captioning sponsored by newshour productions, ll >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff.r on the newshnight, the federal government grapples with the fallout from covid-19, new york state sets up a containment zone and morschools across the country send students home. then, voters in six states head to the polls, as joe biden and bernie sanders battle it out for the democratic presidential nomination. plus, coronavirus and the crown. to a united kingdom preparing for the outbreak, where reactions range from the scrupulous to the skeptical. >> football's got to continue. you can't stop things, you cannot stop your way of living because of a virus that's only killed a few people at this mont in time. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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learn more, go tos you. consumercellular.tv >> the john and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributstns to your pbs ion from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: on the covid-19 front tonight, the u.s. deatho toll rises, with more than 800 confirmed cases, up from 600 on monday. officials order new cancellations, closures and

quarantines, congress and the president huddle on softening the econic blow. the biden and sanders campaigns cancel rallies tonight in ohio.t an stock market recovers half its losses from a day earlier. amna nawaz begins our coverage. >> nawaz: after monday's steep sell off... signs of recovery oa street, as investors reacted to new efforts to slow the spread of covid-19. in new york, some of the strongest measures yet. >> it is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster of cases in the country. >> nawaz: governorndrew cuomo sent the national guard into new rochelle, outside new york city, and closed schools and businesses in a one-mile radius for two weeks. >> new rochelle has more than double the cases of new york city. i mean it's a phenomenon.>> awaz: also today, north carolina joined colorado in

imposing a statewide emergency. in all, more than two-thirds of states in the u.s. now have confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, with the majority in washington state. inelympia, governor jay ins warned that more cases are coming, raising the risk for seniors. >> remind them that this is not a time to exposing thes to large groups of people in >> nawaz: and, in kld, passengers waitedrn to leave the docked "grand princess" cruise ship and enter meanwhile, in washington, d.c., president trump met with insurance executives, and pledged to help the struggling airline and cruise industries.la ter, he met with lawmakers on capitol hill, they weigh any gislative next steps, still days from coming together. >> there are going to be a number of different things considered in putting tother this package, which as i said before, i pe ends up being a bipartisan bicameral negotiate way forward that will reassure bhers.

>> this should na partisan issue. we want to solve the problem. a 're ready to work with the administration oordinated government-wide focused plan ton reto the coronavirus. >> nawaz: among the options under consideration are: payroll tax relief; help for hourly wage workers; and making testing and treatment more affordable. the president also addressed questions about his own health, under self-quarantine.makers now >> i feel extremely good. i feel very good, but i guess it's not a big deal to get would do.'s something i i spoke to the white house doctor, terrific guy, talented y. he said he sees no reason to do it. there's no symhioms, no an. >> nawaz: one of those lawmakers? arpublican representative mark meadows of northina, tapped to be white house chief of staff. he was exposed to ths at a washington-area conference last week, and announced he would self-isote as a precaution,

even though he tested negative. the avlability of testing kits led questions today, in a hearing with the director of the centers of disease c and prevention. >> any physician that feels there's a need, or public health rson, can order that tes but it was a series of going through that regulatory process to get that test available. >> but i think the conclusion is that ware behind the curve in testing when south korea can test 10,000 people in a day. >> nawaz: overseas, the streets of rome lay quiet as a nationwide travel ban took effect in italy, hard-hit by the virus. >> ( translated ): thiwas the best thing the government could do because people were not respecting the rules. a stronger decision was needed to counter this situation. >> nawaz: at train stations, masked police officers checked documents for all passengers, who had to justify their travel. land announced health checks for travelers crossing its border from germany.ia and, austronducted similar checks along its border with italy.

in china, president xi jinpiur wuhan, the epicenter of the original outbreak, and said the worst there was over. >>translated ): communities i extend greetings and thanks to you and to all the community workers nationwide, including those fighting on the frontline. >> nawaz: and inthouth korea, number of new cases fell to its lowest level iekalmost two we back in the u.s., the markets endured ups and downs, but finished the day finished higher, despite the uncertainty of where the virus will move next. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. street recovered about half of its record losses from monday. the dow jones industrial average gained 1167 points tclose back above 25,000. the nasdaq rose nearly 400 points, and the s&p 500 added 135. all of this, as hopes build for a major economic stimulus package from washington. we get more on the federal government's response now, with our lisa desjardins and yamiche alcindor.>>

oodruff: so yamiche, to you first, what are the options that the president is looking at y what a hearing at the white house? >> well, the president is looking for the fastest possible economic response to the coronavirus, and he's looking at two tracks. first, what he can do individually through some sort of national emergency declaration in the next week or so, and he's also looking at working with congress to negotiate a larger legislative bill on what he can do himself, he's looking at some sort of execive action where he wobed ble to do a couplthing, including giving small businesseswaoans. he alss to give some sort of financial relief to horly workers who have already lost paychecks because they had to self-quarantine. the other thing is he's trying to defer tas,x paymeo you might have between 90 and 180 days to pay the government, which could put money in your pocket short-term. thene's looking at a paroll tax cut that would be between 2%, that would be what presiden1

