captioning sponsored by newshour productionsllc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruf on the newshour tonight... >> avo gathering in groups of more than 10 people. >> woodruff: ...a new reality, as covid-19 continues its spread, amerans adjust to life with widespread closings, social distancing and economic turmoil while preparing for a strain on hospitals not seen in modern life then, head to head-- joe biden and bernie sanders square off in a debate dominated by coronavirus as several key primary contests draw near. plus, the pandemic abroad-- report from lebanon as covid-19 grips a nation already in economic free-fall and the government orders a countrywide shutdown. come at worse tius couldn't have lebanon.

the country is already in a deeo rece and for many businesses like this, this will be the final straw. >> woodruff: all that and mo's on tonightbs newour. >> major funding for the pbs newsho has been provided by: >> before we talk about stur innts-- what's new? >> well, audrey's expecting... >> twins! >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside for them, so, change in htans. >> all rlet's see what we can adjust. >> we'd be closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> okay. >> mom, are you inting again? you could sell these. >> let me guess, change in plans? >> at fidelity, changing plans is always part of the plan.

>> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. og >> this m was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. pd by contributions to yo station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: stark headlines tell the tale again tonight of

the crisis domining the nation and the world. u.s. coronavirus cases have reached 4300, with 78 deaths, more and more businesses haveen huttered, and wall street crashed again, with the dow jones industrials free-falling nearly 3,000 points, or 13%, the most in 30 years. warned the crisis could lingerp into july or august. william brangham begins our coverage. >> brangham: in much of the country today, daily life is shutting down. huge parts of the country are the spread of this coronavirus. new york citmes square was eerily quiet... florida's theme parks werert l ghost towns... businesses, rest frants, and bam coast to coast closedve their doors, arnors in

multiple states ordered full closures or drastically cut-back hours. the city of san francisco today shelter in place.esidents to and the centers for disease control and prevention made the unprecedented move yesterday to call for the cancellation of all gatherings of 50 or more people for the next eight weeks. despite the evidencehat measures like these can slow the spread of the virus, some people remain unsure: >> i do want us to all be safe and healthy, but i'm really concerned about how i'm going to pay my bills. >> brangham: food distribution operations, like this one in houston, are helping those in need. the u.s. surgeon general warned today that in terms of this epidemic, america is roughly two weeks behind italy, a country that, in places, is overrun with infections, where hospitals arel

oving, and over 2000 people have died. and despite the surg general's warning for americans some elected leaders advised the here's what republ congressman devin nunes of california said yesterday on fox news: a >> thereot of concerns with the economy here because people are scared to go out.us but i willsay one of the things you can do if you're health it's a great time to just go out, go to a local restaurant. >> brangham: bto the president y reiterated the message that public health officials have been urging for days: >>y administration is recommending all americans work to engage in schooling from home if possible, avoid gathering in groups of more tha10 people, avoid discretionary travel, avoid bars, restaurants d public food courts. >> brangham: there's also believes a foreignadministration

disinformation campaign is underway to sew fear of a coming nationwide quarantine, a rumor that white house officials denied. still, the closures an cancellations continue. the u.s. supreme court postponed arguments in scheduled cases, including one over subpoenas for records.t trump's financial it's believed to be the court's first such recnce the spanish flu outbreak of 1918. meanwhile, there are some glimmers of progress: testing iu being rampto prioritize medical professionals who care for infected patients, and senior citizens who are most at risk. president trump told governors on a conference call today to get their own respirators and ventilators, and not wait for the federal government to provide them. some hospitals have erectedid tents outheir facilities to prepare for the increased demand in care. most patients have recovered without any repercussions.

more than 10 states also now offer drive-rough testing to mit human contact. u.s. researchers in seattle today also aistered the first experimental coravirus vaccine. but health officials have warned it will take at least year before any vaccine is ready for widespread use. elsewhere around the world, canada announced today the closing of its borders to anyone who's not a cior a permanent resident.ha and spainow surpassed south korea to become the fourth most virus-infected country in the world, behind china, italy, and iran. >> temporarily suspended its operations as it evacuates all of its volunteers from dozens of countries. for the pbs "newshour", i'm for the pbs newshour, i'm

william brangham. >> woodruff: we turn now to our yamiche alcindor who continues to track the white house so, yamiche, there was a briefing this afternoon. the president seemed to take a different tone today. >> that's right, judy.p president tras completely different in his tone and in the way he was approaching the coronavirus. he was much more serious, much more somber. in the past, he really inwnplayed the virus. he said at one a miracle might wash away the virus and there might be cases that go wn to zero in the united states. today, he said there might be a recession because tothe coronavirus. he also said that the u.s. hospital systems might be overwhelmed. nghe said that this is go last possibly all the way until august, maybe even longer. he was also telling people you need to be vigilant. the white house, ocourse, issued the new guidelines. they want people to home school your children, if you can, tofr stay awaom bars and restaurants, if you can, and the third was please don't gther, the president said, in gatherings of ten or mor

