the coronavirus spreading, the world health organization now calling the global threat level very high. and president trump saying the outbreak is actually the democrats' new hoax as new communities spread cases pop up in the united states. and we're just hours away from what many hope could be the beginning of the end of

america's longest war. and welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. we're coming to you live from atlanta. i'm natalie allen. >> i'm george howell. "newsroom" starts right now. thank you for joining us. our top story, surging coronavirus cases are prompting a new warning from the world health organization. it says the global outbreak has reached the highest level of risk. >> that is meant to be a wake-up call for governments around the world to prepare. listen. >> do you have the xats capacit have you got the ventilatoventi have you got the backup teams because your staff will get exhausted. is the training in place, are

the laboratories ready, do you have big teams that can do surveillance, all these are the questions that need to be asked and answered right now. >> families, governments, communities are talking about this, he fe fears calling the w week for the u.s. stocks since the 2008 financial crisis. >> meantime there are new concerns over how the virus may be spreading in the united states. there are now believed to be three cases in the u.s. where the patient had not traveled to an infected area or are had contact with a person known to be infected. we're covering the spread and its impacts from asia and the middle' and mo east and more ab u.s. here. blake, let's start with you in the japanese capital. we know that they have now closed schools. what else is going on there?

>> reporter: yeah, there is a lot of concern surrounding the potential spread of the coronavirus across japan. the governor declared a state of emergency asking a all people in japan's largest prefecture to stay indoors. and then just recently prime minister abe announced that he is recommending that 34,000 public schools, elementary, junior high schools and high schools are closed starting this next monday. of course this is a recommendation, it will depend on each local authority to make that decision on whether or not they want to institute a closure or what that closure may or may not look like. and we've also just learned, and this is perhaps some big news especially for the japanese residents here, is the cherry blossom festivals in toek yoe

and o tokyo and osaka have been canceled. million come millions come to january pan co see these cherry blossoms. again, this iconic festival that these people here in japan look forward to year after year now canceled. and then you look at sporting events. we have rugby, soccer postponed, baseball games will be held spring training over the next three weeks, but they will be played inside stadiums with no fans. so at this point it turns to what will happen with the olympics. there is a lot of scrutiny as to the way japan has handled the coronavirus to this point and a lot of yeses about either the games should be canceled or potentially postponed to 2021. ioc officials earlier this week

mentioned that they are considering the potential options saying that they will wait until late may to make a decision to see what happens as far as the novel coronavirus is concerned on a global level. >> so much to think about with this virus. we'll talk with you again. >> and now let's cross to john defterios joining us in abu dhabi. and john in a world where people wonder what to believe, search they know the numbers don't lie. especially when it deals with your money. those numbers not looking too good there. so clearly there is a concern of a possible recession, at the same time the president's chief economic adviser is unlginurgin investors not to worry and that they should buy. help us square the circle. >> yeah, this is an amazing turn of fortune in global markets. we have to recall the fact that it started in asia and swept through the middle east, europe

and now hitting the united states. and in that order we've seen the damage to economies all around the world. so let's bring up that chart of the nine big markets of the world. when it comes to the united states for example, we're in correction territory and then some. these are losses of better than 10%. we have not hit a bear market, but it is a rapid fall, biggest fall i've seen in covering the financial markets over the last two decades. and the ripple effect is proef foun profound. we have a big travel show in berlin being canceled, and an event i was supposed to chair in mid march is postponed as well. and the federal reserve says that the u.s. economy is strong, but that it will use all the tools available if necessary, kind of an indication that the federal reserve can cut interest rates, provide more money into the financial system, but today we had china say in its history of collecting record, they have never seen the drop in industrial output that we're seeing right now. there just is no financial

movement. so it begs the question not just the u.s. federal reserve, but the g-20, and we had some conversation last week, they met in saudi arabia, they say they are prepared to act. they have been silent since we saw the huge 4,000 point drop. so we'll see something like we did in 2009 and 2010 where they came together to provide stimulus, cut interest rates and push collectively together to pace off this severe downturn that we will see in the economy. let's not forget just over 3% ten years into the economic cycle, that is under threat right now because of the coronavirus. >> john defterios live on that report, john, thank you. and the milddle east has identified a new case in iraq. the uae has suspended its bicycle race. >> and an israeli airline has