obama did in 0. larry kudlow is in the white house right now briefing as i speak. he's saying this would be something that would last through the end of the year, but the president is goring up for a fight with democrats on the hill, because some democrats are looks something lissibly that the 2017 tax cut that they sa benefited wealthy people and not working-class individuals some ings to figure out how thet two stem the economic issues that are coming with this virus.oo >>uff: so lisa, it's true that there are some different ideas in theongress. >> right. yamiche and i were seen reporting on the hill today. i think we can safely say there are a lot of ias but not yet a clear focus. democrats and some republins are tical of this payroll tax cuts, because that paycoroll tas and helps social security and medicare. ings are warming up today, but that 2% cut would be over $100 billion in spending. marco rubio told me he thinks this whole package could be3 $00

billion. we're talking very big dollarsu here, tch. other ideas floating, three republicans, senators, raisedea the f including a highway infrastructure bill as part of this. that's something otrs think is not related at all, but you're talking about economic stimulust its the picture. the point is there are a lot of ideas. they don't yet have a real handle on what exactly will help the workers who probably will need it the most. >> woodruff: no doubt, yamiche, the white house trying to deal with concerns, rising concerns on the part of the american people, and fears. the death toll isng up. the number of cases is going up exponentially. >> that's right. white house officials just now said it's adaranteehe numbers of deaths and the number of cases and coronavus will be going up. today president trump when he was visiting the hill was playing sort of calmer in chiefe here's what ad to say. >> we're prepared and we're doina great job with it. it will go away. just stay calm.

it will go away. we want to potected our shipping industry, our cruise industry, cruise ships. we want to potect our airline industry, very important, but everybody has to be vigilant and has to be carul. but be calm. it's really working out. >> there again is the president trying to be calmer in chief. he's trying to tell people, calm wn, take a deep breath, things are going to get better. hasissue is the preside contradicted the health officials working for his own administration. he said at one point that the uld be a miracle, that the cases was going to go down. he was on capitol hill shaking hand hands which is what heaoflh cials said americans should not being this. they should be washing their hands vehemently and frequently. today the president didow acdge the cases will go up. when he was asked about the case possiblyeaching to 10 million americans infected, he didn't tamper that down. het aid, i have seen a different numbers, and i'm telling people the risks continue to be low. >> woodruff: so see is a, right now, what is it, seven members of congress have been

under quaranne. how is the capitol doing in. >> that's again a very mixed picture. inge senators are even jok about. this pat roberts and his aide said he'd like to self-quarantine at mar they're trying to not increase panic, but many staffers say they're not tasng thi seriously enough at the capital. i saw some senators using theiro to hit an elevator button, the truth is they're not really changing thir patrns very much. there are a few fhaer han, some travel going to nato next week, some senators are not gog there, but there ar more serious considerations going on. i can report from multiple sources that the-a sergeaarms at the senate is looking to find an alternate location so the capital itself is seen as no a healthy place for senators to meet. ahat's normal in this kind of situation, but ttells you how high the issue has risen at this point. >> woodruff: interest in the wake of nancy pelosi saying we're goingio keep go no matter what. >> they want a back-up plan.

and on the biden and sanders campaign canceling events in ohio, that's because ohio announced their first cases of coronavirus today. joe bid en expec be in philadelphia instead tonight some this is having that political expect e --ffect that we expected. >> wdruff: a small but growi number of schools around the country are shutting their doors to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus. that includes a number of colleges and universities. it's just a fraction of public elementary and high schools. but so far, more than 620 schools have closed or are scheduled to close, affecting more than 430,000 students. washington state was the early epicenter in the u.s. and john yang has a look at one of the school districts there that decided to take this step. >> yang: the north shore school district, north of seattle insh gton state, has shifted all its classes for its more than 23,500 students from brickc and mortssrooms to the internet for at least two weeks.

