AI Commission in the House, Reaction to Chip Sales in the GOP 12/10/25

Summary

Squawk Pod: “AI Commission in the House, Reaction to Chip Sales in the GOP” Episode Date: December 10, 2025
Hosts: Joe Kernen, Becky Quick, Andrew Ross Sorkin
Guests: Jay Clayton (U.S. Attorney, SDNY; Former SEC Chair), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ), CNBC reporters

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the pressing issues around AI policy and legislation in Congress, the political reaction to chip sales to China, and safety and affordability in New York City. With interviews and panel discussion, the hosts debate economic policy, AI regulatory frameworks, national security, and urban law enforcement, offering insight into both partisan divides and areas of potential bipartisan consensus.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Federal Reserve Chair Speculation

Timestamps: 02:24–04:40

• Ongoing speculation over President Trump’s pick for the next Federal Reserve Chair (Kevin Warren and Kevin Hassett mentioned as frontrunners).
• Debate on whether the Fed Chair will follow political pressure to cut interest rates.
• Market skepticism about Hassett’s possible appointment:
  Andrew Ross Sorkin (03:27):
  “Kevin Hassett is not universally loved by hardcore traders, hawkish types... there’s a lot of consternation.”

Notable Quote

“But there’s one person who knows and he may, he may not even know. He may change his mind from time to time, too.”
— Joe Kernen (03:18)

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2. Nvidia AI Chip Sales to China & Political Backlash

Timestamps: 04:54–09:38

• The US will allow Nvidia to sell H200 AI chips to China, albeit with a security review, sparking bipartisan concern about national security.
• Suggestions that China could rapidly close the AI development gap using these chips.
• GOP members like Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Josh Hawley express doubt, warning China could reverse-engineer Nvidia’s technology and compete with the US.
• Contrasting view: Some lawmakers, e.g., Sen. Mike Brown, see this as an opportunity for continued US technological leadership, as the H200 is not Nvidia’s top-line chip.

Notable Quotes

“China was almost entirely parasitic on US technology.”
— Sen. Josh Hawley, via Emily Wilkins (07:11)

“Nvidia should be under no illusions. China will rip off its technology, mass produce it themselves, and seek to end Nvidia as a competitor.”
— Republican-led House panel (reading, 08:39)

“For now, [the sale] is not our best chips, but at the same time, it allows our companies to control the rails on which developers actually get used to putting in their products.”
— Jay Clayton (08:09)

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3. Media Mergers, Colbert, and the Paramount-Netflix Bidding War

Timestamps: 09:44–13:01

• Conversation about the Netflix/Paramount merger saga and the role of AI in the media bubble.
• Andrew Ross Sorkin recounts his recent “Late Show” appearance, ranging from market bubbles to media deals and the fate of late-night host Stephen Colbert.

Memorable Moment

“Would you prefer to have Netflix as a buyer? … Once you bring it just to the shareholders. I don’t think Mario Gabelli, for better or worse, is going to sit there and say, I think this is a better buyer.”
— Becky Quick (12:31)

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4. National & New York City Affordability and Safety

Timestamps: 14:21–24:56
Interview with Jay Clayton

National Economic Priorities

• The Trump administration’s focus: energy, health care, housing, and education cost.
• Discussion of inflated housing costs due to overregulation and delayed permitting.
• Education cost drivers: “We sell a whole bunch of things adjacent to education that we make people buy.” (Jay Clayton, 21:27)

New York Housing and Crime

• NYC’s affordable housing crisis: $750,000 per unit to build due to regulations (Jay Clayton, 14:32/21:45).
• Open-air drug markets in public housing, the persistent impact of COVID-era policy changes, and low detainment rates for repeat offenders.
• Tension between city, state, and federal law enforcement over prosecutorial discretion, especially regarding gun crimes and immigration (ICE enforcement).
• Praise for NYPD; concern about New York’s bail reform and its impact on public safety.

Notable Quotes

“There are housing projects in the city that have open air drug markets. We are going to target those and bring them to an end.”
— Jay Clayton (25:33)

“When a person is brought before a judge... risk to the public is not a factor you can consider. Okay, that’s the law in New York. 99 out of 100 New Yorkers... say that can’t be right.”
— Jay Clayton (27:11)

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5. Presidential Influence on Mergers & AI/Media Competition

Timestamps: 31:43–35:54

• Debate on whether it’s appropriate for the President to signal involvement in high-profile mergers (e.g., Paramount-Netflix), transparency vs. arm’s length norm.
• Jay Clayton expresses concern about possible market concentration in AI:
  “If we have only one AI provider, that scares the heck out of me. It really does.” (34:00)

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6. Congressional AI Commission and Bipartisan Hurdles

Timestamps: 44:30–50:18
Interview with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ)

• New Democratic commission to shape AI policy after a failed attempt at bipartisan committee renewal.
• Gottheimer supports federal preemption in AI regulation but wants child safety and consumer carve-outs.
• Broad agreement on the need for “guardrails” around deepfakes, child safety, and usage transparency.
• Ongoing congressional work on tracking and monitoring AI chip exports.
• Bipartisan concern about maintaining US leadership in AI, particularly regarding China.

Notable Quote

“A lot of us, in a bipartisan way have been working together on AI legislation—whether you’re talking about related to energy, you’re talking about deepfakes... child safety, there’s actually plenty going on.”
— Rep. Josh Gottheimer (48:51)

On Industrial Policy & Tariffs

• Gottheimer critiques across-the-board tariffs on China as detrimental for US consumers, leading to heated exchanges with the hosts.

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Other Highlights & Memorable Moments

• Stephen Colbert’s Name:
  Becky Quick tells an anecdote about once mispronouncing Colbert’s name during a New York Public Library event. (13:19)

• Pop Culture Interlude:
  Enthusiastic banter about Sylvester Stallone’s multi-decade film stardom and “Tulsa King” (39:55–42:41).

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Important Timestamps

| Segment | Time | |----------------------------|-------------| | Fed Chair Speculation | 02:24–04:40 | | Nvidia/China Chip Debate | 04:54–09:38 | | Jay Clayton on NYC Safety | 14:21–24:56 | | Presidential Role in Mergers | 31:43–35:54 | | Rep. Gottheimer on AI Policy | 44:30–50:18 |

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Tone & Takeaways

The discussion is lively, a blend of informative and combative (“Politics is such a dirty business,” Sorkin quips at one point). The episode highlights partisan divides but also repeated calls for pragmatic, bipartisan approaches on issues like AI regulation and national security. Jay Clayton brings a direct, at times blunt, law enforcement-focused perspective, while Rep. Gottheimer stresses problem-solving and the need for timely legislative action. The hosts inject humor and pop culture references, keeping the mood dynamic even as they tackle weighty national debates.

