This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," March 3, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill.

Well, super worries on this Super Tuesday, not over how voting is going, but how this virus is spreading. And now even a huge half-point rate cut by the Federal Reserve cannot contain the selling.

Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto.

And stocks plummeting, as interest rates hit record lows, the yield on a 10-year treasury falling below 1 percent for the first time ever. Here's why that might not have any big effect, though.

There are now nine confirmed deaths from the coronavirus in Washington state. That's up from six just yesterday, and a second patient is now being treated in New York City. So, no matter how low interest rates go, this thing is far more worrisome because we don't know how high it goes.

We have got you covered with FOX Business' Deirdre Bolton on investors bailing, Bryan Llenas in New York City, where virus fears are growing, and John Roberts at the White House, from where the president will soon be speaking.

We begin with Deirdre -- Deirdre.

DEIRDRE BOLTON, FOX BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hey, Neil.

The Fed, to your point, doesn't have a vaccine against the coronavirus. And that is essentially what sent the stock market into a freefall, closing lower, you can see on your screens, more than 3 percent, more than 800 points lower.

As you just alluded to, Neil, this is the first time that the Fed cut rates in between scheduled meetings since 2008. We know what kind of environment that was, of course, during the credit crisis. So this really stood out to investors, and essentially had the opposite effect. In many ways, it made investors more fearful.

Take a look at the groups that really put the most pressure on the markets. I'm going to read off my notes here. So you had financial, technology, energy stocks. Those were the ones that sold off the most.

And, keep in mind, a lot of those are really areas where investors tend to bet on future growth. So, the idea, of course, is that the coronavirus is going to slow the global economy. At least, that was the sentiment that guided trade today.

If you look at the 10-year, you had an historic low for that yield. It closed down, that 10-year, below 1 percent for the first time ever. This often happens when investors don't know what else to do with their money. They bet on the safety and the sanctity of the U.S. government's. And if that is not sound, the implication is, we all have bigger problems.

Now, we know that the Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, said he hoped that the rate cut would provide a meaningful boost to the economy. We also know that President Trump would like more cuts. In fact, the president, of course, calling for more rate cuts even before the coronavirus outbreak.

Here's the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have the greatest country in the world. We have the strongest country in the world. It's our dollar that the world relies on. We should have the low rate.

But we have a Fed that doesn't agree with that. I disagree with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLTON: Now, as you well know, we have the president's argument, which is that other countries' central banks are keeping their rates lower and that we suffer unnecessarily by comparison, if you like.

One last note, proof investor fear today, I want to show you the print on gold. You have it there closing up better than 3 percent, $1,642.10 per ounce -- Neil, back to you.

CAVUTO: All right, thank you very much, Deirdre.

Now, again, these are significant financial developments, but they're overrun by the fears this whole coronavirus thing is going from bad to worse, even it's not the case. Try telling that to New Yorkers right now dealing with a second confirmed case of the virus.

Bryan Llenas on that -- Bryan.

BRYAN LLENAS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil, the total number of coronavirus deaths in the United States is now nine, all in Washington state, eight in King County alone, this as New York state confirms its second coronavirus case.

It's the first so-called community spread case, which means, we do not know how this person became infected. He didn't travel to any of the hardest-hit coronavirus countries, like Italy or South Korea.

The man is in his 50s. He lives in New Rochelle, Westchester County, a suburb north of New York City. He is hospitalized in Manhattan and is in serious condition. He had an underlying respiratory condition. The man is a lawyer who works in a small law firm in New York City.

Disease detectives are now working to trace anyone he could have come in contact with. Seven people in his Manhattan law firm are being followed up with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL DE BLASIO (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's what the disease detectives are going to trace, not, did you walk by someone in a hallway, not, were you on the bus with someone, but did you have regular prolonged contact?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LLENAS: The man's family is quarantined at home. Two of his children are being tested, one who attends the SAR Academy in the Bronx. That child doesn't have symptoms.

As a precaution, the SAR Academy and the high school have voluntarily closed. The other child attends Yeshiva University in New York City and lives in the dorms. He is showing symptoms, this as we now know two families have now been isolated in their homes in Buffalo, New York.

They had recently traveled to Italy -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Bryan Llenas, thank you, my friend.

The president, meanwhile, touring the National Institute of Health Vaccine Research Center this afternoon, as his Coronavirus Task Force prepares to beat moments from now.

John Roberts at the White House with the very latest on that front.

Hey, John.

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Neil, good afternoon.

We will hear from the president in just a couple of minutes. He just returned to the White House, along with the HHS secretary, Alex Azar, and Dr. Anthony Fauci from the NIH.

The president spent some time up there at the campus in Bethesda with a roundtable, also toured a vaccine facility, as more and more cases emerge in the United States. On his way to the NIH, I asked the president if he thought that it was inevitable that the virus would expand beyond other state borders that we have seen and really go across the country.

Here's what the president said:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, it's -- anything can happen. But I wouldn't say inevitable at all, no. I wouldn't say -- we have really -- we have done a good job by doing it and combating it so early. We have the best people in the world. And I think we're getting a lot of credit for having made that early move.

So, no, I don't think that's inevitable at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: While he was up at the NIH, with nine deaths, as you mentioned, now in the United States, the president was asked if he is prepared to take more steps to limit travel or close the border to certain countries.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, we're looking at different areas, and we will make that decision with these professionals.

