Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20171127 : vi

CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper November 27, 2017

Ago, they call her pocahontas, but you know what . I like you because you are special. Pocahontas is a slur that the president has long used to refer to democratic senator Elizabeth Warren. Who has controversially claimed native american ancestry. Here is how senator warren responded to that remark just seconds after. It is deeply unfortunate that the president of the United States cannot even make it through a ceremony honoring those heros 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 hadnt worked in the past. It is not going to work in the future. So all of that while at the same time a power strugglie erupted of who runs a government agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We expect to hear from both democrats and republicans in this grim, dysfunctional shutdown. Not to mention, of course, President Trump continuing to step up his attacks on the free press and journalists all over the world as the probe into his Campaign Team by fbi and special Counsel Robert Mueller gets closer and closer. Were going to start with cnns Boris Sanchez. Hes at the white house. Senator warren has claimed native american ancestry and many native american groups have taken issue with that, but the same native americans find this slur calling her pocahontas offensive. How is the white house defending this . Reporter Sarah Sanders said from the podium calling Elizabeth Warren is not a racial slur. As you mentioned, its a nickname the president has used often when describing the senator from massachusetts dating back to june of last year when Elizabeth Warren was on the campaign trail with hillary clinton. Warren claimed native American Heritage during her own campaign for senate back in 2012 and she was attacked by republicans for allegedly making up her heritage for political gain. Today, Sarah Sanders reiterated that allegation, saying that Elizabeth Warren lying about her ancestry is offensive, not the president calling someone pocahontas in front of these native american war heros. I should also mention in front of a portrait of Andrew Jackson who made persecution of native americans american policy back in the 1800s. Here is a bit more of what Sarah Sanders said today. So this is a racial slur, so why is it appropriate for him to use that . Well, like i said, i dont think that it is and i dont think that was certainly not the president s intend. Sarah, does he seek i think the most offensive thing im sorry . Does he see political value in calling people out racially . Why use that term . Look, i think that senator warren was very offensive when she lied about something specifically to advance her career. I dont understand why no ones asking about that question and why that isnt constantly covered. Reporter its not really a mystery why Elizabeth Warren is top of mind right now, jake. She was one of the architects of the cfpb, and this weekend argued that the president was overstepping his bounds by intervening and naming Mick Mulvaney the director of that consumer watchdog agency. She argued over the weekend on twitter that this should be brought up in court, and now Leandra English, the woman that was named to be the Deputy Director and the de facto director once the original director stepped down on friday is actually Going Forward with that, jake. All right, Boris Sanchez at the white house, thank you so much. My panels with me. Kevin, let me start with you. Should republicans call the president out when he says when he calls Elizabeth Warren pocahontas . Or is the explanation that he is trying to call attention to the controversy about warrens heritage, is that enough of an explanation . No, think they should call him out. I think it creates a huge distraction for these members so i think members of congress. And i think they quickly want to move on to something more substantive. Think one of the big problems here is that the president thinks in a way of a stream of consciousness or just his inner monologue. 99 of americans would never Say Something like that, and he actually blurts it out at an event like this. It causes a huge distraction. So i think members should call it out when they have the opportunity, but they are just sick and tired of having to deal with these types of distractions. What do you think, jen . Obviously there is this controversy about senator warren and her heritage. And it came up during her senate race. She was still victorious. But this is a slur. I mean, native americans i know consider this a slur. Thats right. And thats the most important audience to determine whether its a slur or not, is the audience its about, and i dont think President Trump or his spokesperson saying its not a racial slur makes it not a racial slur, to state the complete obvious. In this case, look, should senator warren have known more about her heritage and shared Accurate Information . Of course. But that is a debate from years ago and now were talking about bringing up a slur that offends an entire population of the public. One other thing, and i dont know if this was in veep or house of cards, but there was a scene mocking an insensitive president. I think it was house of cards, in which he invited a bunch of native americans into a room and a portrait of Andrew Jackson who is reviled by native americans for the horrible things he perpetrated on their people. This today took we have to break away right