a few months later, senate democrats organized a retreat with the goal, as "the new york times" described it, of changing the ground rules for the confirmation process. in january, 2002, former democratic congressman, appeals court judge and white house counsel abner mikfa urged senate democrats not to consider any supreme court nominees during president bush's first term. he went on to be on the circuit court of appeals. in 2003, democrats began for the first time to use the filibuster to defeat judicial nominees who otherwise would have been confirmed, and in july, 2007, senator charlie schumer, a friend of mine, said in a speech to the american constitution society that the senate should not confirm a supreme court nominee during president bush's final 18 months in office, except in what he called extraordinary circumstances. when chairman biden said in 1992 that the state of the confirmation process should defer consideration of any supreme court nominee, no judicial nominee had been defeated by a filibuster in nearly 25 years. during president george w. bush's tenure alone, democrats

today senators debated on a bill introduced by democratic senator pam jochum that would stop the privatization of medicaid in iowa. 11:18:15 "so here's it folks: we have a chance today to say, "stop." let's start over. let's come together as iowans - we did that on the iowa health and wellness plan - we can do it perfect; it's not. but it doesn't need this." :01-:24 the senate debated and passed the bill 29 to 19... it had support from just three senate republicans. they agreed the privatization efforts were moving too fast. governor branstad introduced the with the january 1-st... but the federal government stepped in, noting the program wasn't ready, and delayed that start date to march 1-st. governor branstad says privatizing medicaid will save the state as much as $51 million dollars in the first six months... the majority of senate republicans agree with the governor. they say the state's budget can't afford putting it off any longer. 11:31:44 "it is my sincere hope that not only do we save the money that you claimed, that the house republicans claimed, that the governor claimed. i do hop

justice anthony kennedy became a justice on the supreme court when a democratic controlled senate gave him a vote -- a hearing and a vote in a presidential year much like this one. a lame-duck outgoing president appointed justice kennedy. a democratic senate did not refuse to meet with him, did not refuse to have a hearing, did not refuse to have a vote but said we will abide by the constitution. for this outgoing president, he has the full authority of office. president barack obama deserves nothing less, and we as senators have a responsibility under this constitution, regardless of what speech was made 25 years ago to pay close attention to these words and to do our constitutional duty. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: madam president, i have been very concerned about the tenor of the debate. apparently, some read the constitution differently from others. yes, the president has an absolute right to nominate. we have an absolute right to consider that nomination and give advice on it. now, just for the record, there are 160 --

this morning at his weekly news conference, the governor accused senate democrats of playing many states already have already adopted. >> new hampshire, with a democratic governor, is asking hhs for the same approval that we are asking for for managed care for medicaid. i don't see them attacking her, so that's pretty partisan as far as i see it coul. mollie: house speaker linda upmeyer is already on record saying that should the bill pass the democratically controlled senate, it will have no chance in passing in the republican led house. turning to commitment 2016 news -- the presidential candidates are hitting the campaign trail hard in new hampshire today ahead of tomorrow's first in the nation primary. gop front-runner donald trump is looking for his first win, and on the democratic side, bernie sanders is still maintaining his lead over hillary clinton. weijia jiang reports from manchester, new hampshire. weijia: donald trump rallied this morning in salem, new hampshire -- the beginning of a very busy day. >> new hampshire has been a very weijia: the billionaire holds a large lead i

coming up on kwwl, find out why the senate democratic leader thinks senator grassley will be remembered as the most obstructive chairman in the history of the united states. and - the panthers' basketball team gears up for their conference match- up against indiana state. "now your storm track 7 forecast on kwwl." from the kwwl stormtrack the sky remains mostly cloudy tonight and breezy as a low pressure system moves northeast through the great lakes area. the wind diminishes after 5 pm thursday and becomes light overnight through friday. a mix of sun and clouds are expected both thursday and friday. saturday and sunday will be warm with highs in the 50s and breezy conditions. saturday will be sunny while clouds increase shower. temperatures turn cooler next week with highs in the 30s. we are tracking a possible storm to move into the middle of the country tuesday. model guidance the previous one. it is something we will continue to track and have more details as we get closer. the sky remains mostly cloudy tonight and breezy as a low pressure system moves northeast through the great la

justice anthony kennedy became a justice on a supreme court when a democrat controlled senate gave him a hearing and a vote in a presidential year much like this one. a lame duck outgoing president appointed justice kennedy. a democrat senate didn't refuse to meet with him or refuse the vote but said we will abide by the constitution. for this outgoing president has the full authority of office. president obama deserves nothing less. we as senators have a responsibility under the constitution regardless of what speech was made 25 years ago. mr. president, i field the floor. >> the senator from utah. >> madam president, i have been very concerned about the tentative debate. you know, certainly some read the constitution different from others. yes, the president has an absolute right to nominate. and we have an absolute right to consider the nomnition and give advice on it. there are 160 justice nominated over the years and 36 of them were nominated and for some reason never got a vote in a number of cases. there is a lot of precedent here you can ignore. one precedent we should not igno

