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Michigan's COVID-19 Positivity Rate Rises To 18 Percent; Medical Examiner Testifies George Floyd's Death Was A Homicide; Interview With Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX); Record Number Of Unaccompanied Minors At Border In March; Texas Bill Limits Early Voting Hours, Bans Drive-Through Voting; House Opens Ethics Investigation Into Rep. Matt Gaetz; Prince Philip's Funeral To Be Held Next Saturday. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired April 10, 2021 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[18:00:13]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: Cases and emergency room visits are up. We are seeing these increases in younger adults, most of whom have not yet been vaccinated.

DR. VIVEK MURTHY, SURGEON GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: We still have high confidence that these vaccines are effective, but we are still urging people to be cautious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Matt Gaetz adding two New York attorneys to his defense team. Federal investigators are looking into Gaetz's role in an alleged prostitution ring as part of a wider probe of the Congressman and his associates.

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): They lie about me because I tell the truth about them, and I'm not going to stop.

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: The funeral, we now know will be next Saturday. The public aren't invited to go. There won't be any crowds, but that's really because of the pandemic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Pamela Brown in Washington, welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Great to have you along with us tonight.

And we are learning some new details about how the Federal government is going to help the State of Michigan as it deals with a surge in coronavirus cases.

A senior administration official tells me tonight that 160 F.E.M.A. vaccinators will head to Michigan, but not additional vaccines. The Governor has been asking the White House for a surge in vaccines as cases have spiked in recent weeks there.

CNN's Evan McMorris joins me now. So Evan, you have been following the latest on the cases in Michigan, bring us up to date.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam, that is excellent reporting that will land very loudly in Michigan, a state that is currently kind of the focal point of the conversation we're having right now about where we are as a country in this pandemic in its second April.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): The second we let our guard down, it comes roaring back

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): As COVID-19 cases soar to alarming levels in Michigan, a warning --

DR. JONEIGH KHALDUN, MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We are on track to potentially see a surge in cases that's even greater than the one we saw in the fall.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): The state's positivity rate is up to 18 percent and hospitalizations are climbing. Governor Gretchen Whitmer is asking high schools to go remote, youth sports to pause and encouraging citizens to skip indoor dining for the next two weeks.

WHITMER: To be very clear, these are not orders, mandates or requirements. A year in, we all know what works and this has to be a team effort. We have to do this together.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Vaccinations in the state continue, but not fast enough. The Governor is pleading for more vaccines from the Federal government, as the disruption of the supply of Johnson & Johnson vaccines continues to take a toll across the U.S.

WHITMER: We really should be surging vaccines to states that are experiencing serious outbreaks.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): The coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Response says the Federal government will offer states with outbreaks additional testing and personnel. But as of now, will not increase the number of vaccines.

JEFF ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: The virus is unpredictable. We don't know where the next increase in cases could occur. We're not even halfway through our vaccination program, so now is not the time to change course on vaccine allocation.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): This, as the C.D.C. is aware of four states that have reported some adverse reactions to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Several states even halting distribution of that vaccine.

The C.D.C. is not recommending health department's stop administering Johnson & Johnson shots at this time, and at least one county in North Carolina, plans on resuming doses as soon as Monday.

SYRA MADAD, SPECIAL PATHOGENS PROGRAM, NYC HEALTH AND HOSPITALS: Right now, the benefits certainly outweigh the risk, but more information hopefully will come out to the general public.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): And what could be promising news, drug maker Pfizer asking the F.D.A. for Emergency Use Authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine to expand to children ages 12 to 15 in the U.S.

Currently, it's approved for people 16 and up only.

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I'm very optimistic about this. We need them to get the benefit of the vaccine, but also it will help us to reach herd immunity a lot faster.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): And vaccine requirements are becoming part of the new normal. Analysis by CNN finds 16 colleges and universities and counting, the latest, Duke University will require students to show proof of full vaccination before returning to on campus classes this fall.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (on camera): Now, Pam, there's already some controversy around those vaccine mandates. As you know, the Governor of Florida last week trying to effectively ban them through Executive Order.

So there are some politics to look forward to in the summer, but right now, though here in April, we are still dealing with rising numbers in places like Michigan and as our reporting is showing, the Federal government is still having to surge people out there to try and fight this disease off.

