got here found out afterwards that this would read dedicated, at least the first hour anyway, to ted cruz taping a town hall with fox news anchor megyn kelly. the team was running about a half hour late. they ended up scrapping the rally that was supposed to take place after the town hall and got on the road right away to where he is holding another campaign event as we speak. the energy and there was very much like a rally. the crowd of nearly 700 people breaking into applause and cheering loudly in support of his proposals. the candidate used his platform in a room full of supporters to reach voters at home who mays will be on the fence -- you may still be on the fence. even though he still trails donald trump in delegates, he says he is only candidate with a clear path to beating out the

some question whether he would be able to work with the opposition to get things done and what exactly that would look like. ted cruz did not provide an answer to that when megyn kelly put that question in front of him. he just said he would use his executive power to repeal a lot of what president obama has put in place, including the affordable care act. he then criticized trump for flip-flopping on key issues. senator cruz: one of the most ominous words that was repeated over and over again in that last debate was "flexible." donald said that over and over again. flexible. you know, in d.c., flexible is codewords for getting ready to stick it to you.

andrea: ted cruz did warn his supporters that if donald trump does win the republican nomination, the republican party will lose it to hillary clinton andrea blanford, abc 11 eyewitness news. anna: the gop -- tisha: the gop fayetteville. there will be coverage on abc11.com. steve: next tuesday, the primary for the governor's race in north carolina and democratic candidate roy cooper unveiled his education plan. he says that investing in the future is key, including increasing teacher pay. he also wants to stop laying off teaching assistants. he points to data that he says

dead last in the southeast for per-pupil spending in public schools. roy cooper is out in front -- the first two months of the year, he has well outpaced his democratic rival, ken spalding. cooper has raised a total of $5.7 million as of march 1. governor mccrory reporting $4.3 million. breaking news in wake county. chopper 11 hd on the scene of an apartment fire in raleigh. as we zoom in, you can see firefighters working on the second floor. when we first arrived on the scene, we saw water shooting out and firefighters going up that ladder. the fire is now out. they have crime scene tape up.

tisha: a loud wake-up call in cary this morning. flash grenades as police it raided an apartment building. ed crump is on the story live for us tonight. ed? ed: tisha, those details did not come from the tightlipped fbi, but instead from court documents we obtained. many were wearing paramilitary uniforms. in the early morning, the agents slipped quietly into position for the agents released a flashbang grenades. >> i heard something. i said, what's going on? it was a lot.

ed: hours later, he had no idea what went down until we showed him documents we uncovered. the fbi claims that johnson met twice with a federal informant at this waffle house across from his townhome. the fbi claims johnson sold in ounce of cocaine to the informant. >> very disturbing. ed: but neighbors described johnson is a family man who has lived here for years with his wife and children. another said that he was a rapper. that witness questioned why the fbi made a big deal over a relatively small amount of cocaine. >> [indiscernible] ed: no one has been home here all afternoon. it's not clear what happened

as for why the fbi felt the need to make such a big commotion this morning, they are not commenting on the case. tisha: shocking there in cary. steve: a man shocked with a taser is dead tonight. chopper 11 hd was there when it happened. after repeated commands to stop, he was tasered. he was in critical condition for days. the exact cause of death is under investigation. tisha: tonight, governor mccrory on hand for the ceremony on the new bridge. he sent out these photos. the new bridge will be built right next to the existing bridge. it is designed to have a

open in november 2018. the existing bridge will be demolished by december of 2019. the governor telling the people of the outer banks, it will be engineered to last for generations to come. steve: absolutely. the outer banks is the place to be. tisha: a bathroom controversy. steve: also, toxic water? local residents say that is exactly what appears to be coming out of their taps and they are demanding answers. tisha: the n.c. state wolfpack advancing with a 79-72 win over wake forest. mark armstrong live with the first reaction. steve: chris hohmann is live in downtown durham. enjoying a beautiful sunset behind you, chris? chris: absolutely.

temperatures will fall to the 50's.

out and enjoytisha: new at 6:00 tonight, a special session appearing more likely as lawmakers deal with charlotte's special protection for the lgbt community.

legal ways to overturn the ordnance. the charlotte city council amended its nondiscrimination ordinance which will allow transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with. lawmakers do not reconvene at until april 25, so meant to ms. building for a special early session. steve: they are angry and demand the answers. residents believe their water may not the safe and they are getting charged a skyhigh price for it. the i-team has been investigating. angelica alvarez is live in butner. angelica? angelica: they are concerned, scared about the water quality. earlier, we went to a house in the golden pond community. he says they have never been comfortable using the water there.

and every week if not every day, they are scrubbing their drains for what looks like black gunk. he says they have been told that it is ok to drink. he says the family drinks bottled water instead. >> it's clear to take a shower. so, we called the water company and asked the question, and nobody knows. angelica: hopefully tonight someone knows and can answer some questions. we will bring you the full story tonight 11:00. angelica alvarez, abc 11 eyewitness news. steve: we look forward to your reporting on that later this evening, angelica. thanks. tisha: new support for families

wife of the late dean smith was at the center of it. she, of course, cared for her husband for years as he battled dementia. >> dementia is a devastating disability. there is a lack of general awareness and the need for more research funding. this tends to overshadow support for families and programs to diminish isolation. tisha: those speaking to lawmakers say that caretakers and family members are often forgotten as the focus remains solely on the patient. teen smith died last -- teen smith died last february. steve: that's it an important point she made, too.

