donald trump also unleashes on ted cruz: (sot trump) this guy is sick. there is something g with this guy. attacking the senator after his campaign shakeup. cruz... forced to fire his communications director for retweeting a student newspaper report that falsely claimed this video shows marco rubio disparaging the bible to the cruz staffer reading it. (sot cruz) this morning i asked for rick tyler's resignation. i made clear in this campaign we will conduct this campaign with the very highest standards of integrity. cruz hopes to put the latest controversy behind him... and to halt marco rubio's momentum. the florida senator is gaining a slew of endorsements after he managed a strong showing in south carolina... while jeb bush bowed out. (sot rubio) of the people left in this race, of the people left in this race, no one can unite this movement or this party faster than i can. and we have to unite. if f we're still fighting with each other in september and in october, we're going to lose. on the democratic side... bernie sanders and hillary clinton bring hollywood star power to their campaigns. clinton... stops by the set of "scandal," and launches a new ad featuring the voice of actor morgan freeman. (nats ad) sanders on the trail with actor danny glover? and gains the support of spike lee who is voicing new radio ads. ==bazi on cam tag== sanders and clinton will appear separately tonight in a televised town hall in south carolina in nevada, a long day for the candidates: the polls close at midnight. jenna: president obama has sent

close the prison at guantanamo bay speaking at the white house this morning, the president outlined his plan to close the detention fafality in cuba. he wanan to transfsf more detaineeeeto foreign countries and work with congress to find a a ot in the u-s to hold other detainees. presesent obama saididis goal to close the e ison "is about closing a chapter" in the country's history. keeping this facility open is contrary to our values. it undermines our standidi in the world. it is viewed as a stain on o o broader recordrdf upholding the highest standards of rule of law the 9-11 erararison now housus 91 detaees, down fromom high of

detainees, down from a high of nearly 700 under former president george. w. bush. advocates for closing guantanamoay that holding suspected extremists indefinitely is un- american and that the existence of the facility is a recruitment tool for terrorists. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and many other top republicans want gitmo to stay open. but despite the gop opposition, committee chairs in the house and senate say they will hold hearings on the president's plan. tim: and following the presidents proposed plan, south dakota state represenative kristi noem reinforced her commitment to ensuring dangerous terrorists remain outslde of u-s borders. in a statement made earlier she said quote "the president has no authority to close the detention facility at guaanamo bay," said noem. "the mastermind behind september 11 and the terrorists who have sought to destroy our nation, our people and our values deserve no presence on our soil. prqsident obama has put forward dangerous this in the past,

congress has stopped him. i am ensuring his latest attempt will be unsuccessful as well." jenna: governor terry branstad and lt. governor kim reynolds announced today that the centers for medicare and medicaid services has approved iowa's plan to modernize medicaid. both iowa and cms have aeed to implement the new system on april first. the managed care system means that there will be better acces for patents to get to doctors, and that iowa's medicaid patients andproviders will have greater access to provider networks. the plan is to improve care by offering preventitve services and reducing emergency room visits. tim: we are learning about some new developements about the stabbing ian o'neill home over the weekend tim: officals arrested eduardo quintero in connection with the saturday night stabbing. he is charged with second degree murder, alleging that he intentionally caused the death of his wife,

arrested monday at the university of nebraska medical center in omaha where he was undergoing medical treatments. his bond is set at 2-million dollars cash. jenna: mccarty's and bailys was part of "st. practice day" earlier today. the brand embassador from tullamore d-e-w irish whisky made a stop in sioux city today on his 50 state tour. timothy herligh was there on his journey across all 50 states and d-c to find the best way to celebrate st. patrick's day. the tour kicked off february 17th and sioux city was the only iowa stop on the journey. "50 states...30 days...and it's a search for the best irish pubs and the best places to celebrate st. patrick's day. so i figure our friends here at mccarthy & bailey are a pretty good example of this, so...i love the pub, i loved it the minute i came through the door. 'cad mle filte': a hundred thousand welcomes in irish. and i think they live up to that." today after his sioux city stop herlihy was headed to north

tim: have you been to launchpad children's museum yet? launchpad museum has only been open for less than two weeks and their attendence has exceeded their expectations, in just the two weeks since their ribbon cutting, launchpad has had 5600 visitors, that's more than double they expected. the museum says on average they get around 200 visitors each day. turns out their weekends more than triple that... with about 600 to 1,000 visitors on saturdays and sundays. "we've had the highest numbers of people coming in over the weekends. last sunday we had about 600 people over a 4 hour period, so that was a good problem to have! we're happy that we're getting a lot of people in and it's going really well!" says valerie petersen, outreach director for launchpad. the museum says they have not had problems with lines or space for the kids to play. birthday party reservations have been filling up fast as well. jenna: out of their own pain, a sioux city family is making a gift to their local hospital that will

