Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Ali Velshi 20171127

Companies, Student Loans, mortgage companies. This organization, the cfpb, has had some major victories. For instance, last year fined wells fargo 100 million after it was discovered many employees were secretly opening bank and credit card accounts not authorized by customers. The bureau and the law that created it has been a major target for republicans who blame dodd frank for Rising Bank Fees and a decline in Smaller Banks lending to local businesses. I want to have more of a conversation about this. Bring in as i promised you former democratic congressman from massachusetts barney frank, the frank in dodd frank. While a congressman. He coauthored the 2010 wall street, dodd frank wall street reform act establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Sir, good to see you. Thank you for being here. Thank you. What are the criticism republicans have had since day one of the cfpb that it is not accountable to congress, that it is not bipartisan that it is partisan, and that its really standing in the way of banks being able to do what people need them to do . Both a general and very specific response. Generally, its a sign that these are, if you dont like Consumer Protection and they are frustrated because thanks to the crisis of 2009 and 10, overcome resistance weve historically had that. In fact, the Consumer Bureau is very much like the other banks regulated. The Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve system are the main Bank Regulators. None of them are subject to the appropriations process. None of them tell me in short form why that is important . Most americans say, why not subject to the congress and appropriat appropriations process . Most americans havent been saying that and a sign this is an ideological assault on the Consumer Protection bureau because whens the last time you heard people complaining it wasnt set through appropriations . Didnt mind that. The reason is this. We think Bank Regulations are particularly sensitive and dont want political interference on specific bank lending and other matters. Thats why for as long as anybody can remember, all of the Bank Regulators had this ins solution, and none of them have terms that coincide with the president. When people say, why not make this a commission . Like the frod Communications Commission or securities and exchanges commissionly bipartisan memberance, whats the answer to that . First of all, being hypocritical and inconsistent. Much more power over the banking than the cfpb. Epa is individual. They are not an adjudicatory body. The cf dr. , fdc make rules for the governance of the operation. Cfpb doesnt do that, meant to protect. Regardless how conservative you might be. Its in the name. Protection. How do you stand against Consumer Protections . What was the best argument you heard from somebody high didnt want this other than saying i get donations from banks . They made stuff up. The best way they make their arguments, general. Its out of control. Irresponsible. You pointed out specific things it has done. There are lots more. Lots more. Credit card protections, Students Loan protection. I have asked every time we have a hearing on this, seen the comments from trump and senator graham from mulvaney. They complain about you have ever heard a specific example of where the agency supposedly did something wrong . No. Im trying to figure it out. They are ideologically imposed to Consumer Protection in general. Some of them how do you i am not i get it. I get that. Explaining stupidity. I take issue with the wait. Let me respond. Its somewhat theological. These are people, many of whom believe so much that Free Enterprise is a wonderful operation. Cannot admit, what Alan Greenspan finally admitted he got wrong in the mortgage crisis. They cant admit the system malfunctioned because they think it would be an opening to the regulation they hate. That led to the crazy of the cfpb would have been garden variety, but for the fact the financial industry created such a big hole we werent ever able to get out of it. The cfpb was a response to the financial crisis created in large part by the financial industry. I find it hard to understand. Lets be fair. Say its not perfect. Things that probably should fixed. What are they . Go back and i dont want this to slip. Yes, an ideological objection. For all their complaints and argument, its out of control, going to be out of control, irresponsible, they cant bring forward a single problem. The reason, talked of any example what they dont like they would be providing evidence for the program, because the public oh, yeah, glad they did that. What could be fixed . Well, i now realize we could have been a little more specific in saying, and we meant this current scheme to replace the vacancy act. Other than that, worked very well. A great deal of success. Billions of dollars recovered and no negative. The argument its somehow hurting the Banking Industry. The Banking Industry has been thriving. A guy used to work for you, dennis shaw. Never heard of him before but written an oped in the wall street journal today and says the authors wanted the bureau to be a fair arbiter instead of what its become politically biased regulatory dictator and political steppingstone for sole director now expected to run for governor of ohio. Written by a guy, ceo of the Financial Community association of america, a trade it associationd. I am outraged and disappointed. A man who was a friend of mine from years ago had nothing to do with this ledge, this part of legislation. Hes an expert in security. Had to do with sanctions. What he wrote was outrageous. Yeah, hes shilling for the industry he represents. Payday lending. And the badge, payday lending industry doesnt like the regulator. Where hes so wrong, an example, i am so disappointed in him and he had no idea what we were trying to do, wasnt part of this process. Despite the legislation that said the bureau shouldnt do much on autolanding, trying to help. Yeah, a bad amendment the few i lost, exempted Automobile Industry from full participation. The bureau has been trying to get some handle on that. In fact, the worst examples we have now of abuses in consumer