suspended flights to italy and thailand because of the cases. and in the meantime, the government in tehran has announced that it is suspending parliament sessions until further notice because of the spread of this virus. a case of the coronavirus in the u.s. state of oregon appears to have no connection to china or other previous cases and that is causing concerns. on top of that, two similar infections in california. >> nick watt looks at how the u.s. is scrambling to get ahead of the outbreak. one patie >> reporter: one patient in serious country in northern california, and now a focus in the fight to contain this virus. >> because the patient did not initially meet the criteria for coronavirus testing, the patient was not in airborne isolation. >> reporter: so dozens of health

care workers now quarantined and a state of emergency declared in that patient's home county. meanwhile, in nearby uc davis, three students now also quarantined, one of them suspected of having the virus. >> there are probably cases of coronavirus from community acquisition in multiple parts of the country right now. >> reporter: and this case in california is changing policy nationwide. >> we haven't been able to test more broadly and have had kind of a bottleneck, we haven't had enough testing sites. >> reporter: now labs are on line and the cdc testing criteria radically overhauled, used to be only those who have traveled to china or been in known contact with someone who tested positive. >> where did you ever come up with a protocol that was restricted to people that only traveled to china? come on. >> reporter: now if a doctor suspects coronavirus, they can test if it. could be the key to prevent a

silent spread. today washington state began testing. >> the goal is if it is in here in the morning, mid-morning, we'll have a result by 5:00 that afternoon. >> reporter: notiillinois -- >> we are beginning voluntary testing. >> reporter: and google just canceled an upcoming summit, amazon and jpmorgan advising employees against nonessential travel. miami-dade schools prepping to teach kids online if need be. and green day just postponed its tour of asia. overseas in italy, a soccer game in an empty stadium and motor show canceled in geneva. best advice to all of us, wash your hands, use hand sanitizer a lot, but cvs warning demand may cause temporary shortages. the cdc admitted on friday that the rollout of a testing program has not been as smooth as they would have liked, but testing kits have arrived in california and the cdc says that by the end of next week, they want every

state, every local health department to be testing for the novel coronavirus. nick watt, cnn, los angeles. dr. farley is professor at ucla and is joining me from los angeles. doctor, thanks so much for coming on. >> it is my pleasure. >> let's start with how the coronavirus is spread. what can people do in general to protect themselves? we've seen people all over china and elsewhere wearing masks, but that it seems we're learning is a false sense of safety. is that correct? >> yes, you have to recognize that it is spread by drop lets, that when you cough sneeze and it is usually within about no more than 6 foot distance, someone could be infected from that cough or sneeze. the situation with masks is that these are surgical masks that people are wearing, that is very good in fact to use if you are

someone who is a patient and coughing to keep yourself from exposing anyone else. but the reality is this a surgical mask doesn't really filter the virus particles, air goes around the sides, that sort of thing. so they are not effective for the general public. you need to have specialized masks that health care workers would be using. >> so we've heard over and over, wash your hands, don't touch your face. >> yes, and it really is the basic message that we're trying for personal what we call nonpharmaceutical interventions, npi for short. things that you can do without a vaccine or medicine. and that is important. washing your hands 20 seconds at a time frequently, not touching your mouth and your eyes, even ultimately probably getting to where we talk about handshakes,

maybe that is not the best approach. >> absolutely. and this is also flu season, so how would i know if a cold or a cough or a fever could be coronavirus? >> that is a very good issue, we are con founded at this time of year with in-influence edge vena is a serious disease in itself. and some of the same measures that we just talked about, covering your cough, having a little social distancing, make i go sure that you are not going out when you are sick, are important measures for the flu as well. but it is only when you would have suspicion because a person has traveled to an infected area or has been in contact with a patient who has coronavirus, so your suspicions are high and you would want to be tested for it. >> are older adults more

vulnerable? it seems that many of the deaths we've heard about have been people who were already compromised with health conditions. have young people gotten it as well? >> you raise an interesting point. flu we are worried about the very young and the very old. it turns out that for the coronavirus that we're dealing with here, 80% of the people that become fatalities are over 60 years of age, about 75% have other health conditions, let's say heart disease or diabetes. so the ones at most risk for serious disease, i had seen a recent study out of the korean center for disease control that had broken down by age group when they had about 45,000 cases and they showed only about 400 cases in children 0 to 9 years of ages and no deaths in that group. is so so it may be that this is a relatively benign disease of child hood.

