Witnesses say the florida congressman did drugs with a paid escort. This as his former associate agrees to cooperate with the government ahead of an suspected guilty plea tomorrow. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. As we do say, good morning, everybody. It is saturday, may 15th. Were watching a number of breaking stories at this hour. Also keeping an eye on the situation in the middle east. We have a live picture out there of gaza. Relatively quiet after several mornings of exchanges of gunfire between the two factions there. We are going to get into the overnight details. I have a question for you, kendis. Okay. Mask or no mask . You know, im a fan of amigos, mask off. It is so confusing. Everybody on twitter saying, im still going to wear a mask. Not everybody, some people. It did not take long for me and some people, okay, you dont have to tell us twice. Its one of those things thats been really, really confusing for so long and it doesnt seem as if the pandemic is completely over. In my Apartment Building here in new york, i say, when can i get rid of this . And they say, i dont know yet. We have a team of reporters and analysts following the latest for you this morning in the u. S. And around the world. We begin, though, with the pandemic. Or the end of the pandemic. We hope. Mixed reaction across the country as we kick off the first maskless weekend in some areas. Many Americans Still trying to figure out where they need to wear masks, how they prove theyre vaccinated after the cdc said people who have gotten the shot no longer need to wear face coverings in most instances, and a lot of businesses still have yet to drop those restrictions. Msnbcs cory coffin is in central park with more. Cory, this is the first time were seeing your face in i dont know how many months. Reporter you guys, i came out with a mask on this morning to do this live shot, because i was still it was just so foreign to me to not wear a mask. It so does feel very strange. We are outdoors right now. We are all socially distanced. And thats what we saw out here in central park. More and more people outdoors are getting more and more comfortable. But states, local governments, businesses, many and just people in general, their own personal choices are to keep that mask on for indoor purposes, because theyre just not quite sure yet. Its like dipping a toe into a cold pool. Dont know if you want to jump right in right away. There is also a question of how you prove youre vaccinated if some places will allow that. As we know, we have been reporting on those cards that can be faked, as well. This is a bit of a gray area. And new york as a whole is one of a number of states that have said, you know, were not ready quite yet to fully drop the Mask Mandates and we still have some in place. That also includes places like new jersey near us, delaware, even california and hawaii are keeping up their Mask Mandates for now. Now, my colleague, gabe gutierrez, spoke with the Street Vendor project about why that is, why the transition might be slower than some had hoped. Listen to that. Reporter there is still a lot of fear, of going back to what happened last year. The community here was the most impacted health wise and economically. And people are terrified of reopening too fast and suffering the same pain that they did and the sickness that their families did, as well. And so i dont think that it will change drastically, it wont change immediately. But little by little, as more people get vaccinated and people feel more comfortable, we will start to reopen. Reporter its important to note, some 35 of the population is estimated to be fully vaccinated now. And this does bring up the question of air travel, as well. The faa has said and the cdc has restated that when it comes to public travel, that will remain in place. Masks still will be required on planes, on buses, on subways. And it will stay twha at least until september. Many big businesses like starbucks will say, were going to go ahead and keep our mask policy in place, just because we cant prove who is and who isnt vaccinated, but like comfort for the customer. This will be a slower rollout, lindsay, for sure. Cory, how do you feel without the mask on . I feel like im doing something that i shouldnt be doing. But i also feel very free. It feels really good. I know i feel like i go outside and im like im happy to have it off. Its called stockholm syndrome. We all suffered from it. Cory, thank you. Well have more on new on all of these new Mask Guidelines when we speak to dr. Kavita patel. We have a question on our twitter page. A lot of people have questions. Where to wear their mask, where not to wear their mask. Well turn now to capitol hill, the latest shake up in republican leadership. Congresswoman liz cheneys criticism of former President Donald Trump has led to her ouster from her number three post in the house. And now shes giving new insight into the minds of some of her colleagues. Elise stefanick, a trump loyalist, despite having a less conservative Voting Record, msnbcs Amanda Golden is joining us right now from capitol hill, where shes been following this story. Amanda, good morning to you. Whats cheney actually saying now about her colleagues . Good morning, kendis. Well, Congresswoman Liz Cheney has continued to be incredibly outspoken against her republican colleagues for in her view, not defending conservative principles. Shes been making the rounds, lots of different media appearances, really speaking out against these colleagues that she feels that are not willing to stand up to former President Trump. As we start to see this coalescing around trump and his messaging