a special one-hour edition of the kwwl news right here at 6:00. with the big day finally upon us, we bring you team 7 coverage. i mean from all across the area. we have our fine reporters out and about across eastern iowa and, of course, in our state capital of iowa. look on the screen there, we're going to them live here in just a moment and throughout the evening on this caucus night. let's go with that in mind right to des moines with kwwl's amanda goodman and matt breen of our station ktiv in sioux city. this is such an exciting atmosphere. we head into yet another historic night of iowa politics. >> amanda: well, bernie sander camp is adamant f a large number of voters show, he will win tonight. >> matt: fueled by first time caucus goers, donald trump surged in the final follow before the iowa caucus. he now needs his rival ted cruz by seven points. >> amanda: and martin o'malley

deciding factor. martin o'malley has only 3% the vote, but he is still not backing down. the democratic caucus rules require a candidate has 15% of caucus goers and precinct. if they don't, their supporters can back another candidate. bernie sander, once losing to hillary clinton by nearly 50 points, sanders finds himself teetering on a win. >> if we ought to deal with climate change and women's rights and all of the important issues that are out there, the only way that happens is when millions of people stand up, come together, and demand that our government starts working for all of us, not just the one percent. >> amanda: but experts say despise sanders' surge, clinton's numbers are still strong and she is extremely popular among democrats.

focused on the needs of the uny. roads,bridges, tunnels, rail system, there is work to be done >> amanda: and as i mentioned, o'malley has 3% of the support right now and it's very interesting because that's the exact spread right now between sanders and clinton, so those o'malley supporters could sway the vote tonight. could be interesting. >> matt: candidates certain tried to sway voters right up until the very last minute. donald trump now trying to close the deal here in iowa and leave the hawkeye state with a victory. >> and we have to win this election and we have to win in iowa. you know, a lot of people say, donald, just do well in iowa. i say i can't do that. >> matt: trump swears that a victory is not certain. he says possibly race he has wi s republican

amanda, all you have to do is huckabee. he surged in the final days and came away from the iowa caucuses with a win. he and other republicans are hoping for help in the closing hours before iowans go to caucus in let less than a power -- a little less than an hour from now. we'll continue to follow the story and the results of the caucuses live tonight at 10:00. i'm matt breen in des moines. back to you. >> ron: we'll see if trump can follow the rules of sales, abc, always be closing. iowa's first in the nation precinct caucuses represent the first major step in the road to the white house. that's why an army of media from around the world, not just the country, around the world, here to follow it all. with that in mind, let's go live to jerry gallagher continuing our team coverage live in des moines where the numbers are coming in later this evening and

partnership with microsoft, so that should please all these visitors, including the candidates. >> jerry: and including a lot of interested observers who will be where i am at right now. i'm live in des moines at a holiday inn that will be the site of the senator bernie sander caucus watch party. he will be here later tonight. this is serious stuff, but earlier today, we got a look at some of the caucus fun. >> first, travis perry, the university of iowa hawkeyes running back! >> the crowd packed inside in des moines coffee bar was just as loud as a stadium. the snob transformed into a -- small business transformed into a studio for the today show travis perry and joe laning selected to represent iowa. >> getting to be on tv is a cool thing. studio. >> lots of fights.

people, you know. >> jerry: this waverly native is only joking, but he's serious when he sauls himself a today show fan. >> i know them all by their first names and i'm a huge nerd. >> jerry: another rabid fan. >> it shows the most important things with caucus monday, wake up, watch the today show, and do your duty and go caucus. >> jerry: he calls himself an undecided voter. >> i have it narrowed down to a few. jerry: havo tied the next president of the united states. >> i feels like a lot of pressure. but it also feels very... >> jerry: certainly a lot of pressure for those undecided. jay calls himself a social liberal, but a fiscal conservative and says he's walking into the caucuses tonight with an open mind and we certainly heard this time and time again over the years, ron, that so many iowans wait until the very last minute to make up their mind, and with that in mind, we've seen many surprises play out over the years and time

