thank you, david gura that wraps up the hour for me. thank you for watching. "deadline: white house" with nicolle wallace starts right now. hi, everyone. 4:00 in new york with democratic voters coalescing in seismic numbers around joe biden. questions about bernie sanders' path forward. taking a backseat today to growing anxiety about the coronavirus. joe biden recognizing the moment in which his primary victories occurred last night and speaking directly to it. >> as i said from the beginning, this election is one that has character on the ballot. the character of the candidates. the character of the nation is on the ballot. it's more than a comeback in my view my campaign it's comeback for the soul of this nation. this campaign is taking off and

i believe we're going to do well from this point on. take nothing for granted. want to earn every single vote in every single state. we need you. we want you. there's place in our campaign for each of you. >> the world health organization today officially designated coronavirus as a global pandemic. and the markets today plunging, down more than 1300 points. the close now officially in bear market territory in the wake of that news and other pandemic headlines as the president faces the greatest test of his presidency in haphazard leadership style to date, his top health official tony fauci was on capitol hill where he around with that our worst days lie ahead. >> we'll see more cases. this is a really serious problem that we have to take seriously. i moon, people always say, well, the flu, you know the flu does this, the flu does that. the flu has mortality of 0.1

pgt. this has the mortality of ten-times that. >> those warnings from dr. fauci amplified by the news that a doctor last week told congressional staffers that he expected 150 million people in the united states to eventually contract the coronavirus. the most will make a full recovery and many might not feel ill from the virus. that strikes a different tone from the one by the president. >> it will go away. just stay calm. everyone has to be vigilant and be careful. but calm, it's really working out and lot of things are going to happen. >> quite a different message than of his own experts. conservative news outlet national review is saying in a new editorial out today that president trump needs to step up on the coronavirus.

writing, quote, donald trump himself has obviously failed to rise to the challenge of leadership and it does no one any favors to pretend otherwise. the failure of leadership at the top has no sign of being corrected. in a serious public health crisis, the public has the right to exexpect the government's chief executive to lead in a number of crucial ways -- by prioritizing the problem properly, by deferring to subject matter experts when appropriate while making key decisions in informed and sensible ways. that's where we start today with some of our favorite reporters and friends. msnbc legal analyst who worked with the southern district of new york civil decision, and matt miller.

rumblings from the president himself he may seek to address us later today in the early evening hours. >> that's right, nicolle. the president just a few minutes ago said in a meeting with bank executives that he'll be addressing the nation i believe he said at 8:00 p.m. tonight to address both economic proposals as well as health proposals regarding coronavirus. cl has become an all-consuming crisis for his administration, he's been slow to show any urgency here, that could change at 8:00. we'll see what he has to say tonight. he wouldn't take questions from the reporter. if he's considering further travel restrictions and other emergency measures to contain the pandemic. >> what does the white house have to say about the criticism coming from all sides of the ideological spectrum and from

americans who are increasingly concerned and confounded by just what is a striking difference between the things that tumble out of his mouth, really carelessly, to take some of that spirit of the national review editorial and critique and the cautious and informed words that come out of medical experts and even the vice president seems to be measuring his words. >> the president and his aides are very much under seize here. they realize that this is problem with the president showing leadership, privately some of his own advisers in the white house have told us in our reporting this week that they know the president's public statements are a problem, hurting the situation, compounding to the sense of confusion and the alarm among the public that vice president pence has shown a steadier hand at the helm leading this task force. one of the why in some of these recent press briefings it's been pence taking charge rather than

president trump. president trump wants to have his word, that's why he's addressing the nation tonight and we'll see if he makes any adjustments in his own routine. he's scheduled to be flying to las vegas tomorrow, to attend fund-raiser and and as this hour that trip is still on. he has not taken that step of can selling his travel and activities the way joe biden and bernie sanders has. >> remarkable that the presidential candidates are taking the cdc's warnings more seriously than the president. let me ask you a serious question, is there any evidence in your reporting that the president fails to understand the epidemic, does he understand how it spreads, does he understand the risk that people face?

the president's tweets -- one or two things, deliberate lies, deliberate efforts to disinform the public or a serious, serious incapacity of what a global pandemic is and what it does. >> if we took his public tweets at face value and assume for a moment that he's not lying or intentionally miss misleading the public, then the answer is no, he doesn't understand the coronavirus and how it's different from the flu and status of efforts to get a vaccine. that being said, he's been briefed repeatedly by the team of government experts, by the vice president, by others in the white house, the information is at his disposal. he's the chief executive of our government. he has the experts around him to answer any questions that he might have. i can't truthfully answer your question because i can't get inside his head.

