this is cnn breaking news. >> all right. it's the top of the hour. good morning. i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm jim sciutto. the breaking news this morning, president trump addressing the nation at 6:00 p.m. tonight as the coronavirus spreads around the world. the president set to be briefed on the virus in just hours. this as a top infectious disease doctor says we're inching closer and closer to a pandemic. and one day after the centers for disease control says americans should be prepared now

for a crisis. >> the administration now weighing additional travel restrictions to try to stop or at least contain the spread of the virus in the united states. markets here and around the world again just battered. we have a lot of headlines to get to. let's begin at the white house with our correspondent there, jeremy diamond. the president brushing this off in india as under control. larry kudlow saying as much yesterday. but now addressing the nation tonight, having a press conference at 6:00. >> that's right, poppy. it appears the president has returned to washington where he is watching what's going on around him, and he is seeing lawmakers battering his administration officials both republicans and democrats and he's also watching what's happened over the last few days on wall street. and we're told that the economy has been the driving factor in the president's exacerbating concerns about his administration's handling of coronavirus. initially the president yesterday downplayed the situation with coronavirus saying it's under control going to go away and he also downplayed that market sell-off

of a thousand points on monday. that was at the urging of at least one particular aide and that's jared kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser. of course, that is the president's tactic frequently is to downplay developments like this and then when he sees it's spiraling out of control, the president tries to jump in and take control of the situation, change the narrative. that's perhaps what we're going to see from the president later today when he has this news conference at 6:00 p.m. eastern time. before that, though, the president is expected to meet privately with his administration officials who were handling the coronavirus epidemic. and that's where we're told the president may be weighing these additional travel restrictions that are currently under consideration. but again, the economy is the driving factor for the president here, particularly in a re-election year where he's banking on a strong economy to help deliver him four more years. guys, back to you. >> the question is, what are the facts about this virus? that's the most important thing. jeremy diamond, thanks very much. lauren fox joins us now on

the hill. senate minority leader chuck schumer talking about $8.5 billion. this is seven times what the white house was requesting as soon as a couple of days ago. >> well, you're exactly right, jim. the white house requested $2.5 billion but only $1.25 billion of it was actually new money. the other funds were basically where they were going to move funding around to make sure that the coronavirus was covered. but yesterday, on capitol hill, republicans and democrats alike were really taken aback by the briefing that they got. members coming out of that briefing said that they had concerns that the trump administration was not ready to handle any potential pandemic. and while there are concerns about whether or not there are enough face masks in the united states, for health care providers, there are also concerns about the speed of when this vaccine would be ready. remember, the president said yesterday that he believed it could be ready very soon. but lawmakers on capitol hill are saying, no, they heard 12 to

18 months yesterday in that briefing. so chuck schumer this morning coming out with a proposal for $8.5 billion. that sets up a big spending fight on capitol hill about how lawmakers are going to deal with containing the coronavirus. jim and poppy? >> lauren, thank you very much for all of that. so many questions to be answered by the administration. we're just minutes from the opening bell on wall street. let's get straight to our chief business correspondent christine romans. 2,000 points off the dow. $1.7 trillion in stock market value erased in a matter two of days. what does today hold? >> well, you can see the futures are struggling to try to find some footing to stabilize. there's two choices. either you have investors who say we're going to gun here for a correction, 10% down in stocks from the most recent high. about 2 percentage points away from there or they see a buying opportunity. it's just not clear. this is the beginning of some stock market retrenchment on a global health crisis or an overreaction. you just don't know here.