ROBERTS: What about closing the southern border? Is that still on the table?

TRUMP: We're not looking at it very strongly. I don't think we have seen any great evidence that that area is a problem at this moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Upon return to the White House, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that he hopes to begin the first test of a vaccine, stick the first needle in the first test patient within a month.

The president, Neil, also asked about a payroll tax cut and whether he would support that to try to get the economy going again, the president said, yes, he would be open to that if he could get Democrats to sign onto it -- Neil.

CAVUTO: John, thank you very, very much.

Now to Nebraska, where they're starting to release patients under observation for the coronavirus. Four have already been released. Eleven remain under watch. They were all passengers on that Diamond Princess cruise ship.

The Republican governor of Nebraska, Pete Ricketts, with us right now.

Governor, thank you.

What's the latest, sir? How are things looking?

GOV. PETE RICKETTS (R-NE): Well, so far, things with the folks under quarantine are coming along. We're doing regular monitoring and testing.

And, as you mentioned, four of the travelers were released and are on their way home.

CAVUTO: A lot of people get worried when they hear about people being released. Were they released too soon? Can you update us on that?

RICKETTS: Sure.

The CDC standards were to have two tests that would turn negative within each 24 hours apart. At our University of Nebraska Medical Center, we actually extended that to three tests 24 hours apart.

So, we actually were going above and beyond the CDC guidelines. And that's what gives us the confidence that these folks were ready to go home.

CAVUTO: It's very early on in this country, as you know, Governor. You're dealing with it earlier than most.

I mean, how would you advise other governors, mayors to deal with this?

RICKETTS: Well, I think the important thing is to be communicating with everybody.

One of the things we're doing is really trying to make people aware that they should prepare for this, somewhat -- like, in our state, if you have a snowstorm, you want to make sure that you have got supplies at home if you end up, again, being quarantined in your house.

If schools close, you got to think about child care. You want to make sure your prescription medicines are filled. You want to make sure you're practicing good hygiene, washing your hands, don't cough on people, cough into your cough pocket, your elbow.

Make sure that you're -- if you're sick, you're staying home. These are the things we can do to mitigate the potential spread of this. So we really want to educate people now, before we start seeing the impacts of coronavirus actually hitting our communities.

CAVUTO: Do you advise those who fight the government when they say, you have to quarantine these people or you have to hold these people? It just is what it is, I guess, right?

RICKETTS: Well, again, I think we want to do what's going to be right to protect the general safety of the public.

Right now, again, we have got the only federally funded quarantine unit. So, we are actually ahead of the curve here in Nebraska in having to deal with this. We had the first group of folks coming from China that we helped in quarantine.

So, we have been getting -- we have been learning with regard to how to handle patients. And I think it is -- actually, one of the ways that we can mitigate the spread of this is by people who are sick should stay home, and, therefore, not infect other people.

CAVUTO: All right.

Governor, thank you very, very much.

CAVUTO: Now to the president of the United States at the White House commenting on these developments today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And Dr. Fauci is here, along with our secretary. And a lot of progress. Maybe, Alex, you'd like to start and then we'll have the Doctor say something.

ALEX AZAR, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Well, we just had an incredible visit up at NIH at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease that Dr. Fauci leads. And the President got to hear from the actual bench scientists who, within three days -- within three days -- developed a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

And they reported some really important news to the President that, yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the entry of that vaccine into phase one safety clinical trials.

Dr. Fauci?

TRUMP: Which is a record. Yes, please.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: So, what we did is we just had the opportunity to take the President and show him the actual individual researchers who are doing the things that we've been talking about.

And what they were referring to is that the actual scientists -- middle level, senior, junior -- were there and explained to the President what I have actually been explaining to the press, but showed it on graphics: how after the virus was identified, the sequence was taken and put into this platform called messenger RNA. And what happened is that, literally, within a period of a couple of days, we were able to stick it in.

And now, as I said, we're going to go into a phase one trial in about three months from that day -- well, we're probably a month or so -- I mean, I don't want to over promise. I said a month and a half the other day; it may be about a month or so. And then very soon, we'll be sticking the first person with the vaccine.

But I want to caution everybody: That's only the first stage of the development of the vaccine because we emphasized to the President that since we'll be giving the vaccine to normal, healthy people, that safety is very important and you really need to know that it actually works.

That next phase is a phase two trial. We're not going to be able to start that for at least another three or four months after we go in. So the whole process is going to take a year, a year and a half at least.

TRUMP: Do you want to talk about therapeutics?

FAUCI: Yes, the other thing that's interesting that we explained to the President, and the Secretary already knew is that the difference between testing the vaccine and testing therapy are almost qualitatively different, because with the therapy, you're going to give it to someone who is already ill and you compare it to standard of care.

So, within a reasonable period of time, you're going to know if it works or not.

So, right now, as of like today, there are two large trials going on in China that are comparing one of the drugs -- and there are several -- one called remdesivir with the standard of care alone.

And when we get those results -- which likely will be several months because you're going to have to accumulate hundreds of patients to decide. We have our own trial right now in the United States with some people at the University of Nebraska who are infected and put there. So once you get the result with the therapy -- unlike a vaccine, which takes quite a while -- once you get a result, you can start distributing the medication.

