that's what's making nut in america this mor right now on "america this morning," breaking news in the matt gaetz scandal. the florida congressman under investigation for an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old. what sources now say gaetz requested from president trump before trump left the white house. a live report from washington ahead. new video showing the moments just after a gunman opened fire on a u.s. military base. two sailors shot. the chaotic moments caught on camera. what we're learning about the shooter. the growing debate over so-called vaccin passports. should americans be required to prove they've been vaccinated before entering buildings or events? another state takes a stand. what the white house is now saying. plus, a development in the tiger woods crash investigation

and an update on his condition. beauty pageant melee. the winner has her crown ripped off her head on the stage. what happened next? and later, what we never knew about redheads. good wednesday morning. i'm mona kosar abdi. >> i'm alex presha. kenneth is on assignment. we begin with breaking news in the scandal involving florida congressman matt gaetz. >> abc news learns gaetz requested a preemptive pardon from trump before trump left office. it comes as federal investigators look into sex trafficking allegations against gaetz. abc's elizabeth schulze is here with the latest. elizabeth, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, mona and alex. matt gaetz is one of trump avenue most vocal supporters. now we're learning he wanted a pardon from the former president but never got it. this morning breaking news in the scandal surrounding embattled congressman matt gaetz. sources are confirming a report

in "the new york times" that gaetz asked former president trump for a blanket presidential pardon weeks before trump left office and that request was ultimately denied. the justice department is currently investigating whether gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel with him potentially violating sex trafficking laws. gaetz denies those claims. >> it is a horrible allegation and it is a lie. >> reporter: and he's now using the scandal to raise money sending an email to supporters asking for donations to help him fight back against the fake news. abc news has learned the investigation targeting gaetz was launched last summer. but it's unclear if he or the white house knew of the investigation. the florida congressman one of trump's most vocal allies. >> showed empathy for the forgotten men and women of our country. it's why so many people love him

so much. >> reporter: in november gaetz voiced this for trump's presidential pardons saying this. >> he should pardon the thanksgiving turkey. he should pardon everyone from his administration to joe exotic if he has to because you see from the radical left a blood lust that only will be quenched if they come after the people that worked so hard that animated the trump administration. i think he ought to effect that robustly. >> reporter: gaetz scheduled to speak at a conference organized by a women's group held at a trump golf course in florida. >> elizabeth, thank you. outside washington authorities have removed several items from the home of a navy medic who allegedly shot two colleagues in maryland. police say the gunman drove past the guards at the ft. detrick military base before being killed by police, one bleeding victim was seen on video in uniform seeking help at a business nearby. the local police chief says officers are prepared for this kind of violence. >> it's terrible. it's unfortunate.

it's very tragic. it's happening too frequently. every time we turn on the tv we're seeing something like this happen and now it's happening in our backyards. >> no words on a motive. both victims are sailors. one in critical condition. the other released from the hospital. turning to the pandemic, there is a growing debate over so-called vaccine passports requiring proof of vaccination to enter buildings or events. also this morning, top doctors are weighing in on summer travel plans and what we can expect in the weeks ahead. this morning, health officials are warning parts of the country are on the brink of a fourth surge of coronavirus infections because more contagious variants of the virus are quickly infecting younger unvaccinated people. >> it really doesn't take much to get this process with schools opening, restaurants, sporting events. it's not surprising states are seeing surges. >> reporter: in the newest epicenter, doctors say 70% of new cases can be from

the uk variant. >> we are seeing a lot more younger adults getting sick and coming in. >> reporter: as cases rise in 19 states some governors are moving forward with easing restrictions. california's governor says all capacity limited will be lifted june 15th if hospital rates stay on track but the mask mandate will remain in place. >> the imperative and importance of not letting your guard down, not taking off your masks, pain takening your vigilance and accessing once your eligibility comes up. >> reporter: the biden administration is pleading with governors to hold off on restrictions. the president also moving up his deadline for states to make all eligible for the vaccine till april 19th. a new battle brewing over vaccine passports as more companies and schools consider whether to require their employees and customers to prove they're vaccinated. >> if a private organization wants to require vaccination in order to use their services then

they should be allowed to do that, whether a cruise line who wants to protect customers or a church that wants to protect their congregation. >> reporter: florida's governor already banned it saying vaccine passports on vaccination should not happen and now the governor of texas also banning them. >> government should not require any texan to show proof of vaccination and reveal private health information just to go about daily lives. >> reporter: as millions try to plan their vacation dr. fauci is striking an optimistic tone saying he would fly with his family this summer but only if cases go down. >> i can tell you if i have to go someplace this summer like with the family, i would not hesitate to do that if, in fact, we continue to come down on the infections and more and more people get vaccinated. >> reporter: as for so-called vaccine passports, the white house says the government will not mandate them at the

