restaurants come to you. delicious at your door. download doordash. first order, no delivery fee. pg&e wants you to plan ahead by mapping out escape routes and preparing a go kit, in case you need to get out quickly. for more information on how to be prepared and keep your family safe, visit pge.com/safety. tonight on "the axe files," one-on-one with presidential hopeful senator elizabeth warren. >> who actually is going to have the power in washington, and that's what i believe the election of 2020 is going to be all about. >> her plans to take on trump, stand out in a crowded field, and respond to lingering controversy. >> was that a mistake to put that video out? >> and how personal struggles

and political successes continue to shape her policies. >> that's corruption, that's capture of our government by the richest and most powerful around us. welcome to "the axe files." >> elizabeth warren, so good to see you. we're here in washington. we're in this library because we thought that would be an appropriate place given how you've spent most of your life. you know, you've moved to washington twice in your life, once as a young woman. >> uh-huh. >> and later in your life you came here as a harvard professor, as a part-time chair of an oversight commission when the financial crises broke. that's when we got to know each other. you write in this great autobiography, you wrote this great memoir, about the experience of going to t"the

daily show" when jon stewart was the host, and you were a bit nervous. >> yes. so remember, this is in the financial crises. i've never done any part of this, and yet we've got to talk to the american people about what's going on, so this is kind of the first time i've done a lot of press. now, i get invited to be on "the daily show." everybody's getting ready and they fuss with your makeup and hair and i'm sitting there thinking this is going to be really scary and hard. and i go in the little bathroom part and throw up. good response to stress, right? clean myself up, take a drink of water and head back out and do the interview. >> we're going to put in smart regulation. it's going to adapt to the fact that we have new products, and what we're going to have going forward, is we're going to have stability and some real prosperity for ordinary folks.

>> i don't know what you just did there but for a second that was like financial chicken soup for me, so thank you. >> so politics did not come naturally to you and i remember we actually lived in the same apartment building in washington at that time and i remember going over there when people were urging you to run for the senate in massachusetts. it was your husband bruce and otis -- >> our dog. >> your dog, and we talked about it and you made it clear that you were wary of this. you weren't sure that this was the life that you wanted. how did you get from there -- because it's just ten years ago -- from there to here? >> so, i already knew what i wanted to do. i've known what i wanted to do since i was in second grade. i wanted to teach school. david, this is what i've done all my life. i used to line my dollies up. it's all i've ever wanted to do and i love teaching. i just love it.

and my whole time that i spent in teaching, the research i did, the work i did was always around one central question and that is what's happening to working families. why is the path for people who work hard, for people who give it their all, why is the path getting rockier and steeper. i spent a year setting up the consumer agency, working for president obama, and i was headed back to massachusetts. i was going back in to teaching and going back into teaching full time and happy to be going back into teaching. but what was in front of me was the chance to fight hard for those same families for whom the path was just getting rockier, just getting steeper, just getting harder. and the senate race was a way to be able to do that. >> not to mention that those folks in the senate weren't all that receptive to you so one way

to get their attention is to run and become a member of the body. >> you know, that really was true. >> four years ago a lot of people urged you to consider running for president. you didn't run for president. bernie sanders ran for president. he became a thing. he did very well and running on many of the same issues and themes that you are associated with. do you have any regrets about not having done this then? >> you can't go back. bernie and i have been friends for a long, long time, far before i ever thought i was going to be in the electoral -- into politics. i get out there every day, bernie gets out there every day, and so do a lot of other good people, and fight for what we believe in. that's what i do every single day. >> i think most of your caucus and dozens of other people are running for president and the

thing that's on people's minds is -- the minds of democrats is who can defeat donald trump. if you look at polling, that's the issue that most motivates voters. why you? why you and not bernie or biden or beto or someone whose name doesn't begin with "b"? >> so look, i can't speak for their case. they should do that. all i can tell you is what i think the central issue in 2020 is and that's who government should work for. right now we have a washington that works great for the rich and the powerful, for the wealthy and the well connected. it just didn't work for much of anyone else. that's the fight i've been in pretty much all of my life. how to make this government, how to make this country work better not for those at the top but work better for everyone else. >> i saw your announcement speech and i've heard you speak many times and you talk about