we've got you covered live in des moines, jerry gallagher, kwwl news. >> ron: yeah, jerry, thank you. i wonder if jay realizes that his demographic might decide things all across our state. that's for sure. we're back to jerry later. we're already heard how things are going in des moines, so let's continue our kwwl team 7 coverage right now and check in on some of the caucus sites right across the kwwl viewing area of eastern iowa. first of all, lauren moss is live tonight from waterloo's cunningham school of excellence in waterloo, one of the democratic precinct sites tonight. >> lauren: it's a very big night and you can feel the energy in the room. as you can see behind me, the room is set to go and people are set. there's about a group of 12 people waiting behind me, ready to go for tonight and organizers are expecting a very large crowd here. they hope that's true because as you know, it's been a tight race between hillary clinton and bernie sander the past few months. the two seem to switch off

hawkeye state, but there's a big question tonight and that is who will turn out to caucus. and what's interesting about the democratic caucuses is that publicly. it's very out in the open and if a group does not have at least 15%, then that candidate is not viable and people can then choose to go to another group. officials say we can expect to see that tonight if recent polls are true and if martin o'malley's group can't get enough support. now, i spoke with someone who calls herself a hillary clinton captain. she goes around and she's prepared tonight to talk to that 15% group to get people to support hillary at the last poment. hear what she had to say about this process and why she believes it works coming up later tonight. for now, though, we've got you covered live in waterloo. i'm lauren moss, kwwl news >> ron: thank you very much, rorning live from that great school in waterloo, the cunningham school of excellence. as for the republican side in black hawk county, let's go live to kwwl's olivia mancino,

of the caucuses today. joining us live to talk about the gop and what they expect tonight. they've always had big turnouts here in black hawk county. >> olivia: absolutely, ron. with less than an hour to go, this is it. pretty soon republican caucus goers will file into one of sten precincts in black hawk county to support their candidate. at the republicans office, they're preparing for a big night, hoping for a large turnout. there's about 20,000 registered republicans in the county, but only about 20% of them actually caucus. chairman scott atkins says they may see about a 5% increase this time around. >> that's one thing to say you like the candidate, but it's a whole other thing to go out on a monday night at 7:00 and stand around and talk to your neighbors and caucus for your candidate. >> olivia: black hawk county is the fourth lar gers county in iowa, so how residents caucus will definitely have a large impact overall tonight. i'll be heading over to central middle school in waterloo shortly to see the turnout there. 12 precincts report to central middle. it is one of the biggest caucus

i'll be sure to keep you update on the activity there as it develops. for now, we've got you covered, live in the newsroom, olivia mancino, kwwl news >> ron: thanks for the update. looking forward to yoorpts all night -- your reports all night long live out at central middle school. of course, we'll have all the results for you here on the air on kwwl and online on kwwl.com and social media as well. caucus night will not see any snow, but tomorrow will certainly be, for most people anyway, a much different story. mark? >> mark: that it will be a much different story. especially farther north and west you live. that's where the heaviest of the snow will be, the strong winds will be. a number of colors here meaning different things. the pink-shaded area, that is a winter storm warning. that's running from waterloo to dubuque and areas to the north. that's for tomorrow morning in through wednesday morning and then a bit farther to the south, sort of on the fringe of that is a winter weather advisory, a

condition, but -- hazardous condition. if you have travel plans in the red-shaded area, that's a blizzard warning. that's just outside our coverage area, but if you're doing any travel, it it will be a mess out there. as for snowfall amounts we expect through tuesday night through early wednesday morning, five to nine inches in the purple-shaded area and it cuts off pretty quick as you get farther to the south. there's an advisory in this area and then nothing south of that and we're looking at a trace to an inch of snow around iowa city. up around cedar rapids over towards dubuque, we're getting close to the three to five-inch snowfall and five to nine inches of snow, and again, keep in mind, there's a lot of wind with this, so blowing and drifting snow will be a concern. storm track 7 doppler radar right now dry conditions in eastern iowa, a couple spotty rain showers. des moines got into the upper 40s today for a high and off to the west, we're looking at more moisture in the form of snow where it's colder. the storm still down here to the south and west eventually will track northeast across eastern iowa.