[18:05:10]

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Experts still telling Americans even if you're vaccinated to wear masks and stay away from places where people aren't wearing masks, especially if they're gathered inside. This thing is still very much with us -- Pam.

BROWN: It is, and the big concern we're hearing from the White House is that what you're seeing in Michigan could happen in other states, which is why they're saying they don't want to surge more vaccines there because they're worried about what can happen elsewhere.

Evan McMorris-Santoro, thank you for bringing us your excellent reporting there on the ground.

And we should note, tomorrow night, the President of Syracuse University joins me to talk about the school's decision to require all incoming students this fall to be vaccinated. We'll have that conversation Sunday at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

And I want to bring in Dr. Peter Hotez. He is a Professor and the Dean of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Let's start with Michigan, Dr. Hotez, and the surge in cases there. You just heard the report there of a senior administration official who is reiterating to me tonight, that more places are on the way -- more help, I should say is on the way to places like Michigan, more vaccinators. 160 from F.E.M.A., but not additional vaccines. What do you think about that?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Yes, I think there is a rationale for surging or redistributing some of the vaccines to Michigan. But it's very complicated, and here is why, Pamela.

We've got the b.1.1.7 variant now that is over 65 or 70 percent of the virus isolates not only in Michigan, but in many other states now throughout the Northeast, and including some of the New England states, New York and New Jersey and Florida, and now in Texas.

So the question is, is Michigan just the tip of the spear and other states are going to follow? And I think that's why the Biden administration may be hesitant about throwing everything now at Michigan because the concern is then they'll just have to backpedal and go to the other states.

The other consideration, which is kind of interesting is New Hampshire right now leads the country in the number of residents who have been vaccinated, almost half of the population of New Hampshire has now gotten a single dose of vaccine. But you know what, the numbers are still going up in New Hampshire despite that.

Now, whether that's because they're not vaccinating younger adults or because a single dose is not interrupting transmission, or we just need to get up to 75 to 80 percent, but I think all of those are factoring into their decisions right now.

BROWN: And just to be clear, you say the numbers are going up. Are you just talking about cases? Or are you also talking about hospitalizations and deaths?

HOTEZ: It looks like cases and hospitalizations, although deaths are still relatively low in New Hampshire. And that may be because they are primarily directing vaccinations at older residents. But we are seeing a lot of young adults get sick and going into hospitals.

BROWN: And it seems like the big concern there with the young adults getting sick with this U.K. variant also is that youth sports, school sports and so forth could be contributing to the spread, right?

HOTEZ: Yes, this is a bad actor. This is a variant that's much more transmissible than anything we've seen. We're seeing it affect adolescents, we're seeing it affect young adults.

The only good news is that all of the vaccines that we have in our stockpile for COVID-19 work just as well against the b.1.1.7 variant as it does the original lineage. So it's just a matter of accelerating the vaccinations as fast as we possibly can.

BROWN: So then, how urgent is it then for Pfizer to get the emergency approval to give vaccinations to teenagers?

HOTEZ: Yes, that's really good news because the b.1.1.7 variant is affecting teenagers, and we need to begin vaccinating them as soon as possible. The data looks really good. There are relatively small studies, around

1,200 in the vaccinated group; 1,200 in the placebo group, but all of the 18 cases were in the placebo group.

So on that basis, 100 percent protection in adolescents and high levels of virus neutralizing antibody. The final numbers won't be that good, but we need to begin vaccinating adolescents not only for this current surge, but remember, we want to fully vaccinate the junior high schools, middle schools and high schools by the fall.

And now we can do that. We can have all of the students vaccinated, all of the staff, all of the teachers, that's going to be really good news for the middle schools and high schools for the country.

BROWN: Absolutely. Before we let you go, I'm curious with those of us who have gotten the vaccine or will be getting it, it appears that from what I've read that women particularly younger women have more side effects from the vaccine and that men don't have as many. I'm just wondering what you make of that, why that is?

HOTEZ: Well, it's often said that women often have more robust immune responses to infectious disease pathogens and that may go along with that as well and so I haven't seen firm documentation of that yet, but it wouldn't surprise me.

