Wednesday's Daily Briefing: Breaking down another wild Dem debate

Rise and shine, Daily Briefing readers! Before we get to the news of the day, I'd like to take a minute to welcome to all my new subscribers. If you're new here, I'm N'dea (pronounced like India). I'm a reporter who likes scary movies, short walks on the beach and making TikToks for USA TODAY.

Now, let's talk about the big debate that's on everybody's minds: GIF or JIF, which is it? Peanut butter brand Jif set the record straight and partnered with funny looping video database Giphy to create a limited run of collectible jars that say “Gif” on the front. Start spreading the news: There's only one Jif in town.

I'm told there's another debate people are talking about, so here's more on that plus the news you need to know today:

Post debate, four Democratic candidates take on CNN town hall 

Fresh off Tuesday night's wild debate, CNN on Wednesday will host the second night of town halls  featuring seven of the remaining Democratic presidential candidates who qualified for the debate answering audience questions during individual sessions. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Vice President Joe Biden, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will all appear at the event, which begins at 7 p.m. ET. (Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and billionaire Tom Steyer appeared on the network Monday.) Tuesday's heated event saw the CBS moderators – including Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell – struggle to wrangle the hopefuls as they went after one another. Sanders, who recently scored victories in Nevada and New Hampshire, got the frontrunner treatment and took hits from his competitors. Bloomberg also was on the defensive as he had to address sexism claims leveled his way.

• Attacks: Warren goes after Bloomberg over claims he told pregnant employee to 'kill it'
• Breakdown: A look at how each candidate performed at Tuesday's debate
• More from the debate: What you didn't see on television
• SC electorate: State's black voters are a powerful bloc. And some just want Trump gone.

Science news you don't want to miss:

• 🍺 She didn't drink, but her urine was full of alcohol. Turns out, her bladder was its own brewery.
• 🔴 Mars has 'marsquakes': NASA's robot that's exploring Mars has detected seismic activity on the Red Planet
• 🏥 The new coronavirus could become a pandemic: What is that? Should I be worried?
• 🦠 Henneguya salminicola: Scientists discover the first-known animal that doesn't need oxygen to survive

Can stocks snap a four-session losing streak?

Have U.S. stocks found a floor amid growing international concern over coronavirus? Wednesday will either snap a four-session losing streak or extend the recent rash of losses in an otherwise hard-charging market that set all-time highs as recently as earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has shed nearly 2,000 points over the past two days and is off 8.4% from its record, putting it on the brink of a correction. In Tuesday's trading, the 10-year Treasury yield hit a record low of 1.328%. News of clusters of new cases of coronavirus are rattling markets.

• 'Economic pandemic': Coronavirus a growing threat to US, economists say
• Personal finance worries? Fears shouldn't stop you from investing in stocks, adding to 401(k)
• U.S. economy: How the virus could affect products you see – or don't – in stores
• Could a coronavirus pandemic be stopped? US warns of ‘severe’ disruptions

Winter storm to barrel through Midwest, Northeast

After a snowy Tuesday in the Plains, a winter storm will dump snow in a 1,200-mile stretch from Missouri to Maine from Wednesday into Thursday, causing travel disruptions and school closings. The storm left one person dead and closed a section of Interstate 70 in Kansas after heavy snowfall caused multiple accidents. As the system moves east, the National Weather Service has issued winter weather advisories and winter storm watches from the central Plains to northern New England – an area of more than 25 million people, including in cities such as Chicago and Detroit.

• Reports from a new study: Solar storms may cause whale strandings
• No world region will be left unaffected: Climate change could be a 'catastrophic' national security threat, report warns

In other news:

• Latinos start more businesses than anyone else, but their revenue lags behind their white-owned counterparts. Reporter Kate Cimini explains why over on our morning podcast
• America has a 'gruesome' history of lynching, but it's not a federal crime. A House vote could change that
• Hot Pockets heiress Michelle Janavs gets 5 months in prison in college admissions scandal
• Agent Scott Boras to honor Kobe Bryant's wish with internship for Lexi, daughter of late John Altobelli
• 'Entertainment Tonight' hosts Mary Hart and John Tesh reunite, discuss his cancer battle

Three days of mourning begin in Egypt following Hosni Mubarak's death

Three days of national mourning for former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak began on Wednesday, when he is expected to be buried. Mubarak, the former dictator who was the face of stability in the Middle East for nearly 30 years before being forced by the military to resign amid upheaval in the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, died Tuesday. He was 91. Throughout his rule, he was a stalwart U.S. ally, a bulwark against Islamic militancy and guardian of Egypt’s peace with Israel. But to tens of thousands of young Egyptians who rallied for 18 days of unprecedented street protests in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square and elsewhere in 2011, Mubarak was a relic, a latter-day pharaoh. State TV said Mubarak died Tuesday at a hospital where he had undergone an unspecified surgery.

• More on Muburak: 5 things to know about him
• From 2017: Egyptian prosecution frees ousted president Mubarak

Ash Wednesday marks start of Lent for Christians 

Many Christians will have their foreheads imprinted with ashes Wednesday as the penitential season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. During a Mass, a priest or minister places the ashes on a worshiper's forehead in the shape of a cross to signify a person's grief and mourning for their sins — the same sins that Christians believe Jesus Christ gave his life for when he died on the cross. Ash Wednesday is important because it marks the start of the six-week Lenten period leading up to Easter, when Christians believe Jesus died and was resurrected. During Lent, Christians show repentance for their sins with fasting, self-sacrifice and prayer.

• Lent 2020 fish specials:Chick-fil-A, Arby's, Wendy's, McDonald's and more serve up fish sandwiches
• Fish sandwich war: Arby's starts a surf war with McDonald's ahead of Lent
• Doughy tradition: What is Fastnacht Day or Fat Tuesday and why are people eating doughnuts?

In better news: Strangers perform a daring rescue

Shawn Turner and his son were driving when they spotted a white SUV taking on water in a canal in Boca Raton, Florida. Turner jumped into action to save the driver who was having an epileptic seizure. With the help of three others, Turn pushed the driver out the window. She was hospitalized with just minor injuries. And the whole thing was captured on video.