judy: good evening, i am judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight -- pres. trump: stay at home. judy: the pandemic, how the u.s. is handling the crisis. and, pandemic economics. we examine how covid-19 is taking a financial toll and efforts to block lawsuits. plus, the mayor of san francisco , dramatic moves to contain the outbreak. in the vote goes on. on the ground reports as a trio of mid states pull presidential primaries despite the risks of the coronavirus. all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour."

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fidelity investments. >> the john and james knight kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. >> this program was made by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: despite a national emergency and rising concerns about the pandemic, voters in three states headed to the polls today to make their choice and the democratic late -- race for president. nearly 450 delegates were up for grabs.

ohio took the dramatic step of postponing a election at the 11th hour last night. the polls have closed in both florida, where former ce president joe biden is projected to win, and in illinois, where biden is also the projected winner. the polls close in arizona at 10:00 p.m. eastern, 7:00 pacific . mr. biden has nearly a 200 delegate lead over vermont senator bernie sanders. 967 to 780. in the republican race with wins in florida and illinois, president trump has secured the delegates he needs to win the gop nomination in his reelection bid. we will have reports from every state the voters today later in the program. for now, we turn to the main story, the coronavirus pandemic. the trump administration is pushing for huge new economic relief package to fight financial damage done by the spreading disease.

that comes as u.s. officials confirm 103 dead nationwide out of 5300 cases, but with no word on how many have recovered. meanwhile, wall street did recover some as the dow jones industrials gained back 5% and the european union member states moved to close their borders. once again, william brangham begins that coverage. william: as the financial pain rose every day, steven mnuchin assured americans that relief is coming. >> we are looking at sending checks to americans immediately and what we have heard from hard-working americans, many companies have now shut down bars or restaurants, americans need cash now and the americans wants to give cash now, the next two weeks. william: mnuchin did not specify an exact amount, but did say it would be significant, perhaps $1000 a person for many people.

he did add that millionaires would not be getting checks. he saw to calm fears on the growing pandemic. pres. trump: by making shared sacrifices and temporary changes we can protect the health of our people and our economy because i think our economy will come back rapidly. 15 days from yesterday, we will see what happens after that. if we do this right, our country and the world can be rolling again pretty quickly. william: the administration is urging congress to pass a huge economic stimulus package, one that could inject $1 trillion back into the u.s. economy. it purportedly will include a massive tax cut for workers, 200 $50 billion for small business loans and 250 billion dollars for airlines hit hard by lack of demand for travel. mitch mcconnell promised swift action. >> it is my intention the senate will not a jordan until we have

passed significant and bold new steps above and beyond what the house has passed. william: chuck schumer echoed that urgency. democrats are working on their own version, when they say is focused less on bailouts and tax breaks. >> our proposal is big, bold, but also targeted. it focuses on those americans in the health sector and economy most in need now. in the meantime much of the u.s. remains in self-imposed isolation at home, heating guidance from yesterday that people avoid groups of more than 10 people. but there are so many examples of young people packing into bars and restaurants. today dr. anthony fauci pleaded with them. >> do not have the attitude, i

am young, i am invulnerable. you are less vulnerable than i am. however, what you are inadvertently doing, and i know you do not want to do that, you do not want to put your loved ones at risk, particularly the elderly or those with compromised conditions. we cannot do this without the young people cooperating. please cooperate with us. william: dr. deborah birx praised efforts targeted at seniors who are especially vulnerable. >> i want to applaud the private sector for now creating senior only shopping times. that is extraordinary. that shows what america brings and i think other countries will learn from us about how to protect seniors in this type of way. william: school districts across the country continue to close. some districts, like this one in missouri, are handing out breakfast and lunch to families who rely on their schools for