[18:10:13]

BROWN: All right. Dr. Peter Hotez, thank you so much for coming on as always, and keeping us all updated on the very latest with this pandemic. We appreciate it.

HOTEZ: Thanks, Pamela. I really appreciate it.

BROWN: And we have a lot for you over the next three hours. CNN is the only Western news organization to go into Myanmar since the bloody coup, February 1st. See firsthand how the military is trying to justify its takeover of the government there.

Plus, President Joe Biden takes his first steps toward curbing gun violence. Do his Executive Orders go far enough?

And the Royal Family announces funeral plans for Prince Philip scaled back because of coronavirus concerns. Who will and who will not be there?

Plus, crucial witness testimony this past week in the trial of ex- Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, including from the man who performed the autopsy of George Floyd. We will break it down with Civil Rights attorney, Areva Martin and former Police Chief, Charles Ramsey.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:19]

BROWN: We are now two weeks into the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin charged in connection with the death of George Floyd.

The prosecution continues to lay out its case calling to the stand law enforcement officers and medical experts, including a forensic pathologist who spoke in plain language about what the medical examiner meant when he ruled George Floyd's death a homicide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY BLACKWELL, PROSECUTOR: So if you put all this together cardiopulmonary arrest, complicating law enforcement subdual restraint and neck compression, what does that mean?

DR. LINDSEY THOMAS, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Well, what it means to me is that the activities of the law enforcement officers resulted in Mr. Floyd's death.

There is no evidence to suggest he would have died that night, except for the interactions with law enforcement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So this medical analysis is important to the prosecution's case that Chauvin was a substantial cause of Floyd's death when he put his weight on Floyd's neck and back for over nine minutes.

And here now to discuss, CNN law enforcement analyst, Charles Ramsey, formerly the Washington, D.C. Police Chief and Philadelphia Police Commissioner and I'm also joined by CNN legal analyst and Civil Rights attorney, Areva Martin. Great to see you both.

Areva, I want to start with you. Chauvin's defense attorney has argued that Floyd died as a result of drugs and preexisting health conditions. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner testified saying that those factors might have contributed to Floyd's death, but weren't the cause.

He stood by his initial ruling of homicide identifying the cause as cardiopulmonary arrest that occurred during law enforcement interaction with him. Is there any way the defense lawyers could overcome this when they present their case?

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Pamela, it is going to be very difficult to overcome the medical testimony that was presented by the prosecution this week. Not only do we hear from Dr. Andrew Baker, the Medical Examiner that performed the autopsy, and as you stated correctly, he stood by his original opinion that the manner of death was homicide and the cause of death, used a fancy term, but basically admit that Mr. Floyd's heart stopped and he stopped breathing, and those two things occurred because of the restraint by Derek Chauvin.

But we also heard from a world-renowned pulmonologist, Dr. Martin Tobin, who basically wrote the book on breathing, and he said that George Floyd died from low oxygen. We heard that reiterated by Dr. Thomas.

So we've heard several medical experts, renowned in their field, say that the death was caused by law enforcement interaction.

Now, we know the defense is going to try to poke holes in that when it gets a chance to put on its case, but I think the images that were shown by Dr. Tobin, when he went frame by frame and showed us when the life was actually sucked out of George Floyd's body because of that restraint. Those images are going to be hard to overcome. Plus, the testimony from Dr. Baker and the other medical experts. The defense has an uphill battle.

BROWN: And you have the prosecution putting on the stand, Chief Ramsey, a list, a substantial list of top law enforcement officers testifying against Chauvin, including the Police Chief. In your experience, how unusual is that?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, in a criminal trial, it's unusual because you don't get that many criminal trials of police officers. You know, a lot of times, the conduct is one where -- is such where it could be criminal, you send the information over to the District Attorney. Normally, usually, they decline to prosecute, so you wind up with an administrative process.

It's very common to testify against officers in arbitration hearings, but not so much a criminal trial. Civil trial, yes, but not criminal.

But the fact that the Chief did testify, the fact that the trainer testified, the investigators testified, Chauvin's conduct was so far away from what is expected, what is written in policy, what is part of training, that they will be hard pressed to find anybody in law enforcement to say that what he did was correct, because it wasn't.

And for nine minutes and 29 seconds, to have a person in that position, there is no way you can justify it.

