25 Years Later 9/11/26

0:00It's NFL Kickoff Time. Exclusive NFL team valuations with sports business expert Michael O'Zania. NFL is by far the most popular belief. NFL team valuations now on CNBC.com slash sport. I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer and this is SquawkPod. 25 years since the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks. We're going to look at how America and Wall Street have changed. Changed but never forgotten. Tom Machaud CEO of Steeple Company KBW sits with us today by happenstance. He lost a third of his colleagues in 2001. The best way to honor those who are killed that day is to remember all the resilience, goodwill and unity that existed after 9-11. Plus in a new era, how we can unite today in the face of artificial intelligence that's alarming the technologists actually building it.

1:00When President Xi Jinping comes to America, how much of a priority is this issue going to be? AI warnings, admissions and even dismissals from leaders including President Trump and Envideas Jensen Huang. That's all coming up today. It's Friday September 11th, 2026. SquawkPod begins right now. Good morning everyone. Welcome to SquawkBox right here on CNBC. We are live from the Nasdaq Market Sighten Times Square. I'm Becky Quik along with Joe Kernen and Andrew Ross Sorkin. It's been a down week for the markets. The Dow's actually seen its worst weeks since all the way back to March, but if you put it in perspective, it was only off by 2.5% this week. And we are still less than 5% from the Dow's all-time high. S&P is only 2.8% from its all-time high. The Nasdaq down by about 4%. If you're looking at the Nasdaq 100, which of course is the bigger tech companies, it's off by about 5.8%. But we have not seen the drastic pullbacks. I'm going to anticipate it. We have seen three days in a row, four days in a row now of down.

2:01And you're looking at four out of the last five weeks being lower as well. Energy prices do continue to climb. If you're watching what we've been taking a look at with WTI, actually this morning, they're off by 3%. Back below $100 at 99.41. Brent is at just below 104. Diesel prices have seen the real pain here. They've topping $6 a gallon for the first time ever. That's according to AAA. This has all been happening as diesel and refined products if at a harder time, not only with what's been happening with the Gulf, but also with Russia, with Ukraine and the war there and the strikes they've been doing. Regular and letting gas prices rising to $4 and 30 cents a gallon. And then Treasury yields, if you're looking over the last week, have been significantly higher. It was crappy. The auction yesterday was bad. Oil moved over 100. When it was also in midday, I was like, whoa, you know, right into October. Tom Lee says was predicting. And we thought he's crazy at the time, a 10 to 15% sell off. And then a rebound by the end of the year above $8,000.

3:06And then I was looking at the VIX and the VIX kind of quiet. But after all I said and done, it was down about 6 tenths of a percent, the S&P and the Dow. And then a day it's like up about $5 or $4 of a percent. It's just what we got the CPI. And just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it's not going to happen. And I just get scared because if it goes 10 to 15, when it's down 15 people are going to think it's going 20 to 30. Yeah. And just looking at what's happened to yields over the last week, take a look at those treasury yields one more time. Over five yesterday on the 10 year. Over five yesterday. The 10 year right now is sitting at 493 a week ago at this time. It was sitting at 476. So you have seen some movement there also the two year right with two year. But that backed off right now is at 455 a week ago. The two year was sitting at 433. So we have seen some movement as Joe mentioned. We got the we have the CPI coming up. We got the PPI yesterday. 30 years to see how high that was.

4:08Where did that picture go? But what the last time it was there? Oh, 19 years. Yes. June 13th of 2007. The last time we've seen levels like this for the 13th year. And the question is, is this a new normalization? Is this where rates are going to be? Also, by the way, if you were watching the 10 year mortgage yesterday, that was pretty concerning. It moved above 7%. Those are pretty key figures that feed into the rest of the economy. And OpenAI is reportedly looking at slowing down the pace of its AI development, potentially in conjunction with other AI labs. The Blueprint Report, as it's details from a company wide meeting. OpenAI Sam Altman had held earlier this week. The article notes that Altman said other labs may not agree to moderate their speed of their AI work. And CMBC has reached out to OpenAI for comment. And we're hearing from one of the central figures in the AI race about fears that the technology

5:10could spiral out of control. According to an Axios report, Invidia's CEO Jensen Wong told the Goldman Sachs conference that the recent narrative surrounding fears of an AI takeover are linked to the cyber security industry looking for new business. According to the report, he told the conference in his words, what better way to create demand than to create a problem? Who doesn't want their market to be hysterical about their product and line up around the corner for it? Obviously, this comes, though, on the back of so many questions that have been raised, so many concerns, and so many reports about AI agents kind of going their own way and doing their own thing. I was going to go farther than that, which is to say, there have been folks earlier on, you remember when Fable first came out, there were people who are arguing that this point of. Yes, and he made that point, but I think at this point, maybe I'm wrong, when you have researcher, unless we're going to find links between these researchers who are leaving these firms somehow being paid off by the cyber security firms, I don't think this is what's happening anymore.

