Treasury Secretary Bessent: ‘F’ the Iranian Leadership 11/13/26

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Andrew Ross Sorkin (1:01)

Bring in show music, please.

Katie Kramer (1:05)

Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod, the story of the week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's departure and the drama.

Becky Quick (1:15)

If our reporter in Beijing can go out and find a smuggler to talk to about these things, how come our government couldn't?

Katie Kramer (1:21)

Author of The Nvidia Way, a history of the company told through more than 100 interviews with Huang and others, Tae Kim.

Tae Kim (1:28)

It's complete shock. I've been talking to Nvidia employees all week and they're disappointed, they're angry, and it's utter disbelief.

Katie Kramer (1:35)

The company culture that made Nvidia and how important it is for shareholders to preserve it.

Tae Kim (1:41)

That's his management style. He berates and insults them. That's the way he kind of pressures them to come up with miracles and better performance.

Katie Kramer (1:51)

Then Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, did Jensen Huang risk national security in his extramarital affair? And what was the administration's role in shutting it down?

Scott Bessent (2:01)

I think that there is a lot of leakage in the system, and we are constantly working to close that down.

Katie Kramer (2:09)

Where he sees markets going.

Scott Bessent (2:11)

So I spent a lot of time on financial stability in my career, and there's nothing that's setting off any alarm bells for me right now.

Katie Kramer (2:19)

And he has moved into military housing. His message to those watching.

Scott Bessent (2:24)

You know what I gotta say, Joe, is F the Iranian leadership. I'm not gonna be cowed that they have initiated death threats against me.

Katie Kramer (2:32)

It's Friday the 13th of November, 2026 Squawk Pod begins right now.

Tae Kim (2:39)

Stand back you by in three, two, one, cue please.

Becky Quick (2:45)

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Squawk Box right here on CNBC. We are live from the NASDAQ markets, the NASDAQ market site, let's say. I'm Becky Quick along with Joe Kernen and Andrew Ross Sorkin. And the big news is, it's Friday, folks. We've actually made it here. Forget about the 13th. We'll take that as a lucky day. But it is Friday and we have made it to this point so far. So, yay for us.

Andrew Ross Sorkin (3:05)

We got shares of Nvidia this morning. Let's show you where they stand. That stock fell as much as 14% yesterday, but recovered to the end of the day, just about down about 4% in total. $1.7 trillion though of Nvidia's market cap has been wiped out since the stock's peak last month. And now lawmakers are eager to get former CEO Jensen Huang to DC for testimony on the scandal that led to his ouster. We learned earlier yesterday that Huang has agreed to testify before Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, the Select Committee on China gave Huang a deadline now of 8 o'clock tonight to accept an interview request where it said it would subpoena him. Huang has hired law firm Paul Weiss in the wake of that scandal. This all comes as Reuters now reported that Huang had an intimate relationship with a second Nvidia employee.

That's on top of the original employee and on top of the potential spy.

President Trump calling Huang's downfall, in his words, a horrible thing. The president told conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, the US would be in bad shape if it lost its edge in AI. The video replacing Huang with CFO Colette Kress on an interim basis. And the Wall Street Journal now saying earlier this summer, Huang said during a meeting that Kress wasn't someone who could help him define a strategy or make decisions. There's been some other reporting out there that she doesn't have a great relationship with his children at the company. So the soap opera, if it is a soap opera, continues.