within leadership now, within House Republicans, with congresswoman Elise Stefanick replacing cheney, following her ousting for speaking out against the baseless claims that trump would make over the election. Stefanick is saying that the party is unified. She did praise President Trump for endorsing her during that leadership campaign, which happened very quickly. And she said that hell continue to be a real leader and vocal voice within the republican party. That is something that liz cheney is not onboard with. Shes remaining a very vocal presence within the party and pushing back. And she has some very strong words to say about her republican colleagues for not standing up to the former president. Heres some of what she said just yesterday on cnn. I also think that you have more members who believe in substance and policy and i deals than are willing to say so. And in some cases, i mean, if you look at the vote to impeach, for example, there were members who told me that they were afraid for their own security. Afraid, in some instances, for their lives. Reporter Congresswoman Liz Cheney was up with of ten republicans in the house that did vote to impeach the former president , as we know. And shes not deviating from that message, speaking out against his baseless claims, moving forward, even while not in leadership anymore. But as she said, she feels that some of her colleagues were threatened, felt that they were going to be unsafe if they really stood by their principles in standing out against him. Thats not something were hearing in a widespread way from House Republicans at this time. So this will be something to continue to follow. But its going to be a real messaging point for republicans that were getting that indication, as they coalesce around the trump ideologies, especially as they look ahead to the midterm elections next year. Whether or not theyre going to continue to bolster the ideas around President Trump in order to hopefully regain the house in their view, that will be something to follow along, as well. Kendis . Amanda, stand by. Well check back with you in a couple of minutes on another Major Development on the hill. With us right now is tedra cobbs, that aims at increasing democrats victories. She ran against Elise Stefanick in 2020 for new yorks 21st congressional district. Thank you so much for being here. Oh, thank you for having me. Its an honor. Well, so, in the lead up to stefanick being elected to the republican leadership, you actually tweeted that without much pomp and circumstance, Elise Stefanick completed her betrayal of the constitution, her office, and us. Ultimately, this isnt a fight for leadership, its a race to the front of the pack. A pack of followers chasing a failed president , forsaking our democracy. Why do you say that . Especially when you know the 21st District Voted twice for President Trump, former President Trump. Well, this is about Elise Stefanick supporting a president who has put forward the big lie and she has always been about herself. And this is important. And i think more people in the country is realizing this and clearly more people in the district. Elise stefanick has always put herself first. She doesnt stand for any principles. She doesnt stand for any policy. She stands for herself. She will change her attire and i dont mean physical attire, i mean her Positioning Points to put herself where she is, the cos play congresswoman. She started out talking about how moderate she was, and how she was going to support women and equal pay. And yet she voted three times against equal pay. We have seen that she went all in for trump, and now she has moved liz cheney to the side to propel herself forward. Its all about Elise Stefanick and it always has been. You thought that her full embrace of trump would benefit you in this matchup. But she actually doubled your margin in her latest rematch with her . Do you think thats a miscalculation on your part, that you campaigned and thought that perhaps the coronavirus pandemic and how it was being handled actually would benefit you and your campaign . I got into this campaign for health care and for my neighbors who are struggling to have jobs, to put food on the table, to be able to educate their children. Those were the issues that i talked about from the very beginning of the campaign to the end. And Elise Stefanick has voted against the people of this district. Lets use a most recent example. We needed 1. 5 million in the latest coronavirus relief. Elise stefanick along with all of the republicans voted against that. And that hurts this district. And elises Voting Record is against this district. So for me, its about talking about the issues that we face every day. Thats what i did in the campaign. And right now, i started a pac called back roads and i will be helping other candidates who are running, and lets be honest, these are tough districts in these rural areas, but we have other people like me who have put themselves forward, who are running because they believe that the people in their district need a voice in washington. Someone who will put them first and not their own political career. What sort of reactions have you heard to stefanicks rise there in the 21st District . And its a district that has gotten increasingly conservative over the years. And for folk who is dont know the area, we always talk about places outside of new york as upstate. The 21st District is upstate new york. No, no, we are the north country. Yall are the north country, indeed. But what are you hearing from people that has stood out in the last few days, to you . Well, there are actually things that are important. First and