that is all that matters, wolf.ecause you can have a bail out today, you can have a bail out next week. if this pandemic exponentially grows, there's no bail out big enough to bail out the shutdown of the u.s. economy. we can actually do this, other countries can, and the president just has to have that one message over and over. stay home, self-isolate for a few weeks. we can do this. >> that's an important point indeed. your new column in "the new york times" you offer some analogies to help us better understand the exponential spread of the coronavirus. and that is so critically important to grasp. i want you to elaborate a little bit on that. >> well, i was talking to my friend bill joy who's a computer scientist, very well-known. and bill made the point say you borrowed one dollar from a loan shark, wolf, and he charged you 25% interest a day. within 40 days you'd owe that loan shark $7,500. if you waited another three weeks to pay him, you'd owe him almost a million dollars. that's an exponential. that's exact

>> i certainly hope so, wolf. i had a good conversation with the president on testing and he's actually allowed new york state to start doing it own testing. but here's the big point, we have been behind on this disease since day one. it was happening in china, we knew it was happening in china, what was happening in china. we knew someone was going to get on an airplane and come to the united states of america. we've always been behind. they say, don't fight the last word. we have to get ahead of this. everybody talks about flattening the curve. and we're doing everything we can to flatten the curve, the testing, the density reduction, et cetera. i believe on any projection that that flattening of the curve is not going to be enough. i don't see it as a curve. i see it as a wave. and the wave is going to crash on to our hospital system. our hospital system does not have the capacity to deal with any of these projections. these people, wolf, all need intensive care. they need ventilators, it's a respiratory illnes

>> reporter: good evening, wolf.se secretary mark esper tightening the restrictions on the troops. there will be a freeze in place order, troops overseas will stay put for 60 days where they are. troops in the united states scheduled to be deployed overseas, 60 days where they are, all because of the coronavirus pandemic. navy ships at sea will have to pull back into port and let crews off those navy ships. this will impact about 90,000 troops and their families who may already be in the middle of moves to new posts, new basies, planning to head overseas. the military has not flattened its curve. every day that growth of new cases in the department of defense and in the ranks continues to grow. they're trying to get a handle on it, wolf. >> so they think it will continue at least through april and may. let's see what happens in june. barbara starr reporting from the pentagon, thank you. >>> coming up, dr. sanjay gupta is getting ready to answer your questions about coronavirus and how to keep yourself and your loved

wolf? >> all right, jeremy, thanks very much. we'll get back to you, obviously, during the course of the next few hours. right now, i want to bring in the former u.s. certainly, dr. vivek murthy. he served during the obama administration. dr. murthy, thank you so much for joining us once again. what do you make of the white house receiving new guidelines that potentially could relax some of the social distancing restrictions. in your estimation, would it be too early in this outbreak to start allowing some schools and businesses to reopen? >> well, wolf, i think everybody is experiencing the pain of what the country is going through in terms of their lives being completely overturned. kids can't go to school, people can't go to work. this is extremely hard for people. and everybody want to see it come to an end as quickly as possible. what's really important, though, is we have to do this responsibly. to say we're going to open up in the next few days or next few weeks is frankly not consis

wolf? >> do we know, jeremy, why they moved the briefing from the white house briefing room outside over to the rose garden? >> you know, wolf, it appears to be -- well, first of all, it's a nice day here in washington, so certainly the weather allowed us to be here in the rose garden. it seems to be a move to kind of put a little bit more space between reporters and to allow for some more of that social distancing instead of that krampd briefing room. but i will tell you, wolf, just standing here in the rose garden where the president is going to give the press conference, we're actually sitting closer together than we would be in the briefing room. now, we are outside, at least, so there is that. but, of course, wolf, i'm not a medical expert, so i can't tell you how much that's going to help with the spread of this virus. >> and hopefully the people standing behind the president can spread out a little bit. we know in the briefing room, they've all been cramped, one on top of the other,

