"i think it will be higher than normal. people are excited about the candidates" iowans are rushing to register before monday. the republicans debate in iowa... but without donald trump. "let's address the elephant not in the room." "it's got character." and, a new restaurant gives a sioux city stapap.... a new taste. jenna: good evening and thank you for joining us tonight im jenna rehnstrom. presidential elections always bring out more voters. and the same holds true for the iowa caucus. if number of iowans registering to

could be looking quite the turn-out as siouxlanders help pick the next president. deborah souverain joins us now with more. jenna no one can deny that this presidential election cycle is unique... a real estate mogul is leading the polls on the repubican side..and for the first time... a former first lady could be a commander in chief. local political experts say...this unconventional political field...is creating a buzz around thecaucus that hasn't been seensince 2008. after countless campaign phone cas, town halls, and debates.... iowans are gearing up to voice their choice for the presidential nominees. d this year, it looks like more iowans will be turning out to caucus on february first. the numbers that we've had, 560 changes and 144 new registrations," said mitchell. tim mitchell, secretary of the woodbury count gop, says because voters can opt for same-day registration the night of the caucus.... ter turnout is expected to be even higher than registration numbers show.

the numbers correctly we do expect a high turnout, " said mitchell" between january first and the 28th alone.... more than 23-hundred people registered as democrats in iowa. in that same time period...close to 2- thousand republicananalso signed up to participate in the nomination process. "people apparently are excited about the candidates, so they want to go out and register," said bottaro. and whether you're democrat, republican, independent or undecided... political experts say voters are ready to be heard. on the democratic sidede have to say this; we have a candidate that may be the first womanpresident, that gets people excited," said tim bottaro. "we have bernie sanders who has caught fire among young people and new people who haven't been involved in the process. the o'malley campaign as well," said bottaro. "well i think there are a lot of people that are angry out there about the way things are going;

said tim mitchell "they're frustrated that nothing is getting done in washington and they want to see it changed," said have our first indication of which candidates will pick toward november. currently close have registered to vote across the state.e. mostly but the largest group of registered voters state- wide....are independents. if you don't have an affiliation with either party and would like to caucus... you do have to register as a republican or a democrat. studio deborah souverain abc 9 news. jenna: the republicans took the debate stage in des moines tonight, but the leader going into monday's caucuses... wasn't there. mary moloney reports. " seven republican candidates stood on the main debate stage -- with the gop frontrunner missing. that didn't stop the candidates -- or the moderators -- from mentioning his name. (megyn kelly/moderator): "let's address the elephant not in the room tonight. donald trump has chosen not to attend." (ted cruz/ (r)

maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat, and ugly. and ben, you are a terrible surgeon. now that we've gotten the donald trump portion out of the way." (laughs) earlier -- four lower polling candidates participated in a so- called undercard debate. and set their sights on iowa. (mike huckabee/(r) presidential candidate): "hello iowa, it's me. and you know me." (rick santorum/(r) presidential candidate): "the people of iowa, who i know pretty darn well, care about the issues. they care about who is going to be the leader of the free world." (carly fiorina/(r) presidential candidate): "i'm going to put my faith in the the gogo judgment of the votererof iowa." also in iowa -- donald trump -- putting on honor veterans. but not everyone supported the event presidential only veteran bill and martha in this race any donald trump event over across town on some sort of issues." two other republican presidential candidates -- who also won past iowa caucuses -- were in attendance. governor mike senatotorick

senator didn't comment on a potential a trump santorum1ticket -- but said he won't bash his fellow contders. (rick santorum/(r) presidential candidate):"i'm not going to to throw mud at anybody on this stage tonight." i'm mary moloney reporting . " jenna: gop candidate donald trump is boasting big numbers from his rally fundraiser that's going to benefit veterans. (donald trump/(r) presidentiti candidate) for me personally is it a good thing? a bad thing? will i get more votes or bad? nobody knows. you're going to like it because we raised one day. trump say's he's skipping the or bad move for his campaign but was happy with the support he received. jenna: debate, a twitter battle and republican unravelled with cruz calling on trump to face him in a "one on one" debate. the venue? western iowa tech community college in sioux city of course.

scheduled for saturday at wit challenged trump to meet him there. western iowa representatives say they're not opposed to that, asked ahead of time. they're not sure they could accomodate a larger crowd seeing as both candidates are leading in the polls. ""we would need to make sure that our was informed as to what was going on...it would be very unique for our campus to have that would be very unique for sioux city as well, it's just that we are limited in our space here. i would think they would have an overwhelming response of people that would want to be here," said jasman. cruz said he would make 800 seat available to iowans for t t impromptu debate. the auautorium his campaign booked... seats about half that. jenna: marco rubio is coming to sioux city ahead of monday's caucus. his campaign announced he'll make a stop at bev's on the river this saturday. that's at 9 in the morning with

