WCBI NEWS at 10 - 10/05/2020

WCBI NEWS at 10 - 10/05/2020

The last time cindy hyde-smith faced mike espy at the polls---she won with 54 percent of the votes.

But espy's camp says it's energized to build on the 46 percent he received in 2018.

Now the race is garnering new attention---some of it from other parts of the country.

Courtney ann jackson is following the rematch between cindy hyde-smith and mike espy and joins us now with the latest.

Mississippi's senate race is catching some national attention.

We wanted to find out how mike espy's campaign plans to turn that attention into votes.

"the support that we're seeing nationally is late.

We've always seen the energy on the ground.

It's been organic.

We got out and people want to see a change in our state.

They want to see better schools.

They want to see better health care, more opportunities for affordable health care.

And so, we've always seen it."

We asked republican strategist henry barbour if the new support makes it harder for cindy hyde-smith to win this go-around.

"there's a lot of money coming in to help mike espy but i don't think it changes things dramatically.

All the money in the world can't change the fact that mississippians want somebody who's conservative.

Who's going to vote for lower taxes, stronger military, good strong public safety, support of the police.

And that's cindy hyde- smith."

But espy's latest ad shows---he's working to attract some voters outside the democratic party.

He's said he needs to increase black turnout by three percent and get four more percent of the white vote to defeat hyde- smith.

It's those numbers that have kept him working.

"secretary espy caught lightning in a bottle and he made a good showing in 2018.

But the one thing that he hasn't done is he hasn't stopped working since then."

Barbour notes that conservatives in the state are eager to go out and vote for president trump and that, too, stands to benefit hyde-smith in a year where campaigns look very different.

"one thing that i don't think has changed is the basic conservative views of mississippians.

That hasn't changed and that makes it difficult for mike espy to win."

First look stinger first look summary: quiet and pleasant early fall weather is the norm through thursday.

Our area may be impacted by the remnants of tropical storm delta friday into saturday.

The storm could give our region heavy rain, gusty winds, and perhaps even an isolated tornado threat depending on the exact track.

Monday night: clear, quiet, and cool.

Lows in the upper 40s.

Light wind.

Tuesday: mostly sunny and mild.

Highs in the 80s.

Northerly winds 2- 7 mph.

President trump tweeted that he feels better than he did 20 years ago, before being discharged from a military hospital for coronavirus treatment.

But his doctors say he's not out of the woods yet.

The president's return comes as another white house official has tested positive for the virus.

Skyler henry is outside walter reed with more.

After four days of coronavirus treatment at walter reed national medical center... president trump returned to the white house... "though he may not be entirely out of the woods yet, the team and i agree that all our evaluations and most importantly his clinical status, support the president's safe return home, where he'll be surrounded by world class medical care 24-7."

The president is still being treated with the steroid dexamethasone , and his doctors say he'll receive a final dose of the drug remdesivir on tuesday.

White house press secretary kayleigh mcenany is the latest high profile official in president trump's immediate circle to test positive for covid-19.

An unmasked mcenany spoke with journalists this weekend, and now the white house is urging members of the media to get tested.

"despite being sidelined from the campaign trail -- president trump continues to use twitter, sending at least a dozen tweets from his hospital suite here on monday, urging his supporters to vote."

2020 presidential candidate "now that he is busy tweeting campaign messages, i would ask him to do this: listen to the scientists, support masks... " 2020 democratic presidential candidate joe biden hit the campaign trail in florida -- after his latest covid test came back negative.

Vice president mike pence and his wife - karen -- also tested negative for the virus.

The president's campaign manager says he intends to participate in the next presidential debate, which is scheduled for next thursday.

Meanwhile, the first lady tweeted that she is "feeling good" and resting at home, after she also tested positive for covid- 19.

Vo here's a story we have been following all day.

An arrest has been made in connection to a church fire early this morning in columbus.

Columbus fire and rescue responded to callof a fire at the first independent methodist church around 1:40am.

Firefighters battled the fire for more than three hours before they were able to put it out safely and prevent it from spreading..

Columbus police chief fred shelton says a juvenille male is in custody and has been charged.

Shelton says this same suspect may also be connected to two other church burglaries that took place over the weekend.

"the suspect is a juvenile so we will not be releasing his name at this time.

We are still in early parts of the investigation but we did have enough information to charge him.

He's going to be charged with arson and three counts of burglary.

Also, this weekend we had two other churches in the same area right down the street that were burglarized and we believe that he is part of that as well" shelton says this investigation is ongoing.

We will continue to follow this story and will bring you more as it becomes available.

Pastor gary shelton says he was home sleeping when he got the call that his church was involved in a serious fire..

Covid prevented in person worship.

Sunday was the first gathering in the sanctuary in months.

Wcbi's bobby martinez has more on the story.

10 plus years of memories for pastor gary shelton gone in a blink of an eye.

"it's terrible, i mean my heart broke" it was around 2 a.m.

When columbus fire and rescue responded to a fire at first independent methodist church.

The fire blazing for hours early sunday morning..

Sot - martin andrews - chief - columbus fire and rescue "it took about an hour, hour and a half to get it under control but about four hours total."

Andrews says this fire could've been worse... sot - martin andrews - chief - columbus fire and rescue "it's by the grace of god that it didn't spread because it has such a big jump on us.

Firefighters worked and worked hard they did a great job we are very proud of them."

Pastor shelton says he is hurt the church is gone... but more importantly..

Sot - gary sheltoon - pastor - first independent methodist church "no one was hurt.

The building is a total write off.

It may be the church meetinghouse but it's not the church.

We are a small congregation, but the congregation, the people, they are the church."

Pastor shelton says this church was a special place to many in the area.

Sot - gary shelton - pastor - first independent methodist church "the fellowship among the people here has been sweet.

