whether hollywood agrees, well, that is another story. almost better than the reel thing. you can always keep up to date with all of the news on our website, there is it on our screen, aljazeera.com. do go and take a look. a shooting ram paige is kansas, police now say they may know why a man opened fire at his job, killing at least three people. donald if you want to be liked in washington, that's not a good attribute for a president. >> righting up the front runner, donald trump on the defensive as his top two rivals take aim. >> reporter: and voting in iran, the economy and reforms on many minds after sanctions were lifted. ♪

this is al jazeera america live from new york city, i'm stephanie sy. new details this morning in a shooting ram maj at a lawn mower plant in kansas. the gunman has been served with an order of protection 90 minutes before he opened fire. it happened near wichita, and ended with three people, and the gunman dead. john henry smith has the details. >> reporter: police say it was late afternoon when this 38-year-old began randomly shooting people from his car. hours after he was served with an order of protection, he began randomly shooting other drivers from his car. then he said he headed to his job. 150 employees were on duty at the lawn mower plant.

>> the gun was strapped to him. he was ready to go. >> there was a report of a shooting in a parking lot, and then the report came out of an active shooter inside. >> we heard a pop, pop, and we thought it was metal falling on the ground. and the doors opened and people came screaming out. >> there was a particular law enforcement here that responded right away, and even though he took fire, he went inside of that place, and saved multiple lives. >> reporter: that officer acting alone reportedly shot and killed ford. later police surrounded ford's home but found no one else inside. >> i just can't believe that the guy that shot people up lived right across the street from us. >> reporter: he was a -- father of two with a record in florida

and kansas. earlier this month, ford posts video of himself online, shooting a weapon into a field, and he posed with firearms with pictures to his facebook account back in january. and yet people who knew him said they didn't see this coming. >> prior to work today, he talked to me -- as we were walking in this afternoon. >> he was a nice guy. when i worked with him on second shift, he was -- i mean we hung out and everything was hunky dory. turning know to the presidential race. the democratic primary in south carolina is 24 hours away. and bernie sanders will go back to south carolina today after spending the last few days in super-tuesday states. ines ferre is live in the capitol. good morning. why is hillary clinton still in

south carolina. she seems to have a lock on voters there, leading sanders by a lot in the polls. >> reporter: night, steph, but you'll remember in 2008 she was favor interested in the polls, but barack obama won this state with the black vote. so hillary clinton pulling out all of the stops with her family here. she has had a few hiccups with hacklers two nights in a row. the first night it was a black lives matter protester. the second night it was a protester that brought up the benghazi issue. but yesterday she was talking about healthcare and how as first lay di she did a lot to try to improve healthcare in this country. take a listen. >> i happen to think the affordable care act is one of president obama's greatest accomplishments, and i will defend it and make sure it gets

even better and goes even further. before there was what they called obamacare, there was what they called hilarycare. >> and hillary clinton focusing on the black vote here, because it makes up about 50% of the electorate here in south carolina, and it looks like her efforts are going well, because she is polling well here, 3-1 margin. >> and sanders hasn't been spending a ton of time in south carolina this week. he does go back there today. what has been talking about on the campaign trail that may speak to south carolinians. >> reporter: and sanders has said this will be a tough state for him. he has been going to other states. he has been in illinois, in ohio, in michigan, and just yet in flint, michigan, he was

talking about the water controversy there. take a listen. >> in vermont we pay about 70 bucks a month for pretty good water. i hadn't realized that the cost of poisoned water is twice as expensive as it is in vermont. >> now sanders in minnesota, but then he will be coming here to south carolina for two events, and they will be rallying events that will be taking place at the same time as hillary clinton's events just miles away from each other at colleges. >> thank you, inez. after south carolina's democrat vote attention turns to super-tuesday. candidates will compete in a dozen state primaries and caucuses. at last night's debate, ted cruz and marco rubio aimed all of their fire on the front runner. michael shure reports. >> you wouldn't know anything

about it because you are lousy -- >> i don't know anything about bankrupting four companies. >> reporter: it was a verbal boxing match. the punches started early. >> if he built the wall the way he built trump towers, he will be using illegal workers. >> reporter: sensor marco rubio and senator ted cruz took turns pointing at donald trump. >> this is a man who for 40 years has given money to hillary clinton, chuck schumer, harry reid. >> i watch ted, and i respect him, but he gets nowhere, stand on the senate floor for a day or two days and talk and talk and talk. we have to somebody who can make