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Overall, this episode provides a robust window into how Congressional leaders, financial pundits, and former regulators are thinking about artificial intelligence, national economic priorities, and the fraught intersection of politics and technology as 2025 draws to a close.

Transcript

[Jay Clayton]

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[Becky Quick]

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[Becky Quick]

Bring in show music, please.

[Katie Kramer]

Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod zeroing in on safety in America's largest city with President Trump's hand picked U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton.

[Jay Clayton]

There are housing projects in the city that have open air drug markets. We are going to target those.

[Katie Kramer]

He was SEC chairman in the first Trump term. And now Clayton is also zooming out to national issues.

[Jay Clayton]

I am worried we talk about AI and things like I am worried that we preserve competition in these areas. Like if we have only one AI provider that scares the heck out of me.

[Katie Kramer]

Speaking of AI, New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer is co leading a new commission on the latest technology. It's for the Democratic agenda, but it's a priority across the aisle.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

A lot of us in a bipartisan way have been working together on AI legislation, whether you're talking about related to energy, you're talking about deep fakes, which of course are a huge issue, child safety.

[Katie Kramer]

Plus, the president and Treasury Secretary Scott Besant are closing in.

[Becky Quick]

Oh yeah, it's on the list.

[Katie Kramer]

On their pick for next Federal Reserve chair.

[Joe Kernen]

This has been the most interesting parlor game and we can all guess all we want.

[Katie Kramer]

And a familiar face on late night without long memories.

[Becky Quick]

And I said, Stephen Colbert, everybody.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And he said, thanks, Aaron.

[Katie Kramer]

All that today, plus goodies that are typically just on our TV broadcast. Listen to it all today. It's Wednesday, December 11th, 2025. Squawk Pod begins right now.

[Becky Quick]

Stand Becky by in three, two, one. Cue it, please.

[Joe Kernen]

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Squawk Box right here on cnbc. We are live from the NASDAQ market site in Times Square. I'm Becky Quick with Joe Kernan and Andrew Ross Sorkin. And here we go again, folks.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

We're going to be looking at a couple of different people, but I have.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

A pretty good idea who I want.

[Becky Quick]

President Trump now saying that he has a pretty good idea of who he wants to run the Federal Reserve once current Chairman Jay Powell is no Longer in charge. The president telling reporters his team would be looking at several different candidates. So it sounds like they have not settled on one. Though he said that in recent weeks he has already made up his mind on the next Fed chair. So it's a little bit of mixed messaging here. According to reports, President Trump is scheduled to meet with former Fed Governor Kevin Warren. Was supposed to happen today. Oh, yeah, it's on the list. Financial Times saying that National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett is still in the lead though, for the Fed's top job. During a Wall Street Journal event yesterday, Hassett said he wouldn't cave to political pressure to cut rates if he becomes the next Fed chair. He said that maybe he sees plenty of room to cut in the next months ahead, though.

[Joe Kernen]

This has been the most interesting parlor game and we can all guess all we want. But there's one person who knows and he may, he may not even know. He may change his mind from time to time, too.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And there's, there's some scuttlebutt in the marketplace that, you know, in Leesman I think we'll report on at some point that Kevin Hassett is not universally loved by hardcore traitors, hawkish types that think, you know, versus awash or something like that. And we've actually asked everyone when they come on, what about Kevin Hassett just, you know, being more of.

You know, whatever President Trump is indicating, would he be more amenable to that than other more independent Fed. I don't know whether any of that's true but supposedly there's a lot of, I don't know if you call consternation. You've pointed out 420 now on the, on the 10 year it's ticked up since pass it became but, but there's.

[Joe Kernen]

By the way, it's done that from the beginning when the Fed started over a year ago to cut rates while they were cut basis points. The longer they don't control the longer.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But at 38 trillion and what goes on in Congress, in the Senate to see, you know, the ten year really has been in a range of four to four and a half.

[Joe Kernen]

Oh, and by the way, I think those are the bigger issues.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Yeah, I mean it's not five, it's.

[Joe Kernen]

Not the Fed chair. Those are the bigger issues is look at our national debt. Look at whether we're going to be able to get anything done. That's what probably controls the long end. Anytime you ask somebody who's very serious about this, they say they look at the national debt.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I think People would say that the absence of the vigilantes has been more notable than the return of the vigilantes.

Nvidia, the H200AI chips that the company is going to be allowed to sell to China will be subject to a special security review before they're shipped overseas. It's a Wall Street Journal report that is highlighting this issue. It says the chips will be made in Taiwan, sent to the US for review, then forwarded back to China. And experts tell the Journal that one reason for the multi stop journey could be to allow the US to take a cut of the sales without the transaction appearing to be a constitutionally prohibited export tax. Meanwhile, the information reporting this morning is that China is holding emergency meetings with local tech companies to decide whether to let them buy the Nvidia H200 chips. That's something that, you know, on social media yesterday there were conflicting things saying that China doesn't want them things, but.

[Joe Kernen]

No things and that they would give grief to internal companies looking to buy them and they want to know why they would buy these chips over domestically manufactured ones. There was also some scuttlebutt about what Congress thinks about this. Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator, saying he didn't feel really great about the sales of some of these chips. So you'll see what happens with Congress with this as well. Emily Wilkins joins us right now with this. She's got more on that front. Emily, this has been something that we had seen some bipartisan support over the years. Just the idea that neither Republicans nor Democrats were super enthusiastic about selling some of these chips to China.

[Emily Wilkins]

I mean, Becky, we saw strong bipartisan support on this just a few months ago. And you know, as you were just mentioning, yes, lawmakers in Trump's own party, including Lindsey Graham, spoke with them yesterday and they told me that they are concerned that selling these H200 chips to China is going to undermine the US AI advantage. Remember again, just two months ago the Senate actually passed a measure that would have banned those H200 chips from being sold to China. And now I've been asking senators about how they feel about this most recent announcement. Spoke with Senator Josh Hawley about this yesterday and he told me that China was almost entirely parasitic on US Technology.

[Becky Quick]

But if we want to be China.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

I think we need to constrain their.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Ability to leverage our own technology. So I would think that we'd want.

[Becky Quick]

To reduce their access to our hardware, not increase it.

[Emily Wilkins]

A Republican led House panel focused on the Chinese Communist Party also warned that the move could help China catch up to the US in AI tweeting that because the H2 hundreds are far better than what China can produce domestically, both in capability and scale. Nvidia selling these chips to China could help it catch up to America in total compute. The committee then went on to say that Nvidia should be under no illusions. China will rip off its technology, mass produce it themselves, and seek to end Nvidia as a competitor. Now, while a lot of Republicans are concerned, it's not all of them. I spoke yesterday with a few senators, including Senator Mike Browns. He told me that he supports the sale because the H200 is not the most advanced Nvidia chip. And he said it's important that developers around the world build AI with US Chips.

