Was in a Resting State Meaning like he just rested his knee on his neck then as covid cases surge in wisconsin, republicans shot down the governors mask mandate while in pennsylvania infrastructure week finally arrives. Its big, yes its bold, yes and we can get it done when all in starts now. Good evening from washington, d. C. Im Medhi Hassan In for chris hayes. If youve been following the news today youve probably heard a lot about the Justice Department investigation into republican congressman matt gaetz into potential Sex Trafficking tied to an alleged sexual relationship with a 17yearold girl, which gaetz denies there have been a lot of crazy developments in this story since we first reported on it last night, and were going to bring you all of them. But first we thought it would be worth reminding you who matt gaetz was before he was under investigation in a child Sex Trafficking case because this guy is really something. Gaetz is the son of wealthy former Florida Senate president don gaetz whose connections and deep pockets helped his son get elected to the Florida House and eventually to the United States congress in 2008 matt gaetz was arrested on suspicion of Drunk Driving while driving his dads bmw. The charges were eventually dropped but the incident reinforced his local reputation as an entitled near do Elas One Local Paper described him. Mocking Food Stamp Recipients and facing acswrags of racism for questioning the intelligence of two black lawmakers and then he came to washington and quickly became known as one of Donald Trumps staunchest defenders. With Gaetz Agregleefully Trollig the former president s critics as a u. S. Congressman gaetz brought an accused Holocaust Denier to the state of the union, suggested george soros was paying Honduran Kids to storm the u. S. Border. When the father of a child murdered in the child Parkland School shooting called gaetz a liar for having the gall to tie immigration to those School Shootings gaetz responded by demanding the father be removed from the hearing and going back to his talking points. Gaetz wore a gas mask on the House Floor Last March to mock Covid Concerns and partied maskless with members of new York Young Republican Club in december, near the height of the pandemic i could go on. Theres plenty more. Butt lets end with this in 2017 gaetz was the lone novote on an antihuman trafficking bill, which brings us to the federal Sex Trafficking investigation into matt gaetz the congressman says the allegations are invented and he suggests theyre tied to an Extortion Scheme which is now being investigated but its important to note these are two separate investigations. Theyre not necessarily even connected. Even if gaetz wants you to think they are last night the congressman went on fox news to give his side of the story. An interview you likely didnt see because you quite rightly were watching all in at the time gaetz no doubt expected friendly treatment from that network. Thats what fox news gives almost all republicans and he might have gotten it had he not attempted to throw the host of the show he was on and the host wife under the bus. Im not the only person onscreen right now whos been falsely accused of a terrible sex act. You were accused of something that you did not do, and so you know what this feels like. I can say that actually you and i went to dinner about two years ago. Your wife was there and i brought a friend of mine youll remember her, and she was actually threatened by the fbi i really saw this as a deeply troubling challenge for My Family On March 16th when people were, you know, talking about a minor and that there were pictures of me with child prostitutes. I may have watched that clip a dozen times. It went so well for him. I mean if you were a republican and you cant get Tucker Carlson on your side, you probably have a problem on your hands. You just heard a matt gaetz interview. That was one of the weirdest interviews ive ever conducted i dont think it clarified much but it certainly shows this is deeply interesting story and well be following it. Dont quite understand it. He may not have won over tucker, but you know who is defending matt gaetz today, none other than republican congressman jim jordan of ohio who used to be a Wrestling Coach at ohio state and who former wrestlers say turned a blind eye to rampant sexual abuse by a team doctor who was molesting athletes, which jordan denies. So at least gaetz has that going for him. Last night democratic representative ted lou called for gaetz to be remove from the Judiciary Committee until the investigation is complete seeing as hes facing a Justice Department investigation nbc news asked the House Republican leader, House Minority leader Kevin Mccarthy about that today if a member of my conference gets indicted theyll get removed from a committee he says this is not true, and we have a Newspaper Report that says something else. Im pretty sure if it turns out to be the case that matt gaetz is a child sex trafficker, youll want to do more than just take him off the Judiciary Committee. Anyway before we get