i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. we're following breaking news. we're also standing by for a briefing over at the white house. you're looking at live pictures from the white house rose garden. the coronavirus task force is scheduled to begin fairly soon. we'll have coverage of that coming up. also today, it's been the deadliest day of the outbreak so far here in the united states. get this, at least 486 new deaths pushing the total to nearly 3,000 dead here in the united states. and the total number of cases to more than 158,000. the rising numbers and dire warnings from public health officials prompted president trump to extend social distancing guidelines until at least, at least april 30th, and back away from his earlier call to reopen the nation by easter sunday, april 12th, which he now says those goals were, in his word, aspirational. in new york city, that's the epicenter of the crisis in the u.s., the "usns comfort" arrived in port today where officials hope the floating hospital will relieve the burden on the city's health care system. le

>> reporter: that's right, wolf. and we should report, a source close to the coronavirus task force says dr. anthony fauci, one of the administration's top medical experts, is continuing to recommend appropriate public health measures to combat the pandemic, even as white house officials, including president trump, are toying with the idea of scaling back on these social social distancing guidelines. the source said everything is on the table including easing back on these measures. but fauci, the source said, is trying to steer officials toward the safest path. with an economy that's all but shut down and wall street teetering on the edge, president trump appears to be toying with the idea of easing the nation's 15-day social distancing period, aimed at flattening the deadly curve of the coronavirus. the president tweeted, we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. at the end of the day 15-day period we will make a decision as to which way we want to go. a possible sneak preview of what's to come, echo

. >>> i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. we're following breaking news on the coronavirus pandemic. concern about the economic impact helping fuel a record drop on wall street, with the dow plummeting more than 2,000 points. also right now we're awaiting a white house coronavirus briefing from vice president mike pence and his task force as the administration faces growing criticism of its handling of this pandemic. we're also watching events unfold right now in oakland, california, where the "grand princess" cruise ship just docked with at least 21 infected people on board. more than 3,500 people are on board the ship. and this just coming in, italy's prime minister has just announced that the entire country, 60 million people, the entire country of italy right now is on lockdown as the coronavirus continues to spread. we'll talk about the breaking news with the governor of new york, andrew cuomo. our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. first, let's go to cnn's business editor at large, richard quest. richard,

i'm wolf blitzer in washington.e want to welcome our shoe e v around the states and around the world. hospital officials are fearing widespread shortages of critical medical supplies. the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the united states surging to over 26,000. 326 people are confirmed dead. global the number of cases are over 300,000 and more than 13,000 people have died. states like new york and california are shifting strategies when it comes to testing patients making very, very tough choices, putting limiting on who can be tested as medical supplies reasun dangeroy low. here in washington, one hour from now, congress's top four leaders will meet with steve mnuchin. it comes hours before the senate votes on a far-reaching economic stimulus package. and another briefing expected later this afternoon from the white house coronavirus task force. questions on likely whether president trump will enforce what is called the defense production act. so far he's resisted mandating companies to start making much-n

>> there's no question about that, wolf. this is an unprecedented worldwide pandemic that no one has ever seen anything like this before. we've ramped up, we've had the discussions with johns hopkins and all of our leading hospitals, with all of our -- with our health department, our emergency management team and our national guard, at the federal level. we're trying to get 6,000 hospital beds online. we're trying to deal with all of these issues and the shortages. the flattening out of this curve that you keep hearing everybody talking about is so critical, because if we don't do that with the social distancing and all these steps we're taking by closing schools, closing bars and restaurants and retail establishments and keeping people at home, if we don't do that, then the system is completely overwhelmed and the health care system is incapable of dealing with such a crush of people all needing acute care at the same time. that's what everybody is trying to avoid, not only getting the things out that we need to the hospita

in the meantime, wolf, theres one big stunning

>> reporter: you're absolutely right, wolf.id that his country is at war with this coronavirus. and as a result, france will now be rationing face masks for health care workers. they've already done something very similar in this country in requiring any companies who have those face masks to sell. they're obviously a hot commodity here, to turn them over to the government so they can be distributed to the hospitals. in fact they've just recently seized 150,000 of those masks and turned them over to the hospital to make sure that they have them there. as for the lockdown in this country, in a little more than an hour from now, spain will get even more locked down. the borders will seal up with some exceptions for spanish citizens, residents, trade, things like that. there is also no longer going to be air or rail travel possible between spain and portugal to try to stop the spread of this coronavirus. people here are already not allowed to leave their houses. this is one of the main squares in madrid. you can imagine this would