[Jay Clayton]

We've always looked at this as an issue that has to be resolved. The President has done, I think, a good faith effort that's a step in the right direction. For now, it is not our best chips, but at the same time, it allows our companies to control what I call the rails on which developers actually.

[Dom Chu]

Get used to putting in their products.

[Emily Wilkins]

And while the most recent efforts on Capitol Hill to limit those exports fell short, other bills that could gain support would require chips to be tracked in order to know where they are.

[Joe Kernen]

Becky, so how does this play out? I mean, we could talk about people in Congress kind of popping off on this, but Congress has not seemed to be able to get its act together to pass much of anything these days. What are the odds that they get together, they pass something on this front?

[Emily Wilkins]

Becky, I mean, there are still lawmakers who feel strongly about this, who are still pushing for this, still introducing legislation on this. I mean, I am interested to see exactly what happens with this debate over tracking chips. That that's not something that Nvidia and others in the industry necessarily support. They have some concerns about it. But I think for lawmakers who are concerned about these chips potentially winding up in the wrong hands or about national security, that would be sort of a next place for them to look, other than it's difficult to see anything passing at this point. I mean, this big defense package that has national security that's kind of a go to for bills like this. And the fact this one wasn't able to get in the final one that the House is voting on today and the Senate will vote on next week, I think is pretty telling about where this issue stands right now.

[Joe Kernen]

Okay, Emily, thank you very much. Emily Wilkins.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

My next guest tonight is a best selling author, financial columnist for the New York Times and co anchor of Squawk box on cnbc. Please welcome back to the late Andrew Ross Sorkin. You got the new book. Let's push some paper.

[Becky Quick]

Thank you, sir.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

1929 Inside the greatest Crash in Wall Street History and How it Shattered a Nation. More on that later.

Last week. We're going to get to it. We're going to talk about things like that.

[Becky Quick]

We got a lot of things going on right now.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Last week, as I was talking about it earlier, we learned about the proposed Netflix Warner Brothers. Everybody thought that Paramount had the inside track. And then Netflix comes in with this huge cash offer of 82.7 billion dol. That's billion with an ilion. And now Paramount is launching a hostile bid for $108 billion. It's 26 more aliens that they could.

[Becky Quick]

Have used on this show anywhere.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Anywhere. They could have fed the homeless. Has the AI made any money?

[Becky Quick]

If you, the AI, well, the AI.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Branch of each of like, you know, Google's got their AI everything.

[Becky Quick]

If they, technically, if they stopped investing in more and newer and better AI, they probably actually could make money. The problem is that they are in an arms race and technologically there's a place they're all trying to rush to get to. So they have to keep spending more and more and more money and then we all are going to be using more and more of these services and therefore it requires more and more power. And so that's where the, that's where the economic problem becomes. That was last night on the Late show with Stephen Colbert. We were talking a little bit. 1929 veered into a question about AI bubbles, as you might imagine, and then veered into a conversation about the media landscape and of course Paramount, parent company of where he works, at least for now. He's shows getting canceled obviously in May. A couple of fun jokes about, you know, if you don't have the, you know, given all of the supposed lack.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Of money you got there and you immediately had five assistants devoted totally to you. For, for.

[Becky Quick]

They have a great team.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

They do have a very large team.

[Becky Quick]

They have a, they have a great. But I got to tell you, they're, they're pros over there. They do, they do a great job and it was, it was a lot of fun. But we were, he was talking about, you know, would you prefer to have Netflix as a buyer? Would you prefer, you know, who you are. Just, I mean just, just how to think about royal you when I think in the end we were talking about, which is actually I do think going to be different about this deal is that shareholders are going to choose and they're going to choose green. It's not like sometimes you have a board that chooses somebody because they think one's a better steward or that there's, you know, better synergies or whatever. Once you bring it just to the shareholders. I don't think, I don't think Mario Gabelli, for better or worse, is going to sit there and say, I think this is a better buyer.

[Joe Kernen]

I heard this morning that he may tender his share.

[Becky Quick]

Right. But that's because he wants to get a bit.

[Joe Kernen]

Because he wants the money and he.

[Becky Quick]

Wants the higher number, which is interesting. And obviously then there's the question about leaders versus Paramount News and. And there's an apples and oranges about both of the deals. They're not exactly the same.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

No. Paramount standalone versus Paramount with all the cost cutting synergies that they would definitely want to do if they win this. I don't know what. I don't think either thing. It portends great things for him being there past May. I just. I don't.

[Becky Quick]

Oh, for Steven.

[Joe Kernen]

For Stephen Colbert.

[Becky Quick]

I think Stephen, you know, is done in May. I think this is not the end of Stephen. I just think the end, that's the.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Same as the Montclair Film Festival. So when we go there, because he's. He's really big with that.

[Becky Quick]

He was great. His wife was there, by the way. She was on the show last night. She's involved big. And they were so much fun.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

They were in Montclair.

[Becky Quick]

Yeah. Many years ago. I was telling him this story. He didn't remember it. I introduced him at an event at the New York Public Library back before he was really famous. And I didn't know frankly who he was. And I said, stephen Colbert, everybody. Hard tea.

[Joe Kernen]

You reminded him of hard tea, Stephen Colbert.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But interestingly, he said, thanks, Aaron.

[Becky Quick]

But the thing that's funny about it was apparently half of his family goes by Colbert. So some of them roll the R's and some don't.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

That's the less pretentious half.

[Joe Kernen]

I can't believe you reminded him that you mispronounced his name.

[Becky Quick]

I thought about telling the story on the air, on his show on the air. We've just done it on our air.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Did he delve into any type of comedy or mostly just Trump bashing? Was there anything funny said that would be the first time in like six years.

[Becky Quick]

Coming up, our comedian anchorman over here. Thank you.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I think I tell a lot more jokes than he does.

[Becky Quick]

Cheese will be next.

[Katie Kramer]

Coming up next on Squawkpod. U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton turning his attention to the Big Apple. Safety, affordability and life in 2020's New.

[Jay Clayton]

York housing is a disaster because we subsidize the heck out of it at the federal level and we restrict the heck out of it at the local level. Do you know what it costs to build an affordable unit in New York now? $750,000.

[Katie Kramer]

So much more. Squawkpod is ahead. Please stay tuned.

[Becky Quick]

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[Katie Kramer]

Welcome back. This is Squawk Pod from cnbc.

[Becky Quick]

You're watching Squawk on cnbc. I'm Andrew Ossorkin, along with Joe Kernan and Becky Quick. I should say squawk box because sometimes say squawk it could be confused with another squawk, which comes later as you would say the OG the original.

[Joe Kernen]

I'm saying Joe says OG the OG.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Because the name was. People didn't like it 30 years ago. Originally, when they were gonna do it. It's like, what is that? And it does have a lot of, you know, animals, squawks.

