The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - #BecauseMiami: It's Explicable

Episode Date: May 10, 2024

After a two week hiatus that saw both Billy Corben and Luther Campbell's respective political campaigns crash and burn (more on that next week)...we're back! Marc Caputo joins us to talk about Javier Ortiz's new gig. Also, Sarah Blaskey updates us of an investigation involving Francis Suarez. And Alexandra Mandado talks about the state of Florida's six week abortion ban. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Welcome to Miami it calls itself the magic city and markets glitz and glamour But it's always attracted more than a chair of scammers and scoundrels from the cooking Cowboys To the present day Scoundrel. Fourth world infrastructure by federal government Don't listen to criminals Salvation to God is on, don't you remember We built this city We built this city on fraud and coke We built this city on fraud and coke. We built this city.

We built this city on fraud and coke. We built this city. We built this city on fraud and coke. We've got the very best and the brightest running in the city of Miami. Paltry voter turnout. the very best and the brightest running the city of Miami. Blissful ignorance While they rack up their legal fees At taxpayer expense Torn-off strong criminales

Salvation to partisan Don't you remember? We built this city We built this city on fraud and cuck We built this city on fraud and coke. We built this city. We built this city on fraud and coke. We built this city. We built this city on fraud and coke.

This is the definition of a third world banana republic. And the Miami of today is the America of tomorrow. But before the Miami of today can be the America of tomorrow, the Miami of today has got to be the Florida of tomorrow. And breaking news this week, Roy, your boy Javier Ortiz. Not my boy. Do not put that curse on me. And I am yelling for purpose.

Miami police. Not my boy! Miami police captain Javier Ortiz, not Roy's boy- Not my boy! Has been labeled, quote, Miami's most corrupt cop, end quote. He has over 50 citizen complaints, 20 use of force incidents, three suspensions, a termination, a reinstatement. He's cost taxpayers over $600,000 in brutality lawsuit settlements. That's not to mention the legal fees. He got promoted twice after falsely claiming he's black on a 2014

lieutenant's exam and again on a 2017 captain's application. Incidentally, his original application to the Miami Police Department said he's a white Hispanic. And a joint FBI and FDLE, that's the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation, found that Ortiz, quote, engaged in a pattern of abuse and bias against minorities, particularly African Americans, end quote. He just-

Little black on black crime, huh? Ortiz, not your boy, just... Not my boy! Just joined Ron DeSantis' paramilitary force known as the Florida State Guard. What? We... Oh, that's BS. No, totally, totally BS. That's right. The headline is, an infamous Miami cop joins Ron DeSantis' paramilitary force.

You'll remember that Ron DeSantis a few years back re- I don't know what the term would be, I guess, reinstated this Florida State Guard to ostensibly assist in disaster relief, hurricanes, stuff like that, only for its recruits and even its leadership. They went through three leaders in about eight months. They kept leaving going. This is not what we signed up for. This is a militia. We're being trained to assist law enforcement. They've since been dispatched to the Texas border to do what

I'm not entirely sure, but I know someone who might be sure and that is national political reporter for the bulwark.com Mark Caputo who back when he was a Politico wrote the seminal article on Javier Ortiz. I think the headline was like, the bad cop who runs Miami or something like that. And he was right because Javier Ortiz was also the longtime president of the FOP, the Fraternal Order of Police, the police union that basically ran the police department because they were negotiating the collective bargaining agreement,

the contract for the police department. So this guy literally built in to that contract, his own trap doors that he could escape through every time he got into trouble. And it was really miraculous. And Mark, what was your reaction to the news this week that your boy, not Roy's boy, but your boy, your boy Ortiz joined? I mean, I don't even know what you'd call this band of Keystone cops that Ron DeSantis has going but what was your reaction? Of course he did So it's so goddamn weird that