the system being rigged. >> a rigged system that props up the rich and powerful and kicks dirt on everyone else. >> and i know that you're not a particular fan of the president. i think loud, nasty, thin-skinned, fraud are some words that may have been used to describe him at one point by you, but there is this one striking familiarity, at least in the use of language, because that was what he ran on, that the system was rigged. >> we have a system that's rigged. we have a system that's corooke. we have a system that's got a lot of problems. >> tell me about that because it is kind of interesting that you share this common language. >> right. and he did run on that and then he got in and did a 180-degree turn. for example, he talked a lot during the campaign about goldman sachs, then turned around and put enough goldman sachs bankers in his

administration that they could open their own branch office. actually, just think about one of them in particular. gary cohn, here's a guy who's at goldman sachs, big position there. he joins the trump administration and he basically is going to have one job and that is to try to write and ram through a tax bill. so what does goldman sachs do for gary on the way out the door? answer, they give him, give him about a quarter of a billion dollars on his way out the door. he then takes a job in washington, in the administration, economic adviser. he writes a tax bill that then rewards goldman sachs to the tune of about a quarter of a billion dollars in the first year and then turns out to be the gift that keeps on giving in terms of tax breaks.

that is rigging the system. that is corruption right at the heart of this government. you know, you think of how it could even be legal that goldman sachs could offer a pre-bribe to somebody like gary cohn and with this revolving door, never clear to the american people. so is this guy actually working for the taxpayers? is he working for the american public, or is he just lining the pockets of his former and maybe future employers? >> i have to tell you, i hear you speak and ringing in my ear is what one of your colleagues told me who has affection for you and he said i told elizabeth she has to find a way to kick around capitalists without sounding like she hates capitalism. >> look, i can't imagine that gary cohn walking out the door from a big wall street place

like goldman sachs with a quarter of a billion dollars in his pocket and into government is considered good capitalism. i support markets. i see the kinds of things that markets can produce when they work, but markets without rules, markets that let people like goldman sachs capture our government, markets that right now let the drug industry call all the shots instead of people who need to get prescriptions filled, let the oil industry call all the shots instead of people who see climate change bearing down on us, that's corruption, that's capture of our government by the richest and most powerful around us. >> you described this in sort of man akey yan terms of these powerful moneyed interests. you use almost marshal language. there's going to be blood and teeth on the floor and so on. i know you grew up with three brothers. >> i did. >> so that may be --

>> older brothers. >> that may be a piece of this, but you also view this in those terms, that this is kind of a war. you describe yourself in this book and frequently as a fighter. do you have any worries that after four years of donald trump the country may be looking for a different kind of tone, a more unifying and hopeful tone? >> so, i find fighting for what you believe in to be enormously hopeful because the ultimate vision of this is we can see what's broken, we can see what we need to do, and we together can actually get out there and do it. we have the power to make change. look at the consumer financial protection bureau. people told me, never happen, don't even try, give up before

you even start. but the point is the optimism of fighting, david -- >> you produce results. >> you produce results and the results matter to people. people say what they say. they'll find something that they're going to criticize. they'll attack in any direction they can. but at the end of the day, i really feel quite blessed to be able to be here to fight for people who just want a chance to be able to build something. >> it's sort of an interesting week. michael co micha michael cohen on capitol hill, the mueller report is on its way. how much are those things going to intrude on the discussion of the campaign of 2020? you said the other day that donald trump might not be a free man by 2020 which seemed like a kind of bracing shot.

