On the "NewsHour" tonight: The federal government grapples with the fallout from COVID-19. New

York state sets up a containment zone. And more schools across the country send students

home.

Then: Voters in six states head to the polls, as Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders battle it

out for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Plus: coronavirus and the crown -- to a United Kingdom preparing for the outbreak, where

reactions range from the scrupulous to the skeptical.

GORDON ROBINSON, Mental Health Worker: Football's got to continue. You can't stop things. You

cannot stop your way of living because of a virus that's only killed a few people at

this moment in time.

JUDY WOODRUFF: All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."

(BREAK)

JUDY WOODRUFF: We have two big stories tonight.

We will get to the latest on the coronavirus and the government's response to the spread

across the U.S.

But, first, voters in six states went to the polls, as the race for the Democratic nomination

narrows between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

Here are the results that we are able to share at this hour.

In Michigan, the most contested state in this election tonight, Joe Biden now the projected

winner. Polls have just closed in the state of Michigan.

In Mississippi, Joe Biden also the projected winner.

And in North Dakota, the caucus there closed an hour ago, the results still coming in.

And voting continues for two more hours in Idaho and in Washington state.

There is no question, though, that the state of Michigan is the crown Jewel of this election

night. Both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have put considerable time and resources toward

the Great Lakes State.

So that is where we will begin tonight.

Christy McDonald has been following the Michigan primary. She's a reporter and anchor for our

partners at Detroit Public TV.

So, Christy, the -- we are able to project that Joe Biden is the winner. What do you

attribute it to? You have been following. You have been talking to voters throughout.

CHRISTY MCDONALD, Detroit Public Television: Yes, this is really a blow for Bernie Sanders.

He was trying to build on what he was able to do here in Michigan four years ago, Judy.

But from the voters that we have been talking to in the last several weeks, and especially

since we saw, Super Tuesday, a lot of the candidates get out of the race and coalesce

around Joe Biden, was, who was going to be able to beat Donald Trump in November?

They share a lot of the same feelings, the voters do, about health care, importance there,

the economy, wage stagnation. But, again, everyone is really rallying around the thought

of, we have had three-and-a-half years of a President Trump administration. Who can

beat him in November?

JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you have an understanding, Christy, from talking to voters who supported

Bernie Sanders four years ago, when he did pull out a win over Hillary Clinton? It was

narrow, but he won.

What's happened to that support for him?

CHRISTY MCDONALD: Well, what happened in 2016 in Michigan, it's a very different Michigan

now in 2020.

You have seen a flip in 2018. We took back two congressional seats -- the Democrats did.

And then you saw a Democratic governor come in, as well as a Democratic secretary of state

and attorney general.

And so there has been a real shift in the mind-set here. And it's really looking more

towards electability. So, when they say, Joe Biden, he has been there through the test

of time, he's been here a long time in the Democratic Party, is he going to be the one

who's going to be able to take on Donald Trump and win and end a Trump presidency after four

years?

Bernie Sanders, while he -- again, we talk about how many of the young demographic, the

18 to 35, are big supporters of Bernie Sanders, but he wasn't able to build upon that. He

also has a lot of outreach for Hispanic voters and also for Muslim Americans, who live here

in the state of Michigan, but he wasn't able to expand upon that base.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Christy McDonald, reporting for us from Detroit.

Christy, thank you so much.

CHRISTY MCDONALD: Mm-hmm.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And now on to Mississippi.

It's the only Southern state holding a contest today. Southern states that voted on Super

Tuesday broke for Joe Biden over Bernie Sanders.

And the Associated Press, as we said, is projecting tonight that Mississippi is following suit.

Adam Ganucheau is following the primary there. He is a political reporter for the nonprofit

newsroom at Mississippi Today.

Adam, based on what you see, how do you explain the big win of -- evidently, the big win for

Joe Biden?

ADAM GANUCHEAU, Mississippi Today: Sure.

Like I said earlier in the evening, Mississippi's Democratic primary electorate is close to

75 percent African-American. African-Americans in this state, because, I think, of their

trust in former President Barack Obama and, because of that trust, their trust in former

Vice President Joe Biden, I think that went a long way in this race.

Looking at some exit polls that were conducted, it looks like Joe Biden got roughly 84 percent

of the African-American vote in Mississippi. So, again, knowing that the African-American

electorate makes up three-fourths or close to three-fourths of that Democratic primary

electorate, I think that kind of explains it all here.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It was interesting that Bernie Sanders had a campaign event scheduled in

Mississippi, and he canceled it in order to head to Michigan.

ADAM GANUCHEAU: That's right, yes.

I think a lot of people in the state, when Senator Sanders decided to cancel that visit,

and instead go to Michigan to try to pick up some of the heavy primary voters there,

a lot of people in Mississippi resented that. They thought -- they thought of that as sort

of disrespect in a lot of ways. And that certainly didn't help, I don't think, any rise in Sanders'

candidacy, specifically within that African-American community in Mississippi.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And we should say, Adam, that as much as Joe Biden may be celebrating about

Mississippi tonight, it's a tough hill for him to climb in November, when he's -- if

he's the nominee, up against President Trump.

ADAM GANUCHEAU: That's right.

Here in Mississippi, this is a ruby-red state. It's one of President Trump's strongholds

of any state in the country. This is, like I said, a conservative state. We will definitely

on -- in November, early November, we will be having a conversation about just how well

President Trump did here, undoubtedly.

But, look, I think there are still -- in Mississippi, even, there are moderate voters who may have

not necessarily appreciated some of what President Trump has done in his first three-and-a-half

years in office.

