Death. The virus has also spread to new york, where Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a directive requiring Health Insurance to wait cost sharing for coronavirus tests. But what if you dont t have health insnsurance . The coronavavirus is a gret argument for medicare for all, but so are a lot of other things like all of those diabetics who cant afford their insulin, which can cost about 1000 a month. People with high Blood Pressure who cant afford to go to the doctor and get their Blood Pressure control. Amy we will host a roundtable discussion with Steffie Woolhandler dr. , elisabeth and new york state , andor Alessandra Biaggi we will go to seattle, washington, the other ground zero of the coronavirus in the United States, to speak with socialist Councilmember Kshama sawant. Then we look at Voter Suppression . The long wait times plagued in polling places from texas to california throughout super tuesday, especially in districts with high numbers of black and latinx voters and college students. Talalked about the voting problems here e in texas, people waited for hours upon hours and long lines. Line after line after long line. Many voters in l. A. County waiting patiently to cast their ballots on super tuesday. A lotot of people telling us the weight is ababout three hous or so. Amy we will speak with mother jones reportrter ari berman. All that and more, coming g up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The World Health Organization is warnining the number of cases of covid19 caused by coronavirus is approaching 100,000 worldwide, with more than 3100 deaths due to the illness. Most of the deaths and infections have occurred in china, where Health Officials reported 139 new cases and 31 new deaths wednenesday. Sosouth korea coconfirmed 438 8w cases and three additional deaths wednenesday. More than 5700 cases have been found in s south korea. In italy, where ovover 3000 cass and more than 100 deaths have been reporteted, officlsls have closed down schools nanationwide ununtil at least march 15. Schools have also closed in south korea, japan, france, pakistan, iran, and elsewhere, with nearly 300 million children kept home from school worldwide. In the United States, the death toll has reached 11, with 10 of the deaths occurring in washington state. On wednesday, california recorded its first coronavirus death, an elderly man who traveled on a princess cruise ship that departed from San Francisco and traveled to mexico in february. Governor gavin newsom has ordered the ship quarantined off the coast of california and is airlifting tests for passengers and crew. Governor newsom made the announcement as he formally declared a state of emergency across california. I want to acknowledge that with 53 tested cases positive, this is no longer isolated in just one part of our state. This is broadly shared as a burden and responsibility up and down the state. Global death rate from the disease caused by the new coronavivirus is 3. 4 , far deadlier t than the seasonal fl. But on wednesdsday night, President Trump said he had a hunch the number was actually much lower. Trump was speaking with fox newss sean hannity. Pres. Trump i think 3. 4 is a false number. Butthis is just my hunch, based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this because a lot of people will have this and it is very mild. Amy on wednesday, house lawmakers passed an 8. 3 billion emergency spending package for combating coronavirus. After headlines, well go to two ground zeros in the Unitedd States fight against the spread of the coronavirus new york and seattle. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has ended his campaign for the democratic president ial nomination. The former republican mayor of new york repeatedly teared up wednesday as he thanked staffers in his manhattan Campaign Headquarters before throwing his support to joe biden. Beatingalways believed donald trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. After yesterdays vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a Great American joe biden. Amy bloomberg, with a net worth of about 64 billion, is the ninth richest person on earth. He spent more than 550 million in just over three months of campaigning. Hes previously committed to spending as much as 2 billion to defeat trump and could use some of his wealth to set up a superpac to pay for new attack ads against bidens main opponent, Bernie Sanders. Meanwhile, Health Insurance industry stocks surged wednesday, one day after joe biden won 10 of the 14 states that voted on super tuesday. Biden opposes senator sanderss medicare for all legislation, which would replace private Insurance Companies with a singlepayer plan to cover all americans. In vermont, senator sasanders acknowledged wednesday his Campaign Needs to turn out more young voters if hes to win the nomination. Sanders said he looks forward to debating joe biden on march 15. Joe is running a campaign which is obviously heavily supported by the corporate establishment. At last count, he r received funding from at leastst 60 billionaires. 60 billionaireres. Our campaign has received more Campaign Contributions from more americans averaging 18. 