one thing that's interesting to look at is the global mark eema. european shares were also down. there isn't this feeling of oh, this was overdone and we want to get in there and start buying. it's because of the lack of information and lack of clarity about the extent of the coronavirus. it could be that it's an overreaction. but investors just don't know. and when you look at the bond market, what i see in the bond market, a record low on the ten-year note yield. it's telling us there's a global flight to safety. money coming out of stock markets around the world and going into u.s. bonds because that is a safe place to wait out the storm. so it's still -- fear is still the number one story here for stock market investors, guys. >> the big question will be, how much does the chinese economy slow down. how does that affect europe, the u.s.? we'll be watching that closely. christine romans, thank you. joining us, dr. celine go d gounder. she hosts two podcasts, american

diagnosis and epidemic. you're in effect on the front lines of this. part of a team at bellevue that's preparing to treat coronavirus. you hear the president here downplaying, saying everything is going to be fine. we're prepared. you hear other doctors saying we've got a lot more work to do. what's the reality on the ground? >> there's been tremendous reluctance to call this a pandemic. it's time to say it's a pandemic. what is the impact going to be on the dow, on financial markets, on -- in terms of political blowback. you've been hearing dr. fauci at nih say we're on the verge. we need to start changing our response now. >> can you help people understand what pandemic actually means and what it would mean for the united states? can pandemics be in one country and not another or are they global? >> a pandemic is a novel virus that is spreading rapidly across different continents and it is spreading within communities. so we've seen that now. we've seen that in south korea, in the middle east, we're seeing that in europe. we may not --

>> but not here. haven't seen the secondary cases here. >> and part of the issue there is we don't have the testing capacity style. we're behind south korea in terms of our testing. if the cdc still hasn't released tests to local public health departments. we don't have private labs producing tests. the fda hasn't done anything to encourage private labs to do that. >> so of course, this started in china, where the most cases and deaths have been and where the most draconian response has been. 780 million people under some sort of travel restriction, stay in their home, and we noted the w.h.o., the world health organization, and they have a joint project with china. they said, it's the unanimous assessment of the team that they, this being china, have changed the course of this outbreak. what was rapidly escalating has plateaued and gone down faster than one would have expected. can we say, and i know it's early and popping up in other countries, but can we say the measures taken there helped hem in perhaps this virus?

>> well, i would absolutely agree with that. the chinese have a sophisticated health care system. they have world class basic lab scientists. and it's an authoritarian regime. >> you can't do what they did. >> we showed the video of like drones flying over people's heads saying put your mask on. it's remarkable. >> and i think the way we need to look at it, they bought us time. we should not be squandering that time but we need to start doing the things you do to control a pandemic. we haven't really done those things. >> so the president is going to take questions tonight. it's a good thing at 6:00, this press conference. what's the number one question you'd ask him? >> what are we going to do to help employers and school districts, frankly, keep people at home? what are we going to do for people who really need to be staying home, working from home. what is that going to mean for wage workers who are paid by the hour? maybe your local bodega or grocery store. >> you are saying that is a recommended step in this? that's what we saw china do. more than double the population

of the u.s. was in effect under those restrictions with enormous economic consequences. we may reach a point where people watching might be told don't go to work today? don't go to school today? >> we need to be making plans for that. if you have to close down schools, are you going to be able to do some of this remotely? what are you going to do for child care? these are the things we need to be planning for now and we're behind the 8 ball on that. >> when you listen to the two different statements from the cdc yesterday, the one at 12:00 noon that said this may be overwhelming and a disruption to everyday life may be severe. and then three hours later at 3:00, the cdc says we believe the imminent risk here remains low. what are the american people -- which one should the american people believe? >> they're both true. >> but it was a real turn in tone, don't you think? >> i think it depends on who you're worried about. are you worried about yourself? are you worried about the elderly who might die from this? are you worried as a health care worker about the massive influx of patients you're going to see.

those are different questions. i think for the average american, this is going to be a big inconvenience. yes, you'll take a financial hit in terms of your 401(k). but i think the people who most need to be worried are the elderly, especially people over 65, and health care workers. >> that's where we've seen the concentration of many of the fatalities from this in other countries. dr. gounder, thank you very much. very helpful. we'll bring you all the information as we have it. we'll be following the developments later this morning as well, including as the president speaks. just moments from now on another story we're following, james clyburn, congressman from south carolina, is expected to announce his influential endorsement of a candidate in the democratic primary. lots of candidates want that endorsement. we'll learn in minutes who got it. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. flonase.

