Week In The News: 2020 Latest, Coronavirus, Trump Visits India

A contentious debate and another primary state. The government response to coronavirus. Plus, President Trump's visit to India. The news roundtable is here.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, Majority Whip in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing South Carolina's 6th District. (@WhipClyburn)

Jennifer Medina, national politics reporter covering the 2020 presidential campaign for the New York Times. (@jennymedina)

Seung Min Kim, White House reporter for The Washington Post, covering Capitol Hill. (@seungminkim)

The New York Times: "They Saw Themselves in Elizabeth Warren. So What Do They See Now?" — "Emily Ciarella, 10, walked toward the stage with her mother. She looked at Senator Elizabeth Warren and asked a simple question: 'Why do you think it is important for a woman to run for president?'

"The audience let out a collective 'aw.' Ms. Warren smiled broadly and turned the personal question universal.

“'Do we really believe there’s value in every person?' she replied, looking at Emily, then at the audience of about 200 people, gathered in a high school auditorium in a suburban neighborhood north of Las Vegas, who did not seem particularly captivated by Ms. Warren’s answer."

USA Today: "New Monmouth poll shows Joe Biden with 20-point lead in South Carolina primary" — "Results of a poll released Thursday morning show former Vice President Joe Biden holds a commanding lead in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and businessman Tom Steyer in a close battle for second.

"The Monmouth University Poll showed Biden's support in South Carolina stands at 36%, with Sanders receiving 16% and Steyer at 15%. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was at 8% and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, had 6%. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar had 4%, and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard was at 1%.

"Results of a Clemson University Palmetto Poll released Wednesday showed Biden leading with 35%, Steyer in second at 17% and Sanders third with 13%."

The Washington Post: "Trump praises Modi’s record on religious tolerance as violence erupts over India’s treatment of Muslims" — "As violence erupted in the streets Tuesday over a citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims, President Trump defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s record on religious tolerance as he closed out a two-day visit to India that served as a celebration of the bond between two nationalist leaders.

"Trump avoided any public criticism of his host — whose political biography is also built partly on religious and cultural divisions — along with any comparison of Modi’s policies with his own treatment of Muslim immigrants.

“'We did talk about religious freedom, and I will say that the prime minister was incredible in what he told me. He wants people to have religious freedom and very strongly,' Trump said during a news conference that capped the public portion of his largely ceremonial visit."

The New York Times: "How Bernie Sanders Dominated in Nevada" — "They showed up to Desert Pines High School in Tío Bernie T-shirts to caucus on Saturday morning, motivated by the idea of free college tuition, 'Medicare for all' and the man making those promises: a 78-year-old white senator from Vermont. To dozens of mostly working-class Latinos, Bernie Sanders seemed like one of their own, a child of immigrants who understands what it means to be seen as a perpetual outsider.

"For at least one day, in one state, the long-promised political revolution of Mr. Sanders came to vivid life, a multiracial coalition of immigrants, college students, Latina mothers, younger black voters, white liberals and even some moderates who embraced his idea of radical change and lifted him to victory in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday.

"By harnessing such a broad cross-section of voters, Mr. Sanders offered a preview of the path that he hopes to take to the Democratic presidential nomination: uniting an array of voting blocs in racially diverse states in the West and the South and in economically strapped parts of the Midwest and the Southwest, all behind the message of social and economic justice that he has preached for years."

The Washington Post: "Trump courts minority men with mix of policy and personal appeals" — "In attempting to reach out to black and Hispanic voters ahead of November, President Trump and his allies are focused on swaying one group in particular: minority men.

"The effort has been on display in the Trump campaign’s Super Bowl ad highlighting criminal justice reform, throughout Trump’s State of the Union address that featured a Tuskegee Airman and two black men benefiting from Opportunity Zones and in the president’s almost daily references to historically low minority unemployment rates.

"Trump has increasingly welcomed black athletes and celebrities into the Oval Office, and last week the president spoke during a graduation ceremony for ex-inmates in Nevada, a state where a majority of prisoners are black or Hispanic men."

NPR: "Diagnosis Of Coronavirus Patient In California Was Delayed For Days" — "The first suspected U.S. case of a patient getting the new coronavirus through 'community spread' – with no history of travel to affected areas or exposure to someone known to have the COVID-19 illness — was left undiagnosed for days because a request for testing wasn't initially granted, according to officials at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Calif.

"The patient in Northern California is now the 60th confirmed case of the new coronavirus in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disclosed the latest case Wednesday evening, as President Trump assigned Vice President Pence to lead the administration's response to the disease.

"'This case was detected through the U.S. public health system — picked up by astute clinicians,' the CDC said in a brief statement about the new patient."