the political spotlight is certainly on our region. and we have a team of reporters covering everything. eyewitness news reporter dave faherty begins our team coverage tonight in hickory where donald trump visited not long ago. >> we learned this afternoon that a total of six people were sited earlier today. police say no one was hurt both sides. we could see police repeatedly step in to keep the calm as opponents of trump and supporters clashed outside the pe monroe auditorium. police escorted some from inside out this door, including one group who told us they planned on protesting the republican front runner from the beginning. >> we're going to be in every city in this country resisting it. it's our obligation, it's our duty. we have to be there. >> we had a sign that said turn >> others like that bernie sanders supporter never made it inside. capturing the moment he says he was turn aid way at the door on his cell phone. >> why did you want to go inside? >> to make history. trump came to hickory which is my city. i live walking distance away. i saw obama when he came, why not come? for the most part the protests were peaceful. lutheran pastors, students and the bishop here in north carolina gathering in front of grace chapel at lenoir rhine university. >> there's a lot of hatred and fear. there's a lot of exclusion, especially when it comes to ill grace. >> supporters of trump showed today how people can disagree about a candidate and still come together despite those differences. >> people have different opinions but we can all stand on the same property and do it peacefully and stand for what we think is right. >> the hard thing for the trump supporters, the auditorium there were thousands out here in the line hoping to get inside. police were ready. they had roughly 80 officers out here this morning. reporting live from hickory, dave faherty, channel 9 eyewitness news. all right dave. on the democratic side, bernie sanders is well behind hillary clinton in the north carolina poles. but the senator from vermont is still making a big push here in charlotte. eyewitness news reporter liz foster is live in university city where sanders wrapped up speaking to about 6,000 supporters minutes ago. liz? >> that's right, scott, bernie sanders just finished speaking about 20 minutes ago and nearly all of the seats here inside pnc pavilion were full. he addressed people of all ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, and spoke about issues that directly effect them and others. the big topics he covered, universal health care for all americans raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, cracking down on trade agreements, paid family leave, immigration reform, expanding social mostly the young crowd really cheering, making public universities tuition-free by taxing wall street brokerages. >> when wall street was in trouble, they got bailed out. now it is wall street's time to help the middle class. >> now sanders also made a point to point out the differences between himself and hillary clinton. one of the biggest he said was that clinton has accepted money from special interest groups and wall street. he also took a few digs at donald trump saying his campaign and americans will not tolerate racism. and says he's confident he'll win the democratic nomination and he says when he does, he'll win the election over trump. reporting live from pnc auditorium, liz foster, channel 9 eyewitness news. eyewitness news reporter elsa gillis continues our team coverage from charlotte's elizabeth neighborhood where democratic front runner hillary there three hours from now. and you've seen as we can see behind you people are lining up for this event. >> the line is growing longer. the crowd is getting bigger as people await hillary clinton's arrival and speech here tonight. doors open at 7:15. organizers tell me they're expecting about 1500 people here tonight. hillary clinton is on her way to charlotte from chicago where she spoke earlier today. illinois has its primary as well. campaign stop i spoke with say they're feeling good. clinton has a solid lead over bernie sanders in north carolina. leading 58% to sanders 34%. the program is set to begin here at 9:15 tonight. i spoke with dedicated supporters who have been waiting for hours all ready and some people here tonight who are still deciding who to vote for. >> i'm here to see hillary. i'm here to see my candidate. continue the job that my president, barack obama has been doing for the past eight years. >> considering all the candidates across the spectrum, i went to the trump rally in fayetteville last week. just comparing all the candidates. >> again, doors open here at 7:15, the program starts at 9:15, be sure to follow me on twitter for live updates. live in elizabeth, elsa gillis. channel 9 eyewitness news. the appearance of three major presidential candidates in the charlotte area today is unusual. >> eyewitness news reporter jim bradley is live tonight with some perspective on north carolina's rising influence on the national political scene. >> it's one thing to see a sign for a presidential candidate like bernie sanders. it's another thing to actually