Official to contract covid. How has that affected your response to the crisis . i think i was the second or third case in all of gate county, which has now experienced tens of thousands of cases since then. And it was interesting and in many ways instructive for me. Number one, i had to be quarantined for 18 days, but was able to continue to function as thingsnd was able to do like establish a diary to give people hope that if they did contract covid 19, and take yourself back to early march, when there was so much unknown about covid19, so much for your but the possibility of getting it, that it gave people tremendous comfort to know that someone was documenting their everyday experience with it. And the second part is, i was very asymptomatic. I was asymptomatic before i was i wouldand my symptoms, classify as mild throughout. I never got over a 100 degree temperature. I had a couple of body aches and pains, some stuffiness, but other than that, it was a relatively mild circumstance, which to me indicates that had i , i was testedd and it was clear i was in a room with someone who had tested positive from the delegation, so had i not been tested, it is possible or even probable i would have infected my family and a lot of people potentially. Very early on it demonstrated to me how efficient the virus is at being transmitted. Again, the person i think may have transmitted to me, i think i may have shook their hand that had a conversation. So it was close contact without a mask, but nothing more. Me is something i think about a lot and something that is informative when we look at the rise in cases today. Bolsonaro tested positive for covid as well. It shows how sneaky this virus can be in terms of transmission. Given what we know about the state of florida and how things in miami are, right now the governor has shut down bars. Mayor, a dade county separate office, they have shut down restaurants partly. But a lot of things are still are still open, disney world in orlando was opening, do you think enough is being done right now in florida to curb the spread of covid . Do you want to see a citywide stayathome order . My thinking is that things are different today than they were in march. Like i said, there wasnt a lot wn about covid19 [indiscernible] do you still have me . Sorry. We lost you for a second, but you are back. Mayor suarez fast forward to today, you have a must historic levels of an employment, those who are employed are employed at a reduced torque diminished salary significantly. So we now have an economic crisis this pandemic has created its own now, every single decision that we make has to be extremely informed. ,t has to be extremely precise because we know every decision we make has significant ramifications to thousands or hundreds of thousands of people. Decision context that is significantly different today than a few months ago. One of the things that we are getg is, we are trying to better information. We are working with the department of health, a state agency, to get the kind of data from Contact Tracing that we would need to make surgical and informed decisions that are in the best interest of the health of our residents. That has taken time. Professionals are working on getting us that information, and based on that information, we can make better decisions on how to stop the spread. But ultimately, the secret to stopping the spread is that there is no secret. Every doctor and medical expert will tell you there are three things that you have to do the first is wear a mask in public. We made that a rule in miami. The second thing is that you need to wash your hands continuously, or wear gloves, because things that you touch and then touch yourself, it makes it very easy for transmission, which is probably how i got it. Distancing, is proximity is a tremendous influence or. It i also could have gotten from proximity, from having a conversation with somebody who was infected so those are the things that if you were to just think through those things, the chances that you could infected, with a mask alone it is an 85 reduction. Interviewer does that mean you are going to make a president where a mask miami . Mayor suarez yes, the mayor says that the president is expected to follow the rules just like everyone else. That is the expectation. That is what we would hope that he would do. But he is the president of the United States and i am not sure that he is subject. Subject to a fine. He would get a warning for the first instance in miami, and then a fine for the second. I am not sure who would pay the fine. Therviewer i want to get desk into the economy in a moment, but this is a crisis from all different angles, economic perspective, health perspective, and the economic implications are in orbits the country. But one thing we hear from economists over and over is the economy is not going to recover until the virus is under control. So why not have a shelterinplace order and give support to people who are facing an employment . The unappointed system in florida has faced real difficulties paired why not do it out on dried it out that way, as opposed to the surgical reopenings . Is a suarez that discussion we need to have. There is another argument, which is the Economic Impact of not