News from Netflix & Linking GLP-1s & Mental Health 4/17/26

8:53Dr. Angela Fitch:Ironically, I find myself on Warner Brothers because they have all the Taylor Sheridan's. I got, you know, Merrick Kingstown. They got Landman was horrible the second season. But they got, you know, the Yellowstone offshoots. Have you seen any of those?

9:06Mark Kimmitt:But he's a peacock now, right?

9:07Dr. Angela Fitch:He is, which is good. The U.S. now reportedly weighing, giving various government agencies access to a version of Anthropik's powerful mythos AI model as concerns grow that it could top or test top security cybersecurity defenses. This is Bloomberg, says the federal chief information officer at the Office of Management and Budget, told top officials at some departments to expect more information about this in coming weeks. Anthropic reportedly briefed senior government officials on the capabilities of Mythos before it staged a limited rollout of that model. Greater government access would come despite that feud that we've talked about a lot between Anthropic and the Pentagon, which has labeled the company a supply chain risk.

9:58Dr. Angela Fitch:CNBC has reached out to Anthropic for comment.

10:02Mark Kimmitt:I think they rival Musk and Tesla for marketing at this point. You know, the fight with the government, they had Katy Perry, you know, when would you get a pop star to talk about your AI cyber app if not for that fight, right? And now you have mythos. I mean, it's genius. Cheese will be next. Coming up on Squawk Pod, Mark Kimmett. He's a former assistant secretary of state and retired brigadier general. A lot to get into. Israel and Lebanon's temporary ceasefire. The president's optimism on Iran and the future of the Middle East.

10:37Dr. Angela Fitch:And as we were trying regime decapitation, they came up with economic decapitation. So the Persians are not dumb. They know how to negotiate. They've been doing it for a thousand years. At Venture Global, we think about what can be done, not what's usually done. Through innovation, Venture Global is not only building some of the largest energy facilities in the world right here in the United States, but delivering American energy at a fraction of the cost in a fraction of the time. So while others are busy talking, we're busy building. That's Venture Global.

11:16Mark Kimmitt:that's unstoppable energy it's my first day of work and i need to make a big impression from executive producer mindy this is our sexual harassment training hands off your co-workers now sign this saying that i trained you or you're fired yes ma 'am work relationships are too messy i just met the woman of my dreams you gotta chill out and not come on too strong that goes against my entire personality but I'll try.

12:10Mark Kimmitt:the latest episode and subscribe at schwab.com slash market update podcast or find Schwab market update wherever you get your podcasts.

12:22Mark Kimmitt:And we're back. This is Squawk Pod. And you're watching Squawk Box on CNBC. I'm Kelly Evans, along with Joe Kernan. Becky and Andrew are both off today. Let's get a quick check on energy prices, which are receding further as the Trump administration wants U.S. energy companies to drill for more oil. The Financial Times says Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum held a call with oil and gas executives yesterday and urged them to ramp up production. The report also notes key figures in the industry have warned the White House a peace deal with Iran should not include the ability for Iran to charge tolls on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

13:01Mark Kimmitt:WTI crude is at 91. As Joe mentioned, it might have even gone 89.

13:06Dr. Angela Fitch:But I guarantee you don't have to tell anyone to drill at 91.

13:11Mark Kimmitt:You think it's just going to be self-help?

13:13Dr. Angela Fitch:At 91, people are ready to go. Yeah. I don't know how long it stays there. Well, they were telling them to drill. They're long-term capital plans.

13:19Mark Kimmitt:It feels like. You're not going to like where this is going.

13:22Dr. Angela Fitch:If it goes to 50, you're not going to drill. If it goes to 100, everybody's going to drill.

13:26Mark Kimmitt:But they seem to want to say, to some extent, ignore the price signal. We just need more.

13:31Dr. Angela Fitch:What do you mean ignore the price? The price signal is what causes the drilling. If you can get 90 a barrel, you're going to...

13:36Mark Kimmitt:If they thought that was going to incite enough drilling, I'm sure they wouldn't have added the pressure.

13:41Dr. Angela Fitch:They're like, well, they got to... Politicians got to talk. Yeah.