. >> reporter: that is absolutely right, wolf. i mean here in oakland in particular they're hoping to get the final 1,000 passengers off that cruise ship behind me by nightfall. tarnival cruise stocks took another hit. they are down 6.0% so far this year. wolf, the coronavirus hurt is now being felt almost everywhere. schools, houses of worship, other large facilities now shutdown within this 1-mile radius containment zone. new rochelle uncomfortably close to the largest city in this country. >> you know you have an intense cluster, stop large gatherings where you have a large cluster of people who are infected. it's common sense. >> reporter: in washington state now no gatherings of more than 250 people allowed across three counties affecting nearly 4 million people. >> these events prohibited are gatherings for social, recreational, spiritual and other matters including but not limited to community, civic, public, leisure, faith based or sporting events. >> the governor has said if more isn't done to slow the spread washington c

wolf? >> and reminding viewers, breaking news that senator rand paul, limbs a physician, now tested positive for coronavirus and is in self-quarantine trying to recuperate. right? >> reporter: exactly right. as all of these negotiations are takes place on capitol hill and members are anxious to get back home to their districts and states, there is this breaking news that rand paul has contracted coronavirus. he says he's feeling fine. he was asymptomatic, but out of an abundance of caution was tested and he is positive. so certainly that's going to be weighing on the minds of lawmakers trying to finish up this final negotiation. wolf? >> and we, of course, wish senator rand paul, first senator to test positive for coronavirus, we wish him a speedy, speedy recovery and get back to work sooner rather than later. lauren, thank you very much. >>> there's more breaking news coming into "the situation room" right now. the chancellor of journalny angela merkel, she herself is now in quarantine. ou

>> reporter: they have not, wolf. and our colleague on capitol hill, manu raju, has said that the president and the speaker have not spoken for months, on a personal level. so obviously there isn't bipartisanship in the air when it comes to that relationship. obviously this was an opportunity where the president could have tried to turn over a new leaf, and invite some democrats over to the oval office for something as big and momentous as this, and it just seems to be an opportunity missed, wolf. >> it certainly was a serious opportunity missed on behalf of the american people. jim acosta, thank you very much. >>> let's get some more on all of this right now. the michigan governor is joining us, gretchen whitmer. i know you're incredibly busy, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. the president is using his powers under the defense production act to direct general motors to begin producing ventilators, general motors largely in your beautiful state. will those ventilators get to hospitals in michigan and

i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. we're standing by for a briefing from the coronavirus task force where president trump is expected to reveal new social distancing guidelines based on very dire models forecasting perhaps as many as 200,000 deaths here in the united states. u.s. officials reported more than 770 new deaths just today, the deadliest of the outbreak so far. the new u.s. death toll brings the total to more than 3,700 since the pandemic began. the global numbers are also so grim. at least 41,000 have died around the world. and more than 840,000 people have been infected. there are also growing questions tonight over whether the american public should wear masks to slow the spread of the virus. dr. anthony fauci just told cnn he would lean toward that recommendation only if it wouldn't affect the supply for health care workers. let's begin our coverage this hour with cnn's erica hill. erica, you're outside an emergency field hospital in new york's central park. who would have thought. tell us what you're se

