captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, we have the latest election results as polls are closing. joe biden hopes to keep momentum as bernie sanders battles for delegates in the fighthe democratic presidential nomination. then, the federal government grapples with the fallout from covid-19, new york state sets up a containment zone, d more schools across the country send students home. plus, coronavirus and the crown. to a united kingdom preparing for the outbreak, where scrupulous to the cal.he >> football's got to continue. you can't stop things, y cannot stop your way of living, because of a virus that's only lled a few people at thi moment in time. >> woodruff: all that and more

on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> on a journey with american cruise lines, travelers experience the maritime heritage and culture of the maine coast and new england islands. our fleet of small cruise ships explore american landscapes, seaside villages, and historic harbors, where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american cruise lines. proud sponsor of pbs newshour. >> consumer cellular offers no-contract wireless plans that are designed to help you do more of the things you enjoy. whether you're a talker, texter, browser, photographer, or a bit of everything, our u.s.-based customer service team is here to find a plan that fits you. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv

>> the john s. and james l. knight ferndation. fostg informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this ogram was made possible by the cobloration for broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like u. thank you. >> woodruff: we have two big stories tonight. we will get to the latest on the coronavirus and the government's response to the spread across the u.s. but first, voters in six states went to the polls as the race for the democratic nomination

narrows between joe biden and bernieanders. here are the results at this hour: in michigan, the most contested state of the night with 125 polls have just closed in the state of michigan. in mississippi, joe biden also the projected winner. and in north dakota, the caucus there closed an hor ago. the results still coming in and voting contues for tw more hours in idaho and in washington state. there is no question though that the state of michigan is then wel of this election night. both joe biden and bernie sanders have put considerable time and resources toward the great lakes state. so that is where we will begin tonight. christy mcdonald has been folling the michigan primary she's a reporternd anchor for our partners at detroit public tv. so christy, we are able to

project that joe bidens the winner. what do you attribute it to? you've been following, you've been talking to voters throughout. >> yes, it's really a blow for bernie sanders. he was tying to do whahe did here in michigan four years ago. fromhe voters we've ben talking to and especially since we saw super tuesday a lot of thes candidat out of the race and coalesce around joea biden who wae to beat donald trump in november. they share a lot of the same feelings 9 voters do -- the voters do, healthcare, the economy. everyone rallied around we had three and-a-half years of the trump administration who can beat him in november. >> woodruff: do you have an understanding christy talking to voters who supported bernie sanders four years ago when he did pull out a win over hillary clinton. it was narrow bu he won. what happened to that support for him? >> well what happened in 206 in michigan is a very different michigan now in 2020. you've seen a flip in 2018.

we tookck two congressional seats, the democrats did. and there u saw democratic governor come in as well as secretary of state and toirn genel. so there's -- attorney general. there's been aeal shift in the mi set and it's looking more toward electability. when they s joe biden has been there through the test of time, a long time in thera demc party is he the one going to a trump presidence after win and four years. bernie sanders, while he again, we tout how many of the young demographic, the 18 to 35 are big supporters ofs bernie sandt he wasn't able to build upon that. he also has a lot of outreach for hispanic voters and alsofr americans who live here in the state of michigan but he wasn't able to expand on that base. >> woodruff: christy mcdonald reporting from us from detit. christy thank you so much. now on to mississippi, it's the only southern state holding a contest today. southern states that voted on

super tuesday broke for joe biden over bernie sanders andoc the asted press as we said is projecting tonight that mississippi is fllowing suit. adam ganucheau is following the primary there. he is a political reporter for the non-profit news room at mississippi. see, how do you explain the big win, evidently the big win for joe biden. >> sure. like i said, earlier in the evening, mississippi's democratic primary electorate is close to 75% a aricerican. african americans in this state, because i think of their trust in former president barack obama and because of that trust, thr trust in former vice president joe biden, i think that went a long way s race. looking at some exit polls that were conducted, it looks like joe den got roughly 84% of the ralph conamerican voteth -- african american vote in

mississippi. nogales the rican american electorate makes up three fourths or close to three fourths of that mocratic primary electorate i think explains it all here. >> woodruff: it wasg interestat bernie sanders had a campaign event scheduled in mississippi and he canceled t in order to head to michigan. >>hat's right, yes. i think a lot of people in the state, when senator sanders decided to cancel that visit and instead go to michigan to try to pick up some of the heavy primery votthere, you know, a lot of people in miss resent that. they thought -- in mississippi resented that. i don't think that helped any, you know, rise in sanders' candidacy specifically with the african american community in mismississippi. >> woodruff: we may say asjo much ae biden is celebratings too much i big climb if he's the nominee up against pr>>ident trouble. hat's right. here in mississippi this is a

