2020 candidates focus attention on Nevada and South Carolina; Bloomberg hits the campaign trail; Barr takes control of Roger Stone case; 45,000 now infected by coronavirus; 1 in 7 families struggle with medical debt

The Nightly News - with Lester Holt - Nightly News: 2.12.20

To ensure delivery to your inbox add email@mail.nbcnews.com to your contacts | View in browser By Edward Deitch, NBC Nightly News Good Wednesday afternoon. Here's what's in our Nightly rundown tonight: Sanders, Buttigieg, Klobuchar finish strongly in New Hampshire After the New Hampshire primary, the Democrats turn their focus to Nevada and South Carolina. With his win in New Hampshire, Sen. Bernie Sanders emerged as a clear frontrunner. But former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar finished strongly in second and third place, splitting the vote among moderate Democrats. Addressing his supporters, Sanders claimed “a great victory” and called it “the beginning of the end for Donald Trump.” Buttigieg and Klobuchar sounded triumphant as well. Buttigieg emphasized the generational divide between him and Sanders, saying he “admired Mr. Sanders when I was a high school student.” After her sudden surge, Klobuchar told her supporters that President Trump’s “worst nightmare” is that “the people in the middle, the people that have had enough of the name-calling and the mudslinging, have someone to vote for in November.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden finished fourth and fifth, respectively, and looked to the contests in Nevada and South Carolina. But their poor showings raised new questions about the long-term viability of their campaigns. Meanwhile, businessman Andrew Yang, Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado and former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced they were ending their campaigns. Kristen Welker will have full coverage for us tonight. Watch 2020 Democratic candidates react to New Hampshire primary results Bloomberg looks for Super Tuesday breakout Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has surged in polls, began a campaign swing through Tennessee, North Carolina and Texas. He tried to deflect strong criticism by President Trump and others over a 2015 audio clip in which he defended his controversial “stop and frisk” policy. Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, said that “when you threaten Trump, you become a target,” adding that Bloomberg “knows you don’t back down from a bully and we are in a war to remove him from office.” Trying to control potential damage among black voters, Bloomberg met with more than 20 faith leaders at his campaign headquarters in New York and released new endorsements from two members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Gabe Gutierrez is on the campaign trail with Bloomberg in Tennessee and will report for us from a rally tonight. Trump congratulates Barr for 'taking charge' of Roger Stone case President Trump made his comment about Attorney General William Barr in an early morning tweet in which he said the Roger Stone case “was totally out of control and perhaps should not have been brought.” It came after the Justice Department, in a highly unusual move, reversed course and urged a lighter sentence for Stone, a day after prosecutors recommended that he be sentenced to seven to nine years for impeding the Russia investigation in an attempt to protect the president. On Twitter, Trump had criticized the sentencing recommendation for his longtime friend as "horrible and very unfair," but the White House said he did not interfere in the case. The move by the Justice Department prompted four prosecutors to withdraw from the Stone case, with one of them resigning from the Justice Department altogether. Congressional Democrats called for an investigation into the reversal. Peter Alexander will have late details. Coronavirus now infects almost 45,000 people Despite reports from China that new coronavirus cases may have stabilized in recent days, the director-general of the World Health Organization urged “extreme caution” in interpreting such reports, saying, “The outbreak could still go in any direction.” The WHO said public health officials must still be vigilant in preparing for the outbreak to get worse. China plans to introduce new precautions on public transportation and elsewhere as 160 million people return to work next week at the end of the Lunar New Year period. The virus has infected almost 45,000 people worldwide, the vast majority of them in China, and has killed more than 1,100. Outside China, 441 cases have been reported in two dozen countries, and one death. In Japan, 40 new cases were confirmed on a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo, bringing the total to 175 on the Diamond Princess. Molly Hunter reports. China's leading epidemiologist lauds coronavirus hero doctor Dr Li Wenliang Growing number of hospitals sue patients to collect debts In our series, "Your Money, Your Life," Stephanie Ruhle takes a look at the increasing number of families being hit with lawsuits by hospitals trying to collect overdue payments. Even if they have insurance, a new study finds that one in seven families struggles with medical debt. We speak with a mother who has three sons with cystic fibrosis and was sued by their hospital twice after years of falling behind on payments. She is working two jobs to pay off thousands of dollars in hospital bills. An expert on health policy says that, over the last five years, a growing number of hospitals are going to court in an attempt to garnish the paychecks of those with debt. For its part, the hospital system points to "robust charity care" programs that treat thousands of patients and blames insurance companies for hitting patients with higher deductibles and co-pays while covering fewer services. It also said after an internal review, it's now decided to put a moratorium on suing patients who can't pay their bills. Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app. FOLLOW US Download the NBC News Mobile App This email was sent to: stevenmagallanes520.nims@blogger.com. This is an automated email. Do not reply directly. 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112 Privacy | Unsubcription | NBC Newsletters | Contact