geoff bennett has late details >> reporter: less than 24 hours from critical super tuesday, joe biden getting a big boost. both amy klobuchar and pete buttigieg endorsing him tonight. >> i'm delighted to support and endorse joe biden for president. >> biden, looking for a two-person race against front-runner bernie sanders. today, talking with nbc's mike memaly >> i think the choice is between revolution and results how many bills has he actually gotten through the united states congress in all the years he has been there >> reporter: klobuchar ending her campaign after buttigieg's decision to drop out over the weekend. and all of it coming after biden's blowout victory in south carolina, his first-ever presidential primary win >> thank you, thank you, south carolina. >> reporter: many moderate democrats trying to stop sanders are looking to clear the field for biden. tonight, polls show sanders leading in super tuesday's biggest prize, delegate-rich california sanders saying he's the most electable. >> joe biden voted for the war in iraq. joe biden voted for terrible trade agreements

geoff bennett has late details.. >> reporter: less than 24 hours from critical super tuesday, joe bideng a big boost. both amy klobuchar and pete buttigieg set to endorse him klobuchar after suspending her campaign will appear with biden tonight. biden looking for a two-person race against front-runner bernie sanders today, talking with nbc. >> i think the choices between revolution and results. s betwe revolution and resultis between revolution and results how many bills has he actually gotten through the united states congress in the years he's been there? >> reporter: klobuchar ending her campaign after buttigieg's decision to drop out over the weekend after biden's blowout victory in south carolina. his first ever presidential primary win. >> thank you, thank you, south carolina. >> reporter: many moderate democrats trying to stop sanders are looking to clear the field for biden. sanders shows to be leading in super tuesday delegate rich california sanders saying he's the most electable. >> joe biden voted for the war in iraq. joe biden voted for terrible trade agreements like nafta

joining me now, nbc news's geoff bennett. the white house is starting to get behind this crisis, but we're not seeing concrete numbers or a federal response, a nationalized response, to this pandemic. >> and katy, look, that could start now, today, after the president in this 3:00 press conference announced, as sources tell us that he is expected to, this national emergency. that would invoke the stafford act, a law that puts fema in charge. it unlocks up to $40 billion in federal money and sends that money directly and immediately to state and local governments. this is in addition to the economic stimulus package that the treasury secretary had been working out with nancy pelosi. we expect her to come to the cameras to give us a readout of that. we expect the president to give more details later. but this issue of testing. right now south korea testing 10,000 people aday a koirding to the latest numbers. overall u.s. state and federal testing has yet to log even 15,000, according to the cdc. on tuesday i asked the administr

joining me from the white house, my colleague geoff bennett. also dr. david shulkin, former veterans affairs secretary who was a hospital system executive and dr. amesh adalja. geoff, let me start with you. forgive me if i look at today's event and i'm a bit confused in that i believe this is, i feel like the third friday in a row at least, where we're being assured the ability to test is being ramped up and by the end of next week it's going to be working. here we go again. but the overall event itself felt like an event that should have taken place a week ago, getting these private sector labs involved, getting walmart and target to donate their parking lots. all of this seems like -- all of this felt a week late. >> reporter: you're right about that, chuck. i'm told the president was considering delivering or making this declaration earlier in the week, maybe even on wednesday when he gave that oval office address, but that he ultimately balked because he thought at th t -- send the right message. here we are on a friday evening after the stark warnin

geoff bennett is there for us.ou heard from all of our reporters out in the field giving the realtime, on the ground assessment of what the situation looks like from all the health officials they're speaking to. while that is happening, you have the president -- even his task force giving a sober look at the potential death toll. the president this morning, though, he's veering off message, talking about politics, going after speaker nancy pelosi. >> reporter: president trump this morning called in to fox and friends. he spent nearly the entire 8:00 hour fielding questions. the president defended his administration's coronavirus response. he defended and explained his decision to extend those social distancing guidelines. but to your point, yes, he did attack the house speaker, nancy pelosi. pelosi over the weekend suggested that as americans are dying, as she put it, the president fiddles. here's what president trump had to say in response to that. >> she's a sick puppy, in my opinion. she really is. she has a lot

