one child has a birth defect. the deadly shootings in kansas. what might have triggered the rampage and the hero cop who stopped him. and steve hartman with the special bond between child and duck. >> i'm his mom. >> reporter: you're not really his mom. >> yup, i'm his mom. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: this may go down as the week the party of lincoln devolved into a crippling civil war of the own. there was nothing grand in the old party's debate last night-- name calling, mocking, attempts at humiliation reached lows that many republicans would say are beneath the dignity of the office that the candidates are seeking. maybe it reflected desperation, as time runs short before next week's super tuesday, which is likely the last chance to catch donald trump.

impeccably timed bombshell when trump's campaign was validated by one of the last people you might have expected. here's major garrett. >> there is no one who is better prepared to provide america with the strong leadership that it needs, both at home and around the world, than donald trump. >> reporter: chris christie said donald trump is the best candidate to take on hillary clinton and praised his executive experience. >> he'll provide strong, unequivocal leadership. he will do what needs to be done to protect the american people. >> reporter: but when he was a candidate, christi questioned trump's fitness for the white house. >> we are not electing an entertainer-in-chief. showmanship is fun, but it's not the kind of leadership that will truly change america. >> reporter: the high-profile endorsement turned attention away from last night's debate when, for the first time, marco rubio, trailing trump in his home state of florida, pummeled the billionaire front-runner with personal and policy attacks. >> here's a guy that inherited $200 million.

million, you know where donald trump would be right now? selling watches in manhattan. you hired in someworkers from poland. >> i'm the only one on the stage who has hired people. you haven't hired anyone. >> let me finish the statement-- >> you haven't hired one person. >> he hired workers from poland and had to pay $1 million in a judgment. >> wrong, totally wrong. >> reporter: after the debate, trump told us this about rubio. >> the guy's a joke artist. i watched him melt four weeks ago with chris christie. i never saw anything like it. he melted. >> reporter: trump continued the theme on twitter with this "never let them see you sweat" depiction of rubio and stage makeup and his press conference. >> but i saw him backstage and he was putting it on with a trowel. >> reporter: on cbs this morning rubio trotted out his new attack line. >> donald trump say con artist. a con artist is about to take over the republican party. but not a con artist like donald trump. >> reporter: at a rally in dallas, rubio turned up the he

he mocked trump's tweets by noting the misspelling. >> he meant to say the light-weight but spelled it l-ei-g-h.t . to toilet humor. mirror. i don't know why, because the podium goes up to here. maybe to make sure his pants weren't wet. >> reporter: trump hit back, imitating rubio's 2013 state of the union response when he interrupted his speech to take a drink of water. >> it's rubio! ( cheers ) >> reporter: the attacks have led many in the republican establishment to throw up their hands in dissmai as former candidate lindsey graham did last night. >> my party has gone bat ( bleep ) crazy. >> reporter: maine's governor paul lepage endorsed trump

one of america's great presidents if he put together a good team. thanks. bob schieffer has been watching all of this play out today, and he's joining us right now. bob. >> reporter: well, scott, i must tell you, i thought things couldn't get lower than they'd already reached in this campaign. i mean, the political discourse, but last night it went even possibly go. i mean, no discussion of the issues, but people arguing, screaming, hollering. it was like kids out behind the barn rather than a political debate. then, as he always does, donald trump has this tremendous ability to change the subject. he rolls out chris christie today and suddenly, that debate seems like it was years ago. we're talking about chris christie. >> pelley: after 2012, bob, the republican party realized it needed to reach out to a much bridgewater braurd electorate, including hispanics and african

>> well, i'll tell you, that is what is bothering a lot of traditional republicans. donald trump gets big applause when he talks about building that wall along the border with mexico, but what some republicans are beginning to wonder is, is he really building a wall around the republican party, making it impossible for the party now to reach out and to try to broaden its base. hispanics are the largest growing segment of our society, and trump seems to be trying to run them off with all of this talk. he says that hispanics love him, but the polls don't back this up. and i think-- i think this is the problem that is really bothering republicans now. i've got to tell you, scott. if they try to run a campaign that appeals only to people who look like me, that is going to be a very tall wall to climb. >> pelley: bob schieffer, on the campaign trail with us for

>> thank you, scott. >> pelley: now to the democrats on the eve of their south carolina primary. here's nancy cordes. >> hey, guys! >> reporter: the republican free-for-all overshadowed everything the democrats did today, and that was just fine with them. in a statement, the democratic national committee snickered, "if anyone is wetting their pants, as rubio suggested today, it's the republican establishment." a superpac supporting clinton released this picture of a seal overcome by laughter. this was sanders in minnesota. >> there are some people out there, people like trump and others, who want to divide us up. they think they can get votes by making bigoted and racist remarks about latinos, or telling us that we're supposed to hate muslims. >> reporter: but democrats admit trump would be an unpredictable general election opponent. new jersey senator cory booker. how do you go up against a

whenever you hit him, he hits back twice as hard. >> this will be a choice for us as american people. do we want someone smb who dwiedz or someone who unites. >> reporter: but as a clinton supporter, he knows if she and trump are the nominees it will not be pleasant. he will go after her constantly, scott, over benghazi and her e-mails, another 1500 pages of her e-mails are coming out this evening. >> pelley: nancy cordes for us tonight. nance, thank you. in another important story we learned today what may have set off the gunman who shot up that factory in kansas where he worked. more than a dozen coworkers were hit and three of them died. the rampage yesterday began on the road to the factory, and manuel bojorquez is in hesston, kansas. >> my car stopped. he was already out of the car and had this big machine gun. >> reporter: edna decker was one of 38-year-old cedric ford's first targets. what was he like? >> angry. >> reporter: he tried to

