anticipated moviis in years. i'm jerry gallagher... let's check on your weather now with storm track 7 meteorologiss eileen loan.. good morning. roads remain wet this december morning with rain continuing to track to the north, but it will be ending from the south to the north. you can see dry air starting to work into our southernmost counties. but we had quite a bit of rain over the last couple of days.... just for sunday, we had 1 to over 3"! waterloo smashed their previous december 13th daily record. and now we are dealing with temps that are going to be falling today as the low tracks through... but it is still mild... 40s and 50s with strong winds.... they are 15 to 30 mph right now and willstay gusty throughout the day. the rain will continue to track out of the area and some snowflakes

northern counties as the temps fall this afternoon, but most of uu will keep it as rain. will dry outttomorrow, but another system tracks through on wednesday. i'll have that forecast for you in a few minutes. our top story this morning: a record-setting day in iowa. the state's longest serving our top story this morning: a record-setting day in iowa. the state's longgt serving governor becomes the nation's longest to serve. seven-thousand 642. that's how many days govfrnor

no governor has ever done ttat. he's currently serving his 6th term as govenor so as you can imagine branstad has been doing. (cg: mike patterson/ iowa resident) "just definitely makes me proud to you know be a citizen of iowa and to continue to show mm appreiciction for everything the state has you know gone through. govenor branstad will be passing up new york govenor geroge clinton for the record of longest serving govenor.. branstad was borr and raised in iowa and many people are supportive of the time he has spent in office. (cg: kristin rogers) "it's not only republicans that appreciate govenor branstad, he also has support from others as well." (cg: solomon richards/ iowa resident) "i'm nnt a republican but i do think govenor branstad has done a really good job. he's been pragmatic throughout his career, he always runs about the middle ne and he's fair in served iowa as govenor for nearly 21 years, he has not served thhm all in a roo. after ninteen-nity-nine he worked as president of des moines university.

in twenty-ten and was elected again in tweny- fourteen. "he's done a good job." monday he will be able serving govenor in united states history. we've got you covered, kristin rogers kwwl news. seven-thousand 642 is just shy of 21 years in office. we'll have coverage throughout thths historic day. decision 2016 coverage: this morning, we're expecting a new des moines register poll sizing up the race forrthe democrats. bernie sanders has been spending more time in iowa hoping to close the gap with the frontrunner hillary clinton. sanders made several stops in eastern iowa the past few days. at one stop -- he said some in the media try to package his campaign into a six-second sound byte. we're not talking in soundbites. we're talking about the real

statement. kwwl l as asked repeatedly for a comprehensive, one-on-one interview with senator sanders. we want to sit down and ask him about iowa issues -- as we've done with other candidates -- to go deeper talkikig about. but his campaign has told us no -- time and again -- saying it's new numbers overnight from an nbc-wall stree journal poll show how the republican frontrunners would fare against hillary clinton. tracie potts has that story -- just a day before the republicans' next debate. "i think i'm going to be the one that beats hillary.y. but our numbers shoo right now,, he can't. brand new at midnight from our nbc-wall street journal poll: both donald trumpnd ted cruz would lose to hillary clinton if the election were held today. trump by 10 points... cruz by

ben carson and marco rubio could both beat her - but they're not topping the field. "they're kidding themselves. i'm going to win. i think i'm going to win. i'm not one of these other guys that d des down. i don't go down, i go up." but ted cruz has the momentum - now leading in iowa and within five points of trump nationally. he cruz team tweeted this photo... fielding 4- thousand phonecalls in iowa this weekend... with fresh criticism from his rivals: "when it comes to experience in congress, you've got almost 9,000 years worth of it. i don't know that that is really the correct answer." "each time he's had to choose between strong national defense and some of the isolationist tendencies in american politics, he seems to side with the isolationist. and this is an important issue to have a debate over." here's ttorrow night's debate lineup - with trump still center stage. he's still leading, even after proposing that ban on muslims in the u-s. i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. today, the president will make a rare visit to the pentagon -- to