BROWN: Right, and Areva, you touched on this, a pulmonary expert who reviewed medical records in the case testified that Chauvin's knee remained on George Floyd's neck for three minutes and two seconds after there was no more oxygen left in his body.

Is there any scenario by which that is acceptable?

[18:20:03]

MARTIN: None whatsoever, Pamela and that testimony was critical for a couple of reasons. Not only does it go to the issue of causation, and you said again, correctly in your opening, that the Minneapolis law, the standard is substantial cause, not sole cause, but it also goes to the elements of the murder charges.

We know the second degree murder requires intent to commit an assault, and we know the third degree murder charge requires depraved mind. So think about it. The knee is on the neck for three minutes beyond the point where Mr. Floyd has a cause, I think that is the epitome of depraved mind and clearly shows an intent to commit an assault.

So I think the murder charges, the testimony of Dr. Tobin helped sure up the murder charges in the case. His testimony was just riveting. It was compelling. He gave it to the jurors in a way that they could understand it.

He personalized the pain that Mr. Floyd experienced as he had the jurors touch their necks and touched their shoulders, a really incredible testimony. And I have to say, the prosecution lawyer, Jerry Blackwell literally gave a masterclass in how to examine expert witnesses like Dr. Tobin.

BROWN: And Charles, you have had your fair share of exposure to courtroom proceedings in your career. So, imagine you're a juror, what's the most significant moment you've seen so far that could sway your opinion, one way or another?

RAMSEY: I mean, early in the trial, it was highly emotional, and understandably so.

But I think Dr. Tobin is the key here. I watched that testimony. And I mean, I was doing work here at CNN and I found myself touching my neck and my -- you know, following his instructions.

It was absolutely masterful, that is the only word I can use to describe it. And the way in which Mr. Blackwell walked him through that testimony, and all of those highly technical witnesses. Blackwell was the main person and he knew the right questions to ask and they responded in a way that was very understandable to the jury.

And if you notice, you know, it was like Dr. Tobin was teaching a class which he does all the time. I mean, he was talking directly to the jury. He was teaching as he was talking, and I don't know how you overcome that, to be honest with you. It was just that powerful. It was highly precise.

And you know, the defense will have to put on witnesses, but I doubt seriously they can find anybody that can come even close to touching Dr. Tobin.

BROWN: All right, Charles Ramsey, Areva Martin, thank you both for your time. We appreciate it.

MARTIN: Thank you, Pamela.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

BROWN: And be sure to stay with us because next hour, I'll speak to Floyd family attorney, Jeff Storms about what he thinks of the prosecution's case so far. That interview at 7:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

And just this week, Border Protection found a 10-year-old little boy alone and scared to death. Now, he is just one of the 20,000 children in U.S. custody leaving the Biden administration scrambling for a solution.

When we come back, I'll speak to Texas Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, who will lead a bipartisan delegation to the border. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: Well, it is official. In March, a record number of

unaccompanied children crossed the U.S.-Mexican border. According to Customs and Border Protection, more than 172,000 migrants attempted to enter along our southwest border last month, a massive 71 percent increase over February. Of those, 18,890 were unaccompanied minors. That is a record high and a double of February's total.

As these figures were released, the White House's Border Coordinator confirmed that she is leaving at the end of the month. Roberta Jacobson says that the surge hasn't changed her original plan to only stay on for Biden's first 100 days.

Democratic Congressman, Vicente Gonzalez whose district is on the South Texas border joins me now to discuss this.

Congressman, thank you for coming on. These numbers are truly staggering. How is the surge impacting local border communities like yours?

REP. VICENTE GONZALEZ (D- TX): Clearly, it's a concerning issue. As you've seen the videos, there's a lot of children coming unaccompanied. It's a tragic situation that we're putting our hearts and minds and energy and focus to try to resolve.

And that's why this week, for the first time, I'm bringing a bipartisan group of Members of Congress to have a deep analysis of what's happening and what we can do to solve the problem.

You see a lot of people come down here to point fingers and score political points, but nobody has real solutions. And what I want to do is offer solutions. And what I've been advocating for, as you might have heard is that we should have first class facilities like we have here on our border further south on Mexico's southern border closer to Guatemala, where people can come in to a first class facility and process their asylum claim there and stop this 2,000 miles of very treacherous territory that is very dangerous for these migrants in the first place.

