that the student gave the gun to a teacher and the incident has been a hot topic since. others parents also felt uneasy about tuesday's shooting, already holding discussions with their children. >> we just kind of drill it into her to make sure she know that it could be dangerous. emmy: some are worried that gun violence is spreading to this part of town. >> a lot of people have been here for years and they've got young children and this isn't what we want to see on the southside. emmy: des moines public school officials say the gun was a bb gun. it did not go off and no students were injured. coming up at 6:00, why the mom and others think more could have been done by the school. steve? steve: new at 5:00 :00, one person is dead, another injured, after a shooting in cedar rapids. police say they found 25-year-old joseph perkins junior of chicago late last night shot to death at a town-home complex. a 21-year-old man was also shot but he is expected to survive. , he has not been identified

there is no information yet about a possible suspect. this is the first homicide investigation in cedar rapids this year. stacey: right now, president obama is said to be moving forward with a nominee for the u.s. supreme court. and iowa senator charles grassley is speaking out for the first time today, since refusing to consider a nomination from the president. kcci's cynthia fodor is in studio. cynthia, this is just the latest in the vacancy controversy sparked by the death of antonin scalia. cynthia: that is right. cnn is reporting that president obama may be looking at a republican for the high court, but senator grassley insists a hearing will not be held on a nominee until a new president takes office. according to a cnn source, nevada governor brian sandoval is being vetted by the white house for a possible nomination to the supreme court. sandoval is a former federal judge considered a moderate republican. senator grassley does it become : an issue about who he nominates? absolutely not. it's an issue about the process. and this is an opportunity for

court justice. cynthia: iowa senator charles grassley, who heads the senate judiciary committee, says he will not hold hearings. : responsibility to see where my consult with each other. you can't have the chair going one direction and 10 members of his caucus going in another direction. cynthia: still the president , says it will be difficult for republicans to explain blocking the nomination. pres. obama: i recognize the politics are hard for them, because the easier thing to do is to give in to the most extreme voices within their party. cynthia: meantime a new tv ad by , justice not politics is airing here this week, featuring sandra day o'connor calling for an

i think we need somebody there now to do the job. cynthia: the ad asks iowans to call grassley to ask him to hold hearings, stating once again, the nation looks to iowa. senator grassley's office says it is working with the white house to set a time to meet, likely early next week. cnn sources say the president will make the decision on a nominee soon. steve: new at 5:00, prosecutors are calling paramedics and police to the witness stand in the murder trial of a former boone man accused of killing his wife. alexander fazzino's trial continues today in winneshiek county in northeastern iowa. he is charged with murder in the 2012 death of his wife emily. an officer who responded to the fazzino home the night of emily's death told jurors alex fazzino would start sobbing when someone new arrived or called. but moments later, he would return to normal. a guthrie county sheriff's deputy is recovering tonight

t-boned by another car. the crash happened yesterday afternoon near bagley. the iowa state patrol says 20-year-old kylee sheeder of panora ran a stop sign and hit 32-year-old deputy kent gries's car. his vehicle landed in a ditch. sheeder says she doesn't remember running the stop sign but the incident was captured on , gries's dash-cam. stacey: a man suffering from ptsd and a brain injury is tricked into forking over $1000 for a therapy dog that doesn't even exist. kcci's kim st. onge sat down with the victim today. kim, he found the dog online? kim: he certainly did. mike despenas found an adorable 12-week old daschund named lily on a website called puppy territory.com. that is actually literally there behind me. he was even more excited when lily's supposed owner, who claimed to live in oklahoma, told him the dog cost only $400. the owner gave mike specific instructions to pay someone at a

moneygram at walmart, which he did. mike was then asked to send $300 for insurance, and later, another for vaccines and a $300 special cage for the dog. it didn't end there. the alleged owners then claimed to have flown the dog from oklahoma to kansas, but still needed more money before she could be delivered to mike's des moines apartment. that's when mike says he realized it was all a scam, but at that point, he had already spent all his money and now can't afford to buy another therapy dog. mike believes the scammers took advantage of him, revealing he suffers from ptsd and a brain injury. >> i'm embarrased. i feel like a fool. but, i'm willing to do this so no one else falls for it. kim: might did report the scam to the iowa attorney general's office but knows that won't bring his money back. tonight at 6:00 what happened , when i called the scammers. plus, red flags to watch out for

steve? steve: if you live in ames, your water might look a little weird this week. the city is planning to test some newly installed pipes. as a result, the water could be rusty, but it is still safe to drink. so said the city. the testing will take place tomorrow and possibly friday. the des moines water works is recommending spending 200 $41 -- spending $241 million on improvements so the system meets federal standards. the board oversees water supply for about a half million central iowa customers. it has sued upstream counties in an effort to control nitrates and other contaminants from farms. meteorologist kurtis gertz for a first look at the forecast. kurtis: breezy, cool, some cloud but at least it is not snowing. a couple areas were the snow is coming down pretty good from chicago, especially on the south side.