[Becky Quick]

You know, a lot of people. Our newer generation of viewers don't even know what a squawk box is, that.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It used to be on the desk of every financial professional.

[Becky Quick]

As the.

Brokers would find out.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

The people back in New York would tell them, you know, we got 10,000 shares with a bullet, which would mean you'd get a dollar for every share that you. President Trump. Responding to criticism of high prices in various parts of the economy, Democrats have tried to hammer the president on the issue of affordability. Here is the president last night at a rally in Pennsylvania. I can't say affordability hoax, because I agree the prices were too high. So I can't call it a hoax because they'll misconstrue that. But they use the word affordability, and that's their only word. They say affordability, and everyone says, oh.

[Jay Clayton]

That must mean Trump has high prices.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

No, our prices are coming down tremendously from the highest prices in the history of our country. And joining us now is Jay Clayton. He is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former chairman of the sec. I'd like to be able to take the President aside, just explain how to explain it, because prices in certain sectors are coming down, like energy, and he's right about that. And that could be that that could filter into other parts of the economy and cause inflation, which is really never zero or lower. It can be, but that's not good.

[Jay Clayton]

That would be bad.

[Joe Kernen]

That would be Japan.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So the president really say that inflation is going to zero or that prices are actually negative? Some of them are. Food prices can be volatile and could go now, but we want to do is get the rate of increase below where the Fed thinks it needs to, you know, to. To raise rates or not cut rates, because it is about 3% right now, which is about where it was when Biden left office. Up a little bit. But the affordability issue is from the 22% increase in prices and inflation under Biden. There's this full stop right there. That's the affordability. And you ought to be able to explain that, right?

[Jay Clayton]

That's right. And look, I think that with the economic team, President Trump and the economic team led by Scott Bessant, you have people who very much Understand this. And it was a. They were. They were thrown. You know what I would say the worst economy for the average American in my adult lifetime in terms of the. Like you said, the incredible increase in prices at the household. Yeah.

[Joe Kernen]

Except for that. It's part of the reason that they won. And now Americans say, fix it.

[Jay Clayton]

Make it better.

[Joe Kernen]

They were handed a situation where Americans felt like their dollar was not going as far as.

[Jay Clayton]

Absolutely, we should all, like, face up. Let's go with fourth. Let's go.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

The average weekly wages fell from the time took Biden took office to when he left. That's why people feel like. And now that's not the case anymore.

[Jay Clayton]

Prices are still high, squeezed at both ends.

[Becky Quick]

Wages came up.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Wages are now rising.

[Jay Clayton]

And now wages are rising.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

The only reason we brought this up was to talk really about Mamdani, because that's what elected him is affordability. And that's where you come in, because you got to save this city and keep it safe.

[Jay Clayton]

All right, let's go. Let's go. National affordability, and then we'll come to the city. So national affordability. Four things that the Trump administration is focused on. You hit one. Energy. Already a big impact. One of the things on energy that I would love to see bipartisan support for is transmission. We talk about all the above. Green energy, fossil fuels, etc. Mineral pipeline. One of the reasons why your electric bill is still going up in New York is transmission. We have not invested in transmission. They're bringing prices down. They'll invest in transmission. Health care. Okay. Why is health care so high? We have a cost pricing model with opacity to the consumer. Get information to the consumer. You have Mark Cuban on. He's absolutely right on this. President Trump understands that. Scott Bessen understands it. Housing. Housing is a disaster because we subsidize the heck out of it at the federal level and we restrict the heck out of it at the local level. Do you know what it costs to build an affordable unit in New York now? $750,000. If the replacement cost for affordable units or the incremental affordable unit is 750 grand. That's why prices have gone way up. And you know what? Most of that. Most of that Delta, like I would say way above the rate of inflation is due to overregulation in the construction and the time it takes to build homes. So you got all those. And what else do people really care about? The cost of education. The cost of education has outpaced inflation again, because we subsidize the heck of it. And we sell a whole bunch of things adjacent to education that we make people buy. It's not about the cost in the classroom. It's about all those extra cost that you, that you make everybody buy who goes to college. We've got all of that. Yeah, Donald Trump can talk plainly to people about that, and he's doing it. And I think focusing on those four areas, you know, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to see results.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And Hassett was on earlier this week.

[Jay Clayton]

Kevin, he understands all this.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And he said we're going to wage increases since. And I think he was implying since inflation never goes negative. So we're locked in. Those Biden increases of 22%, those are, those are locked in.

[Jay Clayton]

Prices are going to stay higher, that.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

We need to grow out of it in terms of income levels.

[Jay Clayton]

This is why.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Feel like you can afford.

[Jay Clayton]

This is why everyone fears inflation. Because the effects of a jump in.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Inflation, they never go away.

[Jay Clayton]

They never go away. And that's why, that's why you.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And you add another 3% on top of that. So Mamdani ran on that, and now I don't know what happens to this city that you said one of the things you can change.

[Jay Clayton]

Well, let's go to the city. How are we going to bring the cost, cost of incremental units in New York down? Or actually keep it for, say you.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Can only charge 200,000 to build a house.

[Jay Clayton]

Yeah, that. No one builds a house. You know, I mean, like, that's the, that's crazy town.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I know.

[Jay Clayton]

Okay. So one of the things that happens in cities is whether you have competence in government. Now, we had the most competent big city mayor again in my lifetime in Mike Bloomberg. You know, things in the city were running. They were running. Well, the New York people need to demand competence across government. We have a terrible New York city housing authority, $12 billion a year. And the results for our most vulnerable citizens in New York are poor. One of our jobs is fighting crime in those housing projects. That's something that we are keenly focused on. But we need to do better in housing our prison system. The cost of an inmate at Rikers is into the multiple hundred thousands. It's a wide range. When the cost in the federal system is 50 to $70,000.

[Becky Quick]

And that's a function of unions, it's a function of labor. It's a function of what?

[Jay Clayton]

All the above.

[Becky Quick]

Okay.

[Jay Clayton]

All the above. And we need to do better at these things, you know, where we're doing great you know, we're doing great. The New York Police Department, I mean what they are amazing partners to us and they are really well run, you know, top to bottom. Cops care, the brass cares. They really care about quality of life.

[Becky Quick]

Have you spoken to the mayor elect in this new.

[Jay Clayton]

I've not.

[Becky Quick]

You have not.

[Jay Clayton]

I'm not.

[Becky Quick]

Do you plan to. How does.

[Jay Clayton]

I'm sure, I'm sure that works. I'm sure at some, at some point we will have to interact his people, my people at the top and I look forward to working with them. We have a great relationship with the New York Police Department.

[Joe Kernen]

Right?

[Jay Clayton]

We have, we have good relationships across other parts of New York City. The better those relationships, the better we're going to do with public safety.

