making news in america this morning, down to the wire. >> i never said that. >> -- have said to one of his pregnant employees. >> oh, come on. >> the gloves come off during the final debate before super tuesday. bernie sanders and michael bloomberg coming under attack. the chaos on stage, and this morning, will it be biden's last stand? just three days before the south carolina primary, the state of the race this morning. a stern warning. >> this could be bad. >> the cdc saying there's a strong chance of a serious outbreak of coronavirus in the u.s. what health experts say you should do to prepare. plus, the concerns on both sides of the political aisle. is the government ready? breaking his silence. >> are the kids okay? >> we catch up with the stepfather of two missing children from idaho as their

mother makes a new demand from jail. court documents revealing a possible clue on their whereabouts. plus, the heiress to the hot pockets food fortune is sentenced in the college admissions scandal. what it means for actress lori loughlin. consumer alert. the new grocery store without cashiers. will it save you money and who is fighting the concept? so you want to be an astronaut. we take you inside the nasa training facility where the astronauts of the future are forced to prove they have what it takes. good wednesday morning, everyone. thank you for joining us. we begin with the chaos on stage during last night's democratic debate. with only three days until the south carolina primary, the candidates came out swinging at bernie sanders attacking him on everything from gun control to the cost of his health care plan. >> michael bloomberg fared better last night than he did last week. but he faced a steady stream of attacks. abc's serena marshall has the

highlights. serena, good morning. >> reporter: kenneth, mona, good morning to both of you. this debate was not like the others. these candidates coming out forcefully ahead of saturday's south carolina primary and next week's super tuesday, but more than sparring about policy, it seemed they were interested in talking over each other. seven candidate, one stage and a lot of cross talk. >> can i respond? >> i'll respond to the question. >> amy used the word alienating. >> reporter: as each one made their final pitch for taking on president trump in the fall by attacking their rivals. >> i don't care how much money mayor bloomberg has. the core of the democratic party will never trust him. >> i have been training for this job since i stepped in the pile that was still smoldering on 9/11 and all of the sideshows that the senator wants to bring up have nothing to do with that. >> reporter: senator bernie

sanders currently leading in the delegate count taking the most heat throughout the night. >> 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'm hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight. [ laughter ] i will tell you, pete, what the american people want and, joe, what the american people want, they don't want candidates to be running and billionaires with huge amounts of funding. >> reporter: forced to explain his recent praise for fidel castro, which brought some boos from the audience. >> what i said is what barack obama said in terms of cuba, that cuba made progress on education. yes, i think -- >> boo. >> really? >> reporter: former vice president joe biden trying to recapture his momentum coming out forceful and feisty. >> the people know me. >> reporter: and promising. >> i intend to win south carolina. >> reporter: one team delighting in the apparent

chaos, the trump campaign calling the democratic party a hot mess. this was the last debate before super tuesday. that's when 30% of the delegates will be awarded. kenneth, mona. >> thank you, serena, for that report. so, the question now is, will the debate have any impact on the race? >> we asked our political director rick klein. >> kenneth and mona, this was a wild and raucous debate. one of the feistiest series of exchanges that we have seen. you could tell how important this was to so many of the candidates. joe biden, the front-runner here in south carolina, dishing as well as he got and so far in this race taking on both bernie sanders and mike bloomberg. everyone recognizing right now this is bernie sanders' race to lose. joe biden have a performance that might solidify his standing in south carolina, and mike bloomberg stronger than he was but still not exactly the performance he needed to get back in the conversation. so some of the dynamics in this race still very fluid after a wild debate. kenneth and mona. >> rick klein there in charleston, south carolina.

stay with abc news for coverage of the south carolina primary and then on super tuesday our live coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern. we turn to the new warning about the coronavirus. the cdc now saying, quote, this might be bad. >> officials say there's a strong chance of a serious outbreak in the u.s. and americans should be prepared for significant disruptions to their lives. overnight we learned a member of the u.s. military in south korea has tested positive for the virus and a flight attendant on korean air has reportedly been diagnosed after working on a flight to los angeles. this morning, the first u.s. military service member added to the list of americans infected with the new coronavirus. the soldier is stationed in south korea and was under self-quarantine when he tested positive. and now the cdc says it's not a question of if the virus will spread in the u.s., but a matter of when. >> we are asking the american public to work with us to prepare and the expectation that this could be bad. >> reporter: health officials