lending, automobiles, because that was exempted. Yes. And an example of his perverseness and it washes a friend but i have felt, very disappointed at his selling out on this issue. A bit puzzling. All right. Former congressman barney frank, thank you for coming here, explaining whats on your mind when this was getting done. Former democratic congressman from massachusetts and coauthor of the dodd frank legislation. To the Briefing Room, Kristen Welker is standing by. What are we expecting . Reporter not only will Sarah Huckabee sanders get asked about that power struggle at cfpb and based on my underscorings here at the white house, believes the president is well within his right to appoint an interim director under the federal vacancies act saying that takes precedence over dodd frank. I anticipate youll hear about that and the high stakes for tax reform. President trump meeting behind closed doors with members of the Senate Finance committee today, all hands on deck to try to get this passed. The senator hoping to vote sometime this week and the house and senate have to mend their two bills. The president pushing for a final passage before christmas. Thats going to be very tough. Theres still a lot of sticking points and complicating matters, ali, the fact the cbo, congressional budget office, came out today with figures that show that the senates tax plan will add about 1. 4 trillion no the deficit. And potentially raise taxes on those making less than 75,000 in a matter of years. Essentially hurting the middle class. I asked senator orrin hatch about that. He pushed back and said he thinks those numbers are wrong. He also said he hopes they can get passage by christmas. Talk about all of that in just moments from now. Ali . Kristen, a close eye on it. Thank you. Kristen welker in the white house. Back to the cfpb conversation. The roots began a decade ago then harvard professor Elizabeth Warren wrote an essay about protecting consumers from predatory practicess follows the financial collapse and passage of dodd frank, established the cfpb, warren spearheaded development of the agency. Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren joins kn s me now and wi meet with Leandra English after this interview, the woman at the center of this set to become the acting director now has sueded president to take that position. Senator warren, thank you for joining me. In that brief bio, you were prevented from taking leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by exclusively republican senators who never gave us a good reason as to what the objection is to Consumer Protections. Ali, do you remember the idea of approved credit cards . Right. I was the prerejected nominee. Thats right. I hadnt even been nominated when Senate Republicans said, never, ever, ever will Elizabeth Warren be allowed to run that agency. So the irony is that had you been allowed to run that agency, you may not be in front of me as a United States senator, because you had take than fight to the senate. As i just discussed with congressman frank, ive never heard the other side of the argument. What is how are you on the wrong side of Consumer Protections . You and i together lived through that recession, which was made into a much more serious matter than it would have been, because of bad doings by financial players. Whats the reason to be on the other side of that . You know, thats always been the part that the republicans will never explain. And that is, whats wrong specifically with the agency . They wave their hands, has too much pow pers yeah, too much power. Forced big Financial Institutions to return about 12 billion directly to consumers they cheated. Its handled about 1. 2 million complaints. Yeah, thats because those big Financial Institutions did things wrong. And now its the case that for the first time in a very long time, theres power on the side of the consumers. Someone out there to be in there for consumers, to level the playing field, to be a cop on the beat and to say, when you guys break the law, youre going to were going to come after you and make sure that you pay back the people you cheated. Thats what the consumer, thats whats in the dna of the Consumer Agency. And thats what its been doing and what i want to see it keep doing. Now the issue, Mick Mulvaney, claimed the chair for the moment, as the acting director, is on record as saying e had doesnt like the cfpb. Would be knapp it didnt exist. Right. How do you square this circle . Well, first of all, is that Mick Mulvaney, in my view harks no Legal Authority to sit over there and run the cfpb, as barney frank very clearly explained. Dodd frank was written to provide its own Succession Plan, and that was a decision for congress to make. Not for the president to make, but for congress to make. So the statute is very clear. It says that theres a director. And if the director is unavailable, the Deputy Director becomes the acting director. Done. Theres no vacancy here. For the president to be able to fill. In fact, the vacancies act itself said, when it was passed decades ago it would apply to all the agencies that were in place up to that time, but in the future, congress could make the decision about whether it wanted to provide a special Succession Plan, its own Succession Plan for anything new that it did, or did it just want to use what was already there in the vacancies act . And in an earlier iteration of dodd frank, they had, lets use whats in the vacancy act. In the final version, the one that was signed into law and voted on here in congress, it says, nope. Were going to have this succession, congress decide this succession. My view is thats just the law. So a couple of things. Just reading an oped in the wall street journal that, you know, was written. Critical of the cfpb written by somebody who leads the ceo of the Community Financial Services Foundation of america, a group of payday lender, then the office of legal counsel, which upon which the president and the white house are relying for the decision that they can put Mick Mulvaney in that job. The person who wrote that memo in 2005 one of two lead counsels for canadian payday lender cited for running a nineyear scheme to use its foreign status to offer u. S. Customers highcost loans at odds with