to our guests tonight theres a couple other things you need to know about this story first in that interview Last Night Gaetz claimed a former Justice Department employee whos long been in practice was behind the Extortion Plot. Mago denied it to the daily beast speculating this is a blatant attempt to distract from the fact that matt gaetz is apparently Sex Trafficking underage girls the other name you need to know is Joel Greenberg who posted this selfie with gaetz and another man in front of the white house back in 2019 as Rachel Maddow deftly laid out last night, greenberg is a character almost beyond belief he was indicted on charges tied to his alleged harassment and stalking of a political opponent and allegedly used his position at the county Tax Collector to obtain surrendered drivers licenses and used them to create fake i. D. S for himself and also charged with Sex Trafficking as a child between the ages and he has pleaded not guilty. Just today federal prosecutors filed a third superseding indictment against greenberg which involves stealing money from the Tax Collectors office to buy Crypto Currency the investigation apparently stemmed into the Probe Into Greenberg and now both men are facing investigations into Sex Trafficking involving a child. Back in 2017 greenberg posted this selfie with gaetz and trump ally roger stone and i cant help but wonder what would the reaction be i dont know if aoc or ilhan omar was in the picture of a man charged with Sex Trafficking of a child. Qanon would go crazy, and yet no one seemed to care when matt gaetz did exactly that at least not until now im joined by two people tonight with great insight into this case New York Times justice reporter katie benner and former reporter cynthia oxny who specialized in sex crime cases. Thank you both for your time tonight. What have your learned since your initial shocking report yesterday . What weve learned in the last 24 hours is really more detail about the alleged Extortion Plot lets keep in mind the alleged Extortion Plot is different from the allegations against Congressman Gaetz about child Sex Trafficking. Thats an investigation going on for more than a half a year. What happened a couple weeks ago two men approached the congressmans father don gaetz they said in a document gaetz did provide to new york city, these men said were aware your son might have legal issues, he might be under investigation by the fbi. Were aware this hurt him, were also aware you have money we could use in order to do something great, bring back robert levinson, a man Who Diserpood in iraq, somebody who the government has declared deceased but people had been searching for a long time. They felt they had a lead on this and with don gaetzs money they could bring the man back to the United States. This is very convoluted scheme the hope would be the American Government would be so happy and President Biden would be so happy Congressman Gaetz would be pardoned for any crimes. Don gaetz our sources tell us felt this was an unusual document, it was an unusual ask. He eventually contacted the fbi. He has worn a wire into two meetings with these men, at least two phone conversations. And that was the the wire was what matt gaetz revealed on twitter and then in his Tucker Carlson astonishing interview. Cynthia, just pooebe clear if someones wearing a wire in an Ongoing Investigation its not wise to out that person with the wire especially if theyre your dad, is it no, its not wise but nothing is happening wise. Its not wise to go on Tucker Carlson and accuse him of other sexual pick dilloes. Its not wise to go on Tucker Carlson and instead of denying you had anything to do with child Sex Trafficking, just deny you traveled on interstate you know, crossed state lines, not that anybody was under 18. It doesnt make any sense to do a lot of things hes done. He mentioned, oh, people are saying there are pictures porn graphic pictures me and child prostitutes. Its not really wise to bring that up, but thats what hes doing. And so wisdom is not driving the day for matt gaetz and cynthia, just to be clear as katie mentioned, the alleged Extortion Plot is not necessarily tied to the Sex Trafficking investigation, right . Theyre two separate things. Yeah, theyre totally unrelated. I mean, the Extortion Plot from what we understand is relatively recent, and the investigation into the Seminole County tax assessor has been going on for quite some time. And i might add in that investigation theyre upping the pressure and upping the pressure he had 12 charges against him and today they filed 21 more they are putting the pressure on him. And what that means is, he is in more and more trouble and needs desperately to get some help and the way to do that is to rollon somebody else. So its a big concern for gaetz that this man is in bigger and bigger trouble because he may very well want to talk about gaetz in order to save himself indeed he may let me ask you this, katie, in your reporting what have you discovered in terms of the connections between matt gaetz and Joel Greenberg because weve seen