you're watching beyond 100 days. the markets are tanking, coronavirus is spreading, and president trump is on twitter. he's attacking everything from joe biden to the media, accusing it of colluding with democrats in trying to inflame the coronavirus situation. the value of the 500 biggest companies in america plunged 7% as the us markets opened, prompting an automatic halt in trading. this comes as panic hits global markets. a port to call home. the virus—hit cruise ship stuck off the coast of california is about to dock in oakland. the uk government says it remains in the containment stage

the uk government says it's preparing for the delay phase of its response as a fifth person in the country dies from the virus. also on the programme: all 27 eu member states are now dealing with covid—19 cases. italy is still the worst affected — the death rate jumped in the last 2a hours. 16 million people in northern italy are in lockdown. democrats in michigan have an important decision to make tomorrow. it's the next round in the democratic primary. we will take an extended look at the frontrunner, former vice presidentjoe biden. hello and welcome. i'm christian fraser in london, and michelle fleury is in new york. coronavirus is now spreading in 30 european countries, it is crossing america, and now we have the added complication of a war over oil prices. 0n global markets that spells one word — panic. at the opening bell, the s&p 500 —

the largest us stock index — plummeted 7% when trading opened on wall street, triggering a 15—minute suspension. in london, the ftse 100 was down 8%. the price of oil fell nearly 30% — its biggest single—day fall since the 1991 gulf war. the day has already been dubbed black monday. president trump, fighting for re—election, is desperate to deflect criticism now coming his way. "saudi arabia and russia are arguing over the price and the flow of oil. "that, and the fake news, is the reason for the market drop!" of course, the price war is a major factor, but adding to the sentiment — concerns over us testing for coronavirus and transparency over results. here's our economics editor, faisal islam. the opening bell at the new york stock exchange, the smiles didn't last. trading having to be halted after just four minutes in which time the dowjones index

dropped 2000 points. a market that is full of anxiety about the potential economic global slowdown due to the virus, which i don't think we have even seen yet, and you end up with a perfect storm. that is what we had today. this was part of the knock—on effect of the global spread of coronavirus to 100 countries around the world. global fall started in asia, spread into europe, where italian markets slumped 11% today, german markets down over 7% and, in the uk, the ftse100 tumbled over 7% as well, the sharpest fall since the financial crisis a decade ago. these extraordinary moves in global stock markets matter notjust because of the impact on your pensions and investments, there are impacts on government budgets, on business spending as well. there were also historic moves in connected markets, such as oil and in government borrowing. and all this matters because of what it reveals right now. understandable uncertainty

about the actual outbreak of the virus, but unpredicted consequences of how nations respond economically and diplomatically. today's moves were triggered by a collapse in oil prices after top oil producer saudi arabia and russia fell out over the impact of the virus leading to a slumping demand for oil. both these top producers are now pumping it into the market and, although that will lower pump prices the motorist here, the overall impact dragged markets down. markets don't have much confidence that governments and central banks are going to be able to support the economy through this coronavirus epidemic. i think there is a worry that central banks don't have too much scope to cut interest rates and there is a concern that governments will be too slow to stimulate the economy. this is notjust a trading panic — the markets asking big questions about not only the speed and effectiveness of efforts to contain the virus and its economic impact but also uncomfortable trade—offs

between the two. faisal islam, bbc news. for more, we'rejoined now by mattie duppler, seniorfellow at the national taxpayers union. the key question everyone is still trying to understand here is how likely is a recession? is that what the market is signalling to us? we are getting ahead of ourselves. even though president trump has for months and months talked about the stock market and the economy as though they are interchangeable, they are not, the stock market is just one component of the economy. last month, we had strong data telling us what the economy looked at, we had very positivejob numbers released last week even after the news of coronavirus taking hold. so there are a lot of reasons to believe that the us economy can withstand the threat of this virus. the question is whether or not

policymakers take a sober and tough look at what they can do to keep some of the effects that they, that is what we should be asking about, not whether or not a recession is at the brink because it is possible the economy can certainly withstand the pressures from this virus but the question is how policymakers respond. the white house is meeting with officials in president to see how they might respond. there are demands for a fiscal policy response and the central bank last week convened an emergency meeting and decided to cut rates at 0.5% in an effort to get ahead of the worst effects of the virus spreading the us. as you said, there were a sceptical reaction from wall street to that emergency rate cut. we're still waiting to see what the government comes up still waiting to see what the government comes up with in terms of what tools they deployed to support the economy. and yet the concern you hear from wall street is that they are worried that businesses might