state and federal law. So despite the cfpb, the tentacles of the financial industry found themselves and wound themselves around this decision. Yep. And you know, thats part of the problem weve got here. Once the Consumer Agency was signed into law, a lot of us thought, thats it. Now weve got a Consumer Agency. Everybody will go along with this nap will help make sure theres power on the side of consumers. But you know what the Financial Services industry said . One of the chief lobbyists was quoted as saying, oh, this isnt over. Its only half time. Thats exactly whats happened. The big financial institution, the payday lenders, the student loan servicers, the ones who want to continue to follow the sharp Business Practices who want to put their toes over the line in cheating their customers, they are in their punches every day. And theyre in there every day making sure that their republican colleagues in the United States senate and the house of representatives are trying to shut down the Consumer Agency. Why do they do that . Right off the top, got at least 12 billion reasons they want to do it. That Consumer Agency costs them money by making them follow the law. What is the in some criticisms, parsing through lots of it, lots of criticisms. Lots of people took an opportunity to write about the cfpb and kick at it. When im trying to extract criticisms worthy of discussion, why was this agency not designed to be bipartisan . So the basic idea here was to make the agency independent of politics as much as possible. And by the way, thats what we tried to do with all of our financial agencies. Right . The Federal Reserve bank. The fdic, the occ and so we said for those agencies, were going to have them funded outside the political process through fees and other mechanisms so that they arent always under Congress Thumb and not always part of the political bickering. And i think you can see the consequences of that. You take a look right now at the s. E. C. , five member board or federal Election Commission with its fivemember board. What happens is everybody runs to their political corners. And so regardless of who is in the majority, its all about socking it out over politics. Thats not what this agency is supposed to be about. Whats built into the dna of this agency is protecting consumers. And what that means is a Financial Services industry that can think up new frauds faster than you and i could catch them and call them out on it needs to be nimble. And they are fast at it needs a way to move. Thats what they do. Senator, you may not even know this yet, because its happened just a few moments ago, but the president who was made what was apparently supposed to be a joke addressing the navajo code talkers today saying we have a representative in congress whos been here a long time. Longer than you. They call her pocahontas. Listen to this with me, please. You were here long before any of us were here. Although we have a representative in congress who they say was here a long time ago, they call her pocahontas, but, you know what . I like you. Because you are special. You are senator, do you have any response to that . You know, this was supposed to be an event to honor heroes. People who put it all on the line for our country. And people who because of their incredible work saved the lives of countless americans and our allies. It is deeply unfortunate that the president of the United States cannot even make it through a ceremony honoring these heroes without having to throw out a racial slur. Look, donald trump does this over and over, thinking somehow hes going to shut me up with it. It hasnt worked in the past. It is not going to work in the future. Senator Elizabeth Warren, i know the cfpb is a matter close to your heart. Appreciate the conversation on it today. Senator Elizabeth Warren of massachusetts. You bet. Thank you. Keeping a close eye, you can see bottom corner of your screen on the White House Briefing room. Up next, al franken just spoke. He is shocked embarrassed and ready to get back to work. Well bring you more of what hes saying right after the break. Wasnt. Dont let type 2 diabetes get between you and your heart. Even if you reach your a1c goal you are still at risk for heart attack or stroke. Talk to your Health Care Provider today about diabetic heart disease. And find out more at heartoftype2. Com. Your heart and type 2 diabetes. Make the connection. The updates you made to your plan strengthened your retirement score. So, that goal youve been saving for, you can do it. We can do this . We can do this. At fidelity, our online planning tools are clear and straightforward so you can plan for retirement while saving for the things you want to do today. Nana, lets do this aye aye, captain and as you go through life whoo tryin to reach your goal i present you Sarah Huckabee sanders. This morning the first lady unveiled this years decorations and she personally selected and was involved in every detail. The theme time honored traditions was designed by mrs. Trump to pay respect to 200 years of holiday traditions at the white house. During the month of december, the white house will host more than 100 open houses and numerous receptions and more than 25,000 visitors will walk the halls taking part in public tours. Speaking of christmas, the president is looking forward to the senate brings us another step closer to delivering a big, beautiful Christmas Present to the American People in the form of massive tax relief. To that end, on wednesday the president will travel to st. Charles, missouri, to deliver an important address to the nation on the need for tax cuts and reforms. Unemployment is already at a 17year low. Wages are starting to raise. The stock market continues to hit alltime highs, and optimism is through the roof. Just imagine whats going to be possible with this plan passing. And it will be a great leadin to the Christmas Season and something we can all be excited about. And with that i will take your questions. Jeff . Sarah, is director mulvaney firmly in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency today or is there still a back and forth between him and Leandra English, whos actually the boss . Director mulvaney has taken charge of that agency, and he has the full