>> ryan sea crest,alert after a series of damaging storms hit the region. plus... buy some jewelry, get a shotgun. that's a promotion one store is offering its customers. and deputies in one part of the country aren't just fighting crime... they're also spreading a little christmas spirit. i'm ally crutcher. jerry has the day off. let's check on your weather now some roads are still lightly snow covered in our northern counties, but we could see more

tracked out of the area and we will have more clouds tracking in. temperatures are in the upper 20s to low 30s this morning with chills dropping into the teens due to west winds still 10-20 mph or stronger at times.... although these will die down quickly within the next couple of hours. we will see another chance of light snow tracking in today with a few rain showers mixing in to the south with warmer temps... but mainly some light snow with some of our northern counties seeing up to an inch. temps stay mild today and will continue to be warmer than normal into our top story this morning... seven are killed after deadly storms hit the south. in mississippi, a twister crossed right over an interstate. watch as the tornado moves

vehicles continue to move down the road. you can actually see a semi get flipped over by the twister. homes are barely recognizable now that the storm has moved through. but authorities say their goal is to save the lives of others... "that's our number one priority, trapped. we're trying to clear each street, each county road, each highway. a meteorologist with the storm prediction center estimates 14- tornadoes touched down in mississippi last night. area family members remember a fallen soldier. joseph lemm -- a dubuque county native -- was killed during a suicide bomb attack in afghanistan monday. originally from bernard iowa, lemm moved to nebraska and eventually to new york, where he was a member of the police force for about 15 years. he was on hh third and inal tour overseas. even though they only saw him every couple of years, family members say he left a mark on their lives...

walk in. he was just about the nicest guy you could ever meet. if you met him once, you had a friend forever." the family says it had been about a year and a half since they last saw lemm--and added they wished they could've seen more of him. following recent shootings overseas and here in the u-- -- gun store owners report a spike in sales. a gun store manager we spoke with says more people want to buy guns. a customer says he recently got his conceal carrrlicense -- because he's concerned guns will be hard to buy in the near future. the store manager says he's hearing simliar stories from most of his customers... (cg: matt schrantz/ upon themselves to maybe stock up per say." he says sales increased on all types of guns this year. buy some jewelry, get a free shotgun. it's a holiday promotion at a

to 4- thousand dollars and you get a gun -- the store's already given away 20 and is ordering 20 more. one customer says buying jewelry and receiving a shotgun is the best of both worlds... "my wife loves jewelry, and it was an opportunity for us to get the best of both worlds." the business plans to offer the same deal on valentines daa for customers who missed the christmas offer. police arrested some protesters with the black lives matter movement at the minneapolis saint paul international airport. the arrests were made because the protestors were causing significant trffic disruptions. they were originally demonstrating at the mall of america.. but some of them headed to one of the airports, which forced police to close security checkpoints inside the terminal. it's unclear how many arrests were made. the t-s-a has issued a new rule for airppt security screening. t-s-a screeners can now force anyone to go through body

opt out. before the change, passengers could choose a full body pat down instead of the body scanner. the change comes after security concerns about terror plots on commercial airlines. decision 20-16 coverage... senator ted cruz stepped up his response to a washington post editorial cartoon he called tasteless. this as the candidates finally start to wind down for the christmas holiday. edward lawrence fills us in on presidential candidate :00-:07) "when they divide us up, they president may finally be taking a break from the rhetoric for the holidays. (sot: marco rubio/ (r) presidential candidate :12-:17) "we celebrate christmas eve so we have 60 people from our still senator ted cruz took some parting shots releasing this editorial cartoon via twitter. it shows hillary clinton walking with what cruz describes as her lapdogs, the washington post and new york times this in response to a washington post editorial cartoon showing cruz as an organ (sot: ted cruz/ (r) presidential candidate :39-:48) "leave the kids alone. leave my kids alone, leave marco'ss

