Transcripts For WOI Local 5 News Midday 20151015

Raising concerns about security. Elias announcement obama and plans for our troops over seas. Hd starts now. We are iowa elias good morning and thanks for joining us for local 5 news johnson. Elias new at midday today. A big obama troops overseas. Elias earlier today president obama announced that us forces will remain in afghanistan at their current levels for much of next year. According to the new white house plan, 98hundred us troops will be in the war torn country until just before obama leaves office. The number would then drop to 55hundred by early 2017. The decision comes after months of discussion involving the white house, afghan leaders, and the us military. As commander in chief i will not allow afghanistan to be used as a safehaven for terrorist to attack our nation. Our forces will remain engaged in two but narrow supporting counter against al qaeda. Elias this is the down delay well have more on this little later in elias more witnesses prosecution are expected today in the pete polson trial. Police say last november, polson terrorized a Pleasant Hill neighborhood, shooting at three people, seriously injuring two. Yesterday, more neighbors, Pleasant Hill officers and dci agents took the stand. Elias some told the jury they spotted the same green Ford Explorer driving out of their neighborhoods on november 17th. Including the third shooting victim Matthew Stephenson who was nearly shot twice. He said he hid behind his truck, watching as polson shot several more times before driving away. At that time i couldnt believe someone tried to kill me, they werent playing, they tried to kill me, had no idea what was going on elias two iowa state patrol troopers who arrested polson also took the stand. Showing the court never before seen dashcam video of polsons arrest. Both saying he didnt seem to be under the influence of any drug. Walk back toward the trooper, dont look at him. Get down on your knees get your hands up elias special agents that searched polsons home also testified, say they found different amounts of marijuana and other drug paraphanila associated with meth use. Local five will have more from the trial throughout today. Elias more details from the Murder Investigation of a metro grandmother. 79yearold rachel pray was found beaten to death saturday night. Police arrested her grandson. 17 yearold noah laprei. Neighbors say laprei went door to door covered in blood, asking for help. Then went to a nearby gitngo gas station. Elias this Surveillance Video is from inside that git andgo where police eventually arrested laprei. You can see him enter the store. Then yelling at the clerk and another customer. Laprei knocks over displays and causes a scene, but eventually is taken outside by one of the customers. He starts to attack that man but then starts ramming his body into the window outside the store. Police eventually arrive. Requirin g three officers to get him on the ground and handcuffed. Laprei could be tried as an adult in the case. On monday, family of noah laprei told local 5 they forgive him and hope hes tried on lesser charges in the killing of his elias hopefully good weather for a walk today in des moines. Elias the blind will host a celebration and Community Walk to mark white cane safety day. Last year they marked the annual an open house celebrating the 50th anniversary. White cane safety day recognizes the achievements of blind americans importance of the white cane as the basic tool of mobility and independence. Todays event begins at 1230 at their office on fourth street. Elias meteorologist sam schrier joins us again with a look at your forecast. Sam today is going to feel a little bit more like the beginning of the week where well still be warm enough to be comfortable, but the winds will pick up and be strong throughout the day. A cold front is going to pass through the state this morning, but we still should see a High Temperature right around 70 here in the metro. Behind this cold front we are going to see the winds pick up out of the northwest around 10 to 20 mph. Overnight tonight its going to be cold and breezy with plenty of areas in Northern Iowa likely to frost. Friday will be sunny and very chilly day with highs in the mid 50s and a breeze making it feel even colder saturday morning is going to be our first wide spread and nearly statewide frost with even a few areas around the metro probably seeing some frost. Next week does look a bit warmer, but with that warmth is going to be a few more rain chances. Confedaerate flag group have been look at National Headlines this morning. Elias a grand jury delivered an indictment charging fifteen members of the proconfederate flag group. The indictment claims the group violated georgias street gang terrorism and prevention act and made terroristic threats. In july, members of respect the flag drove around a neighborhood while displaying the flag from their cars. They stopped near a home having a childs birthday party. The group then clashed with people at the party. Brian fortner Douglas County District Attorney we do want to say