Democracy Now!

Mass shutdowns and layoffs due to the spread of COVID-19 are affecting millions of restaurant workers across the U.S., with bars and restaurants closing for the foreseeable future. Servers, bartenders, kitchen staff and more have been left in the lurch, many without paid sick leave, paid time off or benefits. One study estimated 4 million restaurant workers in the U.S. are at risk of losing their jobs in a matter of weeks. For more on the impacts on service workers, we speak with Saru Jayaraman, the co-founder of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and president of One Fair Wage, which has launched an emergency fund to support workers during this time. We also speak with Damani Varnado, a restaurant worker who has worked in catering, fine dining and cocktailing for the past 20 years in New York City. He was working at the restaurant Tiny's & The Bar Upstairs when the whole staff was let go during the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak is a "devastating" blow to an industry that had "severe structural inequality problems that existed long before this crisis," Saru Jayaraman says.

Tuesday night's primary election for the Democratic presidential nomination was marred by chaos, confusion and fears over the spread of coronavirus at polling places as former Vice President Joe Biden consolidated his lead as he won Florida and Illinois by a wide margin and scored a victory in Arizona. We are joined by Vanita Gupta, former head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in the Obama administration, now president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation's oldest and largest civil rights coalition. They issued a call with 100 voting rights groups for states to proceed with elections while protecting public health. We are also joined by Ro Khanna, Democratic congressmember from California and co-chair of Senator Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign.

Amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus at polling places, many Americans stayed home. Nearly one in five households have already experienced a layoff or a reduction in work due to the pandemic. Trump wants to inject more than $1 trillion into the economy and send a $1,000 check to everyone. This comes as the Senate is set to consider a multibillion-dollar package bill passed by the Democrat-led House Monday night that includes significantly weakened paid sick leave measures. We get response from California Congressmember Ro Khanna, who has also co-sponsored a bill for an emergency Earned Income Tax Credit that would give up to $6,000 to everyone who made less than $130,000 last year. His Bay Area district has been hit hard by the coronavirus, and about 7 million residents there have been told to stay home for all but the most crucial outings until April 7.

Global COVID-19 Cases Top 200,000 Worldwide with Over 8,000 Dead, Researchers: Left Unchecked, Coronavirus Could Kill 2.2 Million in U.S. , New Yorkers Prepare to Shelter in Place as Hospitals Face Severe Shortages, Coronavirus Fears Grow for Prisoners and Migrants in ICE Jails, Trump Admin Pushes Economic Stimulus Package Worth Over $1 Trillion, WHO Considers Airborne Precautions for Medical Workers After Coronavirus Found in Aerosols, Rewriting History, Trump Says "I've Always Known" About Pandemic, Internet Providers Drop Data Caps as Calls for Net Neutrality Grow, Biden Wins 3 States as Coronavirus Fears Cause Election Chaos, Sen. Bernie Sanders Outlines $2 Trillion Coronavirus Emergency Plan, Illinois Progressive Marie Newman Defeats Anti-Abortion Incumbent Dan Lipinski, China to Expel U.S. Journalists in Retaliation for Trump-Imposed Restrictions

A teenager's website tracking coronavirus has become one of the most vital resources for people seeking accurate and updated numbers on the pandemic. The URL is nCoV2019.live. We speak with 17-year-old Avi Schiffmann, a high school junior from Mercer Island outside Seattle, who started the site in late December, when coronavirus had not yet been detected outside of China. Now the site has been visited by tens of millions, from every country on Earth. It tracks deaths, numbers of cases locally and globally, and provides an interactive map, information on the disease, and a Twitter feed. The resource updates every minute or so, and pulls information from the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and elsewhere.

As San Francisco takes the most severe measures in the country in response to COVID-19, telling 7 million people to shelter in place, we go inside the Bay Area's San Quentin State Prison, where two prison blocks are under partial quarantine, to speak with incarcerated journalist Juan Moreno Haines. We look at how the coronavirus pandemic is a growing threat to the 2.3 million people locked up in U.S. prisons and jails, as prisons across the country have been shut down in response to the spreading virus and calls grow for mass prison releases around the United States.

Europe is the epicenter of coronavirus, and Spain now has the second most cases in Europe, with more than 2,000 new cases in 24 hours and the number of deaths doubled. We'll go to Madrid for an update, where more than half of the country's cases have been reported. This comes as the Spanish government announced it is nationalizing hospitals and private healthcare companies to better manage the pandemic. We are joined by María Carrión, a freelance journalist and former Democracy Now! producer who is also executive director of FiSahara and co-founder of Nomads HRC, which focus on human rights in Western Sahara.