The thing about Javier Ortiz is if there's a nuclear blast there's gonna be cockroaches Scorpions and Javier Ortiz that survive. What really surprised me when I wrote that piece in Politico, I guess it would have been in 2022, was just his survivability. Yeah. A few months ago, I'd come across the Javier Ortiz files I'd assembled, and it was, you know, it was like five Bibles worth of just material. And it's not just that Javier Ortiz had mastered the art of the collective bargaining agreement when he was the FOP union boss here, is that he also knew the law. And broadly speaking, and statewide speaking,

what the police unions have done is something that no other union has done, which is just built in a myriad of special protections in state law that are called Leo Bors, Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights. That's what it stands for. And it essentially gives them a protection and a series of protections that no other worker in any other profession has. Now they

argue, well, look, we put our lives on the line. We have to pull our guns at a certain point, you know, we've just got to shoot these motorists, who knows? And I'm being partly contagious. So they have these protections that are built in but ultimately What I found in my reporting is the amount of protections that they have in law allows a guy Like Javi Ortiz to operate as this petty tyrant with a badge and a gun Yeah, yeah sure. He got out of hand. I think once he cracked some guys orbital Yeah, sure. He got out of hand, I think once he cracked some guy's orbital bone in his face when he just beat him up randomly, according to police documents.

I think that was after a Miami Heat championship celebration on the streets of downtown Miami right out here. Right. And if you watch the video of that guy, and I wish I prepared for this and sent it to you. It's hard to see how that guy deserved the beat down that he got. But a pattern just emerged where it's the police, it's in this case, Javi Ortiz, and then the piece of shit citizenry that if they don't listen to him and they give him backtalk, he kind of beats the fuck out of him. But not too bad. Like he knew just to like give him a bit of

a tune up, but not too much. And he just got away with it and got away with it and got away with it. Finally, his ultimate suspension or his ultimate punishment. He was basically forced not to work and not to have a gun and then earn, you know, hundreds of thousands or more than one hundred thousand dollars a year. I'm still hung up on this new gig that he has now. It sounds like a national guard at the state level. Is that a normal thing? It is. Technically, in a number of states, they do have state guards.

DeSantis resurrected it coincidentally in advance of his presidential run, and also as Republican states across the nation began to increasingly resist President Biden. And this gives them the ability to have sort of a militarized state law enforcement presence, a National Guard or a state guard, a National Guard style without actually being directly under the control of the federal government. Now you're seeing in Texas what happens when a Republican governor crosses a president too much. There's now a dispute over warplanes, airplanes and military equipment going to the National Guard in Texas because that governor Abbott has crossed the Biden administration one too many times over immigration. So if the Civil War starts up again, we basically know that the South is going to rise again

because of this force. I'm telling you, man, if the Civil War starts again, like the amount that the South is armed to the teeth, like I'm going to be on the side of the winners here. Sorry. Well, you looked apart, Mark, so I'm not going to, I'm not going to begrudge you that. So got that 850 area code. So yeah, you're a panhandle man. Yeah.

That's technically the big bend, by the way. You are the grip of the gun or the scrotum of the penis there in the state of Florida. So, Mark. So is Matt Gaetz. So what Mark was getting at. Gracias, Matt Gaetz. What Mark was getting at there is that they thought the third time was going to be the charm for Javier Ortiz's third suspension. He was ultimately terminated in September of 2022

for cause. But here's the thing about this guy, the guy wrote the contract and that's the thing, you come for the king, you better make it a kill shot because if you don't, he will rise again. And sure as shit. because if you don't, he will rise again and sure as shit. Well, the other thing is. He gets rehired in May of 23, months later, in a settlement with city manager Art Noriega, disgraced now, now disgraced fired city attorney, Tricky Vicky Mendez, and he gets all back pay, all benefits of his $155,000 a year salary. And the deal is, as Mark said, he has to work the night shift from home

while he also gets to get outside work and employment so he can get a second job while he's supposed to be working for the taxpayers and he must retire on November 7th, 2025 with his full public pension. That's what happens to quote Miami's worst cop is as Caputo says, he gets $155,000 a year from the taxpayers for the rest of his life. Awesome job if you can get it. Awesome job. Yeah.

I want to get, can you imagine you're just in that bedroom right there, Mark, and someone's paying you $155,000 a year, you don't gotta do a goddamn thing. Well, also, you know, and it's not just the money, it's the fun that this sadistic guy had along the way. He got to beat the out of dozens of Miamians, Floridians, vacationers. When you thumb through the file, what just comes across is just this guy

who just kind of liked to just smack people around with his badge as his defense. And this is the ultimate result of again these generous state laws, the way in which unions, better said police unions, certainly not teachers unions, are able to negotiate contracts. And I would not be surprised if Javier Ortiz won up in the state legislature. That will be my prediction. Of course, absolutely. Is that one. The thing is Javier Ortiz, actually, when you talk to him, he's very charming. He's very smart. Very smart.

Yeah, he's funny. He, he displays a lot of the characteristics. I don't want to be too much of a... I don't want to get to an Ozzy Gian situation here, but you have to respect the guy. I mean, he is a survivor. And he's black! And he's black! He's going to be the first black governor of the state of Florida, is what he's going to be. But I have to point out also that the state... You do not, in fact, have to hand it to Hitler.

Okay. There you go. Jesus. Jesus. That's an internet thing. I violated Godwin's law, right? Okay, whatever. I do want to point out, though, that Miami-Dade County State Attorney for the last 31 years, Catherine Fernandez-Rundle, who has never charged a law enforcement officer with an

on-duty killing during her entire time in office, she has had ample opportunities over the last two-plus decades of Javier Ortiz's career, where he has been caught quite literally red-handed on video, committing alleged battery, certainly violating people's constitutional rights, certainly committing perjury or lying on police reports to cover up that brutality, and she has never taken the opportunity

to take him off the street. Internal Affairs at Miami Police Department would slow walk the investigations so that consistent with the contract, if they took a certain amount of time, a certain like a hundred and some odd days. That's not the contract, that's state law. That is the Leobor, right?

They expire, the Leobor, so this law enforcement bill of rights, by the way, has somehow inexplicably Usurped the United States Constitution Somehow miraculously. I don't know what your split it's explicable I room let's remember one of my favorite quotes from Mao Tse Tung Which is that all political power comes from the barrel of a gun and there is one and only one Public office that enables you, allows you, and in some cases encourages you

to use deadly force and to shoot your fellow man, your fellow citizen, and that is a police officer. And they have managed over time to make the laws as such where unless they are just extremely, extremely, extremely egregious, and Ortiz wasn't extremely, extremely, extremely egregious, just egregious or maybe extremely egregious, and Ortiz wasn't extremely, extremely, extremely egregious, just egregious, or maybe extremely egregious, they can get away with it. And he's a perfect example.

He's like the, he was the test case for it. I've got to tell you, I've looked over the Constitution, the Bill of Rights quite a bit. Nowhere in that document does the word police ever appear. You know, it does press. In fact, it appears in the very first amendment of the Bill of Rights. That is the only profession really outside of of that is protected in any way other than defining the jobs of the government itself. The word police never appears and yet... But they do arrest the press at protests. Right. And they apparently have more rights than the only profession that is mentioned

in the Constitution of the United States. That said, boy, we just mentioned all the worst people today. Hitler, Mao Zedong, Javier Ortiz, Ozzy Guion, just absolute rogues gallery. Today on the show. Well, at least Ozzy Guion's a world champion. Go to thebullwork.com, find Mark Caputo. Mark, thanks so much for coming back. All right, everybody, Mother's Day

is officially around the corner. If mom's gift isn't already on the way, you've got hours, maybe even minutes to get it together so head over to 1-800-Flowers.com right this second. 1-800-Flowers still has great last minute deals on handmade bouquets, sweet treats, gourmet food and one of a kind gifts, ordered easily and delivered fresh. You want to get Mom something that shows your appreciation for all that she's done. We know you've been a knucklehead. She knows you've been a knucklehead. Please do better. Help your mom feel

appreciated this Mother's Day. This is your last chance to lock in these Mother's Day deals. Only good while supplies last. Order today at 1-800-FLOWERS.COM slash Dan. That's 1-800-FLOWERS.COM slash Dan. Here is this documentation of this company and Rishi Kapoor thanking you for your help on something. What did you help them on? And helping a constituent is what you're supposed to do, but the payment for that help as an elected official, you know, is what's problematic to constituents. So what is he thanking you for?

Of course that would be problematic. And I have absolutely, by the way, I'm not upset at all at the Miami Herald for writing an article based on... I'm not talking about the Herald at all. I have, in fact, the Herald is the one here. I'm not upset at any media outlet for talking about it. I'm here to talk about it with you. I'm not upset at anyone for wanting to talk about it.