senate in the fall. or early next year. they may. but they may not. democrats certainly have very strong chance of retaining the white house. and because of the senate seats that happen to be up more than held by republicans and some in democratic trending states such as illinois, there is also a good shot that the democrats could retake the senate. if you have a president clinton or president sanders and a democratic senate in early 2017, particularly given how sore they will be at the republicans for having blocked obama's nominees, i think they would look to find a candidate who would be of no compromise then. they would go for probably -- they would not face the same political constraints that obama faces. host: this is a piece posted overnight. you indicated triggering a nomination battle. what names have you heard so far? what potential names do you think could rise to the top? guest: i think that so far nearly every justice has been appointed in the past half century has been a sitting judge. elena kagen has been an exception. so initially we look to the

why senate democrats took their frustration to the steps of the high court. and in hometown health, we're finding out how effective this is. friday. i'm garrett turner. and i'm kimberly mcbroom. there are a few school announcements this morning. you can see those at the top of your screen. we continue our coverage this morning on the aftermath of wednesday's tornado in appomatox. emergency shelters are open to victims affected by the tornado. wdbj7's amanda kenney is live at one of those shelters this morning. good morning, kimberly and garrett. here at the appomatox community center, only one person sleeping along with workers from social services and the red cross. but they tell me people have been coming in and out of the shelter since wednesday. the don't expect are looking for a place to stay long term. but they can get you some hot water and take you to the fire department if you need a shower. wednesday's tornado not only damaged and destroyed homes, it left thousands without power. the good news today it looks like 100% of the power has been restored.

amanda/bam: at the statehouse today, senate democrats and house republicans spoke candidly about their differences regarding the governor's plan to privatize medicaid. senate democrats are standing firmly by their decision to pass a bill that would stop the whole transition from happening. standing by their position to not even take that bill up for debate. "pam jochum 4:54 i am calling on the house to take this bill up and gie it a fair hearing. if they are listning to the people they represent, they need to bring this bill up before th eentire iowa house and let there be a vote. linda miller 46:23 the medicaid program is administered by the department of human services. it's not a legislated program. what the legislature does is legislates the amount of money needed for the medicaid program or the state match for the medicaid program." amanda/bam: as we've been telling you, the whole medicaid to managed-care switch can't happen without approval from the federal government. the scheduled roll out date is march first, but the state still has not been given federal approval. live in the

that did to the sen achlt over the years and years the democrat senators had had to endure his leadership without being able to offer an amendment we had the story about one democratic senator who was defeated in the last election. he never got a chance to make a vote during the entire time in the united states senate. we know that is how some people act when they don't get to wait. tantrums are in appropriate for the senate. i think if my friend senator biden had been in the chamber today he would have said, as you have heard him say so many times, that is a bunch of malarkey. i didn't come to talk about the minority leader but i wanted to follow-up on my remarks earlier this week on the biden rules. senator biden didn't make these

tracie potts is following the latest from capitol hill. << senator patrick leahy (d-vt)/ ranking democrat, judiciary cmte) "it is unprecedente d. it is pure politics." from capitol hill... senator patrick leahy (d-vt)/ fmr. judiciary cmte chairman) "it is wrong. it is not responsible." to the campaign trail... bernie sanders/ (d) presidential candidate) "talk about cowardice! talk about obstructionis t!" democrats are pushing back hard at republicans' refusal to give president obama's supreme e court nominee a vote. senator chuck schumer (d-ny)/ senate judiciary cmte) "let's have a hearing. let's hear from our constituents what they think and then vote -- not say no vote at all." hillary clinton/ (d) presidential candidate) "the people of this country should send a very clear message: that is not the way our constitution works." they point out: anthony kennedy was onfirmed by a democratic senate... in president reagan's final year. eric schultz/ principal deputy wh press secretary) "the constitution does not include exemptions for election years, or for the president's "we're in an electi

senate. developing, the bale lines have drawn between democratic and republican senators surrounding a supre cournominee. both sides are digging-in for an extended fight over replacing the late justice antonin scalia. today the rhetoric got even more heated. craig boswl has more from the supreme court. "we want them to do their jobs." senate democrats came to the steps of the nation'ghest blasted republicans for refusing consider y of president obama's prospective supreme urt nominees. vermont) "they took a solemn oath, a solemn oath before god, to uphold the constitution." republicans argue that it cuts american voters out of the process by pushing through a mination during an election year. utah) "today i rise to make the case the next president should choose the nominee to repalce justice antonin scalia." anotnin scalia's death splits the justices evenly leaving the court with 4 conservatives and 4 utah) "the absence of one of theheine justices on the court is far from calamous, but a hastily made lifetime appointment could be." the white house says the process shouldeave out partisan pol