meals. >> we want to make sure we are airing on the side of safety and making sure student communities are as safe as possible. william: elsewhere, closures and cancellations pileup. st. patrick's day celebrations muted after many bars and restaurants coast-to-coast were forced to close and parades were canceled. some revelers managed to enjoy their own personal parades. in arizona, florida and illinois, democratic primaries went on as planned, but there were reports of abnormally low voter turnout and poll workers refusing to show up. ohio postponed its primary hours before voters head to the polls because of health concerns. in florida governor ron desantis says he will let local authorities decide whether to ose beaches, but he ordered all the state's bars and nightclubs to close for 30 days. overseas in brussels, leaders in

the european union announced they are about to seal external borders to contain the outbreak. nearly all non-e.u. citizens will be barred from entering the 27 nation bloc for 30 days per die ran, among the hardest hit in the middle east, set up a highway checkpoint to check travelers temperatures. iranian state television warned millions could die in the islamic republic of people ignore the health points. in another traveling development, this novel coronavirus continues to spread across the african continent. even though testing is scanned, more than 150 infections have been confirmed in at least 26 of the 49 countries in sub-saharan africa. in china, in the city of wuhan, the initial epicenter of the outbreak, there was just one newly recorded infection today. for the "pbs newshour," i am william brangham. judy: for the latest on the

federal response we turn to lisa desjardins, who has been tracking these fast-moving developments on capitol hill, and yamiche alcindor, following all of the information out of the white house what details do we have about the administration's proposals, this stimulus package? yamiche: this morning there was a major announcement at the white house, president trump and steve mnuchin both said they are backing a plan to give every single american, except for wealthy americans, individual checks to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. they said millionaires might be exempt, but people are hurting and need cash now. steven mnuchin said he thinks this could happen as early as the next two weeks if congress acts quickly enough. the tests could be up to $1000. the president was also on the phone with executives from the restaurant industry, the cruise

ship industries, supply chain industries. he wants billions to go to those industries as well. the white house pressing congress to press the bill in the house. they want gop senators who have issues with the bill on the house side to vote for the bill so they can get that out of the way and start working on this trillion dollar stimulus package. it was remarkable to hear the president say he wants every day americans to get a check in the mail to deal with this virus. judy: separately, proposals by congress to do something about this. lisa: there are competing plans. republicans anthe white house want payment individuals. democrats have a different plan, we think other things are the priority, a big stimulus deal. $750 billion, different where it would go. $400 billion would go to hospitals for medical supplies to beef up health workers in

rural hospitals around the country. the rest of it, $350 billion, in the democrats plan, would go to workers who are unemployed or losing time on the job. could they talk about including a payment in the steel? chuck schumer did not closed -- close the door to that. negotiations will be tricky. there may be yet another bill after this, multiple stimulus bills coming down the pipe. in the democrat and white house proposal, they do not discuss the airlines. they might get money in their pocket, but will they buy an airline ticket soon? this is what they're trying to work out. judy: it was just a few days ago the house passed a relief stimulus bill. what happened to that? lisa: the white house has been pressing to get that through. i can report now leader

mcconnell said it will pass through the senate. it is a question of when in the next two to three days, as soon as tonight, a procedural issue. mcconnell told me he told republicans to gag and swallow it. they do not love it. this will be the first help affected to americans, the families first ask. it allows for two weeks of paid sick time for those directly affected by the virus. three weeks of leave time for those who have to care with the child whose school has been closed. businesses with fewer than 500 workers only must account for this. larger businesses do not have to pay for the sick time. all of the businesses will have to pay sick time upfront. they will receive a tax credit later. that is also the problem lawmakers are hoping to address soon. one more thing, i want to go through the timing ahead.