I think it's absolutely in bounds. So what were they thanking you for? I have no idea what he was thanking me for. I will. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. was willing to talk to the press about his litany of side hustles, outside gigs, conflicts of interest, getting paid $10,000 a month on a retainer from a local developer who was lobbying City Hall and for whom the mayor's office helped overcome a very serious zoning issue that was going to cost him millions of dollars and months in delays. And now Francis Suarez is literally bro running away from the press whenever he can, like

a fugitive wanted. How can I help? And joining us once again on Because Miami is Sarah Blaski, award winning journalist for the Miami Herald on their investigative team who has been chasing Francis Suarez as he runs away from the media at events like the State of the City earlier this year. We saw that video on an earlier episode of Because Miami in 2024. But the latest news this week, headline Miami mayor subpoenaed to testify in SEC's case against developer who paid him. So Rishi Kapoor, this guy who had deals all over town, has been, his shady dealings have been connected

to no less than three mayors. Suarez, Pansi Postalita in Miami, the mayor of Hialeah, Esteban Steve Bovo, and the mayor, of course, of Coral Gables, Vince Lago. Billy Corbin. And so, that was... That's... I like, it's, you know, making you,

I live to make you smile, right? It makes me happy. It brightens my whole damn day. Here's the thing, Rishi Kapoor, making you smile, I live to make you smile, right? It makes me happy. It brightens my whole damn day. Here's the thing, Rishi Kapoor, his entire world, this once high flying developer, crumbled last year into foreclosures, fraud allegations, investigations by an alphabet soup of federal agencies,

the FBI, the SEC, the IRS, and now, thanks to a subpoena from the SEC, the mayor has been dragged into it and Sarah, we've learned all sorts of new information this week just when we thought we had heard it all about the relationship between these two guys. We've got more money than we previously knew, we've got secret yacht meetings at Cocaine Plum, it's actually Coco Plum but the DEA used to call it cocaine plum it's a neighborhood that inspired Oliver Stone to put Tony Montana's House basically

there Sarah what are we learning now this week that we did not know before about this situation. Sure so I think it's important to start last year one of the first things that the mayor told us was that he was not going to provide his contract with Rishi Kapoor. The news came out he was working for this developer who was seeking permits in the city of Miami. But he said, No, I am not going to provide the documentation that would reveal what my job was when it started, how much I was paid, how much I'm paid. Instead, I'm going to ask

the residents of Miami, the taxpayers of Miami, to trust that there's no conflict of interest and trust that if there were, he would disclose it. Mr. Mayor, you're brilliant. You're super smart. So now, you know, as the SEC has been investigating Rishi Kapoor, primarily, he's sort of like the first part of the first wave of this federal investigation will be into Rishi Kapoor primarily, he's sort of like the first part of the first wave of this federal investigation will be into Rishi Kapoor and his companies. We are learning more about what's in that contract. Investigators have seen the contract, more and more people have seen it and Harold has now been able to learn what's in it. And what we understand

was not only did the mayor make about $30,000 more than we previously understood, he also had several other sort of perks written into that contract, including an offer for an equity share in the company, although it's not clear that he ever actually did go through with it. But there were also commissions written into the contract for finding deals or finding land that might be... Sorry, finding investors or finding land that might be useful to Rishi Kapoor's development company. And so all of that is kind of revelatory. It tells us the depth of this relationship. But the thing that I think will be most important, especially to those investigators at the FBI, the local Ethics Commission, the State Attorney's Office, who are

really focused on whether Mayor Suarez misused his public office for his private gain. The part that they're going to be most interested in is the date of this contract. Mayor Suarez started working for Rishi Kapoor in July of 2021. This is important because at that same time, the mayor had been engaged for about a year at that point, through his mayoral office in various meetings with the developer trying to change some city laws.

