The following is a transcript of an interview with Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves that aired Sunday, August 16, 2020 on “Face the Nation.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to FACE THE NATION. We’re going to the state of Mississippi now. Joets with us is the mayor, Tate Reeves, who’s in Jackson this morning. Good morning to you, mayor. According to Johns–
MISSISSIPPI GOVERNOR TATE REEVES: Good morning, MARGARET, thank you for having me today.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’m glad you have them. According to Johns Hopkins, your state has a positivity rate of 23%, which is the highest in the nation when it comes to COVID infections. Where are you headed for a fall that the CDC warns may be the worst ever?
GOV. REEVES: Well, I have not seen that particular data, but what I can tell you is in our state, we peaked with a seven day average of one 1,391 cases on July 29th. As of yesterday, we had brought that number down significantly to 728 cases per state of Mississippi for an average of seven days. And so we have actually reduced the total number of cases almost on a daily basis in half just in the last two and a half weeks. And what shows us is that – that our mitigation measures work. I will tell you what we have learned in these six months, what is critically important to the American people, is that if you maintain social distance and if you wear a mask, you can really limit the amount of transmission in the community. and you can actually maintain a relatively normal life.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But your state, I mean, I’m looking at a statement from your official health officer, it says you have 11 hospitals with currently zero ICU beds available. That seems dangerous. Do you not need to take stricter measures? I mean, you seem to characterize this as being under control, but this seems like your medical system could be overwhelmed.
GOV. REEVES: Well, MARGARET, I think you might be looking at data that is two or three weeks old, but the reality is in our state–
MARGARET BRENNAN: No, this is from a briefing this week with your official health officer.
GOV. REEVES: Well, the reality is in our state that we have actually halved the total number of cases on the daily two and a half weeks. We peaked at 1,391 as I mentioned earlier. We are currently around 700. Do we have problems with hospital capacity? We do. But the reality is, MARGARET, in our state and virtually every other rural state in America, we have problems with ICU beds and problems with hospital capacity, even if there is no COVID-19. And that’s why we really work through this. We have 150 ICU beds available throughout the state of Mississippi. We have more than 450 fans available throughout the state of Mississippi. And so even though we have challenges, we certainly do. The other thing I’ll tell you is that we also know very clearly that hospitalizations and deaths are a lagging indicator –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
GOV. REEVES: – with the COVID-19. And so what we see in hospitals is really what the transfer was three and four weeks ago.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You – with your schools you have decided to send children, the majority of children in your state back to personal learning. About 300,000 children are back in class. You’ve had about 109 cases of COVID. Because of some cases, you have quarantined roughly 500 students. Why not close the schools? And what do you think when you decide that? Like, at what point does it lead to a spread of infections that not only quarantines you, but shuts you down?
GOV. REEVES: Well, that’s- that’s a great question, and- and the reason is very simple, and that’s really what Dr Redfield said to the CDC. When you talk about opening schools, you are talking about reducing risk and making a decision between public health regarding COVID-19 and public health with respect for children who have not been to school in this country for six months. , hast–
MARGARET BRENNAN: True, but – but what I’m asking you is, –
GOV. REEVES: – through the country.
MARGARET BRENNAN: – if a school is already open, as you have done, and there is an infection in it, which you have, why do not you close it?
GOV. REEVES: Well, we- we have very objective measures to close schools if and when needed, but keep this in perspective. You told yourself we had 300,000 kids in classrooms. We have had about 100 cases that have been positively confirmed. And what I will tell you is that we have found another one who actually made the transfer happen within the school. In virtually every one of these cases, it is that these children got the virus out in the community and brought it back to schools.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
GOV. REEVES: That the point is that no child, whether they are in school or not, is completely immune to the virus. And that is why we need to take measures to ensure that these children have the opportunity to learn.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. For example, you could turn off bars to stop the community from spreading, because the White House has asked some states to do so. However, I want to continue because–
GOV. REEVES: We- we have significantly limited bars in Mississippi.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right, they close at 11pm in Mississippi you can ask for a vote until one day before an election. And your state was identified by the Postal Service as one where mail in voting could be delayed. Are you sure all the ballot entries in the state of Mississippi will be counted in November?
GOV. REEVES: I’m sure the votes that are legal in the state of Mississippi are counted, –
MARGARET BRENNAN: What does your legal cast mean?
GOV. REEVES: – And I’m also pretty sure that Donald J. Trump will win the state of Mississippi and that he’s going to win it big. Any vote that is legally cast in the state of Mississippi will be counted in the November election, and I’m sure once all those votes are counted that Donald J. Trump will win the Mississippi, –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
GOV. REEVES: – and many other states overwhelming.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes, I asked you what legal cast means, but – so your state does not currently allow voting for absences, for fear of COVID. Like if someone does not want it – does not feel safe to go to a polling station and want to vote by mail, do not allow that now. Why not?
GOV. REEVES: We- we do not allow e-mail to vote in the state of Mississippi. We think that- that our election process, which has been many, many years, a- ensures that we have an honest process in which we have the opportunity to curb fraud. We still have fraudulent claims at every election. We actually have a lot of–
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have a positivity rate of 23%.
GOV. REEVES: – people in our state who have- Democrats who have–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Are you not worried about the health of your constituencies?
GOV. REEVES: – Democrats who went to jail for election fraud and it’s just reality.
MARGARET BRENNAN: First of all, that’s not substantiated, but–
GOV. REEVES: The reality is that – that every legal vote for ballot is counted.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have a positivity rate of 23% in the state of Mississippi. Can you tell people that they can go to the polls and not get COVID? Why not offer the option to someone who is afraid of their health, someone with asthma, someone with diabetes, someone who is too heavy to send their vote by mail?
GOV. REEVES: Well, we will not allow them to vote by mail unless they are legally eligible for an absentee ballot, –
MARGARET BRENNAN: True, I’m asking–
GOV. REEVES: – which is certainly permitted under Mississippi state statute. As in–
MARGARET BRENNAN: – What I’m asking is why do they not allow themselves to qualify on the basis of those comorbidities as they worry, the fear of getting COVID.
GOV. REEVES: That’s not what Mississippi’s state statute allows. We’ll have an election. We will have an enormous turnout in November. In fact, MARGARET, I’ll tell you, we’ve already had multiple elections in the last three months. We held special elections in the state of Mississippi. We have had a very good turnout in every single one of those elections. We had fair elections, and we had a winner and we had a loser. We will do the same in November.
MARGARET BRENNAN: All right. No intention to change that. All right. Thank you very much, Governor. We’ll be back with former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. Stay with us.
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