cooperation of the staff and appeared there this morning and things went very well on his first day over at cfpb. How did he handle that power struggle when he arrived . I think that the legal outline shows clearly who is in charge of that agency, and both he and the white house as well as the general counsel for cfpb who was appointed by kocondray should be there and feel confident moving forward. Why not just fire Leandra English . Look, shes still the Deputy Director and has a legal standing in that capacity but not at director. Does this white house agree with Mick Mulvaney when he calmed this agency a joke . Look, we think that a lot of the past practices under the previous director and under the Previous Administration were used more to advance political ambitions and not about protecting American Consumers which is what thats supposed to be and our goal is to make sure we get back to that. Tha matthew. Reporter does the president still accept authenticity of the access Hollywood Tape. This was litigated certainly answered during the election by the overwhelming support for the president. And the fact hes sitting here in the oval office today. Hes made his position on that clear at that time as have the American People in his support of him. John deckard . Reporter seem to acknowledge authenticity and that position hasnt changed . Like i said, the president hasnt changed his position. If anything the president questions its the medias reporting on that accuracy. John . Reporter thanks a lot. Questions on the cfpb. First has to do whether or not he would like the courts to clear up any confusion as to who is in control of the cfpb . Of course, a lawsuit is filed. Wed like that case to be a ruling on that case to be decided quickly . Look, of course, were aware a lawsuit has been filed but are also aware that the law is extremely clear and that director mulvaney is the acting director here as has been outlined by the counsels office, by the department of justice, and as i said before, cfpbs only general counsel, which was appointed by condray. I think everybody is in full agreement hes the director of this office. Trey . Reporter i sorry. Im trying to jump around. Reporter under director mulvaney . Better than in the past. Reporter what are the functions . Were not going to put political ambitions as the number one priority but that the consumers are actually protected, what the agency was created for, like i said. Trey . Reporter thanks sarah. The campaign in alabama, does the president plan to campaign for roy moore . The president is not planning a trip to alabama at this time and his schedule doesnt have room for him do that before election day. Reporter and weighing in about this on twitter, does the president , continue does he have plans to continue his campaign against the democrat in alabama, doug jones . Look, im not getting into back and forth from the podium. Awe know, ive declined that opportunity many times and can tell you the president obviously wants people who support his agenda and certainly wants people looking to make america better, improve our education system, grow our economy, to continue to fight against isis, continue growing the economy. Those are the president s priorities. And he wants people in place that are going to help and support those priorities. Jonathan . Reporter sarah, at the event the president just did with the mauve hoe code talkers referring to pocahontas being in the senate. Why did he feel the need to Say Something that is offensive to many people while honoring the navajo code talkers . These genuine american heroes . I think what most people find offensive is senator warren lying about her heritage to at vance her career. She said its a racial slur. Thats ridiculous. The president was speaking to honor the greater generation, the people who fought in world war ii, in their 80s and 90s now. The moment had many people online asking whether the president lacks decency . Whats your response to that and look, i think the president is certainly finds an extreme amount of value and respect for these individuals which is why he brought them and invited them to come to the white house and spent time with them, recognizing them and honoring them today. So i i think he is constantly showing ways to honor those individuals and he invited them here at the white house today to meet with them and to also remind everybody about what the historic role they played many years ago. Kristen . Reporter why is it appropriate for the president to use a racial slur in any context. I dont believe it is appropriate for him to make a racial slur or anybody else. Reporter i is it appropriate for like i said i dont think it is and certainly not the president s intent. Reporter sarah like i said, i think the more, the most offensive thing reporter [ inaudible ]. Im sorry . Reporter does he see political value in calling out people look, i think that senator warren was very offensive when she lied about some things specifically to advance her career and dont understand why no ones asking about that question and why that isnt constantly covered. Reporter and first all, the president s k5u8 to erdogan in turkey, simply announced to him the u. S. Is not going to the kurds forces fighting isis. Can you address kearns of the [ inaudible ] in a way of the Supreme Court of a partner against isis . No. Look, once we started winning the campaign against isis, the plan and part of the process is to always wind down support for certain groups. Now that were continuing to crush the fiscphysical caliphat that doesnt mean stopping specific groups. That was the purpose, defeating isis. Once that happened, that was always a plan that hasnt changed. Is it the policy 6 United States assad must go or a new policy emerging . We have no changing in our position at this time. Reporter sarah, back to the access Hollywood Tape. He said he made his position clear at the time and added same said i said it, i was wrong, i apologize. You just said the media is reporting can i ask you again, does the president acknowledge saying that that was on the access Hollywood Tape last year . Look, i said hes already addressed it, and that we didnt have any updates to that. I said what he didnt like and what he found troubling