Transcripts For CNBC Closing Bell 20161114

His reaction. But first lets get you caught up on the market. The dow hitting a high this morning. Global bonds have been selling off. Rates going up. Tech stocks still under pressure yet again. Morgan brennan has more on that from the Nasdaq Market site for us. Thats right, so the good news is we are pairing some of the earlier loss we saw for the nasdaq composite, however still underperforming the dow and the s p the big cap nasdaq 100 fairing even worse, down about three quarters of a percent right now. You mentioned tech stocks are the big culprit here and that really has been the case, weve been seeing the major tech names sell off ever since trump won the white house in about part thanks to investor worries about change on trade and immigration policy. So apple one of the biggest losers. It is having the bigs negative point impact on the nasdaq 100. One reason is that we have a report out of china that iphone sales may suffer if president elect trump were to impose tariffs on that country. Other major names falling today, we have microsoft and facebook, amazon, netflix and google parent alphabet, all are lower today and actual will you over t ly over the past week anywhere from 4 to 9 . Lets get over to the dow now litting t hitting the new highs. Dominic chu has the story. Very interesting story developing. The divergence between stocks and bonds right now because we hit the record highs. If you look at these lines again, the s p, the russell 2000 small cap, s p 500400 big cap, all at some point hitting record territory, the rarefied air for most of the u. S. Stock market comes amidst a global bag drop of Interest Rates rising. And heres what were talking about. If we look at the u. S. Ten year government yield, 2. 23 . It was higher earlier today. But that massive spike higher just in the last week week and a half and so on the expectations of a possible Trump Presidency coming to perhaps infrastructure spending, inflation, picking up a lot of the story lines playing out in the bond market here in the United States, but its not just here in the u. S. As well. Ou look around the world, you take a look at german long Government Bond yields there. Before the election thereabouts, about 15 basis points, 015 , its gone up to about 33 today. Japan a negative 6 basis points up to a negative 2 basis points. Not a lot, but still a move higher. Australia, 2. 34 to 2. 66 . You can see a theme developing all across the developed and certainly the emerging market world where Interest Rates keep going higher. But as we put it in context for the u. S. Stog m stock market, se election, dow up about 3 . On average since 1984, its usually down about a percent. So the u. S. Stock market looking pretty good. Thank you, dom. And if youre just tuning in, in just a few minutes, from be will hold a formal News Conference at the white house just before he boards air force one for his final overseas trip as president. We will bring you the News Conference as soon as it gets understand way in just about 11 minutes if they hold to schedule. Lets get to our Closing Bell Exchange for our monday with the dow up 29 points at the moment, eric and kenny are with us. And brian battle is on board. And so is rick santelli. So kenny p. , a great week last week, best week in five years for the dow. Kind of Holding Steady here today. And its not surprising. Certainly after what we saw last week, the move in kind of the explosiveness of the move, right . But i think today there was no eco data. Starting tomorrow well start to get a lot of eco data. But i think that a lot of people are now clearly focused on where trump is going with this, where the fiscal spending plan is going to look like. You can feel it in industrials, and financials, and the biotech stocks about less regulation. You can feel it across a range of sectors. I think what it could set it back a little bit if you continue to get controversial cabinet picks might cause some people to start getting a little bit antsy and that is yet to be seen. There is one so far, but lets see what happens. And eric, you dont look to Interest Rates for rise after the move weve already seen . Yeah, i think that for now they basically probably got has high as they will go. And we think that there has to be some claw back. There is a tremendous amount of expe expectation priced in to bonds that somehow well have major inflationary uptick in the United States, maybe globally. Im not sure that when you start seeing sxabts exactly what is able to be accomplished by trump and his team that the sxegts tagss are will be met. I think that bonds will start a bit of a rally. I see in the notes here that you think market move is a result of fundamentals. The market realizing the fundamental, not politics. But brian, you think that this move last week is all about politics. Why . Yeah, i think thats right. The ten year has moved 30 basis points if a week right after the election. Taper tantrum was 138 basis points from june to august in 2013. And this is a political move. Because when when bill clinton was elected, rates moved 285 basis points. That was a real market move. Its a political move because we dont know what the economic consequences are. We dont even know who the treasury secretary will be yet. So this is a market move based on politics. And if janet yellen wanted inflation expectations, she should have votor trump. And well start to get an economic consequence once we find out who the people are and who the policy setters are. The one guy for watch is paul ryan because that is the guy who sets the lens lagislative agend. And rick, you told us last week if we started to get to these levels expect to just keep moving higher. Do you still think thats what is going on here . Well, i think the dollar index specifically, id be very careful if we start closing above 100. Because i think that it will get momentum. There is no such thing as triple tops. You knock on the resistance once, you knock on it twice, third time you go through like pacman on steroids. So you want to watch that level. In terms of interest rate, what i can tell you is that settlements for 2015 will figure in prominently to where we distribute all this price action. So between 225 and 227 in a ten year, that could be home base. And i think well settle there. But maybe well settle there after we go up to 262 and come back down. Listen, i know there is a lot of politics, but dont lose sight of the fact that after a ter brexit, we had low yield close. In terms of who will run what, that is all fine and dandy, we have a whole town full of cars, no ga gasoline. The gasoline trucks arrived. Three branches of government, trust me, they will to a ldo a easy things priced in in these markets. Kenny, if thats the case, clearly the market is expecting Growth Initiatives from washington. But what if the fed starts to raise rates in response to the already rate rise here . I think that the fed is going to view this if hes going to spend as much money as he is, hes going to create what people are expecting is faster inflati inflation. I think the fed will get out in front of it. I think the stock market will welcome because it will be progrowth policies. And as long as our economy is growing at the 3. 5 plus percent, it can handle slowly rising rates. Yeah, the fed is getting a get out of jail free card in december. They will raise rates. And if it didnt work, it they can blame the president. If do you think its a aggressive rate rise than it would have been otherwise . No, theyre communicating 25 basis points. And as usual, its the communication after. Well have is there going to be a trajectory forward in stair steps. Janet yellen will be on the hill thursday answering some of these questions. She will abate it as much as she can, but there is a lot of momentum to raise rates and i think this puts them over because theyre behind in the market. Excuse me . Where would you be investing in the market right now . We think u. S. Stocks are very expensive on a relative basis versus their competitors. We like europe. We think the political situation in europe probably is no worse than what were seeing here in terms of the polarization. Valuations are more attractive and cyclical elements will be a tail wind for european stocks. They held up well last week on a relative basis if you get rid of the currency impacts, we think the dollar is not going to continue to climb and that gives room for european stocks to move. We have to go. Getting ready for the president ial News Conference. Thank you all to your thoughts on todays market action. I just want to say our ifill. I just met her last year and she couldnt have been nicer, funnier, more down to earth. Just such a great person. A wonderful human being. We have 50 minutes to go in the trading session and were look across markets at the impact still from this president ial election. The dow up 25 points, s p up about a point and a half, nasdaq again negative. Getting ready for the president ial News Conference. It will be his first news kf Conference Since the election and well bring to you live. Opportunities arent always obvious. Sometimes they just drop in. Cme group can help you navigate risks and capture opportunities. 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Dow positive right now, up 30 right now. Any positive close will be an alltime high once again for the industrial average. Youre looking it at the 30 components of the industrial average and it looks like fewer than half are carrying the load. And United Health isnt just the best performer, its at all time highs roonk wi s along wit other stocks. A ton of banks, jp more began, u. S. Bank, general dynamics, all the industrials are 72 new s p highs today. 