people, in public or private. so if you have a large family, separate if you're in the sameme >> woodruff: the president is there with the task force he appointed to oversee theco navirus response. what did they say with regard to testing and the situation with ventilators which will be so necessary ifeople become ry sick? >> the president and heacilth ofs today said we are entering a new phase in testing. this week, they said th will roll out 1.9 million new tests. they're still focusing on testing people who show symoms of covid-19, which is, of course, the infection caused by president said that he also has ordered a lot of ventilators. on a call tday, he got criticized afterwards because he told governors they should be relying on their own ventilators and not the white house. i lked to a wte house official about that and that person stressed that the president is saying the federal government resources should be a last resort for states. so, yes, they are looking at

medical equipment fortates but states should not be looking at the white house for the first stop for ventilators or respiratory equipment. druff: people have bee looking to the white house for how they're going to handle the financial, the economic fallout from this virus. we saw what happened to the markets today. what are they sayabout that? >> it was remarkable to hear the president say that we might be ing into an ecnomic recession, but he said that very clrly, and he also said thamat thets might take care of themselves. but the white house has been saying today tht they are preparing and have announced up to $800 billion in economic aid, that's also to individuals but also to companies. the president said thawe're going to have the airline industry back, specifically, but they'ralso looking at heping out cruise industries. i should also note the senate majority leader chuck chuc schua democrat, said he's preparing a7 bill for $50 billion focused on the coronavirus and more we're seeing bil of

billions of dollars put into the coronavirus response. so democrats an republicans seems they're on the same page when it comes out toe amount of money, but are trying to figure out how it works because the president wants a payroll tax cut. democrats are not on board with that. there will be a third bill coming that the president will also be negotiating on. >> woodruff: so much to keep ack of. yamiche alcindor, reporting from the white house. thank you, yamiche. >> woodruff: as we mentioned at the outset, financial panic rocked world markets agay. to on wall street, the dow jones industrial average burned through nearly 3,000 points, nearly 13%, to close at 20,188. it's down nearly one-third of its value since peaking in mid- february. the nasdaq fell 970 points, and the s&p 500 slumped 325 points. john yang looks now at the economic pain being inflicted by the widening corona virus. >> yang: judy, today's market plunge followed extraordinary action from the fed yesterday:

o cut a key interest rate zero. the move was aimed at shoring un investordence as restaurants are closing, sporting events are cancelled and people are being to stay home. david wessel is director of thee hutchins con fiscal and monetary policy at the brookings stitution. david, thanks for joining us. how big a deal is whathe fed did yesterday? >> it was a pretty big deal. meeting on a sunday ahead of schedule, the fed basically said we are going to use almost all the monetary ammunition we have. they cut interest rates, restarted bond buying, quantitative easing, and said we e making it as easy as possible for banks to borrow from the fedno they c keep lending soirveghts a very big deal. >> reporter: it's about everything the fed can do in terms of monetary policy. as the president says, we me going into a recession. what can be done?we

>> it's cleare going into a recession. the question is how long will it laep, and that'sending on the coronavirus. the fed has a few emergency powers it hasn't used yet, the ones it used in the 2008 financial cris, to lad on circumstances determined to be exigent and unusual, but really the game is up to fiscal policy. we need a big package from congress, tax cuts and spending increases to replace the demand that has evaporated as people ld not to go out and people are losing their jobs by the minute. >> reporter: we have not so distant history with fiscal policy in times of economic turmoil. of th bush administration,e end beginning of the obama administration. what lessons did we learn then that theyught to be keeping in mind now? >> there are lessons. this was not caused by some imbalance in the financial system or the housg thing, it was really a shock from outside the virus. but one of the key lsons we learned during the crisis is do it son.tant to do a lot and

waiting to see how things develop at a time like this is a mistake and, although the government has a very big debt, which they do, they're also able to borrow atery, very low interest rates. so i think most ecmios -- and i have been talking to a number of people on wall street today -- say it's time for congress and the president to borrow some money, do b aig fiscal stimulus and get on with it, and they're worried the political dysfunction in >> reporter: talk that.down. haggling over the details, what goes into this package -- paid sick leave, bailing out -- or i shouldn't say bailing t -- but financial aid or airlines and cruise s>>ps industry. here is a small acage that seems to have to be having trouble getting through e senate that would basically repair the weakness in the safety net. but i think the next step been will be hundreds of billions of dollars, some to go to s,dustries like airli