not have enough cash flow, might end up not have enough cash flow, might end up struggling to meet loads, even go bankrupt. when you saw the response from the markets last week, that did indicate that there are limits to what monetary policy can do. that was on tuesday last week. on wednesday, the house of representatives passed the aid bill and that market actually reacted positively to that. the markets are telling us we need a concentrated fiscal policy response. but the white house and congress are considering what that might be. the white house has of course consider the payroll tax cut. americans actually do not pay to close attention to when their paycheques change. in addition, one of the main concern says people are out of work and they are not getting a paycheque so it tax cut would not have that

much of an impact. policymakers should be looking to extend sick leave and of course trying to prevent defaults from small businesses and individuals worried about paying their mortgage. that would do the most in terms of offering a targeted response to make sure the economic effects are contained. i want to put a counter argument to that. a lot of people are saying this is spreading out of control now. in europe, 30 countries are dealing with covid—19, we have seen across are dealing with covid—19, we have seen across america, you are dealing with covid—19, we have seen across america, you are are dealing with covid—19, we have seen across america, you are talking about an economic response, the first priority of the government is to get a hold of the virus in the testing regime and put clarity to people in america about what the results are. the white house and congress need to have a concentrated response to let americans know not only what they can do individually to prevent the spread of the disease but what governments will do in order to contain the virus. the administration has started to do

some of that. we have seen press conferences from the vice president, a number of members of the cabinet, in order to talk about what the government is doing. 0ne in order to talk about what the government is doing. one thing we need to continue to express is the need to continue to express is the need for testing and making sure we are getting a handle on how many cases are out there. the administration has been clear that thatis administration has been clear that that is their intent, but certainly as we continue to talk about not knowing the extent of what the virus‘s impact will be, the administration needs to send a message to the american people that they have a plan in place and they will follow it and the americans have expectations about what they can do in order to secure their households and themselves. let me show you donald trump's tweet. last year, 37,000 americans died from the common flu. nothing is shut down. life and the economy go on. at this moment, there are 546

confirmed cases with 22 deaths, think of that. when i read that, this is still the president putting himself first and trying to reassure the public that there is nothing to see here. we have seen from the example of italy that that is not right. there have been lots of questions about the testing, not only how many tests are being carried out but how many have turned out to be negative, and without that information, it's hard to gauge the scale of things. but from a wall street perspective, what happened today between russia and saudi arabia is crucial to today's seller. tomorrow we may be talking about something else. you talked about liquidity. how big a concern is that on wall street, the cash given to businesses that are otherwise viable, which might go down the tubes because of what is happening?

let me give you an example. last week, general electric said their cash flow in the first quarter would be reduced from 500 they are a big company and they can take that. imagine if you are a smaller business, in the airline industry, someone business, in the airline industry, someone who relies on manufacturing, that can cause liquidity problems, that can cause liquidity problems, thatis that can cause liquidity problems, that is what you are seeing those in the financial sector are worried about, will house executives invited to the white house. the grand princess cruise ship has been stranded off the california coast since wednesday. in the next hour, it will be docking in the port of oakland. there are 21 cases of coronavirus on board, 19 of them crew members. the ship was barred from returning to san francisco. there are 3,500 people on board. all american passengers will be bused to military bases in california, texas or georgia for 14—day quarantine. non—american travelers will be repatriated back to their home countries when chartered flights have been organised.

chris buckler is in oakland for us. and there the ship behind him, writing, which will be some relief to those 3500 passengers on board. toa to those 3500 passengers on board. to a certain extent, it is slowly and steadily making its way into board, but there is a danger of thinking it is all over at this point, that passengers will be able to get off the ship, that's not the case. they will get passengers off the ship but that will take some time and they would do it in a very steady and focused way. first of all, those who have been diagnosed and displaying symptoms, they will be taken off first. on the other side of the ship, there are tents set up. there were ambulances there and people waiting to make sure they get medical attention. and then over the next couple of days, we will see all of these passengers disembark,

so all of these passengers disembark, so for example the californian passengers will be taken off and taken to a military base, the rest of the american passengers will be taken to bases in texas and georgia, and then the process of taking those international passengers and getting the back to their own countries. in the back to their own countries. in the case of the uk, the british passengers will be taken of the ship and put onto a flight tomorrow evening. they will arrive back in the uk on wednesday. but you can imagine, there is relief to finally be out of that position, being stranded of the californian coast, and close to dry land. hard to imagine the relief they must be feeling. thank you so much. well, margaret bartlett is on that ship. she's one of over 140 britons on the grand princess with her friend. that's right — she's 77 and has been trapped in her cabin for the last five days, in desperate need of her medication. she joins us on the phone whilst her daughter, lyndsey,

