teachers led the lighting of hundreds of candles. that wraps up the hour for me. you can reach me on twitter and instagram. you can catch highlights from today's show online. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," a major credit rating agency puts the u.s. on notice of a potential downgrade while debt ceiling negotiations continue while rank and file lawmakers are leaving town today with members on speed dial in case a deal is reached. >> i have had discussions with the president about this. we have gone around and around. he knows where we are. we know where our differences are. we will continue to be at the table to try to solve this problem. this hour, ron desantis stumbles out of the gate with a twitter audio event plagued by technical glitches.

>> sorry about that. we've got so many people here that i think we are kind of melting the servers. >> desantis hoping to take the fight to former president trump by hopscotching states this week. remembering tina turner, with that unforgettable voice and dance moves who overcame years of domestic abuse to top the charts in an inspiring comeback, entertaining generations of fans. good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. there's fallout from the debt limit brinksmanship. ratings of the three big ratings companies has put congress and the white house on notice that it could downgrade the u.s. credit if a payment is missed. a credit rating grades the

nation's credit worthiness, a mesh of its ability to pay its debt in full and on time. right now, they rate the u.s. with its highest aaa status. they are warning and triggering alarm bells on wall street and concern on main street. 71% of voters are either very or somewhat concerned about possible default. without explaining where there could be progress, house members are going home. the white house and house republican leaders are signaling some progress with negotiators reportedly burning the midnight oil. speaker mccarthy is saying he is optimistic. >> nothing is agreed to. but we know where we need to be to solve this problem. i'm always and optimism. i don't give up on anything. i thought yesterday was a productive day. we still could have more productivity today. >> let's bring in garrett haake, business and data reporter brian chung and "new york times" chief

white house correspondent peter baker and chief economist of the president's council of advisors under president bush, douglas egan. garrett, how are you reading the signals? no one is sending up any white smoke indicating there's a deal. >> reporter: nobody has walked away from the table recently either. that's probably the most positive sign. the negotiators were back meeting between the white house and house republicans last night until close to midnight, we are told, trying to come to an agreement. the reality here is they are basically out of time. they need to reach a deal by close of business today or early tomorrow to turn it into a bill that can pass both chambers and be on president biden's desk before we get through the day on june 1st. we can quibble over what happens on june 1st if that bill to raise the debt ceiling is not signed. perhaps there's more time, perhaps there's not. that's really the deadline they

are working on. the combination of a quick look at the calendar and that warning from fitch that there are about to be consequences to this instead of theoretical economic consequences may have lit the fire under these negotiators. we are continuing to hear strident rhetoric from democrats who are growing increasingly frustrated. they are cut out of the process. they want to make sure that the public understands that the cuts that republicans are talking about aren't just theoretical. they would potentially hurt real people. leader. >> jeff: -- jeffries was hammering away at that. >> it's before the american people as a result of extreme maga republicans making the political calculation that they will benefit in 2024 if they crash the economy. a political calculation that we're going to take hostages.

they have chosen to get out of town before sundown. >> reporter: the white house not engaging in the public debate with speaker mccarthy who has been on television for the last week or so. house democrats are trying to step into that breach. jeffries, a number of other house democrats on the floor over the next hour or so, trying to make this argument that republicans are making a cynical, political move here that isn't just about dollars and cents but would have a practical impact on real americans. they are framing that argument ahead of seeing whatever this final deal ends up being that the white house will have to reach at some point with the same house republicans. >> peter, democrats are saying not only where is the president -- he has been back for a couple of days from his trip in japan -- but where are the cabinet secretaries? points out how it would affect this agency or that agency. all of the discretionary money

is in non-defense and non-entitlement agencies. fitch says invoking those options would not prevent a credit downgrade, citing legal challenges. those options are off the table in terms of saving money that the downgrading would cost. >> that's right. you heard the white house yesterday basically rule out the 14th amendment option. he thinks he may have that authority, he worries the litigation part would lay the country into default while we fought it out in the courts. you are not hearing the white house and the administration take on the same kind of sharp tone that you are hearing from the house democrats as a good cop/bad cop scenario here, which the biden team is leaving on the table. look, we are in a tight spot