52 week highs. President obamas News Conference is expected to kick off any minute now. John harwood joining us from the white house with a preview. Reporter this is the first time president obama has faced reporters since the election of donald trump. We expect them to talk about his meeting with donald trump when he urged mr. Trump the president elect not to hastily try to undo all the elements of his legacy and of course we saw the president elect say that maybe he wouldnt get rid of all of obama care. So i think that he will talk about some of those issues. He will talk about the transition process which he has pledged will be smooth and constructive and i would expect him to be asked questions about the appoints that donald trump has made as president elect of Reince Priebus as chief of staff and steve bannon as his chief strategist. Of course the backdrop for this trip is the president s last foreign for this News Conference is the president s last foreign trip and hes going to be asked about the Transpacific Partnership which donald trump has vowed to rip up. We havent gotten any indications of back sliding on that. And, you know, i would expect the president to talk about what its like to go from being in the campaign and criticizing donald trump in the harshest terms to now having to cooperate with him on the handoff of what hes always called the baton of the presidency to the next occupants. John, i cant recall a lame duck president this late if hn term making a foreign trip. What does he expect to accomplish here other than just maybe a farewell tour in some cases . Reporter well, part of this is the annual aipac summit. And that will take place in peru i believe. Right, it is in peru. But let me bring up the other question then. How willing ill turn it around. How willing do you think other nations will be to work with him about if hes the lame duck this late in his term . Reporter well, its always the case that if youre a luck duck president that youre going to see your influence diminish. But there is a lot of continuity of government in the United States and i would expect the president to try to make the case that the United States will remain engaged in the Asia Pacific Region even though his priorities in Foreign Policy may not be shared by president elect trumps. But i think hes going to make a case for staying the course and hope that some of those foreign leaders that hes meeting with with also have some influence back here in washington on the president elect. John, are you also looking for the president to use this press conference this afternoon to make the case to americans to come together to support the president elect of the way president obama himself has been extending a hand . Reporter yes, i would. And certainly i wouldnt expect him to call on protesters to stop their protesting, but i think hes going to urge calm and peace ful protests and try o do what he can as president elect trump has said he wants to do to try to bring the country together. Its a challenging time and Donald Trumps brand of politics is radically different from president barack obamas, but we do only one have onerd at a time and he wants to make that handoff as smooth as he can. I assume youve heard that it was Vladimir Putin and officials at the kremlin that announced a little while ago that mr. Putin called president elect trump to let him know that he expects or hopes to work closely with him and that they dont interfere in each others internal affairs in the future. I mean, it just highlights the fact that its putin who is making this announcement that there really still is no love loss between will be and president putin here. Well, thats right. And of course the irony of that statementbe and president putin here. Well, thats right. And of course the irony of that statement is that the russian government did have some involvement at least by the account of our intelligence agencies in the lectoral process in the hacked emails. And there are some calling on the bochled a hin sfrags to try to issue some sort of accounting of what happened there as best it can before leaving office. Dont know if that will happen. He hey get asked about that today. And there are several things happening in the media. Hey get today. And there are several things happening in the media. New york times shares are rallying because they have had a boon in subscriptions. Wall street journal only has two sections just more about the dynamics of advertising in the industry moving to facebook and google. And now facebook in particular finds itself being held accountable to standards frankly that apply to a lot of old media. How do you thinkhat will affect the Company Going forward . Reporter i dont know how it will affect facebook, but i do know that our industry is under extreme stress. And one of the things that many journalists are concerned about is how the Trump Administration will relate to the press. There were many concerns about the Obama Administration on those grounds, on transparency grounds. There has been more open confrontation however between president elect trump and the news media during the course of the campaign a. In fact over the weekend, he was tweeting sharp criticism of the new york times. In fact over the weekend, he was tweeting sharp criticism of the new york times. In fact over the weekend, he was tweeting sharp criticism of the new york times. Criticism of cnn. So how much open warfares will be. Were all watching and that may also be a president for the question today. People may have to go back and read the history of Richard Nixons white house to remember the antagonism that existed between the white house and the media. And i was going to say imwatching shares of twitter behind us which are up about 3 after on 60 minutes donald trump said its the modern communications platform. Thanks, john. Apparently we have yet to get the two minute warning before the News Conference, so we feel safe in taking a commercial break with the dow up 32 points. Up next, Energy Transfer partners on optimism of a commercial pipeline will be approved. Well go live to north dakota for the latest. And barney flarank will be weighing in on Bank Regulations under a Trump White House and how much of the dodd frank act that he helped to create can survive. How else do you think he gets around so fast . Take the reins this holiday and get the mercedesbenz youve always wanted during the winter event. Now lease the 2017 gla250 for 329 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Welcome back. Youre looking at a shot of the White House Press room as we await a News Conference by president obama scheduled for 3 15 but yet to get under way. So well move on an point out that shares of Energy Transfer partners have been higher since the election on optimism that the controversial Dakota Access pipeline may get the green light from the upcoming administration. As it happens, Jackie Deangelis is this bin bismarck with that f the story. Reporter the protests over this pipeline have been going on for months now. Today they have actually moved to the capital of the state, bismarck. Several hundred people have gathered to peacefully and i will emphasize peacefully the completion of the Dakota Access pipeline. Remember this is a massive project over 1,000 miles. It will take crude from illinois and then down to the gulf coast. There are two tiesides of the story. Protestors say they want to protect the environment, not disturb the peace. On the flip side, you have Energy Transfer partners, the ceo who i spoke to not long ago telling me that they have broken no laws in constructing the pipeline, they followed all of the rules, theyre just waiting for that final easement so they can move forward with the portion that moves under a body of water. They have been respectful they say and all they want to do is create the infrastructure to move crude around safely. So the question becomes what will the Obama Administration do, will they rule on this today, will they in fact do thinking at all. Or will this fall into the lap of the Trump Administration, president elect trump has said already that he will be very pro business, pro infrastructure. He wants do these projects to support job creation. And that he will roll back environmental regulations that make these projects more poll. Were talking about things like the epa. He said that he will scale it back. And also this isnt just about the Dakota Access pipeline, its about pipelines like keystone which was rejected by president elect trump says he will push through. So as you can see behind me, the crowds are passionate about this. The Pipeline Company is, as well. What the definitive decision will be remains to be seen and its possible that this goes on a while longer. Obviously the expectation has been that the Trump Administration would approve these pipelines that you mentioned, and the markets have certainly priced themselves in anticipation. But it remains to be seen whether political realities get in the way in the meantime, right . Reporter and that is exactly right. The people that we spoke to said that they are fighting this fight, they are not going away. And they wont just roll down and die because the Government Supports granting these permits and the construction. So certainly there are two sides to every story and this is a very delicate balance for the Trump Administration as they come into power. Jackie deangelis in bismarck on that story, thank you, jackie. And if youre just joining us, were waiting for president obama eye n obamas News Conference to get under way. It was scheduled for 3 15, but well get you there live as soon as it gets under way. Sue herera has your cnbc news update. Mereheres what is happenings hour. Foreign ministers gathering this brussels to discuss a number of pressing issues. At the top of the agenda, ties with turkey, the conflict in syria and defense cooperation with the nato military alliance. Drone footage uploaded on social media showing destroyed buildings and rubble on the streets in a neighborhood in eastern allepo. Apwill allepo has been guided fquid di years. And a report expands the universe of people who should be screened to see if they need stat continue medication. It includes everyone over the age of 40. And on a sad note, gwe ifill, anchor of washington week, has died of cancer. A former newspaper reporter, she switched to tv, she worked for nbc news before moving to pbs. She took a leave from the show for Health Reasons earlier in year. Never making public her illness. Gwen ifill was 61. And that is the news hour. That is the update. Ill send it back downtown to you guys. Sad note to end on. Absolutely. And what a surprise. Had no idea. She kept that secret for a long time. She took two hourleave, one in springtime and in fact she missed their coverage of the election as a