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Governor DeSantis has sworn in for a second term, three of the Congress members who most consistently voted against Kevin McCarthy's House Speaker are from Florida, book bans on the rise in Florida schools, and a wave of new undocumented immigrants from Cuba and Haiti arrives in the Keys.

All this and more, next on "Florida This Week."

(upbeat theme music) - Welcome back.

Joining us on our panel this week, Stanley Gray is the president and CEO of the Hillsborough County Urban League.

Susan MacManus is the USF Distinguished Professor, Emeritus of Government and International Studies.

Deborah Tamargo is the past president of the Florida Federation of Republican Women.

And Alan Cohen is a journalist, a former congressional candidate and a Democrat.

Nice to have you here.

Great to see you.

- Nice to meet you.

- Happy New Year.

- Thank you.

- Happy New Year.

Well, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis sounded much like a 2024 presidential candidate as he was sworn into a second term on Tuesday, addressing national issues like immigration and inflation.

- [Reporter] DeSantis repeated the message that helped him win re-election by a landslide, blasting woke ideology and calling Florida a leader in freedom, setting the stage for a potential run for the White House - Over the past few years, as so many states in our country grinded their citizens down, we in Florida lifted our people up.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) When other states consign their people's freedom to the dustbin, Florida stood strongly as freedoms linchpin.

When the world lost its mind, when common sense suddenly became an uncommon virtue, Florida was a refuge of sanity, a citadel of freedom for our fellow Americans, and even for people around the world.

- [Reporter] He took aim at the federal government over COVID safety requirements, increased spending, and its handling of immigration.

- Federal government has gone on an inflationary spending binge that has left our nation weaker and our citizens poor.

It has enacted pandemic restrictions and mandates based more on ideology and politics than on sound science, and this is eroded freedom and stunted commerce.

It has recklessly facilitated, open borders.

- Dr. MacManus, you were there in Tallahassee for the inauguration.

What was it like?

What was your takeaway?

- I was there for the ABC Action News team.

It was a huge crowd.

I missed the parade.

I usually have one of those.

But what was really telling to me was the organizing principle he used for his speech was to take the statistics, which just came out, showing that Florida's the number one state in the country for growth.

He cited everything, number one and in migration, number one in tourism, number one in business formation and so on.

And then he focused largely on asking the question, "Well, why are people moving here?"

And he covered a lot of the economic side of it and the cultural side.

The cultural side was far less of an emphasis of the total speech and was the economy, but it was clearly a message that was generic enough to go outside of Florida.

And there's an old say among political scientists that one thing you wanna do with a speech like that if you're thinking of running for higher office, you don't want to leave people not wanting to hear anything more about you or from you.

You wanna sort of keep the door open.

And it had that feeling.

- Yeah, Stanley, what'd you think of the speech?

- Well, I wasn't there, and I didn't hear at all.

But for me, a lot of the speech came across as this wasn't for everybody, it was to a targeted group.

I thought that he really left out a lot of people and I didn't think he spoke even to people like me.

My interests weren't represented.

And I was even more, I guess disappointed, because in his first inauguration, I thought that he did reach across and he was speaking to all of Florida, not specifically a portion of Florida.

- Oh.

Deborah, how about you?

What'd you think of the speech?

- Well, I'd like the speech.

He brought forth a vision, he talked about values, but it was all based on his accomplishment.

So it just wasn't idle talk, it wasn't promises, it's what have I done to bring us to this place, and what do we still need to do?

So I think the fact that he talked about the principles, the foundational elements, that said a lot.

And certainly then the picture, the family, the Mamas for DeSantis event, for people, women primarily that supported the DeSantis', the children, it was just the perfect picture, the all-American picture.

And even the children, they go on events, they go to the hurricanes with them.

Casey rolls up her sleeve, she doles out, she raises money, she gives away money.

It just your belief in America, this is America, and the freedom, the platform of freedom.

For those of us whose families came from other places, and because they lost their freedoms, it is just inspiring.

- Alan?

- Well, Mike Tyson once said, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

And what we know about Ron DeSantis in Florida is he has a glass jaw.

And his act is not gonna play nationally, and it's not gonna play because what we have seen with Ron DeSantis here in Florida is when he has asked tough questions.

When he is confronted, he doesn't have good answers, he freezes.

We saw that actually during the governor's race.

So, he won Florida, congratulations, but I do not think that this act is gonna play well nationally.

- All right, so I wonder about the economy.

The economy is doing well, but every state's economy is doing well.

If you look at New York and California, you look at even at some of the smaller states, like Massachusetts, they all have a big budget surf plus.

And I'm wondering, how much credit can the governor take for the improving economy here in Florida?

Ever since I've lived here, the numbers were that about a thousand people moved to Florida every day, the governor's touted that as an important figure.

But that's been happening as far as I can remember.

Susan?

