this is not yet time for panic, clearly it is spreading and clearly it is contagious. keeping a close eye on it. mika, send our thoughts to nashville, middle tennessee is hurting. a huge tornado ripped through there overnight. >> absolutely. >> incredible damage, schools wiped out that were standing a few hours ago. we're thinking of nashville today. >> thank you. that does it for us. stephanie ruhle picks up coverage right now. >> thanks so much, mika, thanks, joe. hi there, i am stephanie ruhle. it is super tuesday. march 3rd. here's what's happening this morning. these are the headlines people across the nation are waking up to as polls open and voters get ready to weigh in on the 2020 race. the state of the race is changing by the hour. after suspending their campaigns, pete buttigieg and amy klobuchar officially endorse former vice president joe biden in his events in texas last

night. former candidate beto o'rourke threw his support behind the former vp. >> i'm looking for a leader, i'm looking for a president who will draw out what is best in each of us. >> if you feel tired of the noise and the nonsense in our politics, and if you are tired of the extremes, you have a home with me. and i think you know you have a home with joe biden. >> with more than 1300 delegates up for grabs in states across the nation, will those 11th hour endorsements be enough? will senator bernie sanders turn crowd size and solid poll numbers into official delegates? how will mayor michael bloomberg do now that he is off the tv ads, and on the ballot. what about senator warren. hasn't won a delegate since february 3rd. we're in luck, road warriors are following the candidates across the country. start with kristin welker with vice president biden's campaign

in l.a. kristin, what an amazing few days it has been for the former vp. how is he feeling after last night? huge endorsements. >> reporter: huge endorsements, stephanie. it could be a game changer for the vice president. remarkable to see how quickly those establishment candidates that dropped out of the race endorsed biden. as we reported yesterday, we believe the former vice president's former boss, former president barack obama may have had an invisible hand in this. we know he spoke to pete buttigieg before he announced his endorsement, and he hasn't endorsed biden publicly, but there's no doubt moderate democrats know where he stands. the optics of that event last night, first pete buttigieg endorsing biden, biden saying he reminds me of my son, beau. then you have amy klobuchar endorsing biden, beto o'rourke

endorsing biden. that could help biden with constituents, you think of mayor buttigieg, some younger voters that may have been on board. that was a constituency with which biden was struggling. the question is what will it mean today. what does biden have to do. h his campaign feeling they couldn't have built any more momentum in the wake of south carolina, but he has to win delegates in california, has to win delegates in texas. he wants to win a state like north carolina. if he can do those things, he will have a strong showing on super tuesday. the x factor, mike bloomberg, he is on the ballot the first time, also elizabeth warren, and then the question looming over all this, is it too late to stop sanders. we're going to be asking all those questions, steph, as we talk to voters. we hope to catch up with the former vice president today, he has a number of retail stops, shaking the last minute hands.

how many voters are now going to vote for biden because their candidates, buttigieg or klobuchar, dropped out of the race. that's what it is going to come down to, steph. >> how many voters in california already voted. remember, it is an early voting state. let's go to shaquille brewster with the sanders campaign in the senator's home state. shaq, how is the campaign feeling about all of the endorsements for biden in the last 48 hours? >> reporter: despite the endorsements you have been seeing, sanders campaign says they feel good about the position they're in this super tuesday. they see today as a clear opportunity to build a delegate lead, especially with the help of states like california and texas. as far as the endorsements that you have been seeing, they say the early vote, it is early vote in key states that lock in support, was able to prevent arise for vice president biden. that's the hope they're seeing, at least. at least for senator sanders, he is in burlington, vermont.

we expect to see him at some point come out and vote. a message you have been hearing from senator sanders is direct appeal to supporters of amy klobuchar and mayor pete buttigieg. you heard that last night, we may have our differences, we believe in the government based on justice, not greed. he is hoping he can build support on the big super tuesday state, he has been crisscrossing the country, trying to get support around the country. he will continue to watch what happens in the super tuesday. steph? >> let's go to josh letterman in miami with the bloomberg campaign. josh, there's all of this talk the last few days, time for mayor bloomberg to step out. the fact he is not even in a super tuesday state right now, is that not a sign he is in this for the long haul? >> reporter: it is indeed a sign, stephanie. mike bloomberg refusing to bow what is fast intensifying pressure to bow out of the race, make room for joe biden. bloomberg campaign officials

we're speaking with say they feel joe biden hasn't plroven anything other than winning one state, south carolina. they feel good about bloomberg's chances in virginia, arkansas, oklahoma, tennessee. they're not exactly saying whether he needs to outright win states, but they expect him to pick up delegates today and be competitive. stephanie, as you point out, even as voters go to the polls in super tuesday states, mike bloomberg is in florida, on his way to his field office opening in miami, he will be campaigning in orlando later, he is trying to send a signal come what may on super tuesday, he is in this for the long haul, plans to be in the race some weeks to come. >> ali vitale, let's go to you in cambridge, massachusetts. senator warren, you spoke to her moments ago. is today do or die? >> reporter: yes, stephanie. you know what, this is what it is when super tuesday is a home state for a candidate. elizabeth warren is walking from her house to her polling

location, she's behind me with the crowd of people, has supporters here cheering her on every step of the way. polling here in massachusetts is close. bernie sanders is in some cases polling ahead of her, other cases they're neck in neck. i asked her is this a must win state. she gave an answer i heard before, they're campaigning to win everywhere. i want to play some of our conversation. this is what she told me about the moment we're in right now. >> this isn't about strategy, this is about a moment in history. >> reporter: look, she's talking about the moment we're in today. perhaps no day more crucial for the elizabeth warren campaign than super tuesday. their strategy is to hit that 15% viability threshold across the states, even if it doesn't mean winning in massachusetts. josh made a point about the bloomberg campaign that remains true for the warren campaign, they haven't said what state

they plan to win outright on a day like today. for them, the strategy is to continue picking up delegates. she's campaigning in michigan tonight. any questions about her not being in this for the long haul, they're trying to show they're pushing ahead. >> sounds like the campaigns believe they're in it to win it. joining us to explain why this matters to you, charlie sykes, editor, and eddie, biggest thing you're watching out for as today plays out. >> seriously, over 1300 delegates at stake. i'm interested what happens in california and texas. i want to see what the latino vote looks like. see about the ticking time bomb, how it exploded in nevada. i want to see if biden's win among the african-american voter, will it be like south carolina or nevada. south carolina, he blew bernie

sanders out f the water, nevada was closer. i want to see what happens in those two demographics. >> charlie, is there one state that can tell you the story of what's to come in this election? because i mentioned it a moment ago, california has 415 delegates. they've already been voting for weeks. and we've seen the state of the race drastically change the last four days. >> it is almost as if the democratic party is acting like a political party. keep in mind, what happened yesterday is what absolutely had to happen for democrats. today, had they not stopped, if they don't stop bernie sanders' momentum, he becomes the prohibitive favorite for the nomination in milwaukee. joe biden experienced a 72 hour surge of good news, free publicity. i am trying to think of the last time anybody had that kind of surge. big question, does it translate

into votes and delegates, is it too little, too late. you mention, you have a lot of votes already been banked, but clearly the personality and shape of this race has dramatically changed in the last 24 hours. you know it is going to change the next 24 hours. >> charlie is saying we have seen the democratic party look like an organized party. we know from what we've seen the last 24 hours, others are saying this is establishment trying to rig the system. >> right, absolutely. i understand where charlie is coming from. i think this is the democratic process playing itself out, and i'm happy it is playing itself out. one of the things we can't have is the perception the democratic establishment, whatever that phrase singles out, is putting its thumb on the scale. >> do you think they are? >> i don't think so. i can't say for sure. what i know is this, as we bank to texas and california, as we look to vermont, look to minnesota and all of the super

delegate states, americans are going to the polls and will decide who is the frontrunner. if it is case that early voting will lead to senator sanders having a delegate lead, we'll see what the democratic establishment stands for. >> how about voters that went to the polls saturday, african-american voters went to the polls in south carolina, gave vice president biden a distinctive win. now with zero facts to back it up there are voices saying those black voters backed joe because they didn't have enough information. what is your reaction to that argument? >> it is nonsense. look, i was surprised, i did not predict that joe biden was going to defeat bernie sanders by close to 30%. i did not see that coming. i thought there was going to be a bigger generational divide, didn't see that coming, didn't see that bernie sanders would eek out a win in that demographic. what i do not believe, stephanie, this is clear, that these are low information voters. there's a wonderful piece in

nation magazine, what he believes we saw is older african-american voters know what this country is capable of, and they don't think, this is a radical claim, they don't think white america will do the right thing. so we have to put forward choices we know they'll choose from. if we go too progressive, we know they're not going to choose too progressive. he is saying, making the argument, and i don't necessarily agree with it, but it is insightful, he makes the argument this is wisdom at work in south carolina, not necessarily low information. >> charlie, what's your take on mayor bloomberg in the race? >> oh, he's taking up space now. he had two goals when he got into the race, to stop bernie sanders and defeat donald trump. right now, the only role he can reasonably expect to play is a spoiler. if i can add to what eddie had to say, this canard about the

establishment or the billionaire class that we're hearing is so misleading. we heard this in the republican primaries back in 2016, anytime there's a result, must be the establishment or must be rigged. as eddie pointed out, these were african-american voters in south carolina. the voters are going to decide this. the system is not -- there's not a coup, you have to win the election and votes. voters are paying very close attention to this. i think you saw that in south carolina as well. interesting that the bernie sanders campaign continues to lash out, like they have one note, that somehow it is some corporate billionaire conspiracy when in fact it is the voters and the voters who are going to decide who the democratic nominee is. >> eddie, last word to you, mike bloomberg, how he fares today. >> i don't think he will meet the threshold, spent a half

billion dollars. i don't think he is going to meet the threshold, meet the 15%, then he has to make a decision facing the reality his money couldn't buy the election. he has to make a decision where to deploy the money, see whether he will invest in ego or invest in the future of the country. we'll see. >> we'll soon find out. thank you so much. it will be a busy day for all of us. up next, breaking news, a brand new case of coronavirus just announced here in new york as the american death toll continues to rise. we have those details next. in america we all count. no matter where we call home, how we worship, or who we love. and the 2020 census is how that great promise is kept. because this is the count that informs where hundreds of billions in funding will go each year for things like education, healthcare, and programs that touch us all.

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we turn to breaking news on the coronavirus. the governor of new york just confirmed a second case of the virus in our state. that patient is a man in his 50s with no known connection to any hot spots for the disease. and separately as a precautionary measure, a high school in the city has been

closed. the announcement of that new case puts the total number of cases in the united states at 111. the number of deaths jumped from 2 to 6. all of them in washington state. most of those linked to the life care center of kirkland. steve patterson is there. steve, what more do you know? >> reporter: stephanie, this really, this place we're in here simply isn't just a place for center of the spread of this across the state, it is a center of fear for people across the country. you mention six people have died in this state, in this county or in and around the county. four of six that died have come from the facility behind me. close to 300 people that live and work in this care facility, there are now 50 people monitored for symptoms consistent with coronavirus. a lot of people in isolation with signs of it. every once in a while you see an

emt or ambulance roll through, could be for any number of reasons. a primary reason could be people being taken away for testing. there's a lot of fear here. people are scared, resources are tight, anxiety is high. that's just here. if you broaden out to the town kirk lan kirkland, 25 firefighters, some responded to the care facility, they're now in isolation as well. obviously people here are scared. there's a high amount of anxiety, but there are -- city officials, county officials are focused on stopping the spread, although they're more concerned focusing what happens after people caught it, focusing on isolation, bring in modular units, housing units to keep people in after they contracted the virus. even talk of a hotel or motel in town to house people that have been contracted by the virus,

keep them in isolation as well. there's effort on the ground to keep people safe, although the fear continues to spread. >> in the face of fear, best we can do is get better informed. bring in a a virologist. there are two camps, this is a pandemic and no big deal, where are we? >> firmly in the middle of the road now. more than 90,000 cases around the world, something important to note is that doesn't mean 90,000 are currently infected with the virus. over 48,000 have recovered, over 83% of those cases fall in the mild to moderate category, experiencing symptoms you would experience with a normal cold. 17% in the severe and critical phase. again, i am not taking it lightly, but we're not run for the hills yet. we're still in the middle of the road. >> to your point, people experiencing symptoms of a mild

cold, lots of is experienced those symptoms all winter long, and we don't do much about it. at what point during all this do we say i need to get tested. >> first of all, if you're in the high risk category, elderly, underlying conditions that would make you more susceptible to the disease caused by the virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome that can be associated with the virus. first of all, you want to be in that category before you start trying to get a test. secondly, if you go to the physician and ask to be tested for covid-19, a lot of people, that's the first instinct to do, that's not available. you'll overwhelm general practitioners and emergency rooms for what may be a normal cold or influenza. thirdly, get the flu shot. it helps majority rule out flu. flu vaccines are not 100% effective, average around 80%

effective. >> one school in new york has been closed as precautionary measure. do you think we'll see more of that, do you think it is a good idea? >> i think it is a prudent idea. japan closed all schools for at least a month. we have seen major changes in religious services. all pilgrimages to mecca have been cancelled, changes in catholic mass, taking precautions, may be a source of spread for the virus, i think it is a prudent measure. that said, we can't underestimate the derivative effects. how do you care for children at home when you have to work yourself. there's a lot of derivative effects. we don't make those lightly, i say we, the infectious disease community. >> you mention not to overwhelm the system. the fda thinks they can expand testing to a million people by end of the week. if they can do that that fast, can they ensure it is accurate?

is that not going 0 to 100? >> you know, i have to presume, not knowing the specifics of the test that they're going to exactly use, there will be multiple forms of the test, tests used at local public health laboratories, home tests, they developed those tests themselves and other tests by the fda, under what we call emergency use authorization, presumably they'll be highly accurate, that will be used to confirm locally diagnosed cases. >> doctor, please stay with us. we're going to continue to cover this through the hour. we're expecting a statement from the governor. we are also keeping an eye this morning at least eight people have died after tornadoes ripped through parts of nashville last night, leaving behind a path of absolute destruction. local schools left destroyed as well as homes and local businesses. the storm left more than 50,000 without power. rescue crews continue to look for injured people who may be trapped in the rubble. vo: there are talkers

and there are doers. we need a president who gets big things done. that's mike bloomberg. who built a global company from scratch. ran the largest and most diverse city in america. expanding health care for 700,000. as president, he'll make sure everyone has access to affordable care. and he'll protect and strengthen medicare. and beat the one big thing standing in our way. mike will get it done. bloomberg: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. unlike ordinary memory wsupplements-neuriva? has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try neuriva for 30 days and see the difference.

officially hitting the us.virus man: the markets are plunging for a second straight day. vo: health experts warn the us is underprepared. managing a crisis is what mike bloomberg does. in the aftermath of 9-11, he steadied and rebuilt america's largest city. oversaw emergency response to natural disasters. upgraded hospital preparedness

to manage health crises. and he's funding cutting edge research to contain epidemics. tested. ready. mike: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. dana-farber cancer institute discovered the pd-l1 pathway. pd-l1. they changed how the world fights cancer. blocking the pd-l1 protein, lets the immune system attack, attack, attack cancer. pd-l1 transformed, revolutionized, immunotherapy. pd-l1 saved my life. saved my life. saved my life. what we do here at dana-faber, changes lives everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere.