joins us from burnley. we can't see margaret because she is on the phone. but if you can hear us, margaret, tell me what your thoughts are as you come into dock in oakland. we are now coming in to dog. it is a relief that we will be on land. we have been up on deck, and it's really nice to get into fresh air. people are in good spirits. 0bviously, fresh air. people are in good spirits. obviously, we just fresh air. people are in good spirits. 0bviously, wejust want fresh air. people are in good spirits. obviously, we just want to get home now. we are looking at people coming out onto their balconies as we are talking to you, i read that one of those infected with the coronavirus was just ten doors down from the on the ship, is that right? that is not really

right. the ship that came in before us, the guy was taken off the ship. they were taken out like mattresses and old things to the cabin to sanitise them on that. i was told that it was the guy in the cabin before. i have heard that from other passengers. it seems strange that they took everything out. how well we looked after? you were turned away from san francisco. have you had proper care on the ship? away from san francisco. have you had proper care on the ship7m away from san francisco. have you had proper care on the ship? it has been all right. the food situation was a bit drastic at one point. they are doing their best because they are doing their best because they are short of provisions, but they

have been doing the best they can and they give us drinks. we will phone down and get a drink. they have been really good. the first couple of days, they did not know what they were doing either. but they have been fine since then. what they were doing either. but they have been fine since thenlj wa nted they have been fine since thenlj wanted to bring in your daughter. what has it been like watching this from afar, knowing there's not much you can do to help your mother?m has been quite anxious because of knowing what is going on. but not being able to do anything, so doing what i have been doing, which is highlighting the human side to this story, is the best thing i can do to make sure i feel as if i'm doing something because i would not then feel completely helpless. is it hard to get information to find out now that you know the boat is stocking what would happen next?|j

that you know the boat is stocking what would happen next? i have spoken to the fco today. they confirmed the flight booked for tomorrow evening. they could not tell me where the destination airport would be, and my concern was, if everyone would be tested, would they —— before they got on the flight. would they —— before they got on the flight. my mum has been in quarantine for five days now and i would imagine they should test everyone before they get on the flight everyone before they get on the flight or else they would be cooped up flight or else they would be cooped up in an air—conditioned plane furtherup to 12 hours, up in an air—conditioned plane further up to 12 hours, and that's my massive concern now, nobody can tell you. i want my mum home but i wa nt tell you. i want my mum home but i want her home safely as well. that is perfectly understandable. margaret, you must be aware that older people are more at risk from this virus. is that concerning passengers on the ship? presumably thatis passengers on the ship? presumably that is what you want to get off as quickly as possible.

that is what you want to get off as quickly as possiblelj that is what you want to get off as quickly as possible. i don't really know because we did not get any information but what we have heard, couple of people have been taken off the ship but there were only two or three people. apart from that, i don't really know. talk to us about why you were on this cruise ship. he went for the dream holiday and it has turned into a nightmare for you. it was my friend's 70th birthday, and it was supposed to be a special birthday present for her, but it turned out to be a nightmare! do you wa nt to turned out to be a nightmare! do you want to say a quick word to lindsey before we let you go? go on, then. don't worry too much, we will be home soon. good! short and sweet, but the right message. we are very grateful to you for coming on the programme. margaret, get well soon, we wish you all the best.

here in the uk, the foreign office is warning against all but essential travel to northern italy. the death rate in the past 24 hours has jumped by a third to 366 deaths — there are more than 7,300 confirmed cases. italy is the worst—hit country in the world after china. this was a flight to rome this morning, which speaks for itself. up to 16 million people — a quarter of the population — are under quarantine in the north of the country, including venice and milan, and now need permission to travel. 0ur correspondent, mark lowen, is in bologna. well, let's get an understanding of the situation on the ground. davide casati is the digital editor at corriere della sera, italy's highest circulated newspaper, and joins us from milan. everybody is supposedly locked in and yet the airports are still open. the situation is getting harsher. in

the decree by the government, it's not written that people have to stay in their home, so the government tells everybody that they should do that in order to stop the virus getting around, and they also say that you need to move inside a zone which is a huge chunk of the country with permission to do so. but permission is something you can do if the police stops you, you can tell them via a piece of paper that you need to download from the government website that you need to government website that you need to go around for work reasons, but the objective of... the aim of the government was to tell people to

stay locked in their homes. it's not prohibited, but you need to get around with something you can write for yourself. we are in this grey area. we have been going around for area. we have been going around for a few days of this emergency, thinking that it might have gone away pretty easily, but now people are realising that they need to change the way they behave in their everyday life and they need to confront the necessity to stay home in order to step this virus going around because the number of cases we have is getting higher and higher. -- stop. and meanwhile, as the government tries to get a grip on this crisis, we are starting to see reports of prison riots, can you tell us more on that? they are still