No problems between the people, no divisions, no bitterness, no sadness.

Its been , the past decade that i've been blessed to be here it's been a wonderful experience."

At this time, all that remains is the debri and the curch has been deemed a total loss..

Another columbus church is also dealing with arson and destruction.

Two vans were set on fire at 10th avenue church of christ over the weekend.

The church is right across the street from the old hunt high school.

Fire chief martin andrews tells wcbi that investigators believe this fire is unrelated to the one in east columbus.

In fact, andrews says there is a person of interest in the van arson.

Firefighters and law enforcement are using evidence found at the scene, along with video surveillance to help them identify the person responsible.

The vans were destroyed in the blaze.

If you have any information call golden triangle crime stoppers.

Wcbi update stinger goes here today, state health officials are reporting no new covid-19 deaths.

However, 215 new cases are being reported.

Hospital numbers are also trending downward... 515 people across the state are hospitalized with confirmed or suspected symptoms. 132 of those patients are in i.c.u.

, with 69 on a ventilator.

90 thousand 577 people are presumed recovered.

This means there are about 71 hundred presumed active cases in the state.

Stinger wx open summary: quiet and pleasant early fall weather is the norm through thursday.

Our area may be impacted by the remnants of tropical storm delta friday into summary: quiet and pleasant early l weather is the norm through thursday.

Our area may be impacted by the remnants of tropical storm delta friday into saturday.

The storm could give our region heavy rain, gusty winds, and perhaps even an isolated tornado threat depending on the exact track.

Monday night: clear, quiet, and cool.

Lows in the upper 40s.

Light wind.

Tuesday: mostly sunny and mild.

Highs in the 80s.

Northerly winds 2- 7 mph.

Tuesday night: mainly clear and quiet.

Lows in the low 50s.

Light winds.

Wednesday & thursday: mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

Still mild with highs in the 80s and overnight lows in the 50s.

Friday & saturday: the entire forecast depends on what happens with the remnants of delta.

Heavy rain, some flooding, and gusts over 40mph are possible.

There could even be an isolated tornado threat if our area remains east of the remnant low center& but it's too early to tell at this point.

High school football and even college football could be affected so stay tuned for additional updates on that as well from wcbi sports.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger october is breast cancer awareness month.

After the break, stinger october is breast cancer awareness month.

After the break, part one of our three part conversation with dr. karissa boyd.

You don't wan to miss it.

Cash 3 lottery gfx goes here intro october is national breast cancer awareness month.

This week, we begin our three part conversation with dr. karissa boyd.

Here's tonight's health talk with baptist.

Take a look.

Pkg no script billboard attached stinger stinger the bulldogs looking to fix their woes on the offensive side of the ball... later in sports mike leach on quarterback kj costello's progression spx open after shocking the college football world and defeating the defending champion lsu tigers... mississippi state lost at home... to arkansas... the bulldogs were 17-point favorites... and the razorbacks ended their 20-game sec losing streak... arkansas disrupted mike leach's air raid offense... dropping eight defenders consistently... they only gave up 14 points... after a record- breaking performance week 1 in baton rouge... quarterback kj costello threw three picks... one of them went to the house.... leach still has confidence in the stanford transfer under center... but knows what's stopping him from reaching his full potential..

"he's good at his job.

He knows his job.

The thing is he should compete and be aggressive.

You always try to take it a step further, but if you do that the whole thing gets tangled up.

I just want him to keep simple things simple and have his eyes in the right place.

Don't try to do too much.

Just try to do his job because there's a lot other weapons and receivers out there to help him.

That's going to be easier as we protect better."

Kick off is at 6:30 saturday in lexington ole miss celebrating it's first win of the lane kiffin era... the rebels took down kentucky 42- 41 in overtime... taking advantage of a missed extra point by the wildcats in the extra session... despite the victory... it was another long day defensively... the rebels have given up 93 combined points in their first two contests... ole miss now sits at 1-1 on the season with a tough road ahead... hosting nick saban and alabama this weekend in oxford... and lane kiffin knows what his crew has to do to sharpen up the defensive side of the ball ,.

Pad leverage up front, playing too high and tackling.

A lot of missed tackles.

If you don't do those two things you're not going to stop the run.

Obviously that's our emphasis ááácontinue voááá they struggled stopping the run saturday... three wildcats had over 100 yards on the ground..

Kickoff between ole miss and #2 alabama is slated for 5 o'clock saturday on espn speaking of nick saban's crew... they are ranked second in the country after handling texas a&m easily this weekend 52 to 24... lane kiffen said earlier today quote no disrespect to clemson... but alabama is the real number one team in the nation... end quote... the tide is loaded at every position... and mac jones has filled the shoes of tua tagovailoa nicely... he had 435 yards and 4 touchdowns against the aggies... saban says despite his team outscoring oppenets by a combined 47 points in the first two games... they still have a lot of room to grow..

,.

It was a great week five of endzone with plenty of plays to choose from but only five can make the cut!

Here's our top 5 plays of the week!

#5 starkville academy's cj #5 starkville academy's cj jackson takes the handoff 40 yards to the crib!

The vols win big over pillow academy 42-7 #4 lafayette's tyrus carmichael williams throws a bomb to kylen vaughn for the touchdown!

Commodores get the win over grenada 35-14 #3 cross creek rivalry from thursday.....ty- quan mc-cully 45 yard td run to end the quarter....warrior s win 47-6 #2 from our game of the week, itawamba's ty davis connects with isaac smith for the long bomb....indians win 26-14 #1 our top play...nettleton versus belmont....cardinal s fumble....jacorrien moore scoops it up for the tigers and the defense takes it to the house for a 65 yard td.....tigers remain undefeated!

Still to come..

Chief last look last look last