hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from here in the united states and all around the world. you are watching "cnn newsroom," and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, u.s. health officials issue a warning on the spread of the coronavirus, but the white house downplays the threat. and showdown in south carolina. front-runner bernie sanders under attack from rivals in the last debate ahead of super tuesday. >> bernie and i agree on a lot of things. but i think i would make a better president than bernie. >> imagine spending the better part of 2020 with bernie sanders

versus donald trump. think about what that would be like for this country. good to have you with us. and we start with fears of a potential coronavirus pandemic raging through the united states. nearly 81,000 cases have been reported globally with more than 2,700 deaths. the vast majority are in mainland china. but south korea reports it has more than 1,100 cases. publicly u.s. president donald trump says his country has nothing to fear. but federal health officials are painting a very different picture. >> the coronavirus, which is very well under control in our

country. we have very few people with it. the people are getting better. they're all getting better. i think that whole situation will start work out. a lot of talent. a lot of brain power is being put behind it. $2.5 billion we're putting in. there's a very good chance you're not going to die. now they have it -- they have studied it, they know very much -- in fact, we're very close to a vaccine. >> current global circumstances suggest it's likely that this virus will cause a pandemic. in that case risk assessment would be different and new strategies tailored to local circumstances would need to be implemented to blunt the impact of the disease and further slow the spread of the virus. now, it's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will become infected and how many of those will develop

severe or more complicated disease. >> fears over the fast-spreading outbreak triggered another massive sell-off on wall street. the dow fell almost 900 points on tuesday after a 1,000-point drop the day before. the s&p and nasdaq each lost about 3%. meantime, in asia markets are still trying to rebound after falling sharply earlier in the week. most indices dipped again on wednesday. well, the virus has now spread to at least 40 countries and territories around the world. next to china iran has reported the most deaths while south korea has confirmed the second most cases. among those infected, an american soldier stationed in south korea. it is the first known infection of a u.s. service member. and cnn's paula hancocks joins me live from seoul with the details on all of this. so paula, what more are you

learning about this infected u.s. service member? >> reporter: well, rosemary, we're down at the camp humphries base, which is the headquarters here in korea. and this is where that particular individual has been brought, we understand from the commander, by ambulance. so that he can be treated in a low pressurized isolation facility. so they're saying he's getting the best care. he's a 23-year-old male. and he was based in camp walker -- sorry, he was based in camp carol, which is very close to degue. this is the city in the southeast of the country where the vast majority of these cases are now emerging. it's really the area and the focal point of south korea's fight against coronavirus. so we know that that individual did go onto a different base which is in the center of degu and just a mile away from a religious group which is also becoming a focal point of this coronavirus -- the numbers and the spike in cases. what the military's trying to do now is effectively trace his

footsteps, find out whoa came into contact with and to try to make sure that this doesn't spread any further. now, there's 28 1/2 thousand u.s. troops in korea. this is obviously a concern for the u.s. military. and we also know within the south korean military they have cases as well. 18 south korean soldiers have been confirmed as carrying the virus at this point. and of course the concern is that there is a close proximity issue when it comes to any military around the world. they're living in barracks. you do not want this kind of virus being able to spread throughout. now, we've just heard from the commander, this headquarters here will be essential personnel only from thursday. they're really trying to restrict soldiers' movements, they say. and all non-essential travel to daegu, the area that's most affected, is not going to be permitted by the generals as well. so they're really trying to crack down and prevent this

spreading any further. rosemary? >> many thanks to our paula hancocks joining us live from pyeongtaek. and now ben wedeman joins us from milan. after significant problems with italy's early containment efforts what's the latest on that? >> reporter: well, what we've seen here in milan, for instance, rosemary, is that on a normal day it's just after 8:00 a.m. in the morning this road would be full of traffic but now it is relatively quiet if not somewhat empty. what we've seen is that so far the latest statistics are that 322 people have contracted the coronavirus. there was one new fatality yesterday, bringing that number to 11. the victim was a 76-year-old woman with previous medical conditions. now, just south of here about 60

