steve grasso >>> coming up, two big interviews fed chair janet yellen will weigh in on the economy. >> what a cute couple. >> powell's meeting with the president, but first, another frequent target of the president. "the new york times" hasn't hurt the stock price, which is up more than 170% since november of 2016 the company's ceo mark thompson about to join us ♪ you should be mad they gave this guy a promotion. you should be mad at forced camaraderie. and you should be mad at tech that makes things worse. but you're not mad, because you have e*trade, who's tech makes life easier by automatically adding technical patterns on charts and helping you understand what they mean. don't get mad. get e*trade's simplified technical analysis. with who we are as people and making everybody feel welcome. ordering custom ink t-shirts has been a really smart decision for our business. i love the custom ink design lab because it's really easy to use. they have customer service that you can reach anytime. t-shirts help us immediately get a sense of who we are as a group. from the moment clients walk

in the finance section, the fed chairman jay powell and his predecessor janet yellen turned out to bekably similar policymakers. carol: we spoke with a federal reserve reporter jeanna smialek about what can be then result of the yellen-powell era. >> she is doing he's aptly what janet yellen did still in the fact in the sense that they are still pursuing a patient, gradual rate half along the -- rate path that is allowing the labor market to make as much progress as possible while restraining inflation. we heard him signal at the federal open market committee meeting that the fed might be taking a pause for the foreseeable future. still very much taking this kind of cautious approach. i think it is a real story of continuity so far. jason: let's remind folks that, back in december, if we were having this conversation six weeks ago, it would be very different because the markets, the president, was a little grumpy with the jay powell. >> they were impatient with him. but one of the things i think is so interesting about looking at janet yellen's legacy and jay powell's legacy and compa

i thinkis is the moment when his legacy diverges from janet paladin -- janet yellen.he will have to do with his colleagues over the next couple of years is create some sort of a playbook for the next recession. we have already seen him decide what is going to happen with the balance sheet. the fed decided in their january meeting that they will stick with their current operating framework on the ballot sheet. a slightly bigger balance sheet that they had had in the past. he is bigger decisions down the road. with a want to -- they want to talk about if inflation is the right target to aim for. what you do a world where interest rates are permanently lower. you have less in -- ammunition if there's an economic crisis, because the primary tool to that fund rate, it is the most potent piece of ammunition in their toolkit. there are real questions that are not resolved. jay powell be the person in charge of the committee would have to think through those questions and come up with some answers that could be politically difficult. the financein section this week, what happ

here is the moment where jay powell's legacy diverges from janet yellen's.he will have to do is create some sort of playbook. we have already seen him decide what will be with the balance sheet. the fed decided at the january meeting that they are going to stick with their current operating framework and have a slightly bigger downstream. they will have to talk about things like is the inflation target the right one? what do you do in will where inflation is permanently lower? you have less information about a financial crisis because they know it is cutting that fund. it is their most potent peace of ammunition in their toolkit. so there are these real questions, and they are not resolved, and jay powell is monday the person in charge of the committee may have to think through those questions and come up with answers that could be politically difficult. carol: also in the finance section, what happens when hedge funds are built around one great manager? jason: and what happens when they leave? carol: we profile the investment brains behind fir tree. jason:

in fact, i sat next to janet yellen in those days.to come into my office and go, are you coming out today? i hit it really hard there. i felt like i had a lot to learn. i did. david: you were there when janet yellen was chair? jay: that is when she was vice chair. david: who was the better chair? [laughter] jay: it's a tie. [laughter] [laughter] david: ok. so when the opportunity came for you to be appointed as chair, as i recall, there were several candidates considered by the president. had you ever met the president before? jay: i never had met the president. i met him for the first time when i interviewed for chair. david: how long did you spend with him? jay: less than one hour. david: ok, and so after it was over, you said i did that pretty well and i will get this job, or you didn't know? jay: i didn't know. i felt the interview had gone well. that is really all i knew. david: you're an avid guitar player, right? jay: i'm an amateur musician. yes. david: you sing as well? jay: i sing badly. i try to accompany people who sing we

