candidate that can beat him. >> hundreds of people showed up here in osceola county to listen to senator bernie sanders just days before the florida primary. >> this campaign is a different type of campaign. >> he's fresh off a heated debate in miami and a surprising win in michigan. wages here in central florida a hot topic. senator sanders told the people here exactly what they wanted to hear. >> we have heard that people cannot make it on $8, $9, $10 an hour. not at the disney world, not any place else. >> after his speech channel 9 sat down with sanders to talk numbers. florida polls show him down by double digits here. some say he lacks diversity and that hillary clinton is the clear winner. he told us today

numbers here in florida. right now they say that hillary clinton is winning by double digits. they say the same thing in michigan. what say you? >> what i say is i think the same thing is going to happen in almost every state that we compete. we start off way behind. >> reporter: now the campaign was expecting between 10,000 and 12,000 people. about 4,000 people showed up here. we asked mr. sanders if he would consider being hillary clinton's running meat he said shouldn't you be asking that question the other live in osceola county, shannon butler, channel 9, eyewitness news. >> also rallying support with the ucf hat tonight. since 1996 florida has picked the president in every single general election. >> tonight the republicans take hoping to convince florida voters to help them get to christopher heath is live at the university of miami. you've spoken to each of the campaigns and they told you to win november you have to show march.

just winning florida but how do you win florida, you've got to be able to win in the north, south, east and west but more to the point, can you win the i-4 corridor from daytona beach through orlando out to tampa. >> from 10 candidates on the stage to just four republicans arrive at the university of miami knowing that next week will determine how much longer some campaigns continue. >> every one of our candidates is very qualified to be president. >> the republican party is hoping to draw contrast from the democratic debates. they discussed immigration. don't expect the policies to be similar. >> the american people want to go in a new direction. they're not happy. >> we need to unite. >> tea party senator mike lee of utah announced his endorsement of ted cruz shopping just short of calling for marco rubio to drop out. >> i do encourage him to get behind ted cruz.

in florida aiming for a one on one with donald trump. lee today saying that florida holds the key to stopping trump but one want date. candidate. >> reporter: sunday i spoke with marco rubio about florida and he said it would reset the race. i talk today a campaign official from governor rick scott's re-election bid and she told me that for marco rubio there's a long uphill climb. i'm putting that interview together right now. we'll have that coming up at 6:00. for now reporting live from the university of miami, christopher heath, channel 9, eyewitness news. >> the republican nominees will be all over central florida. ted cruz will be here in orlando tomorrow for a town hall meeting at the faith assembly of god search in orlando. he's bringing along his former opponent karlee fiorina who endorsed him yesterday. the town hall starts at 10:00 tomorrow morning, doors open at 9:00. you need a ticket to get into the event. we posted a

>> with less than a week before the florida primaries marco rubio in central florida to try to win voters. he will be in the villages this sunday to try to convince residents why he should get their vote. he will be at the recreation center on christine way. you must rsvp. breaking in brevard county, sky witness 9 is live on the scene of a water rescue in titusville. that appears to be the device he was on right there as he picks it up. this is at the max brewer bridge. we don't know the condition of the wind surfer but told he looks good. we'll update you here on wftv and on wftv.com. out of brevard county this evening fire crews are keeping a

bay where two brush fires erupted. it turned near homes on quinton avenue and west berry street. it was separate from a blaze that scourged 45 acres near san filippo drive yesterday. four homes were damaged then. >> it jumped over here and i'm like, oh, my gosh. all i could do was watch. it was full of brush. >> on eyewitness news at 6:00 the extraordinary measures taken to prevent problems. a woman faced a judge. clar garyson was arrest ed last night in ocala for georgia. >> we were trying to talk to her family to see, you know, get clues where she was and she

deputies. >> dcf took the children. we're still trying to get de details about this investigation and how one of her children died. right now she's behind bars. brevard county deputies made contact with a father who kidnapped his kids. >> he told them he wouldn't return back to brevard county. patrick scott, junior ran off with his two kids. he said he was heading to texas. investigators are still considering this an abduction. they believe he's driving a 2015 ford fusion with a texas license plate. covering orange county now, today a man who was shot in the middle of downtown orlando told us a story from his hospital bed. the victim told us he was out celebrating his birthday but thought his life was about to end when a man pulled out a gun on west pine street yesterday morning. he told roy ramos that gunman fired right at his head.

out outside of the back booth nightclub in downtown orlando early wednesday morning. only eyewitness news was able to get this cell phone video from an eyewitness. it shows the terrifying moments when 26-year-old ryland lorelike herbert was shot. i spoke to him in his hospital bed today. he said he was out celebrating his birthday at vintage nightclub and witnessed an argument. >> it was a dispute between one of the girls that we were with. >> that's when he saw two men run off, one return to a parking lot on pine street with a gun and start shooting into a group of people. >> after two in the air he pointed it back at my face and he shot. nrz -- he missed and hit me in the leg. i turned around and bushed them out of the way and he hit me again in the other leg.