ruby red state. it's one of president trump's strong holds of any state in the country. this is a conservative state will definitely in november, early november will be having a conversation about just how well president trump did here undoubtedly. but look, i think there are still in mis esissipn, there are moderate voters who may have not necessarily appreciated some of what president trump has done in his first three and-a-half years in office and certainly as this year progresses, we'll see what happens. but sure, this is certainly a strong hold for president trump and that will play out in november. >> woodruff: adam ganucheau with misissippi today. thank you, adam. now to missouri. e of the closest prima contests of the 2016 electioner cycle sanders lost the democratic primary there totu ev non-knee hillary clinton by less than -- nominee,

hillary n inton by less thaa half percentage point.th e press is suggesting joe biden will prevail over sanders in missouri this year.s so jon rosenbaum has been following the contest for st. owuis public radio. jason, it's the e state. what is it that joe biden showed to the voters.we >> he shothat bernie sanders campaign for president may have ended tonight. that may seem like hyperbole but the fact that the associated press called missouri within twm or thrnutes when it was only as you mention less than half a pecentage point in 2016 showcases that sanders could not build on the coalition he had in 2016 and that voters in missour and other places they are considered either mid western or southern states are going toward column.'sr vice pr this is a huge triumph for biden and a big psychological defeat for bernie sanders . >> woodruff: we should say this call was made from what we

were just showing there the map just 4% of the precincts eeporting. but that mes nterviews with voters today and the days leading upo today's vote strongly suggest that joe biden is way out front. what were voters telling you, jason, in the days leading up to the primary about what mattered to them the most as they cast their ballots. >> it all came down to whic candidate will stack up best against president donald trump. missouri is total not going to be the battle ground state it was in 2000, 2004, 2008 but missouri democrats here ne a better top of the ticket person than hillary clinton. when hillary clinton was at the top of the tiket she lost the state by nearly 20 percentage points and thadoomed candidates like chris caster for governor and jails r senate. people like nicole who is goi to be running against incumbent

governor mike parsonneeds meone like joe biden to close that gap in order to win. even though missouri is not the battle ground it used to be the results tonight i think is heartening for a lot of themi ouri democrats. >> woodruff: joseph rosenbaum public radio, thank you. out west washington state where voters are still ale to submit their ballots for a little more than an hour and-a-half. it has the seconpobigges of delegates up for grabs on this election night. donna blankinship is keeping track of the primary there. she is the political editor at ktcf9 crust cut that's a membabr statiodin saddle. when -- seattle. we talked irrelevant what voters were confriend -- earlier what vote were nfronted with. you have most candidates have dropped oudipresenting lemma for a lot of voters. >> right. i just talked to a bunch of

voters yesterday and they said that they had to make their second or third choice when they ended up voting. some of them voted before the candidates dropped out. so that's why our pollster thinks one of the reasons our pollster thinks that joe biden election inshington. win this >> woodruff: we also have spoken, donna, about the factto that washistate had caucuses as well as the primary beauty contest four years ago. this year it's just the primary. how does that affect do you ink, joe biden and bernie sanders in this contest? >> wel giving this a wider view than what the voters in washington are thinking,he caucus attracted a small select group of voters and primary hass aleen more people showing that means that washington which has a variety of democrats in our state will, all their vois will be heard this time. so it's more likely, i would

just be speculating, guess, that the tendency is to go toward mored moerate choice. that's probably why hillary cl ton won theimary last time around four years ago and bernie sanders won the caucuses. >> woodruff: donna blankinshikwith kcts. thyou. we know you and all of your colleagues daling so much these days with the corona virus which has htet washington stao hard. thank you donny, very much. >> thank you, thank you for your time. >> woodruff: i'm here with weerltd of the --y walter and our on lisa desjardins. good day to both of you. you had all of 10 minutes. amy what is it three big callsad alfor joe biden. >>right. there was a tidal wave that started for joe biden.