and grandkids alone. kids should be off-limits, and the crazy week of political attacks and responses. analysts say donald fmr. rnc chairman :58-1:04) "donald trump is about shaking the system to its roots, um and really sort of upending the way in which we elect the president." as he does that his poll numbers continue to rise. the latest cnn orc poll shows donald trump leading with 39 percent...senator ted cruz second at 18 percent. edward lawrence, nbc news, washington. in that same poll, ben carson and marco rubio are behind trump and cruz with 10- percent support each. a group of suspects not only stole clothes from a miami store, they

police say the suspects used a black pickup truck to smash through the glass entry at a clothing store in north miami. once inside, the thieves made off with dozens of pairs of designer jeans... a loss of8- thousand dollars for the business. in ohio, a similar situation. five teenagers reportedly slammed a stolen van into a department store and got away with 19-thousand dollars in merchandise. police say the entire incident happened in 77 seconds. authorities are now patroling more inside and outside the store. colombia's air force rescued two hikers who got lost in the amazon jungle. an air force crew used a helicopter to get the two out -- officials say they got lost. the polish citizens are reported to be in good condition, but one hiker was treated at the scene for a snake bite. two former eastern iowa soldiers are honored for their acts of bravery in afghanisan -- back in 20-11. former sergeant ustin schmitit and former specialist brian swedberg are recognized for fighting under heavy combat -- and forcing the

a facebook message alerted former sergeant schmitt he had received the army commendation medal. he says he's grateful for the honor. and while a lot of things in civilian life are different, a lot of things remain the same... almost the same pace but its not so hostile" if you want to know more about the two men -- we have instead of handing out fines for traffic violations, in one california county, they were giving people cash. it's all to spread a little christmas spirit. janelle bludau has our story this morning. (nats) "you're giving us money? yes "we've identified some families." they don't have the red hat.. or white beard.... (nats) "we were dispatched to this residence to contact you." but today.. these like to give you guys as a gift." really? wow, that was anonymous donation of five thousand dollars.. deputies pinpointed several homes.. (nats) "so we would like to give you $100, hopefully this helps make (nats)

you..thank you guys, god bless you." then spreading a little more cheer on the road. (nats) stopping drivers.. for kindness for r e holiday season. is that for me, yes it's (name unknown) "i was honestly thinking we but getting a nice deputy jessica martinez volunteered her time to pass out the money today.. saying it was rewarding for her as well.. to super "deeinitely put me in the christmas spirit." sheriff jay varney says holidays. s/ sheriff jay varney/ madera county sheriff's dept.

the sheriff says they hope to continue and maybe even expand the the sheriff says they hope to continue and maybe even expand the program next year. it's coming up on tody in iowa -- a little girl is being rewarded plus... the beatles are entering the streaming era just in time for christmas. we have some clearing going on right now, but the next system is already tracking toward western iowa. i'll let you know how that is

here is additional forecast information from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team: it was warm yesterday, which led to some of us

a record high in iowa city... beat the old record by a degree. today will be cooler with some snow tracking in. another round of rain and snow will hold off until after christmas. right now, there are still some roads reporting some snow on them in our north, others may have some frost due to the cooler temps. stormtrack7 live weather network is calm right now, but will show some showers tracking through later today. temperatures are still mild, ut starting to drop below freezing, so watch for parking lots and sidewalks to have some slick spots. winds are still strong and will die down over the next couple of hours and be

already showing up on the radar to our west... this one is smaller, but will still produce some showers over the kwwl viewing area...although will dry out as it tracks through... snowfall amounts will be light, ut there may be a heavier band in our northern counties that ends up around an inch or so. highs will be in the 30s today with winds becoming light and that snow tracking in, especially this afternoon. we drop into the 20s again tonight with fog by m mrning. light wwds continue through christmas day with highs in the mid 30s to mid 40s and then some rain and snow track back in on saturday. colder air will also return for next week with a chance of snow monday and tuesday.

amounts will depend on the track and strength of the low. while some folks in the west track back in on saturday. colder air will also returnnfor next week with a chance of snow monday and tuesday.. snowfall amounts will depend on the track and strength of the low. while some folks in the west see a white christmas.. in the south.. people will be wearing shorts. a southwest wind could bring

