plans to roll back voting laws. this one's rolling fast. that's going to do it for us tonight. at least for now. now, it's time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. good evening, lawrence. >> good evening, rachel. there was a strange development in arizona today on the house of representatives on one of these laws. republicans pulled back. they were about to vote on it, and then they pulled way from it. one report indicates they might not have the votes they need. they need every republican vote, in that house, in order to win. the secretary of state of arizona's going to join us, later, in this hour. >> oh, good. >> to give us her read of exactly what happened there, and what might happen there. >> there is a lot weird going on, in arizona, right now, in republican politics around the vote and the election. so that's perfect timing. well done. >> thanks, rachel. >> thanks. >> thank you. well, today, in day four of the trial of derek chauvin, for the murder of george floyd, we heard from the emergency medical technicians who arrived at the scene, in an ambulance. and derek smith told us that, in less than a minute, he knew george floyd was dead, while he was still being held down by police. >> did not detect a pulse. >> and what did his condition appear to be, to you, overall? >> in lay terms, i thought he was dead. >> why do you check the carotid pulse? and what would you expect? >> in a living person, there should be a pulse there. i did not feel one. i suspected this patient to be dead. >> what happened next, after you did those things? >> after i checked pulse and pupils? >> yes. >> i looked for my partner, and provided him, that i believe the individual to be deceased. >> the police officers on the scene knew that. they could have checked his pulse. they knew how to do that. witnesses were urging them to check george floyd's pulse. first supervising officer who arrived on the scene testified today, who is now retired from the police force, testified in detail about arriving on the scene. then, going to the hospital, where george floyd was taken to check on his condition. and toward the end of his direct examination, by prosecutor, defense counsel eric nelson tried to block the final question to the police sergeant who had reviewed all of the video in the case. the judge sent the jury out of the courtroom to hear arguments, by the lawyers, on whether this final question could be asked. and after a few minutes of consideration, the judge decided to allow the prosecution that one final question on direct examination. the jury was then brought back into the room, and here is out the direct examination from david pleoger went. >> do you have an opinion as to when the restraint of mr. floyd should have ended, in this encounter? >> yes, sir. >> what is it? >> when mr. floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended their restraint. >> and that was after he was handcuffed and on the ground, and no longer resistant? >> correct. >> remember, the opioid crisis? it became a crisis for republican politicians during the campaign of 2016 when they discovered that white people in west virginia and in other republican voting states were dying of heroin overdoses in large numbers. the stories republican politicians were hearing were chillingly similar. a doctor prescribed opioids for a factory worker with a bad back. those opioids had been pushed on that doctor, by purdue pharma, the pharmaceutical company, that has essentially been put out of business for its liabilities in creating the opioid crisis. the white republican voting workers who got addicted to opioids through their doctors ended up switching to heroin when they couldn't get any more opioids. and republican politicians would listen sympathetically for the very, very first time in their lives to these stories of parents who lost their sons and daughters to heroin overdoses or children who lost their parents to heroin overdoses. we were told that we had to understand why suffering like that led some voters to support donald trump. because in 2016, he promised to fix the opioid crisis. >> as i campaign across this country, i hear so many stories and pleas, from women especially, about drug addiction and opioid use. we lose thousands of our fellow americans every year to drugs and opioid use. >> every one of those words was from the teleprompter, not the heart or the mind of the person who said them. and when he became president, he did nothing about it. donald trump forgot about the opioid crisis, and the news media largely forgot about the opioid crisis. but it's still with us. and it was in the courtroom today when george floyd's girlfriend, courtney ross, testified. >> our story. it's -- it's a classic story of how many people get addicted to opioids. we both suffer from chronic pain. mine was in my neck, and his was in his back. we both have prescriptions. but after prescriptions that were filled and -- we -- we got addicted. and tried, really hard, to break that addiction, many times. >> and were you each aware of each other's struggles with opioids? >> yes, eventually, in our relationship, we shared that. >> and did you work together on that? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> and over how long of a period, did this struggle go on for you -- for both of you? >> addiction, in my opinion, is a lifelong struggle. so it's something that we -- we dealt with every day. you know? you -- it's not something that just kind of comes and goes. it's something i'll deal with forever. >> defense counsel focused on george floyd's overdose of heroin, for which he was hospitalized a year before he was killed. >> you spent several days with him at the hospital, correct? >> yes. >> and did you learn what that -- what caused that overdose? >> no. >> at that timeframe, did you learn that mr. floyd was taking anything other than opioids? >> no. >> you did not know that he had taken heroin at that time? >> no. >> leading off our discussion tonight, eugene robinson, associate editor and pulitzer prize winner. for the washington post and a msnbc analyst. also, joining us tonight, former assistant u.s. attorney in washington, d.c. and, eugene, let me begin with you, and what you saw in this testimony today. >> well, what i saw the -- the sort of blockbuster moment was when the police supervisor, the former supervisor, said what seems obvious, from the -- from all the videotaped evidence. that, there was a point, at which george floyd was clearly subdued, was giving no resistance, was handcuffed. had been on the ground. and was only complaining that he couldn't breathe. and -- and that, that was a point where -- when derek chauvin should have released the pressure. he should have stopped kneeling on george floyd's neck, in such a way that ultimately killed him. and i think, that was the worst moment for the defense today. and the story that courteney ross told of their relationship and their struggle against addiction, and their love for each other was at times touching. at times, very sad and difficult to watch because it was so, so, so emotional. so intimate. >> jamil hodge, what stood out for you in the testimony today? >> i pick up where eugene left off. just really learning about george floyd as a person. today, we heard his name. you know, we know his name has catalyzed a movement, but today, we learned about the man. we learned about him as a boyfriend. as a father. as a son. and so, we got to see a little bit more about him, as a -- as a human being. and to recognize, really, how profound the loss is. not just, again, as a catalyst for a movement but for a daughter and for a girlfriend and for brothers and family members, who are living every day with this, you know, untimely death. >> and gene robinson, you have covered enough of these cases to know, that the place where -- one of the places police always want to go in defending themselves is the drug use of the person who was killed. they are always waiting for that toxicology report to come back to say, oh, look, there was marijuana in his system or something, anything. and it's all -- it's always been something that they believe they could used effectively in these cases. >> right. right. it is and sometimes they do use it effectively. they are kind of throwing the kitchen sink at george floyd. making the defense lawyers attempt to put the victim on trial. and -- and, certainly, it's been clear from the beginning that they hope to use his apparent intoxication as the real cause of death. remind me of o.j., you know, looking for the real killer. but clearly, i think it will -- it seems fairly easy to establish, certainly prosecution will try, that however intoxicated he might have been, he would not have simply keeled over and died that afternoon. had not derek chauvin kneeled on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. that's the proximate cause of death, which is -- which is enough for a murder conviction in -- in minnesota. >> one thing that was so striking about the medical technician's testimony is that within a minute, less than a minute of the arrival, he is -- he has determined to his own satisfaction that george floyd is dead. those officers are still holding george floyd down when he makes that determination. he reaches down. he takes that pulse, does not find that pulse. and he knows right away what he's dealing with. and that was something that those police officers had over nine minutes to do themselves. >> right. you know, that was critical because also in his testimony, what he talked about was his sense of urgency. right? he described telling an officer to get out the way so that he could get his patient into the ambulance. calling code three for support to come from the fire department because what he needed to do to try to resuscitate mr. floyd would require more than him. he -- he said i was only one person. but the urgency that he talked about, the need to which to do his job. and we contrast that, right, with officers who are being begged by bystanders to do simple things, like check his pulse. you know? simple things, to check on his welfare. and there was clearly not any urgency. but really, just a total disregard for his humanity and what he was suffering. >> gene, it was quite striking to me that that opioid crisis that we were told was a white republican voter crisis in 2016 