result, but nobody had a clue. She had more than 20 doctorates and she just was had an enormous following of viewers and colleagues and all you have to do is look at twitter to see that. She will really be missed. Just so warm and friendly. For theory make the move from print to television gave legitimacy to television. Absolutely. She was the consummate journalist. Thanks very much. See you later. Waiting for the News Conference meantime with the dow up 26 points and depend, the same aern since weve seen at the election. The dow is higher, s p a little higher, nasdaq tagging. A l dragging. Because theyre no longer the cool kids. All of a sudden. Didnt take long. We have a leading trader who will tell us what hes watching coming up. And later barney frank gives us his take on Bank Regulations in a donald trump world and if he thinks the banking law he helped to create will be thrown out. And were waiting for the president s News Conference to get under way before his final trip overseas. All that getting under way shortly. Small business saturday is our day to get out and shop small. A day to support our community and show some love for the people we love. And the places we love. The stuff we cant get anywhere else and food that tastes like home. Because the money we spend here can help keep our town growing. On Small Business saturday, lets shop small for our neighborhood, our town, our home. On november 26th, get up, all get together and shop small. Hthis bad boy is a mobile trading desk so that i can take my Trading Platform wherever i go. You know that thinkorswim seamlessly syncs across all your devices, right . Oh, so my custom studies will go with me . Anywhere you want to go the markets hot sync your platform on any device with thinkorswim. Only at Td Ameritrade waiting for the president s News Conference to get under way. The dow is up in record territory. Lets get back to john harwood at the white house as we await the president. This is to be a wide ranging, normal News Conference here, isnt it . Reporter yes, preceding a foreign trip, so you would normally expect a lot of questions about that. Of course the Transpacific Partnership which is spending in this lame duck session of congress. Nobody expects that to go anywhere now since donald trump is so staunchly against it. But the unique moment of president ial transition will compel the discussion toward that subject and especially when you have a transition as stark as one for president obama be to president elect donald trump given their differences, his time crisscrossing the country to makehe argument which a majority in the Electoral College rejected the case that donald trump was not fit to be president. So now hes got to work with that person he criticized so strongly and make a transition work. And will is plenty of fodder for us to talk to president obama about that today. You saw the reporters come to attention there simultaneously. Were inside the two minute warning. And by the way, john, we also learned from president elect donald trump in his 60 minutes interview when asked about his meeting with president obama said it went very well, there was no awkwardness, they went 90 minutes, only supposed to go 15. He said it could have gone four hours. And weve learned that maybe president obama emphasizing some of the most popular and important parts of obamacare have made an impact on the president elect subsequent to that meeting. So do you expect well find out anything additional about what might have been discussed then or the role that president obama will play as the journal hinted today . The president will be asked. Whether he answers or not, we dont know. But i think that you can expect the president coming out of that meeting an meetings yet to be scheduled to continue to try to make the case with donald trump not to rip out root and branch the elements of his legacy that he values so much. That is one of the things he said in the campaign. All work weve done for the last eight years is wiped out if donald trump is elected. Guess what . Donald trump was elected and now president obama be is hoping against hope that he can persuade donald trump not to do what he fears to his legacy. But im sure the point is not please dont ruin my legacy, im sure the point is these are the most poplar thiular things to t American People. Anyway, here is president obama coming to the podium. Hello, everybody. In a couple hours ill be departing on my final foreign trip as president. And while were abroad, ill have a chance to take a few of your question, but i figured why wait. I know that there is a lot of domestic issues that people are thinking about. So i wanted to see if i could clear out some of the underbrush so that when were overseas and people are asking about Foreign Policy questions people dont feel an bliobliged to tag on ot questions. I know you still will, yes. That im aware before but im trying something out here. First of all let me mention three brief topics. First of all, as i discussed with the president elect on thursday, my team stands ready to accelerate in the next steps that are required to assure a smooth transition. And we are going to be staying in touch as we travel. I remember what it was like when i came in eight years ago. It was a big challenge. This office is bigger than any one person. And that is why ensuring a smooth transition is so important. Its not something that the constitution explicitly requires, but it is one of those norms that are vital to a functioning democracy, similar to tolerance and a commitment to reason and facts and analysis. Its a part of what makes this country work. And as long as im president , we are going to uphold those norms and cherish and uphold those eye deals. As ive told my staff, we should be very proudeyedeals. As ive told my staff, we should be very proud their work has ensured that as we turn officer the key, the car is in pretty good shape. We are in a stronger position today than we were when kay this eight years ago. Jobs have been growing for 73 straight month, incomes are rising, poverty is falling, uninsured straight at the lowest level on record. Carbon emissions have come down without impinking on our growth. And so my instruction to my team is that we run through the tape. We make sure that we finish what we started, that we dont let up in these last couple of months because my goal is on january 21st, america is in the strongest position possible and hopefully there is an opportunity for the next president to build on that. Number two, our work has also helped us stable rise tilize th economy and because there is one president at a time, ill spend this week reinforcing americas support for the approaches that weve taken to promote Economic Growth and Global Security on a range of issues. I look forward to my first visit in greece and then in germany, ill visit with chancellor merkel who has probably been my closest International Partner these past eight years. Ill also signal our solidarity with youre closest allies and express our support for a strong integrated and united europe. Its essential to our National Security and its essential to global stability. And thats why the transatlantic am l alliance and nato oig endured over the years. Finally in peru, ill meet with leaders of country that have been the focus of our Foreign Policy through our rebalance in the asia pacific. This is a time of great change in the world, but america has always been a pillar of strength and beacon of hope to peoples around the globe and thats what it must continue to be. Finally, on a personal note, michelle and i want to offer our deepest condolences to gwen ifills family and all of you her colleagues. Gwen was an friend, an extraordinary journalist, she always kept faith with the fundamental responsibilities of her profession, asking stuff questions and defending a strong and free press that makes our democracy work. I always appreciated gwens reporting even when i was at the receiving independeend of one o tough and 240r rthorough interv. Whether reporting from the field or at the anchors desk, she not only informed todays citizens, but she also inspired tomorrows journalists. She was an especially powerful role model for young women and girls who admired her integrity, tenacity and intellect. And for whom she blazed a trail as onehalf of the first allfemale anchor team on network news. So gwen did her country a great service. Michelle and i join her family and her colleagues and everybody else would loved her in remembering her fondly today. So with that, ill take some questions. And because josh earnest has some pull around here, he just happened to put at the top of the list Colleen Nelson of the wall street journal. I understand this is wrapping up your stint here and you are going to kansas city. Josh just happens to be from kansas city. I didnt know if there was any coincidence there. But we wish you the very best of luck. Youre about to embark on your final foreign trip. What will you say to other World Leaders about your successor . Th should they be worried about the future of u. S. Foreign policy. And separately as democrats scramble to regroup after a pretty shocking upset, what is your advice about where the party goes now and who should be the leader . One of the great things about the United States is that when it comes to world affairs, the president obviously is the leader of the executive branch, the commander in chief, the spokesperson for the nation. But the influence and the work that we have is the result not just of the president , it is the result of countless interactions and arrangements and relationships between our military and other militaries and our diplomats and Intelligence Officers and development workers. And there is enormous continuity beneath the day to day news that makes us that indispensable nation when it comes to maintaining order and promoting prosperity around the world. That will continue. In my conversation with the president elect, he expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships. And so one of the messages that i will be able to deliver is his commitment to nato and the transatlantic transatlantic ale lie answ transatlantic alliance. The most important function i can serve is to let them know that there is no weakening of resolve