they were there to plead federal officials for millions in flood aid. our chad mills has more. the midlands mayors spoke one-on-one with congressman jim clyburn, had a meeting with the deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs jerry abramson, and spoke with the secretary of housing and urban development, julian castro, and his staff. it's a natural disaster that columbia mayor steve benjamin still thinks about daily. "the floods of 2015 were devastating across the carolina, seeing almost 12 trillion gallons of water dumped down into our community." the reason mayor benjamin and sumter mayor joseph mcelveen took a trip to washington, d.c. on wednesday. "letters and phone calls and e-mails are important, but sometimes, you need to look a man in the eye and say exactly what you want." the two mayors had a full day of meetings with federal officials to make the case for more federal funds for flood relief. "it's not lost on me that the money in the federal coffers are monies that come from people in our

or new it was robust. / we've got to make sure that our request is just that: it's significant, it's robust, and it's representative of the fact that our citizens have been paying taxes for years. they've been paying federal taxes year after year. it's time for the federal government to respond in kind." benjamin's eyes are on a $300 million dollar pot of money, known as a community development block grant, that's written into the federal budget for disaster relief for the areas affected by hurricane joaquin, the storm that fed the flood with moisture. he's hoping some of that money can be used to fix the columbia canal, which benjamin calls the biggest project in the state and fund the $140 million that'll likely be needed to restore about 2,600 properties of low and moderate-income families. "we're going to be vigilant. we're not going to slow down. we're not going to stop." as for the pot of 300 million dollars worth of federal funds, there's no word

divvied up, but congressman clyburn told us in a statement, "officials at the department of housing and urban development tell my staff the allocation of additional disaster relief funds will be made in the coming weeks based on the damage and unmet needs for recovery in the affected states. ...i will continue to work closely with local leaders to make sure these hud officials understand the scope of our needs in south carolina." the mayor said he expects rebuilding the canal will require some state funding too.

we're not feeling quite the cold like we did last night...but we're still dropping low. meteorologist von gaskin has your overnight forecast. expect lows thursday morning in the lower/middle 30s with clear to partly cloudy skies. thursday will be a touch warmer with highs in the mid 50s. thursday night clouds will be on the increase with a 40% chance of showers friday and widely scattered showers saturday as well. highs will be in the 60s over

chance 50% saturday and 40% sunday morning. clemson's on the verge of history. monday night the tigers face alabama in the college football national title game. the tigers are trying to win 1981...

the guiding force behind clemson football's crowning achievement... danny ford... offered insight tonight on playing on the sports offered insight tonight on playing on the sports grandest stage. coach ford led clemson to a victory over nebraska in the orange bowl to deliver tiger town its first crystal ball. hardware that remains on display in a trophy case in death valley. a reminder of what ford and the tigers achieved in 1981. this evening ford shared his experiences leading up too and coaching in a national title game. a part of the journey he talked about was the nerves he felt the night before coaching the biggest game in his career. nerves... he fully expects the tigers to feel 24 hours before kickoff monday

tonight jobs are going away for

workers in the midlands. kershawhealth today says it's cutting 26 jobs reducing it's workforce by about 3 percent. the hospital system says it's getting fewer patients and needs to bring its costs in line. kershaw is in the process of transferring management of the hospital to capella healthcare, which will take over operations this spring. it's also helping to fund ambulance services, which the county took over last year. officials at kershawhealth say they're working to help the laid off employees find new

macy's is also starting out the new year by handing out thousands of pink slips. the department store giant plans to shut down 36 stores this year which will put about 43 hundred employees out of work. macy's blames the cuts on poor holiday sales and what it called a "disappointing" 2015. the macy's at columbia place list of stores to close. one of the hottest gifts of the hot. at least a dozen college campuses have put restrictions or outright bans on hoverboards, that includes the university of south carolina which has banned the motorized skateboards in all residence halls. hoverboards have been linked to a fires, even explosions. the consumer product safety says it's investigating reports of at 28 fires in 19 states and more than 70 serious injuries. south carolina republicans are cheering over plans to have south

