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Inside Politics
Coronavirus Spreads To Every Corner Of The World; Trump: We Have To Break The Habit Of Shaking Hands; World Takes Measures To Stem The Spread Of Coronavirus; 2020 Campaign Focus Turns To Coronavirus; America Shuts Down; Italians Adapt To Life Under Nationwide Coronavirus Lockdown. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired March 15, 2020 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:23]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN HOST (voice-over): A national emergency and a president who needs constant fact-checking.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The virus will not have a chance against us. No nation is more prepared.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NIAID: We will see more cases. Bottom line, it's going to get worse.
KING: Plus, the anxious new normal. Schools closed, sports on hold. Life disrupted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People should take it seriously. It's coming here. It's going to get worse.
KING: And the 2020 campaign impact, four states vote Tuesday in what could be the final Democratic debate tonight.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We share a common goal. And together, we'll defeat Donald Trump.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I very much look forward to the debate with my friend, Joe Biden.
KING: INSIDE POLITICS, the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters, now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm John King. To our viewers inside the United States and around the world, thank you for sharing your Sunday.
The novel coronavirus is, of course, our focus this hour, as global governments impose new restrictions aimed at limiting a pandemic that has surpassed 152,000 cases worldwide and now claimed nearly 6,000 lives. Spain and France among the many nations over the weekend taking additional steps aimed at shutting down travel and restricting large gatherings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): As you all know, Spain is facing a public health emergency that requires extraordinary decisions, a pandemic that is global and involves serious harm to people's well-being. The measures we are going to adopt are drastic and will have consequences.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Personal for the prime minister there, his wife was diagnosed with coronavirus just last night.
Here in the United States, new local, state and federal steps, the nighttime curfew, for example in Hoboken, New Jersey. Grocery chains scaling back evening hours so stores can be cleaned and shelves restocked.
The Trump administration also is expanding travel restrictions, adding the United Kingdom and Ireland to a new ban on visitors from the rest of Europe. Those customs wait at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, a side effect of the rush to beat those restrictions. Wow, those lines are long.
The big developments also include this, the White House Saturday issuing a statement saying President Trump tested negative for coronavirus. That less than 24 hours after a White House statement saying there was no need for the president to be tested.
The president in his coronavirus task force came into the briefing room at the White House on Saturday only after reporters were scanned. You see the images there, by a White House medical aide, a new policy, the White House says, to keep anyone with a fever away.
Team Trump pushing a message of progress, pointing to the president's Friday declaration of a national emergency, and the House vote just hours later approving a giant coronavirus response package. The White House says that's evidence the government now gaining better tools and resources to fight the pandemic and to help those impacted by it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Done very, very bipartisan, it was -- it was very nice to see it. Probably the cooperation.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you are sick, now you need not be concerned. If you're an hourly wage earner in America, you need not be concerned about staying home. If you're sick, stay home. You're not going to miss a paycheck because of this legislation that is moving through the Congress.
FAUCI: The president declaring a state of national emergency because that will be what I thought the word that I used essentially unshackling us from any of the things that are going to get in the way of our implementing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Significant hiccups, though, do remain, including confusion about the production and availability of coronavirus tests. Vice President Pence promising a major update on that front later today.
Here are the latest U.S. numbers. There are at least 2,885 confirmed cases in 49 states, plus the District of Columbia. At least 60 people dead here in the United States.
With us this Sunday to share the reporting, and their insights, Lisa Lerer of "The New York Times," Seung Min Kim of "The Washington Post", CNN's Kaitlan Collins, and Margaret Talev of "Axios".
Striking from the briefing yesterday, the administration really trying to project the image that we're turning the corner here. There have been some missteps, they've acknowledged the missteps, they've refused to acknowledged some other missteps, but one of the key things they say is these new federal powers from the state of emergency and the federal bill. But one of things in the bill, correct me if I'm wrong, there is -- once it gets to the president's desk, yes, there is sick leave benefits for some, but not everybody.
SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Correct. Well, I think one of the pieces that the lawmakers and the administration were haggling over the last minute were these medical -- family medical leave issues that House Democrats initially wanted to be much more generous than what is actually in the bill.