[Becky Quick]

One of the things that we were talking to Kathy Wild about just yesterday, who's now on the transition team and was working with the New York City partnership is this report just last week that the mayor elect said that he was not going to be sweeping these homeless encampments, sort of tented camps and what that portends for quality of life, but also just the humanity of some of the homeless and also crime. And I know you've been trying to take drugs off the street and other things in your role and sort of how you think about that. She was pretty insistent that those reports were incorrect or misunderstood. What do you know about them?

[Jay Clayton]

Well, let me, let me tell you what I know I can focus on. And the folks open air drug markets, we just should not tolerate them. So Washington Square park, we had an open air drug market. There are housing projects in the city that have open air drug markets. We are going to target those and bring them to an end. I don't want children walking through Washington Square park, having to dodge needles, seeing, seeing people the horrible effects of drugs. I mean, so can I ask questions? I got in the subway over here last night and somebody was od'.

[Joe Kernen]

Ing.

[Becky Quick]

You know my question about the Washington Square Park, I actually saw that news and I, by the way, as a New Yorker, I was thrilled that you were doing that. It's been like that for years.

[Joe Kernen]

I don't know for years.

[Becky Quick]

And I always wanted to think to.

[Joe Kernen]

My it's kind of happened under Covid.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It got a lot worse.

[Becky Quick]

Well why is that and where is that a New York Police Department situation? Is that the prosecutor mayoral situation? Is that a prosecutor? What leads to that and for it to be as persistent and consistently happening for as long as it takes or.

[Joe Kernen]

Was it the change in the state laws?

[Jay Clayton]

Many, many people engaged in that activity who are charged in the state system are released. They are not detained pending charges. And very often the charges are pled down to misdemeanors and they don't do time. If you are, if you have 10, 20, 30 priors and you are dealing fentanyl that results in someone's death, you don't deserve to walk the streets.

[Becky Quick]

Right, but.

[Joe Kernen]

So my question is, I think it was, I remember at the time, it was around Covid, and they changed the laws at the state level for what people could be held for. And then at that point, the police officers are like, I put them in, they're out a day later.

[Jay Clayton]

So I'm going to say it again. So New Yorkers hear it. When a person is brought before a judge, arraigned, and you consider whether they're going to be detained and held or not.

Risk to the public is not a factor you can consider. Okay, that's the law in New York. 99 out of 100 New Yorkers. I explained that. To say that can't be right.

[Joe Kernen]

Did that change four or five years ago? Or has that always been the case?

[Jay Clayton]

And it's absurd.

[Joe Kernen]

It was 2020.

[Jay Clayton]

You want to get gun violence down. If someone uses a gun in a crime, detain them.

[Becky Quick]

Yes, Jay, you may be right. It just doesn't sound to me like the mayor elect. And I don't know this I don't want to project is necessarily on board with the things you're saying historically, in terms of.

[Jay Clayton]

People ask me about that and I say, we're the federal law enforcement. We don't touch every one of these crimes. But when something rises to the federal level.

[Becky Quick]

But that was my question. How do you. To the extent that's what the people.

[Jay Clayton]

Want, everybody, every New Yorker wants it.

[Becky Quick]

But what rises to the federal level? When do you get to be involved? When does the city or state get involved? And where's the. Again, this goes to the relationship that you may or may not have with the next mayor. How does that, how's that supposed to work? Because. Because there are lots of things that he disagrees with the federal government about, including we can get into ICE and everything else.

[Jay Clayton]

Instead of, instead of going through the folds of, you know, federal jurisdiction versus state jurisdiction and the like. What I will tell you is where are we focused where we have federal jurisdiction? Someone uses a gun in a crime in New York, we're going to look at that. And if. And if we have clear federal charges, we're going to bring them.

I think that's what New Yorkers want.

[Becky Quick]

What was your reaction to the mayor?

[Jay Clayton]

Do you, I mean, every New Yorker, we have the most restrictive gun laws in the country.

[Becky Quick]

I don't disagree with you. I'm just.

[Jay Clayton]

But then we have gun crime and we're going to let it go.

[Becky Quick]

I imagine that there is going to be to be a back and forth between the state or the city and you about who gets to prosecute these cases.

[Jay Clayton]

Well, on this, I don't think there's going to be a back and forth because this is our position. And as long as I'm in the job, this is going to be my position.

[Becky Quick]

What was your position on seeing the mayor elect take to Instagram and social media and whatnot, explaining he would say to New Yorkers how to deal with or handle ISIS.

Raids and, or, you know, knocks on the door. I don't know if you saw, but he did a sort of two or three minute explanation to New Yorkers and was pretty, you know, supportive of people saying, don't talk, don't talk to them. Don't, you know, you don't have to open the door, you don't have to interact with them. And obviously you're on one side of that as the federal government is and clearly as a sanctuary city, he would say he's on the other side.

[Jay Clayton]

Okay, let me give you an example. We're going to talk about this later today in a Homeland Security briefing. TDA Trend Aragua. Trend Aragua. Vicious gang.

[Becky Quick]

Yep.

[Jay Clayton]

Okay.

[Becky Quick]

Okay.

[Jay Clayton]

In May, we charged a number of members of that gang who, many of whom were here illegally. Murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking. You know what, shouldn't we be allowed to go pick those guys up?

[Becky Quick]

Oh, I'm not telling you you can't. I'm just saying I don't.

[Jay Clayton]

No, I'm just saying that's my response.

[Becky Quick]

That's where the mayor sits.

[Jay Clayton]

That's my response. Like, you know what? You have people like that here illegally. Every New Yorker wants them gone.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You're speechless.

[Becky Quick]

Let me ask you a related question. How do you feel about.

Members of ICE pulling people off the street wearing masks and the like?

[Jay Clayton]

Look, if, let me ask you this. If people were targeting your home.

Would that bother you?

[Becky Quick]

If people were targeting, they said, you.

[Jay Clayton]

Know what, I don't like Sorkin.

[Joe Kernen]

You guys are playing. Let me ask you this, let me give you a worst case scenario.

[Becky Quick]

And I'm just saying I think that.

[Jay Clayton]

I have great sympathy for people who are doing their job as law enforcement officers, whose homes are being, who are being doxxed. And they're wearing those masks so that people don't go to their homes and, you know, give their children a hard time. I completely understand that.

[Becky Quick]

Would you feel the same way about just police?

[Jay Clayton]

Police. That's different. I don't think anybody's targeting the police's homes.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Okay, let me get, get Andrew going on something else. So.

I got a list. So Trump says, you know, I may or may not like Paramount. I may or may not like Netflix. I'm going to be involved in this decision. So is this the first time in the history of the country that the chief executive has decided which mergers pass muster and which don't?

[Jay Clayton]

Yeah. A lot of times people say things are unprecedented. Like, you know what just, I mean, what pops to my mind? Wage and price controls. Right. I mean, we've had the executive branch get involved in things like, you know.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

What is it a good idea?