democratic senator pam jochum argues iowa's "most vulnerable citizens" will be hurt. 11:14:50 "this isn't ready. and i'm not going to even blame the department, or all the people who have worked really hard to try and make this thing work and be implemented. the governor gave them unrealistic goals and expectations to meet. and they're not being met yet." :01-:21 the republicans in charge of the house chose not to take up the bill... partly on house chose not to take up the bill... partly on principle, and partly because they say governor branstad would just veto it. a bill aimed at better regulations for automated traffic cams made it out of committee today... the bill would require the iowa department of transportation to systems... the process would need to comply guidelines. the bill shifts the responsibility fromthe manufacturer to state. lawmakers say this bill will assure iowans that traffic cameras in different cities will be regulated the same way. one thing weve been trying to do in alleviating that concern and lack of confidence with the general public is make sure we have prop

even as other senate democrats have questioned whether or not senator sanders is prepared to be commander in chief, he would not touch that. he said "i'm here to talk about hillary clinton." he also told me he thinks the contest could go to the democratic convention. i asked him again do you think this contest could go to the democratic convention? he said i just don't know. so clear hi he's not sure what to make of the sanders' candidacy but at the least he hopes the party could get behind hillary. >> manu, great interview and an important part of this conversation note only going into the south carolina primary this weekend but this is an important endorsement, important voice coming from harry reid, the top democrat in the senate endorsing hillary clinton today. manu, thank you so very much. as manu raised just there in his interview, he said he asked harry reid what bernie sanders' reaction was and harry reid said he would not say. let find out from the sanders campaign on what they make of this endorsement. let's bring in right now simone sanders, the national press secretary for the

and it's lower than what senate democrats and governor branstad have proposed. e house plan calls s r spending $7.32 billion dollars for fiscal 2017. the senate plan totals $7.398 billion. and governor branstad's budget proposal was $7.4 billion. a cedar rapids family service agency needs the public's help in expanding their tanager place serves children and famili who need sociaand psychological help. it announced yesterday its "soaring beyond" campaign has raised more than five point three million dollars. that's about a million dollars away from its goal. now, it's asking for donations. tanager place will use the money for renovations, which would double the number of children its mental health clinic would be able to help. "each child is different, the kids are not cookie cutters. the more opopons you have that may connect with a child the better and that's what this space has allowed us to do and allowed practitioners to spread their wings and to develop different skills." the tanager place outpatient mental health clinic opened l lt june. keeping the mind s

getting a nominee confirmed in this election year will be difficult, with senator mcconnell and his democratic counterpart, senator harry reid already at odds. mcconnell in a statement saying, a voice in the selection of their next supreme court justice." reid pushing back saying, "...the senate has a responsibility to fill vacancies as soon as possible." without a majority in the senate, the democrats will need a handful of republicans to break ranks, including some facing tough re- election bids this year. the democrats already sharpening their line of attack. new york i think first the american people don't like this obstructionism. when you go right off the bat and say i don't care who he nominates i am going to oppose him, that's not going to fly. the senate is in recess right now. the president has vowed to wait until it's back in session before choosing a nominee. now if republicans were able to delay this process until president obama leaves office, it would be a record. on average, it takes just 69 days to confirm a nominee. there have been some long delays before but nothing like the

it's at the "cross road baptist senate democrats say iowa should scrap its privatized medicaid system, the one supported by governor branstad. the problems are widespread. everyday i hear from families confused about the system, who they are to be signed to, are they going to have to choose one doctor over another, it's just a huge mess that in my opinion just needs to go away. that's why a senate committee has introduced a bill to repeal the system... the bill would immediately give termination notices to the three private managed care companies. it's expected to be approved in the committee monday, then later, approved on the senate floor... but house republicans say there is no point having the house debate a bill facing a certain veto. i'm just really disappointed. a year ago, when this topic came up, we were making sure we had a safety net in place and really all along the way we've been using people to sabotage this whole idea. the medicaid program serves 560 thousand low income and disabled iowans. the governor pushed for the private system to control costs, but the transition

and it's lower than what senate democrats and governor branstad have proposed. the house plan calls for spending $7.32 billion dollars for fiscal 2017. the senate plan totals $7.398 billion. and governor branstad's budget proposal was $7.4 billion. republicans want to spend fewer dollars than democrats on both education and health care. the iowa utilities board pushed back its decision on the dakota access pipeline - possibly to march. the board has been discussing the 346 mile pipeline for the last three days. the pipeline would go through north and south dakota, iowa and illinois. iowa is the only state that hasn't signed on. the utilities board is trying to decide whether to give the texas company the authority to force 296 landowners to sign easements. the university of iowa and iowa athletics for the third public university in iowa. a new bill in the iowa senate would order the two schools to transfer a combined 4 million dollars each year to the u-n-i athletics department over the next five years. u-n-i's athletic budget is about 13 million dollars - 6 mill