federal level. now to the murder trial of former police officer derek chauvin charged with killing george floyd. legal analysts say tuesday may have been the best day so far for the defense. at day seven of the chauvin trial the prosecution and defense arguing over whether chauvin violated police policy when he knelt on george floyd. >> is this a use of force? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: lt. johnny morsel, a use of force instructor who trained chauvin in 2018 testified the restraint chauvin used on floyd went too far and violated policy but the defense argued the placement of chauvin's knee was in compliance with police training. >> you can see his head in that area? >> yes, sir. >> and mr. chauvin, officer chauvin's knee between the shoulder blades of mr. floyd? >> yes, sir. >> does this appear to be a prone hold that some -- an officer may apply with his knee? >> yes. >> was it fair to say you've had

to train officers to use their body weight to continue holding them until ems arrives? >> as long as needed to control them, yes. >> reporter: the defense also arguing the crowd that had gathered around the officers created a distraction and a threat. >> have you ever had to perform emergency services in a -- not even a hostile but loud excited crowd? >> yes. >> does it make it more likely you may miss signs the patient is experiencing something? >> yes. >> reporter: they argue drugs could make him harder and stronger tosubdue. the county medical examiner is expected to testify soon. we're learning more about the young boy seen lost and alone after crossing the u.s. border. border patrol agents found this 10-year-old from nicaragua and said the migrant group that he was traveling with had abandoned

him. [ speaking foreign language ] he said he was scared of getting robbed. he does have family in the u.s. but it could be weeks before he sees them. he's now being processed at the detention center in donna, texas, which was recently so overcrowded kids had to take turns sleeping on the floor. 19,000 migrant children are in u.s. custody. amazon's ceo jeff bezos is supporting president biden's plan to raise the corporate tax rate to pay for a massive infrastructure plan. bezos says he supports the administration's focus on building up the country's infrastructure which would benefit his company but republicans say higher taxes will hurt jobs and say biden is going too far beyond roads and bridges in his plan. time for a look now at your wednesday weather.

moa annow is expected today in some parts of montana got six inches of snow yesterday. meanwhile, heavy rain and stong storms expected from the western great lakes to the gulf coast. the strongest of those storms are expected in missouri, which could see tornadoes and damaging winds. checking today's high temperatures, only 48 in seattle, warmer than usual for most of the midwest and the east coast remains mild with clear skies. coming up, the sticker shock where gas prices are approaching $6 a gallon. also ahead, the women accusing a star nfl quarterback of sexual misconduct shared their stories publicly. and the video that looks more like a hollywood thriller. the urgent rescue effort on the high seas.

back now with a real shocker. gas places approaching $6 a gallon in downtown los angeles. the average price in the area is around $4. they've jumped nearly a dollar since last year and are expected to climb into the summer. a dramatic rescue in the waters off norway. crew members aboard this dutch cargo ship were stuck in 50-foot waves in the north sea. the ship which was transporting pleasure boats around the world was listing and was at risk of spilling oil. one crew member was seen here jumping into the sea. everyone was rescued by helicopter. crews hope to bring that ship into shore with the help of tugboats. a major development in the sexual assault and harassment case against nfl star deshaun watson. we're hearing from some of his accusers. here's abc's megan tevrizian. >> reporter: this morning, we're hearing for the first time from

one of the women accusing houston texans quarterback deshaun watson of sexual misconduct. >> deshaun watson assaulted and harassed me on march 30th, 2020. >> reporter: ashley solis was the first woman to file a civil lawsuit against the nfl star. >> i got into massage therapy to heal people. deshaun watson has robbed me of that. >> reporter: she claims watson touched her with his genitals during a massage in 2020, similar to what the other 21 women who filed suits have alleged including lauren backsly who did not appear tuesday but a letter she wrote to watson was read aloud. >> i am furious that the talented and hard working young man that gave so many children something to look up to is nothing more than a predator with power.