for the time being during the day tomorrow. as for the tracker, there's fog to contend with as well before you get there. light snow late tonight. tomorrow, snow north, rain-snow south and it will be windy, blowing and drifting snow and that will be a concern all the way through the day on wednesday. so there's the dense fog advisory officially in effect across our northern counties, that's until 3:00, but there are other areas that are seeing reduced visibility, less than a mile, an eighth of a mile in tama, a mile and three-quarters in waterloo, near zero in new hampton and decorah. use caution if you're doing travels. here's the storm track 7 live weather network in cedar falls showing the fog. temperatures in the lower 30s, so some of that fog may get on the roadways and freeze. a couple of slick spots on bridges and overpasses a concern here this evening. as for future track, any precipitation holds off until after midnight to form light snow. as we get into the 5:00 hour,

it's after 5:00, look at that, widespread snow at 8:00. the morning commute could be a bit of a mess. warmer air moves north and we'll see rain in iowa city and washington, that's at 11:00, but snow across the north. rain still across the southeastern counties by 2:00. snow to the north and west. as we get towards 5:00, we start to see dry air push into the region, so that will shut off a lot of moisture across a good portion of the region while our northern and northwestern counties still dealing with snow. in addition to the dry air comes warmer air and that's the reason why we have a couple of rain showers a pobt tuesday night and eventually cold air will move in and the rain changes back over to snow early on wednesday morning. this eventually moves out of the area as we head through the morning hours. again, a lot of wind with this storm system. five to nine inches again in that purple-shaded area. u tapers off fairly quickly farther to the south down around iowa city, washington, only talking an inch of snow. here's the storm track 7

overnight lows, fog this evening and the snow develops late tonight and we'll have snow in the northern counties and then rain-snow mix in the south. look at the temperatures in the middle and upper 30s while our northern counties will be in the low 30s, below freezing. here's the storm track 7-day forecast and a lot of wind, blowing snow a pobt, looking likely, actually. thursday, friday, dry. same thing for saturday and sunday. at least it won't be bit material cold. temperatures in -- at this time bitterly cold, temperatures in the 20s. >> ron: thank you very much. with the interesting weather and snow on the way, always head over to our website to stay up to date on closings, delays and cancellations. there are already many entries on the website. just head over to kwwl.com to see what's up right in your backyard. thererwas a bit of confusion i wanted to clear up from earlier today regarding what time the

crucial waterloo school bond referendum. now, the polls will open at 7:00 tomorrow morning. 7:00 a.m. even with the storm coming, we're told the polls will be open on time as scheduled, 7:00 tomorrow morning until 8:00 tomorrow night. right now, let's continue our live coverage of the iowa caucuses tonight on this historic monday evening and go to the th media newsroom in downtown dubuque where we find shirley descorbeth. you'll be covering the dubuque county democrats tonight. we know they'll have a big crowd at washington school. >> shirley: that's right, ron. here in dubuque, the democratic party is expecting a large turnout at washington middle school. doors officially opened there just moments ago. now, that caucus location consists of two precincts. they will be taking place in the auditorium and the school's cafeteria. now, eight years ago, there was some problems there, so many people showed up, some had to caucus in the hallways and on the stairs.

auditorium's balcony will be used, but there might be another issue. >> the middle school doesn't have as much parking as the high school does, so the big part is people have to plan ahead to make sure that they can park and then have time to walk. there will be other activities going on at this school. there's basketball games going on here tonight, so they just need to assume that they might be parking a block or two away. >> shirley: that precinct captain says they expect about 500 people. he recommends getting there early. we've got you covered live from the th media news room in dubuque. shirley descorbeth, kwwl news >> ron: that precinct captain knows quite a bit about the political situation in dubuque county. play, the chair of dubuque -- by the way, the chair of -- county democrats telling kwwl they expect mostly senior citizens to come out tonight. that's what's always interesting about the iowa caucuses. you never know how many and what kind of people show up in age and demographics. we'll have more about this

6:00. meanwhile, brad hanson is with dubuque county republicans. they're at the community center in peosta. let's talk about the feeling there. it will be an emotional evening later tonight as people start coming in and you're expecting a pretty big crowd there in peosta as well. >> brad: absolutely. people have been trickling in here to the peosta community center for the past hour or so, definitely an air of anticipation, thanks in large part to this unique gop field. among those early arrivals today, gerda preston hartman. she's volunteering tonight and also never missed an election in dubuque county in 50 years. of those elections she is seen in those 50eers, she says this one is a doozy. >> this one is really strange. it's exciting. i watched -- being i'm gop, i watch fox news all the time and it just gets more exciting every day. up to caucus time, it usually

