coronavirus containment center a defined area just outside of new york city now has america's biggest cluster of cases and the governor is even sending in the national guard. the president's team is working on containment and detecting more cases as the u.s. passes 1,000 coronavirus cases with deaths mounting the virus is causing serious and growing disruptions for the nation's airlines. several announcing more flight cancellations. and big cuts in airfares two weeks ago joe biden's campaign was on life support but after yesterday's six-state vote the nomination appears to be his to lose and something to make you

smile this wednesday one couple's public displays of affection that had fans cheering for decades. "early today" starts right now good wednesday morning i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. schools, houses of worship, and other gathering places will be closed for two weeks in a suburb just outside of new york city after it became a hot spot for the coronavirus. state officials have implemented a one-mile containment area around new rochelle, new york. the move comes after more than 100 cases of the china-borne illness have been reported in that area. new york's governor called new rochelle the most significant cluster in the country but he also insisted that containment is not a lockdown. nbc's ron allen has more >> reporter: the heart of new rochelle, a city of? 70,000 just north of new york, virtually on lockdown because of what governor cuomo says is the largest cluster of coronavirus cases in the country at least 108 and surging higher more than double the number in

new york city. >> this is literally a matter of life and death that's not a overly rhetorical statement. >> reporter: now state health officials ordering a containment zone, a circle with a one-mile raidious center add round a local synagogue where the rabbi and other congregants have tested positive, enclosing the majority of cases in the city. for the next two weeks several schools, houses of worship and other large institutions closed. small businesses like restaurants and food stores still open >> it is very important to clarify that this is not an exclusion or quarantine zone no one is prohibited from entering or leaving the area >> reporter: the national guard will deploy to help clean necessary buildings, deliver supplies to residents in the zone >> i really couldn't believe that it happened i've never experienced anything like this. >> reporter: local officials urging calm, saying the guard will not be establishing military-like checkpoints. many of the case linked to a new rochelle resident and his family a lawyer hospitalized in

critical condition with underlying health issues his wife and two children have also tested positive hundreds here who may have been in contact with the infected residents already have self-quarantined >> i think there's a lot of confusion right now, especially because we're not really aware what's going on. >> reporter: even some of the people here who have self-quarantined say they have not yet been tested. so the plan is to bring a mobile satellite lab here near the containment zoenl to test people on the spot and get results almost immediately so they can understand the full extent of the problem. officials have long warned that more testing will likely reveal more cases of the virus. so the numbers here could very likely go up phillip? >> all right, ron, thank you the trump administration is ramping up efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak vice president mike pence will meet with hospital and health care industry leaders at the white house this afternoon to talk about the response so far then he will join a meeting with president trump and top bankers about the financial impact of the outbreak nbc's tracie potts joins us with the latest from d.c. and tracie, the administration

is still grappling with how to deal with this crisis. >> reporter: exactly you mentioned the meeting with the health care workers today. some of the largest ones have already announced that they will waive co-pays for coronavirus testing, but democrats particularly are pushing for more they want the testing to be free we'll see those meetings happening today as we now top 1,000 cases overnight in the united states. president trump pushing for a payroll tax cut, a big one he says, to try to put a little bit more money in workers' wallets but democrats are pushing back saying they want more people-focused efforts, that the payroll tax cut won't help a lot of people. like shift workers, for example. the president trying to urge calm here, telling people that all of this will eventually go away >> we're taking this unbelievably seriously and i think we're doing a really good job again, the task force headed up by the vice president has been fantastic. testing has gone very well when people need a test they can

get a test when the professionals need a test, when they need tests for people, they can get the test. it's gone really well. >> reporter: so that's not the case everywhere. doctors in other places still reporting that they do not have tests available. the government says they'll have 4 million available by the end of this week >> some reassuring numbers with that tracie, thanks let's turn now to the global effort to contain the coronavirus. in south korea reports of new cases have been slowing down recently, but now at least 50 people working at a call center in seoul have tested positive. and that's raised concerns about further spread in the densely populated capital. south korea has been one of the hardest-hit areas outside of china be where numbers of new cases there have also been dwindling. nbc's ali arouzi joining us from london good morning another hard-hit area is italy where we continue to see this unprecedented lockdown in place. >> reporter: good morning, phillip. that's right an entire country of 60 million

people in lockdown over 10,000 people have tested positive in italy. deaths are on an upward spiral now at 631 that's the highest mortality rate outside of china. now, italy has extended its emergency coronavirus measures throughout the country, which includes travel restrictions and a ban on public gatherings no nightlife and people have been told to keep at least three feet away from each other. another hot spot, phillip, is iran, where 8,042 people have tested positive for the virus with 291 more deaths many people in iran are self-isolating at home avoiding going out as far as they can bustling cities have turned into ghost towns. the leader in iran, ayatollah khamenei, has captured his speech on the 23rd of march. that's the first time in 30 years he's done so and what's also astonishing,

phillip, in iran is the number of officials who have tested positive or died of coronavirus. at least three dozen officials have tested positive and at least 11 former and current officials have died. and here in the uk the health minister, nadine doris, has also been diagnosed with coronavirus. she is the first mp to test positive she says she's taken all the advice and precautions and she's finding out who she's been in contact with before. but last thursday she attend a reception at downing street hosted by the prime minister phillip? >> we're learning the coronavirus does not care about status ali arouzi for us in london. thank you, sir and as the coronavirus continues to spread globally, the nation's airlines say they're being hit hard because of the outbreak. many passengers have canceled flights to affected areas. airlines have waived change fees and even dropped prices in an effort to encourage flying here's nbc's com tom costello.