There was actually an overlap between the work he did as mayor for this developer, and when he started receiving payments. And so I think that Rishi Kapoor was not necessarily successful in what he had been lobbying for at City Hall at that point, if I'm not mistaken, despite the fact that it appears as though there were he did have allies in the city who were helping him draft and share this possible legislation that would be beneficial to his private business. But once the mayor was on the payroll, and again, the mayor would have us believe this is purely coincidental and he didn't actually

know what was going on with his own private client, was paying him $10,000 a month, what his dealings were with the city. But after that time period, he did suddenly start getting relief from the city, did he not? What he first wanted was a change in the code that was written about co-living spaces or micro units, basically these tiny little apartments that have some shared living, maybe like a kitchen or something with other little apartments.

It's supposed to be a solution to the affordability crisis that Miami is facing. That's how he was pitching it. But it's not really something that the code accounts for. And so originally what Rishi Khaboor wanted and what he approached the mayor's office to help him with was to pitch, some new code language that would basically make some rules and parameters that he could work within. Of course, rules that he wanted into the Miami code.

And so there are actually documents showing Rishi Khabur's brother actually writing in a document and submitting that language to the mayor's office and back and forth with mayors helping set up meetings with other commissioners. But ultimately you're right, this ordinance did not pass this year. It was deferred numerous times in 2021.

Although it never really died, it continued to be resurfaced. And eventually they did pass an ordinance that looked very similar to this one, but not for years afterward. That's when Rishi Kapoor decides, never mind, I'm going to apply for a building permit anyway to start developing one of these units in Coconut Grove. And almost immediately, he hits a roadblock.

His design does not comply with certain zoning regulations there. He doesn't want to redesign the building because one, that's costly and two, then you lose square footage based on this particular zoning thing, which was a step back requirement for that particular area of the Grove. And so he's looking for options and internally company minutes show he was planning to and did, according to these documents that were provided to company shareholders, allegedly did go to the mayor to help him overcome that zoning hurdle. Now the mayor denies this.

He denies that any meetings ever happened at that point. He denies knowing anything about the city's involvement with Kapoor's company at that point. But then in October, when this zoning hurdle has just, it's reached a point of impediment. There's pretty much no moving forward. Looks like it's going to be extremely expensive to redesign the building. Then Rishi Kapoor calls someone in the mayor's office, calls the mayor's director of constituent affairs and says, can you help me push this through? And then he does and that aide in the mayor's office calls the zoning director and says, hey, can you

work with these guys? Within a month the problem is cleared up. There are people that would deny that there was any real pressure. The zoning director has said it wasn't because he felt pressure but that he saw the logic of the argument that was made through the mayor's office that he changed his mind about this zoning. But ultimately, the permit was given. And then of course, there is the photo of Mayor Suarez standing next to Rishi Kapoor at the ceremonial groundbreaking for this development in January of 2023.

To be clear, Miami zoning director, Daniel Goldberg was against this. He had, he did a total about face. He did a 180 on this in order to, following the intervention of the mayor's office, grant this waiver to a developer who was paying the mayor at the time, $10,000 a month secretly, while the mayor was apparently, by all accounts, lobbying on behalf, or at least people within the mayor's office were lobbying on behalf

of this very lucrative waiver for this development. Daniel Goldberg, I should add, is a co-defendant Roy on the most recent federal lawsuit from the owners, the little Havana business owners that we know that won a 63 and a half million dollar corruption judgment against Joe Corolla last year you remember Joe So based on those same facts and the evidence and testimony that came out through that trial they have now testimony that came out through that trial, they have now accused a litany of what they call the Carollo Cabal in the city of Miami. Amongst those people are the enablers of him to weaponize city government against private business owners to out of political retaliation, violate their constitutional rights.

They include, of course, city manager General Art Noriega, disgraced ex-City Attorney Tricky Vicky Mendez, and zoning director Daniel Goldberg, who's also implicated in this Rishi Kapoor situation. Sarah, before I let you go, a lot of shady shitroy happens on boats in this town. And that's kind of a staple of like organized crime movies too. There's like always a mob boss on a boat trying to like evade police surveillance. And there's always like those

long lens surveillance photos, you know, of secret meetings. But this story contains your story this week, Sarah contains a secret yacht meeting, the timing of which as you pointed out earlier is kind of compelling in the world of these investigations. Can you tell us about that? Sure. So this meeting that happened on Rishi Kapoor's yacht in the Cocoa Plum Marina happened in August of twenty twenty one. And this is important because the meeting wasn't a private meeting between two

