his wife. he's going to speak around 4:45. he's expected to talk about his wife's plans to raise incomes and create ladders of opportunities for families. in the next 15 minutes the democratics sparred in a fiery debate covering everything from jobs to the auto industry bail out. two people died after a serious behind this deaf station here. you can see debris is scattered across the road and the crushed vehicles. eyewitness news reporter greg suskin is on the phone now and greg, you say this is the worst crash site you've ever seen. >> well, it's certainly one of seen. not just because of the fatalities but the tremendous damage in the road. if you look at this area. highway 9. it's an area that's extremely rural. the majority of the afternoon. troopers told me around 8:00 this morning, a van was going west on highway 9. it crossed the center line and hit that log truck head on. it's in an area called dead man's curve because of the number of accidents out there in the past. both drivers were killed. pronounced dead on the scene. there were no passengers. when firefighters got on scene, they told me the van was engulfed in flames. it was incinerated. you couldn't tell what vehicle that was. it took them a while to find the driver. he was ejected from the van. because of the debris, damage from the fire, and the logs in the road. it's going to take several hours to clean this up. the majority of the afternoon. it's a rural area. but pretty populated with truck traffic. so they've got a detour set up several miles in each direction and the names of both the victims have not been released. greg suskin, channel 9 eyewitness news. all right. thanks so much for that update. secretary is meeting with texas officials. he's looking at a toll road project that's failing to ensure it doesn't happen here. last week a subsidiary of centra filed for bankruptcy in austin. centra is the parent company over the i-77 toll lanes project. the contracts are similar. and allow the developer to operate the lanes for 50 years. count on channel 9 to stay on top of all developments at the meeting and how it could impact the project here. we'll have a full report today at 5:00 on eyewitness news. a good samaritan killed while trying to help a driver with a flat tire along i-485 in east charlotte this weekend. we warned about the crash yesterday on eyewitness news at 6:00. now eyewitness news reporter mark becker spoke to troopers about the moments leading up to the crash. the highway patrol tells me they're still working on their investigation. in fact, that report itself may not be released for several days. the man who was killed. a man trying to help a woman on the side of the road made a terrible mistake. 26-year-old alex was hit and killed as he stopped to help a woman with a flat tire on i-485 at 4:00 yesterday morning. the highway patrol says that he was actually standing in the travel lane on 485 when the van hit him. he'd only been there a matter of moments when he was hit and the highway patrol says there's no indication that the driver of the van who did hit him was impaired in any way. but they'll have to wait for blood tests before deciding on possible charges. >> right now we're waiting on the blood results to come back. once we get all the information. we'll contact the district attorney and present our case to them. and maybe they'll decide what charges we'll have if any. >> the highway patrol has identified the driver of that van as 25-year-old christopher leon. they say he was cooperative and reporting in huntersville, mark becker, channel 9 eyewitness news. tonight leaders in two local towns will talk about the controversial cms student assignment plan. it could send thousands of students to new schools. brittney johnson just spoke with the mayor about the push to support neighborhood schools. >> reporter: this is a copy of the resolution that they plan to take up. it's short. and they want every student to be able to attend a school close to home. this has been a major source of student assignment. they look at the plan that outlines where students will go to school every six years. there's a focus on breaking up high concentrations of poverty. thousands completed a survey to share their thoughts on the district and how it can improve diversity and educational outcomes but in worry leaders may look to busing as a possible option. parents have voiced their with this resolution, they're asking cms to guarantee all students a spot in the school. they want it to be a guiding process. predictability. if you're not going to include a guaranteed home school, you kind of throw that out. >> she put this resolution together in north mecklenburg. 6:30. we'll bring new details on eyewitness news. eyewitness news. taking another live look now at a rally in concord where presidential candidate donald trump is set to speak at any moment. we'll continue monitoring the podium and bring you live coverage throughout eyewitness news midday. yet. the accusations they are making about each other. it's a great day to take lunch outdoors. low 60s. and today will be the coolest we'll talk more about the we'll talk more a stocks are rallying after a slow start this morning. the dow is up 51 points. the nasdaq is up 4. another live look at the donald trump rally in concord now as we're waiting for him to take the stage. you can see it's a packed house there at the cabarrus event center in concord. also outside, lots of protesters as well. this started at noon, but again he's not taken the stage as you can see, as soon as that happens we'll be sure to bring it to you and we'll continue bringing you live coverage from and we're live streaming this on wsoctv.com. we'll bring you all of the