jake sherman, yamiche alcindor, nancy cordes and eamon javers.r reporting durg this time is very much appreciated and thanks also to our staff andcr at weta right here, for making this all happen tonight d thank you all for joining us. conversation on the "washington week" extra, when -- whichca yo find on your mobile and our website. for now, stay steady. i'm robert costa. n goht, from washington. ♪ announcer: corporate fding for "washington week" is provided by -- additional funding is provided by the estate of -- adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. theti corpo for public broadcasting and by contributions to your p station from viewers like you. thank you. >> you'r watching pbs. ♪ narrator: a kqed television production. ♪ ♪ ♪ obama: this morning, the marriage equality.gnized ths what a vindication of those countless, often anonymous, heroes who made an ethat love is love.ize narrator: it's so easy, looking back, toit's so easy to thit all . that has been mad

jake sherman, yamiche alcindor, ncy cordes and eamon javers.r reporting during this time thanks also to our staff and crew at weta right here, for making this all happen tonig and thank you all for joining us. we'll continuess conversation on the "washington week" extra, when -- whichou can find on your mobile and our website. for now, sy steady. i' cbem .osrtta ♪ announcer: corporate funding for "washington week" isrovided by -- ditional funding is provided by the estate of -- adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, cmitted to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and by contribution to your pbs station from viewers like you. ghank you. >> you're watchbs. ♪ narrator: a kqed television production. ♪ ♪ ♪ that the constitution guarantees the marriage equality.gnized what a vindication of those countless, often anonymous, heroes who made an entire country realize that love is love. narrator: it's so easy, looking back,to ake the progress that has been made for granted. it's s

we get more on the federal government's response now, with our lisa desjardins and yamiche alcindor. so yamiche, to you first, what are the options that the president is looking at? what are you hearing at the white house? >> well, the president isok g for the fastest possible economic response to the coronavirus, and he's looking at two trks. rst, what he can do individually through some sort of national emargency deion in the next week or so, and he's also looking at working with congress toa negotiatrger legislative bill. on what he can do himself, he'so looking at som of executive action where he would be able to do a couple thing, including giving small businesses loans. he also wants to give some sort of financial relief to hourly workers who ve already lost paychecks because they had to self-quarantine. the other thing is he's trying to def tax payments, so you might have between 90 and 180 days to pay the government, which could put money in your pocket short-term. then he's looking at a payroll tax cut that would be between 2%, that would be what president obama did in 2010.

president donald trump has just concluded his spch, and my colleagues lisa desjardins and yamiche alcindor with me, for some analysis. so, hello to both of you. and yamiche, we heard from tte president an acknowledgment that this is a global pandemic, it is rious, something that is facing all the american people, but he also -- and he called for measures, we heard him speabak t restricting travel from europe. he advised americans to be careful in hygiene, to wash saying this is something we're going to get through. so, to me, it ws a combination of a message of seriousness and set, pulling togetr, we can handle this. >> that's right, and the president was making the case that he has a plan here, tt he has both plan that he's going to do through executive actions and he's saying he's going to work with congress to get some legislative action done, but he was also tryi to calm people's fierce and saying we can handle this. the president has run into sues where he has been contradicting health offlsic him saying there's going to be a airacle, cases will go down, where helth officials say we c

lisa desjardins will have more analysis in a moment, but we begin with yamiche alcindor, who reports what has become essentially a two-man race. yamiche: in michigan, bernie sanders and joe biden on a collision course. >> we are the campaign that can defeat trump. yamiche: a state critical in november and four years ago, sandernearly won the democratic priry. but i knew pull out today shows biden with a 15 point lead in the state. on tuesday with 125 delegates at stake, michigan is the biggest prize. but five other states had to the polls and altogether, there are more than 350 up for grabs. with the campaign down to two main candidates, both spent the past few days drawing distinctions on key issues for the democratic base, like health care, a focus for biden ring a -- during a visit to a medical facility in grand rapids today. >> senator sanders is a good man. his medicare for all push would be a long and expensive slog, if it can get done at all. the patients at cherry hill, they can't afford to wait for a revolution. they are looking for results for their families and themselves