we have an election -- >> reporter: senate democrats are responding with derision. a series of tweets issued today in which it was noted the constitution requires the president to send these nominees up to the senate for their advice and consent. and then she sarcastically added this, quote, i can't find a clause in the constitution that says except when there's a year left in the term of a democrat president. and senate minority leader harry reid called the tactic a shame fp abdication of one of the most important constitution obligations. shannon, back to you. >> doug mckelway, thank you, doug. the last president to put up a nominee was lyndon johnson in 1968, but both of his nominees were rejected. joining us now gop member lindsey graham sits on the judiciary committee which is a key in this nominating process. senator, thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> how do you respond to your colleague elizabeth warner, the democrat in the senate, to her statement that basically if you think this is about letting the american people have a voice, she says, in

how about the budget between house republicans, the governor and senate democrats? is this gap too far? education funding -- we saw this last night as a "line in the sand" for weeks. do you expect this to be as contentious for 2016? what are the next steps for the bills that will move on? joining us today to give us the run-down of what's in and what's out is the gazette's political reporter james q. lynch. james, thanks for joining us this morning. what's in? cannabis oil? tanning? bike lanes? what's out? raising speed limit. any others to note? what about medicaid and privatization? lots of talk from the senate but will it even see any traction in the house? how about the budget between house republicans, the governor and senate democrats? is this gap too far? education funding -- we saw this last night as a "line in the sand" for weeks. do you expect this to be as contentious for 2016? what are the next steps for the bills that will move on? what's the next deadline? discuss a pipeline that would run through 19 iowa counties. the company, dakota access, wants to

house republicans proposed a two per cent increase in funding for the next school year, while senate democrats want a four per cent increase. democratic senator mark smith of marshalltown says delays on education funding are hurting districts, which are working on their budgets. republican representativ e bill dix of shell rwck disagrees. "we have 76 percent of the school districts in n owa raising property taxes, which is a regressive tax, and one that the legislature is forcing them to rely on, so these are the options "let's keep in mind that the house has already approved 140 million dollars of increased revenue going to the schools. clearly theyan build their budgets on that. " dix and smith made those comments during the taping of i-p-t-v's program, iowa press. that show re-airs on public t-v at noon this sunday. diffefent versions of grantnt wood's american gothic painting will be popping up around cedar rapids this spring. today, artists and sponsors picked up 24 life size fiber glass statues of the two people in the painting. they have until may to paint them in any way that they choo

that occurred in 1988 when nominated andan senate democrats confirmed 1988 tokennedy in early move tohe supreme court. president -- a constitutional responsibility and the senate should fulfill their constitutional possibility. if there's any doubt, they should go back and check. there is no exception written into the constitution about filling a supreme court vacancy in an election year. >> is the president feeling any this supreme court nomination and who he has to appoint? a minority or a woman? sec. earnest: i think the president takes this process quite seriously. this is one of the most important decisions that any president makes. a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land is a weighty proposition. these are tough decisions that the american people expect the president to make. it is certainly not one that president obama takes lightly. you can anticipate that there will be a rigorous process to ensure that the nominee is who the president believes is the best person to fill the vacancy on the supreme court. >> does the best person have to be someone who is able to

but democratic senators say it's time to stop the whole thing and they've introduced a bill to do that. "gronstal - 11:20 they assured us back in november and december they were signing people up left and rightr and they're still not the halfway point. we think it's timr eto pull the plug on this, go back to the this issue." amanda: house republicans said repealing the plan would be a step in the wrong direction... and confuse people further. they say when the bill gets to the house floor it will likely be dead on arrival. "upmeyer - 27:10 i'm puzzled why we're not moving forward instead of looking back and protect a status quo " amanda/bam: speaker upmeyer said another reason the house won't bother debating the bill is because any repeal of the medicaid privatization would be vetoed by governor branstad. live in the studio, amanda krenz, local five news, we are iowa. jack/1shot: in other statehouse news, blue t- shirts and puzzle pieces were set up in the capitol rotunda to catch the eye of lawmakers. the autism society of iowa is trying to pass legislatoin that will help families wit

thank you for that. >>> senate democratic leader harry reid is endorsing hillary clinton for the a spokeswoman for the nevada senator says reid was making the endorsement, saying clinton is somebody who understands the issues of the people. r,ud participated in the democratic caucuses saturday, but voted as uncommitted. clinton, as you know, won the contest. >>> the highest criminal court in texas has now dismissed the second and final felony charge against former governor rick perry. . . perry was indicted by a grand jury in 2014 on his use of power charges. . the democratic head of it union refused to aresign after her arrest on drunken driving charges. perry called the case a political witch hunt and said the indictment helped his presidential run. >>> people familiar with the process says the white house is considering governor brian sandoval as one the nomination of a republican would be seen as an attempt by president obama -- gop. he met with senate democrat leader harry reid monday. reid is now speaking up about that meeting. >> he's a good person, has a great record. been. he would be