>> well, is that any surprise? look at the number of investigation that are swirling around him. we never had anything like this before in history. >> he is going to be the first president who live tweets the opposing party's primary, so he is going to be inserting himself regularly. you've felt a little of the brunt of that but i don't think he's going to limit his attention to you. how best to deal with that? should you engage? he seems to enjoy that. >> yeah, look, the way i see it is, yeah, you got to push back. you never let bullies run over you, but we've got to get out there and talk about what we believe in. that's what i think. that's what i do every chance i get. i get out and talk about how we now have a system that is rigged for the rich and the powerful, how it happened, who captured this system and there's the hopefulness of it. we don't just have to give up

and say, you know, those guys always win, they're always going to win, they're always going to own the game. my view is, no, we don't have to let them. we have power. we can change the law. we can push back on the influence of money in washington. we can take back our country. coming up on "the axe files" -- >> bernie sanders raised $10 million in his first week and you haven't been raising money at that clip. are you worried that there are limited dollars out there? ♪ city that i love ♪ don't fence me in. ♪ let me be by myself ♪ in the evenin' breeze, ♪ listen to the murmur of the tall concrete, ♪ ♪ send me off forever, but i ask you please ♪ ♪ don't fence me in. special offers available at your local mini dealer.

get 2 medium, every day at marco's, 1-topping pizzas for just $6.99 each. because it takes two... to make a great everyday value. every store. every day. the italian way. hello primo. driven each day to pursue bioplife-changing cures...ers. in a country built on fostering innovation. here, they find breakthroughs... like a way to fight cancer by arming a patient's own t-cells... and a new therapy that gives the blind a working gene so they can see again. because it's not just about the next breakthrough...

it's all the ones after that. - did you know, the exact same hotel room can have many different prices? it all depends on where you look. - wait, you paid how much? - oh, dear! - well, this is awkward. that's why tripadvisor checks over 200 booking sites (cash register ringing) to find you a great price, and the hotel you want, so you don't end up overpaying for your room. no offense. find the right hotel room for the right price. ♪ hoo! read reviews, check hotel prices, book things to do. tripadvisor.

with advil liqui-gels, what stiff joints? what bad back? advil is... relief that's fast. strength that lasts. you'll ask... what pain? with advil liqui-gels. i love my babies, love my boys. since i'm a truck driver, you know there's times that i'm gone for like three weeks at a time. even if i'm 3,000 miles away, i'm connected with my boys. every day i can video chat with them. i could be in the middle of wyoming, even if i'm like waaay out here, i can still reach my kids. baby you, you see me? (sons) hey daddy! (vo) there for you when it matters most. unlimited on the best network now includes apple music and a samsung galaxy, on us. all starting at $40. only on verizon. that there's a lobster i in our hot tub?t. lobster: oh, you guys. there's a jet! oh...i needed this. no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on our car insurance with geico. we could have been doing this a long time ago.

so, you guys staying at the hotel? yeah, we just got married. oh ho-ho! congratulations! thank you. yeah, i'm afraid of commitment... and being boiled alive. oh, shoot. believe it. geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance. that guy's the worst. you do have a very bold set of policies. you have your wealth tax on fortunes of over $50 million. >> yes. >> that could produce close to $3 trillion over ten years. you've got a universal child care proposal, you've signed on to the new green deal. >> i have -- >> here's what i want to ask you because you're a student of history. there was a progressive era after the gilded age that teddy

roosevelt led and 40-hour work week and -- >> break up the big monopoly. >> exactly. then there was another era afranklin roosevelt led after the great depression. the difference now is we've had a long period of time in which there's been a concerted effort to grade government in all institutions and what you see now is people have little faith in most institutions, so the question is, now do you move a very, very big, expensive agenda through this congress in an environment in which people just don't trust government to deliver? >> let me answer this at two levels. the first one is when you talk about a big, expensive agenda, remember the wealth tax, the part that starts by saying we're going to put a 2% tax on fortunes for the money they have above $50 million. that would, for example, fully fund universal child care and