kilometers a so-called red zone has been set up where nobody can leave or enter. the police and the army have been deployed to make sure that people stay in place. here in milan we've seen a combination of sort of life as normal oddly and in other respects life completely chan d changed. the pigeons outnumber the tourists in milan's piazza del duomo. it's less than an hour's drive from one of the so-called red zones where more than 50,000 people are living under lockdown as the italian authorities struggle to halt the spread of coronavirus. "it's not normal that there are so few people," says this woman. "this is the week of carnivale and people usually bring their children here in costumes." some tourists are still here,

but their presence belies the jarring reality of this crisis. via the internet we spoke with journalist mario bora, who lives in the red zone town of codogno with his wife and two young children. normal life, he says, has come to a screeching halt. "the city is completely closed," mario says. "you can't do anything. literally. the municipality, post offices, banks, any activity with a gathering of people has been suspe suspended. even funerals can only be attended by two or three close relatives." in this close-knit town tragedy is felt by all. "we're a very small community," he says. "everyone knows each other. someone who died yesterday is the father of one of my friends." in milan museums, universities,

and schools are closed. the city's famous la scala theater is shuttered. all bars and cafes are under orders to shut their doors at 6:00 p.m. all these measures intended to slow the spread of the disease. this group of university students gets in their last drinks before closing time. emma isn't worried. >> the death rate is very low and in the end people die always. >> reporter: okay. that's fine. you're young. not everybody is young. >> i am worried for my grandparents. >> yes. >> i already called them already, made sure that they have precautions and everything. >> reporter: more precautions and everything may still be needed. and today is ash wednesday. normally there will be services in all the churches in the morning, but all of the services, rosemary, have been

canceled. >> all right. many thanks to our ben wedeman joining us live from milan. and just ahead, the top democrats running for the white house took the stage in their last debate before some major primary races. and front-runner bernie sanders was under constant fire. we will look at the winners and losers next. ...take the personal assessment and get matched with a proven weight loss plan. find out which customized plan can make losing weight easier for you! myww join for free and get three months free!

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welcome back. well, in just a few days voters in south carolina will choose their democratic candidate for president. then it's on to super tuesday, when 14 states will vote. and in their last debate before these critical races the gloves were off and front-runner bernie sanders was feeling the heat. >> of the last 50 polls that have been done nationally, mr. bloomberg, i beat trump 47 of those 50 times. if you look at battleground states like michigan, wisconsin, and pennsylvania polling -- >> the polls aren't the election. >> i beat trump. >> you proposed more than $50 trillion in new spending. you've said medicare for all -- >> over a ten-year period.

>> -- will cost $30 trillion. but you can only explain how you'll pay for just about half of that. can you do the math for the rest of us? >> what we need to do is to do what every other major country on earth does, guarantee health care to all people, not have thousands of separate insurance plans which are costing us some $500 billion a year to administer. our plan -- we have laid out options all over the place. one of the options is a 7 1/2% payroll tax on employers which will save them substantial sums of money -- >> bernie, let me respond to you. >> does the math add up? >> no, the math does not add up. in fact, just on "60 minutes" this weekend he said he wasn't going to rattle through the nickels and the dimes. well, let me tell you how many nickels and dimes we're talking about. nearly $60 trillion. do you know how much that is? for all of his programs. >> not true. >> that is three times the

american economy. >> i think i would make a better president than bernie. >> imagine spending the better part of 2020 with bernie sanders versus donald trump. think about what that will be like for this country. >> bernie sanders' analysis is right. the difference is i don't like his solutions. >> bernie in fact hasn't passed much of anything. >> i do not think that this is the best person to lead the ticket. >> you have to keep on going. we will elect bernie. bernie will lose to donald trump. >> but sanders wasn't the only one under attack. former new york mayor michael bloomberg was also sparring with his rivals. >> i don't care how much money senate -- mayor bloomberg has. the core of the democratic party will never trust him. he has not earned their trust.

i will. and the fact that he cannot earn the trust of the core of the democratic party means he is the riskiest candidate standing on this stage. >> all right, senator warren -- >> i'm the one choice that makes sense. i have the experience, i have the resources, and i have the record. and all of the side shows that the senator wants to bring up have nothing to do with that. >> senator warren, that is a very serious charge you that leveled at the mayor. he told a woman to get an abortion. what evidence do you have of that? >> her own words. >> mayor bloomberg, could you respond to this? >> i never said it. period. end of story. >> democratic strategist chris kathenas joins me now to talk more about the debate. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> presidential candidates shouting over the top of each other, a sense of desperation for those who know it's do or die. who were the winners and losers this time around and who landed some punches there?

>> well, you know, i'm not sure anybody won in a debate like that. it reminds me of watching your parents argue. it's never fun for anyone. i think in terms of maybe who didn't lose, i think biden did fairly well. i think warren landed some punches. i think buttigieg the same thing. you know, sanders seems to have gotten the brunt of the attacks, which is not surprising when you're the front-runner. and everyone sees you as kind of the primary threat. that's to be expected. bloomberg, you know, i think probably did as well as the last debate, which wasn't that good. so i think he is not helping himself in these debates, to say the least. but overall did it change the dynamics of the race? you know, i don't know. in a weird way i think it's probably still a lot of status quo. james clyburn is supposed to

endorse tomorrow. the reporting that's leaking out is he's supposed to endorse joe biden. in south carolina he's kind of seen as a very powerful voice amongst the african-american community. so i would say that's probably more significant event than this debate was. >> yeah. i mean, that's -- you're right. we saw targets on the back of both bernie sanders and michael bloomberg. and of course the other presidential candidates attacked sanders on his electability, or lack thereof, pointing out his vulnerabilities, particularly given his recent partial support of fidel castro. let's just take a listen to what pete buttigieg had to say about that. >> not looking forward to a scenario where it comes down to donald trump with his nostalgia for the social order of the 19 50s and bernie sanders with a nostalgia for the revolutionary politics of the 1960s. this is not about what coups

were happening in the 1970s or '80s. this is about the future. this is about 2020. we are not going to survive or succeed and we're certainly not going to win by reliving the cold war. and we're not going to win these critical, critical house and senate races if people in those races have to explain why the nominee of the democratic party is telling people to look at the bright side of the castro regime. >> so is buttigieg right? if bernie sanders ends up being the democratic nominee, does that automatically hand victory to donald trump? is that message starting to resonate now? >> you know, i think amongst some of the elites in washington there's no question there is enormous anxiety about sanders' candidacy. i mean, i hear it every single day. i think the problem with that anxiety and what i tell people, and i'm not saying this because i support bernie sanders or don't support him. i don't support any of these

candidates. i'm a democrat, but i haven't endorsed any of them. so from my perspective when i look at the polling, the polling that my firm has done -- just recently, for example, what i see is that bernie sanders is as competitive as any of the other candidates. so does that mean in a general election he won't face enormous criticism and attack? absolutely. but i get very uncomfortable, to be honest, when people tell me that bernie sanders can't win, he can't beat donald trump, that it'll be a disaster if he's the nominee. those may end up being true. but it also sounds a lot like what people said in the opposite way, which was hillary couldn't lose, she's unstoppable, there's no way that donald trump can win. so i think that people are so-called pundits and experts trying to predict what the outcome of an election is, most times their track record isn't very good. and here's the other sip of

reality. bernie sanders has coalesced a certain groundswell of support. it's just that simple. and whether -- >> but when you look at the politics of americans, you've got, what, 27% democrat, 30% or so republican, and then you've got around 40% in the middle there. they're moderates. so you're going to want to find if you're a democrat, you're going to want a more moderate candidate here surely to draw some of those more moderate, centrist republicans. can bernie sanders do that with his stand on certain policies? >> if he runs a typical strategy that democrats have ran in the past, that appeals to kind of just trying to win over moderates, he's going to have a really tough election. there's no way to deny that. the problem is the strategy you just pointed out, by the way, is exactly what hillary clinton tried, and it failed. so --

>> she still won the popular vote, though, didn't she? >> yeah. but that's not how it works in america. we don't -- we don't elect presidents based on the popular vote. it's electoral college vote. so the question becomes how does he do in some of those battlegrounds? it's just not clear at this point. now, i would prefer ideologically someone more moderate? yeah. that is my personal preference. but here's the problem. you've got to win the primaries. you've got to win the nomination before you win the general. so when candidates sit there and say whether it's buttigieg or bloomberg or others that bernie sanders, you know, can't win, well, then you've got to beat him in the primary process. and right now because there are so many moderates in the race none of them can beat him. and that is the problem and the issue that we're facing in the democratic party, that even though there might be some moderate and conservative democrats that think bernie sanders shouldn't be the nominee, as long as there's four, five candidates splitting up that vote bernie sanders is on a path to become the nominee.

>> and do you think it's the road for joe biden? >> no, i actually think joe biden right now is in a pretty decent position in south carolina. if he wins south carolina, that'll give a boost to his campaign going into super tuesday. the question is how much. right? if he wins it by double digits, he gets a real boost. and people will start talking about, you know, biden being back. if he wins it by a couple points, then it's a bit more of a challenge. but here's the difference between this calendar and other years. super tuesday is literally a week away from today. and so in that sense there's not going to be a lot of time between south carolina, which is saturday, and super tuesday, which is the following tuesday. and so the question i have and i'm not sure anybody can answer is what kind of momentum does biden get if he wins south carolina? the bigger question, though, is what happens if sanders ekes out a victory. i don't personally think that's going to happen. but if it did happen the

nightmares of all those folks who don't want him to win would be coming true really quickly. >> we shall see. it's only a few days away before we get a better picture of where this is all going. chris kofinis, thank you for joining us. appreciate it. >> you're very welcome. >> and tune in wednesday for the democratic town halls with michael bloomberg, joe biden, amy klobuchar, and elizabeth warren live from south carolina, starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. it is the end of an era for disney's long-time ceo bob iger is stepping down as chief executive after 15 years. during his tenure iger oversaw major acquisitions including marvel studios, pixar, and lucas film. disney says iger will stay on as executive chairman and will direct the company's creative endeavors through next year. bob chu pechlt c will take over as ceo. he is the former chairman of

disney parks, experiences, and products. a former food company executive has been sentenced to five months in prison for paying bribes in the u.s. college admissions scam. michelle evers, whose family invented hot pockets, pleaded guilty to paying $100 thousand to fix her daughter's exams. she also paid $200,000 to get one daughter into college, posing as a beach volleyball player. her attorney praised the judge's sentence, noting she's a profoundly good person. >> i want them to know that she understands the harm that her choices caused. she understands the impact those choices had on students who tried to apply fairly to get into college. she understands how discouraging her choices could be for others. health officials are expecting the coronavirus to spread in the united states.

so how should americans prepare? we will discuss that with an expert just ahead. and another passenger from the diamond princess cruise ship has died from the virus. more on its spread from passengers to crew and further, when we return.

ithat car is one of mine. and soon, it's going to be one of theirs. but they would have never even known it existed. if it weren't for the power of targeted tv advertising. it's smart. it grabs people's attention. it works. it's why comcast spotlight is changing its name to effectv. because being effective means getting results. right now we are following a massive fire at an oil refinery in california. local stations report the fire broke out tuesday night at the marathon refinery just before 11:00 p.m. local time. this facility is the largest refinery on the west coast. that is according to the marathon website. and we will of course continue

to watch this and bring you more details as they come in to us. let's go back now to our other top story. the nfl croovel coronavirus. there are at least 57 cases in the united states. and president trump is downplaying fears of an outbreak. but federal health officials are warning of a potential pandemic. they say it's not a question of if the virus spreads in the u.s. but when and how badly. >> what's going on in the rest of the world recently in countries like japan, south korea, iran, and other countries, we're starting to see communities spread. and if you have community spread of multiple generations of infections in a variety of different countries you have the makings of a potential pandemic. and if that occurs we can expect to see cases in the united states that we would have to deal with. how we deal with is really going to be the crux.

would we be able to control it or would it turn out to be something that is much more widespread than we would like? so the idea about anticipating is not unrealistic at the same time that presently today we do have things under control. we just need to be prepared for the situation to change. >> and just a reminder, globally there are nearly 81,000 known cases and more than 2,700 deaths. south korea has the largest outbreak beyond mainland china with more than 1,100 people infected. with me now is robert kim farley. he is a professor at ucla's fielding school of public health. thank you so much for joining us. >> it's my pleasure. >> so the cdc is warning americans it's not a question of if coronavirus spreads across the united states but rather when. president trump insists the problem will disappear very soon. but u.s. and global markets,

well, they appear to believe the health experts rather than trump. what happens when the public get mixed signals like this, mixed messages m. >> i think it is important there's a consistent message given to the public so there isn't a misunderstanding. the important thing is to recognize the cdc is really trying to say that we need to be preparing for the worst but we are hoping still for the best. >> the cdc tweeted tuesday evening that americans should think about getting ready for an outbreak across the country. so what does that mean exactly? what should we all be doing to prepare for a novel coronavirus outbreak? what should businesses be doing? what should individuals be doing? >> a couple of things to think about. what is the scenario we might expect. the one scenario would be like with sars, that happened that ultimately the genie, if you will, was put back into the

bottle within about nine months' period from 2002 to 2003. i don't think we're at that stage with current coronavirus. it's really out of the bag at this stage. we can also think -- i see a scenario of fits and starts whereby it's like throwing matches into a fire, forest fire, it may start in different places, and that's what we're going to be seeing potentially in other countries like we've seen already in korea or italy. but the real concern would be like in a densely populated developing country, let's say lagos, nigeria. you could have a much more explosive outbreak there. but we could have the third scenario where basically we end up with the fact that this becomes a virus, it does spread pandemically around the world in the united states and we'll have to learn to deal with it like influenza. influenza kills 36,000 people a year here in the united states. and hopefully we'll be able to mitigate over time with vaccines that are under development. it will still take time for such

vaccines of course to be able to be tested in humans and to be able to come up to speed in terms of the scale where it can be helpful. >> right. and it's worth pointing out that singapore appears to have learned from the 2003 sars outbreak and has successfully contained the coronavirus. why are other countries following their lead and what are they doing that all these other countries need to be doing right now? >> the things that happen, we call it non-pharmaceutical interventions, or npi for short. the idea that if we don't have a vaccine what are the other things we can do? that can be done at personal level where you have for example social distancing. people making sure that if they are sick they're not going out. we are making sure that we are washing our hands frequently. covering our cough and sneezes. those sorts of things at the personal level. at the social level, community

level, social distancing can involve the issue of closure of schools. it can involve closure of theaters, things like this, where you have large numbers of people congregating. so those are the two things that can exist. and that's what singapore was doing in sars and certain cities will be having to do those same sorts of things if they have actually local community-based transmission. it's not where we have these small introductions occurring where we can contain it, we isolate the persons who are sick, look at their close contacts and have them in a quarantine situation. but if you have community spread where you do not know what the sources are now coming from, that's where you have to practice some of these social distancing efforts. people telecommuting to work if they can do that. maybe there will be internet distance learning for students. if there were school closures. i think that's what the cdc is trying to say, we should be at least thinking about those issues now. businesses, schools, et cetera.

so they are prepared should this local transmission occur in selected areas in the united states even. >> some important tips there for all of us. robert kim-farley, thank you so much for talking with us. i do appreciate it. >> my pleasure. and a fourth passenger from the diamond princess cruise ship has died. japan's health ministry says he was 80 years old and links his death to the coronavirus. cnn's will ripley joins me now from tokyo. so will, what more are you learning about this passenger and what's japan saying in reply to criticism about its role in the failed quarantine on board the diamond princess and of course the impact all this might have on the upcoming tokyo 2020 summer olympics? >> this is so sad. not surprising but sad, that we're now learning of yet another death. this actually makes six deaths here in japan due to novel coronavirus. four of them as you mentioned tied to the diamond princess cruise ship. all of these people are senior citizens and they fall into that

high-risk group. the situation on the ship is definitely teaching japanese authorities some hard lessons because they're facing a lot of criticism about the way that they handled the quarantine. a lot of people have called it a failed quarantine. but what is so crucial now is for japan and the world to learn the lessons from the diamond princess because in just a matter of months tokyo is planning to host the summer olympics, where you will have people from 200-plus countries coming here and staying. you're talking about hundreds of thousands of people staying in very close quarters. which is kind of like a diamond princess-like situation only expanded on a much larger scale. and these are people who would then fly back to their home countries. so if you still have an outbreak situation you can see how absolutely catastrophic the olympics could potentially be. which is why there's now talk about a backup plan, which is something that japan would never consider unless they absolutely had to, given the tens of billions of dollars and blood, sweat and tears that has gone