two former fed chairs will be here for reaction to janet yellen's interview >>> the state of the luxury housing market looking forward to that. another big afternoon of earnings chipotle, match and more after the bell we'll break down those numbers as soon as they hit. >> taking a look at the marks this hour, rally has taken a pause here though, we're talking about modest declines after five straight days of gains for the s&p 500, s&p is off a quarter of one percentage point the dow is only down 15 points earlier in the session it was down a lot more, almost 100 points let's start with yellen, former fed chair in an exclusive interview with our very own steve liesman moments ago. listen. >> would you say that it's possible that the next move is a cut by the fed >> of course it's possible if global economy weakens and that spills over to the united states or we do see a weakening in the u.s. economy it's quite possible that the next move is a cut. both outcomes are possible. >> fred michigan and sarah, thank you for joining us may have just lost sarah apologies. no doubt she'll be able t

janet yellen repeatedly took fire from every side because she was going to slow on rate hikes and thoseconcern she would let inflation get out of the way jay powell to criticism for the exact opposite reason, there was his idea that he would hike right in the recession and the fed be the cause and that he is positive, it is funny because he is taking heat for capitulating. you cannot win. carol: it is a tricky time. here we are, the few months away from being the longest u.s. expansion on record. we keep talking over the last couple years about a goldilocks economy. it is a tricky time for jay powell in terms of what he does next. >> yeah, absolutely. this is the moment where jay powell's legacy beverages. -- divergence. what he will have to do is create some sort of playbook. we have already seen him decide what will be with the balance sheet. they decided that there were going to stick with their current operating framework and have a slightly bigger downstream. we've got even bigger decisions down the road, they're going to have to talk about things like is the inflation target the r

what janet yellen just said in a new interview about president trump that is making big headlines. you may not have heard about it. we will play it for you, next. our grandparents checked their smartphones zero times a day. times change. eyes haven't. that's why there's ocuvite. screen light... sunlight... longer hours... eyes today are stressed. but ocuvite has vital nutrients... ...to help protect them. ocuvite. eye nutrition for today. this is moving day with the best in-home wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. and this is moving day with reliable service appointments in a two-hour window so you're up and running in no time. show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. david: harsh criticism from former federal reserve chairwoman janet yellen over the president's knowledge of the economy. roll tape. >> do you think the president has a grasp of macro econ

coming up on the show, find out why former fed chair janet yellen says the central bank's next move could be to cut. more from that exclusive interview next unpredictable crohn's symptoms following you? for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease, stelara® works differently. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection or flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. talk to your doctor today, and learn how janssen can help you explore cost support options. remission can start with stelara®. explore co

connell: that was janet yellen making these comments. certainly not jay powell. thanks, guys.elissa: oil sliding today, ending down more than 3% after president trump tweeted quote, oil prices getting too high. opec, please relax, take it easy. the world cannot take a white house, fragile. let's go to trader phil flynn. do you like my dramatic reading? >> i love it. i was getting ready for you to hit into the eagles song, "take it easy." relax, come on, everything is cool. tell you what, oil producers don't think it is cool. i know gasoline prices have gone up over 10 cents a gallon but you can't underestimate the power of tweet. those prices fell on rboc futures almost seven cents a gallon. oil prices fell almost $2 a barrel. he is sending a message to opec, i need help, relax on the production cut thing you've been doing. i think it is kind of a veiled threat if they don't, he may sign this no pac deal going through the production. i tell you what, oil prices down. don't underestimate the power of the tweet. u.s. energy producers are not happy. melissa: phil flynn, thank you

. >>> janet yellen speaking to our own steve liesman today and there's something she said that has all of wall street talking. >>> plus we're following chipotle, map group and sonos with huge moves. >>> later, it's the cbd crackdown. we'll tell you why pot investors are running scared after the latest move from regulators and what it could mean for the future of these high-flying stocks we're live from times square in new york city. much more "fast money" right after this no worries boss, i'm one of the tattoo artists in the city. you mean one of the best tattoo artists in the city, right? something like that. yeah. uh, aren't you supposed to draw it first? stay in your lane, bro. just ok is not ok. especially when it comes to your network. at&t is america's best wireless network, according to america's biggest test. now with 5g e. more for your thing. that's our thing. weveryone, looknk isn'tat your phones. the design thinking, the digital engineering, security, blockchain, and we will be first to market! yes. when we do we launch? unfortunately, in 2 or 3, hours. why the delay? cogni