the photos and put them up outside the white house with roger stone, i believe even endorsed him for a potential congressional run. We know greenberg has been really public about his friendship with gaetz. It seems greenberg has flaunted it, proud about it gaetz has been public in support about greenberg but maybe lowkey how close they really are. We also know from reporting the two of them were known to spend a tremendous amount of time together there were bars they liked to frequent and also they liked to be at parties together so they were really close social companions and known to have a very active social and dating life and im sure were going to discover more in the coming days let me ask you this, cynthia you have prosecuted crimes in this field talk to us about what this doj investigation not just into greenberg whos indicted, matt gaetz whos not indicted, but talk to us what potential crimes were talking about, what laws are being broken, what the penalties are. The penalties are pretty severe depend on what exactly the age turns out to be. Probably what it sounds like its a tenyear felony, which is to entice a person, a child under the age of 18 to cross state lines to have sex with them for anything of value and that could be paying them. It could be paying for their hotel, Plane Tickets and oddly in gaetzs statement he said, well, you know, in prior times with prior girlfriends, you know, i was very generous and i did pay for Plane Tickets. Its kind of an odd thing to say given that those are the elements of the crime. So, again, this is a person who need to exercise his Fifth Amendment right and remain silent and get a lawyer. Matt gaetz is not known for remaining silent lets be honest about that katie, the lawyer gaetz accused of extortion said he did speak to gaetzs dad telling the Washington Post don gaetz called me and asked to talk to me only would say it was a pleasant conversation about a dad concerned of his son a lot the of the extortion part of this revolves around that conversation i think we know with those conversations they discussed the document which i mentioned earlier this plan whereby they could find a missing american and bring him home with great triumph. I dont get any indication from that conversation any explicit asks were made and so while the details of that investigation continue to emerge, youre right mr. Magee does sound very confident. He himself did work at the Justice Department he would have firm grasp on his own legal liability and well see what happens well have to leave it there. Thank you both so much unfortunately were out of thim toosh but thank you for your insights tonight you helped us understand a very complicated story. Appreciate it. Coming up, its infrastructure week in america no, for real this time its infrastructure week pennsylvanias Lieutenant Governor John Fedderman was with the president for the kick off in pittsburgh and hes here to talk to me about this next step in American Relief and the looming battle it sets up in congress dont go away. Well be back after this short b break. What im proposing is a onetime Capital Investment of roughly 2 trillion in americas future spread largely over eight years. It will generate historic job growth, historic economic growth, help businesses to compete internationally and create more revenue as well. Failing to make these investments adds to our debt and effectively puts our children at a disadvantage relative our competitors. Thats what crumbling infrastructure does, and our infrastructure is crumbling. During the president ial Campaign Joe Biden promised a new Infrastructure Program worthy of an fdr or lbj. And today in pittsburgh in an attempt to make good on that Promise Biden unveiled a National Rebuilding program that would return Government Investment in research and infrastructure as a share of the economy to its highest levs since the 1960s. The 2 trillion program focuses on traditional infrastructure like roads and bridges as well as combating Climate Change. But is 2 trillion enough particularly when it comes to what is an existential threat to humanity congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortez says it isnt nearly enough and voters agree a new politico morning poll out today registered voters with a two to one margin would back a 3 trillion infrastructure bill. Lieutenant governor John Fetterman now a candidate for the u. S. Senate and joins me now. Thank you so Puch Fomuch For Con this show. 2 trillion is a great start but when aoc and progressives point out thats over eight years, tan thats not enough they have a point, dont they . Sure. I would like to see it go bigger, too. However were looking at a situation theres isnt one single republican willing to bite in its current scope. So it seems like this would be the size the Democratic Coalition can hold together and they would proceed through reconciliation thats what it seems to me of course to me its just one more reason to get rid of the filibuster but my part would be bigger would be better, but at the same time, though, 2 trillion is still pretty sweet