>> today, vice president pence provides an update on the coronavirus outbreak with members of the white house task force. we will have live coverage at 5:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. the senate has plans to take up an economic aid package in response to the coronavirus. the legislation already passed by the house, would require free coronavirus testing, provide paid and medical family leave and bolster food aid and unemployment insurance by those affected by the outbreak. a final vote by the senate is expected this week. as always, you can follow the senate live on c-span two. >> joining us from los angeles addison, the codirector of the center for popular democracy. good sunday morning. thank you for being with us.

you for having me. organization.al we are in 34 states, puerto rico and washington, d.c.. there are a lot of things we work on. fast workers going on strike. there immigrants who are not is working to transform our broken immigration system but who are building the culture and fabric of their communities, black workers and black folks who have been struggling economically in this country who are seeking the opportunity to thrive and not just survive. we are a network of people with great imagination who believe that america can be a place where all of us have what we -- have what we need, not just a select few.

host: we will talk politics in a moment. this is from the washington post with regards to the dominant store in our country, the coronavirus issue. it is here. now what? how do you answer that? guest: first, let me say my own kids, i have two kids in los angeles public schools. both will be out of school starting monday. i know what a transition this will be for parents across the country who are trying to figure out childcare while also figuring out what they are going to do about work. all of us have our minds not just front-line workers in health care and first responders, which we are all concerned about, but low-wage workers, retail workers, homeless population, folks who are incarcerated in our detention centers. these are incredibly vulnerable populations. we are concerned about them. we are seeing the difference in how president trump and the democratic presidential candidates would handle this crisis moving forward.

host: there is a debate between senator sanders and joe biden. what do you expect? guest: i expect finally to be substantiveinto the policy issues. while there was a lot brought up in previous debates, the thing about this debate in particular is people are looking to hear what are those clear distinctions? they want to know what are the , differences in the health care policy? how would folks respond in moments of national crisis? let's talk about our energy policy. there are so many core issues to democratic voters that we have not gotten into, most particularly are we interested in going back to the status quo politics of the past that have left too many people behind? or are we interested in believing another world is possible and investing in a candidate who is willing to fight for our community?

host: wednesday in vermont, senator bernie sanders meeting with reporters and telegraphing what he wants to ask joe biden tonight. let's watch. [video clip] >> on sunday, i look forward to the debate in arizona with my friend joe biden. let me be frank as to the questions i will be asking. joe, what are you going to do for the 500,000 people who go bankrupt in our country because of medically related debt? what are you going to do for the working people of this country and small business people who are paying on average 20% of their incomes for health care? joe, what are you going to do to end the absurdity of the united states of america being the only major country on earth where

health care is not a human right? are you really going to veto a medicare for all bill if it is passed in congress? joe how are you going to respond , to the scientists who tell us we have seven or eight years remaining to transform our energy system before irreparable harm takes place to this planet because of the ravages of climate change? joe, at a time when most young people need a higher education to make it into the middle class, what are you going to do to make sure all of our people can go to college or trade school regardless of their income? what are you going to do about the millions of people who are struggling with outrageous levels of student debt? joe, at a time when we have more communistjail than

china a nation four times our , size, what are you going to do to end mass incarceration in a racist criminal justice system? host: that is from senator bernie sanders. jennifer epps-addison, your response to what he is going to tell joe biden tonight or ask him? guest: it is hard not to be moved by that vision. a lot of people talk about bernie sanders's platform as being radical or too far left of -- too far left. the reality is his platform is bringing the democratic party home. we are seeing that with the support of the issues. 20 out of 20 primaries, voters have been asked about whether they would support a single payer government run health care plan over private insurance. in 20 out of 20 primaries, voters have said yes. we have seen bernie bring this idea to fox news town halls and the audience erupting in cheers at the idea that everybody would have universal health care.

i need people not to be confused here. as somebody who -- my partner has multiple sclerosis. i depend on my health insurance. i have had the benefit of private insurance my entire life. i will tell you that nobody likes their insurance company. they like their doctors. they like access that they have. it is not their insurance company. we want to hammer home the message that it is not radical to provide health care. most of the industrialized world does it. it is not radical to say we should not have more of our black citizens in prison and than werecenters now enslaved during slavery. it is not radical to say we can no longer put the profits of fossil fuel industries over the health and vitality of our planet and people.