taking some of these steps. If cases continue to grow, who is going to want to come to miami . We are a touristdriven economy in large part, so that is something that has to be taken into account. Is, theern i have stayathome order, we know it worked. There is no doubt. We have the mathematics to know that it worked from the beginning. But we are ascending at a rate of 30, 40 cases a day. The minute we lifted stayathome order come of the curve was flattened and then we started seeing a rise of about 14 cases per day. And our ascension rate as of monday was 125 new cases per day. Interviewer last thursday i believe. Mayor suarez and from thursday to monday, that number jumped from 90 to 125. I have often said that is not off the table. Is, and the conversation over stayathome orders is, lets say we do that and assume the federal government has the resources to fill the gap, because as you said, there is going to have to be another round of intervention, which we dont control. At the second part is, what happens when we reopen . Are we back to square one . We saw the efficiency of this virus to spread is incredible. It is incredible to me that this virus is spreading five times faster today than before we implemented a shutdown order, which is incredible to me, because you would think the population would be much more vigilant today than they would have been back then, when there was so little known. But the fact is, we are not seeing that kind of behavioral adjustment. So again, im one of the few Public Officials that has said a stayathome order is possible. And it is something we have to look at, we have to consider it it has to be on the table. Interviewer talk to me about how you are working with county officials, with the governors office. I know your dad is running for Miamidade County mayor. I dont know if that has affected your relationship with the county at all. Some have talked about this patchwork of restrictions has been confusing to a lot of resident. So can you talk about your relationship working together and some of that confusion . Mayor suarez i think there is confusion. There is confusion for a variety of reasons. I think there are philosophical differences sometimes. Interviewer can you talk about those philosophical differences . You are all republicans, from my understanding. Miami was the last city to open, we opened 10 days later in terms of our restaurants than dade county, and even the state, which opened earlier. Philosophically i , felt that we needed to stay closed longer. And inevitably when other , segments of government start opening, you get the pressure to open. So we held against the pressure and certainly we were right to do that, hindsight certainly 20 20. We actually could have gone longer. I think we would have still been right. Theres some philosophical differences. Sometimes there i think the are intergovernmental differences. I think the county mayor has chosen to do more things the , governor has chosen to do more things with other counties. He has issued decrees in other counties. I have worked with mayors in dade county. Myself, the mayor of miami beach, the mayor of hialeah, and a representative from the league of cities, which represents the other cities in eight county. Decisionmaking process is, we get together at least once, this week we may get together three times with the , department of health, with statisticians, an epidemiologist from Florida State university, and we get on a call and we ask questions and get updated data. And based on that, assuming the information is actionable, we make decisions. Interviewer and you say that you are working with other mayors, with the county but also in conjunction with other mayors . Mayor suarez yeah, and what happens is when the county makes , a decision, it affects everyone. When we make a decision, it only affects our city. And the other difference, the third thing i was going to talk about people say, isnt it good , to have a national or statewide policy . Interviewer that was my question. [laughter] mayor suarez that is a legitimate question. Ill give you an example of one circumstance. But i think you have to recognize that the nation is not homogeneous, it is very diverse. The state is also very different. The county is very different from the city, and from cities. So the county has urban areas, rural areas, and i think you have to take all that into account. And that informs why sometimes the decisionmaking is different, and also why it can seem confusing. One area where i think national and state policy should unite with local policy is on Wearing Masks in public. To me, wearing a mask in public is no different than being forced to wear a seatbelt. I hear a lot of people that say it is an infringement on our liberty, we should have freedom to do as we please, and my response is, this is a country of laws. And yes you are free to do as , you please, but you are not free to run a red light. You are not free to run a stop sign. You are not free to not put on a seatbelt. Those are things we require by sort of a social contract. We require them of each other for the safety and protections of ourselves and for others so , that theres order in our society. Interviewer so you would like to see more National Leadership