came into that courtroom today, in a -- in the kind of context that donald trump never talked about. he never, once, cared about any kind of drug issue, that might exist outside of republican voting districts. >> no, no, no, he didn't. but, of course, the opioid epidemic has -- has struck into, you know, all neighborhoods, all corners of the nation. it's not just to west virginia. it's everywhere. and i thought that was really part of the -- part of the day that sticks with me because the story, as she said, it was -- it's a classic story of how people fall into opioid addiction. that have been pushed by perdue pharma. and then -- and then, find themselves in -- in the situation. it's still not adequately addressed. i don't think we have a sense of -- of what happened to the epidemic during the covid pandemic, whether it got worse or got better. there's much we have to learn about it. but i thought we learned about its texture and its day-to-day nature today from courteney ross, in a very, kind of, compelling and impactful way. >> jamil, and eugene robinson, thank you for starting our discussion here tonight. we really appreciate it. >> thank you. coming up. we have breaking news in the matt gaetz investigation. "new york times" reporter michael schmidt will join us next with his breaking news story tonight. you're not using too much are you, hon? charmin ultra soft is so soft you'll have to remind your family they can use less. charmin ultra soft is twice as absorbent so you can use less. enjoy the go with charmin. life... doesn't stop for diabetes. be ready for every moment, with glucerna. it's the number one doctor recommended brand that is scientifically designed to help manage your blood sugar. live every moment. glucerna. how great is it that we get to tell everybody is how liberty mutualigned to customizes your car insurancer. so you only pay for what you need? i mean it... uh-oh, sorry... oh... what? i'm an emu! no, buddy! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ what happens to your body language when your underarms are cared for? ♪ ♪ it shows! our new dove advanced care formula is effective... and kind to skin, leaving underarms cared for and you... more confident and carefree. wanna help kids get their homework done? well, an internet connection's a good start. but kids also need computers. and sometimes the hardest thing about homework is finding a place to do it. so why not hook community centers up with wifi? for kids like us, and all the amazing things we're gonna learn. over the next 10 years, comcast is committing $1 billion to reach 50 million low-income americans with the tools and resources they need to be ready for anything. i hope you're ready. 'cause we are. we have breaking news tonight in the matt gaetz investigation. "the new york times" reports a justice department investigation into representative matt gaetz and an indicted florida politician is focusing on their involvement with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments, according to people close to the investigation, and text messages and payment receipts, reviewed by "the new york times." investigators believe joel greenberg, the former tax collector in seminole county, florida, who was indicted last year on a federal sex trafficking charge and other crimes, initially met the women through websites that connect people who go on dates in exchange for gifts, fine dining, travel, allowance, and according to three people with knowledge of the encounters, mr. greenberg introduced the women to mr. gaetz who also had sex with them, the people said. mr. gaetz denied ever paying a woman for sex. and joining us now is michael schmidt, washington correspondent for "the new york times." also with us andrew weissman, former fbi general counsel and msnbc legal analyst. michael, this new reporting by "the new york times" tonight that you have done along with katie benner takes this story to a new level. what are the important elements of it? >> it sort of gives a broader understanding of what was going on here. and how joel greenberg was going online to these websites and finding women who, you know, they were bringing in, and he was connecting with gaetz. it -- also in our story, we report that there is a florida associate of gaetz and greenberg, in republican politics in florida, who is also connected to one of these women. and it just gives you a sense of, you know, we are just trying to peel back the onion here, little bit by bit on this thing. we -- we certainly do not have full visibility into this federal investigation. it seems like, you know, a fair amount has gone on. that at least some of the women have spoken with federal authorities. and that this is a particularly serious crime because if you are convicted of sex trafficking someone under the age of 18, it is a minimum ten-year prison sentence. and that is obviously, you know, a humongous deal. >> now, your reporting says -- i am actually reading from it as we sit here -- that the investigation is focusing on a 17-year-old girl. what more can you tell us about that particular 17-year-old girl in your reporting tonight? >> as we report tonight this 17-year-old girl that