More Countries Enact Travel Bans, Isolation Measures, as Coronavirus Cases Top 183,000 , U.S. Braces for Spread of Coronavirus as Trump Lauds Gov't Response Despite Severe Lack of Testing, Stock Market Plummets as Trump Acknowledges Economy "May" Be Headed Toward Recession , Fire Kills Young Girl at Refugee Camp in Lesbos, Netanyahu Rival Benny Gantz Asked to Form New Government , U.S. to Pull Out of Several Iraqi Bases After Recent Attacks , Mitch McConnell Urging Conservative Judges to Retire While GOP Still Holds Senate & Presidency, Gunman Kills 5 People at Missouri Gas Station, Maryland Senate Passes Bill to Provide $580 Million to HBCUs

Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders faced off in their first one-on-one debate Sunday night in the midst of an unprecedented national crisis, with 3,600 reported COVID-19 cases, 61 deaths so far, 33 states closing schools and mass shutdowns in major cities. The rivals clashed on how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, Medicare for All, the climate crisis, Joe Biden's record and whether or not the U.S. needs a revolution. We play highlights from the debate and get responses from scholars Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Michael Eric Dyson. Taylor is assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton who has endorsed Sanders, and Dyson is a Georgetown University professor, political analyst and author who has endorsed Biden.

Coronavirus Pandemic Death Toll Tops 6,500 Worldwide, About 170,000 Confirmed Cases, U.S. Coronavirus Cases Reach 3,600 as True Number of Infections Continues to be Unknown, Trump Tests Negative for Coronavirus After Being in Contact with Brazilian Official Infected with COVID-19, States Across U.S. Ramp Up Measures to Control Spread of Coronavirus, Including Massive School, Business Closures, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Rule That Would Have Thrown 700,000 People Off Food Stamps, AOC Confronts ICE Agent at LaGuardia Airport as 6 Migrant Children Detained in Texas Were Relocated to New York, Sanders, Biden Faced Off in First One-on-One Debate as Louisiana & Georgia Postpone Primaries, Rockets Strike U.S. Military Base in Iraq Following U.S. Airstrikes on Iranian-Backed Militia Groups Last Week, 2 Men Accused of Assassinating Brazilian Councilmember & Activist Marielle Franco to Face Jury Trial, Commemoration for 1st Anniversary of Christchurch Mosque Massacre in New Zealand Canceled Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Trump Says He's Considering Pardoning Former Nat'l Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Unhoused Mothers in L.A. Take Over Vacant House, Demand Local Gov't Use Vacant Properties to House People Immediately

It has been seven weeks since the first case of the new coronavirus was reported in the United States. President Trump is claiming, "Anybody that needs a test gets a test," but this is simply untrue. There have been just 11,000 tests so far throughout the United States since the coronavirus outbreak began, compared to nearly 20,000 tests for coronavirus every day in South Korea alone. We spend the hour looking at how the Trump administration has failed to account for what may be thousands of infections because of ongoing problems with access to testing, and how other countries have responded. We also discuss measures people must take to limit their exposure and protect their communities. We speak with Justin Lessler, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is the senior author on a new study that suggests the median incubation period for the new coronavirus is about five days. We are also joined by Dr. Steven Goodman, associate dean at Stanford Medical School, where he is professor of epidemiology and population health and medicine. He is also Amy Goodman's brother. Both schools are now holding classes online over concerns about the outbreak.

Coronavirus Infections Around the Globe Reach 135,000 People, Nearly 5,000 Dead, U.S. Coronavirus Infections Rise to 1,650 as Actual Number Believed to Be Higher, Dow Jones Plummets 10% in Biggest Drop Since 1987 , Trump Administration Faces Backlash for Handling of Coronavirus Outbreak, Testing, Brazilian President Bolsonaro's Aide Tests Positive for COVID-19 Days After Meeting with Trump, Philippines President Duterte Orders Lockdown in Manila Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Advocates Afraid of Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak in Immigration Jails Plagued by Medical Neglect, Democratic Presidential Debate Relocated from Arizona to D.C. over Coronavirus Outbreak, U.S. Launches Air Raids in Iraq Targeting Iran-Backed Militia in Retaliation for Rocket Attack on U.S., British Troops, Judge Orders Immediate Release of U.S. Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning After 1 Year in Jail, Trump Supporter Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison for Threatening to Assault & Murder Rep. Ilhan Omar, U.N. Warns Polar Ice Caps Melting Six Times Faster Than They Were in the 1990s , Outdated Anti-LGBTQ Law in South Carolina Declared Unconstitutional, Colorado Replaces Columbus Day with Holiday Honoring Patron Saint of Immigrants

We get an update from Italy, where 60 million people are under an unprecedented nationwide lockdown and the death toll has increased to at least 827, rising by 31% in just 24 hours. Authorities ordered all shops closed except food markets and pharmacies. Italy's economy has all but ground to a halt, with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte describing the outbreak as the country's "darkest hour." Italian journalist Antonella Serrecchia joins us from Milan, where she is a reporter for the online magazine The Vision.

