privileged to have five amazing kids. and if we succeeded that they are healthy and live a long life and have a memory of a good childhood, then we were successful at being parents. this broadcast is real time captioned by carrie o'brien. >> we're excited to be in the game. we know that we we're going to have to beat a good football team tonight. >> the broncos are moving to the a.f.c. championship. abig honor at today's game for a local police officer critically injured on the job. plus a more contentious democratic debate tonight as bernie sanders gains major grounds then early voting states. our experts give their take on how the candidates performed. and a bit of the break from the bitter cold this week.

the 17th meeting of manning versus brady will be for a trip to the supreme court. the broncos are in the a.f.c. championship today with the win over the steelers. >> broncos did rally when they need today. >> yes. the broncos within one victory to boarding a flight to santa clara, california, for supreme court 50. they were tougher than steel today. peyton manning returned to the starting line up for the first time in two months. no floridas and no interceptions, but the greatest zeros in football history, that's all that he needs to do. again. roby forced a 4th quarter fumble. the broncos win, 23-16 and advance to the conference championship game for the 10th time. >> it is very satisfying to win. to beat the steelers in a playoff game -- it's -- those guys overall are battle-tested,

that's really the kind of game we thought it was going to be tonight. >> that is exactly what we have been about all year. not one way that we have won. we have won different ways. a lot of different players contribute to our success. we told them to take them all today, and it sure did. it will continue to take all of us as we move forward. >> as you mentioned, peyton times before. peyton only won five of those. he hopes to make it a half- denver. >> thanks, drew. if you are hoping to get tickets for the game at mile high, they go on sale at noon. on ticketmaster.com and only in colorado and a few surrounding states. ticket prices from $100 to $360, club seats, 6:35.

tickets will not be available at the broncos ticket office until tuesday. damarius thomas played with his mother in the stands for the first time today. >> she has been in prison since her arrest in 1999 for drug charges. last year, president barack obama stopped the sentence for smith. this is the first time she has been allowed to travel out of the state. during today's game, the team honored a denver police officer who made incredible strides in his recovery. john was given the broncos country hero award, giving to an inspiring person. adriver hit him, the driver, christopher booker had a seizure behind the wheel. doctors told booker not the

booker has been sentenced to six years in a community program. all right. two americans are missing tonight in iraq. three americans were kidnapped by militias in the iraqi capital. aspokesperson is working with iraqi or thes to find the missing americans. last week security deteriorated in and around baghdad after months of calm. three americans are free from iran, including a "washington post" reporter held for 18 months. they were among five americans yesterday after a prisoner swap between the u.s. and iran. and the release came as international sanctions were lifted on iran, part of an international nuclear deal. however, today new sanctions against 11 people and companies involved in iran's ballistic missile program. tonight was the final democratic debate before the iowa caucuses two weeks from tomorrow. a new poll is showing hillary

nationwide, she is in danger of losing to sanders in iowa and new hampshire. they argued about gun control. yesterday, sanders that he supports stripping legal immunity from gun companies. and he voted for it a year ago. >> i think secretary clinton knows what she says is very disingenuous. i have a d - voting report from the nra. we will look at it. >> he voted for what we call the charleston loophole. he voted for immunity from gunmakers and sellerchise the nr -- sellers. >> hillary clinton found herself on all sides the

doesn't take money from goldman sachs like hillary clinton. and martin o'malley from maryland was also critical. >> you did not go as far as training on wall street as i would. the fact of the matter, the people of american deserve to a have a president on their side. >> you know, governor, you raised money on wall street. you raised a lot of money on wall street, when you were the head of the democratic governor's association. >> all three candidates did agree upon was climate change. bernie sanders took a shot at republican frontrunner on the topic. >> it is beyond my comprehension how we can elect a president of the united states, somebody like trump, who believes that climate change is a hoax invented by the chinese. the bottom line, we need to be bold and decisive and create

for the sake of our kids and grandchildren transform our energy system. >> our 9 news political experts gave us their take. james and kelly agreed on one thing, the timing of the debate wasn't the best for the fourth and final showdown between hillary clinton, bernie sanders and martin o'malley. >> this was a home game for hillary clinton. she really rapid herself around the president barack obama flag tonight in charleston. adifferent tack from the past. she can pulling 70% among americans. that will be a very strong consistency for her. >> i think that hillary clinton showed a lot of vulnerabilities tonight. her cognitive talking about how much she hates rich people and simultaneously taking millions of dollars from them. and in addition from that, bernie sanders showed that the

>> 14 days before the february 1st iowa caucuses. according to the polls taken before the debate, hillary clinton leads sanders by 25 points. a national poll. a driver backed through a garage door before slamming into the kitchen of the house across the street. near 32nd and harland tonight. no one was hurt. but the people will need to stay elsewhere until they can determine if the buildings are safe. the crash is under investigation. and alcohol was a factor. in the morning, the search will continue for a 50-year-old man who never returned home after hiking st. mary's. the man was reported missing yesterday. members of the rescue team has been looking for him last night. and had to contend with the cold, strong winds and poor visibility due to the blowing snow. rescue dogs helping. the search for 12 marines missing after two helicopters collided went into day three, high surf warnings were in effect.

thursday. yesterday the coastguard expanded the search to include waters off the west coast of the island. spacex launched a falcon 9 rocket today to put a government satellite in order. during the attempt to land it, it came a part. one of the lanning legs failed. and it begins to tip. there it goes. it finally comes down on the landing platform it explodes with violent force. this video from the instagram page from the owner. tomorrow morning, m.l.k. parade. things will wrap up at civic center part. the city started the position

and one of the largest celebrations in america. snow and wind ease tonight to return later in the week.

with the win over the steelers, broncos fans are look ahead to next sunday. and we spoke with fans today as they were leaving mime high. >> reporter: has the sun descended on sports authority field -- >> yeah! yeah baby! >> broncos country bleeding orange and blue got exactly. >> yeah. >> what they came here for. >> we are back next week. >> reporter: a big broncos win against the steelers, 23-16 in the afc divisional playoff game. >> great game. >> heck of a game.