thats going to be a lot of roads and bridges and a lot of millions of job. But without a doubt it could go bigger yeah. And i think well both agree and most people watching would agree 2 trillion is a great start but can we go bigger and given Climate Change, for example, its a huge challenge hundreds of billions and recently senator ed markey was pushing for a 10 trillion Green Infrastructure plan. When you look at the 10 trillion and 2 trillion, everything is relative in life i know but youre thinking we could go bigger if we want to take Climate Change seriously. Without a doubt Climate Change is an Kpigexistential Tht and we do need to address it if this is the maximum the Democratic Caucus can maintain to maintain their 50 vote and Vice President harris breaking the tiebreaker and proceeding through reconciliation, you know, im going to be ultimately okay with that because this would be a first down payment on infrastructure as far as im concerned joe biden is living up to his promise. He promised infrastructure week, and today in pittsburgh it was infrastructure week. So talk to me about what this bill this proposal as it currently stands will mean for pittsburgh and pennsylvania more broadly . I meanit would mean everything my gosh, i said this earlier today. Its like if infrastructure is elvis, pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania is graceland. And thats why joe is here he understood that he was born in pennsylvania. He gets it he knows pittsburgh and pennsylvanias contribution to our original infrastructure, which made us a great industrial power. So he knows that, and this plan of course wed all like to see it bigger as democrats and to make that case but if the votes arent there and if this is the maximum our caucus will allow, im going to be okay with 2 trillion because i know firsthand the number of bridges, roads, water systems, all kinds of other Infrastructure Improvements that Red And Blue County pennsylvania used and this is going to be a boom for the union way of life, millions of new jobs and an investment and down payment on the next wave of american prosperity that our original investments in infrastructure produced, in which my children who are now young will be able to partake and benefit from. Indeed. And so as we mentioned a moment ago the polls show its a very popular thing to spend money on, popular with democrats and republicans at large, infrastructure spending. A tweet from ed mortem the u. S. Chamber of commerce just a few weeks ago saying our members are willing to stand behind elected leaders in both parties who will vote to do the right thing and make those needed investments and as you say, though, not a single republican is fighting for it and today Mitch Mcconnell said biden called him yesterday to talk about the new infrastructure plan, and yet the gop leader signaled his opposition to the proposal pointing to the tax hikes. Have a listen. My advice to the administration is if you want to do an infrastructure bill, lets do an infrastructure bill. Lets dont turn it into a massive effort to raise taxes on businesses and individuals how do you think that kind of rhetoric and the general negativity of the Republican Party both for the American Rescue plan, now for this infrastructure proposal, how is that going to play on the ground in states like pennsylvania, in swing states yeah, of course lets be honest here Leader Mcconnell is being grossly disingenuous this is about recalibrating a Corporate Income tax that never should have been lowered the way it was under the Trump Administration much lower than even the corporations themselves asked for. So right off the bat thats disingenuous theyre not raising any taxes on individuals and he knows that. And thats just a negative spin. If Mitch Mcconnell is for something chances are im going to be against it but this is just one more example of the republicans and the filibuster holding back america from big plans a majority of americans want to me i think the 2 trillion is as big as we can get right now, i think we need to be hey thats pretty good. But it also should be a lesson and road map in eliminating the filibuster and on that note its easy to attack Mitch Mcconnell, i agree with you if hes on one side of the issue better to be on the other. And yet you have joe manchin in your party, senator from West Virginia who doesnt want to get rid of the filibuster, who thinks 21 Corporation Tax right now, he doesnt want to go to 28 . He wants somewhere in the middle so he could be a block on a lot of the stuff you want to do and your party wants to do whats your message to joe manchin . I would say thats disappointing, absolutely. Joe also doesnt think that a single mother that works full time shouldnt bring home at least 31,000 a year with a 15 minimum wage and thats one of the issues he and i fundmentally disagree on and my understanding is he was one of the impediments to including a 15 an hour minimum wage to the American Rescue plan if were going to get tripped up by one or two outlying members like Senator Manchin and if 2 trillion is as