[08:05:02]
So they were looking -- so what is in the bill now that applies to companies with fewer than 500 employees. And House Democrats wanted that obviously to be much more expansive but they knew that compromise was of the essence here. I thought what Speaker Pelosi said about the final product was really interesting. She said, you know, House Democrats wanted to do this by themselves, pass this package on a party line vote with more generation benefits. They could have but they thought it important to show bipartisan unity, get signoff from the administration.
Now, there is some resistance among Senate Republicans right now to the package, but I don't think enough for this not to get to the president's desk. The next steps are harder.
You know, as Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, talked about this being only the first couple of innings of legislative packages, but the more -- other economic packages such as things involving a payroll tax cut is going to be much more difficult for Congress to do.
KING: And as they try to move through this, this psychological part of it, we saw so much last week that was, just, wow, you know, things here in Washington, things around the country, stores shutting down, the schools closing and the like, you get the indication that is only going to accelerate in the week ahead. Look at the curve, look at other countries, try to learn lessons, a curfew in Hoboken, 26 million kids in 19 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico out of school, I suspect that will grow.
There seemed to be a turning point in the idea that whatever we're doing, whether you think it is right or wrong, needs to be accelerated.
MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And I think where you saw that turning point, the most obvious place you saw it in the White House itself and with the president himself with the language that he used, with the messaging that has taken place, with some of the follow through on FOX News, for example, so there is -- the president came late to this game, after his two Democratic rivals who were still duking it out began to shift the could that way, then the White House coming to that place with the national emergency and with the president ultimately himself saying he had taken this test.
But in the meantime, you are seeing -- I mean, honestly, we have all been to the store, panic at grocery stores --
KING: Right.
TALEV: -- like, the line at the store earlier this week getting food, surrounded by maybe a thousand people saying this seems riskier than if I just stayed home.
My friends who work in this field say the issue why it is important to stock up now on supplies is not because of what's going to happen next week it because of what's going to happen two months from now. We don't know yet. So there are different projections and different models for how this could go. But it could be dangerous or impossible to go to the store in a couple of months. We don't know yet.
And so, there is a lot of -- it is hard for the government to message this, prepare now for what we don't know later, because the more precautions that are taken now, probably the less chaos down the road.
KING: And difficult, again, there have been some missteps by the Trump administration, even as they try to regroup, difficult because of the system, the health system, states have a lot of control, the way schools are set up. You could have a national declaration if you want. The decisions are left to state and local governments.
But we're beginning to see that as well. I think that's the part hard to grasp here in Washington. You see more school closings.
When you see a town like Hoboken saying we're going to have a nighttime curfew, essentially trying to tell the American people you need to listen. You need to listen. You can't be in bars. You can't be going out to clubs, you must listen.
LISA LERER, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: But I do think that messaging has to happen from the top. The one thing the federal government can clearly do and the White House can do is message this, that this is a real emergency, this is a moment when you can't be in bars, you need to take extraordinary steps in your own life.
I think the early missteps may have had an impact here about conveying how serious all the data we know shows that if you start early with these kinds of social distancings and you start early with these kinds of measures, you have a better impact further out as terms of the curve that we all hear about all the time, how many people get sick. So, this message had to happen early. And what we're seeing in the polling that I think is a little concerning is how partisan the response has been. If you were a Republican, you view this crisis differently than if you were -- than if you were a Democrat. Not just how the president is handling it, but how serious --
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, and look how differently they are talking about it now.
LERER: Right.
COLLINS: A month ago, we were being criticized by the administration, reporters who covered the White House were, because they were essentially accusing us of exaggerating the concerns over this. People like Mick Mulvaney were going up and saying that we were only talking about this now because they wanted to bring the president down. Of course, now, the Trump administration is taking it seriously. You see how they changed their tune in the last few days.
But, of course, the question in a lot of where we are now was because of a lack of testing. That is still a serious problem. Now it is shifting from how many people can we test to are our hospitals prepared for all the people that are going to be overwhelm overwhelming the system. That doesn't seem to be the case right now.
We still haven't gotten a lot of answers from the administration on ventilators, ICU beds, things of this nature, which are going to become critical over the next few weeks.
[08:10:00]
KING: Right, you're going to see that over the next few weeks. And again, the vice president promised us yesterday that this evening we would get an update on testing. We're going to talk more about the confusion over something the president said in the Rose Garden the other day that wasn't true, about Google having a national website, some update to that.