kayla novak siouxland news. 3 3 iowa senate democrats are working to pass a bill designed to stop gov. terry branstad's effort to privatize medicaid.the bill directs the department of human services to give 30-days notice of three companies involved... and has also gained the support of a prominent northwest iowa senator... david johnson of ocheydan. branstad says senators are playing politics with a plan many states have already adopted. 3 "new hampshire with a democratic governor, gov. hassan, is asking hhs for the same approval that we're asking for managed care for medicaid. i don't see them attacking her. so, that's pretty partisan from how i see it."republican house speaker linda upmeyer says even if the bill passes the democratically controlled senate, it will have no chance to pass the republican-led house. 3 president obama wants congress to open its wallets to help combat the zika virus which is rapidly spreading through the americas. 3 as omar villafranca reports... the president's funding request would pay for treatment *and* prevention efforts. 1-point-eight billion dolla

inside senate chambers - democratic leaders say they're following the law when it comes to eduation funding... and fighting to get money in place for the next two school years. they proposed a 4 percent funding increase for 2018... after hearing from school districts that they've had to delay buying classroom materials, textbooks, and 90% our our school superintendents and principals are telling us that without a decent increase, class sizes will increase, our children will not ge the individual

senate democrats who voted against the plan. argued that gun training would be needed to protect people who wouldn't know carrying a gun. the bill passed the senate on a party line vote yesterday. now, it heads to the house. it's likely to see the same result as the bill that failed last year. but, if it does pass, colorado would become the eighth state to allow people to carry concealed handguns without a permit, corey. michelle wilkins -- the woman who was attacked -- her baby cut from her womb -- says she forgives dynel lane. she told us she can't wrap her mind around why lane acted so violently know... but she still yesterday jurors guilty on all counts after the verdict - media questions -- more privately with michelle. michelle wilkins only thought.. when the verdict was read. the woman who attacked her .. and took aurora from was convicted on with me, two german tv news what she has learned... in the particular that was michellee.. was the baby aurora .. a few attacked. aurora's face and recognized a lot of her, from when

senate democrat joe bolkcom sponsored a similar bill in 2015. it got through the dem leaning senate, but died after reaching the republican controlled house. this time around, house speaker linda upmeyer has been critical of the bill saying doctors worry they'll lose their license writing prescriptions seeing as the fda hasn't approved marijuana for medical use. - cover with quote cg - she told iowa radio quote: "i still really believe that the fda is the arbiter of what is a medication. and making sure that the safety, the quality - all those things is the same for any medication." the bill faces the february 19th funnel deadline, which means it needs approval in a house environmental officials will meet this week to discuss what's next in an investigation that found asbestos at a cedar rapids high school. the environmental protection commission will hold a meeting this tuesday in des moines. the commission could decide to send the case to the attorney general's office for enforcement action. both the cedar rapids school district and the company

, like senate minority leader harry reid, are questioning their motives. to delegitimize president obama. jan: but democrats like reid, even then-senator obama, have blocked or tried to block

senate democrats vowed to take up a bill next week to increase supervision of the three companies that will take over medicaid. about 40 eastern iowans were part of those expressing their concerns. members of the group say they aren'tsurprised iowa got federal approval to move forward with the plan. but they're happy the transition to private care is delayed until april first. as a victory. branstad wanted this you know january first. and and the federal governmetn listend to us, so we the group says their main goal is to talk to iowa lawmakers about the need for a state committee that focuses solely on medicaid. an iowa high school is working to be more accommodating to transgender students and staff. two bathrooms at des moines roosevelt high school no longer have symbols for males or females. instead, a sign hangs on the door saying "all gender restroom" ... "we have a responsibility to make sure that as the adults in ashamed that we hadn't thought about this before." a spokesman for the school district says the district strives to be "welcoming and accommodating to staff and studen

senate democrats hope to debate a plan next week that would provide oversight for the system. the for the department of human services and ombudsman's office. des moines water works will spend millions of dollars to improve its standards... the board of trustees has approved a 241 million, 5 year capital improvement plan. 184 million will come from increased water rates and revenue bonds, and the remaining will be funded by other organizations. some of that will go towards removing nitrates and contaminates from the water. water works says it has high levels of both, because three northwestern counties aren't doing enough to prevent them from flowing downstream. state educators are reviewing reading and writing standards for k through 12 students. 06:28:34 if students aren't successful in english language arts, literacy it makes it very difficult for them to be successful in anything that they should choose to do once they get out of school or even in school 44 the state established new academic standards for literacy, math, science and other subjects. working in the classroom