say communities should get ready to take drastic measures to control the outbreak including closing schools and stores, adding that people should make sure they keep essentials like medications on hand in case pharmacies are forced to close. a new study finds the death rate from the coronavirus is 2.3%. that's compared to only 0.1% for the flu, but that same research finds most coronavirus patients, 82%, showed only mild cold-like symptoms. and while the president is trying to calm concerns insisting the u.s. is well prepared, lawmakers on capitol hill are not so convinced. during a hearing tuesday, senators from both parties questioned whether the white house's request for $2.5 billion in emergency funding is enough to prepare for an outbreak. >> this is not the time to try to shortchange the american people. >> reporter: the trump administration highlighted one challenge at the hearing saying the government has only 30 million respirators for health care workers. in the event of an outbreak they'll need 300 million.

>> you're head of homeland security. do we have enough respirators or not? >> for patients? i don't understand the question. >> for everybody. every american who needs one who gets the disease. >> again, i would refer you to hhs on that. >> reporter: overseas this morning the number of cases rising. iran now has the highest number of deaths outside of china. even the country's health minister is infected testing positive after this news conference where he was coughing and wiping his forehead. in italy this morning more than 320 cases now confirmed. syracuse university now suspending its study abroad program in florence. lands ors arned n spain's canary shut, nearly 1,000 tourists ordered to stay in their rooms because one guest is sick with the virus. and there's growing concern that the summer olympics in japan could be affected. health officials are hoping the virus dies out when the weather gets warmer. as for the stock markets, dow futures were stable early this

morning. breaking overnight, a tennessee mother is under arrest after an amber alert was issued for her 15-month-old daughter. megan boswell is charged with false reporting. police haven't said why. family members say daughter every mae hasn't been seen since december. an amber alert was only issued last week. one of the jurors who found harvey weinstein guilty of sexual assault and rape is speaking out. the woman identified as juror number two told "inside edition" she has a lot of respect for weinstein's accusers who testified against him. weinstein was acquitted of the most serious charge of predatory sexual assault, which hinged on the testimony of actress annabella sciorra. but the juror says it was not because the jury didn't believe sciorra. >> annabella sciorra, why was her testimony ultimately unconvincing? >> i wouldn't say that it wasn't convincing. it was very much so convincing to a lot of the jurors. i feel like the way things went

for her, it was wrong. it was very much so wrong, and i just feel like hopefully with the verdict that we gave, she feels and she has some type of closure. >> as you heard there, the juror says she hopes the verdict gives the accuser some closure. meanwhile, weinstein remains in the hospital after complaining of chest pains on his way to jail. his lawyers expect to file an appeal as soon as today. turning to the weather, a snowstorm is stretching from kansas to maine making driving treacherous. and this morning detroit is in the bull's-eye. let's take a look at your wednesday forecast. good morning. a messy start to our wednesday from the midwest into the great lakes where we're tracking a band of some heavier snowfall but ahead of that system, though, a mild day for the northeast with some gusty thunderstorms developing as we head through the afternoon and into the evening where we've got the snow for the midwest 3 to 6 inches. northern new england and downwind of the great lakes up to a foot of snow expected through thursday. it will be turning colder into

the southeast. a lot of storms though as we push into the afternoon. i'm accuweather meteorologist adam del rosso. coming up, the new grocery store without cashiers. will it save you money? also ahead, caught on camera, a train crashing into an 18-wheeler. one man's narrow escape. but first the cruise ship tragedy, a little girl dies after falling out a window. now her grandfather

eight years into the disease was when all the light went out. for me, it was heart-wrenching. look into the eyes of somebody with alzheimer's sometime, you just don't see -- the person's soul is, like, gone. bea: and it takes a toll on everyone. i mean, it's -- it's a depressing disease to watch unfold before your eyes. she actually thought those of us who were caring for her and who loved her most were her worst enemies. more and more responsibilities fell on my shoulders. lisa: this disease just ravages a family. it changes your life. the magnitude of it is indescribable. my mother taught me to be in the moment. we have to live in the moment with them. and i'm going to be with that person right now, in this moment, wherever she is. art: now is the moment. if we work together, we can stop this epidemic. grace: contact brightfocus and learn more.