these are core democratic values and it is time we had a candidate who is not beholden to special interests who is not paid for by billionaires and big corporations, but who has run a campaign that has been funded by grassroots donations hose sole purpose is to bring the struggling communities of this country together to amplify our voices for change. host: this is a survey from the university of north florida. the headline, joe biden has a 44 point lead over senator bernie sanders. we indicated these are different days. no large rallies. it is difficult for the candidates to meet with voters face-to-face. they are doing virtual town halls. how does senator sanders overcome a lead in the polls? guest: we want to win a primary and we are going to do everything we can to convince

voters that bernie sanders is the right candidate to lead the democratic ticket. however, it is important for us to understand that, regardless of who the eventual nominee is, the democratic party is made of a diverse coalition that the progressive wing of this party will be anywhere from 40% to 53% of primary voters and general election voters needed to defeat donald trump. i do not think either candidate is going to emerge from this primary with a mandate. instead, what they are going to emerge with a governing coalition that will have to make concessions to moderate wing of the party and the progressive wing of the party. if joe biden tries to run a general election campaign that ignores the will of so many democratic voters, that ignores the cries of new voters coming into this system because they

hope to create change, that is a losing strategy. we want to make clear that, regardless of who our general election candidate is, to defeat trump, we are going to need young voters to vote at record numbers. we need black and latino voters. we need women to come back to the party and see this party as a standardbearer for ourselves as well. that is the thing people have to understand. this is a governing coalition. if it is joe biden who is the nominee he is going to need to , work with progressives to govern together. it will not be a status quo agenda that is going to move that forward. host: from a viewer in chicago, sending a text message, (202) 748-8003 is the number, while biden is ahead, he needs a great candidate for vice president, either michelle obama or caroline kennedy, to capture the electoral college. respectfully submitted.

who do you think joe biden or bernie sanders should consider? guest: our organization was proud to sign on with many women leaders across this country who have stepped up to say we must have a woman, most likely a in that vicer presidential slot. we are in support of that. what i would like to see is a balance on the ticket. it would be great to have somebody rooted in the moderate wing of the party. if there is a moderate as the standardbearer, what we need to see is a progressive woman of caller who can carry the hopes and dreams and aspirations to transform this country into the general election. stacey abrams, for example comes to mind. representative barbara lee. there are a number of incredible color whoe women of

would make excellent vice presidential choices. the one thing i want to be clear of is one risk we face in the general election is president trump running to the left of joe biden on criminal justice reform. we have pressed the vice president on this issue many times as the author of the 1994 crime bill and have yet to get a satisfactory response that he fully understands the impact mass incarceration has had, particularly on black communities. if the vice president wins the nomination and nominates a prosecutor, a police officer, as their vice president candidate that will allow trump to run to , the left of him, particularly in black communities that have been devastated by mass incarceration. that is a big danger for all of us whose primary goal is to defeat trump in november. host: does that rule out senator kamala harris? guest: if joe biden is the nominee, i do believe it rules out senator harris, amy

klobuchar, and val demings. i think that again, what we cannot do -- donald trump has canvassers -- not anymore because we have pulled canvassers, but he is sending out text messages to black voters trying to create wedges between immigrants and black voters. he has folks engaging black communities. he has opened 15 offices in black communities. one of his primary reasons is his passage of criminal justice reform. we cannot have a democratic ticket that is to the right of president trump on the basic freedom and security of black and brown communities. host: we will go to perry from fort lauderdale, florida. we are dividing our phone lines between joe biden, senator sanders and those undecided -- and those undecided. you are calling on the joe biden line. caller: i am a supporter of joe

biden. i have a question for this woman. bernie sanders talked about a lot of stuff. you never answer the main question. he cannot pass -- other than the $15 an hour, bernie sanders cannot pass anything that he is promising. nothing. if he were the nominee, black people will not vote for him. seniors will not vote for him. everybody turned on super tuesday to vote for biden because they know he is the best person for the job. as a jew, i am mad at bernie because he is doing this to become the first jewish president. guest: my name is jennifer. thank you for your comments. i would say there is a real ideological debate happening in the party.