>> reporter: it's an all-out effort to convince airline passengers that planes are clean and safe in a video released delta unveiling a new fogging disinfectant >> disinfectant sticks to surfaces as soon as it's applied. it's highly effective against many communicable diseases including coronaviruses. >> reporter: the coronavirus effect has been fast and devastating for the airlines planes half empty with business and families canceling travel plans. the ceo of delta airlines said they'll have to park some planes >> we have seen a 25% to 30% decline in net bookings and are prepared for it to get worse >> reporter: delta, american and united all cutting back on both u.s. and international flights the ceo of southwest now says the coronavirus is having a greater impact on travel than 9/11 >> 9/11 wasn't an economically driven issue for travel. it was more fear quite frankly and i think that that's really what's manifested this time. >> reporter: the nation's airlines insist america is still open for business.

with airlines dropping airfares well into the summer new york to atlanta, 46% cheaper. san francisco to new orleans, 60% off. l.a. to denver, down 73% >> we've seen a shift in demand away from international defendants-nations toward more domestic destinations. >> reporter: while airlines are waiving ticket change and cancellation fees congress is warning most travel insurance policies do not cover the coronavirus scenario because that threat was pretty well known as of mid january. frances? >> tom, thank you. joe biden is pulling ahead in the race for 2020, leaving senator bernie sanders with a narrowing path to the nomination the former vice president claimed a decisive victory in michigan, the biggest prize of the night. that state went to sanders back in 2016. nbc news is projecting that biden will also win the idaho, mississippi, and missouri

primaries, adding to his delegate lead over the vermont senator. right now biden is at 836 delegates, sanders is at 686 washington state still too close to call at this hour nbc exit polls show late-deciding voters once again broke for biden, just like on super tuesday. and in michigan key groups fueled biden's victory there our exit polls show big support from union voters. he also won 2/3 of black voters and a similar a voters 45 years of age and older his win followed a tense exchange over gun rights at a detroit auto plant >> joe biden now aims to build on his lead next tuesday when arizona, florida, illinois, and ohio head to the polls >> a lot of us have been on a

mild streak with the weather let's see who's getting what in the first check with nbc meteorologist janessa webb >> good morning. feeling spring-like, almost summer-like in portions of the south, but now things are starting to pick up. we do have some isolated showers across the northeast they're making their way offshore we're watching our next storm system coming out of the northern tier of the u.s you can see minneapolis dealing with a little bit of snow, but that's going to combine with another storm system increasing the potential for severe weather, going into tomorrow across the tennessee and mississippi valley but spring-like temperatures from san antonio all the way to tampa in the lower 80s

it can't be warm forever, right? >> we hope so. but that's not the real deal >> we do have a cold front coming in. we'll see when temperatures change mma champion conor mcgregor has donated $1 million to families of first responders mcgregor announced he's making the donation to new york's steven sillier tunnel to towers foundation, which supports families of firefighters and law enforcement ofrsers who were killed in the line of duty the fighter also pledged to donate $5 for every case sold of his proper number 12 irish whiskey every year to those first responders still ahead, wall street's big swing back into the green. > d harvey weinstein set to learn his sentence today as new details emerge do your sneezes turn heads? ♪ try zyrtec. zyrtec starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day.

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affleck was on harvey weinstein's so-called red flag list according to newly unsealed court documents, weinstein kept a list of people he was concerned could talk to the media about his sexual conduct with women it was a wild day on wall street as investors weighed the trump administration's proposed coronavirus stimulus plan. [ bell ringing ] after some big swings the dow closed up more than 1,100 points, recovering a chunk of monday's losses. the s&p gained 135 and the nasdaq added 333 russian leader vladimir put zinn one step closer to being president for life mr. putin endorsed a proposal from russian lawmakers that would reset the constitution's term limit clause to zero. this would allow the 67-year-old to remain in power for an additional two six-year terms. he's been in power for 20 years. the legislation must still ab proved by russia's constitutional court and a nationwide reverend rum in

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their mistake. tough habit to break >> it is >> social graces >> hard to break the spread of the coronavirus has also led to a lot of spread of misinformation. daniel radcliffe had to shut down claims that he tested positive for the virus a false claim about the actor was shared hundreds of times on twitter before it was finally taken down he's not the first to be faced with this problem. a group of restaurants in l.a.'s koreatown say business has dropped there by about 50% after a false rumor was spread on social media joining us now to discuss this here in studio we've got nbc legal analyst danny cevallos good morning can we see any legal fallout from these rumors we see being spread >> yes some of these statements can be defamatory if they are false and they injury someone's reputation or they cause them money harm, money damages, something a plaintiff would have to prove. but there's a special category of def-nation.