fidelity now has zero commissions for online u.s. equity trades and etfs. and fidelity also offers zero account fees for brokerage accounts, plus zero minimums to open an account. and only fidelity offers four zero expense ratio index funds directly to investors. with all of those zeros, there are zero reasons to invest anywhere else. fidelity. ♪ so maybe i'll win ♪ saved by zero it would've saved me a lotspen of money that i spent. my family has bad teeth. when you're not able to smile you become closed off. the meaning of a smile to me is the beginning of a conversation. the best advice i can give anyone...

...is don't wait. at aspen dental, we're all about yes. like yes to free exam and x-rays for new patients without insurance. yes to flexible hours and payment options. and yes, you'll start smiling more too. don't wait, book at aspendental.com or call today. a general dentistry office. apps except work.rywhere... why is that? is it because people love filling out forms? maybe they like checking with their supervisor to see how much vacation time they have. or sending corporate their expense reports.

i'll let you in on a little secret. they don't. by empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. to learn more, visit paycom.com people, our sales now appla new low!10 frames. at visionworks, our sales are good on all of our frames. why are you so weird? use your tax return and get 50% off any pair. visionworks. see the difference.

in moments, perhaps in the next minute, we'll hear a key endorsement in south carolina. house majority whip jim clyburn

will be speaking shortly. his support in this race could give one candidate a major boost ahead of saturday's primary there. and with that contest just days away there is no time to play nice on the debate stage last night. it was messy, to say the least. >> for sure. bernie sanders was finally treated like the front-runner that he is and attacked over and over again. several of his rivals making the case to stop him now or risk what they deem to be an electoral bloodbath in november with a self-proclaimed democratic socialist on the ballot. joining us, senior washington correspondent jeff zeleny. good morning, jeff. >> reporter: good morning. no question what a bruising night. today at least, joe biden is expecting to receive shortly the endorsement from congressman james clyburn. of course, the number three democrat in the house of representatives. the highest ranking african-american elected official. he is counting on that endorsement here to propel him through into the south carolina primary on saturday. but, boy, back to that debate last night, all the knives were

out for bernie sanders coming from every single direction as his rivals tried to slow the momentum that senator sanders has coming into the south carolina primary and into super tuesday next week. but sanders stood tall through all of it. take a listen. >> i think i would make a better president than bernie. >> imagine spending the better part of 2020 with bernie sanders versus donald trump. >> bernie, in fact, hasn't passed much of anything. >> i do not think this is the best person to lead the ticket. >> you know, joe has voted for terrible trade agreements. i will tell you what the american people want and joe what the american people want, they don't want candidates to be running to billionaires for huge amounts of funding. >> so there's no question it was a messy night to say the least on the debate stage. donald trump was barely mentioned. but, look, when you sort through all of that, sitting there

through it, bernie sanders, sure, he took a lot of incoming but still remains the strongest candidate in this race. the question is about joe biden. he had one of the strongest debate performances so far. it was the -- he needs to do well here in south carolina and he's counting on that endorsement from clyburn to try and push him into south carolina. then the question is, what does that mean going into super tuesday next week. bernie sanders still has so much momentum here. but mike bloomberg also, certainly a stronger debate performance than last week. it's so much harder debating than running all those tv ads, even his aides will agree to that. >> challenge in the moment. no question. jeff zeleny, thanks. let's speak about all of this with jen psalki and errol lewis. biden is expecting to receive this endorsement of james clyburn. how influential is that in south carolina? >> it's a very big deal. one of the reasons james clyburn

is one of the most powerful people in the country is he picks winners. not necessarily winners who make it all the way to the white house but winners who can win south carolina so that his endorsement is much kofcoveted sought after. he pulled this really surprise endorsement of barack obama, and it was a big, big deal. not just for obama, sort of helped him on his way to the white house, but a big deal for james clyburn. bucked the clinton establishment. he's a very wise and very shrewd political figure. for him to select joe biden means, if nothing else, joe biden is probably going to win south carolina. >> and joe biden knew he had to pull it off last night because clyburn waited to make the endorsement until this morning which is also telling given his history with biden. and you saw biden come to play last night. >> that's right. i think that was certainly in the back of his mind that james clyburn would be watching, that he is a hugely influential and powerful figure in south carolina.

