>> go ruffles.president barack obama says that contrary to the claims of some gop presidential candidates, he's not plotting to take away everyone's guns. speaking at the white house today, mr. obama is defending his executive actions to tighten criminal background checks. obama says some constraints on freedom are necessary to protect innocent people. president barack obama "the gun lobby may be holding congress hostage right now, but they can not hold america hostage. we do not have to accept this carnage as the price of freedom." former florida governor jeb bush says president obama is acting unlawfully and showing disregard for the second amendment with his executive order. in an op-ed in the cedar rapids gazette, bush says obama is flouting the

l process for lawmaking. on the campaign trail today in new hampshire, he said he believes the executive order won't help. jeb bush/(r) presidential candidate) "it's not going to solve any problems by having the so-called gun by executive order. the authority to do it. if there's laws then he ought to go to congress and try and forge consensus to make it happen. he doesn't have this power." bush says it's even more important to defend gun rights because of attacks linked to the islamic state, and the mass shootings in paris and california. state regulators in south dakota have again approved the portion of the embattled keystone xl oil pipeline that would go through their state. that decision today from the public utilities commission still requires transcanada to get a presidential permit for the project. president obama blocked the pipeline in november, but an attorney for the company has said transcanada remains committed to the project, which could be revived under the next president. south dakota authorized the

construction doesn't start within four years. > weather ad-lib . southerly winds and some limited afternoon sun will help temperatures reach the lower 30s before another chance of light freezing rain again tonight. a few snowflakes might mix in too, but better chances of snow showers will be during the day tomorrow that shouldn't result in anything huge accumulation-wise, but a coating is certainly a possibility. we'll see yet another small chance of an isolated mix on thursday with some light snow possible on friday before our next big shot of cold air arrives this weekend. see graphics.

officials with the n-t-s-b are expected to join the investigation into the crash of a small airplane near pender, nebraska today. the single-engine cessna went down in a farm field sunday night, killing the pilot. the plane had been diverted from landing at sioux gateway airport at about seven p-m because of bad weather. it was on its way to the wayne airport when it disappeared from radar. the wreckage was found about one-thirty monday morning. the plane had taken off from missouri. the name of the pilot has not been released. police in eastern iowa are investigating a shooting that sent a two-year old boy to the hospital with a serious wound. the child was shot in the face at an apartment in dubuque late sunday night. he was taken to a local hospital, then flown to iowa

several adults and children where inside the home at the time of the shooting however no one else was injured. so far no criminal charges have been filed. tensions continue to rise in the middle east, fueled by saudi arabia's decision to cut ties with iran and the saudi's execution of a prominent cleric. n-b-c's richard engel reports from istanbul.

shiite cleric and opposition leader this weekend, protesters in iran attacked the saudi embassy. saudi arabia, and allies bahrain, sudan, the uae and today kuwait all cut or downgraded diplomatic ties with iran. will saudi arabia and iran go to war? unlikely experts say, but the two nations are already back opposition sides in the wars in yemen in syria. who benefits from the rising tension? isis. saudi arabia and iran both middle east powerhouses would need to cooperate to stop the war in syria, and thereby stop isis. but in the middle east seems there more will among nations to squabble with each other than to fight against a common enemy. richard engel/ nbc news/ istanbul, turkey "iran's president today called the execution of the shiite cleric a crime. the white house would like nothing more than to put this crisis behind these two countries and get all side focused on fighting isis... but that's not happening. richard engel,