>> i want to get to the fauci testimony today, this question i haven't -- i think phil rucker answered it as best as anyone can at this hour. donald trump is either intentionally lying, which is possible, it would be the repeat of a pattern, or he's incapable of being briefed in a way that he can grasp, we know that the military has tried pictures, i'm not being snarky, we know the intel officials have really shortened -- when he's needed to be briefed by important things to our country's security his experts have tried all manners of things. is it a matter of donald trump not being able to grasp what a pandemic is and how it tenththrs the entire country. >> he's unable to grasp in fact are uncomfortable for him. when he's confronted with a fact

that's uncomfortable to him he's rejects it. as if there's crisis checklist and the problem with donald trump he's not going down the checklist and doing items one through five to address a pandemic. . the problem with donald trump he can't do the things that you need to do to run the government. he's incapable of doing the serious, sometimes uninteresting but difficult life-saving work of running the government. there's a reason why we don't have tests available today because the white house didn't have its eye on the ball when this outbreak started situation weeks ago, two months ago. he can't confront difficult truths. when he's told an epidemic coming to this country, he can't admit it -- >> we know he watches his advisers when they testify. tony fauci testified under oath today. that the death rate is ten-times from the flu.

>> it's such a difficult question, it goes to everything about his presidency. i have always thought that he's able to projegt this kind of fantasy world to people all over the country and where that fantasy world begins and ends in his own head i have no idea. i'm not sure it really matters because he doesn't things need ed to be honest with the american people and reorient the government so it's actually delivering what it needs to address the crisis. >> what do people need to know today? >> i think we're at a tipping point not just the w.h.o. declared this a pandemic, i think the fact they're saying zblsh what does that mean. >> pan dem sick a novel virus, people have no immunity. it's spreading across continents

and communities. that's been the -- >> like a contagious new superbug? >> correct. in terms of what do we need to do? pandemic doesn't mean panic. it's policies, procedures, protocols, practice. that needs to be done with a very cool, level head, not panicking, not history, we're hitting a point now if we follow the same trajectory of italy, we're going to be italy in two weeks and so we really need to hit the brakes now to slow things down so we don't end up with emergency rooms and clinics overwhelmed. >> what does that look like? >> as someone who practices in those settings that's really scary. when you that density of people in that enclosed space it's dangerous for us, it's dangerous for them.

you come in with your heart attack we're not going to be able to treat as quickly as we'd like. >> so do we still have an offramp to not be italy? >> well, it's going to involve closing down mass gatherings. there's debate for example about st. patrick's day parades. should we be closing schools? it's not that the kids are at risk but you want to stop transmission that kids are bringing home to parents, grandparents, to others in the community. we do need to put the brakes on now. >> people know by now to wash their hands, i think most people have heard information about large gatherings, what about everything in between? school should open, should you go? >> that's a great question. my little sister's the principal

of charter school in houston. they're having a debate. lot of the kids don't have computers at home. teleschooling is not an option. lot of those parents are working, you know, jobs that pay a daily wage, they don't have paid time off. >> a majority of americans. >> yeah. i'm not the, you know, secretary of other sorts -- it's not my job to provide economic relief to these families, so somebody else needs to step in and help with that. >> the reason -- another thing people are grappling with spring break. >> no nonessential travel right now. that's part of putting the brakes on. >> some of this hunger for information is being satisfied by local leaders. i'm a resident of new york city

and new york state. the governor and the major have been filling the zone with very frequent updates. this seems like this is a moment where partisanship fades and leadership arises and i say that because i have noticed that vice president has signaled goff nar jay inslee for praise. two things, uh-oh, i got nervous for him, is trump going to yell at him? and two, inside the west wing they know that the president is dramatically offkey when he calls the washington state governor jay inslee a snake. >> absolutely. there's nothing political. you can't be political in a pandemic. it's about the people. when we can't all of our people, we're denying them information. the guidelines say of how you