As the number of coronavirus cases in the United States passes 1,300 cases with 38 deaths, more than 30 million workers lack access to paid sick leave. President Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night, saying he will expand sick leave as part of emergency response to the virus. But the same day, Republican senators blocked an attempt by Senate Democrats to quickly pass legislation requiring employers to grant paid sick leave. Meanwhile, Democrats in the House of Representatives will debate a package of bills Thursday to give workers 14 days of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave. Labor Department data says that one in four workers have no access to paid sick leave, including two-thirds of lowest earners. The U.S. is one of the only wealthy countries that does not require employers to offer its workers paid sick leave. We speak with Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute; Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union; and economist Robert Pollin, co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

After downplaying the threat of coronavirus for days, President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday from the Oval Office, calling COVID-19 a "foreign virus" and announcing an unprecedented travel ban from most of Europe to the U.S. He also said he will expand sick leave. This comes as Senate Republicans blocked paid sick leave legislation. Robert Pollin, distinguished university professor of economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, says the lack of universal healthcare in the U.S. is exacerbating the coronavirus crisis due to "the absurdity that people cannot feel confident that they are going to get medical treatment" when they need it most. In 2018, Pollin co-authored a paper titled "Economic Analysis of Medicare for All." His forthcoming book, co-authored with Noam Chomsky, is "The Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet."

After a disappointing showing in Tuesday night's Democratic presidential primaries, Senator Bernie Sanders said Wednesday he will stay in the race. In his address from Burlington, Vermont, Sanders challenged his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, to address key issues like economic inequality, healthcare access and the climate crisis. Sanders is set to debate Biden this Sunday in Arizona. "It is not just the ideological debate that our progressive movement is winning. We are winning the generational debate," Sanders said. "While Joe Biden continues to do very well with older Americans, especially those people over 65, our campaign continues to win the vast majority of the votes of younger people. … Today, I say to the Democratic establishment, in order to win in the future, you need to win the voters who represent the future of our country, and you must speak to the issues of concern to them."

World Health Organization Declares Coronavirus Pandemic, Top Italian Health Official Among 827 Coronavirus Dead as Italy Faces "Darkest Hour", Iran Condemns U.S. Sanctions as "Medical Terrorism" as Coronavirus Death Toll Hits 429, President Trump Announces Europe Travel Ban in Error-Laden Oval Office Speech, U.S. Labs Face Shortage of Supplies Needed to Test for Coronavirus, Sen. Lamar Alexander Blocks Quick Passage of Paid Sick Leave Bill, School Closures from Coronavirus Affecting Over 1 Million K-12 Students Nationwide, Bernie Sanders Promises to Question Biden Over Progressive Policies at Next Debate, Joe Biden's Brother Faces Fraud Allegations over For-Profit Hospital Ties, Harvey Weinstein Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison for Rape, Sexual Assault, 1 British Medic and 2 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Rocket Attack on Base Near Baghdad, Supreme Court Allows Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy to Stay in Place, Jailed U.S. Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Hospitalized After Suicide Attempt

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has passed 1,000 Tuesday, with the rate of infections likely increasing. Despite this, the U.S. continues to lag on testing, and healthcare workers say they lack adequate protection and protocols to allow them to safely care for infected patients. They also say the country's hospitals are woefully unprepared to handle the crisis. Nurses in the hot zones of California and Washington had already reported having to beg for face masks and lacking guidance on how to address the virus. We are joined by Jean Ross, president of National Nurses United, the largest organization of registered nurses in the United States, which says Centers for Disease Control actually weakened its guidelines on responding to the pandemic by rolling back requirements for protective gear, not requiring infected patients to be in negative pressure isolation rooms at all times, and decreasing healthcare worker protections. In response, nurses with the NNU are holding a national day of action today to demand better protections for healthcare workers and the public. We are also joined by Alicia Garza with the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Black Futures Lab, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, and Naomi Klein, senior correspondent at The Intercept and the inaugural Gloria Steinem chair of media, culture and feminist studies at Rutgers University.

Former Vice President Joe Biden scored decisive primary victories Tuesday night in the key state of Michigan, along with Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho. Sanders won North Dakota and holds a lead in Washington state, but votes are still being counted, and the races are still too close to call. While Biden is less than halfway to the delegates he would need to secure the Democratic nomination, Sanders faces a decision about whether to continue his increasingly uphill fight for the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination. This comes as Biden and Sanders called off their planned campaign rallies in Cleveland on Tuesday because of concerns over the coronavirus, which continues to spread, and Trump announced a new rally. We speak with Naomi Klein, senior correspondent at The Intercept and the inaugural Gloria Steinem chair of media, culture and feminist studies at Rutgers University, and Alicia Garza, strategy and partnerships director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, principal at the Black Futures Lab and a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network.