here. the problem is not only they have to have a deal done within hours or a day or so to meet the deadline, they have to have a deal done that could pass the house and the senate. remember, you are going to lose a lot of republicans out of that slim house majority because they are not going to go along with some of the compromises that kevin mccarthy will have to make. you will lose a lot of democrats as well, not wanting to go along with work requirements and other things it looks like president biden might have to give in on. it's complicated. >> brian, the markets are nervous. four days in a row of downturns. they may be leveling off today watching the signals of some optimism. they are poised for quite a fall on the warning from fitch. it's not a reality and it hasn't been a downgrade, but there are indicators that this is going to be a real downdraft. >> yeah. that's essentially what they were saying in the note yesterday, warning of a

downgrade. they didn't downgrade the nation, they said there's a possibility they could do so if we go without a resolution. when we talk about what happens in an event like this, we have to remember the precedent of setting a warning before you do the downgrade is part of the standard procedure, not just for fitch but the other major credit ratings agencies as well. when you look at 2011, the debt ceiling crisis at that time, s&p and moody said they were reviewing the united states for a potential downgrade. s&p actually followed through on a downgrade. moody's did not. they might be trying to get ahead of the curve in this case. it's an open question about whether or not the other credit rating agencies will try to move as well. broadly speaking, the story is that the independent auditors are worried the united states, because of the brinksmanship,

will not hold on to its reputation to pay its bills on time and in full, which would be damaging to the world economy. >> doug, let's talk about that. i talked to foreign diplomats. they are not only nervous but are saying, what is going on? what kind of democracy do you have? they are comparing it to the political chaos in israel and other systems where you have got coalition governments that keep rising and falling. italy. that's not a great comparison for the world's greatest democracy and the world's greatest economy. >> certainly, the treasuries are the foundation of the global financial system. if we impair their credit worthiness, everyone feels the repercussions. that's not something i want to contemplate. what you hear from the diplomats is the same thing fitch is saying, the partisanship makes it impossible to manage their

finances. they are put on watch. >> there are some of the really extreme voices from the hill saying that january he will yellen is cooking the books. give us a reality check. you are republican but you have -- you are totally -- >> there's no cooking the books. put that aside. the reality is, we don't know exactly when the x date is. what she said -- >> you don't -- >> she said clearly is that it could be as early as june 1st. we sure act accordingly. if the money -- the bills don't come up as quickly, the money doesn't go out as quickly, we might get another couple days. there's not two months. it's urgent to get it done and to avoid any -- even a whisper of a default. >> you never know how the tax revenues are coming in as well. >> certainly, they expect about $150 billion more this year in taxes. they didn't get it. that's why we are down to the deadline. >> doug, thank you so much. a reality check. peter and garrett, and brian,

thanks. is this thing on? a rough official start to the presidential campaign of ron desantis. what it means for the florida governor and the 2024 race coming up next when "andrea mitchell reports" is back in 60 seconds. stay with us. you are watching msnbc. you are watching msnbc i've never been healthier. shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions

to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. florida governor ron desantis is trying to turn the page after the rough twitter rollout for his presidential campaign. >> we had a huge audience. it was the biggest they had ever had. it did break the twitter space. so we're really excited with the enthusiasm. ultimately, it's about the future of our country. >> former president trump eager to criticize his primary competitor in a string of social media posts, slamming the glitchy twitter event as a disaster, a catastrophe and fatal to his campaign. joinings now, gabe gutierrez in

miami, charlie sykes, founder and editor at large at "the bulwark" and eugene robinson. how is governor desantis going to try to move past this early stumble? it is an early stumble. it's a missed opportunity. he now has an opportunity to re-launch and go around the country. >> reporter: andrea, good afternoon. governor desantis' team is trying to turn the page here. they did something this morning that they don't often do. his team very often is not forthcoming with public schedules. now the campaign has kicked off. they were eager to announce a campaign swing next week across several early primary states and caucus states. in iowa on tuesday, then heading to new hampshire and south carolina to round out the week. as you said, this comes after a very rocky rollout. his team this morning is trying to hit that message that it was because of so much excitement