handle a health crisis is information. and we have a white house that we found out in news reporting is actually shut down information on number of infections, where they're occurring, where the quarantines are, and when you think about that it's part of what is driving fear. so, people get more afraid when president trump attacks the governor of washington because it suggests that people are not in control and are not handling it. people are afraid when they don't know how significant the problem is, what they should avoid and how they can empower themselves and it's one of the reasons why you see major bill de blasio, governor cuomo do everything to say to people, here's what we know, here's what we're doing, and also, you know, going back to the doctor's point, one of the thing that the mayor said we'll try not to close schools for the same

reason. we have people who don't get enough food to eat and their kids rely on free breakfast and free lunch in the public school system, that requires a national response. that problem can be solved when we think about the worry of the spread, when we have a national government talking to governors, talking to city leaders, rural communities about what you need and how we can get it to you. we can solve a lot if we collaborate. >> matt miller, one of the big stories "the new york times'" headlines is delay in testing in the state of washington. one of epicenters of the spread here. it always struck me that this would be where we end up. the president's incompetency, the gleeful nature of he like ls acting secretaries.

i like that they're all on edge waiting for my approval on twitter. this is now coming back and biting him in the butt. >> it's going to bite him in another way as well. the thing about this administration from the beginning is the hostility to expertise and you see that in that story, there was a brewer cattic breakdown, agencies weren't doing their jobs. there was no at the white house, either paying attention or who knew what to do. i think you'll see the next iteration of this when it comes to addressing the economic problem, when you look around the white house and you see that steve mnuchin and larry kudlow are the people designed to implement the economic response i don't think that gives anyone confidence. the markets don't have any confidence in the white house to address this.

in the obama white house at the beginning of the administration when we were facing the hangover, the severe financial crisis, there's nobody like this in this white house. when you look at both addressing the pandemic itself and addressing the economic after-effects after that there's no competence. >> phil rucker, the person the bush white house and the president talked to almost daily during the '08 crisis was the first female speaker of the house, nancy pelosi. that story is scary. the idea that there was a physician running a test, testing people for the flu, turning up positives on coronavirus, what is the status now? can we have confidence in the test? can we have confidence that people who are sick are getting tested? >> i think we can have confidence in the tests. we still don't have enough

testing available. i've been getting e-mails from primary care physicians on the front lines who have said, i heard i'm not going to get the test from a month now. that's very disabling in terms of how you can respond. >> by a month. >> i think right now, what we're having to say is if you're symptomatic or not severely sick and you're not in one of the high-risk groups stay home right now. we don't want health systems to be overwhelmed. i'm hopeful that will change soon. >> how can south korea and italy and china all of these other countries give a test to everyone who needs one but yet the united states can't do solve this simple problem -- >> germany had a test a week

after china released the genome, a week, then the w.h.o. released a test to 60 countries a few weeks after that and the u.s. said no. we said no to tests because we wanted our own. and it's worst than -- america alone apparently. america alone means america trouble if there's a global pandemic, because you have to collaborate globally. that's what we did with ebola. it's also below the level of just having secretaries who are not qualified it's that the trump administration cut the budgets of agencies that are supposed to do a lot more than they're funded to do and that's part of the story. that's also part of the story that insurance rates have increased this country since

trump took office. >> phil, the lack of tests even though the trump stood at the cdc saying, anyone who wants to be tested can. >> the testing b issue has been a chronic issue for the last couple of weeks. but i also want to pick up on one thing you mentioned, there's breakdown in the relationship between the white house and the house of representatives. there's discussion in washington this week about emergency economic relief who are workers who are losing out because of the economic impact of the coronavirus. because the president is so personally wounded from his impeachment is not on speaking terms with the speaker of the house nancy pelosi, that's going to have to fix in order for any relief to reach the american

people. >> y'all have to come back tomorrow. thank you very much for starting us off. after the break a member of congress who represents a district just north of the quarantined community of new rochelle, just outside of new york city, joins us fresh out of a briefing with house speaker nancy pelosi, about response measures. we'll ask him what steps are under considerations on coronavirus. also ahead, bernie sanders went dark after last night's disappointing losses, including michigan, we'll get a reality check from our own steve kornacki. and one of the fastest-moving political waves, just what is driving democratic voters to joe biden? all those stories coming up. new tide power pods one up the cleaning power of liquid.

can it one up spaghetti night? it sure can.

really? can it one up breakfast in bed? yeah, for sure. thanks, boys. what about that? uhh, yep! it can? yeah, even that! i would very much like to see that. me too. introducing new tide power pods. one up the toughest stains with 50% more cleaning power than liquid detergent. any further questions? uh uh! nope! one up the power of liquid with new tide power pods. no mthe most reliablere, xfinwireless network you to connect you with those who matter most.

