MSNBC "All In with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Elizabeth Warren

Interview

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HAYES: Well, today, we got word that Congresswoman Bush`s protest appears to work. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just issued a new federal moratorium on evictions in areas that have been hit hard by the Delta variant. The order will remain in place until October.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has been championing this cause along with her colleague Cori Bush, joining her in the Capitol steps or the weekend to demand the moratorium to be extended. And Senator Warren joins me now.

There was a lot of back and forth among folks about the legality here. People said, look, the CDC issued this. It had been challenged in court. The Supreme Court sort of narrowly let it go. It was going to expire. The White House said, oh, no, we don`t have the legal authority. Now, you get the pronouncement by the CDC. Is this on shaky legal ground in your view?

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): I don`t think so. Look, we`re in the middle of a pandemic. The CDC has narrowed somewhat the eviction moratorium and focused it on places where the threat from COVID is the greatest. And I think that`s exactly what the CDC is supposed to do. I think they`re on sound legal ground.

HAYES: Do you -- how do you understand what happened here? I mean, this really seemed to me a strange moment. Everyone has known that the deadline. The -- and then a few days beforehand, the White House said, oh, we need statutory authority. We need Congress to handle it because we don`t think we have the legal authority. Then Congress couldn`t do it in time. Then you get the protest. Now, you get the reversal. Like, what -- was no one -- does this just like fell through the cracks? Did someone dropped the ball? Like, how did -- how did this end up here?

[20:45:27]

WARREN: Look, it is always possible in a big administration that there are lawyers who get ahold of things. And I say that with all deference to lawyers who worry about this pace, who worry about that pace, or what happened the last time we were in court. And they sometimes use that as a way to try to back folks off doing what we all know is the right thing to do.

Because remember the larger context. Congress had already passed a law giving the tools to the states in order to stop an eviction crisis. We`ve already allocated $43 billion. And the states just hadn`t gotten their acts together in too many places, and had only pushed out about $3 billion of that. So, this is a case where it was a crisis that was unfolding and that was unnecessary.

And the way I see it is when Cori Bush said, wait a minute, I know what this is like. She`s spoke from the heart. And she rally people all across this nation and said, this is an important moment. People started pushing back and said, in the middle of a pandemic, we are not going to throw families out on the street. We`re not going to tell people to get out and couch surf and double up with relatives. It`s the wrong thing to do.

We`re going to take a little more time and spend the money that Congress has already allocated, protect the landlords, and protect the tenants. I think what we saw happen is power to the people on this one.

HAYES: OK, so what you just said is so important. And I just want to hammer this home. I got -- I got an e-mail, a very long and thoughtful e-mail from a viewer last night who`s a landlord and said, look, I don`t want to kick - - put anyone out on the street in a pandemic. I actually think that they should renew the moratorium. But it`s sort of an untenable situation. There`s some land -- a lot of landlords that are extremely, you know, wealthy and they can management it, but for some of them can`t, OK.

WARREN: Yes.

HAYES: And I wrote back I said, yes. Well, you`re in luck. This is the craziest thing about this entire situation. There`s $45 billion with a B dollars. It`s been authorized by Congress. It has been signed by the President of the United States. It is there. And the states have -- they distributed, I guess, 12 percent of the first 25 billion in funds. OK, so now we`ve got till October. What is -- how are we going to make sure that this money gets out there, so that we can actually like get to the root of the issue here.

WARREN: OK, so now we`re down to fighting state by state. Look, when Congress set this up, they tried to maximize flexibility to each of the states saying, you know your states best, you know where the problems are. We`re going to make sure there`s plenty of money here.

Now, states set something up to make sure people don`t get put out in the street and to make sure that small landlords are fully taken care of. That`s the idea behind it. Some states stepped up and a lot of states didn`t. So, where our attention really needs to turn now is to each of us to our own states. And to say to the states, you`ve got the money, make sure the money is being used to keep people in their homes. To make sure landlords, small landlords don`t get hurt. And to make sure that tenants don`t get hurt, either. God when you got the tools, and you got the money, you think we could get to this solution.

HAYES: I mean, this is the big question now. I mean, you know -- and there`s going to be another legal challenge, and we don`t know what`s going to happen. The clock is ticking. So, I hope we can rectify this. Senator Elizabeth Warren, always good to talk to you. Thank you so much.

WARREN: You bet.

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