QUESTION: So, Dr. Fauci, just to be clear: You're saying three months away from treating people who already have coronavirus?

FAUCI: No, I didn't say that. I said, if the drug works and you prove it works, you will treat them. I am not saying that three months from now we're going to have a drug to treat people. OK?

TRUMP: If it works.

FAUCI: Yes.

QUESTION: So if it works, three months from now, it is possible...

FAUCI: No, I -- no. I didn't say. I said you have to accumulate enough patients, when they get to 400 patients in each trial. That may take three months. That may take five months. I don't know.

When the trial is over and they evaluate the data, if the drug works, then you'll be able to apply it.

QUESTION: Mr. President, can you react to the market drop? Are you concerned about a recession?

TRUMP: I haven't seen it. I'm focused on this. The country is in great shape. The market is in great shape. I'm focused on this. This is very important.

QUESTION: Do you want tax cuts, in addition to the Fed acting? The Fed acted and you've suggested that you also want tax cuts.

TRUMP: I like middle-income tax cuts. I think it would be a good time.

QUESTION: This year?

TRUMP: Middle-income tax cuts. If the Democrats would approve it, I'd go along with it.

QUESTION: And that's a payroll tax cut, or did you...

TRUMP: It's a payroll tax, yeah. Payroll tax cut.

QUESTION: And you want that to happen this year?

TRUMP: I would do it if they can approve it. I would do it.

QUESTION: And then, in terms of travel, obviously spring break is coming around the corner. Should Americans be concerned -- are you concerned? For example, would you let your son go to Disney?

TRUMP: Yes, I think there's -- I think we have a lot of great places we could travel to, right in the United States. We have a lot of great places we can travel to. OK?

QUESTION: Mr. President, we've heard about confirmed cases, but what are the estimates for how many people and how many cases we actually have? What are the estimates?

TRUMP: Go ahead.

AZAR: You said how many cases we actually have right now?

QUESTION: We have confirmed cases, but what are the estimates that you guys have?

AZAR: Oh, estimates. Estimates. Well, we can only have confirmed cases. So we don't estimate other than the 60 cases we have from here in the United States that are confirmed, as well as the 48 cases that we have that came from our repatriation activities.

We're very careful to not try to extrapolate or predict with an unknown virus here in the United States.

TRUMP: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Mr. President, Google just -- Google just canceled its big annual conference, sir. Are companies that are canceling conferences and travel doing the right thing or is that an overreaction, do you think?

TRUMP: That's up to them. Hey, let them stay in the United States. If they don't travel, if they stay here, that's not a bad thing for us. I -- I've been saying for a long time people should do that.

QUESTION: Do you think the Fed wasted its ammunition today? They cut rates and the Dow went down.

TRUMP: No, I think they could have done -- I think they should do more. I think they hinted that they're not going to do much more and that's unfortunate.

He gave a very bad signal, in my opinion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, the president wrapping up where we stand right now, all of this at the same time the World Bank announced something that the president no doubt would like to hear and see more of coordinated, an initial $12 billion in immediate funds made available to help countries dealing with the health and economic impact of this, now over 60 countries, including China.

He had been looking for still more action on the Federal Reserve, beyond the half-point cut we have already seen. But they are monitoring on a day- by-day basis.

Peter Doocy, meanwhile, on this Super Tuesday, in Essex Junction, Vermont, where Senator Bernie Sanders will be today.

Keep in mind, all of that voting still scheduled across these some 14 states, encompassing better than 1,350 delegates at stake -- Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil, Bernie Sanders rolled up to his polling place today driving the Sanders family's Subaru Forester with his wife, Jane, in the passenger seat. They had a Bernie 2020 sticker on the back window.

And right now, his staff is here in Essex Junction setting up for a -- what they hope is a victory party that could hold more than 2,300 people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, I happen to believe deeply that, if we're going to defeat Donald Trump, our campaign is the campaign to do that.

We have the grassroots movement all over this country. Up to now, we have knocked on, I believe, some two million doors all across this country from Maine to California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: Sanders is home, but Biden is in delegate-rich California today, the biggest prize of Super Tuesday.

He's making a last-minute push that he is the consensus candidate, now that departed Democratic rivals like Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Beto are all in his camp. And he told reporters there in California a few minutes ago his hopes are high. He thinks he's going to do well on Super Tuesday. He thinks he's going to qualify there and meet the threshold to get delegates and he thinks he is going to win a number of states as well.

Biden was also asked how he thinks Michael Bloomberg might be affecting him. And he didn't really want to go there. And Biden also said he doesn't know how he might be negatively affected by peaking after so many people voted early -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, Peter, thank you very, very much.

The fallout on all of this polling-wise with Frank Luntz.

Frank, this is clearly the backdrop to voting today. This coronavirus, it's rattled the markets. Obviously, the Democratic candidates have to sort of pivot to this issue. How do they do that?

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER: It's very difficult for them, because it has not impacted the economy. And, frankly, Neil, we don't know enough for it to make a difference.

This is an attribute election. It's not just about policy. Bernie Sanders talks about Medicare for all. He's currently the most progressive all the candidates. And he focuses on issues.