caretakers. state cabinet ... linda coleman, our next lt. governor. i'm linda coleman, and i'm running for lt. governor because it's time to fight back, so our children don't have to do it all over again. i've fought to improve schools all my life. and now, i'm going to fight against the republicans in raleigh ... because we're in a fight

>> abc to douse a flareup. it's not clear what started it. firefighters say it might have been a cigarette tossed out of a window.

was going on. chris is at happy hour. night out tonight at durham. chris: happy hour? i have had some pizza. what an awesome evening in great evening to be out. this is like march wherere 15, 20 degrees -- 15 at least -- above average. getting close to a day-to-day. it will do that again tomorrow. temperatures are still holding. they are going to fall. we are still in upper 60's, low

temperatures continue to fall, but it is so warm now. you will not need a jacket until late this evening. still very mild across the region. a really nice evening as we fall through the 60's. radar satellite shows mostly today. all some march weather. not so much in the central u.s. there are heavy rains, severe weather across texas. that will eventually make its way to louisiana. there are tornado warnings. liz horton showed you some of the damage in the dallas-fort worth area. they will day lose that area with inches and inches of rain. a piece of it may get here by the weekend. temperatures this morning, low, mid 50's. maybe a patch or two of fog.

a patch or two of fog. the 60's in the morning hours. high pressure off the coast. beautiful day thursday. with the southwest wind, temperatures 75 to 80 degrees and no rain. highs tomorrow again, well above that average. we should be in the 60's, which is not bad by itself, but we are going to surpass that. approaching that 80 degree mark. friday, more clouds. there is a slight chance -- we've got the raleigh st. patrick's day parade. i think that will go off without any rain. mainly a chance of showers. we will get closer to that through the week. fine-tune that forecast. until then, absolutely perfect. perfect weather for what ever

tisha: absolutely. you have a few more minutes to be up here. thank you, chris. chris: you bet. steve: here is what we are looking at four eyewitness news of 11:00. a home invasion. we are working on getting details, and a description of the robbers on the run in wake county tonight. we will have all of the night's news for you right here at 11:00. tisha: the wolfpack surviving in advancing in the ncaa tournament. steve: facing the blue devils. mark: the wolfpack trying to

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with prism tv from centurylink. >> now abc 11 eyewitness news toyota dealers. mark: welcome back, everybody. mark armstrong with you inside the verizon center. was the opener. a very tightly contested game until the waning minutes, and that is when a freshman stepped up big for the wolfpack. here is how it went down. the wolfpack hoping that the lights would not go out on their

how about the hometown guy? highlight of the first half though, brian crawford of wake. a thunderous throw down. the baseline shimmying right here. wolfpack went into the half down a point, 34-33. they were down three and the second. barber again, knocking down a three. tied at 50 after that. he had 22. then the decisive sequence. maverick road wins decides to get incendiary. the second three to put them up three, the third three put them up three again. they would go on to win as wake's last-ditch effort to tie it with a long three would not go down. 75-70 two the final.

-- day 2. >> it's a great feeling. it's hard to describe. it's always a great feeling to see the ball go through the hoop. >> he is a young guy who is not afraid. he is not afraid to take it. he's not afraid to do it. i think he is tough enough to handle the results either way. mark: mark gottfried said it right there. the other action, wrapping up a perfectly imperfect season as they fall to florida state. the eagles go 0-19. 0-27. that is unbelievably bad for the boston college eagles. all right, let's look of the brackets were tomorrow. here are the game times on espn. the one we care about most, n.c. state and duke, the second game of the day.

realistically starting much closer to 2:30. we will have full coverage. the me act tournament -- n.c. state trying to avoid a loss. teams hoping for an upset. the eagles are taking on howard tonight. we have hockey. be hurricanes -- the hurricanes are welcoming the auto senators. we've got lots more to look forward to tomorrow, guys. steve: and the tar heels on thursday. the fun keeps going. tisha: that's a report. eyewitness news continues on abc11.com, the mobile app, facebook, and twitter. steve: world news is coming up. we will get you ready for

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breaking news tonight. the first word from voters coming in right now. is the national race tightening for trump? at this moment, donald trump's pledge being compared to a nazi salute. also, we ask, is the math possible for bernie sanders, if hillary clinton wins tonight? and what sanders told us about helping clinton. also tonight, we're on the scene right now.

the rescue effort. more than 200 passengers. one car plunging into the water. we're tracking the deadly storms tonight. tornadoes hitting. neighborhoods destroyed. up to ten inches of rain from texas all the way up to illinois. breaking overseas, the american tourist killed. the images coming in. and your money. tonight, when is a deal not a deal online? three words to watch out for. it's actually costing you money. good evening. and it's great to have you with us on another crucial night for american voters. the race for the white house. and tonight, we're just now beginning to hear from voters going to the polls in four states. amid a tightening race. the newest abc news poll, trump at 34%. ted cruz at 25%. marco rubio, 18%, john kasich at 13%. another poll showing caseic doing even better. tonight, donald trump forced to