But, listen, Anthony Fauci, he'll be up on "STATE OF THE UNION" later too. So, stay with us for the latest in the updates here. But listen to Anthony Fauci in the middle of the week saying, yes, yes, part of it is the way the national system is built, part of it is how quickly the Trump administration responded when it came to testing, a failure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: It is a failing. Let's admit it. The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we're not set up for that.
Do I think we should be? Yes. But we're not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: What are we expecting tonight in the sense that they are ramping up, given waivers, so private companies, private labs can more quickly in developing tests. One of the issues about the curve you talk about, you try to flatten the growth of cases. So that people might still be going to the hospital months from now but don't want to overwhelm the system now, immediately, because the system can't handle it.
Do we think they have finally cracked the code here?
TALEV: Well --
KING: This is the problem. This is the --
LERER: And this is what we talk about when we talk about clear information. What is so important in the public health crisis is clear, consistent information. And you're just not getting that out of this White House, as you mentioned. We'll talk about later, they said there was a Google effort. It turns there isn't a really a Google effort.
I think the American people need to know where the administration is going, what they're working on, what is true and what's not. And that needs to be amplified, you know, of course by the media. And I think that has been a consistent problem since the beginning of this crisis and it is a problem that could come to bite us all, you know --
KING: To the point that -- it seemed at least yesterday at the briefing they have turned a corner in how they treat it, scanning the reporters for fevers, seems an appropriate thing to do, strange, look at the pictures, but seems appropriate to do to protect the president, to protect everybody in the room, not just the president.
But there has been -- let's look go back earlier in the week, some mix messaging, even on the issue of travel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: I certainly wouldn't get on a plane for a pleasure trip. It would have to be something that was really urgent.
STEVEN MNUCHIN, TREASURY SECRETARY: If I weren't so busy working, I would be going home to Los Angeles and I'd be perfectly comfortable at getting on a commercial plane this weekend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That's just Friday from the treasury secretary. One assumes they have all gotten in the room and realized stop, just stop, and at least coordinate.
KIM: One assumes so. But, again, that is the problem that is coming from the administration right now. Whether you should travel for whatever reasons is not the only time where there have been inconsistent messaging from this administration. I think that's a problem that is frustrating Capitol Hill.
You saw a series of briefings later in the week where they could not get consistent answers from the administration on when the tests exactly will be ramped up because that's pressure that's coming from their constituents. Their constituents are concerned, they're worried, they're wondering why and how these tests are being rationed, how can I get a test if I have the symptoms.
And, you know, members of Congress are not able to give answers to their constituents. And that is -- that is a problem that is compounding and I think the administration acknowledges that they do need to clear answers at this point.
KING: And you see again, you see some reactions out in the states. The governor of Colorado just yesterday issued an executive order shutting down ski resorts, because they're worried with schools and people telecommuting that they're going to take advantage of the opportunity to go out for reaction. We all need stress release at this moment. You can understand the instinct, the governor saying we're shutting down the ski resorts, many in Utah have shut down as well.
Up next for us, crisis management Trump style, it keeps the fact checkers very busy.
And as we go to break, front pages coast to coast to capture America's new normal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:18:15]
KING: President Trump on Saturday acknowledging he has not set the best example of social distancing, shaking hands with visitors long after his own public health expert said that was a coronavirus taboo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: People come up to me, they shake hands, put their hand out it a natural reflex and we're all getting out of it, all of us have that problem. Somebody comes up to you, put their hand out, you probably tend to just shake it. And we're all getting out of that.
Shaking hands is not a great thing to be doing right now, I agree. But people put their hand out, sometimes I'll put the hand out, you don't think about it. People are thinking about it more and more. We have to think about it. It is important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Any president's words and actions get extra scrutiny at the time of crisis.
On Friday, for example, the president considered his statement in the rose garden a smashing success, financial markets did soar as word of major progress in fixing the coronavirus testing mess and the president was so happy with himself, he said this -- an autograph copy of the market spike to some of his supporters.
But once again, there was a big problem. A big piece of what the president said in that Rose Garden event was just not true.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I want to thank Google, Google is helping to develop a website, it is going to be very quickly done, unlike websites of the past, to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Here is the problem. There was no national Google website when the president spoke. The company said in a statement Friday night, it was working on a trial site for the Bay Area, in California. Late Saturday, after hasty negotiations with the White House, Google said it would now work on a national website, but the company gave no timetable.