progressives are winning the debate around the issue and losing the debate around electability largely because we keep being told by folks that a world in which all the people we care about our taking care of, a world where people are not making impossible choices between paying for insulin and paying their light bill, in a world where folks can go out there and work and not be hampered by hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loan debt, that that kind of world is not possible. what i think senator sanders and those of us in the movement are here to say is another world is possible. we have to hold corporations accountable. we have to make a decision to say it is unacceptable to continue to allow people to make massive profits off of the pain-and-suffering of our communities. there are areas like health care where as long as you allow people to profit off of people's most trying times, we will never get the care we need. i hear folks saying there are vested interest -- oil

companies, pharmaceutical companies, there are a lot of vested interests in preventing senator sanders from winning the nomination. those folks coalesced around each other before super tuesday to launch a series of attacks. at the end of the day, what our movement wants to do is make sure every person in this country has the freedom to thrive. that is what we have to come back to as our message. that is a message that will resonate and help us not only hold the house and take back the senate. for 20 years, since my first election voting, when al gore was our nominee, we have been told we have to nominate a moderate, a neoliberal, in order to win the nomination. in 20 years, we have only won two of those elections. it was with president barack obama, who was running on things like single-payer health care. i believe voters will respond and democratic voters will vote for whoever the nominee is.

what i'm asking is to consider not just electing someone who we think will defeat trump. i think both candidates can do that. let's elect somebody willing to build the country of our dreams with us. host: let's go to brenda. joining us from ohio. supporter of senator sanders. good morning. caller: good morning. i am for bernie because he is a modern teddy roosevelt, who was a republican but saw the need to change the way the american structure was for big business. we have the problem that trickles down to everybody. one thing i want to comment is the reporters on tv and everything else and trump, everybody is so close together they might as well reach across and kiss each other.

they are not doing a six foot rule to protect themselves when they go home to their families. host: thank you. guest: i was in detroit knocking doors and i posted about it on my social media. i took pictures. i did the last two walks of my route and every other house was boarded up, was raised, was falling apart. entire neighborhoods that have been hollowed out. people have to understand that donald trump did not create all of the pain and misery happening in our communities. our communities were struggling long before trump and trumpism emerged. yes we have to take on the white , supremacy of this administration. yes we need to make sure we stop , these massive corporate giveaways and tax cuts. but we need to do more than that for the 500,000 people sleeping on our streets every night. we have to do more than defeat trump for the 89 million people

who are underinsured or uninsured. we have to do more than just defeat donald trump if we expect black people to expect more and have more in this country than simply not being killed by the police. that is not freedom for our communities. that is the message of senator sanders. it is not just a return to the status quo that left 40 million americans struggling in poverty. it is about transforming our economy so we do not just see the economy as how well wall street is doing but we see it as how many people can keep food on their table, how many people can keep a roof over their heads. we have to transform the way we think about energy so we do not have to make impossible choices between folks getting black lung disease in their 30's and having energy for our families. senator sanders is the only candidate left in the race that is offering this vision of transformation. folks can call it a revolution,

but if it is, it is a revolution of care, of democracy. it is a revolution taking power away from corporate interests that extract and exploit our communities and put it back into the hands of everyday people who make this country so strong. host: jennifer epps-addison is joining us from los angeles. glenn is next in louisiana. caller: good morning. how are you? thank you for taking my call. why did president trump refuse the world health organization's tests that were offered? was it because they were not made in america? thank you. host: thank you. guest: i think what you are highlighting is what is the crisis response? what we have heard from vice president biden and senator

sanders is we need to make testing widely available to people. very accessible to people. oureed to ramp up production of test kits. what senator sanders is talking about is not just how we deal with this immediate crisis but how do we not in a moment of crisis have to build scaffolding around our institutions but instead, how do we transform institutions so that when the next crisis comes along we are , better prepared to care for communities? that includes things like calling for a moratorium on utility and eat -- and shutoffs. it includes not just calling for extending paid leave to folks right now but listening to grassroots organizations and workers who have been in campaigns to demand paid sick leave for decades. senator sanders wants to make sure every american has paid sick leave and he wants that to