now. Mick mulvaney, the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is speaking. Lets take that live. Rumors im going to set the place on fire or blow it up or lock the doors are completely false. Im a member of the executive branch of government. We tend to execute the laws of the United States, including the provisions of dodd frank that govern the cfpb. That being said, the way we go about it, the way we interpret it, the way we enforce it will be dramatically different under the Current Administration than it was under the last. Anyone who thinks that a Trump Administration of cfpb would be the same as a Obama Administration cfpb is simply being naive. Elections have consequences at every agency, and that includes the cfpb. I dont have specifics yet on how thats going to translate into action in terms of the new attitude were taking here at cfpb in light of the fact that the trump is now in charge. Ill tell you the same thing i told these folks today whats happening immediately. Effective today, we put something similar in place here to what we did across the entire executive branch at the outset of administration. We did a 90day hiring freeze. We put a 30day hiring freeze here at cfpb. Probably more importantly, we put a 30day immediate freeze on any new rules, regulation and guidance. Anything that is in the pipeline stops for at least 30 days while i get a chance to see exactly whats going on and kick the tires here at the bureau. Additionally, there will be no payments out of the Civil Penalties fund for at least 30 days while i get a chance to see whats happening with that. I think there is in excess of 50 million in that fund and i want to get a handle on what that fund is all about before we start making any distributions. There are going to be obvious important exceptions to this. I had a chance to talk with legal some today and enforcement today and things that are going on in existing lawsuits. Ill be briefed tomorrow on roughly 100 or so lawsuits that the agency, that the bureau is involved with. I get briefed on that tomorrow. Clearly, if there are statutory deadlines, those will continue to be met. If there are legal deadlines as part of litigation, those will be met, but in terms of international that is discretionary, were putting a 30day hold on it here. Other than that, its too early to say how things will be different. Ill be briefed tomorrow on the lawsuits, the investigations, the rule making. Things that are in the pipeline. Ill have more idea tomorrow what some of the next steps may be. Lastly, and then ill take some questions, folks have asked me if im going to be here. Some folks in the press have asked that, some folks here at the agency i keep saying agency, i apologize, the bureau have asked. Yeah, president has made it very clear he wants me here. Honestly, since my name is on the door now, i want to be here. I dont want anything coming out of here that i dont know about because it will inevitability be linked to me anyway so i want good quality work that this administration can be proud of. Im going to be here roughly three days a week and across the street at omb more than three days a week. Ive slept at the office and worked 16hour days and seven days a week. Its not something new. If youve started your own business, ive done it more than once, you know that working a little extra isnt that big a deal in the final scheme of things. With that, ill take some questions for a couple of minutes if thats all right. Director mulvaney, you had the opportunity to meet with the president earlier today, what did he tell you about what he wants from this bureau . He wants me to fix it. He want mess to get it back to the point where it can protect people without tramping on capitalism. Without choking off the access to Financial Services that are so critical to so many folks. And so many folks actually in the lower and the middle classes. Folks who are trying to start their own businesses. People are trying to break out. People trying to get credit for the very first time. We need to figure out a way to both follow the law and protect citizens, as set forth in the act, but do so in such a fashion that doesnt choke off the access to capital. What does that mean . The access to money that is important for so many people to succeed in their Small Business and their private lives and so forth. So thats the charge hes given me. We both share the belief that this administration this particular bureau under the Previous Administration had gone too far over towards strangling access to capital. And as a result we want to try to help folks that were hurt and try to fix that. Did he give you a sense of how long he expects you to be in this temporary position . I think thats going to be up to the senate more than anybody else. I know the president is interested in naming a permanent replacement as quickly as possible and as quickly as the quality of the candidates allows. My guess is youll see and if the movement on that. That being said, Swift Movement on the president s part has rarely translated to Swift Movement on the senates part. Yes, sir . Well go across the room. Yes, sir . First, are you concerned that the District Court could introduce some kind of injunction . Not concerned. The court is going to do whatever the court is going to do. Thats fine. I read the legal opinion not only of the department of justice, but more interestingly not more interestingly, as interestingly, the legal opinion of the general counsel here that says the president