questions now looming over the gop judi and charles. and it is one that could determine the outcome of the general election if donald trump becomes the republican nominee. trump has drawn big crowds and become the hero of the angry conservative electorate. he's also, especially in the last couple of weeks, turned into a target for high-ranking, high visibility members of his own party. not only his two principal challengers, senators ted cruz and marco rubio---but a range of big name party leaders like former nominee mitt romney, house speaker paul ryan and south carolina's own nikki haley and lindsey graham. while there have been a few critics converted to the trump cause--new jersey's chris christie for instance---there is already a sizeable chunk of the gop who would appear to have a tough time signing on with the trump team just because there will be an ''r" next to his name on the fall ballot. it seems that there are only two ways to go. hold your nose and go with a candidate that you don't particularly like or alternatively you back

says we're giving up on 2016. usc journalism dean and former cnn correspondent charles bierbauer. again as this subject has been discussed in the news cycle surrounding the early voting states, there has been new speculation about someone mounting a third party candidacy to take on trump. bierbauer and others say that would be extremely difficult at this point maybe impossible for a candidate to beat the deadline to get on the november ballot. coming up at 6:30, stay tuned for an hour-long edition of nbc nightly news with lester holt, as we await the first results in tonight's super tuesday contests. the first polls are expected to close at 7 pm eastern time...coverage continues through 7:30. then you can tune in again tonight starting at 10 for live coverage as the results come in. nbc will be doing another hour-long special with the latest from the polls.

tuesday coverage tonight on the news at 11. after a day of some partial sun--we're looking at some rain moving in tonight. let's turn it over to von gaskin with your forecast. a cold front is just off to our west and will be here by tonight. look for increasing clouds by late afternoon with scattered showers and a thunderstorm or two late night into wednesday morning. rain chance 50% tonight into wednesday morning. a few showers wednesday morning otherwise partly cloudy, breezy and cooler, highs in the lower 60s. dry thursday before another shot of rain moves in and out for late thursday night through midday friday. rain chance 60%. highs upper 50s to lower 60s.

councilman accused of drunk driving says he only had one beer. kelvin washington is charged with felony dui after a crash saturday night. a newly released report says an investigator saw signs at the scene and later in the hospital that washington had been drinking. the trooper investigating the crash wrote in his report he could smell a strong odor of alcohol. washington's car had slammed into the rear end of a honda sedan carrying two young men, pushing that car into a ditch.. investigators aren't saying what washington's blood- alcohol level was that night. in the state house, senators will return again early tomorrow to try to hash out a plan to fund state roads.

today--senators spent an entire afternoon for what was supposed to be dedicated to a roads bill--not even getting to the bill. instead senators got sidetracked by a proposal to create a criminal offense for endangering highway workers. after a five hour session, senators voted to adjourn. the senate will reconvene at 10 tomorrow morning. the endless filibustering is frustrating not only for lawmakers - but it's continuing to affect those out on the roads every day. sam bleiweis caught up with drivers today as they were gassing up. sam? judi - many drivers i spoke with could almost immediately recall a recent popped tire thanks to a pothole either on the interstate or a local road. and the overwhelming concern? the cost of replacing it. drivers say bridges and on-ramps are problem spots across the state. one driver told me that going west towards aiken he's seen a lot of roads that are touched up, but not completely fixed. and that's a common theme here in columbia as well - i spoke with a student who says she's had 6 nails in her tires just

construction in the rosewood dr. area. a couple drivers say they wish politics could be left out of a public safety issue affecting so many commuters on the roads. "it'd be nice to just hear them agree on something. because it seems like something little, but after a while that could cause some damage to other people's vehicles, even cause accidents, so it would be nice to see them meet somewhere." "it does cost a lot. it costs a lot of my time, it costs my money, and we pay taxes and we should be getting these roads fixed." many drivers say especially driving at night - when it's already hard to spot hazards on the roads, that's when those potholes seem to jump out of nowhere. some drivers wondering if the roads are this bad, where the money is going - that's what they are hoping to hear from lawmakers. meanwhile, the filibustering continues. it's a potentially deadly disease health experts say is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the u.s. today, we're kicking off colon cancer awareness

dawndy mercer plank joins us live now as she and some friends are preparing to take some important preventative steps. march is colon cancer awareness month and i'm teaming up with consultants in gastroenterology and usc's center for colon cancer research to encourage viewers to have a colonoscopy when it's time. about one in three adults between 50 and 75 years of age do not get a test as recommended. screening can save lives if people get tested colorectal cancer is second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths in our country colon cancer can be prevented by removing the polyps which are only found through a colonoscopy this second-leading cause of cancer death is highly preventable we're holding a "party" to encourage viewers to "team up" with friends to hold one another accountable and go through the prep process together and then "celebrating" the next day

coming up--it's a changing of the guard for

plus--police say a man already charged with murder is now facing another murder charge in a 2 and a half year old case. break 2 -firefighters on the scene of a

lexington county -108 stapleford court, gaston -this is a live picture from the scene, mostly smoke can be seen.

this time. the suspect in a 2000 darlington county murder has entered a plea deal in another case. john wayne boyer has been sentenced to 30 years for the 2005 tennessee murder of jennifer smith. at the time of his indictment, he was already serving a murder sentence for the death of another woman. boyer is the prime suspect in the south carolina murder of michelle haggadone. her body was found behind a rest stop along interstate 20. the solicitor re-opened the case following a wis investigation.