highlights and reaction today starting at 5:00 on eyewitness news. this midday, preparations are being made for former first lady nancy reagan. she died yesterday of heart failure in her california home. over night we learned she will be buried next to her husband ronald reagan at the reagan presidential library. flags have been lowered to half staff in her honor. she was known for her devotion to her husband. the two were married for 52 years before his death. >> she was one of the greatest first ladies, extraordinary human being. >> nancy was her husband's most trusted advisor and launched the famous just say no anti drugs campaign. funeral details are still being finalized. there are plans for a public ceremony before a private service with more than 1,000 invited guests. a clash of the democratics, the issues they are fighting support in michigan. plus gas prices are creeping back up. how high prices are expected to high prices are taking another look at the donald trump rally in concord. concord. we're waiting for the republican presidential front runner to make an appearance on the stage. and of course rally up the crowd as we get ready for the is coming up not tomorrow but the following tuesday. we're going to keep an eye on this. as soon as he takes the stage, we'll be sure to bring it to you. trump's visit comes as democratic candidates push for voter support in michigan. right now they're campaigning after a fiery debate in flint last night. eyewitness news reporter jacqueline fell is in washington with highlights of the heated back and forth. >> both candidates are campaigning in michigan today ahead of tomorrow's primary. senator bernie sanders beginning with a rally in kalamazoo today. but last night at their seventh debate, they clashed over who had the better record on creating and saving jobs. they disagreed on trade, guns, and the auto industry bail out. >> i voted to save the auto industry. he voted against the money that ended up saving the auto industry. >> if you're talking about the wall street bail out where some of your friends destroyed this economy. >> excuse me, i'm talking. >> this debate was the sharpest exchange we've seen yet between hillary clinton and bernie sanders. both candidates frequently interrupted one another and accused each other of misrepresenting their records. sanders tried to slow down the front runner. clinton spent most of the night fending off his criticism. more needs to be done to address flint's water crisis. calling for the michigan governor to resign. channel 9 eyewitness news. we're getting a better look at how many people in mecklenburg county have voted early. more than 14,000 people have filled out ballots since early voting started. saturday is the last day ahead of the primary, next tuesday the 15th. gas prices are creeping back up. the average price nationwide is up 7 cents from two weeks ago. but it's still 70 cents cheaper time last year. experts say demand is growing. and crude oil prices are regaining ground. last week unc charlotte economist john predicted we should see a 15 to 20-cent increase in gas prices over the next few months. drivers in charlotte are paying $1.68 per gallon now. less than the average in north carolina at $1.73. south carolina's prices are much lower than $1.55. this afternoon a tow truck driver is due in court accused charlotte. police say simpson was at an pacific avenue saturday to remove a boot from a truck. truck's owner. they have not said what led up to the shooting. okay. simpson faces assault charges. meteorologist christine rapp tracking warm temperatures in severe weather center 9. >> that's right stephanie. and all ready this afternoon. take a look from the charlotte tower cam. it makes you want to be outside with the blue sky, a few clouds out there this afternoon. it's not just the metro area dealing with warm temperatures. check out the mountains, 59 in boone. 57 in jefferson. throughout salisbury, statesville, the foothills in the low 60s, 63 a warm spot in lancaster this afternoon. we'll keep this warmth with us throughout the afternoon. we'll keep some sunshine around. temperatures look to finish off this afternoon in the middle to upper 60s. if you want to take the kids to the park. take the log on a walk this afternoon or dinner on the patio, those temperatures will tonight. clouds. they'll stream in throughout the afternoon and evening hours. it should make for a gorgeous sunset tonight. no issues for the drive home. the clouds will filter in. no chance of rain today or tonight. good news if you're heading down to uptown. the hornets taking on the timberwolves later on this evening. starting at 7:00 tonight. temperatures in the mid to upper 50s throughout the evening hours. if anything has you out and evening, have that light jacket around. but the weather the next couple days staying quiet. those of you that are sniffling and sneezing and coughing, it's a rough week. the biggest issue for the next five days will be the allergies, the main reason, we'll stay quiet. no rain chances the next five days. going to be very dry. and not just dry, but very warm as well. today, we're in the low 60s. we'll be in the mid 60s this afternoon. i mentioned earlier that will be the coolest day of the week. check out some of these temperatures. places to the south like chester, going to have temperatures warming into the upper 70s, and a few low 80s around by friday. friday is going to be the warmest day. no chance of rain throughout the week as well. for charlotte, 65 will do it for the afternoon high today. lots of sunshine on the five- day forecast, the over night low, 40s and 50s, very mild as you're getting ready to head morning. but we'll continue to slide friday