-- a fall friday. jason: if you had any doubt that fall with not show up, it is going to be with us in full force. webster city, 29 degrees. 42 for the metro. winds out of the northwest helping it feel that little bit cooler. we will again see the surgeon up in the afternoon. we are on -- surge on up in the afternoon. freeze warnings are in the light blue and those are off to the west. even though we are not encompassed by those, it is still going to be a very chilly morning and chilly day as we only top out at 55 degrees. a quick look across the state, pretty much everybody in the same boat. eric: pete polson takes the stand.

he went on a shooting spree in pleasant hill last november, injuring two men. he says he is sorry, has been a drug addict for a long time, and remembers nothing about the shooting. mark: polson admitted to the shootings for the first time today, but says he can't remember any of it because he was high on meth. polson says he injected meth six hours before he shot at three people apparently for no other reason than he saw them while he was driving through pleasant hill and claims he remembers none of it. >> from the bottom of my heart i apologize. it just isn't me. i wouldn't hurt anyone like that. i wish i would have just shot myself that day instead of hurting these people. mark: the prosecutor seemed exasperated with polson's excuse that he didn't remember shooting anyone that morning. >> miraculously, your first recollection of anything is when police arrive, correct? >> yes. >> you remember nothing from

6:30 to 7:00 yet when police show up at 7:00 you remember from there on, is that right? >> from when i got pulled over. >> correct, from when you got pulled over, that's when you start remembering things? i was still splotchy in and out . >> and you were still coming down, that's your testimony, at 7:00 you were still coming down from the high? >> well, apparently. mark: polson's ex-girlfriend also took the stand, saying she saw him use drugs like marijuana, meth and k2 on many occasions. >> he would totally act like a different person and would hallucinate a lot and a lot of paranoia. mark: the trial resumes tomorrow. polson faces drug charges along with those three counts of attempted murder. the jury will have to decide whether polson was too intoxicated to even have the in

mark tauscheck, kcci 8 news. eric: kent sorenson testified in the case of two former ron paul aid. they are accused of making hidden payments to sorenson. sorenson says in december 2011, is sorry -- kisari gave his wife a check, made out to sorenson's corporation. he said at the time he told kesari he was not sure he wanted to switch to paul's campaign but was conflicted. elizabeth: a change of plans from president obama. he had vowed to end the war in afghanistan before leaving the office but now he says there

right now, there are over 10,000 troops in the country. he says afghan forces need more help from the united states. ryan smith has more from a local guardsmen. ryan: lt. col. mike wunn was part of a 2800 troop deployment to afghanistan in july 2010. it marked the largest sendoff of iowa national guard soldiers since world war ii. >> a lot of the forces were involved in combat operations and it was a counter-insurgency mission. ryan: wunn's unit oversaw security in three provinces working directly with the afghan national army. he knew then keeping the middle east country secure would be a long road. >> there just are a lot of challenges and it's going to take time for them to be able to build up their nation, to build up their security forces. ryan: today, president obama says even though afghan forces are fighting for the stability of their country, the security situation remains fragile. pres. obama: my approach is to

assess the situation on the ground, figure out what's working, figure out what's not working, make adjustments where necessary. ryan: the president initially planned to leave about 1,000. the revised strategy eventually drops the force level to 5,500 troops by december next year and they'll stay through at least the start of 2017. >> based on my personal experience from the time that i was in afghanistan, i'm not surprised that we would continue to see additional u.s. forces there to serve alongside and with the afghan security forces. elizabeth: kcci checked in with local military officials. the local national guard does not have a unit deployed in afghanistan. eric: hundreds of sex offenders will seem be moving to newton. the department of corrections is transferring inmates for mount pleasant to better provide treatment. jason rantala shows us how the town is reacting.