on the masks and more state leadership on the mask issue . Mayor suarez yeah. To me it is not a question of calling anybody out per se. It is more that i think there should be a uniform policy. This is uniformly good for everyone. And if all the medical experts are recommending it, i dont see the big difference in recommending it and mandating it, particularly when it is so influential in the increase rate. Interviewer we have a few minutes before audience questions and i want to talk about schools. Your mother is an Elementary School teacher. The president has called on schools to reopen. Theres not a lot of guidance from the cdc on how to do that. What do you make of these reopening plans . Do you think schools should reopen in the fall and mark how are you approaching that . Are you worried about your mom . Mayor suarez of course i worry about her safety. Children can be recipients and transmitters of the virus. There is nothing that indicates we have some children that are in our system hospital right now, and we had a child that died, an 11yearold, so there is no doubt of the risk. From my understanding, some cities integrated like york and san francisco, so there are areas where it is integrated, and ours is separate. But my understanding is theres going to be options, and the parents will have the option of teaching their kids through a virtual program, sort of how we ended the year last year. I cant speak for everyone, but im sure my wife is going to be very concerned about sending our son, who is six years old, to school. And i am concerned for my mother, like you said. But expecting a sixyearold to wear a mask at school, i dont know how realistic that is. Because sixyearolds are sixyearolds. I also have a twoyearold. Sometimes she wears a mask, but i would say it is very difficult to get her to where it. Interviewer you have to give me your secrets on how you get your twoyearold to wear a mask ever. I have a twoyearold and i whenyearold. Mayor suarez it does help that my sixyearold, my wife, if everybody puts them on, everybody has this thing on, but it doesnt last very long. Interviewer last question before we get to audience questions. A little bit of a non sequitur, but do you think you are going to vote for President Trump in november . Mayor suarez ive been a republican since i was 18 years old. And right now, im not focused on the president ial election that much. Like every other voter, and also mayor of an urban city, i want to see what both candidates have two offer for these urban communities, before deciding who im going to support. You guyson as i know, will be the first to know. Interviewer thanks, i appreciate that. That was a good politicians answer. We tried. But im going to get to some of our audience questions. Some came earlier, when they registered. And this is a tough question, we have a tough audience. This is about a scandal that emerged early in the crisis when you were photographed out and about without a mask. Do you regret failing to model some of these Public Health things yourself . Mayor suarez what happened was the report was sort of , conflated. It was a picture that was taken two weeks before the weekend that it came out. I happened to be at a and restaurant. And restaurants, when you are sitting at a table, you are not required to wear a mask while you are eating. I should have told the person, either we have to distance or i have to wear a mask, and i didnt do that. And you know, as a public official, as a mayor of a big city, people are constantly coming up to you. They want to hug you. They want to shake your hand. And you almost have to push people away. I am a human being. Im not perfect. I dont expect people to be perfect. I expect them to do what is in their best interest. Im not going to say that because in the one instant the one instance that they didnt use their seat that they , are and are responsible person. If you forget one time, it is not the end of the world, but the responsible thing to do is to always wear it. And as a public official, i hold myself to a High Standard and i want to do the right thing and be a role model. And you know, sometimes you make a mistake, and you own up to it and move on. But some people have a hard time letting it go. Interviewer yeah, and it is tough. I think it is a nonpolitical answer to say that you regret something, so i appreciate that. I think we have time for a couple more questions. You talk about miami and the tourism industry, and people going back to work in a safe environment. The question from the audience is, what are you doing to make sure workers can go back to a safe environment, and that people working at restaurants and other publicfocused businesses that they will be , safe . Mayor suarez i think theres two things that we do. One of the things he is our , testing has gotten to a point where anybody can get tested at any time. You can be completely asymptomatic and get tested. I think our testing regime has allowed, whoever wants to, feels that they need to, they can get tested. I think that is incredibly important. The second thing is, weve promulgated rules that, if people follow them, are designed for employees and employers and customers to be safe. The problem is sometimes people , dont follow them. And