Biden is running a much more attribute-related campaign, having been a partner to Barack Obama, the most popular Democrat in America, and having led the country as vice president for eight years. So, you have an attribute candidate vs. an issues candidate, and Mike Bloomberg, the third person.

The challenge for him is that he's the advertising candidate. Very few voters have actually met him. Very few have seen him in his town halls. They basically only see him either in the debates or in the ads.

And the challenge for him is to get over 15 percent in enough states to remain credible after tonight.

CAVUTO: You know, Frank, I'm wondering if voters, stepping back, of any persuasion, that what's contributing to the sell-off in the market isn't so much the up-and-down again nature of the coronavirus, but politicians, you know, arguing over who's at fault.

I want you to respond to this, because I think it gets to the core of the problem. Everyone seems to be acting pretty childishly. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We will probably end up with crazy Bernie.

SANDERS: A president who is a pathological liar.

TRUMP: Mini-Mike, I know him well. I knew that was going to happen. That was probably the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: Get me off! Get me off of this stage!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Speaking of natural disasters, I will get the Donald Trump in a minute.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: For sleepy Joe, he doesn't even know where he is, what he's doing.

JOSEPH BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Once he's gone, the days of white supremacist hate group having a friend in the White House will be over, I guarantee you.

TRUMP: I was killing her with the Pocahontas.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: Remember, I said I have more Indian blood in me than she does, and I have none.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can't just have a guy who believes in magic as the president of the United States. It's a real problem.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": I don't think he even believes in that.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

WARREN: Oh, come on. The things he says about himself, he must believe in magic.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: You know, Frank, the only reason why I show these examples -- and it's an election year. I get that. Both sides are going to go zing the other.

But we do have this background of this coronavirus and the concerns that the arguing and everything else at least should ease a little bit, the childish cheap shots on both parties should ease a little bit.

I might be naive, but I'm wondering how people are digesting all this.

LUNTZ: You're not naive.

And, in fact, Neil, you're courageous, because you speak truth to power. I have been doing focus groups for the last three months. And it is depressing to me. Even the Democrats are now fighting with each other internally. And we have seen some of these debates turn chaotic.

This is not the way an election should be run. We need a serious focus both on issues and on attributes, because both of them matter. And when candidates take those cheap shots, it encourages the voters to do it.

And it discourages reasonable, legitimate, civil conversation. I say this for FOX News viewers, for CNN, for MSNBC, for those who watch networks and those who get their information from newspapers.

We got to stop, that this coronavirus is serious, and it's much more serious than we realize. It's going to hit America very strongly. There's a reason why the stock market has gone down. And it's not just going to be about science and about health.

It's going to affect the economy. It's going to affect travel and tourism. It's going to affect everything. And if there ever was a time to cool off, step back, and let calmer heads prevail, this is it.

I'm glad you showed that segment. It is an embarrassment. And we shouldn't be doing it at this time.

CAVUTO: Well, it is an election year.

This is the first time we have something of this -- happening in an election year. But I just think cooler heads need to prevail, because there's a nervous nation, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, who are very nervous about their well-being, their health, their kids' well-being.

And I think this kind of crap has got to stop.

LUNTZ: So, take the combination of nervousness and anxiousness, and when you put them together, that's where people get out of control. And that's where they behave badly. And that's not what our elections are supposed to be about.

This is a proper debate process. Now, I'm going to surprise you, Neil. I think Bernie is going to do well tonight. Biden's going to get his 15 percent all across the country. I think Bloomberg will get it in enough places.

But Bernie Sanders is going to come out the clear leader. If the Democrats try to step in and take that nomination from him, even though he may not get a majority, I think there's going to be outrage among the Democratic Party. The superdelegates do not belong in the process. They shouldn't be here.

The voters' voices must be heard. And that's what I'm going to be watching for tonight.

CAVUTO: All right, I know you will be helping with our coverage on just that later on, on FOX Business.

But, Frank Luntz, thank you, in the meantime, very, very much.

LUNTZ: Thank you.

CAVUTO: In the meantime, in the middle of all of this, we did have the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates.

So that alone isn't a huge deal. The fact that they did it by half-a-point well before their meeting between meeting, something they haven't done since the financial meltdown back in 2008, did raise eyebrows.

And the traditional view seems to be, what do they see that we don't?

Let's go to Jackie DeAngelis, following all this closely, Stanford School of Business lecturer Dave Dodson, and The Wall Street Journal's John Bussey.

John, I do think -- it's just my opinion -- that I think this finger- pointing and name-calling and dismissiveness, in the middle of something of this ilk does rattle folks, not just investors, but rattles folks.

What do you think?

JOHN BUSSEY, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yes.

And it -- I mean, nervousness and anxiousness, you're seeing that reflected in the stock market right now, because of the coronavirus and its effect on, ultimately, earnings, but, before that, supply chains, which are getting all bollixed up by this, the consumer, who's holding back on that vacation or travel, and then ultimately corporate earnings.

So you had the Fed rate cut today. It was interesting, Neil, that they're getting really out trying -- they're trying to get out ahead of this. I mean, they're trying to act before that they did in the 2008 crisis. They're trying to signal to the markets that they're there.

On the other hand, there's not much they can do. There's not a lot further that the Fed can cut. And that holds true for international central banks as well.

