hello, and a very warm welcome to bbc news. i'm katty kay. i'm christian fraser — we're here in washington our main stories. polls start to close in the biggest day yet in the race for the white house. democrats in m states choose who they want to run against donald trump in november's election the frontrunner, 78—year—old senator bernie sanders, cast his ballot in his hometown of burlington in the state of vermont, which is likely to be the first to declare. the former vice—president, joe biden, is trying to catch up, having been given a boost by endorsements from former rivals. and they will be up against a number of other contenders for the nomination, including senators and a billionaire.

the long race to chose a democratic nominee to take on donald trump in november could end in the next few hours. not even the next few hours, but these very minutes because we come on air it with breaking news — senator bernie sanders has won his home state of vermont in this super tuesday race, and thatjoe biden, former vice president, has won his state of virginia. early results but we thought we would give them to you at the top. at least this super tuesday day, the biggest voting day so far in this race, has taken things up in this race, has taken things up already. there's a chance we come out of this day with one candidate having an insurmountable lead in the race. two states have declared, it is early days but at least we have

two. progressive senator bernie sanders hopes today will confirm him as the undisputed frontrunner. former vice presidentjoe biden believes he can capitalise on recent momentum to become the centrist favourite. and it's mike bloomberg's very first primary test. that result in virginia is certainly a good start. he has not been on the ballot up until this point. the first results are expected to be announced shortly, with vermont likely to be the first to declare. we will bring those to you when we get proper exit poll results. our north america editor jon sopel has been to mr sander‘s home state of vermont, and sent this report. it's a long and seemingly never—ending road to the democratic nomination. this is a lake we're driving on. the search for voters takes you way off the beaten track.

here in vermont, and bernie sanders‘ frozen backyard, there is an icefishing competition going on. he is the most left—wing and the oldest candidate in the race, and some are hooked. i am supporting bernie. why? because i believe in his message, and i'm kind of tired of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, and the middle class getting squeezed. i think a lot of americans are ready to vote for bernie sanders, and i think that's in response to a real disgust with the oligarchy. but for a lot of these hunting, fishing, and shooting types, he's anathema. are you a bernie supporter? no. i don't believe in giving everything i work for away. you think that's what bernie would do? oh, yeah, 100%. it's what he's done his whole life. from here in this remote frozen wilderness in the northeast, bernie sanders has built a grassroots organisation that fans out across the whole us. it's impressive.

his supporters talk about "feeling the bern". where we are now, it would be nicejust to feel a little warmth. but the person who has caught fire these past few days is the moderatejoe biden. he won south carolina, and now two of his big name rivals have pulled out to throw their weight behind him. i'm delighted to endorse and supportjoe biden for president. and i think you know you have a home withjoe biden. bernie sanders came home to vermont to vote today. he's still the frontrunner, but he's feeling the pressure. but a complicating factor is the uber—wealthy former new york mayor, mike bloomberg, on the ballot for the first time. he has spent an eye—watering near half billion dollars of his own money on tv adverts alone, and who knows what impact he will have. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. 3.58 pounds. here on lake bomoseen, they're announcing the winner. it's taken a weekend fishing to decide.

if only the race for the democratic nomination would be resolved so quickly. is it going to be you guys this year? by the time that's decided, the ice will have long gone. jon sopel, bbc news, vermont. it looks pretty up there, doesn't it? prettier than it is out here. they're going to throw everything out us tonight. american politics for you, stormy at the moment. let us you, stormy at the moment. let us remind you of those two earlier results. cbs news projects that bernie sanders will be in the state of vermont, joe biden will win the state of virginia. let's ta ke let's take a look at when polls close.

some of the super polling stations that were set up to replace those destroyed by the tornado are being kept open by an extra hour this evening. then we go west for colorado at 9pm. the big one. don't forget we will get results from american samoan. 11 delegates, don't forget them. everyone counts, as we toss up to get to the final result. remember that what these candidates are aiming forto get what these candidates are aiming for to get the nomination — 1191 delegates. we are joined nomination — 1191 delegates. we arejoined by some nomination — 1191 delegates. we are joined by some very seasoned political commentators. let me start with you, marianne, as we go from east to west this evening, what will you be looking out for?