50 than any campaign in the history of our country at this point in time. So what does it mean . What does it mean when you have a campaign which is funded very significantly by the wealthy . Dodoes anyonone seriously beliee that a president backed by the corporate world is going to brbring about the chchanges in s country that working families and the middleclass and lower income people desperately need . Amy the Washington Post is reporting top surrogates and allies of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are discussing ways for their two camps to unite and push a common agenda, with the expectation that warren will drop out of the race. The next round of primaries is set for tuesday, march 10, when voters go to the polls in idaho, michigan, mississippi, missouri, north dakota, and washington. 9 of all pledged delegates will be up for grabs. Judges at the International Criminal court have authorized an investigation into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanitity committed by taliban, afghan, and u. S. Troops in afghanistan. The ruling at the hague reverses a decision by the icc last year not to open an inquiry. At the time, u. S. Secretary of state mike pompeo threatened to cut off visas to icc staff investigating abuses committed by u. S. Troops. Wednesesdays ruruling came afar the u. S. S. Carried outut an airstrike on taliban fighters in helmand province, just days after the u. S. Signed a deal with the taliban aimed at ending its 18year war in afghanistan. The taliban has called for deescalation. In syria, aid workers say russianbacked syrian airstrikes killed 15 civilians in idlib thursday after eight missiles hit a poultry farm. Elsewhere, israels military says its warplanes bombed parts of central and southern syria, including an alleged has a lot site hezboll site. In ankara, fistfight got on the floor the Turkish Parliament after an oppositional mark accused erdogan of disrespecting turkish soldiers who have died fighting in syria. Elsewhere in turkey, an estimated 25,000 refugees and asum seekersrs, many from syria, borderssed at the with greece. On wednesday, greek right police fired tearar gas, water cannons, socalled less lethal rounds through border fence into throngs of asylumseekers hoping to reach the european union. Turkish Officials Say six asylumseekers were injured after police opened fire with live ammunition, with one of them later dying from his wounds. Other refugees detained by Greek Police Say they were stripped of their shoes and jackets and severely beaten. The greek government denied the reports, calling them fake news. European Union Officials gathered in brussels on wednesday for three days of emergency talks on the humanitarian crisis at the greeceturkey border. In a joint statement, eu ministers accused turkey of using migratory pressure for political purposes and offered greece more money for border policing. Hundreds of people gathered outside the European Council to protest, Holding Signs reading, refugees welcome and solidarity equals safe passage to europe. This is sarah reader of the Human Rights Group action for peace. We would like to see a europe that is open to anyone who wants to come here. We would like to see safe passage for anyone currently at the doors of europe trying to get in. We would like to see the eu stop criminalizing migrants and people trying to help migrants. It is completely outrageous what is happening in the mediterranean. Amy back in the United States, a federal Appeals Court has ruled the Trump Administrations remain in mexico policy for Asylum Seekers can remain in effect for at least one more week, even though the court ruled last friday the policy violates u. S. Law. Wednesdays decision by the ninth Circuit Court of appeals to stay its decision until march 11 will give the Trump Administration more time to push for a review by the u. S. Supreme court. Some 60,000 Asylum Seekers have been forced to wait in mexico in dangerous and often squalid conditions while their claimss make their way through u. S. Courts, which can take months or even years. If the Supreme Court decides to hear the Trump Administrations appeal, the policy could remain in effect for the foreseeable future. In climate news, a new scientific paper finds the congo and amazon tropical rainforests could soon become net emitters of carbon dioxoxide, reversingng their role as carbon sinks thaht mitigate the worst effecects off the clclimate crisis. The findinings published i in te journal nature on wednesday show Carbon Dioxide absorption by tropical rainforests peaked in the 1990s and have been falling ever since. Researchers warn that without dramatic action to stabilize the climate, the forests could become a net source ofof greenhououse gas emimissions as early asas the mid22030s. In brazil, at least 29 people have died and more than two dozen are missing after torrential rains in the southeastern states sparked flash floods and landslides. The latest extreme weather came after 52 people were killed and tens of thousands forced from inir homes by flooding january. Local officials have blamed the disasters on accommodation of urban expansion, extreme weather due to climate change. And europe h has experienced its warmest winter ever. In alabama, tens of thousands of people effort to governor kay ivey, calling on her to halt tonights planned execution of nathaniel woods, a condemned prisoner who has consistently maintained his innocence. Woods was convicted of capital