when that is a consistent behavioral pattern, it increases the risk. Another thing, i havent seen any medical science yet that has established that someone who got the virus once can get the virus again. And one of the things ive asked the department of health, in florida we have 200,000 positive cases, so ive asked them, are any of those 200,000 cases a case of reentrance . The answer so far has been no. Im not saying that no one can get it twice, just that according to the department of health, there hasnt been someone who has gotten it twice. But that is important to know. Because if you have gotten it, it does influence your behavior. And it would be great to know if right to know with some level of scientific uncertainty. Interviewer we know a lot more than we knew, but we are still learning a lot. Any last thoughts before we go . We are going to get to audience responses in a moment, but just wanted to let the mayor have the final word. Mayor suarez thank you for the awesome opportunity. This has been a great opportunity to talk about the ever evolving challenge for our country and community. What i can tell you is, my decisions are driven by the information, by the experts, to make my decisions as apolitical as possible. We are in a Health Crisis and an economic crisis. And we have to take into account both factors as we decide what to do moving forward. Everyone is pushing each other to try to do the best they can. That is something i want the public to know. I also want to stress and say, please, just follow the rules. If you follow the rules whether , they be wearing the mask in public, washing your hands, or socialoves distancing, that is why we continually emphasize this, they work and they reduce dramatically the possibility of people getting infected. And we do need to get our numbers over numbers under control because we seeing we are seeing our hospitalizations spike, everything is spiking and that could lead to a spike in deaths. Interviewer thank you for spending your afternoon with us. It was great having you on politico nightly daytime edition. I will let you sign off, and im going to get to the audience responses right now. Thanks again, mayor. So i have to scroll through some of these. You guys responded to our question about what the process should be for School Reopenings and daycares this fall. Theres some common themes about the need to be cautious and make sure that schools and day cares have the Financial Resources they need for ppe and testing and all that. And theres a lot of talk about following guidelines. One of the comments was, caution should be taken, particularly considering teachers to allow younger students to go back to school. That is from isabella, i student. I think there is a debate in some school districts, may be looking at ways to get younger people to school and keep teenagers at home. That is definitely something we are seeing. Becky from Government Affairs says that federal funding is essential. Schools need ppe, cleaning supplies, tests, and hardware connectivity for schools, and that schools should follow the cdc guidelines. Connectivity and wifi and computers and all that, i think that is already a huge issue for kids in low income families that social distancing and maskss. Should be mandatory. That is something to think about. Waiting until positivity rates are lower in some areas. Stephanie says, i think they should offer families a mix of in person and online education. Until we have enough people vaccinated to be protected from covid. Thats the model we are seeing a lot of. Those are some great responses. Thank you for writing in. Thank you for joining us. Thats all the time we have. I would love you to subscribe to politico nightly, our covid newsletter. You can go to our website. Take care and have a great afternoon. Night on q a, aaron geithner smith talks about the history of voting in the United States and issues surrounding voting today. Decision has had a massive impact on Voting Rights. They resent any Voting Rights advocate or attorney that doesnt see it as a ground shaking impact. Laws that areng discriminatory are still illegal, theres not federal oversight of the history of discrimination, the stopgap where they need federal approval to make voting changes. Watch sunday night at 8 00 eastern on cspans q a. Watch our lay it live daily unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house. Our countries are linked by trade and travel. On issues that matter to you. Focusing on the mission to save lives, meet the needs of our state, our health care workers. Briefings on the coronavirus pandemic, Supreme Court oral arguments and decisions. The latest from campaign 2020. Your calls and comments welcome. Our live callin program, washington journal. If you missed any of our live coverage, watch anytime ondemand at cspan. Org or listen on the go with the free cspan radio app. At the Libertarian Party convention in orlando, florida, Joe Jorgenson and her running mates gave acceptance speeches. You will see both of them, starting with mr. Incident as she highlights some of the specifics of the partys platform including eliminating the Education Department and withdrawing all u. S. Troops stationed abroad. Gesture, one person, one moment in time