foremost, i actually was collected for eight years. I served from 2003 to 2010, as a County Legislator in a republican area. So the district, historically, has been very purple. And youre right, it has moved more to the right, but i think one of the things that im hearing from people is how disappointed they are in washington. And how january 6th and whats happened in washington and the support of the big lie has really affected how people feel about the republican party. Lets be real here. There is a fracture in the republican party. And what we saw this week and last week is a fracture in that party. And they may say the words, oh, were unified, but theres no unification here. They are fractured and we will continue to talk about the work that democrats are doing for people in these communities, and in particular, in rural communities. Tedra cobb, you mentioned january 6th. Well dive into that right now. Thank you for your time. Thank you. After months of stalled republicans, House Democrats and republicans have reached an agreement on a 9 11 Style Commission to investigate the january 6th attack on the capitol. A vote is expected next week, but Kevin Mccarthy may not be onboard. Lets bring back msnbcs Amanda Golden right now. Does it matter if the Minority Leader isnt onboard with us . Well, logistically, not necessarily, kendis. Obviously, the House Democrats are in control right now within congress, within the house chamber. They could move this forward if they wanted to, but part of the issue is that there was a real desire to have this be a true bipartisan commission. To have everyone within both sides of the aisle onboard, in order to move this forward. And so now, were seeing this agreement from at least one democratic congressman and one republican congressman to move this forward and have a true bipartisan, independent, 9 11Style Commission that can investigate the riot that we saw take place at the capitol on january 6th, as well as the events and effects that led up to the violent insurrection that took place. So this fell on to the responsibility of the chairman and Ranking Member of the homeland of the House Homeland Security committee, congressman Bennie Thompson and congressman john catco, thats the democrat and republican here, as they try to put together this proposal that seems to be gaining steam. Some of what this proposal is including for this commission and what it will look into, it will be a truly bipartisan commission, ten members, five per party, they will have Subpoena Power if both side leadership will agree to who they can bridge in. Its also authorized to investigate the events of january 6th and the events that led up to it and they will issue a report by the end of this calendar year. Youre right that we dont know yet if House Minority leader Kevin Mccarthy will be onboard. He did tell reporters yesterday, he did not see this final proposal before it was blasted out to the public. This will be something to continue to follow along. We know that that 1. 9 billion supplemental funding bill should be making its way along next week. A lot of developments that will continue to move forward within investigating january 6th. Amanda golden, thank you. Appreciate it. Well, this morning, as we get a taste of postpandemic life, at least in this country, this weekend, how will you know if the maskless person beside you has been vaccinated, as we take a beautiful look at new york city sunrise. Well ask dr. Kavita patel how authorities plan to regulate the new cdc mask guidance. And why are so many parents refusing to get their kids vaccinated, even after getting the green light on the pfizer shot . Plus, tipping towards allout war in the middle east. Israeli forces and Palestinian Militants launch retaliatory strikes in a deadly overnight escalation. Were live on the ground. On thd as your business changes, the United States Postal Service is changing with it. With ecommerce that runs at the speed of now. Next day and twoday shipping nationwide, and returns right from the doorstep. Its a whole new world out there. Lets not keep it waiting. Its a whole new world out there. The calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. Laundry isnt done until its done with downy. We know how much you count on us. And thats why were here 24 7. And on the road maintaining a fast and reliable network. Were always working to ensure the internet meets your needs. By making access easier for all. With comcast lift zones and our Internet Essentials program. Were invested in making our apps easy. To give you personalized assistance around the clock. And were committed to keeping our team and customers safe by working from home. And using precautions in store. See what were up to at xfinity. Com commitment id get vaccinated in a second if it means i dont have to wear a mask anymore, done im over it. So over it. I just want to work with no mask, show off my pretty smile, you know, and see other peoples beautiful smiles. Stocking up on lipstick again, right . In americans celebrating this cdcs updated guidance that people who are fully vaccinated no longer need to wear a mask in most situations. But not everyone is ready to ditch them just yet. Joining us now, dr. Kavita patel, fellow at brookings institution. Shes also an msnbc medical contributor. Dr. Patel, i feel like this has been months in the making, where we have finally been able to ask you about the lifting of some of these guidelines. But theres still a lot of confusion. To me, i see this as sort of twopronged. Of one hand, as someone who travels if work, i dont know when i land in a new city what the rules are. And i dont know about that guidance, if im