we are joined by nbc's steve patterson. steve, what's next for those passengers >> reporter: frances, after weeks at sea and all that time spent in quarantine floating adrift just off the california coast, finally those 3500 people are getting answers about when they're going to dock. they're coming in to port today. we spoke to some of the passengers on board. they told us what conditions were like on the ship. and just as they learned the news >>> after nearly a week adrift in isolation and without answers, finally an end in sight. >> agreement has been reached to bring our ship into the port of oakland. >> reporter: the grand princess is expected to dock monday already 21 people are positive for coronavirus, including 19 crew members thousands still untested when oakland, california, those passengers will be transferred to four military bases two in california, one in texas, and one in georgia where they will be screened, tested, and quarantined for two weeks. passengers say it's been miserable. >> it's not like being in

steve patterson reports. >> reporter: from coast to coast applause for today's heroes now americans arereating new ways to help our nation's health care workers and first responders >> i would like people to know that there's hope and there's something we can all do >> reporter: in new orleans devon dewolf mobilizing relie on the front lines by organizing food deliveries inspired by the fight in his wife, an er doctor >> what is that moment like to just get a bit of relief? >> to step into that break room and have the door close, everybody wash their hands and take some food is really healing. >> reporter: the effort feeding 12 area hospitals. >> i think it's just, you know, a way everybody can get involved and do something and show some solidarity right now. >> reporter: an aid mission spreading across the country in new york island auto group is lending cars to first responders so they don't have to take public transportation. >> it's very scary i get infected, my brothers and sisters i work with get infected >> reporter: in missouri a joplin pharmacy started making and delivering its

those testing kits will there be enough we have it all covered and begin in san francisco with steve patterson and the latest on that quarantined cruise ship >> reporter: tonight, more than 3,500 passengers on the "grand princess" wondering what's next. the vice president today saying the ship will dock at a noncommercial port >> new quarantining standards will be coordinated with the cdc for all ships. >> reporter: 21 people on board were found positive for the coronavirus, including 19 crew members. the u.s. coast guard delivered kits last week, but so far only 45 people have been tested >> there's a little uncertainty, have we been exposed to it do we have it? >> reporter: overnight, crews forced to remove a sick passenger, transported off the ship by the coast guard. the cruise line releasing a statement saying the illness was not related to the coronavirus. >> just the not knowing -- not knowing is the scariest part >> reporter: a couple stuck on board worried about the virus because of their age and ron's heart condition. >> i know i'm going to run out of medication by wednesday >> and i

lester >> all right steve patterson, thank you. >>> the number of confirmed cases in the u.s. surpassed 1,000 today but there are growing questions about whether enough people are being tested to truly know the extent of this disease. here is miguel almaguer. >> reporter: officially declaring a global pandemic, tonight the world health organization says it's deeply concerned by the alarming spread of the coronavirus and the levels of inaction to stop it. >> we have rang the alarm bell loud and clear. >> reporter: here at home a new benchmark as the number of confirmed cases sores over 1,000 the doctor who serves congress expects 150 million people or 45 of the population could contract the virus. experts say the death toll will climb. >> bottom line, it's going to get worse. >> reporter: with multiple states announcing their first cases today, a fight is underway over whether there are enough tests for the general public. >> the president on march 6th told the people in my district publicly that the tests were ready there were no tests. zero. >> we have always been able to mee

steve patterson, nbc news, oakland. >>> when we come back, hope and healing the teenager inspiring othersh their beautiful music. ♪ >>> there's good news tonight about the healing power of music, and the inspiring gift one girl is giving to other kids with cancer ♪ >> reporter: from within this room -- the sounds of an angel. ♪ dry your tears >> reporter: sounds of hope for the kids, families, and staff at holtz children's hospitalcancer ward in miami the star -- 15-year-old former patient sophie treadwell. already an accomplished musician, she was in her orchestra class when she knew something just wasn't right. >> tell me about last may. what was that day? >> i just felt in my arm it was really sore and i was like, that's really weird why is this hurting? >> reporter: tests revealed a diagnosis that turned her world upside-down. leukemia >> we had to go immediately to the hospital the first thing i thought was, i don't belong here, this is not me, this is not who i am >> reporter: to cope with the agony, sophie worked with the hospital's music therapist stephanie epstein to make music p