locate the suspects who drove off in the wrong direction down garland street. one of his femurs is shattered. both injuries are seriously traumatic but nothing compared to someone's life. >> it had to be that way for nobody else to get hit. i'm breathing. >> that was roy ramos reporting with that emotional interview. now roy did reach out to orlando police again today and they said while detectives are making progress there's been no arrests made just yet. as you can imagine he was very emotional during her interview and had a message for the shooter. you can watch his entire interview at wftv.com. just click on the video tab. a woman who claims to have fought off armed robbers during an attack faces charges herself. 53-year-old magalis mahia faces charges for using a two-way

had a child in the car at the time of a drug deal. right now closing arguments are in underway with two people connect today a dog fighting bust. they shut down a major operation in apopka back in 2014 and found more than 30 dogs injured. michael la party was in court all day today. michael, both defendants took the stand in their own defense. >> reporter: the two wanted to tell their side of the story. they were among more than two dozen people arrested in this case. we don't see a lot of trials like this in central florida and the two took different approaches in their defense. >> they are accused of similar crimes but today told the jury different stories about that night from 2014 when apopka police say they busted a major dog fighting operation that involved more than 30 dogs. >> at any time that night were you involved in dog fighting? >> no, ma'am. >> do you own any dogs? >> no, ma'am. >> were you there for the

>> he claims he was in the neighborhood with a friend and stopped to buy marijuana. >> i thought it was a drug bust. that's what i thought they were coming for. i thought i did a reverse string, like trying to buy weed from the officer and they were waiting on that. >> his defense, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. prosecutors say that story didn't add up. they showed the jury a punching bag and a the dogs. >> i'm really coming to the conclusions of a lot of things that was going on in my house that i wasn't aware of. >> she lived at the home of the bust. she said she knew about the dogs but not about any fighting. prosecutors asked how she could be at the home for 4 years and never visit the backyard or know what is going on. >> reporter: we learned today that four of the dogs had to be euthanized. the others were adopted. now, closing arguments are under way right now. we'll head back into court to see if the jury will get the case tonight. live downtown michael la party, channel 9, eyewitness

a federal trial over gambling in florida could be pushed back. that trial is scheduled for july. it will determine whether the seminole tribe of florida can continue to have blackjack tables at their casinos. the seminole tribe and the governor reached a $3 billion deal to let them keep blackjack but it was turned down by the legislature. they are asking for the trial to be pushed back to october. you're watching a crime at a publix store. how a quick-thinking shopper helped them catch a make taking pictures and videos up young girl's skirt. >> families trying to get information about bright future scholarships got viruses instead. >> new murals are wanting to be banned. the city's plan to

>> warmest day so far of the wendy hates dirty lawn furniture. that' s why she uses scotts outdoor cleaner plus oxi-clean. it cleans all of wendy' s lawn furniture without damaging any of wendy' s lawn.

you're watching channel 9 eyewitness news at 5:00, coverage you can count on. street art is becoming so popular in sanford that city leaders are trying to figure out how to control it. commissioners are looking at putting a moratorium on murals like the one you see behind me until they can create an ordnance that can regulate them. tim barber asked city leaders how they would determine what's art and what's not. >> some people look at this building and see a wall. others see a canvas. >> to make it beautiful you don't have to destroy it. you can refurbish it. >> that's why bryan patterson has a mural of bob marly on his business. >> across the street, drag queen ashley satine. >> i painted the whole thing. >> you painted the whole

he did the stretch especially -- and you painted it? >> yes. >> he is jeff s aunskin whose work has been popping up on everything from factors to residential fences. now city leaders want to put a moratorium on murals. >> we wondered how they will figure out what's art and what's not. some people might love this and some people might not. what about graffiti like this? is this art or vandalism? >> what about these, art or advertising? >> with everybody having different opinions you can't make everybody happy. >> they could have a board to judge plans before they become paintings. it's not clear what would happen to people who break the rules. >> some is okay with it as long as the decision makers keep an open mind. >> if you're told you have to do a certain kind of thing the

report freely. >> reporting in sanford, tim barber, channel 9, eyewitness news. >> very interesting story. the moratorium is only expect ed to last a few monthings -- few months. it will be discussed monday. we asked facebook, should sanford ban these murals? let us now on the wftv facebook page. a bill protecting pastors from lawsuits if they refused to perform same-sex marriages has passed. those against the bill said the first amendment protects church members. marion county leaders will hold another meeting about the sales tax initiative. if you vote in favor of it, it will be used to fund law enforcement. tonight's meeting starts at 6:00 at the mcpherson government complex in ocala.