you have janet yellen says he's doing a pretty good job. you have that event when both yellen and bernanke were on tv with him and i wouldn't say they endorsed him, but saying that this guy is okay but the market never trusted the fed. but to a much greater degree they did at least have a calmer approach than they have had with powell you'd think it was greenspan again the way they treated powell the next thing would be related to the china deal, china has for the president of china, it is all about 2025 and a protracted trade war will hurt he needs hit best kucustomer and for donald trump, he needs 2020 so likely that it falls apart, a relatively small chance always a chance that we get hid by a cab, but we have to make it home >> all right thanks for coming by and get home safely. >> how you feeling about it willing the streets tonight? >> walking is like -- >> pedestrian way here in new york city where we become very european over the last five or six years. so the chances of me being hit by a cab on the way home are probably slim. that b

the formal chair of the federal reserve, janet yellen, has sharply criticised donald trump's economicrump doesn't understand economic policy or the purpose of the us federal reserve. he was a look now the asia—pacific markets which are open for trade. they are currently all headed north at the moment. housing numbers week but consumer spending is strong, which led investors to take a pause on wall street. donald trump and kim jong—un are preparing for their second summit here in the vietnamese capital. donald trump's former lawyer michael cohen is testifying in washington and says he welcomes the chance to tell the truth. this time last year, the uk was in the frozen grip of the so—called beast from the east, with temperatures dropping to as low as —12. but this year, for the second day in a row, parts of england and wales have seen record—breaking february temperatures, with a new uk winter record of 21.2 in kew gardens in south—west london. that's warmer than some mediterranean cities like barcelona. 0ur science editor david shukman has spent the day at kew. a wonderful display of c

the cloud for smarter business. ♪ ♪ cheryl: the former fed chair janet yellen delivered harsh words about trump. in an interview with npr's marketplace, yellen questionedded trump's grasp of economic policy. >> i doubt that he would even be able to say that the fed's goals are maximum employment and price stability, which is the goals that congress have assigned to the fed. cheryl: trump declined to reappoint yellen to the fed last year. he criticized jerome powell for raising interest rates. yellen added that trump's attacks on powell make it harder for the fed to do its job. let's bring in joe shroka of nova point capital. what do you make of her comments about the president may not understand what the fed does? >> i don't think it's so much that the president doesn't understand what the fed does, it's the president's fixated on job creation. jobs equal votes. jobs equal happy americans, better stock market prosperity. i think the fact that one of the fed's charters is maximum employment, he thinks they should be doing whatever they can to support his agenda to create more jobs. cheryl:

. >> janet yellen was on "marketplace" and talked about donald trump. play a little bit of it. >> president trump's comments do concern me because if it becomes concerted, i think it does have the impact, especially if conditions in the u.s. for any reason were to deteriorate, it could undermine confidence in the fed and i think that that would be a bad thing. >> do you think the president has a grasp of macroeconomic policy? >> no, i do not. i think comments like that shows a lack of understanding of the impact of the fed on the economy and appropriate policy goals. >> austan, i have about half a minute left in the show, but that seems pretty serious. >> yeah, serious, correct, and, you know, you look at janet yellen, not every hero wears a cape. i mean, she did an amazing job at the fed. she raised what was one of the startling things to come out of the testimony today from chairman powell where he would not admit but clearly insinuated that the president of the united states has been calling him, he had din were the president and has been actively pr

steve liesman sat down with former fed chair janet yellen and joins us now. >> good morning.d chair janet yellen in an exclusive cnbc interview generally supporting the recent shift of the fed to a neutral stance she think this is year will have slower but still solid growth. that's her base outlook. yet the lack of inflation and the growing risk of global economies and trade war means the fed should be cautious and might even end up cutting rates. would you say it's possible the next move is a cut at the fed? >> well, of course it's possible if global growth weakens and spills over to the united states or financial conditions tighten more and we two see a weakening in the u.s. economy it's certainly possible that the next move is a cut but both outcomes are possible. >> yellen, who chaired the fed from 2014 to 2018 was the first to say the balance sheet should be reduced on autopilot. she copped to that phrase but said the phrase was never intended to mean the fed ignored what happens in the economy. she said the fed should make clear that it's watching the impact of the run