vaccinated, im more of a risk to you if youre unvaccinated. Can you break down those two issues. Good morning to both of you. And kendis, the good news is you do not need to wear mask in almost all situations. But the overarching answer to your question most people want me to put a mask on, actually. I get the same thing, okay. Youre in good company. Two weeks past your second dose, if you have a twoshot regimen, two weeks past a onedose if you have the oneshot regimen, youre fully immunized and you do not need to wear a mask. As you said, lindsey, in both situations. I think the better way to think about it is it really is outdoors for you is freedom from wearing a mask in all circumstances. They even updated the guidance to say that even in places like stadiums and concerts and other crowds, you do not need to wear a mask. Wow. To your appoint, however, the local guidance is going to be incredibly key. State of new york, for example, where the governor has said, well, and the mayor of new york city has said, were keeping indoor mask requirements. Well, except for businesses, its kind of up to you to decide what to do. And you also have to think about, lindsey, a growing part of this confusion is going to be proof of vaccination. Places like new york have kind of a predownloadable app that has become a little bit more familiar in the last 24 hours for new york residents. But the rest of the country is in an uneven patchwork. Two hints there, do not lose that card that you got, that little 3 x 4 card. Put that card somewhere safe, because its very likely that well start seeing maybe different businesses that have their own apps or own ways of asking for proof of vaccination. And that leads to kind of your second question, lindsey, where do you need to wear a mask and whats the risk if youre vaccinated and youre trying to avoid, you know, you getting sick or giving it to someone. The truth is that because of these vaccines, the three that are highly effective, that risk is incredibly low for most people. But it is an individual kind of risk calculation. If you have Young Children or Immunocompromised People with certain type of conditions, where youre worried about them getting sick, or you might be one of those people. You might continue to wear a mask, especially indoors, especially if the ventilation or people are kind of crowded in. Those might be good situations if you are concerned about a very small risk. And what do i mean by small risk . I mean that the studies that we have show that these vaccines are very effective, anywhere from 74 to some studies as high as 93 in reducing your risk of becoming an asymptomatic carrier. But lindsey, just look at the new york yankees. I know thats getting tweeted and kind of retweeted around the world, you dont necessarily want to be one of those people that have a breakthrough infection. Not because youre probably going to get very sick, thats the good news, but again, it goes back to how much risk are you willing to take and what are you willing to do . Definitely a personal decision. As far as that vaccine card, i always have my handy, and im getting my free doughnut at krispy kreme as often as i can. Lets listen to concerns about how quickly the vaccines were developed. What we were doing at the National Institutes of health, which was fundamentally understanding coronaviruses so we could make a really good vaccine for it. And also the technologies that these vaccines are using, they have been in development for years. So when you bring those two things together, you become really confident as a scientist that you know what youre doing. Reporter what are your thoughts on that . Whats the best way to ease peoples concerns . Yeah, ive been using the Mrna Technology in daring of cancer patients. So just to let you kind of build on that, dr. Corbitts message is spotton. Its been 30 decades that weve been researching the mrna. And the reason that they have not been used commonly previously in vaccines is because theyre highly kind of finicky molecules. Those Ultradeep Freezers are exactly why we have not had them more scaled previously, because theyre not easy to keep stable unless you have those really cold temperatures. Guess what . Were seeing that with some modifications, we dont even need those deep freezers. We can use a regular freezer. Which is all really good news. Its decades of work. People who have had treatments and had vaccines developments used them for sars cov1. It is safe. Same for the Johnson Johnson viral vector technology. These are known ways of giving people vaccines and heres the even better news, and i know we need to go, but the better news is that this doesnt do anything to alter your dna or your fertility or pregnancy or future pregnancies. This just tells your own Immune System to make antibodies to that Spike Protein thats seen on the coronavirus without giving you the actually coronavirus. And thats the key here. Its your body creating its own response. Very important point. Dr. Patel, it feels like this has been such a long day coming. We have talked to you so frequently over the past year to finally be able to talk to you about finally being able to be maskless outdoors, dr. Patel. And tune into alex witt worts reports. The big story weve been following, fears of an allout war in the middle east. The Israeli Defense force is escalating their Bombing Campaign as hamas fires rockets into israeli towns. Thats where our chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel is this morning. Hell bring us a live report, ahead. Plus, explosive new reporting on matt gaetz and an alleged drugfueled night with a escort and why Monday Morning could spell trouble for the embattled florida congressman. Could spell trouble for the embattled florida congressman. R. I discovered my great aunt ruth signed up as a Nursing Cadet for world war ii. You see this scannedin, handwritten document. The most striking detail is her age. She was only 17. Knowing that she saw this thing happening and was brave enough to get involved and do something that was eye opening. Bring your Family History to life like never before. Get started for free at ancestry. Com ac dc Back In Black to life like never before. The bowls are back. Applebees irresistabowls all just 8. 