afternoon. our warmest week, we'll be dry the next five days but that changes as we head into the weekend, your weekend always in view, we bring in a chance for showers on saturday. sunday will be the pick day of the weekend for those dry conditions. but really not going to see temperatures slide that much with highs in the low 70s. and a friendly reminder as well, we're springing forward this weekend. at least we got the warm temperatures that will get you out and about. that makes us happy. thanks so much. kids as old as 13 could be forced to take the backseat carolina. why state lawmakers say the drastic change is necessary for your family's safety. and we want to give you another live look. this is from the cabarrus event center in concord. you can see they are waiting for the republican presidential front runner donald trump to come out for his rally and speak to get voters ready to go for next week's primary on the 15th. as soon as that happens, we'll here's a another live look at the donald trump rally at the cabarrus event center in concord. it started at noon. it's a packed house as folks are waiting to hear from the republican candidate. we're streaming this live right now at wsoctv.com. so you can get that full coverage. we'll also have full coverage for you today at 5:00. right here on eyewitness news. right now police in florida are searching for the man accused of trying to kidnap a 13-year-old girl. >> that's creepy. it's really scary. >> you can see the girl running from her attacker right here. drove up to her last week and asked if she was walking home. she ignored him. then he got out of the car and grabbed her by her waist to pull her in. she pushed back, screamed and ran away. >> what she did was exactly the right thing. kicking, screaming, yelling, anything she can do to draw attention to the situation and get away. >> more than 80% of kids who escape an attempted abduction did something proactive but that can be tough for kids who are taught to be polite and respect their elders. talk to kids about when it's okay to say no to adults. starting today. some mcdonald's restaurants in the area will raise money to support families of two managers shot and killed in the hickory mcdonald's parking lot. one dollar for every meal sold at the birk, caldwell, and catawba locations will go eric is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend outside the mcdonald's on highway 321 last week. police are working with the district attorney to upgrade charges against him after watts died in the hospital on friday. >> new at noon, today new york city's mayor is set to sign an order letting people use the bathrooms that fit their gender identity. the order applies to city facilities like offices, parks, and recreation centers, access to bathrooms is a fundamental right. you may remember charlotte just passed a similar but controversial non- discrimination ordinance. it goes into effect on april 1st. house speaker tim morris called for a special session to reverse the ordinance, and governor pat mccrory made it clear he opposes it. police are investigating a home invasion after a mother says she found her teen daughter naked and taped to a chair. this happened yesterday in raleigh. the mother says he was taking her younger children to a park her daughter had face timed her best friend with duct tape over her mouth and sent text messages pleading for help. the mom raced home. >> it's horrifying. they took her clothes. and she's in the closet. nobody ever want to walk in on their child like that. >> authorities say two men broke in through the back of the house. new at noon, about half of americans are confident their tap water is safe to drink. an associated press survey found 47% of people are extremely or very confident. 33% say they're moderately confident. 18% are not very or not at all confident. the survey falls the led contaminated water crisis inin flint michigan. today is nice. the rest of the week, really nice. >> if you're a fan of the warm weather, you're going to love this week, plenty of opportunities to get out and enjoy well above average temperatures. we're usually at about 60 this time of year. we'll be in the mid 60s today. and better news with the warmth. we have dry conditions. hopefully you can get out and enjoy it while it's here. >> outdoor lunch is a must. >> even dinner on the patio this week as well. >> thanks for making channel 9 your choice for news this midday. everyone. noon everyone. (donkey sound) (elephant sound) there's a big difference between making noise, (tapping sound) and making sense. (elephant sound) (donkey sound) we need more than lip service. our next president needs a real plan to keep social security strong. (elephant noise) hey candidates. enough talk. joey fatone: it's time to play "family feud." give it up for steve harvey! [captioning made possible by fremantle media] steve: how you folks doing? thank you very much. how you folks doing? hey, welcome to "family feud," everybody. i'm your many steve harvey, and boy, boy, oh, boy, do we have a good one for you today, folks. we got the fifth and final day with a total of 21,615 bucks, straight out of pacific, washington, it's the gould family. and from lithonia, georgia, it's the kirk family. well, everybody's here trying to get out of here with a whole lot of cash and the possibility, because today, remember, if the gould family wins the game, they're driving out of here in that brand-new head-turning ford fusion. let's get it on! give me kumar! give me josh. let's go. ["family feud" theme plays] >> good luck. >> good luck. steve: guys, here we go. top 6 answers are on the board. name something in his apartment a really lonely guy might talk to.