is now off the team and out of school with no official explanation. and a once-in-a-decade superbloom as california's death valley teeming with life. >> it's amazing to me that anything lives here. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> axelrod: good evening. i'm jim axelrod. it is the busiest saturday of campaign 2016, and so far it's been a good day for ted cruz. he's already won the republican caucuses in kansas. republicans are also voting today for a presidential nominee in louisiana, kentucky, and maine, with a total of 155 delegates on the table. democrats are deciding in three states-- louisiana, kansas, and nebraska, with 109 delegation up for grabs. julianna goldman has the latest from our washington bureau. juliana. >> reporter: jim, tonight, is all about bragging rights. donald trump and donnell hill

leads and momentum from super tuesday. rivals are hoping for wins to prove that they have staying power. and cruz's victory in kansas means he can keep make the case that he's got the best shot at beating trump. >> is having a light weight like a marco rubio, who is terrible... >> reporter: republican front-runner donald trump rallied caucus-goers in kansas and later in florida. >> the republicans are eating their own. they've got to be very careful. >> reporter: he predicted big wins tonight, stepping up his digs at marco rubio and the establishment republicans frantically trying to stop him. >> the way we beat donnell hill in november is we tell the truth with a smile. >> reporter: the winner in kansas was ted cruz who stumped there earlier. now with five wins, more than any other republican rival has over trump, cruz has been arguing he's the only one who can beat the billionaire businessman. >> we have been able to win over and over and over again from the grass roots.

it doesn't need to be nasty. >> reporter: at a conservative rally. >> this is the american conservative union, and so it's usually reserved for conservatives. ( cheers and applause ) . >> reporter: but with his fate resting on winning his home state on march 15, the florida senator headed straight to jacksonville. >> the eyes of the nation are upon this great state. >> i know how to tackle these problems. >> reporter: while governor john kasich was in michigan, ahead of tuesday's primary there. on the democratic side, hillary clinton and bernie sanders were also looking past tonight's contests. >> when i heard about flint, i was just sick. >> reporter: with a debate sunday in flint, michigan, clinton was in detroit, meeting with a small group of african american pastors. >> she talks in vague terms. >> reporter: in ohio, sanders hit clinton on her plan for social security, but he saved his sharpest attacks for the g.o.p.

the republican presidential process is like a is sixth grade food fight that you see in a cafeteria. >> reporter: tonight, will also be the first chance to see if the republican establishment stopped trump efforts have had any impact. jim, there's no rest for the weary this weekend. there are more contests on sunday. democrats and republicans hold primaries in puerto rico, while democrats caucus in maine. >> axelrod: juliana, thank you. despite all the nasty fire exchanged between donald trump and his rivals this week, at some point all of this will boil down to the numbers. and as major garrett shows us, mr. trump is drawing record numbers. >> the biggest story in all of politics is what's happening to the republican party, and i'm getting zero credit for it. ( applause ) >> reporter: with more victories in primaries and caucuses than his rivals and a sizable delegate lead over ted cruz, donald trump says he alone is driving the republican party to new heights of turnout and enthusiasm. >> it's a movement, folks. it's a movement.

question to republican party chairman reince priebus. donald trump says he's good for the party, he's remaking it and enlarging it. do you agree? >> i think in some cases all of our candidates are good for the party. and you know what? look at the record turnout. >> reporter: what do you attribute that to? >> i-- i-- i attribute it to, in part, donald trump, but i also attribute it to campaigns that are very serious. and it's also the interest in the republican party. >> reporter: the numbers back him up. through the same 13 contests in 2012, voters have cast about 1 million more battles for trump than 2012 republican nominee mitt romney. trump and his bombast may also be driving turnout another way-- against him. cruz and marco rubio trail trump considerably, but their vote totals compare favorably with romney's. cruz has won slightly fewer votes than romney, while rubio's vote total is more than 100,000 ahead. romney, meanwhile, this week called trump a menace to the party and a threat to democracy.

