where we're giving context to what happens in the headlines and on the campaign trail.that starts with the barnstorm. for just the third time since taking office nearly eight years ago -- president obama addressed the nation from the oval office on monday. monday.he talked about recent terror attacks -- and how tighter gun control is a first step towards making americans safer.he also urged americans to realize that fighting terrorism does not put them at war with any religion -- and laid out his plan to lead that fight. first, our military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary, second, we will continue to provide training and equipment to tens of thousands of iraqi and syrian forces fighing isil on the ground. third, we're working with friends and allies to stop isil's operations, to disrupt plots, fourth, with american leadership the international community has begun to establish a process and timeline to pursue ceasefires

the syrian war. republican presidential candidates didn't like it. virtually all of them said the president has been weak on the international stage -- putting the united states in this position in the first place. fox news suspended two contributors for two weeks each for using profanity when talking about the president's speech. republican candidate donald trump made what might end up being one of his most controversial comments this week.after the president's address -- trump called for the united states to stop all muslims -- citizens or foreigners -- from coming into the united states. "donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. on.many of his fellow candidates and republicans backed away from those comments -- including speaker of the house paul ryan and former vice president dick

on muslims goes against everything the united states believes in. a local iowa college is taking the oppostie approach and standing wtih muslims. muslims.the just action group at luther college in decorah say they know that there's a chance the very politicans who have been stirring up anti-muslim sentiment may visit their community.they say they want to make it clear that their community is committed to diversity and inclusion -- and that those politicans will be met with a strong response. other presidential candidates from both parties were focusing part of their week on the role technology plays in the economy. economy.the presidential tech town hall in cedar rapids gave candidates a chance to talk about their policies relating to starting a business in the 21st century -- and how technology might help. organizers say iowa isn't only the first state in the nation to caucus for candidates -- but places like the creative corridor and des moines are also hotbed for entrepreneurs. "it's not just silicon valley, it's not just new york that

growing companies. and what these companies are doing is they're creating jobs and they're creating new amazing technologies. technologies.julie says the event allows candidates to talk about how they'd help those companies since they often get have to talk about other issues on the campaign trail. republican presidental candidate carly fiorina drew on her experince in the private sector to talk about why she knows business partnerships are so important. important.the former c-e-o of hewlett-packard says right now -- the government isn't partnering with privately owned companies to take advantage of the work they're already doing.she says a fiorina administration wouldn't make that mistake. "in order to lead, we need a leader, a president who understands technology and who understands how to use the private sector innovation in technology to solve our most pressing problems starting with national security problems. problems.fiorina says right now -- there are cable companies and power co-ops --

would like to partner with the government.she says right now -- the obama administraion is closing them out. on the other side of the aisle -- democratic presidential candidate martin o'malley focused more on individual workers. workers.he says in order for new businesses to succeed -- they need a workforce that can solve the problems they face in all stages of develoment. "when i talk to entrepreneurs, especially in growing sectors, they need the workers that are skilled that have the talents especially in i-t and other emerging industries that can do the work that's required." required."he says once people have learned those skills -- they're also likely to get paid a higher salary for them -- which gives them more money to spend -- and helps the entire economy. proud history is in danger of being lost in a rural iowa city. students at keota high school say budget cuts and more online classes hurt the quality of education with only more cuts on the way.those problems inspired a group of students to reach out to

their thoughts on the city's problems. problems. nat mayor: 04:42:49 "it's going to put 3 million on us that we're going to put on the citizens."keota mayor tony cansler says his town faces a financial crisis with epa regulations and their town's water streams.sot: mayor cansler 04:44:11 "the dnr contacted us saying we werent in standard or in compliance and changes were going to have to be made."nat pop crowd that's one of many problems they face in the heartland. keota sociology's project to bring presidential candidates to their high school - already put these concerns on the campaign trail.on tuesday - it was democrat martin o'malley's turn.nat pop o'malleystudents say they want the next president to promise dollars will be divided into the right programs.sot: megan adam, senior/04:28:05 maybe something like ap courses that we dont offer. i mean they're available to us but our school doesn't offer them.sot: abby schulte 04:33:20 we dont have a science teacher to teach chemistry.freshman brianna duwa wants to study nursing