13:47Dr. Angela Fitch:I will say the war in Iran is going along swimmingly. We can do whatever we want. And it should be ending pretty soon. Israel and Lebanon agreeing to a 10-day ceasefire While President Trump says the U.S. is moving closer to a deal with Iran and joining us now, a retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmett. He is also a former assistant secretary of state. And, General, it's good to see you this morning. I think it's fair to say that you were a person that wanted to see a lot of objectives be met before actually starting to wind things down. With some of the comments that the president made yesterday about Iran, in his words, agreeing to never pursue a nuke and agreeing to turn over the enriched uranium.

14:45Dr. Angela Fitch:Those are objectives that we wanted. Are we getting close to something that would that would satisfy you? Because anything short of that, I think you thought, you know, why embark on something without finishing it? Well, that's exactly right, Joe. And more important, why are we putting blood and treasure into the mission if we're not going to come out with our major objective, which is a nuclear-free Iran? But everything I'm hearing at this point is that we are going to agree to a 20-year suspension. The Iranians were looking for a five-year suspension. But I guess that's what happens in negotiations.

15:19Dr. Angela Fitch:You can't have everything you want, but you get the major issues. 20 years is certainly better than infinity. So that's, you think, the fine print, because that's not what the president is saying right now. Have you seen him say 20 or we keep saying no, no, it's we wouldn't agree to that. But you you have knowledge that that's actually what's being discussed at this point. Well, I read a lot of the Arabic press and that's what they're putting out. And outlets such as Al Jazeera are usually correct because, well, I don't think anybody really believes that the Iranians are going to give up their nuclear program.

15:59Dr. Angela Fitch:Right. And I've often wondered what what is the rationale for that? Because it does it's costing them a lot, is it not? And maybe maybe we don't understand that mentality and people call it a death cult or whatever. but I could even understand for nuclear power. I don't understand why you need to have something that you can never use. I guess it's just to throw your weight around in the region or something. Well, more than anything else, it's mutual assured destruction. They see a nuclear armed Israel as an existential threat to them, as Israel sees Iran an existential threat to the Israeli people.

16:41Dr. Angela Fitch:Look, a nuclear weapon is the ultimate deterrent. How will we ever sit down and negotiate with Iran on other issues such as their missile program and their proxy program if they have a nuclear weapon? We stopped negotiating with North Korea the moment they had a nuclear weapon. It's the ultimate deterrent. What would you do to make sure it's not 20 years? Would you do a 20-year deal or would you keep pressing? I'd keep pressing. I think we can do better. But at the end of the day, I think the Iranians were smart. They did jujitsu on us as we went in with those objectives. It took the Strait of Hormuz.

17:21Dr. Angela Fitch:And as we were trying regime decapitation, they came up with economic decapitation. So the Persians are not dumb. They know how to negotiate. They've been doing it for a thousand years. And I think we're in a position now where we're going to have to pass that off to future presidents.

17:39Mark Kimmitt:I'm struck, General, by the fact that you say you're not happy we're conceding on so many of our core objectives. No nukes, no ballistic missiles and drone program, no proxies, that you're not sure the allies will be happy with this deal. So this may be good for the defense industry, but you're not sure it will be good for the U.S. defense industry. So do you think that it's possible they will actually agree to more, especially regarding the nuclear program, if we do have leverage right now because of what's going on with their economy?

18:08Dr. Angela Fitch:Well, I think the ultimate leverage is three aircraft carriers and about 200 fighters that are going in there, 200 fighter jets. We need to compel the Iranians to a better deal, not simply negotiate a better deal.

18:24Mark Kimmitt:Understood. But so you're saying you think it's kind of unrealistic that they'll give up this nuclear program. How do how do we make it more realistic when you say, you know, sending those ships in in order to do what?

18:36Dr. Angela Fitch:In order to continue to assist the Iranians in wrecking their economy, sooner or later, I think that more combat action will make the Iranians understand that we need to achieve some of our other core objectives. Look, I don't like putting my airmen at risk every day. We saw that when we lost a couple until they were recovered inside of Iran. But sometimes putting the U.S. military at risk is certainly better than putting our allies at risk. Look, if one of the agreed points is that the U.S. reduces its presence in the Middle East, that's going to make the Middle East allies mad as badgers. And the defense industries they're going to be supporting to restock their own ability to defend themselves won't be American companies.