[ dishave you ever wondered [ distant band playing ] what the motorcade driver drives when they're not in a motorcade? [ upbeat music starts ] [ engine revving ] ♪ this one drives a volkswagen passat. ♪ welcome back on this very big day. you're looking live at falls church, virginia, as voters there and in 13 other states are headed to the polls for what

could be a decisive day in the democratic primary. with the race seemingly down to three, today it is about the mathematics. we have garrett haake in houston, david gura, trymaine lee in alabama. garrett, this is my favorite part of where you are. you're at a polling station in houston, but at a stochools whe you went to high school. you may run into an ex-girlfriend voting today. tell us about last night's endorsement. you might. last night's endorsement of biden, did it do anything to change things in the lone star state? >> reporter: oh, boy, i certainly hope that doesn't happen. look, this is an area that should be good for candidates like joe biden, and it seems like last night and the last couple of days have been good for him. i talked to a couple of voters that said they didn't vote early for this express purpose, making sure joe biden was around by the

time they got to vote, made sure he was in the fight. and in fact he is. i talked to a voter that told me he was going to vote for pete buttigieg, he loved that buttigieg got out and immediately turned around, voted for joe biden. he thought that sealed the deal for his biden vote. an illustration how imperfect it is that people get their information, same voter said i wish amy klobuchar would do the same thing. i said sir, she did the same thing last night. said that's great. this is an area that should do well for biden, anecdotally that's all you can offer. turn out is what it is. people are coming and going. things seem to be shaping up the way joe biden would like, word of mouth has given renewed interest for him. >> last couple days don't account for recent polling. david, north carolina will be a swing state in november. in the latest nbc news poll, has sanders a slight lead over biden, as i said, that polling is before what we saw in the last day or so.

is this a test for him to win the moderate state? >> absolutely. i can't let garrett have all of the fun. this is close to where i grew up as well. i don't think anyone remembers my misspent youth in the research triangle. this is a battleground state. 110 delegates up for grabs. bernie sanders is confident that he is going to do well today. you mentioned that polling, coupled with other polls we have seen recently, showed a tight race. mike bloomberg, a real x factor, somebody that invested a lot in this state, resources. opened the first field office in charlotte, opened other offices as well. you've seen so many candidates come to the state, nina turner, senior adviser to bernie sanders is in north carolina, doing get out the vote effort, she was at unc chapel hill yesterday. people are looking at early voting, this is a state that allows it, there's a push to get people to vote early. i was talking to voters yesterday.

there was a kind of pervasive sense among some of them disappointment in light of what you talked about, the fact the field is reconfigured in the last 48 hours, maybe they voted for candidates no longer on the ballot, what it means, how much agency they'll have as votes are tabulated in north carolina. >> jeff, mayor michael bloomberg spent a ton in virginia in 2018, it helped flip the state. money he is spending for himself, is that translating to votes? >> reporter: we'll see. virginia has a well established reputation for electing moderate politicians across the board, and the bloomberg campaign hopes that virginia will be emblematic of other states that may give a centrist bid a boost. you're right, apart from millions he spent on his own campaign, over the past decade, funneled more than $10 million into the virginia political wars, which is one of the reasons why the commonwealth was able to flip the statehouse up from red to blue.

uh-uh uh-uh uh- you also have joe biden banking on this region. this is home to the democratic establishment. you have the pentagon, government workers, contractors, military service members, a lot of african-american voters. this is really the biden coalition, one of the reasons he spent, he and bloomberg spent a lot of time here with 99 delegates up for grabs. >> this morning, we showed mike bloomberg, spending time with voters, not in an early state, he is in miami. trymaine lee, we talked a lot about the african-american vote carrying joe biden to victory in south carolina. could we expect the same in alabama? >> reporter: i tell you what, steph, joe biden has a lot going for him, not only coming out of south carolina with all that good momentum, but this weekend was the commemoration to bloody sunday, 55 years ago, folks like john lewis and others were beaten bloody on the bridge

pushing for voting rights. he spent time at brown chapel, iconic church in the community, talked about how the country has been dragged a direction it doesn't need to be dragged to. coming off james clyburn in south carolina, making a distinction between biden and other candidates, donald trump saying he is a good man. coming to alabama, similar electorate with heavy black population, polling shows are going towards biden, but you also have another effect here. voters, black voters in alabama are super organized. last year we saw doug jones defeat roy moore, he did so carried by black voters, especially black women who hyper organized locally, came out, really saved doug jones and in some ways saved the party in alabama. talking to folks today, that's playing on their mind. this year jeff sessions is on the ballot in the primary to try to compete with the doug jones seat, going against a former auburn university football coach.

that's heightening motivation for voters. this is a great spot for biden. we'll see how voters turn out, what they say. >> joining us, political correspondent and my opinion national treasure, my friend, steve kornacki. steve to you, most important thing tonight. >> delegates. this is a delegate race now. joe biden suddenly has all the momentum. a week ago, was looking at the map, super tuesday states, all of the delegates up for grabs. looked like if you looked at polling a week ago, bernie sanders was going to emerge with a lead of 3 or 400 delegates over anybody else. obviously the world changed since south carolina. now the question is how much has it changed. is joe biden, question a couple days ago was will he get 15% in california. looks like he will now. was he going to get 15% in minnesota, looks like he will now. massachusetts. looks like biden is likely to hit a threshold everywhere, just as sanders is likely to. then it becomes a delegate race.

is biden able to run up the score in a state like alabama. if south carolina is any indication, alabama likely to be biden's best state. how good a state? texas, huge delegate haul in texas. polling is relatively close. who wins, who gets the most delegates out of texas. again, i mention massachusetts, minnesota, pretty good delegate numbers. big wild cards. klobuchar was gobbling up a lot of vote in minnesota, warren still is in massachusetts. where does that leave room for biden to come up there. can sanders get some edge on him there. how about colorado. look at colorado, looks like one of biden's weaker states tonight, one of sanders' strongest states. is there opportunity there for sanders. it will all come down at 11:00 eastern. we'll start to get numbers. i emphasize start, we won't finish getting numbers from california until days from now. 415 delegates, a third of the total the sanders campaign is

banking on not just a win in california but a big win. a big question that emerged the last couple days, not so much can biden win california, can he narrow the delegate margin to a point sanders isn't getting out of california what he was counting on. >> steve, what kind of numbers do we have in california, how many people do we think are early voting? this game changed for joe biden in the last four days, yet people have been voting for weeks. >> very have been. we think first of all, there are fewer people that voted early than in the past. still probably 40% had voted, 40% of all who will vote probably had voted before south carolina. that still leaves 60% or so of the electorate. there's room in that for joe biden to get momentum here. there's some sense, some reporting that people out there were intentionally holding ballots back to see what happened in south carolina and early states. yes, that's one of the things

we'll be looking at tonight. there are different levels of early voting from none to a lot in these states. we're going to be measuring in nonearly voting states, is there a bigger bounce than in heavier early voting states. >> thank you so much. a very big day for that guy. we have to check in on the markets. right now, stocks are down 238 after g7 countries promise to battle coronavirus around the world. that sounds more like we're going to see a concerted global effort. that's certainly what the market wants to hear. you have to remember, for the market it is about the human toll, they're also focused on the economic toll and precautionary measures need to be taking are having economic impact. we are monitoring governor cuomo announcing a second coronavirus case in the state.

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the test is here today. first time new york city mayor michael bloomberg is on the ballot. after spending nearly $500 million on his presidential campaign, everybody watching his ads and waiting to see if his big bet will pay off, including our next guest who believes mayor bloomberg is the only candidate who can restore peace to a divided nation. you know her as the star, the one and only starve the number one daytime television show for the last 20 years, while she weighed in on a number of cases, this is the first time she's weighing in on politics. judge judy sheindlin. i am blown away just talking to you. on this topic specifically, you've never gotten involved in presidential politics. >> good morning. good morning. >> you've never gotten involved in presidential politics, why now? >> i believe the country is in

trouble. i think the country needs a proven leader. i looked at the field of candidates and i said i didn't see anyone who could beat the incumbent. the only one that i saw, knew, knew his work, knew how he managed, knew how he was able to tackle a problem, solve it, was mike bloomberg. so i said to him months ago if you jump in, i'll come out from behind the curtain. he did. and i did. >> you say that senator sanders' revolution is a joke. why? >> this is the greatest country in the world. nobody wants to leave this country. it may need tweaking. america is the land of opportunity. it is a place where you can have big dreams, where you can be the hero of your own story, where

you can look to realize that american dream. i did. i know mike bloomberg did. senator sanders' revolution is not what this country needs, it's a revolution that, a, is a joke because it is fiscally impossible, and b, wherever it has been tried on a large scale it's failed. if you look at socialism, when i looked at the definition, right next to it was a map of venezuela. you know how successful it was there. young people may get excited about the word revolution. young people always want a revolution. then they grow up. so it's really a joke to think that you can fool the american public when you've been in congress for as many years as bernie sanders has been in

congress who i think had either three or four bills passed in the 30 years that he has been in congress, and two of them were to name post offices. to think this is a man who can create a revolution of peaceful revolution in this country and bring everyone together, i mean, the reason i came out from behind the closet and said i'm going to get involved in politics is because there was so much anger in america and i think you just need a pragmatic, practical -- joe biden is a nice guy, he really is a nice guy. we don't need a sentimental vote in america. this is a critical time in our country. i'm begging the people that are going to vote today, you want to be sentimental, turn on sinatra. you want a president, you vote

for mike bloomberg. he is the only one can get it done. >> with all due respect, judy, bernie sanders had seven bills, not two or three. put senator sanders aside and his democratic socialism, not socialism ie venezuela, to all the people faced with $88 billion in medical debt, $1.5 trillion in student debt. they can't see the american dream that you realized, that i've had the benefit to realize. to them, they're not just crazy kids looking for a revolution. what's your message to them because they're getting behind this movement. look at the numbers. they don't see the dream. >> let me tell you what the problem is. the problem is you need incremental change. you can't do something, it is unfair to people to promise something that's unattainable. and if you want incremental

change, and i'm telling you, the country needs tweaking, there are people out there who need more of an opening to realize that american dream that you and i have realized, but it is unreasonable, it is unfair, it is mostly unjust to trick people into thinking you can do what you say you're going to do when as you said, he passed seven bills. seven bills in 30 years with two post offices is not a great track record, so for somebody that wants a revolution and named two post offices, that is fooling the people out there who are struggling into thinking he's the answer. he's not the answer. the answer is a man who knows how to see a problem and incrementally get it fixed, and

the only one that can do that is mike bloomberg. as i said, joe biden is a nice guy, he's a nice guy, i have nothing bad to say about him, but i guarantee you that the incumbent if he gets on the stage with joe biden is going to bring up all the things that the other democratic candidates at debates did not because one thing the incumbent issa stre i street fighter. i believe in my soul joe biden can't meet that street fighter on stage, we know everything there is to know about the incumbent. he has been through three years of colonoscopy. we don't know everything we know about joe biden, that's because he has been sort of treated by kid gloves with his opponents. that's going to change and dramatically. i mean, we know what we know

about mike bloomberg. he created a company from nothing, became a very rich man. he was the mayor of new york city and "new york times" said he will go down in history as one of the greatest mayors of new greatest mayors of new york. you know that. so why risk it? why risk it on a fantasy or on somebody who is just a really nice guy? >> judge judy, it is an honor and a privilege to speak to you this morning. i really appreciate it. >> thank you. up next, president trump versus his own medical experts. is the president trying to calm a nervous public or is he legalfully misrepresenting his administration's response to the pending coronavirus outbreak? .. ...so we can spend a bit today, knowing we're prepared for tomorrow. wow dad, do you think you overdid it maybe? i don't think so... what do you think, peanut? nope! honey, do you think we overdid it?

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rakuten is free to sign up and it's in over 3,000 stores. i use it to buy makeup... travel... ...clothes, electronics. to me, rakuten is a great way to get cash back on anything you buy. sign up today and rack it up with rakuten. back to the breaking news on coronavirus. the new york governor announced a second case in the state. meanwhile back in washington, the president and his team are trying to get on the same page as one another. >> i have heard very quick numbers a matter of months and i

have heard pretty much a year would be the outside number. >> when is it going to be deployable and that's at the earliest a year, to a year and a half. >> joining us now, phil rucker, pulitzer prize winning bureau chief for "the washington post." you said this virus is far outside of the president's knowledge or comfort zone. despite that he continues to talk about it. at a rally last night he said the vaccine is coming soon. any facts to back that up? >> yeah. stephanie, it depends on your definition of soon. the vaccine is at least a year away, according to dr. fauci the nation's leading infectious disease expert who by the way had an interesting interview in politico this morning where he talked about the balance that these experts in the government have to face between not going to war with the president, but not blowing up their own credibility and sticking to the fact of the matter. >> how abnormal is that? to see the medical experts on the president's team trying to balance things.

is that something we have seen in the past? >> no. i mean, in the past the experts have had a more leading role in the response. but it appears that vice president pence is trying to give them a platform to speak to the people. we saw that in the briefing yesterday. maybe again today. but what you have in president trump is a president who's focused really on the economy, the stock market, trying to present calm and trying to paint a too rosy picture of the situation for political purposes and to keep the economy roaring. >> at the same time, we are seeing corporate america taking significant precautionary measures. ceos know presidential politics is not their number one priority. phil, thank you so much. we'll leave it there. coming up, we are staked out across the country as voters head to the polls on super tuesday. do not go anywhere. seriously, just leave it on all day, through the night. we have a lot to cover. to be honest a little dust it never bothered me.