hotels, businesses, restaurants, so they will be able to stay alive and function when this ends. but i think, eventually, some of it will go to individual housalolds. afte a lot of people are not going to see as much income because they don't work as in hours, they will be laid off, some will get unemployment, some won't, aneth not -- this is something really unusual. we haven't seen such an abrupt end of conception, people told not to shop. think how different this is fm 9/11 when president bush said the patriotic thing was to go out and shop. now we're being told the patriotic thing is to stay home. netflix and amazon will make money, but a lot of eher peopl will be in trouble. >> reporter: david wessel, director of the hutchins center on fiscal d monetary policy at the brookings institution. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: one term you're likely hearing a lot to help deal with the coronavirus is what's known as "flattening

the curve." epidemiologists say if not enough protective measures are taken, there'll be a sharply rising number of cases, as shown in this pale blue spike: a huge jump over a very short period of time. that would strain the capacity of our health system. but flattening the curve, reflected by the lower, grey swell, is achieved bng strong measures, like physical sure the number of caseso make increases more gradually. doctor asaf bitton has been talking about this very issue. he's with brigham and women's hospital in boston. he joins us now. dr. bitton, between washington and the states, are the ameperin le now being given enough guidance to induce them to dog? the right th >> i think that we're starting to be gven that guidance, but we really need to urgently increase the pace of

coordination and of sringency in the response. the curve that you're talkingab t, the trajectories are not sustainable for our healthto systemanage. we do not have enough beds or or severe outbreak like this, so we have to stretch out the number of cases and prevent the number of cases from flooding the hospitals now. >> woodruff: just to clarify, we're not saying that people aren't going to get this virus. a lot of people wil get it. the goal is not to have the-- so many of them get it at the the capacityf our healthcarehelm system. is that right? >> correct. the issue really is about the speed in grawth ofses, of people that get it, and the severity of cases that would overwhelm our -- particularly our acuthospital and i.c.u. systems' response capacity. >> woodruff: i'm asking because i thinsome people think maybe i can avoid this

altogether. i mean, the fact is manamy icans will get the coronavirus. is that correct >> unfortunately, it appears to be so. this is ancredibly transmissible infection, it has a high reproduction rat a gh infection rate. a lot of those cases might be mild, but aot willbe severe, especially for folks in high risk. >> woodruff: so americans shou be, as we have been saying, they should be distancing themselves anday g at home. what do you say to those people who say i really need to, for example, continue whatever work i can continue, i need to get out because my fily is depending on me? >> these are going to be some of the really difficult choices at we all face mving ahead. only one hanod, right, for some people, these are voluntary choices. we are seeing some people are woing from home, some companies are having to have their workers work from home.

increasingly, as we saw in san francisco and in other states, will will be involuntary measures that will really start to close down and distance people from each other physically. so while people work perhaps in nonessential services may wan c ntinue that work, and are very sympathetic to it, unfortun rise of this epidemic ma may mae necessary more involunta closures or restriction. >> woodruff: dr. bitton, a lot of people are asking a questions throbably impossible to answer, but how long is this going to last? >>t's a hard question, but it's one we need to start grappling wit and what i ould say is it looks to be many weeks to months. it'sard to imagine tat there's evidence from other countries that we can control this whin just a week or two so i think we need to prepare for this to be an extended time. we are socially distant. it's really hard to predict the dynamics of any particular epidemic, but this one is almost

unprecedented and i think it'sly remportant that we all have a new social compact around coming together by staying apa apart. >> woodruff: and just quickly, t finallthose who are concerned about whether there are enough hospital beds, enough ntilators for those who are most seriously -- the most seriously ill, whadoou say? >> well, we have, according to the american hospital association, a couple of years ago, we have a little over 900,000 beds. we have about 50,000 medil i.c.u. beds that are staffed and anothe50,000 type of i.c.u. beds that are staffed in. total, about 160,000 vents.at hat means is, even in a moderate scenario like predicted by the johnns hopenter eh for health security, if it came at once, we wouldn't have the capacity that would overwhelm that existing capacity. people to take the community mitigation and social distancing strategies to flattenhe curve,

to spread that out so if those cases emerg and it's hardo predict, but it's possible at this point, it at least can emerge over anncreased amount of time. otherwise, this is going to be very difficult on our health system and helthcare workers.o >> wdruff: dr. asaf bitton, thank you very much. we appreciate it. >> thank you. governors all over the country are taking unprecedented steps to limit the spread of the coronavirus in their state. earlier today, republican governor larry hogan of maland, ordered all restaurants, bars, gyms, and movie theaters in his state to close. and governor hogan joins us now from annapolis. governor, welcome back to the "nt shour". so we the main steps you've taken in response to this? >> well, so about eleven days