then, there is a week system that will glide down the might get a light dusting there. winds will continue, although picking up tomorrow. temperatures drop to 27. i think we'll see some wind-chills in the teens. tomorrow. we will top out at 37 degrees. we had the 40's on friday. how about saturday? degrees. monday and colder next week. steve: hawkeye fans are nervous. the way to win its first outright big 10 basketball title stacey: it all starts tonight with wisconsin. kcci's tony seeman is live in

tony: we are live here in iowa city. it is eerily quiet. i think i can hear an echo. that will surly not be the case in a few hours. tonight, i would taking on wisconsin. this is for the big ten title and iowa is chomping at the bit. a grueling week since the road now they turned their sights to the future, taking on wisconsin, a team that is on a roll. they are like a phoenix from the ashes. since bo ryan left the program, they have won eight of their last nine. iowa hoping some rest and time off will be just what the doctor ordered. >> these next four games are against all really good teams. hopefully we will play well, play a little better than we have recently.

defense has to get better, especially with the weapons that we are going to face wednesday night. tony: should be a fun one. take time to set for 6:00 -- 48:00. -- for 8:00. stacey: former iowa state head coach paul rhoads is heading to arkansas. the university of arkansas is hiring rhoads as its new defensive backs coach. rhoads was fired by the cyclones in november after seven seasons at the school. he compiled a 32 and 55 record, including 3 and 9 in his final season. steve: still to come on the news at 5:00, the letter e. why, when it comes to a man in tennessee, the e in e-cigarettes stood for explosion. stacey: plus, tornado touchdown. the death and destruction severe storms are causing down south.

donald trump, as candidates now announcer: this is iowa's news leader. this is kcci 8 news at 5:00 with steve karlin, stacey horst, and chief meteorologist john mclaughlin. steve: out of the 4 republican nominating contests so far, donald trump has won 3. the gop front-runner picked up his latest victory last night in nevada. stacey: kcci's aixa diaz is live in washington. aixa, the candidates are fanning

aixa: that's right. with more than a dozen states up for grabs next week candidates , are looking ahead to super tuesday. mr. trump: we love nevada. aixa: a third straight win for donald trump. the gop front-runner won the nevada caucuses with more than 45% of support. >> he's this locomotive that's left the station and he's steaming down the tracks toward victory. mr. trump: we're doing ok, we got a second, and 3 firsts, i'm not complaining. aixa: today, trump stopped in virginia, one of thirteen states holding primaries and caucuses next week. sen. cruz: super tuesday, i believe, will be the single-most important day of this entire presidential election. aixa: ted cruz, who finished third behind marco rubio last night, has picked up the endorsement of the governor of his home state of texas. >> if ted cruz in particular doesn't win texas, how viable is his candidacy from this point on? aixa: meanwhile, the democrats are gearing up for their south carolina primary on saturday, where polls show hillary clinton is the favorite. ms. clinton: i hope those of you

sen. sanders: we are fighting here in south carolina as hard as we can. >> bernie sanders is not written out of this narrative, but hillary clinton will begin to dominate the media story, will begin to accumulate delegates, and the uphill climb for the sanders campaign becomes more steep. aixa: today, senate minority leader harry reid threw his support behind hillary clinton. live in washington, i'm aixa diaz. steve: making news right now, house speaker paul ryan says the republicans are now taking legal steps to stop president obama from closing the u.s. prison at guantanamo bay. rep. ryan: in his plan to close guantanamo bay, the president proposed transferring the terrorist detainees to american soil. but congress and the american people have clearly spoken on this issue. this is against the law and it will stay against the law. steve: ryan says lawmakers have the votes to block the president's plan in congress and enough votes to override any veto.

florida's governor is touring damaged areas in pensacola today. at least seven tornadoes hit mississippi and louisiana, leaving three people dead and dozens injured. three people were killed as the powerful storms moved through virginia. steve: this is a nasty looking storm complex. kurtis: from chicago -- snow from chicago and you had to these coast and there is tornadic activity. warnings east of raleigh to east of richmond. severe weather ongoing. we just got the cloudy and windy conditions tied of in between systems right now. we are 38 degrees, north winds at 10. they are still gusting to about 18. these winds today keeping us chilly out there along with the cloud cover. i would expect even a little more wins tomorrow. mostly cloudy at 7:00 p.m.. some light snow will develop over toward the missouri river

some :00 a.m. tomorrow, 27. by the morning, winds will be gusting. temperatures tomorrow only in the mid 30's. below the normal high for the state which is 40 degrees. clouds broke up a bit off to the west. here is that snow, it is very heavy in parts of indiana and michigan. and then here is the system upstream that is going to drop in along the missouri river valley, maybe it's of snow in audubon and sheldon county. it will be very light. 40's tomorrow. 41 in kansas city. detroit before pulling out. one system off to the east, a fast mover up to the west, and eventually high-pressure settles in, he roads you -- erodes the clouds, and we will start to see