99. 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We do have this new video from the Israeli Defense forces, showing explosions lighting up the night sky as their forces bomb more than 150 targets in gaza. Their military saying that theyve destroyed several miles of underground tunnels used by hamas. Joining us right now in israel and tel aviv, nbc news chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel. Richard, good morning to you. It seemed like it was a relatively quiet night, but relative to the last five days hold on one second. If you listen right now, you can hear some Air Raid Sirens that are going off in tel aviv. We havent heard these here for the last 24 hours or so. Weve also heard some small, what sound like explosions. They could be the iron dome defense system, which israel uses to protect tel aviv and other cities. This has been going off now for the last minute or so. These are sirens that indicate that people should go down into bomb shelters, stay in their homes. A lot of israeli homes have bombsecured rooms in them, including the place where we are staying right now. So this is an indication of what is happening here, when no, its still going on. I thought it faded off for a second. It is now fading down. So theres been no allclear, but the signal itself, the alert, the go to shelters you can hear it now coming back is still going on in this city. And it indicates that rockets i just heard two louder thud explosions. Those sound somewhat different again, i cant see any of the impacts those could be impacts or they could be the Missile Defense system going off. Clearly, this is an event. This is how israel responds when rockets are fired from gaza. Thats whats been happening. 2,300 rockets over the last several days. And when theyre fired towards israel, the city goes into alert, its Missile Defense systems are activated and that seems to be happening, what is happening right now. Which is why israel has been carrying out these attacks into gaza and there were more attacks overnight against hamas Missile Launch sites and palestinians say that Palestinian Civilians were also killed in those attacks, including children. Hey, richard, i want to keep with you while this continues. And we do have a shot, another shot, im not sure of the location, but where you can see some streaks in the air. Not sure if those are streaks from the iron dome or from rockets being fired. Were told this shot is from gaza. But you said you heard two differentsounding thuds. You can tell the difference, cant you when the iron dome has taken into effect, right . Yes and no. I just heard another one right now. In an urban area, its frankly, quite difficult to distinguish sounds when theyre far away, because sounds can bounce off of streets and buildings. I have not heard any massive impacts, but were hearing quite a few, what sound like deep thuds and were hearing some sharper impacts right now. So there may be rockets impacting around the area. It may be the iron dome. The iron dome would only respond if rockets are in the area. And now were more of them, as well. So clearly, the iron dome system has been activated. Thats very much what this sounds like and the only reason it would be activated is because rockets are being fired in this direction. It doesnt fire off unless it responds to some sort of threat. Now, if i go outside, i can see some smoke in the air, which would indicate that there has been things fired from the ground up into the air, which is how the iron dome system works. It fires off projectiles to intercept. And the camera man is trying to see if we can get out here on to the balcony. Well see if you get blown off. And you can see these two little, what look like clouds, maybe and excuse our rusty camera work here. They look like clouds. They are not clouds. They were just fired up a short while ago from, i believe, the iron dome, trying to intercept or put up some sort of areal defense over the city. When i look around right now, on the streets and see if we can pan down, you see no one here in tel aviv. These streets this morning did have people on them. There were people out its getting quieter again. This happened a few minutes ago. We will see if it comes back. But it is now gone quiet. Hey, richard, its lindsey here and i have a couple of questions for you. How rare is what youre hearing right now . How often or how rare are these occurring and also, are you and your cameraman in a safe place . Yes, we are. As safe as you can be in a city which is being attacked with rockets that are not targeted in any way or not in any particular way guided, targeted i mean, theyre targeted at the city, but theyre not specifically guided to a location. But the iron dome system is very effective. And it is showing sorry about this. Were just trying to move back inside, partly for the reason you were talking about. But the iron dome system is sorry if its been a little unsettling for viewers. But it does shoot down most of the incoming fire, but not all of it. And one thing that hamas has been doing has been firing large salvos