ongoing. we had 20 prisons with riots today, and the fact is, inmates are just protesting the fact that they cannot talk to their families in person any more, so the government decided to do that in order to prevent the virus from entering the prison because that would create a hugely dramatic situation in a confined space. but we need to know that prisons are overcrowded in italy. so the coronavirus crisis is something that makes something worse, but the situation was bad already. right

now, we are facing these riots. the government said they should be over by today, but the situation right now is critical inside the prisons. they are extraordinary times, aren't they? in the uk another person has died from coronavirus bringing the total number of deaths so far to five, the total confirmed cases stands at 319. in the last couple of hours the prime minsiter explained where things currently stand. the prime minsiter explained we remain in the containment phase of the outbreak but, watching what is happening around the world, our scientists think a containment is extremely unlikely to work on its own, and that is why we are making extensive preparations for a move to the delay phase. a lot of people are asking themselves whether they should be going on their holidays. k was

asking me the same question last week. today she e—mailed me to tell me that the person confirmed to have the coronavirus in dc where you are, michelle, is no other than her rector at christ church in georgetown, where she was supposed to go on one of the dates that has been flagged up by dc health, so everybody that has been to the church in georgetown between the 24th of debris and the 3rd of march could have been exposed and are now under self impose quarantine. —— february. you think you would be at more risk of getting it in geneva but it is right there in your backyard! my backyard today is new york, where we are learning, we have been told to avoid going on the public transport system in a tense situation in which many people rely on to get to work, and it gives you

that sense of how difficult it gets and the economic knock on effects that you start to see. meanwhile, you have a doctorfrom america coming out over the weekend and saying, you should avoid a cruiser all costs and you should certainly think twice if you are elderly about getting on a plane. you should not go on cruise ships or long haul flights because you do increase your risk. quite extraordinary it was catty‘s rector. and there's lots more on the coronavirus on the bbc website, which has all the latest news and analysis, including our reality check team's investigations into the fake health advice circulating online, to help you separate the myths about the outbreak from the facts. crucially important for those older people and people with ailing health. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news:

as democrats look to unseat mr trump in november, we take a closer look at the man who's been described as the comeback grandpa — the former vice president, joe biden. that's still to come. more rain to come in areas that do not want to even though some of us started the day with sunshine but we will all get into the wet weather, and it is not too far away from those areas. this area of low pressure is feeding and there weather fronts, the wind is picking up as well but some areas will see a lot of rain in the next 12—18 hours or so. the rain pushes east across all parts, eventually getting to those easternmost areas, but for much of the day have been dry. it is technically mild, temperatures in double figures for some of us but it is tempered by the cloud and rain moving on. wind. we will all see a

speu moving on. wind. we will all see a spell of rain, the some of us it eases overnight. another spell of rain towards northern ireland does not let up, though, for much of wales and north—west england, and is wales and north—west england, and is wales and north—west england, and is wales and north—west england with a greater chance of seeing disruption and flooding, travel disruption as the rain totals mount. particularly mid wales where here we could see up to 100 millimetres of rain, and that is where the met office has an amber warning and force, flooding lightly with difficult travel conditions in the morning. it will be a messy start tomorrow morning but look at this, the warm colours, the wind direction, it will be unusually mild for the time of year, particularly if you feel any of the sunshine. there will be sunny spells. for many, it will brighten up tomorrow but blustery showers across scotland, northern england and northern ireland. these wind gusts indicate it will be windy across the

uk. some cloud toward southern england and south wales holding on so england and south wales holding on soa england and south wales holding on so a bit of patchy rain on and off during the day. the colours represent the temperatures, you can see where it will be particularly mild, and especially if you get to see sunshine in the east midlands and eastern england, 16—17dc. another spell of rain on southern parts, then on wednesday sunshine and showers, blustery with strong winds, increasingly wintry over the hills of scotland. more rain for time on wednesday night, feeling cooler by then.

this is beyond 100 days... with me, michelle fleury in new york, christian fraser is in london. our top stories... it's been a bruising day for stock markets around the world. traders dumped shares amid fears about the coronavirus and about plummeting oil prices caused by a spat between two big suppliers, russia and saudi arabia. a cruise ship — stranded off the californian coast since last wednesday — has docked in oakland. 21 people on board, have tested positive. coming up in the next half hour... two tragedies, four decades apart, have defined former vice presidentjoe biden's life. have they also made him a more relatable candidate for president? are african americans voting forjoe biden because he's best on the issues, or because he can beat trump?