>> reporter: a deal sealed late in the 4th quarter. aperformance that landed them l. >> kudos to pate. >> peyton. >> reporter: a spot in next sunday's a.f.c. championship game against tom brady and the patriots. an on-field showdown. >> yes, bring on brady. for. >> reporter: at sports authority field, christine noelle, 9 news. broncos' fans voting in the facebook poll tonight think that denver will win but not by much next weekend. the poll is still open. and broncos pride photos. we're looking for the best decked out homes, cars, kids, pets, and anything that you can

you should probably do that is a good qualifier. i don't know where to go with that, other than looking ahead to next sunday's forecast. right now, next sunday and 44. >> nothing bad about that. very decent. >> if you check with me tomorrow and the day after -- >> don't tell us it will change. >> well, it is in the future. >> it is. >> the did seem like anywhere you looked to there were signs of orange and blue including in the sky over colorado. this is a beautiful picture. four degrees there. 38 officially at dia. and 27 in greeley. 36 in eagle. and the average high this time of the year is 43. the winds are letting up. they are calm in the back yard. calm and quiet. 10miles per hour all day at dia. now, we're sitting pretty. all right. alook what is happening around the area.

die down just a little bit. gusts in the higher passes in excess of 40 miles per hour. aseries of weather systems coming to colorado from the west. so the wind dying down tonight will pickup tomorrow and the official rain in san francisco, and snow moving into salt lake city. and the winter travel advisory is out for colorado, they are starting the show back up on the map. to the north of us bitter cold air. we are on the fringe of cold arctic air. awind chill warning, minneapolis, oklahoma, st. louis, and chicago. seeing it snow -- it was just bronco fever in the colorado high country. the best skiing and snowboarding conditions we had in recent memory. 8 to 13 inches of snow and more in the next 24 hours. anorthwest flow that brought flurries in this morning. not our sights on not one but two weather makers off of the

the next one in 24 hours, but ahead of the winds out of the southwest will give us a day with above-average highs. 21 in omaha, two in minneapolis, and 21 in st. louis. so we're right on the fringe there. clear skies now, but the i-25 corridor will look and feel colder. and then late in the day, moisture increases from the west. north and west facing folks will start to see accumulation and run into snow and ice on i- 70. 11 in aspen tonight. temperatures out across the western slope will be chilly. warmest in east strobe light and southeastern colorado, we start and end the week with denver. interesting.

tomorrow, in idaho strings with mid-40's. the forecast for you on this sunday night, we have fair skies and light wind in the city. windy west. the winds will decrease tonight and return tomorrow. 6:20 degrees. and mid 40s by noon. the cloud cover and the wind is back. but a decent day. afew flurries on tuesday. and no accumulation. we clear out. we warmup on wednesday. we cool off on thursday. we end the week with 50s. right now we're watching the weekend forecast for that third weather maker that may be a bring a few flurries on the weekend. right now on monday of the following week. i love this picture. it is -- so beautiful, and so many are finding creative ways to get through the winner. never-ending-- winter, it is never-ending. >> the cold and snow started in

hi, everybody, no surprise the broncos will play the patriots in the afy championship -- a.f.c. championship. manning. the winning point. the steelers husband one last chance in the final seconds, ben. stadium.

before and all season long, the offense doing enough to hang around until they are sparked by a play by the defense and that's why the broncos will play on. >> and the ball is knocked free. >> it is a great feeling. we were stressing. we need a turnover. we have not had a turnover all game. i was saying it, too. just stressing it. and then we got the opportunity. and i capitalized. >> we said the team is going to win the game and the turnover battle. there was probably a big momentum changer for us. you can see once i got the fummal and the -- fumble and then peyton went down and scored. >> well i think it helps playing a lot of close games during the course of the season. the first one, baltimore, that was a dog fight. so when you can be in a lot of those games and in with the games it certainly gives you confidence. hey.

>> any time number 18 gets the ball, we're going to score a touchdown. i'm trying to prepare my mind for the extra point. we moved the ball decently all games. and i want to help my team anyway that i can. no matter the yards or the field goals it is my job out there to make them. so just happy i was able to help the team. >> a record today with five field goals in a playoff game. >> how much time do you spend celebrating and then get ready for the patriots. >> 12:00 you party and then get ready for the patriots. one more game until the big show. everybody will have a good time, stay low, but tonight at 12:01 you get working on the patriots. >> we have not seen the broncos play a complete football game. they been close twice against the packers and the patriots and beat them both.

have to be at their best next sunday. rod mackey, 9 news. >> the broncos tonight show is going to be fun. the nuggets scored 45 points tonight in the 4th quarter. my new favorite player, emmanuel things that spinning is for sissies. they win 129-126. common hoops cu made it 3-4 beating oregon. colorado wins, 91-87. nick's pick was recognize this week. nick the sea lion at the denver zoo predicted that the broncos would win over the steelers. the only postgame he missed on

"star wars" was finally knocked out of the top of the box office this weekend after being number one for the past