her head at how lab time doesn't exist.sot: brianna duwa 04:35:12 "i like to learn with a teacher showing me what to do so that kind of scares me yessot: tyler verstrate 04:36:36 " it's just interesting because the reason i took physics was to try to get a head start.but the idea of getting a head start in this town is just dream for many down the road - no matter how much they embrace the small town atmosphere.sot: tyler verstrate 04:26:28 "having a small community like this, presents opportunities that you can't get anywhere else."sot: mayor cansler: 04:48:08 "for quite some time this is the most attention that we've had." the students from the keota sociology class say they want to launch another twitter campaign soon - with the hashtag students saving schools. democratic front runner hillary clinton announced this week that she'll be at keota high school on december 22nd. 22nd.but wednesday -- she toured a university of northern iowa facility where they work with the largest 3-d printer in north america.she said the students she met with are not only getting the training that will get them great jobs but are also helping eastern iowa build the foundation to be on the cutting edge of manufacturing in the world. "and i asked where that big

they said. i said, so what are we going to do about that? and i was really happy when the answer from the faculty member came back, 'we're working with folks in ohio. we're working to see if we can't figure out how to produce this machine in america.' that's the kind of thinking that i really want as president to promote more of." of."at a town hall meeting that followed -- clinton rolled out a new plan to keep big corporations from avoiding taxes by moving their assets overseas.she says that if congress doesn't go along with her plans if she wins the white house -- she believes she'd be able to enact her plan through executive action. republican marco rubio spent time on a college campus a little farther south.the florida senator spoke to a crowd in kinnick stadium at the university of iowa -- spending a lot of time setting himself apart from older candidates. "our policies are outdated and we're led by people that are outdated. good people. they mean well. but they don't understand the 21st century. they don't understand the pace of innovation. they don't understand the new economy.

student loans got him through college -- but would have still been a burden if he hadn't written a book.he also drove home the idea that college isn't for everyone -- and that vocational training can be a way for people to support a family without a four year degree. cedar rapids saw one of the largest events on the campaign trail just weeks before the caucuses -- calling for limited government and free market.it put first district congressman rod blum in the limelight.but some say the views shaping this event could cause blum to be a one time congressman. congressman. "citizens, it is time to take our government and our country back."the rising tide summit focused on coming back from what gop candidates call a failed obama administration. first district congressman rod blum partnered with freedomworks to bring five presidential candidates to cedar rapids. rapids."we want to focus on the economy and helping the working families' middle classes' incomes go up because they've been stagnant for the last 20 years."dr. andy mcguire with the iowa

like this one divide blum from the district he serves. serves."he's become a really extreme advocate in the tea party and this freedomworks is exactly the same kind of group so i dont know that if its that much of its strength - that he's aligning himself with people who have very rigid views that i don't think align with the middle class of the first district." district."i would expect someone from the democrat party to say that.big names coming to visit north east iowa is nothing g w for the first term congressman.he's been flexing political muscle hosting other candidates at various points in their 2016 campaigns.he says it lets his constiuents see as many white house hopefuls as possible. possible. but that also opens him up to attacks like the one's from dr. mcguire -- tying him to what gets said on stage. stage."when the first district voted for him, i think they thought he was somebody who was going to work with people from both sides, that's what he has said." said."we think it's a tremendous success. we exceeded our expectations for attendence and we couldn't be

dr. mcguire also says ideas like repealing the affordable care act will only hurt the middle class and puts blum even more at risk. every week -- we'll be going inside iowa politics -- talking about the people not trying to move into the white house. a handful of iowans were in des moines throughout the week protesting the governor's plan to privitize medicaid. medicaid.governor terry branstad is looking for federal approval on the january first switch to allow four private companies to manage medicaid.opponents are skeptical the new system won't be for the state's 4-billion dollar program.coming up later in the real story --- we'll take a look at iowa's medicaid saga from when it started until the present day. coming up next on iowa in focus...steffi lee sits down with republican presidential cadidate rand paul to talk about everything from islamophobia to donald trump