we'll have the ceo of "the times" will join us, mark thompson >> many pine for janet yellen. they never like you when you're there but then afterwards they go, she did a pretty good job. >> the challenge for mr. powell, so far, apart from the policy making challenges, have been the messaging challenges and that maybe less is more. i question whether there should be a press conference after every one of these he is all for the transparency, but sometimes you think maybe you are better off sort of holding on to your thoughts a little more. >> trying to learn that lesson thank you. >> see you in a half hour. >>> a lot more ahead on "the exchange" including president trump's announcement for who he is nominating for head of the world bank and will he mention trade, china? we'll bring this live as it happens. >>> plus -- >> ahead, is it game over for the video game stocks? united airlines looks to woo high fare passengers and tesla brings down prices again. it's all ahead in rapid fire [knocking] ♪ ♪ memories. what we deliver by delivering. this is decision tech. it's screening te

he's very close, ideologically, to janet yellen. ked together in the fed when yellen was the chair and their policies are quite similar. and he declined to fuel that particular nafrrative, but the irony is, of course, in not answering the question, he did fuel that narrative. >> let's talk jon tester ofmon monta montana, because he asked about the looming debt ceiling. >> what would happen if we were not to do what we needed to do with the debt ceiling? >> it's beyond even considering. the idea that the united states would not honor all of its obligations and pay them when do is just something that can't even be considered. >> would it double? >> is he right, beyond being considered? >> well, it's beyond what sensible, smart people would consider. but it's not beyond what some people in congress would consider. remember, we had a big debt crisis in 2011, when republicans had taken over the house and they threatened to not raise the debt limit unless president trump supported dollar for dollar reductions, which was a preposterous dema

it's noter base case but former fed chair janet yellen believes tt the gathering global clouds could prompt the fed to cut rates as its next move. >> would you say it's possible the next move is a cut at the fed? >> of course it's possible. if global growth really weakens and that spill over to the united states or financial conditionsighten more and we do see a weakening in the u.s. economy, it's certainly possible that the next move is a cut. but both outcomes are possible. >> what the u.s. fed ultimately does will depend on how much that weakness washes up on american shores. a u.s./china trade deal could alleviate at least some of the wor e worries, but it's not clear if that will happen fast enough or be enough to eliminate gathering global risks. fornightly business report," i'm steve liesman. >>> now to something we have not talked about in byears, ak merger. two bb&t and suntrust agreed to combine, creating the sixth largest financial instituon in the untry. believe it or not, it is the biggest u.s. bank deal in a decade. wall street liked what it heard. both stocks gained. s

. >> successor janet yellen doesn't think president trump has a grasp of macroeconomic policy. is she right? >> i won't have any comment on that for you, senator. neil: all right. so much for defending the guy who appointed him to the federal reserve. one i love playing bites from npr, they're always calm. getting nervous, you hear how calmly they are speaking, low-key they are, wow, she ripped president of the united states. former fed advisor danielle dimartino booth. what did you think of that? >> kind of like watching the masters. regardless how dramatic it gets it is like meth -- methadone. interesting comments she made to have jay powell to defend what she said or not. superiority will be detracting for trump supporters. kind of shocking to me she actually basically said that donald trump does not understand basic economic theory. this is somebody who stays plugged into the financial networks all day and every day and i suspect that he knows being a debt person that he is, being somebody who followed interest rates for his entire career, nobody can dispute that, i was sur

is president trump going to hold janet yellen in contempt? alix: i've never heard of nx fed ex fed chair calling the sitting president stupid. oh, myit and i was like, god. she really ripped into him here. david: it doesn't help that presidenting the going after her successor. wait a second, mr. president. you are the one to tell jay powell how to do his job? alix: the rally we saw yesterday, that is taking a break today. there was the conversation the s&p was an overbought territory. regulators iny, china warning on margins. pound atight is euro the highest level since may of 2017. sterling is just ripping higher here as we head into theresa may talking to parliament in 30 minutes. yields pretty much went nowhere. crude flat after taking a beating yesterday. david: time for the morning brief. jp morgan investor day gets underway in new york city. they will lay out their 2019 guidance for analysts. then we get building permits for the month of december. then jay powell testifies before the senate banking committee. at 1:00 this afternoon, the