And we have to deal with the fact that over 80 percent never qualify for asylum, and we need to find ways to help them and help them maybe in their home country or through a guest worker program. We need out of the box thinking ideas to resolve this problem and ultimately, we need to make the proper investments in those three Central American countries to get to the root of the issue of why people are migrating.

[18:30:07]

BROWN: So why don't you think some of your proposals such as creating a processing center in those countries, I know that has been talked about a lot, the Biden ministration has talked about that. But this system, as you've said, has been broken for a long time. Why do you think the U.S. is still in this situation? Why hasn't that been done yet?

GONZALEZ: Because we haven't made those difficult decisions in government that create meaningful solutions like these processing assets that we can have down there permanently until we get the migration issue under control from those Central American countries.

But we should be thinking long-term that right now (inaudible) El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. But down the road, it could be three other countries in some other place and we need to have an orderly fashion, away from our border, where we can deal with this mass migration where they can be processed safely and humanely, where we get the cartels out of this business, because they are having a lot of the transportation of this migration to our southern border.

And I think having our own processing center, creating safe zones where people can safely come to us, closer to their country and process their asylum claim and do it in a humane fashion.

BROWN: I want to talk about this video and it's really heartbreaking, this 10-year-old migrant child found alone near the border on April 1st. I want to play it for you and then get your thoughts on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you help me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you help me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's that I was walking with a group and they left me behind and I don't know where they're at.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't know where they're at? They left you behind alone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course they left me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They left you behind by yourself? You're not traveling with your mom, dad or anybody?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you traveling with your mom or dad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody. I was with a group to turn myself in with you, and they left me behind and I came to look for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They left you behind and told you to seek help?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I came looking because I didn't know where to go, and they can also kidnap me and I'm afraid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Ten-year-old little boy. You can just hear the fear. The full circumstances of that case are unknown, including how and why he came to the U.S., whether this was self-separation. But what is your reaction to that footage?

GONZALEZ: Clearly it breaks my heart to see that and there's probably thousands of stories like that. And these are children that we should be assisting in their home country and finding ways to help them there, not forcing or incentivizing in any way or creating a method for them to take this very dangerous 2,000-mile road to our southern border.

I think that we could have done so much more for this young child in his home country, even at the southern border of Mexico without them having to have made this very dangerous trek. Under the Biden administration, they just reimplemented the reunification of children with family members here in the U.S. They are now going to be able to process those claims in their home country and just be able to fly these kids to join their mother or father in the United States.

We have to come up with better solutions to this issue and I'm proud that they just reimplemented this idea on reunification of children. I'm hoping that we start seeing a serious drop of children coming across.

But at the end of the day, we need to have a plan of how to slow this mass migration to our southern border and how to do it in a humane way not in squalor like this NTP (ph) program under the Trump administration. I'm talking first class facilities.

Everything we do on our side of the border, we should be doing it on Mexico's southern border, on Guatemala southern border and helping these people earlier on have them go through the same process that they do here earlier on and deal with it. They're in a humane and safe environment because what they go through is not humane and safe by the time they get to our southern border.

BROWN: I want to ask you before we let you go about this voting law working its way through the Texas Legislature. The law would limit early voting hours. It would ban drive-thru voting and drop boxes. And as you know, the drive-thru voting was used widely and securely in Harris County last year. What is your view of this law?

GONZALEZ: Well, clearly, it's on the wrong side of history and it's created for no reason than to suppress the vote, to suppress the vote of growing numbers of minorities who are participating in Texas elections. I think the one party grip is sliding and they're trying to create these illegal bills to try to have better control of the elections.

[18:35:08]

But let me tell you, drive-thru voting, this is going to backfire on these Republicans who are doing it now, the governor and others. Drive-thru voting is heavily participated by senior citizens who cannot or not as mobile, and it helps them greatly to be able to vote from their vehicle. A lot of our wounded veterans drive through and that's the way they vote.

And in trying to limit access at the polls, I think at the end of the day, they're going to hurt themselves. Obviously, we've already seen the threats from corporate America, from civic groups and just from citizens across the state if they dare pass a bill like that and it's signed by our Governor.