early education. >> it would. >> zero to 5, make an investment in our youngest kids and still have $2 trillion left over. so this is not like pie in the sky. this is real stuff that we could do. you ask a fundamental question and that is who actually is going to have the power in washington? that's what i believe the election of 2020 is going to be all about. it's why i believe we got to build from the grassroots. we have to build a foundation of people who are engaged in democracy again, and it's happening out there, david. people who have come off the sidelines -- i was in georgia and a woman came up to me and said -- she was in her 70s and she said this is my first political event. she said i've decided it's not enough anymore just to vote. >> you know, your colleague,

michael bennett, was in iowa the other day and one of the things he said was that you can't be progressive unless you produce progress, and it was a really good point, which is that you have to build consensus and embrace compromise so you can move progress forward. i thought when i saw that about the affordable care act. i thought about the financial reform that you were so instrumental in, both imperfect pieces of legislation but there were people who said to president obama, do not sign the affordable care act unless there's a public option. isn't that an important lesson that people need to embrace? you may not get the wealth tax but you may get something that will move progress forward. >> you know, look, there are always judgment calls in this. you don't have to have perfection, but you also have to pay attention to where the people are. the wealth tax, for example, man, you walk around the halls

of congress and it's like i think that's just unbelievable to think about. go out and talk to the american people about it. it's not only that democrats like it, that independents like it, the majority of republicans say that is a sensible idea. the people who have gotten so much from america, who have had the opportunity to build these great fortunes or who have inherited these great fortunes, paying just a little bit, 2%, pitching it back in so that our kids could have universal child care, so that we could reduce the student loan debt burden, that's something that a lot of folks around the country think is a good idea. when government aligns with the people, that's where you get your power. that's how it's supposed to work in a democracy. >> one of the things that keeps it from working is, as you say, organized money. >> yep. >> special interests.

>> yep. >> you took a step this week to change the way you're raising money for your campaign, and you said you're not going to have any fundraisers with -- >> not the high dollar fundraisers. i'm just not going to do that. >> but you have in the past, and you wrote in the book how uncomfortable you were with having to make these calls, but what was it about it that made you uncomfortable? >> the problem we've got is that money has too much influence in washington, and we have a chance in a democratic primary -- if it's just democrats against democrats, i'm not talking about when you're in a general, when the republicans have rolled out all the big guns and they've got all their dark money -- >> isn't it corrupting in general? >> the problem is you can't disarm the eunilateral. but in a primary we have a

fundamental issue as democrats, and that is what are we going to accomplish in this primary? are we going to say that the way we want to do this, can scoop up the most money and tv ads, that's how we're going to roll this forward, or are we going to use this as an opportunity to build the kind of grassroots foundation that will serve us in the 2020 election when we go into the general. when they roll out all their stuff, what's our secret weapon? the fact that we have built a foundation at the grassroots. it helps you take back the house, the senate, the state houses, the governors' mansions. >> bernie sanders raised $10 million in his first week and you haven't been raising money at that clip. are you worried that there's limited -- there are limited dollars out there and that -- i expect it's going to take $100 million to $150 million to get through the first four primaries and the california primary.

>> wow, look, all i can do is get out and fight the fight i believe in. because here's our opportunity in a primary. i'm only going to come this way once, david, as a first-time candidate for president of the united states. i want to run a campaign on principles and on ideas, and this is a chance to do that. >> the president has -- the republican argument is now becoming clearer which is you guys are all socialists, the radical left. any concerns about that? >> look, the president is going to say whatever he thinks helps the president. that's the end of it. this is not about our country. this is -- to talk about trying to make sure that our babies have child care at a time when families are spending somewhere around 20% of their pay on trying to get child care, so he'll say whatever he can to

distract from that. >> i was curious, the other day senator sanders kind of demured when he was asked if maduro qualifies as a dictator. do you share that reticence? >> no, i've already said it multiple times. he's a dictator and we should work with our allies to put as much pressure as we can on him, to support the opposition. we should be there for humanitarian relief and that means medicine and food but not as a pretext for military intervention. we need to support the people of venezuela as best we can and work with our allies to prevent an unfolding humanitarian disaster. >> let me ask you about i.c.e. you were one of the candidates who said you would disband it because it seemed like it was an easy target for the president to try and characterize democrats as soft on the border, not

