Atlantic, the fourth surge is upon us, this time its different. Ill ask her why. Good evening. Im mehdi hasan. The Steel Industry was once so important to birmingham, alabama, that the suburb now at the heart of the Amazon Union Fight is named after henry bessemer. The man who invented the way steel was made. The city of bessemer, alabama, thrived until steel jobs until, well, it didnt. Until the plant closed and all those jobs moved out or were shipped overseas mostly to china. Today the biggest employer in town is a small mom and pop retailer called amazon. What is essentially a warehouse to, quote, fulfill orders for the internet giant. And where any day now, history could be made if the bessemer Location Votes in favor of negotiating to form a union, which would be the First American branch of amazon to possibly unionize. Maybe Many Americans dont realize, but Amazon Workers in Continental Europe have long been unionized. Strong labor unions havent pushed their global push into that market, only here in the u. S. For some reason. If bessemers employees vote in favor of unionizing, it will mark the biggest increase of u. S. Workers gaining Union Membership in 30 years. This is perhaps the most important graph to explain the state of our rigged economy today. By the 1950s, unions in the u. S. Had been growing steadily. Unionized workers and the top 10 of earners in the u. S. Were collectively making the same amount, taking the same share of national income. Look at those lines. Follow where they go and look at whats happened in the decades now the top 10 is taking 50 of all income as Union Membership has dropped. To be fair to amazon, their employees are getting 15 an hour, thanks to pressure from Bernie Sanders and others but unions are about more than higher wages. Theyre also about working conditions. Amazon is admitting its employees sometimes have to resort to being in bottles to meet their quotas and targets. Of course, thats wasnt what the Company First said. In response to a tweet from congressman pocan, this rhetorical question, you dont really believe the peeing in bottle thing, do you . The company replied with classic whataboutism, alleging its not specific to amazon. What about all the other companies . It happened as part of a campaign from amazon pr to openly troll progressive lawmakers backing the union effort. If you pull this off here, birmingham, alabama, if you pull this off here, believe me, workers all over this country are going to be saying if these people in alabama can take on the wealthiest guy in the world, we can do it as well. What happens next to the American Worker also depends in large part on whether joe biden can make the democrats the party of the American Worker again. Counter the fake populism of the republicans who pretend theyre the party of the worker. The house just passed a pro act. Perhaps the most labor rights bill in decades. And now theres bidens 2 trillion infrastructure bill. It sounds like a lot of money but its spread out nearly a decade. Some on the left say it isnt enough. I have serious concerns that its not enough to realize the very inspiring vision that biden has advanced. We know that there is so much more opportunity here. And in order for us to realize this inspiring vision, we need to go way higher. Lets turn now to senator Bernie Sanders, who we just heard from when he met with Amazon Workers in bessemer, alabama. Hes the new Senate BudgetCommittee Chair who seems to be at the height of his power and influence. We spoke earlier today. Senator Bernie Sanders, thank you for joining me on the show today. Youve been heavily involved in the amazon unionization attempt. Were expecting a result from that vote. Maybe as early as tomorrow. What will a yes vote mean . Not just for amazon and labor unions in this country, but for american capitalism . Well, as you know, mehdi, amazon is one of the largest corporations in the country. It is own by the wealthiest individual in this nation, jeff bezos, worth 180 billion. When i was down in birmingham talking to the workers, what you heard is tales of incredibly bad working conditions, people who are disrespected, people whose concerns are not being heard and they want a union to represent them. Obviously, if they win that Union Organizing drive, and i hope they do, it will not only be important for Amazon Workers in birmingham, but i think it will spread all over the country, and i think it will be a shot in the arm for Union Organizing all across this country. It is no secret that wages have been stagnant for decades. Weve got to grow the union movement. If we are successful in birmingham, i think well have an impact on Union Organizing around the country. Yes, i think that will be the case. Lets see what happens. You, elizabeth warren, and other progressive lawmakers were the subject of trolling by an amazon pr twitter account last week. Apparently its been reported that jeff bezos himself was upset that Company Officials werent defending amazon enough from your criticisms. He has also refused your invitation to testify in front of the senate. I wonder, how much do you think Representative Democracy in this country is threatened by the power of a single citizen who is worth 180 billion . I think its a serious problem. When we talk about income and wealth inequality, its not just two people, bezos being one of them, own more wealth than the bottom 40 of the American People. That is wrong in itself. But we forget the kind of power that these individuals