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massachusetts. she's talking with our team while michael bloomberg is on his way to the second stop of the day down in florida. the man we won't see until tonight but getting all the headlines this morning. joe biden. his political rivals are turning friends to help him and stop bernie sanders or try to. the question that will start to get answered today -- will it be enough? >> joe biden's the best person to be at the top of the ticket. >> we have to win here that's why we're supporting joe biden. >> our team of reporters blanketing the country. with 14 states and one u.s. territory finally getting their say. a third of all the democratic delegates up for grabs today. arguably making this tuesday the biggest day of the democratic primary. so let's get right to our nbc road warriors. shaquille brewster, kristen welker is in los angeles where joe biden will be later on

today. josh lederman is in miami with michael bloomberg and steve kornacki at the big board with the state of play. shaq, let me start with you. bernie sanders is getting ready to vote any minute now in vermont. talk through his campaign on the heels of the key endorsements for joe biden. >> i'll tell you, hallie, this campaign feels very good about the position they're coming in to super tuesday with. senate senator sanders is back home. you see -- we're waiting for him to arrive. he's supposed to be arriving any minute now. he'll go in and vote and hopefully get -- answer some questions from the reporters here. by as far as the campaign, they feel good about the position as they head into super tuesday. he was in utah yesterday. he had a big rally last night in minnesota. where their advantage is they believe is in this early voting which is key because of those last minute endorsements that we saw from vice president biden from last night. senator sanders in minnesota he made a direct appeal to the supporters of amy klobuchar, to the supporters of pete buttigieg

and said, hey, we may have our differences, but we both believe in a government that's based on justice instead of greed. his campaign believes that. he was able to lock in the support and despite the that joe biden may have from south carolina and from the endorsements it will be limited by the early vote in this state. one other point, hallie, today this campaign feels is an opportunity for them to build and establish a delegate lead. he's competing and been spending a lot of time in states like california and texas. those are big delegate rich states. they feel good about their position there and the best case scenario they come out tonight with the clear delegate lead that's why there's some optimism here in the sanders campaign. >> if senator sanders arrives we want to see if he takes questions and we'll dip in that live. so stand by. krist kristen welker, in california, you're in l.a. where polls where just now starting to open. joe biden is and he's hoping if

not to take the delegate reed but to amass a large number of delegates on the heels of the big endorsements for him in the last 18 hours or so. >> that's absolutely right, can joe biden build on his momentum from south carolina and you really hit the nail on the head at the top of the show. is it too late? let me step out of the way for a few moments. i'm here at a polling place in l.a. where voters are just starting to come in and starting to weigh in on the super tuesday on who they would like to lead the top of the ticket. now, what we witnessed last night, hallie, was remarkable. all of the establishment candidates who dropped out of the race and endorsed joe biden. amy klobuchar, pete buttigieg and beto o'rourke. we have never seen them drop out so quickly and rally around one candidate, so is former president obama playing a role in this? we know that pete buttigieg for example spoke to obama before he

came out and said he was in fact going to announce joe biden. what will the impact be here in states like california? this obviously has the biggest delegate haul, hallie. senator sanders looking very strong here. but if biden can get above that 15% threshold, if he can get delegates that would be significant for him. same as texas. he wants a win in the south. look, he's the one who can lead the top of the ticket because he can rally a diverse electorate. will that hold today? those are among the questions we're looking for and of course the x-factor in all of this, michael bloomberg. we know that moderate candidates are turning up the heat on bloomberg to get oat of the race and he said he won't do that. i snow josh has more about that, but bottom line, how will he do today? will he eat into any of biden's supporters? a look at stake as super tuesday

gets under way, hallie. >> for sure. kristen welker, a lot at stake for somebody else, josh lederman, who is finally today, for the first time actually on the ballot and voters will see sort of where they want to go with him, mike bloomberg, josh. i think he as an event live right now or happening soon, right? >> that's right. he's actually on his way right now to this field office and he stage right behind me, hallie. there's a message in that. because we're in florida. a state not part of super tuesday and the message there that bloomberg wants to send he's in this for the long haul. that he plans to be in the race a couple of weeks from now despite what is now fast intensifying pressure as kristen was just describing from democrats, from his competitors, to get out of the race and clear the way for a consolidation behind joe biden. but bloomberg campaign officials

they say that joe biden hasn't proven anything other than winning south carolina. and looking good in oklahoma and tennessee, they're not saying outright whether they think he'll win but think he'll rack up delegates. it is far too soon to count him out. hallie? >> josh lederman, live in miami. let me go to steve kornacki at the big board because steve, let's talk through the state of play here. if the early states, iowa, new hampshire, got momentum this is about delegates. this is about the numbers, right? we may not know those numbers. we'll be up all night. we may not until tomorrow morning or days. >> tomorrow morning might be optimistic. i hope you're right on that. the big question on the big -- when it comes to delegates and results for that matter it is the golden state, california. nearly one-third of everything up for grabs. if you mail in a ballot in california today it will count even though it will take two

days to get there. that's how long it will take to tally things up in california. so that's the big x-factor here. but this is a delegate race right now with klobuchar and pete buttigieg and out with steyer out, the prospect that the remaining candidates will all make that threshold. remember this number we'll talk about it a ton tonight. the prospect that warren, bloomberg, sanders biden, they'll be hitting 15% that's very real. that's the possibility that you'll have four candidates getting significant chunks of delegates. yes, in terms of who's getting the most delegates right now, the indications are a sanders/biden battle there. and that's a bit of a change because a week ago when we were looking at polls in these states, sanders was the only candidate who was positioned to really get a big delegate haul. it looked like a 300 or 400 delegate lead coming out of this, but again what south carolina told you and you were just talking about this, the possibility of joe biden doing particularly well in the

southeast, this region of the country, getting a lot of delegates out of here. klobuchar getting out, minnesota, there's suddenly a chance here for joe biden. a week ago we thought he'd get zero delegates in minnesota but he can get dozens. massachusetts, elizabeth warren's home state is biden moving up there? new opportunities obviously texas. ton bombing than pretty tight there. there's a scenario, this was utterly unthinkable a couple of days ago, that's a scenario whenever we add it up that joe biden comes out of tonight close to even with bernie sanders. that would be the ideal scenario for biden. it's not unimaginable. it was four days ago. >> obviously, steve that still doesn't give a ton of clarity as to where this goes moving forward, right? because if you've got two people who have a ton of delegates they are potentially neck and neck in bernie sanders and joe biden that does and make it much easier when we look ahead to the

convention. >> exactly. it changes -- if that with were to happen, we'll find out, i'm not predicting that, but if biden were to get out even with sanders the problem for sanders was this was supposed to be his big night. it was supposed his big night in california and texas and colorado and when he banked a big lead. because when you start to look later in the calendar, talking about the trouble that south carolina exposed in the south for bernie sanders, georgia is coming up. sanders got clobbered be there '16. even to start building a lead is a problem for sanders. >> steve kornacki, shaquille brewster, thank you. we're come back to the reporters all day long. we have voters' reaction from key polling places across the country. thanks to all of you. we want to get some breaking news though that's coming in on the economic front. aside from super tuesday news.

in the pass couple of months, the fed has announced a half a percentage cut race. why? because of the coronavirus and the economic slowdown we have seen over the last week because of that. i want to go to hans nichols at the white house and stephanie ruhle. hans, this is what president trump wanted to see and in fact called for yesterday. >> the president has been jawboning the fed all along. he has been doing this before coronavirus, after coronavirus. he's all wanted to have lower interest rates because inside the white house and the president especially understands the economic growth and loose monetary policy. he's been doing it and it's been more acute here recently and almost every moment and hallie, you have been to the press conferences as well. he has called for the fed to take action and do something on the monetary side. he got his wish. i think we also need to twin this with the statement we had out of the g-7 this morning that countries across the g-7 are gong to be coordinating their

response doing things what they think is appropriate on the monetary side. but also the fiscal side. so i would look not just to see what's happening in the u.s. but nationally. the president got his wish and a big boost for his reelection. hallie? >> let me look at the big board here because the dow is ticking up, 80 points higher. steph, what does this mean for the markets, wall street and importantly for consumers too now that the fed has cut this rate, how does that help goose the economy? >> first, the president hasn't always wanted rate cuts. when he wasn't in office, when obama was, the president railed against it saying how much it hurts savers but absolutely without a doubt the president wants rate cuts because it boosts the markets. it doesn't necessarily boost the economy. and when you actually saw the market rally yesterday, that was on the assumption the prediction that we would see a rate cut

here and across the world. so while the president has been pressuring the fed, you cannot say that jay powell is doing what the president told him to do. that's why he did it. now, here's what many people think doesn't make any sense. when you cut rates, the entire idea is with low interest rates people, businesses, will go out and spend, borrow, create. boost the economy. that flies in the face of what we're doing. the precautionary measures people are taking around the coronavirus. look what corporate america is doing. sending people home to work. canceling business travel. the whole idea is the place where you're seeing it contained the most is where you're having quarantined. yes, this is going to be a short term positive for the markets and we know that's what the president wants. but as far as the economy goes, growth forecasts are being cut across the board. people aren't spending. and a rate cut might not solve for that. >> stephanie ruhle, live for us there, msnbc headquarters in new york. hans nichols at the white house,

thanks to you both for that. we are staying on top of it as well. and we'll stay on top of the super tuesday coverage we'll talk with a former presidential contender julio castro. and the top virus control official, dr. fauci is testifying -- that's not him, obviously. four more deaths were reported overnight and a second case confirmed in new york this morning. [ distant band playing ] have you ever wondered what the motorcade driver drives when they're not in a motorcade? [ upbeat music starts ] [ engine revving ] ♪ this one drives a volkswagen passat. ♪

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so this is the scene just outside boston a few minutes ago. senator elizabeth warren on the left side of the screen meeting with voters and voting herself in her home state. her campaign slogan, dream big, fight hard, especially true in the second half. that is one of seven things

we're watching for tonight. can her campaign be resuscitated? and if she hopes to catch up in delegates she's going to have to get at least 15% of any statewide vote. ali vitali is with the campaign. we're close to seeing somebody else, one of the senator's biggest competitors, senator sanders in his home state of vermont. forgive me if i interrupt, but i want to talk about her her campaign is framing today's really critical election here. they have a lot of ground to make up. >> yeah, hallie. that's the danger of live shots on super tuesday. all the candidates are moving around. elizabeth warren here in massachusetts you're right. she just voted for herself and there are the things in this campaign that the campaigns can control. the strategy that they have. and then there are the things they can't. the warren campaign strategy has always been to look ahead to today. look ahead to super tuesday after the middling performances and just make the case that they have a strategy to pick up as my delegates as possible. the big number for them is 15%. that viability threshold that

you were just talking about that would allow them to pick up delegates potentially statewide and definitely by congressional district. the thing they can't control and broke their way is the fact that they have banked top field winnowing. amy klobuchar and pete buttigieg both dropped out in the last two days. the warren campaign really feels like if they can get to be the second choice of a lot of those voters which we regularly talk about it it's not laying binary, they don't vote based on lane logic, they needed this field to winnow and i asked her about that this morning and listen to what she told me. >> this is about a moment in history. it's our moment. and our dreams to be in america -- not just the america for trump. but with our possibilities and in an america where every person has value and where every child is worth investing in. >> i have one more question.

what do you make of everyone coming out and endorsing joe biden? >> you know, that's fine. that's fine. i don't think there were any surprises were there? >> warren saying there there were no surprises in terms of the endorsement. tonight she's going on the rallying in michigan though. that's not a state that votes today but a state that votes a week from now on march 10th. so the warren campaign keeps using phrases like long haul and the final play being in milwaukee at the convention. this way that they're scheduling her, the way they're spending tonight in michigan, that just sort of speaks to that more longer term strategy and the fact that the warren campaign at least right now before the votes or before we know what the results are on super tuesday they're saying they're in this fault for the long haul. >> ali vitali, thank you. i want to bring in julio castro, a former 2020 candidate and he served as housing secretary under president obama and now a supporter of warren's

campaign. thanks for being with us. >> great to be with you. >> one of senator warren's competitors, senator sanders, has arrived to cast his ballot. let me talk about senator warren because she's voted already this morning. her campaign is talking about the long game. making the final play potentially for the convention, right? make the case to people why she should stay in this race if she isn't able to catch up on delegates today on super tuesday. >> well, i mean, first that's a big leap. i believe that she's going to do well today, that she'll rack up delegates. she invested -- >> when you say -- she'll rack them up but not catch up? i want to make sure i'm understanding. >> well, in my home state of texas i think she's goal to reach the viability threshold of 15%. same thing in california. she invested in 31 different states with over 1,000 staff members so she did put in place a campaign that's built to last and i think you're going to

start to see the effect of that on super tuesday when you have more than a dozen states voting. the other thing that people are responding to i think is this realization that elizabeth warren really is the candidate that can bring the progressive wing and the moderate wing of the party together. i believe that tonight you're going to see the results of time she has put -- she's put in in the last few years in her career speaking to the progressive wing. voting as a senator very progressively with unabashed progressive values and appealing to people who want a washington that works on progressive issues. >> so polls have often shown the senator to be a popular second choice. this is something that ali talked about as well. does a string of losses maybe turn off voters who care first and foremost as we have seen again and again about the issue of electability, about being

able to win? >> i think people believe that she can win. i do think that this winnowing of the field is going to help. because the fact is that she was competing with senator klobuchar and with mayor buttigieg for some of the voters so we'll see tonight the first affect of that. what effect this will have in the race. i think it will benefit her. look, i consider myself progressive and a lot of people when i was running they could see that i embraced very progressive policies and that's been my track record. if you're a progressive and what you see right now is joe biden racking up these endorsements, and you're saying look, we want a progressive president then you should be with elizabeth warren. because elizabeth warren has a better shot at staving off joe biden because she can take more moderate voters from joe biden than bernie can. so i hope that progressive voters will see that today and going forward. >> how do you plan to make -- to sort of sell that message because joe biden is going to

super tuesday with like it or not a decent amount of momentum from the endorsements including from someone you know in texas, beto o'rourke and texas is an important tuesday state. >> well, it wasn't unexpected that he would get the endorsements that he got. maybe it was a little unexpected that he'd get them all on one night but these are folks who embraced the moderate message. so i fundamentally don't think anything has changed in terms of the dynamics of people's support. but for progressives, the decision you need to make is who do you think stands a better chance of actually staving off joe biden? and that clearly is elizabeth warren because not only can she bring out progressives, she can also appeal to more moderates than bernie can and in that way rack up more delegates over the long haul. >> i mentioned, secretary, that we have seen senator sanders voting in his own state in vermont. senator warren voted in

massachusetts but polls show her neck and neck in that state. does she have to win massachusetts? what does it say if she can't, the state she lives and represents? >> i think she'll do well in massachusetts and in oklahoma. you know, her other state that she grew up in. i think she'll do well here in texas. this is a game of delegates and so we're going to see tonight where people fall in terms of the delegate count. i think she'll do well. >> secretary castro, thank you for being with us. talk about the candidate that you support, elizabeth warren. we are back out across the country, including in vermont where we expect to see senator sanders maybe. he'll answer some questions from reporters in a minute. and also in the states with the most delegates up for grabs, you will see all of that live just next. i switched to miralax for my constipation.