nbc's steve patterson now with that story >> get off. >> good morning. >> reporter: a shocking confrontation. >> get off of my porch >> are you going to shoot me >> i'm going to shoot you. >> reporter: tensions boiling over at the doorstep of los angeles county district attorney jackie lacey, ending with her husband pulling a gun on protesters for several seconds, then slamming the door. >> wow >> get off of my porch. >> i won't get off your porch. >> right now we're calling the police right now. >> reporter: the video captured by members of black lives matter. >> his finger was on the trigger and he trained the gun at my chest. >> reporter: gathering outside lacey's home early monday morning, protesting her office's handling of certain cases. lacey says the handgun is registered, adding this isn't the first time she's faced harassment her office turned this case over to another agency. >> he's profoundly sorry, that he meant no one any harm, that it was just him and i in that house and we really didn't know what was about to happen i, too, am sorry if anybody was harmed. >> reporter: on the

s top law enforcement officials apologizing for a heated confrontation on her own property steve pattersonews. >>> a super star of business has died jack welsh, the long-tim chairman and ceo of general electric, who transformed it into one of the most valuable companies, was 84. here is jo ling kent. >> my name is jack welch i'm chairman and chief executive. >> reporter: born in 1935 to a working class family, jack welsh started at ge as a chemical engineer during his two decades at the top he grew ge's market value 40 fold to $400 billion but he also cut more than but 100,000 jobs, earning him the in 1986 he over saw nickname neutron jack. in 1986 he over saw ge's purchase of nbc, the parent company of nbc news later sold in 2011. known for warm management style and eye for talent, he was named fortune's manager of the century. tonight, his beloved wife, suzy, calling him a man that changed the world by touching them deeply and authentically >> how could i have regret i had a great run. >> up next, the amazing feat that propelled her into the olympics amazing feet that propelled her into

back to you. >> a very scary situation, steve patterson, thank you. r, let me pick up on what steve was just talking about, all of those who are caring for the people in this nursing home getting sick. he said 70 of 180 staffers now have symptoms and i know this was a concern we saw out of china because while you have older people who -- and people with underlying conditions clearly getting sick, there also were many younger caregivers who seemed to be getting sick and that seems to be a big question mark here. what do you know and understand about how this virus is affecting caregivers and our health care workers and what the implications are for our hospitals and our overall health care system? >> first of all, front line health care workers are always going to get more dosage and more exposure than our average citizen. they are the most at risk and that's why we prioritize the safety materials, the personal protective equipment for them. we've seen it at multiple other hospitals around the country. we had a patient recently that presented to an er a

steve patterson, nbc news, oakland. >> that was steve patterson reporting. >>> turn now to the southina primary where we are projecting joe biden will win. the latest exit polls from yesterday's race giving us a look at how they performed among different dem graskds. >> joining us now a political correspondent for business insider. first up, joe biden of course basking in the glow of what was a massive victory there. is it enough to revitalize his campaign? >> this race was do or die for joe biden. if he hadn't won, then there were some predictions he could have dropped out before super tuesday. this is a very much needed boost for him. as far as, you know, whether it's going to be enough for him to continue to carry that momentum into super tuesday and into other primary races in march itself, actually, that's still up for -- that's up for question. what this does do is invigorate his argument that he is the most electability candidate because he won in the most moderate states so far among all the democratic primaries and caucuses. >> let's break down the exit polls. he took the bl

watching to contain the coronavirus outbreak steve patterson is live in kirkland, washington, at the icenter of if outbreak with the latest steve? snoo >> morgan, hi. this is where so much anxiety has emanated this nursing care facility behind me, we're hearing there is an investigation that will be conducted today by the cdc, by federal officials, by medicare, by people who are coming into the state to see what's happening on the ground here, specifically in this care facility i have to tell you, if you're talking about the business impact, spechbt time in downtown seattle yesterday, in pike place. i'm not an authority on seattle but you can tell by being in the grounds that things are a lot thinner than they usually are in talking to people like uber drivers, saying business is down there as well, talking to people that have spent more time in seattle, producers that i work with, saying that the crowds are looking a lot sparser. you see more people wearing masks. of course we're looking at the wilder ramifications of this, businesses telling workers to stay home if you can big busin