big as we can get. But its just one of a number of areas Senator Manchin and i disagree on right now. On that note very little time left, let me throw this at you youre running for the senate in pennsylvania the senate is using reconciliation to get legislation through because of the filibuster its messed up in many ways so i would ask you how dysfunctional is the chamber that youre trying to become a member of i just would say relax, its much more than you think the way it is right now, it is dysfunctional. But i can promise you if im lucky enough to be elevated by the people of pennsylvania youre going to have a solid progressive voice for a 15 an hour minimum wage, eliminating the filibuster if thats what its going to take to get rid of these impediments, common sense gun control reforms, all these things and a Real Infrastructure bill i mean beyond what we already have in front of us. Republicans impeding progress, its going to all come down to unfortunately the filibuster and making sure that we put a democrat in pat toomeys seat coming out here to pennsylvania for 2022 well, well have to leave it there. Thank you so much for that Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman of pennsylvania. Appreciate you taking time out for us tonight thanks for having me on still ahead another gutting day in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, and our first real look at the Police Body Cam video former prosecutor paul butler has been watching every minute of it, and he joins me next en a term policy, for an immediate cash payment. Call Coventry Direct to learn more. We thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. But we quickly realized that we needed a way to supplement our income. Our friends sold their policy to help pay for their medical bills and that got me thinking. Maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. Im skeptical, so i did some research and called Coventry Direct. They explained Life Insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. We learned that we can sell all of our policy or keep part of it with no future payments, who knew . We sold our policy. Now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. If you have One Hundred Thousand dollars or more of Life Insurance you may qualify to sell your policy. Dont cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what its worth. Visit conventrydirect. Com to find out if you policy qualifies. Or call the number on your screen. Coventry direct, redefining insurance. The third day of the trial of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin brought even more absolutely gutting testimony. Today we heard from 61yearold Charles Mcmillan prosecutors showed mcmillian in the jury footage taken from the Officer Body Cameras depicting the moments are the officers removed george floyd from the police car and put him on the ground, where chauvin holds his knee on floyds neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds from that video from the officers Point Of View you can clearly here george floyd pleading with them, telling them he cant breathe and calling for his mother thats what happened in the moment were about to play for you. A moment that led to an outpouring of emotion from mr. Mcmillian. Mr. Mcmillian, do you need a minute [ crying ] oh, my god. I know this is difficult. Can you just explain sort of what youre feeling in this moment i can i feel helpless. I dont prosecutors also showed video of an Interaction Mcmillian had with former officer chauvin after the ambulance left the scene. Mcmillian is arguing with chauvin expressing his distress about what he saw happened and chauvin tries to justify his action thats one persons opinion we got to control this guy because hes a sizable guy looks like hes probably on something. Paul butler is a former federal prosecutor and the author of choke hold policing black men. He joins me now. The testimony we heard today hurt the defense absolutely. The whole world has seen the video of george floyd dying. Today the jury got to see him alive laughing and joking and having a conversation about football versus baseball he looks relaxed and easygoing contrast that with the defense Opening Statement that presented floyd as this Big Violent Dude who was high on drugs committing a crime and had this brute strength that not even three officers could subdue. Thats not what the video showed today you could see how floyd got his nickname they called him the gentle giant. Well, lets just play some of that Body Camera Footage that we saw today. Heres one portion take a seat sit down for me. Thank you, man. Sit down. Thank you, man. Sit all the way down. Yes, sir, yes, sir. I will please, man. Please, please, man. You got i. D. On you i got one at home all right, whats your name george. Spell it for be georte last name floyd you see george floyd there, paul, speaking in that video to police, in that body camera video their perspective. Do you think that humanizes him to a jury, and how important is that in a trial like this . Its crucial. To Convict Chauvin of Murder Prosecutors