they are looking at in terms of gaetz is the same one that they have looked at in terms of joel greenberg, this local tax collector. and this may sound all a bit confusing. but greenberg is the -- sort of, the origination of this case. he is the original person who was charged. and in august, he was indicted on sex-trafficking charges. for someone between the ages of 14 and 18. and who he had some sort of relationship with. and as we say tonight, that person, that girl, is the same girl who, you know, they are looking at on matt gaetz. it's the same 17-year-old. >> and, andrew weissman, as michael's reporting shows, that "the times" has actually seen the receipts from cash app, mobile payments app, apple pay, of payments from matt gaetz and greenberg to one of the women. there's more in the reporting here about taking ecstasy, an illegal hallucinogenic. that says -- and michael's reporting indicates that matt gaetz is reported as having taken the ecstasy along with these girls, according to some of these witnesses. andrew, what is matt gaetz facing in this justice department investigation of this material tonight? >> well, reading the great reporting from "the times," this is time for matt gaetz to make sure he has a very good criminal defense lawyer. you read these allegations. and it's clear there are people cooperating. there are going to be records that are clear. there -- clearly, the women are also talking, who are the victims of this scheme. so you have a real panoply of hard, physical evidence that i think means that there -- this case is not one where you think, i wonder if the government's going to make this case. it seems very clear that they are going to make a case on sex trafficking. and it could also include campaign finance and lesser charges, including state crimes. so matt gaetz is facing a host of -- a host of legal problems. >> and, michael, you report that matt gaetz told the women to say that he had paid for hotel rooms and dinners as part of their dates. that is something we've heard matt gaetz say publicly that he has done that. and he was trying to claim that he was being persecuted somehow for being generous. >> correct. he is saying that, you know, maybe, you know, someone is going back and looking at his generosity differently than they did before, someone who he may have had a relationship with. that, you know, he did pay for things for them. you know, having admitted that. and then he, you know, created this giant distraction, which some of the media has gone along with, about this -- this whole scheme that he says about people that are targeting him and his family for millions and millions of dollars. in exchange for, you know, trying to get this investigation to go away. that -- that scheme, that he depicts, has nothing to do with the underlying crimes that are being alleged here. they're two separate things. whatever the validity of this scheme, that he has laid out. the one thing that i just i found remarkable, just in reporting this. is just sort of the blatantness that they did this with. the fact that they were willing to pay from apple pay or to use atms in the hotels that they were in. there was not -- not great efforts here to hide this. and i think that has made it particularly -- i don't think any federal investigation is easy but it has certainly created a significant paper trail. some of which we had a chance to see in reporting for this story. >> yeah. i want to read another passage in your reporting tonight, michael, about the evidence that you have been able to see. it says in encounters during 2019 and 2020, mr. gaetz and mr. greenberg instructed women to meet at certain times and places, often at hotels around florida, and would tell them the amount of money they were willing to pay, according to the messages and interviews. and so, andrew weissman, as a prosecutor, when you look at that, there is evidence in the messages. there's -- there are interviews being conducted of people willing to provide this information. >> so i think mike has it exactly right. the brazenness of this scheme is -- to me, it's emblematic of frankly the last four years. where there was a sense that people were untouchable. but now, there's been an administration change. and there clearly is a paper trail. and a witness trail. and whatever matt gaetz is claiming now in the court of public opinion about some alleged extortion, a claim that doesn't make any sense to me. that's not going to play in an actual court. and i'd also analogize this in some ways to elliot spitzer, where the allegations and what he was accused of, and ultimately admitted, was far less serious than what mike and his colleagues and "the new york times" are reporting tonight. >> one more piece of your reporting, michael, that i want to quote. in some cases, mr. gaetz asked women to help find others who might be interested in having sex with him and his friends, according to two people familiar with those conversations. how much of the evidence that you have in your reporting tonight is in possession of the justice department already? >> i don't know. but as reporters, we don't have badges and guns or the ability to subpoena people or