democratic politics. and he wanted and needs his endorsement. to add to what errol said, it's an important time for joe biden to get this endorsement. it would be reaffirming for people who are leaning towards joe biden who have long been supporting him, and now this may be reaffirming for them. but there is a kind of divide in the african-american community in south carolina. and it will probably be more influential with older african-americans, maybe with african-american women than it will be with some of the younger african-americans who have been stalwart bernie sanders supporters. it's not going to swing the entire population but it's an important endorsement coming at an important time for joe biden. >> these folks don't -- no one moves in blocks, right? there's no monolith. listen, the debate last night was messy. it was contentious. i do want to highlight a moment for pete buttigieg on the question of race which is, of course, front and center in south carolina because of so many african-american voters because it was, in the midst of

this, a thoughtful moment. have a listen and i want to get your reaction. >> i come to this with some humility because i'm conscience of the fact there's seven white people on this stage talking about racial justice. none of us -- [ applause ] none of us have the experience, the lived experience of, for example, walking down the street or in a mall and feeling eyes on us, regarding us as dangerous without knowing the first thing about us just because of the color of our skin. >> errol louis, no one is going to win the general election without strong support from african-american voters. did pete buttigieg get it right on that point last night? >> he said things that needed to be said and said them in the right way. as he said, he used the word humility. i'm not going to pretend that i can put myself in the shoes of somebody else who has inherited centuries of racial discrimination. on the other hand, if i'm

president, i have to understand it. i have to be able to talk about it and sort of guide us through policies that will ameliorate some of the problems. and he said the bare minimum that you have to say. he got the language right, which is important. and i would attribute that to some of the advisers around him who walked him through what had been disastrous outings when he's tried to talk about race in the past. >> jen, i think we saw one of bernie sanders' biggest vulnerabilities on the stage last night which is actually his past past votes on guns, whether it was five times against the brady bill but also not that 15 years ago, the 2005 law that he voted for that gives immunity to gun manufacturers from mass shootings. and his answer to that was, it was a bad vote and joe biden voted for the iraq war. was it sufficient? >> for people who care deeply about that issue, i don't think it was sufficient. you know, he's somebody who has a scattered record on this issue. his answer also included the explanation that he changed his positioning once it wasn't

politically palatable to be in the place he was on guns which doesn't sit well with anyone. and it's surprising, too, because this has been one of bernie sanders' vulnerabilities, back to 2016. he's had time to develop a better answer for it. yes, he's in a better place on that issue now for people who care deeply about gun safety, but, you know, i still think his answer needs some work. and he still has work to do to prove to women in suburbs, women who are sending their kids to school and doing gun drills at 4 and 5 years old that he really cares deeply about this issue and is going to take real steps on it. i don't think he crossed that bar last night. >> it was interesting to hear him compliment mike bloomberg on that action. >> a lot of people in vermont are in favor of gun rights. look at gillibrand's experience in the house. a gun-friendly district. the classic, i was for it or against it before i was for it or however you line that up. errol, we see north charleston, south carolina, where we're waiting the house majority whip

james clyburn's endorsement here. as jeff zeleny was reporting, the biden camp at least expecting they'll win that endorsement. let's talk errol louis, just bigger race for a moment. if, say, biden wins in south carolina and in some degree his firewall as he's described it among african-american voters holds up, how much does that change this race going into super tuesday. does it take away the sort of unchallenged front-runner status for bernie sanders? >> it keeps him in the race for one thing. he built up -- joe biden built up such expectations around his performance in south carolina that anything short of a convincing win is going to be a real, real problem for him. if he does make it past saturday with a convincing win, he's got the wind at his back going into super tuesday where, god only knows what's going to happen because it is such a gigantic terrain. to think about north carolina and texas and california, all on the same day.