be permanent. as we look forward to the treatment of this virus and crisis, senator sanders wants to make sure that not just the test is free but the vaccine, if one becomes available, is free, that any treatment and health care people need is free. he wants to make sure nobody will die because they are not sure if they can afford emergency room co-pay. that is the difference in this election and primary. you have two folks who are competent. you have competent people around them, but you only have one candidate saying we need to transform our institutions, to join the rest of the developed world in guaranteeing a universal health care system. we need to look at the folks in taiwan who just moved to a single-payer system. we need to look at south korea and the way they are making testing universally available. we need to look at these systems and learn from them and quickly transform our health care system into one that puts people over

profit. host: they traveled to michigan, tennessee, and elsewhere talking to supporters of president trump. the headline, in a crisis, supporters look to trump more than ever. one of the individuals they talked to is 49 years old, a real estate agent calling all of this a media hoax with regards to the coronavirus. your response. guest: it does not surprise me because president trump himself two weeks ago at a campaign rally was calling the coronavirus a democratic hoax. this is very dangerous. it is one of the reasons why the best protection we have, social distancing, people are having a difficult time. we saw bars were still filled. it is because of the leadership of this administration, who has a press conference with ceos of companies, who tells people not to touch each other and then shakes all of their hands and touches the podium. it is clear we need different leadership.

i believe both vice president biden and senator sanders will be infinitely better than president trump at handling this crisis. what we need is to not have to act in a piecemeal way crisis by crisis. for many families, cancer is their coronavirus. for many families, diabetes is their coronavirus. for many families, having a chronic illness like multiple sclerosis, which my partner has, is their coronavirus. we need a social safety net all the time, not just when there is a global pandemic but for care and community members to be able to care for their families when they are sick and not go bankrupt similar because they are human and get sick. that is the type of system we need. i think we can make that case as more and more people will be touched by this virus. we have seen folks are much more open to a single-payer system,

having just spent a week under the effects of this global pandemic than they were previous. that is good for all of us who believe health care is a human right. host: this from mark who writes american progressives have to learn the lesson that u.k. progressives just learned, that being popular with activists does not necessarily transfer into votes. i know u.s. voters are a disappointment for bernie fans right now, but most folks are moderate. then there is this from a pro trump legal action administration. club for growth, taking aim at senator bernie sanders. let's watch. [video clip] >> in 2016 the dnc rigged it. , 2020, deja vu. they will do anything to stop bernie. the media machine hyping losers. they say bernie cannot win. $600 billion could not get it done now the , billionaires are propping up

joe biden because they own him. do not let them steal it and if they do, remember in november. host: that from club for growth, a supporter of president trump. von in warrensburg, missouri. good morning. good morning, sir. how are you doing? hello? ok. i support bernie because i see him finishing the job of fdr and martin luther king, the job they started in. he is interested in trying to fix things for the people. $15 an hour. manufacturing that. health care cost, they keep talking about. how much is that? $6 trillion a year times 10 years is what? $60 trillion. can you imagine?

i think the republicans are going to say, what are we going to do here? we want to trade one crook for another? they believe that joe biden is a crook. when in the world did we get to the point where we accept mediocrity? whatever happened -- in particular, i am black. all of my black people out there, when did we start accepting we cannot do it, so let's not even try? thank you. that was so powerful. i want to connect with you may be off-line as well. at the end of the day, i appreciate what you brought in about our black social movement tradition. it is true that during the 1964 march for jobs and freedom, martin luther king jr. called for a two dollar living wage, which today would be over $17 an

hour. when people call is radical, we are stepping into the tradition of black freedom fighters and civil rights leaders in this country. martin 13 jr. called for health right. a civil the plan was around building community, ensuring access to food, ensuring access to housing and self-determination. these are the principles carried forward in our vision for this country. you are absolutely right that our families in our communities deserve more. of 1%e the top 1% hoarding so much wealth in this country who are getting tax cut after tax cut by this administration. one point $5 trillion economic stimulus just introduced. when bigle as a nation businesses and corporations are losing profits or when the stock