deals. >> i watched him repeat himself five times four days ago -- >> i saw you repeat yourself five times five minutes ago. >> i -- i inherited an $8 billion hole in ohio. i have common sense regulations. i have tax cuts, the biggest of any governor in the country, and we have a fiscal plan. >> and dr. ben carson was almost forgotten. >> can somebody attack me please. >> reporter: at times it was hard to tell who was landing the punches. >> gentlemen, please -- >> i want to clarify something. >> gentlemen, please. >> reporter: but the candidates were determined to be heard because next tuesday, super tuesday could decide the nomination. immigration has been a keyish glue this campaign, and one of donald trump's proposals

to build a wall along the mexico border is prompts strong reaction from the mexican president. >> i would like to know who those hispanics are, because they, again, they are followers of a false prophet, and if they think they will benefit from an administration lead by donald trump they are wrong. they must open their eyes. please open your eyes. >> we make up our own decisions. we don't surrender making our decision making skills to mexico, rome, the vatican. i mean, we make up our own mind. >> exit polls from the nevada caucuses earlier this week, show trump won the hispanic vote there.

iran today is choosing its new parliament and the voting could shift the country's direction. as andrew simmons records, moderates this an advantage. >> reporter: this is the first time there is the assembly of experts which will choose the next supreme leader of iran. that election is taking place as well. people treat that very seriously. this parliamentary election is relevant, because it really is a litmus test on the nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions, and really a curtain raiser, really for president rouhani, his new policies, his determination to try to get more support from parliament, which is conservative dominated, and of course they are already in the run up to the presidential elections in 2017, when he'll be

standing for a second turn. >> andrew simmons reporting from tehran. the tehran bureau chief for the "new york times" told us earlier that many voters have the nuclear deal on the top of their minds, and they are hopeful their vote can bring economic relief. >> what we're seeing is the people of northern tehran, the more affluent, and middle class people, they have decided to come out in large numbers in order to as say they themselves prevent hard liners from regaining their majority, or continuing to have their majority in the parliament. but if you go to southern tehran, which is pow -- poorer, you get a different story. there people are saying we are not voting because we don't think any of us offer a better economical future.

but what stands out are these long lines in tie -- tehran. the obama administration is spending new helps to nigeria to fight boko haram. the pentagon says it will send dozens of special operations force there, the troops would serve as advisors, not be involved in combat. drone photos recently helped the nigerian army avoid a boko haram ambush. the weather my will looking up here in the united states. >> yes, while the weather is looking up, the temperatures are not so much. >> you can't have everything. >> yes, i guess. >> here is a map across the country. 20s and 30s, some of those 30s all the way down into portions of the south. the difference is around the great lakes and northeast, these

are barely going to budge, whereas the central planes, it will warm up nicely. the system that caused all of the damage ushered in warmer air. so temperatures through the northeast especially have dropped over 20 degrees, and you can see the wind flow still ushering in some of that cooler air, with the wind gusting up to the 20 to 30 mile an hour range. a few portions of central new york, for example, feel like wind chill in the single digits. now otherwise, that system did clear out nicely, there is still just a little bit of lingering snow with that wind flow. most of the country, very quiet, the next system starts to move in today, and we'll follow that through the course of the weekend, but it is mostly

lighter rain or snow for the north of the country. >> all right. thank you. coming up, the battle over privacy. apple gives its response in court to the fbi's request that it unlock a phone. and the proposed anti-gay law in georgia that could put the state's newest cash cow at risk.

apple has filed a legal

response to the fbi request that it unlock an iphone. jake ward reports. >> reporter: apple executives are asking a federal magistrate to reverse her order requiring apple to help the fbi hack into a locked iphone of one of the san bernardino shooters. apple executives told reporters that the demand violates the company's rights, compelling an innocent third-party to essentially work for the government. james comey has consistently said this is just about a single phone. but he told a house panel thursday that this cannot help becoming a larger issue. >> i think we have two roles. one is in the cases.