interested in border enforcement. >> you know, i went down to the border and i saw what basically looked like a giant amazon warehouse, except it was dirty and it smelled bad. and as i came in, i saw the cages of men on my left and men just packed into one cage next to another next to another. so the same thing with cages of women on my right. then you walk into this big area and there are the cages out in the middle of this giant warehouse with little girls, just little girls, nobody else in them. cages of little boys. the way i came to see this is we have an obligation as a country to do two things. we need to keep ourselves safe and we also need to live our

values. to me, any part of our government that cannot understand the difference in the risk posed between a criminal, a terrorist and a 12-year-old girl is not doing either one of those things. it's not making us safer and it's not living up to our values. i think that means we need to reorganize the entire way we approach -- >> presumably, i assume that if elizabeth warren were president, i.c.e. would behave in a much different way than it's behaving right now, and also that you would have to establish some agency that does essentially what i.c.e. does. >> that's my point. we need to think in terms of our security but also in terms of our values and that we need to organize along those principles and enforce our laws along those principles. up next on "the axe files" -- >> i still remember my mother and i both, we thought he was going to die. building a better bank

starts with looking at something old, and saying, "really?" so we built capital one cafes, with savings and checking accounts you can open from here in 5 minutes. this is banking reimagined. what's in your wallet?

you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase sensimist relieves all your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. and all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. flonase sensimist. you can barely feel. what do you look for i want free access to research. yep, td ameritrade's got that. free access to every platform. yeah, that too. i don't want any trade minimums. yeah, i totally agree, they don't have any of those. i want to know what i'm paying upfront. yes, absolutely. do you just say yes to everything? hm. well i say no to kale. mm. yeah, they say if you blanch it it's better, but that seems like a lot of work. no hidden fees. no platform fees. no trade minimums. and yes, it's all at one low price. td ameritrade. ♪ i never thought i'd say this but i found bladder leak underwear that's actually pretty. always discreet boutique. hidden inside is a super absorbent core that quickly turns liquid to gel. so i feel protected and pretty. always discreet boutique.

why go with anybody else? we know their rates are good, we know that they're always going to take care of us. it was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. we're the tenney's and we're usaa members for life. call usaa to start saving on insurance today.

you grew up in oklahoma. >> i did. >> your dad had a variety of jobs, a janitor. he was a salesman. you write compellingly about the fact that he had a heart attack and lost his job as a result of that. your mother who hadn't been working, she had to go back to work. i was wondering how much of that was the reason that you were drawn later in life to this bankrupt rcy issue and the sortf

financial rules of the road. >> i still remember, my mother and i both, we thought he was going to die. he didn't. he made it home but we lost our family station wagon. my mom would put me to bed at night and i would hear them talk and it's where i learned words like mortgage and for closure. and i remember the day that i walked into their bedroom and my mother's there in her slip and her stockings. she's got the dress laid out on the bed, the one that only comes out weddings, funerals and graduations. she's walking back and forth and she's saying we will not lose this house, we will not lose this house, we will not lose this house. she was 50 years old. she had never worked outside the home. she was terrified. finally she wrestled that dress on. she put on her high heels.

she walked to the sears roebuck and got a minimum wage job, and that job saved our house and it saved our family. now, for a long time i thought that was a story just about my mother, how she showed me that no matter how scared you are, you reach down, you find the place, you pull it up and you do what has to be done. and then i came to understand it's the story of millions of families, people who reach down, find what it takes and do what has to be done to take care of themselves and their families. it's only years later that i came to understand it's also a story about government. when i was a girl -- you can go back and look at it. the question was when they're setting the minimum wage,

