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.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine raging on, millions have turned to TikTok to stay up-to-date on the latest developments and get a first-hand look. The social media platform has been so prominent that the war has been dubbed "the first TikTok war" by many publications — and even the White House has taken notice. The Biden administration held a virtual briefing with 30 social media creators to discuss their role in communicating to their followers by countering what it deems as being misinformation. Ellie Zeiler, an 18-year-old TikTok star who attended the briefing, joined Cheddar to talk about the conference and her responsibilities as a social media creator. "How could you not be a little nervous or scared when you're getting your information and media all from this app? But also then you think back to, I guess, when media was changing between newspapers and TV, and I'm sure people were nervous about that too," she said. "So the fact is, is that people do really look to Tiktok and social media for their news."
U.S. markets closed the day at session lows as the Dow marked its fifth straight week of losses. Investors continue to weigh inflation and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and growing economic risk factors. George Seay, CEO of Annandale Capital, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
U.S. stocks ended Thursday's session lower as new CPI data show inflation continues to rise and the Russia-Ukraine war continues. Philip Palumbo, founder, CEO, & Chief Investment Officer of Palumbo Wealth Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
It's been an eventful past few weeks for the WNBA. One of the league's top players, Brittney Griner, remains in Russian custody after being detained at an airport last month. The league is also dealing with a scandal after fining a team for providing charter flights to their players. Emily Caron, sports business reporter for Sportico, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
School nutrition experts warn that millions of children could go hungry as soon as this summer, after Congress excluded waivers that would extend universal lunch for children in school from the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill. Cheddar News speaks with Jessica Gould, chair of the public policy and legislation committee at the School Nutrition Association, about the issue.
The ongoing semiconductor chip shortage has been impacting everything from the purchase of cars to smartphones. Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves spoke with Cheddar about the Biden administration's efforts to combat the issue and if the current crisis in Ukraine will have any impact on the global supply chain problems for semiconductors. "We're working very closely with all of our partners and allies around the globe, just as we have on the export controls and sanctions that we've applied to Russia to deal with that needless aggression," he said. "We're also working with them on the challenges of raw materials for a range of industries, including the semiconductor industry. We believe that we are going to be able to meet the demand for the for the near term."
Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves spoke to Cheddar's Alex Vuocolo about the ongoing semiconductor shortages and the push from the Biden administration to cover the supply chain problem as well as look ahead to future-proofing it.
President Maxx Fenning and Vice President CJ Walden of PRISM, a Florida non-profit providing resources for LGBTQ youth, joined Cheddar News to discuss the negative repercussions of a Florida bill banning discussions of sexuality and gender identity in some classrooms.