the results out of super tuesday were nothing short of extraordinary. the former vice presidentjoe biden, had been written off. but a win in south carolina re—launched his campaign. by tuesday he had ridden that momentum all the way to a delegate lead. he took 10 of the 14 states up for grabs. and for democrats it's now become a straight forward choice between biden or the vermont senator bernie sanders. tomorrow we go again. six more states, washington, missouri, mississippi, idaho and north dakota — but the biggest of them all is michigan with 125 delegates. it's a state bernie sanders won narrowly in 2016 defeating the eventual nominee hillary clinton. but look at the poll that came out locally this morning. biden in front with a commanding lead, and if he takes michigan

you sense bernie sanders will struggle to change the trajectory of the contest. in the next half hour we are going to take an extended look atjoe biden, in six months‘ time he might be sitting in the white house. joining us from washington is ken thomas, political reporter for the wall stjournal. that is if he wins and a lot of democrats think he could win, perhaps more democrats than thought he could win about a month ago. absolutely, it has been quite a turnaround for joe absolutely, it has been quite a turnaround forjoe biden, he was practically written off after tough losses in iowa and new hampshire, the first two states in the process. but this rebound he has had started in nevada, he came in second place there and in south carolina, he won by such a large margin that it created so much momentum for him going into the super tuesday states, and now he is in a fairly commanding

position against bernie sanders.” have watched him twice, i have watched him in a gym in iowa then again in north carolina in a basketball gym. i was struck how much the personal story is part of the campaign, part of the rhetoric, and there is a good reason for that, isn't there? his political career has really been book ended by tragedy. by 1972 shortly after he was elected to the senate for the first time his wife and daughter and sons we re first time his wife and daughter and sons were in a terrible accident, his wife and daughter were killed, his sons were badly injured. he was a single father and early on, thought about leaving the senate. he didn't know if he could go on, later in his career, one of his sons who had been the attorney general in delaware died after a bout with brain cancer. so he is someone who

has lived through tragedies in his own life, he is very much able to connect with people who have their own difficulties, it is something he talked freely about on the campaign trail. it is something that has really strengthened him and helped him in recent months. we were just looking at pictures they are ofjoe biden and one of his sons. as you throw forward, you talk about how he has been shaped about past events in his personal life, you look at the months ahead. they are already talking about more enquiries into his son hunter biden, they are looking into his brothers‘s health ca re looking into his brothers‘s health care business. how much battle testing more is this family going to go through? in all likelihood, a lot more, especially if he continues on this trajectory. the inquiries into hunter biden had essentially subsided in congress, but there has beena subsided in congress, but there has been a more talk in the past week or

so been a more talk in the past week or so about going back and doing additional investigations. i think republicans now see him as the likely challenger to president trump and so republicans will have an extra incentive to be much more tougher under scrutiny of hunter biden in re—examining some of the past, biden's family, things they have been involved with. the campaign feel strongly that what separates biden from the others is that he is so well known. he was vice president for eight years, he is someone who is a household name and they don't feel like any of these investigations will create any new lines of attack for republicans, that voters generally know who joe biden is, and they tend to like him. a word that keeps coming up again and again is compassion. he plays and again is compassion. he plays and that quite a lot. but it comes

back, ithink, to and that quite a lot. but it comes back, i think, to some of that grief you spoke about and some of the commitments he made to his eldest son. he talked to the mayor in texas and said he sort of made his commitment while his son was dying to stay engaged. do you think that is why he is pushing himself? yeah, i think that is a big part of it. he has said that he actually didn't expect to run. this is the third time he is running for president and i think he and his family thought before beau got sick, this would have been the election that beau biden might have run for president, he was in his late 405 at the time. there is this motivation for biden to prove to his late son that he will stay committed in this fight. i think what has been interesting about south carolina and his victory there is we saw all of this come together. one of biden'5 mentors wa5

a senator and he was someone who came to biden in those dark days in 1972, 1973 and encouraged came to biden in those dark days in 1972,1973 and encouraged him to 5tay 1972,1973 and encouraged him to stay in the fight. a5 a result, biden has a very strong relationship with voters in south carolina. he ha5 with voters in south carolina. he has been going back to that state time and again over the years and it really came to help him in the end when he got that endorsement. ken thomas, political reporter at the wall streetjournal, thomas, political reporter at the wall street journal, thank you wall streetjournal, thank you for your insights today. ask democrats what they want from the nominee, and overwhelmingly they will tell you they want someone who can beat donald trump. but what would joe biden do if he was in the white house? how would his presidency affect people in michigan, working class voters, african american voters who will make all the difference come november? bernie sanders is attacking biden on social security, a sign he is looking to make inroads with the older voters who have helped power biden's campaign. he has been going back over the former vice president's long

voting record in congress. and this weekend he accused him of voting several times for cuts to medicaid, veterans programms and yes, social security. here's how mr biden is responding. super tuesday, state after 5tate after 5tate called forjoe biden, bernie sanders goes on the attack, politifact has called the sanders campaigns attack5 fal5e. joe biden has always been a strong supporter of social security, he will increase social security benefits and protect it for generations to come. negative ads will only help donald trump. it is time we bring our party together. nancy altman is an expert in social security, and the president of the social security works organisation — shejoins us now. great to have you on the programme. talk us through joe great to have you on the programme. talk us throuthoe biden in the past, what has he said on social