>> we've seen schools close in hong kong and in japan. what criteria though might public health officials use in deciding when to consider community wide actions such a as school or ents cloevent closure? >> it hinges on the idea of when are you actually experiencing community spread where basically we do not know where that person received their infection from. when you start the seeing that, it means that you are having community spread of the virus. and in that situation you move from just the personal protective measures that you would take to adding on to that community protective measures, social distancing we call this, where basically you would be encouraging school districts to go to more long distance internet based learning for their students, those who can

telecommute to work, or maybe go to closure of some events, theaters or things where you would have populations coming together. that would be done on a locally decided basis. >> all right. we appreciate your expertise so much, there is so much to learn. and information is the key. thank you so much, doctor. >> it is an evolving nature. >> absolutely. thank you. and the u.s. president has a new hoax accusation aimed at democrats. what he's now saying his political rivals are using to try to bring him down. (sensei) when i started cobra kai,

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and said mr. president, they tried to beat you on russia, russia, russia, that didn't work out too well. they couldn't do it. they tried the impeachment hoax. that was a perfect conversation. they tried anything. they tried it over and over. they have been doing it since you got in. they lost. it is all turning. think of it. and this is their new hoax. >> we've heard from health officials concerned about the health of people given this virus. the president though calling it a hoax, blaming democrats, blaming the media for questioning his ability to manage the crisis. kaitlan collins has this for you. >> reporter: as health officials around the globe brush to respond to the new cases of the novel coronavirus, the white house is continuing to down play the risk. >> this is not ebola, it is not

sars, it is not mers, it is not a death sentence. >> reporter: there have been 62 cases identified in the united states. despite warnings from experts, mick mulvaney blamed the media for overstating concerns. >> the reason you are paying so much attention to it, they think this is what will bring down the president. >> reporter: although the global spread of the virus has been covered in the media for months now, mulvaney claimed otherwise. >> why didn't you hear about it four or five weeks ago? impeachment. that is all the press wanted to talk about. >> reporter: today secretary of state mike pompeo also faced questions from lawmakershe administration's response. >> we agreed that he would come and talk about iran and the first question was not about iran. >> we've heard there is an outbreak in iran.

as congress he debates the spending bill, the house was briefed on the latest today, though some lawmakers still had questions. >> everyone is scrambling for information. >> this is potentially an enormous issue for the country and i do not think that we're prepared. >> reporter: despite initially putting alex azar in charge, president trump has now given that responsibility spoke vice president pence who landed in florida earlier today for a coronavirus briefing with the governor alongside several fund rais raisers. and the president seems to be putting his faith in a higher you power has he continues to cast did you tell on the opinions of experts who say that it will spread in the united states. >> one day it is like a miracle, it will disappear and from our shores, you know it could get worse before it gets better, it could maybe go away. we'll see what happens. >> reporter: health and human services sect alex azar said they still do not know how that woman in california do the

coronavirus which she tested positive for because he said he doesn't want to speculate. kaitlan collins, cnn. >> thank you for the reporting. and now with context, leslie vinjamuri is joining us from london. good to have you with us. >> thank you, george. >> so first given the quarantines that wife seen around t we've seen around the world, the stories of those getting sick and have died, where does pr meet reality here?seen around t stories of those getting sick and have died, where does pr meet reality here? what do you think of the president rallies his base to consider coronavirus a hoax by the democrats? >> clearly we need the president and his team and those deeply expert in dealing with questions of public health and global health working together to

communicate very clearly not only the risks and the concerns, but exactly what the public should be doing, that is the first and foremost concern. so i think the fact that this is at the moment looking very political is of grave detriment to the u.s. government's ability to respond and hopefully that will be turned around very quickly. remember the coronavirus does not discriminate between democrats and republicans. this is a nonpartisan issue. so it is very disturbing to see it becoming intensely political at what is already a very polarized and political moment in the united states. >> clearly a strong economy very important to president trump. he does like to boast about people's 401(k)s, how they are doing well. but with an election outaround corner, can this president weather if people see loss in their investments? >> clearly the risk to the