of rockets in order to try and beat the system, assuming that it wont be able to pick out all of the incoming fire, but that some will be missed and manage to come through. All right. Richard, we really appreciate your reporting right there. Richard engel in tel aviv, where sirens sounded just about 1 30 in the afternoon local time. And it had been a relatively quiet morning. Richard, well check back with you. Yeah, stay safe. To make sure that everything is okay. The iron dome appeared to have countered those rockets. Richard engel for us from tel aviv. Thank you. We want to bring in in the meantime, Bloomberg Opinion editor, bobby ghosh. You heard all of that happening, in the middle of the day. I believe many of the rockets that had been firing from hamas had been in the overnight hours. How unusual is it to hear this in the middle of the day there . Its a very important day. This is not just any saturday. This is the day palestinians commemorate israels foundation. And its a day that is characterized by enflamed emotions on the palestinian side, and for an Extremist Group like hamas, its a day to show its credentials. And its only credentials come from sparking off violence. And so i would have expected today to i would have expected the level of violence, the level of rhetoric and actual rocket fire to be ratcheted up today in any case. So im not entirely surprised that there are these salvos of rockets in the middle of the day. And bobby, of course, the administration has a medium level envoy that is there. What would you say that the Biden Administration needs to do to get the wraps over all of this . The Biden Administration has taken its own sweet time. And yes, as you say, theyve sent a midlevel diplomat to try and talk the two sides off the ledge. This does not seem to be enough. And in previous administrations going back decades, in a situation like this, you would expect heavier involvement from the u. S. Administration. You would expect someone like a Secretary Of State or a National Security adviser to personally head over to tel aviv and jerusalem to stop talking to the israelis. Now, a big part of the problem is that the u. S. Has absolutely no Real Communications with hamas. Hamas from an American Point of view is a terrorist group. We dont talk to them. The people who can talk with them, who have some leverage with them are the egyptians, so the Biden Administration has to support the egyptian efforts to get hamas to stop shooting off i have a quick question for you. And i wanted to pop up the gaza shots, just so were continuing to monitor whats happening over there in the meantime. You can see a plume of smoke, far off in the distance. I have no ideax where exactly that is. Ive been to gaza, but i could tell you the lay of the land to that extent. But really quickly here, because its not just the rocket fire and the assault from israel, but you also have a lot of fighting that is taking place within the streets of israel. This is new and this is a whole dangerous new dimension. Theres conflict between hamas and israel. This goes back decades. Weve seen that horrible movie before. But the fighting thats going on within israel between Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jewish population, that is new. And that reflects a sense of absolute isolation that many palestinians living in israel feel. They feel that they have that they are friendless, that the world has abandoned them. And that they need to step up and assert their presence and their demands for rights within israeli states. And how the government of israel handles that in many ways is more important how they handle hamas. We know how they handle hamas. Were seeing this. But how they handle the dissatisfaction, the dissolution within israel, thats going to be crucial. Bobby ghosh, we have to wrap it there, but thank you for being with us. Back here in this country, will there be any sort of a bipartisan deal . The white house is expecting a republican counterproposal by tuesday. President biden met with republican senators this week, both sides, describing the talk as productive. The president is hoping for a deal on the 2. 2 trillion plan by memorial day. Yeah, only 16 days away. Nbc News White House reporter, lauren egan has more on all of this. Lauren, good morning. Reporter good morning, thats right. Next week is going to be critical for President Bidens infrastructure plan. As you mentioned, both democrats and republicans have set this informal deadline for memorial day to reach some sort of progress on these negotiations. And as you said, biden spent last week meeting with the democrats and republicans to talk about this infrastructure bill. And both sides said that negotiations went well. Biden has asked republicans to come back to him on tuesday, with a new counterproposal, but despite these signs of progress, there continues to be deep divisions over how to pay for this infrastructure bill, as well as how big it should actually be. And what should constitute as infrastructure. Take a listen to what Secretary Buttigieg had to say about the infrastructure bill. Whether its because you cant get gas or because you dont have power or because your Drinking Water may not be safe. Or if its because you cant get child care or you cant get care for an aging parent. These are all things that keep you from living the life you want to live. Theyre all things that could keep you out of the workforce. So theyre all things that we need to have a stronger economy. Infrastructure is the theme of this plan, but jobs is the point of this plan. Thats why its called the american jobs plan. Reporter now, President Biden has said that he doesnt