michelle reid is t superintendent of the north shore school district. she joins us from seattle. superintendent reid, thanks so much for being with us. in your letter to parents explaining this decision, you said that we are no longer able to pro and maintain an environment that is safe for our city's staff an studentsarn. what led you to that conclusion? well, there are several issues. north shore is uniquely situated with two counties and thwie cities, anin our two counties we have the highest cases and deaths in the united states. we also had a significant number of staff tt met the four so i really could ger safely open and operate school without quality staff supporting the educational ocess in a brick and mortar campus. we also had escalating absentee tes up to 20% just prior to us making the decision to transition school from the classrm to the cloud. and today, as our first day, we were only at 500 students not

able to log again. therefore, we actually are at a 2% absence re. >> yang: how does this actually work? students log in on their computers at home and what happens? utilizing, so we ay have aorm or daily schedule for students. and there are times that they log in for classes and their discussion boards and the teachers have been wor really hard and our supportes pronals to provide lessons and content that has sent in some cases by video and othersac by ad documents and discussion boards. >> yang: was there an issue witn st who didn't have a couter or didn't have internet service at home? >> absolutely. we are a district that has a lot of resourcesmmhat not all ities and districts have. lywe've received approxima 4,000 requests for computer devices and about 300 requests for mobile hotspots, which we've been able to meet.

sa yang: in your letter to the parents, you als that education is a service. it is not a place, but there are certain things that are provided at that place that it usually is, the service is usually provided for instance, i know that 15% of your students qualify for free or reduced lunches, you obviously have students who require have special needs, and there are certain families that have child care issues during the day for younger students in particular. what hpens or what are you doing about those students? >> well, so let me be clear that overriding all of those concerns are the health and safety of our students and staff and our ability to slothe spread of is corona virus, whereas social distancing has been the us.ommendation number on having said that, we have gotte am together and we are providing food today to those

students who have asked for food.'r doing it for brick and mortar sites and also delivering to 16 remote school sites. so all students and families who want or need food as you or rels on tools for food are able to procure food. the sameith child care. we're going to be supporting community sites for child care for those families who require it as long as we can maintain that in the health, you kn, healthy and safe way. so we're trying to continue to provide those servicle we take care of our professional educators and support staff and students by keeping them safe with the sial distancing plan. yang: you said that this is initially going to be for two weeks. at the end of the two weeks, how do you decide whether to go back to the brick and mortar classroom? >> we're going to be evaluating that on a day to day basis. we'll continue tlook at our data and the fact pattern locally and nationally, and we'll make those d cisions as the. our ability to move from c classroom ud and back is going to enable us to continue to be nimble in our decision

making. su yang: michelle reed, rintendent of the north shore school district in washington state. thank you very much. >> thank you. ot>> woodruff: in the day'r news, six more states are having their say in the democratic presidential race, with 352 delegas at stake in today's voting. former vice president joe biden and vermont senator bernie sanders faced off in idaho, michigan, mississippi, missouri, north dakota and washington state. a we'll talor look after the news summary.de a l appeals court has ordered the u.s. justice department to hand over grd jury testimony from the special counsel's russia investigation. a three-judge panel ruled 2-to-1 today thatouse democrats are entitled to the material as part of continuing inprstigations of ident trump.

the case could end up before the u.s. supreme court. in moscow, russia's parliame laid out a path todafor president vlimir putin to stay in power. existing law requires him to step down when his latest six- year term ends iak2024, but las approved a constitutional amendment toch ge that. putin welcomed the move. >> ( translated ): technically, todawe could lift the presidential term limits. such precedents exist in other countries, including our ighbors. in principle, this option would be possible, if the constitutional court gives an official ruling that such an amendment would not contradict the principles and main >> woodruff: putin is 67, andn. has been russia's leader for more than 20 years. if voters apove the proposed constitutional amendment next month, he could stay in powerti 2036. the u.s. general overseeing the middle east warned that taliban attacks on afghan force

have to let u.s. forces marine general fraenzieeed. said the militants must keep attheir part of a bargain calls for cutting u.s. troop levels from 13,000 to about8, 0 by summer. he spoke at a u.s. house hearing that was live-streamed. >> those attacks are relatively a one-on-one scale. they are noect dird against coalition forces. they are not occurring in city centers. they are occurring in isolated but those attacks are occurring. they are not consistent with a movement toward a negotiated settlement. >> woodruff: meanwhile, afghan president ashraf ghani signed a 50cree for the relea of taliban prisoners. it is to begin within four days. and, rired army general jack keane received the presidential medal of freedom today, the nation's highest civiliahonor. president trump presented the medal in a white house cerony. keane haonce served as the army's vice chief of staff.