National Guard Deployed to Coronavirus "Containment Area" Outside New York City, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Bans Public Gatherings of 250+, Classes and Sporting Events Canceled as Coronavirus Spreads Across U.S., Top U.S. Health Official: Start Taking Coronavirus Seriously, Worldwide Coronavirus Cases Top 121,000, Trump Floats $700 Billion Payroll Tax Cut Decried as Stealth Attack on Social Security , Joe Biden Wins Four States Including Michigan, Building Primary Lead Over Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden Threatens Detroit Autoworker, Calls Him "Full of Sh**" in Argument over Guns, Bernie Sanders Calls Long Lines at Michigan Polling Places an "Outrage", Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Intensifies Crackdown on Royal Family, Russian President Vladimir Putin Moves to Remain in Power Until 2036 , U.N. Rights Chief Says U.S. Sanctions Causing Shortages in Venezuela, Saint Paul, MN Teachers Strike for Mental Health Funding and Multilingual Interpreters

As the world responds to the COVID-19 outbreak, we look at how the Trump administration's immigration policies may put everyone at risk. We go to Seattle, Washington, not far from the Life Care Center in the suburb of Kirkland, which was the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. In nearby Tacoma, Washington, our guest says she saw posters in English only when she went to visit immigrants held in the Northwest Detention Center, which is run by private prison company GEO Group. We speak with Maru Mora-Villalpando, an activist and undocumented immigrant with the groups La Resistencia and Mijente, who issued a call for public health inspections of the Northwest Detention Center, due to the danger of coronavirus within the facility, along with other demands for how ICE should respond to the epidemic.

As Italy went on lockdown, nearly 30 prisons across the country broke into riots Sunday and Monday after visitation rights were suspended in response to the outbreak. In a prison in southern Italy, a riot left at least six incarcerated people dead and caused 50 people to escape. Prisoners have reportedly lit fires, charged guards and even escaped at multiple facilities. This comes as the United Nations confirmed that coronavirus had reached Iran's prisons, as the number of cases there continues to soar. Iran has temporarily freed some 70,000 prisoners in response to the coronavirus. And concerns are growing about the health of the at least 1 million Uyghur Muslims jailed in prison camps in western China, where at least 13 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the region of Xinjiang. In the U.S., New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is facing backlash after announcing Monday that New York state would respond to the growing coronavirus outbreak here by producing its own hand sanitizer made by prisoners for less than a dollar an hour. Not only will prisoners be making the 75% alcohol hand sanitizer for an average of 65 cents an hour, it's unclear if they will even be allowed to use it to protect themselves from infection. Items with alcohol are typically considered prisoner contraband. From Houston, we speak to Keri Blakinger, a reporter with The Marshall Project.

The entire country of Italy has been placed on lockdown in an attempt to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, impacting 60 million people. People in the nationwide red zone will only be allowed to travel for work, medical reasons or emergencies until early next month. All schools and universities will also remain closed, major sporting events are suspended, and airline passengers now have to justify their reasons for traveling. We go to Italy to speak with Romy Kool, an international student at Bocconi University in Milan, where courses are now being taught online amid the coronavirus outbreak. We are also joined by epidemiologists Thomas Bollyky with the Council on Foreign Relations and Alfredo Morabia, professor of epidemiology at the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at Queens College, City University of New York, and editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Public Health.

The coronavirus pandemic has now infected more than 113,000 people worldwide, and killed more than 4,000. We are joined by two epidemiologists to examine the response so far around the world and in the United States. Thomas Bollyky is director of the global health program, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the book "Plagues and the Paradox of Progress: Why the World Is Getting Healthier in Worrisome Ways." We're also joined by Alfredo Morabia, professor of epidemiology at the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at Queens College, City University of New York, and editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Public Health.

Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 4,000 with Over 113,000 Confirmed Infections as Italy Goes into Nationwide Lockdown, Six States Head to Polls as Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden Battle for 352 Delegates , Women Strike in Mexico, Take to Streets in Chile and Argentina to Demand Equality and an End to Violence, U.S. Begins Afghan Troop Withdrawal Amid Political Leadership Crisis, New Reports Find Boeing at Fault for Fatal Crashes of Boeing 737 MAX Jets, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Puerto Rican Revolutionary, Dies at 89, 2020 Izzy Awards Honor Journalist Matt Taibbi, News Inside and The Center for Investigative Journalism

Erik Prince, the founder of the mercenary firm Blackwater and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, helped recruit former spies to infiltrate and gather intelligence about Democratic campaigns and labor organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers, according to an explosive report by The New York Times. The story exposes previously unreported details about the ties between Prince and Project Veritas, a right-wing group that often sets up sting operations targeting the media and journalists by recording covert videos. According to documents and interviews, one former spy recruited by Erik Prince helped run an operation to secretly tape leaders in the Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers in 2017. In another instance, in 2018, the same undercover operative who gathered information about the AFT infiltrated the congressional campaign of former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger, who was running for Congress representing Virginia as a Democrat. We are joined by The Intercept's investigative reporter Matthew Cole, who first broke the story of Erik Prince's ties to the Trump administration last year.