the american public for suckers. he gets a free ride to the white house, and all we get is a lousy hat. >> reporter: carl bus participated in today's kansas caucuses. >> they're saying the republican party is not unified. yes, it is. look how many votes in primaries have been so far that are republicans we never had before. i'm standing in this line for the first time because of donald trump. >> reporter: historically, the republican primary vote is about 90% white, and that trend continues. now, jim, while trump support tends to skew towards voters without college degrees, he also picks up solid backing among the college educated, men, women, conservatives and independents. >> axelrod: so, major, all these new republican voters that you're reporting on, how are they likely to play as a factor come november. >> reporter: here are some numbers to consider. white voters made up 72% of the electorate in 2012, and president obama lost the white vote by a larger margin than any winning candidate in american history. trump, cruz, and rubio are attracting more voters, most of

now, agenda voters always increases the chances of victory. but trump's campaign, should he become the nominee, could also increase minority turnout for democrats, thereby erasing republican gains. and then, jim, there is the question of g.o.p. unity behind a trump-led ticket, and that is clearly unanswered. >> axelrod: major garrett reporting for us tonight from washington. major, thank you very much. >> reporter: sure. >> mason: stay with cbs for continuing campaign 2016 coverage. hillary clinton, donald trump and ted cruz are among john dickerson's guests tomorrow morning on "face the nation." no voting on the west coast today, which is a good thing since it is a great day to stay indoors. let's bring in ktvt meteorologist jeff jamison. jeff, a wet weekend in the forecast out west? >> all week it's going to be wet in california, jim. we're going to see waves of rain day after day, all the way through the end of this upcoming week, a very active el nino pattern that's really been affecting northern california this season more so than southern california.

this week we could see seven to 10 inches of rain, especially north of san francisco. that could lead, of course, to some mudslides, certainly some flooding, strong winds on and off all week, and there will be travel delays in northern california this week as well. and the higher elevations, two to three feet of snow up in the >> axelrod: i guess if you have to choose, you would pick the east coast for the weather coming up. >> it's going to be a very warm east this week. in fact, spring fever is going to set in with the jet stream way up to the north. we're going to see temperatures 15-25 degrees above normal for this time of year. new york city may hit 70 on wednesday. upper 70s to near 80 in washington, d.c. and by the end of this upcoming week, charlotte in the upper 70s to near 80. >> axelrod: no complaints here. jeff jamison, thank you. the weather is creating some trouble in anchorage, alaska awell where they had to shorten the firing leg of the annual iditarod sled dog race.

second year in a row it is too warm and not nearly snowy enough. >> this is a rookie race for her. >> reporter: the ceremonial start iditarod is everything you'd expect from a sled dog race. except the snow on the ground didn't come from the sky above anchorage. it came on a train from further nor. tim sullivan is with the alaska railroad. >> we've had some snowfall, but the weather's been warm and it keeps melting it away. >> reporter: so far this season, anchorage has only received about half of its average snowfall. as of friday, just 29 inches had fallen. 61 inches is normal. and the city's been storing what it plowed from local streets for the iditarod according to race coordinator karl heidelbach. >> they've been harvesting every flake of snow since november and hiding it for us to make this happen. >> reporter: but it still wasn't enough. the 350 cubic yards of backup snow will only cover three miles of the anchorage track instead

>> we didn't want to shorten the race. but our only other option left was to take it away from the city of anchorage and that's not what we wanted. we wanted the spectacle here. for our fans here. . >> reporter: it happened last year as well, when there was even less snow, and it may be a trend. over the last 60 years, winter temperatures in alaska have risen by six degrees, a rate twice as fast as the rest of the country. and while less snow may be a good thing in other places, here in anchorage, where the iditarod is the biggest tourist event of the year, there's no business like snow business. carter evans, cbs news, los angeles. >> axelrod: across the country today, high school students put their number 2 pencils to work on a brand new version of the s.a.t. as demarco morgan reports, the idea was to make it more fair for minorities and students who can't afford test preparation courses. >> reporter: nouri hassan of new jersey is among the first of

