MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Maxine Waters

Interview

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HAYES: we are back here live outside the Capitol where we are moments away  from a vote to reopen the government, the first official action of the  House Democratic majority. New Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will  introduce Republican legislation that already passed the Senate just a few  weeks ago. The White House has said the President plans to veto the bill.  Of course, he already said that he would be the one shutting the government  down.

Now, before today, the House Committee on Financial Services has never been  chaired by an African-American or chaired by a woman. That all changed  today when Congressman Maxine Waters of California took the gavel this  afternoon. She becomes one of the most powerful people in Washington  joining the other Democratic committee chairs. And Congresswoman Maxine  Waters joins me now. Madam Chair --

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you.

HAYES: You just -- you said you were up all night working last night.

WATERS: Yes.

HAYES: What were you working on?

WATERS: Basically getting prepared for the work that we have to do today  and tomorrow perhaps and maybe over the weekend.

HAYES: You`ve got a lot on your plate in this committee and I want to play  something very -- there`s something you said. There`s a few news stories  about people, some blind item quotes about how will the Chair Waters --

WATERS: Yes.

HAYES: -- deal with investigating Trump or doing other things. And this  is what you had to say today. Take a listen.

WATERS: OK, all right.

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HAYES: You crack yourself up.

WATERS: That`s right.

HAYES: Well, what -- how are you thinking about the balance between those  two imperatives in your --

WATERS: Well, first of all, we have to be very clear that we have lots of  responsibilities in this committee. And as you know, I`ve been focused on  the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That was the centerpiece of the  Dodd-Frank Reform. And of course, Mulvaney who was sent over temporarily  by the President to oversee it after the guy who headed it left to run for  governor. And he`s tried to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection  Bureau. And before we got the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the  Dodd-Frank legislation, consumers had no real protection. Nobody was  looking out for them.

And so this is extremely important. I`m going to focus on that and we`re  going to try and undo the damage that Mulvaney has done. Fair housing, the  GSEs that is Fannie and Freddie. We have all of that work to do and so  we`re going to -- we`re going to do our work. Now, don`t forget.  Inquiries into Deutsche Bank was part of the work we had already started to do. We had sent letters to Deutsche Bank trying to find out about two 
internal reviews that they had done. And what did they find out? Of course, they did not answer us.

We`ve been trying to find out about the money ties to Russia through  Deutsche Bank. We know that Deutsche Bank lends this president, have  loaned him a lot of money, and we want to know whether or not some money  laundering is going on. So we`ll do a little of that. We`ll do some of  that continuing our work, but we won`t be concentrated just on that.

HAYES: So the Deutsche Bank inquiry, Deutsche Bank has already paid these  enormous settlements right, with both I think domestic and international  regulators --

WATERS: That`s right. That`s right.

HAYES: -- about money laundering. So you already had pre-existing  inquiries. They just also happen to be the bank that became the kind of  lender of last resort to the president.

WATERS: That`s right. No other bank will lend you money.

HAYES: And it`s Deutsche Bank. And so you want to -- do you want to talk  to the head of Deutsche Bank? Do you want to call him before the  committee? Are you going to investigate them? What --

WATERS: Well, I think we are going to follow up on the letters that we  have already sent and see if they have a change of mind now that things  have changed in the House.

HAYES: You`re saying the letters you sent them as the ranking member as  opposed letters you might send now that you`re the chair.

WATERS: That`s right. That`s right. We did not respond to those so we  got to see if they got to be a little bit more cooperative and then we`ll  see where we go from there.

HAYES: You talked about Mulvaney and CFPB. There`s been two things that  have happened in the area you oversee about financial services. One is a  real kind of deregulatory push at the -- at the sort of executive level.

WATERS: That`s right.

HAYES: There`s also been legislation passed that ruled back some of Dodd- Frank.

WATERS: That`s right.

HAYES: How perilous, how dangerous do you think the last two years had  been for the sort of health of the system?

WATERS: Well, the last two years have been very dangerous. I have been  appalled and surprised at how blatant it has been. This administration is  not at all concerned about the welfare of the average family and the  welfare of people who struggling every day to make a living. They don`t  mind them getting ripped off in many ways. Whether we`re talking about the  Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that oversees things like payday  loans, they involved in you know trying to -- that -- this administration  is involved in many ways in trying to undo the work that we have done to  try and protect the average family and homeowners.

HAYES: You entered Congress I believe in 1991, right?

WATERS: Yes.

HAYES: So that`s been -- that`s 28 years ago. What is it like today to  see this incoming class and the variety of backgrounds they represent compared to what it was like when you walked in and took that oath 28 years 
ago.