1700-plus delegates at stake. unless joe biden has a plan we haven't seen to pull this off by some means other than a big, convincing win and some free media coming out of saturday, he could be in sort of the same problem -- he could have the same problem that he started out with, which is that he's falling behind in the delegate count and has to win some states. >> so this announcement is imminent as you can see by all the people lined up there just waiting for congressman clyburn. we'll get a quick break. we'll be back with this on the other side. stay with us. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ don't get mad. get e*trade, dawg. sales tax, real estate credits, solar incentives... and we have no way to integrate all that? no...but bdo does.

(announcer) people who know, know bdo. extra life. extra power. extra life. extra power. extra life. - power. - life. power. extra life. no need to argue. vs. coppertop,... duracell optimum delivers extra life in some devices or extra power in others. duracell optimum delivers extra life (gasps ai got in!s) yes! woah! oh yes yes yes yes! ♪ this is a moment you plan for. to start a college savings plan, find an advisor at massmutual.com ♪

they grew their first tomatoes right here. and when it snows, the kids go sledding right there. the frels family runs with us on a john deere 1 series tractor. because this is more than just land, it's home. search "john deere 1 series" for more.

welcome back. live pictures from south carolina. that looks to be the answer because he's appearing there with the former vice president joe biden. this is something we've been waiting for all morning, for days, in farkct, leading up to e primary on saturday, given the democratic whip's enormous influence in the state of south carolina. >> let's listen in. >> the democratic national convention in 1972. and we have maintained a friendship ever since. we had no idea that we would end up getting elected to congress the same year. and i owe a great deal to -- i never would have become chair of the congressional black caucus

were it not for ought tuteledge thank her for being here today. several of our colleagues wanted to join us today but when we decided to make this announcement on this day, they had already booked flights back home and back to washington and could not change their flights, or they could have, but they would not have been able to get out in time to make votes this afternoon, so they are not here. i have joining with me today are several members of this state legislature. two state senators. we spend as much time together as i spend -- maybe as i spend

with some of my brothers. mostly on the phone talking about the state that we love so much and what the future of this state is all about, and i thank him for being here. of course, kimpson and -- oh, i finally got it right. i keep forgetting her add-on name. brighton. that's her political name so i thank her so much for being here. and from the state legislature -- from the house, marvin, for being here today. i want to say a couple of things about why we're here. i was next door at the breakfast and they have established an award in my wife's name, my late wife, and they decided i should be the first recipient of that

award. we met outside this campus march 15th, 60 years ago. i'll always remember that day because that was the first day that i was arrested. and i met her in jail on that day. about 18 months later, we were married. we stayed married for 58 years. we talked about this state that we love so much. i remember her telling me about her experiences walking 2 1/2 miles to school every morning. 2 1/2 miles back home every afternoon. a little 22-acre farm.

she learned how to drive in a pickup truck. she came to south carolina state in that pickup truck with her luggage on the bed. how her father would walk from monk's corner to summerville to work in the off-season cutting -- we talked about what our parents sacrificed for us and what we owed to our children. and all other children similarly situated. we often talked about the leadership of this country. and there's nobody who emily

loved as a leader in this country more than she loved joe biden. she talked about joe all the time. so, as i was trying to make up my mind and what i should do and when i should do it, i was inform informed by my accountant who passed away, and his funeral was last friday, in a rural part of richland county. i went to the funeral. i got there about 30 minutes early, and i was walking around speaking to people, many of whom i had not seen in a long time, and i spoke to them, and there was an elderly lady in her upper 80s sitting on the front pew of the church. just a few seats away from the

coffin. and she looked at me, and she beckoned to me. didn't say a word. just beckoned. i went over to her. she says, lean down. i need to ask you a question. and i leaned down. and she said you don't have to say it out loud, but would you just whisper into my ear who are you going to vote for? i've been waiting to hear from you. i need to hear from you. this community wants to hear from you. i decided then and there that i would not stay silent.

