>>This week on NewsNight, state attorney Monique Worrell responds to criticism over her office's handling of previous cases involving Pine Hill shooting suspect Keith Moses.

Florida lawmakers take aim at what they describe as woke banking, as some conservatives blame ESG investments for the demise of Silicon Valley Bank and preparations for Brightline services from Orlando hit the final stretch.

NewsNight starts now.

[MUSIC] Hello, I'm Steve Mort and welcome to NewsNightwhere we take an in-depth look at the top stories and issues in central Florida and how they affect all of us.

First tonight, the back and forth over juvenile justice following the recent shooting in Pine Hills that left three people dead.

Ninth Circuit State attorney Monique Worrell is under fire from some political leaders who question her office's prosecutorial record.

It follows questions over prior cases involving the suspect in last month's Pine Hill shooting Keith Moses.

Monique Worrell outlined the charges so far against Keith Moses.

They include three counts of second degree murder and two counts of attempted first degree murder.

First degree murder charges require a grand jury indictment, which Worrell expects to happen later.

>>It is the intention of this office to vigorously prosecute this case, to hold the offender accountable for the safety and protection of this community.

>>19 year old Moses has pleaded not guilty to first degree murder.

The state attorney says no decision has been made on whether to pursue the death penalty.

Meanwhile, state attorney Worrell has responded to a letter from the governor's office accusing her of failing to keep criminals off the streets.

The governor's office is requesting all documents related to the juvenile record of Keith Moses, including criminal records.

In the letter, the general counsel wrote “The failure of your office to hold this individual accountable for his actions, despite his extensive criminal history and gang affiliation, may have permitted this dangerous individual to remain on the streets.

” >>I cannot believe they let this guy.

You have to hold people accountable.

This idea and I know the district attorney, state attorney in Orlando, thinks that you don't prosecute people and that's the way that you somehow had to have a better community.

That does not work.

You have a small element of people that the way to protect the community is to get them off the street.

And the only way you can do that is if you prosecute them when they're committing this criminal activity.

>>The problems that we face are not a matter of if people will get out of prison.

It's a matter of when.

>>But Monique Worrell has pushed back hard, saying Moses remained free because he had not previously committed an offense that would have required or justified life in prison.

Meanwhile, Worrell has said she backs reform to the juvenile justice system.

A bill filed by Democratic State Representative LaVon Bracy Davis, whose district includes parts of Pine Hills, would tackle how long the juvenile system can maintain jurisdiction over an offender.

Typically, juvenile justice programs last only three years.

The only other option is the adult system, which can potentially lead to decades in prison for young offenders.

Bracy Davis Bill would, among other things, give the courts and the Juvenile Justice Department jurisdiction over an offender until they reach 21.

>>If you have a 12 year old or a ten year old that commits an offense, that puts a really heavy burden on the state attorney who only has two choices.

If a ten year old commits a murder, does this ten year old need to go to the Department of Correction for 40 years as a ten year old?

Probably not.

But at the same time, is two years or three years enough rehabilitation for a ten year old who has killed somebody who was in need of services, education, resources, counseling, mental health?

Probably not.

>>Asked whether Governor DeSantis would sign a juvenile justice reform bill, his office told NewsNight that the governor will decide on the merits of the bill in its final form if and when it passes.

All right.

Well, let's bring in our panel now to break it all down.

Joining us in the studio this week, Joe Mario Pedersen from 90.7 WMFE News.

Thank you so much for coming in.

>>Thanks for having me.

>>Really appreciate you having you here.

And Alexa Lorenzo, WFTV Channel 9 morning host over there at Channel 9.

Thanks for coming in, Alexa.

Appreciate you guys.

Let's start with you, Alexa, on this one.

Channel 9 has been covering this story really closely.

Right.

What are the charges against Moses that Worrell outlined last week?

>>So she gave us the details of four charges when he was 14 and 15 years old.

She says twice he broke into unoccupied vehicles and stole items.

Another time, he was arrested as a passenger in a stolen vehicle and he was arrested for robbery and battery.

So how those cases played out, we don't know.

Those are sealed given it was a juvenile record.

She also said that in that robbery, he wasn't the one with the gun, which would make the charge for that a little different.

Than back in 2021, he was arrested alongside four others for suspicion of marijuana possession.