nbc's steve patterson is in oakland, california, where the ship soon will be docked. steve, good morning. >> reporter: willie, new cases of the virus are now escalating at an alarming rate. now 19 deaths across the country. meanwhile, the thousands of people stuck on board that ship are now finally getting answers about when they're getting off. overnight welcome news for some of the 3,500 passengers strand the at sea. >> agreement has been reached to bring our ship into the port of oakland -- >> reporter: "the grand princess" scheduled to dock in oakland on monday allowing guests are requiring medical attention to disembark and home for eva and ron wiseberger worried about their age and heart condition. >> i know i'll run out of medication by wednesday. >> and that is really dangerous. >> reporter: it is the end of the a nightmare. >> it is like a little prison cell at sea. >> reporter: so far 19 crew members have tested positive but only 35 of 3,500 people on board were initially tested. question what to do with passengers when they arrive in port in oakland? officia

steve patterson is in los angeles with more on the struggle of getting stranded. e, what's being done to get folks home? >> it is a struggle, first of all. the state department says they have though established a task force to bring americans home from countries where borders have been shut down, and officials say they are actively working to make that happen. but the scope of this is so huge. we don't have an exact number of how many are stranded, they don't have an exact number and getting them out has to be a very tailored process. there have been a few cases of success. a few days ago, 264 americans were flown from lima to d.c. there was another flight out of lima to miami. and there is a broad effort to get a charter plane into about a thousand people stuck in morocco. but there are still thousands of people stuck overseas in peru, in morocco, in haiti, argentina, honduras and others, and several of them aren't just people stuck on vacation. these were athletes, doctors who were trying to help impoverished nations, students studying abroad and terrified they c

steve patterson is in los angeles for us. big questions this morning as to whether or not the city's 8 million residents would be ultimately put under some kind of shelter in place, but for now, how are they adjusting to the new normal in the city? >> well, take a look behind me, ayman. this is a playground in brooklyn. normal there are lots of children here who are preschool kids. there's only one family here right now. i'm going to keep my distance. personal trainer, all the gyms are closed. that's not stopping you from training folks. >> working out outside is great. we're keeping our social distance. we're boosting our immune system. this is the best time to work out more than ever. >> sounds fantastic. he's not the only one working out. we're going to move up here quickly because i know we're short on time. let me show you what's happening up here when we go up to the runway here. what's happening is, of course, not as many people here right now, but look at the folks who are behind me. they are keeping social distance a

steve patterson, kasie hunt on capitol hill. don chu joining us watching the markets at cnbc headquarters. let's start with you, get us up to speed on the developments. there have been many of them overnight. >> we have a new one in the last few minutes. we just got confirmation of new case in grant county washington. this will be the first case outside of king county and snohomish. more evidence this thing is spreading or left unchecked over the last few weeks. i want to start with some of the recommendations we've been hearing from the health department in king county, the seattle area. the broadness and specificity that is signaling to people this is entering daily life in a way in which we have not seep yet. the recommendations from the public health department now singling out anyone over 60, anyone with prior underlying health conditions, any women that are pregnant to not only avoid congregating but avoid public spaces. these are recommendations not mandates but it will have an impact on daily life. want to talk about wor

joij me now outside amazon's headquarters, steve patterson.e out there will hear amazon and start worrying about their packages. >> reporter: absolutely. amazon is saying that worker who tested positive, what felt sick sometime around february 25th, went home, has been self-quarantined since, has not returned to work. they're saying to the larger workforce, that everything should be okay. the risk is low. however they have alerted people that came into close contact with this person, which is dined of wishy-washy on what definition that is, anywhere from three to six feet, alerting those people that this has happened and there is a larger alert company wide. we've seen people come in and out of this building all day long. the more concerning sort of situation with this is that amazon employees some 55,000 people in this area, so any news that people in seattle or the larger surrounding counties get seems to be bad news, and this just adds to the anxiety that everybody has here. >> steve patterson in seattle, thank you very much. with me now fo

