WEBVTT - Sen. Elizabeth Warren Talks Interest Rates, US Housing Crisis

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>Just a few blocks from our studio here in Washington

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<v Speaker 2>is another series of meetings that the President is sure

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<v Speaker 2>to comment on. The FLMC, kicking off its two day

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<v Speaker 2>policy session, expected to hold interest rates steady tomorrow, even

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<v Speaker 2>in the face of growing pressure President Trump is putting

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<v Speaker 2>onto the Fed, particularly the Fed's chair Jerome Powell. And

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<v Speaker 2>joining us live here on Balance of Power on Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 2>TV and Radio. On that and much more, is Democratic

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<v Speaker 2>Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the ranking member of the

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<v Speaker 2>Senate Banking Committee. Senator, welcome back. We appreciate you joining

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<v Speaker 2>us as we look ahead to the decision tomorrow. Knowing

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<v Speaker 2>the next opportunity the Fed would have to cut rates

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<v Speaker 2>is in September. What would the economic consequence be if

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<v Speaker 2>they wait that long?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, look, I.

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<v Speaker 3>Want to see interest rates come down, because when interest

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<v Speaker 3>rates stay high, families pay more on their credit cards,

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<v Speaker 3>they pay more on their car loans, Mortgage rates stay higher,

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<v Speaker 3>and that's a problem. Is exactly one person who is

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<v Speaker 3>responsible for keeping those interest rates high, and that's Donald Trump.

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<v Speaker 3>Jerome Powell said last month that he would have urged

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<v Speaker 3>the FED to lower interest rates last February. But for

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<v Speaker 3>the chaos that Donald Trump has been causing over tariffs

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<v Speaker 3>and the kind of fallout that that's going to create

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<v Speaker 3>in the economy. So if Donald Trump really wants to

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<v Speaker 3>see interest rates come down, then stop creating so much

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<v Speaker 3>chaos around tariffs. And I hope the FED could get

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<v Speaker 3>it done.

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<v Speaker 1>That said Senator, realizing you prefer lower interest rates. Does J.

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<v Speaker 1>Powell deserve some credit for holding steady in the face

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<v Speaker 1>of this pressure from President Trump.

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<v Speaker 3>Look now it's like an upside down the world. I

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<v Speaker 3>want to see Fed Chair Powell lower interest rates. I

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<v Speaker 3>think that's good for families. I think it's the right

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<v Speaker 3>thing to do in the economy. But I also want

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<v Speaker 3>to see an independent FED. And when Donald Trump simply

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<v Speaker 3>tries to persuade, he says, here are the arguments in favor,

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<v Speaker 3>here's why I think you should do it. I get that.

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<v Speaker 3>But when he threatens to fire Powell, when he blows

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<v Speaker 3>up this whole pretext of trying to fire him for cause,

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<v Speaker 3>when he does that kind of thing, now he threatens

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<v Speaker 3>the independence of the FED. And there's a real cost

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<v Speaker 3>of that, not for Jerome Powell personally, but a real

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<v Speaker 3>cost for our economy. We have built much of our

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<v Speaker 3>economic foundation on the notion that the FED makes its

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<v Speaker 3>decisions independent of political pressure, and that they are a

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<v Speaker 3>group of people who are economically informed, follow the data,

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<v Speaker 3>and they make those decisions on monetary policy based on

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<v Speaker 3>what they think the data are telling them about inflation

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<v Speaker 3>and jobs. And when Donald Trump blows through all that,

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<v Speaker 3>he undermines confidence in the FED and in our entire

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<v Speaker 3>financial system. That's a real problem.

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<v Speaker 1>Well.

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<v Speaker 2>Of course, part of what President Trump and others in

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<v Speaker 2>the administration argue is that at the FED lowers interest rates,

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<v Speaker 2>it will help to ease the issue we have in

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<v Speaker 2>this country with housing in particular, at least on the

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<v Speaker 2>interest rates side. But I know you and your colleagues

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<v Speaker 2>in the Banking Committee are also trying to do things

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<v Speaker 2>about that on the supply side. Is the measure you

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<v Speaker 2>co sponsored with Chairman Scott, the Renewing Opportunity in the

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<v Speaker 2>American Dream to Housing Act, passed unanimously through a committee,

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<v Speaker 2>quite the bipartisan feat in today's political environment. Senator, my

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<v Speaker 2>question is when we look at the contents of that bill,

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<v Speaker 2>knowing that part of it is asking hud to establish

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<v Speaker 2>new things like loan and grant programs for qualified homeowners

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<v Speaker 2>or landlords, knowing at the same time the administration is

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<v Speaker 2>actually trying to reduce HUD as we speak. Do these

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<v Speaker 2>things run into conflict with each other? Can both be

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<v Speaker 2>done at the same time?

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<v Speaker 3>So if I can let me back out just a

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<v Speaker 3>tiny little bit, we have a housing crisis in America.

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<v Speaker 3>Prices are up, and for decades now, officials have just

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<v Speaker 3>stood by policymakers and said, wow, prices just keep going up.