geoff bennett has more on all of this. as always. >> reporter: you as well. >> these candidates, look, they are trying to come up with new ways, trying to get their message across. but it's not that simple. >> reporter: it is not simple at all, alex. you're right about that. the coronavirus pandemic as you well know has transformed every aspect of american life to include the race for the white house. virtual campaigning is now the new norm for bernie sanders and joe biden. with president trump seizing the national spotlight each day the democratic candidates have had to come up with new ways to reach out to voters. while the remaining 2020 presidential candidates are used to seeing adoring crowds on the campaign trail, the coronavirus pandemic has forced them to find new ways to connect with voters. trump daily briefings are now his daily substitute for campaign rallies. >> we have done one hell of a job. and it's lucky that you have this group here right now for this problem or you wouldn't even have a country left. >> re

geoff bennett is there for us.ive us the latest readout from the white house. >> reporter: we expect to get -- we hope to get a fuller picture today of all of the public health consideration and concerns that informed president trump's decision to extend those federal social distancing guidelines. dr. deborah birx, the white house coronavirus task force coordinator said yesterday that at today's briefing that she and dr. fauci will share all of the information, all of the data that they presented to president trump. of course, she and dr. fauci have been talking since sunday, really, sharing their stark projections, for instance, that more than 2 million americans could have died in the absence of any measures. but, look, as president trump continues to really put a rosy sheen on his administration's response, governors are telling a very different story. this, in fact, has been the story from the start where the administration keeps saying there are millions more tests, there's millions more equipment making its w

to fact-check him, i'm joined by white house correspondent geoff bennett and also dr. gounder and she is an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist and host of the epidemic, a podcast, and ben rhodes. first to you, geoff. talk to me from the white house about the points the president has been making in some of his interviews and how to deal with that. >> reporter: and to put this in some context without excusing the disinformation, president trump as we know by now views things through a lens of how it affects him politically, how it helps or hurts his political standing. it appears he's done that with the coronavirus response as well. and that's one of the reasons why he is now spreading unwittingly or otherwise false information. so, yes, yesterday he said that based on a hunch, he was trying to dispute and discredit the world health organization's fact-based assessment of the death rate. he suggested there has been a coronavirus linked death in new york when there is no such case. president trump is not the first american president to have to carefully navi

you've got, geoff bennett, president trump watching all of this. he's pushing back this morning on some criticism he got from that interview overnight on sean hannity's program about what he's saying and how he's handling this coronavirus messaging, if you will. i want to play a little of what the president had to say, what his top experts have said, and then we'll talk about it. watch. >> a lot of people will have this, and it's very mild. thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better, just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work. some of them go to work. >> you get sick. stay home. you're not helping your colleagues by going to work sick. >> globally, 3 of 4 persons that reported covid-19 have died. >> i think 3.4% is a false number. this is just my hunch. personally i would say the number is way under 1%. >> we make policy recommendations and analysis of what we're going to recommend based on accumulation of data. data is very important. >> dr. fauci talking about how data is important. the number may end up changing b

joining me now, nbc's geoff bennett is at the white house. nbc's kasie hunt is in d.c., where she's covering capitol hill. nbc host david gura is at the new york stock exchange and also in d.c. former surgeon general dr. viv echl k murthy who is a member of joe biden's just announced public health advisory committee. geoff, the president's going to speak to the public tonight we think it's going to be around 8:00 p.m. do you have any knowledge of what he plans on saying? >> reporter: well, katie, the president just tweeted in the last ten minutes or so ago that he plans to address the nation from the oval office at 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 p.m. pacific, and he could use that setting based on our reporting to announce a national disaster declaration. that would unlock up to $40 billion immediately, push billions of dollars out the door to help state and local governments confront the spread and the economic impact of coronavirus. this would be in addition to the stimulus package that he's working out to congress. we also expect that he might --

nbc's geoff bennett is at the white house with that. >> reporter: the trump administration ramping up its response to the coronavirus as americans brace for the outbreak fill fury. president trump tonight releasing new guidelines for all americans to follow over the next 15 days >> so each and every one of us has a critical role to play in stopping the spread and transmission of the virus. >> reporter: they include closing schools in affected areas. avoiding discretionary travel. avoiding groups of ten or more and working from home when possible. >> no matter who you are, please stay home. >> reporter: new procedures now in effect at the white house, too. a normally packed white house press briefing room sparse today. a new seating arrangement leaving every other seat open. >> i'm glad to see that you're practicing social distancing that looks very nice. >> reporter: the president's comments, his most direct appeal yet for americans to take the virus seriously. the new guidelines an answer to calls from state officials for a stronger federal response. >> i want federal guidance this i