. >> reporte 98 personal phone calls or meetings with lawmakers, 4 times the amount of janet yellen in her first year.t he's reachedo rank and file members and to party leaders but not as many democratss republicans who controlled both chambers of congress at the time. the heads of the committees that oversee the fed got special attention. more than 20 individual contacts with those lawmakers. >> i have chairman powell knows that his job is going to be easier the more tha congress understands what he is doing to fulfill his remit of price stability and full employment. >> reporter: the fed could certainl use some friends in washington. >> unfortunately, they just raised interest rates a little bit because we are doing so. we i'm not happy about that. >> reporter: so unhappy that the president considere firing powell. >> thank youmuch, mr. president, for the faith that you have shown in me. >> reporter: even though trump nominated him for the job. but getting rid of powell might not be so spsimple,ially when he's built up a bank of thank y on capitol hill. the other day. call >> we appr

demand is what is the keynesians like the paul krugman and nouriel roubini and jerome powell or janet yellen or ben bernanke who believe that the way to manage in the. amee is to focus on aggregate demand instead of competition there and see competitive they don't like competition they think it's causes quote losers instead they focus on aggregate demand by printing trillions and trillions and trillions of fake fear money the same way fog off farmers in france forced ducks to eat grain until their livers aren't extended and then they're harvested for their livers americans are being armistead by the health system for their own health their bad livers their bad health are being harvested by the obamacare american health industry after the. valar of forest aggregate keynesian nonsense in the form of money trillions so the orthodox thinking that would be found in the economist who are hired by the federal reserve bank find in the literature on paper low interest rates should encourage more a growth in the economy because it encourages companies to borrow and invest but what they found by lookin

janet yellen warns this is a treacherous proposition.licy has a systematic effect on the country's exchange rate. it should be available to be used for domestic purposes. we want to be careful not to define domestic policy tools as currency manipulation. resnickth us, george and al rabil. this stood out to me because it's all in the background of the trade talks and how much risk appetite you can take in the markets when this is still permeating. george: there's still a lot of unknowns out there. this adds to the idea of do you want to take on a lot of risk. people have been taking that risk on in january and february. have they gone too far too fast? they probably have. it's time to start widening the lows from a risk perspective. taking some risk off the table in terms of small-cap equities, putting that on short-term fixed income. saw, the flood into em we you weren't buying that? george: we were not. at not start taking a look taking that off the table? not negative on the market but more towards neutral. david: does this affect your

former us federal reserve chair janet yellen has said she does not think us president donald trump understandsinterview with marketplace, she stated that mr trump has shown "a lack of understanding of the impact of the fed on the economy, and appropriate policy goals." oil prices have tumbled, with brent crude dipping to $65 a barrel, after us president donald trump tweeted that prices are too high and called on 0pec to relax and take it easy. it comes on the eve of international petroleum week, which begins in london on tuesday. there is renewed hope that the us and china are close to ending their trade dispute. promises, promises coming from president trump yet again. president trump tweeted last night that the two countries were "very, very close to reaching a deal". monica miller is our asia business correspondent in singapore... some hope that there is light at the end of the trade war tunnel. yes, except some analysts say investors appealing fatigue about whether they are going to see a deal come through. shares retreated after reaching a five month high yesterday and that was after pres

epilepsy and members of other central banks around the world i find it absolutely ridiculous you know janet yellen told us remember a few years ago that quantitative tightening which is the unwinding of would be like watching paint dry to sureness that because that's what she really believed it was she trying to lie to us i'm not quite sure what your solution here is there would never be another financial crisis in our lifetimes and then told a third also general powell the current head of the set told the american public that he would be on autopilot and that he was going to raise rates to about three to strain a half percent on the overnight in a bank lending rate and then you know after. ten years of zero percent interest rates and a three hundred percent increase in stock prices a funny thing happened for just a couple of months a truncated period of time. some prices fell about twenty percent from their height and about seven percent in aggregate in two thousand and eighteen. and that caused the central bank of the united states to panic and then start to begin the inexorable move towards mor

in atlanta during january 4, you had ben bernanke, janet yellen -- janet yellen made that comment, andot back, yeah, or they get murdered. the new york fed recession indicator, they take a look at the ten-month three year treasury yield curve. it is at its highest rate of 24% at this point. the 11th time the indicator has risen to this level since the 1960's. eight have been accompanied by a recession, according to our data. that is the new york fed recession indicator -- should we expect a recession in the next 12 months? what are you looking at? i think it is hard to call it right now because we are experiencing global slowdown. in europe, they have a gdp of 1.9% in the eu. china is pulling back. positive news out of the china, will let get back to 2% to 2.5%. earnings looked pretty good. we had a couple of notable earnings names, like facebook, apple, and boeing. some of these companies did really well and they are saying yes, we will slow down, but if you get 6% to 9% return on equity is, that is good as an investor. you might hang tight in the market for another year. next week, i