8:30 rubio also has events scheduled in council bluffs and ames that day as well. jenna: using tonight's debate as a plplform for their own cause, ththgroup "fight for 15is raising the issue of raising the minimum wage. and they say the republicans aren't paying enough attention to what they're saying. reporter jacob peklo brings us more from des moines. "nats it's a message many of these protesters have trying to give for many years now. wiley king, des moines wendy's worker: "i believe $15 an hour to cover the basis: rent, transportation, health care and our children." their fight for a higher minimum wage rate took them outside the republican presidential candidate debate. as they walked the streets, they wanted to know that their votes have authority. simone davis, des moines mcdonald's worker: "and we deserve so much more. we can't even pay our basic needs in life. we have to struggle from month to month, borrowing, getting loans and depending on the government. we shouldn't have to do that. we work too hard." hundreds of workers left work early to participate in these rallies throughout the day. many traveled to iowa's capitol

national weight. anggie godoy, los angeles resident: "just like we fougug in la and we know how important it is in la. i know how important it iin iowa." last june, godoy's county around los angeles passed a law to make $15 per hour the standard. she says it's made a big difference in her lifestyle. anggie gody, los angeles resident: "it's great i can actually go to college now." they say raising the minimum wage won't hurt the rest of the economy either. wiley king, des moines wendy's worker: "no, i actually believe that the businesses will profit because if we have more money in our pocket, we're going to spend it." and now, they say with thousands of others joining this cause, they think it's closer to reality than ever before. anggie godoy, los angeles resident: "it makes you feel like it's possible, and it is possible. we've seen it in la and in new york." " nna: camp high hopes is celebrating one of their volunteers for outstanding job last year camp volunteer celebration was held today at tthe camp's adowlark lodge in sioux cici. and this year's recipient of volunteer of the year 2015?

kristin burbank was awarded the special event year award as well. staff says that a camp without volunteers. " high hopes could not do it without the volunteers, they are a very critical componentof our all the hours they put in day in and day out we wouou not be susuessful in providing the services that we do." says ceo of camp high hopes ali langseth. over 200 their time to help camp high hopes, helping give a fun experience to disabled children teens and adults in the tri state region. jenna: a newly-formed service group is ready to make another big donation to a siouxland non- profit. during its second quarterly meeting at briar cliff university, 100+ men who care, picked siouxland cares as the non- profit that they'll be supporting. last fall, the group was able to donate $7,000 to the warming shelter, and they hope this donation will be even bigger as they continue to add members.

tremendous amount of support that we got and having the ability to have a huge impact for non- profit within the community has just been something really special and something i'm really proud to be part of and look forward to continuing to grow in the months and member chrhr barondeau. every man in the group committs to writing a $100 check to the non-profit chosen basis. their next meeting is planned for may. jenna: a new barbecue joint in town has a fomer staple in town, green gables crazy bob's barbecue opened the corner of street, customers say that they are glad to see the former greeeegables rerearuant, something owner bob larsen agrees with. " i don't want it to justook like a cookoe cutter restaruant and it's got character. t location, green gables, has been a restaruant for a long time and i think it needed to stay restaruant and this part of the town could really use it." say owner bob larsen. larsen says that the exterior of

being worked on to get completed, but wants customers s come hungry becausushe want to havavyou leave ll. open seven days a week. still to come... a doll with a long history is getting a makeover a longtime in the making. details up ahead. pleasant friday, 40s for the weekend and a snow storm possible on tuesday. details next.

look toy maker in all shapes and variety of skin tones. in an effort to get the dolls to look a little closer to reality. melinda davenport gives us a sneak peak. " we're here at the creek where the look of barbie is changing as we know of the popular will change the look three new bodydy also come in seven skin tones, 22 eye colors and 24 styles. the toy company says they'll still sell the original barbies, but for years, the doll has been criticized for being unrealistic in terms of representation of the woman's body. so the store shelves will look like this for a little bit the new barbie's will start to be sold on march 1 . " gorgeous day