jason: the newton correctional facility will soon house 200 new inmates, all sex offenders from the mount pleasant correctional facility. the iowa department of corrections says they plan to begin transferring those sex offenders over the next several months. >> we really anticipate no risk at all. jason: state corrections director jerry bartruff says it's difficult to house those inmates in the open environment of the mount pleasant facility. newton's prison has individual cells and all levels of housing. the department of corrections says this facility in newton is more secure and more equipped to handle sex offenders than the facility in mount pleasant, but those we talked to in newton said they had no idea this was in the works. >> two hundred's going to be transferred here? >> no, i hadn't heard about this at all. >> wel,l it's intersting. jason: are you concerned, the fact that you didn't know about this? >> [laughs] jason: state senator chaz allen says despite not knowing until recently, moving to the better security facility makes sense. >> it was a surprise at first, but i understand the logic behind it, in order to keep, not

safe, but the inmates safe as well. jason: while bartruff says this was discussed in a public meeting with the board of corrections, he acknowledges they could have done a better job getting the word out. >> it's nothing that we've kept secret, but it probably wasn't disseminated as well as we could have. jason: residents for the most part aren't too concerned. >> if the facility for them is safe and secure, that's fine with me. jason: while others have mixed feelings. >> we have a lot of young kids in this town, so that would be a concern there. eric: state representative dan kelley of newton says the prison is currently understaffed and the public was kept in the dark about this move. the mount pleasant facility will become a more minimum custody facility. elizabeth: broadlawns medical center broke ground on a major expansion. the new building will house several new facilities, including a family health center

they will also remodel the inpatient and out patient behavior health facilities. the project is expected to be complete sometime in 2017. eric: 4:38, and it is just chilly out there. jason: plan on a cold start in a cold day. starting off at 39 degrees. could see some patchy frost, mainly in western portions of the state. a lot of sunshine out their bank today. -- out there today. 36, webster city. 37, storm lake. 44 in the metro. if you are not a big fan of the cooler temperatures, they are not going to be sticking around that much longer. 58 on saturday, mid-to-upper

eric: rand paul is under attack for an attack he made against jay wright at drake university on thursday. he stopped at a number of colleges, saying his campaign appeals to millennials, but cynthia fodor shows us how he lost some support. >> we ask every presidential candidate we can get to, should an employer be able to fire an employee because they're lgbt? cynthia: this man, keenan crow threw out that question but was shocked to hear this answer. >> i think the things you do in the house, you just leave those in the house, to tell the truth. it sets up a class of people who can now sue. if you are gay, there are plenty of places that will hire you. >> to be so dismissive was heartbreaking to us. cynthia: the executive director of one iowa, donna red wing says she's stunned

>> it horrifies me and tells me we still have a lot of work to do. cynthia: to hear rand paul say it's ok to discriminate and fire someone who's gay. >> i thought, what century does this guy live in? he exhibited such bias, and real homophopia and transphobia. cynthia: other candidates have answered the same question this way. rick santorum, i don't think they should be fired but i don't think we need a federal law. bobby jindal, i don't think there should be discrimination, but i don't think the government should be intruding. jeb bush, no. no, i don't think so. in iowa, it is illegal for employers to discriminate against lgbt workers but 31 states do not have such laws. >> this is a protection we have here in iowa, something we hold dear as iowans, and would like

eric: some of the drake students took off their rand paul for president stickers after he made those comments. elizabeth: carly fiorina was in windsor heights for a chili dinner fundraiser. earlier thursday, she held a town hall meeting in spencer where she commented on president obama's decision to hold 5500 troops in afghanistan and. >> he now is recognizing that afghanistan is becoming potentially a haven for isis, and that the taliban is not on the wayne as he has tried to four years. it is growing in strength. elizabeth: the latest poll has fiorina in sixth place with 5%. donald trump leads with 24%, a slight edge over ben carson at 23%.

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4:45, waking up to a brisk bite of air. it has not dropped to back yet, still in the mid-40's, but all of our feels like temperatures in the upper 20's at the moment. 36, storm lake and webster city. we have the cooler air down to the south, 37 in creston and knoxville. the metro will be dropping to 39 degrees today, the coldest morning we have seen as may 19. we do have the frost advisories to the west, freeze warnings off to the northwest, and even more as we head into tomorrow morning. a pair of chilly days and as we head through the rest of the day, temperatures to warm. we are only going to make it into the mid-50's today, but

eric: a boone teenager with disabilities telestrate's books helping -- illustrates books helping kids beat himself. >> that's my favorite page right there. vanessa: haley anderson won't let bullying hold her back. >> kids would refuse to take her hand because of her differences and refuse to sit next to her on the bus. vanessa: haley was born with treacher collins syndrome, a condition that affects the development of facial bones and tissues. she's 15 now. >> i was born without ears. well, i have ears, but they weren't formed very well and , then missing a bone somewhere around here, so yeah, a lot of surgeries in my life. vanessa: haley is finding her voice through her artistic hands and markers. >> she probably doesn't even understand how empowered she really has become. vanessa: she's illustrated two books, "wade the turtle" and

