thank you for watching "early now on today in iowa: less than two months from the iowa caucuses, the republicans go head to head again on the debate stageein las vegaa. this s ime, a promise from donald trump to republican voters. plus, how did that happen. a small plane ends up on a house. and this morning, we're learning about a secret santa -- who's also being called the layaway angel. see what they did to make the i'm jerry gallagher... let's check on your weather now with storm track 7 meteorologist eileen loan. good morning. good wednesday morning. it's a windy morning out there wwth winds out of the south and southwest

15 to 20 miles per hour. this is as a warm front is pushing through the area. later today a cold front tracks through and we will be seeing falling temperatures, and the winds coming from a more westerly to southwesterly direction. right now, there are some reduced visibility across the region with areas of fog, and perhaps a litte drizzle at times this morning. storm track 7 live doppler radar shows just a couple of stray showers up in our northern counties. however, the bulk of the moisture is to our of snow to our west. this will track northwess of us, and wiwil leave us with clouds and windy conditions today. here's the current temperatures across the area. mainly 40s. temperatures will be falling throughout the day. he's the storm track 7 live weather network cameras showing educed visibility in some places. your forecast for today has temperatures in the 40s, falling throughout the day with windy conditions. we'll on the flooding in just a few

decision 2016 coverage now: reaction to last night's republican presidential debate. donald trump says he's sticking with the party, no matter what. trump finally says without exception he won't run as a third party candidate. tracie potts has a look back at the debate and a look ahead. "this is a tough business." oh yea, you're a tough guy, jeb, i know." "and we need to have a leader that is progressive." "you're real tough." "you're never gonna be president of the united states by insulting your way to

and jeb bush captured the top moments on social media... trump topped facebook, google, twitter - and six online polls. "it was a great debate, i really enjoyed it." next to trump... ben carson got the most new followers on twitter last night... weighing in on isis in syria: "there will be boots on the ground, and they'll be over here if we don't get them out now." ted cruz came in number two on social media. he clashed with marco rubio on immigration and national security. " he was fighting to grant amnesty and not to secure the border." "does ted cruz rule out ever legalizing people that are in this country illegally now?" "he's the weakest of all the candidates on immigration. he's the one for an open border leaving us defenseless." "this is why the nation is fed up with the political class." "if your eyes are glazed over like mine this is what it's like to be on the floor of the u.s. senate." islam, isis and terror were the most discussed topics on facebook during the debate. "we need to have a coalition that will stand for nothing less

this morning, kasich heads to iowa - the caucuses, now just 46 days away. interesting: the candidate who got the most twitter followers during the debate? bernie sanders - a democrat. i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. new this morning: a budget deal to keep the government running. congressional leaders and the white house reached an agreement on a massive tax and spending package. it would increase domestic and defense spending -- and extend dollar bill to run the government september, setting up votes for thursday. first, they have to pass another short-term spending bill -- because the current package runs out tonight at midnight. something else to keep an eye on today. the federal reserve will decide whether to raise short-term interest rates for the first time in nine years. the announcement could come early this afternoon. a rate hike would be a sign the fed believes the economy is

continuing coverage this morning of a controversy surrounding the new university of iowa president. he says he's sorry for what he said at a recent meeting. bruce harreld apparently said teachers who aren't prepared, should be shot. we've seen the e- mails in question -- between harreld and a university librarian. she calls harreld's remarks "horrifying and unacceptable.." president harreld later says it was an "unfortunate and off the cuff remark," and it's a comment he's used in many forums... saying this is "i'm not sure if what he said was taken out of context but it throughout the world kwwl's kristin rogers spoke with the librarian on the phone... she said harreld's comment was made rhetorically but it's not something to joke about... we did reach out to president harreld to speak to him -- but today, it's back to school for nearly three- quarters of a

yesterday, a threat emailed to school board members closed 900 campuses. law enforcement say it came from overseas was credible enough for the superintendent to shut the district down. and send swat teams to some schools. "based on past circumstances, i could not take the chance." another threat. sent from the same ip address. and containing some of the same wording... also was sent to new york city schools. police there are investigating the email as a hoax. this morning, an unusual sight to say the least. on top of a home: a plane. two people were on the plane that landed on a home in georgia. no one was hurt. the plane had taken off from a florida airport. investigators have not said what brought the plane down. a big bombshell from the world of college basketball. wisconsin's bo ryan is retiring --