ago, we declared a state of emergency. we've taken a numbef unprecedented steps. i think i was the first governor in america to close all of our schools statewide, that was last thursday. today we took a whole anotherst f steps, because, at this crisis ingrapidly escala and as your last -- the doctor wasou just talking trying to spread out this curve and nd the curve, we've got to stop the spread. bars, restaurants, movieed all theaters, gyms -- which is an unprecedented step. it's going to cause tremendous hardship on people and may seem extreme, but we believe it's absolutely necessary to try to of people in ourtate.thousands we also called up a number of -- we have 1,000 activated members of the national guard as ofo today, we've another 1,200 rapidly activate 6,000 newg to hospital beds in the state to address the other issue you werb

just talkingt, the surge on our hospitals and the possibility of not being able to handle the capacity. so we're trying to open some closed hospitals, adadditional beds, we're waiving licensure requirements for people who is nursing licenses expired, waiving them from other states and activating people, you know, all kinds of steps that arete unprecedto try to get a handle on this. >> woodruff: so with all that, do you believe you've doneou everythingould do? >> well, you know, every day, w take actions. we've taken actions every day t for the pao weeks, and we think we're doing everything we can do, and then anhiother changes, and we come up with another thing we've got to. do i've just been trying to make the dec aisioquickly and as aggressively as possible because i don't think -- you kime is not our friend in this, and the actions we hesitate to mak mean whether some people will live or die. so we're trying to just make a them as quick we can. i'm trying to get the best

advicee can. we've got a coronavirus task force made up of some of the smartest doctors from johns hopkins and from all the top hospitals in the state advising best medical advice. to take the we have been waiting, getting some direction fm the federal government, but just making decisions on our own and taking actions we think are necsary in our states. >> reporter: so, governor, we understand the president has said today it's best for you to reach out to get the number of ventilators fopeople who become seriously ill are the coronavirus. do you think that's the righ approach or how are you deali with it? >> i'm not sure that's exactly what t way he said it. i'm chairman of the national governor's association. we had 4 ogovernothe call with the president and top leaders. i think he sort of misspoke when he was talking and some of my colleagues may have put that out i' sure what he meant to there. say, but part of that is true, the governors are taking steps

on our own to get our o ventilators but we also need the federal government to get us as many as they can as quickly as possible. weid get in our state a load from the stockpiles of theen federal goverlast night. it's not nearly enough. we don't have nearly enough, neither do any of the other governors. so we have to do both. we have to get as much as we can from the fed government as quickly as possible, and we made that point very clear from the president, but we're also taking actions on our own to get these kinds of things from private sector and otherources because it's not really -- we don't have time to argue abt whose responsibility it is. ee just have to get things don no matter how we get them done. >> woodruff: governorhow rried are you at this point about the 6 million sit 70s of your state? >> we're pretty worried. we don't want people to panic and i understand the steps we're taking, they sou really scary and they are disruptive. that most people tt get thistand virus are going to be okay, and

it's not really goi to b even that bad of a -- the symptoms aren't going to be that bad. we're trying to protect the people who are vulnerable, which are our older citizens, the people with underlying health conditions and those younger folks who are not really going to get that sick can help us save the lives of many others. but it's obviously the worst crisis, i think, that any of us have ever dealt with. it's unprecedented. nothing like this has ever happened throughout the world. nit's going to challenged tax every resource we have, but ai just people to understand that we will get through this together, and everybody at every level is trying to do everything we possibly can to try to save lives and keep people safe. >> woodruff: and a few morwoe s of advice for families who are couped up in their homes, whether elderly, single, have ildren, what would you to them? >> i would say just enjoy the time you have with your families and let them know it's going to be okay. we don't knolong it's

going to take but we'll make sure people get the basic necessities they need, we're going to do everything we can to protect them. while it may not be convenient, that you can't go to the restaurant or movie theater, stay at home and enjoy time wito family, and let's hug each other and spend the quality time together. stay home, watch television, listen to your show, stafoy ed and stay involved and pay attention to what's going on. >> woodruff: wordse all need to hear, i'm sure. governor larry hogan of maryland, chair of the national governors association, thank you very much. >> thank you, judy. n >> woodruff:e day's other news, plans are still on for presidential primaries in threes stomorrow, despite covid- 19.lo arizona,da and illinois will vote, but ohio's governor t callay for delaying in- person voting 'til june.