19:28Dr. Angela Fitch:They'll go to the Russians, they'll go to the Chinese, but they're going to have to double or triple their defense capabilities that the U.S. is backing off from our long-term obligations to support our allies? General, it's difficult to stay steadfast in something like this right now for a lot of reasons for the United States, for the president, for the way that, you know, we hear about how the country feels. Every day we know how mainstream media feels about what we're trying to do. We got no help for many of our European allies. Are you pessimistic that what you would like to happen is actually possible, given the headwinds from trying to continue this?

20:18Dr. Angela Fitch:Certainly, because the Iranians are fighting a war of resistance. They're not fighting a conventional war. They're counting on the U.S. running out of patience the way we did in Afghanistan, the way we've done throughout the wars over the years. I'm not saying we need a forever war, but when you put a generally time-limited period on your combat actions, the Iranians just know to wait. We'll finally get tired. As you say, public opinion will turn, not only U.S. opinion, but world opinion. And they're counting on that. Yeah. And we do see that people aren't stupid. You know, they speak farce or whatever.

21:06Dr. Angela Fitch:Is that? Yeah. You read. They're smart and they're devious and they're calculating.

21:18Dr. Angela Fitch:And they know how to work us. Right. They know how to work us. They know what the political divisions in this country right now. They know exactly what's happening. they can leak things. It'll be on the cover of our major newspapers. They've got almost, well, they're not allies, but they certainly have, their message will get out through the mainstream media, there's no doubt. Brigadier General Mark Kimmett, I appreciate your time. I agree with you, Joe. I want optimal solutions, but never the optimal solutions in negotiations. General, thanks. Yeah, back to Hogan's heroes. Yeah. Hogan. Know who that is?

22:03Dr. Angela Fitch:I appreciate that he made the word. Yeah, he did. That's Sergeant Schultz. Remember him? Peanuts?

22:08Mark Kimmitt:No, that was different.

22:08Dr. Angela Fitch:Oh, my God.

22:11Mark Kimmitt:Don't go anywhere still to come on Squawk Pod. Could GLP-1s be messing with your mood? Despite anecdotal evidence on social media you may have seen, obesity expert Dr. Angela Fitch points to clinical data that proves the opposite. Everybody's different and holistic care is always best. You know, really seeing a clinician and not getting this type of prescription, you know, off a form from the Internet is what's really overwhelmingly important that we can't stress enough. Your food and your mood.

22:40Dr. Angela Fitch:I want candy and chips and tacos.

22:43Mark Kimmitt:Right after this. Choice Hotels get you more of what you value. Comfort Inn. It's calling your name. Save on the stay. Oh, and free waffles are yours to claim. Book direct at storieshiltales.com

23:01Dr. Angela Fitch:Never bet against American grit or American energy. Through innovation, Venture Global is not only building some of the largest energy facilities in the world right here in the United States, but delivering American energy at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the time. So while others are busy talking, we're busy building.

23:23Mark Kimmitt:That's Venture Global. That's unstoppable energy.

23:53Mark Kimmitt:at schwab.com slash market update podcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.

24:03Mark Kimmitt:This is Squawk Pod.

24:05Dr. Angela Fitch:Stand by Joe. Here's Mike. Q. You're watching Squawk Box on CNBC. I'm Joe Kernan along with Kelly Evans. The Washington Post reporting on the side effects of Ozempic. The story titled, What is Ozempic Personality and Why Does It Make Life Feel Meh? follows anecdotes flooding social media from doctors and patients on the emotional impact of taking GLP-1s. And joining us now, obesity expert Dr. Angela Fitch, known well, chief medical officer. And doctor, I got to tell you, welcome. And I have made this point, and fortunately, I may be, you know, I may be a little overweight, but I'm not obese and I don't have what is a horrific problem that people have.

24:53But I've made the point that I like wanting to eat food.