[08:20:01]
It is a constant of the president's coronavirus crisis management, statements that stretch the facts or contradict the medical experts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: By April in theory, when it gets warmer, it miraculously goes away.
The coronavirus, which is, you know, very well under control in our country.
We're going down, not up. We're going very substantially down, not up. When you have 15 people and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we have done.
Anybody that needs a test gets a test. They're there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful.
They're doing a great job with it. And it will go away, just stay calm. It will go away.
Some of the doctors say it will wash through, it will flow through. Very accurate. I think you're going to find in a number of weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Again, the question is, at what point does -- is there a point at which he gets it and is consistent in the sense that -- and, again, in the president's defense, you want to project calm, you want to project confidence, you don't want people to panic.
t the same time, the way you can have those things happen is if they have accurate information they trust.
COLLINS: And you don't want to give people a false sense of hope, which is when you're floating and exaggerating this talk about websites, that can help direct people -- tell them about their symptoms and direct them to a place to get tested, that's falsely reassuring people. Just not true.
That is a great idea, Google should do that, it would be amazing if they did have that website and it was something that people could go to, but it is not even close to being done. And that's the issue with the president when he makes these misstatements, he exaggerates, he overstates, because it gives people the false sense of security.
When it is the most critical information that people need, and you're telling them this exists and it doesn't exist at all in this form that the president described on Friday, that's the concern and that's the issue with the administration's -- and the president's credibility on these matters, because this is really important to people. They need to know if there is a website like that, or where they can get tested. You should not be saying things like that that are just not helpful to the American public that is seeking information.
KING: We're going to --
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Sorry, go ahead.
LERER: The markets are not going to rise next time, if he does that, right? This was a little bit of a sugar high for him to do some markets. We know he sees the stock market as a reflection of the success of his administration. He cites himself all the time.
But, you know, markets and people, you know, traders are not -- they're smart. They know if he's promising false things, they're not going to believe him. We do have polling that shows, you know, majority of Americans don't see the president as particularly honest. That becomes very problematic when you're in a crisis like this where people need credible information.
KING: Right. So, as you go through this, we're going to talk in a minute to one of the world's leading public health experts, who's going to talk to us about global lessons. One of the questions is, was the Trump administration flat footed early on.
Show a timeline, December 31st, first cases reported in China. January 21st, first case confirmed here in the United States. The White House created a task force on January 29th. Then, you see in February, a month later he put the vice president in charge. The president putting the vice president in charge of the task force, then the first coronavirus death, CDC easing restrictions on coronavirus testing, oval office address, March 13th the national emergency.
For example, 43 days passed before the first U.S. tests and the CDC essentially waiving or easing the regulations to develop these testings. Why? TALEV: A couple of things happened, but first thing that happens is
the administration saw this primarily as a financial threat in the beginning. They saw it as a health threat overseas, and a financial threat in the United States. And by the time they realized it was a massive health threat, some of the systemic problems with the testing, the bad initial start from the CDC, you know, became a problem.
So, as a lot of those things are being corrected and we are so used to in society, there is a problem with the test, we'll get a new test. I mean, like they are, it takes a while. But even as that was happening, the messaging is tremendously important in terms of containment, in terms of people's own practices, and it was in part that juggling of trying to balance business continuity and the economy with the health threats, and then also the president's own messaging.
And I think here -- we're talking about public -- we're talking about, you know, being able to trust a president, we're talking about informing the public and you have to have trust in institutions. And I think we're going to see, you know, the president stress tested every institution, told voters throughout his presidency at different times you can't trust Congress, can't trust the courts, can't trust my intelligence officials, but in this case, it is the president who is the institution. And he's saying, but you can trust me.
And we're really going to see that tested now. There is a political aspect to this also. We'll see it play out in the debates tonight. Put we did a focus group in the last week of swing voters who had voted for Obama in the past and Trump in 2016 and you would think like that those voters would be looking at this as a test on President Trump's leadership.
[08:25:07]
What those voters told us in this focus group, those swing voters, they said this was just a few days ago, they said they still see this primarily as an economic threat, not a health threat, and that if the country goes into recession, they would not blame President Trump because it is a foreign health crisis that came here and it is bigger than any one leader.
So, I think we are at a tipping point now, there is a shift, we're going to begin to see a shift in public opinion about how they perceive this and it's going hand and hand with how the administration is handling it now that is firmly a health threat as well.