have to prove he used unreasonable andexcessive force and that chauvins knee on floyds neck is what killed floyd and not the Drug Overdose tat the defense claims so every witness has to establish one of those points. So christopher martin, the young clerk, let the jury Know George Floyd was under the influence of drugs during his time of the fatal encounter with the cops. Prosecutors want the defense not to be the first people to let the jury know that Trial Lawyers always want to be the ones who tell the jury their bad facts so the jury dont think theyre trying to hide something from them. But then the video shows mr. Floyd looking quite coherent and in control he doesnt look like a man whos about to od on meth. And martin also helps the prosecutors establish their case about excessive force. All this over a 20 bill that floyd probably didnt even know was fake but the officers approached mr. Floyd like hes public enemy number one, within seconds a cop is pointing his gun at mr. Floyd, and then hes on the ground in handcuffs. If what the cops are doing looks over the top, the prosecutors want the jury to know that they can believe their own eyes you said they approached him like he was public enemy number one, and weve seen that in many cases involving an unarmed black man. Youve written a book about policing of black men. How do you think race has been talked about or not talked about in this trial so far you know, medhi, to the world this case is about race and its about whether a Police Officer could ever be held accountable when he kills an africanamerican man but race in these cases usually doesnt come up explicitly in the courtroom. So the judge will try to focus the jury on the evidence and treat this like any other murder case at the same time, the defense Opening Statement, again, presents mr. Floyd as this big, huge black man committing a crime high on drugs with super Human Strength theyre trying to establish the use of force was reasonable but there are concerns theyre also invoking racist stereo types. Medhi, that Defense Strategy worked 30 years to put the officers that beat up rodney king i dont know if this jury in 2021, that same strategy will have the same impact very good point times have changed this is rare prosecution of a former Police Officer for murder its historic, and youre right. It will be very interesting to see what happens next. Paul butler, we appreciate you coming on and giving us your insights former prosecutor paul butler, thank you so much. Tonight, could the growing backlash to georgias horrific Voter Suppression law prevent other states from following suit is this a sign that pressure works . Well talk about that after this short break. car horn splash turn todays dreams into tomorrows trips. With millions of flexible booking options. All in one place. Expedia. Who says activism is a waste of time inwho says calling for a boycott doesnt have any impact on Corporate America youve probably heard about the new Law Republicans passed in georgia that makes it harder for people especially black people to vote. And that President Joe Biden called it jim crow in the 21st century. Just a few days ago delta airlines, one of the Largest Companies based in georgia put out a ridiculously mealymouthed statement where they dplauszed over the restricting parts of the new law while lording other parts of the bill. Quote, the legislation signed this week improved considerably during the legislative process cocacola also issued a Cox S Statement that did not outright condemn the legislation. But the backlash to the new law was so severe deltas ceo today released a statement saying and i quote i need to make it Crystal Clear the final bill is unacceptable and doesnt match deltas values after having timed that with all in the bill coupled with discussions and leaders in the black community its evident the bill includes provisions that will make it harder for underrepresented voters particularly black voters to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives. The entire rationale for this bill was based on a law, there was widespread fraud in 2020 elections. Unfortunately that excuse is being used in states with similar legislation attempting to pass to restrict Voting Rights a few hours later the cocacola ceo appeared on cnbc to say this let me be Crystal Clear and unequivocal. This legislation is unacceptable it is a step backwards, and it does not promote principles we have stood for in georgia around broad access to voting, around voter convenience, about ensuring election integrity. And this is frankly just a step backwards. These ceo pivots happened because activists have been successfully putting pressure on the corporations today 72 black executives signed a Letter Calling on companies to take a stand against efforts to make voting harder former American Express ceo Kenneth Shenot told nbc news, quote, its not enough to issue a statement saying we believe in Fair Elections you have to publicly oppose it and you have to bring your resources to bear to try to ef Ef Effectuate the right outcome oerpd as we reported