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WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump named Vice PresidentMike Pence on Wednesday to co-ordinate the government’s re-sponse to the coronavirus, even ashe repeatedly played down thedanger to the United States of awidespread domestic outbreak.

The president’s announcement,at a White House news confer-ence, followed mounting biparti-san criticism that the administra-tion’s response had been sluggishand came after two days of contra-dictory messages about the virus,which has infected more than81,000 people globally, killingnearly 3,000.

The announcement also cameon a day when the Centers for Dis-ease Control and Prevention re-ported that a person with noknown risk factors had been in-

fected in Northern California.“The risk to the American peo-

ple remains very low,” said Mr.Trump, flanked by top health offi-cials from several governmentagencies. “We have the greatestexperts, really in the world, righthere.”

The president said he would ac-cept whatever amount of moneycongressional Democrats wantedto give for the virus response, add-ing, “We’re ready to adapt andwe’re ready to do whatever wehave to as the disease spreads, if itspreads.”

“We’ll spend whatever is appro-priate,” he said.

Several top health care experts

TRUMP TAPS PENCETO LEAD RESPONSE

AS VIRUS SPREADSPlays Down Risk to

U.S. a Day After aC.D.C. Warning

This article is by Michael D. Shear,Noah Weiland and Katie Rogers.

Vice President Mike Pence willcoordinate federal efforts.

GABRIELLA DEMCZUK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A10

WASHINGTON — When Hur-ricane Dorian crashed into theAtlantic Coast in September,President Trump assumed atake-charge role in response. Buthe undermined his own effective-ness after it became apparentthat before displaying a map infront of the television cameras inthe Oval Office, he had altered itwith a Sharpie pen to match hisinaccurate forecast of where thestorm was headed.

For years, experts havewarned that Mr. Trump has beensquandering the credibility hecould need in a moment of na-tional emergency, like a terroristattack or a public health crisis.

Now, as the coronavirus racesacross the globe and has begunto threaten the United States, Mr.Trump could face a moment ofreckoning. Maintaining a calmand orderly response during anepidemic, in which countlesslives could be at stake, requiresthat the president be a reliablepublic messenger.

“I think the president has aunique opportunity to dispelfears and calm the situation — ifpeople believe he is telling thetruth,” said Kathleen Sebelius,who served as secretary ofhealth and human services in theObama administration. “And Ithink that’s really where a greatdisconnect occurs.”

On Wednesday evening, Mr.Trump delivered an almost casu-al account of the administration’sresponse to the coronavirus,leaving it to the experts appear-ing with him to relay the realinformation and assure a jitterypublic. Still, he kept trying tosuggest the risk was low.

“We will see what happens,”the president said as he ad-dressed the nation. “But we arevery, very ready for this, foranything.”

Mr. Trump said that JohnsHopkins University rated theUnited States “No. 1 for beingprepared,” holding up a chartprinted on an 8 ½ by 11 sheet ofpaper.

“This will end,” he said, com-paring the coronavirus to theeveryday flu. “We really have

NEWS ANALYSIS

Facing Potential Testin Public Trust

This article is by Annie Karni, Mi-chael Crowley and Maggie Haberman.

Continued on Page A9

Exhausted medical workerswith faces lined from hours ofwearing goggles and surgicalmasks. Women with shavedheads, a gesture of devotion.

Retirees who do-nate their lifesavings anony-mously in govern-ment offices.

Beijing is tap-ping its old propaganda playbookas it battles the relentless coro-navirus outbreak, the biggestchallenge to its legitimacy indecades. State media is fillingsmartphones and airwaves withimages and tales of unity andsacrifice aimed at uniting thepeople behind Beijing’s rule. Iteven briefly offered up cartoonmascots named Jiangshan Jiaoand Hongqi Man, charactersmeant to stir patriotic feelingsamong the young during the

crisis.The problem for China’s lead-

ers: This time, it isn’t working sowell.

Online, people are openlycriticizing state media. Theyhave harshly condemned storiesof individual sacrifice whenfront-line medical personnel stilllack basic supplies like masks.They shouted down JiangshanJiao and Hongqi Man. They haveheaped scorn on images of thewomen with shaved heads, ask-ing whether the women werepressured to do it and wonderingwhy similar images of men were-n’t appearing.

One critical blog post wastitled “News Coverage ShouldStop Turning a Funeral Into aWedding.”

Daisy Zhao, 23, a Beijing resi-

China’s Propaganda MachineLoses Credibility in Outbreak

Continued on Page A13

LI YUAN

THE NEWNEW WORLD

NEW DELHI — To many in theeastern Delhi neighborhoodwhere a convulsion of religious vi-olence erupted this week, it all be-gan with one man.

Kapil Mishra, a local politicianwith India’s leading Hindu nation-alist party, had just lost an elec-tion. Acquaintances in the area,which now feels like a war zone,said he had been looking for a way

to bounce back.Mr. Mishra, 39, is known for his

outspoken views and flexible poli-tics. As an upper-caste Hindufrom a political family, he hadworked for Amnesty Interna-tional and Greenpeace, and risenin the ranks of one of India’s most

progressive political organiza-tions. But several years ago heshifted allegiance across the polit-ical spectrum to the Bharatiya Ja-nata Party, India’s current govern-ing party, which has deep roots inHindu supremacist ideology.