first, in the next three days, to pass the families first act for families that are sick. then, the senate republicans plan to work on their own on a possible stimulus bill to come up with their idea. then republicans say they will get together -- democrat say it is ridiculous, let's begin negotiating now. but they want time to come up with their own plan. how long that will take, we do not know. judy: a race against time. separately they looked at public health proposals. tell us what they are saying. yamiche: the president said he is approaching the current -- the coronavirus outbreak as a nation at war. he says it feels like war time and americans should be looking at this as if they can do anything they can for their nation. be vigilant, do what you can to help this virus outbreak stop it on testing, something on the

minds of americans every day, the white house says the fda, a large governing body that oks at drugs and testing, they are now giving states the ability to look at and develop and approve their own testing so massachusetts and other places can come up with tests and use them. the president has been getting pushback when it comes to public health because he had been referring to the virus is a chinese virus. some oit called it the kung flu virus. many are saying that is racist, xenophobic. he says he is pushing back on china because they are saying u.s. service members were the ones who brought it over from china. we see the president pushing back hard. it is a real cultural issue the president is dealing with. as he is trying to tell people stay safe, vigilant, also, they are saying do not target asian americans in this country. everyone has been told to stay home. how does congress work through

this? lisa: there is a scenario in which the senate after it passes the next bill takes time off from washington. he is not willing to commit to that yet. if the rules of the senate will not change, even though democrats are interested in the idea of remote voting, leader mcconnell said no. instead, they would lengthen a roll call vote so senators will come in smart -- smaller groups to the floor of the senate, three to five at a time. mitch mcconnell says no rule change would [indiscernible] judy: interesting. now for the wider response, for the states of department and defense. nick schifrin is here. it was the secretary of state and secretary of defense who had news conferences today. nick: secretary of defense mark esper laid out how they can help

battle this virus in the u.s. millions of masks to be given to help humans services from military stockpiles, ventilators as well. military testing labs will be open for civilian testing, governors beginning to ask the national guard for help. the department of defense has been transparent about how this virus has impacted them. 39 positives, how have they been protecting? there are severe travel restrictions. if you are a part of the department of defense, you cannot move inside the u.s. beyond the base or your home. social distancing, even the secretary and his deputy cannot see each other in the same room. as for the department of state, there are a handful of cases. judy: we know the state department has been outspoken about china's role, including propaganda. nick: let's break this down.

there has been a concerted effort by the chinese government to stir anger about the united states within china and convince the rest of the world that none of this is china's fault. to that specifically there was a tweet late last week by one of the spokespeople of the foreign ministry. he wrote "in might be the u.s. army who brought the epidemic to wuham." he wrote that in english and mandarin and it waretweeted all over the world. experts i talked to say this is an effort to deflect the blame. the virus in it -- initiated in wuhan. it has nothing to do with the u.s. army, but officials in wuhan covered up the virus and chinese people across the country widely criticize their own government. officials say this is a diversion to internal criticism, a crackdown xi jinping is doing,

but a diversion for the worldwide impact you will see. friday we saw the pentagon spokeswoman writes on twitter, this is the communist part of china has chosen to promulgate false and absurd conspiracy theories. then you saw yesterday secretary of state releasing a statement about strong u.s. objections to the efforts to shift claim firm covid-19. so the u.s. pushing back on this hard. judy: they have been evicting foreign journalists. nick: the connection is the crackdown, the unwillingness of the chinese communist party to accept any kind of responsibility, and a crackdown on any blame inside. this was the largest expulsion of foreign journalists in china since mao. new york times, washington post, wall street journal, voice of america journalist, all evicted from the country. china says it is in response to

american moves capping the number of media and designating state run media. it is part of xi jinping's crackdown on criticism, especially now, at a moment when we are dealing with the impact of the coronavirus that did start in wuhan. it is less a response to u.s. moves in a real sense this is silencing criticism, especially now at a key moment, as secretary pompeo said today. >> i regret cna's decision today to further foreclose the world's ability to conduct free pass operations -- press operations that would be really good for the chinese people in these incredibly challenging times when more transparency is what will save lives. nick: the fear is that the u.s.-china relationship is getting worse at a time the world is facing economic and

medical crisis. judy: we needed another issue. thank you. now, the talk of federal aid for an ailing economy came today as wall street recoups some of monday's record losses p the dow jones industrial average came back 1000 points to close at 21,237. 430 points and s&p 500 added 433. much of the markets reaction was the prospect of a stimulus package including the idea of potentially giving americans as much as $1000 apiece. jason is an economist who worked for the obama administration after the financial collapse. he is now a professor at harvard who advocated for that idea.