global economy and u.s. economy is not something to be underestimated and a lot of that will come down to not only the course of how the coronavirus develops but to the markets having some sense that there is clear and present and good stewardship of the u.s. government through this. so, yes, absolutely this could have an impact on the elections, it could have an impact on the president. but the number one concern has got to be the public health, but the economic risks are potentially significant, not only consumer spending, travel, but also supply chains, this could hit supply chains. on one doesn't want to overstate, but obviously this is something that trump and his team need to be taking very seriously. it is not the same for campaign rallies and diverting their attention, but really not making this political. this is very obvious where they

need to be. >> i speak with people, you know, all over who are just talking about this virus, concerned about what it could mean for them. how does it present, how can you protect yourself. people are very concerned about this. it is a major health risk ander we're seeing it spread around the world. but to see coronavirus politicized, let's listen to how others in the white house are trying to suggest it is no big deal. >> i got a note today from a reporter saying what are you going to do to calm the markets. what i might do is tell people turn their televisions off for 24reer health experts believe that the health risks and so forth are on the low side. >> health risks on the low side. leslie, turn off your television is also some advice. with these mixed messages, what is the impact on people as they try to make sense of what to do

to protect their families? >> i think that people tend to be -- there is a diversity. some people tend to be more worried than perhaps they should be and others less. i do think that people in this particular area of value expertise, we have deep expertise across the globe, we have deep expertise in the united states. so one of the most concerning things is what we've heard recently that the u.s. administration is being very careful now on who they will allow to give press interviews and at no other time is it more important than dealing with a public health concern of this scale that the experts, those that have the knowledge and can inform the public about what do are given access to the media and that that is where the focus remains. >> good perspective from leslie vinjamuri. thank you. >> and to mirror what she said,

that was the problem when this first broke out in china, that the chinese government curbed the information, tried to push it down. and that caused to grow even more and it would be a shame if we saw that happening in our administration. >> it is interesting. well, it is a critical day in south carolina for the did himm democratic presidential candidates. with bernie sanders being the one to beat, hear last minute thoughts from the candidates. plus the eyes of europe are on slovakia as far rate right parties are set to make gains. stay with us.

welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm george howell with the headlines we're following for you. the world health organization says the global coronavirus outbreak has reached the highest level of risk. the new warning comes as the number of reported cases tops 85,000 and nearly 3,000 deaths. the virus has spread to at least 57 countries. and pope francis has canceled some public events for saturday, this is the third day in a row that he has done so. the united states is investigating two new reported cases of the coronavirus where it is not known how the patient got it. it is believed to be the second

and third instances of what is called community spread, that means that they have not traveled to an infected area or had contact with a person known to be infected. in the u.s. state of south carolina, it is primary election day. former vice president joe biden needs a big win there after falling short of expectations in the first three contests. candidates coveting the lead spot with bernie sanders currently holding 45 pledged delegates. >> polls hope at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. that is coming up. and there is a lot at stake. >> and jeff zeleny is in south carolina and has this update for you. >> because south carolina is the trajectory to winning the democratic nomination. >> reporter: joe biden is looking for a south carolina life line today hoping that victory will revive his candidacy. >> this nation isn't looking for a revolution as some of my

colleagues talk about, they where loare looking for progress and results. >> reporter: in his fight biden is tying himself closely to former president barack obama. >> this has been a launching pad for barack obama and i believe that this is a launching pad for me. this is a marathon. >> reporter: but bernie sanders is still in command of the race. >> let us go forward tomorrow, let us win the primary here in south carolina, let us win the democratic nomination, let us defeat donald trump. >> and also looking ahead to super tuesday with 14 contests from coast to coast awarding a third of all delegates. >> we are building a movement that cannot be stopped. >> reporter: the next four days are critical for those fighting

to stay alive. >> i won't be able to outdivide the divider in chief. i will beat him. >> reporter: and trying to become the alternative to sanders. >> senator sanders is a frontrunner, but the majority of democrats are looking for something else. >> what process will you go through post super tuesday to assess your way forward? >> of course we'll be looking closely at the results and making sure that we have the right path forward. >> reporter: ad spending topping the $1 billion mark. michael bloomberg alone accounts to half that. tom steyer more than $200 million nationally. and here in south carolina, steyer is spending $22 million farrout pacing his rivals including biden. biden's aides are keeping their eye on steyer. steyer dismisses the criticism. what do you say to the people who say you may be taking votes away from vice president biden?

