that d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d good wednesday afternoon. thank you for joining us for news19 at noon. i'm darci strickland. we begin this afternoon at the statehouse. the senate committee passed a refugee resettlement bill this morning. it would increase surveillance and limit refugees from war- torn country settling here in south carolina. the bill looks to register every refugee at the department of social services.

would be given to sled so they can track the refugees. it also seeks to hold refugee organizations accountable for individuals in an act of terror -- if it were to occur -- one senator spoke in favor of the bill saying that the bill would only affect refugees from what she calls come a countries of terrorism, and that people from places like germany would not be included. senator johnson voted against the bill saying that refugees are trying to escape taylor and not come here and cause terror. he went on to say that the bill goes against the unity bill after the charleston shooting. the gorilla not go straight to the senate for just yet. -- that will not go to the senate for yet. and gathering in support of more choices when it comes to we're in the township auditorium

>> reporter: good to see you the rally just started when the newscast started at the top of the hour at noon. all the organizers here are handing out these scarves -- choice. that is the big mantra. we're here at the township auditorium. the rally was moved from the possibility of rain. here. look at the video that we shot just a little while ago. organizers say they expect at state. this week is designated as national school choice week. the goal is to raise public awareness about education options that parents have, from their kids including charter schools -- and even homeschooling. >> we want parents to know that school choices for them -- that they need to identify the best place for their child. we shouldn't be forced into having to send our kids to a school that is a ready-made --

>> this has been one of a 140 events nationwide that is celebrating this choice. we will have more on this coming back to you. >> thank you. live at the township auditorium thank you. -- in the columbia. >> thank you. other than a few sprinkles scattered throughout the midlands, the satellite and radar shows a lot of cloud coverage. hardly any rain falling in the midlands. a little bit of rain showers right now up in the piedmont. outside of that, we're sitting with a lot of clear skies -- as far as rain. but the clouds are still hanging around. we are in ridiculously warm temperatures. sick -- lexington, 60. orangeburg, 59. in with columbia -- in columbia, 60 degrees.

49 degrees. we will look at the seven-day hundreds of employers at today. the career and science and engineering and technology fares are being held side-by-side at the columbia metropolitan convention center. students have an opportunity to find internships, co-ops and full-time positions. it also provides experience interacting with employers. afternoon. the grand opening today for walmart neighborhood market on broad river road. the new store brings more than 100 new jobs to columbia. the store includes a full station. two it may -- two major airline say they will refund

about traveling to brazil and other areas impacted by the zika virus. united airlines assay customers can get rescheduled without a change fee. american says it will offer refunds to pregnant women. and the zika virus is linked to dangerous birth affects -- defects. a deadly shootout in oregon overnight could help end the occupation of a federal wildlife refuge by armed men. officers shot and killed the group's spokesperson after a traffic stop. the leader, ammon bundy, is among five people arrested by the fbi. three other members were arrested separately. >> this video shows fbi agents and police intercepting militant leader ammon bundy and several other militia leaders on in oregon highway. not far from where they have occupied federal land a since the start of the year. shots were fired. ammon bundy was arrested. and his brother ryan was shot but has a non- life-threatening injuries.

>> a spokesman for the protester was killed in the shootout. according to ammon bundy's cbs station. >> ryan bundy was shot in the arm. >> last night, heavily armed officers stood guard outside of a hospital believed to be members. at least eight people connected to the armed protest were arrested tuesday on federal impede officers. >> it is the constitution. that is what we are here for -- the constitution. >> on january 2, ammon bundy and his armed followers to control of the national refuge. they claimed that the federal to sell land. >> just days ago, the oregon governor kate brown stepped up pressure on federal authorities to end the occupation. >> the situation is absolutely

and it must be resolved immediately. >> it is unclear how many people are still occupying buildings inside the refuge. law enforcement officers have established roadblocks around the perimeter right now. they are only allowing property owners inside. carter evans, cbs news, oregon. >> for weeks, authorities have taken a hands-off approach to this occupation. but that changed yesterday. ammon bundy and his followers were going to a town meeting when they were stopped by police. it is unclear who fired first. donald trump says he is sitting out tomorrow night's republican presidential debate because anchor megan kelly is the moderator. donald trump objected to her questioning during a previous debate. fox says trump is welcome but not at the price of dictating the moderators and the questions. on the democratic side, candidates bernie -- candidate bernie sanders is meeting at the

the white house says there is no formal agenda. speaking of donald trump, the gop presidential hopeful and front-runner will be in lexington county. he is making a stop at the harmon tree farm off of highway one. the event is at 7:00 this evening. it is free and open to the public. today is the deadline to register to vote in the presidential primary. if you have moved, be ready to vote by updating your registration. or if you moved from one county to another, you must register in your new county by the deadline which is today, in order to be eligible to vote. the republican voter registration deadline was last week. the gop primary is february 20. and the democratic primary is february 27. fast food chain wendy's says it is investigating reports of unusual activity on cards used at some of the restaurants. the company says fraudulent charges may have occurred on cards that had been used

customers to watch for unauthorized charges on their cards. a's father who was accused of theft after he confiscated his 12-year-old daughter's a cell phone over and inappropriate has -- text has been acquitted. ronald jackson was arrested after he commandeered his daughter's cell phone and refused to give it back. the 36-year-old father says the text on the phone was rude. the girl's mother says that she owns of the cell phone and reported the confiscation as a soft. the father went to court and successfully fought the citation involving his 15-year-old daughter. uber wants to keep a better eye on drivers -- testing a program that monitors driver's gps and off of the phones. measuring small movements like sudden stops and accelerations. uber says it has figured out a

-- drunk passengers from distracting sober drivers. in north carolina, they have been putting toys in the back seat to keep drunk passengers entertained. an animal usually found in the south american rainforest woman this care of her life. the veterinarian describes what happened. >> the lady is sound asleep. she feels something on her chest. she slowly wakes up and realizes that there is an animal curled up sleeping on her chest. i don't know -- i guess her first impression was that it might be a cat. but when they got a look at each other, they both freaked out. the lady screamed. the animal went into the attic. >> the animal turned out to be a kinkajou which looks like a monkey that is in the raccoon family. they are sometimes known as a hi-bear.

animal out of the house using a youtube video of its family. it turns out that kinkajou with somebody's pet. the owner is expected to pick up the animal today. still ahead today on

look at the (donkey sound) (elephant sound) there's a big difference between making noise, (tapping sound) and making sense. (elephant sound) (donkey sound) when it comes to social security, we need more than lip service. our next president needs a real plan to keep social security strong. (elephant noise) hey candidates. enough talk.

welcome back. a lot of us were prepared for umbrellas today. >> a little sprinkles here and there. especially newberry county. for the most part, few and far between. we have been seeing a little bit of sprinkles moving through over the last few hours. some light rain has been moving through the midlands. but the heaviest concentration of rain has been into the piedmont. and part of -- the grand strand. in the midlands, no rain falling at all. we're clear for now. we will be watching carefully. other than the fact that we are expecting rain, temperatures have gotten very, very warm. we have been expecting -- the 60s. sixty-one in saluda right now. orangeburg, 60.

sumter, 59. in the capital city -- temperatures, 60 degrees. a cold front has already moved through. wind out of the north at 7 miles per hour. there is a cold front this morning. right over the upstate. as it moves through, going through quickly. it is basically from the piedmont region all the way down head. that -- behind that, a lot of moisture in place. the computer models show that as we go throughout the afternoon, rainfall. tapering off as we go through the late afternoon and early evening. overnight tonight, we develop some light showers. and the potential is until the morning. but the bulk of it tomorrow will be coming in by early to mid-afternoon. and lasting until the late evening. clearing skies after that. what we are expecting for highs now -- looking at pretty much middle to upper 60s. looking at a high of 64 degrees -- with a chance for rain. overnight tonight, a chance of more rainfall.

all the lows tonight will generally be in the middle to upper 30s. the one thing about this cold front that has already pushed through -- the area of high pressure -- will usually push this off. but the high-pressure right now looks like it will move more toward the east. and this cold front -- when it gets offshore -- will actually retreat as the stationary front -- comes. so we will be expecting more rain. tomorrow, we will have another chance of rain. a high of only 49 degrees. as we see from the computer model, the skies will clear out by friday. 58 degrees. as we get into the weekend, a lot of sunshine coming on saturday. a high of 64. up to 67 on sunday. a little bit of a surface trough coming -- to give us cloud coverage. monday, 68. by tuesday, a high of 70 degrees. stay with us here at news19 at noon. break. . cake today.

chocolate cake that is noth today howard is baking a cake in the mr. food test kitchen. >> with today being national chocolate cake day, we thought we would share a recipe for a good old-fashioned chocolate cake that is so good and moist that it does not need any frosting. you want to know the secret? we begin by combining some water, a few squares of and a stick of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. we combine some sugar, a good amount of flour, baking soda, a

-- milk, and our secret ingredient, some white vinegar. we beat that until it is well combined. chocolate mixture and let that sit for thick. when the vinegar mixes with the baking soda, it creates hundreds of tiny air bubbles that will make the cake nice and moist. into a nine by 13 pan it goes. minutes. when it cools, cut that into squares and you are good to go. like i said, it is so moist and frosting behind. but if you do want to dress it up, top with whipped cream and berries -- that is it. and get the recipe for our, good chocolate cake. so you can celebrate national chocolate cake day in style. i'm howard in the mr. food test

simple way for you to say, ooh, it is so good! >> they do, howard. still ahead today on

valentines da if you like it scattered, covered or chops, maybe your ballantyne will too. waffle house is ready to take a reservation. they are hoping to save people money by offering candlelit dinners. this is the ninth year they have offered specials at participating locations including the restaurant on harden street and columbia. the one on south lake drive in the content. and also the restaurant in the manning and also sunset boulevard in west columbia. the columbia fireflies will unveil the team's jerseys

the team owner will announce the 2016 coaches staff and introduce the winner of the common name the team, contest. the unveiling is scheduled for 4:00. but is open to the public. we will stream the event live on our website at wltx.com. still ahead today on friends at five, weight watcher shares shot up 20% yesterday after "are -- oprah winfrey said she lost 26 pounds on the plan. find out why this is working for opera. and white -- for "winfrey. and why it might not work for you when you join us today at 5:00. >> i'm not sure she is eating a loaf of bread. >> you know how ie in excess. just a slice of bread or two -- i will actually have three or four loads.

>> we have a chance for a sprinkle or two. a sprinkle later tonight. it will be down to 39 degrees. we will be seeing more rain. only for tomorrow. then clearing skies. then get ready for a warming trend into the upper 60s by this weekend. >> that will do it for news19