[Jay Clayton]

But you know, what's fat? Is it a good idea? It depends on what the American people want.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

If he is in a position, you can't ask him, but if he's in a position to staff all these agencies with like minded people, that's basically what he's doing anyway. He just happens to be overtly saying that he has influence on what worked and what.

[Jay Clayton]

Saying the quiet part out loud.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

That was my point.

[Becky Quick]

Well, that's what we were discussing the other day.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And just, you know, transparency. But in this case you don't really like the transparency.

[Becky Quick]

Well, I just don't know. What I don't know is, do you remember many years ago at AND T was trying to buy Time Warner and.

[Joe Kernen]

That deal under the last Trump administration?

[Becky Quick]

Right, under the last Trump administration. And that deal was blocked. And Makindel Rahim, who used to come on the show, who now by the way works for Paramount, would say that it was his decision, the President never was influencing that decision at all. That he had nothing to do with it. That the way this whole system works is that the President's over here and yes, he appoints the folks who run the Justice Department, but beyond that, it's a completely arm's length relationship. So they might find like minded people, but that's the extent of it. This feels different because you're literally seeing maybe for the first time, I don't know, the idea that both CEOs of both competing companies are going to visit the President at the White House. Right. And not just that, that he's explicitly said out loud, maybe the quiet part out loud, that he's going to be actively involved in the decision that feels new. If you talk to most lawyers who, where you used to work at Sullivan and Cromwell in the merger department, they would say, that's different. We haven't had that. At least we haven't seen that before. You don't. You don't think so?

[Jay Clayton]

Well, I don't know that we've seen it in media before, but maybe, I mean, I will. I am worried. We talk about AI things that. I am worried that we preserve competition in these areas. Like if we have only one AI provider. That scares the heck out of me. It really does.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Maybe it's just media because we saw it in US Steel. We saw it. We've seen administrations decide.

[Jay Clayton]

But it's not, it's not unprecedented in that anything that touches substantially on national security, even at the Justice Department, you know, if it touches on national security, you're going to. You're going to talk to the State Department and it's going to go all the way up to the White House. If it's, if it's, you know, like something, let's say something that would touch on resolving the Ukraine, Russia, I make it more complicated.

[Becky Quick]

Some people look at the. The fact that Jared Kushner's firm is backing the Paramount deal and say that as a result, talk about recusing. Should the president.

Recuse himself fully from this? I mean, some people added. Some people thought, oh, they're being added into this to try to actually get across the finish line because, you know, with some wink and a nod that will be helpful to them. By the way, it's not clear that's the case because the president actually took to Truth Social and went after Paramount, interestingly enough, the other day because of what he didn't 60 Minutes interview he didn't like.

[Jay Clayton]

But the flip side is, I don't think you have to worry about this president making up his own mind.

[Becky Quick]

Sure. But again, there's. But the question for the public in terms of credibility and how these decisions are being made. Do you say to yourself, because certain people are involved, at least historically in the legal universe, you'd say, you know what? I have a family representative that's somehow engaged with xyz. I have to take a step back. I can't. I can't make this.

[Jay Clayton]

There's two ways to deal with it. You're talking about people do recusals, but there's also Joe's word transparency, you know, and transparency. Knowing that, all these factors in the American public knowing it, I think that's a good thing.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Right.

[Jay Clayton]

Where else do you want to go?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Well, I remember they asked me, well, you know, where do you want to start? And I immediately said I shouldn't tell you. I mean, he said, comey, but you don't want to talk.

[Jay Clayton]

We've done that.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I know. Alina Harbor, I mean, there's so many. You are in the middle of so much stuff. Right.

[Jay Clayton]

But you know what? New York, we're going to make New York safer. I mean, I will tell you, I go to work, but you have 200.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

On the one hand to make it safer. You got another guy who could drive it right off a cliff.

[Jay Clayton]

I can't worry about that, really. I mean.

New Yorkers, when New York is safe, New York comes.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

All right. All right, Jay. Thank you.

[Joe Kernen]

So no broken windows. Is that basically.

[Jay Clayton]

No, you know what? Broken windows, that's fine. That was it. But getting hardcore gun toting criminals out of this city, that's what.

[Becky Quick]

All right, and just on that point, though, what am I. I don't know.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

If you bring up guns with him. Well, no, no, we've got to take it to 9 o'.

[Becky Quick]

Clock.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

If you bring up guns.

[Becky Quick]

I thought we had an extra minute. Maybe we don't. No, we don't. All I was gonna. All I was gonna ask.

[Joe Kernen]

We did two minutes ago.

[Becky Quick]

Sorry about that, guys. No, all I was gonna ask is again, to the. You know, Jesse Tisch obviously is gonna be running the police department.

[Jay Clayton]

She's fantastic.

[Becky Quick]

And, and I think she is fantastic. And the question is, and this is the part I was trying to get at before, trying to understand who actually gets to decide, you know, who effectively prosecutes these. Yeah, you're asking, especially in the gun.

[Jay Clayton]

Context, but you're asking a really good question about who decides in government. It's actually like who decides in a well run business, the better you run your division, the more autonomy you get.

And that's right. What do good CEOs do? They focus on the places that aren't running well, and they let the places that are running well. So.

[Becky Quick]

But I assume the police, I assume the police arrest somebody and then they have to decide who to call.

[Jay Clayton]

Right. But what I'm saying is the police department deserves a great deal of discretion and autonomy because they're doing a great job.

[Becky Quick]

Okay, we will leave it there, Jay.

[Joe Kernen]

Thank you.

[Jay Clayton]

Thanks.

[Becky Quick]

Time now for today's AFLAC trivia question.

[Jay Clayton]

Who is the only actor who has starred in a number one film across six consecutive decades?

[Becky Quick]

The answer when Squawkbox returns.

Before the trophy and bragging rights are.

[Jay Clayton]

Rightfully yours before your sleeper turns.

[Becky Quick]

In a season no one saw coming.

[Jay Clayton]

Before stats and projections turn into points on the board and your lineup falls.

[Becky Quick]

Perfectly into place, you flip the lid on a can of on nicotine pouches. And as you make your first pick.

[Jay Clayton]

You know this is the season where fantasy's going to surpass reality.

[Becky Quick]

It's on products for tobacco consumers 21.

[Jay Clayton]

Years of age or older. Warning, this product contains nicotine.

[Becky Quick]

Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

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[Becky Quick]

And now the answer to today's Aflac trivia question. Who is the only actor who has.

[Jay Clayton]

Starred in a number one film across six consecutive decades?

[Becky Quick]

The answer, Sylvester Stallone.

[Strawberry Me Coaching Announcer]

Wow.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I know. I've been talking about that. I was trying to figure it out. I thought six decades would go to the 60s. I thought maybe Michael Caine or something from. That's actually a good guess. But I love Sly Stallone so much, I can't even. I don't know about Dom Chu, but I can't even express how much I love Sly Stallone after. And he just got the Kennedy song. He's on Tulsa King.