>> reporter: the 22 women, all massage therapists, accuse him of sexual misconduct during massage appointments. >> in some cases he takes pictures of the particular woman from instagram and sends it to her and says wear something like this because it's hot today or it's hot in houston. >> reporter: watson's attorney rusty hardin claims solis asked for $100,000 in hush money before coming forward. in a statement hardin saying he asked solis' attorney, tony buzbee, adding we don't believe that the alleged facts show that deshaun did anything wrong. we made a legit demand. you rejected it. in addition to that, we won't be making another. in addition to the civil lawsuits watson also faces a criminal investigation. houston police said last week a report concerning watson was filed but they did not elaborate. no court date has been set in any of the 22 cases. alex, mona. >> megan, thank you. we're expecting to learn new

details about the tiger woods crash investigation from the l.a. county sheriff. the investigation was completed last month but authorities said the results could not be made public without woods' permission. friends say tiger is in decent spirits recovering from his injuries. all right, coming up, the brawl on stage between two beauty queens. also ahead, a very expensive foul ball caught on camera. ught. i'm erin. -and i'm margo. we've always done things our own way. charted our own paths. i wasn't going to just back down from moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. psoriatic arthritis wasn't going to change who i am. when i learned that my joint pain could mean permanent joint damage, i asked about enbrel. enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps stop permanent joint damage. plus enbrel helps skin get clearer in psoriatic arthritis. ask your doctor about enbrel, so you can get back to your true self. -play ball! enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal infections are common. or if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores,

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during a parent road rage incident along lake shore drive. the car the 21-month-old was riding in crashed. police are questioning a person of interest in the case. the battle over voting regulations is heating up again. this time in texas with republicans looking to pass new restrictions. opponents say the bill would limit voting hours and access to polls especially for people of color. american airlines based in texas is among the companies criticizing the measure, but the lieutenant governor fired back saying a lobbyist for the airline admitted they had not actually read the bill. >> well, let me tell you what, mr. american airlines, i take it personally, you're questioning my integrity and the integrity of the governor and the integrity of the 18 republicans who voted for this. when you suggest we're trying to suppress the vote you are in he tense between the lines calling us racist and that will not stand. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell issued a warning telling corporate america to stay out of politics. some heated moments in the nba last night. a hard foul in the lakers/raptors

game led to the dennis schroder being dropped to the floor. tom brady sitting down with "good morning america" for an exclusive interview and spoke with moving from new england to tampa and what motivates him at age 43. >> i was always kind of motivated by people that said, you can't do it. you're not good enough. you're not fast enough. i had a body of work over a period of time, so you just say, hey, like, quickly you forget. i think that's the great part about football. not about what you did last year but what you'll do this year so for me it was what i was going to do for the bucs last year. i still feel that way. >> so i'm going to paraphrase that for you for everybody out there. seven rings. shut your mouth. >> more of that interview coming up at 7:00 a.m. including what brady envisions for the future. in baseball a costly foul ball in miami. it was literally caught on camera -- caught by the camera during a cardinals/marlins game

smashing the lens. the lens cost an estimated $35,000. >> ouch. well, coming up, what scientists have learned about redheads. also ahead, the 7-year-old girl who convinced old navy to change how they make jeans. nope, empty roll. so what happened? well... we started buying charmin super mega roll. whoa! that's huge! charmin super mega roll is 6 rolls in 1 and lasts so much longer you don't always have to worry about the roll running out. i'm glad you were rescued, dad. me too. it was a huge relief. enjoy the go with charmin. guaranteed to fit or your money back. ♪ ♪ are you ready to join the duers? those who du more with less asthma. thanks to dupixent. the add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. dupixent isn't for sudden breathing problems.

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redheads have higher pain thresholds and found cells that determine skin color also play a role in how we experience pain. >> those cells also make redheads more likely to get sunburned. next forget the old cloth mask you've been wearing the pandemic. this is the mask of the future. >> a new mask from honeywell costs $300 but comes with three fans to help you breathe along with noise canceling headphones and bluetooth capability and l.e.d. lights. rapper will.i.am helped develop it. a 7-year-old girl wanted a design change for her clothes. >> kamryn wrote a letter to old navy requesting the company make jeans with real pockets. some jeans for kids look like they have pockets but they're actually fake. >> she was just really frustrated with her jeans not having pockets while her brothers had pockets. >> i was just going to tell the old navy people but i don't know them so i decided to write a letter. >> good for her. old navy responded and sent her four pairs of girls jeans with real pockets.

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ready to reopen. california's new timeline for getting back to business as we prepare to take a major step forward in the pandemic recovery. the decision by the san francisco school board that may be the shortest time yet students will be back in the classroom. we need rain. now, santa cruz is considering a drastic measure to make up for the drought conditions. good morning and welcome back to kumasi on this wednesday, april 7. >> thank you. i had a great time. i went to yosemite. it was beautiful. i had a great weekend. >> nice. was there enough water for the -- i guess you can see the fire waterfall this time of year. i bet it was gorgeous either way. let's talk about what is going on weatherwise. you can see the winds have picked up while we were sleeping, gusting to 31 in fairfield, 12 at sfo, 10 at oakland.

the seabreeze