he joins me from massachusetts via skype. jason, thank you so much for being with us. in your view, is the trump administration identifying correctly what the needs are in this economy right now? jason: i think today was a really important step in identifying those needs. they are understanding we need to act in a way that is really big, really fast and gets money directly to the families that are going to be most affected by everything that has happened. there is more i would like to see, but i thought today was a very important step. judy: they are talking about $850 though secretary -- billion, though sec. mnuchin had a different number. why is $1000 per individual a good idea? jason: the economy will go

through the largest dislocation it has perhaps ever gone through, as if you simultaneously have hurricanes hitting every part of the country and every part of the global economy simultaneously. lots of people are going to lose money as a result of this. it would be great to find exactly who those people were and compensate them, but it is a hard thing to do. what they have chosen, what i have advocated, is to paint with a broad brush, make sure you are not missing anyone and get as much money out there. judy: for some families $1000 will be a lot, for others it will not make much of a difference. why is that the right number? jason: i think $1000 a person, $500 a child. it should happen again if needed. if the unemployment rate goes up , there should be another round.

finally, i think there are a lot of other channels the federal government has. they should be using them in addition, expanding unemployment insurance, expanding assistance to the states for medicaid. none of those were in the white house package, but all of those are essential compliments to the ideals they have been talking about. judy: there is also talk of tax cuts. the president expressed an interest in the tax roll cut. what is your opinion? jason: i think a payroll tax cut in the best of times is suboptimal. it gives a lot to people who make a lot of money and less to people who do not. right now it would be a czy policy because it gives nothing to people who are not getting payroll and it tells you, if you want to get this money you have to stay in your job. i do not think either of those are the right messages for this moment in time. it appears that the white house

has wisely shelved that misguided idea. judy: what do you see is businesses that need the most assistance? we hear the administration talking about helping the airlines, the tourist industry, where do you see that need most legitimately should go? jason: there are a lot of businesses. they did not make a mistake in business decision, they were hit with something huge, having to shut lots of things down, absolutely appropriately for the sake of our health. i think some degree, loans and compensation are appropriate. airlines, hospitality, mass transit has been hit hard. i would include small and medium-size businesses across the country. judy: do you see what we are talking about as the extent of what is going to be needed? what more could be done? we are facing the great unknown. jason: it is a very open

question how long the essential shutdown of much of america lasts. if it lasts more than two or three months, it could have prolonged consequences for the economy. historically unemployment rates can go up quickly. they never go down very quickly. a business that goes bankrupt can do that quickly. reversing that is not something you can do. i am worried not just about the next phase where we need to help families, but also, as we get beyond this phase, making sure the economy is in a position to rebound, because io not think it can do that on its own. judy: thank you so much. jason: thanks for having me. ♪ judy: new york city's mayor bill de blasio announced he will decide in the next 48 hours of he will order his city's 8.6

million residents to shelter-in-place to combat the coronavirus. amna nawaz speaks to a mayor who city is already living under lockdown. >> nearly 7 million in san francisco and the surrounding bay area were ordered to stay inside and effort to stem the spread of the virus. they made the decision yesterday. she is a democrat enjoins me now. i want to ask you about what drove this decision? you had your first confirmed case, and the latest numbers yesterday were 40 confirmed cases. why is this drastic a step necessary now? >> i want to be clear that in every decision we make, beginning with emergency declaration on february 25, had everything to do with the information we had from public

health experts. in san francisco we have an incredible department of public health been working with a number of our county health officers throughout the region and they have provided information that led to this decision. it was important to do it to protect public health. we see there are more cases but we also understand that with the limited number of test kits, the challenges with protective gear and other things we are lacking, we need to make sure we are protecting public health, making the right decision so when people are sick and when they need to be hospitalized, we are at a capacity that can handle the influx of people in our system. part of what we did in providing this directive was to interrupt and limit the number of people who are interacting with one another. this is why the social distancing order is important. it is about permitting --