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're standing by for a white house briefing on the coronavirus pandemic as the number of known cases in the united states now tops 51,000 with more than 650 deaths. globally, more than 414,000 cases and 18,000 deaths are being reported. also breaking, los angeles county has just reported the first known death from coronavirus of a person in the united states under the age of 18. meanwhile new york now the hardest-hit state, pleading for help. governor andrew cuomo blasting the administration's response, saying the state needs 30,000 ventilators, far more than the government is offering. as the number of american cases grows, the world health organization is now warning that the united states could be the next epicenter of the pandemic. but president trump is increasingly anxious about the economic toll of the unprecedented nationwide shutdown and now talking about having businesses reopen by easter sunday. he says he wants churches full, despite warnings from top health officials. le

wolf: yes her. those are the reductions. >> so over the past year, it's become clear that the russian government, is going to continue its medley efforts as well as its critical infrastructure networks in addition, the chinese government has continued to push for the integration of wai way technology and china continues to engage inside rear st minnows nosh, and intrusion. under the circumstances, how is it that you propose to dhs cybersecurity activities make americans safer . mr. wolf: again as i indicated, as you look at that president fy 20 budget request, in the 21 budget request, is an increase in the overall budget and as i mentioned earlier, i do recognize it is a decrease. a reduction funding from what was enacted. and fy 20 but what i can tell you is that i talked to the director, very specifically about the budget he is fully confident. i am confident. that to do their full permission in the 21 budget request fully funds all of the missions. be back but the cuts, even on his face do not m

>> reporter: wolf, dr. anthony fauci downplayed the idea that there is a split between the president and his scientists. clearly, though, the president has made several incorrect, inaccurate statements about these treatments. he seems reluctant to acknowledge that this is a hail mary. listen to the difference between president trump's and dr. fauci's statements. >> we're trying to strike a balance between making something with a potential of an effect to the american people available, at the same time that we do it under the auspices of a protocol that will give us information to determine if it's truly safe and truly effective. >> it may work and it may not work. and i agree with the doctor, what he said, it may work, may not work. i feel good about it. that's all it is, just a feeling. you know, i'm a smart guy, i feel good about it, and you're going to see soon enough. i sure as hell think we ought to give it a try. i mean, there's been some interesting things happen and some very good things. let's see

i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. and we're following breaking news. major new developments in the coronavirus pandemic. the acting homeland security deputy secretary, ken cuccinelli, just revealing that coronavirus travel restrictions for europe are, quote, under discussion. we're also standing by for a white house coronavirus briefing this hour as the number of known cases here in the united states climbs to more than 1,100 with 33 confirmed deaths. president trump now says he'll address the nation about the pandemic from the oval office at 9:00 p.m. eastern later tonight. and in a dramatic new development, the ncaa recommended this year's men's and women's basketball tournaments will be played, without spectators in the stadiums due to coronavirus fears. we'll talk about all the breaking news with former defense secretary, former cia director leon panetta as well as former homeland security secretary jeh johnson. let's go to our national correspondent erica hill, you're in new rochelle, new york, a city just outsid

i'm wolf blitzer and you're watching a special edition of "the situation room." happening now, sounding the alarm. governors on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic now issuing desperate pleas to the federal government, warning that supplies are dwindling in the face of this massive medical threat. >> the federal government should national i nationalize splib izize medical acquisition. the states simply cannot manage it. when the states are doing it, we're competing against other states. in some ways, we're safvaging other states. >> we're all competing against each other. it's a wild west, i would say, out there, and indeed, we're overpaying, i would say, for ppe because of that competition. >> and the numbers are truly staggering. there are now more than 318,000 infections globally. that includes over 29,000 cases and 376 deaths here in the united states. let's begin in new york, where governor andrew cuomo now says he expects between 40 and 80% of the people in new york state, he says, eventually will contract the coronavirus. cnn's cristina alesci is i

>> i mean, you know, these are all models, wolf. it's a little tough to say. but if you talk about something that is spreading, you know, very robustly throughout a community, you know, two to three times more contagious than flu, and up to ten times, perhaps, even more than that, more deadly than flu, then yes. i mean, that's when you start to get those sorts of numbers. i mean, you know, this is a pathogen that obviously can cause a lot of disease and death. one of the important things, wolf, that is emerging, and we saw this in italy, we saw this in other countries as well, is that in part, the number of people who die is determined by how serious the virus is, but also very much determined by how the medical system is able to