the plan is about 89-million dollars less than what senate democrats proposed. 22:28:42 this budget has been put together in a mindful manner to make sure that we are living within our means but also funding the priorities of iowans, yes its a difficult time for us to do that, but every budget should be tough as we are spending the money of the tax payers of iowa 28:56 the plan also takes into consideration 111-million dollars worth of savings from the privatization of medicaid... a bill that would make it more difficult for athletes to return concussion...is moving forward in the state senate. but some high school athletic directors have their reservations about the idea. channel 13's jodi whitworth the iowa high school athletic association says lawmakers allow other licensed health care providers and coaches to make the call to put athletes back in the game, when an athletic trainer is not available. the bill will advance to committee next week. it could be another week before the iowa utilities board makes its decision on whether or not to allow a controversial oil pipeline to be bui

when peppered on a conference call with reporters wednesday with questions about plans to block senate democratic leader harry reid says grassley will be to refuse a supreme court nominee hearing. grassley says he and fellow replaces justice antonin scalia who died unexpectedly on feb. 13 in texas. thanks to senator charles grassley... supreme court nominating process the grassley--reid feud goes back to 2013 when reid got some senate rules changed and was able to confirm dozens of mostly liberal judges while he was still senate majority leade in the senate. still to come on the k-w-w-l news at it looks like a firework explodes in this guy's pocket -- find out what really exploded... you might have one on you... and... an iowa high school makes some big changes to their bathrooms to be more inclusive to all students and staff members. --------- --------- bringing a death toll from bad weather to five. severe weather hits throughout the east and the south == take a look at this drone video over pensacola, florida... you can see damage to several buildings with debris scattered all over the ground.

candidates need the support of nearly 24-hundred total senate democratic leader harry reid says the superdelegates are needed to counter racial problems in iowa and new hampshire... 56-01:27 eight years ago i looked at this and i though how in the world could we have the future of this country dependent on iowa which is 93 percent white and we have new hampshire which is 97 percent white. no diversity, no diversity in iowa and to have the final decision based on those two states, it was wrong reid may have forgotten that barack obama won the iowa caucuses... which launched him to eventually becoming the nation's first african american president. voters in reid's home state of nevada went with hillary clinton in 2008. he held on longer than half the field... but former virginia governor jim gilmore is throwing in the gilmore failed to qualify for all but one presidential debate. he also finished last in the iowa caucus and new hampshire primary. in suspending his campaign today... gilmore says he will support the eventual nominee. high school basketball teams are down to their final two regular sea

the democrat- controlled iowa senate has passed legislation that would dismantle plans to switch iowa's 4-point-2 billion medicaid program into private management. the bill isn't expected to advance in the divided legislature. the bill was introduced amid growing tension over the future of iowa's medicaid program, which provides health care to roughly 560,000 low-income and disabled residents. you can't tax internet access. that's something the u-s congress has repeatedly said. now, lawmakers are making it permanent. part of a new trade bill permanently bars state and local governments from taxing access to the internet. the senate passed the bill thursday. the bill already passed the house. it will now go to president barack obama, who is expected to sign it into law. a coalition thut has battled expanded gambling in nebraska will fight a ballot campaign that horse racing tracks. "gambling with the good life" launched its campaign against the ballot measure, today. they're backed by governor pete ricketts, among others. circulators are gathering signatures for a petition proposing thre

senators ted cruz and marco rubio finished neck-and-neck for the second contest in a row. and trump picked up his first two endorsements today, from current members of congress. on the democratic side... hillary clinton is heading into this weekend's south carolina primary, with a dominant lead. and, senator bernie sanders is looking ahead, to super tuesday. "secretary clinton was the inevitable candidate. she's not the inevitable candidate now. i think we've got a real shot to win it." next week will be big, for both parties when voters in 12 states, and 1 territory-- will head to the polls on super tuesday. ### so, ?how well did the caucuses go? after three tries at an early spot on the political calendar, ?have nevada's political parties performed well enough in the eyes of the national parties? kolo 8 news now's ed pearce is here with some thoughts. ed, we heard stories during both the

the democratic- controlled iowa senate today passed legislation that would halt the state's plans to transition to a private medicaid program.he chamber voted 29 to 19 thursdayayor the bill, which would end iowawa contracts with three private companies. senate democrats recently sent a letter to president barack obama asking him to stop the privatization process. the republican- controlled house isn't expected to take up the measure. the transition is set to take effect on march 1st. one year after dubuque police launched an been a success. the site, i-d for p-d, features surveillance pictures of suspected criminals and vehicles that police have not been able to identify. our coverage partner, k-d- t-h radio, reports more than 60 percent of the cases police posted have resulted in arrests. police say they hope to do an even better job posting cases. so far, they've posted 21 cases since the site launched in january 2015. the dubuque school district is trying to help middle school students recognize and avoid unhealthy relationships. today, a district-wide students. a grant from the o

