| | | | | |  | | By Gary Fineout | Good Thursday morning. The daily rundown — Between Tuesday and Wednesday, the number of Florida coronavirus cases increased by 7,537 (0.4 percent), to 1,798,280; active hospitalizations went down by 181 (3.4 percent), to 5,126; deaths rose by 160 (nearly 0.6 percent), to 28,208. Stand and deliver — To borrow a sports cliché that the former Yale University baseball team captain should understand: Bashing the media has now become one of Gov. Ron DeSantis' go-to pitches. Football haters? — DeSantis did it again on Wednesday. During a press conference to tout new vaccination sites, he somehow suggested that the media doesn't like football fans because he got asked a question about the new coronavirus variant and maskless celebrations following Sunday's night Super Bowl win by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The governor's decision to come up with some sort of sweeping generalization that the media hates football fans was contrived. In the script — Look, those close to DeSantis assert he's not going to stop doing this because every time he lashes out at the media, it plays well to a Republican base used to four years of former President Donald Trump doing the same. California dreaming — Part of the governor's ire is due to his take that the media — primarily the national media — were critical of his approach to coronavirus while seeming to spare governors from liberal states. Except, that's not the case right now. The governors of New York and California have had to deal with a rash of negative headlines of late. More importantly — As we have noted before, elements of the DeSantis pandemic strategy appeared to have worked and this includes the death rate and the vaccination rate of seniors. But it doesn't mean it's been perfect (remember ordering 1 million doses of hydroxychloroquine that didn't get used?) or that the administration has been transparent (oh wait, Publix doesn't have a contract with the state to administer vaccines?). DeSantis will likely be back on the road at another vaccine site today. So there's always a chance he'll get another question that annoys him. Will he respond with the brush back pitch yet again? — WHERE'S RON? — Gov. Ron DeSantis is scheduled to be in southwest Florida. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch: gfineout@politico.com PROGRAMMING NOTE: Florida Playbook will not publish on Monday, Feb. 15. After the brief hiatus, we'll be back on our normal schedule on Tuesday, Feb 16. Please continue to follow POLITICO Florida. | | | | THE INDISPENSABLE GUIDE TO CONGRESS: Looking for the latest on the Schumer/McConnell dynamic or the increasing tensions in the House? What are the latest whispers coming out of the Speaker's Lobby? Just leave it to Beavers... New author Olivia Beavers delivers the scoop in Huddle, the morning Capitol Hill must-read with assists from POLITICO's deeply sourced Congress team. Subscribe to Huddle today. | | | | |
|  | CORONAVIRUS UPDATES | | 'WE'RE AT BATTLE WITH THE VIRUS' — "White House looks at domestic travel restrictions as COVID mutations surges in Florida," by Miami Herald's Michael Wilner, Ben Conarck and Nicholas Nehamas: "The Biden administration is considering whether to impose domestic travel restrictions, including on Florida, fearful that coronavirus mutations are threatening to reverse hard-fought progress on the pandemic. Outbreaks of the new variants — including a highly contagious one first identified in the United Kingdom, as well as others from South Africa and Brazil that scientists worry can evade existing vaccines — have lent urgency to a review of potential travel restrictions within the United States, one federal official said." Oh, OK, now the restrictions are bad — "Gov. Ron DeSantis has kept Florida's economy open even as the virus and its variants spread. Early on in the pandemic, he issued an executive order requiring travelers from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey to isolate for 14 days. He rescinded the order in August. In response to this report, Meredith Beatrice, a spokeswoman for DeSantis, said the governor 'opposes travel restrictions and does not believe diagnostic tests should be a prerequisite to domestic air travel.' Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida wrote a letter to Biden saying that travel restrictions on the state would be 'reckless and economically harmful.'" | 
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis replaces his mask after speaking during a news conference at a COVID-19 testing site, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. First responders and people over 65 years-old began receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday during a trial run of the site which will open to seniors at a later date. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) | AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee | WEEKLY ROUTINE — "Florida gov takes aim at media for Super Bowl virus coverage," by The Associated Press' Bobby Caina Calvan: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis again lashed out at the news media when he suggested Wednesday a bias in coverage of the pandemic, even as concerns swirl over more contagious strains of COVID-19 potentially spreading at gatherings celebrating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' victory in the Super Bowl. 'The media is worried about that, obviously,' DeSantis said during a news conference in Venice. 'You don't care as much when it's a 'peaceful protest,' he continued. 