the economy has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak lester >> geoff bennett at the white house, thank you. >>> a growing number of schools and colleges around the country are taking no chances with the coronavirus, canceling claises for days or weeks in some cases. we get more from rehema ellis >> everybody on their commuter right now >> reporter: terry's three sons are home today. for the next two weeks, they will be learning online. >> ramping up, learning technology, figuring out what each teacher is expecting. >> reporter: their school outside of seattle is closed, one of many districts in states across the country that sent students home. in scarsdale, a suburb of new york city children will be out until the middle of next week until a teacher tested positive for the virus. >> thinking of the logistics. >> reporter: it could be crippling 22 million students rely on free or reduced-price school lunches. for many, it's their only hot meal of the day. while health and safety are the priority, it's unclear how much keeping students home will slow the spread of the virus. >> you

geoff bennett is here. thank you very much this morning. >> appreciate that. we know that a lot of this can be overwhelming. we want to make sure we're shining a light for you on some of the good news every day. moments like this one. brave health care workers being cheered on for their heroic efforts. take a look. >> emotional moment there. she's a nurse at the swedish hospital in seattle and she was brought to tears by the sound of the community cheering for her and her colleagues. her girl friend says it's been a difficult few weeks and those are happy tears to be recognized and also appreciated and peter, we can't say it enough. these are the folks on the frontlines. >> gives you goose bumps. we need to do the same and cheer them on. we're so grateful for them. we want to take a turn and check the forecast. our friend dave price from our station wnbc is staying put at home in new york city this morning with a forecast. dave, we're anticipating one of the kids is going to run behind you at some point. >> everyone is still right now. this is not what i maent

geoff bennett is in falls church, virginia, with three things to watch.upon us 14 states, 1 u.s. territory, voting all at once more than one-third of the delegates the candidates need to ultimately become the democratic nominee, are all up for grabs. many moderate democrats, increasingly, frantically, you might say, throw their way behind joe biden to make him the sole moderate alternative to bernie sanders that brings us to the second thing. the impact of pete buttigieg, and amy klobuchar, dropping out of the race and endorsing biden. klobuchar said that was not coordinated in the campaigns >> we made the standard that this was about our country and we need to beat donald trump and have someone with experience that can get things done in the white house. >> reporter: and the last thing we're watching today, of course, is the results can joe biden really leverage the momentum coming off of that huge victory in south carolina can elizabeth warren perform better in the contest today, than she has in previous ones, to justify staying in the race and can bill

>> geoff bennett from the white house.a mall in the philippines has ended police in manila say a fired security guard who helped several dozen people for hours overnight has surrendered and released the hostages. he's accused of shooting and wounding one security guard at the start of the siege he agreed to come out peacefully after being allowed to talk to his former bosses. >>> after 25 seasons on the air, the "judge judy" show is coming to an end. don't worry. judy is not hanging up the gavel just yet there's word from hollywood she plans to launch a new show called "judy justice." no details where or when that show will pop up >>> 8:05 time for a "morning boost. a little girl had a trip to orlando and that trip is going viral. the bus driver was playing her favorite song. he took a little pause and turned it way up ♪ i'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake ♪ ♪ shake it off, shake it off >> oh, yeah. emerson's mom is trying to track down that driver to give him the credit that he deserves for spreading a lot of

. >> thank you so much geoff bennett, much appreciated. >> joining us now is our crisis team. dr. natalie azar, dr. john torez, and science contributor and dr. joseph fair. thank you for making time for us. >> thank you. >> the response as we said, has been overwhelming. we're going to try to get through a lot of questions. the first one speaks to what we're hearing a lot of. i have all the symptoms of coronavirus, but i can't get access to testing. i don't need to leave my home. once i start to feel better, how long should i wait to go back to work without a chance of infecting someone else? >> so that's a great question. and i think that because we don't know if this individual and she doesn't know if she actually does have covid-19, we're going to be able to apply general principles. when people are sick with a virus including influenza, the recommendation, this is for adults and kids, is to stay at home, don't go back to school or work until you are at least 24, maybe even 48 hours, but at least 24 hours fever free without using fever reducers like ibuprofen, advil, motrin or