earlier this year, the republican governor terry branstad and senate democrats doubted the budget could afford these tax breaks. however, the governor signaled today he's open to a one-year extension. bolkcom then came back with...that's fine...but show us how you can also properly fund schools...along with these tax breaks . we'll see how the math works on that. a company getting millions of dollars in state tax breaks is now accused of failing to pay the company that's building its new fertilizer plant. orascom broke ground on the nearly 2-billion dollar fertlizer facility in lee county in 20-13. much of that cost was coming in the form of state and local tax incentives... the department of economic development offered 107-million dollars in state tax credits. lee county added to that with 133- million dollars in local tax abatements. the department of transportation added another grant for one- point-6 million. now one of the subcontractors building it says it isn't getting paid. according to a federal lawsuit filed by maintenance enterprises orascom owes them more than 53-million do

senator bernie sanders south carolina sunday trying to court black voters. the democrats have their next contest saturday in the palmetto state. danielle nottingham, cbs new, pahrump, nevada. and heading into the g-o-p caucus, here's a look at the delegate count. donald trump leads with 67, carolina. cruz is second with 11, rubio has 10, kasich 5, and carson 3. jeb bush had 4 delegates, but suspended his campaign yesterday. in advance of tuesday's g-o-p caucus, ben carson stopped in reno for a rally at the atlantis resort. according to recent polls, the retired neurosurgeon is polling in last place in the silver state. after a strong showing in iowa, gaining three delegates, he had poor results in new hampshire and south carolina. today, he touched on many subjects, including what he feels is the death of the american dream. "that used to be the american dream. it's gone. completely gone. carson will hold a town hall meeting a the piper's opera house in virginia city tomorrow morning starting at 9:30 a-m... doors open at 7:30. and florida senator marco rubio will hold thr

meanwhile senate democrats are focusing on the future of medicaid. they're hoping to debate a bill after the changes take place. about 560 thousand iowans who are served by the system. governor branstad says it will dollars. a bill advancing in the schools better combat bullying... the bill would allow bullied school and immediately be eligible to participate in varsity sports. currently, the law calls for students who do so to wait 90 days before taking part. the bill was approved by the house yesterday and it's now awaiting senate approval. another bill is aimed at helping make the roadways safer for cyclists.. 'its an easy bill to enforce and already aligns with the laws we have sense.' bill this week that would require motorists to change lanes to pass a cyclist and wait until they have safely cleared the rider before getting back over. the law would not require motorists to get over if there bike lane. current iowa law does not define just how close a motorist can be to a cyclist and riders say this law would help put their mind at ease on the r

senate democrats introduce a bill that would halt the privatization of medicaid in iowa... the bill, which is expected to pass next week, would require the department f human services to give 30 days notice to contract termination to the three companies that the state plans to privatize medicaid with. house speaker linda upmeyer says it won't make it through the house. the bill to legalize fireworks is back in the legislature. the measure would allow the saleand use of consumer fireworks - like firecrackersrs and bottle rockets... ones like sparklers now. proponents say people are already buying fireworks out of state and using them in iowa, so why not make them legal... opponents say fireworks can be unsafe and traumatic for those suffering from p-t-s-d. after a neck- and-neck caucus finish, bernie sander's campaign says they'll be checking results across the state. a representative with the bernie sander's campaign says they'll be going precint by precint check reults... and so far, in thee checks, they say they've gound several discrepancies -- but they won't elaborate a

senate democrats they drafted a bill that would establish oversight after the transition. they say some of the 560 million iowans who rely on medicaid still have questions about it. the department of public health has diagnosed two more iowans with the zika virus. it says the women recently traveled to an area where the virus has been spreading.. it's mainly transmitted by mosquitoes, and causes birth defects for pregnant women. iowa's first case was found in a woman last week. all three are older than 41, and are not pregnant. today, students from all over des moines gathered for the third annual "teen summit." the event focuses on self expression through art and social issues handpicked by the teens themselves. channel 13's stephanie moore joins us with details on what was discussed... and why... more than 200 teens representing all of des moines' high schools gathered to have a safe place to talk 'we wanted to create an event that brought young people from all over the city together to discuss social issues, and create art using one of the urban art forms and we wanted

and senate democrats, senate republicans, we did not get a majority vote. that means we lost a bunch of republicans. there is always in the nitty-gritty of actually passing a bill concessions. it leads to less than optimal policy sometimes. but the more we did we significantly curtailed the ability of the secretary to regulated areas and significantly change the peer review process which both administrations use to dotoday great power and advantage. i worked at the bush administration. i don't necessarily want to take credit for, but i helped in the implementation of it in some ways. so i saw firsthand what the bush administration did. from. from a congressional perspective i saw what the obama administration did. we took that experience and restricted the secretary's ability to micromanage. we prevented the secretary from dictating arrange for a specific number of how much the tests count. we leave it to states to say of tests are really important. we love no child left behind. 100 percent testing is all we care about. fine. it should be fine with the depa

