people understand that covid is here for a while. they understand that it can be deadly and cause long covid. there is more acceptance of vaccines. there is more acceptance of masking with some notable holdout. and i think there will be more acceptance of mandates, whether it s in health care or on employers like tyson foods and others, we re going to see more mandates for vaccines. we re going to see more mandates for mask use in places where the virus is spreading wildly. that s a good thing because that will allow us to keep our economy growing, to keep our kids in school and to save a lot of lives. we don t want the kids doing remote learning once again, and we know that these steps will save lives. dr. freedman, thanks so much for joining us. thank you. just ahead, new revelations that former president trump was close to waging a coup here in the united states as he pressured u.s. justice department officials to back his big lie about the presidential
capitol hill, meeting in solidarity with democratic senators as their majority leader, chuck schumer, reportedly expects his caucus to push to take up voting rights legislation ahead of the senate s rapidly approaching summer recess with an eye on next year s mid terms. what appears to be a budding victory lap for the biden administration, the containment of covid-19, thanks to a vigorous vaccination campaign is now in peril at a crucial time. with the delta variant of the covid-19 virus ravaging the nation, specifically those states where republican governors have demonized if not thenned to punish the mandated mask use of masks. all of that tonight on politics nation. so let s get started.
of florida here by some 27 plaintiffs on behalf of parents who have children with disabilities, and they say that by not mandating mask use in schools here in the state of florida that their children are being put at risk. these are special needs children who maybe can t wear a mask. so, again, the debate over mask wearing continues as kids are about to head back to the classrooms. all right. stephanie reporting from tampa. stephanie, thanks so much. the biden administration is considering using federal powers in the fight against the delta variant. nbc s mike memoli is in delaware. we have learned throughout the panned, the states, the governors have a lot of power. how is the white house responding to some of the republican governors refusing to bring back mandates or even preventing some local officials from putting them in place? reporter: yeah, joe. unfortunately, since even the earliest days of this pandemic mask wearing has been a highly politicized issue. it was really on
and he s really just making it hard in order to, you know, do these ridiculous red meat speeches. and the people he s speaking to, he s the governor of florida. he s the most powerful voice in our state. nationally, he s an influential vote. and i believe the people who would probably listen to him the most are likely the people who aren t taking the vaccine at the level they should, or aren t going to wear masks when they need to. he could save thousands of lives, i m convinced, if he simply took a position that is different than the one he s taking right now. how do you feel about governor desantis leaving florida in the middle of this surge to fund-raise in utah last week? this whole thing has been politicized. and you ve seen it from the beginning. politicizing mask use was just the most absurd thing, politicizing the vaccine, and now doing it again.
supporters, are likely people who aren t taking the vaccine at the level they should or aren t going to wear masks when they need to. so he could actually save thousands of lives, i m convinced, if he simply took a position that s different than the one he s taking right now. well, how do you feel about governor desantis leaving florida in the middle of this surge to fund-raise in utah last week? listen, this has become this whole thing has been politicized, and you ve seen it, don, from the beginning. politicizing mask use was just the most absurd thing. politicizing the vaccine and now doing it again. i mean, you know, we had a huge surge in our state, and then we implemented mask mandates when the cdc said, and it went right down. then we started to open up, and he banned mask mandates, and the surge happened again. it s almost like you can watch the surge of hospitalizations to the things that the governor has done. you know what, i had gone along