to iowa in focus - today we are joined by senator rand paul from kentucky - thank you so#much for joining us. so first things first, a lot of people have been saying trump is the frontrunner, polls have him soaring, polls have him at 35% at this point, what do you have to say for where you are in the race?"rand: 08:51:31 "i think one of the things that's underrepresented in the polls is that we do very well with younger audiences. we have 20 college campuses organized in iowa, we have 400 college campuses organized across the country."steffi: 08:52:26 "what do you have to say for that - terrorism - our islamophobia here - do you believe there is s islamophobia in our country? what do we have to do?"rand: 08:52:36 "one of the ways we do defend ourselves is having rules on who comes to visit, rules on who immigrates into the country - it's a consistent theme, people who are

do it here to a radical form of islam, and we have to protect oursesees."steffi: 08:53:27 "what rules specifically would you want to implement, change or make sure that you set in stone?"rand: 08:53:31 "i think we have to have a track of who comes in, and who leaves and w wther they're taying the appropriate time. there's 11 million people in our country who came here illegally - 40 percent of them came legally and overstayed their visa. but we don't do anything about it, we have laws on immigration we ignore them. there's one hundred and fifty thousand students a year who come from the middle east. many of them are good people and it's great that they get to encounter america and the west and hopefully that influences them in a positive direction." steffi: 08:56:33 "lately you've been saying that hillary clinton and marco rubio kind of share the same and from my understanding you called it naive, expensive, dangerous - what options do you have - what alternatives do you have for that?"rand: 08:56:45 "the neoconservative philosophy of rubio and clinton is that we should go into countries, toppling their

and somehow miraculously we'll spring jeffefeonian democrats who love america. - it hasn't worked."08:57:00 "we tried toppling saddam hussein in raq, hillary clinton supported that, marco rubio supported that. it's chaos over there. i mean you have the rise of isis in that vacuum that was built even though we got rid of a dictator. same with qadafi in libya."08:57:13 "libya is a failed state, now with qaddafi gone - a third of libya pledges allegiance to isis and frankly i blame marco rubio, i blame hillary clilion. i blame the people who say oh wewee going to spread american democracy ?and freedom around the world but what they do is they get involved in the affairs of other countries but then it's worse."steffi: how would we fight off isis would you say?08:58:52 "there are some good allies there. we should amplify them. the kurds are

crazy, aligned with al-qaeda, and they will fight because they've lived in their homeland a long time. i would arm them directly, and i would continue with air support. but the boots on the ground need to be arabs, they need to be muslims, and the only lasting peace will be when muslims stamp out these abhorrent form of islam."08:59:18 "what do you have to say about donald trump and his presence overall?"08:59:23 "oh god, do we have to talk about him - i think really he represents some baser instincts that are probably not good for america. i worry that his narcissism could potentially become an authoritarianism that he's so smart and he's so powerful just give him the reigns of power and he'll make everything better and it's kind of naive and it goes against the historical notion that too much power in the presidency actually is what many of us, including our founding fathers actually fought against." still to come on iowa in focus...we dig into the state issue that could put health coverage in jeopardy for

welcome back.this is the real story -- where we take a closer look at some issues -- even if it means going back a few days -- weeks or months --

years.today -- we take a look at how medicaid is changing in iowa right now. medicaid is a program that helps pay for medical care for groups of people who have low incomes -- are disabled -- or elderly -- or have one of any other long list of needs that qualifies them for a little extra help.any disruption to that system could be painful. "well i think the worst that can happen is while managed care organizations are taking a look at cutting costs, it also means cutting services to iowa's most vulnerable. as part of the affordable care act -- medicaid would be expanded within each state. state.at first -- iowa governor terry branstad resisted -- until he was able to get a waiver allowing iowa to work out the details about how it would expand for itself. the result is a customized system where federal funding is used to pay for policies that low income patients select from healthcare - dot - gov.it also has incentives for people on medicaid to monitor their own health -- branstad calls that having skin in the