at today's developments and the politics of the pandemic, i'm joined by our lisa desjardinand yamiche alcindor, yamiche, this national emregency the president dec today, what exactly does it allow to happen now that couldn't happen before? >> well, the presidenk a major step today in declaring this national emergency and he says it will have the full force of the federal government focused and targeted on a corovirus response. so walking through somee of th things it's going to do.'s oing to provide $42.6 billion in disaster aid that w tll be ab go through states, through fema -- federerl ncy management agency -- that's something that happens when it comes to hurricanes testimony other thing food assistance, shelter and medical responses, basic needs amecans might need. the other thing is unemployment, insurance and overtime payd men, at's going to be focused on wkers who are impacted byr the avirus. so we're seeing the president really trying to say we are stepping up efforts, all happening as th president himself says he wilell likbe tested for the virus. resort tested positive for the virus

yamiche alcindor, following this very late-day briefing the ite house. yamiche.nk you. >> woodruff: finally tonight-- ma joined us to taut ant yo-yo idea he calls "songs of comfort," music to sha and help those most in need. it has l to an outpouring on social media sites, and jeffrey brown brings us some of that now, for our arts and culture series, "canvas." ♪ ♪ >> brown: yo-yo ma began h #songs of comfort project with a performance of his own... ♪ ♪ and an appeal to our audience. >> we're collecting what is personal, what is true, what is trustworthy, what is community, because community is nothing, except whais based on trust. >> brown: people of all kindsed have respo paul simon, with his classic," american tune." ♪ ♪ hamed sinno, lead singer of the lebanese band mashrou' leila. n ♪hing's gonna harm you ♪ not while i'm around >> brown: the famed folk roc duo the indigo girls also beswered the call. ♪ it's easy truel it's better to be kind ♪ >> brown: and members of the toronto symphony orchestra found a creative way to "perform" while keeping social distance

our yamiche alcindor joins me now from the white house for the latest. so, yamiche, we know that the e ficial death toll from coronavirus in tited states has now moved past 3700.r whatthey saying at the white house about the pace of this outbreak? >> well,mudy, the nr of people who died from coronavirus hit a really grim total today. re people have died from the virus in america than on the 11.ning of 9 that sobering tone, that sadness was really apparent in today's white house briefing. there were models shown that showed even with the bst social distancing, something like 100,000 americans could still e of this virus. now, healthfficials and president trump said that they're doing all that they can to make that number eower. but, again, that figure is if people do all that they can around the country to social distance and try to combat this virus. the thoing note is that the white house is saying that the testing andventilators, all this equipment that governors are saying they need, are being given to them as soon as possible. but the message today co

yamiche alcindor, reporting from the white house. thank you, yamiche. >> woodruff: as we mentioned at the outset, financial panic rocked world markets agay. to on wall street, the dow jones industrial average burned through nearly 3,000 points, nearly 13%, to close at 20,188. it's down nearly one-third of its value since peaking in mid- february. the nasdaq fell 970 points, and the s&p 500 slumped 325 points. john yang looks now at the economic pain being inflicted by the widening corona virus. >> yang: judy, today's market plunge followed extraordinary action from the fed yesterday: o cut a key interest rate zero. the move was aimed at shoring un investordence as restaurants are closing, sporting events are cancelled and people are being to stay home. david wessel is director of thee hutchins con fiscal and monetary policy at the brookings stitution. david, thanks for joining us. how big a deal is whathe fed did yesterday? >> it was a pretty big deal. meeting on a sunday ahead of schedule, the fed basically said we are going to use a

yamiche alcindor and kasie hunt.eter that we heard a little bit if you read between the lines of dr. fauci and the governor, the federal government is leaning up but not as much as they would like to because on one hand they're making the case that we are not doing enough and on the other hand we are not ready to call it our own. >> we just got approval yesterday. this is mass general. one of the leading hospitals in this country. >> i thought an interesting moment came when dr. fauci was asked by the people, is it going to get worse? yes. it is going to get worse and things like nba games will be shut down. when all sports shutdown, they're craving for direction and craving for washington to tell them what are we supposed to do at this point. the president is a by stander as school superintendents and governors around the country making decisions to shut down and the president has not given that firm direction and guidance they are looking for. >> i think i heard. >> did you hear dr. fauci recommends closing down re

