality of president obama's health care reform the how will the court's decision effshs eshs krshs tshs the health care industry? doctor tobey cosgrove is here. you said no matter how the supreme court rules, the train has left the station. >> we have a huge population come up, 10,000 more people turn 5er day. the financial debt is a big problem. half of the obligations are secondary to medicare. and without health care will not be able to manage the debt. >> the cost curve is something that the obama plan has been criticized for not attacking, the cost curve better. what needs to be done? how can we move towards trying to fix that problem in particular? >> i think lots of people have already started on this line. if you look at what we have done at the cleveland clinic, we have reduced redundant tests, we have taken costs out of procedures, out of purchasing. we have gotten more efficient as we gone along. we all recognize we have to do this for us and as the nation as a whole. we can do this. one thing besides getting a more efficient delivery system, we need to decrease the burden of disease in the united states. >> what do you mean by that? >> you can't have people smoking and an epidemic of obesity and still maintain health care costs. right now a third of the united states is obese. that is expected to go to 20% of the health care costs by 02020. one thing disappointing about the bill, there's not a lot in it about personal responsibility and having people take care of themselves. we have to have people involved in their own health care. >> the role of insurance companies, should be what? >> insurance companies are an interesting situation now. they could do very well managing risks. we would do well taking care of patients. we need them to have the efficiency and access to health care. >> are they doing that or no? >> there's a tremendous amount of difficulty now in the insurance industry and, you know, the things that they -- with pre-existing conditions and stuff. we can't have that going on. we have to have reform in health care like we have to have reform in the delivery of the system. >> the system is set up to pay for the number of visits, the number of times you see somebody and not the outcome. that's the biggest problem. keeping people healthy, there's no incentive for that. >> what we need to do is move from value for volume to value for -- or paying for volume to paying for value. >> how do we attack the obesity issue? do you agree with what michael bloomberg is doing, the soda? >> all of these are steps. no one thing will take care of it. >> but that doesn't seem like personal responsibsponresponsib. >> we encouraged employees to have more exercise. we hahave given them free acces to curves, to weight watchers. >> those are to your employees. >> and we have lost 300,000 pounds. if your company is offering insurance, it's when the government takes on the onus of keeping everyone healthy that it becomes a nanny state. that's where the problem comes in, the much larger role of government. >> taking the lessons we learned, looking after people, giving financial incentives for people to stop smoking, lose weight, we have been able to bend the curve of our employees. and the senate has introduced a bill to do the same thing for medicare patients. you can have these patients -- >> when it becomes the government's problem, the government tells people has to do. >> it is us. >> no, if someone wants to live that way, they can certainly live that way. i would never tell someone that you can't smoke a cigarette. >> no, i'm not going to pay for it. >> that's why he's arguing against health care. th >> doctor, i have a different question. we talked about it previously when i last saw you. the longer we extend life, which many think should be the goal, potentially the more expensive is becomes. what do we do about that? it's a conversation we've been having. >> that's what's frustrating, you discover all these things and they cost $400,000. >> there's a lot of literature that suggests that if you prolong life you pay more taxes, you are more productive, all of that adds to the pototal gdp of the country. some people think 50% of the gdp increase has been linked to life. >> if you live to 90, you probably shouldn't retire at 60 like in france. >> i want to be here until you're my age. >> my grandmother has alzheimer's, for the last ten years, it's been very expensive, it's a difficult situation, unfortunately we will create lots of really long lives. >> i have two parents i lost, you're not the only one who had that happen. >> i know. >> alot of people in the country have that. >> i know that. >> the end of life is a big issue. we're looking at if we can put together a checklist for end of life, have you talk to people and their family about how they want to be treated when they're in a hospital. >> they're tough conversations. >> but these are tough conversations that doctors have all the time. >> i know, my mother turned down a feeding tube. you know when you do that you have a month and a half or so. >> i think we should have this open discussion and put together some sort of plan for doctors to be able to regularly have these discussions with their patients. and the cleveland clinic is working on developing that checklist, much like we do before you go into surgery or take off on an airplanement. >> thank you for coming in. appreciate it. >> great conversation. coming up, ross westgate gets us up to date on the european market ahead of the greek elections this weekend. d. laces? 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[ crunch! ] all in one account. keep watch on the markets. or use our exclusive tools to help find ideas. it's powerful, easy-to-use technology for trading stocks, options, and futures. keep trading whether you're at home, in the office, or on the go. optionsxpress, the broker smart traders deserve. open an account today at optionsxpress.com. welcome back to "squawk box" on cnbc. in the headlines, moody's has cut ratings for 11 european banks and says it will do so again. moody's downgraded five dutch banks, three in france, one each in belgium and luxembourg. some union, right? you have 17 -- one of the biggest countries, biggest economic powers. britain is like, no, i'm not going to join the currency. switzerland doesn't either. it's a mess. >> merkel in germany is saying we can't do this by ourselves. germany can't save the entire eurozo eurozone. >> i can't believe we still go, wow, when we see there might be a problem. milton freedman had the early call. >> i can't believe it's still rating at 1.25 to the dollar. video game sales down 28% last month. what are people doing? they're not watching tv. they're not playing video games. i don't know. >> good, john. >> that was pack man. both hardware and software sales cited a drop. and fac