have. Bezos owns the washington post. You have large corporations who have thousands of lobbyists all over washington, d. C. , former leaders of the democratic and republican party. They make Incredible Campaign contributions. So when we talk about the need to create a vibrant democracy, it means taking on incoming wealth inequality, bringing power back to ordinary people through Campaign Finance reforms, ending gerrymandering, ending the suppression of voters. It is a big issue. It is a very big issue in terms of the power of the few. Yes. And yet President Joe Biden while admirably considering an increase in Corporate Income tax rates is refusing to consider a wealth tax on billionaires like bezos. Why do you think that is . Have you spoken to him about it . Ive spoken to the white house. They are more than familiar with my views on the need to address income and wealth inequality. And i think one of the ways that you do that is, simply speaking, a wealth tax. When you have somebody like bezos worth 180 billion, when you have the Walton Family worth even more than that, one way you raise income for the government and you deal with this terrible inequality is through a wealth tax. By the way, my republican colleagues want to make a bad situation worse, unbelievably they want to appeal the estate tax entirely. Yes. Which will give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the top onetenth of one percent. This is the moment for progressive taxations, not only a wealth tax, but an increase in Corporate Taxes, to say that we cannot continue to have this kind of massive income and wealth inequality. So, on that note, a lot of people think this is a pretty progressive moment in american politics. Democrats in control of the white house in congress, joe biden pushing through progressive legislation like the 2 trillion American Rescue plan. We had part one of the Infrastructure Plan laid out this week worth around 2 trillion. But over eight years. Congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortez and others in the Climate Movement think thats a good start but just isnt enough money to deal with the challenges we face, especially when spread out over eight years. Theyre right, arent they . I think they are. I think one of the issues we have been focusing on is the crisis in affordable and lowincome housing. I think the Biden Proposal is a serious effort to build the millions of units that we need to address that crisis. I dont think it goes far enough in terms of climate. The truth is, as everybody knows, the scientist tell us we have a handful of years in front of us in order to transform our Energy System away from fossil fuel or were going to face awful crises in terms of irreparable damage to our planet. So i would propose more. And when we do that, we can create millions of goodpaying jobs. So, lets talk a bit more about the Infrastructure Plan. You want part two of the plan to had include health care . Youre proposing lowering the medicare age from 60 to 55. Given your influence on the Biden Administration, you were recently called a power broker senator by the l. A. Times. Do you think between now and 2024 you can get this president to not just support that age reduction but also get on board with medicare itself for single pay . Is it possible for to you persuade or pressure him into that . Mehdi, two things. In the immediate moment, i want to focus in the new Reconciliation Plan not only physical infrastructure, roads and bridges and climate change, but on human infrastructure, as well. That means addressing the crisis in education. So many of our young people cannot afford to go to college, higher education. So many of our young people leaving School Deeply in debt. Those are issues weve got to deal with. In terms of seniors and older workers, what weve got to do immediately is expand medicare to cover dental care, to cover hearing aids, to cover eyeglasses. These are Health Care Issues that impact millions of older people who cannot afford these basic services. Now, to answer your question, i believe that the Current Health care system, based on private insurance and employerbased health care is dysfunctional. We spend twice as much per capita as any other country. 90 million are uninsured or underinsured. Do i believe we need to go to medicare for all . Absolutely. That is not, at this moment, the president s view but weve got a strong Grassroots Movement to make sure that mr. President moves in the direction that health care is a union right not simply an employeebased benefit. You mentioned the Grassroots Movement. A lot of frustrated progressives, especially online, and you know this, often ask why cant you, Bernie Sanders, use the leverage that joe manchin often uses to get his own way on issues like the 15 minimum wage or expanding health care . Why cant you throw your weight around, threaten to vote against first of all, look at the results of what happened, the look, im not the president. I think what most people would tell you is what we did in the rescue plan was the most significant piece of legislation for Working Class people in the modern history of this country. Yes. And were moving forward in a similar direction. We cant get everything we want. Thats simply the reality. Only one person can say no. I think right now we are moving forward. We are going to push it as hard as we possibly can. And i am proud of the direction in which we are moving. And just on joe manchin, you say you support getting rid of