>> i would say that is insulting. not to me, but to the people that somehow he owns votes, really? and there is an implication in there that in fact beer talking about african-american votes. >> reporter: jeff zeleny, cnn, charleston, south carolina. a political party with roots in fascism could be a big winner in saturday's parliamentary elections in slovakia. polls there are open right now. and the people's party has been running on anti-immigrant, anti-lgbt and anti-eu platforms, but has also resonated with a call to clean up corruption there. the leader of the party is on trial for using nazi symbols which he denies. the extreme far-right group has praised the dictatorship. >> and that is one that we'll be watching. next here, paving the way to peace. a look at the proposed agreement between the u.s. and the taliban

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in the coming hours the united states and taliban are expected to sign a historic agreement aimed at eventually ending america's longest war. vo secretary of state mike pompeo is due in qatar. >> a source close to the negotiation says that under the deal the american military presence in afghanistan would be reduced to 8600 troops over the course of 135 days. the taliban would have to help the u.s. fight al qaeda cells in the country. >> and that same source also telling cnn washington has reassured the afghan government that if the taliban breaks the rules of the deal, the united states, quote, will have enough lethal power there to destroy them. >> quite a threat there.

nic robertson is in doha where the signing is expected to take place. this has been back and forth, and it looks like it is moving forward. what do you expect there, nick? >> reporter: yeah, and i have to say there is an air of expect here. down below where the signing is going to take place, i've been seeing people who have been involved, u.s. experts, others, western experts, who have been involved in afghanistan for decades upon decades. and that really underscores the length of conflict in afghanistan, almost 40 kyrgioss the united states involve there had for almost 20 years. so the idea that all that fighting could be on the verge of coming to an end, that concept really and the feeling here is that is a possibility and that is in the air. however, everyone you talk to here readily admits the many difficulties that remain and the path, certainly you just laid out some of the details, the

united states down scale by 8600 troops over the coming months to a level of drawdown, but we understand that that is dependent on the actions by the taliban, the taliban have an expectation placed on them by the united states that after decades upon decades of supporting al qaeda and giving them sang dchew chew tuarsanctuy will turn on isis and help against those forces. >> and that will be something to watch to see if that happens. what about the afghan government without u.s. troops there? >> reporter: well, they believe that they have a commitment from the united states and that the united states won't walk around, won't leave them alone, that they will continue a

counterterrorism commitment to afghanistan. one of the big burdens coming up now after the signing today and of course this is a deal being signed between the taliban and the united states, not the afghan government. the burden is going to shift very quickly to the afghan government, there is an expectation that the taliban will begin talks with the afghan government and again part of the u.s. drawdown will be dependent on the positive engagement of the taliban with the afghan government. but before we even get to that point, the taliban have an expectation on the afghan government for a significant prisoner release. they believe that they have about a 5,000 taliban prisoners and they are expect all of those prisoners to be released before meaningful talks can begin. the afghan government is very likely having a much more cautious approach, neff mind ve the logisticlogistics, they wilo

see that there is a commitment to discuss the future afghanistan. amend the afghan government itself will want to see a commitment from the taliban in that direction before they hand over all those prisoners. of course taliban a have about 1,000 government prisoners as well from afghan government forces. so the prisoner issue is a big confidence building measure between the afghan government and the taliban. and that is the first hurdle. and it is not an insignificant hurdle. but as i said at the beginning here, there is an expectation that after almost 40 years of war, that this is a moment of possibility and opportunity and that is what we'll hear from secretary of state mike pompeo later today. >> we'll end on that note because, yes, that is a very hopeful place that these talks are in. thank you, nick. now to syrian refugees finding themselves caught in a