businessmen. This was a meeting that was set up through the mayor's office. So a meeting between Mayor Suarez and Rishi Kapoor on a boat in Cocoa Plum between Mayor Suarez and Rishi Kapoor on a boat in Cocoa Plum Marina in the evening, after again, a year of trying to write, you know, new code ordinances for the city. And we don't know what they discussed, but what we do know because of the timing of the contract was that Mayor Suarez at that point on the side had already received $20,000 of payments from Rishi Kapoor in his private capacity. Well, it appears he was still meeting in his public capacity with his own private boss on a boat in Cocoa Plum Marina.

And you know, the one thing I would say, pushing back against your description is that in Mayor Suarez's case, he also did bring several police officers with him. They were part of his Sergeant at Arms detail, follows him everywhere. He initially invited four of them onto this boat record show although it doesn't sound like all of them attended for whatever reason. It's just unbelievable. You never know which hat this guy's wearing, Roy. Is he the mayor? Is he a lawyer? Is he the consultant for this developer? Is he the private equity guy? Is he the crypto guy? It's impossible to know. Mayor Crypto Bro! What if he runs for president?

I should postscript this story, though, with the fact that last November, Rishi Kapoor's new 68-foot yacht was seized after he defaulted on the $4.4 million boat loan. Sarah Blaski, find her outstanding work at themiamiherald.com. Hey listeners, it's Mike Ryan and I've changed a lot over the course of 20 years that you've known me. I've gone from unlikable to, well, my hair has changed. But my point is, while a lot's changed over our relationship, there's one thing that hasn't changed one bit. And that's a great taste of Miller Lite.

Another thing that hasn't changed is that it's less filling. So what's the best thing about the original light beer? Miller Lite has sparked this debate way back in 1975 and we still haven't settled it. They keep it simple. It's got undebatable quality, great taste, 96 calories, you know all those things. It's a beer that strips everything away that you don't need and holds on to what matters most. But with Miller Lite, you don't have to choose what's best. Miller Lite has great taste and is less filling. It's both those things. Tastes like Miller time. To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit MillerLite.com slash Dan, or you can find it

pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories per 12 ounces. Fewer cows and carbs than premium regular beer. Today, the most restrictive abortion ban our state has ever seen went into effect. Florida six week abortion ban taking effect overnight, becoming official at the stroke of midnight. The state now joining several others in the south that either prohibit abortions as seen in dark red or only allow it in the first few weeks of pregnancy before many women even know they're pregnant. The near total ban on abortions now forcing doctors to redirect their patients to other

states where the procedure is still legal, many of which are thousands of miles away. Officials with Planned Parenthood are now encouraging voters to support Florida's right to an abortion initiative or Amendment 4, which will be on the ballot this coming November. Let me be clear since here in the state of Florida our education system is in the toilet and we also have we I think we ranked 50th in the country for teacher pay what these numbers mean. Six weeks is zero. Six is zero. It is not a six week abortion ban.

It is an abortion ban, full stop. Most women don't know, in eight weeks, some women don't know that they're pregnant or find out that they're pregnant. Outside of course, Roy, this is a total abortion ban. Outside of the handful of exceptions that our benevolent government has decided that we, the unwashed masses, are capable of determining. Women also only had two scans over the course of their pregnancy to identify any problems

with the fetus or with, you know, the health of the pregnancy at about between 11 and 14 weeks, between 18 and 21 weeks. So this government mandated science denying medieval torture makes it impossible for women, along with their doctors, their families, their own clergy, to make decisions about their wellbeing and their family planning. We have talked about this on the show repeatedly. We have had women like Anya Cook and Deborah Dorbert

who have been victims, victims of this big government tyranny. And joining us now is Alexandra Mondado, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of South East and North Florida, find her at FloridiansProtectingFreedom.com. We know how dangerous the 15-week abortion ban was for Floridians. What are the immediate concerns and implications for the health of Floridians under this, what

I'm going to just say is an outright abortion ban? I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, it is an outright ban. And the impact is devastating. It's cruel. It's unimaginable that politicians are making decisions about how and when we wanna be a parent and if we wanna be a parent.