that it, quote, broke the internet. even though many other live stream events have gotten a bigger audience than that and other platforms can have more than a million people, traditional media outlets have millions of eyeballs as well. some of the critics are saying this is a missed opportunity, at best. others calling it a disaster. i did speak with a bundler for governor desantis who is expected to be here at an upscale hotel where the governor is expected to meet donors and fund-raisers later today. he tried to tell me that the general consensus is among people he is talking to in desantis world is that they are not blaming the governor's campaign team per se. he didn't squarely blame elon musk. but he did say that while it was confusing, it would the not set the campaign all that much that people will move on. right now, there's this concerted effort among that campaign team to try and turn

the page and try to highlight that there was high interest and that's why all of this went the way it did. again, a very rocky start to what is otherwise often considered a campaign rollout that is supposed to project a sense of calm and be a good start for this campaign. for many of his critics, they are pouncing on it. >> eugene, no one should write his political obituary. it's far too early. he has got a huge lead over any of the other challengers to donald trump. ignoring trump's criticism, which is predictable, it's a missed opportunity. we remember so many of the remarkable launches of campaigns. ronald reagan in front of the statue of liberty. obama, of course, in springfield, illinois. joe biden, bill clinton in little rock. >> remember other great launches. amy klobuchar in the snowstorm. that was striking. she's not president.

you know, it doesn't always lead -- look, it's a missed opportunity. in the end, it's not that big a deal. he has bigger problems. the biggest problem is that republicans don't seem to be saying right now that they want trump without the baggage. they are saying they want trump. he is not trump. that's kind of -- that's his problem is weakening that bond between the republican base and donald trump and convincing them that he is an alternative. he hasn't done that yet. the gap has been widening between the two. >> charlie sykes, is retail politicking overrated, or does he have to show he can get out and mix it up with people and have a rally, a successful rally? >> well, he is not very good at retail politics. is he? he's not very good at twitter politics as well. last night was bad, very bad. it was terrible. it did not do what he needed it

to do for him. he needed to look strong. he looked weak. he wants to look competent. it was a shambles. in terms of the concept of going and not having a rally and going and -- to the knee of elon musk, it was a bad idea. the technology was glitchy, it was embarrassing. the content was lacking. he continues to refuse to say donald trump's name. he is not going after him. he is not creating a rationale other than he is a winner. last night was supposed to be the reset. right? he wanted to create buzz. all he has done is create the wrong kind of buzz. this comes after months and weeks of stumbling out of the gate. so this is not just in isolation. this was his moment to turn that narrative around and to launch

this campaign in a credible way. i'm sorry, i hate to agree with former president trump, but this was a disaster. it's going to be hard for him to recover. my guess is the phone lines to glenn youngkin's office and brian kemp's office were lighting up over the last 24 hours. >> eugene, he has a biography. he didn't tell people anything about himself or about his plans. >> he didn't. in fact, he almost seemed to deliberately keep people out. that's a problem if you are running for president. people want to know you. >> he has a good biography, if you are looking at where he came from. >> where he came from and what he accomplished. the parts of the biography that are recent, the stuff that he has done that he pushed through in florida in an attempt to appeal to the base, that part of the biography would be a problem if he got to a general election.

especially the six week abortion ban. he keeps people out. he is not good at retail politics. he seems to be socially awkward. maybe he can get better. he can improve. i don't think anyone should write him off. he certainly has a better chance than anybody else of knocking off trump. that chance doesn't -- it didn't get any better last night. >> eugene, thanks very much. gabe, you are going to be busy. it's good to see you out there. charlie sykes, thanks. thanks to all. coming up, at 3:00 p.m. eastern, join katie tur when she interviews asa hutchinson. a push for schools to restrict a poem written for joe biden's inaugural by the youth poet laureate, highlighting the culture wars in florida and across the country. maxwell forecast joinfrost join that. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. .