look nsome of the broader ripples and response with our nick schiffrin, lisa desjardins and yamiche alcindor. hello to all three of you. yamiche, i'm going tort with you. we are seeing all this disruption. how is the preside haning it? >> well, the president is facing a challenge like nothing he's ever seen bef ce. and rse this country is facing a challenge like nothing it's ever seen before. i've been tae,king to sou democrats and republicans, and they say american life is not going to look like-- look like normal americalife for a lon time. you have elderly couples crying in their cars aaid to go into grocery stores. you can vpeople that can't go to football games, can't throw a football with their child because they're worried whether or not the virus iin the air. and you have a president who is struggling, frankly, judy, to figure out what to do, how to calm people. people in some cases don't trust what the president is saying. just today on testing, something americans are very, very concerned about, he is saying testing will be going quickly. we're all working well. this is going smooa

declaring victory on the pandemic aid package still being held up in 'congress, but let' turn to yamiche alcindors been listening in. we know the white hou it has been involved in those negotiations on the hill. things stand right now?out where yamiche: just a few moments ago at the white house president trump said he would sign withono trilollar coronavirus bill if it was sent to him immediately so he was urging the house and senatemo t quickly. one thing that wasth remarkable, treasury secretary steven mnuchin said even though this to trillion dollar bill would be the largest stimulusge passed by congress, it would only keep the economy aflohs for three mo the president said, if we have we wilac it is a huge bill. federal officials say they might have to have another bill to keep the economy going. this bill will be exempt from using small -- or large business loans. there would be $500illion i the bill. democrats fought and got an exemption from president trump. his hotels and resorts, none of them will be able to use this bailout money. judy: even though some republicans objected to unemploym

yamiche alcindor is back along with us, along with the rest of the panel. yamiche, i'm curious what you thought of how starkly the congresswoman puts it. and the economic side of it, the markets rallying today, who knows why, many have said it's at least partly pricing in what they think will be this infusion. >> i think the congresswoman is really expressing what a lot of people across the country feel when they hear people saying that maybe we should sacrifice seniors in order to give millenials and gen z a good economy. that seems like something most persons wouldn't want, to sacrifice your grandmother to save your granddaughter. i think the president is saying more clearly is that he's saying there are people that are going to kill themselves and that are going to die because of the economic slowdown. that might be even more than the people who die of the virus. but there's actually no medical data, there's no health data to back up what the president is saying. that's his argument. he says he'll move on data but he also has these instincts that gave him

one of those reporters was yamiche alcindor. you have seen her a lot on our air. she's the white house correspondent for pbs news hour. she's an msnbc political contributor. yamiche, i just have to say because i know you well. i know that you have zero interest in being part of the story. you are a reporter there throwget tthroo get the story from other people. it's an important piece of the story to explain why we have those reporters there and why they do what they do. so i want to play for our viewers an exchange you had with the president about his claim that new york doesn't need the 30,000 ventilators that governor andrew cuomo has called for. let's listen together. >> you said repeatedly that you think that some of the equipment that governors are requesting, they don't actually need. you said new york might need -- might not need 30,000 -- you said it on sean you, why don't act, why don't you act in a little more positive? it's always trying to get you, get you, get you. that's why nobody trusts the media any more. >> how is that going to impact -- >> excus

pbs white house reporter yamiche alcindor. and former deputy secretary of labor chris lieu. thank you all three. shannon, let's start at the top here. the president today saying he is considering a quarantine in three states. what do we know about that? >> not very much at this point. there's a lot of questions about what specifically the president is thinking, what he is talking about. but the idea seems to be that he wants to stop people moving from new york, which obviously is a hot spot, to other parts of the country, namely florida is one of the big areas that has seen a lot of new yorkers going down there to get out of the city that's in lockdown and that has become, you know, really ground zero for this pandemic in the u.s. right now. so that's what he is trying to avoid is people in the new york region going to other areas. but the big question is what can he actually do as the president? the broadest authority on quarantining the citizens and a population lies with governors and local mayors, and we have already seen the governor and the mayor in new york city put s

that's next with john heilemann and yamiche alcindor. the things she loves to do.ld just mean, well, finding new ways to do them. right at home's professional team thoughtfully selects caregivers to provide help with personal care, housekeeping, and of course, meal preparation. oh, that smells so good. aw, and it tastes good, too. we can provide the right care, right at home. introducing tide power pods with cat & nat. i love how much i can stuff into these machines. but that is such a large load, don't the stains sneak through? please. new tide power pods can clean that... whole situation. you just toss it in before the clothes. it's like two regular tide pods and then some power and then even more power. with 50% more cleaning power, even your large load got clean. how many kids do you have? girl i lost track. there's a lot of kids. and then there's a husband, and then there's me. that's a lot of clothes. ♪ no matter when you retire, ensure you still have income every month of your retirement, guaranteed. see how lincoln can help. (sensei) beautiful. but support