On Sunday, he appeared at arally against a group of protesters(most of them women) who wereobjecting to a new citizenship lawwidely seen as discriminatory to-ward Muslims. There he ventedhis anger in a fiery speech in

Deadly Delhi Riots Began With a Fiery DemandThis article is by Jeffrey Gettleman,

Suhasini Raj and Sameer Yasir.Politician Told Police

to Evict Protesters

The worst Hindu-vs.-Muslim violence in years left parts of the Indian capital in ruins this week.SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

Continued on Page A8

LOS ANGELES — On the daybefore in-person early voting wasto begin across California’s mostpopulous county, there was nosign of life at Joseph R. Biden Jr.’scampaign office in East Los Ange-les last Friday. A metal gate outfront was padlocked shut, with amissed-delivery notice from thePostal Service wedged into it.

In a strip mall a mile away, acampaign office for SenatorBernie Sanders was hummingwith activity. Field organizerswere busy calling supporters, andevery so often the ding of a bellsignaled that another volunteerwas on board.

Mr. Biden is counting on a win inthe South Carolina primary onSaturday to help position him asthe leading moderate challengerto Mr. Sanders, after threestraight losses shredded Mr. Bi-den’s status as the onetime front-runner. But even if he succeeds inSouth Carolina, his lack of re-sources and thin campaign orga-nization in California and otherstates that vote next week on Su-per Tuesday present a dauntingchallenge to a candidacy alreadyon precarious footing.

Interviews with party leadersin half a dozen Super Tuesdaystates suggest that the same vul-nerabilities that plagued Mr. Bi-den beginning in Iowa — subparorganization, limited outreach tolocal Democrats and a late start tocampaigning — are holding himback in the states that next week

Biden’s Tuesday Could Turn OutFar From Super

By THOMAS KAPLANand KATIE GLUECK

Continued on Page A18

REYHANLI, Turkey — Thebaby wasn’t moving. Her bodyhad gone hot, then cold. Her fatherrushed her to a hospital, going onfoot when he could not find a car,but it was too late.

At 18 months, Iman Leila hadfrozen to death.

In the half-finished concreteshell that had been home sincethey ran for their lives acrossnorthwest Syria, the Leila family

had spent three weeks enduringnighttime temperatures thatbarely rose above 20.

“I dream about being warm,”Iman’s father, Ahmad YassinLeila, said a few days later byphone. “I just want my children tofeel warm. I don’t want to losethem to the cold. I don’t want any-thing except a house with win-dows that keeps out the cold andthe wind.”

Syria’s uprising began in a flareof hope almost exactly nine yearsago. Now, amid one of the worst

humanitarian emergencies of thewar, some of those who chantedfor freedom and dignity in 2011want only to ward off the wintercold.

Already the effective winner ofSyria’s civil war, President Bashar

al-Assad is closer than ever to re-taking Syria’s last rebel-held terri-tory, Idlib Province in northwestSyria, a milestone that will clinchhis victory even as it deepens hispeople’s suffering. Over the pastthree months, his forces, backedby Russian airstrikes, have inten-sified their assault on the prov-ince, driving nearly a million resi-dents toward the border with Tur-key.

Many are living in tents orsleeping out in the open in the

Children Freeze to Death. Bombs Rain Down. And ‘Nobody Cares.’By VIVIAN YEE

and HWAIDA SAAD

Attacks have driven nearly a million Syrians toward the Turkish border over the past three months. Many live in tents or in the open.MUHAMMED SAID/ANADOLU AGENCY, VIA GETTY IMAGES

Fearful Families on Run in Largest Exodus of9-Year Syrian War

Continued on Page A6

Maria Sharapova, a five-time GrandSlam singles winner, said she wouldretire from tennis at age 32. PAGE B7

SPORTSTHURSDAY B7-12

A Champion Calls It a CareerCarrie Lindsey’s “nonsurgical face-lift”massage involves extensive smooshingand stretching. Her Brooklyn clientsare willing to pay $285 for it. PAGE D1

THURSDAY STYLES D1-6

Faces Radiantly Rearranged

Despite a loss to LeBron James and theLakers, the Pelicans rookie has histeam in the playoff chase. PAGE B7

Zion Williamson’s Time Is Now

Nicholas Kristof PAGE A29EDITORIAL, OP-ED A28-29

The Trump administration can blockgrants to states and cities like NewYork that defy immigration authorities,an appeals court ruled. PAGE A21

NEW YORK A21-25

A Loss for ‘Sanctuary’ States

Monday’s election will be Israel’s thirdin less than a year, and many expectthat a fourth will follow. PAGE A4

Israelis Stagger to Another Vote

Activists are calling for a 24-hour strikeby women next month to demand great-er support for their rights. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-13

Day of No Women in Mexico?Bob Chapek, Disney’s new chief, quietlyworked for 27 years in the company,mostly in unflashy parts like consumerproducts and distribution. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

C.E.O. From a Smaller World

Deontay Wilder’s 40-pound outfit for hisboxing rematch against Tyson Furytook “grand entrance” to a new level. Itmay have cost him the bout. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

Height of Heavyweight CampSix workers, including the suspectedgunman, were killed on the MolsonCoors campus in Milwaukee. PAGE A15

NATIONAL A14-20

Shooting Deaths at Brewery

Work in Arizona is endangering sacredindigenous sites, including an oasis thathas been used for 16,000 years. PAGE A14

Tribes Condemn Border Wall

MARKET SWINGS President Trump has taken credit for stocks rising,but he blamed others when they fell on fears about the virus. PAGE A9

VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,616 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Late EditionToday, clouds breaking for sunshine,very windy, turning colder, high 46.Tonight, partly cloudy, windy, cold,low 29. Tomorrow, brisk, cold, high39. Weather map is on Page B10.

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