martin luther king jr. in his letter from birmingham city jail wrote that he was coming to the conclusion that the people of ill will in our society was making a much better use of time than the people of good will. and they feared that we would regret not just for the vitriolic words and deeds of bad people but for their silence of good people. the appalling silence of good people. i decided after that experience last night with that elderly constituent and my background and experience and studies of martin luther king jr. that i would break my silence today.

and i have been saying to the media, i've known for a long time who i'm going to vote for, but i had not decided whether or not to share it with the public. but i want the public to know, that i am voting for joe biden. south carolina should be voting for joe biden, and here's why. there's billboards around this county. on that billboard is my pledge. a lot of people ask me, why do you do billboards? because my late wife said to me, i don't get how many tv ads you run or radio ads. when you run for office, i want to see billboards. that's why i do billboards. one of my colleagues came and

said, this is the first time i've seen a political billboard with no picture on it. why isn't your picture on the billboard? i said because it ain't about me. >> that's right. >> it's about the message on that billboard. the message is simply this. making the greatness of this country accessible and affordable for all. we don't need to make this country great again. this country is great. >> that's right. >> that's not what our challenge is. our challenge is making the greatness of this country accessible and affordable for all. if it's health care. is it accessible? is it affordable? education. is it accessible? is it affordable? housing. energy. make it accessible and

affordable. and nobody with whom i've ever worked in public life is any more committed to that motto, that pledge that i have than my constituents, than joe biden. joe biden and i used to spend a lot of time doing tv stuff together. we got to know each other. i know joe. we know joe. but most importantly, joe knows us. >> that's right. that's right. >> that's important. everybody think about brown v. board of education. it may have started -- but brown v. board of education. five cases. one from south carolina, one

from virginia, one from district of columbia, one from kansas, but the fifth case was from delaware. we have discussed thorough ly te case from delaware and the briggs case from south carolina. that's how i know this man. i know his heart. i know who he is. i know what he is. i know where this country is. we are at an inflection point. on that day that i met him, i went to jail around 10:00 in the morning, and i was discharged from jail, bailed out around 5:30 in the evening. when i sat in jail that day, i wondered whether or not we were doing the right thing, but i was never fearful of the future.

as i stand before you today, i am fearful for the future of this country. i'm fearful for my daughters and their futures and their children and their children's future. this country is at an inflection point. it is time for us to restore this country's dignity. this country's respect. that is what is at stake this year. and i can think of no one better suited, better prepared. i can think of no one with the integrity, no one more committed

to the fundamental principles to make this country what it is. >> a consequential endorsement from the majority whip james clyburn in south carolina. and it goes to his longtime friend joe biden. errol louis, with your thoughts. yes, we look at the vice president here. thrilled, obviously, to get this endorsement. we saw james clyburn tweet, we choose presidents in south carolina. >> you don't halfway do it. james clyburn going all in for joe biden in a really important way. a very emotional, actually, kind of a history lesson. when i hear reading between the lines because everything with james clyburn, even the personal, is also very, very political. what i heard him doing was basically talking to younger african-american voters who we know are drifting away from the establishment choices like joe biden toward a bernie sanders. this is like a history lesson. not just for south carolina, which is his main concern, but really all over the country,

telling younger voters. look, there's history here. people like me before i became a politician and became the establishment, i got locked up fighting for civil rights for your right to vote. and people like joe biden were right there with me. >> just quickly, did he just rescue joe biden's presidential campaign with that endorsement? >> he certainly bolstered his chances which were already pretty good in south carolina, but he's laying out the case. joe biden like any other politician can blow the opportunities handed to him, but jim clyburn just served it up on a silver platter for him. >> big day, big endorsement. let's take a look at the market right now. obviously, two days of just a bloodbath. the dow is up 350 points. making up some of the losses of the last few days. much more on that after the break. when you shop with wayfair,

you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one. for small prices, you can build big dreams, spend less, get way more. shop everything home at wayfair.com

my hands are everything to me. but i was diagnosed with dupuytren's contracture. and it got to the point where things i took for granted got tougher to do. thought surgery was my only option. turns out i was wrong. so when a hand specialist told me about nonsurgical treatments, it was a total game changer. like you, my hands have a lot more to do. learn more at factsonhand.com today.