that we respect the rights of all citizens to exercise their First Amendment right, but were going to require them when theyre doing that to respect the rights of all of the citizens to feel safe. Elias the indictment also charged two members of the group with battery for an incident that occurred that same day at a gas station. Elias lam now to that disruption overnight at some of the biggest airports in the country Customs Computers shut down delaying thousands of passengers and raising serious questions about security. Abcs aviation correspondent david kerley has all the latest this was the scene at customs lines all over the country. After department of Homeland Security government officials said the department of Homeland Security Computer System caused backups at International Ports of entry. The computer checks passengers against names on the terror watch list; it went down for about 90 minutes wednesday, causing backups and frustration at john f. Kennedy International Airport and other International Airports. Overnight, airports nationwide paralyzed a glitch in the system that checks passengers against the terror watch list shutting down computers in airports on both coasts. gfx map showing the ones we have confirmed were affected major International Airports across the u. S. Including new yorks jfk, lax, washingtons dulles, and Dallas Fort Worth international all experiencing the same outage, at the same time. Sot maria rea traveler its crazy i never saw anything like this sot josh reilly traveler they just said there was a nationwide computer glitch and we all had to wait frustrated passengers stuck in customs lines for nearly 2 hours, taking and tweeting photographs of their misery against airport rules and complaining about the delays, one sarcastically saying gfx customs outage was a blast. Departure lines, just as backed up airlines unable to check passengers in for their flights either sot maria rea traveler there were people up there all cursing, there was people that couldnt walk overnight customs and Border Protection telling abc news it experienced a temporary outage . And took immediate action to address the technology disruption. Adding . At this time, there is no indication the Service Disruption was malicious in nature. Officials say the Computer Program that went down isnt the only channel they use to check passenger identification they have several options in place to make sure no one on the no fly list can slip through the cracks. Elias coming up on local 5 news midday. A center for autistic children gets the chance to expand its services. Meet one boy whos living proof of the elias and. A reality tv star faces some major drama and its not part of the show. Hear how legal troubles could put her behind bars. Elias but next. Walmart stocks bombed yesterday hear why retail experts say this could mean big discounts for you this Holiday Season. Your wathcing local 5 news midday in hd with this is local 5 midday. We are iowa elias on your money now elias cubs fans are paying top dollar to watch their team try to make it to the world series for the First Time Since 1945. Tickets to the cubs home playoff games were listed for a record average of 13hundred, 25dollars and 93cents wednesday. The most expensive cubs ticket now listed is a first row box seat in the infield for just under 12 thousand bucks. Thats nearly twice the previous record set for a league championship. The cheapest ticket is a 500 dollar upper deck ticket for game three. The cubs last won the world series in 1908 thats the longest drought in sports history. Elias its been two years since target suffered that catastrophic data breach that exposed the personal information of millions of shoppers. Now, target has started converting all of its redcard credit and debit cards to chip and pin cards. This means customers will have to enter a personal Identification Number not just a signature to complete a transaction. Target is mailing out new cards now. Elias many starbucks baristas will soon have college degrees. Thanks to the coffee company. About a year ago, starbucks partnered with Arizona State universitys Online Program to cover the cost of their workers tuition for four years. More than four thousand baristas are already going to school for free thanks to the new program. Fulltime and parttime employees who dont yet have a bachelors degree are eligible. The Company Plans to spend at least 250million to help 25 thousand employees graduate in the next decade. Elias now to that new trouble at walmart the Worlds Largest retailer announces a huge drop in profits sparking billions of dollars in losses for its stockholders. And abcs Business Correspondent Rebecca Jarvis is here with more on what it may mean for your Holiday Shopping this morning the Worlds Largest retailer facing a brutal selloff. Grfx walmarts stock tanking wednesday, wiping out 21 billion in value in a matter of hours . The worst day in 27 years for the company. And it caused a domino effect across wall street, taking down nats shopping now, all thats setting the stage for deep discounts ahead for you. Joe feldman, sr. Managing director, Telsey Advisory Group, the retail environment has been very competitive lately and setting up for the holiday, it will be increasingly competitive. Walmarts billion dollar slump is partly due to fierce competition with online giant amazon . Competition thats effecting retailers across the board, all struggling to grow sales. And this Holiday Season isnt expected to get much better. Grfx the National Retail federation expects Consumer Spending this season to increase only 3. 