see sanders. and donald trump and hillary clinton in the charlotte area all the same day. it's a rarity for the charlotte political scene. and experts say these presidential visits could continue even after the primary's over. the night before north charlotte and western north carolina are ready for their close ups. >> oh yeah, i was so excited when i found out he was coming. >> democratic bernie sanders drew a big crowd in north charlotte. >> i really mean that. >> donald trump did the same in hickory and hillary clinton is making her own appearance at the grady cole center tonight. it's a three-for for north carolina voters and a sign that tomorrow's primary that once lang wished obscurity in may, now matters in march. >> whatever they can do to energy their bases and get people pumped to cast a ballot tomorrow, they'll be here in the state. north carolina's profile as a destination for campaigns is likely to keep growing rather than fade. >> north carolina is pretty much a battle ground state. we're evenly divided. a few thousand votes could tip things one way or the other. the same day. political blitz north carolina voters may have to get used to. >> states like ohio and florida have been used to this. this is routine for them. north carolina is experiencing a new ball game. >> and as for today, michael says for political junkies, this has been like christmas and thanksgiving rolled into one. live in west charlotte, jim bradley, channel 9 eyewitness news. the candidates for president are driving people to the poles. 682,000 people across north carolina took part in early voting. that's a 10.5% of the state's population. 6.4million voters. it's up from 7.8% statewide. our eyewitness news coverage of the candidates will continue online at wsoctv.com. we'll be streaming hillary clinton's event live for you tonight. click the link on our home page when the event begins around 9:15. had to say to voters for you tonight at 10:00 and 11:00. breaking in the past 90 minutes, former charlotte mayor and current federal inmate patrick cannon will be back in charlotte on wednesday. he'll be arraigned on a charge of voter fraud. county prosecutors say cannon voted in 2014 after he pleaded guilty to corruption. now, tonight we're asking when cannon will be moved from a federal prison in west virginia to charlotte for that arraignment. all new at 6:00, a unc charlotte student says she was robbed at her apartment complex near campus. the 22-year-old says the robber pointed a gun at her at the university city apartments around 8:00 friday. the suspect took her purse and phone and ran off. there are charges related to a north carolina's company alleged ponzi scheme. the fed shut down zeek rewards prosecutors called the ceo of another company with concealing money after an investigation. james myer engaged in an elaborate obstruction of justice scheme. prosecutors say even purchased a home using those funds. in about 15 minutes, matthews town council will consider voting on a resolution to support breaking away from cms. town leaders told channel 9 they don't support the school district student assignment plans and they want to assure their kids stay in mint hill schools. the moves would require approval by lawmakers in raleigh. no one wants to see severe weather. but here's a reason to hope for at least some rain, pollen counts through the roof. and we need relief. i'll show you how much we'll get. and an over night shooting had police in charlotte spread out across three different crime scenes. >> i've been here for about a year. this is the first time we've had anything like that happen. the private business that had people if you're doing everything rightbut find it harder and harderto get by, you're not alone. while our people worklonger hours for lower wages, almost all new income goes to the top 1%. my plan -- make wall street banks and the ultrarich pay their fair share of taxes, provide living wages for working people, ensure equal pay for women. i approve this message because together, we can make a political revolution and create an economyand democracy that works for all the powerful tonight police are looking for the shooter who sent a man to the hospital and led police to three separate scenes over night. >> we covered the shooting in north charlotte since daybreak this morning. tonight at 6:00, eyewitness news anchor brittney johnson explains how the scenes are the private business police say the violence started near. >> shattered glass remains in this parking lot where police say a shooting happened that sent one man to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. we've been working to learn more about the social club police say may have been open late last night bringing these people to the area. will considers this a tight knit community during the day. and was concerned it was the scene of a shooting last night. >> i've been here for a year. this is the first time we've had anything like that happen. >> a victim showed up a few blocks away on rich avenue with life threatening gunshot wounds. at the same time people went to police headquarters saying their car had been shot. police say they were here and s and