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think the working families of this country want is an economy and a government that works for all and not just a few. and what they believe. so we have to join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee health care to all people as a human right. we cannot be the only major country on earth -- with the family time and paid leave. we have a nation in which we give tax -- all across this country from maine to country, we are putting together a multigenerational, multiracial movement of people who are standing up for justice and to beat donald trump, we are going to need to have the largest voter turnout in the history of this country. we need energy. we need excitement. i think our campaign is that campaign. so today i just want to thank the tens and tens of thousands of volunteers who have worked and are working today to support our campaign which is a campaign

of justice and we appreciate all of their efforts. so thank you all very much. >> thank you. you can -- >> that is the scene in burlington, vermont, as bernie sanders makes his way through that gaggle of reporters there. i don't know that he took any questions unless there was one right at the top about for example the endorsements for the man who shaping up to be the closest rival, joe biden who racked up the endorsements from amy klobuchar and pete buttigieg. it's not just vermont at stake, but 1,3 00 delegates are up for grabs and jo ling kept is and

garrett haake and gadi schwartz. california is a huge prize. 415 delegates at stake. you're in a county that turned blue in 2018. talk through what's expected to play out. >> hallie, we are inside of the irvine city hall and what we know about irvine it flipped from red to blue as you mentioned so the idea is where are the democrats who are voting in the presidential primary going to place their votes? are they going to go with the bernie who's done really well here in california in terms of polling or will it be more of a biden or a warren? this is a very moderate district here in orange county. i want to show you what's happening here at this particular voting station. you have folks coming in registering to vote. a lot of people still taking the paper poll. using the old school felt tipped pen to cast their ballot. but with all of the new california voting technology if you want you can vote at one of these electronic machines here.

this is great if you need accessibility so you can take this and vote with these toggles here really easily. if you're hearing impaired you can use these headphones here. but most are casting their ballot with the old felt tipped pen here. i want to show you exactly where you take your ballot and you slide it into this machine here. but this machine is not counting your votes, hallie. it's putting it in a black box, a secure box, at the end of the day they'll take the chip and the ballots and taking it to the registrar or the counted. but we know here in california it will take some time for those votes to be counted because we have got millions of mail-in votes and early voting. it's been going on for 10 or 11 days now. >> garrett haake in houston. i think we can share it with the viewers you grew up around there. and harris county has a population bigger than new

hampshire and iowa combined. for joe biden it's texas hold 'em because if he can catch up to bernie sanders that is one county to watch. >> that's right. you cannot win a democratic primary here without winning harris county. it has the most african-american voters of anywhere in the state and particularly on the northwest side of houston is favorable towards the candidate like joe biden. it's a place he would hope to do well. look at the second and the seventh district in northwest houston. one just flipped from red to blue in 2018. one is a perennial and really kind of a newer target for democrats that are going after dan crenshaw's seat here in the second district where i am. battle ground suburban districts. the 18th, further in, sheila jackson lee, heavily african-american district a place that the biden campaign is really trying to juice the turnout among the african-american voters. this is the beating blue heart of texas. other counties in texas that

might trend a little bit bluer but none have the kind of numbers that you have here. as people watch the returns tonight look to see who's doing well in harris county and who's doing well in the northwestern congressional districts because that will tell you a lot about who's going to pull all of the delegates out of texas. if you're joe biden, i love that texas hold 'em line. this is the firewall this is the second biggest prize in play and it's an open primary. you can have the moderate republicans, lapsed republicans, folks who may not identify with the republican party of george bush here in texas who might come across and said maybe a guy like joe biden is one for me. so definitely a state and a county to watch tonight. >> one of the thing that's really important about super tuesday and we saw it in nevada and south carolina the diversity of the electorate. leigh ann caldwell, the african-american vote is going on the important. what are you hearing and seeing? >> that's right. in durham, north carolina,

there's a heavy concentration of democratic voters. we're inside a polling station where there's ten polling booths for people to vote. and then what they do after they vote, they fill them in with pencils or paper ballots. they sent them into this machine here. then we'll walk outside because it's not the only way to vote as well. you can also pull up in your car. there's curbside voting. people don't have to even get out of their car. there are two people voting that way right now. the reason we chose this district is because of the heavy concentration of african-american voters. they're expected to make up a third of this democratic primary vote. we wanted to see if joe biden was able to maintain the moment that he gained in south carolina especially with african-american voters here and in the neighboring state of north carolina. we have one voter here. terrell, how did you vote today, who did you vote for? >> i voted for joe biden. >> why? >> i feel that joe biden is the

man that we need in the office right now. which need somebody what's going -- we need somebody to get in there and get the job done. >> did his momentum in south carolina help to persuade you to come and vote for him today? >> well, i was already a joe biden fan, but south carolina just really pushed me over the line. >> great. thank you, terrell. so joe biden doesn't have the biggest operation, hasn't spent the most money here, but talking to voters at this district there's a lot of joe biden support in this african-american community. hallie? >> really interesting. leigh ann caldwell in durham. gadi schwartz, they're trying to make it real easy to get people to vote on super tuesday. because everybody says it all comes down to turnout, right? >> yeah. we're seeing drive by democracy over here too. i want to show you these two people over here, they just voted, they got this almost like a pit crew there. taking the ballots. we have timed them about five seconds between the handoff of a

ballot being dropped off here and then the sticker being given. and that's been going on throughout the day. now, there's a little bit of a different go around here in denver this year in colorado in particular. you -- we have gone from a caucus system to a primary system for the first time in 20 years and the turnout has been dramatically different. so the last time they had a caucus here about 120,000 people participated. this year, they have already had over 1 million people participate in early voting and then today obviously you have got the drive by voting. you've got the drop-off ballot boxes. you have voting in person. one question that we keep hearing today is what happens if you had a ballot and you filled it in for pete buttigieg or amy klobuchar, but you want to change that vote? the bad news if you already sent this off you are out of luck. the good news is if you still have your ballot all you do is you follow the directions here. you cross it out like that, amy klobuchar and then you fill in

which ever one of the ovals you want to vote for. so the other option is if you still have your ballot or if you don't, you can come here to any of these voting centers and cast your ballot here today as well. hallie? >> thanks to all of you at the polling locations all across the country. gadi, what? >> i'm going to time this. watch this. here it is. one colorado -- >> somebody pulling up to drop off their -- >> five colorado, six colorado, seven colorado. there we go, seven seconds to drop off your ballot here in colorado. >> got to love it. i feel terrible for the voter who didn't want to be in the live shot and ended up in accidentally. thank you to all of you. we appreciate it. we are following everything related to super tuesday and news here in washington because right now you're looking live now. top government officials experts on infectious disease testifying on capitol hill.

we'll see dr. fauci, a familiar face to our viewers. the first hearing since the first cases of coronavirus in the u.s. specifically on this topic. we're live in washington state of course and the city that's become the epicenter of the virus in the u.s. we want to take you to the tennessee because the sun is know up showing the destruction after a series of deadly tornadoes overnight. we have learned at least nine people have been killed. you have a ton of homes anded byes that have been destroyed. tens of thousands are still without power. those tornadoes hitting hours before the polls were set to open in the state and you have some opening their doors an hour late and for now they'll still close at 7:00 local time as planned. it's tough to quit smoking cold turkey. so chantix can help you quit slow turkey. along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. with chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting. chantix reduces the urge so when the day arrives, you'll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye.

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officially hitting the us.virus man: the markets are plunging for a second straight day. vo: health experts warn the us is underprepared. managing a crisis is what mike bloomberg does. in the aftermath of 9-11, he steadied and rebuilt america's largest city. oversaw emergency response to natural disasters. upgraded hospital preparedness to manage health crises. and he's funding cutting edge research to contain epidemics. tested. ready. mike: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message.

with our moving and storage solutions. pack what you want, we store it for as long as you want. then, we deliver it where you want, so whether you need to move or store your things, pods is here to help you with flexible moving and storage solutions. right now congress is holding the first public hearing specifically intended to talk about coronavirus. you can see top government officials there, although you can't see him on the shot, that

includes anthony fauci. while the cases of the country is ticking upward. new york has confirmed a second case. you have two schools announcing closures and by last night, 210 cases confirmed nationwide. in washington state, all six who have been killed by the virus are located. separately the cdc is under fire for test kit missteps now shipping replacements to labs throughout the u.s. nbc's steve patterson is covering that cluster of cases now linked to the local nursing homes in washington. what are we finding out here? >> well, there's a few things that health officials are talking about in regards to t s this. that focus on testing that you mentioned. first of all, we have been doing some reporting with the university of washington medical center and they now have developed the own test that has been approved to administer by the cdc which means they use a nasal swab which effectively

should cut down on test results timing. it was reported that testing was taking anywhere from three to five days that should cut down testing to anywhere within a day. so that's huge. the public health department is also reporting that they're able to keep up a little bit better with testing. now able to administer tests to about 200 people per day. so that should help people get results that they need to know more quickly. pair that with the county bringing in modular housing, holding people in isolation and they think they're making some progress in keeping people on message and not getting sick and if they were, they'll be taken care of. >> we should note back here, in the district of columbia, president trump is headed to the nih later on this afternoon and we'll monitor to see what he has to say. steve patterson in washington, thank you. we'll get back to the 2020

trail for a second because michael bloomberg wrapped up the stop in miami and he stopped to take questions from the reporters. it sounds like it got testy there with mayor bloomberg. what's doing on? >> it sure did. a defiant mike bloomberg today dismissing calls for him to step aside and bow out of the race. he made some news saying he doesn't see any way to win other than a contested convention calling that a democratic process. take a listen to what he had to say just a few minutes ago here in miami. >> i have no expectations for today. it will be what it will be for today but we'll a decent number of delegates. if you have been working at this for ten weeks i think that's good. i never wanted to be the chief debater. >> and he also said, hallie, he finds it offensive that bernie sanders is now against the very same rules that the dnc put in

place that allow a contested convention. this is first time that mike bloomberg has described the path to victory specifically as being through a contested convention. >> i mean, isn't it convention or bust for bloomberg at this point? isn't that what he's saying? >> well, it does seem like there's an insurmountable pathway to get the majority of delegates so his path is the same as it is for warren which is nobody gets a majority. maybe sanders gets a plurality and then you have to work it out at the convention. and that could be his path. >> josh lederman live there with that q&a with mike bloomberg, thanks. up next, the stream session right here with key members behind the campaigns of somebody -- people who know a thing or two about getting out of races. kamala harris, beto o'rourke, our special coverage continues all day long on msnbc. msnbc road warrior geoff bennett outside a polling location in falls church, virginia. hi, geoff. >> hi, hallie, i'm in the

northern virginia suburbs that's helped this commonwealth of virginia tilt from red to blue since donald trump took office. democrats now control the governor's mansion. the state legislature. given in large part this tilt among voters toward moderate democratic candidates that's one reason that you have joe biden, michael bloomberg banking big and hoping that voters give their centrist bids a boost with 9 9 delegates up for grabs. our coverage continues here after the break. let me tell you something,

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anybody, we are so excited to have all of you, people who really get this. jennifer, can you talk a little bit about your former candidate, beto o'rourke's decision to endor endorse, the timing of this, the thought process? he's been on the sideline as little while here. >> beto is like a lot of voters, watching how things played out, making a good decision on his own, talking to his family about it. he said yesterday he had a good talk with joe biden and he's going to vote for joe biden and his son said if you believe in him, why don't you do more, endorse him. texas is a big deal today. beto can move people.

