Fed chair candidate Waller had 'strong interview' as Pres. Trump narrows shortlist to four

Becky Quick (Anchor) 00:00.230

we have some breaking news on the race for the fed chair job our senior economics reporter steve liesman joins us with the details

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 00:07.270

really good morning becky senior administration officials telling CNBC that fed governor chris waller had a quote strong interview with president trump in which the two discussed the labor market in depth and how to jump start job creation the interview took place in the

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 00:20.790

president 's residence and concluded shortly before the president stepped to the podium and addressed the nation on the economy on national television wednesday night treasury secretary scott besson for staff susie wow and deputy chief of staff dan scavino also attended the

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 00:34.230

interview it's a sign wallers candidacy is being taken seriously though the officials declined to see say if he's the front runner where he stood in the whole race for the fed chair job CNBC also learned black rocks rick reeder will be interviewed at mar a lago for the fed chair

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 00:48.270

job in the last week of the year the officials said that leaves four candidates including NEC director kevin hassett the favorite for the job and the prediction markets and former fed governor kevin wash who have been previously interviewed by the president the officials added

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 01:02.150

that fed governor and vice chair of bank supervision michelle bowman no longer being considered for the job now the official said the conversation about jobs with wallace showed criticism was misplaced that the president was seeking a candidate based on the criteria that the

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 01:15.630

next fed chair would follow the president 's orders on race they said the president 's interest in the interviews with candidates was broad based across a series of economic issues on a lighter note the president was said to have been seriously impressed when informed that

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 01:29.710

governor waller could bench press three hundred and fifty pounds

Andrew Ross Sorkin (Anchor) 01:33.310

you know you always bring us the details that matter and that that's a renault i'm not saying that sarcastically like those are like those little details that bring you inside the room

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 01:43.230

i heard in awe was what i heard in awe in awe i heard that from a separate source

Becky Quick (Anchor) 01:49.910

i'm actually surprised and impressed by that too

Becky Quick (Anchor) 01:52.150

yeah yeah the governor wallard has a pretty strict workout regime with my understanding OK so the all of these reports all of this kind of what we're seeing now with these interviews yeah is all to counter what the president himself has repeatedly said that he had somebody in

Becky Quick (Anchor) 02:09.190

mind that he knew who it was going to be

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 02:11.870

and the idea that the president wanted somebody who was only gonna listen to him on rates what there's definitely emphasizing that there's more interest more discussion on broader economic topics in these interviews than just are you going to listen to me we continue to hear

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 02:27.270

that and look

Becky Quick (Anchor) 02:29.790

this is not to to counter reporting that's been out there this is to counter what the president himself has said

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 02:36.230

becky i think you're something that is amused me that sometimes the president is not his own best friend right like when he sat there and with the affordability stuff in the background then he called affordability a hoax you could imagine people around the president kind of

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 02:50.590

cringing in those situations you know when they thought they were remember the the the the great constant theme of infrastructure week yeah that was going to be an infrastructure week it never quite wasn't sometimes the president is not his own best friend but i we can report

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 03:06.150

with with certainty that there they did discuss jobs it wasn't all about are you going to lower rates and listen to

Becky Quick (Anchor) 03:12.030

me is the president himself not locked in is that the message you're getting back that he's not locked in on one candidate and he's still waiting and going through these interviews and we will see where he feels a month yes that

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 03:22.190

is you can read this online becky and so can viewers by the way that that this is a serious process following look i was surprised a couple weeks ago when the president and air force once said i know who it is and then we were able to report that interviews were canceled i don't

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 03:38.230

know if you remember but i guess it was back in october i was able to break the story of the process that treasury secretary scott bester had laid out and it looked like one that by the way is both real and symbolic right because this pick for fed chair is something being

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 03:53.510

watched down the road at wall street but five thousand miles away in every financial center anywhere around the world and in japan not only who is picked but the how it's picked matters a lot it always has i've done i think four or five of these processes over the past several

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 04:10.910

decades

Becky Quick (Anchor) 04:11.190

it just it reminds me a lot of what we're hearing with warner brothers discovery and the bids that have come in for this is is the president actually in the camp of the ellison bid from from skydance right or from paramount skydance or is he saying no i'm not in that camp and if

Becky Quick (Anchor) 04:28.800

it's netflix and it's american company i'm good with that too i'm good for whatever shows up a lot of this is processed to undo things that have been said again not by the press or anybody around him but by the president himself in

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 04:40.070

front of cameras that that is that is a accurate point becky and i think the other thing is that when they they are now back on track with this process the president is sitting down with these candidates he's going to sit down with rick reeder and

Becky Quick (Anchor) 04:54.110

i i i don't know i think wall street probably appreciates hearing that i think they probably

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 04:58.510

yeah especially i think the waller reader people are are because i there's a lot of and you

Andrew Ross Sorkin (Anchor) 05:04.110

don't think i mean there are these other people who speculate this is all not theater but you know that he's got the selection but that he also wants to suggest that there is a process so that he can say that he's looked at everybody

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 05:15.110

you know andrew if that's the case they're going through an awful lot of hoops to jump you know you get these key people that are running the US government in a room to talk to a guy for several however long i couldn't determine how long it went for theater i don't know

Becky Quick (Anchor) 05:31.110

i'd get mad if i was wasting hours and hours of my time and i'm not the president yeah

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 05:35.110

i mean if the president wants to cut it off and it will be his choice and and i know people around him don't know who he's going to pick yet i do but

Becky Quick (Anchor) 05:43.390

are you saying he doesn't know who i don't

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 05:45.150

think he you know i don't i don't think so i think he wants to meet with these people and he wants to to talk with them and and look there's a another sign in all this that the president is maybe a little more concerned about what's happening in the job market the the the job

Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter) 05:57.910

numbers have not been good right right and he needs to turn his attention to that and and and they need to to figure that out