were the accounts that are being reported now. Reporter what accounts recorded now that werent last year . What accounts are you talking about . The ones current hes questioning. So what is the official policy on the position . Should he stay or go . Look, as i just said, we have no changes and to past statements already made on that front, nothing new. Reporter and cfpb, does the white house believe Leandra English is qualified for that position . We believe director mulvaney is the right person at this time to lead that agency, and thats why hes over there. Reporter if you believe hes the right person, the followup then is, what does the white house or the president have against Leandra English in that spot . Look, im not saying we do have anything against her. Im saying that we want director mulvaney to lead this agency and thats a decision that the president is allowed to make and one hes made and has Legal Authority to do so. John . Reporter thank you, sarah. Two questions about personnel. The president s appointment of governor brownback for ambassador at large slot dealing with religious liberty has been stalled in the senate has yet to confirm him or a vote on his confirmation. Now, at the same time, the National Security Council Staff has a vacant slot that deals with the same issue. Religious liberty. That doesnt require senate confirmation. Is he going to fill that slot on the nsc . Im not aware of any specific announcement for that position at this time, but if one happens well certainly make sure youre aware of it. Reporter the other question is regarding the appointment of director mulvaney to a simultaneous president ial appointme appointment. It seems a little odd, because this has not been done according to many accounts before world war i. Youre in an administration that likes to break new ground, john. Reporter the last time, before world war i when the treasury of the secretary was also the first chairman of the fed. Whose idea was this or did the president decide to give the dual positions to director mulvaney . Look, i think the president felt he was the right person to lead that agency and made sha decision. I dont think theres more to it than that. Fred . Reporter thank you, sarah. On the cfpb. As far as reforms to the agency, the house has a choice act thats still no action on that isnt the senate. Is this something does the administration see this as an opportunity to try to push congressional reforms to the agency . Look, this is director mulvaneys first day. Were going let him get settled in before we announce new policy, but when with do well keep you posted. Ani anita . Sorry. Trying to jump around to save time. Reporter the other day the dreamers issue, the d. R. E. A. M. S wouldnt be in the spending bill. Reaching end of the year. Wondering if the president said he would take it off if congress wouldnt act, negotiations arent going anywhere. What does the president propose to do . Does he see that happening in congress in the next few weeks or a standaileen bill . Specific to missed the first part. Reporter d. R. E. A. M. S. We hope the democrats arent going to put Service Members abroad at risk trying to hold the government hostage over partisan politics and attaching that to that weve laid out our principles on immigration and want to see responsible Immigration Reform that would include daca and also include the priorities that weve already previously laid out. Reporter and come up with anything . Like i just said. We hope the democrats are willing to actually make responsible Immigration Reform. Weve laid out what we want and, look, the president s got a meeting with various members tomorrow, and i would imagine that will come up at that time. Kristen . Reporter sarah, what do you say to consumers concerned about somebody who once calmed the agency that hes now ostensibly leading, mick mulva mulvaney ca it a sick, sad joke. Consumers should be glad they have somebody in there actually fighting for consumers and not their own political ambitions weve seen in the previous leadership and a very different change under director mulvaney. David . Reporter sarah, at this point senator al franken has allowed that there may be more women coming forward. He doesnt know there are but there might be more women coming forward. At what point does the president condemn him . How many women does it take . How many accusations does it take before the president says al franken should resign and is he holding back because of unresolved accusations against himself . Look, the president is not going to weigh in on every single matter like this. Every day we have people from the media, from hollywood, from members of congress that have allegations brought against them, and we think that this should go through a due process and thats something that senator franken should first be the one to address and not for the president to weigh in every single time one of these accusations comes up, but there should be a process we go through and we want to make sure thats completed. You said with the access hollywood people the people have spoken and thats litigated. I think the president also addressed it at the time. Reporter do you think the fact the president has been elected thats all litigated means . The public believes the women who accused him of Sexual Misconduct are wrong . The president is clear he denies any of those allegations having taken place. And followup the cfpb did not look at for consumers. Can you point to specific cases where the cfpb did not act in the best interests of consumers . Yeah bep have a list of those. Ill be happy to provide them after the briefing. Can you release that now . I dont have them in front of me but i have read multiple things and be happy to release them after the briefing. Reporter told called out cnn in a tweet. In conversations that the president has had with rupert murdoch, has he ever brought up cnn or talked about the at t time warner merger . Not that im aware of or know of. One last question . Reporter sarah, thank you. The last time the president was with congressional leaders, he surprised a lot of people making this the deal, if you will, came out said chuck and nancy, seemed to take republicans by surprise. Should we expect Something Like