7 from last year. So retailers are slashing prices . Nats walmart commercial. Already offering everything from layaway . To Price Matching . To friends and family discounts . To get you in their stores and on their sites . As soon as possible. Joe feldman, sr. Managing director, Telsey Advisory Group i think were gonna see pretty aggressive discounts. 3040 off is going to be standard fare. As we get closer to the holiday and certainly after Christmas Elias were back with sam now. Ill have your full forecast nowindependent weather experts sam today is going to feel a little bit more like the beginning of the week where well still be warm enough to be comfortable, but the winds will pick up and be strong throughout the day. A cold front is going to pass through the state this morning, but we still should see a High Temperature right around 70 here in the metro. Behind this cold front we are going to see the winds pick up out of the to 20 mph. Overnight tonight its going to be cold and breezy with plenty of areas in Northern Iowa likely to frost. Friday will be sunny and very chilly day with highs in the mid 50s and a breeze making it feel even colder saturday morning is going to be our first wide spread and nearly statewide areas around the metro probably seeing some frost. Next week does look a bit warmer, but with that warmth is going to be a few more rain chances. Sam elias local five news midday. Its thursday local five news midday. Its thursday which means its time to show off a furry friend looking for a forever home. And the Animal Rescue league is forever home. And the Animal Rescue league is here to help us out with that. Plus. New drama for a reality star. Could a legal battle send her behind bars . We have the details coming up. Elias about the Animal Rescue league the Animal Rescue iowas largest nonprofit animal shelter, caring for many thousands of serves people and pets from across the state of iowa through its include pet adoption, Humane Education, pet behavior training, and much more. Dramatically since its founding in 1926 expanding its programs that serve both people and Homeless Animals across iowa. The most obvious growth is the number of animals the arl provides shelter and care for each year. Intakes have increased from a few thousand animals a decade ago to more than 15,000 animals in outreach and spay neuter programs, in the past few years we have begun to see a number of animals we care for, but our other areas of arls programs to address the up in shelters, including spay neuter, behavior training, and Humane Education programs. The arls positive reinforcement Training Program has expanded to offer yearround classes, as well as free behavior elias welcome back. Lets take a look at whats buzzing in the entertainment world this morning. Elias 1shot a reality tv star could be facing the biggest fight of her life a legal battle that could land her behind bars. The dance moms instructor is accused of stashing away cash while filing for bankruptcy. Abcs linzie janis has the story. Nats dont raise your kid to be a sneak shes the tough talking reality tv star who lays down the law on dance moms but this morning, dance coach Abby Lee Miller in real legal drama of her own . Charged with fraud, concealing assets, and lying in bankrupcy filings. Nats some times your best isnt good enough several Dance Studios filed for bankruptcy back in 2010 just four months before she started shooting dance moms . Grfx but according to the indictment . Instead of declaring her new income . She knowingly concealed pg 6 more than 750,000 thousand dollars in earnings from her hit Merchandise Sales in 2012 and 2013. David hickton us attorney there was a scheme to defraud. Grfx miller allegedly sending an email to a business parter and her accountant with the subject line lets make money and keep instructing them not to raise any red flags and dont put cash in the bank pg 25 the court becoming suspicious of millers stated financial position when the judge was channel surfing and spotted a commercial for one of her shows . David hickton us attorney he thought he was dealing with someone who had no income. Overnight, miller didnt respond to our request for comment . Grfx keyables if convicted, miller faces up to 5 years in jail and a 250,000 fine for each of the 20 counts in the indictment. She has not yet entered a plea. Lets take a look at whats trending now. Elias a pair of tv anchors in omaha nebraska got a big surprise during a recent show. They were interviewing an animal handler who brought in a skunk. During the segment he talked about their smelly defense mechanism. Whic h the anchors