far in the race for the white house, super tuesday. democrats and republicans are voting in 12 states including colorado. many expect the day's results to further solidify frontrunner status for democrat hillary clinton and republican donald trump. trump does face a challenge from ted cruz in the biggest state to vote today which is texas. 9news political reporter brandon rittiman joins us. colorado will only make headlines for the democrats tonight. >> you said it. the reason is because republicans canceled the statewide result tonight. they're still going to caucus. they'll pick delegates, but we won't have any idea who those delegates support for president. on the democratic side we are one of the key states in the struggle between hillary clinton and bernie sanders. a win here for sanders would show signs of life left for his campaign. a within for clinton would show she's -- a win for clinton would show she's made good progress for handling the threat coming from sanders. we're among several states tonight, as you said. super tuesday is the first

states weighing in on the nomination process. we aren't the biggest state up for grabs. you mentioned texas. that's huge for both parties. on the gop side it's one of the polling first. ted cruz is nine points ahead of him there. clinton is expected to do well in texas, also. she campaigned today in minnesota, a state that sanders has been targeting. however, she seems more focused on the republican candidates than on the challenge from sanders. >> forgotten completely about issues and they're now running their campaign based on insults. it's just turned into a kind of one upsmanship on insulting. >> i am confident that if there is a large voter turnout today across this country, we are going to do well. if there's not, we're probably going to be struggling. >> we don't have a lot in the way of polling in colorado, but we do have a measure of the chatter out there in colorado for you. this is data you're only going to see on 9news courtesy of facebook and what this show ofs us is total interactions over

shows us is total interactions over the last month, january and february. clinton and sanders both receiving a tell lill similar amount of -- a relatively similar amount of buzz here, likes, comments. on the gop side donald trump had 3.2 million interactions in colorado blowing out those numbers. perhaps not surprising what this facebook data can't tell you is the type of interaction people are having. several of these could be people complaining about a candidate or having bad things to say. all this is a measure of buzz. you can see ted cruz on the republican side a bit further behind with less than 1 million interactions over that one month span in colorado. those establishment candidates are even further down the list. we're putting that information for you on 9news.com right now. again to caucus tonight you have to already be registered as a democrat or a republican and be in place at your location by 7 p.m. tonight. we're going to break down super tuesday ruptures for you as they come in.

they come in. join us tonight on 9news at 9:00 and 10:00 and i should mention right now we are live on facebook. so if you have questions about the caucuses, how it works. go to the 9news facebook page. we've got live video and questions piling up already. >> all right. we'll see you throughout the evening, brandon. thanks. clinton and sanders' campaign volunteers are encouraging as many registered democrats to participate in tonight's super tuesday caucus as possible. 9news reporter victoria sanchez followed a couple around as they tried to connect with voter one on one. >> we're knocking on doors for bernie. >> reporter: this is a first for kevin foster. >> i haven't gotten this involved in politics until now. >> reporter: and she might look the part. >> with red, white and blue the outfit seemed to fit the day. i've supported candidates personally. this is the first time that i've actually gone out and knocked on doors. >> reporter: they are both making last minute pushes for

by going house to house. >> can i leave you with a flyer? >> reporter: reminding neighbors and caucus. it's not always an easy task. >> i won't. is that any way i can change -- >> any way i can change your mind on that? >> reporter: the main reason? people are too busy to take two hours to vote on tuesday night. for michelle this race feels personal. >> watching her fight for the people, for women's rights, for children and i'm all choked up. i love her so much. >> reporter: for kevin em says he believes in sanders -- he says he believes in sanders and spent months supporting him. >> somebody with actual big ideas and a strong record of success in elected office is actually running a realistic race. >> reporter: so a fuel excuses from voters -- few excuse from voters doesn't bother them much. for them changing even one mind is worth it.

