That sound good on bumper stickers. Ive been hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight. [ laughter ] i wonder why. Joe biden promises a comeback. I will win South Carolina. Just three days to go until the pivotal primary. Winter storm warning. 13 states on alert as heavy snow sweeps across the country. States from missouri to maine bracing. Ginger is tracking the latest. Breaking his silence, the man in the middle of that missing sibling mystery now speaking to abc news. His wife under arrest. What hes saying about his stepchildren. Just call him harry. How he is now introducing himself as the duke makes his first return to the uk since his royal exit. The new images this morning. And passing the torch. The historic change at disney. Ceo bob iger handing over the reins to bob chapek. From star wars to the avengers, to frozen, to baby yoda, the new chapter for the company and for a legendary career. We certainly do say good morning, america. Bob iger, 15 years as the ceo. More than four decades with the company. Its been an incredibly amazing run. Not quite over yet. Will be executive chairman for another year and a half. Its a very busy wednesday morning. Were coming off that democratic debate in South Carolina last night. It was a raucous one, Bernie Sanders on the firing line. For the first time they debated that issue on so many of our minds, coronavirus. It came right after a new warning from the cdc saying its spread here is inevitable and americans should prepare for significant disruptions in their lives. Overseas a u. S. Soldier has now become the First AmericanService Member in south korea to become infected and fears hitting wall street hard again with the dow dropping nearly 880 points. There are now more than 81,000 cases worldwide. Lets go to Steve Osunsami outside cdc headquarters in atlanta with more this morning. Good morning, steve. Reporter good morning to you, michael. One of the things that has authorities here at the cdc concerned are the outbreaks that are taking place across the world. Outbreaks outside of asia that they cannot directly tie back to asia. The cdc this morning is putting it plainly, that its not a question of if the virus will spread in the United States, but a matter of when. We are asking the American Public to work with us to prepare in the expectation that this could be bad. The people are getting better. Reporter while the president is trying to calm the panic, insisting that the u. S. Is well prepared for any outbreak, lawmakers on capitol hill werent so convinced. Sorry. Youre head of homeland security. Do we have enough respirators or not . Reporter the government says it could need around 300 Million Masks and respirators to fight an outbreak but only has about 30 million on hand. At a 3m plant in south dakota, where the masks are made, theyre working around the clock and its still not enough. The frustration in washington is overflowing. This is not the time to try to shortchange the American People. Reporter a vaccine is still at least several months away, and for now if theres an outbreak, Health Officials are recommending americans work harder to clean surfaces and to distance themselves from crowds. Meanwhile, overseas the number of cases is rising. In south korea the u. S. Military is announcing its on high alert as the first u. S. Service member has tested positive for the virus. That 23yearold soldier is now in selfquarantine at his offbase residence. And in italy, there have been more than 320 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. American schools like syracuse and Fairfield University are closing their study abroad programs in the country. Grace palmieri and lauren tassi are studying in florence with ei will illinois state. They have been told not to travel to milan. Most of the information that were getting is from our advisers here. Were just kind of trying to take whatever precautions they tell us to. We were both supposed to travel this weekend to milan and had to cancel our trips because we were told that its probably best that we stay home. Reporter at a hotel in Spains Canary islands, the doors are chained shut and nearly a thousand tourists there have been ordered to stay in their rooms because an italian guest is sick with the virus. The president this morning is responding to criticisms of his administrations handling of the coronavirus including questions about funding cuts to the cdc. The president this evening is holding a News Conference with cdc officials in washington. Robin. Got to keep that in mind. The cdcs Principal Deputy director dr. Schuchat is good enough to join us now live from atlanta. We appreciate your time this morning. We know how busy you are and weve also heard about the strong warning from your agency. So can you please break down how dire the situation is right now . This is a relatively new virus, and were learning every day more and more about it. One of the things weve learned is that its quite transmissible beyond the outbreak in china, the outbreak on the cruise ship, we now have outbreaks in europe, outbreaks in other countries in asia, and we recognize that our very strong measures here in the United States to contain the virus, to keep it limited to very low numbers, may not hold for the long haul. We dont know exactly what will occur here, but the transmissibility has us wanting to be prepared. We also know that the virus is not as severe as we first feared in the reports out of hubei province. What were seeing in terms of severe cases is primarily the elderly and people with chronic conditions like diabetes or Heart Disease that are hardly hit. What we arent seeing is a lot of disease