six states voting, topewshour: contenders. what you need to know on another ght.r primary after brexit, the united kingdom prepares for its next crisis-- the coronavirus >> woodruff: voters in six states will ha their chance to igh in on the democratic presidential primary today. as john ng reports, the two main contenders were on the trail to make their closing arguments, focusing heavily on delegate-rich michigan. >> michigan, i counting on you a big way. >> yang: the democratic enesidential field that once counted in the dis now

down to just two. night, they fa off head-to- head for the first time.>> he people of michigan understand that there are very substantive difference between joe bin and myself. >> yang: six states hit the polls today for a total of 352 delegates-- washington, missouri, mississippi, idaho, north dakota and, the biest delegate prize, michigan. vermont senator bernie sanders scored a narrow, upset win there in 2016 over hillary clinton, propelled in large part by the support of white working class voters. his campaign is counting on holding that support in 2020, but former vice president joe biden is leading in recent polls and has been making inroads with some of those voters.>> all reet didn't build this country. y'all built the country. >> yang: biden met with detroita factory workerier today and stressed his union roots, but he alswas challenged by one voter for his past

statements on guns. >> you are activy trying to diminish our second amendment right and take away our guns. >> you're full of ( bleep ). now, now shush. i support thsecond amendment >> yang: looming over the campaign season markedy handshakes, selfies and jam-packed arenas is the threat of coronavirus. not only did both candidates cancel rallies tonight -- >> use your hand sanitizer. >> yang: last night biden's team offered hand sanitizer to voters entering his detroit event. and at a fox news town hall, sanders id the outbreak strengthens the case for medicare for all. >> you have got millio of people in this country today who may feel that they have a symptom, but you know what? they cannot afford to go to a doctor. >> yang: as voters weigh in in michigan and across the country today, biden and sttders are g their sights on future contests. for the pbs newshour, i'm john ng. >> woodruff: we now get on the ground reports from states

voting today and begin with michigan, the biggest prize of the night, i'm joined from ann arbor by tim alberta, chief political correspondent for politico. tim, great to see r u. thank you ining us. so we know bernie sanders eked it out four years agoat. oes it look like this time? >> well, quite a bit different, judy, to put it mildly i think. this campaign has really in some way brought some clarity to bernie sanders' weaknesses with certain demographic groups, namely african americans andrb su women, and those are two groups that are going to be critical here in michigan.ow you four years ago hillary clinton lost very narrowly in the state despite beating bernie sanders by 40 points among black voters, and if you wonder how that could possibly happen, the answer is because not very many of them showed up. what we're expected to see tonight is a big spike inin vot across the board and

ngrticularly amo african-americans, among suburban women, and really if joe biden can just sort of keep bernie sanders from r running up the score among former vice president isrs, the expected to have i think a very good night here. >>oodruff: what is it that african american voters are saying they see in joe biden? >> you know, more thaanything else, judy, it's a trust that they have in him, and i think by some extension because of the trust that barackdbama pla in him. i was with joe biden last night at a rally in detroit, and it was remarkable to see some of the energy, the enthusiasm among blacvote r joe biden that you just frankly didn't see for hillary clinton four years ago, and when i talked with some of those voters, they essentially all said theame thing -- look, we know this man. wensave a relatp with him. we trust him. people who we trust vouch for him. he's been here tour community in detroit time after time.

he's fought for us. we've gotten to know him. so there is jut an intimacy with joe biden that frankly a lot of these voters have not had with other candidates. >> woodruff: tim alberta with politico. thank you so much. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: and now to >> woodruff: now, to mississippi, winre polls close ust under two hours. i'm joined by adam ganucheau of mississippi today, a non-profito neanization based in jackson. so adam, we've just been listening to tim alberta talk about what th african american voters, what many of them see in jobiden in michigan. what about in mississippi where i believe african americans make up, what, 75% of the8[cratic primary vote? >> that's right, judy. 75%-ish of democratic primary voters in the starate african american. mississippi itself, just in terms of population, has the highest percentage of african american residents of any state ry the cou what tim was saying about michel gone and sort of joe biden's

success, particularly with african americanoters there, is true here. i really do think there is a trust factor here witerh fo vice president biden,. you know, you heaall the time from mississippi voters who have really put a lotof their faith and trust in president obama over the years andertainly by extension vice president biden. you know, hile that's the case, voters here are not mnolithic. no demographic is in ay state, i know this. jack an's mayor, who isn african american seen as a rising star in the national progressive wing of thede cratic party, he endorsed sanders. so, you know, looking here at mississippi, i think we can expect a sizeable victory for biden tonight, but there will be some african american voters who do end up casting their votes for senator sanders tonight. >> woodruff: and just very quickly, you were saying there is what you might call an establishment piece or wing of the democratic vote as well as a

progressive piece. >> that's right, thatow right. you the establishment i'd say the more moderate democrats in mississip certainly have held the power here. that has not anged in thest four years. you can look at four years ago mississippi.nders race in mississippi provided hillary clinton, sort of that cktablishment democratic work her largest margin of victory of any state in the country with 83% t sanders 16.5%. certainly the case.dy, that's there is a progressive faction in this state, but it's just not zeable enough i don't thk to win too many delegates for sanders today. >> woodruff: adam gucheau reporting from jackson, mississippi. thank you, adamen we'll see you later tonight. and now on to >> woodruff: now, to washington state. it has the second-biggest pot of delegates at staken tonight's contests. joining us from seattle is donna blankenship.ti she's the po editor at the pbs member station kcts-9 crosscut.