Greg Ip has a story on WSJ.com right now that says that how much an exogenous event like a coronavirus can hurt the economy, it was only half of a percentage point in the 1918 Spanish flu, about the same in 1957 and '67, when there were bad flus.

But that was before an integrated supply chain globally. And that could have an unpredictable effect on companies and earnings. And I think that's what the Fed was thinking about today.

CAVUTO: You know, if you're sitting on the Federal Reserve or you're the president of the United States, Professor, and you see that the markets didn't care or didn't have any response, save an awfully negative one, to John's point, with the cut in rates, and we're dealing with under 1 percent on a 10-year note, much cheaper mortgages are going to come as a result of that, and still nothing.

What did you make of that?

DAVID DODSON, STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: That's the point, right, isn't it?

I mean, we have a situation where the Fed drops a half-a-point, big deal, in an emergency meeting. Hasn't been done since 2008. And it's ho-hum to the market.

And the reason why that is, is, I think what the Fed did is, they said to the world, this is a big deal, and we should be worried about it.

But the -- but the markets are smart enough to know that we can't just keep hitting a button every time something goes wrong and says, well, the Fed is going to move the interest rates up or down and our world's going to get better.

In 2008, that was a financial crisis. We had liquidity issues. We had banking issues. And that was a great place for the Fed to enter. But this - - people have a fever now, and you don't fix a fever by dropping interest rates.

In what world is someone now going to go on vacation because the Fed dropped the interest rate? Or in what world is someone who was going to have a business trip tomorrow canceled are they going to do that business trip?

That's not how you solve this problem. And then, to make matters worse, in my opinion, Trump tweeted that it wasn't enough. And so how much signaling can we send to the economy that the economy is so fragile right now that, if the interest rates are anything above 1 percent, the growth is going to stop?

CAVUTO: That's well-put.

Jackie, what worries me the most about this -- and I know a lot of people say, oh, you're making a big deal of politicians being politicians and pointing fingers at each other, names and all that.

But, once again, much like we had during the financial crisis, it's like the whole civilized political world, if that's not an oxymoron, I don't know what is, is relying on the Federal Reserve to save the day.

And to the professor's point, Jackie...

JACKIE DEANGELIS, FOX BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

CAVUTO: ... there's only so much the Federal Reserve can do.

DEANGELIS: Absolutely.

I mean, these are two totally different circumstances. So, I think the initial market reaction today was the Pavlov's dogs kind of reaction, which is, the market goes up a little bit when you get a rate cut, and then it starts to digest it and say, hey, yesterday, we were up over 1,000 points.

We were starting to pause and say, yes, the coronavirus is serious, but measures are being taken to get through it. Everybody needs to just take a deep breath with this.

Today, when you see the Fed acting in this way, it's almost an alarm bell for the market. And that's why it's sold off 785 points, because, to the previous points, you can solve a liquidity crisis with interest rate cuts, but the consumer is in charge here.

If the consumer gets scared, isn't going out, isn't shopping, isn't traveling, isn't doing all of those things, you're not really going to be able to stem the damage that occurs, that comes to the economy. And that's what everyone's worried about.

It was Goldman Sachs and Citi last week saying that, if the coronavirus really does become this pandemic that people think it could become, you're going to see earnings growth wiped out for 2020.

And that's the issue. Interest rate cuts really aren't going to help that.

CAVUTO: Yes, you got to prepare people for that, John.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Go ahead, Professor. Go ahead.

DODSON: Well, and, Jackie, haven't we also shown the world that we don't know what we're doing when a pandemic hits?

Because this is a relatively mild virus. Hopefully, we will only have about a 1.5 percent fatality rate, which is still high, and we don't know what we're doing. And within a matter of weeks, something that starts in rural China is in 30 countries.

So what happens when we have SARS, where it's got a 10 percent fatality rate?

DEANGELIS: Well...

CAVUTO: Yes. And we don't have the correct number of cases of that.

So, whether the numerator or denominator changes or not, the fact of the matter, John Bussey, people generally don't trust what they're being told. They were told that it wasn't a problem here. Suddenly, it's a big problem here.

They were told that it wouldn't spread much beyond Asia. It spread to better than 60 countries well beyond Asia. So they don't really trust anything or anyone.

That's a very big differentiator.

BUSSEY: Yes, it's a difficult situation.

Jay Powell said as much, that, look, my rate cut is not going to fix the supply chains that are getting very seriously disrupted by the virus. And your point is well taken.

I think that the market is looking at this. It's buy on the rumor and sell on the news. That's why we saw the fluctuations yesterday and today, but, longer term, the market is looking at this and saying, look, we see the trajectories that happened in Korea and in China and in Italy.

And the presumption is that it won't be any different in the United States, probably a safe bet. That's a concern, particularly when testing was -- there were problems with testing.

The CDC didn't have a proper kit at the beginning. There's questions in the market about the preparedness of the United States for those trajectories when they do come to the United States.

CAVUTO: All right, final word. I want to thank you all very, very much.

Again, we wanted to show examples on the right and the left about politicians more interested seemingly in protecting their hide than helping you out.

Regardless of whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, conservative or a liberal, into politics or not, this isn't about someone trying to stave off blame. This is about trying to help you. And both parties have left you screwed.

We will have more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: To Tennessee. That tornado death toll is rising, at least 22 killed.