when it comes to americas commitment to maintaining a strong and robust nato relationship and a regular nation that those alliances arent just good for europe, theyre good for the United States. And vital for the world. With respect to the Democratic Party, as i said after the election, when your team loses, everybody gets deflated and its hard and challenging. And so i think its a healthy thing for the Democratic Party to go through some reflection. You know, i think its important for me not to be bigfooting that conversation, i think we want to see new voices, new ideas emerge that is part of the reason why i think term limits are a really useful thing. I think the democrats should not waiver on our core beliefs and principles. The belief that we should have an economy that works for everybody, not just a few. The belief that america at it best is inclusive and not exclusive. That we insist on the dignity and godgiven potential and worth of every child regardless of race or gender or Sexual Orientation or what zip code they were born in, that we are committed to a world in which we keep america safe, but we recognize that our power doesnt just flow from our extraordinary military, it also flows from the strength of our ideals and our principles and our values. So fthere will are be a corset f values that should be or northstar. But how we organize politically i think is something that that we think about. We have a good set of ideas, but they dont matter if people dont hear them. So one of the iues th democrats have to be clear on is that given population distribution across the country, we have to compete everywhere. We have to so how up everywhere. We have to work at a grass roots level. Something that has been a running thread in my career. You know, i won iowa not because the demographics dictated that i would win iowa. It was because i spent 87 days going to every small town and fair and fish fry and vfw hall and there were some counties where i might have lost, but maybe i lost by 0 points instead of 50 points. There are some counties maybe i won that people didnt expect because people had a chance to see and listen to you and get a sense of who you stood for and who you were fighting for. And the challenge for a National Party is how do you dig in there and create those kinds of structures so that people have a sense of what it is that you stand for. And that increasingly is difficult to do just through a national strategy. Its increasely difficult to do just because of the splintering. So i think the discussions that have been taking place about how do you build more grass roots organizing, how do you build up state parties and local parties and School Board Elections that youre paying attention to and state rep races and city council races, that all i think will contribute to stronger outcomes in the future. And im optimistic that will happen. And for democrats feels completely discouraged, ive been trying to remind them everybody remembers my boston speech in 2004, they may not remember me showing up here in 2005 when john kerry lost a close election. Tom daschle leader of the sete had been beaten in an upset. Ken salazar and i were the only two democrats that won nationally. Republicans controlled the senate and the house. And two years later, democrats were winning back congress and four years later i was president of the United States. Things change pretty rapidly. But they dont change inevitably. They change because you work for it. Nobody said democracy was supposed to be easy. Its hard. And in a big country like this, it probably should be hard. What can you tell us about the learning curve of becoming president . You can tell us how long it took you to be fully at ease in the job if it ever happens and did you discuss this this matter with president elect trump . About a week ago i started feeling pretty good no. I think the learning curve always continues. This is a remarkable job. It is like no other job on earth. And it is a constant flow of information and challenges and issues. That is truer now thac er now t ever been because of the inter connections between regions of the world. If you were president 50 years ago, the tragedy this about syria might not even penetrate what the American People were thinking about on a day to day basis. Today theyre seeing vivid images of a child in the aftermath after a bombing. There was a time when if you had a financial crisis in Southeast Asia somewhere, it had no impact on our markets. Today it does. So the amount of information, the amount of incoming that any administration has to deal with today and respond to much more rapidly than ever before, that makes it different. I was watching a documentary that during the bay of pigs crisis, jfk had about two weeks before anybody reported on it. Imagine that. I think its fair to say that if Something Like that happens under current president , they got to figure out in about an hour what their response is. So these are the kinds of points that i shared with the president elect. It was a free flowing and i think useful conversation. I hope it was. I tried to be as honest as i could about the things that i think any president coming in needs to think about. And probably the most important point that i made was that how you staff particularly your chief of staff, your National Security adviser, your white house counsel, you know, how you set up a process and a system to surface information, generate options for a president , understanding that ultimately the president will be the final decision maker, that that is something that has to be attended to right away. I have been blessed by having and i admittedly am biased some of the smartest, hardest working good people in my administration that i think any president has ever had. And as a consequence of that team, ive been able to make good decisions. And if you dont have that around you, then you will get swamp. So i hope he appreciated that advice. What i also discussed was the fact that i had been encouraged by his statements on Election Night about the need for unity and his interest in being the president for all people. And that how he staffs the first steps he takes, the First Impressions he makes, the reset that can happen after an election, all those things are important and should be thought about. And i think its important to give him the room and the space to do that. It takes time to put that together. But i emphasized to him that, look, in an election like this that was so hotly contested and so divided, gestures matter. And how he reaches out to groups that may not have supported him, how he signals his interest in their issues or concerns, i think those are the kinds of things that can set a tone that will help move things forward once hes actually taken office. How long did it take before you were at ease in the job . Well, i didnt really have time to worry about being at ease because youll recall we were losing about 800,000 jobs a month. So the good news is that in some ways my experience is atypical. Its hard to find an analogous situation. By the time fdr came into office, the depression had been going on for a couple years. We were about in the midst of a freefa freefall, Financial System was locking up, auto haveindustry w about to go belly up, Housing Market had entirely collapsed. So one of the advantages that i had was that i was too busy to worry about how acclimated i was feeling this in the job. We just had to make a bunch of decisions. In this situation, were turning over a country that has challenges, has problems and obviously there are people out there who are feeling deeply disaffected otherwise we wouldnt have mad thad the resu that we had in the election. On the other happenether hand it the basic indicators of where the country is right now, the Unemployment Rate is as low as its been in eight, nine years. Incomes and wages have both gone up over the last year faster than they have in a decade or two. Weve got historically low uninsured rates. Financial systems are stable. The stock market is hovering around hits alltime high and 401 k s have been restored, Housing Market has recovered. We have challenges internationally, but our most immediate challenge with respect to isil were seeing significant progress in iraq and mosul is now increasingly being retaken by Iraqi Security forces assu supported by us. The progress that weve made with respect to Carbon Emissions has been greater than any country on earth. And gas is two bucks a gallon. So he will have time and space i think to make jew additiudiciou decisions. The Incoming Administration doesnt have to put out a huge number of fires. They may want to take the country in a significantly different direction, but they have time to consider what exactly they want to achieve. And that is a testament to the tremendous work that my team s done over the last eight years. Athena jones. Thank you, mr. President. You said more than oe at you did not believe that donald trump would eve be elected president and that you thought he was unfit for the office. Now that youve spent time with him sitting down and talking to him for an hour and a half in the oval office, do you now think that president elect trump is qualified to be president and if i can do a compound question, you mentioned staffing and tone. What do you say to the americans who may not doubt that there will be a peaceful transition but that are concerned about 134 of the policies and sentiments either expressed by president elect trump himself or his supporters that may seem hostile to minorities and others specifically im talk about the announcement that steve bannon who is a row poe nenproponenrow altright movement will have a prominent role in the white house . What message does that send to the country and world in. Without copping out, i think its fair to say that it would not be appropriate for me to comment on every appointment that the president elect starts making. It if i want to be the notion that we will try to facilitate a smooth transition. But the people have spoken. Donald trump will be the 45th president of the United States. And it will be up to him to set up a team that he thinks will serve him well and reflect his policies. And those who didnt vote for him have to recognize that that is how democracy