donna, 89 delegates at stake. bernie sandersid very well ere four years ago. what's it looking like now? >> it's looking... the last polls show they wered, tie bernie sanders and the former vice president, but now we think that joe biden is on the ascension according to our pollster. so it could -- anything could happen, but it looks like late voters a pushing toward biden. >> woodruff: four years ago you had caucuses. t thme you are switching to a primary. how do you think that's affecting... what do yohear from voters about how that may affect things? >> so we're exporting rec turnout. i talked to the secretary of state today, kim wyman. she said she expects 60% oerf regi voters to turn in ballots by the end of today. d last four years ago, the caucuses went for bernie sanders, but the... we also had

a primary, which was just a beauty contest, and it went for hillary clinton. so washington, you just don'tin know what's the happen. we're an interesting state. >> woodruff: no question about it. we'll be watching, but you're absolutely right. you had both the caucuses and the so-called bauty contest primary four years ago. this time it's just no cucuses. >> yeah. that's right. no caucuses. well, there will be caucuses to choose the delegates, but that's just a party function. the actual delegates will be assigned according to the primary vote. >> woodruff: all right. doa blankinship with kcts. very good to see you. thank you so muuh. >> thank . >> woodruff: and >> woodruff: and now, to look at what all of it means for t big 2020 picture, i'm here with amy walter of the "cook political report," and host of public radio's "politics with amy walter." amy, put it all in perspective. we've heard from the fr west, from washington state, from michigan. what do you think?

>> judy, up until ths pont... well, really, let's go back for a second. rp until march it was a race fo momentum. which candidate was going to be able to get a head of steam and use that to mo ave aheand obviously bernie sanders was very successful there. in march it is all about the delegates. and thatsd what super tue was about. and tonight is no different. a big pile of delegates. and the challenge for any candidate in a democratic system is once you're behind, because the way the delegates are it's very hard to catch up. this is the situation that rnie sanders finds himself in. this is why we're talking about the margins that he -- it's not just win, it's the marns he needs to win by in order to catch up with joe biden, who righnow has something like 96-delegate lead. >> woodruff: and its is, a we've been sing all night, it's down to two people, two men. voters don't have the options to

look at different candidates. they have the choose >> itas a little bit like that on super tuesday, as well, where the consolidation happened and it happened so quickly and consistently for joe biden. that's what we're watching for tonight, as well. the two people who werthen't on ballot tonight that were on the ballot on super tuesday, michael bloomberg and elizabeth warren, where do those voters go. the consensus has been that michael bloomberg voters are biden voters, bt that may not be true, and that elizabeth warren voters are moe complicated, too. she's idealogically more aligned wie bernie sanders, but t were a lot of voters that i talked to who liked elizabeth warren much less about ideology and much more because se was the only woman left in the race. >> woodruff: she was the woman and the st one, although tulsi gabbard is way, way back. just quickly, amy, coronavirus. for the first time both sanders and biden canceled ralies tonight. is it -- do you see it beginning campaign, not just from a

scheduling standpoint, but from --? i think what we' watch for tonight is turnout. is this impacting voters' desire or do they get nervous about actually showing u at polling places? it may not be tonight, but ofve course we number of other statestill on the map before we get to june and the primary. so i think that's going to be next issue for the states to tackle is making voters feel comfortable, giving them all the information they need to abow t what it means to show up at a polling place, potentially with a whole lot of other people >> woodruff: i was trying the think late this afternoon if we have ever seen anything qite like this. >> absolutely not, not a healthl crise this. we've had tragedies happen where, especially right after 9/11, remember, that candidates were taking down ads. people we not sending out fund-raising e-mails. there was a pause in polic after big tragedies or after the

terrorist attacks. this is very different because ngat we're talbout, voting yn and of itself is a ver public experience, unless, of course, you have a mail-inat but for the most part people will show up. there will potentie a whole will the of people there. >> brangham: one thing we'll talk about tonight is turnout.st we're ting to hear turnout has been up. we'll see if that continues. we'll get some ronea that tonight from these six states. amy walter, thank you very much for hanging out. >> you're we wlcome. druff: thank you. >> woodruff: we return to covid- 19, and to britain. so far, the virus has killed six people, and the numbers infected and quarantined at 370. the british vernment is watching developments in italy amid frs that levels of

infection could rise dramatically, and soon. but as special correspondent malcolm brabant reports, for tht time being theude in britain is very much keep calm and carry on. >> reporter: ♪ god save our gracious queen, long live our noble queen ♪ no, i haven't suddenly become super patriotic because of but i'm following, to the letter, the instructio from britain's prime minister.>> he best single thing we can do is wash our hands, two verses of the national anthem or happy birthday, hot water, bar of soap.r: >> reporfter winning the general election three months ago, boris johnson's main leadership challenge was to negotiate post brexit trade deals.ie but now his prhip is being tested by war with an invisible enemy that threatens both the health and wealth of the natione >> iontinue to look out for one another.