the filibuster, but senator joe manchin has said he doesnt agree with that. He doesnt back the 15 minimum wage increase. He doesnt back the 28 Corporate Tax rate thats proposed. When you were running for president , you said you would go to West Virginia, rally working people there against Senator Manchin and pressure him to do the right thing. Mehdi, were going to go hold on. Hold on. Let me just ask the question, senator. Do you think President Biden should pressure joe manchin in the way you said you would, or would make him defect to the republican party, as some would say . First of all, talk to joe manchin. Second of all, there is a lot of work being done in order to bring the Democratic Caucus together. Once again, we passed the most significant piece of emergency legislation, which among other things will cut Childhood Poverty in half. I expect that the second Reconciliation Bill will be very profound in creating millions of goodpaying jobs and, by the way, im going to do everything that i can, along with others, in making sure that we do pass that 15 an hour minimum wage. Understood. But you support internal pressure, but you support internal pressure on joe manchin, not publicly going to West Virginia and calling him out as you said you would do in your Election Campaign . I have no problem going to West Virginia. And i think we need a Grassroots Movement that makes it clear to joe manchin and everybody else in the United States senate, including republicans, that the Progressive Agenda is what the American People want. They want to raise that minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour. They believe health care as a human right should be universal. They demand the rich start paying their fair share of taxes. This is not my ideas. This is what the American People want right now. Our job is to rally the American People in every state in this country to make sure that the government starts working for the Working Class of this country, not just the one percent. On that passionate note, well have to leave it there. Senator Bernie Sanders, always a pleasure. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank you very much. Next, ill be joined live by professor cornell west. He says the death of george floyd shows the world who america really is. Still to come, the queen of Complex Systems and even more complex problems says we have the tools to stop a deadly and more Transmissible Variant of covid19. Youll hear from her later. Stick around for that, too. mom vo we fit a lot of life into our subaru forester. dad its good to be back. mom it sure is. mom vo over the years, we trusted it to carry and protect the things that were most important to us. mom good boy. mom vo we always knew we had a lot of life ahead of us. mom remember this . mom vo thats why we chose a car that we knew would be there for us through it all. male vo welcome to the subaru forester. The longestlasting, most trusted forester ever. 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. Pepto bismol coats and soothes your stomach for fast relief and get the same fast relief in a Delightful Chew with pepto bismol chews. Introducing voltaren arthritis pain gel. The first full prescription strength nonsteroidal antiinflammatory gel. Available over the counter. Voltaren is powerful Arthritis Pain Relief in a gel. Voltaren. The joy of movement. burke phone it in to 1800farmers to get policy perks, like a home and autobundle discount. man im phoning it in and just saved twenty percent. burke get your policy perks by calling 1800farmers. Go ahead, phone it in. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum the Derek Chauvin murder trial resumes tomorrow in minneapolis. It was a taxing week of testimonies. For some it was too much to watch. Chauvin faces three charges of murder. Hi held his knee on floyds neck while he was begging for his life for nine minutes. One witness broke down during his testimony on wednesday. Mr. Mcmillen, do you need a minute . Can you just explain sort of what youre feeling in this moment . I cant help him. Helpless. Can you describe what youre trying to do at that point . Basically im saying you cant win. Once the police get the cuffs on you, you cant win. Im trying to tell him, just cooperate with them. Get up, get in the car. Go with him. You can win. The trial has forced those witnesses and the rest of us, especially black americans, to relive the trauma of watching George Floyds death. Joining me now is dr. Cornell west, professor of philosophy at harvard university. Dr. West thank you so much for coming on this show. What was it like for you, as a black man, not as a public intellectual, a harvard professor, but as a black man to watch the trial of Derek Chauvin, to hear those Witness Testimonies and see that video again . You know, brother, i was thinking of the words of the wise and courageous elder brother of george, philonis, when he said this is America On Trial. And putting America On Trial is to see whether america can be fair to black people. When the first move of the defense is to put george floyd jr. On trial. And when you put george floyd jr. On trial, youre putting black people on trial. So that george floyd jr. Is me and i am him. So i imagine myself with that policeman on my neck and whether i have to prove my humanity in order to even get a fair trial. Yet they got to go through history, trying to justify, rationalize by any way they can somehow to reach the conclusion that george floyd should not get