think that we're still going to succeed big time in colorado. >> every vote counts. >> reporter: victoria sanchez, 9news. >> out of the roughly 900,000 registered democrats in colorado only about 100,000 are expected to caucus tonight. according to an nbc news survey poll hillary clinton holds an 11 point plead over bernie sanders among registered democrats nationally. however, sanders' support is at an all time high 41%. donald trump is also at an all time high among registered republicans at 40% nearly double the 21% who picked marco rubio. ted cruz is third with 18%. a quick programming note. nbc nightly news will be a full hour tonight for extended super tuesday coverage. that's after this newscast with 9news at 6:00 now pushed back to 6:30. a denver police detective is in trouble for what he did to a neighbor. 9 wants to know obtained a discipline letter saying the

investigative reporter jeremy jojola has more with what happened on a traffic stop months ago. why are we just hearing about it now? >> the chief of police opened up this case with public record. he's a detective who works in traffic investigations. detective ryan kobeer nick was driving -- kobernick was driving home from work last october in a police unit. he saw his neighbor's car near littleton and pulled it over. inside that car? his neighbor's 17-year-old son. kobernick claims he thought the attentions. the traffic stop ended with a -- attention. the traffic stop ended with a no proof of insurance citation given to the boy, but the driver was slurred and the charge was later dismissed. the letter said detective kobernick acted unreasonably and outside the scope of his power. the letter said police have been called to deal with incidents between this detective and his neighbors several times. the detective has been fined

learned he plans to appeal that discipline. >> all right. jeremy jojola, thanks so much. the state's chief medical officer confirms colorado has its first two confirmed cases of the zika virus. both people were infected after traveling to a zika infected country and they have since recovered. the cases were reported to the state health department last week. no other details have been released. zika is most commonly spread by a tune of mosquito that does not live in colorado. it's been spreading quickly in latin america and the caribbean. it causes mild illness or sometimes no symptoms at all in most people, but there are suspicions it could be behind an increase in birth defects. it is the first day of what is traditionally the snowiest month of the year in colorado. the high country often measures feet of fresh snow. in march 9news mountain newsroom reporter matt renoux has his feet in summit county tonight and the first day of march already some snow fell up there with maybe more to come. >> reporter: you bet, mark.

reports, march and april could be extremely snowy which is great news in the colorado mountains because while the snowpack still looks good, three weeks of warm dry weather has been taking a good snow pack and melting it quickly. at the base of copper mountain -- >> just taking a break. >> reporter: tyler clinger and nate ackerson are eating a quick lunch after eating up some fresh snow this morning. >> better than a day at work. >> reporter: the first powder day around here in weeks. >> we haven't had a pow day here in maybe two, three weeks. >> reporter: thanks to a long stretch of dry -- >> really icy at the top. weather. >> wind and the last three weeks of sun have taken a toll on the snow. >> reporter: in fact, breckenridge weather watcher rick bly says while a snowy november and december have kept the snowpack about average -- >> almost exactly on average. >> reporter: -- all that snow they were once moding up and taking away is start -- loading up and taking away is starting

>> 18 or 19 days where we've mostly been above 35. >> reporter: and needs a big boost from a snowy march and april. >> march and april could make or break the season. >> reporter: which could see more snow than normal thanks to el nino, not that nate and tyler are dipping into all those long range forecasts. >> just talking to a guy on the lift that said anything a forecaster says before three days is pretty much a guess in my opinion. >> reporter: saying any day on the hill is a good day. >> there's no bad day on the mountain. >> reporter: but after weeks of warm weather they can take off their jackets and eat outside in -- >> nice like, what 36? >> reporter: they're just hoping the next few weeks will bring a few more powder days. >> oh, yeah, can't be afraid to call in sick. i hope nobody from my work sees this. >> reporter: after getting a little bit of snow this morning, about an inch or 2 at most of the ski areas, a return to that warm weather and that snow is already starting to melt, but, mark, absolutely beautiful up here. you just got to watch out for the mud puddles.