the question was could the wave keep coming for him and the obvious answer is yes. it is by hs big win in almost every single demographic category. >> woodruff: what dhat mean. >> i think we're seeing him win urban, suburban, rural, men, women, blacks, white, so far wtonight. i alnt to give us an update on the delegate count e where we ght now. right now joe biden the former vice president has according to our cot 715 delegates. bernie sanders 584. of course both a long way off from the 1991 but it is that sheer trajectory the margithat biden is stacking up mak i harder. >> woodruff: those are the number of delegates you expect biden to have. >> including the calls we made right now. >> woodruff: right now. but amy when you say winningr every vocludingoung people which has been bernie sanders -- >> he hasn't won young people. here is a statistic that i think is really important. looking at missouri a sta that

was very very close, hillary clinton narrowly winning it. in 2016 young voters made 45% of the electorate according to thet olls. this year the associated press voter survey young voters are only 37%. bernie sanders winning them by i24%. that's a number but he won older voters, i hate that they call everyone over 45 older by the. but anyovway, voter the age of 45 make up almost two thirds of the eloree. look at how big of a win joe biden has, re than 50 points. so losing younger voters but not as by aar big an as he's winning older voters. >> woodruff: a lot of ways to slice and dice. lisa what else are you looking at. >> watching michigan is notust for the primary race but of course for november. what doeshe democratic coalition look like. can they beat trump in that state. >> woouff: i'm loking autographics about urban and

rura sand theremuch to look at. lisa desjardin amy wlter, >> woodruff: please join us at 11:00 p.m. eastern for our special live coverage of theon elecesults. >> woodruff: on the covid-19 front tonight, the u.sh toll rises to 30, with more than 800 confirmed cases, up from 600 on monday. officials order newca ellations, closures and quarantines, congress and the president huddle on softening thomic blow. the biden and nders campaigns cancel rallies tonight in ohio.n the stock market recovers half its losses from a day earlier. amna nawazegins our coverage. >> nawaz: after monday's steep sell off... signs of recovery on

walltreet, as investors reacted to new efforts to slow the spread of covid-. in new york, some of the strongest measures yet. >> it is a dramatic tion, but it is the largest cluster of cases in the country. >> nawaz: governor andrew cuom sent the national guard into new rochelle, outside new york city, d 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. >> nawaz: 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 w coronaviruh the majority in washington state. in olympia, governor jay inslee warned that more cases are coming, raising the risk for seniors. >> remind them that this is not a time to exposing themselves to large groups of people in confined spaces.

>> nawaz: and, in oakland, california, some 2,000 passengersaited in turn to leave the docked "and princess" cruise ship and enter quaranne. meanwhile, in washington, d.c., president trump met with pledged to help the struggling airline and crse industries. later, he met with lkers on capitol hill, as they weigh any legislative next steps, still days from coming togetr. t there are going to be a number of differings considered in putting together this package, which as i said before, i hope ends up being a bipartisan bicameral negotiated way forward that will reassure others. >> this shld not be a partisan issue. we want to solve the problem. w we're ready k with the administration on a coordinated government-wide focused plan to respond to 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, after contact with lawmakers now under self-quarantine. >> i feel extremely good. i feel very good, but i guess it's not a bst deal to get and it's something i would do. i spoke to the white house doctor, terrific guy, talented gus he said he s reason to do it. there's no symptoms, no anything. >> naz: one of those lawmakers? republican representative mark meadows oforth carolina, tapped to be white house chief of staff. he was exposedo the virus at a washington-area conference last week, and announced he would onself-isolate as a precau even though he tested negative. the availability of teing kits led to questions today, in a hearing with the director of tht s of disease control and prevention. >> any physician that feels there's a need, or public heal person, can order that test. but it was a series of going through that regulatory process to get thatest available. >> but i think the conclusion is that we are behind the curve in testing when south korea can test 10,000 people in a da

>> nawaz: overseas, the streets of rome lay quiet as a nationwide travel ban took effect in italy, hard-hit by the virus. >> ( translated ): this was the best thing the government could do because people were not r respecting tes. a stronger decision was needed this situation. >> nawaz: at train stations, masked police officers checked documents for all passengers, who had to justify their travel. poland announced health checks for travels crossing its border from germany. and, austria conducted similar checks along its border with italy.es in china, t xi jinping toured wuhan, the epicenter of s e original outbreak, and said the worst there er. >> ( translated ): commureties i extendings and thanks to you and to all the community workers nationwide, including e.e fighting on the frontl >> nawaz: and in south korea, the numb of new cases fell to its lowest level in almost two weeks. back in the u.s., the markets dured 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. >> woodruff: in the end, wall street recovered about half of its record losses from monday. the dow jones industrial averag gained 1ints to close back above 25,000. the nasdaq rose nearly 400 points, and the s&p 0 added 135. all of this, as hopebuild 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. so yamiche, to you first, what are the options that the president is looking at? what are you hearing at the white house? >> well, the president isok g for the fastest possible economic response to the coronavirus, and he's looking at two trks. rst, what he can do individually through some sort of national emargency deion in the next week or so, and he's also looking at working with congress toa negotiatrger legislative