>> it was a little more easier s.a.t. and the math, there was definitely a lot more data, a lot more tables. >> reporter: the new test is aimed at reflecting more of what students are learning inside the classroom with the hopes of creating a level playing field for student who can't afford tutor. among the changes-- it has fewer questions than the current test. students rarely use. there's no penalty for guessing answers. and thestand the essay portion is optional. why the change now? . >> the college board has lost ground to a.c.t. over the last few years. the s.a.t. is the second-most popular admission test for college students behind the a.c.t. so a lot of changes have been made perhaps to catch up to the a.c.t.

prefers the older version. bob schaeffer with fair test, an organization critical of standardized tests, says students taking the new s.a.t. are taking a gamble. >> we heard that all over from high school counselors, from test prep company. nobody wants to buy a product the first day it's out on the market because they don't know what could go wrong with it. >> reporter: the old s.a.t. students would receive their scores within four weeks. jim, with the new test, it could take 6-8 weeks because score reports are more complex. >> axelrod: marg, thank you. the latest flash point in europe's migrant crisis, a refugee camp in greece near the border with macedonini with thousands of people escaping wars in the middle east have hit a roadblock. jonathan vigliotti reports from our london bureau. . >> reporter: they come to greece with their sights set on europe, but today, tens of thousands of migrants, many fleeing war-torn syria, are penned in like animals.

by flimsy tents that line the muddy border with macedonia. the neighboring country was the gateway to europe until last month when macedonian officials drastically cut the number of migrants that could pass through their border. migrants, many of them children, are stuck in a choke point. they can't get out and aide can't get in. >> save our children! >> reporter: desperation has fueled protests. >> everyone gets sick. there is here no much food for anyone. >> reporter: the filthy conditions have been a breeding ground for illness, says jen mcghillie of doctors without borders. >> our medical doctors are treating common colds, throat infections, fever, gastrointestinal problems, sickness and diarrhea. >> reporter: at least 2,000 migrants arrive on the coast here every single day. cash-strapped greece is stg for

to help it cope with the crisis. jonathan vigliotti, cbs news, london. >> axelrod: up next, why did the captain of yale's basketball team suddenly leave the school? the campus controversy when the cbs evening news continues.my goals. so i liked when my doctor told me i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by activating what's within me. with once-weekly trulicity. trulicity is not insulin. it helps activate my body to do what it's supposed to do release its own insulin. trulicity responds when my blood sugar rises. i take it once a week, and it works 24/7. it comes in an easy-to-use pen and i may even lose a little weight. trulicity is a once-weekly injectable prescription medicine to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. it should be used along with diet and exercise. trulicity is not recommended as the first medicine

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>> axelrod: if yale university's basketball team beats columbia tonight they will earn their firgt berth in the n.c.a.a. tournament since j.f.k. was the president. but the team is playing without their captain who withdrew from school last month amid controversy. here's kenneth craig. >> reporter: yale bulldog senior guard jack montague withdrew from the school on february 10. two weeks later, the school's athletics department sent out a press release saying he would not be returning, citing federal privacy laws and school policy, a yale spokesperson would not say why montague left despite campus rumors of a sexual assault accusation.

article this week, the player's father, jim montague, said his son was expelled. he called it ridiculous and said he has strict orders from his lawyers not to talk. montague's teammates are also standing behind their captain, wearing t-shirts with montague's nickname at a recent game. that move sparked outrage on campus and posters demanding the basketball team stop supporting a rapist. new haven police say they have no cases involving montague and no victim has come forward. we tried to reach montague and his family but did not get a response. the player has not spoken publicly since he left the university. >> montague with a steal! >> reporter: in an interview last may with yale all access, montague said he embraced being a team leader. >> we had a good season this past year, and, you know, nothing too out of hand. >> reporter: while yale's administration is being tight-lipped, yale's women's center is not. in a lengthy facebook post, they wrote, "sexual violence is a problem in every campus

speak much louder than its words." a yale dean also sent out an e-mail to students today. jim, he says he is committed to providing a safe campus. >> axelrod: kenneth craig, thank you. up next, we were author pat conroy, whose bestselling books inspired memorable movies. what about my family? my li'l buddy? and what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital but i wondered if this was the right treatment for me. then my doctor told me about eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots, but eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. knowing eliquis had both... turned around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding.

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>> axelrod: the author pat conroy has died. in a writing career that spanned more than four decades, conroy turned the painave troubled childhood into a string of bestsellers. pat conroy often wrote about flawed and wounded people, most notably himself. his tortured relationship with his abusive marine pilot father inspired the 1976 novel "the great santini." >> come on, momma's boy. let's see you cry. >> axelrod:.>> axelrod: robert duvall earned an oscar nomination for best actor playing the title role. it made conroy an a-lifter, but the movies they were turned into, like "the lords of discipline," drawing from conroy's years at the citadel, and the "the prince of tides." >> it took a woman i hardly knew to help me face my past.

widened and deepened conroy's reputation. last month, pat conroy told facebook fans that he was battling pancreatic cancer and ready fair fight. but in a statement friday night, his wife, the novelist cassandra king conroy said, "the water is wide, and he has now passed over. pat conroy fell deeply in love with south carolina over the course of lives. it was there, in beaufort, he died at the age of 70. another loss has shaken the world of country music. cheater, cheater,ed where you meet her >> reporter: joey feek, who is one half of the married duojoey and rory, known% fir their harmony and public strength after joey was diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer after giving birth to her only child. joey feek was 40 years old.

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they say you shouldn't spoil your kids. but your grandkids? how about front row seats to the best show in town? and that is why you invest. the best returns aren't just measured in dollars. td ameritrade . >> axelrod: we close tonight in a place where usually next to nothing grows but is now in full bloom. john blackstone on everything springing to life in death valley. >> reporter: it is one of the hottest, driest, most unforgiving places on earth, but water has made death valley come alive. >> it's a huge number of plant

rock daisy, pin cushion, brown-eyed evening primrose down in there. >> reporter: abby wines has been a ranger at death valley national park for 11 years. it's been that long since wild flowers loomed like this. >> it's amazing to me that anything lives here and then to have this display of beauty all at once is a experience. >> reporter: death valley normally gets less than two inches of rainfall each year, but in october, three and a half inches fell in just five hours, wiping out roads, heavily damaging buildings at scottie's castles, one of the park's best-known landmarks. nature destroyed. then nature gave back. flowers began springing up in january, a few at a time, until they blanketed entire fields, turning this brown desert into a sea of yellow and purple and white. >> the reason i like the gravel ghost so much is this stalk is

so it blends in so they look like spirits, or like spots of light floating in the air. >> reporter: more than a dozen varies of wild flowers are now painting the park, but the biggest show is the desert gold poppy. you've come out here and looked at this. what do you think? >> i'm so lucky to get to work here. it's a beautiful, magical place. >> reporter: even in the heat. >> i don't know if i'm lucky when it's 129 degrees at the end of july, but i'll take that for the rest of year. >> reporter: the reward is worth it. >> yes. >> reporter: it was a reward seldom seen during the state's relentless drought, but thanks to el nino, for a few brief weeks until the brutal heat returns, this harsh desert is a paradise in full bloom. john blackstone, cbs news, death valley, california. >> axelrod: and that's the cbs evening news for tonight. later on cbs "48 hours."

continues right now on our digital network cbsn, and cbsnews.com. i'm jim axelrod in new york. for all of us here at cbs news, thanks for joining us. and good night. captioning sponsored by cbs

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