Texas is going to lose billions of dollars in conventions, and sports events and other types of investment that will cost thousands of jobs thousands of Texan jobs. So I certainly hope that they don't go down that path and it's just political rhetoric at this point.

BROWN: Well, American Airlines for one has already released a statement condemning this. But you're right, it has not become law in Texas yet. We'll be keeping a close eye on what's going on down there. Texas Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, thank you for coming on and sharing your perspective.

GONZALEZ: Thank you.

BROWN: You well, embattled Congressman Matt Gaetz says he hasn't even begun to fight. Investigators and investigations into whether he broke sex trafficking laws are piling up and a former associate may be taking a plea deal. We will have the very latest up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:41]

BROWN: Well, troubles are piling up for Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, but he is not keeping quiet even as he faces a federal investigation into sex trafficking claims and reported allegations of a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. The House Ethics Committee is launching its own probe now and let me read from part of its announcement.

It says, "The Committee is aware of public allegations that Gaetz may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misuse state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws or other standards of conduct."

Now, Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but his potential problems don't stop there. I want to bring in CNN's Katelyn Polantz for more on this. So Katelyn, normally when someone is under a legal scrutiny like this, we don't hear much from them publicly. That is the opposite case with Gaetz.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: THAT'S right, Pam. The Congressman really came out swinging from the moment that the news of this investigation and these allegations broke. He went out on Fox. His office has issued a denial to everything that you just read in that House Ethics Committee statement.

And he also gave a speech yesterday to a crowd of supporters. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. MATT GAETZ (D-FL): So let me assure you, I have not yet begun to

fight. The smears against me range from distortions of my personal life to wild and I mean wild conspiracy theories. I won't be intimidated by lying media and I won't be extorted by a former DOJ officials and the crooks he is working with. The truth will prevail.

When you see the anonymous sources and insiders forecasting my demise, know this, they aren't really coming for me. They're coming for you. I'm just in the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: And really, Pam, that is on a speech he's giving on friendly turf to a crowd of supporters at a Trump property in Miami.

BROWN: Yes. And it's interesting, he talks about, well, so much of this is anonymous sources. But his old friend who is actually charged with sex crimes appears ready to flip in exchange for a plea deal and we heard from that friend's lawyer, what do we know?

POLANTZ: So this is a case that has been in existence in the federal system since last summer. The former tax collector in Seminole County, Florida outside of Atlanta - or outside of, excuse me, Orlando, had been charged with several different crimes related to his time in office and also sex trafficking, fake IDs, a bunch of different allegations.

And prosecutors have just upped the pressure on him over the past several months. They revoked his bail, so he's been in jail since the beginning of March. And then recently, they hit him with more charges. He's now facing about 33 criminal counts. He has pled not guilty so far to this.

But this week in court, his lawyer said that he actually is interested in potentially exploring a plea deal, meaning he could plead guilty and he is now potentially someone who could become a witness if he has something that federal investigators would be interested in hearing from him potentially in this investigation regarding Gaetz and others even.

BROWN: Just really quickly, do we know if he's going to talk about Getz at all or if that's part of this? What has a lawyer said about that?

POLANTZ: I don't think we actually know exactly what he knows to that extent. But we do know that investigators are looking at many, many different things including Gaetz's interactions with this man and his lawyer. I believe he said that he's waiting to see or that Gaetz may want to be wary at this point.

BROWN: All right. Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for bringing us the latest there.

And now I want to bring in CNN's Donie O'Sullivan. Donie, you were at the Trump resort near Miami where Gaetz spoke, a gathering by a women's group that supports former President Trump. Did anyone you found there talk about Gaetz and support him in this or what's going on? What did the people been saying?

[18:45:02]

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: Hey, Pam. Yes. The irony, of course, of Gaetz speaking at an event that's organized by a woman's group for Trump was lost on the folks that I spoke here, certainly. But what not lost some people here is the big lie about the election, that in some way, was stolen. People buying into that conspiracy theory and a lot of people focused on trying to rewrite the history of January 6th, have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KINNET EHRING MCSWEENEY, TRUMP SUPPORTER: And I do believe that the election was stolen and I do believe that it was a peaceful rally that day. And that just because people who were in the Capitol were wearing Trump's shirts and Trump hats, doesn't necessarily make them Trump supporters. Anybody can get one of those shirts.