The mayor of Nashville on what his city does next -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: To Tennessee, where 22 people are known dead after two twisters ripped through the state, Nashville taking a direct hit from one of them.

But the mayor, John Cooper, says his city is going to come back from this.

He's kind enough to join us on the phone right now.

Mayor, thank you for taking the time.

JOHN COOPER (D), MAYOR OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Well, thank you, Neil, for having us, with a tough day in Nashville today. But it could have been a lot worse.

CAVUTO: It really could have been.

But, man, oh, man, it looks like something I have never seen, and certainly something that you don't think of in terms of Nashville.

COOPER: Well, exactly right.

If you look at the specific areas -- and we had kind of a tornado skip through the county -- time and time again, you can see that -- how blessed we were to only have two fatalities in this county. It could have been many, many more.

Tornadoes do come through Tennessee every 50 years or so. We had, however, had one about 20 years ago, and this took almost the same path. So -- but we're resilient. And we're going to hug our loved ones and start to rebuild.

CAVUTO: I have no doubt of that.

But in the middle of all of this, Mayor, you're dealing with a primary today going on.

COOPER: Yes.

CAVUTO: A lot of folks having difficulty just getting out, let alone to the polls.

How's that going?

COOPER: Well, the polling places I have been by have actually had long lines.

CAVUTO: Wow.

COOPER: So, it may have inspired people to go vote. I hope so.

We have -- 15 of our 169 precincts did have a power outage and have to have a method of dealing with those votes. But that's really less than 10 percent of our precincts.

CAVUTO: Mayor, how much...

COOPER: Now, there's some...

CAVUTO: Go ahead.

COOPER: Yes.

Well, there's some effort. We may keep them open a little bit later. Some of the campaigns have asked about doing that. But early voting has been big in Tennessee. And that's gone very well prior to today.

CAVUTO: I was wondering how much warning people had, Mayor.

COOPER: Right.

CAVUTO: And maybe that they were incredulous that this was even happening. But can you enlighten us here?

COOPER: Yes.

Well, I was just talking to our fire department on this. We actually got the warning that we planned for. These things are a little bit hard to predict, but we had between three and six minutes of alarm in the county.

I do feel that that actually probably saved a lot of lives. Some of the areas that I have been in, people said that they heard it, they moved, they changed locations, they got their pets, they brought each other close.

And it was a help. Now, other systems may in time get you more notice than that. But, a few years ago, Nashville had zero warning in this kind of event. And this ended up being three to six minutes.

CAVUTO: Now, you mentioned, Mayor, how much worse it could have been.

A lot of people don't know about why you're saying that. Why are you?

COOPER: Oh.

Well, I'm saying that because, if you tour the devastated neighborhoods, it happened, the schools that were hit, well, it was at night. There were no children there. The business districts that were hit, people were not living in those business districts.

The airport that it hit, it was at night. There was nobody there. A different time of day, you would have had very different outcomes from all of these particular neighborhoods.

CAVUTO: All right, my best to you and your constituents, Mayor.

Talk about a double whammy.

COOPER: Well, thank you, Neil.

Well, it is. It -- we didn't mean for this Tuesday to be, I don't know, super in this way.

CAVUTO: I got you.

COOPER: But we have brought the community together, and people are really out there helping each other, because, you walk through these areas, and it is a war zone, 20 blocks at a time. These kind of 15 different areas are, in fact, a war zone.

And it is a blessing that we only had two fatalities that we know of in Davidson County.

CAVUTO: Just incredible.

Mayor, my best to you and your fine folks.

COOPER: Thank you, Neil.

CAVUTO: Thank you for taking the time.

COOPER: Appreciate it.

CAVUTO: All right, in the meantime, San Antonio, more than 100 cruise evacuees just released, the same city where a woman with coronavirus prematurely got released.

Should others worry?

After this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: More than 120 Diamond Princess cruise ship evacuees released today from quarantine in San Antonio, Texas, their released delayed after the CDC prematurely let go know a woman who later tested positive for the virus.

Joining me now, a lawmaker representing that district, Texas Republican Congressman Chip Roy.

Congressman, good to have you.

Do we know what happened here in the release of this woman?

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): Yes, Neil.

I have been digging into it. As a congressman who represents a good chunk of San Antonio, I have been in close contact with the mayor's office, with the county judge there, and with the city council, and trying to make sure that we're representing their interests to DHS, to HHS, to DOD and all those that are involved with all of this.

And, look, I think the CDC made a mistake. I think they would acknowledge they made a mistake. They shouldn't have let this woman out. Now, let's keep in mind there's a little bit of a difference here.

This woman happened to be from China, and she had -- or had gone through China, had been in Wuhan. And so she came over, and she was a part of the first cohort and then ended up in this facility. And then they thought she was negative and they let her out.

The additional -- those that were released, the 100, they were from the cruise ship. And so they have been those who have not exhibited symptoms and that had been in a holding facility being observed. So they felt pretty confident that they were safe and that they were in a place where they could release them properly.

But CDC needs to do a better job in making sure they're making good decisions, so they can keep people's confidence in what they're doing. But we have been pushing hard to make sure that Texas is being considered here, rather than the federal government just making decisions for us.

CAVUTO: Do we know where this woman is now, Congressman?

ROY: Well, this woman has been -- is looking at -- or going another round of testing here...