meanwhile, democrats joe biden and bernie sanders debated last night in an empty room. we'll get the details, after the news summary. in israel, opposition leader benny gantz was tormally tapped y to form a governing coalition, following the couny's third election in a year. he had been unable to do so after the previous election. today, though, at a ceremony with israel's promident, gantz ed an end to the political deadlock. >> ( translat ): i will do whatever it takes to form within as few days as possible a naonal, patriotic and broa government as much as possible. a government in which i will leotect the interest of se in judea and samaria and the arab citizens of israel, the periery and residents of the center of israel as well. >> woodruff: prime minister benjamin netanyahu finished slightly ahead of gantz in the march second election. but, gantz has won endorsements from a slim majority of israeli lawmakers.an back in this country, five people, including a police

officer, were killed overnight in a shooting attack on a gas station in springfield, missouri. police say the gunman crashed his car into the station, opened fire on customers, employees and police, and finally, took his own life. joe biden and bernie sanders inuare off in a debate domed by coronavirus. approaches, we get an on-the- ground report from arizona. tamara keith and amy walter break down the politics of the. pandemic and much more. >> woodruff: we turn now to the democratic race for president. with the delay of ohio's primaro , three remaining states will hold critical primaries

tomorrow: ilnois, florida and arizona. ahead of tuesday's vote, former vice president joe biden and vermont senators bernie sanders met on the debate stage last night. lisa desjardins has our report. >> desjardins: a first of its kind debate, in a time of national crisis. with no live audience and amid a pandemic, former vice president joe biden and vermont senator bernie sanders also went one-on- one for the first time. >> we have problems that we have now.evve now. what's aution going to do? disrupt everything in the meantime? >> let be honest and understand that this coronavirus pandemic exposes the incredible weakness and dysfunctionality of our current healthcare system. >> desjardins: at the heart of the debate, the ideological divide between the two men, repecially over health care, and how they would a the coronavirus outbreak as president.

>> people are looking for results, not a revolution.id >> desjardins:, who is leading the delegate race, has a plan to provide no-cost treatment for the vi he said sanders' medicare-for- all plan, in which the government would br,the single paould fail to address this crisis specifically. >> with all due respect to medicare forsill, you have a le payer system in italy. it doesn't work there. it has nothing to with medicare for all. that would not solve the problem at all. >> desjardins: sanders argued medicare-for-all would address not just coronavirus, but the much larger issue with american health care, a long underfunded system that treats rich and poor differently. >> so, you're saying right now, we're in the middle of a crisis. but, you know what, last year, at least 30,00people died in american because they didn't get healthcare when they should've, because we don't have universal coverage. i think that's a crisis. >> desjardins: it comes as the pandemic has fundamentally changed the 2020 campaign trail.

both biden and sanders are holding online town halls instead of rallies. >> relax. 're doing great. it all will pass. >> desjardins: as for president trump's handling of the crisis, the two men had harsh words. >> he is undermining the doctors and the scientists who are t tryihelp the american >> donald trump, he's exacerbated every single one ofs these probboth the >> desjardins: but on other topics... >> i don't want to join you. why don't you join me? >> desjardins: the two sparred p over thet positions. >> all well and good, but nowhere near enough. >> djardins: that included climate change, the iraq war, ab.tion and social security >> i am saying that you have aten on the floor of the s time and time again, talking >> no, that is not tru but we did not cut that! >> i know, because people like me helped stop that! >> desjardins: but biden did make some news-- he now backs a version of sanders' tuition-free public college plan. biden's plan would cov families making less than $125,000.th anformer vice president committed that any running mate of his would be a woman. >> i commit that i will, in fact, appoint a-- pick a woman

>> desjardins: sanders indicated he probably would pick a woman. >> so, my very stronency is to move in that direction. >> desjardins: but before running mates are chosen, one of the candidates will have to secure the nomination. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: lisa will be back with politics monday in just a minute, but firs election officials across the country are considering how to adjust to the pandemic. louisiana, georgia and ohio have postponed their primary contests, and candidates have scrapped public rallies altogether. stephanie sy has this report from arizona, where some 80% of voters were expected to mail in their ballots ahead of tomorrow's primary contest, and the race is still on. >> reporter: seemingly undeterred by the threat of coronavirus, the farmers market in downtown phoenix was buzzing this weekend.ac new rules d since the from offering up s of hisuke organic cookies, but he was handing out political opinions for free.