execute search warrants. and the people that do usually end up with a lot more than we do. so, we are usually sort of the second wave when we come along. and the feds often have mountains and mountains of more evidence than us. and so, my sense is that this is just a small sliver of a more -- much more larger collection of evidence. if you sit and read the docket on joel greenberg, the local tax collector in seminole county, it is a -- there is mountains and mountains of evidence against joel greenberg. joel greenberg is currently sitting in jail. he faces nearly three dozen counts on a range of different corruption. the government has immense leverage over him. and, you know, he has intimate knowledge of what went on with matt gaetz. and as we sit here tonight, joel greenberg is in jail, awaiting trial in june. and, you know, facing a -- many, many, many years in prison. >> michael schmidt, stunning reporting tonight. thank you very much for joining us on this breaking news story, with your breaking news report. really appreciate it. and andrew weissman, thank you for adding your experience as a prosecutor to this discussion. really appreciate it. thank you very much. and up next. very bad news for defendant trump. a judge has ruled that the nondisclosure agreement donald trump forced his campaign staff to sign is invalid. the latest lawyer to beat donald trump in court and get that nondisclosure agreement ruled invalid will join us next. yes. formulated to help you body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness, well done. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. thank you! hey, hey, no, no limu, no limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ gillette proglide. five blades and a pivoting flexball designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke. so you're ready for the day with a fresh face for a fresh start. for a limited time get a 5th cartridge free. advanced non-small cell lung cancer can change everything. but your first treatment could be a chemo-free combination of two immunotherapies that works differently. it could mean a chance to live longer. opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread and that tests 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categories of e stricted information. whether that speech might relate to one of the several hundred potential subjects of the nondisclosure provision. or whether that speech may relate to a matter, that president trump will determine is confidential. because the effect of these burdens is to chill the speech of former campaign workers about matters of public interest, the nondisclosure provision is harmful, and not -- not only to them but also to the general public. and joining us now is one of the lawyers who convinced the court that the trump nondisclosure agreements are invalid. attorney david bowles. thank you very much for joining us tonight, mr. bowles. so, you join that winner circle of lawyers who have beat donald trump in court. the nondisclosure agreement that i saw in the -- used in this -- in this case that you are working with, seems to be lifted, directly from the trump company, their regular business nondisclosure agreement. what made you think that could be invalidated, as applied to campaign workers? >> well, thank you for welcoming me to the winner circle but also, it wasn't just me. it was a big team effort and we do appreciate that. what made me think that it could be invalidated is if you read it, as an attorney who reads contracts and litigates contracts, it is obviously, massively, ridiculously, overbroad. the terms are undefined. for example, one of the terms that defines confidential information in the agreement is anything mr. trump says is confidential. as an attorney, as a human reading a contract, you can't possibly know what that means. one of the judges of the 1st department court of appeals said this thing has holes in it you could drive a mack truck through. and he's right. and that's exactly what the judge said in this recent opinion. >> what do you think this is going to mean? this was for an -- for one individual plaintiff. will it apply to everyone who worked in that 2016 campaign? >> it will ultimately. you are right that this only applies to our main class leader, jessica denison, right now. but this is a class-action lawsuit. the purpose of this lawsuit is to unwind all of these ndas, for every single person in the trump campaign who signed one. now, our best information is every single person that worked for the trump campaign, from the highest senior adviser to the lowest volunteer signed the same agreement. now that the judge has done the hard part. 36 pages to invalidate jessica's nda. it's almost certain -- almost certain that the nda will fall for all the other campaign workers and that ultimately is our goal. >> do you have any sense of what stories we might then learn when everyone working in the 2016 campaign realizes legally those nondisclosure agreements are meaningless? >> i don't yet. but just imagine this. let's say, we don't know, yet, how many of these things were signed because we are still working on that in discovery. let's say it was 500. let's