into planning tokyo 2020. but when you have the ioc saying they're going to have to make a call on this possibly by the end of may and then tokyo 2020 telling cnn that they are continuing to consult with all the relevant authorities, and you know, obviously any countermeasures that need to be taken, they will be considering that, this is a story that's changing by the day. but as we look at how things unfolded on the diamond princess, one thing is clear. people can be infected with this virus and show no symptoms and possibly infect other people before they even know that they're sick. the fateful voyage of the "diamond princess." what began as a glamorous getaway ended as a holiday from hell. january 20th, the luxury liner leaves yokohama, japan. on board, more than 3,700 people from all over the world. five days later, january 25th, an 80-year-old passenger from hong kong is seriously ill. he disembarks in the chinese territory. by then it's too late.

five days later, january 30th, the hong kong passenger is hospitalized with a fever. the diagnosis, novel coronavirus. but the "diamond princess" sails on, stopping in okinawa on february 1st. as most passengers go sightseeing, others leave by plane. by now there's growing evidence something is seriously wrong. people are getting sick. two days later, february 3rd, the "diamond princess" abandons her itinerary, making an emergency return to yokohama. by the time the ship arrives on february 4th there's just one confirmed case of coronavirus. japanese health authorities put the entire ship under quarantine for 14 days. the number of cases snowballs, becoming the largest cluster outside of mainland china. passengers are confined to their cabins. the crew keeps working and perhaps unknowingly spreading the virus. february 12th, a japanese quarantine official is infected. it becomes clear the quarantine is not working.

february 13th, japan says some of the oldest, most vulnerable passengers will be allowed to disembark. february 16th and 17th, the u.s. government sends two charter flights to evacuate more than 300 american citizens. other countries and territories quickly follow suit. february 18th, south korea sends its presidential plane. february 19th, more evacuation flights. australia, canada, hong kong, israel, italy. february 20th, two japanese passengers in their 80s die from the virus after they leave the ship. the first deaths but sadly not the last. by february 21st the number of cases tied to the ship skyrockets above 600, and the numbers keep rising. february 22nd, the final passengers are off the "diamond princess" but the crew must begin their own quarantine. for some the nightmare is over. for others the cruise from hell

continues. to give you a sense, rosemary, of just how seriously japanese authorities are taking this, this is a country with a salary man culture, where people go to the office and they stay in the office for long hours every single day. japan now urging large companies, and some of them are already doing so, to encourage people to work from home. that is a tectonic shift here in japan. but that along with canceling sporting events and encouraging people to reconsider gathering in public places, all this talk about social distancing indicates how seriously they're taking this situation. and they say, rosemary, the next one to three weeks here are really critical because they don't frankly know how many people could be walking around with this virus and not even know it. >> this is the big problem. it's got everyone on edge across the globe. will ripley bringing us the very latest there from tokyo. many thanks. we'll take a short break here. still to come, a pivotal u.s. presidential primary is just days away. coming up, the key voters candidates are trying to win over.

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the gloves were off at the tenth u.s. democratic presidential debate tuesday night, which quickly became a chaotic shouting match among the seven candidates. the stakes are high, with south carolina's primary this weekend and super tuesday next week. and it seems everyone piled on the front-runner, bernie sanders. >> the economy is doing really great for people like mr. bloomberg and other billionaires. in the last three years, last three years, billionaires in this country saw an $850 billion increase in their wealth. but you know what? for the ordinary american things are not so good. >> if you think the last four years has been chaotic, divisive, toxic, exhausting, imagine spending the better part of 2020 with bernie sanders

versus donald trump. >> i am scared. if we cannot pull this party together, if we go to one of those extremes, we take a terrible risk of re-electing donald trump. >> if we spend the next four months tearing our party apart, we're going to watch donald trump spend the next four years tearing our country apart. >> whoever wins saturday's primary in south carolina will do it with the support of african-american voters. an nbc/marist poll shows biden winning 35% of the black vote. bernie sanders captures 20%. and tom steyer has 19%. no other candidate has double-digit support. and to get an idea of which candidates are effectively reaching these key voters, randi kaye spoke with several african-american women. >> i really feel like biden is the best candidate, and i'd like to convince you -- >> you've got a hard job ahead of you.