>> i do feel that we need a change in our leadershy. in our coun >> reporter: duke is still undecided, but over at the community food cooperative, kenny beesaw was wearing his support for vermont se bernie sanders. saying, this is our man how has trump been for the latino community? >> horrible.or >> rr: alexis delgado- garcia is another vote for sanders, but the first time voter plans on backing whoever the eventual nominee is. some of his family members have never gained legal status even though they've lived in arizona for decades. alexis is one of a growing number of voting-age latinos that want to swing arizona blue. >> i want to represent my family. i want to represent my mom and my dad.

is>> reporter: joe garcia both director of public policy at chicanos por la causa, and a longtime arizona political. journali >> it's young latinos.e becaen they were growing up, perhaps one or both of thei parents mit have been able at vote because they weren't here with documen. about 95% of young latin were born here or naturalized and they're able to vote. >>ereporter: whether the you voters turn out is the questiony r-old dora vasquez is a third generation mexican american. she wadetermined to hold her debate watch party sunday evening. >> i don't want to live in fear, you know. >> reporter: even as sheonorried that cirus concerns might impact the elections. >> i'm very concerned about thep ability of twople to get out and meet with voters. >> reporter: maricopa county has closed some 80 polling sites and is enacting emergency protocols that allow voters to cast their

ballot at any of more than 150 voting centers. state democratic party officials say the early-voting tradition in arizona might minimize the pact of the outbreak. vasquez voted early for senator elizabeth warren before she >> i wanted warren to be our president because she's a woman. i have four to five elections left in my lifetime it was very disappointing. it seemed to me that, you know, the od ole boy system was in play again. >> reporter: besides the growing hispanic population, another factor affecting arizona politics is the numbout of state residents moving here. the phoenix metro area is the fastest growing in america. and a lot of those so-called transplants bring their politics with them. east of phoenix lie the affluent scottsdale suburbs, which c includes ze 85255-- one of the top sources of trump campaign donations in 2016. lane menkel and mike watt moved here from connecticut. >> when i told my great friends

th i was moving, my best friend now unfortunately gone, he said, mike, you cannot move to arizona. i said, because it's too republican. you know, you're gonna perish. >> reporter: they didn't perish, and in fact found a group of like minded folks in area who meet every sunday to talk politics. >> we have one or two good, nice rrepublican people, but tt are democrats. so that's very nourishing for us. >> reporter: several >> reporter: severalrs were absent this week due to coronavirus concerns and extra precautions were taken, but the conversations we no less vibrant. >> arizona is a pivotal state. >> reporter: the talk centered around which candidate was best equipped to beat president trump. how many of you are supporting vice president joe biden? thif bernie sanders ends u democratic nominee, how many of you will still come out and vote for sanders? oh, you have to. you have to, because that is trump.ep >>ter: garcia describes

the dynamics using a quintessential arizona analogy of haboobs-- intense dust storms typical here in the summers--e >> you he two haboobs, the homegrown latino voters who are comingr the first time. and then, of course, the new comers who are moving into arizona with their own politics. so the two haboobs hitting. wesl see when the dust sett where it all is. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm stephanie sy in phoenix. >> desjardins: to dive deeper into the primary race and how things are being impacted by coronavirus, i'm joined by oy politics monam that's amy walter of the cook political reportnd public radio's "politics with amy walter," and tamara keith of npr, co-host of the "npr politics podcast." chey have noticed a new configuration, sl distancing with us here tonight. it's important for everyone.

let's start with tomorrow. four states were supposed to foes vote tomorrow. we're talking big states here tomorrow, illinois, ohio, florida and arizona. one of them, ohio, will not be voting in persor tomw. without ohio, 441 delegates at stake, there are other changes that will be in effect tomorrow as well in the states that are ntinuing to vote. some of those include polling places closing in maricop arizona, due to the coronavirus, as well as dialing back especially on polling places that are in senior living facilities. amy, how do you reon with the two risks we see now, a risk to voters if they do vote, a risk to democracy if they don't? >> and also to poll workers. that's right. many whom are older who work these polls. look, i think everybody is sort of taking this as a moment-by-moment experience, so, obviously, some states felt like they couldn't -- they did not feel comfortable, holding a

primary, knowing that the public health was not bcting pro. but then i think we step back a moment and we say, thihing about e democratic primary, what's going to happen tomorrow, what shod ppen going forward. look, we were on thee st on the last election night where it was pretty clear that bernie sanders was falling far behind. he needs at least 60% of all the delegates w going forward in order to catch up to joe biden and get enough to be the nominee, actually surpass joe biden to be the nominee. he's sitting at the polls now somewhere around 30% nationally, and in the polls out of florida and arizo he's wn 30, 20 points. it's not going to happen. so really, the question is, when the election is over on tuesday night, will bernie sanders still be in this race, or will he decide that now is the time to move on? we thought the debate was going to be the place where ed ba