like you, my hands have a lot more to do. through the at&t network, edge-to-edge intelligence gives you the power to see every corner of your growing business. from finding out what's selling best... to managing your fleet... to collaborating remotely with your teams. giving you a nice big edge over your competition. that's the power of edge-to-edge intelligence.

when i needed to jumpstart sales. build attendance for an event. help people find their way. fastsigns designed new directional signage, and got them back on track. get started at fastsigns.com ♪ and you wrapped your arms around me for days ♪ and got them back on track. after being a part of millions of love stories... ♪ ...at kay, we've learned the most important love story... will always be your own. every yes. oh my gosh, yes. begins with kay. get zero down special financing with the kay jewelers long live love credit card.

a major development this morning. the president will address the nation at 6:00 eastern tonight following a briefing that he will receive by u.s. health officials. this is all about the coronavirus. >> it comes as his administration is now weighing more travel restrictions in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus here in the u.s. joining us, kevin hassett, former chairman for the white house council of economic advisers. great to have you on the show this morning. >> thanks, guys. great to be here. >> it strikes me, perfect person for us to ask this question. the real question here is, how much has this virus slowed down the chinese economy, responsible for about one-fifth of the global economic output, and, therefore, how much it affects the u.s. economy and all the u.s. companies that make their stuff there or, you know, do business with them? you know better than me, china lies about its economic figures. what do we know about how much it's slowed down? can you make a reasonable

estimate for people at home about how much it's going to affect things here? >> yeah, you can. our hearts go out to the people who are affected, and it's right the president address the american people tonight. when i was in the white house, we would constantly monitor, what would we do if something very bad happened like in terms of a pandemic. and i think everyone is ready for that, sadly, and we may be ready to kick into that. in terms of the economic impact, the best guess we can get at a look at trade data is chinese gdp is going to be down about 10% from -- 10% to 15% from where we thought it would be in the first quarter which is really almost like a one-time event. that kind of shocked the global economy. very often it can go pretty bad after that. it -- with the sars virus, what happened is it got better pretty quickly. mark eets dropped about 15% and then recovered and we didn't get cast into a global recession. with this one, the concern is,

this goes back to the news conference yesterday with the head of the centers for disease control and alex azar, the secretary of hhs suggesting this is going to last longer, have more legs than we thought. and >> if that's true, then that big one-time shock in china will continue into the second and third quarter and then you're looking at the global recession that nobody wants to see happen. >> it's significant to hear you given your previous position at the white house saying we could be looking at a global recession if this stretches into april and may and further. i want you to respond to your good friend, larry kudlow, on his assessment just yesterday. here he was. >> we have contained this. we have contained this. i won't say airtight but pretty close to airtight. we've done a good job in the united states. >> no economic tragedy but in two days, 2,000 points off the dow, $1.7 trillion in stock market value wiped away.

he's saying the numbers are saying the u.s. is holding up nicely. is that what the numbers show you acti you, kevin? >> i think what we just talked about was a worst-case scenario. we didn't put odds on that. what larry is saying is still what everybody hopes happens and still the most likely event. the problem with it spreading to italy, with it spread really beyond containment in iran and china, generally when that happens, there's a chance that this thing has serious legs and you get much more disruption. that's why markets have been moving as much as they have. but recall that very often in the past we have had shocks like this, like sars or the '98 crash. then what happens is that the fed steps in and then things kind of work out and the u.s. economy keeps chugging along. markets are looking to that too. now markets are expecting the fed will have to cut rates because of this. i think that means the markets are looking at this lasting into the summer and putting a lot of downer pressure on the economy. >> you've got the markets and then you've got the real economy

that affects everybody's lives. they're tied, but it's a lot harder to move the global economy when it comes down. >> for sure. it's telling that the markets factored in multiple rate cuts, kevin. you make a good point. we'll have you back soon. a quick break and we're back on the other side. people, our sales now apply to only 10 frames. a new low! at visionworks, our sales are good on all of our frames. why are you so weird? use your tax return and get 50% off any pair. visionworks. see the difference.