And, certainly, as this year progresses, we will see what happens. But sure, this is certainly

a stronghold for President Trump. And that will play out in November.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Adam Ganucheau with Mississippi Today, thank you, Adam.

And now to Missouri, one of the closest primary contests of the 2016 election cycle. Bernie

Sanders lost the Democratic primary there to eventual nominee Hillary Clinton by less

than half of a percentage point.

Tonight, the Associated Press is projecting that Joe Biden will prevail over Sanders in

Missouri this year.

So, Jason Rosenbaum has been following the contest, a political correspondent for St.

Louis Public Radio.

Jason, it's the Show Me State. What is it that Joe Biden showed to the voters?

JASON ROSENBAUM, St. Louis Public Radio: He showed that Bernie Sanders' campaign for president

may have ended tonight.

And that may seem like hyperbole, but the fact that the Associated Press called Missouri

within two or three minutes, when it was only, as you mentioned, less than a half-a-percentage

point in 2016, showcases that Sanders could not build on the coalition he had in 2016,

and that voters in Missouri and other places that are considered either Midwestern or Southern

states are going toward the former vice president's column.

This is a huge triumph for Biden, and a big psychological defeat for Bernie Sanders.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And we should say that this call was made with just -- it looks like,

from what we were just showing there on the map, just 4 percent of the precincts reporting.

But that means the interviews with voters today and the days leading up to today's vote

strongly suggest that Joe Biden is way out front.

What were voters telling you in the -- Jason, in the days leading up to the primary about

what mattered to them the most as they cast their ballots?

JASON ROSENBAUM: It all came down to which candidate will stack up best against President

Donald Trump.

Missouri is probably not going to be the battleground state it was in 2000, 2004, 2008. But Missouri

Democrats here need a better top-of-the-ticket person than Hillary Clinton. When Hillary

Clinton was at the top of the ticket in 2016, she lost the state by nearly 20 percentage

points.

And that doomed down-ballot candidates like Chris Koster for governor and Jason Kander

for Senate. People like state Auditor Nicole Galloway, who's going to be running in a competitive

race for governor against incumbent Governor Mike Parson,s need someone like Joe Biden

to close that gap in order to win.

So, even though Missouri is not the battleground it used to be, the result tonight, I think,

is heartening for a lot of Missouri Democrats.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Jason Rosenbaum, St. Louis Public Radio, we thank you.

JASON ROSENBAUM: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And all the way out West to Washington state, where voters are still able

to submit their ballots for a little more than an hour-and-a-half. It has the second

biggest pot of delegates up for grabs on this election night.

And Donna Blankinship is keeping track of the primary there. She is the political editor

at KCTS-9 Crosscut. That is the PBS member station based in Seattle.

Donna, when you and I spoke earlier this evening, you were telling me about what voters were

confronted with -- it's a state with mail-in ballots. Earlier in this contest, you had

a number of candidates running, most of whom have dropped out, presenting a dilemma for

a lot of voters.

DONNA BLANKINSHIP, KCTS-9 Crosscut: Right.

I just talked to a bunch of voters yesterday. And they said that they had to make their

second or third choice when they ended up voting. Some of them voted before the candidates

dropped out. So, that's why our pollster thinks -- one of the reasons our pollster thinks

that Joe Biden is probably going to win this election in Washington.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And we also have spoken, Donna, about the fact that Washington state had caucuses,

as well as a primary beauty contest four years ago. This year is just the primary.

DONNA BLANKINSHIP: Right.

JUDY WOODRUFF: How does that affect, do you think, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders in this

contest?

DONNA BLANKINSHIP: Well, it gives us a wider view of what the voters in Washington are

thinking.

The caucuses attracted a small, select group of voters. And a primary has always been more

people showing up. That means that Washington, which has a variety of Democrats in our state,

will -- all their voices will be heard this time.

So it's more likely -- I would just be speculating, I guess that the tendency is to go toward

more a moderate choice. That's probably why Hillary Clinton won the primary last time

around, four years ago, and Bernie Sanders won the caucuses.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Donna Blankinship with KCTS, thank you. We know you are, you and all your

colleagues, dealing so much these days with the coronavirus outbreak which has hit Washington

state so hard.

Donna, thank you very much.

DONNA BLANKINSHIP: Thank you. Thanks for your time.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And now to look at what it all means for the big 2020 picture, I'm here

with Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report, and host of public radio's "Politics With

Amy Walter," and our own Lisa Desjardins.

So, hello to both of you.

You have had all of, what, 10 minutes to digest all of this.

(LAUGHTER)

JUDY WOODRUFF: Amy, what does it all up to, three big calls already for Joe Biden?

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Three big wins, right.

There was a tidal wave that started on Super Tuesday for Joe Biden. The question was, could

that wave keep coming in for him? And the answer, obviously, is yes.

And it is propelled by his big wins in almost every single demographic category.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And what does that mean, Lisa?

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, I mean, I think we're seeing him win urban, suburban, rural, men,

women, black, white, so far tonight.

I also want to give us an update on the delegate count, where we are right now, with these

races called. Right now, Joe Biden, the former vice president, has, according to our count,

715 delegates, Bernie Sanders 584, of course, both a long way off from the 1,991.

But it is that trajectory, the margins that Biden is stacking up that make it harder for

Bernie Sanders.

AMY WALTER: That's right. That's right.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, those are the numbers of delegates you expect Biden to have at the

end of this evening. Is that right? Or as of...

LISA DESJARDINS: I believe including the calls that we have made right now, as of right now.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Including the calls right now.

AMY WALTER: The statewide...

JUDY WOODRUFF: But, Amy, when you say winning every voter group, including young people,

which has been Bernie Sanders' strong...

(CROSSTALK)