our steve patterson has the very latest. >> reporter: tonight after nearly a week adrift in isolation and without answers, finally an end in sight. >> agreement has been reached to bring our ship into the port of oakland. >> reporter: the "grand princess" is exempted to dock monday already 21 people are positive for coronavirus, including 19 crew members. thousands still untested tomorrow in oakland, california, those passengers will be transferred to four military bases, two in california, one in texas, and one in georgia, where they b screened, tested and quarantined for two weeks. passengers say it's been miserable >> it's kind of like being in a little prison cell. >> oh, we are not allowed out of our rooms at all >> reporter: they are trapped on board, it's a matter of life or death. >> my husband is as of today running out of his diabetic medications. >> reporter: in oakland, worry from residents as new spreads the ship is coming in. >> it's going to have the whole bay area scrambling at this point. that's going to wake everybody up it's going to be a tough situation. >> reporte

nbc's steve patterson is there. >> reporter: starting monday, this campus will be empty. students are going to stop meeting here for classes, call classes. even exams will happen online after a staffer tested positive for coronavirus. nationwide six new states, indiana, pennsylvania, minnesota, kentucky, oklahoma and connecticut reported their first cases today. los angeles a second medical screener at lax has now tested positive while in chicago a 21-year-ol college student has the virus after visiting italy. >> just very mild symptoms like runny nose, headache, you know, cough, difficulty breathing but no high fever. >> reporter: in new york state, 22 new cases today and 4,000 protectively quarantined with new york city officials now pleading for more test kits telling the federal government limited capacity has impeded our ability to beat back this epidemic there is also growing worry among health care workers a california nurse released a statement saying, i am currently sick and in quarantine after caring for a patient who tested positive but she's struggling to get

steve patterson, thank you so much. >>> we've got a couple of really great reporters who know their statesates today. reporter for our affiliate wdiv here in detroit, mara mcdonald. and the lead political reporter for the kansas city star, jason hancock in columbia, missouri. great to have you both here. this is, by many analysts' measure, a must-win state for bernie sanders. it's a place where he has done well in the past, but you have been on the ground. give me your sense of where this race is right now. >> first of all, the sanders campaign rolled in here on friday and they've been running as though their lives depend on this state. they're organized. they've criss-crossed this state. compare and contrast that with the biden camp that came here on monday and had a couple surrogates here over the weekend. clearly, sanders knows he has to win here. this is not 2016, though. let's get that out of the way right now. there's a different dynamic here right now than there was in 2016. bernie sanders won this here despite all the polling in 2016 because he way overperformed out state and on th

nbc's steve patterson is in san francisco with more on all of it. sten, good morning. those 212 people that tested positive, that's just out of a sample size of 45 people. there are 3,500 people onboard that ship, and health officials are now saying all of them will be tested at some point. this as the ship is scheduled to dock at some point this weekend. but when and where exactly, that's still a mystery. the sum of so many fears just floating just 45 miles off the california coast. the first tests are in, and the coronavirus is onboard the "grand princess." >> we are a sick ship apparently. >> 21 people tested positive for the virus including 19 crew members out of a test sample of just 45 people. >> we apologize but we were not given advance notice. >> reporter: passenger chris hoss as he learned the news not from the ship but from the vice president. >> it was frustrating that the captain, the cruise line didn't let us know first. >> reporter: the coast guard delivered tests the dramatic fashion but not enough for all 3,500 people onboard. quaran

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 anxie

let's go to steve patterson, he is following this from our l.a. bureau. tate department that's having to step in to do what? do we have any idea how large, how many americans are having trouble getting home? >> there's no precise number. there are thousands of americans who are stranded, desperate for a way back home. for many, the original messaging from the state department and the administration wasn't very encouraging. just telling citizens, if you can get on a commercial flight, get on one immediately. the problem is in a lot of the countries, as you mention, there aren't options. the borders were shut down quickly and without warning. there are more draconian methods adopted to slow the spread like curfews and nothing open f. those stranded can't get on a bus to the airport, let alone a plane. you have clusters of americans in places like peru, morocco, haiti, honduras, all of them stuck. several of them aren't just vacationers. these are athletes, doctors trying to help nations. students studying abroad who are terrified they can't get home. the sta

steve patterson is standing by in kirkland, washington, ander in mclaughlin in san francisco. steve, you told the team you can feel a turning point this morning. what does that mean? >> reporter: stephanie, i don't think there's any question, worries the past few days, people felt it was a big scary story they were living next to. people will wake up today, realize daily life is impacted in a big way, starting with recommendations from the public health department, telling anyone over 60, with pre-existing conditions, anyone pregnant, recommending they stay away from public spaces, large gatherings. obviously these are not mandates, these are recommendations, but they'll make an impact. secondly, school districts in the area, north shore district is more than 23,000 students, 33 buildings. that district has announced it will shut down for the next 14 days, at least. that's the largest district over the longest amount of time to be shut down as other schools and districts monitor the situation. some outside that district monitoring day by day, will shut down school today as well