>> the city council has delayed a decsion on closing sioux city swimming pools. council members want to wait until after the capital improvements budget review. the swimming pool committee has recommended closing leeds and cook pools after next summer, then closing lewis pool in morningside after a new aquatic center is opened in singing hills. leif erickson pool would remain open until ongoing maintenance issues force its closure in the future. the director of sioux city's parks and rec department says he understands the council's desire for a delay. "i wasn't surprised, the council wanted to take a look at where we're at in the cip process before a decision's been made," said sioux city parks and rec dir. matt salvatore. the capital improvements budget review begins on january 23rd. the council plans to approve a city budget on march 7th. temperatures are a little milder today... but it's at the expense of stronger winds. there's also a

forecast. meterologist ben dorenbach is back with the details after this. currently degrees in spencer, iowa. do you think when you are president you'll be paid as much as if you were a man-male... this is one of the jobs where they have to pay you the same. but there are so many examples where that doesn't happen. i'm going to do everything i can to make sure every woman in every job gets paid the same... ...as the men who are doing that job. i'm hillary clinton

ben, we're seeing a little more sunshine today.

afternoon sun will help temperatures reach the lower 30s before another chance of light freezing rain again tonight. a few snowflakes might mix in too, but better chances of snow showers will be during the day tomorrow that shouldn't result in anything huge

but a coating is certainly a possibility. we'll see yet another small chance of an isolated mix on thursday with some light snow possible on friday before our next big shot of cold air arrives this weekend. see graphics. >>

coming up: iowa leaders talk water quality ahead of the upcoming legislative session... -- an all-out pizza war that

year's resolution a challenge. -- and the new chevy camaro is selling like hot cakes! so much so that g-m is adding

water quality funding is among the topics legislative leaders are talking about in the week before the iowa legislature convenes. governor terry branstad is considering a proposal to fund water quality efforts by diverting part of a sales tax designed to help schools pay for repairs and updated technology. more attention has been focused on water quality after des moines water works spent 1.5- million dollars last year to remove nitrates from its drinking water. the utility is suing agriculture drainage districts in three northwest iowa counties over farm chemicals that end up in the raccoon river. a massive winter storm that slammed parts of new mexico last week has passed, but the economic impact will linger for a while. that's because the storm killed more than 20- thousand cattle causing a dairy disaster for area farmers. caleb james has more.

(s/ carrie mess / "dairy carrie":00-:08) "this is going to be a long term problem that these farmers are having to deal with beyond just the 20,000 cows that were lost." 20-thousand cows dead across southeastern new mexico -- and as the frost thaws... the number is expected to rise. (s/ carrie mess / "dairy carrie":16-:21) "when you have a storm like this that comes through, there's just nothing you can do." dairy business insider carrie mess is known to fellow farmers as dairy carrie -- a witty wisconsin- based blogger and consultant who travels the country. after goliath... she was furious over new mexican ranchers being criticized over perceived lack of preparation. (s/ carrie mess / "dairy carrie":38-:45) "they did everything they could, you know, to set up windbreaks and to make sure cattle had feed. it just wasn't enough." but, mess says new mexico has years of recovery ahead... many of the cattle dead after the storm were young... the dairy cows of tomorrow. but she says the 20,000 cow death toll doesn't tell the whole story... because many cows that survived

produce again. (s/ carrie mess / "dairy carrie"1:06-1:17) "when a cow doesn't get milked, her production is going to be decreased, and it won't pick right back up. getting them to come back to milk is probably not something that's going to happen for them." (s/ nancy beckerink/ dairy farmer1:18- 1:23) probably 25 percent of our herd has frostbite now." nancy beckerink owns dutch road dairy -- 25 miles from clovis over the texas border... these photos show goliath's wrath after pummeling her property for days. (s/ nancy beckerink/ dairy farmer1:33- 1:37) "we're going to be seeing the results of this in our cows for at least a year." and mess says a lasting affect on new mexico's dairy industry will likely affect the economy... (s/ carrie mess / "dairy carrie"1:44-1:47) "milk is actually a pretty local product no matter where you are in the us." what's made here, gets sold here... and it's only a matter of time before we start feeling goliath's chill... in the price of milk. >>

u.s. stocks are edging lower as trading stabilizes a day after a plunge in china unsettled investors around the

car salespeople may be sad to see 2015 end.. it was a good year for them. automakers will report u-s december's sales figures tuesday, and experts believe the numbers will shatter the previous annual record of 17- point-4 million vehicles made in 2000. experts says lower gas prices, easy credit and strong job growth are some of the reasons for the boost in sales. demand for the new chevrolet camaro has general motors adding a third shift. g-m says it'll add about 500 jobs to meet expected demand for the all-new 2016 camaro. production of the sports car was moved to lansing, michigan over the summer. it's the first time the camago has been built in the u-s since 19-92. in november, "motor trend" magazine named the 2016 camaro its car of the year. this may wipe out your new year's resolution real quick! it appears to be a pizza war!