justice. So this is as deep an issue as it gets, my brother. As deep as it gets. When you put America On Trial in the eyeing of black people, these are just the tips of the iceberg. How long can black folks put up with this kind of sense of being in a perpetual audition, having to prove our humanity day in and day out, my dear brother . Yes. And you said its as deep as it gets. Yes. Deep as it gets. Teenagers testifying this past week, 18yearold darnella frazier, the girl who took the viral video of George Floyds final moments, she testified tuesday. Lets listen to that. When i look at george floyd, i look at my dad. I look at my brothers. I look at my cousins, my uncles. Because they are all black. I have a black father. I have a black brother. I have black friends. And i look at that, and i look at how that could have been one of them. Its the nights i stayed up, apologizing and apologizing to george floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting, not saving his life. How many other Darnella Fraziers are out there . Kids in the black community, who have had to witness horrors like this and other similar horrors . Kids. Its true, though, brother. Youre talking about my daughter and son. Youre talking about my grandkids, though, brother. Here it is on easter. Were trying to pull out love and joy in the midst of this institutionalized hatred and this chronic sorrow. And the same true was when martin died, when medgar died. Same was true when Breonna Taylor was shot. How long can you put up with this . And what do you do about it . That become the question. Your spine and your backbone and continue to fight with the dignity and with the compassion, trying to love everybody, but recognizing in the end sometimes your hatred of injustice is difficult to confine just the injustice. And thats part of the challenge of martin king and the jew named jesus who bounced back in the face of the roman empire, to use his police, use his courts, use his lawyers to try to rationalize the criminal conviction and the Crucifixion Of Jesus who was in solidarity of the oppressed people, beginning with the jews of his day, spilling over to the oppressed people around the world. Thats part of my own christian witness. But its its tough, man. Its really tough. It is. You know, if george floyd doesnt get justice, man lets talk about justice. It only takes one juror, one juror to say not guilty and Derek Chauvin will walk free. If that happens, in your view, what happens to Race Relations in this country . Brother, we put on the king of love is dead, written by jean taylor, the song she sang three days after martin was shot down. She sang that. The whole country ought to just listen to nina simone. What happens when you think were on the brink and how do we come to terms with the vicious lies and crimes against black people for 400 years . Thats what were going to have to wrestle with. Youre going to cross that bridge when we get to it, but its going to be something, though, brother. Aint no doubt about that. And just going beyond this case and police brutality, how do we beat racism in this country, when a good chunk of this country, according to polls, thinks the main victims of Racial Discrimination are white people . The lies are out there, man. I was glad you had on brother Bernie Sanders, though. Hes a sign of hope. Why . Because were going to have a multiracial coalition. Were going to have to have muslims, catholic, baptist, jews, buddhists, gay, lesbian. But the center of it is going to have to be critique of White Supremacy because White Supremacy in the foreign policy, look whats happening in haiti right now with the u. S. Government supporting dictatorial powers. It has to be an international perspective, my brother. Right now, its the spiritual and the moral issues of how do we hold ourselves together when you are confronted with such ugly hatred, brutality, callousness, coldness, mean spiritedness, and they get away with it . People can only take so much. I can only take so much. Im a human being. Yes. We all are. I wish i could talk to you all night long, dr. West. Sadly, were out of time. Amen, brother. Always a blessing. Thank you. And congratulations on the show. I appreciate it. Your show is soaring like an eagle, my brother. I love it. Appreciate it. Lets have another conversation soon. Good night. Good night, my brother. Its emotional and traumatizing, reliving the death of George Floyd Over and over throughout this trial. If youre having trouble dealing with it, please do speak up. Please ask for help. Here are organizations you can reach out to. Please dont hesitate to get help. Next, Vaccination Rates are rising, but so are covid cases. That doesnt make any sense, does it . Well try to find out what were doing wrong. First, richard lui is here with the headlines. In mean myanmar, demonstrations have continued daily in the country despite the killing of civilians by the military. Rapper dmx is still on live support after a heart attack. The Grammy Nominated musician was hospitalized friday. Dmx is the first artist whose first four albums debuted at number one on the bill board chart. And the cdc issued new guidelines to the cruise ship industry. Cruiselines need a plan for vaccinated crew and port personnel. No date was specified for ships to return sailing. More of the Mehdi Hasan Show right after this break. Show right after this break e 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. Its so busted, you cant use this part of the