protecting people and preventing the transfer of this disease and having it continue to really move forward at such an alarming rate. amna: let me ask you how this is going to work. you say residents can take a walk, exercise, take their pet out, but you are asking them not to leave their homes unless for a basic need. how do you enforce that? will law enforcement be asking them while -- why they are out and about? will you arrest people out-of-doors? mayor breed: to be clear, our goal is to get people to understand the significance of what we are dealing with and to comply. we are not here to be heavy-handed with what we are pushing because we want people to understand and realize, this is a public health crisis. what they are doing outside of what they absolutely need to do could endanger people's lives.

people are walking around here in san francisco who may not be aware they are infected with the virus. that could maybe transmit to someone who may have a respiratory issue, someone who was elderly, and at risk of death. what is important is to understand that we are here to provide the information to the public, to try to get the public to comply with our directive, to use common sense and think about this is a situation where what you are doing could potentially compromise public safety and public health. we are asking people to comply and be good citizens of our city. amna: last time we met, two weeks ago in san francisco, you said you were taking these steps to get ahead of the spread. you have concerns about the amount of protective equipment you said you needed, all the resources for frontline health care workers, the surge in cases

you know are coming. do you have right now everything you need to meet the needs of those workers? mayor breed: to be clear, we do not have everything we need. we are working with the cdc, trying to be as cooperative as possible, but also being aggressive about what our needs are. two weeks ago i sent a letter to the vice president in charge of this task force to address these issues, addressing the need for more protective gear fohealth care workers, and also, a lot more assistance, support in our city and region. this is not just something impacting san francisco, it is impacting our entire country and we need to be prepared for any situation, we can keep the needs -- meet the needs of our residents and keep people safe. amna: last time we spoke you were critical of the response. you said there was failure to respond adequately and you're

not getting answers to questions. what do you make of the federal response ramping up in the last week? mayor breed: the ramp up definitely is needed, but we also need to go further. we need what we need when we need it. we need support and resources now. i am hopeful now that it seems to be really hitting home with the white house that they are going to take drastic steps necessary to help cities throughout this country address this real challenge. amna: the steps you are announcing will undoubtedly have an economic hit on your city and surrounding areas. i spoke to a small business owner who said look, i have bills, family, rent. none of those go away and he is very concerned what will come after this. what is your message to him? mayor breed: my messages, i understand, but public health

has to be put first. the good news in san francisco is, we put a number of steps into place so we can help support, especially small business owners. we are putting in some policies now to ease the burden in the future, but we know there'll be a tremendous financial impacts on our city and we will have to deal with that, but we are trying to put forth policies now to lessen the burden. amna: mayor of san francisco, london breed, thank you for your time. judy: please join us thursday when we are hosting a virtual town hall, confronting coronavirus, at 8:00 p.m. eastern, 7:00 central, on all pbs stations and streaming on the pbs app. and on pbs "newshour" social hours -- platforms including twitter.

judy: in iraq rockets struck the u.s. embassy in baghdad, the latest in a series of assaults. iraqi officials say hours earlier rockets had a coalition base outside baghdad with no apparent casualties. last week two americans died in a similar attack and the u.s. retaliated on an iranian backed militia. a russian company says it will e the u.s. for $50 billion in damages. concorde management said it and another russian firm were falsely accused of funding interference in the 2016 presidential election. the u.s. justice department dropped charges monday saying a trial could expose classified information. former california congressman

duncan hunter was sentenced today to 11 months in federal prison for misusing campaign funds. the six term republican spent some $250,000 on items ranging from his children's school tuition to parties and clothing shopping. he pled guilty in december. the man who may be pro football's best known player, tom brady, is leaving the new england patriots after 20 years and six super bowl titles. brady is 42 years old. he said today he will become a free agent and expects to play somewhere else. we have on the ground reports as voters in key primary states head to the polls. at home with philip roth. an encore interview with the late author following the premiere of a miniseries based on his novel "a plot against america." ♪ >> this is the "pbs newshour"