this report because i'm concerned that we're losing momentum on this issue that was started by janet yellen, your predecessor. and i'm thinking that i may need to expand my legislation to include the beatty rule with the federal reserve. it's patterned after the rooney rule which i'm sure you're also familiar with because we've had dialogue do you have any thoughts on that and because my time is probably going to run out, hold on that i want you to also address when asked about the challenges, you did a town hall with regular people i think it was teachers. and you cited widely shared prosperity and mobility. the opportunity to move from being born into a low quintile of wealth spectrum to the highest. so as chair of the subcommittee on diversity and inclusion, i am certainly interested in this and would like to know if you can elaborate on what you believe to be one of the top challenges in this economy faces over the next decade as related to diversity and inclusion. >> okay. thank you. so i think that my experience over my private sector career and public sector career has been the succe

they'll be speaking exclusively with former fed reserve chair janet yellen that is later today, and tune in for that interview at 20:30 cet. a quick check on u.s. futures before we head out all of the major indexes opening a little weaker today. that is it for the show. worldwide exchange is coming up next plaque psoriasis can be relentless. tremfya® is for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. with tremfya®, you can get clearer. and stay clearer. in fact, most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. gz tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. before starting tremfya® tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. ask your doctor about tremfya®. tremfya®. because you deserve to stay clearer. janssen wants to help you explore cost support options. tremfya®. because you deserv

janet yellen weighed in yesterday, specifically on the question of fixing the yuan exchange rate andhe said that monetary policy has a systematic affect on a country's exchange rate, nevertheless she thinks it should be available to be used for domestic purposes, so we should be careful not to define domestic policy tools as currency manipulation. what role does the fed have in how strong the dollar is? you said we should have a stronger dollar, that would indicate the fed it should be tightening. steve: let me be clear, i think that the fed is way too tight right now and i think we do not have enough dollar liquidity in the market. everyone agrees the fed made a catastrophically bad decision, even the fed admits that now, and we will find out about that in an hour or so when they put out their minutes. but my point is i think the fed is still way too tight, they should be lowering rates. if you look at commodity prices, they are still very low, a suggestion that we have mild deflation in the economy. and if you look at the last three months on the cpi, zero in november, -.1% in dece

we should have ben bernanke and janet yellen and jay powell get down there.ted states and been failing for 10 years. you have got to get rid of the maduro-putin axis. you have got to wipe out the currency, what's left of it. you have got to run venezuela using u.s. dollars. that's what third world countries do after they have had hyper inflation. part of the bankruptcy will be to say that all of the global creditors of venezuela are simply going to get wiped out. russia is a major one. did you know russia effectively owns the u.s. energy company citgo? so we can't let that happen. liz: to your point about u.s. dollars coming in, remember the brady bonds? what's triking about this? we don't heart outrage from the left about what's going on in venezuela. i remember at one same beings * said food lines in venezuela are quote a good thing. what's wild about the destruction of socialism is venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. can venezuela come back once they get rid of maduro? >> of course it can. there is nothing wrong with the venezuelan

federal reserve to decide when and if it will raise interest rates in 2019, the former fed chief janet yellen told cnbc yesterday that the federal reserve could decide to cut rates next. >> if global growth really weakens and that spills over to the united states or financial conditions tighten more and we do see a weakening in the u.s. economy, it is certainly possible that the next move is a cut. >> that got a lot of attention. her remarks come after the fed floated the idea it might be done considering any rate hikes this year. two had been on the table. so what does that say about the global economy if they can't keep raising rates? yellen mentioned several risks that could affect the u.s. including weak economic data from china and europe and uncertainty about trade policies and brexit. jerome powell recently said that the decision on rates requires patience and he denounced any idea that the fed was caving to political pressure by taking the more dovish approach. and by political pressure, there is pressure from the united states, there is also pressure from the markets. there are those

