If youre a white conservative, youre a racist. The republican playbook, make racist policy and then complain about being accused of racism. And how vaccine passports are becoming the new masks in the covid culture wars. They want you to be required to have something called a covid passport. It is Something Like bidens mark of the beast because that is really disturbing. All in starts right now. Good evening from washington, d. C. Many of us across america have spent the last year doing our best to avoid going out, missing out on spending precious time with family and friends, wearing a mask when we did go out to keep the people around us safe. Some of us did this because we thought it was the right thing to do. Wile others did it because their state or local governments or private businesses made them do it. But some americans were never really obligated to do any of these things because they live in florida, a state where republicans have, from the beginning of the pandemic, acted like covid19 did not exist. Even as thousand of people were dying in that state. Florida congressman matt gaetz famously mocked the severity of the outbreak wearing a mass mask on the floor of the house of representatives. In an unrelated story breaking tonight, gaetz is reportedly under investigation over a possible sexual relationship with a 17yearold girl. Well speak to one of the reporters who broke that story in just a little bit. But first we begin tonight with floridas lack of a covid prevention strategy. In fact, the states republican governor, ron desantis, who refused to intact a statewide mask mandate throughout the pandemic bucking the decisions of more liberal states like mississippi and texas, is moving to overturn local mask mandates and basically doing everything he can to make the people of florida even less safe. And for those of you thinking, well, im sorry to hear that, but i dont live in florida, the New York Times reports, quote, scientists view florida, the state furthest along in lifting restrictions, reopening society and welcoming tourists as a bellwether for the nation. If recent trends there are any indication, the rest of the country may be in trouble. And that is because thanks in large part to the republicans running the state, florida itself looks like it is facing a new covid surge. The times says over the past week the state has averaged nearly 5,000 cases a day, increase of 8 from its average two weeks earlier. B. 1. 1. 7, the more contagious variant first identified in britain, is also rising exponentially in florida where it accounts for a greater proportion of total cases than any other case. Miami beach imposed an emergency 8 00 p. M. Curfew last week after thousands of tourists flocked to the city for spring break. Despite all this, Governor Desantis is insisting the state is open for business no matter what. Desantis signed a covid19 Liability Protection bill to protect business, governments and Health Care Providers from lawsuits. He banned passports to confirm covid19. New Research Published early this month in the american journal of Public Health argues that florida undercounting the number of people who died from covid19 by thousands of cases, casting new doubt on claims that Governor Ron Desantis navigated the coronavirus pandemic successfully. So, to summarize, covid is getting worse, the governor is actively taking steps to make people less safe and businesses less responsible. And now it looks like theyve been lying about how bad things really are. Perhaps Governor Desantis was a bit hasty when he said this last may. You got a lot of people in your profession who wax poetically for weeks and weeks ability how florida was going to be just like new york. Wait two weeks, florida is going to be next. Just like italy, wait two weeks. Hell, were eight weeks away from that and it hasnt happened. Of course that tape didnt age too well. Maybe some people want to rethink headlines like this from just 12 days ago that reads how ron desantis won the pandemic. Yeah, several times on this show my good friend chris hayes described the Trump Administration as objectively procovid because of its policies that seem to help the virus spread. But desantis recently said to be the next president ial nominee if trump doesnt run again, hes clearly trumps mini me when it comes to handling the coronavirus. Hes as reckless and antiscience as trump was, and that makes him as popular as ever with a conservative base that doesnt care about mass death in the countries. They care more about businesses being open and safe from litigation than americans or floridians getting sick or dying. Ron desantis is objectively procovid too. Hes doing everything he can to help the virus while doing everything he can to hinder democracy. I can say that because after georgia republicans passed a new law making it harder to vote in their state, Florida Republicans supported by ron desantis are pushing similar legislation, that would ban giving voters in line water, something that republican senator Lindsey Graham admitted he did not understand. Although its become clear that Governor Desantis has no problem supporting an agenda that hurts the people of his state. Charlie chris nanos something about leading florida. He served as the states republican governor for four years. Congressman, thanks for coming on the show tonight. What do you make of Governor Desantis policies on covid that only seem to benefit the virus itself in your state. Theyre terribly disappointing. Ive lived here since i was three years old. I was born in pennsylvania. This is a state i love with all my heart. To see the policies the governor is promoting, not wearing a mask, not being socially