it's the network that gives you the best coverage and more flexible data that you can share, mix with unlimited and switch at any time. you'll save up to $400 a year on your wireless bill. plus, get $300 off when you buy a new samsung galaxy s20 ultra. xfinity mobile. call, click or visit a store today.

we're just appalled that the administration has had no plan. here we are, it's close to two months since we first knew about coronavirus. they have all kinds of problems obviously with testing, but they also have not come up with a plan to help people who need help. we don't think they should just throw money out of an airplane and hope some of it lands on the people who are affect zbrd democrats increasingly frustrated by the lack of plans coming from the white house so far in response to the coronavirus crisis. the house democratic caucus currently in a meeting with speaker pelosi going over their

economic relief which is expected to be voted on tomorrow. joining us now is joshua johnson. and sean patrick mahoney. congressman, how are your constituents. a district very near the one that houses new rochelle. how are you guys doing? >> that's right, i represent the area just north of there. i did a telephone town hall last night, 33,000 of my constituents got on the phone and we took questions for an hour. people are concerned. understandably. they see confusion and mixed messaging at the top. they know the response has been slow and inadequate. they're dumbfound that in the united states of america we haven't done the widespread testing to understand the epidemiology of this disease. they've done that in other

countries. my constituents also want to know why we're not working with our international partners so we understand the global experience with this virus so we can learn the lessons in time to do some good. i really want to commend the governor of new york who has been very effective in his response. we have passed $8 billion out of the congress and that's great, but the real challenge now is whether the administration can get that money out the door. you've worked in the white house, so have i, there's big difference between passing the bill on the hill and getting the agencies out of the gear and spending money where needed. to understand the spread and the incidences of this disease. >> congressman, how effective can you be without decisionmaking about people's mobility coming from the top and i guess i ask that question, if

flights are coming in and out, people happen to live in your district, coming into the country from italy or other places and they're not test, it would seem that those efforts would be futile. >> well, look, we need to do sufficient testing on a great enough scale so we understand exactly what the epidemiology of this disease is. in other words, are people with symptoms with the disease? the mortality rate is lower than we think. if we understand that it's that side spread, it will make sense in the future to isolate vulnerable people. in other words, we need to understand the disease. and you're right, nicolle, in a crisis, no substitute for presidential leadership and it's outrageous and infuriated that

the president of the united states has happy-talked this virus, buried his head in the sand. undermined people trying to do their jobs. he's mixed politics with a public health emergency. we can't do this without strong presidential leadership particularly when there's billions of dollars that need to get out the door through executive action and better coordination of the agency and congressman, how would you characterize your access to the top scientists? is it unfettered or are you experiencing any bottlenecks to get questions answered from doctors in your area? >> we have great medical professionals in the state of new york, obviously, and elsewhere around the country, i'd trust dr. anthony fauci with my life. the problem is if he's being ham strung, whether the effort

itself is being undermined by the message that everyone is getting from the top and we have seen this before. comparisons are dangerous. this is the president who used a sharpie to make a hurricane go where he wanted to go. this is president who denied russian interference in our elections despite all the evidence we know about. now we come to a public health emergency he doesn't want it here, he doesn't want to acknowledge it and that ham strings the people trying to fight it. and it's going to afc all of us. >> you mentioned some of his political motivations in those other flash points in his three-year presidency, i wonder what impact you think just the widespread concerns and members of congress are more in touch with this than those running for president, do you think that's shaping the presidential contest, both the primary and the general election to come in ways that are underreported at this point in.

>> well, when i watched joe biden go out and speak last night, that looked like a president to me and so i think there's a flight to quality, i think there's flight to normalcy, i think people want to understand their president understands how serious this is, that they're going to bring the best people to the table and so i think part of what you're seeing with the consolidation in the democratic party around vice president biden is the reassurance he'll provide in this scary time, that if he was in charge right now we would be a lot better off, he would be fighting this endimmic with all of the tools in our kit, just the way the obama/biden administration did during the ebola crisis. we have a good model for this. at the other agencies that are on the front lines, cdc and fda,