nbc's steve patterson is there, live in kirkland, washington. that's frankly a rather alarming quote, steve, from officials there in washington. even as some of the people at the nursing home that's really become the epicenter of the cluster had a lot of questions and a lot of concerns. >> they're scared, they're frustrated. they're stressed out by what's going on. you know, that nursing center as you mentioned, that nursing center probably the closest thing we have to the ground zero in the outbreak and those people can't get inside to see their loved ones. i want to make clear they're not upset about that. they're not upset at the nursing staff that's inside there that's upset and stressed and worried about their own safety and they're frustrate at the lack of information coming from the health officials. earlier this week health officials said they apologized for it. they acknowledged it. they said they would be assigning people specifically to make communication better and then yesterday come to find out we heard that family members were hold

steve patterson joins us live from seattle outside the amazon offices. what's the latest?> amazon said that employee went home sick on february 25th, did not return to work, is in self-quarantine. the company is notifying anyone who had close contact to that employee, what happened. but they say the risk to the overall workforce is low. it's still troubling because of how huge of a footprint amazon has in this area, close to 55,000 workers. it seems more and more likely the virus was able to spread unchecked for days, if not weeks. so health officials are alerting everybody what is happening. close to 27 people, now confirmed cases, that were found positive in the state. close to 130 overall across the country. the death toll swelling to nine, includes one person that may have been the first death in the country overall. that person was discovered positive far after they died. so hospital workers, staff were likely exposed without even knowing what had happened. so health officials are saying the same thing they have at the beginning of this that they will say towards the

and there is a lot of it in this area. >> i can only imagine, steve patterson, thank you so much. good talking to you, my friend. >> let's stick to washington right now. seattle school districts bracing for impact as the coronavirus spreads in nearby communities in washington, as we were talking to steve about. as of yesterday, the superintendent of the northshore school district sent a letter to families who have students in all 33 schools in that specific district, informing them that all school sites in that district are closing on march 5th. today and tomorrow, that is going to organize plans teaching from the classroom to online learning beginning on monday. joining me now the person leading all k-12 schools in washington state. superintendent, thanks for joining us on this. appreciate it. this is quite a decision that you have made for this district that is under threat of the spread of the coronavirus. why did you feel like this was important right now? >> well, our state is obviously facing a relatively unprecedented issue here. we've seen this in the early 20th century. t

joining me now from kirkland, washington, steve patterson. with me, national affairs correspondent for "the nation," john nichols. steve, first to you, what are we seeing out there in washington? >> well, i mean, obviously, first of all, this is a vote-by-mail state, as you've been saying. that is a huge godsend for people here. because, obviously, there's less contact, less congregation, and also, remember, that the last election here, that was a -- that was a caucus, and so you can only imagine what a caucus is like in the middle of a viral outbreak. could have been disastrous for election officials. thankfully, people bring their ballots, they drop it in a box, and they're on their way. the other end of it, though, is the safety of workers. obviously, we're at an election headquarters right now. you can see, this is one of several sort of sanitation stations that we have all over the place. and if you take a walk with me here, you can see the beautiful rhythm of people unpacking those envelopes that have already been sliced open by machine

with us now from king county election headquarters in renton, washington, steve patterson. his is the epicenter of the virus across the country and that we could see record turnout. i mean, take a look in here. i want to show you the line back here. these are people that are probably just registering to vote. they can do that until polls close. people are excited here obviously. but this is happening in a state in which there are public warnings about being in public spaces. that's incredible to think about. a lot of this is because they've moved up the primary date this year. it was years previous much further away in the election. so it is more relevant. people know that, people feel that. i spoke to an election official. he said participation is already up 40e%. that's just moving on into the night. obviously there is an hour left. so that's just king county alone, excuse me, but that's a third of the votes here in the state. and so election officials are looking at this. there is a big emphasis on the coronavirus as you can imagine. it is top of mind for voters in a stat