KING: All right. Up next for us, some global lessons learned from this coronavirus pandemic.
And at a time of high stress, Yo-yo Ma shares a source of calm.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:26]
KING: Coronavirus is of course, a global pandemic. And the very responses are being watched for signs of what works and what doesn't when it comes to fighting the spread.
It all started in China where the tally is now more than 80,000 cases and 3,200 deaths. Italy has more than 21,000 cases, nearly 1,500 deaths. That's the largest outbreak outside of China. South Korea has more 8,000 cases and has tested more than 250,000 of its citizens since late January. Taiwan's count, 53 cases and one death despite its proximity and cultural ties to China.
So what are the lessons learned and the biggest challenges ahead?
Dr. Ashish Jha is the director of Harvard's Global Health Institute. Doctor -- I appreciate your being with us this Sunday morning.
When you look around the world, who's doing this best? Who's fighting this best?
DR. ASHISH JHA, DIRECTOR, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: So there are a couple of countries that have done a really fabulous job. South Korea comes really at the top of the list. Singapore, Taiwan. I think Japan has been doing a much better job recently.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Is there a constant in there -- is there a constant in there that tells you this is what works?
JHA: Yes. So the strategy that they've all implemented is test early, test often, identify people who are sick and isolate them. Contact- tracing them. Trace everybody they've been in contact with. Monitor them. That strategy has worked very well across the globe.
KING: And so you mentioned test early, test often and identify. Therefore, I assume we have a giant deficiency here in the United States.
JHA: Yes. We're behind the eight ball on this. You know, we've had months to get our testing together, we have not done it. And we still can't test people who are sick today.
So now we have to move to a very different phase. Testing is still critically important, but it's no longer going to be enough.
KING: And so we talked about flattening the curve. You talked about it with me in the past. Dr. Fauci talks about it every time he gets the chance at these White House briefings.
I just want to put the curve up on the screen here. Explain to viewers why it is so important to flatten this curve so that the health care system is not overwhelmed. And what are the best steps now to make that happen?
JHA: Yes. So think about it this way. If a thousand sick people show up to the emergency department this morning, that emergency department is going to get overwhelmed, the hospital's going to get overwhelmed.
But if the same thousand people show up 15, 20 a day over the next six to eight weeks, the hospital is going to be fine at managing. That's what we need to do. We need to -- we may not actually be able to reduce how many people get infected eventually but we need to make sure that there is not a spike that our hospitals are not ready -- no hospital, no system in the world is ready to handle spikes that come out of this virus.
KING: And so what are we learning about transmission? And is there a constant. I want you to listen to Dr. Birx at the White House briefing yesterday.
Early on people said, you know, watch for people with fevers, watch for people who have a cough. One of the questions now is are people including younger people who we thought are more protected from this virus, is it possible that asymptomatic young people are actually spreading it? Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: We don't believe people under 20 are naturally protected from the virus. So are they a group that are potentially asymptomatic and spreading the virus?
Because of that and because of that unknown we don't want to say that the risk is low when we don't know how low the numbers are for people who are asymptomatic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Do we have a better sense, and I'm not assigning blame to anybody, people are trying to act on the information they have at the moment. Are there things that people were being told, you know, a week or two ago that maybe are not true, we know not to be true or not to be exact.
JHA: Yes. So we had this idea that somehow only older people or people who are immune-compromised will get very sick from this. I don't think that's true. I mean they're clearly at higher risk.
But we've seen 30-year-olds, 40-year-olds get incredibly sick and die from this virus. So I don't think the virus -- you know, I don't think those younger people are protected.
Plus as Dr. Birx said, we also think those people get infected and they spread it around the community. This is why it's so important that everybody practice social distancing. People need to stop hanging out in bars and restaurants. We really need to get a grip on this disease.
KING: When you say we really need to get as grip, do you get a sense, if you look at the past few days -- I know you've been critical of the pace of the response in the past. In the past few days -- whether it's the travel restrictions by the federal government, whether it's all these schools closing, 26 million children -- I assume that number is going to spike a lot in the week ahead. You know, airlines cutting back flights; Hoboken, a nighttime curfew. The governor of Colorado issuing an executive order saying, "no more skiing" in the state of Colorado. Do you think we've reached the tipping point where people finally are getting it, or do you think there are still lessons to be learned?
[08:35:03]
JHA: Yes. Now look, we're playing catchup and I like all of those things. I think that's all progress.