murder for the shooting deaths of three Birmingham Police officers in 2004. Another death row prisoner convicted in the case, kerry spencer, said in a confession he was the sole gunman in the killings. The Death PenaltyInformation Center says woodss case was marred by police misconduct, incompetent legal counsel, and an alabama law that allows death verdicts based on nonunanimous votes by a jurled die by lethal injection at 6 00 this evening at the holman prison in southern alabama. In a letter to governor kay ivey, Martin Luther king iii, son of the slain civil rights leader, wrote killing this African American man, whose case appears to have been strongly mishandled by the courts, could produce an irreversible injustice. Are you willing to allow a potentially innocent man to be executed . King wrote. And in washington, d. C. , Supreme Court justices appeared divided hurt heard oral arguments in a pivotal Abortion Case involving the state of louisiana. The case involves a statute requiring doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled a similar law in texas unconstitutional, but since then two trump appointees justices Brett Kavanaugh and neil gorsuch have tilted the court further to the right. This is nancy northup, president of the center for reproductive rights, speaking at a prochoice rally outside the Supreme Court wednesday. It remains one that has no medical benefit and remains one that would have a tremendous impact in blocking access to clinics and harming women in the state of louisiana, as it did in the state of texas. It is an underhanded law that is designed to bar access to abortion, which the constitution guarantees. Amy Justice John Roberts has issued a rare to u. S. Lawmaker. He said in a statement, Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer made inappropriate and dangerous marks when he said trump appointees neil gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh will pay the ce if they pa send the chief justice was siding with republicans and asked what he did not issue a similar statement when President Trump attacked rick better ginsberg and sonia sotomayor. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen and im nermeen shaikh. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. The world health organizizations warning the number of cases of covid19, caused by coronavirus, is approaching 100,000 woworldwide, with h more tn 3130 deaths due to the illness. Most of the deaths s and infections have occucurred in china where Health Officials reported 139 new caseses and 31 neww deaths wednesday. South korea confirmed 438 new cases and three additional deaths, also on wednesday. More than 5700 cases have been found in the country. In italy, where over 3000 cases and more than 100 deaths have been reported, officials have closed down schools nationwide until at least march 15. Schools have also been closed in south korea, japan, france, pakistan, iran, and elsewhere with nearly 300 million children kept home from schools worldwide. In the United States, the death toll has reached 11, with 10 of the deaths occurring in washington state. On wednesday, california recorded its first coronavirus death, an elderly man who traveled on a princess cruise ship that depaparted from San Francisco and traveled to mexico in february. Governor gavin newsom has ordered the ship quarantined off the coast of california and is airlifting test for passengers and crew. Governor newsom made the announcement as he formally declared a state of emergency across california. I want to acknowledge that with 53 tested cases positive, this is no longer isolated in just one part of our state. This is probably shared as a burden and responsibility up and down the state. Nermeen the world health orgaganization said tutuesday ye global death rate from the disease caused by the new coronavirus is 3. 4 , far deadlier than the seasonal flu. But on wednesday night, President Trump said he had a hunch the number was actually much lower. Trump was speaking with fox news sn n hanny. Pres. Trump we h have thouousas or hundrdreds of t thousandsds f peopople that t get better r ju, you knknow, sitttting around d d even goioing to workk somef ththem go toto work, but they gt better. And d then whehen you do havevea death, l like you u have had ine statee of washinington, like you had one in california i believe he had one in new york, all of a sudden, it seems like three or 4 4 , which i is ry h h percrcent as o oppos to o fractn of 1 . Then, they dont know about easy cases because those dont go to the hospital. They dont report too t the docr or hosospital inin many cacases. I thihi that numbmber is vevery high. Personally, i would say the number is way under 1 . Amy on wednesday, house lawmakers passed in a . 3 billion passed an 8. 3 billion emergency spending package. The white house barred tv cameras and microphones from a Daily Briefing on coronavirus, telling journalists they were only permitted to take still photos. Vice president mike pence, who heads the u. S. Coronavirus task force, had this exchange with a reporter monday, though you cant exactly call it was an exchange. It was the last question asked as he was walking away from the podium. The reporter saying, can you give guidance for the uninsured . Gentlemen, ladies, can the uninsured get tested . How about answering th