24:57Dr. Angela Fitch:I like the feeling of, wow, I can't wait to have something. And it's a mixed blessing because then you eat too much. But I knew if it's affecting something that we're not really sure of, dopamine or some type of pleasure center or taking that away, because it works with smoking cessation and alcohol. And I figured you might not want to do anything. And now I see that maybe there's something to that. What is there? Is there something to Ozempic personality, doctor?

25:27Mark Kimmitt:Well, Joe, thank you so much for having me, and especially for talking about these things, right? Because it is important in whatever care we have around our metabolic health and around our weight management that we get our care from a care team that knows that this is important to talk about how mental health and mood are affected by weight. We have known that even without using medications like Ozempic, that when we treat weight management, it can affect our mood in various ways. And so it's very important. And you just highlight that we should really be talking about it and not getting one of these prescriptions sort of, you know, without the comprehensive wraparound care from a clinician that knows what they're doing and how to help.

26:05Mark Kimmitt:At KnownWell, we're treating over 20 ,000 patients across the country. and we really haven't seen an increase in what you're discussing, although we do pay attention to mood. And in fact, the overwhelming data has shown, in randomized controlled trials at least, that most patients' mood gets better with treatment of their obesity. But it's definitely something we need to take a look at, especially as we look at more real-world evidence.

26:31Dr. Angela Fitch:I guess if you were obese, it would put you in a great mood. If you had struggled with it your whole life and you were able to lose 10, 15, 20 percent of your body weight. But I guess what I think about are these people that may not even be overweight, 10 percent overweight, let's say. And they take a pill. Oh, yeah, I'm going to take a pill. And there was a book, I think, Prozac Nation. I mean, not everyone needs to be on Prozac just because life is hard at times. And not everyone needs to be on a GOP-1 just because they'd like to lose five pounds.

27:07Mark Kimmitt:Yeah, this is very true. It highlights the importance of using these medications appropriately. As past president of the Obesity Medicine Association, you know, we have written guidelines on the use of medication in the treatment of obesity. And so, again, it is very important to recognize mental health and mood because we know it shifts, as you mentioned, When you get reward from something and then you don't have that reward anymore from, as you have mentioned, potentially from food. And we also have to recognize, you know, it doesn't affect everybody the same way, meaning we're learning more and more about the genetics of how these medications can have effects on people.

27:44Mark Kimmitt:So it's going to be important for us to look at this, these types of things moving forward. And again, you know, at our clinic at Known Well, you know, that's what we pay attention to. And that's the data we collect so that we can look at these things moving forward in the real world. Dr. Fitch, it's Kelly here. Do you think this would potentially limit the market to some extent of people who will get on or stay on these treatments? No, the market is so large. Right. And again, in the overwhelming data that we have, in fact, they looked at we've looked at data. Many organizations across the world actually have looked at this data as specifically as it relates to mood or suicidality, which is the worst case scenario from having a change in your mood.

28:26Mark Kimmitt:And there's been no increase. And so, again, they recently took the label, took the warning off the label for suicidality. And so, again, it is extremely important, though, to always talk about mood. We talk about that a lot as it relates to how we treat any any disease, to be honest, any chronic disease. And so with so many patients that qualify, there still is a vast amount of patients to get access. Of everything that you've seen so far from people who are on it or stay on it, what are the main reasons that they'll drop or stop using the weight loss drugs? The main reasons are actually the gastrointestinal side effects, right?

29:06Mark Kimmitt:So those are still the main reason why people will change. And again, even with things like, as Joe mentioned, you know, being meh, right? There's a lot of ways of, there's a lot of reasons for that in our lives in general, too. So we have to appreciate that as well, a lot of confounders. So we have to focus on how can we help in multiple ways, not just in taking one medication for the treatment of your weight, but how can we help with counseling, with behavioral management, with increasing physical activity? We know that helps with some of these types of mood changes. And so, again, it's really about the comprehensive care that wraps around this for any patient, no matter what their size is or what their mission is as far as changing their metabolic health.