Washington Post reporter Craig Whitlock has just won a George Polk Award for Military Reporting for his in-depth investigation called "The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War." He joins us to describe how, after getting a tip, he fought for three years to get the federal government to release a trove of confidential interviews it conducted with people directly involved in the nearly two-decade-long war. He ultimately obtained more than 2,000 documents that revealed how presidents, generals and diplomats across three administrations had intentionally misled the American public about the longest war in U.S. history.

Since last month's U.S.-Taliban peace plan, there have been nearly 80 attacks in Afghanistan. The violence could derail the deal that calls for U.S. troops to withdraw over the next 14 months. This comes as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and top political leader Abdullah Abdullah both claimed that they won the presidential election at dual inauguration ceremonies today in Kabul, and members of the Taliban and the Afghan government were set to start direct negotiations on Tuesday. We speak with Washington Post reporter Craig Whitlock, who recently won the George Polk Award for Military Reporting for his in-depth investigation called "The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War."

Coronavirus Cases Surge Worldwide, But True Numbers in U.S. Unknown Due to Lack of Testing, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders Rack Up Endorsements, Appeal to Voters Ahead of New Wave of Voting, NYT: Erik Prince Recruited Spies to Infiltrate Democratic Campaign and Teachers' Union, Tensions High in Lesbos as Asylum Center Burns Down, Greek Authorities Attack Refugees, Millions Take to Streets Around the World for International Women's Day, Guatemalan Woman Dies in ICE Custody, Trump Taps Rep. Mark Meadows as New Chief of Staff, House Dems Ask Court to Reconsider Enforcing Subpoena for Don McGahn, Bernie Sanders Releases Reproductive Justice Plan, Hachette Drops Woody Allen Memoir After Backlash from Staff, Ronan Farrow

The makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court has come under intense criticism in recent years after two Trump-nominated justices joined the bench. Senate Republicans confirmed Neil Gorsuch in 2017 after having refused to consider President Barack Obama's nominee in his final year in office, and they confirmed Brett Kavanaugh a year later despite multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against the judge. During the 2020 Democratic presidential contest, several candidates floated the idea of "packing the court" — appointing more than nine justices — in order to counter the court's rightward drift. But while the current Supreme Court often earns the ire of progressive lawmakers and activists, our guest Adam Cohen says it has actually been a force for injustice for the last 50 years, despite what Americans are taught about the court's role in protecting the rights of marginalized people. "The Supreme Court — which is an institution that we think of as the bastion of fairness, the advocate for the underdog — has actually been a major driver of inequality," says Cohen. His new book is "Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court's Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America."

Senator Elizabeth Warren suspended her bid for the presidency Thursday, leaving the 2020 Democratic presidential race down to two older white men: former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. Warren's decision to end her campaign comes after she failed to perform as well as she had hoped in early primary states and on Super Tuesday, including placing third in her home state of Massachusetts. Warren gave no indication whether she will endorse either of her former rivals. Supporters of Sanders say they hope she will throw her support behind their candidate in order to form a united "progressive front" and take on powerful corporate forces now lined up behind Biden. Six more states are set to hold presidential primaries and caucuses on March 10, including delegate-rich states of Michigan, Washington and Missouri. We get response from Raquel Willis, a journalist and activist and former executive editor of Out magazine who had endorsed Elizabeth Warren for president. We are also joined by Norman Solomon, co-founder and national coordinator of RootsAction.org, which is supporting Bernie Sanders,

3,500 Cruise Ship Passengers Quarantined Off California Coast over Coronavirus Fears, Seattle Area Residents Urged to Work from Home as Coronavirus Spreads Across U.S., World Health Organization's Coronavirus Warning: "This Is Not a Drill", Stocks Tumble as Coronavirus Rattles Global Economy, Sen. Elizabeth Warren Suspends 2020 Presidential Bid, Bernie Sanders Campaign Rally Disrupted by Protester with Nazi Flag, Russia and Turkey Agree to a Ceasefire in Syria's War-Torn Idlib, Israel Accused of Collective Punishment After Demolishing Palestinian Homes, Israeli Opposition Parties Bidding to Unseat Netanyahu After Inconclusive Elections, Secretary of State Pompeo Condemns Probe of U.S. War Crimes in Afghanistan, Cameroonian Asylum Seekers Transferred After Protesting Conditions in ICE Custody, Alabama Executes Prisoner Who Professed Innocence, After Supreme Court Denies Stay