the winningest coach in badger basketball history made that announcement last night after wisconsin knocked off texas a and m corpus chrisit. several months ago -- ryan said he would step down after this season -- but there was some speculation he was re-thinking that decision. but that's not the case. in fact, he's stepping down effective immediately. "when you've been doing something for forty some years way we like. ryan coached wisconsin to a school-record 36 wins last season and lost in the national championship to duke. longtime assistant greg gard now takes over. iowa plays wisconsin only once this year -- in late february. the hawkeye football team is about two weeks away from its first rose bowl in 25 years. there's a lot for the team to think about... and fans too. for the thousands going to pasadena, they have to consider airfare,

california and tickets to the game. kwwl's brad hanson talked to one travel agent about the cost. angie harter has been hard at work, making sure people don't miss a very special trip. headquarters put together a package for the rose bowl--one that's been very popular. "well as soon as the we had about 100 emails to send out to prosepective clients, and it was nonstop all night till we could get everything taken care of." those packages costing anywhere from 3100 to 4200 dollars. "we've had some pretty remarkable fans, that really cost wasn't the issue. yes, they were more than willing, so the packages sold out because of that." "in all, travel headquarters sold about 50 packages to the rose bowl. that's 50 local people heading to pasadena. they say they could have sold more, but the airfare sold out. going." chad lueken was among the throngs of people that took over indianapolis for the big ten championship. he's hoping for similar results in pasadena. "it was just amazing there. it

richey, it's a special chance to cheer on what's been a very special team. "i think the most exciting thing for me is that i've been a see my first game. i've been a fan ever since. this is the first opportunity for me that i can justify, or financially make it to that type of bowl game, so that's really exciting for me." iowa takes on stanford in the rose bowl on new year's day. our live reports from pasadena begin in about 10 days. watch us for coverage -- live from california -- the entire week of the big game. a stranger provides the guiding light to help restore the christmas spirit for a waterloo woman.

right now with homeowners -- but also with thieves. someone stole marilyn walther's lights. she says her favorite time of husband. "one year we were on tv for like he did but i at least thought this was a rememberance of him." after our story aired lass night, we heard from police who said someone stepped forward anonymously to donate christmas light to her -- the same kind -- that were stolen. christmas comes a little early for many shoppers. homa bash tells us someone went to a few walmart stores in ohio and picked up the bill. he walked in to two walmart stores, paid off close to 107-thousand dollars in layway goods.. and made them promise to keep his identity a secret. "oh wow. the same person?? oh wow.

wish they would've paid mine. and yours and yours!" no kidding. the layaway angel made stops at the steelyard commons walmart.. and the one on leavitt road in lorain. the items ranged from a pair of socks to a 70-inch television - and tons and tons of toys. "made me happy because i know a lot of customers walked out of the store or are coming in the store "and if you're wondering what nearly 110k in layaways looks like, look at these receipts. this is covering christmas gifts for more than 200 people in northeast ohio." people like tara neal.. "whoever did it, god bless them." with four young kids at home, the holidays can be tough. so over the last couple of months, she had only paid off 10-dollars on a "frozen" bed for her three year old daughter and when she came to pick it up today.. fully paid.. "it's such a blessing to know there are still people out there that care. it's like santa, like a real santa to me.." and when cathie cromwell got the call.. she couldn't help herself. "i just cried. it's amazing someone would have this much

season to help us. to help people who maybe wouldn't have had christmas.." we still have a lot to get to this morning: including the holiday wish list for workers. what do they want for christmas? plus -- hidden in the plastics and cardboard -- is this. a conveyor belt kitten saved by "now your storm track 7

from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team. see the screen for your complete weather information.