>> i could have been his first victim. that died, because it was directed right at my head. >> reporter: you ducked just in time. >> yeah, i did. >> reporter: just up the road, ford shot and carjacked another person, then drove that car to his job, excel industries, in hesston. inside this building, armed with an assault rifle and a pistol, he shot 14 coworkers, killing three of them, until police gunned him down. just 90 minutes before the shooting, ford had been served with a protective order taken out by his former girlfriend who wrote, "he is an chemicallic, violent, depressed, and it's my belief he is in desperate need of medical and psychological help." authorities believe the protective order triggered ford's action. action. video from his facebook account appears to show him firing a gun. ford has a criminal record. state and federal investigators are looking into whether he legally obtained the weapons.

sheriff. >> this man was not going to stop shooting. the only reason he stopped shooting is because that officer stopped the shooter. >> reporter: and it wast wasn't just an officer. it was the town's police chief, doug schroeder. kansas governor, sam brownback. >> rather than waiting on backup, he went right in and did heroic duty and service. >> reporter: when the police chief stopped the attack, there were still 200 to 300 people inside the building behind us here. scott, late this afternoon, officials announced they would charge a kansas woman for giving ford the weapons, knowing he was a convicted felon. >> pelley: manuel bojorquez in kansas tonight. manuel, thank you. we learned today that the governor's office in michigan was concerned about the drinking water in flint long before the public was told of dangerous lead contamination. dean reynolds found the proof in the e-mails.

soon after the city, under orders from a government-appointed emergency manager, switched its water from lake huron to the heavily industrial flmp. it was cheaper that way, but the water was discolored and foul smelling, and people got sick. jim ananich is a state senator. >> time and time again, members of the highest level of the government have clearly been just lying to the citizens of flints and everyone else. >> reporter: and now e-mails from rick snyder's own aides showed they knew the water was bad early on. in october 2014, a half year into the plan, snyder's policy adviser, valerie brader, wrote that elevated chlorine levels could cause long-term damage if not remedied. michael gadola, the governor's legal assistant, responded, "they should try to get back on the detroit system as a stopgap asap before this thing gets too far out of control." the state's water quality experts insisted the river water was fine. but independent researchers said the heavily treated river water

aging pipes was leeching into the water for homes. today, a contrite snyder held a press conference. >> there were red flags in this in the e-mails if you look at it and beyond e-mails. we didn't connect all the dots that i wish we would have. >> reporter: melissa mays was among the first to explain complain about the the water here. when you read the e-mails today, how did you feel? >> furious. i keep telling myself, "nothing's going to shock you anymore." all this time, these people sat in the office going back and forth emailing about this but nobody stood up and helped us. >> reporter: governor snyder today authorized a $30 million aid package to help flint residents pay at least a portion of the water bills they're still getting. scott, as he put it, "people shouldn't have to pay for water they cannot drink. the tonight a partial cease-fire syria. if it does, it would be the first in the five-year-old civil

out hope. we do know the guns will be quiet in one town south of damascus because there is no one left to kill. it's rare for western reporters to get into syria, but our elizabeth palmer traveled there today. >> reporter: the drive in to sheikh miskeen is none stop wreckage, and when you stop, there's silence. before the war, 30,000 people lived here. now, no one is left. opposition fighters, a whole collection of groups working together, were so entrenched here that the syrian army simply couldn't advance into the town. it was a stalemate that lasted a whole year, until they called in the russian bombers. wave after wave of air strikes, starting in december, followed by a syrian army ground offensive, forced the rebels to retreat.

left guarding the ruins as the battle has moved on. the two friends who were killed... jafar oleyan is an infantry soldier. how fierce was thified fooiting? "i can't even describe it," he says. "rebels had the advantage because they knew the terrain." >> reporter: you must be tired, though? "oh, yes, yes he says "we are so tired." victory has brought a lull for these men and some time to regroup, but what if their lull was replaced by a genuine tuce? put your hand up if you think it has a good chance. yeah? >> yeah, they are ready for this. they are -- >> reporter: ready for the peace. but one soldier adds, "if we see isis or al-nusra, we will kill them all." like his country, syria, hoping for peace but braced for a lot more war. well, it's now after midnight here in syria, scott, and so,

cease-fire is in effect, but it's far too early ton where or even if it's going to take hold, and, of course, how long it the last. >> pelley: elizabeth palmer inside syria for us tonight. liz, thank you. more pregnant women in the u.s. have caught the zika virus. that story when the cbs evening news continues. boost compact is filled with 10 grams of protein, plus 26 vitamins and minerals including calcium and vitamin d, to help you get the nutrition you need. try new boost compact nutritional drink today.