29:50Dr. Angela Fitch:We all know about exercise and endorphins. But when you think about it, doctor, you know, all of these things, moods, all these things are chemically mediated at some point. I mean, we're physical beings. Do we know exactly what the reason for sort of taking the thrill out of certain things? And not just food. It could be alcohol. It could be smoking. People are writing in now. I mean, they say flips the fun button to off. People even say sex. And I would hate to just be in that position where I'm not excited about anything.

30:29Mark Kimmitt:Well, when you're... Hard enough getting old, doctor.

30:33Dr. Angela Fitch:You know, you're less excited. It is. You know, I don't need to add to that. Do we know chemically how this is? Is it dopamine centers? How does it work? And if we don't know, should it be so widely prescribed?

30:46Mark Kimmitt:Yeah, well, we have some data and there's more and more research that is occurring. You know, GLP-1 medications have been on the market for over 20 years now. So we do have a lot of safety data on this class of medications in general. I think the more that patients do take it, the more we get these anecdotal, like I said, what we call real-world evidence research. It will highlight some of the actual, you know, how is it working on food noise? How is it working in terms of that? And the biggest thing to remember is most people don't have this sort of change in a negative way. Most people have it in a positive way.

31:23Mark Kimmitt:So we have to recognize that just, you know, anecdotal evidence is anecdotal descriptions from certain people. And we don't want to take that lightly, but we have to also recognize we need to do, you know, full-fledged research to really find out the answers.

31:37Dr. Angela Fitch:I have had people tell me that, no, I still like to eat, but it's not what I'm thinking about. Like, oh, my God. And I graze. I got to admit, I'm thinking a lot about things a lot and stop by that closet where the Pepsi sends me stuff when they report earnings. They send me, you know, Doritos. Yeah, you should. And I know they're in there. Yeah, you need to get stuff from someone else. So it's the Doritos for you. I'm salty, I'm crunchy, I'm right here.

32:08Mark Kimmitt:It's the dark chocolate. We need the egg board to send you something. We need you to get some other alternatives there.

32:15Dr. Angela Fitch:Well, they've tried, doctor, and I ask. And they make kale chips, cauliflower chips. The yogurt.

32:20Mark Kimmitt:How about yogurt? No. Where's Chia Boni? Thank you.

32:23Dr. Angela Fitch:No.

32:24Mark Kimmitt:I don't think anyone taking these.

32:26Dr. Angela Fitch:I want candy and chips and tacos. My producer does too, Rob Contino. Doctor, thank you. You know, there's other things too, like A1C. There's all kinds of benefits from these things too. So many benefits, right.

32:42Mark Kimmitt:And that's what, you know, really seeing a clinician and not getting this type of prescription, you know, off a form from the internet is what's really overwhelmingly important that we can't stress enough. Someone that can talk to you about these risks and benefits, this is shared decision-making. We do it with all types of concerns and issues, and that's really the value.

33:01Dr. Angela Fitch:All right. Doctor, thanks for coming on this morning. We appreciate it.

33:06Mark Kimmitt:Thank you for having me. It's always the Reese's Easter egg for me every year when they come out with the Easter one.

33:09Dr. Angela Fitch:You don't like gummies? I do.

33:11Mark Kimmitt:Not the cannabis kind.

33:12Dr. Angela Fitch:No, I don't mean the cannabis kind. Like the troll?

33:15Mark Kimmitt:The old, the classic old school. Is it troll? What do they call the ones with that squid? There's all kinds.

33:19Dr. Angela Fitch:Or like cherry spears.

33:23Mark Kimmitt:Definitely not licorice. No. And that is Squawk Pod for today and for the week. Thank goodness it is Friday. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick, and Andrew Ross Sorkin. All three will be back next week. Please tune in weekday mornings on CNBC at 6 Eastern or get the best of our TV show right into your ears when you follow this podcast. Hit that follow button on Squawk Pod wherever you like to listen. We'll meet you right back here on Monday. Have a great weekend.

33:56Dr. Angela Fitch:We are clear. Thanks, guys.

34:25Mark Kimmitt:and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and subscribe at schwab.com slash market update podcast, or find Schwab market update wherever you get your podcasts.