CAVUTO: Got it.

ROY: ... to make sure that we know where she is in this situation.

But she was released. She went to a mall. They have shut them the mall down. She went to a restaurant. And so they have been going out and making sure that nothing's happened.

Look, we haven't had any community outbreaks.

CAVUTO: Right.

ROY: And that's something that's really important, as you know, nationwide.

We have been very blessed so far. We have been working hard and the administration's worked hard. The president got a lot of grief for shutting down some of the airline traffic. And they have been making some good decisions to make sure we hold the line here, while we can keep doing research and our partners in Israel and our smart folks here, University of Texas in Austin, they're doing a lot of research to find a vaccine and make sure that we keep calm and remember that, if you wash your hands and do all our normal things, we should be fine.

CAVUTO: You know, though, Congressman, when people keep telling me to calm down, when I was calm...

ROY: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: ... I start saying, why do you keep telling me to calm down?

And I'm just wondering...

ROY: Yes.

CAVUTO: You don't want to placate people. You don't want to alarm, and I get that.

But is it your sense here that we're told to calm down and everything's going to be OK -- we're up to these nine deaths now across country, largely in the Washington state area, I grant you.

But that's why people get a little bit anxious, right, because they hear this, and they hear the stories, it's not a problem here, and we have got things buttoned here. Invariably, things are beyond a lot of people's control. I get that.

But are we being a little bit too calm in that regard?

ROY: Well, look, I think it's really important, as a nation -- and the president is the leader of the nation, and Congress stepping up, making sure that people understand that, if we do what we're supposed to do, and we follow instructions, wash our hands, don't shake hands right now, go out and make sure that we're not exposing ourselves to coughs and so forth, and if you get sick, stay at home.

It's like any other virus, flu and everything else, that we should be careful.

However, it's really important that we treat these cases at the level of heightened scrutiny that they should be treated. That's why I have been beating up on CDC, HHS, DOD, to make sure they're doing the right things.

CAVUTO: But we're not, right, because we don't have an accurate number on how many have been exposed to this.

That's not anyone's fault. I'm not pointing fingers, but that you can't.

ROY: That's right.

CAVUTO: And this incubation period that ended up being longer than many thought, we have to at least prepare people for the possibility that these numbers exponentially get greater.

That doesn't mean the deaths get greater, but the exposed cases get greater, right?

ROY: That's right.

You have to plan for something. This is an illness like we deal with every year in terms of the sense of people getting exposed to it. But it's an illness we don't know that much about, right? The numbers in China are very troubling, but we don't get good information from China.

But what I don't want to see is a House of Representatives or a Senate passed a bloated $8.5 billion bill because they're reacting, rather than doing responsible approach. The president sent up a $2.5 billion supplemental that at least gets some of the money from existing dollars.

We're in appropriations season. And we can do it the right way. But, instead, they're going to send us another bloated bill. This is why we have $23.4 trillion of debt. It's because D.C. is going to do D.C. stuff.

And so we want to make sure we're fighting to make sure the American people have what they need, go after the vaccine, but we shouldn't use it as an excuse for D.C. to do what it always does, which is, like Rahm Emanuel said, never let a good crisis go to waste.

CAVUTO: All right.

Well, Republicans and Democrats are pretty good at spending money, aren't they?

ROY: They are, jointly.

CAVUTO: All right.

ROY: And you and I both share a criticism of the -- of everybody on that. But I'm working hard to try to do something about it.

CAVUTO: Understood, sir. Thank you very much. I appreciate your taking the time.

ROY: Thanks, Neil.

CAVUTO: Meanwhile, this is Super Tuesday, isn't it?

Looking live at some of the polling sites across these Super Tuesday states, some 14 of them.

So, the question isn't just about Bernie Sanders and whether he maintains his lead, but whether these dropouts in the race have changed the equation how much of a lead -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You don't have to win state. You have to win delegates.

And I think what happens here is, nobody gets a majority. At best, somebody will have a plurality. By definition, somebody will have a plurality. And then you go to a convention, and then we will see what happens in the convention.

QUESTION: Do you want a contested convention?

BLOOMBERG: Well, I don't think that I can win any other ways.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: Michael Bloomberg betting on a contested convention for a win.

Do any of his fellow contenders have the cash to keep that from happening to counter his cash to make it happen?

The Daily Caller's Vince Coglianese, Independent Women's Forum's Beverly Hallberg, and Democratic strategist Kevin Chavous.

Now, Kevin, that is your worst nightmare, isn't it, that a Michael Bloomberg emerges as victorious in that event, or what?

KEVIN CHAVOUS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: There would be a lot of people in the Democratic Party who would be unhappy with that.

But look, things have changed a lot since Michael Bloomberg jumped in the race. Nobody thought that Joe Biden would come back with the decisive victory that he had in South Carolina. And that really changes Michael Bloomberg's pitch to the Democratic Party.

He jumped in the race to fill a void. Now that void is sort of filled by Joe Biden himself. And I just think when you're getting calls from your own advisers to drop out, which is what we're hearing from people inside of Bloomberg's campaign -- even his campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, apparently had a meeting where he urged him to drop out and put his support behind Biden -- that's problematic.