g social club was open late. the property owner told us it's a gathering place but that's all they knew. >> it seemed like a bunch of great guys that happened to get a motorcycle club. we tried to find out more about what goes on at night. but the door was locked. county documents show the owner just assumed the nameless than a month ago. and they don't have an abc silence. we talked to the owner over the phone. she told us they had a party sunday night. she knows people like to hang out in the parking lot after events. but the party ended before the shooting. he welcomes his new neighbors but wants everyone to keep this place safe. >> we ask for everybody to look out for one another. and make sure that, you know, basically if you see something, say something. in north charlotte, brittney johnson, channel 9 eyewitness news. cmpd is still investigating the shooting. we're working to get more information on possible suspects. >> charlotte man is accused of stealing more than $100,000 in taxpayer money and he accepted a plea deal today. i was there in court as thomas wesley taylor faced 22 charges related to food stamp fraud. cmpd told me taylor ran a heights when he would swipe customer ebt cards, give them cash back, and keep a portion for himself. now that store is shut down. and police say there's an over all drop in crime in that neighborhood. as you look around here, you don't see anybody hanging out. our call volume, there are no calls. i think since the store has shut down, we've not had any calls out here. >> taylor faced more than 600 months behind bars. but through a plea deal, he'll serve 90 days and pay $75,000 in restitution. i got an inside look at this case today, coming up at 10:00 and 11:00, i'll show you how an 18 month investigation and an uncover informant helped police capture taylor. plans for a new ymca are moving forward quickly. the group wants to break ground this spring or summer. the facility would be along late 2017. the ceo of the counties told channel 9 they're working on a final design. you don't need to go indoors to work out today. another beautiful day to be outside. but maybe that's changing a little bit. >> tracking a line of showers. storms trying to get its act together. it's having a tough time with the mountains. heaviest rain over northern ash county. northeast of lansing and warrensville which saw heavy rain and lightning. meanwhile we're tracking that big storm over the upstate of south carolina. it pushes through greenville. on its way toward spartanburg. a lot of lightning and gusty winds associated with it. let's look at it using our 3d radar. christine rapp will help us out here. watch what happens as we flip it up on its side. we can detect the possibility of hail. that's one of the greatest storms we've been talking about that. all this white you see large hail. we've seen quarter sized hail with that storm. and that's moving east. it's one thing for me to stand here and talk about conditions creating these storms. it's another thing to be outside and see it with a pair of trained weather eyes. for that we head to john ahrens. >> first of all, i want to show you, we can see the leading edge of the storm in ash county, the top of that almost looks like an anvil. that's the sign of a strong powerful thunderstorm. i'm noticing the direction the clouds are moving. they're moving southwest to northeast. that's at about 10,000 feet. you get closer to me, i'm noticing, we're right now north of uptown, the wind's coming straight from uptown charlotte. that's south to north. so you have two different wind directions depending on how high up the atmosphere you're traveling, that's wind shear, that's a major component for strong thunderstorms and it look like it's coming together >> not everyone sees the heaviest weather. but there will be a general line of rain with a bed of storms pushing through the charlotte area about 9:00. that's the time the i-77 corridor sees the rain. but notice it's one and done. it's out of here by 11:00 tonight. and then things dry out. check out the future cast. you can see the shades of green. that's all the humidity getting shoved out by the time you get up tomorrow morning. a marked difference keith monday will be tracking. a light jacket is all you need. it'll be dryer. not as humid. mid 50s early on. about 60 by the end of the morning drive. for primary voting in north carolina tomorrow, temperatures will be rising through the 70s. the bottom line is weather won't get in the way of voting. a few mountain clouds early on. that will be generally sunny. and still incredibly warm. the average high this time of year is only in the lower 60s. the future cast, we stop at lunch time here. we're all ready above that. we're close to 70 at that point. even the mountains are in the mid 50s. through tomorrow afternoon. no end to the warmth it seems. a couple showers possible on wednesday. a few showers possible thursday afternoon. mainly charlotte points south on the latest future cast. bottom line is not a lot of rain. tonight's rain isn't going to bring us much. it's moving so quickly. we're not going to see a lot of relief from the pollen. meanwhile we're on