thought went off. The pair moved out of the way of the skunks spray. Luckily it turned out to be the guest used a placed water them. Elias coming up on local 5 news midday. Local 5 news midday. President obama makes a big announcment this morning. What does it mean for our troops overseas . We have the details. Elias and meet a local boy who is living proof of big changes being made with the help of a center for autistic children. Stay tuned. Youre watching elias good morning and thanks for joining us for local 5 news midday. Im elias johnson. Elias this morning a big announcement from the president plans to amend withdrawal of troops from afghanistan. So why the shift in policy . Karen travers has more from washington, dc. Its a significant reversal for president obama. Tbd potus sot there are about 98 hundred us troops in afghanistan . And nearly all were supposed to be home by the end of 2016. But the president on the recommendations of his top commanders will now leave as many as 55hundred troops on the ground. It will be a Twofold Mission similar to the current one Counterterrorism Operations and training and assisting Afghan Forces. Tbd potus sot so why the shift in policy . Top pentagon officials believed Afghan Forces werent ready to operate on their own. And theres been a recent surge in violence by the taliban and now isis. Last month taliban fighters took control of a key northern city. Afghan forces battled back in kunduz, with support from us airstrikes. But one strike was catastrophic. A hospital was hit . Leaving 22 people dead including 12 staffers from doctors without borders. General campbell a hospital was mistakenly struck. We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility. There are now multiple investigations into how such a major mistake was made. Also looming large over this decision the instability in iraq. The white house facing criticism that a lingering us military presence there would have prevented the rise of isis. Elias metro now. An eightyearold boy is currently recovering from a dog attack. Elias the boy suffered severe facial injuries from being bitten by a neighbors dog earlier this week. The dog owner says her pitbull terrier slipped out a broken fence on carr street in des moines. We have to warn you the images you are about to see are graphic, but we have blurred out the worst of it. Its not clear why the dog attacked the boy who was playing nearby. The owner says she had to tackle her dog to get him off the child. The boy needs 50 to 100 stitches to treat the bite wounds on his face. Attacked it tugs at your heart strings, this case is significant and will remain in my mind as one of the most significant attacks because of the number of lacerations the child recieved to his face elias the dog owner asked animal control to put him down following the attack, telling them she couldnt deal with a dog that bit a child. Elias the avian flu outbreak earlier this year devastated iowa may be the key to preventing outbreak. Elias the usda has awarded a six Million Dollar contract to harrisvaccines to begin stockpiling a vaccine for avian influenza. The vaccine producer has its headquarters in ames. And will produce 48 million doses over two years. Twentyfive million of the doses are to be produced withing the first 45 days of the contract. The outbreak that hit iowa earlier this year impacted almost 32 million birds. Which lead to depopulation and sterilization of farms in 18 counties. Elias an iowa congressman looks to revamp the funding system to benefit rural schools. Second District Representative Dave Loebsack says its important to create a system that creates tax incentives to get the top teachers to work out in the rural districts. Hes been touring a number of schools in his district to see how the schools like the plan. Other elements in the plan. Expanding access to grants for digital and after school opportunities. You have to put you have to put resources into education. Its not a sufficient condition for success, but its certainly necessary, and thats what i hear all the time from these folks. Elias loebsack will continue his tour in eldon, loebsack will continue his tour in eldon, sigourney and tiffin today. He says the whole plan could cost between 25 and 30 Million Dollars, but wouldnt require raising taxes. Elias meteorologist sam schrier joins us again with a look at your forecast. Sam today is going to feel a little bit more like the beginning of the week where well still be warm enough to be comfortable, but the winds will pick up and be strong throughout the day. A cold front is going to pass through the state this morning, but we still should see a High Temperature right around 70 here in the metro. Behind this cold front we are going to see the winds pick up out of the northwest around 10 to 20 mph. Overnight tonight its going to be cold and breezy with plenty of areas in Northern Iowa likely to frost. Friday will be sunny and very chilly day with highs in the mid 50s and a breeze making it feel even colder saturday morning is going to be our first wide spread and nearly statewide frost with even a few areas