But the testing of it, the amount found, they couldn't prosecute that because FDLE came back saying, we don't know if this is hemp.

We don't know if this is marijuana.

So that's kind of how that played out.

But we did learn that he was found with a gun.

The group had a gun in that arrest.

That gun was never tested by the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

They have said that if the gun were tested, his DNA would have been found on that.

He could have been tried for a second degree felony, which is punishable by several years in prison.

So that's kind of what was detailed in that news conference.

>>Yeah, it was interesting.

Joe Mario, I mean, Monique Worrell has accused the Governor, right of sort of politicizing the Pine Hill shooting.

And she says the Governor's office has basically been looking for a reason to suspend her.

I mean, I wonder why she thinks that.

>>Yeah, she said building a case.

Right.

And certainly she would know what a building in case looks like.

And it's not exactly unsubstantiated behavior either.

I mean, just last year, the governor suspended Hillsborough County State attorney Andrew Warren after he refused to take on any cases involving abortion or trends or, excuse me, gender affirming care.

Both ideas that the governor has been very profoundly against.

Right.

So, you know, as far as W \orrell goes, she says that the governor has been making requests of her office for for information.

>>And a lot of documents.

>>Yes, a lot of documents that he's been making, requests of surrounding area sheriffs offices.

Marco Lopez over in Osceola County, John Mina in Orange County, and that he's apparently been interviewing former employees of her office as well.

Now, in regards to Orange County Sheriff's Office, they've denied that they've had any contact with the governor at all.

So we're not exactly sure what's going on there.

But the two have had beef since February when the shooting took place.

You know, we'll see how this plays out.

>>It will be interesting to see.

I mean, Alexa, beyond the pushback from the state attorney, the lawyer for the victim's families has also had some pretty harsh words for the governor and also for Senator Scott.

>>Yeah, it was a very strong point in the news conference that that attorney held, and he said that the families feel that the Republican Party, meaning Governor DeSantis and Senator Rick Scott, are exploiting what happened to their children and making this kind of a political agenda push.

And he very clearly said shame on them.

This is not this should not be about politics and who's at fault and who's at blame.

These children are no longer with their parents.

And it was really strong words from him just just saying that they're making these deaths as part of their political agenda.

>>And it was a pretty emotional press conference as well with the families of the victims.

>>And the dad of the nine year old and the dad of the News 13 reporter hugging and saying that that this tragedy has bonded them together.

Mr. Lyons saying there that they feel like brothers now bonded by such sadness and having to deal with one, the death of their children and now the ramifications of it and the political agenda that is now becoming of it.

>>Very interesting, Joe Mario, I mean, let's talk about Representative Bracy Davis's efforts that I touched on there in my piece on Juvenile Justice.

What does a bill that is up before legislators envisage?

>>Right.

So the bill that she's proposing, as she explained it earlier in the show, would really provide state attorneys a third avenue to pursue.

When you have these juveniles who have committed violent acts.

Right.

You know, right now they have two different ways that they can go, and that's keeping them within the system for about 18 to 36 months.

Or they could be tried as an adult and, you know, receive up to like around 40 years or something really harsh for a child.

That's that's a tough decision to be put in as a state attorney.

So this would allow them to go about it a different way and keeping that individual in the system until they're 21.

So if they've committed some kind of heinous act or violent act when they were 15, this allows the state to keep that individual in the system-- >>Another six years.

>>Yeah.

And really hopefully provide them with a different opportunity for the future and avoiding any such violent conflicts.

>>More of an emphasis, I guess, on rehabilitation.

>>Exactly.

>>That incarceration, I guess, is the point.

Alexa, I wanted to mention some of the reporting that your newsroom has been doing on the impact of violent crime in Pine Hills, kind of writ large.

Your colleague Nick Papantonis has been has been dealing with that issue.

What are young people in that community telling him?

>>Yeah, Nick did a wonderful interview with a few teenagers that really shed light on how they're feeling when we start hearing about things happening in their community, They feel angst, they feel anger, they feel concern knowing that one of their friends could be involved.

And this is very layered, a very layered interview.

They started about programs that are available, but sometimes they feel that people don't have avenues to get to those programs.

Sure, they're available, but they're either unwilling to go to those programs some children in the community or they just don't have the resources to get to those programs.