in children, which is a feature of flu, so were still learning, and we want to be prepared and the outbreaks in europe and in south korea and the middle east have made us want to raise our attention. And how are you being prepared . Because President Trump is saying that everything is under control. Do you share that right now, and what are the steps Going Forward . We work very closely with state and local Public Health partners. We actually practice for pandemics and threats like this, and so weve been intensifying our communication outreach to the health departments, because when outbreaks hit, its really on that front line, city, county or state, that Public Health is on call, so were equipping them with guidance about how to address this threat should it arrive in their communities and working on their strategies. Were also reaching out to the Health Care Sector and to businesses and educational settings. Its really a question of making sure that those plans we had for a potential pandemic are updated and ready to implement should we need them. And what is your advice for people who are watching this morning, precautions they can take . Well, this is a respiratory virus, and we think its spread through respiratory droplets, you know, coughs and sneezes and so forth, so those sensible measures we talk about every year with the flu are important steps that you can take. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, stay home when youre sick, and wash your hands. Its a great reminder that washing your hands is a good prevention step for respiratory viruses. Can never say that enough. Dr. Anne schuchat, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you, robin. Okay, robin, thank you. We move on to last nights chaotic showdown in South Carolina. The democratic debate was a free for all with frontrunner Bernie Sanders taking heat, Michael Bloomberg too as joe biden staked his claim to the state. Mary bruce was in charleston for all of the action. Good morning, mary. Reporter good morning, george. Well, this debate last night was the last best chance for the candidates to try and take each other on before the critical primary here on saturday. And before the race Goes National next tuesday, and you could sense the desperation on the stage last night. It was chaotic and feisty, the candidates taking every chance they could to try and stunt Bernie Sanders momentum. Overnight, the candidates piling on the frontrunner. Bernie, in fact, hasnt passed much of anything. I do not think that this is the best person to lead the ticket. Progressives have got one shot, and we need to spend it with a leader who will get something done. Ive been hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight. [ laughter ] i wonder why. Reporter in a messy and combative fight, his rivals pounced on his policies, but Bernie Sanders stood firm behind his agenda. Do we think health care for all, pete, is some kind of radical communist idea . Do we think raising the minimum wage to a living wage, the truth is lets talk about that. The things you named are the American People that is why i am beating trump in virtually every poll and why reporter eager to stunt sanders momentum, joe biden with a bold declaration about saturdays mustwin primary. I intend to win South Carolina, and i will win the africanamerican vote here in South Carolina. Reporter biden took on sanders record on gun reform. If im elected, im coming for you and gun manufacturers, i will take you on and beat you. Im the only one whos done it. Reporter the senator forced to defend himself. Because of all of these disgusting and horrific mass shootings, the American People now understand that we must be aggressive on gun safety, not be dictated to by the nra. Reporter and biden ripped into sanders for his recent praise of cuban dictator fidel castro and his literacy program. This man said that, fact, he thought was he did not condemn what they did. That is untrue, categorically untrue. Authoritarianism of any stripe is bad. Period. But that is different than saying that governments occasionally do things that are good. Look oh, come on. Reporter Pete Buttigieg with a warning. I am not looking forward to a scenario where it comes down to donald trump with his nostalgia for the order of the 1950s and Bernie Sanders with one for the 1960s. Reporter Michael Bloomberg tried to make light of his bruising first debate. Im surprised they show us because i would have thought after i did such a good job beating them last week theyd be a little afraid to do that. Reporter but he was still a top target. I dont care how much money mayor bloomberg has, the core of the Democratic Party will never trust him. Reporter in a blistering attack, Elizabeth Warren described being fired from her teaching job when she became pregnant at 21 and compared it to bloomberg allegedly encouraging a pregnant employee to get an abortion. I didnt have a union to protect me. I didnt have any federal law on my side. I packed up my stuff, and i went home. At least i didnt have a boss who said to me, kill it, the way that mayor bloomberg i never said that. Was alleged to have said to one of his pregnant employees. Oh, come on. Reporter bloomberg adamantly denies the allegation. I never said it, period, end of story. Categorically never said it. Reporter bloomberg argued hes best positioned to help the party succeed but raised eyebrows when he appeared to say he bought the democratic majority. All of the new democrats that came in and put nancy pelosi in charge and gave the congress the ability to control this president , i bought i got them. Reporter he quickly corrected himself, but the slip doing nothing