Long wait times plagued polling places in Texas throughout Super Tuesday, especially in districts with high numbers of black and Latinx voters and college students. Many voters reported waiting in line for more than three hours to cast a ballot. At least 750 Texas polling sites have been shuttered since 2013, when the Supreme Court slashed federal oversight of Texas and other Southern states under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. There were long lines, too, in Los Angeles, where many polling places reported problems with a brand-new $300 million voting system. The Sanders campaign sued to keep polling places open an extra two hours, saying voters were denied their constitutional right. The county registrar denied that request. For more, we speak with Ari Berman, senior writer at Mother Jones magazine and author of "Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America."

On Wednesday, House lawmakers passed an $8.3 billion emergency spending package for combating coronavirus, as the death toll from coronavirus has reached 11 in the United States. California recorded its first coronavirus death yesterday. The virus has also spread to New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a directive requiring health insurers to waive cost sharing for coronavirus tests. We go to two ground zeroes of the COVID-19 outbreak — New York and Seattle — and host a roundtable on whether coronavirus presents a clear argument for healthcare for all. We are joined by Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a primary care physician and the co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program; New York state Senator Alessandra Biaggi, who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester, where four people have been diagnosed with coronavirus; Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York and co-founder of the Health Care for All New York campaign; and Kshama Sawant, socialist city councilmember in Seattle, where a ninth person has died from the virus.

Coronavirus Cases Near 100,000 Worldwide as U.S. Death Toll Reaches 11, President Trump Contradicts WHO's Warning over Coronavirus Death Rate, Billionaire Mike Bloomberg Ends Presidential Bid, Endorses Joe Biden, Bernie Bashes Biden's Billionaire Backers as Healthcare Stocks Surge Post-Super Tuesday, International Criminal Court to Investigate Taliban, Afghan and U.S. Troops for War Crimes, 15 Civilians Killed in Latest Syrian Airstrikes in Idlib, Turkey Accuses Greece of Killing Migrant as Greek Riot Police Fire Tear Gas at Border, EU Ministers Support Greek Crackdown on Asylum Seekers Despite Protests, Federal Court Lengthens Stay on Its Ruling Against Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy, Tropical Rainforests on Pace to Become Net Carbon Emitters, Brazilian Officials Blame Climate Change as Landslides Kill at Least 29, Alabama Set to Execute Nathaniel Woods, Despite Evidence of Innocence, SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments in Challenge to Louisiana Anti-Choice Law

Following his Super Tuesday wins, we look closely at the record of former Vice President Joe Biden, from his central role in supporting the Iraq War to expanding the so-called war on drugs. We speak with Branko Marcetic, the author of "Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden." Biden's approach to politics is based on "appeasing the right" and "taking the platform of his Republican opponent and trying to make it his own," Marcetic says.

On Super Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden swept the South and Midwest, winning Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas, propelled by a huge majority of African-American votes in several states. We host a roundtable discussion on the results with Barbara Ransby, historian, author and activist; Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and president of Repairers of the Breach; and Elie Mystal, the justice correspondent for The Nation.

The biggest voting day of the Democratic presidential primary has ended in a two-person race between former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. With more than a third of delegates at stake, Biden swept the Midwest and the South, winning Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas. Sanders saw victories in Colorado, Utah, his home state of Vermont, and the grand prize of the night, California, where Latinx voters account for nearly 40% of the population. His campaign had 23 field offices in the state. Latinx voters could also play a key role in upcoming primaries in Arizona and Florida. We are joined by Chuck Rocha, a senior adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign who has been called the architect of Sanders's campaign strategy to mobilize Latinx voters.

Bernie Sanders Wins California as Joe Biden Sweeps the South on Super Tuesday, GOP's Jeff Sessions Faces Runoff in Bid to Reclaim Alabama Senate Seat, Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar Narrowly Beats Progressive Challenger Jessica Cisneros, San Diego Progressive Georgette Gómez to Face Billionaire Heiress Sara Jacobs for CA House Seat, Health Officials Warn Coronavirus Is Far Deadlier Than the Flu, Syrian Forces Recapture Strategic City as Turkey Shoots Down Syrian Warplane, Iranian Security Forces Killed 23 Children During November Protests, At Least 24 Killed as Tornadoes Lash Central Tennessee, Wells Fargo Says It Won't Invest in Arctic Oil and Gas Drilling, Clearview AI Probed for Selling Facial Recognition Software to Repressive Regimes, White House to Require Trump Loyalty Test for Political Appointees, Virginia Becomes 20th State to Ban LGBTQ "Conversion Therapy", Ronan Farrow Blasts Hachette for Publishing Woody Allen's Memoir, Mexican Feminists Planning National Strike Against Femicide