from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team: welcome back i'm meteorologist kyle kiel in for eileen loan. today will be partly o mostly clouuy and windy. there may be a stray shower or flurry up to th north, otherwise theeig story today will be the wind. gusts could be up to 40 miles per hour at times. tomorrow will be patly cloudy with a brief relie from the wind. then the winds pick up again on friday with a mostly sunny sky. here' a look at the current flood d warnings across the area. several area rivers are still

nor to modeete flooding. many of these rivers will crest within the next couple of days, aad then begin falling as there is not significant rain in the forecast. you can get more information on these river levels by going to schnack's blog on the weather page at kwwl dot com. in the short term, there are a few areas of patchy fog reducing visibility a bit early this morning. inds are out of the south east at 20 miles per hour in ny areas, and will continue to be gusty throughout the day. storm track

live doppler radar shows mainly dry conditions here across eastern iowa. there have been a few scattered light showersand drizzle ahead of a warm front here in the northern part of the area. off to our northwest in northwestern iowa where we have an area of low pressure producing a lot of snow in the plaines state. we are in the through, we will turn cooler this morning. it will also be windy and we only have a slight chance for a stray shower or flurry. otherwise it will be partly cloudy to mostly cloudy throuhout the day. temperatures right now are in the 30sthis is the warmest they will be all day long, as we will see falling temperatures throughout the day. with just a few patchy areas of north. tonight it will be throughout the afternoon. it cloudy. still a few breezy will be windy and very cool. it's coming up on today&

iowa.... we're about 210 hours until christmas. you know who already knew that? a retail store because it's about to have a marathon-style opening for holiday shoppers who aren't done. plus -- a recycling center gives things new life... and it's now given this kitten a second chance even if that wasn't the plan. you're watching kwwl. we've got you covered in marquette,

what do workers want most thjust like clark griswold -- they're hoping for a bonus -- but few expect to get one. about 22 percent of workers expect a holiday bonus. also on their wish list: more vacation time, better health insurance... but many would allo like a better balance between their professional and personal life. for those who still have shopping to do -- one store wants to give you

says it will keep its doors open 24 hours a day during the final stretch before christmas. it'll be open straight -- for 170 hours starting on december 17th at 7 a-m. an average day at a recycling center becomes one to remember. tom miller tells us how -- in this case -- curiosity saved the cat. sorting rececclables aloog a conveyer belt uesday, load operator tony miranda spotted something out of the ordinary heading his way. "it was just surrounded by a bunch of debris and material, i mean it was hard to quick." tiny" this little kitten almost didn't make it. "it's a lucky cat." next stop on the line, spinning metal blades and a compactor. "it just spins really fast, it could have really died in there." "over the radio i heardhem say that they found a live cat, and i was curious cause, i mean that's just amazing." shift supervisor heather garcia headed tony's way and soon found

maternal longing coming over her. "it's just so cute, i mean why wouldn't you take it home." garcia claimed her as her own, naming the kitten after the material recovery facility, or "mrf (murph)" where tony found her. "we chose to name her murphh cause she's found here on the mrf." "murphy had already been through a lot before she got rescues, heading up this conveyer belt, dropping down, and then heading down this one, where she met tony." "it jjst amazing to see a little kitty survive through all this. it made my day today definitely made my day." a vet examined murphy and says she's !n good health. "it's probably hungry." now with an amazing ssry of survivallas one person's trash becomes another's tabby. the time now is a former race car drjver never lost his cool even when that happened. a beam flew right into his windshield. we'll hear from the driver next.

wait until you see what happened to his car as he drove down a callornia highway. marianee favro gives us a look. "it's a miracle." and few would disagree. don lee says he still can't believe he survived this. last friday as he was driving south on highway 280 in san jose a huge beam flew ff a truck ahead of him and headed straight for lee's car.. he says that when he feltt& a surprising sense of calm... "i saw it clearly coming thrououh the w wndow and the eetire thing the beammmissed him by a hair.... leaving only a few scratches on his arm. "i would have died. i keep looing at the picture, it hard to believe just one moment and it could be liie or death."" don used to build and drive race cars and credits his experience with keeping him calm behind the wheel. he says he never closed his eyes

so hard it cut the engine. "i think i have a second life." he says he's convinced last friday.. god was his co-pilot. today in iowa continues in a moment

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