plan to back down from some of the elements that Secretary Buttigieg just mentioned, such as child care and elder care. And hes signaled that he would be willing to go it alone on some of those elements without republican support and just democrats. Now, we can expect biden next week to continue to push and pressure republicans to adopt his more expansive view of infrastructure. On tuesday, the president is scheduled to travel to michigan, where he will tour an electric vehicle and manufacturing facility. Kendis . Lauren egan who is traveling with the president in wilmington, thank you. Appreciate it. Well, matt gaetz socalled wing man, preparing to plead guilty in a Sex Trafficking case. Plus, how an amateur Instagram Model reportedly turned her relationship with the florida congressman into a moneymaking venture on the taxpayers dime. Were going to dive into this and the new explosive details with our legal panel. With our legal panel [sizzling] i may not be able to tell time, but i know what time it is. [whispering] its Grilled Cheese oclock. People everywhere living with Type 2 Diabetes are waking up but ito whats possible is. With rybelsus®. You are my sunshine my only sunshine. Rybelsus® works differently than any other diabetes pill to lower blood sugar in all 3 of these ways. Increases insulin. Decreases sugar. And slows food. The majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. People taking rybelsus® lost up to 8 pounds. Rybelsus® isnt for people with Type 1 Diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. 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Subway®. Eat fresh. Explosive new reporting this morning that will likely ramp up pressure on congressman matt gaetz, whos under investigation by the doj. The Daily Beast Reporting that according to two unidentified witnesses, gaetz snorted cocaine and had sex with an escort after a gop fundraiser in 2019. That woman, also allegedly linked with gaetz associate, Joel Greenberg. That relationship resulting in a socalled noshow job that earned her thousands of dollars, funded by Taxpayer Money, according to three daily beast source and government documents that have not been reviewed by nbc news. Her lawyer says she is not speaking to any media outlets. Well, gaetzs camp, the pr firm he hired told the daily beast that he will not comment on his dating life and that, quote, the privacy of women Living Private lives should be protected. In the meantime, greenberg is agreeing to cooperate with federal prosecutors who are set to plead guilty to six federal charges, including Sex Trafficking of a minor. That hearing is set for Monday Morning, and that plea deal was not name gaetz, who has not been charged with any crime and who has consistently denied all allegations of wrongdoing. With us right now is msnbc legal contributor Danny Cevallos with more on how this is all going to play out. Danny, good morning to you. Lets start with the new reporting that were hearing and seeing, that Taxpayer Dollars are involved in all of this. What kind of extra layer. Does this actually add to the Ongoing Investigation . This is something that is definitely going to get the federal government interested, and thats the alleged use or the potential use of Taxpayer Dollars, especially for a noshow job. And if you looking at some of the reporting, some of this, if it ends up being true and of course, Joel Greenberg has already pleaded guilty to a number of things, but if its true, its incredibly clumsy. People put all kinds of funny things for their venmo reasons for payment. Im guilty of it, too. But if youre engaged in some shady dealings, like paying women for noshow jobs, you probably dont want to be so glib on your venmo transactions, and even more so if it involves Taxpayer Money of any kind, any shape, whatsoever. So this new greenberg Plea Deal Set for Monday Morning, whats it mean for gaetz, specifically. We know the attorney for greenberg has said before, if i was gaetz, i wouldnt be feeling too comfortable right now. Greenberg is following the classic path of the cooperating witness. And if this should ever go to trial against somebody like gaetz, you Better Believe the federal government is going to have its ducks in a row. In other words, its going to build its case on more than just Joel Greenberg. Because i can promise you, just based on this Plea Agreement alone, joe greenberg, you cannot rest a case or rely upon him alone as a witness against anyone, matt gaetz or anyone else pap Defense Attorney will simply get up there and say, oh, by the way, you stole from taxpayers, you defrauded the federal government. And now youre here only because youre trying to save your own skin, not because youre a good citizen. You entered a plea deal with the government to give them what they want. So Joel Greenberg just the beginning. He is the alpha, not the omega. He is the beginning of the federal governments investigation. From there, likely they are talking to any of these women and from there they will look for documents because documents create powerful circumstantial evidence. Joel greenbergs testimony aint worth much anymore after this plea. All right. Danny, we will be following this closely. Thank you for joining us this morning. We appreciate it. Up next, alleged doping. A series of drug tests and lots of triple crown drama. All eyes on the Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit as he gets ready to race again today. And coming up in the next hour, revisionist history. Should the lawmakers who downplay the January 6th Insurrection be censured . One democratic congressman is making it his mission. Plus, lieutenantgeneral Russel Honore at 7 30. We will ask the man tasked with veterans gating the riots what he thinks about one g. O. P. Lawmakers claim that january 6th looked like a normal tourist visit. A club for us, follow us at msnbc weekends. Tweet at us. We would love to hear from you. [music i swear] jaycee tried gain flings for the first time the other day. And forgot where she was. You can always spot a first time gain flings user. My name is douglas. Im a writer director and im still working. 