we're back with breaking news from southern california. a major fire overnight at this petroleum refinery in carson. flames were visible for miles. some residents reported hearing a large boom. the freeway had to be shut down

in the area. now, it's not immediately clear what caused that fire. check out this video from texas. an amtrak train slammed into an 18-wheeler near san antonio. the driver escaping with seconds to spare. no one was hurt. the truck got stuck because the tracks were higher than its wheels. the indiana man whose granddaughter fell to her death from a cruise ship window now plans to plead guilty to negligent homicide. their lawyer says the family decided it was time to move on. he says the plea deal involves no jail time and no admission of facts. sal anello has said he thought the window was closed when he held up the 18-month-old. the ship was docked in puerto rico at the time. the family is suing royal caribbean for negligence. a deadly tesla crash is being blamed in part on the car's autopilot system. in 2018 a tesla slammed into a concrete barrier in california killing the driver. they say the autopilot

misidentified a lane marker that was faded. the board called for tesla to do more to stop misuse of the feature pointing out the driver was playing a video game behind the wheel at the time. amazon has opened its first full size cashless grocery store promising to save you time, maybe even some money. the shop and go store in seattle is stocked with fresh food, alcohol and more. shoppers only have to swipe into their store with the amazon go app, take whatever they want off the shelves and simply walk out. no cashier, no cash. your bill is automatically deducted from your virtual cart. >> it's about getting you in and out of the store as fast as possible and on to making your dinner or eating your lunch. that's kind of the target consumer is this very busy working person in a city. >> some analysis. expect lower prices on some items, but a food workers union isn't happy with the technology claiming amazon is putting millions of jobs at risk. amazon says it's actually creating more jobs than any other company. coming up, the driver who took a shortcut and drove raining baseball game.

but first the heiress to the hot pocket fortune gets one of the harshest punishments yet in the college admissions scandal. what it could mean for lori loughlin. and a new twist in the mystery of the two missing children from idaho. we catch up with their stepfather as their mother makes a new demand from jail. hood. ♪ rock music >> man: so i'm not taking any chances when something happens to it. so when my windshield cracked... my friend recommended safelite autoglass. >> tech: hi, i'm adrian. >> man: thanks for coming. >> tech: oh, no problem. >> tech: check it out. >> man: yeah. they came right to me, with expert service where i needed it. that's service i can trust... no matter what i'm hauling. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ♪ oh, oh, (announcer)®! ♪ once-weekly ozempic® is helping many people with type 2 diabetes like james lower their blood sugar. a majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. here's your a1c. oh!

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this morning, the heiress to the hot pockets snack food fortune is heading to prison after the judge handed down the harshest sentence yet. >> she understands the harm that her choices caused. she understands the impact that those choices had on students. >> michelle janavs sentenced to five months behind bars after pleading guilty to paying bribes to get her two daughters admitted to elite universities. ♪ hot pockets >> reporter: janavs forked over more than $250,000 to ringleader rick singer paying him $100,000 to help her daughters cheat on college entrance exams and another 200,000 to try to get their daughter admitted to usc as a fake recruit to the volleyball team. she thought singer was offering legitimate help getting their daughters into college is similar to the defense actress lori loughlin plans to use but prosecutors used it against janavs saying she failed to accept responsibility by pleading not guilty when she was first arrested. >> because the allegations

against lori loughlin are similar to those involving michelle, it wouldn't be uncommon or unexpected that she would face very similar consequences. >> reporter: janavs was also ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and receive two years of supervised release. janavs is the 17th person sentenced in this scandal. lori loughlin is scheduled to meet with a judge tomorrow. several developments in the case of a mother from idaho arrested in connection with the disappearance of her two kids. lori vallow is held on $5 million bail in hawaii. she's expected in court today asking to reduce her bail. court documents claim vallow's niece knows where the children are but is refusing to tell police. meanwhile, vallow's husband is breaking his silence speaking to abc's marcus moore. >> is there anything that you would like to say to people at all who are, number one, concerned about the kids or concerned about you and your wife? anything at all you want to say to them?