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<v Speaker 3>That's a real problem. The real problem is we don't

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<v Speaker 3>have in US housing. It is a supply problem. So

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<v Speaker 3>what we have done with this bill is that we

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<v Speaker 3>are pushing toward more supply. We need about seven million

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<v Speaker 3>more housing units in America. This bill has twenty nine

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<v Speaker 3>different provisions to it that mostly all row in the

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<v Speaker 3>same direction. Some involve HUD, and many of them do

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<v Speaker 3>not involve HUD. But the whole point here is to

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<v Speaker 3>put the federal government in the position of saying it

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<v Speaker 3>is a matter of federal policy that we want to

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<v Speaker 3>encourage more housing development. We want more of it in Massachusetts,

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<v Speaker 3>in South Carolina, we want more of it out west,

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<v Speaker 3>down South, up north, we want it in urban areas

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<v Speaker 3>in rural areas, and every member of the committee, all

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<v Speaker 3>twenty four of us, have provisions in there to help

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<v Speaker 3>make that happen. Yes, we need a functional HUD to

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<v Speaker 3>help on parts of that, but I do want to

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<v Speaker 3>underline here some of the provisions in this bill are

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<v Speaker 3>about cutting red tape and slimming down some of the

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<v Speaker 3>programs that HUD works on. Other parts are about we're

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<v Speaker 3>gonna give some trial runs to some ideas and try

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<v Speaker 3>a few things that haven't been tried before. We even

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<v Speaker 3>have an innovation fund in this for cities and towns

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<v Speaker 3>that are trying to build more housing. There are a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of good ideas in this bill because the housing

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<v Speaker 3>problem we have right now wasn't caused by one thing

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<v Speaker 3>going wrong. It was caused by a lot of things

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<v Speaker 3>going wrong. So it's going to take a lot of

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<v Speaker 3>things to help fix it. And I'm excited say it again.

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<v Speaker 3>It was bipartisan unanimous in the United States Senate. That's

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<v Speaker 3>pretty amazing.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, it is duly noted unanimously passed out of committee.

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<v Speaker 1>That means every Democrat and Republican voted for this, suggesting

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<v Speaker 1>there could be some momentum on the floor if we

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<v Speaker 1>get that far Senator, there are a lot of questions

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<v Speaker 1>about the interference that you could bump into when lawmakers

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<v Speaker 1>returned to town following the August recess, assuming you get there.

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<v Speaker 1>One of those distractions is the Jeffrey Epstein story. And

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<v Speaker 1>I have to ask you about this, not that we're

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<v Speaker 1>featuring this in our interviews, but it is apparently impacting

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<v Speaker 1>the agenda. House lawmakers went home early because of this.

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<v Speaker 1>The President of the United States has been talking about,

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<v Speaker 1>or certainly asked about, a pardon repeatedly when it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to Gallaine Maxwell, and I'd like for you to hear

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<v Speaker 1>what he's said about this most recently and well asked

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<v Speaker 1>you about it. Here's President Trump.

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<v Speaker 2>High a pardon for Klain Maxwell, who landed?

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<v Speaker 3>Is that something you would ever consider.

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<v Speaker 1>A pardon for who?

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<v Speaker 3>For Kalay Maxwell?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I'm allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody's

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<v Speaker 1>approached me with it, nobody's ask me about it. And

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<v Speaker 1>by the way, I never went to the island. I

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<v Speaker 1>never had the privilege of going to his island, and

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<v Speaker 1>I did turn it down. I don't know what we're

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<v Speaker 1>calling a privilege here, Senator, but I'm just wondering your

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<v Speaker 1>thoughts on this What do you think is more likely,

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<v Speaker 1>Gallainne Maxwell testifying before Congress or getting a pardon from

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't know what's more likely, and I'm not good

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<v Speaker 3>at anticipating this, but I just want to be clear.

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<v Speaker 3>The only way that this thing resolves itself is to

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<v Speaker 3>be completely transparent. Put out all of the records, all

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<v Speaker 3>the testimony, whatever it is that she has told the

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<v Speaker 3>lawyers down in Florida just earlier in the week. Get

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<v Speaker 3>all that information out there, Let everybody look at it,

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<v Speaker 3>and let people evaluate what they think is true, what

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<v Speaker 3>they think is not true, what they think is credible.

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<v Speaker 3>But this idea of holding back information and kind of

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<v Speaker 3>sorting through it a little piece here and a little

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<v Speaker 3>piece there, well, I gotta tell you that is keeping

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<v Speaker 3>everybody in churn over on the Republican side, sucking up

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of oxygen, oxygen that we could be using

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<v Speaker 3>to do things like work on a housing bill to

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<v Speaker 3>bring down the cost of housing for every family across

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<v Speaker 3>this country.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, Congress pushed these files out in September, when everybody's.

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<v Speaker 3>Back, Well, the House has already moved in that direction.

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<v Speaker 3>If we need to. We have raised the issue now

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<v Speaker 3>in the Senate. Yeah, Look, this is one of the

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<v Speaker 3>things that Congress does. It's part of our oversight, and

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<v Speaker 3>that is to say, when it's time to make these

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<v Speaker 3>records public, let everybody see what's in the whole file.

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<v Speaker 3>Because there have been a lot of contradictory statements here.

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<v Speaker 3>Remember it was the Attorney General of the United States

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<v Speaker 3>who says at one point is that she has the

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<v Speaker 3>Epstein files on her desk. She's talking about backing up

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<v Speaker 3>what was it, a truckload of documents and files, and

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<v Speaker 3>then turns around and says, nothing to see here. Well,

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<v Speaker 3>you know that doesn't have much credibility for anyone. I

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<v Speaker 3>think the only way out of this mess is just

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<v Speaker 3>to be totally transparent. Just put it all out there,

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<v Speaker 3>let the American people sort through it. You know, Americans

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<v Speaker 3>are pretty smart and they'll figure out what it is

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<v Speaker 3>that's happened if they can see all of the pieces together.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I'm glad we could talk about all of these

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<v Speaker 1>issues today. Senator, welcome back. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts,

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<v Speaker 1>ranking member, Senate Banking Committee. We thank you, as always