- But what he is also pointing out and others have as well, is that where are people leaving?

They're leaving some of these big states that have been traditionally very blue.

There was an excellent study done looking at people who moved here during the pandemic and they were largely Republican, but for two different reasons.

One is the economy, the second was obviously education and masking of children and so forth.

And the other thing that's obvious, it doesn't matter who, when, where, or what.

If you're the chief executive and good things happen under your watch, you're gonna take credit for it.

- Stan, you said that he didn't speak to you, to your issues.

What did you wanna hear that you didn't hear?

- I really wanted him to reach out, to talk to everybody.

I really felt, and maybe this is just a cheap shot, but I thought that he was going towards the base that basically supported 45, and the base that helped him here.

And you just brought up a very important part.

When you look at the true demographics of people who are moving to Florida, they're not really representative of the population of America, they're mostly, as you said, a lot of Republicans.

And if you also break it down in the age groups, you'll see that it's really planned right to his base.

I mean, and he's welcomed those people here.

He's actually, in his own way, I think recruited them to come here.

- But it's not just people, it's businesses as well.

Business relocation.

- Yes, ma'am.

I'm sorry.

- A lot of that's the high-tech, it's attracting younger people.

The demographics of Florida is really shifting rapidly.

- Deborah, is there any doubt that he's running for president?

- Oh, I think there is always doubt, and it's just one of those things.

We'll see what happens in, I would say 12 months.

- Okay.

Well, the effort to elect a new House Speaker in Washington have begin the work of a new term of congress got off to a rocky start this week with a small group of Republicans opposing the election of Kevin McCarthy as the speaker.

- [Reporter] Three of the consistent opponents are from Florida.

Matt Gaetz from the Panhandle, Anna Paulina Luna of St. Petersburg, and Byron Donalds from Naples.

They joined 17 other conservative GOP members over several days this week to oppose McCarthy from taking the top job in the House.

- Now, I wanna ask you about these three Florida members of Congress.

On the 12th vote on Friday though, two of those three voters switched Congress members Luna from St. Petersburg and Donalds from Naples voted for McCarthy, Gaetz though remains strongly opposed to McCarthy saying that McCarthy would not get enough votes today, this week, this month, or this year.

- Well, this is what happens when you elect whack jobs to Congress.

I mean, including the new congresswoman from Pinellas County.

We need a functioning Congress to have a functioning government, and we need a functioning government, a lean efficient government in our daily lives, and Republicans campaigned on that.

And to be honest with you, Democratic turnout in Florida decreased by 17% this past election.

We hand it over to the majority, to a party that does not know what to do with it.

But on the other hand, look at the split screen here, because earlier this week, President Biden and Republican senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, were in Kentucky celebrating the new infrastructure law that is repairing the nation's roads and bridges.

That is government that works, and that is in stark contrast to the masterclass and dysfunction that we're seeing in the House today.

- Susan, the election deniers there in DC, especially the three from Florida, they were all...

I mean, the people that are opposed to McCarthy were election deniers.

And what do they hope to gain?

I mean, Gaetz is the holdout.

What do you think he stands to gain because he's as conservative as practically everybody else there in that House delegation.

- You're asking me to get into Matt Gaetz's mind?

(all laughing) Come on.

What you're seeing is, to put it in a broader perspective, you have the same thing on the Democratic side.

You have the squad, they're young, they have a different opinion about democracy and involvement, they know how to use media.

So suddenly, who has a similar group?

It's the far right people on the Republican side.

Look at their age, look at their generation.

This generational replacement is changing politics, they're very, very media savvy, and they know how to raise money doing that.

But I see it as just an example of hardcore young people who have it's my way or the highway.

Is that good?

I don't think it's good for the nation that people have that attitude, but I understand it.

- Stanley, what do you think Gaetz wants to get out of this?

What do these holdouts wanna get out of this?

- In my opinion, I think it's two things.

One is, it's a system in his fundraising, and two is attention.

- [Rob] And that's it.

Deborah, what do you think?

- Well, I have to agree that he obviously is a microphone hog, okay?

He enjoys that.

I really disagree with the group of them being far right because the far right and the conservatives are backing, and the Freedom Caucus for the majority are backing McCarthy, so I wouldn't- - [Rob] And Trump came out this week before McCarthy, yeah.

- Yes, I would not label them far right, and they want to be labeled as conservatives, but conservatives have a vision, values, principles and action.

And I think Congressman elect James John said it the best this week.

And he said, "A win is not a win till you activate it.

If you don't activate the win, it's a loss."

And I think they have little time left to activate the win before it becomes a big loss.

- But it is interesting that the Democrats have been united this week, and they've been united talking about that they are there for American families.

And that was really in stark contrast to the other side.

- Okay, well, Florida schools are using the parental rights and education law, also known as the Don't Say Gay bill to justify the banning of books from school libraries.