Now, I know he's saying he's going to stay in the race. It's going to be tough for him to resist calls from people in his own team and on the outside to drop out, especially when his whole pitch to the party was, I'm doing this because no one else can win.

CAVUTO: Well, you might be right.

But, Vince, it was only a few days ago, before South Carolina, when a lot of people were telling Joe Biden that. But things could change.

And I'm just wondering where you see this all sorting out?

VINCE COGLIANESE, THE DAILY CALLER: Well, it's changed dramatically, definitely, as Kevin said, in the last 24 hours, because all of these people have bent the knee. They have fallen in line. They have decided to invest in Joe Biden.

They're betting on him. And he's kind of a strange candidate to bet on for a number of reasons. He's not a particularly strong candidate. You see him out on the campaign trail making the mistakes that he makes. He's the horse that they're betting on that seems to run the wrong direction around the track too frequently.

But he's the guy and he's considered the moderate in the race. I mean, nobody's going to be able to outspend Michael Bloomberg. That gives Bloomberg a tremendous amount of bargaining power if they get to a convention where nobody has a majority.

But in the meantime, this is a Democratic Party in chaos, and I don't think today is going to offer any clarity to that.

CAVUTO: Well, the only strategy that I would imagine, Beverly, that Mayor Bloomberg is hoping for is denying at least Bernie Sanders a win on the first ballot. Then all bets are off. It goes to the superdelegates.

But those superdelegates, to Kevin's point, now just as easily could go to Joe Biden, because he might be the more comfortable choice, right?

BEVERLY HALLBERG, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Well, I think it's almost refreshing that you have Michael Bloomberg telegraphing the only way he thinks he could win is through a contested convention.

And this is actually where I think money is going to talk.

CAVUTO: Well, that's OK. I mean, it worked for Abraham Lincoln, right?

HALLBERG: No, I think it's good.

CAVUTO: I mean, I covered that one. And I remember how that worked out, right?

(LAUGHTER)

HALLBERG: No, I think it's good he's being authentic about.

I think he was trying to preempt Super Tuesday and the results of Super Tuesday just a bit, if he doesn't do as well as he hoped.

He's saying, look, there's still a chance in a contested convention. But this is where money really talks for him. We already know that, privately, he's trying to court donors and Democrats behind the scenes, so maybe trying to get them to change their views on Joe Biden, maybe go to him, if there is a contested convention.

Let's not forget, Bloomberg is somebody who has spent a lot of money on causes and politicians over the years, and I think he may be asking for a little payback, should he get to a contested convention. So that's where I think money could really play a role.

CAVUTO: You know, Kevin, dissuade me of the way -- how this looks, that everyone's trying to prop Joe up, because they're so worried about Bernie.

CHAVOUS: The best way, Donald Trump is saying, and even Bernie Sanders' supporters -- and, look, there's no question that the establishment of the Democratic Party is fearful of Bernie. They were in 2016. And I think that remains the case today.

But, look, he won the race. He's got the popular vote lead. There's no allegations that the Democratic Party is doing something crazy to alter the results. He's winning.

CAVUTO: No, no, no, they're perfectly within their right to do it. They're betting on the wrong horse, I guess I'm saying.

CHAVOUS: Well, it remains to be seen.

He's still very strong in polling head to head against Donald Trump, like a lot of the Democratic candidates are, or the front-runners.

CAVUTO: OK.

CHAVOUS: So we will see.

But, to me, it's not necessarily about Bernie Sanders, as much as it's about finding someone who can take on Donald Trump.

CAVUTO: Got it.

CHAVOUS: That remains the priority for a lot of Democrats.

CAVUTO: Understood. Final word.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: I want to continue to look at this, and we will, about voter turnout, how that could decide how this whole battle over Bernie and in the general election goes -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: All right, just a couple hours away now for the first state polls closing.

There are 14 states and primaries today. That's when we will start getting a good gauge on the 1,357 delegates up for grabs today, fully a third of what you need in the total number.

Kristin Fisher outside a polling station in Arlington, Virginia -- Kristin.

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hey, Neil.

We're at a polling site in Northern Virginia, just a short ways away from Washington, D.C. And the polls are going to be closing here in just over two hours. And, shortly after, we may finally get some much needed clarity into the state of the Democratic race.

Will Bernie Sanders run away with this nomination and finally be able to head into the convention with a commanding delegate count? Or is Joe Biden going to begin to increase his delegate count and really become a serious threat to Bernie Sanders?

And then, of course, what about Mike Bloomberg? He is making his debut on the ballot here in Virginia and in all of the other Super Tuesday states? Bloomberg has spent more time here in Virginia than any other candidate. This is actually the state where he held his very first campaign event. And he has poured millions and millions of advertising dollars into this state.

But Joe Biden, he just picked up a critical endorsement from Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. Biden's hoping that Kaine will be able to do for him in Virginia what Congressman Clyburn just did for him in South Carolina.

And, as for Bernie Sanders, he's simply looking to do better than he did in 2016, when he got beaten by Hillary Clinton by 30 points -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, we will see what happens.

Kristin, thank you very much.

Our coverage on FOX Business kicks off at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.

The former Republican candidate Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, the former DNC and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Dick Grasso of the New York Stock Exchange, simultaneous examination of futures markets, foreign markets, the only place you can get it, on FOX Business.

We will see you then.

"THE FIVE" is now.

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