columbia police may have cracked a more than 2- year-old murder case. today, police say they've charged charles byrd junior for murder in the shooting death of a man on bailey street in november of 2013. investigators say byrd shot and killed willie gilmore after an argument at a home there. byrd is currently locked up at alvin s. glenn detention center on murder charges for a separate shooting in 2014. the longtime chief of cayce's department of public safety is announcing his retirement. today, chief charles mcnair said he will step down after nearly 16 years with the department. mcnair is a cayce native, who served with various law enforcement agencies throughout his career, including south carolina highway patrol, and sled. he will officially retire on may 1st.

afternoon with scattered showers and a thunderstorm or two late night into wednesday morning. rain chance 50% tonight into

morning. a few showers wednesday morning otherwise partly cloudy, breezy and cooler, highs in the lower 60s. dry thursday before another shot of rain moves in and out for late thursday night through midday friday. rain chance 60%. highs upper 50s to lower 60s. as we kick off a new month--we're also raising awareness about the risks of colon cancer. afternoon with scattered showers and a thunderstorm or two late night into wednesday morning. rain chance 50% tonight into wednesday morning. a few showers wednesday morning otherwise partly cloudy, breezy and cooler, highs in the lower 60s. dry thursday before another shot of rain moves in and out for late thursday night through midday friday. rain chance 60%. highs upper 50s to lower 60s.

month--we're also raising awareness about the risks of colon cancer. we're joined again by dawndy mercer plank, with some tips on how you can be proactive in

march is colon cancer awareness month and i'm teaming up with consultants in gastroenterology and usc's center for colon cancer research to encourage viewers to have a colonoscopy when it's time. about one in three adults between 50 and 75 years of age do not get a test as recommended. screening can save lives if people get tested colorectal cancer is second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths in our country colon cancer can be prevented by removing the polyps which are only found through a colonoscopy this second-leading cause of cancer death is highly preventable we're holding a "party" to encourage viewers to "team up" with friends to hold one another accountable and go through the prep process together and then "celebrating" the next day by doing something fun together the usc women's basketball team is racking up some big postseason

plus we'll tell you when you can watch the gamecocks spring football workouts....sports is next!!!! break 3 the usc women dominated the sec this introducing longhorn's big, bold, steaks. the only way to make em' better was to make em' bigger. our new center cut 10 ounce filet. our perfectly seasoned 16 ounce t-bone. and our fire grilled 18 ounce outlaw ribeye. big, bold, steaks. only at longhorn steakhouse. you can't fake steak. for lunch, try our steakhouse burger

oh in league play. that domination has carried over to the postseason awards. gamecocks take three of the top seven individual honors presented by the sec coaches. sophomore forward a'ja wilson is named the sec player of the year and defensive player of the year. wilson is just the second woman to pick up both awards in the same year. wilson has scored in double figures in 24 of usc's 29 games. wilson is proud of the team accomplishment of going undefeated in the sec. it means a lot to us..i mean like you said..only one other program has done it..and that's another thing that south carolina is in the history books for and we're all a part of it. it really means a lot and we're all real excited to start this postseason trail and just keep going and hopefully come back with a big trophy.

last three sec player of the year awards. guard tiffany mitchell won the last two. she joins wilson on the all-sec first team. junior center alaina coates also makes the first team. she leads the conference in rebounding with just over ten a game. we told you two weeks ago...that usc's spring football practice would begin march 15th. today carolina revealed which workouts will be open to the public. fans will have limited opportunities to watch the team this spring. the public will be allowed to watch two practices...march 29th and march 31st...both are scheduled to start at 4:30. the garnet and black game is set for april ninth at noon...admission is free. clemson opened spring practice yesterday. their orange and white game is scheduled for april ninth at 2:30. the tigers are a young but experienced group. they have 22 juniors and seniors...along with 63 freshmen and sophomores. they have 55 returning lettermen..including 14 starters from last year's team that

i like this group, i really do. i think this is a group that is really going to jell quickly. i've already seen a good chemistry and a good transition of leadership if you will in our off-seaso. leadership. but i think the biggest thing, this team is going to have much more competitive leadership than we

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breaking news tonight. we're minutes from the first poll closures as voters in a dozen states have their say. a dramatic night in the race for president as donald trump and hillary clinton try to pull away from the pack. also tonight, high-stakes showdune as the fight between apple and the fbi moves from the courtroom to congress. new twists in a battle that has major implications on your privacy and national security. living a nightmare. an emotional erin andrews back on the stand describing the daily horror she endures after being secretly taped. what she does when she enters a hotel room now.

a kidnapping suspect at large after a police pursuit, kids in the car. tonight the manhunt to find him. "nightly news" begins right now. good evening from lex headquarters on super tuesday, a night that could be the tipping point in both the republican and democratic races for the presidential nomination. 12 states are in play tonight with the first poll closings just a half hour from now. but ahead of that, we have a new snapshot of the state of the race nationally. republican donald trump has a 2-1 lead over marco rubio, who's now in second place, according to a new nbc news/survey monkey poll. democrats, hillary clinton with a 10-point lead nationally over bernie sanders. will she pull away from sanders for good? will trump close the deal tonight? there's an awful lot to cover.