distanced appropriately, it seems like he doesnt care. And it hurts me and pains me to say that. But when you see these policies and kind of bragging about how were over it, weve made it through, and then you watch spring break and see what happens. And now as you said from the New York Times, were experiencing a surge, about 5,000 cases a day on average, 8 more in an increase than it was just two weeks ago. Its incredibly disappointing. Its unconscionable. Its not compassionate, its not caring and its not right. So, what can florida democrats, what can the average floridian do to counter these policies on the ground, given whats coming from above from the highest office in the state . Well, listen to the guy in the highest office in the land, President Biden. Hes got it right. The president has been thoughtful. Hes been thorough. Hes been laser focused and compassionate about how to handle this virus. You know, he already achieved 100 million vaccines in about 55 days on track to probably get to over 200 million vaccines in the first 100 days. Thank god for President Biden. He is doing an extraordinary job looking out for the people of the entire country, doing whats right and the kind of leadership that florida needs to have right now. Its a good thing that we dont just rely on Governor Desantis and his lack of leadership. We can rely on President Biden and his true leadership of compassion, honesty, transparency, which is another issue in florida. The Governors Office is dragging on request from Media Outlets all over the place, wont give them. And now we hear tonight in your intro there may be lying actually happening about the number of deaths in florida perhaps even thousands more than theyre reporting. Its disgraceful. It is disgraceful and sad. The thing is, congressman, no matter how good you think President Bidens policies are at the federal level, the governor of the state like florida has a lot of power. Hes threatening to use his executive orders to ban vaccine passports in florida. I just ive got to ask the question. Your old party, its all culture wars all the time, and weve gone from treating a mask as a political symbol to now suddenly the idea of just telling businesses that youve been vaccinated by an app on your phone, thats the greatest assault on liberty according to the Republican Party. Its unbelievable. Theres an assault on our country, and as President Biden says were at war with this virus and we have to take it seriously. We have variants creeping up that came in from britain. I read an article the other day that said florida is the number one in variants right now. And theyre more deadly and theyre more transferrable. You know, its unbelievable to see this. You know, i went to the super bowl. Im a big tampa bay buccaneer fan, mehdi, and i went to the game. Im told from news accounts the governor was at the same game in a box, not wearing a mask, not providing leadership, not doing whats right. I went to the same game in the stands wearing a mask and it was plenty easy to watch. Why he continues to not lead and keep floridians from actually voting, but not only the one you cited but not providing water, also trying to make it more Difficult People to mailin ballot to election day. Thats going to hurt our seniors particularly. I mean, lets be honest, congressman, even when you were in the Republican Party, Voter Suppression was a thing on the right. It wasnt something that just started, but its been taken to new levels post2020 election. Could you still define the Republican Party as the party that believes in democracy and free and Fair Elections . Pretty hard to honestly. I thought about that today. Independent of whatever were talking about you tonight, when i was governor i issued an executive order to the contrary to support the democracy in the 2008 election between john mccain and president barack obama to extend the voting hours because the lines were so long in the heat. Now theyre talking about not providing water for people, making it harder to get mailin ballots. When i was governor, i tried to do what was right. For me its never been right versus left. Its been right versus wrong. Its how my mom and dad raised me. My dads a Family Doctor and told us you have two ears and one mouth. Listen twice as much as you talk and respect gods ratio, its amazing what you can learn. You know that, my friend. Indeed. And the Voting Rights struggle is not about the big d democratic party, its all small b democrats, all of us. Thank you for your time tonight. I appreciate it. My pleasure. Thank you, sir. Next, more on the stunning new reporting that republican congressman matt gaetz is being investigated by the Justice Department over a possible sexual relationship with a 17yearold girl. Ill talk with the New York Times reporter who broke that story right after this short break. Eak. As a repairman, i hear a lot of folks say they feel like they have to rinse off dirty dishes like these before loading them in the dish washer. But new cascade platinum changes all that. New cascade platinum, with 50 more cleaning power it dissolves fast to start cleaning sooner, releasing the soaking power of dawn. Then cascades foodseeking enzymes latch on and break down food into particles so small they can flow right down the drain. And its powerful enough for the quickwash cycle new cascade platinum with 50 more cleaning power the 1 brand just got better one of Donald Trumps staunchest allies while he was in office was Florida Republican congressman matt gaetz, a man extremely eager to go on fox news and fiercely defend the then president against all critics. Gaetz is still in congress, but this morning axios reported he was eyeing early retirement