say that 10% of those people have a story to tell. that's 50 stories, and i want to hear them, and i'm sure you do, too. >> david bowles. we want to hear those stories as you collect them. and thank you very much for joining us here tonight. we really appreciate it. >> thank you so much for having me. we are going to turn quickly to tim o'brien, an authority on all trump business matters. tim, i've read this nondisclosure agreement. and it seems like they just lifted the -- this agreement right out of the trump company, handed it to people in the campaign. and -- and david bowles is so right. it's the most absurd document you could read, legally. >> well, the -- the big issue around trump right now is he can't control the flow of information, anymore, lawrence. he has tried to intimidate people, historically. either, financially or legally, to get them to quiet down. and he no longer is in charge of that information stream. and between the kind of -- of financial information that's coming in, potentially, into the public record. and people from his campaign, who can also speak publicly. it has to worry him. and donald trump, cornered, and donald trump unable to control the flow of information, is donald trump who becomes more radically inept. and -- and unwired. and -- and i think, this is only going to get more unpooled as this goes on. >> donald trump, throughout his life, as you ever reported, has been sued for all sorts of things he's done in business. he always tried to wear the other side down, with increasing legal bills. he is now being sued by two capitol police officers for the injuries they suffered in the attack on the capitol. they are -- if they can survive the procedural challenges that all civil suits face, in order to get to a jury. actually, get it to a jury in washington, d.c. a washington, d.c. is going to be offered the opportunity to visit an unlimited amount of punitive damages on donald trump for the attack on the capitol that injured these police officers. that will -- there are more of these lawsuits coming. i see a world in which he could be bankrupted by the lawsuits that just come out of the attack on the capitol. >> well, the first thing to remember is he could be -- he's already in severe financial pain because of covid-19. the core, the source of donald trump's wealth is urban real estate, and urban real estate is getting savaged by covid-19. so the things that he's relied on historically to fund his ability to weaponize the courts is already under duress. in addition to all this now, he's got lawsuits coming at him from all sorts of directions. and he is going to have to pay up for those suits. will he be able to continue to fund those suits? i think probably, yes. will he pay his lawyers? i think probably that's in doubt because he's got a long history of stiffing his lawyers. but again, i think this adds to all the pressure he is experiencing legally right now that's going to probably unwind him. >> and he needs more lawyers than he ever used before from georgia to washington, d.c. to new york. it's endless. tim o'brien, thank you very much for joining us tonight. >> thank you. coming up. arizona republicans, suddenly, stopped trying to pass a voter suppression bill in the arizona house of representatives today. because they might not have all the republican votes they need to pass it. arizona secretary of state katie hobbs joins us next. next. any further questions? uh uh! one up the power of liquid with tide pods ultra oxi. how great is it that we get to tell everybody how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? i mean it... uh-oh, sorry... oh... what? i'm an emu! no, buddy! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ joint pain, swelling, tenderness. my psoriasis. cosentyx works on all of this. cosentyx can help you look and feel better by treating the multiple symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, 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drain. and it's powerful enough for the quick-wash cycle! new cascade platinum with 50% more cleaning power! the #1 brand just got better! today, republicans in the arizona house of representatives abruptly ended consideration of a bill designed to suppress voting in arizona. the associated press reports republican house speaker rusty bowers did not explain his decision to abruptly cut off debate, but it suggests at least one republican was not going to support the bill with a slim 31-29 majority. the gop must be united to pass legislation without democratic support. joining us now is arizona secretary of state katie hobbs. what is going on in the house of representatives? >> well, this is to be expected, if they think that they're short of a vote. putting a stop to the proceedings would allow the bill to continue at a later date if they are able to persuade whoever might be holding out to vote for it. so -- so that the bill doesn't end up dying. so, we know that nothing is ever dead in the legislature, until they adjourn for the session. so, you know, there is a likelihood that the bill will come back. >> and this is one of those bills to purge the voter rolls, if you haven't voted frequently