west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau from the walter cronkite school of journalism from arizona state university. judy: we returned to the primary elections today in florida, illinois and arizona where voters cast their outlets amongst the coronavirus pandemic. bernie sanders spoke to supporters in a livestream and made little mention of his candidacy for president and instead laid out a long list of policy proposals he says he will be introducing the senate leadership to respond to coronavirus. sen. sanders: we must make sure our response to this health and economic crisis is not another moneymaking opportunity for corporate america and wall street. judy: senator sanders just a short time ago. we turn to the state of illinois which voted today where joe

biden is the projected winner with 155 delegates at stake. joining us, paris. joe biden is t winner. is that something that looked like it would happen as you spoke to voters today? how has coronavirus affected people going out to vote? paris: with coronavirus it caused confusion. polling places did not open, election judges by the hundreds did not show up for fears of being exposed to the virus. there had to be consolidation. there were some people complaining about that, but most people took it in stride. their turnout wa low in the beginning of the day. when all is said and done, 35% of eligible voters in chicago. it is low, but typical for our primary election. lower than they had anticipated

before coronavirus. when you look at who turned out, it was mostly those over 50 years old, propulsion it lee and huge voters. those are the bite and. 18 to 34-year-olds did not turn out high, the sanders voters. it looks like with returns tonight, those votes do not put sanders over the top. judy: as you were saying, low than normal turnout. paris: there were things happening at polling stations like scotch tape being put on the ground to mark six feet distance. there was hand sanitizer, normal precautions. the voters said it was worth the risk today. judy: thank you so much. across the country stephanie sy joins us from phoenix, arizona. we know the polls do not close for a few minutes, but tell us about the effect coronavirus has

had. you told us earlier in the evening there was confusion, late poll closings, polling places supposed to be open that turned out not to be. stephanie: it does not seem, based on the turnout numbers i have, th voters were deterred. there was no major hiccup. i will tell you about one of them. with a half-hour before polls close, we have seen a steady stream of voters continue to arrive at this voting location. not only is turnout at this point eclipsing the 2016 in person turnout, but early votes received before today eclipsed 2016's total vote. it is not even under the shadow of pandemic that voters were deterred. of course, coronavirus fears are real here. we did see a couple voters with facemasks and gloves drop off

their ballots. again, it does not seem to have affected the priority that democratic voters in arizona have placed on this primary. the longest wait time this morning was 15 minutes. the only other hiccup we heard about was a rattlesnake that showed up at a precinct in scottsdale. we have been told that was taking care of. [laughter] judy: we are glad taken care of without anybody being hurt. bottom line, we hear you saying, despite confusion, people were determined to vote. stephanie: there was not a sense of confusion among the voters we spoke to. i got off the phone with the county recorder who said they did not report major issues. there were 80 polling locations that had to close because of coronavirus concerns.

they were both confused about elderly poll workers as well as having enough cleaning supplies did -- to disinfect. they went to emergency voting protocols. it meant opening up voting centers like this at the central phoenix library, where anyone could cast a ballot. it did not have to be their assigned precinct. that seems to have worked as far as turnout. judy: stephanie sy reporting for us from arizona where the polls are closing momentarily. on to ohio, where the governor announced late last night, at the 11th hour, that ohio polls would close, there would be no election, due to a public health emergency. we are joined from columbus, karen. it was on and off last night. ultimately, no election today. karen: i would describe

yesterday is chaotic. weere told at 10:00 in the morning it was still on. 2:00 in the afternoon some said they would file a lawsuit or a lawsuit was coming, and the state would not contest it. the governor said he could not ask people to risk their health to exercise a constitutional right. he was worried not only about voters but thousands of poll workers. they took the lawsuit to franklin county judge. the judge turned down the request. governor the wine -- dewine issued an order saying polling places would be cled because of the significant risk of health. now the ohio democratic party is filing a lawsuit saying they want voting extended to april