move in? maybe some morning flurries. clouds break up a bit tomorrow. as we slide into friday, i think move in. we will have a week since the move through that could kick up some afternoon clouds. through saturday, nothing but sunshine across the state. some light snow off to the west. northwest winds, 10-20 early on. winky tomorrow, northwest winds 15-25. we won't stay cold for long. 45 friday. saturday, a high of 61 degrees. an incredible day with sunshine. the record, 68 in 1981. sunday, upper 50's in central iowa. and i think, down towards the missouri border come you may hit the 60's again. 50's monday, and a system to

steve: thank you. a couple of things to tell you about in traffic. one of them on the main drag and ankeny, at 14th street and ankeny boulevard. we have a disabled vehicle that is kind of slowing things up. as you head out west, just north of the freeway at 42nd street, three vehicles involved in an accident slowing things down in the area. across the rest of the greater des moines metro, things looking good right now. maybe a little bit slow on i-235 westbound. drive times to the mix master's -- we have 9 to the west and 7 to the east. stacey: now a look at the stories coming up tonight on kcci 8 news at 6:00. marcus: the puck drops for an iowa wild game tonight, but whether it is a wild game on the men's ncaa basketball tournament your safety is priority number , find out what is being done to one.

vanessa: an ames campustown reporter: "so when you hear, say, one side, saying that they'd like to wait 'til "the next president is in office to appoint a justice, what do you think about that?" justice o'connor: "i don't agree. i think we need somebody there, now,"

>> i was shocked. i was like what was that? you have a bomb in your pocket? i was like that. you carry your bomb in your

steve: today, in the buzz, e-cigarette explosion. a tennessee man is now recovering from severe burns. the whole combustible situation was caught on camera at a convenience store. stacey: jesse hamilton stopped in to buy a few snacks. as he walked to the cash register to pay, he says the battery in his e-cigarette exploded. >> he was giving me money. he put his hand in his pocket suddenly there was a blast in , his pocket. there was fire. big fire and he was burning. stacey: scary. hamilton ran outside and was able to take off his pants. the clerk says he wasn't sure what was going on, but grabbed a fire extinguisher and started spraying. steve: another customer drove hamilton to the hospital. he suffered 2nd-degree burns, but he can walk. let's hope the best for him. if you happen to see a viral story in your facebook feed today, you have a few new choices in how to respond. stacey: the social network site used to just have a thumbs up button if you wanted to like something.

over that button you can choose from like, love, haha, wow, sad or angry. , and they work on your desktop and mobile devices. steve: we need the dislike button for this story. mountains of trash are now clogging the streets in beirut, lebanon. they are the result of a garbage crisis that has gone on for months. the government shutdown an over-stuffed landfill last year and has been looking for a way to get rid of the city's trash ever since. that looks like it will take a while to clean up. stacey: take a look at these wildflowers blooming in death valley. it is one of the hottest places on earth and is experiencing what scientists call a superbloom. that's the perfect mix of rain, sunshine, and wind, and it's causing the most flowers to bloom in eleven years. steve: did you catch "ncis" last night? stacey: our assistant news

perked up when he heard this. >> the serial number says that was manufactured in des moines, iowa in 1995. it is a 21-year-old plate. >> where wasn't all that time -- where was it all that time? >> according to the des moines lab, it was implanted by a dallas orthopedic surgeon to repair the broken left femur of a catholic priest. no first name listed, freaky. steve: i do have priests in my lineage. dad, give me a call in a little bit and give me the run down. stacey: we're back with a final check of the forecast.

kurtis: breezy and chile tomorrow, 37. 40 friday, 60's saturday. steve: thank you for joining us. we're back at 6:00. with 40 megs of internet speed from centurylink, a family of four can all be online at the same time,

yeah, the internet's great, but i think hair and makeup went a little too far. yeah, that's not working. i much prefer the two-day beard, horn-rimmed glasses, just-slept-in-his-car kinda thing. yeah, i miss the rumpled crazy uncle look. okay. be "paul giamatti." that's the essence of this role. feel like a hollywood insider with high-speed internet from centurylink.

>> pelley: tornadoes bring death and destruction to the east after a string of deadly twisters in the deep south. >> i saw something coming at my face, and i said, oh, my god, i'm going to die. >> pelley: also tonight, trump with the victory of the night and the quote of the week. >> we won with poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. >> pelley: a jury awards millions for a cancer death linked to talcum powder. and driving down racial barriers. >> for me as an african american from a diversity standpoint, i'm definitely carrying on that legacy. >> this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: this could be a dangerous night in the east. a tornado is blamed for at least three deaths in virginia today. twisters were also reported in north carolina and florida. tornado watches and warnings are