works. That is how this system operates. When i won, there were a number of people who didnt like me and didnt like what i stood for. Whenever you have an incoming president , particularly in a bitter election like this, it takes a while for people to reconcile themselves with that new reality help hopefully its a reminder that elections matter. And voting counts. And so i dont know how many times we have to relearn this lesson because we ended up having 43 of the country not voting who were eligible to vote. But it makes a difference. So given that president elect trump is now trying to balance what he said in the campaign and the commitments he made to his supporters with working with those who disagreed with him and members of congress and reaching out to constituencies that didnt vote for him, i think its important to let him make his decisions and i think the American People will judge over the course of the next couple of years whether they like what they see and whether these are the kinds of policies and this is the direction that they want to see the country go in. And my role is to make sure that when i handoff this white house, that it is in the best possible shape and that ive been as helpful as i can to him in Going Forward and building on the progress that weve made. And my advice as i said to the president elect when we had our discussions was that campaigning is different from governing. I think he recognizes that. I think hes sincere in wanting to be a successful president. And moving this country forward. And i dont think any president ever comes in saying to himself i want to figure out how to make people angry or alienate half the country. I think he will try as best he can to make sure that he delivers. Not only for the people that voted for him, but the people at large. And there are leelections comin up, so builtin incentive for him to try to do that. But its only been six day, so i think its important for him to have the room to satisfy up, to figure out what his priorities are, to be able to distinguish between what he was campaigning on and what is practical, what he can actually chief. There are certain things that make for good sound bites but dont always france late into good policy. And that is something that he and his team i think will wrestle with in the same way that every president wrestles with. I did say to him as ive said publicly that because of the nature of the campaigns, and bitterness and ferocity of the campaigns, and its really important to try to send some signals much unity and to reach out to minority groups or women or others that were concerned about the tenor of the campaign. And i think that that is something that he will want to to. But this is l happening real fast. Hes got commitment to supporters and he will have to balance those. And over the coming weeks and months, and years, my hope is that those impulses ultimately win out. But its a little too early to start making judgments on that. Did your qualifications change after meeting with him . I think that he successfully mobilized a big chunk of the country to vote for him will and he will win. He has won. He will be the next president. And regardless of what experience or assumptions he brought to the office, this office has a way of waking you up. And those aspects of his positions or predispositions that dont match up with reality he will find shaken up pretty quick because reality has a way of asserting itself. And some of his gifts that obviously allowed him to execute one of the biggest political upsets in history, you know, those are ones that hopefully he will put to good use on behalf of all the American People. Scott. Thanks, mr. President. Youre off to europe which is facing populist pressures that a we see at work in this country. When you spoke at the u. N. , you talked about the choices facing the integration of building walls. What choice do you think the American People made last week and is there still a chance if what you call a course direction before europeans make 1some of their choices . I think that the American People are being nrecognize tha has shrunk, that their careers or their kids careersdynamic, they might not be working at a single plant for 30 years, but they might have to change career, they might have to get more education, they might have to retool or retrain. And i think the American People are game for that. They want to make sure that the rules of the game are fair. And what that means is that if you look at surveys around americans attitudes on trade, the majority of the American People still support trade. But theyre concerned about whether or not trade is fair and whether we have the same access to other countries markets as they have with us, is there just a race to the bottom when it comes to wages and so forth. I made an argument, thus far unsuccessfully, that the trade deal we had organized tpp did exactly that, that it strengthened workers right, virp amou me environmental right and would be good for American Workers and businesses. But that is a complex argument to make when people remember plap plants closing and jobs being offshore. So part of what i think this election reflected was people wanting that course correction that you described and the message around stopping surges of immigration, not creating new trade deals that may be unfair. I think those were themes that played a prominent role in the campaign. As we now shift to government, my argument is that we do need to make sure that we have an orderly lawful immigration process, but that if disorderly and lawful, immigration is good for our economy. It keeps this country young, it keeps dynamic, we have entrepreneurs and strivers who come here and are willing to take risks and that is part of the reason why america historically has been successful. Its part of the reason why our economy is stronger and better positioned than most of our other competitors because we have a younger population that is more dynamic. When it comes to trade, i think that when youre governing it will become increasingly apparently that if you were to eliminate trade deals with mexico, for example, well, you have a Global Supply chain, the parts that are allowing auto plants that were about to shut down to now employ double shifts is because theyre bringing in some of those parts to assemble out 6 mexico. So its not as civil as it might have seemed. And the key for us is to say your concerns are real, your anxieties are real, heres how we fix them, stronger Worker Protection so workers have more leverage to get a bigger piece of the by. Stronger financial regulations, not weaker ones. Yes to trade, but trade that ensures that other countries that trade with us arent engaging in child labor for example. So everi inoffering prescriptio that will help. That will be our most important strategy. Andver offering prescriptions that will help. That will be our most important strategy. Aer offering prescriptions that will help. That will be our most important strategy. Ar offering prescriptions that will help. That will be our most important strategy. A offering prescriptions that will help. That will be our most important strategy. Aoffering prescriptions that will help. That will be our most important strategy. And i think we can successfully to that. People will still look it to the United States. Our example will still carry great weight. To the United States. Our example will still carry great weight. And it continues to be my strong belief that the way we are going to make sure that everybody feels a part of this Global Economy is not by shutting ourselves off from each other even if we could, but rather by working together more effectively than we have in the past. Martha raddatz. Thank you. Do you think some of the harsh words that you have about mr. Trump calling him temperamentally unfit to be be commander in chief, did anything surprise you about president elect trump when he was in your office and also does thinking concern but a Trump Presidency . Well, we had a very cordial conversation. And that didnt surprise me to some degree because i think that he is obviously a gregarious person, he is somebody who i think likes to mix it up and to have a vigorous debate. And you know, what is clear is that he was able to tap into, yes, the anxiety, but also the enthusiasm of his voters in a way that was impressive. And i said so to him. Because i think that to the extent that there were a lot of folks who missed the trump phenomenon, i think that connection that he was able to make with his supporters, that was impervious to events that might have sunk another candidate, that is powerful stuff. I also think that he is coming to this office with fewer set hard and fast policy prescriptions than a lot of other president s might be arriving with. I dont think he is ideological. I think ultimately hes pragmatic in that way. And that can serve him well as long as hes got good people around him and he has a clear sense of direction. Do i have concerns . Absolutely. Of course i have concerns. He and i differ on a whole bunch of issues. But the federal government and our government is not a will its an ocean liner as i sdofrned men i came in office. It took a lot of really hard work for us to make policy change even in our first two years when we had larger majorities than mr. Trump will enjoy when he comes thinto offi. One of the things that i advised him to do is to make sure that before he commits to certain courses of action, he is really dug in and thought through how various issues play themselves out. Ill use an obvious example where we have a difference but it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming year, and that is the Affordable Care act. So obviously this has been the holy grail for republicans over the last six, seb seven years, we have to kill obamacare. Now, that has been taken as an article of faith, that this is terrible, it doesnt work and we have to undo it. But now republicans will have to take a look and say we have 20 Million People who have Health Insurance who didnt have it before. Health care costs generally have gone up in a significantly slower rate since obamacare was passed than they did before which has saved the federal treasury hundreds of billions of dollars. People who have Health Insurance are