vomike bloomberg has a recordgue of doing something. as mayor, he protected women's reproductive rights. expanded health coverage to 700,000 new yorkers. and decreased infant-mortality rates to historic lows. as president, he'll build on obamacare, cap medical costs, and will always protect a woman's right to choose. mike bloomberg: a record on health care nobody can argue about. mike: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. just seconds ago, joe biden nabbed a key endorsement from south carolina congressman and democratic majority whip james clyburn just three days ahead of the crucial south carolina primary. particularly crucial, you might say, for joe biden. >> joining us is johnny cordero

who has endorsed tom steyer. >> thank you for having me. >> what do you make of the fact that jim clyburn chose the biden camp over steyer's camp? >> other than the fact that it's probably predictable that that was going to be the endorsement, i think the important thing about that to remember is that the endorsement is going to go to assisting those who have already made up their minds basically in south carolina. but the one thing it's not going to do is it's not going to help with those people who are the ones that we really need in order to win in south carolina and those are the people who have not voted but who are registered. >> we had errol lewis on just after the clyburn endorsement. he said clyburn was in effect trying to speak beyond the older generation and speak to younger african-american voters who might have a different view, might want to go a different, more progressive way in this race. in effect making the case that

joe biden is the best man for the job, not just for older voters but for younger voters. what's your response to this? >> i don't think that's going to work, and i don't doubt that that may have been one of the things they would like to do, but it's not going to accomplish anything because the fact of the matter is that people who speak for reparations are the people that are talking to this demographic that everyone seems to be missing. the fact of the matter that joe biden has not done that. also we have the problem which is not going to go away, the problem of his writing and endorsing and introducing the 1994 crime bill. everybody keeps darting around that. the people who are now trying to be reached are people who were affected very heavily by that act. >> johnny, we also saw the former vice president go after tom steyer last night about his investment as a hedge fund manager in cca, a private prison company across california. in defending that, steyer's response was even though he obviously divested from that, he said he, quote, thought it was

the right thing. help the american people understanding why at any point tom steyer thought it was a good thing for him and for america to invest in private prisons. >> number one, tom steyer is not a seasoned politician and he probably missed some issues that he should have gotten. that does not go against him. but the fact of the matter and the thing that i think everybody should really be interested in is the fact that even if tom steyer did, and he admits that he did invest in that corporation. the things that is most important is the corporation was a private prison corporation and the people who were in that private prison corporation were in there by and large because of the efforts of joe biden in introducing the 1994 crime bill which increased and exacerbated massive incarceration and that's what we are interested in, and i don't think that should be swept under the rug. >> but he apologize for those investments, since bloomberg apologized for stop and frisk here in new york? >> yeah, he has apologized.

more importantly, he apologized and divested immediately. remember, too, this was almost 20 years ago. >> johnnie cordero, endorsed tom steyer, thanks so much. a lot of news today, we look toward to having you back. >> may i just say one more thing. >> please. >> the dynamics of this race are going to change. you are going to be surprised what happens come saturday. >> we'll all be watching saturday, you can bet that. the polling has been fascinating, especially for steyer who's been rising in the state. >> that's wide advice, that can change very quickly. >> and that's why he's rising. >> thank you. >> thank you. a very good busy wednesday morning to you, i'm jim sciutto. >> and i'm poppy harlow. we're following breaking news. president trump addressing the nation just hours from now as the deadly coronavirus spreads around the world. a top infectious disease doctor says we are inching closer and closer to a pandemic. >> now the white house is