bill. on what he can do himself, he'so looking at som of executive action where he would be able to do a couple thing, including giving small businesses loans. he also wants to give some sort of financial relief to hourly workers who ve already lost paychecks because they had to self-quarantine. the other thing is he's trying to def tax payments, so you might have between 90 and 180 days to pay the government, which could put money in your pocket short-term. then he's looking at a payroll tax cut that would be between 2%, that would be what president obama did in 2010. larry kudlow is in the white house right now brfing as i speak. he's saying this would be something that would last throh the end of the year, but the president is goring up for a fight with democrats on the hill, because some democrats are saying this is a tax cut that looks something like possibly the 2017 tax cut that they say benefited wealthy people and not working-class individuals some the president is looking at two things to figure out how the

stem the economic issues that are coming with this virus. >> woodruff: so lisa, it's true that the are some different ideas in t congress. >> right. yamiche and i were seenre rting on the hill today. i think we can safely say there are a lot of ideas but not yet a ear focus. democrats and some republicans are sceptical of thioll tax cuts, because that payroll tax comes and helps socialnd securityedicare. things are warming up today, but that 2% cut would be over $100 billion in spending. marco rubio told me he thinkska this whole p could be $300 billion. wee talking very big dollars other ideas floating, three republicans, senators, raised the idea of including a highway infrastructure bill as part of this. that's something others think is not related at all, but you're talking about economictimulus, it enters the picture. the point is there are a lot of idea they don't yet have a real handle on what exactly will help the workers who probably will

need it the most. h woodruff: no doubt, yamiche, the whise trying to deal with concerns, rising concerns on the part of the american people, and fears. the death toll is going up. the number of cases is going u exponentially. white house officist now said it's guarantee had the numbers of deaths and the number of cases and coronavill be going up. today president trump when he was visiting the hill was playing sort of calmer in chief. here's what he had to say. >> we're prepared and we'ret doing a grb with it. it will go away. just stay calm. it will go away. we want to protected our shipping industry, our cruise industry, cruise ships. we want to protect our airline industry, very important, but b everybody has vigilantnd has to be careful. but be calm. it's really working out. >> there aga is the president trying to be calmer in chief. he's trying to tell people, calm down, take a deearbreath, things going to get better. the issue is the president has contradicted the healt

officials working for his own administration. heeaid at one point that th would be a miracle, that the cases was going to go down. he was ocapitol hill shaking hand hands which is what health officials said americans should not being this they should be washing their hands vehemently and frequently. today the president didle ackne the cases will go up. when he was asked about the cas possibly reach 100 million americans infect, he didn't tamper that down. he said, i have seen a lot of different numbers, and i'm telling people the risks continue to be low. >> woodruff: so see is a, right now, what is it,even members of congress have been under quarantine. how is the capitol doing in. >> that's again a very mixed picture. some senators are even joking about. this pat roberts and his aide said he'd like to self-quarantine at mar-a-lago. they're trying to not increase panic, but many staffers say they're not taking this seriously enough at the capital. i saw some senators using their elbows to hit an elevator

button, the truth is they're not really changing their patterns very much. there are a few fewer handshake, me travel going to nato next week, some senators are not b going ther there are more serious considerations going on. i can report from multipleat sources he sergeant-at-arms at the senate is looking to findcan alternate on so the capital itself is seen as not a healthy place for senators to meet that's normal in this kind of utuation, but that tells how high the issue has risen at this point. >> woodruff: interest in the wake of nancy pelosi saying we're going to keep going no matter what. >> they want a back-up plan. and on the biden andanders campaign canceling events in ohio, that's because ohio announced eir first cases of coronavirus today. joe biden expected to be in philadelphia inste tonight some this is having that political effect that we. expect >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor, lisa desjardins, thank you. >> tnk you. >> woodruff: a small but growing 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. district, north of seattle inol r shington state, has shifted all its classes s more than 23,500 students from brick and mortar classrooms to the internet for at least two weeks. michelle reid is thede superint of e 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 n said that we alonger able to provide quality instruction and maintain an environment that is safe for our city's staff and students to learn. uswhat led you to that conn? >> well, there are several issues.