'You don't care as much if you're celebrating a Biden election. You only care about if it's people you don't like.'" KEEP AN EYE ON THIS — "Will a more contagious virus reverse Florida's recent downturn in COVID cases?" by Miami Herald's Ben Conarck: "Even with two vaccines and COVID cases waning from a winter peak, Florida's pandemic future has been obscured in recent weeks by the rapid spread of a new and more contagious variant of the virus. The state has become ground zero in the U.S. for the B.1.1.7 variant of the COVID virus, or the 'U.K. variant' — one of several spin-offs that have raised alarm in the scientific community. The more infectious version of the virus, scientists worry, could accelerate severe disease and deaths before public health officials get enough people vaccinated." HMM — "Publix has an agreement with the CDC for its vaccine program, not a contract with Florida," by Orlando Sentinel's Austin Fuller: "Publix's month-old vaccine program touted by Gov. Ron DeSantis is overseen under an agreement with federal health officials, the Lakeland-based grocer said Wednesday, after it was revealed the company does not have a contract with the state of Florida. The chain's comments came after the Orlando Sentinel submitted a public-records request to officials earlier this month for its contract with Florida to distribute the vaccine in pharmacies." END OF THE ROAD — " Miami man pleads guilty to using Covid loan for Lamborghini," by The Associated Press: "A South Florida man has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining $3.9 million in federal coronavirus loans and using some of the money to buy a Lamborghini Huracan. David Hines, of Miami, rubbed his forehead in apparent shame as he pleaded guilty to federal charges including bank fraud at a hearing Wednesday held via videoconference because of COVID-19 restrictions. He will be sentenced in April." — "One pandemic positive: Suicides in Florida actually plummeted. Experts worry it won't last," by Miami Herald's David Ovalle — "Palm Beach County's vaccination success could mean fewer doses," by Palm Beach Post's Jane Musgrave — "Pandemic exacerbates need for new District 1 morgue: 'It's imminent we need more space,'" by Pensacola News Journal's Emma Kennedy | | | | TRACK THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: President Biden's cabinet is getting confirmed, bringing change to agencies and departments across the Executive Branch. From the West Wing to Foggy Bottom, track the first 100 days of the Biden administration with Transition Playbook, our scoop-filled newsletter that chronicles the policies, people, and emerging power centers of the new administration. Subscribe today. | | | | |
| | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | IT DOESN'T MATTER — "Sen. Rick Scott after viewing brutal new videos: 'This is a complete waste of time,'" by NBC News Rebecca Shabad: "Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told reporters after viewing the explicit videos of the attack on the Capitol the Senate trial is a 'complete waste of time.' 'I'm disgusted that, you know, people think that they can do things like that and get away with it. I hope everybody that came into the Capitol and did the wrong thing gets prosecuted to the full extent of law,' Scott said. Asked if he thinks Trump bears any responsibility for the attack, Scott said, 'Look, I've been clear that that I wish the president had said something faster when they broke into it, but, you know, I've watched what he said. He's never said when somebody should break in — [he] actually said that people should do this peacefully.'" Reaction — Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy responded to Scott's comments by tweeting out "I am consistently disturbed by Sen. Scott's lack of concern for anything other than his own political future." HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS — "Gaetz hits back at Kinzinger PAC targeting 'Trumpism,'" by The Hill's Zack Budryk: "Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), one of former President Trump's most vocal backers in Congress, called on Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) to 'bring it' over reports his House colleague plans to start a super-PAC targeting the right flank of his party. 'Adam is a patriot who fought for America from Northwest Florida. We will always appreciate & honor his service. Now, he wants to target my America First politics, referencing me by name,' Gaetz tweeted Wednesday. 'My response: F—ing bring it. Adam needs PACs to win elections. I don't.'" 13TH ARRESTED FROM FLORIDA — "Identified in Florida, suspect charged with entering Capitol," by The Associated Press: "A Florida man who was identified to FBI agents as being inside the U.S. Capitol during a riot by loyalists of then-President Donald Trump was arrested Wednesday at Orlando International Airport. Steve Maldonado was arrested at the airport by FBI agents, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said in an email. He is at least the thirteenth person from Florida to be arrested for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, according to a Justice Department list of defendants charged in federal court in the District of Columbia." QUITE A ROAD TRIP — "UWF student involved in Capitol insurrection grabbed riot gear from police, court hears," by Pensacola News Journal's Emma Kennedy: "The second Pensacola man arrested on federal charges relating to the U.S. Capitol riots has been released from custody as he awaits further court hearings. Tristan Chandler Stevens, 25, is charged with a slew of offenses for his alleged involvement in the insurrection Jan. 6 at the Capitol. In court Wednesday, the prosecution showed a four-minute video excerpt that depicted what appeared to be Stevens grabbing ahold of a federal officer's riot shield and baton in an area of the Capitol building that day." WHAT'S IN A NAME? — "Calkins: Trump supporters would be 'offended' if Navarre bridge was named for military heroes," by Pensacola News Journal's Annie Blanks: "In the ongoing debate about renaming the aging Navarre Beach bridge and causeway, Santa Rosa County Commissioner James Calkins said Tuesday