they tell the stories of people with disabilities and the daily challenges they face. the stories are told through animal characters, followed by a biography on the person behind the story. >> there's a good message. vanessa the mission of the dan : the fish series is to inspire children to be who they are, and to help end bullying of all children. >> i'm hoping when the books get out there that kids, younger kids in the classrooms, will rally around their friends instead of bulling their friends and that'll carry up on through high school and that'll carry on up through life. vanessa: haley says she's proud of her work and she hopes her new voice helps others, especially those with special needs, find theirs. >> i hope that they like it. vanessa: vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. elizabeth: you can buy the books online at amazon, and if you would like direct links, check out our website, kcci.com. eric: here is a live look at

i-235 and mlk junior parkway. waking up to 44 degrees, pretty chilly compared to the last few days.

whole >> the weather is never more than five minutes away. only on "kcci 8 news this morning." jason: happy friday morning, 4:51.

temperatures in the upper 30's if you are off to the north, otherwise low to mid 40's in central iowa. most of us will be dropping into the mid-to upper 30's range, those who have not already. with the wind factored in, seeing upper 20's for windchill temperatures. no we are going to start to work in quite a bit of sunshine once the sun rises. it is shaping up to be an ok day, just chilly, downright cold for some. 44 is what we are starting off with across the metro, dropping to 39 degrees. we keep the skies clear and the sunshine will not help us to warm up at all. we only top out at 55 degrees for our high temperature. we will stay chilly for a while. the area of high pressure continues to pursue the

will see clouds riding on the back of that. punching down the cooler air from the north, and this set up is going to stick into tomorrow. after that, we see a shift and we get the ridge of to the west to build in some and what that will do for our temperatures is make them jump up into the mid-60's for the latter part of the weekend. for today, this pink area, freeze warnings and frost advisories. this whole thing shifts eastward for tomorrow morning. the pink area for minneapolis to around chicago, so more cold air in the mix. likely a colder morning then we will be seen today. futurecast keeps us cloud free as we head throughout the day. starts to bring in some stuff as we head throughout the evening. if we can work in even more cloud cover, that should help us to stay a little bit warmer as

far as our temperatures go, but plan on another chilly morning. 55 degrees, sunny skies and a brisk breeze at 15 to 20 miles per hour. tonight, 33. another morning with patchy frost as we had to write your day tomorrow, and we do eventually rebound, up to 67 on sunday. 70's come fighting back to kick off hour workweek and tuesday is your next shot for a little bit of rain. eric: thank you, jason. elizabeth: steven spielberg's cold war thriller "bridge of spies" opens today. eric: it has an iowa connection. a senior records man has a workshop in his house and he actually uses his to make movie

for "bridge of spies," he has created the coin that the soviet spy does -- uses to keep secrets. francis does not plan on putting down the tools and a time because he is having fun. elizabeth: protest at a prized

award laureate jason: happy early friday

morning. 4:57. i hope you can hang onto a little bit of once as you leave because you are going to need it. we do work in the sunshine all day long so we have that working in our favor, but only topping out in the middle 50's. chile by all accounts. we have wind that will be up 15 to 20 miles per hour again. even though we are talking air temperatures in the mid-50's, it likely will feel like lower 40's for a good portion of the day. mid-70's monday and tuesday. your next shot for rain roles in on tuesday. more seasonable temperatures by the end of next week. eric: the state capital hosted

food prize award lariat ceremony. >> as we present the award for ending hunger. eric: the winner is from bangladesh and visitors from around the world are in des moines for the annual event. >> we have done it three years before and we will do it again. elizabeth: outside the event, 20 protesters showed up and they say the event is owned and controlled by the food corporation that promotes genetically modified food. several were arrested when they attempted to enter the capital and refused to leave. >> corporate monoliths field -- feed the world, but for the farmers that means over production and sheep prices. -- cheap prices. elizabeth: this is the third year protesters have shown up at

the world food prize. eric: two hours coming up at 5:00. stranded on the highway, thousands of drivers are stuck on california roads right now. prepping for the marathon, we are live in downtown des moines with a preview of this weekend's