screen. Definitely cracked every phone ive owned. vo you broke your phone. So verizon broke the rules. For the first time ever, new and current customers can trade in their old and damaged phones for up to 1,000 off our best 5g phones. My phone is old, very old. vo old, cracked, water damaged doesnt matter. Im ready for something new. vo now, trade up to the 5g network you deserve with the 5g phone you want. Because at verizon, the network is just the beginning. Agerelated Macular Degeneration may lead to severe vision loss. So the National Eye Institute did 20 years of clinical studies on a formula only found in preservision. If it were my vision, id ask my doctor about preservision. Its the most studied eye vitamin brand. If it were my vision, id look into preservision. Only Preservision Areds2 contains the exact nutrient formula recommended by the nei to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. I have amd. It is my vision so my plan includes preservision. Dignity. This thing you can neither see nor measure. But that demands the return of small moments illness attempts to steal. Dignity demands a rapid covid test, because we all need an answer to move forward. Dignity demands your heart stays connected to your doctor, so you know its beating as it should. It demands a better understanding of your glucose levels, so you can enjoy movie night. And knowing your baby is getting the nutrition he needs, no matter how you choose to feed him. Dignity is not effortless nor easy. At abbott, we fight for it every day, developing lifechanging technologies. Because dignity demands it. Did you know you can go to libertymutual. Com to customizes your Car Insurancey demands it. So you only pay for what you need . Really . I didnt aah ok. Im on vibrate. Aaah only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. The u. S. Is breaking records this week for daily vaccination efforts, more than 4 million on friday alone. Yet covid cases are still on the rise. 26 states experience some degree of a percentage of increase of cases over the past 14 days. This comes at a time when states are rapidly reopening and lifting mask mandates. Officials are warning this is the start of a fourth covid wave. My next guest points out in the atlantic, quote, compared with previous surges, case for unvaccinated case, this has the potential to cause more deaths, and illnesses, infecting fewer but doing more damage among them. Joining me now is the Associate Professor for university of chapel hill. Thank you so much for coming on the show. The b. 1. 1. 7 covid variant has established itself to be more transmissible and more deadly. Dr. Olsterholm was on Meet The Press this morning. Have a listen to what he said. Please understand this b. 1. 1. 7 variant, its almost this is a brand new ball game. This variant from the uk, it causes more severe illness 50 to 60 of the time. Its almost like having a whole new pandemic descend upon us. A whole new pandemic descend upon us. Whats your reaction to that . Its a complicated time. On the one hand in the United States, we have an enormous Vaccine Supply, which is very good for us, vaccinating more than 3 million, 4 million in a day, and some days we are breaking records, which is excellent. Weve only vaccinated perhaps a third of the population and maybe with sort of our best case estimate, maybe up to 100 Million People may have some level of immunity from a previous infection. Even if you put all of tha together, it means tens of millions of people are yet unvaccinated. While the vaccines themselves are excellent, the unvaccinated are even more vulnerable right now exactly because this variant is both more infectious, so thats something that we got lucky with and got away with and were kind of able to do before may now carry more risk. Theres increasing evidence that its also more severe. Not only are you more likely to get infected from another infected person, you are more likely to have a severe course of disease. So, places in michigan, philadelphia, new jersey, some in florida, were seeing these cases go up in michigan. Were seeing hospitalizations go up. So its complicated. Both at the same time. So you mentioned michigan, which is experiencing a spike in cases right now. Cases are up 122 over the past 14 days. In your atlantic article you make the argument for, quote, ring vaccination. Explain that term for our viewers. How could it help a state like michigan right now . Ring vaccination is a Public Health tool. My suggestion is where you go to a place where an outbreak is occurring and try to vaccinate contacts and potential contacts of the people who have been infected. It is how we eradicated small pox in the past, too. You go to a place where theres been an outbreak and you kind of smother it with immunity. It was also used with ebola. Right now, our Vaccine Supply means that we are able to open up eligibility to large numbers of people, which is good, but were now, you know, vaccinating 20, 30yearolds who are lower risk. They should be vaccinated, but theyre clearly lower risk, in places where there is no big outbreak or surge. So i think it would make sense to try to direct and send more vaccines to places like michigan, places like philadelphia, places like new jersey where were seeing these Hospitalization Upticks as well. And especially direct them to the front line Essential Workers who cannot just sort of stay home and order those groceries, because theyre the ones sending us the groceries, because were vaccinated