that out of tomorrow . Should republicans feel anxiety or concern leading into tomorrows meeting that he may, if you will, throw it them under the bus, if you will, leading into tomorrows meeting . Whoilook, i dont think the president threw anybody under the bus. I wont get ahead of that meeting but if the president can make a deal and any of those democrats want to come onboard and support tax reform we were welcome that and be happy to celebrate after and the my guess the republicans will be excited about as well. Thanks so much. Have a good afternoon. Thats it. Didnt last 20 minutes today. Sarah Huckabee Sanders with her briefing. Not really Daily Briefing but it happens regularly. Taking a lot of questions on the cfpb, and questions of Mick Mulvaney, and conflicting with the fact a deputy acting head was appointed who some say should have become the acting head. A lawsuit about that. Part of the discussion. The other part of the discussion was about references that the president just made a little while ago at a gathering of navajo code talkers to senator live calling her pocahontas. Kristen welker was in that Briefing Room and pressed Sarah Huckabee sanders on that. Talk to me about the conversation in there. Reporter it got a little heated in here when Sarah Huckabee sanders was pressed repeatedly on why President Trump chose to use the term pocahontas at an event honoring native americans. She tried to turn it on its head and flip it back to senator Elizabeth Warren. Of course, there were questions about her saying she did have native american roots. This was my exchange with Sarah Huckabee sanders. Take a listen. Reporter why is it appropriate for the president to use a racial slur in any context . I dont believe that it is appropriate for him to make a racial slur or anybody else. Reporter and a racial slur. Why is it appropriate for him to do that . Like i said i dont think that it is and i dont think that was certainly not the president s intent. Reporter the again, like i said, i think the more, most offensive thing im sorry . Reporter does he see political value in calling out look, i think senator warren was very offensive when she slied specifically about something to advance her career. I dont understand why no ones asking that question and why that isnt constantly covered. Reporter that will undoubtably be a response getting scrutiny in its own right of course, Elizabeth Warren would push back in that characterization and was firm in her interview with you moments before the briefing starting, senator warren saying she found it deeply troubling that President Trump would use what she did refer to as a racial slur in that context. So this is something that is now looming here at the white house as the president and the white house make a final push at tax reform. Their last best chance to get tax reform finished before the end of the year. The president saying he wants it finished by christmas. Sarah Huckabee Sanders expressing optimism that will happen and answering tough questions about the power sfrtr the at the cfpb believing Mick Mulvaney has the right to be interim director and the president has the right to appoint an interim director under the federal vacancies act. A lot of headlines out of the briefing this afternoon as the president himself tries to push for tax reform. Kristen, thank you. Kristen welker in the White House Briefing room. Senator al franken, a topic that came up. Dpl he delivered a statement outside his office that he would not be stepping down over accusations of Sexual Misconduct. 24r50e at least three women have made allegations. I just want to again say i am sorry. I know there are no magic words that i can say to regain your trust and i know thats going to take time. I am ready to start that process, and it starts with going back to work today from these stories its been clear that there are some women and one is is too many who feel that i have done something disrespectful, and thats hurt them and for that i am i am tremendously sorry. And i know that i am going to have to be much more conscious when, in these circumstances. Much more careful. Much more sensitive, and that this that this will not happen again going forward. Again, its going to take a long time for me to regain peoples trust, but i i hope that starting work today that i can start to do that. And michigan congressman john conyers stepped down as ranking democrat on the House Judiciary Committee following allegations of Sexual Harassment. The longest leving congressman stepped aside due to the ethics investigation into the allegations. He continued to deny the allegations saying they just didnt happen. Congressman conyers indicated from day one that he is not guilty of these allegations. A number of individuals ive spoken to have said that they had been in that office 20, 30 years. These allegations did not happen. What i would support as individuals who say that they have been harassed, when some time of agreement is put in front of you and ive been doing this the better part of 20 years, if you say you were harassed, dont sign it. Go to trial. Holewood, washington and the media, however, not the only ones dealing with Sexual Harassment and assault, the me, too, account, can also be a toxic place to work. Of all the complaints that the equal Employment Opportunity commission received in 2015, the hotel and Food Industry made up 12. 