it's about winning delegates, not states. if you can win a state, that's great, but you've seen the change in this race already in less than 72 hours. i think that if we met a week ago, none of us would've said joe biden would win virginia. if anything you would say maybe mike bloomberg, who invested so much money in virginia. there are lots of federal workers there who preside there who favour biden, but that is what you start to see. canjoe biden win election day? not the early voting already happened, but election day? so far we have an example of that. he needs to do that in almost every single state to catch bernie sanders tonight. what are you looking for, ron? i'm looking for the same thing. i'm very curious to see how this will shape out, who takes delegates. the notion that california and some of these big primary states have already had early voting, what does that mean for pete buttigieg or any klobuchar's vote rs buttigieg or any klobuchar's voters who now don't have a

candidate in the race? so i'm looking to see is canjoe biden continue to build momentum, and will this shake out in that sense that joe biden will this shake out in that sense thatjoe biden could be the one we are talking about and not mike bloomberg or bernie sanders. of the important thing for our viewers around the world is that it is not where takes all tonight. it is the margin of victory and whether these candidates pass a 1596 whether these candidates pass a 15% threshold. to whether these candidates pass a 1596 threshold. to even get a delegate. you do it not only state hide but in the congressional districts —— state—wide. congressional districts —— state-wide. as if it wasn't, get enough. i must say trying to explain this to our viewers who are waking up in asia at the moment or watching us in the moment or watching us in the middle east, i am really sorry because this is a phenomenally, located process of how they portion these delegates. it is a new set of rules this year that bernie sanders asked for that we will operate under, which is these delegates are the ones who are elected today. they are the pledged delegates, the only way you win the nomination on the first ballot is with pledge delegates. that is what the fight will be over, that is

what that number represents. we came on airwith what that number represents. we came on air with early results. let us talk about virginia. until about a week ago, joe biden was behind in the polls in virginia. it looked like bernie sanders was going to win that state, we can see over our shouldersjust that state, we can see over our shoulders just across the river. here's a couple numbers. mike bloomberg spent $12 million on the state of virginia alone, joe biden spent $111,000. money doesn't buy you delegates. it doesn't, and virginia is my home state. i can tell you on every commercial break for every tv show, every sporting event — it isa show, every sporting event — it is a michael bloomberg commercial. i think what counted was the fact that vote rs counted was the fact that voters were looking for authenticity, and they are looking at michael bloomberg and asking if this guy is the real deal, or if he isjust trying to buy an election and use his election to sway an election? and folks in the commonwealth of virginia have

said they want joe commonwealth of virginia have said they wantjoe biden. they know who he is, they've known him fora know who he is, they've known him for a long time and he is authentic. michael bloomberg is trying to take the storm by buying the election. trying to take the storm by buying the electionlj trying to take the storm by buying the election. i think it was compounded by the fact that all those ads, the person in the ads did not match the person in the debates. they we re person in the debates. they were running ads during the debates and you would see one version of mike bloomberg on one side of the screen, and on one side of the screen, and on one side of the screen, and on one side and other. you can't win an election from ads alone, you have to step out from behind the curtain. we have correspondence across the country this evening with some of the candidates and their headquarters. the bbc‘s sophie long is atjoe biden‘s headquarters in oakland. it is one result, it is very early on in the night. but winning virginia is a pretty big dealforjoe biden tonight. if we are looking to see how joe biden does on the super tuesday, whether he becomes the candidate or the centre of the democratic party, he will be happy to of one virginia

scapula i think it is a very good early sign, the momentum he's been feeling since south carolina is transitioning into something real. sol carolina is transitioning into something real. so i think he will be very pleased. his campaign will be very pleased with that. i think a lot of the voters, according to cbs exit polls, made their minds up in the last few days. so an indication that he is gaining i'iow. indication that he is gaining now. the problem with some of these super tuesday states like these super tuesday states like the one i'm standing in, california, we are expecting the former vice president a little later. a number of people, nearly 40% here in california, already cast their votes before he got that bump from south carolina and the endorsements of his two former mates alongside him, pete buttigieg and amy klobuchar. buttigieg and amy klobuchar. but this is a good indication whether this momentum this momentum will translate into anything. so if you'll be pleased with what we are hearing from virginia at the moment. so many delegates to be

