America Halted

Coronavirus disruption in the middle of an election year. [Donald Trump ] Drew Angerer/Getty Images The Big Picture: Coronavirus Grinds America To A Halt The coronavirus pandemic is causing the kind of disruption to American life that hasn’t been seen since just after 9/11. It caused a collapse in the stock market that hasn’t been seen since the 1987 crash, and it has shut down professional sports and entertainment. Stocks rebounded Friday as President Trump declared a national emergency. But it’s all happening in the middle of an election year. It is testing President Trump, who has faced intense criticism for his administration's response. It is also testing the Democratic presidential field and introduced a lot of uncertainty into the primary. In the short run, former Vice President Joe Biden has appeared to benefit. Significant numbers of voters in exit polls this week said they were concerned about coronavirus and trusted Biden more than Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to handle a major crisis. The race itself has been all but shut down, too. Campaigns have canceled rallies, and a debate that was supposed to take place in Arizona between Biden and Sanders will now only be in a TV studio with no audience. And there is another round of big states slated to vote Tuesday — Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio. But with state and local officials urging people to stay away from mass gatherings, even closing schools in some places, how many people will actually show up to vote? Already multiple polling locations have been changed in Ohio, for example, and Louisiana, which votes April 4, has postponed its primary. After all, the election isn’t exactly people’s top priority right now. — Domenico Montanaro, NPR’s senior political editor/correspondent [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Image travel ban]( Thibault Camus/AP Politics Roundup: The Coronavirus Crisis Travel ban, explained. This week, President Trump announced a 30-day ban on travel from several European countries. NPR [answered]( all of your questions about what this announcement means and who’s affected. National emergency. President Trump also [declared]( national emergency on Friday afternoon, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The declaration frees up $50 billion for states to deal with the crisis. Facing criticism. The two top Democratic presidential candidates both [slammed]( Trump’s response to the coronavirus in separate remarks on Thursday. Both Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden have cancelled campaign rallies amid the crisis. Working from home. To slow the spread of the coronavirus, many companies are encouraging employees to telework. But the federal government—the nation's largest employer—has had [mixed messaging]( on working remotely. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- [Image Biden analysis]( Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images ICYMI: Top Stories Biden’s big win: The [second largest night]( in presidential primaries yielded Joe Biden a [huge lead]( in delegates. A drop in [turnout from younger voters and electability perceptions]( helped drive Biden closer to the nomination. Sanders’ ideas: Bernie Sanders has made it clear that he is still in the presidential race for now. But the Vermont senator said Joe Biden [seems to be winning]( the electability debate and doesn’t want the former vice president to leave out his supporters. FBI surveillance: Lawmakers [pushed back]( on government intelligence tools, leaving them to expire amid concerns about privacy and corruption from the GOP and President Trump. Skeptical senators said they want to make changes to the FISA legislation to make it harder to abuse. More from Mueller: More judges have ruled that the DOJ [turn over]( secret information from special investigator Robert Mueller’s report on President Trump. The ruling spells a win for House Democrats, who have been fighting for months to get the secret grand jury materials. Manning freed: A judge [released]( Manning from jail, saying her appearance before a grand jury is no longer needed. The order came a day after Manning’s lawyers said she attempted suicide. Manning had been in jail since last May and racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for refusing to testify in the WikiLeaks investigation. — Meredith Roaten, NPR Politics intern --------------------------------------------------------------- [Image delegate tracker]( Caroline Amenabar/NPR The Shot: The State of the Delegate Race Former Vice President Joe Biden currently leads Democratic presidential primary with 887 delegates, just ahead of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' 731 delegates. Candidates need a total of 1,991 delegates to clinch the nomination. Four states vote on Tuesday, offering a combined 577 delegates. [Follow along here]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [nprpolitics@npr.org](mailto:nprpolitics@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Daily News, Code Switch, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Politics emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy](