CNN to host town hall with Joe Biden on coronavirus

"The Coronavirus Pandemic A CNN Democratic Presidential Town Hall with Joe Biden" will air at 8 p.m. ET and feature questions submitted by individuals living in some of the communities hit hardest by the coronavirus. CNN's Anderson Cooper will moderate the hourlong discussion on the impact to Americans' health, the repercussions for the nation's economy and the human toll to US society.

Biden will join the town hall via satellite from his home studio in Delaware. The Democratic presidential candidate has been critical of President Donald Trump's response to the pandemic, and this week he told CNN's Jake Tapper that he thinks Trump should allow the experts and scientists to do the talking.

"Look, we all want the economy to open as rapidly as possible," Biden told Tapper. "The way to do that is let's take care of the medical side of this immediately. ... (Trump's) not responsible for the coronavirus, but he's responsible for the delay in taking the actions that need to be taken, as far back as January."

The former vice president has delivered remarks on the coronavirus outbreak via livestream from his home in Delaware, and he has said he plans to hold regular briefings on the response to the pandemic.

Biden holds a more than 300-delegate lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the race for the Democratic nomination for president. Sanders has also held livestreams addressing the coronavirus pandemic and has been critical of Trump's handling of the crisis.

Friday night's town hall will air on CNN, CNN en Español, CNN International and CNN Airport Network and will stream on CNN.com, CNN OTT apps for AppleTV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Samsung SmartTV and Android TV, and CNN Mobile apps for iOS and Android, CNN's SiriusXM Channels and the Westwood One Radio Network.