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striving to forge a union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man. >> that was the first national youth poet laureate reciting a portion of her poem at president

biden's inauguration. a florida school is limiting access to that poem. the miami-dade county public school district is not banning the book all together, containing the poem, but after one parent filed an option, the school did move it out of the elementary school, making it available only for older students. in a statement released on facebook gorman set, i'm gutted. joining me now is democratic congressman maxwell frost of florida, the youngest lawmaker on the hill. in age, you are close to amanda gorman, who spoke at the inaugural. this is your home state. you are read one of her poems, i

understand, to a class of black elementary schoolchildren during black history month. what is your reaction to the move, to the message to the students? >> of course, disappointed but not surprised. these attacks on education, these attacks on literature, these attacks on black literature and black history have been ongoing over the past several months by ron desantis and the desantis regime in the state of florida. he is working to abuse his power to rip history away from kids. you said the book wasn't banned, but it is. it was banned from elementary schools. the fact of the matter is, this new, unethical law with book banning can allow one person -- you don't even have to be a parent in the state of florida to get a book banned. you can be a random person in the community, submit the form and they take it off the shelves. that's not american. that doesn't sound like freedom or liberty to me. >> you represent orlando. mickey mouse could be your state's most famous resident or

emblem. why do you think governor desantis squared off with disney? what does that gain politically? >> i think he made a political calculation early on that he needed some sort of fight where he could seem like the good guy, so he could work to out trump trump in the presidential primary. he is finding he is failing in the fight in the first place. number two, this is a fight most americans don't understand or care about. they want work on housing. we have a housing affordability crisis in florida. they want to end gun violence. they want action to ensure that wages can go up and costs can go down. they are not interested in a governor fighting it out with mickey mouse. i think he made a political error. but he is wasting taxpayer dollars, attacking one of our largest employers in orlando. >> the house voted to overturn the president's plan to cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt.

is there a larger issue at play? how does it affect generations of students carrying a lot of debt for years and years? >> it impacts many people. a lot of times when folks think about student debt forgiveness and they hear student, they think it just impacts young people. there are people -- older folks, people across the spectrum of demographics that are impacted by this and who need the relief. i want to speak to folks who say it's not fair. i agree. it isn't fair. it's not fair that people have this debt in the first place. it's not fair that the people who paid their debt had that in the first place. the way government works is we look at an injustice and we work to remedy it. because others didn't have it remedied prior to that doesn't mean we don't move forward. that kind of logic would mean that black people, women wouldn't be able to vote because folks before them weren't able to vote.

that's not how we should think. i'm for forgiveness. >> about the debt ceiling, we see mccarthy out there and other people from the freedom caucus. we have not seen that much from the president or the cabinet secretaries. do you think they are doing enough to sell their arguments, sell their side of the case? >> i think the president has done a lot. i do think the president should use his bully pulpit to really call out these republicans and tell the nation what's going on in the oval office or in the rose garden, primetime address and tell the american people. they have manufactured a bomb, this debt ceiling crisis, and they are saying, unless you allow us to pass massive cuts to working class families, guess what, we're going to hit the trigger. in fact, there are many members of the gop caucus who are maybe kind of interested in hitting the trigger. maybe they are curious to see what happens if our country defaults. what we know to be true is that working families will suffer. people won't get social security

checks, medicaid, medicare, veterans will be impacted. we need to do what's right and race the debt ceiling and move on. >> congressman maxwell frost, thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me on. simply the best. she was. better than all the rest. a trailblazer in so many ways. remembering tina turner next. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc.