>> grateful for any support. we just have to wait for the legal process to work through. >> can you tell me, mr. daybell, are the kids okay? >> i have to go. no comment. >> and the children haven't been seen since september. a little girl's dramatic escape from a fire was caught on camera in joplin, missouri. surveillance video shows her sleeping on a couch with a fire burning on the front porch. the flames got bigger. they started to creep closer. she finally woke up when the fire alarm goes off. the fire department says the video shows the importance of smoke detectors. emts pulled double duty as landscapers near tacoma, washington. a man fell and broke his hip while mowing his lawn. emergency crews took him to the hospital and then they went back to the house to finish mowing the lawn for him. >> all righty then. well, up next in "the pulse," clearing up a mystery involving peanut butter. also ahead, a ridiculous situation gets even more ridiculous. that building that just refuses to be destroyed.

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♪ i'll tumble for you i'll tumble for you ♪ ♪ i'll tumble for you i'll tumble for you ♪ time to check "the pulse" and we begin with what's tumbling in eastern washington state. >> yeah, what's tumbling is too many tumbleweeds. so many they're piling up against houses and some people can't even get outside. >> residents say 40-mile-per-hour winds are leaving everyone helpless. >> i don't control the wind and i also don't control the tumbleweeds so you deal with what happens and this is what happens. yep, not going out the front door right now. using the garage as the only exit from the house. so that's convenient. >> winds are finally expected to calm down soon there. >> hopefully for his sake. ikeee to ngower of dallas. >> that's much longer than first thought but they are making

progress after last week's implosion failed to bring down the building as expected. the first wrecking ball brought to the scene monday was pretty small. >> the former office building is now an internet sensation. crews will now have to use a different shaped wrecking ball. maybe they could take the advice of this guy and use a bigger ball. >> size matters. hey, next jif peanut butter is weighing in on a sticky situation. >> the maker of the creamy has -- snack has now teamed up with gif? to try to to solve the debate over how to pronounce jif or gif. >> who do we believe? >> take a look. a basketball shot you have to see to believe. >> this guy right there, he goes between the legs, that's right. nothing but basket.

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making news right now at 4:27, developing news in the deadly hit and run collision that killed a 12-year-old girl. seven candidates one state. democrats hold their tenth and final debate before the south carolina primary, and bernie sanders feels the heat. a massive refinery fire shuts down a southern california freeway. good morning, it's wednesday, february 26th. let's head over to mike nicco. >> let's look at our temperatures, about 39 in fairfield, 52 in oakland, 55 in san francisco. pacifica, 53. 58 in los gatos, hayward 50. here's where we end up this

afternoon, not quite as warm as yesterday, but pretty darn close, within a couple of degrees. still a chance of a record high in concord and santa rosa, 75 and 77. mid to upper 70s inland. upper 60s around san francisco and along the coast. low to mid 70s for the rest of the bay. we'll look at the warm forecast coming up. how is the commute starting? >> starting great this morning. we have a look at our maps, there's not a single slow spot except for the commute coming out of tracy. showing you the san mateo bridge, a few people making their way towards the peninsula and the east bay, other than that, the ride is clear. same thing in san jose, 101. hardly any traffic for people. we have a commuter alert, the posey tube reminder, full closure from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. reggie and kumasi? the driver accused of killing a 12-year-old girl in a crosswalk is out on bail hours

after surrendering. >> abc7 news reporter amy hollyfield is live in castro valley with the charges he's now facing. >> this is impacting this community. look at this median here. it's full of flowers and balloons, a memorial for lana carlos, who was killed in this crosswalk. investigators say she was in the crosswalk with her sister when she was hit. the man accused of hitting her bailed out of jail last night. 24-year-old joshua burn was booked yesterday for felony hit and run and vehicular manslaughter after turning himself in. 12-year-old lana was walking home from school when she was hit monday afternoon. officers say she had the green light. officers say burn was turning left in his f150 and he maybe didn't see her. they're still a

wonderful girl. >> she was very special. sweet, sweet, sweet little angel. she loved everybody. she touched everyone's life. she's very close to god, she carried her bible around in her backpack. we'll miss her. >> byrne lives in hayward but used to live in castro valley. officers think he was working construction in the area. investigators do not know why he turned himself in, saying he was not answering questions. but investigators say they were closing in on him. they do say he had left the scene. you can see on the other corner across the street there's another memorial here to lana. the chp says they will be stepping up enforcement here on