60-s and 70-s. in orlando, florida.. the high is expected to be in the mid 80-s. it's coming up on today in iowa.... we'll tell you how a three-year- old girl saved her mom, who was 7- months pregnant. plus... area police support one of eir own -- by shaving theirr heads -- after learning their fellow officer's mother is battling cancer. you're watching kwwl. we've got you covered in durango, bankston, elkport and all of eastern iowa

starting today, music from the faa four will be available on every on-demand streaming service for the first time. the beatles re- mastered studio albums became available just after midnight. as last-minute shoppers finish up their shopping this christmas eve... many will be grabbing gifts cards. the national retail federation asked people about their shopping intentions should they receive a gift card. the survey found most willl likely watch for really good sales or promotions to maximize the value of their gift card.

support an area cancer patient -- by shaving their heads. cindy garwood is undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer. her daughter is a university of iowa police officer. she shave her head in support of her mom -- and eight of her coworkerssurprised her by doing the same over the weekend... (jackie anderson/ui police officer) "on monday when we got together, you know, i told them i wouldn't trade any of them, reslly appreciate them." this is garwood's second time fighting cancer. anderson says it was hard for her mom to go out in public -- an amazing story offow a three- year-old girl saved her pregnant mom. this happened in england. her mother was knocked unconscious, so little emma called 9-9-9, the english equivale of 9-1-1. shecoolly stayed n the line until paramedics arrived tt help... "i was surprised how young she that situation and would have been a lot more panicked. for her tobe three and able to do

the salvation army hosts their christmas dinner for the ommunity. organizers say it's a great way to end the year -- and wrap up thier red kettle collection. they raised more than 400-thousand dollars this year. people say the holiday feast of ham, corn, potatoes and pie helped them celebrate the holidadas. sesevers say they were happy to hear the kind words... "we have heard, as they were rain, have a place to go, and have a special meal." gifts and donations to the salvation army can be sent onle or by mail -- through the end of the year. hawkeye quarterback c-j beathard just happens to be carrying on a fmily tradition by makig the trip to the rose bowl. in fact -- he's the third member great uncle pete quarterbacked u-s-c to a win in the 19-63 game -- and another uncle -- kurt beathard coachhd the illinois wide receivers in 2008 -- and having an opportunity to carry on that legacy is a big deal to the that's awesome. i remember illinois. they played usc, and remember thinking this is awesome. i can't wait until i'm

getting an opportunity to do it -- the game is eight days away -- live coverage of the road to the rose bowl begins in just a couple days. ron steele, mark woodley and the crew are all set to keep you up day. it's coming up on today in iowa -- it's a holidayyradition -- but me people take decorating their homes to a whole new level. and when you see news - or if you have pictures or video to share... you can do that by going to our page on facebook. you can also "like" our page toto stay up to date on breaking news and weather information.

people have their lights on display for everyone to see. harry smith introduces a few people who take christmas decortations to a whole new (track)every wn has one. a neighbb or a

((track)) in brooklyn its dyker heights.... bungalows and big houses decked to the max. ((quick nat pop oo lucy and harry talking)) ((track))...a must see... lucy spatas house...30 years at this and she ccnt stop. ((sot lucy sparta))"...gee theres a space there and gee theres a space there, lets put lucys house. (lucy smiles) ((nat pop of star wars opepeing theme))) theres a house in tracey california fitted out like it's a long time ago in a galaxy far far away... ((nat pop of metalica's cheer is just too much swing by december is rd to come by so

times folks have done their best..electricity made it possible to go all out. multitududs of people to connect with their inner clark griswald. getting started. ...yes its new york. today in iowa continues in a &

praised as one of america's best mayors who governed as a prprmatist. bernie sanders passed more amendments in a republican congress than any other member. cracked the gridlock with john mccain to strengthen veterans' healthcare. bernie sanders6 a consistent, principled, and effectivivleader. buililng a future to believe in.

forecast. some snow will track through today, especially in the northern counties, so travelers should be aware of rapidly changing driving conditionsns tooy. areas

for christmas day. another round of rain and snow track in for today in iowa. a southwest airlines flight had plus...if you're not done with your holiday shopping yet...you're not alone. what you need to know if you're heading out to stores today

at least seven people are dead across three states, as storms

midwest.