on this show yesterday this is now a nationwide Voter Suppression attempt by republicans if the backlash in georgia prevents other states from going through with it, thats a good thing. So its important to keep up the pressure remember democracy is at stake free and Fair Elections are on the line many of us have not surprisingly focused on that odious part of the bill that bans people from giving water to voters waiting in line. But its not the worst thing in the bill the worst thing in the bill is that now the Republican Controlled Legislature in georgia basically is in charge of elections there, and itll decide which votes count in georgia and which dont. Lets be very clear, if this law had been in existence in november 2020, donald trump would have won georgia and Raphael Warnock and jon ossoff would not now be members of the senate. Its as blatant and undeniable as that. Now, yesterday we also did a deep dive into floridas utter failure at keeping residents safe during the pandemic where under the leadership of ron desantis republicans have spent the last year basically pretending coronavirus isnt a big deal tonight were going to talk about whats happening in wisconsin which has a democratic governor whose covid precautions are being completely undermined by republicans even as cases are on the rise. Thats next. Many plugins are stuck in the past. They release a lot of scent at first but after a while, you barely know theyre working. New febreze Fade Defy Plug works differently. Its the first plugin with builtin technology to digitally control how much scent is released to smell 1st day fresh for 50 days. It even tells you when its ready to be refilled. Upgrade to febreze Fade Defy Plug. So youre a small business, or a big one. You were thriving, but then. Oh. Ah. Okay. Plan, pivot. How do you bounce back . You dont, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. Powered by the largest gig Speed Network in america. But is it secure . Sure its secure. And even if the power goes down, your connection doesnt. So how do i do this . You dont do this. We do this, together. Bounce forward, with comcast business. Covid cases in the state of wisconsin are pretty worrying right now. After sliding earlier this year the seven day case average is moving back up so how are republicans in that state responding to the resurgence of the deadly coronavirus . By getting rid of the democratic governors mask mandate by the courts ipa tight 43 Decision Kshs on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court struck down the statewide mask mandate today ruling democratic governor tony overs basically cannot issue another Health Emergency for the coronavirus pandemic without approval from the Republican Controlled Legislature even though as evers argued the nature of the pandemic has changed and he should be able to issue multiple Health Emergencies as a result of that. I want to bring in someone whos trying to fight the Covid Epidemic in wisconsin even as republicans in the court are tying his hands, wisconsins Lieutenant Governor mandella barns. Let me start with a simple question are people in your state going to die because of this clearly partisan position from the state Supreme Court . Ill say that the unfortunate result of decisions like these do impact the health of people across the state of wisconsin and all across the country as has been reported. We could have done a lot better across the entire United States of america if wed taken the lessons we learned after the first 100,000 deaths you know, the amount of death we had in the state was unnecessary in the first place it only people had taken the necessary precautions. And that means republican legislators taking the pandemic seriously. They still think its a joke for whatever reason, and the Supreme Court has acted as a partisan arm of the Republican Controlled Legislature. So Peoples Health and safety will be tremendously impacted if people decide they dont want to follow proper guidance from the cdc or Proper Health guidance that has already done a miracle up until the vaccine in mitigating this crisis so you mention the state Supreme Court and its link to the republican led state le legislature, something that caught my eye today. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that, quote, the case in this particular example was brought by major republican donor jerry fabick in 2016 he gave 20,000 to conservative wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca bradley. How on earth is that okay, Lieutenant Governor . Shouldnt Justice Bradley have recused herself from this case which was decided by one vote . Its not at all okay. Its emblematic of a corrupt system that we have when so much money is allowed to flow into elections. And ive already talked about the falose of nonpartisan courts that is a joke and weve seen it play out time and time again because this isnt the first time theyve challenged governors ability to issue an emergency order. In situations like this where the Supreme Court is just able to make decisions at will mostly a partisan lens, the fact that