to pull together in a united anr national e i have no doubt that we can and will rise that challenge. >> reporter: currently theme governnt is trying to contain the virus, and has postponed measures such as establishzog exclusion nes to delay its spread.nt but more strinontrols are coming, says chris whitty, the government's chief medical advisor. >> so we are now very close to the time, probably whin the next 10 to 14 days when the modeling wou imply we should move to a situation where we say everybody who has even minor respiratory tract infections or a fever should be self isolating for seven days afterwards. >> reporter: that means anyone with a cough or cold will be obliged to stay home. the government has guaranteed that sick pay will kick in from four.ne inead of the usual day but what about financiallyln vuerable groups?

>> how do you self isolate if i you'precarious employment? how do you self isolate if you're too poor to haveck sufficient sof food in the house? dingwall advises ternmentrobert on morality and the ethics of its ergency planning. >> essentially, if the government is going to ask people to self isolate, the govement has to take responsibility for the consequences of that. those pele have an income,ing that they have access to food, they have access to other es they might need durin that period of self olation. you can't just ask for the self isolation on its own. >> reporter: for now, brain has decided not to follow italy where soccer matches have taken place in emp stadiums to avoid mass infection. at derby county, current home of rooney, attendance at the latest game was above average. the club mascot was tactile, despite advice to reduce human contact. here 130 miles nor of london, characteristic british stoicism was onrominent display. >> football's got to continue.

you can't stop things, you cannot stop your way of living because of a virus that's only killed a few people at this moment in time. >> for me, the media is blowing it all out of proportion. they're making a mountain out of a molehill. they're causing people to panic buy and me, i'm not worried. >> i know, with me being older, they're talking about stopping older people from coming because they're more vulnerable to it. but i've had all sorts over my life. if i've got to go, i've got to go. sb people are starting to panic. when we went to ury's yesterday, you couldn't get a toilet rolkp people are iling already. what does it say about britain? well we go into panic mode too easily i think. >>heporter: the latest brit obsession with hoarding toilet paper puzzlesome, because the virus impacts the respiratory, and not other stems the disappearance of hand sanitizers from shelves is more understandable.s retailerve insisted they have enough supplies and will

restock but shoppe don appear reassured. >> i hate that phrase, panic buying. >> reporter: sir simon wessely is a leading psychiatrist and expert in mass hysteria. he's one of the behavioral scntists advising the government how to best handle the crisis. >>ou would have to be an idiot not to get essential supplies, toilet paper, dog food, etcetera, i've done both of those myself, so this isn't panic buying this is rational might be stuck in my house for fourteen days. >> reporter: but in an age of individualism, of diminishing community spirit, coupled with skepticism of authority figures, could the public revolt against future tougher measures? >> i think in general the public have already shown that theyw will folstructions so long cl they understand them, so long as they are giverly, and so long as the purpose is there particularly if instead ofpe frighteninle that if you don't we will send you to prison do this, you are helping the you

common good, you are protecting your relatives, you are protecting the sick and the vulnerable. al>> reporter: britain's r family is playing its part. there was no hanmishaking at weter abbey for a service notable as the last official engageme of prince harry and his american wife meghan markle who are withdrawg from royal duties. the queen's heir, prin charles proffered an eastern greeting. but for such gatherings to continue britain needso amend the lyrics of its national anthem to still send her victorious, but over a new foe. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in london. >> woodruff: students of today's politics are often looking for eces in history that infor our present. a new book elores a chapter in american history you may not

ve much about. it is the story of how the illegitima son of an immigrant rose to become the republican party's first presidential minee in 1856, with a lot of help from his wife. lisa desjardins has the laitst n of "newshour bookshelf." >> in the mid-1840s, the united states was undergoing immense expansion,xpanding into the unchartered west in what was characterized as america's man test destiny. a new book explores tht era through the eyes of fhn c.ee malt and his wife jessie. together they became the country's fist celebrity power couple. the book is "imunperfecon: how jessie and john fremont mapped the wet, invented celebrity, and helped cause the civil war" and ity npr's steve inskeep. that's quite a lot in the subtitle. >> it's a looting but tey had long and fascinating lives and

were at the center of american history for aouple of decades that i focus on until 1940s and '50s, this period leading up to the civil war. >> i'm curious, why do a book about both of them? >> because they were a team. john c. fremont was a western exploreer. he didn't discover that much was new. his accomplishment was making the west more famous and making it seem more alluring, and so he would go become and write these bestselling accounts of his adventures, but he would writel them in boration with his wife, jessie benton fremont. she was the daughter of a senator who wanted to be involved in politics in a way that women wen't supposed to be involved in politics. and she operated through her husband and became aor political player. she is in some ways almost more interesting than he is. >> i want to talk about the decisions that john was making on trail. he made several voyages out into the west, as you say. not all of this was undiscovered territory, but harrowing journeys nonheless.