>> when you look at the idea of more moderate candidates uniting behind booid, is there a risk that there is narrative is fed that the establishment is afraid of senator sanders? >> what i'm watching today is the same thing we said we'd be watching when the race first started. you think back in january of 2019, we said this was going to be a biden/bernie race and maybe warren or bloomberg will pop in and make some noise. now look, millions dollars spent and we're back where we were. it's a biden/bernie race and maybe elizabeth warren will make some noise. it speaks for to where we're at with the state of democrats, you can't afford to lose to trump

twice. the establishment following behind biden. we know, we know bernie and people know to not lose again. >> texas is a big state and so is california. we were talking on the "today" show this morning that she hasn't endorsed a candidate. if she were to, is today not the day, when her home state has all these delegates up for play here? >> these are candidates who put like years of their lives on the line to run for president. it is a personal decision when to endorse and whether to endorse. this is a huge day today. i thought the show of force of her 72 hours where you saw governors, senator, harry reid really rolling out to almost block out the earned media sun for the rest of the candidates to basically say, no, you're going to see my face on television for the 72 hours before you vote and when he's doing is targeting those late deciders who we have seen have

such impact in these primaries. >> it's not like the endorsements wipe away any vulnerability that joe biden might have had. >> absolutely. the conversation we are having today versus the conversation we had on friday is different. he won owe big in south carolina. the turnout before that the conversation was about how maybe the democrats aren't as energized as they need to be. south carolina showed a commanding lead but across all aspects of south carolina. so, yes, endorsements aren't the be all and end ul, ball but the that people are flying to events he already had when candidates weren't expected to drop out, that means something is going their way. >> are we going to see andrew yang support anybody? >> andrew has within clebeen cl

wants to see things play out. he will have an endorsement thursday, though. >> what will it be? >> i can't tell you. he'll kill me. >> what is the thing we will be talking about tomorrow morning? jen, i'll start with you. >> i think the question is can bernie sanders grow or was he benefiting from a split field? >> zach, what's yours? >> can joe biden overcome michael bloomberg's $60 billion? >> and jen? >> can they unite the moderates? >> we'll be right back with the nonpresidential election you need to be watching today. ts! o! everything's stuck in the drawers! i'm sorry! oh, jeez. hi. kelly clarkson. try wayfair! oh, ok. it's going to help you, with all of... this!

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pd-l1 saved my life. saved my life. saved my life. what we do here at dana-faber, changes lives everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. officially hitting the us.virus man: the markets are plunging for a second straight day. vo: health experts warn the us is underprepared. managing a crisis is what mike bloomberg does. in the aftermath of 9-11, he steadied and rebuilt america's largest city. oversaw emergency response to natural disasters. upgraded hospital preparedness to manage health crises. and he's funding cutting edge research to contain epidemics. tested. ready. mike: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. talking a ton about the presidential race, super important on super tuesday.

t trymaine lee. >> he's facing a hyper organized group of black voters in the state who came out in 2018 and lifted doug jones into that seat. i spoke to one voter about jeff sessions in this race. let's listen to what she had to say. >> i've never been a jeff sessions fan. i would like to keep doug jones in there and i hope that's what the people's voice says, to keep him in there. i don't think jeff sessions has historically been a person for everybody. he has a select few that he's for. >> one thing jeff sessions will likely try to do is settle himself right next to donald trump and say he was his man.

for many voters, it won't be enough. >> very interesting, trymaine lee looking at the race for former senator jeff sessions. that does it for us this hour. we have a lot of hours to go all of us in the coverage of this super tuesday. craig melvin picks it up in new york. hey, mel. >> i'll take it on, hallie. thank you. super tuesday is upon us and more than 1,300 delegates are up for grabs. right now looking more and more like a battle between joe biden and bernie sanders. they're not just fighting for delegates. no, no, they're very much fighting for the soul of the democratic party. and the moderates are getting in formation. a spring of endorsements by pete buttigieg, amy klobuchar and beto o'rourke. >> it is up to us, all of us, to

put our country back together. >> we need somebody who will fight for democracy here and abroad because democracy is under attack here and abroad. we need joe biden. >> oh, but there's another untested affordable care actor that the candidates cannot ignore. his name, michael bloomberg. so what's at stake today? how could it reshuffle the entire race all over again? i want to bring in one of our own road warriors, kristen walker, she's on the trail following the biden campaign. josh letterman is following the bloomberg campaign. kristen, it has been a big 24 hours for the biden campaign. how are they feeling heading into tonight? >> reporter: craig, good morning to you. happy super tuesday. the biden campaign is feeling strong. they feel as though this is

really the most momentum he has had since entering this race. really the best he could be doing heading into this super tuesday after that convincing win in south carolina and then as you talked about, this remarkable coalescing of the moderate candidates, pete buttigieg, amy klobuchar, beto o'rourke not only dropping out of the race but also endorsing him in texas last night, a state he really needs to do well in today. we, of course, have been reporting on what could be the invisible hand of former president brauarack obama in alf this. he has not come out and endorsed joe biden publicly but we know behind the scenes he's been working the phone, including talking to mayor buttigieg before buttigieg came out and said he was in fact going to endorse biden. so he is at play here. the significance of it has yet to be seen. is it too late to stop senator bernie sanders? he of course is the delegate leader, the national front-runner. he's got a lot of momentum as well. looking for a strong showing today. biden trying to paint this as a

two-person race. i am here at ale poing place in los angeles. you can see folks here are turning out. they have already started to vote. can you feel the energy, can you feel the momentum. i've spoken to a number of voters they say their communities are energized to come out and vote. biden's main goal today is to chip into sander's lead. he wants to get on the board here in a place like california where sanders surging and get into texas and then he want the southern states to hold, what he has called essentially himself fire wall in the south, craig. >> california one of those states where a lot of folks have already voted. a good chunk of the percentage there voting early in california. kristen, thank you. shaq, i turn to you now. the sanders campaign, they've invested a lot of time and they have invested a lot of money in super tuesday states. these last-minute endorsements, what we saw go down in dallas last night, does that mean a

recalculation for the sanders strategy? what are you hearing from that campaign? >> reporter: you're hearing different messaging. talking to his deputy campaign manager, he dismissed it as politicians endorsing other politicians and pointed to in many of the super tuesday states there has been early voting that would limit any rise they got from that. but sanders is making a statement saying the door is open, come on in. and there are differences but he has the energy and excitement needed to take on donald trump. that was the message he had walking out of this polling location here in -- vermont. >> if we're going to defeat donald trump, our campaign is the campaign to do that. we have knocked on some 2 million doors all across the

country from maine to california. >> you're hearing attacks from vice president biden coming back. he understand that vice president biden from south carolina, from these endorsements may have some momentum and after super tuesday will be the time to stop it. craig? >> shaq in burlington, vermont, a state that bernie sanders should carry easily tonight. job letterman, this is the day that michael bloomberg's campaign has been banking on from the very beginning. but they made this gamble that joe biden would not be a strong candidate. but now he's a bit stronger. and you've got these moderates, these so-called moderates coalescing around him. the message to bloomberg seems to be to clear the path for joe biden. what's been the message from bloomberg's team? >> reporter: craig, a defiant michael bloomberg who just a few minutes ago answered some questions just behind me as he was opening a field office in miami, saying that he is not

going to drop out, he is in this to win it, he's in it for the long haul, dismissing those who want him to bow out and clear the path to joe biden and pulling back the curtain on his strategy for winning the nomination saying he doesn't see a path to actually getting a majority and he is looking a the a contested convention where nobody would get a majority and the delegates would have to duke it out in the convention. michael bloomberg also really bristling at arguments that he's taking votes away from joe biden. take a listen to that. >> joe's taking votes away from me and i think that is true. >> reporter: but you're also taking votes away from joe biden. >> it goes in both directions. have you asked joe whether he's going to drop out? >> i cover you. >> when you ask him that, then you can call me. >> reporter: going into super tuesday, did you drop -- that's the same question. >> you didn't really answer it,

sir. >> i have no intense of dropping out. we're in it to win it. >> reporter: this is the first time that michael bloomberg said embas explicitly saying this could be a contested election. you can only imagine the heartburn going through the democratic party right now. >> thank you all, it's going to be a long night for you are guys, i'll let you go take a quick nap. who better to talk california politics than long-time forrmer senator boxer. president obama appears to be playing a role in the movement that we've seen by former conditions, or democrats to coalesce around his vice president. did president obama or anyone

else call you on his behalf and talk to you about endorsing joe biden? >> absolutely not. no one called me. i just called them and said i'm ready to endorse because i want to beat donald trump. and i want to have a candidate who can unify us, a man whose personal story is inspirational. how many times he's been knocked down and i think in a way the south carolina victory was kind of a metaphor for joe's life, all the pain and suffering and bad time he's had and he's always gotten up and find solace and it just hit me and i called and said here's my statement, use it any way that you want. >> the polls say bernie sanders is poised for a pretty big night. does what we saw with mayor pete

buttigieg and beto o'rourke and amy klobuchar, does he win votes in texas when you have so many people there who vote early? >> i think californians love a comeback kid. i've been a comeback kid a couple of times but nothing quite like this. and today's polls, there are no polls that show the race really tightening here. and the issue is how many people already voted. anecdotally, it seems that it's not as large an absentee vote as usual. so that means it's better for joe. but no question bernie sanders has been organizing frankly for years. they've got a good ground game and the rest. but we've got to win and, frankly, if you look at the electoral college, you know, we need to win back those working folks. i do want to make a point. the media keeps saying establishment democrats, moderate democrats. i was voted the most liberal

democrat year after year in the united states senate and i note that joe's appeal goes across the whole party. >> i want to go back to something that we just heard from michael bloomberg of course, from the former mayor of new york city, on the ballot for the first time ftoday. he has polled reasonably well there in california. he just said that joe biden's taking votes away from him, also predicting his path to victory would have to include a contested convention. what do you say to that? >> well, you know, i can't tell michael bloomberg what to think, but i thought when he got in he said very clearly this isn't about me, he said, this is about making sure that we elect someone who can really beat donald trump. so i would hope as he watches the returns come in and we don't know what will happen, i think there's going to be huge surprises. let's see what happens. and i will also add this, a

contested convention. this is part of the rules, it part of the plans, it may go that way. i'm not afraid of that. it's what you do when you don't have a clear winner. i hope we do have a clear winner, i hope it's joe biden obviously. >> senator boxer, always good to have you, senator. thank you so much to your time. let's turn now to another california democrat, congressman ro khanna. as you no, one thing that has really helped the senator so far is that the center left lane of democratic voters was pretty split. not the case anymore. that show of unity that we saw last night for joe biden from beto o'rourke, from amy klobuchar, mayor pete buttigieg, how much did that affect sanders going forward, how much did it hurt him?

>> i don't think it will. the polling shows even in places like south carolina that medicare for all have majority support amongst democrats. his platform, his policies are popular. second, the big advantage that senator sanders has is a grass roots infrastructure. he's the only one, frankly, who has had as muff organich organi these big states. it not just the polling, it's the infrastructure that the senator has laid out. >> let look at the super tuesday map here for a second. sanders is, as you know, doing quite well in the polls in delegate rich states like california where you are, texas. and some of the other states that are up for grabs today, though. black voters make up a significant swath of the electorate, especially in the south. you look at tennessee and alabama and north carolina and arkansas and i'm sure this is something that your campaign is watching after south carolina. sanders' performance among black voters. he's talked about the importance of forming this diverse

coalition. is bernie sanders doing enough to appeal to black voters? can he feesabasiblely be the nominee? >> unfortunately there's not a jim clyburn in every state. i know representative clyburn. he's extraordinary. his endorsement made a huge difference in south carolina, but i think we will be competitive as we go on. >> if elizabeth warren were not in this race, would bernie sanders would bernie sanders be ab running away from it? >> i don't think so. i don't think we should dismiss her. she's an extraordinary leader and progressive and has extraordinary ideas and has every right to continue to pursue the nomination. i don't think it for any candidate to tell another

candidate to get out. >> brokered convention. it's something that's been talked about a fair amount here over the past few days. michael bloomberg just brought up the possibility once again. what do you say to the idea there may be a brokered convention in milwaukee? >> i really think the person who has the most votes, the most pledged delegates going in should be the nominee. >> that's not how it's always been, congressman, as you know. >> usually. my understanding is that dukakis and kerrey didn't have the plurality. my hope is that whoever is leading, that we can work to build a broad coalition and i do think we have to come around and support whoever the nominee is. i mean, there's no doubt in my mind that the nominee is far

better than donald trump. >> congressman ro khanna. thank you so much for your time. good luck to you tonight. >> this morning a major announcement from the federal reserve. it just wrapped up moments ago, the fed announcing they are going to be cutting interest rates by a half a percentage point to combat the economic threat of the coronavirus outbreak. we are right now just starting to see the effect that this news is having on the markets. it would seem as if so far not of an effect. the dow down about 275 points on the day so far. the stakes could not be higher for the 2020 candidates. we will go to our guy, steve kornacki, at his big board. he's going to show us where the candidates are looking to pick up some wins in the delegate race. also, they call him the kingmaker and for good reason. his endorsement served as the springboard for joe biden's entire campaign, kicking it into a new gear.

but was it a enough? congressman jim clyburn will join me on the other side of this break. we are continuing to keep a very close eye on the breaking news in tennessee. the death toll there has risen in just the last few minutes, that powerful tornado tore through the central part of the state overnight. officials now say that the storm has killed at least 19 people. more than at that,025,000 homes without power and 40 collapsed structures as well. keeping a very close eye on the situation there in tennessee. we'll be right back.