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tributes are pouring in today for rock and roll icon tina turner, who died at the age of 83 at her home in switzerland yesterday after a series of health struggles, including a stroke and cancer. gloria rubin, who was her backup singer and dancer on tour, talked about the lessons she learned from the superstar. >> you can do anything, you can overcome, you can walk through and sometimes you have to fight your way through, through trauma and grief. we can all overcome and just be clear about what you want. keep the heart open. you know what? go for it. just do it. i thought, it's a morning show. what am i going to wear? i'm wearing this jumpsuit. that's what tina would wear.

>> tina would be proud. last night, lester holt looked back at her incredible career after triumphing over adversity. ♪♪ >> reporter: that powerful voice. ♪♪ that electrifying dancing. no wonder tina turner was known as the queen of rock and roll. >> i walk out on the stage, it's one big healthy party. that's the feeling. that was what i always wanted. >> reporter: born in tennessee in 1939, turner was the daughter of sharecroppers. she was discovered by ike turner who gave her that famous stage name. in the '60s, they performed together as the ike and tina turner review. ♪♪

but in their 16 years of marriage, ike's abuse was brutal and unrelenting. >> there was no control. there was no freedom. you get fed up and you say, life is not worth living if i'm going to stay in this situation. >> reporter: she fled in 1976. she said she had just 36 cents and a mobile card to her name. a scene recreated in the 1993 bio-pic "what's love gotto do with it." >> my husband and i had a fight. >> reporter: it was after she broke free from ike she truly became a superstar. ♪♪ >> i got to be known as a great performer. i never tried to change my style because of any other style. i just stayed true to what i do. >> reporter: along the way, she won eight grammys and had six top ten hits. a super bowl halftime show. ♪♪

a broadway musical about her life. ♪♪ >> i love watching them do a show that it took years to learn and do. here it's a matter of months to master. >> reporter: in a recent hbo documentary, turner reflected on all she had been through. >> i had an abusive life. there's no other way to tell the story. ♪♪ >> reporter: a survivor and performer, tina turner was simply one of the best. >> i have something very special to do. it makes sense to me that i'm here for something more than my dancing and all of what i have done. ♪♪ >> she was one of a kind. early this afternoon, another barrier will be broken.

history will be made at the white house. president biden will nominate this man as the next chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. if he is confirmed, that would mean for first time both the pentagon's top military and civilian positions would be held by african americans. brown would be the second black joint chiefs chairman after general colin powell. right now at the pentagon, defense secretary lloyd austin is speaking alongside the current joint chiefs chair, general mark milley, after meeting with allies supporting the defense of ukraine, milley's term is about to be up. coming up, strategy shift. private military units hired by the krement lynn kremlin are be by regular russian soldiers. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." ers. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." when covid hit, we had some challenges. i heard about the payroll tax refund that allowed us

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sweet and savory... ...kinda like you and me, chuck. bye, peyton. try the refreshed favorites at subway today. annika. i found the bomb. ok johann. there should be a blue wire and a yellow wire. bye, peyton. cut the blue one. they're both blue! visionworks. see the difference. u.s. officials say the drone attack on the kremlin earlier this month was likely orchestrated by one of ukraine's special military or intelligence units. u.s. intelligence has, quote, low confidence about their own conclusion, because they're not sure which ukrainian unit may have been involved, according to a "new york times" report. they are reporting it is not clear whether president zelenskyy or his top officials were even aware of the operation.

this as the outspoken head of the wagner group that suffers losses in the bakhmut engagement says the ukraine war has backfired and is warning of a russian revolution. joining me now is john brennan. what is your thought? >> i'm pretty sure it was done by forces that are aligned with ukraine, whether they were ukrainian special forces operating inside of russia. i think it appears this drone was not flown from ukraine proper itself but may have been launched in russia. whether they were russian citizens who are sympathetic to the ukrainian cause or forces in the special forces structure. it's not clear whether president zelenskyy had knowledge or authorized it. >> ukraine denied it. ukraine is reiterating its