to take a job at news max. Turns out there was a lot more going on. The New York Times broke the news that gaetz is being investigated by the Justice Department over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17yearold and paid for her to travel with him, according to three people briefed on the matter. Gaetz told the times hes the subject of the probe but not the target. Hes known about the investigation for a while and told the times that he and his lawyers have been in touch with the Justice Department but only knows the investigation has to do with women and that, i have a suspicion people is trying to recharacterize my generosity as something untoward. He later told axios that the charges are false and rooted an extortion against his family and he was never involved with anyone who was underage, adding, ive definitely in my single days provided for women, ive dated, you know, ive paid for flights for hotel rooms. Ive been, you know, generous as a partner. I think someone is trying to make that look criminal when it is not. He tweeted the extortion attempt involved a former doj official seeking 25 million. And his father has been wearing a wire at the fbis direction to catch these criminals. For more on whats going on here i want to turn to one of the reporters who broke this story, new york city washington correspondent michael schmidt. Thank you so much for joining me on the show tonight. I appreciate it. Tell us what gaetz is being investigated for and the whole distinction between target and subject. Gaetz is being looked at because under federal law you cannot have a sexual relationship with someone under the age of 18 and transport them over state lines and pay for them to move with you for that sexual act. And that is one of the questions that the authorities are examining. Gaetz tried to make the distinction when we spoke to him, as you pointed out, between a subject and a target. And as i as i think serves as a great example of this, Hillary Clinton in the Hillary Clinton email investigation was never a target. The entire investigation was about whether Hillary Clinton broke the law. It was actually so much about that that the fbi director took the extraordinary move of holding a press conference to talk about what they found and lay that out. So, the distinction between the target and a subject in that example certainly clearly shows that it doesnt really mean a lot. So, in this case very good point. His conduct is being scrutinized, its being looked at, its being investigated, and obviously this is something that started under attorney general barr, which, you know, perhaps shows the merits of what theyre looking at. Yeah. You know, the obvious response would be to say this is a witch hunt by the biden doj. But its not. It started under bill barr. Its coming, its coming. A wellknown republican. How far along is this investigation, and how long has matt gaetz known about it . Do we know . Its unclear how long gaetz has known about it, and its unclear how far it goes back. What we do know is that it is an outgrowth, it is part of an investigation of a local Tax Collector in seminole county, florida. This is right outside of orlando. And the feds have been looking at this Tax Collector who rode the trump wave, got elected in 2016, and has been investigated and the feds have uncovered an array of corruption on his behalf. It is in the course of that investigation that the authorities went in and executed search warrants and found some of the evidence that has led them to this gaetz investigation. So, this is something that started as a as something that was just focused on this Tax Collector, and it has grown into something far bigger with obviously far bigger political implications than a local Tax Collector. Big time. But what is this were now hearing this evening from gaetz himself about an alleged extortion plot . So, this is what he you know, he laid this out to us on the phone today. At first i didnt follow all the intricacies of it, and i was trying to understand what he was saying. We acknowledge, you know, that he makes this claim in our story. He has now put out these tweets about it. You know, you know, maybe he feels this is an extraordinary thing thats going on, so he has disclosed the fact that his father was wearing a wire. Thats usually something thats not disclosed by people that have been wearing a wire, but maybe in this case he feels the need to lay that out. But it certainly, you know, thats that is what he is saying. That is his argument. Hes also saying that he didnt have sexual relations with women under the age of 18. Hes provided that example, that explanation you played earlier about there may have been things he paid for but he did not do this. And it sort of remains to be seen where it heads from here. Yeah, well, indeed well have to see where it goes from here. Michael schmidt thanks so much for your time tonight and thank you for your reporting. Appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Next, dramatic testimony in day two of the Derek Chauvin murder trial as witnesses took the stand, including the young woman who recorded the now infamous video. What we learned today after this short break. Short break. On the second day of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin whos facing three charges in the death of george floyd last may we heard deeply compelling and emotional testimony from several witnesses, the youngest of whom was just 9 years old. They told the jury not just what they saw that day but why it was disturbing and upsetting and why each felt they had to intervene. This came as the defense continued as they did yesterday to try to place the blame on anybody b