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[ dishave you ever wondered [ distant band playing ] what the motorcade driver drives when they're not in a motorcade? [ upbeat music starts ] [ engine revving ] ♪ this one drives a volkswagen passat. ♪ right now you are looking at live pictures of a polling station durham, north carolina. that state's 110 delegates are

up for grabs, just a fraction of the 1,344 delegates up for grabs today. to clinch, to win it, you need 1,991 delegates to secure the nomination. no one knows more about delegates and numbers and board and polls than steve kornacki. what are you looking at tonight? what are your top lines? >> basically this is where we stand right now heading into tonight. this is chump change compared to delegates at stake tonight, 60 for sanders, 53 for biden. how many delegates in each state? you can see here are the number per state. what's significant about tonight is a week ago if we had a conversation looking to super tuesday, the expectation was that sanders was going to win tonight, was going to win the most delegates and was potentially going to be ahead by 300 to 400 delegates coming out of tonight, particularly because

sanders had great strength in california, there was a possibility that nobody else was even going to hit that 15% delegate threshold in california. sanders was looking strong in texas and colorado and he looked like he had steady support everywhere. he was going to collect delegates everywhere. that was the picture a week ago. since biden's big win in south carolina, his opponents dropping out, endorsing him, some polls suggesting there is some real big, fast developing momentum for joe biden, here's the possibility now. if you look at those results in south carolina, take the southeast where you had large african-american populations as well in a lot of these states, there's the possibility here for joe biden on a good night for him, there's a possibility he sweeps the south tonight. he gets a bunch of delegates out of here. out of oklahoma, the possibility of a big biden win here as well. texas is looking very competitive right now. biden could keep it close and win texas in an ideal scenario for him tonight. >> are all of these states winner take all? >> no. this is the opposite of

republicans in 2016. in 2016 on the republican side, trump could win texas by a point and get every delegate. tonight if sanders wins by 5, if biden wins by 5, they're kind of splitting the delegates and there's the question of bloomberg and warren if they're collecting delegates. there's the possibility with proportional delegates, with the 15% threshold there,'s the possibility that biden could get out there tonight inside of a hundred delegates behind sanders, inside of 50, maybe even a dream scenario tied. that was unimaginable four days ago. >> a brokered convention, it's something that michael bloomberg just voted a few moments ago. what would that look like? >> you would play this out, this round of primaries and everything to come, sanders is winning states, biden is winning states and critically what you probably need at that point is bloomberg and warren to have good enough nights tonight to keep going, to keep winning

states here and there on their own and to keep collecting delegates and nobody is at that magic number at the end it have. we haven't had that scenario really. sanders says if he has the most on his own, he thinks he should be the nominee. the other candidates say they disagree with that. >> steve kornacki will be following it all for the next 14 hours at least. thank you, steve. joe biden has the support of several of his former rivals but so far the ultimate game changer for the former vice president would seem to be south carolina congressman jim clyburn. the congressman not done using his influence to help joe biden. congressman clyburn joins me now from washington. congressman, good to see you again, sir. you've commonwealth pain you've campaigned for your friend in north carolina, you've recorded robo calls and you're coming to campaign on his behalf. how confident are you that this new, as you called it jomemtum

is going to help pro tell him tonight? >> well, thank you very much for having me, craig. i'm very confident that joe biden is going to do well. if you look at steve kornacki's board there, california is a big chunk tonight. we won't know about that until sometime tomorrow, but also if you look at the other big circle he put there and count those up, it's about 350 delegates. so you come within 50 delegates of what is out there and available in california. so i think that joe biden is going to do very well in those southern states and i think it will demonstrate he's a very viable candidate for the rest of the way. so i'm looking for him to do well, keeping my fingers

crossed, i think he's the best candidate to represent us in november. >> you said a couple days ago i believe, you said that the biden campaign needed to be retooled. >> yes. >> it needed to make some tweaks. first of all, what specifically did you mean by that and do you think that the campaign has lessened? >> yeah. i think you've seen it in the last two or three days. what happened in texas last night, the way they put that roll out, those two big -- or three former rivals, you know, i'm a big fan of team ariefrs, that book is sort of a bible to to me. i saw unfolding the kind of professionalism in this process that i've been looking for. i really believe in my talks with vice president biden, i've told him what i think he ought to do to sharpen his message, i

saw that. and heard that in his message last night. i think that joe biden was more policy wonk than he should have been. he has to i think just be concise, zero in exactly what each one of his programs mean for each individual that he's talking to, that individual's family and that individual's community. the way he laid it out his last several speeches, it is pitch perfect. when you watch the way that rollout was last night, the campaign is doing much better. and a lot of that, i think, is because they're getting the money to do it. much of what i think needs to be done in this campaign could be cured if the democratic funders who are standing on the sidelines were to get involved and get involved now. i think that joe biden will go

or finish this process leading in delegate votes. >> he needs cash. there's a guy in the race right now that's got a few billion dollars he could perhaps give joe biden to help run the campaign. we heard from michael bloomberg a few minutes ago, he said joe biden was taking votes away from him. >> that may be true. i think the reverse is also true. what i do believe, though, is when tonight is over, all the candidates ought to do as amy, pete and beto did on yesterday, take stock and see what is necessary to help put this country back on track. i think that when the night is over, we'll demonstrate that joe biden is the best of a good crop of candidates. i've been telling everybody we got some good candidates. i just believe of all the good

candidates the best to go into november is joe biden. i can support any of the others that will get the nomination over the current occupant of the white house. i just believe that joe biden is the best bet for us to take at this time. >> congressman jim clyburn, always a pleasure. >> thank you for having me. >> i'll be frank with you, i'm looking at this map. i didn't realize we had so many people working on the road here at msnbc. good load, look at all those people on the road. that includes katy tur, posting up live in santa monica for us. she drew the short straw. >> reporter: we are live in california, in my hometown of santa monica because california is oh so important tonight. 415 delegates, the mother lode

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states. katy tur is in santa monica, california, her home turf and garrett haake is in houston texas. and geoff bennett, i will start with you in nova. what kind of turnout are you seeing so far? >> reporter: well, in a word, craig, huge turnout here. we're at george marshal high school in falls church, virginia, one of the busiest polling places across the commonwealth. already according to an official here, the turnout has surfaced 60% of entire turnout back in 2016 and is on track to far exceed it. this is a place where hillary clinton handily beat bernie sanders by some 64 to 35%. this time around, though, you have bernie sanders working hard to win the virginia vote, maybe not here but down south in virginia beach, about three hours from here. but this reason, northern virginia suburbs, this is one of reasons why this commonwealth

tipped from red to blue. you have a huge mix of moderate voters, this is really the seat, the home of the democratic establishment. you've got the white house, capitol hill, about a 30-minute drive from here. so this is the kind of coalition that a joe biden, that a michael bloomberg thinks might give their campaign a big boost. that's why bloomberg is spending a lot of money here, joe biden spending a lot of time here with 99 delegates up for grabs in all across virginia, craig. >> all right, geoff bennett. let's go across country now, katie t katy tur, also in a district that went for hillary clinton in 2016. what are you seeing there today? >> reporter: people are turning out, craig. they expect turnout to exceed 2008 levels, parsley because the population has risen so much. there's been a line of people at this polling station all morning. people are coming in and they

are participating. 415 delegates at stake here in california. right now bernie is leading in all of the polling. he's expected to do well in pretty much every district in this state. but coming in second place can be so crucial as well in order to stop the momentum, if you want to stop bernie's momentum and joe biden is polling in second. watch for third and fourth, too. both warren and michael bloomberg are around the threshold, 15s are 16%. if they don't reach 15%, that means they get no delegates. the issues that are in play here in california are stark. health care is a big one. inequality is another big one. housing is another big one. what you're seeing across california and especially here in santa monica, and it's hard to watch, hard to see, people living in tents, outside of million dollar houses. there is a massive housing problem in this state. so when you look at the exit polls tonight and see how people voted here, pay attention to

whether or not that was a big issue and who they voted for. i know in east l.a. that is an issue i heard come up over and over again from latino voters out there, ones that say they were supporting bernie sanders. here the names i've heard so far are bernie sanders, michael bloomberg and elizabeth warren. the warren voters came out and told me a couple of them that they were really soul searching and the last couple days they thought with all the momentum behind joe biden that they would have maybe wanted to vote for him with all of the endorsements but they said ultimately it came down to who they think would be the best president and in their minds that was elizabeth warren. >> katy tur there in her neck of the woods. garrett you're in harris county, the most populous county in texas. how crucial is that county going to be in deciding who wins texas? houston in harris county. >> reporter: winning harris county will be imperative for whoever the winner is. the biden campaigns hopes it can

be their antidote. it's in theory more friendly territory for a moderate candidate. you've got districts like sheila jackson lee's, closer to downtown, heavily african-american, much more reliable democratic district. you have a disthat i'm standing in. i'm on the line between the 7th and 2 districts. the voters that have been coming out to this polling place and waiting for an hour and a half, two hours to cast their ballots tend to be more upscale, those whole food voters, if you will, who have been targeted by the biden and bloomberg campaigns, less likely to be bernie sanders voters and less likely to be long-time democrats. texas as an open primary system. anybody can cross the lines to vote for another party. in the country or in the state

of george bush, a lot of republicans are left feeling they didn't have an ideological home in the trump era. but look, the reality is harris county has so many people in it, more citizens of harris county than in iowa and new hampshire combined, craig. the vote from this county alone will be incredibly besizive in who whiches texas. >> perhaps they can squeeze a few more signs into that grassy knoll behind you as well. >> joe biden riding a wave of new endorsements into super tuesday. but whose hand is behind it? more of what we're learning about the signal that president obama is quietly sending now. first, though, check out this moment between joe biden and beto o'rourke. o'rourke didn't just endorse biden, no, no, he took him out to dinner as well. they went to water burgerit.

beto o'rourke went wild and crazy, a doubling burger with a tomato while joe biden got a simple burger with let tuce and tomato. at fidelity, online u.s. stocks and etfs are commission-free.

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talk to your doctor about chantix. even more states now face new confirmed cases of the clnz -- coronavirus as more reports of new cases keep coming, bringing the total number of states with confirmed cases to 15. so far six people have died, all of them in washington state and that is where we find nbc's steve patterson in kirkland, washington. steve, what's the word on the ground? how are folks preparing for what is likely to become a larger outbreak in that area? >> reporter: folks are really tightening up and they're responding a bit fearfully and maybe with good reason.

the numbers here seem to be pointing at this spreading. and as we've seen this and seen the studies that have come out both prior to this and following the since dents here th the incidents what happened at the nursing home behind me, it seeps the cases were spreading for weeks now and we find as testing increases we may start to see more cases of this spring up in the community. four of the six people that have died throughout the nation in this state have died here at this facility. so access is limited, items are flying off the shelf, santry items, canned goods. people are keeping their kids home from school so you get a per vase vasive sense of fear h. you're standing in the epicenter, you can't see it, can't smell it, can't taste it

and that sense of insecurity that is permeating throughout the state. officials are trying to keep people calm. they at the people to self-prepare, wash your hands, don't touch your face. all the things we've been hearing for weeks. they are trying to account for people that will be sick. in other words, on the back end having housing available, having isolation units available for people that do come down with the virus so they can manage and contain this things as it happens. >> wash your hands, wash your hands. steve patterson with the latest on the ground in washington. we can tell you one of the folks here in new york state, that person listed in serious condition at last check. when we come back, more of what we are learning about president obama's private involvement in this primary and the signal he is sending. ♪upset stomach, diarrhea. try pepto liquicaps for fast relief and ultra-coating. ♪nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea.♪

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boss, barack obama, former president. nbc news has learned that obama spoke with pete buttigieg by phone. he has sent a signal in the last 36 hours that he sees joe biden as the candidate to back. i'm joined by a former senior adviser to the hillary clinton campaign and elise jordan, former aide in the george w. bush white house. and, jesse, i'll start with you, are you surprised to hear that your old boss has been playing this role behind the scenes? >> you're not going to catch me slipping on that on tv. the reality is, first thing is, pete buttigieg is a grown man. i don't see him getting nudged out, persuaded out, i don't see that happening. president obama knows that. i also don't see president obama as somebody with a cigar

clenched between his teeth telling him what to do. >> i like that image. what would the branding and imagery be on that? >> we have heard he's concerned about the future of his party and if he is so concerned, would could assume this would be the time to pick up the phone and let your wishes be known. >> i think obama mentality democrats of which i consider myself one, i think we like the narrowing of the race so it's a starker decision, a directional choice, more than the kind of muddled caucuses we've seen so far. i don't know, but i imagine democrats like him, democrats like us, probably, like that. not for any particular candidate. just for an easier choice. >> have you talked to president obama about that? >> he doesn't text me before bed or anything. this is somebody i worked for, i wrote for his white house. no.

>> okay. you're not going to get in trouble with the obama folks. i asked joe biden this question last week and he insisted that he didn't want the former president to get involved and tip the scales. he wanted to earn it on his own. if he had at this point, if barack obama had come out a week ago or two weeks ago, how would that have changed the trajectory of this race for joe biden, or would it have made a marked difference? >> of course vice president biden wanted barack obama's endorsement a couple weeks ago, he wanted it a year ago. i appreciate his, you know, spin there. of course he wanted this endorsement. i think it would have made a big difference, absolutely. barack obama is the single most popular democrat in the democratic party. he is overwhelming popular among republicans and independents too. any democratic candidate whether it's joe biden, anybody else running wants his endorsement. at the same time, however, this

is very typical obama where he's making calls, weighing in, each side is leaking out. this phone call happened. but he's smart that he is waiting to keep his powder dry at this point until this possibly goes to the floor for a contested convention. >> very possible. >> that's where he provides unification and uses his voice. i would think that's where he would use his juice, if you will, in the democratic primary. >> let's talk michael bloomberg for just a second here. any chance that he plays spoiler tonight for joe biden? >> if bloomberg does as well in the polls as he is slated to do, definitely. there are states that biden would have had a chance of being the outright winner. so i don't understand the logic of bloomberg saying he got into the race because biden was weak, yet he's staying in the race and playing spoiler and might actually give bernie sanders a better shot at the nomination

than had he not chosen to enter. it's logic that i don't understand. >> if bloomberg and elizabeth warren, if they have a bad night, are we likely to see them depart tomorrow or do you think they're in it for the long haul no matter what? >> i don't know. of course the bloomberg campaign, interestingly, maintains that them staying in the race is creating an atmosphere of chaos helps joe biden and most importantly keeps bernie sanders under a 500 delegate threshold. i don't understand how that works out. that is what the bloomberg campaign maintains. but i have to think, if bloomberg comes out of this with a very low number of delegates, i don't understand the path and i do think there's -- there's certainly a lot of smart people on the bloomberg campaign who understand -- they don't want his reputation to be that he's the spoiler, right? they want his reputation to come out that he helped the moderate wing, the obama wing of the party, as you call it, succeed

in this race. >> i wish we had more time. breaking news moments ago, president trump announced that he is planning to go to tennessee on friday in the wake of that powerful tornado that touched down overnight there. the death toll has been climbing. right now at least 19 people have been killed so far. president trump headed there on friday. we'll be right back. s really haunted me. thankfully, i got quickbooks, and a live bookkeeper's helping customize it for our business. (live bookkeeper) you're all set up! (janine) great! (vo) get set up right with a live bookkeeper with intuit quickbooks.