north shore is uquely situated with two counties and three cities, and within our twove counties we he highest number of coronavirus identified cases and deaths in the united states. we also had a significant number of staff that met the four criteria for at risk. so i really could no l safely open and operate school without quality staff supporting the educational process in a brick and mortar campus. we also haescalating absentee rates up to 20% just prior to uc making theion to transition school from the classroom to the cloud. and today, as our first day, we werenly at 500 students not able to log again. therefore, we actually are at a 2% absence rate. >> yang: how does this act?lly wo students log in on the computers at home and what happens? >> so it's an online platform or utilizing, so we actually have a daily schedule for students. and there are times that they log in for classes and their discussion boards and the teachers have been working

really hard and our support professionals to provide lessons and content that has sent in some cases by video and others by attached documents and discussion boards. >> yang: was there an issue with students who didn't computer or didn't have internet service at home? >> absoltrely. we are aict that has a lot of resources that not all communities and districts have. we've received approximately 4,000 requestsor cputer devices and about 300 reests for mobile hotspots, which we've been able to meet. >> yang: in your letter to the pas, you also said 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.ns what hapr 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 oud ts and staff and our ability to slow the spread o this corona virus, whereas social distancing has been the recommendation numbefor us. having said that, we have gotten a team togethewe are providing food today to those students who have asked for food. we're doing it for brick and rirt sites and also deli to 16 remote school sites. so all students and families who want oneed food as you or rely on the schools for food are able to procure food. the same with child care. we're going to be supporting community tes for child care for those families who require

it as long as we can maintain that in the health, you know, healthy and safe way. e so we're trying to conti provide those services while we take care of our professiona educators and support staff and students by keeping them safe with the socl distancing pla >> 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.l wentinue to look at r data and the fact pattern locally and nationally, and we'll make those dec as they ce. our ability to move from classroom to cloud and back is going to enable us to continue to be nimble in our decision making. >> yang: michelle reed, superintendent of the north shore school distric washington state. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruf a federal appeals court has ordered the u.s.

justice department to hand over grand jury ttimony from the ecial counsel's russia investigation. emthree-judge panel ruled 2-to-1 today that houserats are entitled to the material as part of ctinuing investigations of president trump. the case could end up before the u.s. supreme court. in moscow, russia's parliament laid out path today for president vladimir putin to stay in power. existing law requires him to step down when his latest six- year term ends in 2024, but lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment to change that. putin welcomed the move. >> ( translated ): technically, today we could lift the presidential term lits. such precedents exist in other countries, including our neighbors. in principle, this option would be possie, if the constitutional court gives an official ruling that such andm amt would not contradict the principles and main provisions of e constitution. >> woodruff: putin is 67, and has been russia's leader for more than 20 years. if voters approve the proposed

constitutional amement nextmo h, he could stay in power until 2036. the u.s. general overseeing the middle east warned today that have to let up, or u.s. forceses may not withdraw as agreed. marine general frank mckenzie said the militants must keepth r part of a bargain that calls for cutting u.s. troop vels from 13,000 to abou 8,600 by summer. he spoke at a u.s. house heari that was live-streamed. >> those attacks are relatively a one-on-one scale. tey are not directed agai coalition forces. they are not occurerng in city ce they are occurring in isolated checkpoint. but those attas are occurring. they are n consistent with a movement toward a negotiated settlement. >> woodruff: meanwhile, afghan president ashraf ghani signed a decr for the release of 1,50 taliban prisoners. it is to begin within four day and, retired army general jack

keane received the presidential medal of freedom today, the nation's highest civian honor. president trump presented the medal in a white hou ceremony. keane had once served as the army's vice chief of staff. still to come on the newshour: after brexit, the united kingdom prepares for its next crisis-- the coronavirus. .> woodruff: we return to covid- 19, and to brita so far, the virus has killed six people, and the numbers infected d quarantined at 370. the british government is vetching developments in italy amid fears that of infection could rise dramatically, and cion. but as s correspondent time being the attinrts, for the

britain is very much keep calm and carry on. >> reporte ♪ god save our gracious queen, long live our noble queen ♪ no, i haven't suddenlyecome super patriotic because of brexit. but i'm following, to the letter, the instructions from britain's prime minister. >> the best single thing we can do is wash our hands, two verses of the national anthem or happy birthday, hot water, bar of soap. >> reporter: after winning the general election three months ago, boris johnson's main leadership challenge was to negotiate post brexit trade deals. but now his priership is being tested by war with an invisible enemy that threatens both the health and wealth of the nation. >> if we continue to look out for one another. to pultogether in a united and national effort, i have no doubt that we can and will rise to that challenge.