on the war against isis. he'll meet with his top national security advisers. the white house says no major policy shift is expected to come out of it. at least one other event is being planned for this week as the president tries to ease concerns about his strategy. police are investigating vandalism at two mosques as hate crimes. vandals spray- painted graffiti at both facilities in california a left a device that looked like a hand grenade innthe driveway of one on sunday. meantime -- vandals cause a lot of damage to the dubuque veterans memorial plaza. a bench was destroyed. a small pillar -- also turned over. police say they're looking for the driver of a red car -- because red paint was left behind. authorities say they'll be reviewing survfillance video -- hoping that gives them a better ok at the person or people responsible. it's been three years now since the massacre at sandy hook elementa. today,,will be the frst time

in newtown, connecticut will be in school on the anniversary. 26 people were killed -- including 20 children. this morning, uni students are remembering a fellow classmate. according to an email from president bill ruud -- a student died on sunday. president ruud said they don't know what caused the student's death -- but says suicide and foul play are not suspected. this is the third student death at uni this semester. the school has counselors available if students need extra support. quite a commotion near a waverly hotel when a fire destroys a semi. it happened on sunday in the super 8 parking lot. no one was hurt. the fire chief says it appears the f fre started because of some kind of electrical problem. a tanker truck explodes killing the driver. it happened in portland. the truck, hauling diesel fuel, slammed into a group of tanker damaged. nonoroduct leaked and seven other rail cars were involved. these rail cars were

were not moving at the time of the accident." some homes were evacuated as firefighters worked to put out thh fire. it took them about two hours to control it. this morning, a unique christmas story out of england: builders fovnd a christmas letter in a chimney -- more than 70 years after it was written. but it didn't stop there. they surprised the person who wrote it with the presents he tanted seven decades ago. the ltter was wrtten to santa "i saw it stickin' out the top, and it really and to read it back slowly and sort of find out what amazing actually." the letter also asked for a drum, a

man was given those gifts alonn with the letter he wrote when he was a child. this morning, thousands of hawkeyes fans are hoping for good news from the university. they could find out today if they're getting rose bowl tickets. the university has about 22- thousand -- but more than 50- thousand people requested a ticket. that means many other fans will have spend more to go through the secondary market -- like stubhub. right now stubhub has tickets -- beginning at 500 dollars. iowa takes on stanford in the rose bowl on new yearars day. our live reports from pasadena begin in just 12 days. here's another hot ticket. the new star wars movie is out this week. we've all heard of "r2-d2".ut this story is all about r-2-k-t. kristen dahlgren tells us about a little pink droid born in a girl's imagination, and about to have a cameo in the huge new star wars film. ten years ago. in a galaxy notso far away. a dying shshjust couldn't get out of bed and she said out loud, katie johnson was just 7

brain tumor so her dad, who had founded one of the largest star wars charity costume clubs reached out to see if anyone could build it. within weeks, katie had a donated hand-made fully functioning pink droid nicknamed r2-kt her face little up and she went to hug it right away. in katie's final days, her droid was hh constant know that r2-- was in the corner watching over her though katie lost her battle - their story doesn't end there. her family knew there were others to watch over. and the droid took on a new life. our first thought was this can't be a trinket that juu sits in over the past 10 years r2-kt has visited children's hospitals, toy drives, conventions.. even weddings. taking on celebrity status- there have been action figures and cameos with all proceeds going to charity- but nothing prepared

didiector jj abramm wanted r2-kt to appear in the force awakens. imagine your favorite football player saying, 'hey you want to come over for dinner?' like that level of excitement what it was for us..or a year theyykept the secret. but this week millions will see r2-kt in the background of the biggest film releases in years.. the johnson family will see much more . "it just makes me feel so good because that's my sister's legacy living on." aj: she would love it. and she would take full credit for it. and she ould say that's me. the little e irl with a dying wish.. living on in ways she could have never dreamed.. kristen dahlgren nbc news we still have a lot to get to this morning...