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After a week of controversy and speculation, it is off to the races for Medina Spirit. Of course, the changeup for the Kentucky Derby will now compete in marylands Preakness Stakes today. First shot of the second jewel this this years triple crown. The horse tested positive for steroids after his Kentucky Derby win, but Officials Say he is eligible again passing three rounds of drug tests just this week alone. Nbcs kathy park is in baltimore with more on what we can expect today. Kathy. Reporter hey, good morning to you both. Yeah, its always an exciting time here on race day at Pimlico Race Course for the Preakness Stakes. This year its odd. A bit of controversy because of Medina Spirit. As you know, we have been following the colt in the headlines all week for an elevated level of an antiinflammatory steroid known as betamethasone. Initially, the trainer, bob baffert, said, look, i dont know how this steroid got into the horse, but later on released a statement saying that the colt was indeed being treated with an antifungal ointment which did indeed have the steroid in it. Regardless, as you mentioned, the horse has been cleared, passed all three tests ahead of the Preakness Stakes today, and we spoke with mike tirico with nbc sports about the chances that Medina Spirit could potentially win the race. Take a listen. It is going to be interesting to see if the horse ends up being the favorite when race time comes. On the morning line odds, the horse was set as the favorite. You know, if this horse does win, people will immediately say, well of course the horse won because of what was in the system. We know this. The horse has received as much scrutiny as any horse in prerace test itting we have ever seen in the triple crown. Reporter and also worth noting that another favorite going into the race today is concert tour, which happens to also be a bafferttrained horse. Guys, also, Something Worth noting, because we are still living in the time of covid, the stands will be capped at around 10,000. Typically, when we werent in a pandemic, there were about 130,000 fans. At least this is one sign of normalcy, guys. Again, the party that takes place in the infield, not gonna happen this year. Thanks to covid. Reporter a little tamer maybe. Its going to be wild knowing the preakness. Kathy, thank you so much. I am going with midnight bourbon. Midnight bourbon . I love the name. You just like the last part of the game. I am going with whatever Steve Kornacki is predicting. Has he put out his predictions yet . I dont know. All right. We have to fire up the kornacki cam. Yes. A new hour of msnbc now. And first up, the unmasking of america met with celebration and some hesitation. A steady and growing list of natural retailers from pharmacies to Department Stores saying masks will be required for now while others begin lifting mandates after that major change to cdc guidelines. Plus the most intense bombardment yet in gaza. Israeli troops amassed along the border as a ground invasion, is it imminent . G. O. P. Power play. Republican leadership looking a lot different this morning after the vote that saw a trump loyalist replace liz cheney and why cheney says mccarthy has to testify before a january 6th commission as the house gets ready to vote on a Bipartisan Panel with Subpoena Power. Good morning, saturday, me 15th. Im kendis gibson. Im lindsey reiser. Its tax day, actually. Delayed by a month this year due to the pandemic. Good reminder for folks. Yes. Welcome. File your taxes. Good morning. We have a team of reporters and analysts following the latest for you right now. We are going to begin this hour with a mixed reaction around the country after the cdc loosened those Mask Guidelines. Many americans trying to figure out when they can, when they cant leave their masks at home entirely. Right now at least 20 states say they would end their mask orders. That included the state of maryland, virginia, and north carolina, but other states and cities as well as businesses are saying not so fast. Home depot, target and starbucks are just some of the Companies Still requiring customers to wear facemasks. Msnbcs Cory Coughlin is in central park where she ditched the mask because she is socially distanced from anything and everybody now. It is a weird feeling for many folks to try to be comfortable with life indoors without a mask or outdoors without one. Reporter yeah, it really is. Its something that you have to get used to after more than a year of wearing these masks. And outdoors i certainly see more people who are used to it. We have been reporting since the cdc came out with the mandates about outdoor mask wearing that fewer people are wearing them, and thats what we see around here. Its rare to see anybody outdoors wearing them. But that gray area of indoors, how do you prove if somebody is vaccinated . Do you require a card . We have been reporting those can be faked. A lot of questions still. We are seeing that more businesses are really kind of deciding based on their own customers Comfort Level as well. We asked dr. Fauci on Andrea Mitchell about this thing and what led to their decision when it comes to this gray area