2 line super: fred hexom fhexom@kcautv.c om highs today in the 40s, top 10 day for winter. nice night on the sky cam. 39 our high, and our morning low well above normal. temperatures looking fantastic right now... still some 30s, upper 20s east. winds are calm which will help the development of some fog. not too cold tonight with partly cloudy skies and some fog chilly 20s in the morning. clouds have been tricic today cloudier in nw iowa.. and we can see well. low pressure to our northeast spilling in some that tonight as well. stormcast besides some clouds and

southerly flow kicks in, that will have us warmer, in the mid 40s. we'll alal have a system passing us up north, that could hinder some sunshine, especially in nw iowa. also could drop a raindrop or two. but either way sun and clouds tomorrow. quiet again fray night. saturday we'll keep the southerly flow, so we'll keep the mid 40s again. by saturday night, sunday morning we could see a wintry mix come into play, very light accumulations. tonight, 25 patchy fog and a bit chilly.

and clouds, possibly more clouds and mid 40s. 7-day has sunday, still in the 40s. then all eyes on tuesday. snow likely, winds blustery... how much snow.. too soon to tell, we are working on that in the weather center.

chance range, the track is uncertain. timing would be tuesday, with threats of heavy snow and high winds. enjojothe weekend, wewel keep an eye on that snow in the weather center. coming up in sports...west hosted ninth- ranked spirit lake tonight. find out if the wolverines could notch a win or if the indians could spoil the night. tim plus the hawkeyes made their first ever trip to maryland tonight for a top ten matchup. could they stay undefeated in the big ten? we'll have the highlights up

hawkeyes came into tight's game rankek third in the country and the only undefeated team left in big ten conference play. but the hawks were five and a half point underdogs on the road tonight against number 8 maryland. the first top ten matchup at the xfinity center in college park. in t first half, hawkeyes down five, but anthony clemmons finds a gap and elevates for the flush to cut the lead to three. just a aew possessions later though...diamond stone...great name, great dunk in traffic to go back up five. adam woodbu...making a difference on both ends of the court tonight, he hits the short jumper as the hawks continue to hang around. then out on the break, dom uhl flashes to the corner, catch and fire three...iowa would trail by six at the break. in the second...woody, the hoop and thehe hack, he had a double-double tonight, 11 points and 10 boards and iowa takes the lead.

the crossover frees up some space for the long two. but the terrapins protect home court...they down the hawkeyes, 74- 68 chris: west came into tonight's game at 12-3 but the wolverines were in search of a statement win to prove they belong with thth elite in class 5a. tonight, they had a chance for that when spirit lake came to town. the indians come in ranked ninth in class 3a and they get off to a good macy smith finds erin dau wide open on the backside...she lays it home for the early lead. but on the other end, nobody picks up amanda gors...her high three pointer finds the bottom of the net to cut the deficit to one. late in the first...joie veldman dishes it off to anna brown for the triple, the indians led it 9-7 after one. but in the second...gors, gets the steal and takes it coast to coast for the lay in, wolverines tie things up. then maddy

amongst the trees and west wins it at home, 41-34. western valley conference tournament action, lawton- bronson hosting mvao. we pick it up in the fourth...andee martin gets cut off, she finds brooke hunwardsen down low though...eagles go up 20. and they put the pedal down...lexi binder...open down low and she won't miss from close range. then martin...just a freshman, knocking down the triple...that 20 point lead swells to 29. would continue to grow...ali verzani with the strong take to the rim...l-b goes up 30. mvao doing what they can...emalee funderman goes in for the layup but it was too little too late...eagles move on to the semis against westwood, 73-47. king of the cage returns to siouxland saturday and a pair of area ghters have a chance at belts.

will go for the welterweight amateur world title saturday night at winnavegas casino resort. that would be his first championship. in the co-main event, john devall moved up a weight class in search of a second championship this time as a flyweight, and he hopes to add to his collection. john devall--"i view myself as a pirate and you know, i got my main goal in life. now i'm kind of on this treasure hunt. and for us it's, our prpre is--or our booty would pepese be belts. you know, i want all the gold i could possibly get til i finally reach that number one spot." kyle angerman--"i will have the belt. i've been training really hard and he'sgonna have to really kill me to win that belt from me. it'd mean everything. doors open at 4:30 saturday down in sloan with fights starting at 6. afafr just one game last weekend, the musketeers return to action with 3 games in 3 days this weekend. while that's certainly a tough stretch, the team is anxious to get back out on the ice after their

in that lone game the last two weeks, the musketeers went to lincoln and came home with a seven nothing loss and the team is ready to get back to work.

fog and a bit chilly. tomorrow, pleasant for our friday.. sun and clouds, possibly more clouds and temperatures in the mid 40s. 7-day has that early mix on sunday, still in the 40s. then all eyes on tuesday. snow likely, winds blustery... how much snow.. too t soon to tell, we are working on that in the weather center. what we can say is it's still in the chance range, the trtrk is uncertain. timing would be