>> reporter: currently theme governnt is trying to containru the vis, and has postponed measures such as establishingne exclusios to delay its spread. but more stringent controls are coming, says chris whitty, the government's chief medical advisor. n >> so we a very close to the time, probably within thene 10 to 14 days when the move to a situatioe we sayould everybody who has even minor respirat a fever should be self isolating for seven days afterwards. >> reporter: that mes anyone with a cough or cold will be obliged to stay home. the government has guaranteed that sick y will kick in from day one instead of the usual day four. but what about financially vulnerable groups? >> how do you self isolate if you' in precarious eloyment? how do you self isolate if you're too poor to have sufficient stocks of food in the

house? >> reporter: sociologist robert on morality and the ethics ofnt its emergency planning. >> essentially, if the government is going to ask people to self isolate, the government has to takety responsibior the consequences of that. and that's in terms of ensuring ose people have an income, that they have access to food, services they might need during that period of self isolation. you can't ju ask for the self isolation on its own. >> reporter: for now, britain has decided not to follow italy where soccer matches have taken place in empty stadiums to avoid mass infection. at derby county, attendance at the latest game was above average. the club's mascot was tactile, despite adce to reduce human contact. here, 130 miles north of london, characteristic british stoicismp was onminent display. >> football's got to continue. you can't stop things, you cannot stop your way of living e cause of a virus that's only killed a few peo 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. >> people are starting to panic. when we went to sainsbury's yesterday, you couldn't get a toilet roll, people are stockpiling already. what does it say about britain? well we go into panic de too easily i think. >> reporter: the latest british obsession with hoarding toilet paper puzzles some, because the virus impacts the respiratory, and not other systems the disappearance of hand sanitizers from shelves is more understandable. retailers ha insisted they have enough supplies and will restock but shoppers don't pear reassured. >> i hate that phrase, panic buying.ep >>ter: sir simon wessely

is a leading psychiatrist andma expert i hysteria. he's one of the behavioral scientists advising theo government howst handle the crisis. >> you would have to be an issot not to gettial supplies, toilet paper, dog food, cetera, i've done both o those myself, so this isn't panic buying this is rational decision by people thinking i fmight be stuck in my hou fourteen days. >> reporter: but in an age of individualism, of diminishing, community spirupled with skeptism of authority figures, could the public revolagainst future tougher measures? >> i think in general the puic have already shown that they will follow instructions so lonn as therstand them, so long as they are given clearly, and so long as the purpose is there particularly if instead of frightening people that if you don't we will send you to prison or fine you, but actually if you do this, you are helping the common good, you are protecting your relatives, you are protecting the sick and the vulnerable.

>> reporter: britain's royal family is playing its part. there was no hand shaking at westminster abbey for a service notable as the lt official engagement of prince harry and his american wife meghan markle duties. withdrawing from royal the queen's heir, prince charlee proffered tern greeting. but for such gatherings to continue britain needs to amendy the rics of its national anthem to still send her, victoriot over a new foe. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in london. >> woodruff: students of today's politics are often looking for echoes in story that inform our present. a new book explores a chapter in american history you mayot very much about. it is the story of how ton illegitimatef an immigrant

rose to become the republican party's first presidential nonee in 1856, with a lot of help from his wife. lisa desjardins hathe latest edition of "newshour bookshelf >> in the mid-1840s, the unit states was undergoing immense expansion, expanding into the unchartered west in what was characterized as america's man test destiny. a new book explores that era . through the eyes of johnee malt and his wife jessie. together they became the countrs first celebrity power couple. e book is "imperfect union: how jessie and john fremont mapped the west, invented celebrity, and helped cause the civil war" and it's by npr'se stskeep. that's quite a lot in the subtitle. >> it's a looting but they had were at the center of american history for a couple odecades that i focus on until 1940s and '50s, th period leading to the civil war.