The question is, "is it enough". And the problem is while we're doing these things, the disease is continuing to spread across America. You know, our best estimates are 20,000 -- 30,000 Americans probably have the infection today. I know the official number is only 3,000 because we've only tested a small number of people.
KING: Right.
JHA: So the question is, are we being aggressive enough? And I believe this is great progress, we're still not being aggressive enough. There shouldn't be schools that are open anymore. We shouldn't have people going into offices if they don't have to absolutely do it.
I believe Hoboken probably the model we all need to move towards now. I can't believe I ever would have said that. But here we are -- Hoboken is our model.
I think restaurants and bars need to close. I think people cannot congregate, not until we have a much better understanding of how widespread this disease is across our country.
KING: Dr. Jha -- I'm grateful for your time. I'm going to keep calling on you in the days and weeks and hopefully not months. But it looks like it may be months ahead.
I really appreciate it very much. Thank you -- sir.
Thank you -- sir.
JHA: My pleasure.
Up next for us, the coronavirus and the campaign. Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders focus now on crisis management as they prepare for what could be the last Democratic primary debate tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:39:50]
KING: The coronavirus pandemic is changing everything including both the tone and the conduct of the 2020 campaign. Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders will debate tonight, right here on CNN. Both are now focusing on presidential leadership and there will be no studio audience tonight because of the virus. There are also questions about whether coronavirus will impact primaries scheduled for this Tuesday. Let's just take a look at the map and the state of the race. Heading into the debate tonight. Joe Biden has a healthy delegate lead.
He hopes to stretch it. He's actually hoping to convince Senator Sanders it's time to call it quits. Here's what's up on Tuesday as you look at the states so far.
Florida, 219 delegates; Illinois, 155; Ohio, 136; Arizona, 67. This is Tuesday. Voters asked to go out and vote in the primaries amid the coronavirus concerns.
A lot delegates at stake here. If you look at the map now, Joe Biden -- all that Biden blue -- hoping that Tuesday's vote sends a message. He's also hoping in the debate tonight to make some progress reaching out to the Sanders side.
Senator Sanders though says he is in this race. He wants to continue to fight. But because of the virus, none of the candidates out campaigning in these states this week. Instead, Senator Sanders yesterday, a fireside chat from Vermont.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Spring is coming to Vermont but it's still nippy out there. So flames --
Keep the faith on this one. These are tough times. We will get through this. And let us understand that if there was ever a moment in history when we're in this together for all kinds of reasons, this is that moment. Let's stand together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: CNN's Arlette Saenz joins our conversation. Arlette, you're normally on the road when we talk to you while covering the campaign. You're home because there is no campaign out on the road.
The candidates are going to debate tonight. Joe Biden comes into this debate knowing the math. I assume they're a little nervous about turnout on Tuesday.
What's his major goal on the debate?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think Joe Biden is going to try to do what he's done over the past few days, relating to the coronavirus, present himself as that steady leader who has experience to deal with a crisis like this.
But beyond coronavirus, I think Biden also, while making his case for why he should be the Democratic nominee, he I'm told is going to make some overtures to Bernie Sanders and his supporters on areas where they might be able to find common ground.
And that highlights the task at hand for Joe Biden going forward is as he makes his case for why he should be the nominee, he also needs to make sure he's not alienating Sanders supporters who if he does become the nominee, he will need on his side in the general election against the President.
KING: We saw an example of that yesterday when the former vice president endorsing Elizabeth Warren's bankruptcy plan. Warren and Biden had sparred over the years, you can go back more than a decade, on this question.
He's starting to moves over, saying hey Bernie, we can agree on this. We'll see if it works.
But the bigger question, the candidates can't campaign but they have been talking about leadership. They know the eyes of the nation and the world are turned on President Trump. They're trying to say, close your eyes, imagine if I were president at this moment.
Liz -- you wrote about this the other day. Candidates like to talk about that 3:00 a.m. phone call. That split second when their resolve would be tested. That moment is now.
The campaign we've all followed for months is over. Something very different and deeply unpredictable is beginning.
LERER: I think that's exactly right. The stakes of this are so unbelievably high. And it really is a tight wire act -- or high-wire act for these candidates.
I mean the campaign, not only has, you know, Joe Biden shuttered his offices and everyone is working from home and the candidates are trying to figure out these virtual town halls. The mechanics of the presidential campaign have changed. Also the stakes have changed.