and yamiche alcindor exemplified that in the rose garden. and as a member of the press, i salute her for continuing to do her job, and that's what we're trying to do here is do our job. >> thank you so much, robert costa. and it's exactly how we've seen the president back down on some of his earlier pronouncements, after the press, the governors and the doctors have pushed back on it. thank you so much, robert. and coming up next, the trump administration tossed out the national security council's pandemic playbook back in 2018. would it have helped to prevent the raging coronavirus crisis in this country today? this is "andrea mitchell reports." we'll have more on that in a moment on msnbc. stay with us. a moment on msnbc. stay with us and sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. a partner who makes sure every step is clear, they get that no two people are alike and customize your car insurance so

our yamiche alcindor is athe white house and joins me now. so yam opene, bring us yamiche, what you have you been learing.t >> the presi been stressing that he is doing all that he can to fight off the coronavirus and its spread in the united states. he said he had a message for americans, swi the government is doing everybody possible to get redical supplies to health systems. he also said he is really making sure people have what they need when it comes to essentials like hand sanitizer andother things. but the president also stressed that he is eager to get the economy back on track. and all day, judy, white house sources have been telling me th presids looking at possibly trying to see whether or not he will add just the white housea guide lines expire a week from today. here is what he said specifically about the economy. >> america will again and so be open for business, very soon. a lot sooner than thr or four months that somebody was suggesting. a lot seern. we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itsele we t going to let the

for the "new york times," kasie hunt, david brooks, columnist for "the new york times," and yamiche alcindor. welcome to sunday and a special edition of "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history. this is a special edition of "meet the press" with chuck todd. >> good sunday morning. america's recognition of the coronavirus crisis we now face seems to have grown at about the same pace the virus itself has spread. slowly at first and then exponentially. as of this morning, there were rurally 3,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the u.s., resulting in 60 deaths, but there's been very limited testing. gone is the nonsense that this is a hex. gone mostly is the disinformation that this is nothing worse than the flu, and gone is the myth that we're in i inconveniences. president trump's declaration of a emergency calmed the markets but only after it prompted wall street's worst day in more than three decades. i'll talk to dr. anthony fauci. two governors, and two hospital executives at the front line of this crisis, and we hav

yamiche alcindor from pbs news hour. my first question is you said you don't take responsibility. but you did disband the white house pandemic office and the officials that were working in that office left this administration abruptly. so what responsibility do you take to that, and the officials that worked in that office said that the white house lost valuable time because that office was disbanded. what do you make of that? >> you just think it's a nasty question because what we've done is, and tony has said numerous times that we've saved thousands of lives because of the quick closing. and when you say me, i didn't do it. we have a group of people. i could ask perhaps, my administration, i could perhaps ask tony about that, because i don't know anything about it. i mean, you say we did that. i don't know anything about it. >> reporter: you don't know about the reorganization that happened at the national security council? >> it's the administration, perhaps they do that, let people do, you used to be with a different newspaper than you are now, you know things like that happe

battle, grievance after grievance, and upoidn ay, he had this exchange with our pbs colleague yamiche alcindor. >> you said that you don'tre ta onsibility. but you did disband the white house pandemic office. president trump: i think it's a nasty question and when you say me, i dn't do it. >> anthony fauci is on the recordaying hey, it wou have really been helpful had we had this office. and to kimberls point, the one thing that trump has been consistent abo is misrepresenting the gravity of this threat. i went back actually in my reportinghis week and looked at the evolution of his statements. on the same day in south korea, we had our first diagnosis here. so you actually- it's a perfect parallel. whre we did difly was that we had a president who was risk. tely downplaying the whereas the south koreans were mobilizing. now, it's true, fauci said we have a very different system here. we're dependent on hugging the private sector. whereas the goverent ther was able to martial all of its resources. but to come out and tell the american people that we are doing great things and we're really ahea

now, that exchange with yamiche, let me just say yamiche alcindor is a consummate professional.rld class journalist. we know her very w. she is a friend of this show. she also gets under president's skin because she asks probing and direct questions time and again at the briefings. we've seen the president react to her, lash out at her. and what happened today was really uncalled for on his part. he didn't even let her get her question out before he started to personally attack her and the press corps. >> and, susan paige, let's just pick up on why yamiche was asking this question, because the president was raising questions about whether andrew cuomo needs the ventilators that he says he needs. there is no reason not to think that new york is not going to need these 30,000 ventilators, and yet the president had no interest in engaging on that question. >> and, of course, press conferences are not campaign rallies. reporters are not hired to be nice. they are hired and employed to ask questions, sometimes tough questions, questions that hold officials accountable. and the number