Then on the flip side, on just having a platform, they said a lot of times teenagers don't feel that they have the voice to speak up because a lot of times they're told you're too young, you don't get it.

But then on the other side of that coin, they also hear, why don't you say something earlier?

So they're kind of caught between a rock and a hard place of do I speak out?

Am I going to be considered silly and young, or do I wait?

And it may be too late.

So they just find themselves kind of in a balancing act of how to approach these situations.

>>Really revealing interviews.

And we'll put up a link to those on our website.

You can also find a link to HB 1273 on Juvenile Justice on our website as well.

wucf.org/newsnight.

Well, let's look at another issue up before legislators in Tallahassee environmental, social governance in the financial industry.

For some conservatives, ESG has been part of the story of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

They, including Governor DeSantis, blamed the bank's emphasis on what they call, quote, woke investments for its demise.

Florida is among the states targeting those sorts of investments through legislation in the current session.

I asked political scientist Frank Orlando from Saint Leo University how the ESG issue became important for Governor DeSantis.

>>There weren't a lot of people complaining about ESG in the in the media, but it's an issue that he was able to bring up.

And then people were like, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

In some ways I think he's picking issues that he thinks have some sort of promise that there's there's a kernel of discontent with and then driving coverage of those things and, and putting himself in the position of writing some sort of wrong.

>>Frank Orlando there from Saint Leo University.

Alexa, let me start with you on this one.

Interesting subject.

Remind us what ESG investments are.

>>So we talked about ESG, the acronym there.

So it's environmental, social and governance.

And it's a lens in which people can look at where they want to invest from an environmental, a social or governance, meaning how that is run.

And it allows people to decide whether a particular stock or bond maybe looks like a good buy given those different lenses.

So advocates for it say it helps highlight companies that are doing a good job in those prospective roles.

And it gives you a different avenue than just looking from a traditional investment guideline and what that may suggest.

>>Yeah.

>>People who are against it say that this allows people to allocate money and invest based on political agendas, and it gives sort of a wide ranging view instead of just saying this is the best investment for my return for my money and it allows politics at play in a bigger situation.

>>Well, let's pick up on on that, Joe Mario, I mean, ESG is kind of embraced right, by the titans of finance, corporate America, most of the largest companies kind of have ESG policies.

They often, as Alexa said, say that this is good for business to distance themselves and things like fossil fuels or whatever.

I mean, how did this become such a big issue for conservatives and why do they object so strongly?

>>You know, that is really interesting because it's become pretty routine on Wall Street at this point.

Right.

So, you know, as Alexa was touching on really the rallying cry for conservatives who are arguing against ESG is is that ESG is have become a way for liberal priorities to propagate.

It's just one more outlet for them to spread their philosophy right.

Whether that's from renewable energies or all the way to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Right.

But the the big one that conservatives seem to have a problem with in ESG is the “E ” is that environment.

Right?

And the reason for that is fossil fuels, which is a high, high tax revenue for a lot of these conservative states.

And they're worried that if ESG are allowed to continue with their growth, that the tax revenue will start to not free or excuse me, not to flow as freely as the oil that they would very much like to have flowing freely right.

So, yeah, they want to they want to be able to keep that going.

>>And I've seen some analysis that you can date the ESG philosophy back to after the 2008 banking crisis, and particularly in Texas, where some oil producers were having trouble getting getting money from the from the banks and the banks, saying they'd rather invested in other industries.

Alexa, why do some high profile Republicans like Governor DeSantis think that the ESG investment philosophy was partly responsible for the current banking crisis?

>>They believe that focus was off, that too much focus was placed on some of those ESG initiatives and not on investments and risk analysis.

So they're saying that they were too concerned with DEI, which is diversity, equity and inclusion.

And it really diverted them from focusing on some of that core mission.

So they were able to see, look how many people are on their board and look at what they're focusing on and look at the celebrations that they've had instead of working on that core mission.

And basically the other Republicans from not just Florida, very, very various states have said this is one of the most woke banks in the quest for ESG.

So where they're kind of pinpointing ESG took over instead of it being rate hikes and how they adjusted.

It's a very interesting kind of approach and reasoning for it.

>>Joe Mario, what is the legislation that the lawmakers are talking about in Florida aimed to do in cracking down on ESG?

>>Yeah, that's that's pretty interesting.