And this is now a real-time leadership test for these candidates. It has become -- politics have become something that's very real for people. They want real information. This is something that's very intimate. And I think people have grown used to the chaos kind of coming out of Washington and coming out of the White House.
But for a very long time, that was something that was far away, away, that was in Washington, that was impeachment, that was stuff in Congress. And now it feels like it's hitting home.
And so I think a lot of people will be watching this debate very closely and very critically with an eye towards how both of these candidates -- how they would behave if they were to be president. And it's really easy to trip that up.
COLLINS: Look how different it is from the last debate. The coronavirus question came like an hour and a half into the debate. It was just basically really general, you know, what would you do in this situation.
And tonight the debate has been moved. There's not going to be an audience. It's going to look a lot doff. So they're -- and they've been talking about this, of course, on the campaign trail. But to see them side by side essentially laying out how they will be responding to this, comparing it not only to the current president, of course, but to each other.
I think it's going to be something that people are watching and people really counting and listening very closely to what they're saying.
TALEV: But you know, health care already was the number one issue for Democratic voters. Now we're in the middle of -- I can't think of a bigger health care crisis.
And I do think it's an opportunity for both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders to try to make their case in the debate, and we may see that tonight, right? If you're Joe Biden, you're going to be saying, in the middle of a crisis, you don't want to upend the system, you know. You need predictability and reliability. And we already don't have that. Just imagine if we were transitioning a system away from private insurance.
Bernie Sanders is probably going to say, look, we already knew our health care system wasn't working and look how bad it is now.
KING: Right.
[08:44:56]
TALEV: And so this is going to be one test.
The other health care test is that these primaries next week all have states full of older voters. Are they going to mail in ballots? Are they going to turn out? If they don't out, could we have a surprise? Could Bernie Sanders somehow get closer in Florida than we ever though he would?
(CROSSTALK)
LERER: Sorry -- those cases have to be made very delicately.
TALEV: Of course.
KING: Right.
LERER: This is not a moment when voters want to see candidates knocking the dickens out of each other, right? They don't want to see those kinds of harsh attacks. They want to know what are you going to do for me and my life when I can't buy toilet paper at the supermarket, right.
So I think it's a really delicate dance to draw --
KING: And I assume that the former vice president wants to say -- you know, I can step -- this is where his day one argument actually does help --
LERER: Right.
KING: -- in the sense that Trump administration can criticize this judgment or that judgment as vice president but he can say, I can walk in tomorrow, I know how the government works.
SAENZ: Right. This totally illustrates and highlights that message that he has been arguing from the beginning of this campaign. He has that experience. He has experts on hand who he can consult in a crisis like this. And that he's ready to step into the White House should he beat Trump.
KING: It will be interesting to watch for both candidates tonight. It's just an interesting time as we go through this. We still have to keep the campaign up.
Up next for us, the new normal -- your new normal of coronavirus disruption. And for actor Tom Hanks, diagnosed with coronavirus in Australia, that include a thank-you -- you see it right there -- for those helping him and his wife recover.
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[08:49:55]
KING: The new normal hit hard this past week. And we already know there will be even more coronavirus disruption in the week ahead.
Let's just take a look some of what we already know. 26 million children out of school, 19 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico -- those are states and territories that have ordered school closings, likely to be more in the days and weeks ahead.
The sports world just shut down -- the NBA, the NCAA March Madness, hockey, baseball, the Masters, marathons, tennis -- everything just shut down as the sports industry realizes you cannot have large gatherings at this time of coronavirus.
The ripple effects also throughout the entertainment industry. Take a look at this -- Disneyland, the Smithsonian, Coachella, movies delayed, Broadway dark, late night TV, concerts canceled -- again, across the entertainment industry, large crowds are dangerous, things are just shutting down.
When all this happened, guess what, there is a giant and ever-growing economic crisis.
Just take a look at what we know so far. Movie theater chains cutting capacity, airlines slashing flights, cruise lines suspending operations, Apple among the big retailers saying we need to either close our stores or severely restrict hours.
Again this is what we know and we also know there's more to come in the week ahead.
For many of you, unable to worship as usual. This weekend churches, synagogues, mosques coast-to-coast canceling services and around the world as well because of the coronavirus crisis.