>> well, it is painful to say that out loud, wolf.want to do, but i am watching the numbers. we had one case starting march 1st. here it is 11 days later and we are at 95. i mean, we can do the math, and we have community spread here. it is no longer about travel. we will get to that number i predict next week. but, look, 80% of the folk, and this is good news, wolf, 80% of the folks who contract the coronavirus have a mild experience, and typically younger folks tend to do okay with it. we are concerned about the 20%, particularly older and serious pre-med cal condition pre-medical condition, and so thinking of how big the hospitals are and how big the city is, yes, 1,000 is a large number, but we will start right now the retool the hospitals the be ready for the challenges. >> as your ability to test patients and test people who think they might have the coronavirus improved since we last spoke? because i have to tell you that speaking to people all over the country, they don't have the tests that they need. >> no. wolf, i hate to t

. >> i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. we are tracking fast moving developments in the coronavirus pandemic. first to the breaking news, a dire day on wall street where stocks had their worst day since the stockmarket crash of 1987. the dow jones industrials losing more than 23 points as coronavirus fears intensify. among them a march madness basketball and disneyland cancelled. the ncaa announcing this year's tournament will not take place and disney says the theme park will be closed through the end of the month. also a gloom assessment, dr. anthony fauci admitting the government testing in his word is failing. i'll discuss today's developments with senator chris coons, and we'll have full coverage of the day's top stories. let's begin with cnn's nick watts. we are getting new information about major disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic. tell us what you are learning. >> well, washington, as you just mentioned, disneyland say they will close through the end of the month. the governor of california said expect more a

i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room.tarts right now. >>> outfront next, breaking news. 75 million americans ordered to stay home as coronavirus cases keep climbing. this as we're just learning a member of vice president pence's office has tested positive for the virus. plus chaos and confusion as hospital workers across the united states say they don't have the supplies they need. we're going to talk to an icu doctor who's going to tell you first-hand how it is right now. and an ohio restaurant owner just laid off 4,500 people. that restaurant owner is my guest. let's go out front. >>> and good evening. i'm erin burnett. out front tonight, the

. >> that's right, wolf. after coming under bipartisan pressure up on capitol hill, the president went ahead and announced he's declaring a national emergency in the fight against the coronavirus. also announcing he's going to be using his executive authorities to free up some $50 billion to fight this pandemic, this epidemic here in the united states. in the meantime, wolf, theres one big stunning moment in the rose garden when the president was pressed on his interactions with a brazilian official last weekend at mar-a-lago. this brazilian official, the press secretary to president balan bo bolsonaro of brazil, tested positive for the coronavirus. and the president did concede now that he may well take that test. here's what he had to say. >> the doctor said you could have it even if you don't have symptoms. are you being selfish by not getting tested -- >> i didn't say i wasn't going to be tested. >> are you going to be? >> most likely. not for that reason, but i think i will do it anyway. fairly soon. we'

>> it is an interesting question, wolf wolf. the first patient diagnosed was january 20th, and that is the first time that it was diagnosed and found to be in the state of washington. possible that the virus had been there, but what is interesting is that the new steady over the last couple of days showed that virus from january 20th, matches or similar to the virus that has now caused the most recent infections, and remember that the virus is mutating, and so the fact that it is similar suggests that the same virus from january 20th has been circulating in that area for some six weeks now. so when they talk about community spread, that may have been where it started, and we don't know for sure, but when you are talking about the virus circulating for six weeks, according to the modeling done, up to 500 people or so could have been exposed to the virus. the testing, the lack of testing because of that, we don't know. maybe when we have this enhanced testing over the next few days we will have a better idea, but this virus has be

. >> i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. we are following breaking news from the coronavirus pandemic. the u.s. state department issuing its highest level travel alert and urging all americans not to go abroad. as for this hour, more than 11,000 cases have been confirmed in the united states with the death toll climbing to 170. let's go no the state department first, our national security correspondent on the scene for us. a very serious from you travel warning to all americans. >> yeah, this is the most serious travel warning that the state department can issue, telling all americans do not travel abroad. it is pretty clear here, wolf, what the state department is indicating. they are taking the coronavirus very seriously. this is a travel warning that is originally reserved for countries like afghanistan, syria, where americans could travel and face situations that would lead to death. so you can see hower is cruse this should be taken. for amer