benefiting in all sorts of ways that they may not be aware of. Everything from no longer having lifetime limits on the claims that they can make to seniors getting Prescription Drug discounts under medicare, to free mammograms. Items o its one thing to characterize it as not working when its an an traction. But when youre going to repeal it, what happens to those 20 Million People . Are you going to just kick them off . In what ways are their lives better because of that . Are you going to repeal the provision that ensures that if you do have Health Insurance on your job and you lose your job or youve changed jobs or you start a Small Business, that youre not discriminated against because you have a preexisting condition . Thats really popular. How are you going replace it . Are you going to change the policy that kids can stay their Parents Health issuensurance p until theyre 26 . How are you going approach all these issue . High view is that if they can come up with Something Better that actually works and a year or two after they have replaced the Affordable Care act with their own plan that 25 Million People have Health Insurance and its cheaper and better and running smoothly . Ill be the first one to say thats great. Congratulations. If on the other hand whatever theyre proposing results in millions of people losing coverage and results if in people who already have Health Insurance losing protections that were contained in the legislation, then well have a problem. And i think that is not going to be unique to me. I think the American People will respond that way. So i think on a lot of issues what you will see is now comes the hard part. Now is governance. We are going to be able to present to the Incoming Administration a country that is stronger, a federal government that is working better and more efficiently, a National Security apparatus that is both more effective and truer to our values, Energy Policies that are resulting in not just less pollution, but also more jobs, and i think the president elect rightly would expect that hes judged on whether we improve from that baseline and on tohos metrics or things get worse. An if things get worse, then the American People will figure that out pretty quick. And if things get better, thing then more power to him. You had talked specifically about his temperament. Ng then more power to him. You had talked specifically about his temperament. Do you still have any concern because of his temperament . As i said because athena asked the question, whatever you bring to this office, this office has a habit of magnifying an and pointing out and hopefully you correct for it. This may seem like a silly example, but i know myself well enough to know i cant keep track of paper. Im not well organized in that way. And so pretty quickly after im getting stacks of briefing books come coming in every night, im saying to myself i have to figure out a system because i have bad filing, sorting and organizing habits. And i have to find some people who can help me keep track of this stuff. That seems trivial, but it ends up being a pretty big piece of business. I think what will happen with the president elect is there will be certain elements of his temperament that will not serve him well unless he recognizes them and corrects them. Because when youre a candidate and you Say Something that is inaccurate or controversial, it has less impact than it does when youre president of the United States. Everybody is paying attention. Markets move. National Security Issues require a level of precision in order to make sure that you dont make will mistakes. And i think he recognizes that this is different. And so do the American People. All right. Ill take just a couple more questions and then ill get out of here. Nadia. Thank you. President elect trump threatened to unravel the Iran Nuclear Deal this yo which your administration worked very hard to achieve. What will your advice be and the Syrian Regime is threatening allepo. You talked passionately a few years back about ben gghazi and you warned againstng of civilians there. Many people criticized your administration. Are you willing to let allepo fall and how does president elects statement that you wont support the Syrian Opposition . Thank you. Iran is a good example of the gap i think between some of the rhetoric in this town, not unique to the president elect, and the reality. I think there was a really robust debate about the merits of the iran deal before it was completed. Ultimately we were able to persuade members of congress and enough of the public to support it. At the time the main argument against it was that iran wouldnt abide by the deal. That they would cheat. We now have over a year of evidence that they have abided by the agreement. Thats not just my opinion. Its not just people in my administration. That is the opinionf Israeli Military and Intelligence Officers who are part of a government that vehemently oppose the deal. So my suspicion is when the president elect comes in and hes consulting with his republican colleagues on the hill that they will look at the facts, because to unravel a deal that is working and preventing iran from pursuing a Nuclear Weapon would be hard to explain, particularly if the alternative were to have them freed from any obligations and go ahead and pursue a weapon. And keep in mind this is not just an international between us and the iranians. This is between the p5 1, other countries. Some of our closest allies. And for us to pull out would then require us to start sanctioning those other countries in europe or china or russia that were still abiding by the deal because from their perspective, iran had done what it was supposed to do. So it becomes more difficult i think to up to somethido someths working and something that isnt working. And when youre not responsible for it, i think you can call it a tashl deerrible deal. When you are responsible for the deal preventing iran from getting a Nuclear Weapon, youre more likely to look at the facts. That will be true in other circumstances. For example the Paris Agreement. In has been talk about the possibility of undoing this international agreement. You got 200 countries that have signed up for this thing. And the good news is that what weve been able to show over the last five, six, eight years is that its possible to grow the economy really fast and possible to bring down Carbon Emissions, as well. Its into tnoo not just a bunch that weve set up. You have utilities putting in solar panels apcreating jobs. You have the big flee automatth automakers who have seen record sales and overachieving on the fuel efficiency standards that we set. Turns out that people like not having to fill up as often and save money at the pump. Even if its good for the environment. Youve got states like california that have been moving forward on Clean Energy Agenda separate and apart from any f l federal regulations. 40 of the country already live in the instates that are actively pursuing what is in the Paris Agreement. Even states like texas that politically tend to oppose me, youve seen huge increases in wind power and solar power and youve got some of the countrys Biggest Companies like google and walmart all pursuing Energy Efficiency because its good for their bottom line. So what weve been able to do is embed a lot of these practices into how our economy works and its made our economy more efficient, its helped the bottom line of folks, and its cleaned up the environment. What the Paris Agreement now does is say to china and india and other countries potentially p polluting, come on board. Lets Work Together so you guys do the same thing. And the biggest threat when it comes to Climate Change and pollution isnt going to come from up because we only have 300 Million People, it will come from china with over a billion and india with over a billion. And if they are pursuing the same kinds of strategies that we did before we came more a waiwaf the environments then our kids will be choked off. And so again, do i think that the new administration will make some changes . Absolutely. But these international agreements, the tradition has been that you carry them forward across administrations. Particularly if once you actually examine them it turns out that theyre doing good for us and binie in binding other c in the behavior that will help us. Last question. Justin sorry, youre right. You were right about that. With respect to syria, in benghazi, we had an international mandate. We had a u. N. Security resolution. We had a Broad Based Coalition and we were able to carry out a support mission that achieved the initial goal of preventing benghazi from being slaughtered fairly quickly. Its no secret, you know this region well, that syria is a much more messy situation with proxies coming from every direction. So i wish that i could bring wi this to a halt immediately. We have made every effort to try to bring about a political resolution to this challenge. John kerry has spent an infinite amount of time trying it to ne with russians and iranians and gulf states and other parties to try to end the killing there. But if what youre asking is did do we have the capacity to carry out the same kinds of military actions in syria that we did in libya, the situation is obviously different. We dont have that option easily available to us. And so were going to have to continue to try to pursue as best we can a political solution and in the interim put as much pressure on the parties to arrive at humanitarian safe spaces and cease fires that at least alleviate the suffering that is on the ground. I recognize that that has not worked. And it is something that i continue to think about every day. And we continue to try to find some formula that would allow us to see that suffering end. But i think its not surprising to you because you study this deeply that if you have a Syrian Military that is committed to killing its people init indiscriminately as necessary, and its supported by russia that now has substantial military assets on the ground and are actively supportive of that regime and iran actively supporting that regime, and we are supporting what has to be our number one National Security priority which is going after isil both in mosul and ultimately raqqah, that the