enough. and there are some interpretations that indicate you could get knocked off the rolls if you miss voting in a single election. >> well, let me clarify. it's not knocked off the rolls, entirely. but it's knocked off what has been a wide -- widely supported, permanent, early vote list in arizona. so if you want to vote absentee, in every election you can sign up for this. 75% of our voters are signed up. but they also have the option to not utilize that mail-in ballot and go to the polls and vote instead. and this bill would allow them to be purged, even if they -- if they voted but just didn't use their mail-in ballot. >> what other threats to voting are you seeing in arizona? >> well, another bill that's very concerning would put additional requirements on the affidavit that voters sign in their ballot by mail. so right now, the affidavit is on the outside of the envelope. so there is not an extra piece of paper that you have to include, that could increase the likelihood for error and ballot rejection. and so, this bill would require that affidavit to be a separate piece of paper. and also, require an additional identification number to be placed on that ballot that is either the driver's license or the voter i.d. number. not allowing a tribal i.d. number, which is a perfectly acceptable form of voter i.d. and so, it would again end up allowing -- not allowing a lot of people who currently vote by mail to vote by mail. or end up increasing the ballot rejection rates. and i want to really reiterate, this is not solving any problem that exists at all with voting by mail in arizona. >> knowing the voting patterns as you do in the state, what voters do they seem to be targeting with these bills? >> well, it would -- what we saw in 2020 was that a lot of early voters didn't want to wait until their ballot came in the mail. they were very excited to vote, or they wanted to just get it done. and so, they showed up on the first day of early voting in person and voted that way instead of voting by mail. and we have the option to do that. you know, the -- the permanent early-voter list purge would limit the choices that voters have. but the restrictions on mail-in voting seem to be targeting elderly communities, tribal communities, in particular. who -- folks, who might not have a driver's license. and i don't know how many people actually have their voter i.d. card so that they could find their voter-registration number. but it's a pretty onerous requirement when up until now, the signature has been valid to identify as a voter. >> katie hobbs, thank you very much for joining us tonight. >> thank for having me. president biden held his first cabinet meeting today and it was very different from the trump clownish cabinet meetings. where everyone had to offer praise to trump during the meeting. during today's cabinet meeting, the president gave five cabinet members the not-so-easy job of passing the biggest infrastructure bill in history. democratic congressman joined president biden yesterday when he unveiled his infrastructure bill. and congressman lamb joins us, next. gillette proglide. five blades and a pivoting flexball designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke. so you're ready for the day with a fresh face for a fresh start. for a limited time get a 5th cartridge free. are you managing your diabetes... ...using fingersticks? with the new freestyle libre 2 system, a continuous glucose monitor, you can check your glucose with a painless, one-second scan. and now with optional alarms, you can choose to be notified if you go too high or too low. and for those who qualify, the freestyle libre 2 system is now covered by medicare. ask your doctor for a prescription. you can do it without 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but what have you been doing for the last two hours? ...delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. cabinet room is too small. it's never been too small before, but it is now. the cabinet room is too small for a cabinet meeting if you maintain proper social distancing during the covid-19 pandemic, which the trump cabinet never did. and that's why joe biden's first cabinet meeting today was held in the huge east room as the first cabinet meeting held since donald trump spent four years debasing his cabinet by forcing them to publicly debase themselves. >> i can't thank you enough for the privilege that you've given me and the leadership you've shutdown. >> mike, would you like to say a few words? >> mostly, i'll end where i began, mr. president, and just tell you, i want to thank you, mr. president. >> trump cabinet meetings were sometimes televised in full, which assured that nothing resembling governing took place during those meetings. president biden allowed cameras in the room for a total of 2 two minutes, 37 seconds before the meeting began. he said this about his infrastructure plan. >> today i'm announcing that i'm asking five cabinet members to take special responsibility to explain the plan to the american public, working with my team here in the white house, these cabinet members will represent me in dealing with congress, engage the public and selling the