that lawmakers stripped a healthy food initiative of money state senators are trying to get it back. it's aimed to help food deserts, neighborhoods with little or no access to fresh vegetables and lean meets. they were pushing for $5 million in incentive money to attract businesses into these neighborhoods but lawmakers stripped to bill of the funding. now $500,000 could be put back into it. it still needs approval. i got in the car to drive to work and it said 86 degrees out. >> too early for summer. here's meteorologist tom terry. >> the car thermometers will be warmer. mine read 87 today. it's hot. either way you slice it it's hot. we have 83 now down from 86, the official high today. the hottest day of the year so far. i think we'll probably have a 96, maybe a 97 in us later in the early summer

right now 80 in sanford, 82 in clermont, 70s along the coast. look at the gusty winds. 32 at new smyrna. finally starting to see the smoke from the fires die down. i think these are small fires. we've been tracking this one here across southeastern sections of osceola county and one just south of kissimmee, south down around bella lago getting some smoke over there. right now it's just some smoke at the current time. the dry pattern continues. orlando had one shower this month. we're an inch below average already. we should get about 3 inches for the month of march. i don't have any at all until sunday. hopefully getting a break there. we've had widespread flooding in the deep south, another wave coming by all being held back because of this ridge of high pressure. that's going to maintain station through at least the first part of the weekend and then slowly start to break down giving us a better chance for rain by sunday. here's tomorrow.

rain still on going and hitting the deep south. we will stay afternoon. can't rule out an i'm keeping saturday dry to here's saturday night into sunday. here comes some moisture across the central parts of the state. it looks like we may get a sea breeze shower or thunderstorm of all things with temperatures still staying warm into sunday. better chance for rain about 50% rain chance later in the day on sunday. now for orlando tomorrow, 84 degrees by 2:00 p.m., back up to a second day at 86. we're about 9 degrees above average. five day forecast with the weekend always in view, don't forget we set our clocks ahead one hour so we get more time to get something done after you get home from work. rain chance going up on sunday but the temperatures are not going down. we could be back in the upper 80s by the middle part of next week. it's an action 9 investigation no driver should

>> dash boards melting creating real safety hazards. some car makers promised repairs. action 9 investigates why that has not happened. >> plus, a local man said he's fed up with what he calls nuisance neighbors. >> life has been impossible. i don't have any sleep. >> the drastic steps he's taking to fix what police can't. >> a mistake is leaving thousands of families vulnerable tonight. >> you should check before you sent it anyway.

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some timber creek high school parents said they're afraid their parents were infected by a virus because they followed instructions in a school newsletter to try to get information about bright future scholarships. deneige broom asked how it happened. >> as of today this newsletter was still up on the website leading students and parents to a website they shouldn't be going to. >> for parents and students at timber creek high school who were interested in applying for bright future scholarships this newsletter is helpful until you get to the web address it says to go to to apply. then you have a problem.

send links they should at least test them and make sure it's safe. >> we went to studentfinancialaid.org at least ten times. every almost time a different page popped up. the most alarming was this alert that your computer could be infected of a virus because you visited the page. then you get a phone number to call to fix your computer. >> call the phone number provided and get your computer scanned. >> our i.t. expert said he doesn't think our computers were infected by visiting the site. the timber creek high school mom who brought it to our attention believes hers was infected. other parents said they haven't tried to go to the website but would be concerned if they got this type of alert of a website sent in their child's newsletter. >> they should check it. >> they won't be able to pay to fix the computer. >> parents students were

left off the web address. it should be floridastudentfinancialaid.org. >> we have a copy of the newsletter on the website. go to wftv.com and see it for yourself. high-tech military drones are used to track isis and the taliban. all new at 5:00, we just got the once classified reports that show how they've been used to spy here on u.s. soil. >> visiting a disney resort could soon cost you more. >> i think it's ridiculous. you pay for all the other amenities. >> why the theme park is consider tacking on another fee. >> this man is accused of following young girls around

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to get by, you're not alone. while our people work longer hours for lower wages, almost all new income my plan -- make wall street banks and the ultrarich pay their fair share of taxes, provide living wages for working people, ensure equal pay for women. i'm bernie sanders. because together, we can make and create an economy and democracy that works for all and not just the powerful few. this man is accused of taking pictures up young girl's skirts at a busy publix store. how an alert shoppers helped officers catch him. >> that suspect is charged with video voyeurism.

about it in person 15 minutes ago at the orange county jail. he walked out of the orange county jail with his face covered with some papers. we had several questions but he did not you have up any answers. orlando police said he put his phone in a basket and recorded the girls at the publix in baldwin park. jeanine reyes tried to talk to him. he didn't say anything but he did show any reaction to our questions? >> reporter: police say three young girls, one who become as young as 5 became unsuspecting victims. they credit a good samaritan for helping catch him.