>> i'm curious, why do a book >> because they were a team. john c. fremonexwas a western oreer. he didn't discover that much was new. his accomplishment was making the west more mous and making it seem more alluring, and so he would go become and ite these bestselling accounts of his adventures, but he would write them in collaboration with his wife, jessie benton fremont. she was the daughter of a nator who wanted to be involved in politics in a way that women weren't supposed to be involved in politics. and she operated through her husband and became a major politicaplayer. she is in some ways almost more interesting than he is. >> i want to talk out 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 nonetheless. he rigsed many lives and his your fist.xpded lives could you read one of the excerpts. >> this is after nearly one of his nearly catastrophic

decisions. he was in what was called the oregon country. he decided the middle of winter would be the time to find a new trail. as men got lost, they got stuck, fremont had risked his men's lives with little need, much as when he climbed the highest point in the rookie mountains, another ding the hadthat was a needless exploit for fame really. he had done the same thing except on a abtder scale. agaihe got away with it as persistence and endurance overcame his erratic decisns. the experience shifted the orientation of his life, because fate had momentarily brought him to california, a great stage, where he sensethere would be more acts r him to play. he accidentally discovered california, and i don' discovered it like the person to go there, i mean he himself realized what it was, realized its potential, and he resolved to return and ended up being

seen as the conqueror, the american conqueror of mexican california a couple years later. >> there's so much in this book, but i do want the co back to his center, his wife, jessie fremont. can you tell me how she managed 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 father gave me a place a boy would have had. an she would follow him hunting and follow him to the senate. gthere was a point when sw up where this was no longer seen as appropriate. she eloped with this young penniless army lieutenant, this adventurous lieutenant, and she woceive his letters from the west, and she would put them in the newspaper and publicize waat he was doing. after a while shwriting letters herself that would get published in the newspaper, anbe this speediln to publicize her. people would notice and coen w that a womanas commenting on

politics. >> you also wrote an op-ed in ew 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 that the natioin the 1850s was undergoing a great demographic change. the country was divided in a way that can feel familiar to us. the division then was between northern states and southern states, northern states thatgr ually abolished slavery and southern states that had ever more fervently embraced slavery. that was the big divide. the demographic change was that the north was being much, much more populous, which in ary democratic coueans the north was becoming more and more powerful.th reason that should feel 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 republicans, and that can be destabilizing. it creates fears on one side

that they will be overwhelmed and not just lose an election but lose forever. this is something that president trump told his supporters whenru ing for office in 2016. he would temperature them, this is your last chance, your last chance to save the cntry before we're overwhelm we -- overwhelm by immigrants. now democrats fear shut out of power for by the way they fear te president governor ear country in an authoritarian power. and th leads to extreme politics when people feel the stakes are ver very high. they are high now as people felt they were very, very high then. >> high stakes. a very interesting look at the past, and as you say, a little bit of t present, as well. steve inskeep, thank you. your book, "imperfect union." we appreciate you talking with us. >> thanks for reading. >> woodruff: now, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station.

rapids, minnesota. >> woodruff: and now for an update on thee rsults of the six state primary election night which is shaking up to gve another big boost to joe biden. in michigan the most contested state of the night with 125 del gaitle at state biden is projected winner. key state in the general projected winner.so the inississippi the only state in the south voting today, biden again is projected to win. in north dakota, the results are stl coming in and voting r ininues for anoth hou idaho and in washington state. at this houh joe bideas 774 delegates to 620 fo bernie sanders. biden now has more than a third of the delegates needed to capture the nominat please stay with us for the latest results and tune in at

11:00 p.m. eastern for our before then on the newshour on-line, we will have live stream coveragand analysis featuring lisa desjardins, other newshoporters plus insight from local public media around the country. that is live right now on our website 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: n>> carnegie corporation york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engageme, and the advancement of international pea security. at carnegie.org.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutionsin anviduals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for and by contributioyour pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by nehour productions, llc captioned by media cess group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

- [narrator] expxplore new worlds and nam ideas through progrlike this, made available for everyone through ctributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. - hello i'm paula kerger, president of pbs. our goal in public television is to bring you a wide array of perspectives and voices in history, science and the arts. today we are s pleased to present henry louis gates jr. uncovering america which celebrates one of our mosaward winning filmmaker,hofn literary r, journalist and cultural critic who helps us discover our shared history by revealing surprising connections across time and place. this insightful look at an extraordinary man is made possible because of your financial suppor thank you so much. - professor gates, well he's an amazing, amazing guy.