william brangham.our, i'm di woodruff: and we turn again to our lisa desj and yamiche alcindor. to you, first, the president, today, invoked the defense production act, he also enacted border restrictions.e what do w know about how these measures are going to be used to fight this virus? >> reporter: the president today says he sees himself s a war-time president and, with that in mind, he said he wasng taeveral emergency steps beeded to stem the flow and the outbek signing the defense production act. this act wouowld athe federal government to direct american manufacturers to produce items needed to fight the virus including masks or gloves or gowns. the president said he signed th just in case he had to invoke it. in worst case scenario, ly few minutes ago, he tweeted that. it isn't as if this ishappening right now. what is happening now is the president is putting in newre traveltrictions for the northern and southern borders, the borders of canada an mexico. here's a bit of what the president is going to be doing and is doing. just to put up there, the g president ng to be e

. >> woodruff: and we turn again to our lisa desjardins and yamiche alcindor. to you, first, the president, today, invoked the defense production act, he alo enacted border restrictions. what do we know about how these measures are going to be used to fight this virus?he >> reporter: president today says he sees himself as a that in mind, he said he was taking several emergency steps needed to stem the fw and the outbreak of the coronavirus. so he said he was going to be signing t defense puction act. this act would allow the federa government trect american manufacturers to produce items needed to fight the virus including masks or gloves or gowns. the president said he signed that just in case he had toke init. in worst case scenario, only a few minutes ago, he tweed that. it isn't as if this is happening right now. what is happening now is the travel restrictions for the northern and southern borders, the borders of canada and mexico. here's a bit of what the president is going to be doingan is doing. just to put up there, the president is going to be mforci

it's why he gets mad at reporters like jim acosta or yamiche alcindor who he again tangled with today. the president, his principle concern as the front man for this operation right now is to try to avoid being saddled with blame for what's happening to the country. he's running for re-election, and even if he weren't running for re-election, this is central to donald trump, the idea within himself that he is a great man who's doing a great job. he has difficulty with bad results and accepting responsibility for them. >> well, that's the difference between style and strategy. i get your point, but do you think that is a legit strategy or is it just his style -- it's just his natural reaction, he's just reactionary when he's doing that, that's my question? >> yes, it's in his psychological makeup. that's the kind of person that he is. >> yeah. john harwood, daniel dale, thank you both. appreciate it. >>> joining me now is dr. cornelia griggs. she is a pediatric fellow at columbia university. doctor, good to see you. i hope you're saying safe, as safe as you can without all the ppe that

joining us now is yamiche alcindor. joy reid is back with us. yamiche, your reaction to elizabeth warren's interview tonight, her exit from the campaign today. >> well, i think the reaction and what i'm hearing is a real sense of frustration among women in this country who really feel like elizabeth warren was treated differently than other male candidates mainly you could see when she started to gain momentum there started to be real questions how you're going to pay for medicare for all, paying for all these plans, and when she was giving detailed answers or give me a minute, people were not asking the same questions. at least her supporters think of bernie sanders and others who have been able to rise by putting detail into their plans and how they're going to pay for it. i think what you're seeing is a real sense women are treated differently in this country in their eyes in the sense that of course now what elizabeth warren said and what we knew was almost true 2 1/2 years there's more a more moderate lane with biden and a progressive lane w

yamiche alcindor is with us, dr. amash yazola, and dr. joseph fair, an msnbc science contributor. so so much to talk about, yamiche. let's start with what the administration is saying about the delay in the test kits that we just were told we were going to have a million of them by the end of the week. >> yes. this is something that's -- >> i'm sorry. yamiche? >> the issue is this is a moment that calls for an administration that people trust and for a president that is trying to be a calmer in chief. instead, what you have is an administration that doesn't have the credibility among a large swath of the american public because the president said things like this is all going to be over in april. it's going to be a miracle. he's also quoted the wrong number of people that have been c confirmed with the coronavirus. when you have a possible delay of testing, of an administration maybe had more credibility with the united states would be able to say here's what we're doing. here's why things are going that way. we have an administration where some democrats and people who are critica