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went in for her first ultrasound. >> the doctor let us know that we had miscarried. so we went in and they didn't find a heartbeat. >> reporter: zika virus was found in the placenta, but there is no way to know if it caused the miscarriage. today, the c.d.c. said nine pregnant women, all u.s. travelers to zika-affected areas, tested positive for the virus. the c.d.c. is investigating the link between zika and newborns with microcephaly, an unusually small head and brain. six women had zika infection during the first trimester. one delivered a baby with microcephaly, two miscarried, and two had elective terminations. one pregnancy is continuing. of three women who had zika after the first trimester, two had healthy babies and one is still pregnant. the c.d.c. says there is no evidence that past zika infection poses a risk for future pregnancies. >> we no longer have the fear of

do to our baby, so my thoughts and my heart goes out to all the women who don't know right now. >> reporter: the c.d.c. continues to advise pregnant women to postpone travel to zika-affected areas. in addition, because of reports of sexual transmission, any male partner who has traveled to one of those areas should use a latex condom when having sex. >> pelley: remarkable interview, jon. thanks very much. coming up, a postscript to the llama drama one year later. hi, i'm here with some advice from the future don't buy makeup that settles into lines, it ages you. get simply ageless makeup from covergirl and olay. with b vitamins, and spf. it floats over lines and you look beautiful! and now there's simply ageless liquid makeup it helps you look younger in three ways. so in the future when you're older

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>> reporter: a lot of kids go to the park to see ducks, but five-year-old kylie brown of freeport, maine, takes her duck to see the park. snowflake comes here to swim around the pond and then returns when called because snowflake truly believes that kylie is his mother, and the duck is not alone in this delusion. ( quauking ) i'm his mom. >> reporter: you're not really his mom. >> yup, i'm his mom. >> reporter: how did you first find out? >> that he was a duck? >> reporter: no, that-- kylie is unbearably cute. and since i never did recover to ask that question again-- let me just tell you that kylie first noticed snowflake's attachment the day the browns brought her home last summer. >> look, look, look! he follows her! >> reporter: for whatever reason, the duck imprinted on kylie and just had to be by her

when snowflake refused to stay in the backyard, kylie's parents, ashley and mike, say they had no choice but to give him a diaper and make him a house duck. >> he goes everywhere that ducks are allowed and almost everywhere they are not allowed. i don't know if you had a two-year-old or a four-year-old who wouldn't leave home without >> anxiety. >> she would not leave home without her duck. and at that point, nothing is negotiable. >> reporter: snowflake goes to the beach in summer and sledding in the winter. he's been to soccer practice, gone on sleeped oafers. he even went trick-or-treating "frozen." and over time, because they both sincerely believe they belong together, snowflake and kylie had formed a bond that most of us will never know. >> it's special. even at five years old, i know that's the person she's going to be. >> reporter: she really is going to make a great mom some

you know, some day, he's going to grow up and go to college? >> what! >> reporter: steve hartman, maine. >> pelley: he fit the bill. tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. announcer: you're watching kcci 8 news. steve: the iowa air guard celebrates its 75th anniversary. but with no fighter planes and an airport that wants their land back, does it have a future? what the guard says is it next mission. stacey: an ames farmers' market draws thousands to the city's

why some businesses there say the market is hurting their bottom line. steve: and the new "batman versus superman" film doesn't come out for another month. but one university of iowa professor claims he has a formula that predicts whether it will be a blockbuster or a bomb. good evening. thank you for joining us. an important celebration today, and a fresh start for the iowa air national guard. stacey: it's the 75th anniversary of the 132nd fighter wing. kcci's cynthia fodor is live at with the story. cynthia: the 132nd fighter wing is celebrating, having come a long way since it started with five aircraft during world war ii. >> most people in our state have no clue of the impact the 132nd has on the overall security of our nation and our state. >> what connected our wing to the community was the sound of jet noise overhead. you know, everybody kind of knew the f-16s were here. cynthia: no jet noise now for two years. but two months ago, pilots again began flying missions out of

the aircraft. they're flying remotely piloted reapers, all over the globe, from a computer screen here. >> when aircraft over in the theater take off and get up in the air, we'll then take over and fly the mission, until it's time to come back and land. cynthia: colonel shawn ford now leads the wing. col. ford: we've got guys that come in now fighting the fight, and go home at the end of the day. how do you go from staring at somebody thousands of miles away on a screen, and then go cynthia: this intel briefing shows how the mq-9 reaper destroys enemy targets and terrorist sites, as far away as afghanistan, from right here in des moines. >> any target the air force says, "this is an enemy building," we need to figure out how to destroy it. cynthia: the other two missions here? intelligence surveillance and cyber security. keeping the 900 guard members here more active and involved in keeping our country safe than