>> yeah, wolf, that's right.his day began with a press conference by governor cuomo discussing the efforts of the state which is the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the united states to try to get ahead of it, going on offense, adding hospital beds and equipment. while he was talking, he mentioned he spoke with the president before talking to reporters, the president mentioned his idea of quarantine and cuomo was asked about it and said that's nothing i heard about. then when he spoke earlier today with cnn he kind of rejected the idea in the strongest possible terms. >> this is -- would be a declaration of war on states. a federal declaration of war, not just new york, new jersey, connecticut, next week it would be louisiana, with new orleans, and week after that it would be detroit and michigan, and it would run all across the nation. i don't think the president is looking to start a lot of wars with a lot of states just about now for a lot of reasons. if you said we're geographically confining people

. >> yup, wolf. and the vice president sort of made mention of these numbers at the againing of the press conference, and what he said at the end there the risk to the average american is low. interestingly the risk of what is a question that does come up, the risk of contracting the virus, of getting sick from the virus, i don't know that we can sayhe risk of contracting the virus is still low, which was the sort of second point that the vice president brought up, which is really around this testing. i spent a little bit of time at the white house today, it was off-the-record meetings but there was certain things that we learned that there's been a frustration with the lack of testing thus far and that's going to change, it sounds like, for a couple reasons. one, they're going to be sending out, the vice president just said a million and a half testing kits around the country. commercial labs are going to be allowed to start testing, including labs like quest and university and state hospitals as we

wolf. >> it is sad for the people who are stuck on the ship. lucy kafanov, outside of san francisco. thank you. now, bringing in our experts to discuss. sanjay, what is going on right now? two top doctors are advising people over 60 to make major, major changes right now in the day lily routines to avoid plan travel, movie theaters and crowded areas and would you sign off on that advice? >> it sounds like a lot. i looked at the cdc guy dance on the pa-- guidance on that page, and they are saying stay home much more than possible. so clearly, a virus that is circulating. it is not too different from the guidance in flu season which the elderly are at higher risk. so again, on the page, it is not quite so specific in terms of aiding the airline travel and movies and that, but it is staying home as much as possible, so keep in mind, wolf, i wanted to be clear, that this is the coronavirus that i am talking about now that in some ways and many ways is similarly transmitted as the flu through respiratory droplets so if someone coughs or sneezes the

i'm wolf blitzer.aries could put joe biden on an unbeatable path toward the democratic nomination as he looks to widen his delegate lead over bernie sanders. we're less than an hour away of predicting winners in two contests. recovering primaries in florida, illinois and arizona. ohio was supposed to vote today, but officials postponed that primary because of the coronavirus. we expect the first results of florida, most polling places are closing now. at 8:00 eastern the last polling places close in florida and illinois. at 10:00 eastern voting ends in arizona. a total of 441 delegates on the line in this round of contests with about half of them coming from florida. after tonight, the democrats will certainly have awarded nearly 60% of all delegates that will decide the nomination. jake, what are you looking for tonight? >> wolf, as we await this eveni evening's results, there's a lot we don't know about how the coronavirus will impact this round of primaries and the democratic race going forward. mul

but at the same time, wolf, we should note dr. anthony fauci, one of the administration's top doctors, has been arguing the other point of view. he has been arguing, according to our sources, that many of these social distancing guidelines need to remain in place. and that, at this point, as these discussions are underway, he's been essentially advocating for these appropriate public health guidelines to continue. but according to the source i just spoke with a short while ago, all options are on the table, including easing back on those guidelines. and, wolf, as we should point out, as this briefing is about to get going here any moment now, we should note that people are being put at a greater distance apart from one another inside the white house briefing room. that is because a white house reporter -- this just from white house correspondence association -- is suspected positive for the coronavirus. you are going to notice a big change here. these journalists in the room are further apart. we're outside the white house a block

chad wolf will describe the details of that. as the president just suggested, all of our health experts presented information. dr. fauci will reflect on some of those numbers. made a unanimous recommendation that we suspend all travel from the u.k. and ireland.