to lisa desjardins, who has been tracking these fast-moving developments on capitol hill, and yamiche alcindorfollowing all of the information out of the white house what details do we have about the administration's proposals, this stimulus package? yamiche: this morning there was a major announcement at the white house, president trump and steve mnuchin both said they are backing a plan to give every single american, except for wealthy americans, individual checks to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. they said millionaires might be exempt, but people are hurting and need cash now. steven mnuchin said he thinks this could happen as early as the next two weeks if congress acts quickly enough. the tests could be up to $1000. the president was also on the phone with executives from the restaurant industry, the cruise ship industries, supply chain industries. he wants billions to go to those industries as well. the white house pressing congress to press the bill in the house. they want gop senators who have issues with the bill on the house side to vote for the bill so they can get that out of

our latest look at president trump's response to the pandemic, with white house correspondent yamiche alcindor. who minutes ago left today's briefing. yamiche, hello. we know that the pesident just yesterday announced that he's extending this period of social distancing. said he would try to end it in the next few weeks. now hsae'ng it goes through the end of april. what do we know about the thinking that went in to that? >> well, the prysident rea got this information andt that time -- a tom health officials who advised him iwas not wise to ease up guidelines on easter sunday, why is when the president originally wanted to ease u guidelines. so we hear a president who is sevolving on how seriously he' been thinking of the coronavirus. just a month ago, he's saying a miracle would wipe away some 15 cases e cases would go down to zero. now he goes saying this is aus very servirus. s 's also reiterating that up t 100,000 americuld die from the virus and said that's a good scenario. so we'rearing from a president who has done a 180 on this. he was asked about that in the rose garden moments ago.

where yamiche alcindor spent a number of dates she hase oron vice president joe biden's victory, yamiche this is another early call as soon as the polls closed in north carolina the projection was made biden would win? >> that's rig, judy, and north carolinas seen as a crucial state when it comes to candidates of electability, but e third most delegates, 110 delegates, what yo see is, in this state, democrats really wanting to wrestle it back from rinepublicans s020 november that's when democrats are really going to try to put in work to y to wrestle itback from wipublicans who won it in 2016 president truming the state by a few participant. look at what voters cared about, joe biden p i up for years, joe biden won like 46 percent of themselvesdescrib as moderates here. but like bloomberg, 17 percent, bernie sanders 16 percent, strugghis this ways andis seen pete buttigieg dropgd out and got six percent, also important to note votershere as they did apparently in minnesota and other parts of the state and other parts of the couny, rather, they said that healthcare was their number one is

. -- yamiche alcindor, we thank ou both. scramble for scarce medical equipmt you've been hearing about has bee further complicated messages from the trump administration and medical professionals. enough ventilators. >> it's become one of the most crucial pieces ofquipment to treat critical coronavirus patients, the ventilator. governors across the country have made desperate pleas for more. >>e need at a minimum an addional 30,000 ventilators you cannot buy them. you cannot find them. every state is trying to get them. >> we did have a delivery of ventilators. it was not the amount that we reested, and not enough. but we appreciate them. >> we've had some help from the federal g overnmen we think we have a cmitment of several hundred ventilators, but we need more than that. and tt's why we are searching the globe. >> president trump spoke by phone with fox news's sean hannity questioning how many ventilators are really needed. >> i have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said and some areas are bigger than t

but on those briefings, he always calls on yamiche alcindor from npr, or from pbs, to have the fight.eks out the fight. on some level, he must think it's either good television or good politics. i think he's wrong on the good politics part, but he -- so part of it is involuntary and part of it, i think, is deliberate. >> claire mccaskill? >> yeah, you know, let me just say, i've got a little bit of experience with this. having gone through a political career for decades, there is one common theme to men who irrationally attack women in positions of power. and what is always true is they are massively insecure. they are really threatened by women who are strong and smart. and there is one commonality that all the women he has, that he's attacked have. they are strong and they are smart. and they have overcome. you know, he was given millions of dollars by his father. you know, he was, you know, never really had to scratch and scrape and figure out how to achieve something when he wasn't supposed to, quote/unquote. from bone spurs to, you know, getting in a good school to being given mi