jeremy and lisa cotter delivered their daughter, elizabeth, still born at unitypoint health - st. luke's on this day last year. today, they're celebrating the first birthday of her twin sister, evelynne... and also honoring elizabeth's memory by donating a cuddlecot to the hospital. the medical deviceallows families more time with their baby's body after a pregnany or infant loss. we'll tell you more about their donation, coming up at six. tim: a greacian cruise is underway again at the siouxland center for active generations. for almost 20 years, curise week has been a fan favorite for members. while they don't actually travel to greece, the week long celebration includes a dance, massages, grk games and a chance for some who might not be able to travel to see the world. our own scott larson judged this years authentic greek food contest. kerry ruehle, program director " it's really a good idea because it's a way to bring in some of the members that maybe don't get a chance to travel or to do some of the different activities that you do during cruise week and get to experience during cruise week. it gives them the opportunity to do

things." themes for past years have included trips to mexico, hawaii and other popular cruise mexico, hawaii and other popular cruise destinations. jenna: rallies are being staged outside apple stores across the country... and the world today. they're in support of the tech giant in its encryption battle with the f- b-i... over a terrorist's locked i-phone. abc's brandi hitt has more. " " thousands of apple supporters are expected to rally in 40 cities nationwide -- telling the f-b-i "don't break our phones" in what they call a "fight for the future campaign." sot -- van greer, "fight for the future" campaign director "this goes far beyond this single case... or this single phone." a judge has ordered apple to unlock san bernardino terrorist -- syed farook's -- i-phone... ((animated split screen)) the move -- turning into an intense battle between apple c-e-o tim cook... and fbi director james comey. in an email to employees -- cook writes -- "at stake is the data security of hundreds of millions of law abiding people." but comey writes in

anyone's encryion or set a master key loose on the land." nats -- (gunfire from attack) investigators believe critical evidence may be on the killer's phone... and have the support of many of the victim's families. sot -- robert velasco, victim's father "there be some information in that phone that could lead to any other terrorist plots." sot -- arlen verdehyou, victim's husband "feel very upset with apple not cooperating with the fbi." even microsoft founder -- bill gates -- is now weighing in... sot -- bill gates, microsoft founder "nobody's talking about a back door..." telling the financial times... he thinks there's a way ple can turn over specific information to the feds. sot -- bill gates, microsoft under ((on camera tag)) gate this se should be left up to the courts and congress. apple's ceo is asking the f-b-i to seek legislation... and set up a commission to sort through this difficult issue. brandi hitt -- abc news -- los angele time/initial: jenna:

at ways to keep your family's water safe, stay with us. fred: (fred) torrow will bring breezy winds and possib and evening snow shower. we're looking at a big warmup saturday, then sunday will be windy and cooler with a chance of snow. details after the break! " tim:

look at a history-making cyclone before and after it made landfall. this is a satellite photo of tropical cyclone winston on the day it hit eastern fiji. winston made landfall on february 20th as a category five landfall on february 20th as a category five hurricane. it passed over fiji the next day... but the next-day satellite photo showed the storm maintained an eye. winston was the first cyclone of that strength to make landfall in fiji in its recorded history. because of the massive storm-- the fiji government declared a state of natural disaster for the next 30 days. the fiji meteorological service estimated wind gusts nar winston's center over 200 mph. jenna: a study finds the earth's sea levels rose fas@er in the 20th century than the previous 2- thousand-7- hundred years. the study also reports that without human- caused climate change, the rise would have been half of that. the scientists

creating a model of changes in global sea levels over past three- thousand years. they say it's "extremely likely" the rate was faster in the 19- hundreds than in the previous 27 ceuries. fred: jenna: tim: (jenna) fred, what do we expect over the next week? (fred) a couple of chances

a couple of chances for light snow, and temperatures moving up and down more than once. fred: (fred) a time lapse of the port neal welding company skycam hd shows that the clouds did thin out a

was the high today and 31 the low. both of those numbers are well above normal. the storm lake skycam hd shows a few more clouds in the east. 44 is the sioux city temperature. temperatures warmed quickly this afternoon when the sun came out, reaching 47 by 3 pm! local temperatures are a mix of 30s and 40s. winds are northwest at 10 to 25 miles per hour. the satellite and radar shows quiet weather locally, but it's a very active day in the southeast. look at the storms currently crossing mississippi. that's where tornado watches are in effect tonight. we've had severe weather reports from texas to southern louisiana to mississippi today, including multiple tornado reports in louisiana. we're just now starting to hear reports of tornadoes causing damage to structures in to the north, this heavy snow to parts of illinois, indiana, and michigan. a winter storm warning will be in effect in the yellow shaded areas, which extend up to chicago. the stormcast hd shows partly cloudy skies tonight and tomorrow. winds tomorrow and remain so through thursday. we have a light snow showers on thursday evening, little to no expected. high thursday night, calming the winds down. then, a start friday that will continue into saturday. fall to the 20s tonight, then reach the upper 30s tomorrow. tonight's low will be 23 under partly cloudy skies. tomorrow, look for