[Joe Kernen]

Tulsa King. It pops up every day.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

What I didn't realize was that in the teens, what was it Creed he did, I guess a Another Rocky, which got the number one. And then I guess in the 2000 and 20s, he did a. What do you do in the 2000s?

Suicide Squad.

[Jay Clayton]

I never saw that number one.

[Joe Kernen]

I didn't.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But you see what he looks like now. He's 80 something.

[Becky Quick]

He looks pretty good.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

He's totally. And he's the same. And I think he's, you know, Tulsa King is good. Tulsa King is good. And Tulsa King is, I think the Taylor Sheridan. It is Taylor, which NBC is moving over. That's a big deal.

[Becky Quick]

But not the show. But he's moving. But That's a big deal for in 29.

[Emily Wilkins]

He's got everything.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Oh, it's 29.

[Joe Kernen]

Oh, it's a 20. I thought it was 20.

[Becky Quick]

Or maybe it's 20. 28 maybe.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Apparently Taylor, it's a while. Sharon is in talks with Dom Chu about starring in, in, in like a golf adventure, stock analyst movie or something. Is that, is that a series in development, Dom or.

[Dom Chu]

No, I don't think it's in development right now. But I could try, I could try to see if I could fit into a role there. But since your point, guys, I am a massive Tulsa King fan. I'm a massive Taylor Sheridan fan. I think he's one of the best storytellers of our age in terms of kind of television and movies. And I would say the Expendables, remember the Expendables movies. I thought they really kind of got me back into.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But how do you come up. I mean I remember. See, I'm so old. I remember Playboy did a, an article on up and comers. There's this unknown guy, it used to be a magazine that did normal things, I mean interviews and stuff. There was a picture of Sly when he was in his 20s and it said this guy is an up and comer. He's written a script and gotten the go ahead on a movie called Rocky that he's gonna. And I remember no one had any. And I said, Sylvester, that's a cat. What is? And then the rest is. I mean to come up with that and Rambo.

[Joe Kernen]

Rambo, yeah.

[Dom Chu]

First Blood, unbelievable, all of those things. I mean he's been, he's timeless, ageless. And to your point, as old as he is right now, he is still fitter and maybe even better looking than just a ton of other people out there.

[Joe Kernen]

Very quickly, Taylor Sheridan, he's. His contract with paramount ends in 2028. The new deal includes both film and television. Movie component could start as early as 2026. The TV and streaming deal doesn't belong until 2029 like Andrew said.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Oh, okay.

[Dom Chu]

So yeah, I just think between Yellowstone and I watch a lot of those ones that are on Paramount like Lioness and everything in that Yellowstone universe. It's been pretty amazing. So anyway, I will get you back onto your movers here right now. We'll start off with things. Shares of GE Vernova. Let's start with a 10% gain there. It's soaring after providing some bullish longer term guidance at its investor day just yesterday. It expects revenue of at least $52 billion by the year. 2028. And that would be up from its current fiscal year guidance of 36 to 37 billion dollars which the company also affirmed or reaffirmed, whatever way you want to say it. It said it's also trending towards the higher end of expectations there. The energy equipment company also doubled its dividend, increased its share buyback authorization to $10 billion from 6 billion. And a slate of analysts who covered the stock this morning are also moving to raise their ratings and price targets or some combination of both in all the wake of the news. So keep an eye on GE Vernova up 10%. Meantime, GameStop is falling today after reporting revenues of $821 million in its third quarter. CNBC is not comparing that number to estimates due to kind of thinner analyst coverage there. But the video game retailers Bitcoin holdings also fell in value and the company did not add any Bitcoin to its treasury from the previous quarter. So those moves leading to a loss of 6% there for GameStop. And Cracker Barrel is also in the red this morning after the restaurant chain missed revenue expectations in its quarter and revised both its revenue and profit guidance downwards for the full year. Comparable restaurant sales also fell more than expected. The company CEO cited quote, unique and ongoing headwinds in those results which come after its of course poorly received rebrand attempt in August of this year. So Cracker Barrel shares down six and a quarter percent. Joe, I will send things back over to you, Becky and Andrew.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Thank you, Dom.

[Dom Chu]

You're very welcome.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Okay.

[Joe Kernen]

With AI Super PACs projected to spend $100 million in the 2026 midterm elections, our next guest will weigh in on the future of AI policy on Capitol Hill. Want to welcome Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey. He will co lead a new House commission, the House Democratic Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy. And Congressman, welcome. Thanks for being with us today.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

Thanks for having me, Becky.

[Joe Kernen]

This is just a Democratic committee that's going to be looking at this because the Democrats and the Republicans are looking at AI regulation pretty differently. Most of the Republicans are saying that they don't want to see state by state regulation of this, that there should be one federal policy to regulate AI. And by the way, they think that that policy policy should probably have a pretty light touch. What are you thinking along with people on this committee?

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

Well, first of all, the reason we put this commission together led by Hakeem Jeffries, our Democratic leader is there used to be last Congress a bipartisan committee doing it. The speaker this time decided not to bring that together again. So Leader Jeffries, along with many of us, said, you know, this is not something we can't get ready for given how exciting AI is. And, and of course, we want to make sure it's done the right way and that we lead the world with appropriate guardrails. And so that's why this commission was born and I think will bring together good ideas on policy and legislation. And to your point, Becky, I'm not opposed to actually a federal preemption law. It's just got to be done the right way. We want to make sure we have appropriate carve outs for states, you know, and everything from child safety to transparency to stop deep fakes and protect consumers. So I see this as an opportunity as overall for the Congress to really lead and for Democrats to lead the way and to have really smart conversations with stakeholders. But of course you want to do it the right way. You actually want to have that conversation. And that's what this commission is all about.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Congressman, it, it's your Jersey friend. I don't think I'm in your district, though. Is he, Joe?

[Joe Kernen]

He doesn't mind.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

Joe, you're welcome to my district anytime, man.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Congressman Josh Haimer, that's like a portmanteau, right?

Politics is such a dirty business. I was upset with you and I'm going to let you, I'm going to let you answer this because I see some of the great stuff you do in a bipartisan way with the problem solvers. I thought your ads when you were running, what were you running for? They were, they were like, so just left wing talking points that weren't really like you. Do you know which ones I'm talking about? When you were running for, what was.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

The ones talking about? The ones talking about lower. The ones talking about how we need to lower taxes in Jersey, the ones that energy costs.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So you're not letting me talk. The ones where you said tax cuts for billionaires and the rich and corporations.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

And by the way, by the way, Joe, I, I, by the way, I'll, I'll challenge you. I would never run an ad saying I would. By the way, I would never run an ad about that. So you must be looking at some other candidate. I believe in opportunity for everybody in lower taxes.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I know you do.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

There's no.