Millions of voters in 14 states are heading to the polls today for Super Tuesday, as Democratic centrists coalesce around former Vice President Joe Biden as their best shot to defeat front-runner Bernie Sanders. Just ahead of the most decisive day of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar suspended her campaign and endorsed Biden on Monday. Her endorsement came one day after former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race. Both joined Biden on the campaign trail in Texas on Sunday. This comes as former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg — who has also presented himself as an alternative to Sanders — will be on the ballot for the first time, after passing half a billion dollars in campaign ad spending last week. Super Tuesday could also prove decisive for Elizabeth Warren, whose home state of Massachusetts heads to the polls today. We speak with Ryan Grim, D.C. bureau chief for The Intercept. His recent book is titled "We've Got People: From Jesse Jackson to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement."

Today people in 14 states and American Samoa go to the polls for Super Tuesday. About a third of the delegates needed to secure the Democratic presidential nomination are at stake. This comes after former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar dropped out of the race on Sunday and Monday and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden. As the race heats up, billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg vowed to stay in the race. This will be the first time he is on the ballot, and while he has not won a single race, he does lead his challengers in one key sense: he leads in campaign spending by a wide margin. He recently crossed the $500 million mark in ad spending alone — more than 10 times that of any of his Democratic rivals. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders remains the front-runner. We host a debate on Sanders versus Bloomberg with Cornel West, professor of the practice of public philosophy at Harvard University, who has endorsed Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary and is his surrogate, and Congressmember Bobby Rush of Illinois, who is national co-chair for the Mike Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign. Rush has served in office for more than two decades — since 1992. He got his start as a civil rights activist in the 1960s. His background includes being both a co-founder of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers and the only member of the Democratic Party to have defeated Barack Obama in an election, in the 2000 Democratic congressional primary.

Super Tuesday Kicks Off as Moderate Dems Coalesce in Support of Joe Biden, 6 Dead in Washington from Coronavirus, as Criticism Mounts over CDC Handling of Outbreak, U.S. to Start Troop Withdrawal as Taliban Vows to Resume Attacks and Afghan Gov't Rejects Prisoner Swap, Migrant Child Drowns Off Greek Coast, Refugees Attacked as Asylum Crisis Deepens, Iraqi Power Vacuum as Caretaker PM and Designated Successor Both Walk Away from Post, Benjamin Netanyahu Holds Lead Over Rival Benny Gantz But Falls Short of Outright Majority, Report: 80,000+ Uyghur Muslims Forced into Factory Labor for Nike, Apple, Revolutionary Nicaraguan Priest and Poet Ernesto Cardenal Dies at 95, SCOTUS to Hear Case That Could Determine Fate of Obamacare, SCOTUS to Decide First Major Abortion Case Since Trump's Conservative Justices Joined Bench, Argentina Set to Become Largest Latin American Country to Legalize Abortion, Chris Matthews Resigns After String of Controversies, Accusations of Sexist Behavior, ICE Transfers Cameroonian Migrant Prisoners in Retaliation for Protest, Interior Dept. Official Peppers Reports with Lies About Climate Change, Husband of Los Angeles DA Threatens, Points Gun at Black Lives Matter Activists

The official coronavirus death toll in Iran, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, has risen to at least 54 — the highest number of fatalities outside of China, where the outbreak began. Experts say the real number of people who died from the disease may be as high as 200. This comes after Iran's deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, posted a video on social media last week acknowledging he contracted coronavirus. Just one day before, he seemed ill at a press conference, where he downplayed the spread of coronavirus in the city of Qom and said mass quarantines were unnecessary. Iranian authorities announced new efforts to combat the coronavirus on Sunday, calling on people not to use public transportation, and closing schools, universities and cultural centers. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak an international health emergency. We speak with Dr. Kamiar Alaei, Iranian global health policy expert and co-founder and co-president of the Institute for International Health and Education. He is a visiting professor at the University of Oxford.

A wave of young progressives are campaigning in races across the U.S., following in the footsteps of Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who unseated a 10-term incumbent Democrat in New York City two years ago. A key candidate to watch is 26-year-old Jessica Cisneros, who is running in a South Texas Democratic primary to replace Rep. Henry Cuellar, one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress. The 64-year-old centrist is backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Cisneros has branded him "Trump's favorite Democrat" because he voted with Donald Trump nearly 70% of the time. Much of the outside support pouring into the contentious race has been for Cuellar, who received at least $40,000 from the conservative Koch brothers' political action committee and has major support from pharmaceutical companies. In contrast, Cisneros supports Medicare for All, the Green New Deal and "creating a humane border and immigration policy." She has also been endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. We speak with Jessica Cisneros, an immigration attorney who is running for Congress along the border in South Texas. We also invited Cuellar to join us, but he declined.