security plans? has his comments in the past been unfairly characterised by the bernie sanders campaign?” don't think they have been unfairly characterised, the so—called very serious people, the conventional thinking for the 19905 and 2000 was that social security was unaffordable and had to be cut. there was literally a leaner funded campaign that convinced the elites, the media and mainstream politicians that social security had to be cut joe biden was one of those convinced. bernie sanders, like with the iraq war, was always correct and social security. he understood whether we expand social security or cut it, it is a matter of values, not affordability. he has been right all along. joe biden now is also for expand, but he did go for many years he was open to cutting the programme. i take your point about values, but while it may not be fashionable at the moment to talk

about deficits that much, that question of affordability, i mean, i assume it has a gone away? yes, although social security does not add a penny to the deficit. it is a pension plan that has its own dedicated revenue, and currently it has a accumulated surplus of $2.8 trillion. it gets confused with the deficit. that was part of the campaign to undermine it, but the american people know they have paid for it, it is an earned benefit and they should be getting it. on super tuesday bernie sanders lost tojoe biden among the people who you think would be his base, the working white voters, the working class white voters. how much is this argument over social security really resonating with voters that sanders needs to win? the reality is the democratic party has really woken up and since 2016, really thanks to bernie sanders, the entire party is

now in favour of expanding social security with no cuts. their position is now have become slightly iraq war, he has come around. but the concern is he talks about working across the aisle with republicans and that is the road to cutting the programme. right now, they are both campaigning on expanding, not cutting social security. we are glad he is saying that and hope if he is elected, he will remember his promise not to cut social security. they are both, i should say, better than donald trump who absolutely wants to cut the programme. it always comes back to that for democrats, doesn't it? who can beat donald trump. thank you very much indeed. this is beyond 100 days. still to come — top tips on how to avoid catching coronavirus — from none other thanjames bond and the team at saturday night live.

people around the world marked international women's day on sunday. katty kay sat down with the managing director of the imf kristalina georgieva to talk about getting women more involved in the global economy. half a dozen global studies show exactly what you have found, you have more women in senior positions, you increase the productivity of your organisations, and yet, we do not see women progressing at the level of ceo onto boards very easily. how much more data is it going to take before women make that kind of progress? what we need to do is act. and having women in senior positions puts a huge responsibility on our shoulders to open up space for more women. my message to everybody is act on critical mass of women if you want to change, the

organisation you are in, whether it is private—sector or public sector. as the finance of women in politics something that is changing in countries? are more countries adopting an attitude that women have to be involved in the finances and budgeting of the country?m budgeting of the country? it is happening more and more. in some countries it is happening because of demographics. in some places it is happening of women. they are standing up for themselves. i am very impressed by the activism of women, especially in the developing world. whether it is against gender—based world. whether it is against gender— based violence, enough world. whether it is against gender—based violence, enough is enough, or it is for access to finance and equal opportunities, women are stepping up and yes, we wa nt women are stepping up and yes, we want he for she, but even more, we

wa nt want he for she, but even more, we want she fought she. the ability of women to dare to stand for themselves —— she for she. women to dare to stand for themselves -- she for she. thank you very much. no doubt south carolina was a turning point in biden's campaign. but he owes much of that victory and the momentum he gained from it, to james clyburn, the senior black congressman from south carolina. his endorsement ahead of the vote was crucial. across all 14 states on tuesday african american voters came out for biden. 0ther endorsements certainly helped. first mayor pete, then amy klobuchar, and in texas beto 0'rourke. and no suprise they have repeated that winning strategy this week. unveiling one big name after another. in the past 24 hours, mr biden has received the backing of senators kamala harris and cory booker, influential african americans who he'd faced some months ago in the earlier part of the contest. here's what representative

clyburn had to say when he endorsed mr biden. i knowjoe. we know joe. but most importantly, joe knows us. now this endorsement started a domino effect for mr biden. he won south carolina by a landslide, forcing other moderates to drop out of the race, and propelling him to his super tuesday sweep. this is the latest polling data for michigan. as you can see mr biden is ahead of mr sanders with african american voters, but still lower than the share of votes hillary clinton received in 2016. so is the african american community voting for biden because he's what's best for the community, or is he the best bet to beat donald trump? we're joined now by cliff albright, co founder of the black voters matter fund. those are pretty crucial endorsements he has had this week, kamala harris and cory booker. are those the sort of people that are going to cement his position among