28, by mail only. the secretary said the primary has been moved to june 2. it happens late last night and was very confusing for workers and poll workers who did not know if they were supposed to show up. judy: a state i think joe biden was feeling good about, but no results. we do not know when ohio democrats will have a chance to vote. karen: exactly the lawsuit suggest april 28 would be that day. no in person voting. the confusion is obvious. poll workers were telling me they were getting conflicting messages, texts and messages saying they should show up, should not show up. some voters even showed up this morning because when they went to bed last night they thought the election was still on. it was very confusing the

governor -- confusing, but governor dewine said it was a decision they had to make. judy: thank you. to the biggest prize of the night, the state of florida, where joe biden is the projected winner. 219 delegates up for grabs. wlrn's tom hudson on skype. what affect has the coronavirus had on turnout? tom: there is no doubt the virus has had an effect on turnout here in florida. for democrats they will have to figure out a way to get more folks to the polls in democrat heavy places, broward county, miami-dade, palm beach, where it looks to be below 30% total. the same number of democrats will have voted as they did four years ago.

judy: we look to florida every four years in the general election. in the primary it has been a contested state. when you talk to voters, do you find a high interest of people still talking about this election, despite everything else going on? tom: listen, the virus has dominated everybody's focus the last week or so as states of emergencies have been declared throughout the state in florida and locally. large restaurants shutting down, beaches shutting down, cruises shutting down, hotels losing reservations. the focus in florida and the nation has been moving from health care, the environment. it will be about the economy, jobs now. judy: no question. tom hudson, thank you.

we appreciate it. to examine how ts fits into the national picture, amy walter . we now have projections in florida and illinois, a new delegate count as a result. 1121 for joe biden, 839 for bernie sanders. what does today mean for this race? amy: the bump -- the momentum carrying biden has not abated at all. bernie sanders was hoping maybe he could slow it down with the debate explained, raises questions about joe biden's record. that did not work either. we are at a trajectory looking at that delegate count. if bernie sanders is to win the nomination, he will need to win over 62% of remaining delegates. that seems hard to do when he is

barely cracking into the 40's in the states that are reporting tonight. judy: a few moments ago joe biden spoke to his supporters. let's listen to a bit of that and we will come back. mr. biden: today it looks like once again, in florida and illinois, we are still waiting to hear from arizona, our campaign had a very good night. we move closer to securing the nomination for president. judy: joe biden speaking. amy: we just need to know how strange this moment is. at any other time this would be a candidate surrounded by supporters, balloons dropping. again, it is a subdued moment because of the fact we are in the middle of a crisis. judy: meantime, you have been looking at surveys of voters in florida and illinois and arizona. what are you seeing in terms of the latino vote?

amy: in a place like florida with a significant latino vote, and of course it is various, puerto rican, cuban, venezuelan and others. it would appear joe biden won the latino vote handily. when you g deeper into the numbers, you find among younger voters, 18 to 44, joe biden lost those voters narrowly. this divide we have seen throughout the campaign, younger voters, whether voters of color, going to bernie sanders. but latino voters over the age of 45 overwhelmingly supported joe biden. we see this illinois breakdown, this is all voters 18 to 44. bernie sanders winning those by 16 points. look at the 45 and over number, won 75%.