places in all of southern county. matt renoux reporting live, thank you, matt. frantic efforts to get to passengers after a car crashes into a gas pump. >> also ahead what teachers say are the benefits of letting students use standing desks. >> and a mama sheep dog in california sets the record with a number of puppies she

surveillance video out of arlington, texas, is showing a driver monday plowing her car into a gas pump. the accident happened at about 5 p.m. local time at a shell gas station in west arlington. in the video you see the driver

trying to free other passengers from the car before flames from the gas pump get more intense. firefighters got the flames hours. police have not said if anyone was injured or what caused the driver to lose control. a sheep dog in california has set state and world records by giving birth to 17 puppies. the 11 male and six female puppies are sheep dogs which is used as herding dogs. stella is the mother's name. she delivered the record litter at a? a farm. the puppies -- at a farm in napa. the puppies are doing well and will eventually be sold to farmers. the vet said the record delivered for any breed was 12 puppies. people in offices across the country have swapped out a one. a teacher at imagine charter school is finding the young and

to gain from getting out of their seats. here's 9news reporter ryan haarer. >> reporter: it's a time in their lives -- >> this is a clock and clocks help us tell time. >> reporter: -- and sitting still just doesn't make sense. >> acids naturally move a lot and when you -- kids naturally move a lot and when you take that naturally energy and you try to squash it, you come into a lot of problems because you feel like all day long you're saying sit still, be quiet. sit still, be quiet. >> reporter: even when you get them to sit, the sitting itself becomes distracting. >> i'm going to show a time on my digital clock up here. >> reporter: so when the clock starts on miss baker's kindergarten class, the kids have an option. >> some of my students who were unable to focus sitting down focused so much better standing up because they can just wiggle move, move more and not interrupt anybody else and they're able to listen while

>> it's good for your legged to stand up. >> reporter: -- legs to stand up. >> reporter: kids in the u.s. spend about 85% of their waking hours sitting. miss baker is trying to change that. >> their ability to think, solve tasks and do complicated things which is what we ask of them all the time increases significantly. >> reporter: beyond the brain stimulation there are health benefits and the kids seem to understand that kind of. >> the thing i like about it is that you get to stand up because it's boring just sitting. >> reporter: it's hard to believe this bunch could ever be bored, but if they were before, they aren't now thanks to a simple change that's prepping their young minds to stand the test of time. in firestone ryan haarer, 9news. >> mrs. baker got the standing desks free from the manufacturer so she could test it out and she's trying to get one in every classroom. she's raising money to do that with a gofundme site. >> they're popping up around our offices. >> i think they're a great idea. i think we should be standing now. >> so do i and you soon could be.

tomorrow, increasing fire danger across large areas of state they say. >> where that danger is expected to be most severe next in kathy's forecast. >> hello there. we're live in all time zones with coverage of the presidential super tuesday contest. why clinton is shifting to a new target. >> we'll take you inside the hearing where apple and the fbi are facing off today. >> and more testimony from the erin andrews trial, is the

welcome back on this beautiful march evening with fair skies and light winds. that all changes tomorrow. i'm meteorologist kathy sabine. the cloud cover coming in from the west of us will make for a spectacular sunset tonight. remember, if you get a great picture, send that in to me and watch for it later tonight on the networks of 9news. the winds picking up across berthoud pass up around vail pass. these winds translate to gusty conditions for lower elevations as well but not this evening. other than cloud cover temperatures continue mild between now and 7:00. winds are southwest at 7. we'll add to that wind speed by this time tomorrow night. 49 degrees at the airport. here downtown outside the studios we've been running a lot warmer than that, mid-50s outside the studios. really the wind has been a big

downsloping winds on the backside of yesterday's storm system helped push us above average today. 58 degrees in denver. the average this time of year is about 50. so we're doing pretty well to kick off this new month. believe it or not, march is the snowiest month on average with 11.4 inches of snow typically. this quiet weather pattern probably will not last much longer. winds increasing to the north of us in southeastern wyoming with a high wind warning posted and due to the gusty winds and low humidity values we've set high fire danger across colorado and much of the west even with an incoming storm system in the northwest. all the heavy weather in the form of snow, rain, severe weather well east of us state tonight. that trend continues tomorrow with a fast moving storm system headed toward the northeast. that cold air will follow suit. high pressure setting up behind it. we'll have winds out of the southwest initially and then they'll shift out of the northwest cutting off moisture for lower elevations. the mountains will see 1 to 4 inches of snow tomorrow. factor that in for your drive. we'll see temperatures warm but