had in california, sophia. what doesjoe biden had in california, sophia. what does joe biden have had in california, sophia. what doesjoe biden have to do there to keep hold of bernie sanders, who was pulling very well?|j think who was pulling very well?” think the man to beat is bernie sanders, leading up to super tuesday. this is a huge drove of delegates, more than 400 of them. the problem is bernie sanders pulls very well amongst

the latino and hispanic populations here, up to 40%. we spent time speaking to the hispanic community over the la st hispanic community over the last few weeks, and they are very staunch bernie supporters. every single person we spoke to said they voted for bernie sanders. they said he was the only candidate speaking to them. you expect that to be a staunch support for for bernie sanders, but everything a person, he has a real support base here. forjoe biden to do anything in california, that is of whom he has to beat. we will checkin of whom he has to beat. we will check in with you as we start getting those results coming out of california. i don't know why we are in california. let's go to vermont where jane o'brien is with the bernie sanders headquarters in essex junction, vermont. no surprise that he won vermont, but still nice to win his own state, isn't it? it is indeed, i think imight go isn't it? it is indeed, i think i might go home now myjob is done. the bernie supporters here say they are still pretty confident about california. that is the one they're watching, not too worried about virginia. there was no surprise

in virginia, but california they say they've got the organisation and they've got the cash. across the country they say that joe biden... backing on that paul bernie sanders over the line. when they endorsed joe biden they knew at that point that the moderate was coalescing around a single candidate. and they have the enthusiasm.

this rally hasn't started yet. but some of the practice years before you came on air. pretty impressive. they have got that going for them. now go home. we would like to come back to you through the course of the eating. stay there. for more new realities. let's go somewhere else. at michael our correspondent nick bryant is at michael bloomberg's headquarters in west palm beach, florida. on the ballot because he didn't come go to the first four states. he looks like he in a nightclub. big numbers tonight. $234 million in the super tuesday state. the big question is does money talk? i don't think many buys you political love. money doesn't buy you a great debate performance. that was the problem for my blue bar. you qualify for a debit credit the beta rather than seeing him and this polished

advertisement that he has carpet bombed the country with. as ron said, if you have been to bridging you, you turn on the television, you would've that my bluebird you're watching might bloomberg channel. —— if you went to virginia. a lot of people saw him on the debate stage and they saw him being ripped apart, ripped to pieces by senator elizabeth warren a massachusetts. they saw a very different might bloomberg. he hasn't really recovered. they hope this will be to be coming out transformative moment of the campaign. he would emerge as the obvious centrist moderate candidate. but it is just not going to turn out that way. and rather than looking at big wins in california's sale, texas, i think you are looking at this map tonight and wondering where on earth are we going to get a victory. it is about delegates but it helps to win states force that may be arkansas they are looking at an oklahoma. but it is been a very distal a few weeks for my bluebird. however much money

you spend, it shows that it doesn't buy delegates and it doesn't buy delegates and it doesn't buy delegates and it doesn't buy votes and it doesn't buy votes and it doesn't by political life. if it might bloomberg is not going to do as well tonight as he was hoping to, what does he do with all of this money in the next few days? well, we were posing the question to his campaign chief only half an hour ago. they say he is staying in the race. he is in florida tonight for a reason. florida votes in a few weeks in a state that he believes he can do. but that partly because it is full of snowbirds. this new york will come down to florida. —— new yorkers will come down to florida before the holiday homes and bask in the weather of florida. and they are the natural constituency for my bluebird. he will stay in the race his campaign chief said. they have opened up field offices. —— my bluebird. they

have signed a lease is till november. what the campaign chief was saying that even if we don't win the nomination, we will keep those offices open and keep spending money because the overriding objective here is to remove donald trump from the white house. would they invest if bernie sanders was the nominee? yes they would. but the bloomberg campaign say we will keep going but there is no realistic path to the nomination. if they don't do well today. in the polls suggest they will not. thank you. not a nightclub. suggest they will not. thank you. nota nightclub. it looks like it in florida. like all of that blue lighting. i want to bring upa that blue lighting. i want to bring up a couple of things. let's ta ke bring up a couple of things. let's take with bridging it. those estates will move our way across the west. exiting cbs pole data says they had a negative review of mike bloomberg, 39% favourable. was that really all about the