let's bring in nbc's geoff bennett. he's at the white house. i'm also joined by dr.e, director of heology and global immigrant health at ucla. doctors, stand by for a moment here. walk us through what we heard from the president regarding his administration's change in response perhaps? >> yes, craig. you ticked through the headlines all of the news coming out of that press availability. i will give you a sense who was in the room, unitedhealth group, humana, blue cross and blue shield, kaiser health. a number of leading insurance companies. as they said they waived commitment to co-pays for any testing. that's always the case for people on medicare and medicaid. the question is capacity. on friday the president said anybody who wants to get tested for coronavirus can get a test. anecdotally, based our own reporting we know it's not yet the case, even though the administration is trying to get there with millions more test kits being rolled out week by week. >> doctor, i want to play something that health and human services secretary alex azar said a few hours ago an

msnbc road warrior geoff bennett outside a polling location in falls church, virginia. f. >> 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, i wouldn't be here if i thought reverse mortgages took advantage of any american senior, or worse, that it was some way to take your home. learn how homeowners are strategically using a reverse mortgage loan to cover expenses, pay for healthcare, preserve your portfolio and so much more. a reverse mortgage loan isn't some kind of trick to take your home. it's a loan, like any other. big difference is how you pay it back. find out how reverse mortgages really

joining us now from the white house, nbc news white house correspondent geoff bennett. f, good morning. let's talk about the president calling into hannity last night and the riffing on a global pandemic that dr. fauci has said will become a pandemic at some point. is there any strategy? is there anyone in the white house who can say to donald trump, it's sort of become a moot question over the years, but anyone who can say, this is too important for you to be riffing off the top of your head? >> if someone is telling the president that it's clear he's not listening. remember last week we reported the vice president's office was going to use a heavier hand in controlling all of the coronavirus messaging coming out of this white house. well, then, as it is now it appears president trump himself is the main one spreading disinformation. completely contradicting the information and the data put out by public health experts. the president disputing the 3.4% data-driven assessment of the overall coronavirus death rate saying it's a false number, no evidence to back it up only

hotly contested, chris. >> thank you so much, geoff bennett and tremaine lee.wo of the folks who will be out tonight. we'll be across all 14 super tuesday states. we'll start getting results in here to msnbc the minute those polls close. i will be here in texas, austin at a polling place. i'll see you later on tonight. that will do it for this hour. i'm chris jansing. thank you so much for watching this hour of msnbc live. right now, katy tur picks up our coverage from santa monica, california. >> thanks, chris. good afternoon. i'm katy tur. it is 2:00 p.m. out east and 11:00 a.m. here in santa monica, california. tonight we'll find out if everything has changed in this race or not. right now, across the country and here in california, people are voting and with long lines across 14 states, there are high hopes for a big turnout. since saturday, everything has been lining up for joe biden. a win in south carolina that propelled him to second in the delegate count. an enviable fund-raising hall. now public endorsements from three of his former rivals. >> i'm loo

nbc white house correspondent geoff bennett joins us. thee three things to watch in politics today. savannah, good morning to you. warren electrified voters, drew big crowds, issued policy proposals, but in the end, was unable to pull together a winning democratic coalition. joe biden is savoring his super tuesday surge after winning 10 of the 14 states that were up for grabs. biden is now making the case that he's the democrat who can pull together a broad group of voters with the power to defeat president trump in november. and, he says, president trump knows it. here's what he said earlier on "today." >> look, i think the one thing the president doesn't want to do from the very beginning is face me because i will beat him, period. period. he has done everything in his power. he's even risked his presidency because he doesn't want to face me. >> reporter: the former vp is also getting a big boost from michael bloomberg. bloomberg dropped out of the race yesterday and endorsed biden after pouring $500 million into his own white house bid. bloomberg will keep campaign offices open in

geoff bennett is covering the administration's response from the white house.t to start with you ron. what kpexactly is happening in this containment zone in new rochelle? >> reporter: the governor of new york said that new rochelle has one of the largest clusters, more than 100 cases. more than double the case of new york city, a city of some nine million people. they are calling in the national guard to set up a containment area. it sdretretches out from the cer of town and a particular synagogue where a number account for a significant majority of the cases. now, the outbreak here has been traced to an individual. a member of that congregation. lawyer who caught the virus through unknown means. he and his family became infected. the virus spread to friends and other members of the synagogue and other members of the community. the strategy here all along has been to identify people that that group, that family came in contact with and to try and contain it. as the virus continues to spread here, the governor, with help of the national guard is going to try to