they're talented people who are waiting to be rallied and deployed with the resources that have been pass prd the congress what's missing is leadership. >> congressman sean patrick maloney, thank you. >> my pleasure. maya, the last word, you worked for mayor deblasio, look to your local leaders, how should we feel good about our local leaders? >> we should be gratified. they're making very tough decisions. when we had the ebola crisis in 2014 it did mean making significant decisions about quarantining, about how we were identifying folks, working in prap with cdc, because cdc could say only these five airports, anywhere in the country, these are the airports people from

infected country can come that mean you have both effective local leadership working in partnership with federal. now, we have seasoned leaders who are making sound decisions as best they can without the partnerships at the federal level. >> i remember those days. donald trump was tweeting, keep all the ebola -- out of country. another victory for joe biden. even thoujoe biden seems surpri by them. his big win in michigan, where bernie sanders had hoped to mount a comeback. that's next. woman: my reputation was trashed online.

i felt completely helpless. my entire career and business were in jeopardy. i called reputation defender. vo: take control of your online reputation. get your free reputation report card at reputationdefender.com. find out your online reputation today and let the experts help you repair it. woman: they were able to restore my good name. vo: visit reputationdefender.com or call 1-877-866-8555.

but don't want to spend $2000 for a single share? with stock bits on sofi invest, you don't have to. stock bits lets you buy a fraction of a share, instead of buying the whole thing. that means you get to choose the piece of pie that fits your finances. you can even buy in for as little as one dollar. so start investing in more of the companies you believe in with stock bits on sofi invest. download the sofi app to get started.

joe, what are you going to do to end the absurdity of the united states of america being the only major country on earth where health care is not a human right? joe at a time when most young people need a higher education to make into the middle class, what are you going to do to make sure all of our people can go to college or trade school regardless of their income and what are you going to do to end the terror of millions of undocumented people experience right now because of our broken and inhumane immigration system. >> the results of last night's

primary contests would have been the top story if people weren't gripped by anxiety over the coronavirus. sanders' campaign update today zalmost 20 hours after the results started to take shape yesterday was a window into how bernie sanders might represent pointed questions in a debate. preview of what we would see one-on-one debate in an audience-free this sunday. >> six-hour break, nicolle. >> i was going to say, unless it's coronavirus related. there are no breaks. take me inside, first joe biden's speech last night which seemed very strategic, his

campaign seems to understand the moment that the democratic voters are flocking to him, it's genuine, a sign of support for him but also some anxiety and fear about the moment in which we're living in, some hunger for leadership. >> as he put it in his speech last night a. presidential moment that's upon him. listen, i spent part of this morning at biden's campaign headquarters in philadelphia and i spoken to a number of his senior advisers and what last night's results helped this campaign do is really fast-track a transition from the primary mode really to the general election mode. the results really confirming their view of the case and putting them on a track to an insurmountable delegate lead. but this campaign also knows that an important part of making that pivot to the general election is very effectively and carefully managing this leadership with bernie sanders going forward and to his supporters, especially, you heard the vice president last night speaking about bernie and his campaign supporters very

differently than he had 24 hours before where he had been very tough on him on a number of points, especially the tenor of the campaign. i can tell you that there are lines of communication now open between the sanders' campaign and the biden campaign, it's been primary about how to manage this debate, issues like who they're going to attend, have an audience, things like that, but i heard the sanders' remarks today and i thought they were fascinating bit of political rhetoric. it wasn't a concession speech, certainly, he's staying in the race. he wants that debate moment against biden. like an exit interview, bernie has begun to pull some of his punches recently. i think he knows he's lost the electability but not the generation

generational. >> i watched that sanders' speech as well, and i thought it was a brilliant set of really different messages that created tension. it was the harshest attack that has been leveled against donald trump. bernie sanders saying he's a xenophobe and all that. he made the point that he needed younger voters to turn out and they haven't. he made the point that people come up to him and say, i like you, i like what you're for but i'm voting for joe. then he laid out as mike and emily accurately puts the conditions which he would like joe biden to take from his successful movement. >> yeah, i heard him in terms that we lost the electability argument but not the more progressive direction that the u.s. needs to go. i'm not entirely -- it's not

that younger voters didn't show up they didn't all show up for him. pete buttigieg is amazing. andrew yang, math, math, math. they showed up by they didn't all coalesce around him. i was very taken when he started laying out the tone for the debate to come in a way this coronavirus crisis as serious as it is might turn out to make for a more fruitful debate in this moment not having an audience to aim for applause lines and having two men face one another and here's why you're not the guy, prove me wrong especially at the moment when we're looking for leadership, not for ideas or ideals, which is where bernie sanders is good for casting ideas. i'm not sure that bernie sanders has counted out, i don't think