. >> yesterday your predecessor janet yellen said she doesn't think president trump has a grasp of macropolicy, is she right? >> i won't have any comment on that for you. >> i guess i'm not surprised. >> there will be more political fireworks, he returned to the hill and appeared before the house financial services committee, a panel where alexandria ocasio-cortez has a seat. he has already refuted two of her ideas, she posits that government deficits do not matter and separately that the fed can pay for the great new deal. the fed chair rejects both ideas is just wrong. >> our role is not to provide support for particular policies, that's central banks everywhere. it is to try to achieve maximum employment and stable prices. i think decisions about spending and controlling spending and paying for it are really for yo you. >> the exchange between the newly elected democrat and new york and powell will be widely watched. in different hearings today, lawmakers of the ceos of consumer credit companies grilled them. the topic, data security. many in the house seek reforms exciting the 2017 e

will be speaking exclusively with the former fed reserve chair janet yellen tomorrow. tune in for that interview at 20:30 cet. also, coming up on the show alphabet beats on the top and bottom lines, but its shares have gone south in after hours trading. we'll get the full breakdown of what's disappointed investors after the break. stay with us plaque psoriasis can be relentless. tremfya® is for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. with tremfya®, you can get clearer. and stay clearer. in fact, most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. tremfya® works better than humira® at providing clearer skin... ...and more patients were symptom free with tremfya®. tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. before starting tremfya® tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a

eastern time, janet yellen stay with us >>> coming up, disney topping expectations with the first quartertreaming strategy that's getting a lot of attention. today tuned. you're watching "squawk box" on cnbc >>> disney beating expectations on both the top and bottom line in its litest quarter. it's the company's streaming strategy that was in focus on the conference call. julia boorstin joins us now with more hi, julia. >> good morning to you cei bob iger focusing on the direct to consumer business announcing that espn plus now has 2 million subscribers. that's double the number from five months ago. also saying he's bullish on disney plus. >> the fact we have a technology platform that's working, the ability to sign consumers up en masse, the use of the primary platforms to promote the new platform what we believe will be a strong price to value relationship with disney, and then the strength of all the brands i think it all adds up to a very, very positive picture. >> iger saying the company's structure enables it to leverage those brands for digital and minimal additional costs gave up

it's one of the questions for janet yellen i'll be sitting down with the former chair tomorrow at 2:30sive interview mike sara >> one quick question for you, and certainly you can talk to janet yellen about this, but i think you know the answer, which is, how commonplace is it for the president to meet with the head of the federal reserve? this one didn't get a ton of attention as it would have when the president was still bashing the fed chairman but since he's been patient it's been quiet i'm wondering how unusual it is. >> since the fed pivoted on its policy it's not that unusual. it happens about every couple years or so. sometimes there's a reason, sometimes it's just a check-in they normally do meet. it's been something that's happened over time, but it's not a regular meeting as fed -- the fed tries to maintain its independence from the political side >> all right, steve, thank you very much. we look forward to that yellen interview tomorrow >>> speaking of the state of the union, eamon javers joins us now. >> good morning. i spoke with vice president mike pence about the state

anti-definition league for using anti-semitic imagery, it features george soros, former fed chair janet yellen and lloyd blankfein, all three are jewish while railing against so-called global elites who control power in the united states. >> the establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election. for those who control the levers of power in washington and for the global special interests, they partner with these people that don't have your good in mi mind. it has robbed our working class, stripped its money of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities. >> and we'll have this conversation. there was this comment in the wake of the charlottesville atta attack. >> they showed up in charlottesville -- excuse me. you had some very bad people in that group. but you had people that were very fine people on both sides. >> just a reminder that one of those sides featured neonazis yelling "jews will not replace us." peter bien heart is a senior columnist for the forward. and we have a member of the advisory counsel to elect pre