claim, as i say, that it had nothing to do with that drone attack. although, they are not answering for what other of their supporters. there was also the noted assassination of the daughter of a very strong putin advocate. there are other things that have happened that ukraine has repeatedly denied and that's supposed to be a red line. it certainly has been in terms of the weapons that we provide them. there are reports that this could be a false flag from russia. do you think that's likely? >> i don't think so at all, because i think these attacks that are taking place inside of russia are embarrassing to the russian government and to putin himself. it shows the vulnerability as well as the ability of ukraine to penetrate rusian defenses. attacks taking place inside of russia's border, near ukraine, i think again are the activities of those individuals, ukrainians

and i think russians, who have aligned themselves with ukraine that are angry and are determined to bring the fight into russia after all the destruction that has taken place inside of ukraine. i expect these types of attacks to continue and to increase in terms of scope and scale as a way to signal to the russian people that the ukrainians are not just going to sit back and take all of these attacks on their territory. >> turning to bakhmut, of course, the founder of the wagner group said that 20,000 wagner group fighters were killed in bakhmut, his mercenary troops, and they would be gone by june 1st. he is talking in an interview with a political operative and a blogger that moscow's brutal war will plunge russia into turmoil unless wealthy elites, his terms, become more directly committed to the conflict. is this a fairly direct

criticism of president putin? >> it is. i think they have viewed the wagner forces, these paramilitary forces that are manned by a lot of people who have been pushed out of prison, and they were considered to be expendable, that were killed in the tens of thousands in the fight for bakhmut. i think putin was trying to keep in reserve the russian military forces who are now going to take over some of the positions. but i think he is trying to goad putin into taking a more aggressive and assertive position against ukraine and to increase, in fact, the intensity of the war effort by calling for a mobilization as well as getting all russian citizens involved in the manufacturing and production of ammunition and artillery shells and so on. i do think putin is feeling the heat from his right wing because the war effort has gone so poorly for the russians and that there's so many russians that

have been killed as a result of putin's war. >> his leadership is not in question, despite the fact that the military -- the organized military and mercenaries seem to be in disarray. >> there doesn't seem to be any type of organized opposition to putin at this point. you never know who might be waiting in the wings or what might happen. but i do believe that putin sees this fight as existential in terms of he needs to have a military conquest of ukraine in order to maintain his political position. i think he sees it for his own political survival. so there's a question about how long will the russian people and those in the higher echelon of the government allow this war to go along this path that i think is destined to lead to greater destruction of russia's military. >> director brennan, great to see you. thanks for your analysis. facing backlash.

why target is pulling a pride month collection of clothes and what that means for lgbtq rights ahead of pride month in june. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. rts" on msnbc. connect your business, you can make it even smarter. now ports can know where every piece of cargo is. and where it's going. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) robots can predict breakdowns and order their own replacement parts. (foreman) nice work. (vo) and retailers can get ahead of the fashion trend of the day with a new line tomorrow. with a verizon private 5g network, you can get more agility and security. giving you more control of your business. we call this enterprise intelligence. from the network america relies on. (man) what if my type 2 diabetes takes over? (woman) what if all i do isn't enough? or what if i can do diabetes differently? (avo) now you can with once-weekly mounjaro. mounjaro helps your body regulate blood sugar, and mounjaro can help decrease how much food you eat.

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target is coming under scrutiny for pulling products off the shelves that celebrate the upcoming pride month in june. offstore shelves in some parts of the country, in the face of back lash of right-wing customers. human rights campaign president in a statement saying, traffic should not be responding so easily to criticism and threats from the likes of the proud boys. target should put the products back on the shelves and he said sure their pride displays are visible on the floors, not pushed into the proverbial closet. that's what the bullies want. target must be better. target said it is making changes because of threats to its store employees from other customers

who have tipped over displays. target said given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior. the american civil liberties upper tracking 491 antilgbtq bills in the u.s., focusing on those issues in schools and health care. joining me now, the press secretary for equality, a pulse nightclub shooting survivor. it's good to see you. this has just been a really difficult time for the community, given what is happening in legislatures across the country. and now target, widely used store, of course, being targeted this way and the community says caving into harassment.