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." dr. fauci said he has no doubt this virus could return for round two in the fall, seasonal, once it starts getting colder out there. what do you think of his response? >> he has been very clear about this the last couple times. in the past when he was asked if this was likely to be seasonal. he said this is a new virus, we will have to wait and see. what he has seen is in the southern hemisphere of the world as it's getting cooler, you are seeing increased transmission. it means seasonal variation does mean we might get benefit in the northern hemisphere as the weather gets warmer. the virus may not transmit as easily. that would be a good thing. but it would mean as the weather gets cooler, it has not gone away, but is likely to come back and start spreading more easily. but dr. fauci did point out even though that is quite likely a scenario, he believes in the fall, cooler weather, hopefully our testing will be improved by that point so the diagnosics won't be as much of an issue for wa

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." another drastic move tonightaim ed at limiting the spread of coronavirus. the state department issued warning to all americans to avoid all international travel, raising its advisory to the highest level. this comes as the number of u.s. cases has soared well above thousands. italy is reporting more deaths from the virus than china where the pandemic began. >>> the mayor of new york city warning the city is expected to run out of critical medical supplies in two to three weeks. right now let gee's go to our sr national correspondent. tell us more about this new level for travel advisory just issued by the state department. >> this really is an extraordinary advisory from the state department. this is as high as it gets in is as stark a warning as it gets from the state department. this is what's called a global level four health advisory. it is focusing on the health of american citizens. level four is manager that is normally issued for countries like syria that is a war zone or a co

wolf? >> all right, evan, thank you very much.rom new york city for us, evan, be careful over there. joining us now the former director of national security council medical and biodefense for policy. and also he diem yolgist in michigan and chief correspond t correspondent. just hours after the quarantine for parts of new york, new jersey and connecticut now the president is backing off that idea. is there a scenario where a quarantine like he originally proposed would be the right course of action? >> yeah, wolf, we have to remember we're not going to be able to solve the situation that we're facing through quarantine. what we really need to do is role out sound public health measures, tried and true measures, powered by technology of the day, we need to diagnose people with the infection, trace their contacts and protect the well. that's what's going to get tuesday contain this epidemic across the u.s. >> dana what do you make of this major reversal by the president? >> look, this is one of the hallmarks of the trump's presidenc

wolf. >> thanks very much.virginia and vermont. what do you expect? >> we expect senator sanders to begin the night with a win in vermont vrmt. let's go back to four years ago, reminding voters this is bernie sanders' home state, democratic voters love him. there's no reason to believe that bernie sanders won't win big in vermont. this was a two-candidate race. hillary clinton did not. did somebody else get viability above 15%, take a delegate or so, 16 at stake in vermont. that's the only question, does bernie sanders get them all or does somebody else compete. let's come back to 2020. a much bigger prize. 99 delegates at stake in the state of virginia, the commonwealth of virginia. you look at it play out. it's a fascinating state. you talk about the changing demographics of america, the democratic party. i want to go back in time. let's go back first to 2016. hillary clinton won virginia and won virginia pretty big. loo k at the numbers 64% to 35%. she swept up here in the northern virginia suburbs is what h

wolf? >> thank you very much. >>> as hospitals and other medical officials are warning they're running out of critical supplies. right now the white house is defending its efforts during a task force briefing earlier this afternoon at the white house, president trump said private companies across the country are stepping up to assist. cnn's jeremy diamond was at that briefing. you had a chance to press the president on this issue. tell us what he said. >> that's right, wolf. the president today along with his top administration officials was here touting the fact that the production of masks, respirators, all of these medical supplies that we are hearing about shortages across the country, that the production capacity is being ramped up but the question is how long will that take. and that's why i asked the president about the remarks we heard from doctor according the company. listen to how the president answered some of those concerns. >> i know you're talking now about increasing product