plan, and help work out the details as we refine it and move forward. >> the five cabinet members assigned to advancing the infrastructure plan are transportation secretary pete buttigieg, labor secretary marty walsh, energy secretary jennifer granholm, marcia fudge, and commerce secretary gina raimondo. president biden and vice president harris then spent two hours in a closed-door cabinet meeting which marked yet another return of professionalism to the white house. yesterday president biden announced his plan in collier, pennsylvania, a suburb of pittsburgh. donald trump won that congressional district by ten points in 2016 and 2020. joe biden won it by three points. joining us now is congressman conor lamb of pennsylvania, member of the house committee on transportation and infrastructure. representative lamb, this legislation is is coming your way in that committee. >> we're excited for it. this is really what we ran on, trying to help areas like mine in western pennsylvania get up off their feet months after the pandemic but after 40 years of job loss and the collapse of the steel industry. we know that you have to make these types of investments in order for us to be competitive again, not just competitive against ohio, which has been our longtime foe. but against china. we're excited for the bill and think we're going to get it done. >> there's a big difference between this legislation and the relief plan that was just passed that you helped just pass where immediately people were getting $1,400 delivered directly to them. you passed an infrastructure bill and people in your district might not see something happen for years and they might not know that the reason that fix is happening to that bridge is what congressman lamb voted for a couple years ago. >> well, that's on us to first of all be practical about the bill and make sure we include things in it that can be done in the first year. that's actually something i have worked on a lot with republicans, by the way. we're trying to give state departments of transportation the money they need to get projects on the roads and on the bridges this year. they had projects they canceled because they didn't get their gas tax revenue last year. if you think about most people were not driving around as much as they usually did. and so you have all these projects that are actually permitted, ready to go. the workers were planning to be out there and it got canceled at the last minute due to lack of revenue. it will give us things talk about and show right away and we'll continue selling this over the long term. but i can say just from talking to people living around here, everyone knows our infrastructure is out of date. you can physically see it. i mean, the bridges are rusty and cracked and you hear about it all the time and everybody experiences the roads and the washouts every spring with the rainstorms. and so people believe in this and they believe that it's necessary. and i think we're going to be able to make a strong case. >> infrastructure might not be the first thing that comes to voters' minds when they're talking to you. maybe for some, it is. but when you do get it to that subject, what do people in western pennsylvania tell you they want to see in something like this? >> they want us to be practical. you know, everyone knows that there are long-term challenges having to do with climate change and, you know, many of the other kind of social aspects of this plan that president biden has talked about. but the number one thing people care about is jobs and what is this doing for our local economy. so we are an area where outside of the city of pittsburgh a lot of people still make things and do things with their hands. they drill for natural gas. they make and manufacture plastic. they make steel and special metals. so people want to know what impact this has on our industry. a huge one, because we'll have the strongest american provisions in this package and it's going to drive manufacturing and transportation business, not just the building of the infrastructure itself, but to your first question, the point you're really making is we need to make sure that that is direct, that it hits the economy quickly, that we know how to explain it and point to specific examples. and we have those, but the bill needs to be designed in such a way that it actually fixes the problems that we have here. and i'll be part of that. that's my job. >> congressman conor lamb, thank you very much for joining us tonight. we really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> conor lamb gets tonight's last word. the "the 11th hour with brian williams" starts now. and good evening once again, day 72 of the biden administration. and there is new bombshell reporting about florida republican congressman and trump acolyte matt gaetz. this week "the new york times" broke the story that the justice department was investigating gaetz for sex trafficking involving a 17-year-old girl. well, tonight the "times" is back on the board with with a new report that, quote, a justice department investigation into representative gaetz and an indicted florida politician is focusing on their involvement