situation is not the same as it was in libya. Obviously some question the steps we took in libya. I continue to believe that was the right thing to do. Although as i indicated before in the aftermath of that campaign, i think the World Community did not sufficiently support the need for some sort of security structures there and now is a situation that we have to get back into a better place. Last question, justin. Thank you, mr. President. I wanted to ask about two things that might be on your desk the next couple months as you prepare for a Trump Administration. One is at least three quarters of a million undocumented immigrants provide the federal government information about themselves and their families. Im wondering if you can do to either reassure them or shield that information from the incoming Trump Administration considering his stance on immigration and the second is the administration and you have long maintained that the legal restraints put on you by congress on gitmo is unconstitutional concerning the gradual transfers that you pursue and are unlikely under the Trump Administration, is this now the time to test that theory and see where the chips fall . Both excellent questions. On the Deferred Action Program that relates to dreamers who are currently benefitting from these provision, i will urge the president elect and Incoming Administration to think long and hard before they are endangering the status for what for all practical purposes are american kids. These are kids who were brought here btheir parents, they did not nothing wrong. They have gone to school. They have plenldged allegiance the flag, some have joined the milli military. Solid young people, good character. It is my strong belief that the majority of the American People would not want to see suddenly those kids have to start hiding again. And that is something that i will encourage the president elect to look at. With respect to guantanamo, it is true that i have not been able to close the darn thing because of the congressional restrictions that have been placed on us. What is also true is that we have greatly reduced the population. You have significantly less than 100 people there. There are some additional transfers that may be taking place over the next two months. Theris a group of very dangerous people that we have strong evidenced of having been guilty of commits terrorist attacks, but because of the nature of the evidence in some cases that evidence being compromised, its very difficult to put them before a typical article 3 court. And that group has always been the biggest challenge for us my strong belief apresence is that we would be better off moving them to a different facility governed by u. S. Have yojurisdi. We could do it cheaper and just as safely. Congress disagrees with me and i gather that the president elect does as well. We will continue to explore options for doing that. But keep in mind its not just what im willing do. One of the thing that you discover about being president , that there are all these rules an norms and laws and you have to Pay Attention to them. And the people who work for you are also subject to those rules and northerns a s norms and th a piece of advice that i gave to the incoming president. Therns na piece of advice that i gave to the incoming president. Im very proud of the fact that we will knock on wood leave this administration without significant scandal. There have been screw ups, but i will put the ethics of this administration and our track record in terms of be biding by the rules and norms and keeping trust with the American People, i will put this administration against any administration in history. And the reason is because frankly we listened to the lawyers. And we had a strong white house counsels office, a strong ethics office, we had people in every agency whose job it was to remind people this is how youre supposed to do things. It doesnt mean everybody always did everybody exactly the way its supposed to because we got 2 Million People. Working in the federal government and including the military. And so we had to just try to institutionalize this as much as we could. And that takes a lot of work. And one of my suggestions to the incoming president is that he take that part of the job seriously, as well. Again, you wouldnt know this if you were listening to some news outlets or some members of oversight committees in congress. But if you actually look at the facts, it works. And and ththis is just one exam ways that the federal government is better today than it was. You look at v. A. People remember the legitimate problems that were publicized in phoenix. It was scandalous what happened. What people dont remember is that weve brought in well over a Million People who are getting benefits that werent getting it before. Driven the backlog for disability benefits way down. Cut homelessness in half. Just made the agency work better, not the work perfect, but work better. And one of the not the thot toe always have with my staff is better is good. Perfect is until attainable, better is possible. So we will try to share the lessons weve learned with the incoming president and my hope is that he makes things better. And if he does, well all benefit from it. All right . Thank you, everybody. Some of you who are traveling, you will get a chance to ask more questions. There is president obama just wrapping up his News Conference which went on for about an hour. This before he does embark on the fil foreign trip of his presidency. Some interesting items here, we have john harwood standing by with the highlights. John, one of them of significance as he heads over a overseas is that he said the president elect will stand by nato. Reporter well, i think he struck a hopeful tone on that and a whole bunch of other topics, kelly, as we discussed before the break, he made the case that the oval office has a way of waking people up, reminding them the difference between governing and campaigning. And so just as he made the argument that it wont be so easy for the president elect to simply unravel obamacare, he made the same argument about things like the Iranian Nuclear deal and the paris climate agreement, that the continuity of relations with other countries would be apimpediment the, the fact that as he asserted the Iran Nuclear Deal has been successful so far is something that he hopes will be an obstacle to unraveling it. So he was trying to make the case that things will change may change less than people are expecting, and he said that he thought that donald trump was a practicing nat gmatic person, n ideological person. And he did say that the lefarnig curve is daunting on this job. But overall, i thought it was a hopeful tone that he was expressing to the country and in particular to democrats who are concerned about the direction the president elect will take. All right. John, thank you. John harwood at the white house. Closing bell will move on. Wa Warren Butch Buffett making a surprising investment. Well have details when we come back. Breaking news on Berkshire Hathaway. Becky quick just spoke with warren and joins us with details. Berkshire hathaway fcc filings that just came out show that the company has taken a stake in three of the four Major Airlines. That would be american, united and delta. But we can report that Warren Buffett has also taken a stake, Berkshire Hathaway i should say is the fourth Major Carrier as well, and that is southwest. This move into airlines is a spret hobing reversal for buffett. If you follow him, he has shunned the industry for at least two decades ever since he made the big volatile investment in us airways back in 1989. That was preferred shares of us airways. Buffett bought 358 million worth. But by 1994, they had written down that investment to 89. 5 million. That is just 25 cents on the dollar of the original investment. For buffett, this was a pretty painful experience. He wrote about it as a mistake in almost every annual letter. Only one year where he didnt mention it and in the end berkshire made about 250 million plus the original that they put in. But the experience itself was enough to sour buffett on airlines for again almost two decades that have passed since that time. Buffett has spoken out about this on a lot of different occasions about how much he hates the airlines, how he wouldnt go near these investments. And hes slammed the Airline Stocks in his annual letters, too. In fact if you go back to 2007 and that airline letter to shareholders, he wrote, quote, the worst sort of business is one that grows rapidly, requires significant to engender the growth and then he weres little or no money. Think airlines. Here is a durable competitive advantage proven illusive since the days of the wright brothers. Indeed if a far sighted capitalist had been present it the katie hawk, would he have done his successors a huge favor by shooting orville oig down. You might ask what has changed and i did. Buffett said he wont say what they were thinking about with this investment, that is a self imposed rule that Berkshire Hathaway has had, they dont really talk about their investments, but he is breaking his silence 00 thon this partic investment. Now, the s. E. C. Filings only show investments that berkshire made through september 30th and that Southwest Airlines stake was made just after september 30th. And again, usually buffett will not talk about any of these sorts of issues, but hes speaking out because of his friendship with herb kelleher, one of the cofounders much southwest. Butch at the ti buffett told me he ran into kelleher last month and he started joking around about the airlines. Obviously he never mentioned what he had been doing with the stocks, but he said that he would feel terrible if kelleher saw the filings released and that he had not been investing in his. He would feel terrible if he thought that he was shunning it, in a berkshire was investing in all the Major Airlines except southwest as if there was some reason he was avoiding it, so he wanted to make sure that the word got out that he is investing in all four, not just the three reflected in the s. E. C. Filings that are out there. And so that is just why we have these news. So not just the three, but also southwest as well. This is such a wonderful story. So