- [Reporter] Public records obtained by the non-profit news site popular information show that several Florida schools have already removed books with LGBTQ characters from their libraries citing the parental rights law.

That law specifically prohibits some kinds of classroom instruction on GLBTQ issues in K through third grades.

It does not, however, mention library books.

In Lake County, the school district has removed three books with LGBTQ themes.

One book that was removed called "And Tango Makes Three" is the true story of two male penguins, Roy and Silo, who lived in the Central Park Zoo and adopted a baby penguin.

There's no sexual content in the book.

In Seminole and Manatee Counties, the school districts have also pulled books with LGBTQ themes from circulation.

- And there are many cases from around the state where socially conservative activists are trying to ban books from school libraries.

As Danielle DeRose reports from WPEC TV on Florida's East Coast, one book Challenger, who has no children in school, is trying to ban books based on the suspicion that they contain critical race theory.

- Can you show me what it is that you thought was objectionable?

We asked her to explain why she challenged a picture book called "Everywhere Babies."

So your challenge form for this says CRT was the reason why.

- There was part of CRT, it says.

- So what is it that you think is critical race theory in this book?

- I couldn't tell you right now because it's been over a year since I read.

- You can take a look.

I mean, there's, it's a short book.

- [Interviewee] This is really...

It is cute book.

Can I get my binder?

- [Danielle] She checked her notes and then offered this explanation.

- Having all this in here without a parent putting in their family dynamic, their family beliefs, their family of what how they handle things, or how they look at things, it isn't up to the school.

- And what is the harm with exposing a child to the reality that there are all kinds of races.

- Nothing.

- There are all kinds of families.

- Nothing.

- But you challenged it.

I challenged it because I think that is something within a young child's family should be taught with a parent.

- Well, Stanley, that woman had no children in school but the governor says, "Look, I'm trying to allow parents to have some rights to challenge books and challenge what's taught in the classroom."

People on the other side say, "This is censorship.

It is the very opposite of freedom."

What do you say?

- Well, I really don't think that this is a shade of gray issue.

I think that it's come down to be either on this side or this side.

And the problem with this is that subjectivity seems to be ruling most of the decisions and the direction of this.

We talked a little bit about earlier today about some of our education, specifically about your English lapses.

- [Rob] Don't mention 'em.

- And I assume that you probably may have gone to a Jesuit school.

The whole Jesuit process doesn't teach you what to think, it teaches you how to think.

And I think that what we've relegated ourselves to is what not to think which I think is a very bad thing.

And again, as I said earlier, subjectivity seems to be drawn this, so like if it makes somebody uncomfortable, we're not gonna do it.

Like, I'll give you a good example.

Do you know that Florida have more lynchings than any other state?

I think that that's something we should know, not only so we don't do it again, but to understand why people feel the way they do.

And under this whole present way of thought, that's not gonna be able to be taught because it's gonna make somebody feel uncomfortable.

- Deborah, do you think the governor's opening the door to school book censorship?

Or is he opening the door to more parental control of school?

- Well, quite a number of years ago they opened up the books to reviews by committees, of parents and teachers and so forth.

So it's those committees that are making the decision, it's not the governor making the decision or imposing it, but it was bringing parents into the loop.

I haven't seen these two books.

I've seen other books that have been removed that were very, very graphic that no one here would want a child to have be exposed to in the school library.

- Alan, have the book banners gone too far?

- Well, I think this shows that the Republicans are not about solving real problems, the increasing cost of living in Florida.

The fact that Florida ranks 41st in the country in terms of healthcare access, they have no plan to solve these problems.

So their attitude is, "Well, let's make up problems."

And hope to divide us instead of bringing the state together and finding real solutions for people's real problems.

- And Susan, it's not just the K through 12 schools, but also academics at some public universities are feeling like they're worried about what Tallahassee is dictating.

- Well, they have to have by January the 13th an itemization.

This is for higher ed of what's being expended on diversity training and so forth.

So much of this is, as you pointed out, subjective.

If you even look at the law on the Don't Say Gay bill which it wasn't really mentioned, but the language of age appropriate, what is appropriate?

And there you get into the subjectivity, and obviously, we know from this last election, record involvement of people about schools.

And now of course there's a bill being introduced in the legislature this session to make school boards not non-partisan races, but partisan, making it even more partisan.

It's just we're at a point, they're so divided, that we can't even talk about how we define a term, and yet the definition is the key to all of this.

But freedom seems to conflict.

You have freedom of the press, and freedom means the right to look at materials that you may not agree with but you learn from it and you move on.

On the other hand, we also know that there are certain things that are, everyone could agree, we don't need to have a seven-year-old looking at this when they're just learning to read.

This is not an easy thing that we can even talk about at this table, it's a very complex thing.

And yet the two issues on which the governor got standing ovations in his inaugural address, both involved parents and kids.