"the numbers just don't add up from what senator sanders has been proposing." on foreign policy the democrats disagreed on how quickly to normalize relations with iran: "you don't just rush in, open the door and say 'here i am, let's talk and make a deal.'" "those are exactly the people you have to talk to and you have to negotiate with." united in principle, but drawing distinctions on how to get things done. their next debate is next thursday in wisconsin, after the primary. i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. another twist in the e-mail controversy that's hovered over clinton. the state department's been looking into how other secretaries of state used e-mail -- and found that colin powell and staff members for condoleezza rice also got classified information from personal e-mail accounts. for the past year, clinton has been blasted by republicans for using a personal e-mail server when she was secretary of state. right now, two police officers being shot on the job. it happened in new york. they were on patrol in a public housing complex when they were confronted by a man wit

by a democratic senate during reagan's final year in office. he received a hearing and a confirmation vote. it would be the height of hypocrisy to say that we should not apply the same process with a democrat in the white house and republicans in control of the senate. we cannot say we will not do our constitutional duties because we have a republican senate and a democratic president but we can do it if it's the other way around. now some senators have acknowledged the next supreme court nominee to receive a fair hearing, but the process is in there. i have served served on the judiciary committee for 36 years, during my time on the committee we have never refused to send a supreme court nominee to the full senate for confirmation vote even in those cases when the majority of the committee had opposed the nomination, we still report the nominee for a full. once reported to the full senate every supreme court nominee received an up or down confirmation vote during my 40 years of the senate. we have to uphold this bipartisan tradition. for the ne

and it's lower than what senate democrats proposed. the house plan calls for spending seven point- 32 billion dollars for fiscal 2017. the senate plan totals seven point 398 billion. and governor branstad's budget proposal was seven point- four billion. republicans want to spend less than democrats on both education and health care. an iowa house representativ e from johnson county has decided she's not seeking another term. voters elected sally stutsman in 2012 following 18 years as a johnson county supervisor. she represented district 77. she said after 21 years of public service, she wants to spend more time with her husband. north liberty's mayor amy nielsen has already announced plans to run for stutsman'seat. she has been mayor for two years. around 1919housand of the more than three million people living in iowa are african american. in our area, only three african americans serve in local government, which leaves much of the black community feeling un-represented. plan to change that. recently elected waterloo mayor quentin hart

senate, pam jochum. but it's not just democrats who are supporting this. and we have senator brad zaun who joins us now. he's a republican senator. what are your major concerns with this whole thing? >>mr. zaun: well, i think the senate president pam jochum explained it pretty well. you know, the biggest concerns that i have is that people that dependent on these s svices. i think what's happened in regards to roll out was just done way too fast. i know that there's a lot of other states that have done this in, you know, little pieces. and i just, obviously the, the pers-, the people of iowa that are dependent on these services are who i'm most concerned about. >>sabrina: why do you think it is that the director of medicaid, mikki stier, is saying that iowa is ready if you don't feel and obviously the democrats don't feel that the state is ready? >>mr. zaun: well, i'm gettin' a lot of emails and a lot of phone calls from a lot of people that they are n n able to sign up. >>amanda: hmm. >>mr. zaun: and it would be my preference to obviously not go into a man

trying to word the situation, the republicans may find that they end up in 19 -- in 2007 with a democratic senate and a democrat in the white house, and they end up with a new replacement for scalia who is far more liberal side, blue than red. i remember in my experience, in 1986, with president reagan, he nominated justice scalia to the beverage, and he won 9-0. and the republicans controlled the senate at that time. and strom thermon was the chairman. and one year later, there was a vacancy, and justice scalia, judge bork, he was nominated in 1987 by reagan, but the democrats controlled the senate and so he was defeat. so the idea that anybody really knows the dynamic of what it's going to be this year if they put off this confirmation hearing is something that could come back to haunt the republicans. >> let's talk a little bit about the next term. can you imagine, jp, cases the next time around? going into october, or with the announced intention that fewer cases are going to be heard? >> i suppose that's a possibility that could take fewer or less controversial casings but that could be prob

democratic party. mostly engineered at this point by harry reid, the senate leader, saying, look, we are going to considerepublicans, we're going to consider democrats, we're going to consider a very diverse group of people. and we're open-minded and the republicans are slamming the door on anybody in advance. i think that's the frame the democrats want on this story. >> so when harry reid is saying, "i'm urging the republicans to stop ignoring the constitution," is it really that simple? i get it. the president's job is to bring forth those nominees and then the senate's job is to advise and consent. but technically speaking, there's no time line in the constitution. >> there's none at all. and -- >> you're not ignoring the constitution if they decide they don't think it's appropriate to give a hearing. >> the word hearing in connection with judicial nominations does not appear in the constitution. it's a long-standing tradition. what is an even longer-standing tradition is power politics. and the republicans recognize how important this seat is. this would be the fifth democratic vote if president obama