seen the way these people drop everything and are rolling into this effort, there are these uniforms atese blue the points of distribution, these community centers. i know they have the thanks of this president. >> [indiscernible] thet's easy to follow federal response to the c-span.cus outbreak at om. watch briefings and hearings with public health specialists.

anytime, unfiltered, at c-span.org/coronavirus. political a senior analyst for third way, which is what? >> it is that think tank based in washington dc. advance modern, ambitious ideas to move the country forward. >> if you could put this week into perspective as a country in terms of our politics. >> it has been a to mulches week, to say the least. that spans our politics, our economy, and the everyday lives of americans. our economy two weeks ago was humming along in terms of the overall national indicators. now we may be headed into a potential recession nationally and globally. looking back two weeks, in our

politics, we thought the democratic nominee might be bernie sanders but now it is all but certain that joe biden will be leading the party forward. host: in terms of the impact on this country, we have had past crises, whether 9/11 or pearl harbor. this is one of those that is directly impacting every american one way or another. guest: absolutely. we see it touching every community across the country, from big cities like washington, d.c. and new york and seattle but also small communities and spreading far and wide. communities and spreading far and wide. host: what happens next in terms of what the president needs to do and what congress is currently doing? guest: the first thing for everyone is to expand testing. i think it is shameful that we have not scaled up our testing

of the coronavirus to the scale we have seen in south korea and other countries around the world . until we have a sense of how bad the problem is and how fast it is spreading, i do not think aud actions taken by the government. host: there is this on our facebook page. this represents what we are hearing from a lot of viewers. she says, president trump is doing an outstanding job considering the news media is hyping this to the extreme. every winter, we go through the flu season. this year is no different. last year, we lost 8600 people to the flu, but you did not hear that because the media were not in your face with it 24 hours a day, seven days a week. it will be gone in a couple weeks and will return next year. what you say to her and viewers like that? guest: what we know is that the

coronavirus is about 10 times more deadly than the annual flu. it spreads at about twice the rate. any person who contracts the virus is likely to spread it to about twice as many people as your run of the mill every day common flu that folks get from year-to-year. i know it is comforting for some people to use the common flu as a reference point, but it looks like we are dealing with a different beast. this is from a republican who served in the george w. bush administration. he has been a critic of the president. the trump presidency is over. he writes, the president is not responsible for the coronavirus or the disease it causes. the president and his administration are responsible for grave, costly errors, most

especially the manufacturing failure of diagnostic testing, the decision to test too few people, the delay in expanding testing to labs, and problems outside the supply chain. created aakes have false sense of security. we now know is the coronavirus silently spread for several weeks without us being aware of it. mitigation and efforts could have significantly slowed its spread at an early, critical point. we frittered away that opportunity. it has taken longer than it should have, but americans have now seen the con man behind the curtain. donald trump is shrinking before our eyes. the president will become more desperate, more embittered, more unhinged. he knows nothing will be the same. his administration may stagger on, but it will only be a shell. theatlantic.com.

guest: that is a persuasive case. what i know, and to distill that down to a few sentences, is that we knew this virus was upon us globally in early january. we saw the first signs of it in china. it is now march. last week, the president said he bears no responsibility for the current state we are in. 2.5 months, and he still claims he bears no responsibility, and that is shameful. host: he did early on shutdown travel between the u.s. and china, which did reduce cases in this country. guest: certainly there were some actions to shut down some flights and limit some people coming into the country. transit through taiwan and other areas. host: there is something new in town, bipartisanship, where speaker pelosi is dealing with secretary mnuchin.

we heard from republican leader mitch mcconnell on this bill that will be taken up in the senate this week. guest: i think there is some positive elements to the bill, including paid leave, free testing. all the actions we can marshal right now to take on this critical threat to our country is positive. host: we are dividing our phone lines. if you support former vice president joe biden, call (202) 748-8000. if you support senator bernie sanders, (202) 748-8001. if you are not sure, (202) 748-8002. we will get more of your calls in a moment. from yesterday's briefing at the white house, this is from vice president mike pence on new travel restrictions. [video clip] >> as the president foreshadowed today, the president has made a decision to suspend all travel to the united kingdom and ireland, effective midnight monday night eastern standard time.