WATERS: Well, it`s very different. When I came to Congress, the Financial  Services Committee was the old banking committee and people were fleeing  the bank because there was a bank scandal going on. So those of us who  were pushed on to it were kind of punished.

HAYES: It was a bad assignment.

WATERS: Oh, terrible assignment.

HAYES: Oh because of like savings and loans and things that? WATERS: The savings and loans scandal that was going on.

HAYES: So you got on there because it was -- it was a backwater.

WATERS: That`s right. That`s right. That`s exactly right. But I paid my  dues. I stayed on, I worked hard. I learned from great chairmen.

HAYES: You`ve been on for 28 years. You`ve been there the whole time.

WATERS: Yes, I have. Yes, yes. And I learned an awful lot. I know an  awful lot, and I`ve been the leader as a ranking member for the Democratic  caucus and helping to explain to them the issues that go through that  committee and helping to guide my caucus in trying to make sure that we  protect some of the work that we have done for the consumers.

HAYES: You know, the big banks hated the CFPB.

WATERS: Yes.

HAYES: They have hated it from day one. They`ve been fighting it the  whole time.

WATERS: That`s right.

HAYES: What is -- what is your analysis of how much control Wall Street  has now ten years after the big crisis, after the crash, after Dodd-Frank,  having this new group that came to town and sort of let the reins off a  little bit? Where do things stand?

WATERS: Well, let me just say this and I`ve said it over and over again.  The big banks of America have basically controlled the Congress of the  United States as far as their issues are concerned. Many of our members  have failed to even try to rein them in because the way that they have  concocted these issues, it makes it sounds as if it`s so complicated that  nobody else understands or knows what they`re doing when they talk about  derivatives and margins and they talk about the bond market etcetera, but  it`s not that complicated at all.

And so what I am saying to the big banks right now is stop it. Stop it.  Don`t come in here with all of these bills where you`re trying to undo  everything that we have done and you`re sending a message to you investors  that you`re looking out for them. I want a moratorium on this.

HAYES: You`re telling them that.

WATERS: That`s what I`m telling them.

HAYES: Don`t come in here and lobby on doing stuff.

WATERS: That`s right.

HAYES: But you must have -- I mean I imagine they give you money right?  They contribute to you.

WATERS: Not really. You know, I don`t take money from the big banks.

HAYES: You don`t.

WATERS: I have taken some contributions from small community bank but I  don`t really take money from the big banks.

HAYES: A lot of people on that committee, one -- I mean, one -- it`s funny  that you say you were put there as a backwater. That committee has become  enormous. And part of the reason it has become enormous is a lot of  freshmen get put on it because you could raise money because all the  financial interests, all of a sudden start writing your checks right?

WATERS: Yes.

HAYES: I mean, that`s -- it`s part of the nature of that committee is that  from day one you`re a freshman, you get put on financial services and you  start getting checks.

WATERS: It certainly has happened and it`s been talked about and I think  that not only are many of our new members not want to be involved in that  kind of support from those who are looking for something in exchange. Some  of our other members have resisted that slowly but it has been the way that  many members have been able to raise money. Because they may be in  difficult districts and they need the campaign contributions and they have  just allowed themselves to receive those contributions from those banks.

HAYES: I want to ask you the same question I just asked the Chair Schiff.  A lot of people look at the ways that the Republicans conducted themselves  in the House and they see a lot of sort of destruction of norms and  precedent, but also some effectiveness in terms of getting the you know,  the Budget Control Act in 2010 with this -- 2011 with this blatant threat  about defaulting on the debt, the debt ceiling. How do you think about  balancing the sort of new norms and maximalism as a way of getting things  done that you want to get done and respect over not destroying things in  your way?

WATERS: It is not easy to do. Number one, we have a financial services  community that`s very central to our economy. We need the banks. We need  them to operate and provide certain kind of services. But that does not  mean that they could use their influence and their power to basically  control the decisions of Congress. And we`re going to have to work hard at  it.

One of the good things about what is happening is some of our younger  members are going to be very vocal. The newer members are going to be very  vocal.

HAYES: You like that.

WATERS: Yes I do. Yes I do. I`d like that. They`re going to raise  questions. You`re going to see a new kind of approach in the hearings that  we have. They`re going to come right out with it. They won`t be ashamed,  they won`t be afraid, they really believe in what they`re doing. I think  that`s good for the institution.

HAYES: Congresswoman, now Chair of the House Financial Services Committee,  28 years in tenure of the House, the first African-American, first woman to  chair that committee, thank you very much.

WATERS: Yes. You`re so welcome and thank you.

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