a lot of people raise their eye brows when berkshire bought ibm and even further when they bought apple. The fact that hes buying the airlines now, to be fair, one of my favorite quotes is the one any year in which you havent changed your mind on something major is a wasted year, but this is like i mean the part that you red about kitty hawk, it gets right to it. Did he provide any clarity, was it a buff fett driven investmen . He said it came from one of the three of them, if this because his or todd or teds, one of his two deputies. He said it came from one of three of them. About he wont be more specific. But again, berkshire is in on all four airlines. The amounts that are placed are certainly not massive amounts. If you take a look at some of the holdings theyre talking about, i think we have a chart that shows you some of what went through with this. These are anywhere like 200 million to 300 million investments in these. And in fact one was a bigger. The american one. American was closer to 1 billion, i will. Yeah, the 994 million. So again, these are large investments unless you look at the size of Berkshire Hathaway. So this could have been one of his deputies who did it, but buffett is making these comments. And youre right, this is an industry that hes stayed far away from and another investor that you and i both know well is bill miller. Bill miller has bone positiveeee airlines since 2010. He will be on squawk box tomorrow morning at 7 00 a. M. Bo airlines since 2010. He will be on squawk box tomorrow morning at 7 00 a. M. So it will be interesting to hear what he thinks about this. He is a buffett follower and hes had a very different take on the airlines for the last six years or so. It would be interesting to hear his thoughts. Becky, pleerappreciate you cg in with this information. A surprising afternoon for a lot of folks. Becky quick with the latest on berkshire investments in four airlines as were just finding out. We also have breaking news on the nasdaq. Lets get to dominic chu. Effective january 1, 2017, theceo and president of nasdaq effective january 1st, 2017. The current ceo of the company will move up to the chairmans office, so bob greifeld chairman, adena friedman, a move that was widely expected. Back over to you. Dominic, thank you. President elect trump is already planning changes to obamacare and the doddfrank financial reform law could soon be in his sights too. Up next, the man who coauthored that bill, barney frank, joins us to discuss the fallout of weakening his signature law. Stay with us. Mary buys a little lamb. One of millions of orders on this companys servers. Accessible by thousands of suppliers and employees globally. But with Cyber Threats on the rise, marys data could be under attack. With the help of at t, and security that senses and mitigates Cyber Threats, their Critical Data is safer than ever. Giving them the agility to be open secure. Because no one knows like at t. Okay, so you launched your banks app. Now what . How will you keep up with the new demands of todays Digital Economy . The fact is some believe they wont need a Traditional Bank down the road, so at cognizant, were helping banking and Financial Services Companies Think digital, be untraditional, and reimagine what the bank of the future can be. Our clients can now leverage customer intelligence to predict their financial needs and provide more contextualized products and services. Were creating new platforms across channels so customers can effortlessly invest, borrow, lend, transactwhereverwhenever they choose. And were digitizing the way banks run, driving efficiencies and delivering new value for their customers in return. Digital works for banking and Financial Services. Lets talk about how digital works for your business. Welcome back. While we were in president obamas press conference, markets closed at a record high, at least for the dow, which was up 21 points to 18,868, so just about 32 away from the 19,000 threshold. A small gain, just about a tenth of a percent today. The russells, the small caps were also at a record high today. President elect donald trump says he is going to focus on deregulation and the doddfrank act is in his crosshairs. Heres what it says on his website, greatagain. Gov. The Financial Services policy Implementation Team will be working to dismantle the doddfrank act and replace it with new policies to encourage Economic Growth and job creation. It was passed in the financial crisis of 200809. Joining us is former democratic congressman and cnbc contributor, barney frank, who sponsored that legislation. I dont think weve heard from you since donald trump won. What are your thoughts about this being one of his Top Priorities to dismantle doddfrank. Im struck by an inconsistency. The republican platform went far beyond what we did by saying they want to reintroduce glass steeg al. He also said he didnt like the big banks and is going to go after them. It depends on what hes talking about. A major piece of what we did in the bill, one of the two biggest ones in my mind, was to say that you could not engage in very complex derivative transactions if you didnt have the money to pay off your bets. We were looking at aig which not only couldnt pay off what it owed in credit default swaps but they had no idea how much they owed. They came to the fed and said we need 85 billion. A week later they said it was 170 billion. Now, maybe mr. Trump thinks we should remove that. I dont think that would either be wise or very popular. Now, i know many in the industry dont like the Consumer Financial protection bureau. Ill tell you who was particularly unhappy with it, wells fargo, because they were the ones who untangled wells fau fargo. I dont know whether the republicans want to take on consumer protection. Sure, there were changes that can be made but theres a fundamental inconsistency not just here but in taxes. Mr. Trump won in part because he persuaded working glass people, people who feel themselves to be the small people economically opposed to the big interests, but the specifics that hes talking about appear to contradict that, so i don know how you consistent with being a great populist do what Jpmorgan Chase and bank of america and citicorp want you to do. You were in congress at times when you were the opposition. What would you be doing when republicans control the white house and both chambers of congress . I was actually there for six years when that was the case, the first six years of george bush. And what you do, you simply wait. Now, there are some things where im cheering for them. The infrastructure plan. Although he seems to have a problem here with the republican members of congress. He says he wants to do infrastructure, but hes going to do it with private investors. Well, you can only do that if it makes a profit and not all the infrastructure we need makes a profit. Id like him to put the squeeze on the allies and make them give more money. Ive been for that for a long time. In general, though, tactically, strategically, what you do is wait for him. If he comes up for something for infrastructure, you support him. If he decides hes going to dismantle the consumer bureau, i think hes got a big fight ahead. So we are reactive. Theres nothing the matter with being reactive, they have the initiative. How much power would he actually have to dismantle the cfpb . They have talked about switching from a single director to a fivemember commission. There are two things he can do and an interesting legal issue. The main thing he can do to downplay regulation is to go back frankly to where we were years ago where you appoint regulators that wont regulate. You can generally stop an executive from doing bad things. You cant make him do good things. The metaphor is you cant push on a string. Its interesting, when we created the consumer bureau, the director was given a fiveyear term removable only for cause. A judge said no, he serves for the president. The Trump Administration obviously will not appeal that. There was a question. But what he may be able to do is simply appoint his own person to there who wont be very vigorous maybe. The changes you talk about would require legislation and they would require getting past a filibuster in the senate with a very loud elizabeth warren. So doddfrank, which is where we began this discussion, you say if they pursue the plan of reinstating glass stestegall, would be bad for the banks. Many banks would mind it disruptive. So what has come out of congress, its just repealing doddfrank. If thats the first thing that happens well, the question frankly we have is how many of the things that he ran on is he going to back up from. That was in the republican platform. But he also has said hes going to take apart the big banks, not just the platform. By the way, i mentioned derivatives. I want to see if they want to do it. Some people dont like the fact that we wrote into the law prohibition essentially against le lending people to buy homes that they cant afford. Some people dont like that. The biggest problems last time were bad mortgages and derivatives based on bad mortgages and insuring against those derivatives. Those are the two key pieces of the law. If he wants to have a National Debate on mortgages that people cant repay and securities based on those bad mortgages, i welcome in. What about term limits, do you support them . Do you think that would ever happen . Term limits for . Congress. No. I think its a great mistake. I think its a great attack on the people. I think the people that i represented for 32 years were smart enough to know whether they were happy with me or not. Congressman frank, thank you for joining us. Eli and michael, thank you guys as well. Were done here and fast money begins right now. Fast money starts right now live from the Nasdaq Markets overlooking new york citys time square. Tonight on fast famed investor mohammed elerian says the market is missing a major buying opportunity and hell be here to explain. Dont look now but mall stocks surging as the trump trade rages on. Weve got the names and how you can profit now. Later, financials continue to be money in the bank. First we start off with the market in a bit of a strong phenomenon. The dow making a new record high as the trump rally continues, but