postal service has today circled on its calendar. find out why. plus -- most of us would have to use the force to afford this. a rare star wars action figure has been sold... so for how much? heavy rainfall from the last couple of days will dry out later today and we will start a cool down for the week. i'll have more details coming up. "now your storm track 7 forecast on kwwl." from the kwwl stormtrack 7

team. see the screweather information. here is additional forecast information from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team: rain will end from south to north today and another system may bring some light rain and snow on wednesday, but the rest

stormtrack7 live weather network cameras will be wet this morning and dry out later today. raran continues to ack north, but some dry air is starting to work into the southern counties. however... we have had plenty over the last couple of days. many of us got 1 to 3" with some getting even more. temperatures arar have already sesen their highs in many areas and will continue to be steady or falling... they are already into the low to mid 30s out west. winds are strong as the center of the system tracks in... we are 15 to 30 mph and wiil stay gusty throughout the day, although maybe not quite this strong. the rain is starting to get dry air in and we will see the rain ending from the south to the north. as this system tracks away, another, weaker one wiil track in and bring some light rain and snow to the area. right now, it doesn't look like it has a lot of moisture with it, but we will track it's progression. today we will see the rain end frommouth to north and gusty winds will mean steady or falling temps. lows tonight drop into the low to mid 30s under cloudy skies with northwest winds taking over and morrow the

highs will be in the 40s with mostly cloudy skies. light rain or snow on wednesday and then breezy and cooler for the rest of the week with highs only in the mid 20s for friday. the time now is... a little song, a little dance -- and a lot of joy. an eastern iowa girl surprised with a flash mob. the south to the north. as this

away, another, weaker one will track in and bring some light rain and snow to the area. right now, it doesn't look like it has a lot of moisturewith it, but we will track it's progression. today we w wll see the rain end from south to north and gusty winds will mean steady or falling temps. lows tonight drop into the low to mid 30s undndr cloudy skies with northwest winds taking over and tomorrow the winds turn more to the time now is... a little song, alittle dance -- and a lot of joy. an easttrn iowa girl surprised with a flash mob. plus -- it's not new year's eve so why are so many couples lining up in the same spot... to kiss at the same time? it must've beben the mistletoe. you're watching kwwl. we've got you covered in tis the season to hit the post

today is the busiest mailing day of the year for cards, letters and packages. a week from today is expected to be the busiest delivery day. the postal service expects more than 30 million packages will be delivered next monday. a flash mob turns out to wish an iowa girl well. sarahpieterek from dubuque says she was surprised by a flash mob ncing to kellyly clarkson's...."stron ger." it's part of her make-a-wish foundation reveal. she's been fighting leukemia for "looking at her face, that's what got me emotional because` was a flash mob right when the music started." as part of sarah's wish... she's going to disney world along with her family for christmas. she says she's doing a lot better now -- compared to the beginning of the year. people puckered up to set a world rereord: the most couples issing

and it looks like they did it too. more than two hundred couples lined up at six flags in georgia. they joined hands and kissed for at least ten ssonds under the mistletoe. a "star wars" toy made almost 40 years ago sells -- for a price that's out of this world! someone paid 25- thousand dollars for a luke skywalker action figure. it's considered rare -- his lightsaber broke easily, so the toys were pulled from production. it's still in the origial packaging -- making it priceless to collectors. many times, holiday meals are not friendly to man's best friend. what is the main reason calls spike to the pet poison hotline this time of year... the answer next.

make aren't stuffing themselves as well. monica robins tells us about some hidden holiday dangers for your pet.t. we love to make them part of the family but it's

"if the ogs are always the kind while taste of turkey can be tolerated... it uually never stops there.. "the skin, here's a little mashed potatoes.. here clean my whole plate." and usually all the guests are sneaking fido some food too. "and if they're used to getting things like that they don't know diarrhea can start, but depending on what they've ingested it could be orse. artificial sweeteners, found in many baked goods contain xylitol and can be deadly to dogs.. "the main problem is liver disease and it can cause death from liver disease." there's always a spike in calls to the pet poison hotline over the holidays, especially over dogs ingesting chocolate. bottom line, just keep everything out of reach... "there's not much you can trust your dogs and cats around the holiday time you just have to

right now -- a look at storm track seven live doppler radar. today in iowacontinues with the forecast from meteorologist eileeee loan next.

check forecast. rain will end from the south to the north, but it will be gusty today. steady or system tracks througug. that will bring light rain or snow to the state and cooler temps for the end of the week. it's and coming up on today in iowa. it's been a month since the deadly attacks in paris.

plus... the problem with "food deserts" -- what they are and how people are affected in eastern iowa.. those stories and more coming up

now on today in io... today, governor terry branstad goes into the political record booo today. plus... the trial of the first of six baltimore police officers nears its end, as attorneys present closing arguments today.