And the steps designed to protect us also can cause some chaos. There are giant lines at major international airports here in the United States because of a rush to get back before those new travel restrictions announced by the Trump administration take place.
Polo Sandoval live for us at JFK airport in New York this morning. Polo -- a bit of chaos there.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John -- those scenes that have come in from overnight from airports across the country, select airports, certainly tell much of the story.
As you mentioned, it's a story of confusion, of chaos, and plenty of concern. These passengers returning back to the United States as residents or U.S. citizens forced to wait in these packed lines to not only go through the customs process but now this additional layer of health screenings that's been implemented.
Now on the first day, off to a very rocky start, according to many if the passengers who were forced to wait in line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIA BAZALUK, PASSENGER ARRIVING FROM LONDON: I spent three hours, I think, maybe a little bit more, waiting to first to get through customs and then waiting to get the second step where I'm not sure what was happening.
EMMA REUSCH, PASSENGER ARRIVING FROM PORTUGAL: It's very crowded which is not ideal considering what this contagion is. It's the worst systemic I can think of considering what this contagion is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: All right. Let's remember exactly how we got here. Just a couple of days ago the Trump administration announcing that they will establish 13 airports in the United States who will receive passengers from about two dozen European countries so these passengers can be asked about their medical history and their travel history and then possibly referred to further screening.
We do know of at least three passengers here at JFK who have been sent to the hospital after that particular screening. It's a process that it takes only about a minute according to the head of Department of Homeland Security. In fact, he tweeted yesterday saying that the DHS is aware of the lines and undergoing increased medical screening requirements.
Currently the department is working to add additional screening capacity and also working with those airlines who try to try to expedite the process. Acting Secretary Wolf also saying he fully understands it's extremely stressful but at the same time is asking for patience during these unprecedented times. Again saying that this is a matter of time before hopefully they'll be able to make up for the logjam. But it certainly fuels those concerns -- John.
That will mean that these passengers could be exposed to the virus while waiting in line but also fueling criticisms of the administration which is perhaps not prepared to enforce this new travel ban, these travel restrictions. KING: It certainly does appear, Polo -- they're understaffed, at least. Let's hope it gets better. Those pictures are simply stunning.
Polo Sandoval at JFK -- we certainly appreciate that.
And as Americans adjust now to new restrictions, Italy's experience offers some important lessons. The country of Rome and Milan and Florence is now on virtual lockdown.
CNN's Melissa Bell is in Rome for us. Melissa -- tough times here in the United States but tough times around the world, including there in Italy.
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right -- John. And I think what's happening here is important because we've seen that Italy is simply a couple of weeks perhaps three weeks ahead of other countries already. That lockdown now announced spreading to Spain, those special measures in France, itself edging towards the sort of total lockdown that we're seeing here.
This is something that's likely to be replicated in other countries. And it is quite extraordinary watching this country living ghost towns, essentially like Rome, Florence and Venice and people staying at home. And that of course is taking a psychological toll.
The other thing to look at is that even while this is continuing, these extraordinary restrictions, where people are confined to their homes, really only allowed to go out to buy supplies, food shopping, pharmacies are open -- those are the only businesses that open here in the cities. Those measures, people have -- we're getting to the end of the first week where people have been trying to get used to that.
It's a disconnection from the rest of the world and very hard to get used to. And yet the figures here in Italy continue rising. It shows, John -- I think that even extreme lockdowns like the one that we're seeing in Italy take time to take effect.
[08:55:04]
BELL: You really have to be prepared for the long haul. The latest figures, the ones that were announced last night -- nearly 3,500 cases in a 24-hour period, that is a new record. So it's going to take some time for those measures to filter through to those nationwide figures.
One glimmer of hope from the north, those parts of the country that were locked down early about three weeks ago, we are starting to see a stabilization of the figures -- not yet a drop, but they're not rising as fast as they were. And I think that is the glimmer of hope that everyone in Europe is going to be looking at -- John.
KING: Let's hope that glimmer of hope turns into a reality.
Melissa Bell live for us in Rome -- appreciate that as well.
And that's it for INSIDE POLITICS. We hope very much you can catch us. We're here weekdays as well at noon Eastern. In these trying times, we try to give you the facts everyday.
Up next, "STATE OF THE UNION" with Brianna Keilar, in for Jake Tapper. Brianna's guests today include the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci; Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Thanks again for sharing your Sunday. Take care. Have a great day.
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