track for the driest march since we've been keeping records in charlotte. that goes back to 1878. this has been an unusual march to say the least. the five-day forecast, a few showers thursday. a few showers saturday. nothing big. but we'll cool it back down. so we're going to go down that slope a little bit. >> slowly we will. let's take a look at the final numbers on wall street. the dow up 16. the nasdaq up about 2 points. like us on facebook to follow the latest breaking news, top stories, and weather, to join in on the conversation, on the facebook icon there are those who say we cannot defeat a corrupt political system and fix a rigged economy. above the obstacles in place and look to the american horizon. to a nation where every child can not only dream of goingto college, but attend one. where quality healthcare will bea birthright of every citizen. where a good job is not a wish, but a reality. where women receive equal pay and a living wage is paid to all. an americawhere after a lifetime of labor, there is timefor rest and grandchildren. a nation that defends our people and our values, but no longer carriesso much of that burden alone. i know we can create that america if we listen to our conscience and our hearts and not to the pundits and the naysayers. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message, and i ask for your vote. just two home games remain for the hornets in this remarkably successful seven- game stretch at time warner cable arena. they won the first five and their home court win streak is up to eight games. the hornets haven't lost at home in over a month. and their 15 and 3 mark over all has catapulted up the east standings. they're a game and a half back of third with 17 games left in the regular season. with the season winding down and the playoff race tightening. finishing the home stand strong is key. once it's over, the hornets play 15 of their final 15 on the road. >> our fans do a good job of making it tough for opponent teams to come get a win. we're comfortable here. >> it seemed only a matter of time before kemba walker got recognition. he's been on fire the past several weeks. omak last week he was the eastern conference player of the week. 28 points per game. just under seven assists and five rebounds per game in that stretch. what do you get for the man who has everything? another player of the week award. steph curry was in the player of the week for the fifth time this season on his birthday. averaging 30.5 points during the warriors 4 and 0 stretch. yesterday's finish in phoenix is what nascar fans hope for race. two of sprint cups best drivers going down to the wire and getting physical in a photo finish. edwards. harvick knew edwards would come for him at the end. that's what happened. he got shoved up the track. banged into the door of the 99 and held on for the win. but it was clean as well. >> that's really what nascar racing is all about. you're coming to the checkered his team. and there's a lot on the line. it's definitely, you know, the way that things should have been done. >> 500 miles comes down to 4 inches. >> toward the finish line it's like hey how you doin? >> we have showers and storms coming in tonight. we'll update facebook and twitter. if there are warnings you'll see them on bottom of the screen. thanks for making channel 9 your choice for news tonight. tonight while our people worklonger hours for lower wages, almost all new income goes to the top 1%. my plan -- make wall street banks and the ultrarich pay their fair share of taxes, provide living wages for working people, ensure equal pay for women. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message because together, we can make a political revolution and create an economyand democracy that works for all and not just the powerful few. several breaking stories this monday night. on the eve of the make or break showdown, donald trump now defending himself tonight. after the fights and after the scare onstage. >> this is a love fest. >> and this question tonight. could the republican nomination be nearly wrapped up tomorrow? plus, sarah palin, and the emergency. and hillary clinton and former president bush. what led to this moment? the young officer ambushed, shot and killed. allegedly started it all. police say his brothers recording the whole thing. and was it a fellow officer who fired the fatal shot by mistake? the severe storms. the tornado in ohio. historic flooding in the south. and the pileup in the east. more than 100 cars. the amtrak train derailing. passengers screaming for help. what the engineer saw ahead of him. and, tonight, right here, the video. the young american captured, accused of fighting for isis. good evening. and it's great to have you with us as we start another week here and we begin tonight with the race for the white house. and what could happen tomorrow on both sides. could donald trump effectively wrap up the nomination? tonight, trump and his new defense, arguing his rallies are not violent. in his words, they're a love fest. it comes after tense moments on that ohio stage. trump looking unsettled himself.

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