african—american voters? going to cement his position among african-american voters? well, i don't really think so. i have to push back a little bit on the notion, which is a popular notion, we have heard it a lot in our press here, over the past we have heard it a lot in our press here, overthe past week we have heard it a lot in our press here, over the past week and a half or so, since south carolina, the thought that representative clyburn's endorsement was the critical factor. the reality is, especially, when you look at what happened on super tuesday, yousort black voters in several states, particularly southern states, but north carolina, virginia, alabama, you saw them voting at the same rates of black voters in south carolina, in fact in alabama cut even higher, 72%. the question is whether his endorsement had that kind of sweeping impact to influence votes in alabama, who have never heard of him, or in reality his endorsement and the results in south carolina were more of a reflection of something that existed already with black voters in many states already, in otherwords, black

vote rs already, in otherwords, black voters were already supporting joe biden at 60, 65, 75% and james clyburn's endorsement was more of a reflection of that rather than a driving factor. there is a lot to be determined still, but i don't think the endorsements of whether it is booker or kamala harris are going to be that decisive. i think black vote rs be that decisive. i think black voters for some time now have been ofa voters for some time now have been of a certain amount in regards to their support ofjoe biden, although not the issues i would like to see them deciding on. we have talked about his voting record on social security. during the debates in summer he was attacked by kamala harris about his opposition initially to student busing which was used in america to enter school segregation. then he was criticised for voting with segregationists. did any of that in any way tarnish the way he was seen by african—american

voters ? way he was seen by african—american voters? i think it did for a little while. i think it had some impact but itjust didn't stick, didn't la st but itjust didn't stick, didn't last long enough. 0ur organisation hosted a debate watch party when the democrats had the debates in detroit, we were in a room with 100 black voters who during the health ca re black voters who during the health care debate were very clear. we asked a survey question, who do you think responded the best in this issue to health care? in that way it was bernie and elizabeth warren who got the most support on that issue, you see the same thing on social security, on a range of other issues, but once you get past the issues, but once you get past the issues and ask who they support, it issues and ask who they support, it is still with a joe biden because the driving factor is relate this issue of electability. as long as thatis issue of electability. as long as that is the primary concern for black voters, that we are more concerned about who can beat donald trump then who best represents our issues today in this primary, as long as that is a factor, joe biden gets the benefit of that. he gains

the benefit so it goes back to where we were at the start of the democratic campaign really. it is who beat donald trump. for a while eve ryo ne who beat donald trump. for a while everyone was looking at the other moderates in the line—up and other candidates to see what they had to offer, but you think it is a comfort level with joe biden on level withjoe biden on that electability question and is behind his success? yeah, no doubt. we know there are issue after issue, black vote rs there are issue after issue, black voters are to the left ofjoe biden and we know that even when you look at bernie sanders compared to say elizabeth warren, elizabeth warren spoke most directly to many of these issues, even more than some of the black candidates in the race, but again it did not stick because the driving question that black voters have when we look at these candidates, and it really is coming from a place of fear that we have to be honest with, not a rational fear but fear none the less, fear nonetheless, some people call it

pragmatism, what are white voters going to vote for? it was not going to be one of the black candidates or female candidates and right now, it is not going to be joe sanders. then you have the 0bama factor. is not going to be joe sanders. then you have the obama factor. sorry, we lost the sound at the end but we got the sense of what you were saying, fear being the driving factor. joe biden is a comforting presence. his supporters call him unclejoe. his life story, his record as vice president, his close personal connection to president 0bama, all go in his favour. but until last week, there were many voters who had their doubts. and maybe some of them still do. maybe. brian keane, is a moderate democrat from arlington virginia. he is the ceo of a software company, he once worked on capitol hill. he also has a personal history with the candidate. and yet he was toying with the idea of voting for mayor bloomberg until the result in south carolina.

i'm a joe biden guy at heart. what do you mean? i love the guy, but can he win? in that case, i need to go with the guy that is a person who's going to win. and so, i'm now like ping—ponging back and forth of who can win, who can win, and i have to give up the guy i love. brian joins us now from our washington bureau. bryant, there you were saying you are toying with the guy you love and who you thought could win. what changed in that short period of time? kind of everything, and it is fascinating. probably like most vote rs fascinating. probably like most voters i was toying with everybody, everybody is looking at every single candidate in deciding who can win, who is going to beat trump, that is what has been going on. then what happened with south carolina and joe not only won south carolina, but we saw classicjoe biden. this was a

guy who spoke to the democratic hearts, he spoke with confidence and with the real skill that we remember joe biden having, then all of a sudden it was he could win, notjust that he won south carolina but he spoke to a vision and a hopeful future that said hey, we can win this thing. it was unbelievable what he was able to do on super tuesday. if you remember, just a week ago he was in fifth place in massachusetts, fifth place and then he won up —— ended up winning it, not spending any money, without even visiting the state. it is unbelievable what happened. talk us through your own personal history withjoe biden, because you have been a long—time supporter of his. what has drawn new to him? what is that personal connection? millions of people probably have similar stories, i met him asa