dispute between turkey and the european y european union. >> hundreds are gathering with hopes of reaching the eu, many of them trying to escape intense fighting in idlib. turkey says that it cannot handle more refugees and warns it may open its border with greece. but athens is tightening its border security saying illegal entries will not betal rated. >> what a scene there. and arwa damon has been reporting on the plight of the refugees. and she is live from a border crossing on the turkish side of the border where many have gathered. >> reporter: hi, just to set the scene for you, that is the border crossing that these refugees are hoping to get through. turkey has in fact opened its side of the border, it is no

longer stopping people who want to cross into europe whether via land or via sea. now, there has been quite a bit of tear gas going back and forth at this location. we saw that bit earlier. and now a group -- this group has pushed forward and appear to be staging something of a sit-in. you see mostly men here and that is because they are the ones who are sort of on the front line of this effort to try to force the border open. but on either side of this, there are hundreds of families, women and children, who have come here because they think that somehow they are going to be able to getting across. and this happened because on frid friday, there were statements being made attributed to a

senior turkish official and others that stated that turkey would be opening its border, that it would no longer be stopping people who tried to cross. this is very much the politicization of this refugee crisis, it being maneuvered because other negotiations have not worked out and for a number of reasons. turkey feels like it has been left alone to shoulder the largest burden of refugee crisis, but also because turkey wants to put pressure on europe to support it when it comes to refugees, but also to support it in idlib. word is spreading throughout everyone that is here that this sit-this is taking place. this has also been a move that pla many have said is quite controversial because the plight of these refugees being used to

try to by turkey at least to put pressure on the europeans. turkey is saying that it already hosts up washeds of 3.5 million refugees and it can't take in anymore. if it has to deal with a bigger influx from idlib, turkey says that it has to somehow clear people out. so the government has been indirectly encouraging refugees move towards the border whether by see or land. and it gets very cold. a lot of people have been setting up fires, they were forced to stay here overnight. and trying to get through, a lot of them have women and children with them as well. but the bottom line is the greek side of the border remains closed, but those we're talking to say that we have to take this chance, we have to try to get to europe, we have to take advantage of this potential reopening of the border on the turkish side.

but right now they are out here waiting and they don't have access it any sort of humanitarian assistance and they don't really know what is going to be happening to them next. >> you explained the political black and forth and is there a sense of hopefulness there? what are people saying to you? >> reporter: i mean, there is on the one hand a sense of hopefulness and that because the turks opened their side of the border, they might be able to get through. people we've been talking to actually say that they are well aware of the fact that they are being used as political pawns, but for them, it doesn't matter because they say life for them in turkey has been quite difficult and they say that they have to take this chance, they have to take this opportunity even though that they are also aware that many countries in europe aren't necessarily going to be welcoming them. and also worth mentioning, there

are a lot of different nationalities here. we've been hearing a lot of -- we've been speaking to some syrians, a lotof afghans. and they are still keeping the women and children mostly back because when that tear gas starts coming in, it does get quite intense. and is this going to end up being manipulated for some sort of negotiation in the future, that is unclear. how long is turkey going to keep this open, that we don't know either. but again, we're seeing that this, using refugees and their plight as a political pawn, that is what global politics at the end of the day in today's world boils down to. >> arwa damon showing us live what is happening at the turkish/greek border. thank you for your reporting. next here, an opposite mix of weather across the u.s., how some areas are getting pummeled

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passion and turn it intoed a advocacy. >> reporter: and this involves harnessing the voices of their most recognized athletes and testifying in front of policymakers about how they say the changing climate has compromised their sport. >> increased temperatures are melting away both my sport and my livelihood. >> reporter: for many of us, climate change can feel too overwhelming to tackle on our own. don't get discouraged but also recognize that it is more than recycling and riding the bus. >> what it is about is contacting your elected officials, attending city council meetings, voting, getting your friends to vote, getting involved in the broader systemic actions that can drive policy to combat climate change. >> reporter: and this is the legacy outdoor enthusiasts like myself want to leave you our children. you want to see more scenes like this. >> exactly. >> all right. the today i's top stoda i day'st ahead and an announcement about one of our team members.

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