breezy winds, and a slight chance of light snow in the evening. littlto no accumulation will be expected. the 7-day forecast shows breezy winds again thursday and 35, then a warmup to 47 friday and 62 saturday. a cold front will bring a cooldown to 43 sunday and strong winds plus a chance of light snow. tonight's ask fred prize is 4 tickets to the siouxland home show. to enter, send an email or facebook your weather question. the winning question will be answered on abc9 news at 10. fred: tim: jenna: (tim) thanks, fred. (fred) you bet. jenna: and when come back we'll take a

ok at the best water safe jenna: the american chocolate maker dad: i know. spots. culligan man: the problem is your water! ncr: a culligan whole-house water condndioning system gets rid of sediment or i iurities. so keeping everything spotless is effortless. mom: hey. d: the culligan man.

culligan man: the problem is your water! anncr: a culligan whole-house water conditioning system gets rid of sediment or impurities. so keeping everything spotless is effortless. dad: spots. culligan man: the problem is your water!

recall in 55 countries. the recall includes millions of mars, snickers and milky way chocolate bars produced in the netherlands. the company said.....mars, snkers and milky way bars with best before dates between june and october 2016 should not be eaten. celebration and variety candy packs are also being recalled. tim: the situation with the water supply in flint may have you wondering how safe the water is froro your own faucece at h he? in today's health minute, seth kovar has some tips s r how you can safeguard you and your f fily. --repopoer pkg-as follows-- the water crisis in flint, michigan mama have you wondering -- are there dangerous levels of lead in my water at home? experts say there are things you can do to empower yourself: start by calling your local water supplier and asking for their latest consumer confidence

water from a private well look for information on the e-p-a's website. if you see lead levels abobo 15 parts per bibiion -- call the supplier and demand action. if you want to test your water yourself -- ur supplier may come out and do it for free. if that's not an option you can get a testing kit from a home improvement store. if you do that -- make sure to use "first draw water" -- the very first water to come out of your pipes after sitting overnight. you'll then send samples off to a certified lab -- you can find a list on the e-p-a's website. while you wait the c-d-c has instructions on how to protect yourself from potentially dangerous levels of lead. for health minute i'm seth kovar. after the break... we'll take a sneak peek at the oscars, stay with us

it's been oscar for "best picture." but actor sylvester stallone -- o also wrote the script... has never taken home a academy award. that could all change sunday... with his nomination for "creed." and d ch of hollywoooois

reports " " script: nats -- (film clip: "rocky") rocky balboa -- an iconic movie hero with strength... and heart... nats -- (film clip: "rocky") created by a man known as one of the st humble in hollywood. soso- (from 1977 oscars ceremony) backckn 1977... sylvester stallone did not win the oscar for "best actor"... or -- for writing g "rocky"... sot - (from 1977 oscars ceremony) but after shadadboxing with mumummad ali on stage... he was still appreciative. . sot - (from 1977 oscars ceremony) and now -- nearly 40 years later... sot -- sylvester stallone, best supporting actor nominee stallo is back as "rocky"... nominated for a supporting actor" oscar....in the sequel "creed." sot -- (film clip: "creed") nats -- with his daughters by his side. hollywood heavyweight won his first golden globe last month... and reflected on being absent during his quick rise to fame. sot -- sylvester stallone, best supporting actor nominee then i realized family is everything.. and i realized that's the greatest award you can get. you get one chance at life and you better fight to keep it." 6 sot -- lesley messer, abc news digital entertainment people seem to be cheering for sylvester stallone. they want to see him win... because this is

for such a long time." 8 when "rocky" won best picture... the film's producers are seen pulling stallone on stage. sot - (from 1977 oscars ceremony) sunday... he may climb those stairs again... this time for his own r. ((on camera tag)) sylvester stallone's star on the hollywood walk of fame has beeeeeeeefor more than 30- years... jenna: and make sure to tune into abc9 on sunday, when we'll have tons of local oscar

joined by some local experts and make our predicitons about whos going to take home a win! tim: tim: fred's back next with a final check of our forecast.

light snow in the evening. little to no accumulation will be expected. the 7-day fofocast shows breezy winds again thursdayaynd 35, then a w wmup to 47 friday and 62 saturday. a coldld front will bring a cooldown to 43sunday and strong winds plus a chance of light snow. " " " " coming up tonight

? breaking news tonight. the state of emergency this hour. multiple tornadoes reported already. the devastating damage. we're on the scene. about to power right up the east coast, 45 million in the path. also breaking, the new surveillance images of the alleged uber gunman. where he was in the hours before the rampage. the race for the white house, and tonight, the showdown in nevada. donald trump lashing out at ted cruz. and what trump said when asked why he's not taking on marco rube roe. breaking news on the zika outbreak, right here in the u.s. tonight. authorities now confirming more than a dozen new cases of the disease sexually transmitted. late details coming in now. > and reporter on the field, the "dancing with the stars" favorite, tonight, suing a major hotel.