6:15I don't think this is a flex. I think this is a real lie. This is recently as like a month ago, you were saying stuff like this. About a month or two ago, there was a view in the valley that not that it was a cyber security argument. It was a flex on the AI company. It was a flex by the AI companies themselves. This is a completely different argument that somehow the cyber security firms are sort of putting this out, and I don't think that's the, I mean, I think we've got what we heard yesterday. What we heard yesterday from Tristan about some of these issues really concerned me. The idea of how deeply these things are kind of organizing, doing their own thing, and how we are not even able to completely track it. I think that's a different level of concern. This is the problem and the question. Meanwhile, President Trump is saying he is not worried about the AI developments leading to the technology going rogue and wiping out humans speaking to reporters after the GOP midterm convention. Dallas, the president is saying he's more

7:16concerned with the U.S. maintaining its technological front rudder status over China. Do you have any concerns about AI leading to human extinction? No, I don't have any. I have concerns that if we don't win the AI, we're going to be put in a very bad position. We are leading China right now by a pretty good period. I would say a year, which is considered a lot. You put the U.S. lead at about a year, and you had Tristan yesterday imploring people on our air or our viewers to call the president and the Treasury Secretary and suggest that this is the priority. Clearly, we were asking the question when President Xi Jinping comes to America, how much of a priority is this issue going to be? If you believe what the president just said, in terms of how he thinks about it, in terms of the AI safety piece, probably not. People don't want to be dooms. I guess that's a terrible thing to be called.

8:20But it's a fear of doom. In some ways, they have ratcheted down what they will say publicly about these things because they're concerned about being labeled as such. By the way, this is Tristan Harris from the Center for Humane Technology. He's a co-founder there. I just can't believe that honestly, when I was a kid and read like I wrote about our eyes, I guess, all of those things. This is what we were all wearing. Terminator comes out and you can't reason with machines. You can't beg them, but please. Even with humans, either humans are horrible when things go bad and war and things like that. If it was in there, whatever it is, the algorithms that we are unnecessary, it's like they can't, I don't think they come to your house. What if it's not humans? What if it really is Arnold Schwarzenegger? Or something that... And just we like this Andrew. You know, Babylon B kind of go both ways sometimes. Trump pledges that if voters defeat socialism in November,

9:26though each get an equal redistribution of wealth from the government. It's actually awesome. Investor Stanley Druckermiller, who, as we know, chairworsh had a business relationship with Druck until all the way up to when he took over or at least close to that, calling US borrowing costs a little low, despite the recent rise in bond yields. According to the Financial Times, Druckermiller told a Wall Street conference yesterday that central bankers who think monetary policy is restrictive are, as he put it, ridiculous. Heading that interest rate cuts are in his words no longer needed. On the market, Struckermiller reportedly said his family office has cut investments in the AI industry to 20% of what they were six months ago. And as I said, died. He can't speak for Kevin Worsh, but I... And they're not like minded about everything, but I think you can... I don't know. I don't think that they disagree

10:31strongly on things that they've at least not yet. Coming up on SquawkPod, remembering September 11, 2001, with Tom Mischaud, CEO of Keith Buyet and Woods, now part of Steeple Financial. We don't want 9-11 to be two paragraphs in a history book. It's important to turn it into a day of action, a day of service, and that's what we've been leaning into. One-third of KBW's workforce, 67 of Tom's colleagues, were among those lost that day in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. We'll be right back. Closing the ENFL is by far the most profitable league. NFL team valuations now on CNBC.com slash sport. This is SquawkPod from CNBC. Good morning and welcome back to SquawkBox live from the NASDAQ Market site in Times Square.

11:35I hate Fridays in September in general. This one's different obviously because on our minds is what happened 25 years ago. When we were talking about the breakneck pace, what you're going to talk about again of AI, this seems really recent to me. I was talking to Dave to have the favor. I tried to get him to come on, but he's been out on the West Coast. We had no iPhones. It was a different world back then completely. Then I thought what would it have been like if we did have iPhones back then, but that's how quickly to me, it seems like from the amount of video that there was. Everything that is social media, everything that it entails is what we had none of it. I think about that all the time. If the world was, I mean, I hate to say that. What happens when you're from the Diocese? I always think back at the beginnings of AI. I mean, and are we happy? Then are we alive? I guess this is well, we'll see.