British Judge Vanessa Baraitser has suspended the extradition hearing for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange until mid-May. This comes after four days of intense deliberations last week between Assange's legal team and attorneys representing the United States government. Assange faces 18 charges of attempted hacking and breaches of the Espionage Act for his role in publishing classified documents exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. He could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. Assange has been held in London's Belmarsh prison since last April, when he was removed from the embassy by British police. We speak with Jennifer Robinson, a human rights attorney who has been advising Julian Assange and WikiLeaks since 2010.

The U.S. has signed a deal with the Taliban aimed at drawing down its military presence and ending its 18-year war in Afghanistan. The long-anticipated deal comes after a year and a half of negotiations and following a week-long partial truce. Officials hope the accord will set the stage for a more detailed peace plan that creates a power-sharing arrangement and lasting ceasefire, but the deal did not include a key player: the U.S.-backed Afghanistan government. The Taliban has long refused to speak to the government, calling it a "puppet regime." Under the deal, nearly 5,000 of the 12,000 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan will leave the country in 135 days. The rest of the troops will withdraw 14 months later, if the Taliban comply with the terms of the agreement. We discuss details of the deal with Azmat Khan, award-winning investigative reporter, a New York Times Magazine contributing writer and a Future of War fellow at New America.

U.S. Sees First 2 Coronavirus Deaths in Washington as Cases Worldwide Mount, U.S. and Taliban Sign Deal Aimed at Ending 18-Year War, Joe Biden Claims Decisive South Carolina Victory, Buttigieg & Steyer Drop Out Ahead of Super Tuesday, North Korea Fires Projectiles as It Carries Out Military Drill, Study Reveals No Fraud in 2019 Bolivian Election That Ousted Evo Morales, Voters in Israel Go to Polls for 3rd Time in Under a Year, Greece Attacks Refugees After Turkey Loosens Restrictions on Border, Assange Extradition Hearings Suspended Until May, Wet'suwet'en Chiefs in Talks with Canadian Ministers as Fight Against Pipeline Continues, Cayuga Nation Condemns Destruction of School and Other Structures on Indigenous Land, Trump to Nominate Rep. Ratcliffe for DNI After Lawmakers Found He Was Underqualified in 2019, Court Rules Trump Appointment of USCIS Head Ken Cuccinelli Unlawful, Court Rules Against Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy, Then Stays Decision, Climate Activists Win Landmark Victory in Oregon After Presenting Necessity Defense, Over 80 Student Workers at UC Santa Cruz Fired for Striking for Living Stipend, Harry Belafonte, Icon & Activist, Turns 93

In New Jersey, hundreds rallied at the New Brunswick Board of Education meeting Tuesday night against plans to demolish a public school to make way for Robert Wood Johnson Hospital and Rutgers University to build a new cancer center. Protesters included families and more than 30 children, who held signs reading "Save our School!" and "Stop Gentrification." If approved, 760 third-through-eighth-graders at Lincoln Annex School would be moved to a former warehouse building on the outskirts of town as they await construction of a replacement school. Even worse, the proposed new school site is located on a "brownfield site" with possible contamination from hazardous chemicals. We speak with Democracy Now! co-host and Rutgers professor Juan González, who has been following the fight closely.

Thousands in the Dominican Republic took to the streets of the capital Santo Domingo Thursday to protest the abrupt suspension of local elections earlier this month and to commemorate the country's Independence Day. Protests have been ongoing since February 16, after the government suspended the municipal elections four hours after voting began, alleging there were "technical glitches" in the electronic ballot machines used. The machines were previously used in October 2019, and they cost the Dominican government $19 million. The Dominican people believe the alleged technical glitch is just an attempt by the ruling party, the Dominican Liberation Party, to hold onto power as they've lost support. Protesters are now demanding an independent investigation into what happened in the local elections, as well as for the resignation of Dominican election board officials. Dozens of solidarity protests have emerged around the world, from Spain and France to New Jersey and here in New York City. We get an update from Amanda Alcántara, Dominican-American journalist and digital media editor at "Latino USA."

A new report by Médecins Sans Frontières — or Doctors Without Borders USA — shows how migration policies imposed by the United States and Mexico have trapped thousands of Central American migrants in dangerous conditions. Called "No Way Out," it is based on nearly 500 interviews with Central American migrants and asylum seekers, most of whom say they were victims of extreme violence prior to leaving their home country or along the migration route through Mexico. Because of the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols, which serve to deter immigration, asylum seekers are often forced to remain in Mexico, where they are often targeted by criminal groups.