>> that he can move this country forward. >> really? >> he has the ability to go against trump. >> reporter: at this north charleston, south carolina hair salon roxann johnson is trying to convince fellow clients to vote for joe biden in the upcoming primary. >> i like his experience, how he knows what's going on in washington, d.c., he's familiar with policies. >> reporter: denise cromwell was a biden supporter, but,000 she's undecided. she says biden disappointed her with a canned response to an emotional story she shared about her uncle, a veteran, taking his life. >> to me it was just a political move, a political response, to hear him say what needs to be heard and said publicly. >> reporter: she's also concerned about biden's health and stamina. though she's still considering voting for bernie sanders. she also likes pete buttigieg but worries about his electability. >> i just don't think america is ready for a president that's married to a man. >> reporter: especially here in the bible belt, she says, where voters may like buttigieg's

policy but because of their religious beliefs won't vote for a gay candidate. still, alisa locke is supporting buttigieg. >> he has a really awesome plan for moving the black agenda. you know, the frederick douglass plan which he has a lot of great points that we really need to be watching. so instead of watching bernie sanders with the free, free, free -- >> reporter: she likes buttigieg's honesty and his medicare for all who want it plan. >> if i like my health care plan, i want to keep it. >> reporter: all the women are concerned about how sanders would pay for medicare for all, free college, and his other promises. >> i just don't see how he's going to do it. i need to have some hard facts. show me the numbers. >> reporter: back in the 2016 south carolina primary sanders won just 14% of the african-american vote. most in our group are still turned off. >> you have to have more of a way to deal with people without

being so gruff. i think he's kind of rough around the edges there. >> reporter: blondell kidd is supporting biden. >> he worked with obama for several years, and i certainly trusted that administration. >> reporter: as for mike >> i just don't feel he knows what it's like for us every day americans and what we're going through out here in the real world. >> what do you make of bloomberg's apology for the stop and frisk policy? >> i don't know that it's genuine. >> meanwhile as the primary ticks closer those undecided are looking to the heavens for help. so how are you going to make up your mind? you only have a few days left. >> i'm praying. >> randy kaye, cnn, south carolina. egypt is mourning a ruler who's left a complicated legacy. a look at how his near 30-year rein shaped the country.

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tuesday. he was 91 years old. so how will egypt's former president be remembered? >> reporter: well, rosemary, ultimately egyptians will have a very mixed memory of mubarak and that's because ultimately their relationship with mubarak is very complicated. on a day like this where there's a cultural respect, the older generation will say let me be buried in dignity, let's not push this any further. but it's important to remember that he ruled the country for 30 years. that means bh he was overthrown in 2011 there's an entire generation of egyptians who knew nothing but mubarak. and on a day like this when people are reflecting back, when they're looking back on his time and now under the new president

many will see mubarak's institutions, the powers he put in place to contain his grip on the country are very much in place. he ruled through the military, ruled through the police, he ruled through a ruling elite class rife with corruption. all those factors remain. individual rights have been reversed according to human rights groups. so in a moment of reflecting on this, yes, there will be those who respect him, see him maybe as a national hero. but those who oppose him are going to accuse president mubarak of stealing an entire generation's future. rosemary? >> thank you so much for bringing us the latest details from london. and thank you for joining us. i'm rosemary church. "early start" is next. for our viewers here in the united states and everyone else "cnn newsroom" continues in just a moment. do stay with us. i am totally blind. and non-24 can throw my days and nights out of sync,

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a revitalized feel, the democrats putting the pressure on bernie sanders. did they do anything to slow him down ahead of super tuesday? and it's not if, when. the cdc says coronavirus will spread in the united states. the president appears to be fudging facts on a health crisis in an election year. good morning and welcome to a very early "early start." i'm laura jarrett. >> and i'm christine romans. it is 3:00 a.m. in the east. let's begin with last night at the final democratic debate before super tuesday.