12:36I'm not talking about just me. That's a question in itself. I'm sorry. I'm going to interrupt you right now. We have what appears to be a very serious, is that the world trade tower? This is a plane hitter? They think so. This is one of the towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, which is clearly heavily involved in a smoke situation and one would assume there is fire. That was the late Martaines reporting on CNBC about the first plane hitting the North Tower on 9-11. Joining us right now to commemorate the 25th anniversary of that day is Tom Miesho. He's the President and CEO of KBW, which is a part of Steffel Financial. KBW was headquartered on the 88th and 89th floor of the South Towers of the World Trade Center, and it lost 67 of its New York-based and play plays on that awful day. That was more than a third of its workforce. Joining us right now to talk more about all of this is Tom Miesho. He is the President and CEO of KBW and Tom, thank you.

13:43Good morning. 25 years later. Hard to imagine. Incredible, because it feels like yesterday, but one thing I will say is that this story is not done being told and chapters are still being written. I can tell you what we're doing here with over 25 years. Number one is we love to stay connected to the families, to the extent that they wish to stay connected. We are doing that. We also think that the best way to honor those who are killed that day is to remember all of the resilience, goodwill, and unity that existed after 9-11. 9-11, that morning, represented the worst of humanity. Since then, there are remarkable examples of some of the best of humanity. Really, I don't want 9-11 and we don't want 9-11 to be two paragraphs in a history book. It's important to turn it into a day of action, a day of service,

14:44and that's what we've been leaning into. How do you do that? KBW was a founding sponsor, something called 9-11 Day. On the board, the chairman of the board is one of my former colleagues from KBW. Today is going to be the largest day of corporate service in American history. In 51 cities, we have organized a meal pack for those who are food insecure. We're going to pack 17 million meals. I was at the intrepid yesterday, one of four days. We're going to pack 4 million meals in New York City for those who need them. We are encouraging Americans to perform a day of service. Go next door, visit an elderly person, say hello. Remember, that was the spirit that helped us to be resilient and to rebuild. My firm was a beneficiary of that. We think that's the best way to honor those who were killed on 9-11. You talk about the unity at that time. KBW survived because you had partners, you had competitors, you had people who came in and offered

15:45you to help any way possible. 100%. And it ranged from us that week having office space in Midtown Manhattan. Actually, it was BNP bank that offered a space. We are still in that space today, 25 years later. I showed up first day of work. We could get four people to come to work that day that were able to master, to come to work. Calculators showed up, lunch showed up, support showed up, their IT group showed up. They didn't have to do that. And they offered it and they asked for nothing in return. I'll never forget that. I mean, you yourself were late to work that day because your son kind of held you up your four-year-old son at that time. It's incredible. I used to chair our 730 Morning Equity Group meeting every day. The night before I went to the Michael Jackson concert with clients said to my backup, I'll be in a little late. And then that morning, the next day, my four-year-old son surprised me in the shower and slowed me down.

16:47He had never done it before, never did it since. Usually, he wasn't up that early when I was moving around. And when I got to the train station, I literally saw the doors shut right in front of me and the train left and I was disappointed to miss it. That train would have put me at my desk. Instead, I was crossing right next to St. Paul's Chapel and watch the plane fly right into the building. Tom, I want to ask, there's a lot of people who are either not alive or super young at that time. I just read, by the way, there's a remarkable piece that was just put out by Brandon Lutnik, who was only three years old when this happened. And it starts, I don't remember 9-11. I was three years old. What I remember is everything that came after that. And I want to know for the young people who are watching what you think the messages that they should, to the extent they don't remember or don't know what they're supposed to know. Well, I'll tell you, there are two steps. First of all, there's the real personal part. I was at the memorial dinner this week that Mayor Bloomberg hosted.

17:51And I met a family that had three kids who didn't really know their dad. And we talked about their dad and they're going to come have lunch with me, hopefully the next week or so. And we're going to sit down. I'm going to get a couple of other guys who knew his dad, knew their dad. And we're going to talk about it. And so I think talking about like that is very important. And so we're not going to stop doing that. But I really, it gets back to this unity and the spirit of what we can do together. Being on the intrepid yesterday and packing those meals together for those who could really benefit from it. I think you have to turn it into a day of action and get that feeling going again. And I think that's what's it doing something for others because that reservoir of goodwill and unity really was alive in this city and really in this country. We rallied. We rallied. And I think that's it. We can do that. America can do great things. The city can do great things. We can do great things. And then I'll

18:54also give you perspective. So after the weekend, the GSEs failed. I pulled the firm together. I said, team, we're going to be okay. Thankfully, we don't own any subprime mortgages. We're not involved. But this is terrible. The meeting ended. Folks got up and left and this one young man waited. And he came over to me and he said, Hey, Tom, you know we're going to be okay because this isn't the end of times because we've seen the end of times. We know what it looks like and this isn't it. And when you hear that and then all these other things happen gives you perspective. And I really believe it's telling these stories. That's why I've leaned in. I wrote an essay for forbearance that was published this morning. I'm leaning in because I want to tell the story. I want folks to hear this. I know how much I benefited from my mentors when they told these stories. So thank you to to remember like this because we do need to talk about it. These are things that are important. Tom, you mentioned the strength of the financial system, the unity, how it was rebuilt bit by bit.