he rigsed many lives and sometimes he expended lives on his your fisult. you read one of the excerpts. his nearly catastrophicone of decisions. oregon country.was called the he decided the middle of winter trail.be the time to find a new en got lost, they got stuck, fremont had risked his men's lives wth little need, much as when he climbed the highestpo t in the rookie mountains, another ding the had done that was a needless exploit for fame really. he had done the same thing except on a grabtder scale. again he got ay wi it as persistence and endurance overcame his erratic decisions. the experience shifted the orientation of his life, because fate had momentarily brought him to california, a great stage, where he sensed there would be more acts for him to play. he accidentally discovered californiaand i don't mean discovered it like the person to go there, i mean he himself realized wt it was, realized

its potential, and he resurved to rand ended up being seen as the conqueror, the american conqueror of mexcaican fornia aouple years later. >> there's so much in this booka but i dont the come back to his center, his wife, jessie fremont. can you tell me how she manag to make him a national hero and then cat baltimore herself into a limelight like women had never been in before. >> it's an amazing story. she was ambitious for a very young age, and she said, my would have had.a place a b an she would follow him hunting and follow him to the senatee ths a point when she grew up where this was no longer seen as appropriate. she eloped with this young nniless army lieutenant, this adventurous lieutenant, and she fruld receive his letterm the west, and she would put them in the newspuer and pblicize what he was doing. after a while she was writing letters herself that wou get

published in the newspaper, and this speedily began to publicize her. people would notice and comment that a woman was commenting on politics. >> you also wrote an op-ed in the "new york times," and you entitled it, "it's 1856 all over again. i am intrigued how and what can we learn? >> one thing that is similar now and then is thatthe naion in the 1850s was undergoing aph great demog change. the country was divided in a way that can feel famili to us. the division then was between northern states and southern states, northern states that ha! gradually abolished slavery and southern states that had ever more fervently embraced slavery. that was the big divide. the demograph change was th the north was being much, much more populous, which in ade cratic country means the north was becoming more and more powerful. familiar today is we are again going through a great demographic change that is seen as benefiting one party, the

democrats, a little bit more than the other party, the repuicans, and that can be destabilizing. that they will be overwhelmed and not just lose an election but lose forever. this is something that president trump told his supporters when running fo20office in6. he would temperature them, this is your last chance, your lastsa chance te the country overwhelm by immigrants.e -- now democrats fear shut out ofwe for by the way they fear the president governor earns the countrin an authoritarian power. anthat leads to extreme politics when people feel the stakes are very, very high. they are high now as people fel they were very, very high then. >> high stakes. past, and as yo say, a littlee bit of the present, as well. steve inskeep, thank you.im your book,rfect union." we appreciate you talking with us. >> thanks for reading.

>> woodruff: now, taea a moment tofrom your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: rural americaa as experiencebound of sorts in recent years. and many point to an unexpected reason: the arts. jeffrey brown has this encore report for our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> brown: friday night hot jazz, but we're not in a flashy club in new york. this is the vfw in the town of grand rapids, in northern minnesota. on the guitar, sam miltich.

who grew up here and has performed in hundreds of venues but this small stahome.ding new >> people thought i was kind of nazy to try and make a life as a jazz musician thern minnesota. >> brown: yeah, it does sound a little crazy. >> it does sound a little crazy. and actually maybe it is ara little bit, but the quality of life where i grew up-- it was just so high and i was like acutely aware of ho w good that li. and i wanted that life. b wn: and he's not alone. as we saw in the nearby performing arts center that played host to a recent "rural arts and culture summit" and nte summit is a biennial e held in different towns. this one brought together anme 350 artistcommunity leaders from5 states, to exchange ideas, celebrate the role of creativity in small a towns, and figational narrative about rural america in decline. >> that's a pretty simple way to tell that story. and i think underlying that