more quiet. >> brad: i asked her who she plans to vote for tonight and she woulul't share, but she says she's pleased with everyone running on the gop side of things. as you can see behind me, this room quickly starting to fill up. organizers telling me they expect to see record turnout here in dubuque county tonight. we've got you covered live from the peosta community center. i'm brad hanson, kwwl news. >> ron: hi, brad. thank you very much. you know, the iowa first in the nation precinct caucuses are so important mainly due to the amount of media attention it gets from national media and even world media as we saw from des moines earlier tonight. the fact also the state is considered a swing state almost every election cycle. as you know, iowa became the first major caucus event in the united states really starting in kind of 1972. richard nixon won that year, actually uncommitted and beat ed musky that year and since that

rate at predicting which democratic candidate will win the presidential nomination. thinking back to 1976 when jimmy carter went on to win the democratic nomination, but actually finished second to the uncommitted turnout on caucus night that year. going to the republican side, iowa's success rate a little bit better there. right around 50%. you know, it's interesting, i like this observation from a friend of mine. he says to compete in the iowa caucuses, all you really need is a car and some gas oney. how true that is. rick santorum proved it in 2012 and rick santorum entered again this year, but he also proved that iowa is only one stop on the way y the white house. that's for sure. so tonight, we will find out which two candidates will join the list of iowa caucus winners. as i mentioned, rick santorum run the republican in 2012, beating out mitt romney by just one percent. remember, we thought romney was the winner earlier and it took over 20 days for those eight lost precincts to come back in and when they did come, rick

narrow margin over the eventually republican nominee, mitt romney. back in 2008, mike lucca by, back at it again this year, won the republican caucus over mitt romney. barack obama, of course, won the democratic nomination, beating john edwards and that was the year, remember, that was so disappointing for hillary clinton, finished third in 2008 to barack obama, john edwards, and she finished a distant third in 2008. john dean in 2004, i think this is one of the most memorable ones for me. excuse me, john carey took the top spot for the democrats, beating out the likes of others, john edwards and howard dean. remember howard dean, the famous dean scream that year in 2004. so john carey, the eventually nominee, won with 37% that year and in 2000, george w. bush refer the republican, winning in the iowa caucuses over steve forbes and al gore won the democratic nomination hand dill.

caucuses that year, beating out bill bradley by nearly 30%. remember tom harkin won easily in 1992. he was the hometown favorite, so year. so political friction has been tight in cedar rapids tonight for sure. republicans will be caucusing there. mack, what's going on there? >> macleod: ron, it's been extremely tense, to be completely honest, as several republican presidential candidates pass through the state and right here in linn county tonight, there have been several democrats coming to hear this gentleman actually spent his afternoooo holding a sign that red read -- that read "hug a bernie sander supporter." i caught up with a cedar rapids woman who says it soaps like most people -- seems like most people are remaining civil despite political differences,

>> i didn't like some of the things trump was saying. i think he's a hateful person. i think he exhibits so much more angst, so much anger. bernie is hope, and they're just, u know, complete opposite. >> macleod: out of the democrats, i'm seeing more bernie sander supporters than those for hillary clinton or even martin o'malley, and right now, i'm going to be headed o or to the washington high school to hear what some of those democratic caucus goers have to say. we've got you covered live in cedar rapids, macleod hageman, kwwl news. >> ron: mac, that's an interesting situation for sure with both people in the same area. i think back to my first caucus here on the set of kwwl 'twas 1980 and that year, george h.w. bush, he won the iowa caucuses on the republican side that year. finishing second was ronald reagan.

went on to win the nomination and the presidency that year. on the other side of this issue, let's look at the gop in linn county. kristin rogers joins us from the cedar rapids convention center and d e double tree hotete downtown to tell us more about what's on there on caucus night. kristin? >> kristin: ron, we're up above the lobby area hoping to give you a bird eye view of the action going on below. this, we're told, is the largest republican caucus site in the entire state, housing 30 of linn county's precincts and donald afternoon. check out this crowd. room. we were expecting to see ben carson here this afternoon as well, but we're told his flight didn't get out of des moines because of fog, but we're told ted cruz and rand paul will be here around caucus tim alonon with ivanka trump, also here earlier. we spoke with many trump event. >> i kind of was thinking jeb at the beginning because, you know, i liked what he stood for, but

spirit that trump does. >> as you can see, not everyone has their mind made up from the beginning, but they all have toto make up minds tonight. the 30 precincts will be split into three rooms. we have you covered ve in cecer rapids, kristininogers, kwwl news >> ron: thank you very much. interesting observation by that gentleman about the campaign so far by jeb bush. it could be over for him tonight if he doesn't do well here in iowa and new hampshire next week. by tomorrow morning, iowawas will experience something they haven't done in more than a year. peace and quiet. are we ready for that? the media will be gone. i'm sure you will be happy about that. the candidates will be gone, finally, and life will return to normal. many local residents are thrilled about that, by the way, they told us today.