willful describe the details of that. as the president suggested, our health experts will reflect on those numbers made a unanimous recommendation to the president that we suspend all travel to the u.k. and ireland. that will be effective midnight, monday night eastern standard time. americans in the u.k. or ireland can come home. home.residents can come they will be funneled through specific airports and processed. host: this headline from the new york times says europe faces a crisis as the virus spreads. the vice president very clear to make sure what it means for americans because there was confusion wednesday with the president's speech from the oval office. guest: is causing a surge in airports. we saw it yesterday in dallas-fort worth, in chicago, a

real surge of americans coming back into the country. they were unsure if they would be able to at a later date. that is causing four to six hour waits at your cargo hair last night going through customs. host: let's talk about the politics behind this. there is a debate between the former vice president and senator bernie sanders. right now, joe biden is ahead in tuesday's primary states. guest: the bottom line looking at the numbers is joe biden is likely to be the democratic nominee. there is not a viable path forward for senator sanders to secure the nomination. it comes down to the math. if you look at where we are in the process now in terms of delegates allocated, we are halfway through the process. senator sanders has secured about 37% of the delegates he

would need to win the nomination. the numbers are not there for him. host: let's look at those poles again. joe biden and bernie sanders debating tonight. look at the lead the former vice president has. about 65.5 percent of florida democrats supported joe biden. 23% support bernie sanders. this is taken between the fifth and the 12th. in arizona, joe biden at 48%. at 60%.ois, joe biden finally, the real clear politics average in ohio, biden is 57%. if these numbers hold true, where is it senator bernie sanders wednesday? former vice now,

president joe biden leading by 200 delegates. looksse numbers hold, it like the former vice president will expand his delegate lead by another 200 delegates or so. we will be looking at a place former vice president is over halfway to the democratic nomination. bernie sanders has fallen further behind. host: we are hearing from those of you who support the former vice president or senator sanders. amy, who is your candidate? >> -- caller: i am supporting bernie sanders. i feel he is the only one with the platform to address issues like this coronavirus. now andobamacare right we see even with obamacare, which biden says he will not fight to keep and protect, obamacare is not meeting the need of the american people.

class.rushing the middle if you are making between 40000 and $60,000 a year and have employer health insurance, you have a $6,000 deductible. you have $500 to $1000 premiums if you want to cover your family. that is even with health insurance. virus is hopefully going to , to reallye to look see the shortcomings of needcare and realize we the aggressive approach that bernie sanders is going to take toward our health care. i also hope everyone watches the debates tonight to see bernie sanders is the only candidate

that has the mental acuity and cognitive ability to be president. host: we will give our guest a chance to respond. democrats,ink all all those running for president and those still left in the race, acknowledge the status quo is not acceptable on health care come on a range of issues. joe biden and every democrat in the race wanted to and have put forward plans to expand on obamacare, whether a public option or other means of reform. in terms of what is resonating with democratic voters, i like to look at what worked in 2018. the playbook the democrats ran on was pretty simple. it was reducing health care costs, expanding economic

opportunity, and taking on corruption in washington that gets in the way of progress. that is what joe biden is running on this year. see it is resonating with voters. our guest is a political analyst with third way. @est: they can follow me ryanpougiales on twitter. caller: my comment is about joe biden. i like him because of his experience but feel bernie sanders has a ralph nader spirit that no matter what he is going to split the party. response.ill get a guest: i think senator sanders does not have a viable path forward to the nomination in 2020, but he can play a

proactive and constructive role in the primary and general election. he speaks with real passion about a number of issues that all democrats care about and brings moral clarity to issues like climate change. he can play a positive role by continuing to talk about these issues and talking about how all democrats are committed to our shared goals and taking them on. any chance joe biden would consider him as a running mate? guest: the vice president and senator sanders have made reference to they probably do not need another older white men on the ticket. who is your candidate in this race, barbara? i am in the not sure category. with bernie about

how he is going to pay for a lot of the things that he is proposing and everything like that. concerned with maybe he does not seem to be really on it on some of his discussions. and then i am concerned about ukraine andn with stuff like that. i do not know for sure. those are my questions when i am considering burning or joe -- bernie or joe. guest: what we know is that by the best estimates senator woulds's proposals

account for $60 trillion over the next 10 years. voters know that is not going to happen. they know it would result in increases in taxes, which is something they do not want. thatis one of the factors moved a lot of voters away from senator sanders to joe biden. is continuing to shape this race. host: this is from "the l.a. times." it is available online. democrats have given one answer, a candidate who makes their hearts race. not this time. if democrats have long been accused of wanting a savior president and staking everything on the presidential elections while ignoring the rest, this election may mark a turning point. anyhe biden wave is