around the metro probably seeing some frost. Next week does look a bit warmer, but with that chances. Elias a big check is helping a metro elias helping a metro huge difference in the lives of kids with autism. Thanks to the prairie meadows legacy grant and private donors,the homestead Childrens Autism Center in altoona was able to expand. And now serve three times as many clients. Elias two dozen more kids will be able to get the help they need. Thats right. And for children like 7yearold brandon lust the center can make a world of difference. Over three years hes gone from being non verbal. To playing all sorts of games with his family. Local fives family. Local fives kattey ortiz has his story. Brandon is a perfect example of a kid that potential. Years at homestead have literally been life changing. At first youre kind of in denial, you think well maybe hes a little bit slower to develop, but then eventually you have the realization that brandon is different. They have helped change brandons behavior and theyve tools to also manage his behavior. Its fun because you get to interact with the other kids that come here. Im proud of how far hes come. Verbally hes been a lot better and behavior wise a lot better. Hes able to play board games with me, nats im playing frog tennis im able to read the directions to him and hell listen. By pulling together Community Resources including the homestead, his school, his family whos so committed, hes been able to probably grow and learn in ways that will completely change his ability to be independent in life now as a family we can eat meals together, go out to eat, go on vacations, do the things that typical families do because know better how to help him and he knows better how to help worker. It sounds like were Service Providers and familys committed and schools collaborate but he should fully get credit for the amount of work hes put in to get to where he is now. Elias elias according to the center for and prevention. Disease control and prevention. One out of every 68 children are affected by a form of autism. The homestead to iowans all adults too. Elias still to come on local 5 news midday. weather sam has the details in forecast next. Schreier. Certified by weatherrate the independent weather experts sam today is going to feel a little bit more like the beginning of the week where well still be warm enough to be comfortable, but the the day. A cold front is going to pass through the state this morning, but we still should see a High Temperature right around 70 here in the metro. Behind this cold front we are going to see the winds pick up out of the northwest around 10 to 20 mph. Overnight tonight its going to be cold and breezy with plenty of areas in to frost. Friday will be sunny and very chilly day with highs in the mid 50s and a breeze making it feel even colder saturday morning is going to be our first wide spread and nearly statewide frost with even a few areas around the metro probably seeing some frost. Next week does look a bit few more rain chances. Sam elias sam elias elias youre watching local five news midday. Well be back sam elias elias youre watching local five news midday. Well be back after this. Elias 1,424 athletes crossed the finish line in 2014. Official race results. To view previous race results search des moines marathon. View race photos. The Principal Financial group 5k road race is placing a cap on the race this year the first 3,000 registered athletes are in and will receive a premium the Principal Financial group 5k road race beanie cap. Take the 5k combo by combining the Principal Financial group 5k road on saturday with your race of choice on sunday. Double your race and double your hardware. Learn more. Get in gear for race day and let others and participating in the Principal Financial group 5k road race. Online store athlete packet pickup takes place at the scheels Sports Fitness expo on friday, october 16, from 3 00 8 00 p. M. Walkup registration is available friday at the scheels Sports Fitness expo. Dont leave the scheels Sports Fitness expo without athlete packet and official race shirt. Please note that athlete registration and or packet pickup is not offered on race day. The scheels Sports Fitness expo is located in hyvee hall within the iowa events center. 730 3rd street, the principawarm enough to be comfortable, but the winds will pick up and be strong throughout the day. A cold front is going to pass through the state this morning, right around 70 here in the metro. Behind this cold front we are going to see the winds pick up out of the northwest around 10 to 20 mph. Overnight tonight its going to be cold and breezy with plenty of areas in Northern Iowa likely to frost. Friday will be sunny and very chilly day with highs in the mid 50s and a breeze making it feel even colder saturday morning is going to be our first wide spread and nearly statewide frost with even a few areas around the metro probably seeing some frost. Next week does look a bit warmer, but with that warmth is going to be a few more rain chances. Elias thanks for watching. You can view todays top stories and an