O'SULLIVAN: But a lot of them have been shown to be real Trump supporters through ...

MCSWEENEY: How?

O'SULLIVAN: ... indictments that they've been a long time supporter of Trump.

MCSWEENEY: I don't know that to be true.

O'SULLIVAN: I think some people who will watch this who are not Trump supporters and they'll say, here's a Trump supporter who's in denial about January 6th. Would it not be better to sort of admit ...

MCSWEENEY: You don't have to say that to me, because I've had friends and family already say that to me, because they disagree. They think that I'm crazy, that I'm a conspiracy theorist because the election was stolen. You know what is so terrible about conspiracy theories, anyway? Can you tell me?

I mean, there were conspiracy theories behind JFK's assassination. I'm old enough to remember all of the conspiracy theories that swirled around his assassination. It's always painted in such a negative way.

O'SULLIVAN: But these conspiracy theories are cutting into the foundation of American democracy or helping inspire a violent insurrection?

MCSWEENEY: No, I don't believe that's the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: Now, what do you heard there from that lady about the election, about January 6th is false. But in the Republican Party, it is not fringe. I want you to take a look at this polling from Reuters this week. It shows that almost two-thirds of Republicans think Trump is not to blame for starting to January 6th riot, 60 percent of Republicans say the election was stolen.

And Pam, most incredibly, I think, 55 percent agree that the January 6th riot was led not by Trump's supporters, but in some way by left- wing agitators trying to get themselves off the hook there.

BROWN: That's so remarkable too because as you pointed out, several of them had said proudly and the indictments we have read that they did, that they're Trump supporters and they proudly marched on the Capitol and were part of this insurrection. So the people who were actually a part of it do not like the fact that so many others think that Trump supporters were not leading the way on that, it's just really fascinating.

Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much. Reporting live for us from Doral, Florida.

Well, the funeral for Prince Philip has been set for next Saturday and the palace says Prince Harry is planning on attending after that bombshell interview with Oprah exposed friction in the family. We're going to go live to Windsor Castle up next where Max Foster is standing by.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Gun salutes were fired across the United Kingdom today honoring Prince Philip who died Friday morning. The Duke of Edinburgh's funeral is scheduled for next Saturday, but it scaled back because of COVID restrictions. Joining me now is Royal Correspondent Max Foster live from Windsor Castle where the funeral will be held.

So Max, what are you learning about the arrangements being made and who will be in attendance?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: So much tradition, I think. It's interesting seeing those gun salutes, Pam, because some of those guns were originally used in World War I and were used that gun salutes at the marriage of Philip and Elizabeth and also the coronation. So it just shows how much history is going into this moment.

It won't look like other royal funerals, because of the pandemic but also because Prince Philip didn't want much fuss. So there's going to be 30 guests, Prince Harry will be one of them, the Duchess of Sussex has been advised by doctors that she shouldn't come over. We also learned today that the Prime Minister is going to give up his place at the funeral to allow another member of the family to attend.

Prince Charles speaking today as well on behalf of the family, one of the first voices we've heard since Prince Philip's death.

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CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES: My dear Papa was a very special person who, I think, above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all of that. It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time.

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FOSTER: We expect Prince Charles probably to read a eulogy at the service, which will be on Saturday, three o'clock in the afternoon here in Windsor, 10 am Eastern. I think the world will be tuning in. The government and the palace have been asking people not to come here and pay their respects or to try to come to the service at all.

[18:55:04]

They want people to watch it on TV. It will, of course, be on CNN. I think other broadcasters will obviously be carrying it too. So I think this is going to be a television event. It'll be interesting to see how many people tune in because, I think, to see the Queen as a widow will be a very powerful image for many people and then there's all of the more recent dynamics as well with Prince Harry walking into the family for the first time in many months.

BROWN: Yes. All right. Max Foster at Windsor Castle, thank you for bringing us the latest there. A senior administration official tells me that the White House is sending another 160 FEMA vaccinators to Michigan as the State struggles to get a hold of its surge of coronavirus cases. We're going to have more on that just ahead. Stay with us.

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