story is often this attitude of sortell why don't you just get over it' or 'iwhy don't you just move?' and i think that kind of ignores the history and the complexity and it often ignores all of the people who are working really hard to make what's next for thatommunity. >> bro: laura zabel heads spriboard for the arts, a minnesota organization that helps artists and organizations in both urban and rural areas, and puts on the summit. and where do you see the arts fitting in-- what's the role of arts and artists? >> they are-- they sort of have this ability to bring together d all of theferent things that communities need. tod i think that's necessary for a communitove forward that rather than just telling people get over it. people need outlets for their pain and their shame and their joy. o brown: the summit focuses on the practical sisucceeding in rural areas: ulere are constions for legal aid, economiclanning and career

advice. with a dream of being a professional dancer, molly johnston left her hometown of battle lake, minnesota, which has a population of less than 000, for college in philadelphia. she remembers thinking she wouldn't returuntil retirement. >> i was the first one out of town afterraduation, ready to explore the world. >> brown: but family andfe yle pulled her back to battle lake. the problem: how to make it work as a dancer. >> i'm creating opportunities that didn't exist in the first place. so it's not like-- >> brown: in what sense? i mean, explain that to me. well i mean there's no dance studio in battle lake, for liinstance, so i can't jus walk in and be like, "hey, i have my masters in dance, can you give me a job and a weekly paycheck?" >> brown: so she and a colleague created their own organization," dancebarn collective," to put on a festival and give opinrtunities to those livin rural communities.

she also teaches dance classes to make ends meet. b >> we'oming part of our town's makeup that when they see that dancebarn doing a pop up show at the bar on thursday night people show up and i think that's something really beautiful and surprising about living in a rural town, >> brown: jay arrowsmith decoux came tthe summit with a different perspective: as mayor of grand marais, minnesota, a small town of about 1300 people that sits on lake superior, near the canaan border. it's a town that's long valued the arts, he says, b t is now makim part of its planning and policies, like incorporating artists and creative design intc the reconson of a local highway. >> the idea is if you can at least consider art when you're working on any policy then you won't create barriers to the development of art in your community. >> brown: everyone here acknowledges the challenges of

making a life in art in a small town: earning enough income, housing, finding an audience. >> there's a lot of this that is really-- that's uncomfortable for us. >> brown: amber buckanaga has faced those and other challenges firsthand. a member of the leech lake band of chippew she lives in east lake, on the resertion, and works as a fashion designer, incorporating traditional patterns into contempo clothing. but la equipment and technology are a constraint.th wifi in her area, she said, isn't "even worth paying for." w >>do have those challenges and then on top of us being indigenous people, it becomes more challenging. and the access that these, that the n-indigenous population has to like arts spaces and resources. it just, it's there right in front of tm and it comes to them and pple feel more comfortable inviting them to thosthings. >> brown: so you don't have

th? >> no, no we just don't have that. >> brown: here in grand rapids, where the massive paper mill and the crucial timber industry have struggled, an arts community has blossomed. there's a gallery and small shops; pop-ups in thefu beauy-restored old school house, an art walk on the first friday of each month. and jazz guitarist sam miltich, a full-time musician, is a regular at the v.f.w. with grants from a state sales tax fund for arts and culture, he's able to bring musicians from urban areas to play with him in grand rapids. miltich says he feels a sense of mission.nk >> i tomeone dubbed the term jazz ambassador of the no you know and i've always-- >> brown: which you embrace? >> which i embrace. >> brown: yeah. >> and i've always felt, i think it's a little bit of an equity lting where i always have that rural people are every bit as deserving of art as any otheo group and mayb so because they don't have as much access to it.

>> brown: for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in grand rapids, minnesota. >> woodruff: please stay with us throughout the night. ecne in right here at 11:00 p.m. eastern for our l live coverage of tonight's primary results. six states are at ake. we will talk with reporters on the ground to break down the k contests, as former vice president joe biden and senator bernie sanders battle for the democratic nomination. nat is special live elect coverage starting at 11:00 p.m. eastern. before then, on the newshour online, we'll have live streamed coverage and analysis, featuring lisa desjardins and other newshour reporters, plus insights from local stations around the country. that starts at 7:00 p.m. easters on our we, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for now. i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you

soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> carnegie corporation of new supp innovations in york. education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was de possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. rsd by contributions to your pbs station from vieike you. thank you. no

>> there iarallel for this election in 2020. >> the interpoint is to get past the headlines to, get past the name-calling. >> we can go deeper into topics. everything isn't necessarily red or blue. >> we need to understand what's going on. eed to go behind th story and under the st >> not just the find out what happens but why it matters. >> 2020 will be a political rollercoaster, but viers can count on pbs to be there every st of the way. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc pt caioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

hello, everyone. welcome. here's what's coming up. with plunging oil prices and coronavirus wiping trillions off the books, i speak to the man who helped drive america' recovery. after the greates ron of 2008. then -- >> we are facng a emergency. a nationalemergency. containment is le. look at china says the chief senior adviser. >> collectively, we can dth to choose ature.