off. obviously, that didn't happen. >> there's two thing e ppening -- bernie sanders is the effect of sults of the election so far tore the crisis that makes his path tougher or both, tam p >> hth was tough before this crisis was totally vious. super tuesday was rely not od for him, but i do thi that there was an inf point last tuesday, and what happened is they canceled their ents. this campaign, everything changed last tuesday when this got real. in fct, it was ohio that made it get real because ohio said no gatherings, the state of ohio said no large gatherings and all of a sudden these twoampaign events that were supposed to happen in ohio didn't happen.at the cand flew east and really, in a lot of ways, have r en taking stock evence. and bernie sanders did not have a good night last tuesday night. said asuch the next day when he finally spoke to the i mean, i think that, you know, when we look back on this

primary, you know, a generation from now, we'll probably forget about super tuesday and we might forget about a lot o oth things, but we're going to remember coronavirus and now, in some ways, this primary i now locked in amber. >> you know,he governor of ohio said he was movning o postponing election till june but admitted september would be the better day. the conventions are in july and august. is there talk abt what happens if we can't have the conventions? >> there's not been pubc talk but, clearly, these are the campaigns and people who run te conventions think about all the time what to do in case ofnc er there are processes in place. i also want to point out there are other campaigns that are ppening now, to. people are running for congress, for state legislature, for the senate, and their caavpaigns been locked in amber, as tam said. you can'tdo big in-person fundraising event, obviously not

door-to-door, getting your volunteersogether to put mailers out to your constituents in. a time when the economy is looking as fragile as ever, asking donors for campaignon contribualso going to be tough. and this is democrats and republicans. this cuts across the entire > one thing about e partisanship that i thought was surprising received somepi differences inon about this crisis, depending on what party you affiliate with, this street journal" from this week, they asked people if they were members catching coronavirus, 68% of democrats saiyes, 48% of republicans. this may be a regional effect. more republicans live in rural what do you make of this? >> until today, president trump has downplayed most times, sayingverything is going tobe fine or we've got this under control. he's been out of sync with some

of the nalth professionals ad the media. today was a very difrent president trump, so for the voters who listen to him and don't trust the media, then for the la month, the mdia has been overreacting and the president has been saying what he's been saying, and i think that that does affect public opinion. well, now, the president today said, well, maybe the media has been doing a good job, and also laid out some very sntrin serious steps for the american public to take to keep everyone safe. ent.it was a major mom >> yeah, i think that's exactly right. let's watch and see now that the tone, what those numbers looknt like in a week. but this polarization is a way of life in our country, and i've happen in a crsis is exactlyl what's happening now which is, instead of pushing us together, it's keeping us separate, from where we decide to get or sources of information, who we trust and who we don't, and all we can ho is, with everybody on the same page that we can kind of come to an agreement on

how terrible this is. unlike something like 9/11 which was a tragic moment that happened all at once, this is a slow-rolling potential disaster. >> everyone's lives and jobs are getting more difficult so we appreciate yours. amy walerter, tkeith, thank you. >> you're welcome. >>oodruff: for years leban has been a financial house of cards-- its debt is one of the world's largest per capita. now, the foundation of tt house is giving way. add in a global pandemic, and you have a gathering perfect storm. special correspondent jane ferguson reports from beirut >> reporter: beirut is famous for its bars, restaurants and cafes, a mixture of arab andte meanean hospitality.go but the rnment has now ordered everything here shut, in an attempt to contain covid-19. only grocery stores, bakeriesph

and macies can welcome customers. >> it's very difficult. we don't know, maybe nek we cannot open the shop. maybe they wiltake a decisn to close all the shops. >> reporter: siham perham opened this sma corner store 37 years ago. yet, she says, business has never been this bad. >> everyday, everything be and at the end we have the corona. this was the full stop of everything. >> reporter: so far, fewer than 100 cases have been announced here, but that number is expected to grow. on sunday, the government deared a state of medical emergency, and from midnig c tomorrow tntry will go into lockdown with it's international airport shut for least 12 days. police are chasing people away seafront. spaces, like the and schools have been shut for the president michun addressed the nation. >> ( trslated ): this is the hour of national solidarity. keep working froyour homes.

life doesn't stop and should not stop.r: >> reporhe coronavirus couldn't have come at a worse time for lebanon. the country is already in a deep recession, and for many of these businesses this outbreak will be the last straw. lebanon is facing its worst economic disaster in decades, and a banking crisis threatenini thlihoods of millions. last week the country defaulted on its debts for the first timey in its histo. prime nister hsan diab broke >> (ntranslated our reservesch. have reached critical and dangerous leve. today, we are paying the price for the mistakes of past years. must we bequeath them to our children and the coming generations? >> reporr: not even during it's devastating civil war from to repay its debts.le now, after decades of mismanagement and corruption,