. >> and janet yellen isn't mincing word when it comes to comments on the fed.marx joins us live with more on what she had to say, including that trump doesn't have an understanding of the basic fundamentals of the economy. >> that was the statement. she didn't believe she said that president trump could articulate the federal reserve's main goals, price stability and maximum employment and setting currency exchange rates and trying to solve the u.s. trade imbalance was, quoting showing a lack of understanding of the impact of the fed on the economy. another story overnight, we've seen shares in tesla after market closed in the west coast really trading quite sharply lower after the sec announced it was trying to stop elon musk from once again tweeting about the company. this followed an agreement last year between the regulator and the ceo of tesla when he was accused of essentially trying to mislead investors when it came to taking this company private. >> sometimes it's just better to stay off twitter. >> the british pound jumped to a new four-week peak on re

former fed chair janet yellen sits down with steve liesman that's 2:30 p.m. eastern tomorrow >>> metianme, dow up 150 points right now. we're back in a moment this is decision tech. it's screening technology that helps you find a stock based on what's trending or an investing goal. it's real-time insights and information, in your own customized view of the market. it's smarter trading technology, for smarter trading decisions. and it's only from fidelity. open an account with no minimums today. >>> welcome back to "squawk alley. an increased focus on privacy and data misuse by big tech firms and concerns over chinese ip theft kept tech in the forefront of the white house trade policy and congress's agenda calls for tech regulation could ramp up the next few years joining us, chairman glen hubbard and investor roger mcnamee. good morning to you, glen. thanks for joining us. clearly we look at the rhetoric from politicians, there is consensus to do something towards the big tech companies when it comes to regulation. do you think it is likely to materialize in

meanwhile, janet yellen takes a jab at president trump.does the market want to hear from powell? does it all have to do with trade concerns? we have to remember the u.s. is the largest economy. -- draghi said china needs to hook up the european economy that going. see from the testimony, it is not the place to make the statements. typically, the fed chair would try to repeat the message they have already been given. powell is someone who speaks a bit more freely. he could be asked about the balance sheet runoff. what seems to be new is the question whether they will continue the balance sheet runoff until early next year. now, believe it will stop midyear. midi clarifies something around that in the next two days, but typically, it is something where one district messages and doesn't really convey anything new. me bring you over to my chart because this is some of the fed funds and what is priced in. is it right at market is not pricing in a cut? it seems like a pretty. big reversal from last month we look back in december and markets are

sherrod brown hit him right off the top of the question that was posed to janet yellen the other day, where she was asked whether she thought donald trump understood the economy, and she said no, and powell said "i will that."o comment on that are there were questions on banking regulation. a lot of questions on dodd-frank and how fast the fed is moving to implement it and the chairman said it is the highest priority. if there was one thing, david, that i thought was interesting, it is that powell made the case that we do have a risk that not a lot of people are talking about, the political risk that we could see the debt ceiling, back as a sort of hostagetaking event. the debt ceiling comes back into place on friday. they can get around it until maybe late-summer or early fall. as anen we could see that issue again. he was what he had to say. he had to say. i guess we don't have that right now, but basically he said it is an unthinkable situation that we would use the debt ceiling to hold the economy hostage. we will take your word for that, mike. i talked to chuck grassley this morn

and conduct the work beyond the supervision of janet yellen and before her ben bernanke. now my -- i find one year into my job it's a very different job. i do have now oversight over all those other committees, but i find myself as chair focusing on a few particular things. first is public communications and public relations. public speeches, events like this. are very important. it's -- public communications is a critical aspect of this job. in addition i do a great deal of outreach to congress. i was up there today. i'll be up there tomorrow. i'll be up there friday. part of it is in our system of government we have precious independence from political concerns. as i mentioned we do things on a nonpolitical basis. we serve long terms and directed to carry out our work in a nonpolitical way. the other side of that has to be in a democracy accountability to the public. our accountability to the public runs through congress. we have twice annual hearings that i testify in in the senate and house. that's a big part of what i do. i also have relationships with the senior --

the action comes i want to bring in david dates and jonas f erris, and we have breaking news, janet yellenterview with the america public radio marketplace and essentially she said she didn't think president trump understood economic policy or the mission of the fed. jonas what are your thoughts there because it's sort of interesting that the criticism that president trump had of the fed, the fed sort of either reacted to it, or they came to believe yeah, he might be right, or those who criticized their aggressiveness might have been right. >> yeah, you could make the case the fed doesn't remember the mission of the fed either but i will say that the president actually was right, as i was saying he was right when he was saying interest rates were going too high. the federal reserve last year and again i'm not saying trump is like on the level of the economists who have been studying this for 30 years but overall take from a businessman who knows what borrowing money in the real estate market was like thought rates were going too high the fed was more concerned about inflation if you'll rec