by age, which is important, because old people are you know, they have vulnerabilities, but now there are all these people who cannot necessarily protect themselves and the vaccinated are feeling great. That is very understandable, because theyre clearly safer, but we cannot leave those people behind just because some of us now are much safer thanks to excellent vaccines. And youve already written about the misinformation on the right surrounding covid. You point to a trifecta issue, polarization, bad science and puritanism. And moralizing. Polarization is unresolvable right now. Im not even going to ask you to resolve that. How do we fix the bad science and the puritanism . Or is it too late . Im going to come back a little bit, because thats not just on the right sometimes. The right has its own misinformation. Especially against the vaccines, which are excellent. Theres been a consistent Campaign Painting them as not great when they are. We also have other problems that i think are common across the political spectrum. After a year epidemiology, its clear that outdoors and beaches and parks are much safer. And we still have places that are fighting over whether to keep a local park or, you know, an open beach open, like a local beach. People are being shamed for being outdoors, which is part of the bad science. And that can cut across the political spectrum. The other one i like to talk about is that weve been acting like its the fault of the bad behavior that people exhibit, which is not false completely. There are clearly irresponsible people. But if you look at the breakdown of covid victims in this country, it is primarily poor people, black people, his tannic Essential Workers. Blaming if its just personal irresponsibility when it was very much those people we sent out there without the protections, and then were kind of wagging our fingers at the victims, thats something i think we should not do. Its a very, very good point. Well have to leave it there. Were out of time. Thank you so much for your insights tonight. Appreciate it. Thank you for inviting me. Congressman matt gaetz has been in the news this week for allegedly saying and doing some pretty awful things. I have a 60second rant coming that shows how hes always been awful. Thats next. Dont go away. Ys been awful. Thats next. Dont go away. Hey 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 ill be right back. With moderate to severe Crohns Disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. Is she alright . I hope so. So i talked to my doctor about humira. I learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of Crohns Disease after trying other medications. The majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief in as little as 4 weeks. And many achieved remission that can last. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Be there for you, and them. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. Losing a tooth didnt stop you but your partial can act like a bacteria magnet, ask your gastroenterologist about humira. Putting natural teeth at risk. New Polident Propartial helps purify your partial and strengthens and protects natural teeth. So, are you gonna lose another tooth . Not on my watch youre not using too much are you, hon . Charmin ultra soft is so soft youll 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. Gop matt gaetz is under investigation for Sex Trafficking and the allegations about him and women and drugs continue to pile up. Let me sum up matt gaetz for new for you in just 60 seconds. Elected to the Florida House in 2010 backed by his daddy don gaetz with deep pockets and connections two years after being arrested for driving under the influence. He called for recipients for welfare to be drug tested, and was one of two Florida House members to vote against a bill criminalizing revenge porn. Gaetz accused a holocaust survivor to be his guest on the state of the union. Claimed Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions was a hostage in the deep state. Defended trumps description of haiti as an asshole country, falsely accused gorge soros ten days before wore a gas mask to mock the threat from covid, attended a Maskless Party in new york at the height of the pandemic and the only member in congress to vote against a bill to combat against human trafficking. Funny that. In february, matt gaetz said he would quit his job and leave his home and defend donald trump. The question now is, will donald trump do the same thing for him . We all know the answer for that. Next, the russian government allegedly tried to poison alexey navalny. Now from behind bars, he himself is risking death with a selfimposed hunger strike. Strie 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. Sales are down from last quarter but we are hoping things will pick up by q3. Yeah. Uh. Doug . Sorry about that. Umm. What. Its. Um. You alright . [sigh] [ding] never settle with power e trade. It has powerful, easytouse tools to help you find opportunities, 24 7 support when you need answers plus some of the lowest options and futures Contract Prices around. Dont get mad. Get e trade and start trading today. 