we must do a competent investigation following the murder of 14 people. and we will. but i think folks need to understand what are the costs associate with moving to a world of universal strong encryption. >> we do not believe that courts should seek to resolve issues of 21st century technology with law that was written in the era of the adding machine. we need 21st century laws that address 21st century issues, and we need these laws to be written by congress. >> asked what precedent apple drew on, executives said we are not aware of any precedent for

this at all. and apple argued in its filing it shouldn't have to be the first to do this. jake ward, al jazeera, san francisco. a jury has found a former bp superintendent not guilty. he was the last of four people who had faced charges in connection with the explosion and spill. he was accused of ignoring warning signs and botching safety testing that resulted in the accident. new details this morning on the size of a gas leak in california. researchers call it one of the largest ever recorded. the leak discharged more than 97,000 tons of methane. 60 tons of natural gas was spewing each hour at its peak. the leak was capped earlier this month. a growing number of critics

are voicing opposition to a bill in georgia they say would let businesses discriminate against gay people. it would allow companies to refuse service to same-sex couples if it violated their religious beliefs. several big companies based in georgia have called for the bill to be killed, saying it would hurt their businesses, and the governor is promising changes. the head of content at bark bark an an atlanta-based branding agency, i asked him what his concerns about the bill are. >> our governor came out on monday and said they are taking another look at it, because i think we all have concerns about the economy. >> so it's not the principal that concerns you? >> obviously we're concerned about the principal, but the impact that making georgia, sort of a new segregated south, which none of us want, could really

not only hurt our cultural climate but our business climate as well. >> have you experienced discrimination personally since you lived in georgia? has anyone refused you service? >> no, i have been extremely lucky, but, you know, i'm also a successful business owner. what i'm really concerned about is underserved communities where, you know, someone is applying for public housing. you know, that's where people need more protection than ever, and i think, you know, i don't see it on a day-to-day basis, but i think throughout the south and throughout the nation even, homophobia continues to be a real problem. >> but there are a lot of religious conservatives that support this bill. they don't want their religious beliefs violated in any way. by providing services they are

not comfortable with. is there a compromise that you see. >> i think it was interesting to see the members of the faith community who came forward yesterday in georgia, to talk about how they were against the legislation. and how this legislation is alienating communities of faith. we want fair and equal protection for everyone, and i think we want the state legislate sure to appreciate that, and move in that direction. >> one telecom company has already said it will leave the bill if the legislation becomes law. still ahead, soccer's future at stake. fifa chooses a new president. and out of work, a missouri professor is fired for threatening a student journalist during a campus protest.

al jazeera america. in just a few hours we should know the name of the president of international soccer. the winner would replace former disgraced president sepp blatter. one of the names has now dropped out. the professor caught on camera confronting a student journalist at the university of missouri has been fired.

this was the incident. >> hey, help me get this reporter out of here. >> she taught communications at the school. she has declined to comment, but can appeal the firing. she also faces misdemeanor assault charges. budget problems are causing major headaches for some college students in illinois because the state is in a long-running battle over how to pay its bills. >> reporter: darren martin was voted mr. csu by his fellow students last year, but even he could lose his scholarship money. >> if i was to transfer, i could be reclassified as a sophomore. >> reporter: chicago state and

other institutions depend in part by state money. but the state legislate is locked in a stalemate. csu hasn't received $38 million. >> we have basically put everything on the table, including all personnel, all programs, including buildings. >> reporter: the school which serves mainly minority and low-income students has warned it could fight staying open as soon as next month. >> i really need my education. i can't think of any other place to be but here. >> reporter: the roughly 7,000 students here are already feeling the pinch. scholarship money has dried up. >> i already work paycheck to

paycheck to pay my bills, so now i have to find a way to pay for school too? it's just -- it's crazy. >> your students who have been leading this fight, they are the ones that are keeping us going. so their optimism is really helping us. >> students at csu have spent weeks protesting against the budget stalemates both at chicago and the state capitol. they blame both democrats and republicans, but especially the governor for vetoing a budget bill that would have kept funding flows. the government in turn blames bad fiscal management at the school. >> like many large organizations of course there are inefficiencies here that we need to improve on. we certainly don't believe we have a $38 million inefficiency.

>> reporter: meantime tonight bernie sanders appearance has special meaning to him. but it's here at chicago state tonight where sander's proposal to make public colleges and universities tuition free is really playing well. >> he understands what we go through and what we need to further our education, and how hard it is to pay for your education. >> reporter: there are some proposals floating around the state legislature that would restore the budget. and the school's president insists as grim as the outlook is now, this budget stalemate won't be be the death nail for this 150-year-old school. >> we will rebuild and we will recover. thanks for watching. i'm stephanie sy in new york. the news continues next live from doha.

have a great weekend. ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hell throw, and welcome to the news hour, i'm laura kyle live from our headquarters in doha. coming up in the next 60 minutes. voting is extended in iran, which is holding its first elections since international sanctions were lifted. syria's opposition block says the schools of armed groups it represents will respect a two-week truce. the u.s. and china agree on a draft security council