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on "today." and you know it's a big day when andrea mitchell is in new york city. >> thank you. happy super tuesday. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," great expectations. joe biden now has more money, more endorsements, more momentum heading into tonight's super tuesday contests in 14 states with nearly one-third of the delegates at stake. but with almost 7 million ballots already cast, is it too little too late to stop bernie sanders. and will michael bloomberg be a factor for the first time since he's on the ballot. >> today is obviously a very important day. if we're going to defeat donald trump, our campaign is the campaign to do that. >> it's time to stop the promises and start delivering and together as we all say, we will get it done. >> we're better than this moment, we are better than this president, and so get up. let's take back this country. >> team of rivals, joe biden's former challengers line up to

support him in a last-minute push to unite the party in a stop bernie movement. >> we have found that leader in vice president, soon to be president, joe biden. >> vote for dignity, vote for a heart for our country. >> i will be casting my ballot for joe biden. >> and an emotional high point, joe biden saying that pete buttigieg reminds him of his late son, beau. >> it's the highest compliment i can give my man or woman and that is that like beau he had a backbone like a ramrod. outbreak, with six people in the u.s. dead from the virus and the numbers of infected people spreading. the fed decides on the first emergency rate cut since the financial crisis 12 years ago and the country's leading expert on the virus says the situation is only getting worse.

>> we're dealing with clearly an emerging infectious disease that has reached outbreak proportions and likely pandemic proportions. and good day, i'm andrea mitchell in new york on super tuesday, a showdown that could reshape the democratic primary race. today will test joe biden's newfound political momentum against bernie sanders' front-runner status, an epic clash playing out coast to coast with 34% of the delegates up for grabs. when the dust settles, which -- with mail-in ballots and other places could take as long as ten days to settle, we'll have a better sense of who is going to face president trump in the fall. the wild cards today in addition to biden and sanders, elizabeth warren, trying to get enough traction to move onto michigan on march 10th and michael bloomberg finally on the ballot after pouring hundreds of

millions of dollars into his cause and two debate performances that were memorable for all the wrong reasons. also on the line, whether those disappointed buttigieg and klobuchar voters will follow the lead of their candidates and check a box for joe biden. joining me now kristen welker in los angeles where joe biden is going to finish his night. "washington post" national political reporter robert costa in vermont, sanders country of course. >> and "washington post" opinion writer jonathan capehart, as well as dan balz. welcome all. kristen, first to you, joe biden's big chance, can he capitalize on all of this and especially in california and some other states, so many early voting is banked. did his energy and momentum since south carolina come too late? >> reporter: andrea, the stakes could not be higher for former vice president joe biden and you couldn't feel more energy here

on the ground in california, this critical state for the former vice president. let me step out of the way and give you a sense of what the line looks like right now at this polling center here in los angeles. folks coming out to weigh in, to have their say on this democratic-nominating process. those key questions which you laid out, andrea, joe biden has the momentum right now. he had that remarkable consolidation of some of his former rivals who dropped out of the race and immediately endorsed him. mayor buttigieg, senator amy klobuchar, beto o'rourke who dropped out of the race a little while ago, giving him fresh momentum heading into this critical day. is it too little too late? we know his former boss, president barack obama has not endorsed him publicly, but he has had a hand in this behind the scenes. we know that buttigieg spoke to obama before he came out and made his announcement that he was going to back biden. but we are seeing this epic

clash. that's the way to describe it, andrea, between the liberal and moderate wings of the democratic parties. the moderate part of the democratic party really trying to slow down bernie sanders' momentum. so what looks like a win for biden today, a win would be a strong showing here in california, picking up some delegates here, a strong showing in texas, and then winning some of those southern states, what he has called his southern fire wall, north carolina and states throughout the south. can he do it? the "x" factor, mayor michael bloomberg. how many delegates will he pick up today? we'll be watching that as this super tuesday gets under way, andrea. >> and robert costa in vermont, bernie sanders' strength in early voting, the passion of his base, can that outweigh the new momentum and the coalescing of support for joe biden and in fact could there be a counter reaction where he is able to fire up his base to go against a

stop bernie movement? >> the california primary from four years ago hovers over this moment today for senator sanders and his campaign. it was four years ago in california they faced bitter defeat against secretary clinton. it was the beginning of the end of that campaign and ever since sanders who is running a ramshackle campaign at the time, has tried to build his national movement into an operation on the ground in california that unites working people, latino voters, and other liberal democrats and they've been on the ground for over a year, trying to make sure this california primary is the victory and the prize for them on super tuesday along with texas. >> and for mayor bloomberg, the other point here is that a lot of his success, perhaps, because of his advertising, could have been before that sort of disastrous nevada debate. so some of those early votes

could help propel him to reach viability, 15%, before his debate performances. robert? >> that's exactly right. when you talk to the bloomberg people, they feel confident that despite his rocky debate performances, he is well positioned in many of these super tuesday states. however, based on my reporting this morning, the bloomberg campaign is under growing and perhaps immense pressure from allies of vice president biden in the democratic party to give a hard think to his political future after tonight and whether he should maybe move behind biden in the coming days. there's some resistance to that in the bloomberg campaign. they feel like he's still a strong candidate who can go the distance against senator sanders, especially if senator sanders has a big night. but the democratic establishment leaning on bloomberg and his inner circle this morning and afternoon. >> he has signaled to his people that he wants to see how these votes play out tonight.

he spent $500 million, half a billion dollars already, he wants to see some results from that. let's go to jonathan capehart. i wanted to play some of the very moving moments between pete buttigieg and joe biden last night with this historic candidacy, the first openly gay presidential candidate and saw that he didn't have a path to the nomination resulting in what happened in dallas last night. >> we need a politics about decency, that brings back dignity. and that's what we sought to practice in my campaign. that's what joe biden has been practicing his entire life. >> i don't think i've ever done this before. but he reminds me of my son beau, i look over at pete during the debates, and i think -- i think, you know, that's a beau because he has such enormous character, such intellectual capacity and such a commitment to other people.

>> jonathan, to me that was such an emotional moment just watching it from afar, knowing how much mayor pete on the line and how this played out. is it an unlikely alliance? >> i don't know if i would say it's an unlikely alliance. i think there's a lot of -- there are a lot of similarities between the former vice president and the former mayor of south bend, indiana, and what's also moving about that -- about that moment is not only the words coming out of biden's mouth, but mayor pete's reaction to hearing them. to my mind, there's a generational baton that was passed in that moment. let's not forget that when vice president biden first came on the political scene as a senator, he was around -- let's just say, about as young as mayor pete is now. and what i see in vice president biden and that resounding

victory in south carolina, sort of a road map for mayor pete going forward. biden won that vote in south carolina not from spending the last week in the state trying to gin up support, that was the result of 40 years worth of relationship-building and relationship-strengthening, and that is a model for mayor pete. to my mind, the alliance that you see there is not a marriage of convenience. i think it is one that is natural and the affection and respect between the two of them i think is also genuine. >> and as well with amy klobuchar, i was talking to her this morning after the "today" program and it seems this coming together did evolve naturally. dan balz, you've covered all of these people for a long time. what do you see as the big picture here? can this biden movement, can he show with this new energy that we're seeing now, he's not the

same candidate i saw in new hampshire or certainly in iowa. can he lead the party, especially with these other new allies? >> well, the test today, andrea, is whether he stays close to bernie sanders in the delegate count. we will talk about who wins which states but ultimately this is the battle for delegates. five or six days ago, it was clear that senator sanders was going to come out of super tuesday with a pretty big lead and maybe an almost insurmountable lead. the world has changed dramatically because of what has happened in south carolina and the decisions by senator klobuchar and mayor pete to get out of the race and embrace vice president biden. the question today is how much energy that gives to him, how much that boosts his delegate support. if he comes out of today only behind senator sanders by, you know, 50 or 75 delegates, that

will be a major milestone for his candidacy and it will suggest that this is now going to be a two-person race. i recognize that there are other candidates in. but there will be, as bob said, pressure on michael bloomberg to get out. i think that from what i've heard senator warren has no plans to get out. she wants to stay as an active candidate. the longer she stays in, the longer she's likely to be taking from sanders. so much depends and we won't obviously know by tomorrow morning what this delegate count looks like, and then we go forward. the path gets more difficult for senator sanders after super tuesday. the lay of the land for today is good for him, primarily because of california, but also potentially because of texas and the hispanic vote there. but as we go forward into some of these other bigger states, florida, if we go to georgia, some of those other states are not going to be as good. we will have a big showdown a week from today in michigan

which senator sanders narrowly won in a surprise victory four years ago and would need to win again in order to show that he's got the same kind of strength and momentum that he had then. so so much rides on how these numbers break out after today. >> dan balz, indeed. it's not the traditional election night where we're checking off states and calling states. it is who is reaching 15% and who is not. and for that, robert costa, jonathan capehart, dan balz, and of course kristen welker. i'm going to bring in steve kornacki at the big board. this is all about math. >> yeah. >> never my strong point. i know politics. i'm not that great at math. it clearly is, if you don't reach 15% viability, you get zero delegates and they're counted by congressional districts and there are 50 congressional districts in california alone, as well as statewide. >> it is a complicated formula and the other variable there of

course in california, you mentioned the mail-in voting. it may take a week to count everything up there and to get all those numbers. but everybody there was talking about how the world has changed in this democratic race since saturday and that is absolutely true. the prospect a week ago of what dan balz was just describing, biden coming out of tonight potentially down only 50 or so delegates to sanders was unimaginable a week ago. now it's not that hard to envision. the biggest one, california, a third of all delegates up tonight are going to be there in california. a week ago, it was a question whether biden was even going to get to that 15% mark in california. there was a possibility he was only going to get a handful of delegates in congressional districts. now it looks like he's likely to clear 15%, possibly to be over 20%, possibly well over 20%. possibly not a situation here where sanders is getting nearly the kind of delegate haul out of california that he was thinking about and hoping about just days

ago. that's one possibility. we look at texas, the second biggest delegate bunch there on the map tonight, this is looking like it's potentially a close race. if you're joe biden, win or lose, given these delegate numbers, very complicated math. win or lose, if you're joe biden and it's close in texas, that's probably good for you from a delegate standpoint because you are keeping sanders from piling up a big delegate margin out of a big state. if sanders were to win texas by say ten points tonight, sanders could get a decent haul out of there. if he were to win it by two, you're not getting much out of there in the way of delegates. how about minnesota? a week ago, it looked like joe biden was going to get zero delegates out of minnesota. now amy klobuchar is out of the race. she's on board with joe biden. biden has a chance to compete in minnesota, to get dozens of delegates. same thing in massachusetts. as biden was winning south carolina, it had him at 11% in

massachusetts. that would have meant zero delegates for biden probably in massachusetts. now there's the possibility here for joe biden to get dozens of delegates. yes, you add up -- there's the possibility, we should say, for him not just to win, but to win by big margins in the southeast. that's what south carolina suggests. you add all of this together and there's a possibility there, andrea, at the end of tonight, that biden is within 100, within 50 on a really good night for joe biden there's a possibility he could be dead even with bernie sanders. dead even tonight would be a huge win for joe biden. >> steve kornacki who understands the math and the politics, who understands everything. thank you very much. coming up, bad blood, how does hillary clinton feel about bernie sanders as the front-runner for the democratic nomination? bernie sanders' senior adviser jeff weaver joins u.s. next. [ distant band playing ]

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welcome back. senator bernie sanders is taking a different approach to the democratic convention than he did back in 2016 when he was pushing for a contested convention urging superdelegates, the elected members of congress and governors, to back him even though he trailed hillary clinton in delegate count. now he argues the candidate with the most delegates going in should automatically get the nomination even if it's not the majority required by convention rules. this morning hillary clinton was asked for her reaction to the flip. >> bernie sanders said that if he makes it to the convention with the most pledged delegates that he should be the nominee. that's a change in stance from 2016. your reaction? >> well, my reaction is, let's follow the rules. we've got rules. we had rules last time and we have rules this time. and i think it's always a good idea to follow the rules. >> what about that, joining me now jeff weaver, senior adviser to the bernie sanders campaign.

she says follow the rules. what do you say? >> we do want to follow the rules. the question, andrea, that was posed the senator and what you have to ask yourself is, somebody goes in with a delegate lead and a substantial delegate lead, should the person who got 25% of the vote be the one who gets picked by party insiders? i don't think so. i think it will cause a lot of disruption in the party and i think a lot of the grassroots folks, who matter who they supported, would be disappointed to see someone who got 10% of the vote picked as the nominee. >> those were the rules that were agreed to and the reforms were at the suggestion of people who were loyal to senator sanders and felt that he had been cheated last time. >> i was on that commission that did some rules changes. that particular rule -- the current superdelegate setup with a compromise that came out after that. but the original proposal was to have superdelegates proportionate to the totals of

the state. that's what senator sanders advocated for last time in this process. you'll see he appeared a number of times saying superdelegates should vote the way their states voter. >> senator sanders clearly taken by surprise, i think, tof pete buttigieg, amy klobuchar dropping out and senator sanders has criticized it as the establishment ganging up on him. senator klobuchar was asked about that today on the "today" show. >> i don't look at the mayor and beto o'rourke and myself as establishment. i look at us as new leaders for the party, fresh faces for the party and we're basically saying we have to win here and that's why we're supporting joe biden. >> does she have a point that beto o'rourke and pete buttigieg are not the, quote, establishment? >> look, andrea, being young does not make you not part of

the establishment. it's about the ideas that you hold. pete buttigieg and amy klobuchar and beto o'rourke, all three of them, but they articulated the same old same old that joe biden is articulating. they were indistinguishable from joe biden which is why a number of them had trouble getting traction in the race. it's not a surprise that they would support him and they support the same ideas that led to the election of donald trump. we tried this last time. the moderates wanted the establishment wanted a more moderate candidate and we got donald trump. we're heading down that same path again if we in a moment joe biden. the truth of the matter is, we have to get the blue wall built back up, michigan, wisconsin and pennsylvania in order to win this election. that's where all the action is going to be and joe biden's record on trade, he voted for every job-gutting trade agreement in that region and folks are going to remember that. >> jeff, what about elizabeth warren? she seems to be, you know, not

getting out. in fact he's going to tonight be in michigan which doesn't vote until march 10th. does that hurt senator sanders since they share a lot of the same views, same supporters, and would he be better off if she would get out? >> well, we have never encouraged anybody to get out of this race. bloomberg had a memo about that. biden was pushing people out. bernie sanders has always said, whoever wants to run should run and let's have the voters decide. that's how it should work. >> and one other point that senator sanders has made is that he is inspiring a new cohort of voters that this is an inspiration and an emotional response that his base is expanding. the numbers don't prove that, at least from iowa and new hampshire. there aren't more people voting and in new hampshire when people voted, they tended to be areas

that buttigieg and klobuchar were bringing in. >> if you look at nevada, for instance, andrea, which was the first much more diverse state on this process, turnout among latinos was phenomenal. bernie sanders won latinos overwhelming there. ran competitively with african-americans. there's a narrative that treats all black voters as the same everywhere and that's just not the case. you know, the media says that black voters in south carolina, it doesn't matter if you're rural or urban or blue collar or men or women, the media does that a lot. what we're going to see again is that black voters just like white voters are different in different parts of the country. >> what does a good night look like for you tonight? what do you expect or hope for? >> we hope to come out of here with a delegate lead on super tuesday. i think that's a very important. last time we were in a delegate

deficit -- i know you had dan balz saying the upcoming states are harder for us. that's not true. we're going to the midwest, ohio, illinois, we're going to go to michigan, and those states are going to be very good for senator sanders because senator sanders has stood by the workers in those states while joe biden was voting to send their jobs overseas. >> do you have any concerns that barack obama is pulling strings behind the scenes? >> no. president obama, great respect for him, he has stayed out of the race and we appreciate that and we're going to run our campaign. >> thank you very much, jeff weaver. good luck to you out on the campaign trail. we'll check in with you after we get the votes counted. it may be a while before we have it all counted. fired up and ready to go, speaking of the former president, is barack obama pulling strings behind the scenes to unite democrats around joe biden. i'll talk to his former campaign manager next. this is super tuesday on msnbc. let me tell you something,