So the House Commerce Committee just passed a bill, big pass, 16 to 5 in which, you know, they were they were taking a look at a retirement system, retirement benefit system.

And what this bill does is take that system and it allows investors to focus on factors that would maximize profits instead of ESG that may restrict them.

So the reason why they're talking about this is it expands on a directive that the governor made last year in which he proposed legislation that would restrict banks from considering ESG in any investment decisions or any loans that they may be greenlighting for individuals.

So, you know, those those factors include like a social credit score or really any kind of political, social or religious views that they don't agree with.

So that that legislation would prevent them from doing that and again, force them to focus on factors that would maximize profits and not ESGs.

>>Well watch it as it makes its way through the corridors of power in Tallahassee.

Before we move on.

I wanted to mention another issue in front of lawmakers with potential impacts on the business community, and that is tort reform.

Some insurance leaders say tackling frivolous lawsuits is vital to stabilize Florida's insurance market.

This week, a Washington Post investigation found, quote, Insurers slashed Hurricane Ian payouts far below damage estimates.

Could cracking down on frivolous lawsuits make it harder for people to challenge their insurance carriers in situations like that?

>>Yes, very much so.

And that's the way it's designed to be.

You know, they want to be able to give insured insurance carriers more flexibility and, you know, them having to deal with those lawsuits really stymied their ability.

So they're trying to help them out.

>>Alexa, we haven't heard much about least I haven't about tort reform in the United States in recent years.

I remember President Bush talking about it quite a lot, I think, around the health industry.

Why do insurers and supporters of this idea in other industries say it's so important to them?

>>They want to bring everything back into the balance.

When we look at insurance claims for hurricanes in the past year, they're saying that this is coming up as necessary.

They want to eliminate one way attorney fees.

They want to make changes to bad faith laws.

They want to address damages when defendants are partially at fault.

And one industry that I saw a very interesting conversation surrounding tort reform was the trucking industry.

And the trucking industry, they say that verdicts in the trucking industry have gone up 335% in the past decade and that the average sized payout went from 23 or 2.13 million to 22.3 million.

And they're saying they need to stop predatory practices of trial attorneys.

They're saying that this is going to help protect small business from exorbitant damage awards and stop those frivolous lawsuits that they're saying that payout just rise and rise and rise and the claims go up.

So the trucking industry just on top of insurance industries, they're really pushing pushing for this, saying that it's needed.

>>So by no means just the insurance industry.

>>It's a trickle down effect that a lot of people are now jumping on.

>>Yeah, a pretty divisive issue as well.

And well, we'll see what happens.

Well be sure to join this conversation on social media as well.

We're at WUCFTV on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

We always like to hear from you.

All right.

Finally tonight, let's check in on that much anticipated rail connection between central and south Florida.

Brightlines continuing testing of its trains and tracks ahead of the launch of its new service to Orlando this year.

Trains are being tested up and down the 170 miles of track north of West Palm Beach, where Brightline passenger services for Miami currently terminates.

Recently, the company said it broke the record for the fastest train ever to run in Florida during testing on brand new track between Cocoa and Orlando.

As the company prepares to launch soon to Orlando International Airport.

Alexa took a behind the scenes look for WFTV Channel 9 at the trains that passengers will eventually ride on.

>>In the back is our high voltage room.

>>High power units.

>>16 cylinder turbo.

>>A diesel electric engine.

>>Watch your head and your feet as you come through.

>>We got a back of the house look at the locomotive for Bright Orange 2, the fifth and final train ordered Brightlines Orlando extension.

So this train is now in the commissioning process where crews are checking everything.

>>The radio works.

>>Thats good.

Making sure it's ready to run, testing the brakes and gassing it up.

The train holds 2200 gallons of fuel and the process happens just outside the vehicle maintenance facility.

It's pretty quick too.

They pump in 225 gallons a minute.

Some of the trains ordered for the Orlando extension already went through the commissioning process.

>>Were rotating trains between the south right now because we have much better fixed facilities for work.

>>The vehicle maintenance facility is up and running here.

More than 175 workers will be servicing trains 24/7.

And the station just south of Terminal C is almost ready too, just a few more weeks.

As for the route.

>>We are 90% complete.

We've worked more than 7 million construction hours, but we still have more than 800 workers on the job.

Wrapping up that work that last 10%.