- Mm-hmm.

Well, I'm wondering though, is this an example of our freedoms being enhanced or our freedoms being taken away?

But I guess that's a question for another show and another time.

Well, let me quote the governor from... Let's move on to our next story, which is in the last few days, more than 500 Cuban immigrants have come ashore in the Florida Keys.

The latest in a large and increasing number who are fleeing the island and stretching us border agencies thin.

- [Reporter] More and more Cubans are taking the risk in rickety boats amid deepening political and economic problems at home.

A smaller number of Haitians are also fleeing their country's economic and political woes and traveling by boat to South Florida.

Meantime, the US embassy in Cuba is reopening visa and consular services, the first time it's done so since a spade of unexplained health incidents harmed American diplomatic staff there in 2017.

That prompted the US to stop issuing visas in Cuba altogether.

- Deborah, since August, 4400 mostly Cuban refugees have landed in the Florida Keys, and it's not talked about too much.

- No, it's not.

And they are overwhelming the Keys, they were not prepared for them.

The Dry Tortugas, they've taken over the Dry Tortugas.

And I think we all know, I mean, any of us that have been in Florida for a long time, about the invasion, certainly the turmoil in Cuba.

So you had people fleeing for political persecution, and that has continued throughout the years.

And we had wet foot, dry foot, and that was eliminated a few years ago.

So the Biden administration has been returning Cubans to Cuba who then become persecuted that have attempted to come and have not landed on our soil even though wet foot, dry foot is gone.

They have recently stopped doing that because hundreds of thousands have come through the Mexican border.

So that was something that was very different.

And now they're offering them some type of a plan.

He was kind of fumbling through it the other day where perhaps 30,000 could come every month and they get some kind of a work visa.

But the truth of the matter is we do have laws, work visas are there, you can come through your employer, you can come through your family, you can come through lotteries, the problem is that the laws are not being enforced.

There are means farm workers can come and go with green cards, and they are guaranteed certain healthcare and rations and shelter here.

So, the problem won't go away till we start enforcing laws, and that's whether it's Cubans or Haitians or anyone else.

- Stanley, thousands of people arriving at the Florida Keys.

The governor has spoken consistently about the southern border but hasn't said much about the arrival in the Keys.

- Two things.

One is I think that the governor has been remiss for not taking an opportunity like he did when he went to Texas to bring people to Massachusetts.

And when at the same time he had this...

This isn't something that just happened last week, this has been going on for a while.

To me, the bigger problem is, and both sides are guilty of this.

And as an independent, I can say this very proudly.

We need immigration reform, not strategically, I mean not tactically, but strategically.

And this is another example of our country's represented population not being able to get together to do something that our country needs.

Anything that we do, you've mentioned the 30,000 can come with the sponsor.

I mean, that's not the long term answer, okay?

It's not the long term answer.

And we need to have elected officials who will do their job, and they're not doing their job.

- All right, before we go, what other news story should we be paying attention to?

And Stanley, let's go back to you, what's your other big story of the week?

- I would would really like to know why we're not talking about elected officials being held accountable for their actions.

I find it very ironic that we're trying to elect the person to be in charge of the rules for the House when they don't follow the rules, as evidenced by their failure to respond to a subpoena.

I think that's a big issue.

I just really do.

- Deborah, your other big story?

- Well, city elections are coming up, and I think we are all focused on what's happening in Washington DC.

- [Rob] You're talking about the city of Tampa - But more importantly, you have elections right here in the city of Tampa.

There's turmoil in the police department, there's turmoil in the fire department, there's turmoil in the water department.

There was some mow kind of sneaky stuff going on there with legislation and things that weren't honest and truthful.

You have issues with conflicts of interest trying to stack the city council.

So I say, do your homework, make sure you know who you're voting for, and don't vote unless you know who you're voting for and what you're voting for 'cause the city of Tampa needs to do better.

- Susan?

- Quick.

I think it's exciting as a traveler.

Phoebe the great flamingo is becoming an icon.

I love it.

- All right.

At the Tampa International Airport.

Alan.

- Well, I think Congress is continually gonna be the top story because this just portends the issues that are gonna involve the debt ceiling, the budget.

And if one member of Congress could call to vacate the speaker of the House, that's a prescription for dysfunction.

And again, as I said earlier, the country needs a functioning government.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And unless we have a functioning House, we're not gonna have a functioning government.

- Well, we may be facing a discussion about the debt ceiling very soon.

Thank you all for a great show.

- Okay.

- Thank you.

- And thank you for joining us.

Please send your comments to us at ftw@wedu.org.

You can view this and past shows online at wedu.org or on the PBS app.

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From all of us here at WEDU, have a great weekend.

(upbeat theme music) - [Endorser] "Florida This Week" is a production of WEDU who is solely responsible for its content.