congress, was what's it take a family of three to get a towhold in america's middle class, to get that chance. today i sit in those hearings and the question is what impr e improves the profitability of giant corporations. i want a government that doesn't work for giant corporations. i want one that works for little families like mine. >> you came here to washington. you got a scholarship. you kind of went behind your parents' back and started exploring how you could get a scholarship, and you came here. your mother was uncertain about it, thought you should get a husband. >> diplomatic. >> and you came here to george washington for a couple of years, and then you left because -- >> i fell in love. >> high school sweetheart. >> i came here, i had just turned 17 when i came to college. i spent two years here. i had never been, i think, north or east of oklahoma when i end

up in washington d.c. then i'm back in oklahoma. i'm just 19 and the first boy i had ever dated and the first boy who had ever dumped me dropped back into my life one weekend. he's older than i am. he had finished school. he had a job, was ready to get married and he picked me. and it took me a nanosecond to say yes, and i dropped out of school and that was it. got married. >> comes under the heading of what you know now that you didn't know then. you worked your way through college. you had a child a couple of years later. you worked your way through -- and then another. you worked your way through college. >> baby, school, baby, school. >> i have to ask you about another family issue that you're probably sick of talking about, but this issue of your lineage and the native american issue

that has dogged you since your first senate race. there have been all kinds of reports about it including going through your hirings and asse asserting that there was no favoritism paid to you, but the question that i've never understood is why, why did you, in 1986, fill out on i guess your law license or something, application, american indian? why did you check those boxes? obviously that's a very small part of your lineage, 1/32 or something, so why did you do it? >> so, like you said, i grew up in oklahoma. i learned about my family the same way most people learn about their families, you know, from my mom and my dad, my aunts and my uncles. based on what i learned growing

up and the fact that i love my family, decades ago i sometimes identified as native american. it never had anything to do with any job that i ever got. that's been fully documented. >> the universities kind of fudged and used you for their own purposes. >> it never had anything to do with my getting a job. even so, i shouldn't have done it. i'm not a person of color. i am not a citizen of a tribe. but what i try to do is be a good friend to native americans, and that's why, for example, i have a housing bill that fully funds housing on tribal reservations. i think it's an important piece of what we do. >> you put out a video in the fall that went into this in some

detail. this is what angered the -- some of the tribal leadership. >> what do the facts say? >> the facts suggest that you absolutely have a native american ancestry in your pedigree. >> it was something that the president just picked up. he's branded you with this pocahontas thing and so on. was that a mistake to put that video out? >> i can't go back. all i can do is go forward. >> you can't go back but you can learn from it. >> and i think i have. >> did you learn about what not to do in dealing with donald trump? >> you know, look, donald trump is going to do what donald trump is going to do. for me, this is really about the fights. i i'm going to keep fighting going forward. right now i see this as a fight about what kind of a country we're going to be. are we going to be a country where we turn on each other? are we going to let donald trump

continue to stir us up and pit one group against the other? ahead on "the axe files" -- >> as you describe this like the proud parent you are, i'm wondering what if you had been the permanent director? you almost certainly would not have run for the senate. mm, uh? -not this. ♪ -oh, what am i into? mostly progressive's name your price tool. helps people find coverage options based on their budget. flo has it, i want it, it's a whole thing, and she's right there. -yeah, she's my ride. this date's lame. he has pics of you on his phone. -they're very tasteful. he has pics of you on his phone. ♪ t-mobile is always happy to see you. when you join t-mobile you get two lines of unlimited with two of the latest phones included

for just one hundred bucks a month. whooo! want to take your next vacation to new heights? tripadvisor now lets you book over a hundred thousand tours, attractions, and experiences in destinations around the world! like new york! from bus tours, to breathtaking adventures, tripadvisor makes it easy to find and book amazing things to do. and you can cancel most bookings up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund. so you can make your next trip... monumental! read reviews check hotel prices book things to do tripadvisor life isn't a straight line. things happen. and sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but at fidelity, we help you prepare for the unexpected with retirement planning and advice for what you need today and tomorrow. because when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward.