[Becky Quick]

I know you do.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

That's why I was.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

No chance, by the way, there's no chance.

You find that ad and send it to me.

[Becky Quick]

I don't know.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Might have been packed, might have been, might have been PAC money and it.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

Went from that ad.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Could have been Brandon.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

By the way, in Jersey, we got a lower taxes and lower cost for people. And go. Including energy bills.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

This is the job and health care. So let's look it up. All right, you know, next time.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

Look it up, man.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

We'll run it next time, my friend. Next time we'll have the damn thing and we'll run it.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

By the way, run that. By the way, run that ad. Because I don't know what you're talking about. So there's no way I ran that ad.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I was so I was really disappointed in that. Maybe it was a pack ad. Oh, they're looking for it, right?

[Becky Quick]

Good.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

They should find it. Go ahead.

[Joe Kernen]

Congresswoman, let's talk a little bit more about the AI situation because look, we. It's been three years since OpenAI came out and hit consumers. We don't have any regulation that has been brought up around that. We still don't really have federal regulation that strongly regulates any of the social media companies that have been out there for 15 years or longer. What do you tell people? What do you get around that? How do you find ways to actually come to an agreement to something that gets done?

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

Well, the good news on this, Becky, is a lot of us, in a bipartisan way have been working together on legislation, whether you're talking about related to energy, you're talking about deepfakes, which of course are a huge issue. Child safety, there's actually plenty going on in the Congress around that and, and, and bipartisan. And I think everybody agrees we've got to do something that we want to seize all the opportunity, whether it's health care related, education related, science related, on AI. Right. The incredible what's going on and the opportunities ahead. But also you want to make sure there's appropriate guardrails. You got to think through jobs and everything else that I think are really important that people have rightly have big anxiety about. So there's a way to do this. We just have to do it right. I think we've got to have the conversation. We can't ignore it. And that's why this commission exists. And Ted Lieu and Valerie Frusci and I, the three of us are going to be focused on how do we bring in the stakeholders, talk to the one, the developers who are doing this and obviously those who are involved and have a smart conversation. I'm having one in just an hour from now with a few folks who are from the space and doing incredible work. So to me, that's how this should Go. We should be smart, but we have to be ahead. This is happening. And the key is from a national security perspective, whether you're talking about chips, how do we think through to be smart? Because in my opinion, we should not be selling the latest technology that our number one adversary, China. That's not a smart move. We've got to stay competitive and have our qualitative edge. And so there's a lot of issues here to think through. We just got to do it in a smart way.

[Joe Kernen]

What's happening with health care? We're getting to the end of the year. Those health care subsidies for, for ACA are going to expire. I know you were with us last time we were on talking about ways to try and maybe get some bipartisan support on that. Where do things stand?

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

So, Becky, that group, when I, when I saw you last, we actually are putting out a piece of legislation today with several dozen people on it, with couple dozen people on it and several dozen people who have backed this concept that we should be for at least the next year extending these tax credits, which are key to helping prevent premiums from going up 175% in Jersey for a family of four, you know, getting these premiums down, which people just can't afford, starting in January, and then looking at potential reforms for the year after, and so saying, okay, let's actually get together and have that conversation. But you can't just have people in the beginning of January with what they're facing now on food prices and energy costs and everything else from the tariffs, whack people with, with a $20,000 new premium bill who can't afford that, and then they're going to drop their health care. That is not a good outcome for our families or our country. So there's a way to do this. We've got a big bipartisan group. And now the question is what will our leadership do? And of course, what will President Trump do? And I'm hoping so far he has said he's not interested. I'm hoping he meets with us and he comes around on doing something to help people get their health insurance premiums.

[Joe Kernen]

Down, even if those subsidies are extended for the next year. That only covers 22 to 24 million people, health care costs, insurance costs are going to go up for Americans who are not covered by the aca. How do you tackle that bigger problem? Is there a movement afoot?

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

Well, so part of our proposal, of course, is of the PBM reform, which was almost done. That'll help. We need a lot more and we could talk about this for a while, about what needs to be done with PBMs to get more transparency and pricing. We've got hospital pricing issues. We got. There's a lot of places where we could use reform, and that's what we're talking about. But you're right, Becky. I mean, listen, for. For nearly every American, they're facing higher health insurance costs, which are unacceptable, and they keep going up significantly. In this case, you're talking about 24 million Americans to help them immediately. But it'll affect other people, of course, who don't. Who decide to drop out and affects the pool. And everyone's insurance goes up when you lose. When 24 million people have their insurance premiums go up.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

These are.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

It's a lot of people. It's a lot of families who are struggling.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Might have been one where you're. There's. AI, you were in a boxing ring and you were punching Trump or something, and he was your opponent, and.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

Oh, we're fighting tough.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Oh, yeah. You're fighting Trump and you were hitting him.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

I was, yeah.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Over chaos. Tariffs and failing to cut costs for working. You want to cut taxes for the middle class, not for the rich like Trump did.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

Right, Joe, Joe, Joe. What I said was I want to fight hard. Listen, if you're a big tariff guy.

[Becky Quick]

You know, I don't know, I'm going.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

To a different place on that.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I don't think tariffs weren't nearly as good as. So I want the Biden tariffs or the Trump that he left on or the Trump tariffs.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

The Trump tariffs that he's imposed across the board, by the way. All I'm saying is I was going to fight him against those tariffs, and I fight hard for the people I represent, man, so. And. And I have no apologies for that.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I'm still paying salt.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

That was a good.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So what happened there? You know, it's still killing me in.

I need no cap.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

Well, you know, we got. We got.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I need no cap.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

I'm with you on that. That's what I argued for. I'm with you, Joe. You and I are on the same place on that. We should be. Full deduction on. Saul.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

If I go move to Ridgewood, can I vote for you?

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

You can move to Ridgewood. Yeah. I would love to have you. I'll get somebody to show you a place later today.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Yeah, it's a great place. Near. Near the Duck.

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

Becky and Becky and I. I don't know if Becky will. I don't know if Becky will let you in. That close to her, but.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Or what?

[Congressman Josh Gottheimer]

We'll welcome you up in the north anytime.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I can touch her from where I am, right? I would, but I can't. Look, we're right.

[Joe Kernen]

Wait, you need a wide shot.

Congressman, thank you very much. It's great to see you.

[Jay Clayton]

Thanks for having me.

[Katie Kramer]

And that is the pod for today. Thanks for listening. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Tune in weekday mornings on CNBC at 6 Eastern. Follow squawkpod wherever you get your podcasts and let us know what you think. Please rate or review Squawkpod on Apple Podcasts. Share your thoughts and in just a few words and help other listeners find us as well. We'll meet you right back here tomorrow.

[Becky Quick]

We are clear. Thanks guys.

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