that supporters of former President Donald J. Trump would be 'offended' if the bridge was named after local military heroes instead of the ex-commander in chief." | | TRAIL MIX | | CRIST AND MURPHY ON LIST — "House Republicans announce 47 Democrats they hope to unseat," by New York Times' Reid J. Epstein: "The House Republicans' campaign arm on Wednesday revealed the list of 47 House Democrats it will target in the 2022 midterm elections, whose results are likely to be determined largely by the popularity of President Biden. The National Republican Congressional Committee's list includes 25 Democrats who were first elected in the Democrats' 2018 wave election and six incumbents who represent districts that voted for former President Donald J. Trump in November." Inside the fine print — Not to be sticklers about the law, but in a memo detailing the NRCC's list it includes Murphy as someone who could be squeezed out after the next round of redistricting due to begin in 2022. Hmm. Florida voters in 2010 adopted the "Fair Districts" amendment that states that districts cannot be drawn "with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent." Yet the NRCC memo seems to suggests that the GOP-controlled Legislature will go ahead and sidestep that legal requirement. — "Latvala to run for Pinellas County Commission in 2024," by Florida Politics' Janelle Irwin Taylor | | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET? — "'Avalanche of unspent CARES Act cash for schools draws criticism in Florida House," by POLITICO's Andrew Atterbury: A key Florida legislator aired fresh concerns on Wednesday that school districts still have nearly $416 million in unspent federal cash set aside for them to weather the pandemic. The numbers: Florida schools landed a combined $693.2 million from the CARES Act, funding from Congress to be used on a wide range of needs tied to Covid-19 such as protective gear, technology, and cleaning supplies. As of last week, some $277.2 million of that cash had been spent by school districts, leaving nearly $416 million, or 60 percent, of the funding still available, according to data presented to lawmakers by the Department of Education. — " Fight over vacation rentals is on again at Florida Legislature," by News Service of Florida's Dara Kam — "Union dues bill advances in Florida Senate, would require added steps before paycheck deduction," by Tallahassee Democrat's James Call — "Tom Wright, Chip LaMarca look to limit driver's license suspensions caused by unpaid court debt," by Florida Politics' Ryan Nicol — "Environmental chief defends Florida Forever funding," by News Service of Florida's Jim Turner | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | 'IT'S UP TO ME TO REACH OUT'— "Eight months later, commissioner apologizes to woman shot with a rubber bullet by FTL police," by Miami Herald's Christina Saint Louis: "Eight months after a Fort Lauderdale police officer shot LaToya Ratlieff in the face with a rubber bullet at a Black Lives Matter protest, a city official has apologized to her directly for the first time. At a meeting with Ratlieff Wednesday, Commissioner Ben Sorensen gave Ratlieff 'a really heartfelt apology,' according to her spokesman Evan Ross. 'It had a level of humanity to it that was very genuine.'" 'DOWN WITH DICTATORSHIP' — " Opposition calls on Haitians to 'rise up' as strife deepens," by The Associated Press' Evens Sanon: "Hundreds of Haitians chanted 'Down with kidnapping! Down with dictatorship!' as they marched through the streets of Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, bolstering opposition leaders who stepped up their demands that President Jovenel Moïse resign. The latest protest is the biggest one yet this year, and it comes just days after Moïse announced that police had arrested nearly two dozen people accused of an alleged coup conspiracy, including a Supreme Court judge, who was ordered released Wednesday." — "Miami-Dade Democrats censure Beach commissioner for COVID tweets, 'classist' comments," by Miami Herald's Martin Vassolo: "The Miami-Dade Democratic Party has formally condemned Miami Beach Commissioner Ricky Arriola for his controversial social media posts and "unbecoming" exchanges with critics online. The local party's executive committee — one member of which called Arriola a "scumbag" — voted Tuesday on a resolution censuring Arriola and calling for his resignation. The elected commissioner is a registered Democrat, though his municipal role is nonpartisan." — " Caught with a little marijuana in Broward? You'll no longer face prison," by Sun Sentinel's Rafael Olmeda — "'OK sign' at Jacksonville City Council meeting sparks look at white supremacist gestures," by Florida Times-Union's David Bauerlein | | ODDS, ENDS, AND FLORIDA MEN | | — "Brady-Gronk trophy pass wows Bucs' Super Bowl boat parade," by Associated Press' Fred Goodall: "The Tampa Bay Buccaneers held a boat parade Wednesday to celebrate their championship on a sun-splashed day with thousands of fans lining the Hillsborough River near downtown Tampa. At one point, [Tom] Brady was captured on video tossing the NFL's Lombardi Trophy from his boat across the water to a shirtless [Rob] Gronkowski in another boat. That brought wild cheers from fans and players." Watch the video here. — " Zolfo Springs cousins wrangle 300-pound, 16-foot Burmese python on family property," by Fox 13 News' Kimberly Kuizon: "Aaron Brown was driving down Parnell Road when he spotted something on his family's property that required a second look. 'I drove past it and said, 'That's a big snake.' I had my mother with me and she said, 'Well, get out and get it.' I said, 'You get out and get it. If that joker catches me, you can't help me,'' Aaron recalled." BIRTHDAYS: Former Gov. Jeb Bush … Alex Conant, founding partner Firehouse Strategies
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