lebanon is the third-most indebted country in the world. >>ndhe country imports a lot barely exports. you have to finance that gap, and it's been financed in lebanon using the dollars that have been sent by the lebanese diasporaover the years that money has been spent to finance the imports. >> reporter: mike azar is a former economics lecturer at johns hopkins university. >> so now you have this huge balance of dollar deposits in the system, but those doars have all been spent to finance either the trade deficit, the government fiscal deficit, so >> reporter: since the end of the war here, this unorthodox method of balancing payments seemed to be working to hold the country's finances together, for a while at least. but those dollars from lebanese people living abroad slowed down in recent years. for one, the conflict in neighboring syria crippled the economy in lebanon. also, a downturn in oil prices

esans a lot less money being sent home by lebmigrants working in the persian gulf. >> oncthose dollars stopped flowing, the central bank had to offer higher and higher interest so, in the u.s. at a time whens. people were earning 0% on their deposits, in lebanon you could earn 6 to 8% on your dollar deposits. >> reporter: but it was little more than a ponzi scheme and now the central bank can't balance the books. in the country's second largest , ty, tripoli, volunteers hand out food to the filling a gap where the government refuses to help. these people created a soup kitchen for the most desperate. now even this charity work has propped to prevent the new coronavirus fromding. helping people with food handouts could p them at risk. and for a million-and-a-half syrians here surviving infu miserable ree camps, the global pandemic adds a new layer of fear to their harhips.

>> ( translated ): we heard from the tv about corona. we are afraid now, if a child coughs or sneezes. we have 80 tents and in each it would be catastrophic if it spread here. >> reporter: parents in the camp worry how they will afford treatment if their kids get sick.ha lebanono real public healthcare system.tr >> ( slated ): if we go to the hospital they won't let us take our kids in unless we pay. if you have money you are welcome, if you don't have money you are not. >> reporter: lebanon has longd famultitude of calamities, but this wave of new disasters is the greatest test of its resilience for decades. the generations here who have surviv war and political crises now face an unprecedented t of challenges that only continue to get worse.e for s newshour, i'm jane ferguson ibeirut, lebanon. >> woodruff: we waclose

tonight with a story of hope, how in these trying times people are creatively using the arts, even in the face oalogether distancing. it is a reminder of the power of humanity even during hardship. jeffrey brown has our look, as o partf our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> brown: broadway may be dark and silent, but in the digital in the there is musi time of coronavirus. and e show somehow goes on: a "chorus line" rehearsal from n.y.u. students eager to pick up where they left off. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ and a performance of "one moree

day" from sical "les miserables" at a high school. this last vio and many others like it were posted to the hashtag "#sunshine songs," started by broadway veteran laura benanti, a tony award winning singer who found herself r delined and thought of young people facing thn cancelled shows, for which they've put in so much she put the word: send me your song videos. >> i want to be your audience. >> brown: and the responses have come in. land ofmeantime, in th bel canto opera, italy is all but shutdown, but that can't stop the music. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ here, a quarantined man sang to his neighbors the famous aria," ccnessun dorma" from i's" turandot."

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ and, in a rather remarkableor pence set to the same song, a recording by the late great luciano pavarotti, the italian air force used colored smoke to paint italy's flag in the sky. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all around the country there were impromptu moments of songd pleasure. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ t spain, also hard hit byhe virus, music helped residents of an apartment house join together for some exercise, even as they maintained their social distancing. back in this country, there was this: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

a new hampshire police association pipe and drum bridgade. their tour of ireland had been cancelled. stead they went to a local walmart. a moment of reef for all of us, even staring at empty shelves of toilet paper. for the pbs newshour, i'm >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> on an american cruise lines journey along the mississippi river, travelersexplore classic tebellum homes, civil war battlefields, and historic american towns. aboard our fleet of victorian- style paddlewheelers and modern riverboats, you can experience local culture and cuisine, and relive american history. american cruisonlines. proud r of pbs newshour.

supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more infortion at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions og >> this m was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs thank you. viewers like you.

there is no parallel for this election in 2020. >> the entire point is to get past the headlines, to get past -- >> we can go deeper into topicsi ever isn't necessarily red or blue. >> woodruff: we need to understand what's going on, we need to go behind and under the story. n to just find out what happened but why it matters. >> 2020 will be a political rollercoaster but viewers can count on pbs to be there every step of the way. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

welcome to "amanpour." here's what's coming up. m>> humanity has dealt wiy such epidemics before and we are probably in a better situation than ever before in history. >> philosopher and best-selling eek myths and modern democracy with the wit and actor steven fry. plus -- >> the city was 56% black as i said in 1898.to y 18%. so they just turned a black majority city overnight into up this whitemacist citadel. >> a coup that changed everything author david zakuni talks about