5 of those complaints and thats the Single Largest Group of any. Celebrity chef and food activist Tom Colicchio wrote an open letter calling out chefs in the Restaurant Industry, time for men in the Restaurant Industry to say to each other, enough, enough, because deep down men know that sexist expletive talk is just a lazy substitute for real wit. And spent plenty of time in the kitchen, restaurants owner and coowner of the food policy action. Thanks for being here. I want to pick out another piece in the post. Need to do more than paying lip service. Not enough to ask how can we behane differently around women coworkers, what do i owe it to them to remove,barriers . Skip to that. We all know it happens. Certainly in the Hospitality Industry it happens a lot. Your perspective, one i share, this is a guy problem. Sure. Its for us to go beyond the, hey, i didnt offend you, into creating an atmosphere conducive for women to succeed. Absolutely. Were finding women especially in restaurants, they drop out. Dont want to be in that environment. Not conducive to raising a family and were having a brain drain in our industry. So what can we do . What should we do to make it where women actually stay there . What can we do in terms of childcare . This goes beyond sexual hara harassment. Absolutely no room for that at all, but well beyond it. Whats the environment and part of the problem, talking about congress, byzantine structures for supporting harassment, theyll try to fix that, talking corporate america. A lot of situations in restaurants and bars there isnt an nhr. Shocking, about john boetsch and allegations there. Hes admitted to it. Had over 1,200 employees. Doesnt make sense in terms of protecting yourself, your staff, your business. And so i think the Restaurant Business needs to change but culturally we need to change. Back to early comments. We know that theyre not finding themselves comfortable in the working place and i know from experience, which i have more women in the kitchen, i have a more productive kitchen. A kitchen more focused on the tank at hand versus all the locker room talk, and its a better environment for everybody. So my where i come out on this is that we would have a better industry a Better Business if we found ways to keep women in the marketplace in the business. Its our best interest, but i just i dont know where to start. Thats the hard part. Women in the Hospitality Industry, of the things read recently, a lot of it is management and coworkers. Some is even staff. Customers. Part of that, in a restaurant or bar there are highvalue customers who feel they are entitled to have their i remember 20 years ago when i was a chef and owner of gramercy tavern. A customer said something derogatory to a server. Asked him to leave. Would try to sneak in. He was a regular. We have to take that stand. Absolutely not. Couldnt understand, why wouldnt we let him do that . I think we just need to look at at again, this isnt a restaurant issue. Isnt an issue this is a cultural issue. Part of that culture it is the way we talk. You mentioned talk acceptable in places where guys congregate and work not only get to create a welcoming environment for women and beyond that dont allow men to address the stuff theyre saying that is inappropriate. Right. But again, goes beyond that. I had a conversation recently with one of my employees and it made her uncomfortable. As men we need to really, you know, be much more attune to what is offensive. Its not just, obviously we know slapping someone on the butt is off limits, offensive. Greeting somebody in your bathrobe is offensive. What are the small things out there . Taking care of the big issues but have to chip away at the smaller things we dont even hear or see. Were blind to it, because its been going on so long. Part of what youve written about and we keep hearing with many industries, they just got used to it. They realize, you put up or leave the industry. I think in the Restaurant Business, whats even you know, more insidious is that you have a lot of immigrants who are working in the industry. And they feel they have no voice at all. Powerless. Exactly. Exactly. Youve got young people, youve got women, immigrants, and sometimes theyre all three. Right. At which point, weve heard countless stories of repeated assaults or harassment, because the only other job option was unemployment. Thats right. Mmhmm. Tom, thanks for the work youve done on this. I think youre very right, it is a cultural issue and a guy issue, and well have to work this out. Tom colicchio is the founder of food policy action and the cofounder of many restaurants around the country. Tomorrow is giving tuesday across the country. After the break, im going to tell you how this Holiday Season you can help Homeless People get back on their feet. Ill be joined by the member of a Homeless Outreach program here in new york city whos working around the clock to change lives for the better. When it comes to strong bones, are you on the right path . We have postmenopausal osteoporosis. And a high risk for fracture, so with our doctors. We chose prolia®. To help make our bones stronger. Only prolia® helps strengthen bones. By stopping cells that damage them. With 1 shot every 6 months. Do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. Serious allergic reactions, like low blood pressure; trouble breathing; throat tightness; face, lip or tongue swelling. Rash, itching or hives have happened. Tell your doctor about dental problems, as severe jaw bone. Problems may happen or new or unusual pain in your hip groin, or thigh, as unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred. Peak to your doctor before stopping prolia®, as spine and other bone fractures have occurred. Prolia® can cause serious side effects, like low blood calcium; serious infections, which could need hospitalization;. Skin problems; and severe bone, joint, or muscle pain. If your bones arent getting stronger. Isnt it time for a new direction . Why wait . Ask your doctor about prolia®. Replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says, you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong insurance company. With new car replacement™, well replace the full value of your car plus depreciation. Liberty mutual insurance. Aand its now just 59 of the season. But the real gift isnt whats inside the box. Its whats inside the person who opens it. Give ancestrydna, the only dna test that can trace your origins to over 150 ethnic regions and open up a world of possibilities. Save 40 at ancestrydna. Com. The lowest price of the year ends monday. Firstthen you put yourselfareer. Through school. Got the degree. Youve given it your all, to reach the goals youve set. Dont let student debt hold you back. Refinancing Student Loans with sofi can save thousands. So you can get where youve always been headed. Sooner. See how much you can save with sofi. The leader in student loan refinancing. Us. Its what this country is made of. But right now, our bond is fraying. How do we get back to us . The y fills the gaps. And bridges our divides. Donate to your local y today. Because where