and again that red flag warning for high fire danger. tonight the cloud deck will be in play much of the evening. we'll have sunshine to start and go mostly cloudy in the afternoon. winds will also increase as the weak weather system crosses the state on the northwest flow. concerns for the high fire danger throughout much of the day tomorrow, gusts could exceed 50 miles per hour, especially west of i-25. lows tonight 33 in grand lake to 30 in limon, 70s on the map tomorrow in southeastern colorado, running above average for denver, greeley, fort collins and arvada. the trend will be for even warmer weather heading into the second half of this week. city forecast tonight, light winds, fair amount of cloud cover but should be a great sunset. tomorrow we go partly sunny, nice warm day, but that wind will be a bear. tomorrow will probably be the windiest day of the week. temperatures continue above average into the weekend with a dry forecast for denver. sunday's high popping to 70 degrees ahead of what may be a

forecast setting up for the first part of next week. so stay tuned on that one. in the meantime it's beautiful in the high country if you're looking for a little taste of winter. travis carpenter has a great scene for us up in the steamboat area. who knows what drew will have for stocks had the best day in

jump in construction spending to the highest level in eight

from colorado sports leader here's drew soicher. >> hi, everybody. von miller turned down an offer worth roughly $17 million a year, so the broncos slapped him with a franchise tag. can't blame miller. he basically won the afc championship game and super

be the highest paid defensive player in nfl history that. would require 20 million per. instead now he's locked in for one season only at 14.1 and the franchise tag buys more time to negotiate. >> it was necessary because the broncos and von miller's agent are too far away from reaching a settlement on this case and they would risk in the open market von miller would then on march 9th be able to go on the open market and there's some teams out there like jacksonville with 80 million of cap space, the oakland raiders with more than 70 million in cap space. they could offer up to 25 million a year to someone like von miller. the broncos would lose him if they didn't tag him. this way it's maybe not the best case scenario, certainly not for von miller because it's a one year deal when he wants a multi-year contract, but it's the best case scenario for bronco fans because it does assure that the broncos will

>> without a long term contract who is at a bigger risk now, von miller or the broncos? >> definitely von miller because of injury. you know, the broncos, what they have when you get the long term contract, the team assumes the risk because of player performance. so on the short term contract look how von played this year on the one year $9.75 million deal. he was outstanding. >> just one day before spring practice begins two colorado football players got kicked off the team. quarterback cade absay who started the final two games last season was dismissed for violating team policies, same reason given for safety evan white who is also finished at cu. rockies came up with a brilliant idea today which will limit the number of home runs their pitching staff allows. raise the outfield fences. the wall which extends from the center field end of the visiting bullpen to the manual

raised 8 feet and the one located between the left field foul pole and start of the pavilion seating area will be raised 5 feet. both fences will be see-through rubber coated chain link. only problem is it will be tougher for the rockies to knock one out of the park, also. i hope they thought of that. >> it's a change that is going to affect both teams most likely, probably equal over the course of a long season in a ballpark and we'll kind of find out together exactly what type of effect it has over the course of this year. strange but drew, former nuggets fan favorite chris andersen returned to denver with the memphis grizzlies last night and made it clear that he doesn't want the nickname birdman anymore. instead anderson is answering to the moniker grizzilla. he scored seven points. nuggies lost 107-96, strange but drew. >> he's got a lot of tats.

first time i played for the nuggets, no tats on this particular bobblehead doll. >> sharp hair-do there. >> very painful to tap this one on the head. that's why i hit him in the nose. >> don't do that. you'll break it. a special one hour super tuesday edition of nbc nightly news is next. we're back at -- that would make it 6:30 until 7:00. >> good math. >> my time is really off. we will have the latest on colorado's election results tonight at 9:00 and 10:00. so we'll see you then.

break g ing news tonight. super tuesday, 12 states up for grab grabs, a dramatic night in the race for president. "nbc nightly news" begins right now. decision 2016, super tuesday. this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. and a very good evening are from our election head quarters on this super tuesday, a night that could be the tipping point in both the republican and the democratic races for the presidential nomination. 12 states as we know it are in play tonight, and polls have