in february 2015 -- governor branstad rolled out a new plan to run medicaid. medicaid.he called it the governor's medicaid modernization initiative and it creates the iowa high quality healthcare initiative -- with four private companies who would provide medicaid services -- helping to take the burden off the state budget.the department of human services says the cost of providing medicaid has increased 73-percent just since 2003 under the old but more traditional model.the transition to the private companies happens january first. "it's worked effectively in other states and i see no reason why in iowa we can't work it effectively. for the most part -- some democrats were skeptical that this was the best way to move forward for iowans.but then at the end of november -- an administrative law judge recommended that one of the four contracts signed with the thrown out. out.that judge said that company should have told the mismanagement involving former executives.the company said they would challenge the ruling -- governor branstad

privitize medicaid in iowa would stay on schedule -- and as of right now -- the company is still going to be one of the four involved in the system. "all four of these companies are very troublesome to say the least. and so people here feel very passionately that if we were to move to managed care, that these are not the four companies to have. the concerns over the switch broke down largely along party lines. lines.the benefit pushed by republicans is that working with a limited number of private companies saves the state money.democrats are concerned that the quality of care will suffer even with the assurances from the governor that the level of coverage will stay the same throughout the transition. "nobody had any answers for me. nobody knew anything that was going on."people falling through the cracks, providers not recieving reimbursement. all of which could really lead to some bad outcomes."under managed care, as we've heard from company representatives, they will be making determinations on whether or

prescribing as care is really necessary."gotta be frustrating. -- yeah it is. it's frustrating but it looks like it's gonna happen." this is where we are right now. this past week -- officials from the federal centers for medicare and medicaid services were in des moines to review the plan to privatize medicaid servicesafter the prep work to get the transition ready -- and the protests by people who are afraid it won't go well -- if those federal officials decide iowa isn't ready -- they'd be able to stop the transition scheduled for january first -- or -- let it go through. after the break...the tweet from one iowa politican that gave sports fans a good

welcome back -- we'll close the show each week taking a look at what happened on social media... media...this past weekend -- the navy commissioned a ship named for jackson, mississippi -- which is name for andrew

bit of controversy -- since jackson owned slaves -- and the n-double a-c-p says a ship shouldn't be named after him. that got some folks going on facebook... facebook...edward says i personally don't see an issue. the military has always held the honor in respect and continuing a close relationship with cities, states, or individuals that they share name sakes with, regardless of their affiliations. affiliations.randi - political correctness and victimhood is getting ridiculous! ridiculous!cheryl - we can find something wrong with everyone and everything. now -- we look at their voice -- what politicans are posting on social media. media.the iowa hawkeyes are getting a lot of attention because they're off to the rose bowl -- even after losing the big 10 championship game last week.the thing is -- they lost in the last 30-seconds. that was a problem for iowa senator joni ernst. ernst.before the game was over -- she congradulated the team on their win.the problem was -- the team then lost.the account quickly deleted the tweet and said that it was a staff error -- and congradulate d the hawkeyes on their season. most fans probably forgot once they heard about the rose bowl.

twitter early in the week -- talking about how the washington post is owned by jeff bezos -- so that he can keep his taxes low.bezos has been working on a project that would send a rocket into space -- you may see where this is going. going.bezos tweeted -- finally trashed by @realdonaldtrump. will still reserve him a seat on the blue origin rocket. #senddonaldtospace -- and then linked to a video promoting the project. you can follow along on twitter and facebook all week long.see our interviews as we do them -- chime in with what you think -- send us your favorite pictures from events you go to. every week we'll end with the week ahead... ahead...it's a chance for you to see what different campaigns have scheduled -- and where you can see whichever candidate you want. want.later today -- bernie sanders wraps up a pretty busy weekend trip through eastern iowa in waterloo -- mount vernon and davenport. republican john kasich is back in iowa on wednesday in ankency and thursady in waterloo.demoratic front runner hillary clinton announced she'll make her long- awaited trip to keota high school -- after students there kept asking her to come -- on

thanks for watchingbe sure to tune in next week to get the

focus. jameis winston, he's got eight touchdowns in the last three games looking for a big win at home today against the saints. hoping to keep the bucs in playoff contention. meanwhile, cam newton, he can do no wrong. what do you think about that sweater, randy? >> i love the sweater.

pocket.