debates? i came out of new hampshire and we were talking about mike bloomberg as the possible centrists in this race. it has been a roller coaster couple of weeks, but just two weeks ago he looked viable, like he was somebody who could take that middle road. now you maybe start to understand why he didn't do the first four contests. i don't think he would've performed well. only two things have happened since this race started. he ran a bunch of ads and went to two debates. he didn't do well in those debates. and he is in a democratic primary, and when elizabeth warren brought a knife to a gunfight for him and explained — it showed his inability to describe his conduct with women, his inability to explain stop and frisk, he was not prepared for the debates. but those two issues in particular, women and vote rs of issues in particular, women and voters of colour are the engine that drives the democratic party. i would not be surprised if he gets very poor results with those two constituency groups tonight, and i'm sure that what we will probably see.

from a republican perspective, you look at virginia and it will be crucial to the general election, because it was a republican state and started to go more democrats in a suburban areas. when you look atjoe biden who won their tonight, if he gets the nomination, is he more of a concern to donald trump then perhaps bernie sanders? i think he wouldn't be. if you look at the hampton roads area, there's a strong concentration in south virginia of african—american voters, joe biden does very well with people of colour. this predictably red state has turned purple, if not almost blew towards the democratic party. so you look at that and wonder who the constituencies and demographics who would vote for a democrat as opposed to donald trump, it is people of colour and college educated white women. those are the constituencies thatjoe white women. those are the constituencies that joe biden will do quite well with. some interesting things happened in virginia in the last couple days, the new congresswoman who has a wealthy districtjust

across the river whose through her support behind joe biden. jennifer weston has the archetypal suburban district. also terry mcauliffe.” archetypal suburban district. also terry mcauliffe. i think it was generallyjennifer waxman. her voters are the people who got her into congress to help her overturn a republican seat in november 2018. also 30% - 27% of republican seat in november 2018. also 30% — 27% of voters in virginia today were african—american. this is another state like south carolina that is a natural home forjoe biden, which also means we shouldn't read too much into it for the rest of the race. is also a constituency that bernie sanders continues to struggle with, as well. and a third of the voters. but on that point as we look across the 14 states, clearly they are more representative of a whole as the democratic states than these first few states we've got results from. so we can

extrapolate presumably who is pulling what ethnic background. those four states should be best forjoe biden, virginia has large pockets of african—american voters, alabama, north carolina, virginia and tennessee. he should do very well there and we have our first signal in virginia of how he's doing with vote rs of virginia of how he's doing with voters of colour and women. you can extrapolate that across a bunch of other states. but his performance in virginia is exceeding everyone pause my expectations. thank you very much. nick bryant is in florida, the issue of mike bloomberg with african american voters. you talked about doing well down there in florida where there are lots of people who came down from new york. another problem is him expanding beyond that group. he hasn't really managed to make any inroads? that's the real problem. the ironclad rule of

democrat politics is you don't win the presidential nominee democrat nomination without doing well with african—american voters. that has always been a problem with mayor bloomberg. he had a highly controversial stop and frisk policy that even the obama administration said it was unfairly discriminatory against african—americans. the courts found out as well, mike bloomberg before he ran announced for the presidency. he tried to neutralise the issue by apologising for stop and frisk, he had outreach to the african—american community, but it did not work especially when he was up againstjoe biden, who has this natural affinity with african—american voters, he was the vice president and running mate of barack obama. virginia, as you say, has voted forjoe biden, andl say, has voted forjoe biden, and i was at a rally with him other night and it was full of african—american people. they not only given him votes but energy. i think they've revitalised this campaign, he is feeding off the enthusiasm that he's got from voters

there. and it was a different joe biden then we saw in new hampshire. he was very rambling there, we were shocked at how poora campaign it there, we were shocked at how poor a campaign it was. he was much better in virginia, and one of the reasons why thought he was better was he wasjust feeding off the energy of the audience, most of his audience was african—american in the events i was at some point that is interesting because we saw the same thing. you were down with him in norfolk, virginia, we saw the same thing in south ca rolina. we saw the same thing in south carolina. i thought he was better in north carolina than in iowa. he got progressively better, as well, i thought his a cce pta nce better, as well, i thought his acceptance speech in south carolina later that night was much more energised. but we heard from the democratic side they are trying to retool his campaign because a lot of the donors were looking at the results of the first four states and not liking what they we re states and not liking what they were seeing. and of course if they are putting their money out, they want to see a bit more bang for their buck. yes. quickly, how much are you extrapolate from virginia ?