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race, joe biden versus bernie sanders. they seem to think so, increasing their attacks against each other. >> joe is a decent guy, he's just wrong on the issues. [ cheers and applause ] >> democrats want a nominee who will build on obama care, not scrap it. >> joe in his campaign has received campaign contributions from more than 60 billionaires. >> if democrats want a nominee who's a democrat, a life-long democrat. >> joining me now, donna edwards of maryland, and steve israel of new york who chaired the campaign committee and david plouffe, senior white house adviser for barack obama. his new book is titled a citizen's guide to beating donald trump. steve israel, you've been through this so many times.

first of all, how surprising are the events of the last 48 hours? >> what i think we've seen is three or four separate campaign cycles consolidated into three or four hours. it's been shock and awe. if you take a look at the affect of that on polling, it's had a pronounced effect. joe biden was in a dead heat with standards in virginia, now i've seen polls that show him ahead. the biden folks feel the momentum, the strength gathering, but they understand this is going to be a hunt for delegates that's going to go beyond the next couple of weeks. >> david plouffe, you're the delegate hunter and the expert at all of this. do they have the man or woman power to do this? are they positioned for what they've now assembled. >> right now they're riding on the wings of momentum but they've got to turn that into organization and money and, you know, district by district delegate-hunting to your point. so if he has a good night tonight, the money will continue

to come. they have campaign staff that they can bring in from other campaigns. but bernie sanders has been planning this district by district, state by state for a very long time. he has the advantage of organization. but if biden can survive tonight and keep sanders' lead relatively marginal, then states like georgia, states like florida, states like mississippi are places biden could potentially net a bunch of delegates and even the score. >> it was clear that mike bloomberg went after bernie sanders, really ripped into him, on an issue, israel, and support for israel with apec yesterday. he's in florida today. he's in miami today. that's very targeted. this is what he had to say to gabe about why he's not backing out. >> why not coalesce around biden? >> i just answered your question, why don't they coalesce around me. what are you talking about?

i can beat donald trump better than anybody else. >> donna edwards, why aren't they coalescing around him yet? >> well, you know, one of the things that's interesting to me is that i think it was a week ago that michael bloomberg was asking amy and buttigieg to get out of the race because everybody should coalesce around him and biden to get out of the race and we're in a completely different world now and i think, you know, mike bloomberg is actually going to get a real message tomorrow. i'm not totally sure what that message is going to be coming in tonight and into tomorrow. but it is going to cause him to rethink i think his decision to stay in the race. >> i think he would rethink it because he has said all along that he would support the nominee and he wants to defeat donald trump. if he sees that this biden thing is real. but steve israel, some seven million votes were banked by early voting before his really poor debate performances.

so he -- his view is probably, i've got these great ads out there, i've been blanketing the air waves why not me? >> early voting in california, californians, they are known for going to los angeles dodgers games and leaving in the sixth inning. that we're seeing in california is a political equivalent of that. they cast their votes, they didn't realize there's actually a game going on today in california. on bloomberg, i know him pretty well, this is a guy who loves to beat the odds. he ran for mayor in 2001, nobody thought that he could win. he won. he ran for re-election in 2005. he had a 25% job approval and won and then he got term limits extended just for him and ran for a third time. this is a guy who he knows how to survey the landscape but he does have an inner confidence. no surprise he would say why don't they rally around me. the numbers at some point are going to force him to make a

choice, does he hurt joe biden and help empower the re-election of donald trump and that's a tough choice for him to make. >> let's talk about numbers and math, though. joe biden's resurgence here, it's important to remember in politics, it's always easier to get back the vote that you lost and you never had. some voters left him because he wasn't performing well. bloomberg didn't have anything. getting some delegates and getting in the mid teens doesn't make you the nominee. the question going forward no matter how many delegates bloomberg gets tonight is do you have the potential to get 30, 35, 40, 45% of the vote and it seems like his ability to get african-american votes is relatively capped and his ability to grow because of his performance. so we have to think about the trajectory of this race. even if bloomberg does, and he's going to get some delegates tonight, does he have a path to 1,900 delegates by the end of

this process, i don't think so? >> what about the obama factor. it seems clear there was some phone calls and that there was probably an attempt by the former president to unite the party behind joe biden at this point? >> i think barack obama and the people around him have been clear, the voters need to decide here. i think this -- there's this sense that there's this magical mystery room where all of these decisions are happening. pete buttigieg made his own decision. amy klobuchar made her own decision. african-american voters in south carolina made their decision. so maybe i wish our party was that organized, but generally this is about voters making their decision. >> right. >> well, and i think the argument against the bernie sanders makes is an argument against voters. if the voters decide, then it's going to be time for maybe him or others to move on. >> donna edwards, steve israel, we have to leave it there, david plouffe. and david wrote the book on how to defeat donald trump. his book is a citizen's guide to

beating donald trump. we have tough news from two tornados overnight near nashville. now the death toll has risen to 22 people. at least 40 buildings were left damaged by the tornados. president trump says he will visit the area on friday. some polling stations had to be moved. others opened late as a result of the damage. it's a super tuesday state. more of this throughout the day right here on msnbc. stay with us, we'll be right back. day 23.

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(narrator) he loves monday through friday but lives for the weekend. he's put some miles on his truck, and now it's time for something new, so he came here and saw what other people paid for the same truck he wants. now he can recognize a great price. it was so easy, chet was in and out and got right on back to the life he loves. true car. buy smarter. drive happier. and the federal reserve took action today in response to the spreading coronavirus and its impact on the economy. the half percent rate cut is the first emergency lowering of rates by the central bank since the financial crisis in 2008. it was a coordinated response with the other g-7 countries. this as there is another coronavirus case in new york and in new york, a new york school

has closed for precautionary measures. that's where we find ron allen. i think it's a private school. is that the case? >> reporter: it is. it's a private school and there are a total of three of them in this general area that have closed. the other two, out of an abundance of caution. one of the students has a father who tested positive for the virus. he's a 50-year-old attorney who be we believe commutes from west chester to new york city. this is a community spread, as we've been calling it. he has no idea where he detected the virus. so they're trying to go back and piece together his life to see who exactly he came in contact with. it's an awesome job. and now we're talking about one or two cases. think about how difficult that gets to be if there become more and more cases. >> joining us now is dr. john torres, a practicing emergency

room doctor. what is the concern as they try to trace the path of this father and whether or not the child and other children could be implicated? >> that's one of the big concerns you're hearing right now about this thing called community spread. we know up until now this coronavirus could spread through close contact, taking care of somebody, living in the same house with them. but they said, is there a community spread to this. could you get it from being out and about? the issue like that, we know this gentleman flew down to miami and flew back. it's hard to trace all those contacts of where he was. and let's imagine, he lives in new york city, he works in manhattan, he probably took the subway. could one of them have been sick? that puts it in the close contact quarters instead of the community spread quarters. this is very difficult to term. what they decided is to protect the school since his kids are living with him, close contacts, he has it to protect the school and the other students as well.

>> and in terms of the getting of a vaccine or treatment. dr. fauci testified that it could take a year to a year and a half and even then they would not know if it works. >> and believe it or not, i'm hearing that from a lot of people, a year, year and a half. that's extremely fast for a vaccine. this disease has only been around for two months. to come out with something that they're getting ready to test in humans, it takes a while to test because you want to make sure it's safe. it takes about a year, year and a half to do that and ramp up to production levels. we'll know by the summer about how long this is going to take to do. hopefully at that point, this whole epidemic is calmed down and over with but we'll have to wait and see. >> i've been talking to someone who has been told she has the flu. if they've been told by a doctor that they have the flu, then they don't have this virus. >> if they've been tested for the flu, they don't have the virus. and one of the important things

to remember, if you're next to somebody who is sick, the odds are overwhelming that you have the flu and not coronavirus. the flu is so widespread in the country right now, that's more than likely what you have. you want to be aware of the coronavirus. the odds are in the favor of the flu. >> it's great to see you. and a belated happy birthday, i understand. if it's tuesday, chuck todd is here with his big election break down. stay with us. to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. and for some... rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. that's rinvoq relief. with ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred as have certain cancers,

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so how can you judge the winners and the losers tonight or can we? our friends at first read have a handy viewer's guide for all us junkies, when it comes to politics, whose aet nerdiest of all? chuck todd. >> happy super tuesday. it is a pretty exciting day, a lot of unknowns. >> a lot of unknowns. sanders folks were taken by surprise clearly. mike bloomberg under pressure to get out because he is not the conventionally understood to be possible contender to take down donald trump, and you know, it is a completely new primary.

>> not since john mccain '08 have we seen a turnaround literally from where you thought the candidacy is not recovering to frontrunner status. not saying joe biden is a frontrunner yet, took john mccain a few -- he had to win march. it is a similar period. it was new hampshire that rescued him, then south carolina reinforced it. south carolina rescues joe, let's see if this reinforces it. look, i think your over, under number for bernie sanders is 600. if he has 600 or more tonight, that's a big deal. that means he is close to having 50% of delegates available tonight. the higher over 600, the better it is. the more appropriate would be to call bernie sanders the frontrunner. if he can't be over the number 600 tonight or after california comes in, and we know that will be in play, essentially a lot of us will be able to figure that california number out before it

is official. if he's the far under 600 he is, the more it tips into biden's favor. look at the biden, bloomberg combined delegate total. if it is greater than bernie's, that's a red flag for bernie. if it is not, a yellow flag for biden. some symbolic places we're watching, texas, symbolically. i think the surge will be good enough, probably a fairly even split out of texas. what if sanders nets zero out of texas, what if biden is the guy that wings texas by a point or two. >> is it conceivable sanders wouldn't reach 15%? >> not just that, just because biden does well enough at the end of the day, they split it and sanders doesn't get the big haul from texas he expected. that's a symbolic place to look. north carolina is another to look who wins there, then another question we have, who's going to make the threshold in

more states, bloomberg or warren. the more states bloomberg makes, better for bernie. more warren makes threshold in, better for biden. you assume bloomberg is hurting biden, warren is hurting sanders. >> how much can bloomberg benefit by the early voting in that his real problems with the two debates. >> the place i'm most curious about is tennessee because tennessee was basically one of the states that nobody else really targeted until very late. >> and he was there. >> he was there all by himself, oklahoma is another, arkansas is another. arkansas and tennessee in particular. if you want to test the early vote issue, how much of it mattered, i assume bloomberg makes threshold in a place like tennessee for sure simply because of that. >> tennessee had this tremendous tornadoes, 52 people dead, had to close some polling stations, state capitol is closed. >> that's the biggest part of

the state, nashville. that could have significant impact on numbers. we know states where the early vote is more dominant in vote totals, that's usually better for bernie. >> one of the things i have been told is that look, mike bloomberg rationale for getting in was joe biden was too weak to take on donald trump. he doesn't look weak now. if biden does well, rationale -- and bloomberg doesn't, rationale is gone. then you expect bloomberg would throw his support and money critical to biden. >> i assume he wouldn't finish the week. if he stayed in through march, he would start helping bernie. if he stays in in florida, particularly march 17 states of ohio, illinois, arizona, florida, if bloomberg is staying in, that's a big help to bernie, does take a chunk out of biden. if biden is as strong as biden people think they're going to

be, and frankly they don't know, nobody knows, the only people tracking may have been team bloomberg, even then, these numbers are shifting and moving so fast. we saw democratic primary voters holding their ballot. there's a reason why amy klobuchar went from 0 to 20 basically in new hampshire after a debate performance. we saw it with biden. nothing will shock me tonight on biden's performance. >> stay tuned. be with us. watch us all. >> 2:00 a.m. are you ready? >> i am ready. i am ready for 5:00 p.m., in fact. >> 5:00 p.m., 2:00 a.m. i love it. we're not going to stop. we'll be right back. we're oscar mayer deli fresh, and you may know us from your very first sandwich, your mammoth masterpiece, and whatever this was. oscar mayer is found in more fridges than anyone else, because it's the taste you count on. make every sandwich count.

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a new samsung galaxy s20 ultra. xfinity mobile. click, call or visit a store today. keeping watching us all day and night, here is chris jansing in austin, texas. chris? >> andrea, thank you so much. hello, i am chris jansing, coming to you live from austin, texas. this is one of the critical states out of super tuesday unlike anything we've seen in memory. the results with the power to virtually crown a nominee or hurdle the race towards a contested convention or a lot of possibilities in between. 14 states are having primaries, 1344 pledge delegates are up for grabs in a race where 1991 delegates will lock up the nomination. frontrunner senator bernie sanders and