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. Gillette proglide. Five blades and a Pivoting Flexball designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke. So youre ready for the day with a fresh face for a fresh start. For a limited time get a 5th Cartridge free. [applause] free, free, free. Thats right, turbotax free edition is free. Free, free free free. Itchy . Thats right, turbotax free edition is free. Scratchy . Family not getting clean . Get charmin ultra strong. It just cleans better, so your family can use less. Hello clean bottom enjoy the go with charmin. Russian Opposition LeaderAlexei Navalny declared a hunger strike. The kremlin is widely blamed for the chemical weapon attack, and he says hes now suffering from back pain and leg numbness. And that being woken up every night is tantamount to torture. What does this mean for the future of the russian opposition . Julia, thanks so much for coming on the show. You have navalny in prison, and you have this weird twist where maria butin goes to visit him, taunts him, makes fun of his health on camera. What is going on over there . Well. Its great question. What is going on is Maria Buttina is part of the larger kremlin ploy to discredit navalnys claims that hes held in inhumane, torturelike conditions. In the confrontation, maria butina says, i dont know what youre talking about, there are hotels in the regions i grew up in that are worse than this jail. Not sure who that was supposed to make feel better. Asked on facebook if he understood the difference between a prison and resort. And she said, look, man, if you did the crime, do the time. And i have to say says a woman the kremlin sorry. The kremlin is also leaking cctv camera footage of navalny to show him Walking Around fine. He is omnipresent in the independent media and online and the kremlin is using its media to push back on his claims. And of course navalny was hospitalized in a medically induced coma for weeks in berlin when he was poisoned. It is now being reported, two of the doctors who treated him have died, a third has quit. Many are calling it a cleanup operation. Is this standard Operating Practice now in russia or is this just one big coincidence . I dont know that it is, now. The kremlin is good at sweeping up its traces. I dont know if you remember the documentary that came out, icarus, and the investigation into the elaborate Doping Scheme that the russians used for the 2014 sochi olympics. One of the whistleblowers fled to the u. S. And had to go into Witness Protection because a lot of his colleagues started dropping dead of Heart Attacks and committing suicide. So, you know, its hard to say, because these are men in their 50s, in russia thats around the time that men start dying of Health Conditions in russia, their health is generally very bad. But seems like quite a coincidence and it raises a few eyebrows, including both of mine. Well, thats why we wanted to speak to you tonight. Let me ask you one last question before we run out of time, trump is gone and President Biden refers to putin as killer and putin hit back with his sarcastic have good health before challenging biden to a bizarre live tv debate. What leverage does biden have if any to Pressure Putin and help navalny . I dont think that biden has a lot of tools left in his toolkit save for drastic measures like cutting russia out of the swift Banking System which would create a lot of chaos not just in russia but europe, which is economically intertwined with russia. I dont think theres much left in terms of areas where the u. S. Could cooperate after russias illegal annexation of crimea, you saw all kinds of Cooperation Fall by the wayside. You have space left and counterterrorism. People in the Security Services in the u. S. Dont believe the russians are helping in counterterrorism, and now spacex is launching our rockets rather than the russians. They renewed the s. T. A. R. T. Treaty pretty quickly but not clear what other overlap there is. As for what biden can do to help navalny, im afraid theres not a ton, for everyone that depends on putin, this has become an existential question, us or them, and so they are willing to take the heat of some sanctions if theyre not strung up from the lamppost. Which isnt enough. Julia, were sadly out of time. Thanks for your insight tonight, appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Were moments away from the week with joshua johnson. Hell have a live interview with dr. Zeke emmanuel, a former covid19 Advisory Board member during the biden transition. Stick around for that. Or that. To help keep the gum seal tight. New parodontax active gum repair toothpaste. Limu emu doug excuse me maam, did you know that 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. Want to eliminate odors without heavy, overwhelming scents . We get it. Try febreze light. It eliminates odors with no heavy perfumes in light scents youll love. Febreze light. 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. Thanks for watching. Well be right back here next sunday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. And monday through thursdays at 7 00 p. M. Eastern on the choice on nbcs streaming channel, peacock. Now, good evening, joshua johnson. Its good to be with you tonight. Hope youve had a lovely easter. It was a work day for some in Biden Administration promoting his infrastructure package. Were still coasting off infrastructure choices made in the 1950s. That plan could struggle or die without bipartisan support. Is a second Reconciliation Bill on the horizon . Covid vaccinations are speeding up. 4 million shots on friday, but new cases, rising in more than half the states. We will ask dr. Zeke emanuel if we can prevent another surge. Plus, you know what they say about dancing with the devil, but this is just one moment in