if he was president right now and scientists came to him and this is what we need to know, i think he would follow their need then all of a sudden he'll have to prove it. the other person has been in the white house, he has seen crises, what do you got. >> the math is becoming impossible for him. it's very, very difficult for him to overtake joe biden in delegate and on the current trajectory w the demographic patterns that have been established not only in this campaign but over four years. what he would need is something to completely alters the basic way people look at biden, look at sanders, look at this campaign, it's sort of the hail mary pass, you get one debate, nationally televised, you get that thought maybe something big, something dramatic will happen, if you're the sanders' campaign you're looking at this debate saying biden will be

tested in this debate in a way that he hasn't been before. it will be sanders says something, biden responds, sanders responds. biden responds. he'll be tested. the sanders' campaign got that one moment before the next four states. they have one-on-one. let's see what happens. >> is there an appetite for that? >> i don't know. i'm not sure what they're going to do. i think there's a couple of options, i read sanders' remarks today, he's not going to go into this debate as do or die, i'll leave it on table. i'm going to attack joe biden with everything i have. he didn't attacked joe biden today. i read today as him saying, there are a set of issues that i

have been fighting for my entire life and i have a massive platform that i have earned no to only in this campaign but last campaign. i'm going to go into this debate, i recognize the math is the math and i don't think leaving nothing on the table and hitting him with everything is going to change that math. i'm going to present my issue and i think that's probably wise. you don't want to make him look like he's cornered. >> leverage doesn't last forever. elizabeth warren's leverage is less today than before. leverage doesn't last forever. i would say bernie sanders has maximum leverage right now. >> he does. he said the most important thing is defeating donald trump and i took that as a message to the democratic electorate he's not going to be the one generating campaign ads against joe biden

in the fall. we'll ask steve kornacki about joe biden. don't just plan to retire. plan to live. an annuity helps cover your essential monthly expenses,

so you're free to live the life you want. find out how an annuity can give you lifetime income at protectedincome.org hi.aria ramirez? mcdonald's is committing 150 million dollars in tuition assistance, education, and career advising programs... maria ramirez. to help more employees achieve their dreams. than rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz xr, a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis or active psoriatic arthritis for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. it can reduce pain, swelling, and significantly improve physical function. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections like tb; don't start xeljanz if you have an infection. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra can increase risk of death. serious, sometimes fatal infections,

cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. as have tears in the stomach or intestines, serious allergic reactions, and changes in lab results. tell your doctor if you've been somewhere fungal infections are common, or if you've had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. don't let another morning go by without asking your doctor about xeljanz xr. 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. doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? so whether you need to move or store your things,

memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. we need you. we want you. and there's a place in our campaign for each of you. and i want to thank bernie sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and their

passion. we share a common goal. and together we'll defeat donald trump. we'll defeat him together. >> i think i see what joe biden is doing, but just say it out loud for me. >> well, what we've seen over the last few weeks with a number of the former candidates who have endorsed joe biden is just how good joe biden is at being gracious. he's very effective at managing these former candidates, praising their supporters, bringing them into the fold. one of the reasons why i think he stumbled in some of the previous debates and a number of biden advisers have said this to me, is he generally likes all these other democrats. he thinks they're all great. he's been talking especially about some of the younger candidates, about how much promise there is for the party. so as he put it himself in that big detroit rally on monday night, he does see himself as a bridge. and so this is all about joe biden taking a moment in time where he does feel like as he puts it the soul of america character is on the ballot. scoring a victory for the democratic party to help usher in this new generation of

leadership. >> steve kornacki, i have decided in my political career that endorsements didn't mean very much. i was wrong. i think they're lifting him to maybe even bigger margins. i don't know if you see any evidence of that. but it's certainly helping him to be seen alongside people that look like the future of the democratic party, kamala harris, cory booker, pete buttigieg, beto o'rourke in texas. >> i think there were just a lot of democratic voters out there who were looking for direction, for the last year really. you had this massive field that was 24 candidates at one point. you saw briefly they went with buttigieg, then klobuchar -- you see these candidates kind of moving up and down. and it basically took -- ironically, it was sanders' best moment as a candidate, his landslide win in nevada, that was his undoing. because that forced the rest of the party to sort of have a reckoning and say, are we okay with this as a party? are we okay with nominating bernie sanders? and the answer was no from the majority of the party. or so far has been no from the majority of the party. and then it became okay, well, if you want to stop that you have to get behind somebody. and when you start getting this