and so is our hair.makes sure every step is clear, we are a blend of strength and sensitivity... if fragile hair is part of your blend, we have a blend for you. new whole blends ginger recovery, for fragile hair. paraben free. blended with purpose. with revitalizing ginger, known to recover strength, and golden honey, known to fortify. as a whole blend, it provides twice the protection from breakage. making fragile hair stronger instantly. blended makes us strong. blended makes us better. new whole blends. by garnier, naturally. hello to the best part of the day.... with italian quality pizza. get two medium, one-topping pizzas for just $6.99 each. every store. every day. the italian way. hello primo.

so, this is a special place here. >> it is. >> because it started in your head and is now a real living, breathing institution of

government. tell me about the consumer financial protection bureau. >> so, you remember the basic problem because you were also there when this came to light but the basic problem was people getting cheated on their mortgages, on their credit cards, on a lot of their consumer borrowing, and there were seven different federal agencies, all of whom are the little piece that's supposed to enforce the law, and when seven different folks are supposed to do it, nobody was doing it. so the idea was when the crash came, don't just pass a couple of laws to say don't do that horrible thing and don't do that bad thing to people. it's, let's make structural change, and the structural change was let's gather up all of those responsibilities and let's put them in one place and let's give that agency the responsibility to make sure that consumers don't get cheated. >> president obama was a fan of this idea. >> yeah, he was.

>> and asked you to help set it up. >> you know, that was the amazing thing, to be able to build this with the support of the president. i still remember the first time i was invited to the white house after this had been signed into law and the very first question that the president asked me, he said, is it going to be strong enough to make a difference, and i said yeah. >> tell me what it's done. >> so, what this agency has done, is it's been the cop on the beat and that means it's actually been there to force big financial institutions when they cheat people not just to pay a little fine, a slap on the wrist, but actually to make them send the money back to the people they cheated. so far this agency has forced these big banks to return more than $12 billion directly to people they cheated.

a second thing it does is it's got a consumer complaint hotline. it turns out it's really easy because you tell everybody cfpd.gov. you go on when you think you got cheated, whatever it is, you can go there and the cfpd basically stamps it, sends it off to the credited t creditor, your complaint and monitors the response. >> i'm looking at the light in your eyes as you describe this like the proud parent that you are, and it occurs to me you wanted to be the direct of this agency. >> oh yeah, you bet. >> because you do engender strong reaction and i think a lot from the industry, that didn't happen. i'm listening to you speak and i'm wondering what if you had been the permanent director, you almost certainly would not have run for the senate in massachusetts. >> no, i would have stayed and done this because that would have been my chance to serve.

that would have been the way that i could have made a difference. when i couldn't make a difference that way, i found another way and that was running for the senate. >> so what is the status of the cfpd now because the administration has not been all that enthused about its mission and, in fact, sent mick mulvaney over when he was the budget director to kind of get things under control. >> look, mulvaney made it clear he doesn't like the agency from before he was ever asked to come over and run. that's why he was picked. one of the first things he wanted to do was get a different mission statement because he thought the agency shouldn't just be for consumers, it should be out there to serve banks. he tried as best he could to make that a part of what the agency is doing. i look at it this way, the agency is still there. it's still a cop on the beat, maybe not as strong as the cop that was there before.

>> maybe the cop in the doughnut shop. >> maybe spent a little too much time at the doughnut shop, but the consumer complaint hotline is still there, it's still working, and the basic structure of the agency, that there still is one part of government that has one job and that is to look out for american consumers, that part still works. >> you know, one of your celebrated exchange was with the ceo of >> you should resign. you should give back the money you took while this scam was going on. and you should be criminally investigated. >> it made me wonder, when you look back at the, the early days after the financial crisis, was not enough done in your mind to prosecute people, to hold them responsible? >> look. i have this fight over and over with tim geithner.