probably have similar stories, i met him as a college student in washington, dc at a university and i ran the speakers bureau. we had him speak back in 1988, just after he dropped out of the presidential race and he gave this phenomenal speech, unbelievable. if you rememberthen, he had got chased out of the race because of he said plagiarism of a speech he gave that neil kinnock had given. he then had a brain aneurysm, he came back to a university, his first speech after that. unbelievable speech and kept on talking and talking, every student question, the speech ended and he andl question, the speech ended and he and i are walking out, and he asked if there was a place to get a beer around here, what are you going to do afterwards? we went to the school taverne, hung out, waited for his two sons to come and pick up and had an unbelievable evening. literally having a beer withjoe biden. having a beer with joe biden. so many people. sony people have a

story like that, that sort of personal connection. —— so many people. we are tight for time so we would have to leave it there, but it is great to hear your thoughts on that story. it resonates with me. we saw people interacting with him in north carolina last week and he has that personal touch. he certainly does. before we go — plenty of doom and gloom around at the moment — when it comes to coronavirus so lets lighten the mood a little saturday night live have put their own spin on how the us is dealing with the crisis. the guest host was james bond himself, daniel craig. this time cast in the role of daytime host. but there was a flavour of 007 in his performance, the way he made his move on his co anchor. take a look. oh, please, i can't help it, i want to kiss you. well, why don't you? come, darling. we can't deny this any longer. kiss me, kiss me now. it's all i've ever wanted to do. laughter.

0h, your kisses taste just like i remember. 0h, take me, take me, please. laughter. yes, yes, please. i feel like we will melt into one. brilliant. this is how we touch now, right? is it that way? there we go. i never get it right. i am confused, i am doing the feet and the elbow. before we go, let me show you the ship. they are setting up the tents for the people coming off. they have had a long wait. another congressmen dog collins of georgia —— dog collins herself isolated, also ted cruz the senator. they are at a conservative get last week, someone was there with the virus so they are

self isolating. it has spread to a lot of people, i would think, in congress. you are up—to—date, we will see you tomorrow. good evening. well, after a promising start, the day deteriorated as the winds picked up and rain began to edge its way in. some of this rain is going to be quite heavy and persistent, particularly for parts of mid wales. the met office has issued an amber warning over the hills, we could see as much as 100 millilitres, flooding and travel disruption likely. you can see quite nicely the extent of this rain on the earlier radar image, some heavy pulses, as well, for north—west england and down towards south—west england, too, spilling its way eastwards, and we'll gradually clear the main band during the early hours of the morning but more rain to come for parts of mid wales and into north—west england and parts of south—west england, too, over the moors. here, we could see as much as 50 mm of rain. quite a bit of cloud around overnight, away from north—east england and scotland, it remains windy, too, and as a result, a fairly mild

started tuesday morning. we still have low pressure in charge, a south—westerly wind which will start to drag in a plume of something a little milder which will give the temperature a boost through the day on tuesday. we start off with some heavy pulses of rain still for parts of wales and north—west england. it does ease and become more showery as the day goes on. further showers, as well, for scotland. we keep quite a bit of cloud down towards southern england and wales. drizzly outbreaks at times after a bit of a murky start, it has to be said, and it's going to be a windy day across the board. but where we get to see some cloud breaks, with that milder feed of air, we could see temperatures reach 16, possibly 17 celsius for parts of east anglia. now, as we head into tuesday evening, here's this trailing weather front that just keeps on coming. the winds ease from many areas, that is away from parts of northern scotland closest to this area of low pressure, and another system starts to edge its way in. so through the day on wednesday, noticeably cooler for scotland. we've got showers packing

in which will be wintry over higher ground initially but even to some lower levels later on in the day. still fairly mild for the southern half of the uk, so as a result, there is going to be quite a contrast in temperatures, 15 celsius down towards the far south—east compared to just six celsius for the far north of scotland. cooler air filters further south by thursday so i think we will notice a dip in this temperatures. a case of sunshine and showers but something quieter on the cards for many on friday.

this is bbc news. i'm clive myrie. the headlines at 8pm. preparations are under way to move from containing the coronavirus in the uk — to the next phase. within the next fortnight, it's likely anyone with a cold or temperature will need to self—isolate. probably within the next 10—14 days, we should move to a situation where we say everybody who has even minor respiratory tract infections or fever should be self—isolating. worldwide, the number of cases continues to rise around the globe. in italy 16 million people in the north of the country are facing the toughest restrictions on movement since the second world war.