drumbeat of endorsements starting with clyburn, all the other candidates, i think it gave direction to what is turning out to be i think the majority of the party that did not want sanders and found this vehicle. >> and african-american voters sent out the bat signal to the rest of the obama coalition it would appear by embracing -- this was not a democratic establishment operation. they were sort of swerving between buttigieg, they were trying to seeshlize the idea of mike bloomberg. this was african-american voters in south carolina that delivered him that big in. >> yes and it was a bit of a democratic establishment operation i think. i mean, where else do you hear somebody thanking their opponents? say, an awards show, at the oscars. you don't thank the other nominees until the statuette is in your hand. that was a victory speech. he is trying to jump from primary to general now. and begin to coalesce people now, which i'm not sure whether or not that's going to turn out to be the best strategy, especially for the demographics of voters the democratic party

is trying to get at. this feels like a continuing storyline from the midterms almost. because remember what we saw when the midterms happen. highest number of women in the history of the u.s. congress. highest number of hispanic americans, latinx americans in the history of the congress. first two members of congress who are african-american. then you have the squad, ilhan omar, ayana pressley, alexandria ocasio-cort ocasio-cortez. rashada tlaib. you have them saying to the rest of the party there's this revolution going on, black people and brown people and native american people and gay people and young people and wow, there's all these new choices and now we are putting the hope of the democratic party behind an old white guy who's been there for 40 years. >> but the brown people and the black people and the women all voted for joe biden. >> but they also voted for people who look like us. they voted with the knowledge that there's a kamala harris and there's a cory booker and there's an andrew yang and a pete buttigieg and there's all this diversity and okay, an old

white guy. and i'm not sure for the life span of the democratic party that that's bad necessarily. but i think there will be a reckoning eventually when democrats look around and go, wait a minute. where are all the brown people who actually get a chance to be the nominee? >> but if you just look at the voters, it would appear that the democratic voters have said all right, we'll do that later. let's get rid of trump first. >> they did. and i thought the way he handled it last night, i though the was talking about the way he unified the party or was sending a signal of how he unified the party as a general election message. the way he can unify this country after donald trump, after he beats donald trump and becomes the president. i thought that was a very important message and way to talk about both how he's won the primary and what kind of leadership he can bring to the country. >> all right. mike memoly, no breaks for you. i'm no n. charge of nothing, but that's my wish. thank you for spending some time with us. when we come back, breaking news. coronavirus now disrupting one of our most beloved sporting traditions. that story next.

want to start investing? but don't want to spend $2000 for a single share? with stock bits on sofi invest, you don't have to. stock bits lets you buy a fraction of a share, instead of buying the whole thing. that means you get to choose the piece of pie that fits your finances. you can even buy in for as little as one dollar. so start investing in more of the companies you believe in with stock bits on sofi invest. download the sofi app to get started.

stay two nights and get a free night for your next stay. one night, two nights, free night. book now at bestwestern.com. - (phone ringing)a phones offers - big button,ecialized phones... and volume-enhanced phones., get details on this state program.

call or visit and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program call or visit

two important coronavirus updates since we've been on the air as we continue to learn throughout the day of new coronavirus cases in this country. president trump confirming something phil rucker reported at the top of our hour, that he will address the nation from the oval office tonight at 9:00 p.m. and the ncaa announcing moments ago that march madness this year will happen without fans. its upcoming championship events including the men's and women's basketball tournaments will be held with only essential staff and limited family attendance. steve kornacki. >> i mean, the crowd noise, the crowd energy that's an essential ingredient in march madness, you get those cinderella stories, you get the crowd into, it those buzzer beaters, but that's a reminder of what this is doing to this country right now and

what's happening all around us. >> i do think there's a larger concern, though, which has to do with schools not being able to be in session. >> of course. >> that creates a problem for low income kids, for example, who aren't able to take long distance classes, who don't have broadband access. >> what about lunch? they don't have breakfast and lunch. >> i can watch the ncaa from home. i'm much more concerned about kids who can't get an education. >> absolutely. i think we all are. this is a breaking story. my thanks to joshua, to steve, to matt, to you for watching most of all. mtp daily with katy tur in for chuck starts right now. [ audio difficulty ]