And so the impact, what we're seeing is women, and let's be clear, women, when they first miss their period, they're already four weeks pregnant. So here in Florida, we have a 24 hour waiting period. And what that means is a woman has to go in, they do a pregnancy test, the doctor comes back and says, yes, you're pregnant.

And because women can't make decisions for themselves, and that's the other implication, right? Where there is a waiting period, they have to go back home and think about it and come back the next day to have their abortion care. And so the implication is devastating. We're talking about 84,000 women who had abortions in Florida last year

now have nowhere else to go. And also to be clear, there is no way that the national fabric of abortion care can can absorb 84,000 patients. Right. So it's absolutely devastating. And in the southeast, there are restrictions, if not outright bans on abortion, almost covering this corner of the country. So where is the closest state that women can go for health care?

The closest state that they can get an abortion is North Carolina. They have a 12-week ban and a 72-hour waiting period. And then next is Virginia. But even if we had airplanes and money to cover the expenses for those 84,000 women, they can't just all go to North Carolina, just in terms of the infrastructure

that you were talking about, right? The entire United States will not be able to absorb 84,000 women. But let's talk about these numbers for a second, because these are 84,000 women who either are experiencing their own health issues, babies are going to be stillborn, or they're not going to be able to develop to full maturity over nine

months, putting both them at risk, maybe the mother at risk. Some of these future potential children would be infirm, sick, unhealthy, disabled, might require care for their entire lives. Many of these children may just be unwanted. My question is, Alexandra, what are the societal implications of these 84,000 women being forced by their government?

We talked about some of the health implications for the women, but who is gonna care for these children? Or is that when society doesn't care anymore? Is that when, oh, that would be big government. If we provide healthcare or social services or education or food, clothing, shelter, medical assistance for these children. That would be big government. That would be socialism. What are the implications if 84,000

women in Florida are forced to try at least to give birth next year, this year? So this is what we often ask the opposition because they say, oh, well, you know, we'll help you with your baby and we'll make sure that they get the diapers and whatever they need for the first year. So what's what we're seeing now is there is a Haven State law where had been in existence for many years in the United States. And the Florida legislature is really taking a look at this and deciding, okay, well, places that you can drop off your unwanted baby. Oh my God.

At a fire department, at a hospital, and setting more of those up for these women. And then what? What happens to these children? I just don't understand. Like, it's so... I have so many questions for you, but I wanna ask about, there was a lawsuit,

Rabbi Silver, who was a guest on this program some time ago who just passed, because this has nothing to do with religious, this is so antithetical to so many ideological linchpins of conservatism, of libertarianism. That's the thing too, is like how to get men to give a shit about this, because like this is about big government,

this is about infringing upon some of the most basic rights that we have as human beings. And also in the case of my people, Roy, religious freedom as well, this infringes upon my fundamental beliefs as a Jew. So what is the status of that litigation that Barry Silver was a plaintiff in fighting this on First Amendment grounds? Where are we?

Unfortunately in the state of Florida because of the Florida Supreme Court being so incredibly conservative, there is no pathway. We have spoken to dozens of attorneys who have specialized in constitutional law and there is no path to success, unfortunately. I thought religious freedom. I thought we were allowed to practice our religion unimpeded in this country, particularly in the state. Or is it just...

It's just Christians. This is... So frustrating. You're angry. So I've been angry about this for quite some time and we have women on this program who are victims of these policies of rich older white men who form abortion policy crudely, cruelly and ignorantly treating it as nothing more than some last resort birth control by naughty sinful promiscuous girls.

Okay, but it's all patriarchal. It's all Christian nationalism, it's all Christian nationalism. It's misogynistic at its core. There's my question though. Amendment 4 on the ballot, November 4th, I've spoken and heard some of the petition gatherers who so bravely went out into this state to get signatures to get this amendment on the ballot who found men to be indifferent when they're standing outside of you know parks or farmers markets or supermarkets and men you know women were engaged but men weren't. How do we get men to understand how fundamental this is and how important this is?

So we actually have been seeing more engagement with men, especially the younger men supporting their either their sisters, their girlfriends, their their partners, and really being able to galvanize this group as well as we talk about like college campuses and young men there. I believe we need to give them more credit. I think once they really understand that this is a slippery slope. So yes, this immediately impacts women, but this impacts your entire family.