indication, democrats are no longer looking for that kind of perfection. know, and this dates back to when our organization started doing public opinion on this, is that the issue democrats care about more than anything else is beating trump in 2020. that overrides personal policy preferences, even their feelings about different candidates. what has been clear throughout the race is that joe biden is perceived as the strongest choice to take on and beat trump. that is one of the factors that rally soldiers behind him. host: let's go to larry in michigan. caller: i am a sanders supporter. i am a 76-year-old american support and i

single-payer health care system because i think that is the only way they will ever straighten up this medical in this country. medical,ways had good but the way i was raised in west virginia, when i was a kid, if you did not work for the coal mines or somebody that provides insurance, your service for health care was terrible. that is all i have to say. host: thank you. guest: thanks, larry. what we know is that voters' priority is to reduce health care costs. that is partially rooted in 90% to 92% americans currently have health care coverage. we need to expand coverage to that remaining percent that do

not have health care coverage. every democrat in the race has committed to that goal of reaching universal coverage. in terms of where we put priorities on health care as an ,ssue, it is reducing the cost which is the most important priority for most americans and the most widely shared priority as well. david from west virginia, supporter of joe biden. caller: i support joe biden. the mainstream media is behind joe biden and the democratic party. gets 20 in the senate, where they cannot be filibustered, he can fix the problems, immigration, make the rich pay their share of taxes. he can fix medical problems. he can bring the country together. day, what happens

the first two years of the obama-biden administration? he had the full house, the senate. none of this stuff happened that they promised. do we think any of it would be done again? how can you good night the country if you did not unite the country -- president trump would not be president. there are a lot of big issues to tackle going forward. joe biden has committed to addressing climate change. we were justas talking about, is a another top focus. is there are serious structural challenges in taking on washington. joe biden has shown in his past as a senator and vice president

that he is able to bring folks together across the aisle and get progress done. jennifer rubin in the washington post had this to say about senator bernie sanders. remaining in the race is not just bad form. it is ethically questionable. he is continuing to take money from ordinary people, some of modest means, on the premise that he can still win. what justification is there for cajoling the- working poor to give him a few dollars? project.ding a vanity the key question for senator sanders is not if he drops out or when. it is how he leaves the race. there are a number of positive steps he can take to leave in a way that will help bring democrats together rather than splinter supporters often not

vote or vote for trump, like we saw in 2016. host: there is a debate tonight airing on cnn. it will re-air tomorrow on the c-span network. is there a sense that if he does lose the states tuesday that we could see a withdrawal? guest: i think that decision rests with senator sanders alone. . -- that is correct. it will be increasingly clear that he does not have a viable path to the nomination after tuesday. that will cause our choices for him and his campaign. host: he had a strong early november, winning convincingly in new hampshire and iowa. guest: he won those two pockets and primaries. what we saw in new hampshire is his support dropped more than half since 2016. he did manage to eke out a small , but hispete buttigieg

absolute level of support fell quite a bit from four years ago. host: let's go to lorraine in west virginia. caller: good morning. i have given money to three campaigns, which is buttigieg, sanders, and biden. now we are down to biden and sanders. i lean toward bernie sanders because of his policy. watchingllowed bernie your show for years. the reason i think he is staying in the race is he wants his priorities put into biden. i do not want just joe biden the way he is. i am tired of the dnc. i am tired of the way things are. i think most people across this country are tired of being told what to do. that is what is happening. host: i also meant to mention nevada. sanders will have

an important voice through the remainder of the primary as well as in the general election. he will elevate those issues important to him. the thing that is a blessing and challenge about democratic politics is we have a diverse coalition ideologically. that push and pull on issues makes a stronger. host: we will go to newark, california. caller: good morning. i am leaning toward bernie sanders. i like joe biden. . like his experience but i do not think he will push the issues as hard as bernie sanders. the last caller said, i have been listening to bernie sanders ring up these same issues for the past 25 years or so. i am pretty sure if he is

elected, he will push the envelope to make sure our quality of life is improved. host: thank you for the call. brings uphink rae some important points. senator sanders has been talking about many of the same things for decades, and he has not managed to get a lot done. that is something voters are beginning to recognize and acknowledge. and why they are looking toward a joe biden, perhaps >> this week on q&a, steve inskeep talks about his book, imperfect union, which chronicles john and jesse fremont, who went to the american west in 1842 and helped

usher in the california gold rush. after that, prime minister's questions from the british house of commons. the government's response to the outbreak. ♪ susan: steve inskeep, your book is entitled "imperfect union: how john and jesse fremont mapped the west, invented celebrity, and helped cause the civil war." why did you believe the story of a 19th-century power couple would have resonance today? steve: it is a story leading up