19:57We spoke a little bit earlier this morning with Scott Reckler just about the rebuilding of downtown. Downtown has been rebuilt but it's been rebuilt differently and there are fewer financial firms there, more media firms that are down there. What is the strength of the financial system right now in New York City? How would you rate it? Well, the strength of the financial system overall is very good. I mean, capital is at a multi-decade high. The banks are about as strong as they've been in my career three weeks ago. I celebrated my 40th anniversary with the firm. So I feel like I've seen the whole movie but and they're as strong as they've been. What is different is the financial services system. 30 years ago, banks were more than half of the S&P 500. Today, there are a quarter of it and when you look at New York City, you should look at these FinTech companies that are here and they are equally as competitive. Companies like Coinbase and Robin Hood, they are not they might not all be headquartered here. They have major operations here. So New York City needs to be

20:59the hub of financial services even if it's not just the banks. So I think from that perspective, when you go downtown and you see the tech sector and you see FinTechs, that's what financial services is today. The small company Grasshopper Bank has had quartered here. There are small rising FinTech company that we know well. So those are the examples of innovation that are about tomorrow, not just about what the industry looked like yesterday. Tom Motton, I want to thank you for what you've done to rebuild, not just KBW, but making sure you're involved with your employees, with the community and much beyond. And thank you for reminding us about that feeling of unity that existed and is still there. There's something we need to remember as a community. Well, thank you for saying that and I appreciate the time that you all have given to it as well. Tom Misha, Tom thank you. Thank you. We have more still to come from SquatPod. It's NFL Kickoff Time, exclusive NFL team valuations with sports business expert Michael

22:06NFL is by far the most profitable league NFL team valuations now on CNBC.com slash sport. Welcome back. Today as we remember a day that changed America and changed the world, the present tense does intrude with the headline of the Consumer Price Index report from August. The CPI report prices for a wide swath of goods and services showed persistent inflation, a 12-month increase of 3.4 percent stripping out food and energy prices. Core annual CPI rose 2.4 percent, which was in line with estimates. But here's why this matters. This is the final major inflation indicator before the Federal Reserve's policy meeting and interest rate vote next week. And even on a day like today, every percent of a percent makes a difference as you'll hear from our Steve Leasman. Steve Leasman joins us with more right now and Steve, you are looking at the Fed funds probabilities of a rate hike. Yeah, we've jumped to 88 percent probability now. So the

23:09market now pricing this as a done deal. Give it a little time. Sometimes you get the black boxes and they do all the trading for a little while and then humans get involved and maybe they'll make a different assessment. But this came in hot. I don't know if this is a 0.26 that rounded up to 0.3. I think a little time to figure that out. That would be kind of ironic. But as I said in the last hour, I don't think this is just one number leading the Fed to hike. You have the market and you have a Fed chair who has said the market is going to help guide him. You had him concerned about the diffusion of inflation throughout the system. And one, I hate to do this with a oppression comment from Joe. How does how do high oil prices seep into core? airline fairs is one of those ways. So that was one of the hot areas. 2.7 percent was one area. So Joe, don't don't get let it go to your head. I'll give you a nice compliment. I'm sorry. I'm wondering what when I ask you if the probability is for 50, you said there's no bid. Does that

24:11mean zero? I see zero now on the zero 50. There's a 13 percentage point probability of no change and 87 percent for a quarter height. But I do have for you, my friend. I have an 82 percent probability of another quarter by December. All morning, we have been honoring the memories of those lost 25 years ago in the September 11th attacks on New York City. The Pentagon and in Changsville, Pennsylvania, all involved. In fact, President Trump will appear at the Pentagon later this morning to take part in ceremonies there. While Vice President Vance will attend events in New York City and we will honor and are about to honor the the moment of silence as we have every year following September 11th, 2001. That would be at 846 honoring that with a moment

25:18of silence. It's NFL kickoff time. Exclusive NFL team

26:37valuations with sports business expert Michael O'Zaniah. NFL is by far the most popular belief.