This impacts the ability, I mean, what's next? Birth control. We're already seeing birth control being taken away. I mean, even in the state of Florida, there is the conscious, let me make sure that I'm getting this right, the conscious clause, which allows pharmacists and medical practitioners to decide on their own ideology

if you should have an abortion, if I can give you your prescribed birth control. So that's where when we talk about these issues with men specifically, you do see the outrage. When you talk about politicians making decisions about our personal medical decisions, that is what really motivates folks in general, but men as well. Everyone with one of these don't tread on me Florida license plates or don't tread on me stickers or shirts or what like flags like what could be more fundamental this is about health care this is about

human rights this is about big government and bodily autonomy the and also you have to remember Roy that the exceptions under Florida law these aren't necessarily being made by women and doctors these are made by lawyers because doctors are gonna go this is a third degree felony for me I don't want to risk my license my liberty fines up to five years in prison. We got to kick this up to the lawyers at the clinic or at the hospital. You have a bunch of lawyers. Remember all those death panels they were worried about, the Republicans with Obamacare?

These are the death panels. The state of Florida is going to need people 24 hours a day at the state so doctors and lawyers at hospitals can call up and say, hey, death panel, can we save this woman's life or do we have to let her bleed to death in an ER waiting room? Alexandra, before I let you go, I'm just so, oh man, how do we combat the lies when you have the former president of the United States going on television saying that Democrats want abortions up to and even beyond nine months. They support the execution of babies. What do you say to this kind of buffoonery? There's so much to say about it and I'm trying to remain. Good luck. So first of all, what

we we tell folks is that is ludicrous. There is no woman that is insulting. Again, it's misogynistic that women would actually wake up one morning in their ninth month and be like, you know what? I don't want to be pregnant anymore. So let's talk about viability. That's that's the important piece that people don't understand. And again, let's be clear that the opposition is using these it's scare tactics.

And it's you know, it's not Democrats. It's not Republicans. This is a non, this is a bipartisan issue. This is an issue about policy and about basic human right. And so viability is from 20, you can Google it and ask your medical doctor. From 22 to 24 weeks, a fetus can be born and live outside of the womb and have a 50% chance of survival. That's what viability is. So to say that women are going to abort, having a baby

at nine months, that's labor, that's a live birth. After, you know, they say, oh, well, you'll, you know, they can kill it afterwards like that's murder Like it's so again, it's just it's scare tactics and it's ridiculous It's mind-boggling, but it's a lie being perpetuated over and over and over again by some pretty influential and powerful people And let me be clear. It is bullshit Alexandra Mondado before you go. There's an event Yes on for Super Saturday coming up on May 18th. What is it? How can we find out more about it?

So you can go onto the website of FloridiansProtectingFreedom.com or also look up Yes on Four. And this is an opportunity. We'll have it every Saturday. The Floridians Protecting Freedom will have every single Saturday to volunteer. You'll get trained on how to talk about what we're having, this conversation exactly, how to get the vote out, and a variety of other things to really just mobilize and galvanize people to educate them about why it's so incredibly important to understand what this is about. And in addition to understanding the laws around voting and when that's going to happen.

Alexandra Mondato, FloridiansProtectingFreedom.com. Thanks so much for being here. Thank you so much. Hey, what the hell happened to you and the DNC? Why aren't you running for the chair down here? What happened? You got to call me chairman from now on. I don't think I have to actually. Because you mean because I didn't win the election. I also I also dropped out of the election five days later because that's how long the election. But at least I ran unlike Uncle Luke. We had a lot to talk about Roy. Next time though because we don't have any time because we ran out of time on this one. But so much to talk about my brief but bitter run for Miami-Dade Democratic Chair, Uncle Luke not running for Congress,

and a lot of other fun, exciting, because Miami three. I got an F-bomb in just before the end. You and Cabuto. Rest in power, young Ron Brewer, Cocaine's. All right, everybody, Mother's Day is officially around the corner. If mom's gift isn't already on the way, you've got hours, maybe even minutes to get it together. So head over to 1800flowers.com right this second.

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