haley speak to the nation for her party and maybe define her own future next tuesday, haley will deliver the republican party's response to president obama's state of the union address. she will have a chance to talk about how her state overcame huge challenges in the past year. political experts and party leaders also say the decision to choose haley will help the gop appeal to a younger, more diverse group of voters. our long term challenge as a party is the demographic tidal wave that's coming across america that's with age and the country becoming less white obviously. i think we are getting...people like governor haley who's risen because she's put forth great ideas and her leadership ability i think is indicative of our party. we're having a great discussion of these ideas. the democrats are not having much discussion at all about the future of their party of the direction of the country. haley has dismissed a new round of speculation about a potential candidacy for vice-

the obama administration is working to get public support for the president's efforts to reduce gun violence. some big targets include closing loopholes on background checks, adding federal agents to enforce existing laws, and developing new technology to make guns safer. vice president joe biden took that message to communities still reeling from mass shootings - including charleston - by doing interviews with local reporters. he says the bottom line is we need to do more to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. "all this is about is enforcing the existing law on the books. if you are mentally ill, if you are a felon, if you are an abuser in a domestic violence you are not allowed under the law consistent with the constitution to own a weapon." while the president's executive do not require congressional approval, the funding to implement many of the ideas would have to be approved by

the forest acres planning commission has given its stamp of approval for a new development at the site of the old cardinal newman high school. the school is moving to a bigger lot on alpine road. in its place, charleston developer the beach company plans to build retail shops and housing units. the planning commission opened the discussion to the public and then approved it by a 5-1 vote. a traffic light would be put in place at the bi-lo next to the site to help control traffic. the plans now go before city council for official approval. after the break--el nino comes a'knocking in california... tonight an outbreak of severe weather is quenching the state badly in need of water. on capitol hill tonight-- after dozens of failed attempts, congress is two coneys or two burgers, and two tots and two drinks. -yeah. -it's like i'm seeing double.

(yells) you guys wanna hang out sometime? oh, man. i think i nailed it. now two can eat for $9.99 all month long. (clicks) this seasoned jumbo popcorn chicken is great! 'cause it's got it goin' on. -well, yeah, it does! -right. and does that remind you of anybody we know? both: me. you? in three delicious flavors, new seasoned jumbo popcorn chicken has got it goin' on.

sending legislation to president obama's desk repealing his signature healthcare law. the house passed legislation this evening

funding to planned parenthood. only one democrat voted for the bill and three republicans voted against it. it's the first time such a measure will actually make it to the president's desk...though the move is largely symbolic since the president says he will veto it. a texas state trooper is now facing perjury charges relating to the case of a woman found dead in her jail cell. last year, 28-year-old sandra bland was arrested at a traffic stop by trooper brian encinia. three days later, she was found dead in her jail cell in the custody of the waller county sheriff's office. authorities say bland used a plastic bag as a noose to hang herself--but many are questioning the circumstances of her death. a grand jury decided last month not to indict jail workers on criminal charges--but today decided to charge encinia. "it was specifically that he, in his probable cause affidavit stated that he removed her from the vehicle, to further conduct a safer traffic investigation and the grand jury found that

if convicted, encinia could get up to a year in jail and a fine of up to 4 thousand dollars. the texas department of public safety also announced it will fire encinia. a nearly 20-hour standoff with police outside of atlanta turned deadly tonight after authorities say a man shot his 2- year-old son, then turned the gun on himself. it started around 10 last night when the man's wife called to report he was threatening to shoot everyone in the home--then take his own life. authorities say a teenage son inside the home was able to escape...but the mother and 2-year-old child were held hostage. the gunman and the child later died at the hospital. today california has been hit with rain...wind...and snow. roads have been closed and buildings damaged while forecasters warn this isn't the last of the severe weather.

in southern california heavy rain turned freeways into waterways. cars and trucks navigated the high water on i-5, one of the busiest routes on the west coast. more than 19 million californians face the threat of severe weather. near san diego, a woman had to be rescued from her car.........while one man traveled by paddle board. 9-1-1 has been flooded. "we're getting inundated at dispatch centers, taking on heavy volume of calls." in other communities.......mudsli des...hills have started to erode and threaten homes. "absolutely we worry, but we have done a lot of preparation, uh there is a whole bunch of sandbags around the house." further inland...winds were strong enough to blow out windows.....and peel back roofs. "then this big thunk......and then we heard like moving around." in northern california...snow....driv ers have been warned to be careful and be prepared. "make sure you have a full tank of gas, extra blankets, extra food, you never know." all of this weather blamed on el nino...the warm water has whipped up a steady stream of storms moving west to

and there is more to come....forecasters say there may not be a break in the weather until friday...and another storm system could arrive this weekend.