quickly, how much are you extrapolate from virginia? of virginia traditionally, fairfax cou nty over virginia traditionally, fairfax county over our shoulders, traditionally slow in counting the ballots. the fact that they called it so early forjoe biden i think pretends to be a good night. which other states are you looking at after virginia? i'm looking west, is looking at texas and california. my home state of california. my home state of california will be the real deal breaker. will it be the establishment hunkering down to supportjoe establishment hunkering down to support joe biden, or will establishment hunkering down to supportjoe biden, orwill it be the bernie sanders resurgence? this will be a fun night. didn't we see that race somewhere before? went we back in 2016? i think we have and we we re in 2016? i think we have and we were there. and that is exactly what bernie sanders has been saying too, by the way. so we are going from coast—to—coast tonight from the tip of maine tonight from the tip of maine to the tip of california. 14 states, whatever happens in the next few hours, we will be here to bring you all the twists and turns of super tuesday. thanks for being with us, christian andi for being with us, christian and i will stay with you and bring you more later. this is

bbc news. live from washington with all the results. stay with us. hello. we know, of course, it was a very wet winter. now the met office says it was the uk's third least frosty winter on record. we are going to start wednesday with the widespread frost. but there is more rain on the way, as these weather fronts head in, particularly into parts of england and wales. so even where you start with some sunshine, you will see some cloud increasing and the chance of rain pushing north. but lots of uncertainty about how far north that rain might get. we may not see too much in northern ireland or northern england, much of scotland staying dry. that's how it looks temperature—wise, first thing, that widespread frost, but notice we aren't so cold towards southwest england. that's because here we are starting the day with cloud and outbreaks of rain. and this very gradually spreads further north across the rest of southern england,

wales, into the midlands during the day. but it is a slow process and you may not see too much rain towards northern england and northern ireland. cloud will slowly increase, you may get a few showers starting to break out. showers too for western scotland, but for the rest of the east it is mainly dry. a bit of sunshine, as well. it will feel a bit cooler, the chance of seeing a bit of hill snow in snowdonia, perhaps the peak district, especially as this begins to pull away on wednesday night. and then, skies will clear, northern ireland, scotland, northern england in particular for a chance of frost again going into thursday morning. so for some of us, it will be a cold start on thursday, but the frost isn't as widespread as elsewhere, temperatures hold up underneath cloud. and the potential on thursday for seeing some soaking rain into the channel islands, perhaps also southern counties of england will see strong winds, as well, although there's lots to play for in how far north any rain here will get on thursday. so watch this space. showers into northwest

scotland, elsewhere at a fair amount of dry weather on thursday. and then into friday, we will bring along a week weather system across the uk, just pick out some thinker cloud here with the chance of seeing some patchy rain and perhaps some hill snow out of that amount. fairly quiet at the moment on friday. but unfortunately, that will not last because we have a stronger weather system, a deeper area of low pressure heading our way to the weekend. here it is, and that means the weekend's weather will get windier again. this weather front will take rain southwards on saturday. the further south you are, you may not see too much rain during daylight hours, but on sunday once this weather system begins to pull away, it is sunshine and blustery showers. that's your latest forecast.

this is bbc news, the headlines...

polls have closed in two us states taking part in the super tuesday primaries. senator bernie sanders is projected to win vermont come his home state, whilejoe biden is projected to win virginia, a major victory for the former vice president. the who says that the mortality rate of those believed to have had the coronavirus appears to be just under three and a half percent. higher than the usual rate for flu. the us central bank has made an emergency interest rate cut over economic risks posed by the virus. and in the us, at least 25 people have been killed as tornadoes ripped through the city of nashville and across the state of tennessee. buildings collapsed in tens of thousands of people are without power. it struck overnight while many were asleep and unable to take shelter.