the new year with new low-priced offers. pizza hut is offering customers the chance to buy a medium pizza with one topping for 5-dollars as long as they buy at least one other item also for 5- dollars. papa john's is offering customers who buy a large pizza at regular price the chance to buy a second for only 50 cents. still ahead on news four at noon... handling hecklers. if you want to be president of the united states, you're going to have to be able to. which candidates give as good as they get... coming up.

in the middle of a time when senior poverty is increasing. republicans and some democrats came up with a brilliant idea for cutting cost-of-living adjustments for social security. we said, "it will be over our dead bodies if you cut social security." as president, i will do everything i can to extend the solvency of social security and expand benefits for people who desperately need them.

okoboji from our okoboji skycam... heckling is pretty much a right of passage for presidential candidates. and for some, it's practically an everyday thing. but which candidates can give as good as they get from hecklers? jeanne moos reports ...

the same weekend bernie sanders was confronted by a sign waving guy wearing a trump shirt. (sen. bernie sanders/(d) presidential candidate) "here's a trump supporter worried about mr. trump's money." a sanders supporter retaliated by giving the heckler the two handed one finger salute. no one gets more practice with hecklers than donald trump himself...he's always saying.... (donald trump/(r) presidential candidate) "hello hello." to a heckler. or waving goodbye.... (donald trump/(r) presidential candidate) "bye bye." at one point trump was accused of being too rough on a heckler who got shoved around. (donald trump/(r) presidential candidate) "get him the hell out of here will ya please." at other times trump softened his approach. (donald trump/(r) presidential candidate) "you can get him out but don't hurt him." he tends to handle hecklers with shrugs, smiles and head shaking. (donald trump/(r) presidential candidate) "ai yi yi." and once got flak for calling a heckler overweight. (donald trump/(r) presidential candidate) "i mention food stamps and that guy who's seriously overweight went crazy." (jeanne moos/cnn correspondent) "depending on which candidate you heckle, you could get dr. jekyll or mr. hyde." from jeb bush asking a heckler to speak up.... (jeb bush/(r) presidential

"excuse me." to chris christie saying sit down. (gov. chris christie/(r) presidential candidate) "sit down and shut up." bernie sanders decided to stand down when black lives matters protesters showed up at his podium, refusing to shake sanders hand. the candidate backed off as an organizer tried to deal. (nat sound) (donald trump/(r) presidential candidate) "i promise that's not gonna happen with me." it's hard to out heckle the heckler-in-chief. (donald trump/(r) presidential candidate) "how can i describe our leaders better than the word stupid." jeanne moos, c-n-n. (donald trump/(r) presidential candidate) >> "workin' on the railroad... still to come, on around

a lot of artifacts. we put a fundraiser together with these historic rails from the property that we're selling through the museum as a fundraiser. how much would you have to contribute to get one of these? we're selling these rails for $99 and the funds go to the ongoing building renovations which we have some restoration going on right now that will complete the rest of the historic buildings. they'll go to cost to fund the educational programs for the kids for next spring and summer. the facility is open seasonally. when is reopens in the spring, what are some of the changes people are going to see? the restoration of the buildings are going to be complete. one of them throughout the summer will be transformed into a movie theater. with air conditioning in some too. heating and air conditioning and everything. our next stop after this that these funds will go to start our hard trail system and our paved parking. if you'd like more information on how to help 712-233-6996 or milwaukeerailroadshops.or g. matt thanks for joining us. thank you. thank you for joining us around siouxland. >>

forecast. thanks for joining us. have a great afternoon! >> good afternoon.