is right. My guess is the court will hear the same arguments from capable folks. If the Court Decides to issue a temporary restraining order, ortd order me not to come in the building, i will absolutely follow the law. That what we do here in the executive branch. Im not concerned about it. Im Going Forward tonight and tomorrow assuming that im here and ill be here until the court or the president tells me otherwise. To what extent are your criticisms of the bureau reflective of your ideological commitment to small government . I dont know how to answer that question. Ill talk about my previous statements about the bureau, how about that . Yeah, my opinion of the structure of the cfpb has not changed. I still think its an awful example of a bureaucracy that has gone wrong when it is almost entirely unaccountable to the people that are supposed to oversee it or supposed to pay for it. I still have the same fundamental principled misgivings about the way this bureau is structured. I think it is wrong to have a completely unaccountable federal bureaucracy. I thanksgiving its complete i think its completely wrong, im learning about the powers i have as acting director. They would frighten most of you and worry you to think about how little oversight congress has over me now that im the director. How little oversight the committees have over how cfpb functions. If you i think if you really studied the constitution and the nature of our government, and the nature of the way the bureaucracy is supposed to work, it would both frighten and disturb you that this agency is as independent as it is. It doesnt surprise me, by the way, to the extent were having a succession challenge, as lodged by ms. English, it doesnt surprise me that that grows out of an agency that thinks its not accountable to anybody in the first place. No, none of that has changed. That being said, i cant change a lot of it because its statutory. Its up to congress to fix it. Im running the agency as the law sets forth. Im sorry, yes, maam . I have a followup to that question and a different question. You have called the agency in the past a sick joke. So how can you assure the American People you are the right person to lead this agency . If you go back to the line, it was a joke in a sick, sad kind of way. Which is slightly different. But, again, the sentiment is the same. The reasons that i said that, the reason that i still believe that this agency is flawed are things that i think people back home would agree with. Look at it this way, this is how i explain it here today. When i was in congress, if you if the cfpb did something to you back home that you did not like, okay, there was literally nowhere for you to turn for redress. You could not call your senator. You could not call the congressman. In fact, or the house of representatives, you couldnt even call the president. The only reason the president could fire the director was because of cause. It is a completely Unaccountable Agency and i think thats wrong. I think citizens should always have some ability to hold the bureaucracy accountable and they cant here. Thats why i think we need structural and legislative change to the way this place is being run. That being said, thats outside of the bounds for the director to fix. Yes, maam . Do you find this power struggle between yourself and Leandra English to be often i know you said it went smoothly, but do you find this power struggle, this battle i think its more awkward for the people who work here and know her. I dont know her. I havent met her. I read a couple of headlines folks showed up today claiming to be director. I can assure you one person showed up claiming to be director, she wasnt here. I think its more and more uncomfortable for the folks who know her and work here all right. That is Mick Mulvaney, who is the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We should put a asterisk next to that because there is some legal dispute whether or not hes the acting director. I want to bring in cnns laura jarrett. Youve been following the shutdown at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Tell us more about how we get to this period where Mick Mulvaney is basically in a standoff with this woman claim she is the active director. Thats right, jake. The next step is federal court. This rare standoff escalated today as the white house budget director Mick Mulvaney and the Deputy Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau both showed up to work this morning, each claiming to be the interim head of the agency in dueling emails to their staff. Now the white house and mulvaney point to legal opinions from the bureaus top lawyer and the Justice Department supporting mulvaney as the head, and the press secretary Sarah Sanders said mulvaney has taken charge today with the full cooperation of the staff at the agency. But that has not stopped lan yeah english. To declare her the writeful acting director. Despite who is legally entitled to run this agency, there is also a battle of who can do it better. Democrats worried mulvaney could dismantle protections and the white house claims they could run this agency more efficiently. All right. So let me bring in laura coats now. So Leandra English, who is the director of the bureau resigned on friday but before he did that, he appointed his chief of staff the acting Deputy Director. Then he stepped down and she became the acting director. And the agency is set up to be kind of

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