historically if you accuse someone of a crime falsely or you falsely state they have what's been traditionally called a loathsome zpaez you can tedis tell it's an old term. but society's perception of that has changed. something in one of those categories is called def-nation per se, and the larger didn't require you to prove you loved any money. you have a case. >> let's try to draw some lines and make a difference. two things the difference between a person like the daniel radcliffe thing and an institution like a business or a restaurant and if somebody is joking does that make a difference, if they're joking or they really believe they're sharing information that's true? >> defamation has to be of a person generally speaking. it can be of a group if it's a very ascertainable group fk you can tell who the group is by the way the person talks about them but generally speaking it protects the reputation of a living person. dead people cannot be defamed,

believe it or not. going forward if you're going to make these comments and going to say it was a joke later on you need to make sure it was pretty clear at the time of it was a joke, understood to be a joke and that it was not a statement of fact that someone can proffer false zbrip guess a good rule of thumb is don't tweet out anything, don't take pictures, anything that is not helpful at a time like this >> tweet ways about ways to keep yourself healthy, washing hands, things like that don't tweet about your co-worker who you think has coronavirus. it's generally not a good idea to even guess at that type of thing. >> for some people it is tempting because they want to make light of it it is aserious thing but then it can cross the line. thank you for the breakdown. >> yeah, thanks for getting up early with us. that was dan cevallos, nbc legal analyst. still ahead a major sports retailer pulls guns from hundreds of its stores one coleup's public display

of affection had fans cheering for decades. we'll have more when we come right back it was like that feeling when you go to high-five a coworker, and you do a perfect high-five. everyone is really excited for you because it was such a great high-five. and then... ...the boss comes in. and she wants one too. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. fifteen minutes could save you ♪all strength, we ain't stoppin' believe me♪ ♪go straight till the morning look like we♪ ♪won't wait, we're taking everything we wanted we can do it♪ ♪all strength, no sweat t minus ten seconds eggo homestyle waffles.

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today's top stories, the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc in america cases have now surged to over 1,000 with 30 confirmed deaths new jersey has reported a 69-year-old man as its covid-19-related death and california has reported a third death. the spread of the virus is affecting public gatherings as well the new york auto show and coachella 2020 have officially been rescheduled and on tuesday bernie sanders and joe biden both canceling rallies. the democratic national committee announcing there will be no live audience at this sunday's democratic presidential debate dr. phil and wendy williams have

canceled their live audiences as well city officials in philadelphia have scrapped plans for their st. patrick's day parade oo. now at dick's sporting goods a plan to remove guns from another 440 stores this year the company made the announcement as it reported holiday quarter earnings and sales, which showed more people fauld to its stores for athletic footwear and apairing. the retailer delayed decided to scale back on gun sales a few days after the deadly shooting scoot shooting in parkland, florida in 2018. after initially receiving backlash sales have steadily grown. ride sharing companies have been the way to go for a while now. but your ride can take a turn for the worse if you leave things behind at uber. the company has released its lost and found index the report ranks items passengers have been leaving behind phones the number one most forgotten item most uniquely water bought sxlz glasses too. you see the list right there turns out people from lubbock, texas, oxford, mississippi, college station, you see frez

roe in modesto, california, they forget their stuff more than any other cities in the nation >> college towns >> that's right. a couple sharing their affection on the kiss cam for decades in chicago receiving a special tribute. here's nbc's kevin tibbles with more >> first shot for the blackhawks >> reporter: the action on the ice was between chicago and st. louis. but it was the kiss cam that brought the crowd to its feet. 92-year-old rose lee deutsch in her usual perch above the ice. missing on this special night, her husband of 70 years earl earl and rose lee were regular romantics during kiss cam segments on the stadium jumbotron. >> who is the best kisser? >> my husband. >> reporter: season ticket holders for 60 years earl served his country in the navy in world war ii a father, a grandtarget and a great grandfather. when earl recently passed away at the age of 93, more than

21,000 fans said thank you >> he was your star. >> all the time. >> reporter: two college sweethearts whose affection melted the ice and made everyone's heart beat a little faster ♪ and then he (director's voice) quiet, people! and cue rachael ray. hey friends! today we're whipping up some delicious recipes. we've got rustic duck stew and creamy seafood bisque. so? who's hungry? (barking, meowing) i said, who's hungry!? (barking, meowing)

pets love rachael ray™ nutrish® because it's made from kitchen-inspired recipes. with real meat, poultry or fish. i love good eaters. rachael ray nutrish. real recipes. real ingredients. real good.® good morning to you. it is wednesday. thanks for joining us on "today in the bay." i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. developments in the coronavirus outbreak are changing by the hour. before we get to the weather and traffic, here's the latest on the coronavirus outbreak. the number of confirmed cases across the country and here in the bay area are growing. >> in the u.s. more than 1,000 cases and 30 people have died. in the bay area there are 90 and santa clara county has the highest number and the only bay area death. >> at the port of oakland hundreds of passengers on "grand in