to quell critics who say hes trying to buy the race. Mayor bloomberg has a solid and strong and enthusiastic base of support. The problem is theyre all billionaires. Reporter and joe biden is getting a big boost here this morning. Congressman jim clyburn has Just Announced he is endorsing his old friend. He is the leading democratic voice here in this state and the closest thing they have to a kingmaker. George. Mary bruce, thanks very much. Lets get more on this from our chief White House Correspondent jon karl and it was as i said earlier just a real free for all. You could see the focus on Bernie Sanders and all the opponents up there on the stage basically know if he wins on saturday in South Carolina, hes on a solid path to the nomination. Reporter no question about it, george, and you could see the other candidates acting as if they were running out of time. This was a chaotic, loud, bruising debate. Sanders came under fire in a way that he has never come under fire before, and for the first time he actually seemed a little rattled, especially when the crowd started booing, but at the same time, george, it was such a free for all that nobody on that stage really stood out as the primary alternative to Bernie Sanders, and it may actually have been in a way a good night for him because Elizabeth Warren once again did him a favor by relentlessly going after Michael Bloomberg in a relentless and nonstop way. And now its up to the voters in South Carolina on saturday. Meantime, we did hear for the first time in one of these bebaits coronavirus discussed. The president s been putting a lot of focus on that tweeting all the way back on his plane from india. Reporter yeah, first of all, it was odd that coronavirus subject didnt come up until the debate was almost over. When it did, the democrats were actually united on this one, criticizing donald trump for among other things proposing cuts to the funding of the cdc. But, george, the president tweeted on the way back saying, the cdc and my administration are doing a great job of handling coronavirus. That obviously is a statement that is at the very best premature. Okay, jon karl, thanks very much. Next tuesday night, super tuesday, 16 contests, essentially a national primary. Special coverage at abc. Ill anchor with our Political Team starting at 8 00 eastern. Michael. That debate was messy yesterday which leads us to the winter blast hitting the midwest. Millions are facing a messy commute from missouri to maine. Gingers tracking the very latest. Good morning, ginger. Reporter good morning, michael. Snow is flying in chicago this morning making for a wet and in some places slick commute. Were seeing the sun just come up there with snow flying and it was much more snow in central kansas. That is close to 13 inches falling again. Now as this all moves east i want to show you detroit, 600 schools are closed today, and thats because through the day youll start to get into the moderate and heavy bands. Heavy rain is going to be on the front end of this making its way through here tonight and tomorrow morning, and then it is the wind behind here thats going to cause lakeeffect snow, talking feet of it, robin for some people and windy conditions on the east coast. All right, ginger, thank you. We have major news now from the business world. Bob iger stepping down after 15 years as ceo of disney. That is our parent company. Hes taking on a new role in a legendary career that has shaped this company and the media landscape. Longtime member of the family bob chapek being named the new ceo and Rebecca Jarvis is here with details. Caught a lot of people by surprise. It did, robin. Its the end of an era. What an era it has been. Bob iger is one of the most powerful people in entertainment. Hes led disney to unprecedented success, leading major acquisitions like pixel and marvel, launching disney plus and expanding the theme parks announcing he will hand over the reins effectively immediately to bob chapek. An historic day for the walt disney company, bob iger just last year named times business person of the year stepping down as ceo. The company is in great shape, you know, and thats a great time to turn the reins over to somebody else when you think about it. I cant think of a better time. Reporter passing the torch to disneys longtime head of parks and resorts, bob chapek. Its hard to believe that im sitting here with bob iger thinking about how i fill those enormous shoes that hes created for me. Reporter after 15 years in the top job at disney, iger has overseen tremendous growth. Expanding the companys theme parks, opening Shanghai Disney resort and leading the charge on major acquisitions. Cue the music. Reporter including pixar. To infinity and beyond. Reporter marvel. Avengers, assemble. Reporter and lucasfilm expanding the disney universe to include star wars. May the force be with you. Reporter most recently, iger striking a landmark deal to purchase 21st century fox. Outstanding. Reporter giving disney a majority stake in hulu. Hulu is here. Reporter and launching disneys streaming platform, disney plus. May the force be with us. Reporter a onestop shop for all things disney including an outlet for news stories. You are a mandalorian. Im proud of the fact that this is among the most admired companies in the world. To have the opportunity to be the ceo of a company that is viewed that way has just been as a Life Experience something that i will forever appreciate and im just so deeply, deeply grateful for. And iger isnt leaving disney just yet. Hell stay on as executive chairman through the end of next year. He says hell use that time to lead disneys creative endeavo