As Arkansas emerges as one of the states with the highest per capita COVID-19 deaths, Governor Asa Hutchinson on Thursday defended his decision to keep much of the economy, including schools, open during the pandemic.
"It's all about maintaining a balance through the last year, and we never shut down our economy in Arkansas — [I] did not think that was the right decision," Hutchinson told Cheddar.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences released a report on Tuesday that the state — with a total of 5,273 COVID deaths as of March 5 — has a higher per capita death rate than hard-hit states such as New York, Texas, Florida, and California
The governor, however, made the case that the state's higher death rate was not related to its pandemic response, but rather existing health indicators throughout the U.S. South.
"When you talk about the great tragedy of the death rates, that's sad," he said. "It's something that we want to avoid, but obviously when you look at the Southern states there's some health indicators that are not high on the scale, and I think history will look back and see exactly some of those reasons. But, I think we've maintained the balance through this here in Arkansas."
Hutchinson said he was aiming to end the state's mask mandate by March 31. At that point, the mandate would become guidance.
He noted that one criterion was the state reaching a positivity rate below 10 percent. The current rate is 2.9 percent.
The governor said private companies, however, will still have the right to mandate mask use, and that the state would incentivize them to follow the guidelines by offering liability protection.
"We also give them an incentive that if they follow guidelines, then they're going to have business liability immunity, so you can't be sued for somebody getting coronavirus if you're following the guidelines," he said.
Arkansas Near-Total Abortion Ban
Hutchinson also commented on his decision to sign a bill that represents a near-total ban on abortions in the state, including in cases of rape or incest, all but ensuring a challenge to Roe. v. Wade that could make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
While the governor had expressed support for those exceptions in the past, he said he signed the bill due to his overall pro-life stance and desire to bring a challenge in front of the conservative Court.
"This was designed to give a challenge to the Supreme Court and an option to reverse Roe versus Wade," he said. "Yes, I would have preferred to have the rape and incest exceptions in there. I think that would make it more amenable to the Supreme Court to review the case, because it has more popular acceptance, but in Arkansas, you can override the governor's veto by a simple majority vote."
The bill had overwhelming support in the state legislature, he added.
Matt Hayden, vice president of govtech solutions at Exiger and a former assistant secretary of cyber at Department of Homeland Security, joined Cheddar to discuss the surprise phone call initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to President Joe Biden, ahead of January security talks about the rising tensions over Ukraine. "We're hoping to hear that we're able to talk about the aggression and the leadup of the Ukrainian militarization," Hayden said. "But we're also looking to hear is how the Kremlin leveraged their talking points to try to test their negotiation stance with the United States leading into this January 10th meeting."
The No Surprises Act begins implementation on January 1, 2022. The legislation is meant to curb the practice of unexpected billing for care from providers the patient was unaware were out-of-network from their insurance. Patricia Kelmar, director of health care campaigns for U.S. PIRG joined Cheddar to describe the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars charged to unsuspecting patients and how things will change under the new law. "If we are picking an in-network doctor and an in-network hospital, we should not see those added costs from anesthesiologists, radiologists, scrub-in surgeons," she said. "The other area it protects you is in air ambulances — not ground ambulances, unfortunately — but the helicopters or the airplanes you might need to transport you in an emergency situation."
President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladmir Putin are expected to have another conversation surrounding escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Ariel Cohen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, joined Cheddar's Ken Buffa to discuss the ongoing tensions and why Putin's request for a conversation with Biden comes now. "This is very serious. This is the worst security crisis we had since the collapse of the Soviet Union," Cohen told Cheddar.
Stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, but two indexes - the Dow and the S&P 500 - ended the session with a new record. Akshata Bailkeri, Equity Analyst at Bruderman Asset Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she says there is a consensus for robust consumer spreading in 2022, especially as the Omicron variant is proving to be milder than other COVID-19 strains.
John Quelch, Dean of Miami Herbert Business School, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the retail giant is acting in accordance to President Biden's new law banning goods from China's Xinjiang region. Quelch also elaborates on the importance of China in Walmart's overall strategy.