>>Brightline says they're targeting quarter two to start service, but there's a lot that has to happen before then.

There's no telling how long the Federal Railroad Administration certification process will take for 168 miles of track.

>>It's also certifying track between Cocoa and the airport, 35 miles.

That is brand new track.

So very, very unique and different from anything that has been done in the state of Florida and really in the country.

>>In the meantime, they're looking to hire employees.

>>Rigorous program in place for training.

It takes about three months.

>>The time is now, really.

>>It is right now.

So we're hiring and training now.

So they're ready come July.

>>All right, Alexa.

Nice piece.

Let me start with you on this, then.

Tell me a bit about your reporting.

I mean, it sounds like there's quite a process, right, to get these trains into service.

What are those 800 workers that you talked about in your piece doing?

>>Theyre kind of all over the place.

Right?

The station still needs to be built out.

The train wash, the vehicle maintenance facility is built out, but they're testing all those trains that have been coming in from California.

They're part of some of that high speed testing that happens.

They're still making sure that some parts of the track are perfect.

They're 90% complete.

So we're rounding the corner here, but there is still stuff to do.

And those workers are kind of doing every avenue from the start of the 170 mile expansion down in Brevard County.

And Palm Beach County up to just the airport and making sure that station is going to be ready.

>>It's a huge stretch of track.

I mean, you mentioned the federal certification process in your piece there.

Does that have the potential to hold things up?

>>Yes, because we don't know how long that's going to take.

They haven't said, hey, we're going to be giving you a visit these two weeks.

See you then.

Say we'll be there and we'll be testing.

So we don't know if that's going to take a long stretch of time.

They're estimating that it will when they give that anticipated quarter to starting service.

They did go through some of this down when they started service in Dade and Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

But you have to remember, they also built new track.

It wasn't just refurbishing what was already there.

There is miles of new track that will need to be certified from the very beginning from the FRA.

>>Joe Mario, Brightlines, sort of been conducting a lot of safety improvements and they've been telling people when they've been doing these high speed testing testings.

But but train pedestrian conflicts continue, right?

>>Yeah, that's that's unfortunately true.

Pretty recently, too.

Just a couple of days before the taping of this show, there was an individual who was struck by a train over at the Brightline Aventura station near the Aventura mall.

Investigators aren't sure why that individual was on the track, but they they were hit by the train and they were jettisoned onto Biscayne Boulevard, which was tied up for hours as investigators continued their search over there.

And that also caused huge traffic problems as well.

It's a really unfortunate situation.

>>And that's an area that's more familiar with these trains than than certainly here.

So it'll be interesting to see whether people get the hang of this line.

>>Yeah, And it's important to note that the stretch along the beach line that they just did this high speed testing and broke records there are no rail crossings there, so we won't see that issue along the track because it runs along the highway.

So that at least is a good sign.

>>Its not a built up area.

That's right.

Just finally, if you can, we're obviously much further away when it comes to completion, The whole sunshine corridor and the extension on to the Tampa.

But is the business community here optimistic that just this section, the extension to Orlando, will have a significant economic impact on us?

>>They are.

And if you talk to Brightline leaders, they have pulled every number possible.

They know how many annual passholders live down in south Florida.

And they've had those conversations.

>>Disney Annual Passholders.

>>Exactly Disney or Universal annual passholders knowing how many would be considering taking the train.

They know how many UCF students have in Miami, a Palm Beach or Broward address.

So they are they are very well aware that we're going to see students, we're going to see families, but we're also going to see commuters with business.

As you and I have talked, my fiance is down in Miami right now working and he lives here in Orlando.

And, you know, will the company be paying for that down the road?

There is a lot of economic impact here.

>>What's the ticket going to run people?

>>One-way it's looking at $80 to $100, but there will be packages for business riders who use it more frequently.

And there will also be special deals.

But it's looking like $80 to $100 one-way.

>>And I'm sure the airlines will be looking for a way to compete as well on that one.

Meanwhile, be sure to visit us online were at wucf.org/newsnight.

But that is all the time we have for this week.

My thanks to Joe Mario Pederson 90.7 WMFE News, Alexa Lorenzo, WFTV Channel 9, Thanks so much for coming in, guys.

We'll see you next Friday night at 8:30 here on WUCF from all of us here at Newsnight, take care and have a great week.