>> yes, well, we have to call these acts of vandalism and threats of violence what they are. they are attempts to terrorize businesses and the country into spligs. it is important to name that target is simply a proxy for the war that extremists are waging for control in this country. but their furry is an made by the fact that the right wing has lost the culture war. this country is browner and queerer than ever before and for the most part, people are perfectly fine with that so they rely on fear to move the country into a backslide. that means companies like target are an important point. there is simply nothing you can give them that will satisfy their lust for control over people. you give them an inch and they'll be demanding ransom for a mile. the real questions for target, do your values mean something?

to your statements of inclusion and diversity have weight? if so, you have to walk the walk. you have to tell these bullies that there is a hurricane of legal consequences waiting the first clown that topples a pride display or employee. you have to make an example of them and you have to stand firm to a commitment, to a community. if you really mean it when you say you're a company that goes to bat for our community, you have to take this moment to affirm that with your whole chest. otherwise, it is nothing more than a marketing slogan. >> and earlier this month, governor desantis, now running for president, signed several bills restricting lgbtq rights expanding what critics have said don't say gay law and another that will ban transition-related care for minors. what does this mean for floridians? >> it is really what it means for the country. i have to take a moment of personal privilege to say it is

breath-taking that desantis' presidential campaign has been such a catastrophe from the start. i knew it would be bad. i did not know it would be as bad as we saw last night. while i'm admittedly getting a kick out of the viral content at his expense, we can't lose sight of the very real threat that he exposes to freedom in this country. he said he wants to make america florida. i wonder if people have begun to process what that would mean. it would mean nationally renowned poetry, like ones written by amanda gorman, being ripped from elementary school shelves because one parent complains. it means politicians deciding what doctors you can see and services you can have. it means classrooms that treat people like me. desantis has said that he wants the extremist agenda he has imposed on the state of florida to be a blue print for the nation and we should believe him. i think desantis will stumble and fumble through this campaign and he might even flame out very

early and give us one long comedy reel. make no mistake, if he's successful in his bid for the white house, everything that makes this country great, our diversity, our ingenuity, our freedom, all of those are at stake. >> just politically, his poll numbers, while they've gone down, he is still, he has double digit leads over any of the other challengers to donald trump. so he is a very real competitor for the republican nomination. by all accounts, this will be a very close election. so i think that he's a real issue here. and you can stumble out of the gate but you can make that up in other ways. he's very well funded. your group, equality florida and human rights campaign have issued travel advisories about the risks associated with relocation or travel to florida. what are you hoping to accomplish by that? >> this is a response to the litany of questions that we've gotten from people around the country and honestly around the globe as these attacks have escalated on behalf of ron

desantis and his rubber stamped legislature. people have been asking, is it safe for me to visit florida? to relocate my family here? is it safe to hold a conference or event? we thought it was important to answer those questions honestly and publicly to lay out the real situation here on the ground. the realities and policy that's have been imposed. a trans woman traveling from new york city for a conference should know she may face criminal charges for using the same bathroom at the miami airport that she would use at home. people should know that 80 plus percent of transgender adults have had their health care provider taken away in the last two weeks. people should know there are classrooms that will ban books about your families and censor american history from your child's eyes. people should know that before they make decisions about what is right for themselves and their families and we felt like it was our responsibility again to be honest with people. to lay it all out so they could make the best decisions possible. and we've challenged people to be in the fight.

if you're coming to florida, find a way to engage on the front lines. find a way to get on the ground. and make it about your support for the lgbtq community. >> thank you very much. we have breaking news finally from the federal courthouse here in washington where the founder of the oath keepers has been sentenced today for his role in the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol. stewart rhodes was found guilty of seditious conspiracy and obstructing official proceedings. ryan riley is there for us. very briefly, what did they decide? >> reporter: he will spend 18 years in federal prison which is a bit short of what federal prosecutors requested. they went for 25 years but 18 years is a new record in january 6th sentences. it came after stewart rhodes called himself a political prisoner and the judge dismissed that saying he was not a political prisoner and he was a