days after the paris attacks, senators came together for a top-secret briefing on the terrorist threat... marco rubio was missing - fundraising in california instead. two weeks later, terrorists struck again in san bernardino... and where was marco? fundraising again in new orleans. over the last 3 years, rubio has missed important national security hearings and missed more total votes than any other senator. politics first: that's the rubio way. right to rise usa

lower/middle 30s with clear to partly cloudy skies. thursday will be a touch warmer with highs in the mid 50s. thursday night clouds will be on the increase with a 40% chance of showers friday and widely scattered showers saturday as well. highs will be in the 60s over the weekend... rain chance 50% saturday and 40% sunday morning. skies. thursday will be a touch warmer with highs in the

thursday night clouds will be on the increase with a 40% chance of showers friday and widely scattered showers saturday as well. highs will be in the 60s over the weekend... rain chance 50% saturday and 40% sunday morning. skies. thursday will be a touch warmer with highs in the mid 50s. thursday night clouds will be on the increase with a 40% chance of showers friday and widely scattered showers saturday as well.

the weekend... rain chance 50% saturday and 40% sunday morning. skies. thursday will be a touch warmer with highs in the mid 50s. thursday night clouds will be on the increase with a 40% chance of showers friday and widely scattered showers saturday as well. highs will be in the 60s over the weekend... rain chance 50% saturday and 40%

coming up in sports... clemson and alabama prepare for the big national title game in arizona. learn more on how the tigers and the tide are preparing for the big game. plus, learn how deshaun watson's friendship grew with alabama's star derrick henry this season. the title's within reach.

from claiming the program's first national championship in 34 years. the top ranked tigers... battle the alabama crimson tide to earn the top prize in college football monday night. for clemson, this marks dabo swinney's first opportunity to lead the tigers onto to this stage. it's one that's very familiar to his counter part at

he's won four national titles as a head coach... three of them at alabama. even with his wealth of experience and success... neither saban or swinney... prepared teams to handle the rigors of two playoff games. a brand new venture... both coaches hope to have their squads ready to conquer... by game time. dabo: "everybody is asking about this week, and obviously never been in this situation, but the bowl game was more like kind of like the opener. you've got a lot of time to kind of get ready for the opening game, and there's just a lot of things game. this is just kind of like you're into the season, and that's kind of how we've approached it." saban: "we did some research on what people did a year ago. that were in this position and how they prepared their team. you know use some of those ideas to see if we can get the right balance and right formula." winning formulas for both sides center around stars in the backfield.

deshaun watson, and bama's heisman trophy running back derrick henry... each played pivotal roles leading up to this moment. henry leads the nation in rushing touchdowns with 25, and ranks second in rushing yards per game. watson's in top 10 in total touchdowns and yards on offense. outstanding efforts rewarded by being selected as heisman finalists this season. both say their friendship grew when they were at the heisman trophy ceremony together in new york city. henry: "you know i love deshaun. i have a lot of respect for him. he's been through a lot of adversity and overcame it in the right way. he's a hard worker and a very humble person. somebody i can call a friend." watson: "good friends. cool with each other. making sure that we keep a relationship regardless if we play each other or not." from chasing a championship on the college grid-iron...

prize in the nfl. the panthers in practice mode this week. as the top seed in the nfc... they of course cannot start game planning until after wildcard weekend is over and they know their opponent. but this week is very important--getting healthy and working cornerback robert mcclain in with the starting secondary... after replacing the injured charles tillman last week against tampa. mcclain says tillman may be out of the line-up but his presence is still being felt everyday and it 's much appreciated! mcclain: "he helps me out everyday. talking about certain routes and combinations. certain checks we make in our defense. he helps me literally everyday on the practice field i come to him. and ask him a bunch of questions. he's you know a then plus year vet. a guy like that i'm always going to try to pick his brain. see what he sees.