market is crashing to come together and take decisive action. where is the decisive action for the families who are homeless? where is the decisive action for the students who are burdened by millions of dollars in student debt they are carrying across the country? where is the decisive action for folks who cannot afford their insulin and/or rationing their medication, often times leading to death? we just need politicians who are not bought and paid for by the corporations that harm our families but are independent from them. ,ost: from sterling, virginia michael, supporter of former vice president joe biden. guest: i just wanted to share with the c-span community i believe joe biden has the right compassion and

institutional knowledge to help our country begin the healing process after the amazing damage that has been done over the last four years. this is weird. fromted to do a shout out -- shout out to vaughn. yay, warrensburg. host: let's hear from scott, a supporter of senator sanders. guest: first of all, -- caller: first of all, jennifer is magnificent. i just want to say i could not support voting for joe biden unless bernie sanders where the vp candidate or a position were for bernie. he would tackle climate change, he would tackle tuition free college and medicare for all on behalf of the biden

administration. otherwise, it is perpetuating the same stiff stomach -- same systemic problems. we cannot have incrementalism when we are dealing with climate change. we have already wasted five decades. we cannot keep continuing to procrastinate as i'm sure vice president biden would do. we have with covid-19 is probably the most compelling argument for medicare for all and paid family leave. we have a 50% of families living paycheck-to-paycheck. we still do not have paid sick leave. people horse that continue to go to work, potentially passing on -- people who are sick continue to go to work, potentially passing on the buyers. people who do not go to the doctor will be potential carriers of covid-19.

again, jennifer, i will defer to you, but joe biden will not get my vote. i will vote for the green party candidate again. we cannot have incrementalism. we need approaches such as the green new deal and medicare for all to correct the systemic problems. host: thank you for the call. your response. guest: i think he is bringing up what i a lot of folks are feeling that with the core democratic base, joe biden feels like the safe choice. folks are making that choice -- soe we feel so secure insecure under the trump administration. the reality is there are tens of millions of people who will vote on the democratic line who are not card-carrying members of the democratic party. that includes independence, drink party -- green party

members and folks who are voting for the first time. we need to construct a ticket they can speak to all of those communities. bernie sanders has the most diverse coalition in this race. i think there is a real work to be done to help particularly pragmatic voters have a voice in his campaign. we are thinking a lot about that. when we are looking forward to the general election, i believe senator sanders is the strongest candidate to take on trump. i hear this demand. what this demand is about is about co-governance. it is about the idea that as a party who is multiracial and multiclass and multi geography, we need to be able to negotiate with each other about what our policies are going to be. bernie sanders will likely delivered the majority of his base as he did in 2016, actually more bernie sanders primary

voters voted for secretary clinton than secretary clinton primary voters voted for barack obama. the question on whether we are going to go out and volunteer for this campaign, door knock and send text messages, donate ar hard-earned money for biden ticket, that i think remains to be seen. it is 100% upon vice president biden to bring the progressive wing of the party with him and also to select a vice presidential candidate that can speak to progressives, that has progressive bona fides. i went to reiterate i am concerned the only names he seems to bring up as of yet are people who are prosecutors, people who are from or sheriffs, i think that is a losing ticket if donald trump gets to run to the left of bernie sanders on criminal justice reform. host: the website is popular

democracy.org. co-executive and director for the center of popular democracy running us from los angeles. >> pence andesident mike the white house coronavirus task force are about to give reporters an update on the outbreak. you are watching live coverage, here on c-span.

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>> who we are already seeing over the impact --we are already seeing over the weekend of the impact on american daily lives, and that's why there's more and more questions at the white house about what exactly this administration is going to do to encourage or more explicitly require americans to practice that social distancing we have heard so much about for the last several days. there are active discussions at the white house, i am told, about ways the administration could do that, but not serious consideration at this point yet about effectively mandating them as a national lockdown. questions about that were posed this morning, after dr. anthony fauci, one of the top public health officials in this government, suggested he would like to see more active, serious efforts from this administration to encourage that social distancing. he did not rule out the

possibility of a national lockdown. all this coming as we see state and local officials so far have been taking the lead on putting those types of restrictions in place. we just saw the governor of illinois announce -- >> we are waiting for vice president mike pence to give an update on the coronavirus outbreak. meanwhile, state and city officials are taking new precautions across the country. d.c. mayor murial bowser issued new-- muriel bowser issued restrictions, with no more bar seating and no more than six people seated at a table, and suspended nightclub operations. the governors of illinois and ohio announced they are closing all bars and restaurants in response to the coronavirus but will allow deliveries and carry out orders to continue.