theres a y, theres an us. All right. As we continue to scroll through the Cyber Monday Deals and leftover black friday sales, make sure you leave a little left for tomorrow, giving tuesday. Its a day to give back and help others. And today were spotlighting a group thats pretty close to me. The center for urban Community Services here in new york city. Its a Nonprofit Organization that helps people get out of poverty by finding them affordable housing. Many of those helped by cucs are chronically homeless, meaning they havent had a permanent home for at least two years. Critical to being able to overcome Substance Abuse problems or Mental Health issues is first and foremost having a place to sleep, a place you can call home. For more on this im joined by mary taylor. Mary, great to have you here. Thank you for being with us. This is a thankless and silent task. There are people hidden in the corners of this city that most new yorkers wouldnt even know. Its a problem that happens all around the country. And you use a philosophy and a methodology that says, they cant solve all their problems in life, but they cant really start unless theyve got a roof over their head. Absolutely. And it is a thankful job, ali, because when that person youve helped move off the street and into housing opens their apartment or their key or opens that lock for the first time, that is its remarkable thing. But it is, its an everyday, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, our Street Outreach Team is on the streets of manhattan, working one on one, where people are at to help them move from where theyre living into housing, into whether its permanent housing, reuniting with their families, into their own apartments and supportive housing. Its a mission that we are very, very proud of. And its one thats actually economically sensible. Because you have evidence that when you put people into housing, it does lead to them being able to seek the treatment they need for Mental Health issues or Substance Abuse issues and sometimes get the training they need to get back into the workforce. Absolutely. We have a whole Career Network thats a supported Employment Program that helps people, particularly with Mental Health issues, overcome those barriers to employment. Because people want to work. If you ask people, do you want to work, do you want a job . People raise their hands and say, yes, absolutely, i just never thought i could or i dont know what to do. If you ask them, whats your dream job and give them that opportunity and that support and those skills, then they blossom and they flourish. And the alternative to this is people getting caught up in the criminal justice system, police, as opposed to your social workers, who go out there and do this work. Police and emergency workers not dealing with other things they dont want to do this. They dont want to jail Homeless People. Absolutely not. And we have a spectacular relationship with the nypd and often work hand in hand in helping people who are in crisis. So that they dont end up in the jails, that they get the help that they need, and eventually, they build that trust. And as you know very well, its that building that trust and doing what we say were going to do on a daily basis that gives people the courage and the strength to take that step off the street. Well, i am glad to be associated with you guys. And i am glad that youre here. And im thankful for the work that you do around this city, to help the people who are our neighbors, who we often dont see. Mary taylor is the director of communications for the center for urban Community Services. Thank you. If you are looking for ways to help, head to the organizations website, cucs. Org. Its easy to donate and it is tax deductible. And as promised, senator Elizabeth Warren did meet with Leandra English and senator chuck schumer. Leandra english is, of course, running is suing, im sorry, to get her job. So far, no readout of this meeting. But were going to find out how that went and well bring you the details as soon as we do. I also want to check on markets for you, with only a few minutes to go until the closing bell on this cyber monday, lets take a look. The dow, thats interesting, a mixed board. The dow is up just a little bit at 23,592, but youve got a Standard Poors 500, now just ticked into the green. And a nasdaq thats a little bit lower. Well see what happens over the course of the next minute. The reports that were getting in on cyber monday, so far, are very positive. Again, breaking records. This is to be expected. Each year, we are going to spend less in bricks and Mortar Stores and going to spend more doing the shopping on our phone s or n our computers. Thats expected. Great news so far for amazon. The egiants stock has rose to yet another record high. Thats it for me. Ill see you back here tomorrow at 11 00 eastern with Stephanie Ruhle and again at 3 00 p. M. Eastern. You can find me on twitter, facebook, and graham alivelshi, on snapchat velshi. Well be here tomorrow and stay on top of the tax issues and the developments at the consumer production bureau. Thank you for watching. Deadline white house with Nicole Wallace starts right now. Hi, everyone. Its 4 00 in new york. Mike flynn, Donald Trumps first National Security adviser, is the name on every trump watchers list this week. Donald trump was warned about flynn by people within his own campaign and transition team, but his blind spot for his faithful aide, who was for a while, the only person with National Security experience who would come close to the trump campaign, may now jeopardize members of trumps own family and the president himself. Over the weekend, nbc news confirmed reports that flynns attorneys have cut off communication with the president s legal team. For flynn, its complicated. His legal exposure includes potentially providing false states, failing to disclosing work as a foreign agent, ties to turkey and russia, and involving his own son in what may turn out to be a criminal enterprise of consulting foreign governments and failing to disclose those ties. But the risks for the president is also monumental, as Jennifer Ruben in the Washington Post writes today, quote, its trump himself who may have the most to lose from flynns