by almost 60 points. this is the story of almost every single one of these states that has gone on since super tuesday. the age divide continuing to be a big factor. bernie sanders winning younger voters, but not by the huge margins biden is. judy: another reminder that der voters are turning out in arizona. a good turnout overall. very quickly, a poll done by the "newshour" today showing us who the american people trust when it comes to those -- the coronavirus crisis. amy: when you look at the federal government, the republicans trust the president more than democrats do. overall, 37 percent say they trust president trump's information. this is a sign of our increasing polarization. we have been stuck in this time

for a long time, democrats not taking information they do not like from partisan sources, republicans not trusting what they see as democratic sources. there is a ray of hope. when asked in this npr poll whether they trust local government, these are the people we are saying over and over again on tv or hearing from, mayors and governors, 72% of voters, this is a much more bipartisan finding, they trust state and local government, which is a good sign. it is not the democrats are only going to listen to democratic governors. it is the locals are still much more trusted at the federal level. judy: we're on the leading edge of this. amy walter, thank you. ♪

judy: finally tonight, look back to another pe ofr national trauma through the imagination ofi one of our greatestod writers, a new hbo series, "the plot against america," dramatizes an alternative american history in which charles lindbergh defeated franklin roosevelt in the 1940 election per the real lindbergh was an isolationist and made anti-semitic speeches. the series is based on the novel of the same name by philip roth, celebrated writer who died in 2018. he imagined the impact of this on his own jewish family in new jersey. he said the idea came when he read that republicans had come close to nominating lindbergh read here is a short excerpt, part of our ongoing arts and culture series, "canvas." >> you have to answer that

question. it is dense, not one line. i knew lindbergh's history and i knew about lindbergh's isolationism. first thing i wanted to imagine, what would it have been like had an isolationist been elected president? lindbergh carried another possibility. i knew he was famous for anti-semitic remarks he made for his time as a spokesperson for america first. i realized he would be a threat or menace to american jews as a candidate. >> you have big history, one big change to history, but most of your story unfolds with one family.

how did you decide you could look at history through the lens of this one small family? >> i think it is the novelist's way. i think that decision was made for me when i became a writer, to see history through the lives of ordinary people. has always interested me. you are correct to say there was just one change. i was very conscious of that. just change the outcome of the 1940 election. which is why i chose my family as the family to whom all this happens. that excited me. how would we have behaved in these circumstances? >> it is a work of fiction, but a work of memory. >> yes, a false memoir, isn't

it? it appears to be in active memory, but a false one. i had a slogan i would use when i was writing this book. if you want more falsification. i said to myself whenever i got stuck, which was frequently, don't invent, just remember. i think the subject of the book which interested me was to put what i said earlier another way, how much pressure can you bring to bear on this family? what will happen when you bring maximum pressure? they are all trying to cope with this menace, the menace of lindbergh. the pressures are enormous and they are trying to cope with the humiliation, too. the humiliation of being jews

separated out, of appearing to be not welcome. >> on the one hand you have written a book of menace that is quite scary. on the other, it did not happen. >> in a matter of speaking my book gets it all wrong. >> so is it a book of fear or hope? >> in a manner of speaking, it is optimistic. it imagined something that did not happen, but could have happened. sure, it could have happened, but did not, which tells you a lot about the country. >> was it comforting to you as a writer, a human being, that history resumed? [laughter] >> yes. yes, to know that this came to an end, that this nightmare came

to an end, yes, it was a comfort. judy: something worth listening to. that is the "newshour" for now. please go to pbs.org/newshour for the latest results from tonight's arizona primary and all the latest news on the coronavirus crisis. i am judy woodruff. thank you, stay safe. see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> fidelity investments. american cruiselines, bnsf railway, consumer cellular, carnegie. ♪

>> jamie: we need to eat more veg, and we need to start now. come on, you know it makes sense. it's better for you, and it's better for the planet. i'm going to cook veggies in a way that are going to make you so happy. so whether you're a full-blown veggie or just wanting to start eating less meat, i've got some easy and delicious recipes for you. i don't want to compromise on the flavor, no way. i've traveled around the world meeting people doing some amang things with veg. wow, look at that. and picked up brilliant tips to create the ultimate meat-free meals. no meat, but no compromise. enough talking-- straight in the mouth ♪ >> ♪ watch this >> jamie: coming up, i'm going to turbo-charge veg in a game-changing cottage pie; load a mighty mac 'n' cheese full of greens;