time is of the essence during an epidemic investigation, wolf. sadly, time has been squandered he here. >> let me get elizabeth cohen in on this conversation as we await the start of this briefing. elizabeth, you speak to these medical professionals all the time. what do they want to hear? >> what they want to hear is, we are going to have tests that will be so widely available that it will be like ordering a flu test or any other test that we can order so easily. that's what they want to hear. they also want to know how they're going to be protected. right now, there's some confusion, do they have to wear n-95 rerpsrats respirators. is a surgical mask okay? and if we're saying a surgical mask is okay, are we just saying that because we don't have a n-95, but they're better. >> so far, what's going on in europe, italy and spain and elsewhere is of deep concern to folks here in the united states, because a week from now, two weeks from now, americans may be going through those kind of procedures. >> that's our future, unless we act. and even if we

a lot of people here are also wondering, wolf, why only now?'t announcement is tokyo declaring a possible lockdown? something people feel should have happened a while ago. it does not take into account all the people we saw this week packing to see the cherry blossoms and seeming unworried about spreading skroifrcoronavi. >> we'll take a break, much more news after this. [farmers bell] (burke) at farmers insurance, we've seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. even a "three-ring fender bender." (clown 1) sorry about that... (clown 2) apologies. (clown 1) ...didn't mean it. (clown 3) whoops. (stilts) sorry! (clowns) we're sorry! (scary) hey, we're sorry! [man screams] [scary screams] (burke) quite the circus. but we covered it. at farmers, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ were cooking with mom. she always said, "food is love," so when she moved in with us, a new kitchen became part of our financial plan. ♪ i want to make the most of every meal we ha

that man was a former security director for the senate intelligence committee, james wolf. wolf was indicted in 2018 for leaking information to poor journalists including one with whom he was having an affair. he also lied to the fbi. as we reported here, both's indictment showed he picked up a highly classified document on march 17th, 2017, to take to the intelligence committee. later fbi sentencing recommendation confirmed that that document included the first two fisa warrants for carter page. james wolf was never charged with leaking those classified documents, most of the charges were dropped against him in what could be called nothing other than a sweetheart deal orchestrated by former us attorney jesse lou. wolf was allowed to plead guilty to one count, one count of lying to investigators for which he served two months, two months in prison. it is at moment in which we see the department of justice covering up a background scheme to remove the president. had this gone on, senate intel committee vice-chairman mike warner and adam mauled one might have been highly scru

. >> well, you know, i think it's a fine balance, wolf. you know, in terms of making sure not to cause panic but being very honest, you know, about what is happening with regard to the coronavirus in the united states and around the world because, you know, it's a global seat. we're all connected as they say a virus and infection anywhere is an infection everywhere but i think there's very practical sort of things that people are sort of hearing all this news and saw what happened to the stock market today but most of the calls that got from friends and family and stuff today was about their own personal safety, many people are thinking about taking trips next week for spring break, for example. sometimes multigenerational trips with grandparents and all the way to grandkids going to places like disney world. should they be doing that is the question i often get and trying to answer the best i can but often saying, look, there's hopefully going to be more guidance coming from the government and from the health officials on this and the tas

let's bring in secretary wolf now. thought that it was refreshing and your approach yesterday saying there were problems, you are on top of them and you were trying to make them right, but it really is not business as usual, you were asking people to be patient as we try to get people back in the country. >> that's absolutely right, over the weekend we screamed close to 64,000 individuals, medically screened to those individuals funneling airports. it was a big task, we stepped up our officers as well as our medical contract staff, relief stepping up, doing a tremendous job. what we saw over sunday is about a 27 minute average wait time across the funneling airports. which we are doing our job, doing it well. processing passengers through, and for those individuals and americans coming back into the country knowing that they are going to be looked at and have a questionnaire, we will take some information from them to be able to track them, should they get sick, but we are also going to provide that medical screening,