now, our own lisa desjardins and yamiche alcindor join us to talk about the historic legistion, which president has just signed. so the president has signed this, yamiche. he's also invoked the defense production act. at more can you tell us about what the president has done? >> that's right, judy. the president signed thi historic two t $2 trillion coronavirus sttoulus package aw this afternoon. it's an historic bill, the largest stimulus package ever passed by congress and signed into law by any president.en the pres said he was happy democrats and republicans could come together to get this bill done, butte the president was only surround bid republicans when heigned the bill today, there were no democrats present. the prident is still not speaking to housepeaker nancy pelosi since last year. he invoked the defense production act to allow the federal government to direct american manufacturers to make equipment that the federalay governmentit needs. in this case, the president is invoking that act for one company, general motors, and foq one piece ofipment, ventilators. this comes

other efforts to battle the pandemic, we turn again to lisa desjardins at the capital and to yamiche alcindort the white house. first.i will start with you individual americans, in particular, those who may become unemployed as a result of the coronavirus, wh's in this plan for them? lisa: that's important. first, an update. swe all waiting to see the plan in text. looks more likely there will be a vote tomorrow. absolutely thi is what americans want to know. let's start with those who have sest their jobs or could their job here's what's in this. there woulde up to 600 dollars over usual unemployment benefits for each person. that would mean tlothfull pay cash close to full pay for most americans. not every, but most middle-class neamericans, unemployment t of full pay, for four months. that is an incase over the iginal plan for this bill. judy: and lisa, we know another important piece of thisgi ative plan has to do with small businesses. tell us about what about that. lisa: this is the part they agreed on the earliest here's where we are. $3l billion in loans for sm businesses. those loans

yamiche alcindor has been talking to vots there. she joins me now from raleigh. we know, yamiche, joe biden did very well in thrie neigh state of south carolina. what's it looking like where you are? >> well, what we've seen is the coalescing around joe biden by modern democrats as an alternative to bernie sanders, who is seen as the more prvressive candidate, is hing an effect. we're talking to people who were looking at supporting amy klobuchar or pete buttigieg, but when they endorsed joe bidaen, theyed to then vote for joe biden. that being said, there is a lot of support for bernie sanders. what we saw was a race that used to be a thee-person race. it used to be michael bloomberg jrsus bernie sanders vers biden. what we've seen in the last few days is a tightening of the race.de now it's joe b or bernie sanders. the other thing to note is we're here at a polling station at ali ary here some people are eager to be able to cast their ballots and have a say in is after waiting for a long period for all the other states to vote. >> woodruff: we n't make you talk

. >> let's bring in yamiche alcindor. paola ramos a.re's been a lot of back and forth youall day. where do things stand at this hour? >> the republicans and democrats are looking to work out a deal that looks to be $2 trillion or more aimed at getting the economy some sort of help, including all the might be millions of workers impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. the course the president had his daily briefing today and he of course was talking about the fact that he still feels he's doing the best he can and he's really working in this unprecedented situation. of course there are critical questions about how much testing can actually be done. dr. fauci has been a critical voice, made it clear testing is still not at capacity. we still don't know how many ventilators hospitals will be able to get from the federal government. it seems as though washington is trying its best to work together with democrats and republicans still negotiating. >> in just the course of a day, it looks like this bill jumped from $2 trillion to $1 trillion. w

pbs correspondent yamiche alcindor also questioned trump at the news conference. >> at least one whitese official who use the term "kung flu" referring that it started in china. is that acceptable? is it wrong? are you worried having this virus be seen, talked about as a chinese virus, that that my -- pres. trump: do you know who said that? >> i'm not sure of the person's name. trumka say it again. >> a person at the white house use the term "kung-flu." do you think using the term "chinese virus" that puts asian americans at risk? pres. trump: not at all. i think they probably would agree with that 100%. it comes from china. amy: alcindor was referring to an incident reported by cbs white house correspondent weijia jiang, who describes herself in her twitter profile as a chinese born west virginian. she tweeted tuesday -- "this morning a white house official referred to #coronavirus as the 'kung-flu' to my face. makes me wonder what they're calling it behind my back." well, for more, we're joined by elizabeth ouyang, the former president of oca-new york, a civil rights group where she

rtt as yamiche alcindor re with early voting already underway, it's the security of the election that is on voters' minds. >> alcindor: eager to vote ear but worried. >> what is on my mind is more of the integrity of the election. >> alcindor: as she waited to cast her ballot in cary, north carolina, keisha bryan wondered if people will be able to trust the results of super tuesday. the small business owner with ar ear-old daughter is hoping for the best. but like many, she's concerned about how votes will be counted interfering in u.stions.ments >> i don't want to get to a their vote doesn't ore feel like doesn't matter or they just don't know what to do. >> alcindor: in this primary, 30 of 100 counties artiusing new vong machines. though state officials say everything has been tested, some voters are sti on edge. according to a recent poll by meredith college, more than one out of every four vote north carolina has little to no confidence in the state's voting process. >> we have an obligation tofe those who don' confident. >> alcindor: karen brinson bell oversees election securi fo