a republican with the case in front of her donated the maximum amount for an individual, it reeks of corruption. But this is the type of stuff that people across wisconsin, all over wisconsin, all across the country are upset and frustrated about because not only is government being bought, we see Supreme Court decisions that impact Peoples Health and safety being paid for and its right out there in the open and i guess given the last four years of donald trump people just think anything is acceptable and thats where we find ourselves right now. Thats a very good point. A very depressing point but a good point so what do you and Governor Tony Evers do now because this is the highest court in the state giving up is never an option. We were elected for a reason we were elected to make sure that we keep the health and safety in mind of people all across the state regardless of what your political affiliation is, regardless of what part of the state you live in. You deserve opportunity. You deserve to live a happy, healthy and prosperous life. So its important for us to make sure we continue to do whatever we possibly can. Im proud to say that were number one in getting shots in peoples arms, and that is a great sign but until we reach Herd Immunity its important for people to still wear masks the Mask Requirement like i said was a thing that got us to where we are up until vaccines became available. Its what prevented even more Mass Casualty across the country. So were not giving up why would we ever give up . We werent elected to give up. We were elected to continue and fight. Question, the Supreme Court shutdown the Emergency Powers oof the governor and the mask mandate with it. What does this mean for local mandates can local areas still do it even without a statewide mask mandate . Ive talked to a couple people who are ready to keep their orders in place because they are the last line of defense. Local government is ultimately im not going to say the last line of defense because like i said were not giving up. But until we make our next step its important for local government to fill in the gap as they have been doing for so long in the face of Republican Opposition so i applaud the local leaders who are willing to do the right thing because they know that businesses cant stay if were seeing tremendous loss of life if were overwhelming our Hospital System as was the case just a few months ago. Yes, exactly. What does this mean for food aid, for Vulnerable People in wisconsin . Because the milwaukee journal ceptinal reports, quote, the decision by the court could also cut off 50 million a month in federal Food Assistance to low income people. Since last Year Congress has dramatically agreed to increase funding for states that have Emergency Orders in place. Does that mean you lose 50 million a month for low income people in wisconsin . Republicans in the legislature in the Supreme Court knew this going on they still did it because they quite frankly dont care i wish they did. There are so many people hungry. Were not back to the Employment Levels that we had before and people are, you know, acrosscountry where some 7, 8 Million People are now finding themselves in poverty, Food Insecure its a total slap in the face and shows a blatant disregar for the most Vulnerable People in our society we dont have there arent adults that are making these decisions. Its purely partisan, and its ignorant of reality. Last question i got 30 seconds left, but im going to ask you this. You probably wont answer but im going to ask you anyway. I just interviewed another Lieutenant Governor in pennsylvania running for the state. If ron johnson steps down in your state are you going to make a senate run what i will say what ron johnson does has nothing to do with what my decision will be. Okay. Thats interesting its not a denial, so you are considering a senate run look, i talk to a lot of people and im truly appreciative of the encouragement and this is moment we do need leaders but i havent Made Up My Mind yet. We still have so much work to do to bring relief to people across the state. Going to provide relief to our schools, our communities, our Small Businesses theres more than enough work to do right here at home, and maybe one day ill have an answer for you. Fair enough i had to try Lieutenant Governor, thank you so much for making time tonight. Thank you thats all in on this wednesday night. The Rachel Maddow show starts now. Good evening, rachel good evening, medhi, welldone. Thanks to you at home for joining us this hour congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortez is going to be with us here live with us. Still one of the highest profile civil rights attorneys will be here to talk about what could be a Big Development in Voting Rights something that unfolded in surprising ways today. Well start with an update on that bananas story that we had to unexpectedly shift gears to cover this time in the show last night. Breaking news about the republican congressman who is probably the most high profile supporter of Trump Mat Gaetz is under crimina