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while we wait for vice president mike pence to give an update on the coronavirus outbreak, some other news from "washington journal." the mayor of teaneck, new jersey is asking for all residents to self-quarantine and only leave their homes to get food and medicine. they are also enacting new procedures at the white house regarding the press corps. we talked about that situation

on "washington journal." usmeredith mcgraw is joining on the phone covering the white house for "politico." a change yesterday in terms of those entering the white house for briefings and a change again today. what happened? >> yeah, it was a rather surreal scene at the white house yesterday. reporters had their temperatures taken before going into the briefing room and one was turned away because they had a low-grade fever. but it shows you how the white house is now taking special precautions, to make sure no one who might have the virus is exposing other people, in really close quarters. the briefing room is jam-packed with people who sit right next to each other. so a really fascinating thing to watch unfold there. host: the story impacting so many lives.

the update from the white house yesterday, the president after a lot of back-and-forth did get tested and results came back negative, correct? guest: right. the president's response to this seems to be evolving in real time as the virus spreads. even to people he's been in contact with, trump announced he was tested finally for the virus. those results came back negative. aid, it president s seems he was tested some point on friday after a conversation with dr. conley, the white house physician, who said the president showed no symptoms. beenhe president has around people who have tested positive for this virus and even the rnc chairwoman ronna mcdaniel, who is now self-quarantining after she was potentially exposed and developed flulike symptoms.

yesterday. and she was tested, but we do not know the results yet. host: a headline from fox news. confirmation that 10 u.s. service members have the virus. this is impacting every aspect of americans lives, the military, the economy, churches, schools. is the white house prepared for the significant economic impact this will have in the months ahead? guest: the white house right now is working to try to mitigate some of the economic damage this will do. you have seen the president and vice president meeting with industry leaders to talk about what exactly they can do to help them, in advance. they've talked about bailout packages. they have been in deep discussions particularly with industry leaders, from industries that will be hit very hard. airlines for example, cruise

liners, the travel industry, entertainment industry, people like that. -- to talk about food shortages, things like making sure our shelves are stocked up with things like hand sanitizer, every day needs that people have. and then of course, the white house working with congress to make sure that americans have the resources they need, that if they are out of work they do not miss a paycheck. the president said he is in support of the coronavirus aid package passed by the house and now has been sent to the senate, so they can review those provisions. things likelude free testing for people who are uninsured, but also acknowledges d securitye foo

creasing, andnd in addresses some of the financial concerns. the question, with it be enough? host: this is a headline from painnew york times, sa imposes a nationwide lockdown to fight the coronavirus. in france, a restaurants, cafes, clubs and cinemas are shut down, and a lockdown in italy. is this possible in the u.s.? could we face this in the days ahead? guest: it is certainly a possibility. watching has some of these other countries have dealt with it. we just put a new travel ban, starting monday, adding the u.k. and ireland in addition to european countries, new travel restrictions. of course, u.s. citizens can still return from those

countries, but they will have to go through screening with enhanced security and things like that. but we know that one of the things that works in terms of preventing the spread, of course, is just people self-quarantining and social distancing, things we have seen dr. fauci and others talk aobut, these very specific health measures, making sure that if a community is impacted, that sc down and people stay home to try to prevent the spread, and i do think what we are seeing abroad is not out of the realm of possibility, and there have been grumblings of things like domestic travel restrictions. i know vice president pence is speaking with governors on monday, and i'm going to guess

that's one of the things that will come up. host: and in the more immediate future, they will be a briefing today scheduled for 5:00 eastern time. what else are you expecting? guest: the briefing today, one thing to keep an eye on, of course, is the house bill passed. the president put his stamp of approval on it, but mitch mcconnell, senate majority leader, said they are going to have to review some things. iswhen that passes something i have on my radar for monday. host: meredith mcgraw covers the white house for "politico." we thank you for being with us, this sunday. guest: thanks for having me.