10 things you need to know today: March 11, 2020

1. Biden wins primaries in four more states, including Michigan

Former Vice President Joe Biden extended his lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with wins in four more Democratic primaries. Media outlets projected Biden wins in Mississippi, Missouri, Idaho, and Michigan, Tuesday's biggest delegate prize and a state where Sanders beat Hillary Clinton in 2016. Michigan had been widely identified as a state where Sanders needed a victory to stop Biden's momentum. Sanders narrowly led in Washington state, and North Dakota's caucuses were considered too close to call. Biden received overwhelming support from African Americans, and suburban and rural white voters. He reached out to Sanders supporters, saying, "We share a common goal, and together we'll defeat Donald Trump." Both Biden and Sanders canceled their election-night rallies over coronavirus concerns.

The Washington Post The New York Times

2. Trump pitches stimulus to counter coronavirus fallout

President Trump on Tuesday met with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill to propose an economic stimulus package to counter fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. Trump's plan includes temporarily slashing payroll taxes to zero, and providing relief to hard-hit industries, including tourism. Some Republicans reportedly reacted coolly to the idea of cutting payroll taxes. Trump said "there's great unity within the Republican Party," but he conceded that there was no immediate consensus on the specific actions needed to support the economy. "Be calm, it's really working out," Trump said. Democrats have criticized Trump for not acting more quickly in response to the outbreak. Some analysts said it could be hard in a divided Congress to get Trump's proposals passed.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The New York Times CNBC

3. Appeals court tells DOJ to give Congress Mueller grand jury evidence

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Justice Department has to hand over secret grand jury evidence from the Mueller investigation to congressional Democrats for their ongoing inquiries involving President Trump. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld a lower court order giving Congress access to the material. "In short, it is the district court, not the Executive or the Department, that controls access to the grand jury materials at issue here," Judge Judith Rogers wrote for the panel's 2-1 majority. The Trump administration can appeal the ruling to the full appeals court, or the Supreme Court. The dissenting judge, Neomi Rao, said the House Judiciary Committee lacked legal grounds to ask the court to enforce its subpoena for the material.

The Washington Post The Hill

4. New York imposes coronavirus containment area

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced that the state is establishing a coronavirus "containment area" in New Rochelle, just north of New York City. The small city in Westchester County has become the epicenter of coronavirus cases in the state, with what "is probably the largest cluster of these cases in the United States," Cuomo said. The state government's plan for fighting the spread of the sometimes deadly flu-like virus is to deploy the National Guard in the containment area to clean schools and deliver food to people who are under quarantine. The containment zone has a one-mile radius surrounding a synagogue believed to be a point of connection for many of the local cases. The containment plan calls for closing gathering places such as schools and houses of worship for two weeks. Stores will remain open and travel won't be restricted.

The New York Times

5. Biden clashes with auto worker over guns

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, got into a heated exchange with a Detroit factory worker over gun policy on Tuesday. While Biden was touring an auto plant, a worker accused him of "actively trying to end our Second Amendment right." Biden responded: "You're full of s---," adding, "I support the Second Amendment." Biden told the man that he owns shotguns and has no intention of taking away people's guns, although there is nothing wrong with barring people from having some weapons, and high-capacity ammunition clips. The factory worker said he had seen a viral video in which Biden called for taking people's guns. "It's a viral video like the other ones that came out," Biden said. "Lies."

CNBC

6. U.K. health minister announces she has coronavirus

British Conservative politician Nadine Dorries has become the first member of Parliament to test positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus. Dorries, who is also a health minister, said she is now quarantined at home and her office has been closed. With the outbreak continuing to spread rapidly worldwide, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it was suspending "most foreign inspections" through April. The administration previously halted inspections in China due to the coronavirus, but now will exclude India, the world's leading manufacturer of generic drugs. So far, only one drug is in short supply in the U.S. in relation to COVID-19, but it's unclear which one. The FDA is monitoring 20 other drugs, sourced from China, though no shortages have been reported and they are considered non-critical.

BBC News The New York Times

7. Universities shift to online classes to prevent coronavirus infections

A growing number of colleges and universities are canceling classes for students to attend in person, and shifting to online instruction to limit possible spreading of the coronavirus. The first schools to close were in Washington state, scene of the first outbreak in the United States, but as the virus spread to other parts of the country more schools have joined in, including Harvard University, Columbia University, Princeton University, Rice University, Stanford University, Hofstra University, and University of California, Berkeley. By Tuesday, the changes affected more than half a million students. "Higher education has a very strong herd mentality," said education technology specialist Bryan Alexander of Georgetown University, "so I think once University of [Washington] made a shift to teaching online, I think that really got everyone excited."

NPR

8. Stock futures drop as volatility continues on Wall Street

U.S. stock index futures fell by about 2 percent early Wednesday as volatility continued on Wall Street. Markets soared on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 1,167 points, or 4.89 percent, and the S&P 500 gaining 4.94 percent to partially regain their massive losses from the day before. Such a turnaround is typical after such a sharp plunge. Bespoke Investment Group strategists noted that, on average, the S&P 500 gained 4.2 percent the day after the 10 previous 5 percent drops since 1952. Tuesday's rebound was fueled by President Trump's proposal to counter economic damage from the outbreak with a payroll tax cut and other measures. U.S. markets have swung wildly in recent weeks as the virus spread and forced many businesses to curb operations.

CNBC MarketWatch

9. InfoWars' Alex Jones charged with driving while intoxicated

InfoWars founder Alex Jones was charged with driving while intoxicated early Tuesday, the Travis County, Texas sheriff's office said. The far-right conspiracy theorist was arrested after a deputy responded to a report of a disturbance at Jones' home. Jones' wife told a dispatcher that she and her husband had fought verbally and, earlier, physically. She said he may have been drinking, and was leaving in a black Dodge Charger. Jones, 46, was released on $3,000 bail. In December, a judge ordered him to pay $100,000 in court costs and legal fees after the parent of a child killed in the Sandy Hook mass shooting sued him for defamation after he spread conspiracy theories about the school shooting, which left 20 children and six adults dead.

Austin American-Statesman The Hill

10. Putin backs term limit freeze that would let him seek re-election

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday backed a constitutional amendment freezing presidential term limits, a change that would allow him to seek re-election in 2024 and potentially remain in office until 2036. The lower house of Russia's parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly gave its support to the change, which was proposed by a lawmaker, former Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who is revered as the first woman to fly in space. The plan would either eliminate the two-year term limit for presidents, or pause it so it would not apply to Putin's tenure. Putin, whose second straight six-year term ends in 2024, backed the freeze but opposed scrapping term limits entirely. Lawmakers also backed a constitutional amendment Putin proposed to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The Associated Press Reuters