seemed to take offense at two of the questioners in particular, both of them, kristen welker and yamiche alcindor of them women of color, which has happened before. take a look at kristen's question. and by the way, both of them had their mics cut by the white house, which controls the microphones when they try to ask follow-up questions. >> dr. fauci said earlier this week that the lag in testing was, in fact, a failing. do you take responsibility for that? and when can you guarantee that every single american who needs a test will be able to have a test? what's the date of that? >> yeah, no, i don't take responsibility at all because we were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations, and specifications from a different time. it wasn't meant for this kind of an event with the kind of numbers that we're talking about. >> you said that you don't take responsibility, but you did disband the white house pandemic office and the officials that were working in that office left this administration abruptly. so what responsibility do you take to that? and the officials that worked

government is responding to the pandemic, yamiche alcindor is at the white house, and lisa desjardinson capitol hill. hello to both of you. and, yamiche, to you first, the president did announce todayhe food and drug administration is going to be fast-tracking some medicines th they hope can make a difference. what do we know about that? and, alo, what do we know about testing being available to americans? l, it's clear that president trump is eager to see americans get the medicine that would be need to treat coronavirus. that being said, that medin icthe president is saying today that there was medicine, including anti-malaria medicine, ediatelyld be given imm to americans. but the f.d.a. a couple of hours ago add ho clarify that and say, no, the president is wrong, there is no actual f.d.a.ve medicine appto treat this, but doctors might use experimeal drugs on fieshts see if the coronavirus reacts to the drugs. there are some senior officialsa in the fwho are worried about that, that patients might get harmed, but president trump is saying we have tout red tape to get people help.

they were asking him about his own words because asphyx as yamiche alcindor was asking him. i am ordering general motor producing masks in the coming days. when accepting any responsibility, it is not all his fault. the people want to say it is not all trump's fault. it is hard to ramp up production and find things and put somebody in charge. the administration have made missteps in the supply chain and the testing issue. a lot of governors who were saying thank you for the help today. why was it not there six-week ago. he simply, he's not -- the bucks does not stop there. >> absolutely right. >> one of those excellent reporters who asked a strong question and jeremy diamond is with us right now. reporter jeremy you did an excellent job and deferring to alcindor to let mer aher ask th question. the president did not let her ask the question. you allowed her to ask the question thact was generous. you ask aed a fair question and you were reading the president's own word and instead of re answering your question, he decided to attack you. >> i have been covering president trum

. >> so, accept that the president told yamiche alcindor that everybody who needs a test can get a testor after doctor, after patient after patient, who have symptoms. i had sonny shulkin, the former va secretary and a doctor say that woman should have had a test and she never got a test. the fact is that donald trump thinks that everyone who does meet the criteria for getting a test can get one. that's dishonest and that's causing some sick people to not get the test. >> look, ali, we've got to get past that right now, we know what we should be doing, and that's what we should do. i don't know the situation that you speak of, but i can tell you that if you do feel like you have symptoms, you need to get in touch with your health care provider, your doctor. yes, we do need to get you a test, but most importantly, you need to self-quarantine. if you think you've got symptoms, you need to make sure you're staying away from other people and practicing good personal hygiene, that you're makingi insure you're washing y hands. let's just use common sense through this and not worry so much abo

correspondent for in"new york times," kasie hunt, david brooks, columnist for "the new york times," and yamiche alcindor. welcome to sunday and a special edition of "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history. this is a special edition of "meet the press" with chuck todd. >> good sunday morning. america's recognition of the coronavirus crisis we now face seems to have grown at about the same pace the virus itself has spread. slowly at first and then exponentially. as of this morning, there were rurally 3,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the u.s., resulting in 60 deaths, but there's been very limited testing. gone is the nonsense that this is a hex. gone mostly is the disinformation that this is nothing worse than the flu, and gone is the myth that we're in i inconveniences. president trump's declaration of a emergency calmed the markets but only after it prompted wall street's worst day in more than three decades. i'll talk to dr. anthony fauci. two governors, and two hospital executives at the front line of this crisis, and we hav