i felt like there was not enough accountability. that they came in. they cheated families. they sold them mortgages that were like grenades with the pins pulled out. then they boxed it up and put it into the economy until they literally brought our economy to its knees. they cost millions of people their homes, their jobs, their savings. and at the end of the day, they just weren't held accountable. that's not how the world is supposed to work. for a family that has a kid that ends up caught with a few ounces of pot or some pills. man, there is a criminal justice system that grinds them through. but the ceo of a giant financial institution can keep perpetuating frauds on the american people and they end up with bonuses.

that's not, that's not a justice system that works. >> let me ask you a different question. across the street is the old executive office building. >> what a beauty. >> right across from that is the white house. donald trump probably gets quite a bit of criticism in the precincted in which you travel. he still has a consistent 40% of the vote. why do you think people support him? >> my view of this is that our job now for the next year is to make the case for how we can do better. the way i see it, we have to reach out to all of america. i have three brothers in oklahoma. one of the three is a democrat. but all three of my brothers and me, we share a lot of the same

values and we want a lot of the same things. >> so you think there are people who are gettable. >> i think we have to reach out to all of america. i think that the politics of division are not working for us. we've got to make the case for what we see as the opportunity in america to createhances. i think america can invest. up next -- >> the majority stood up. he said something that it seems to me may be a coda on your whole career and your whole life. what did he say? as deployed. i video chatted the entire birth. i had great connectivity. his entire platoon was standing next to him. they kept telling me, "you gotta push! you gotta push!" they all got to meet forest, all together.

about 50 of them. and they all started crying. it was the sweetest thing i have ever seen. (vo) there for you when it matters most. unlimited on the best network now includes apple music and a samsung galaxy, on us. all starting at $40. only on verizon.

i never thought i'd say this but i found bladder leak underwear that's actually pretty. always discreet boutique. hidden inside is a super absorbent core that quickly turns liquid to gel. so i feel protected and pretty. always discreet boutique. just as important as what you get out of it? our broccoli cheddar is made with aged melted cheddar, simmered broccoli, and no artificial flavors. enjoy 100% clean soup today. panera. food as it should be. that we just hit the motherlode of soft-serve ice cream? i got cones, anybody wants one! oh, yeah! get ya some!

no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. ed! ed! we struck sprinkles! [cheers] believe it. geico could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

want more from your entejust say teach me more. into your xfinice remote to discover all sorts of tips and tricks in x1. can i find my wifi password? just ask. [ ding ] show me my wifi password. hey now! [ ding ] you can even troubleshoot, learn new voice commands and much more. clean my daughter's room. [ ding ] oh, it won't do that. welp, someone should. just say "teach me more" into your voice remote and see how you can have an even better x1 experience. simple. easy. awesome. your book is very compelling. the they know that brought tears to my eye was the mention of otis, your dog, him passing away right before you came to the

senate. you have a new dog, bailey. >> i do. dogs are important to you. >> yeah, they are. otis was a big part of my life. he was there from the beginning when i came down to washington to set up the consumer agency. bruce is the one that had to go back and forth. when i got into the senate campaign, i had never seen any part of this. never done any part of it. it was otis who was always there. i'll tell you, sometime i feel like in aggravating phone calls, what i do is i sit on the floor and i rub otis, i calm otis. there is something about a dog that just kind of grounds you in

life. whatever today seem noisy and aggravating, it is a dog that brings you back. >> i've got my own. count me in. there was an interesting thing happened on the floor of the senate when jeff sessions nomination came up for the attorney general. you there was a letter from mrs. king. >> written to the senate. and had been part of the record back then. finally the majority leader stood up. he said something that it seem to me may be a coda on your whole career and on your whole life. what did he say? he said that i have been warned.

nevertheless, she persisted. >> yes. yours is a story of persisting. >> it is. thank you. good to see you. >> for more of this conversation, you can download the podcast at axefiles podcast.com. it is 8:00 eastern. 5:00 in the evening out west. you are live in the newsroom. we begin this hour with the president seeking to rebound after a week marred by defeat in vietnam and on capitol hill. the president went off script delivering a speech for cpac. the president tackling a number of topics, the russia investigation, lashing out at congress, and criticizing his

2020 challengers. >> the