>> they're annoying, very annoying. >> a little bit cheesy. >> just absolutely ridiculous. i'm so -- it's just too much. >> you hear about it all the time. it's all anybody talks about. >> a little overboard. >> a lot of phone calls, a lot of tv ads and stuff like that, and everybody is -- you know, it's nice when it first starts and everybody at the end is ready to get done. >> iowa is in the spotlight for today. that's enough. then they can all go home. >> ron: well, many other iowans sharing their enthusiasm of being relieved to have some time away from the political ads. of course, they will come back later this year. so far this political season, tonight will be ththbiggest night for the candidates and voters alike, you caucus goers, but what happens after tonight's caucus on the republican and democratic side? as you know, the focus shifts from our state all the way to

the first in the nation primary held next tuesday on february 9th, so it shifts from iowa to new hampshire just as it always has. following new hampshire then, the other two early states, nevada and uth carolina holding their caucuses and remember reince priebus, the republican party chairman has already indicated elt like to do something about staying away the power that our early states have in the election process. these two will have a bit of a twist in nevada and south carolina this time around. the democrats in nevada and the republicans inin south carolina will hold their caucus on february 20th and then three days later, the republicans out there in nevada and las vegas area of nevada and the democrats in south carolina will hold theirs. caucuses will continue across the country until around june 9th, or exexse me, june 14th.. then we positive into the real heart of the -- move into the real heart of the primary season. for every political candidate, there are hundreds if not ousands of loyal campaign volunteers working for their campaigns.

volunteers, asking them about these final hours of the caucuses. ey all agree that red, white or blue posters, phone calls, door knocking, it's all about today, getting the people out to support their candidate. one group of local high school volunteers we talked with today traveled all the way from iowa -- here to iowa from baltimore, all the way from maryland to campaign for a candidate, governor martin o'malley. >> baltimore, you're talking about politics, aurora not really seeing it -- u're not really seeing it in action. seeing the campaign headquarters in waterloo i thought was cool. in iowa, you have this responsibility. often, you're choosing the next president and that's really going to change people's lives. >> ron: you know, that group said this is how they are getting involved in the american political process. they're enjoying it so far and the e caucuses, since they're not old enough to vote, this is one way for them to really get involved as volunteers. i had governor o'malley on the steele repept not toolong ago. i was very impressed with him,

tonight, probably he's not going to be viable, so his supporters will have to decide are they going to go with hillary clinton, are they going to go with bernie sander or are they going to go uncomplimented. we'll see in a couple of here's which way they decide to go. coming up here at 6:00 on our special edition, we'll continue r coverage of the 2016 first in the nation caucuses. first a live look at storm track 7 live doppler radar. quiet out there so far tonight, but not tomorrow. chief meteorologist mark schnackenberg will fill you in

right back. hi, i'm kwwl general manager jim mccernan. the journalist sisiey harris once said the whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. tuesday, february 2nd, waterloo voters have a chance to do st that by voting yes for the referendum creating a new career and technical education center and making uch-needed improvements to both east and west high schools. in today's global economy, the in waterloo, the proposal before voters creates a specialized facility which will teach more than 30 career programs, including automotive, robotics, welding, animal sciences, information technology, computer-aided draft and design, marketing, nursing, digital media and culinary arts, to name

the career technical educationn center would b b the second such education facility in the state of iowa. it will be financed through a 4% surtax on individual state income tax, not property taxes. the average citizen in waterloo will pay between 40 and $60 annually. 82% of the school districts in the state of iowa have such a surtax in place for the purpose of keeping their districts aligned with the needs of today's economy. this investment speaks to the future of waterloo's youth and their ability to find great careers in the cedar valley and the state of iowa. this measure helps them and helps our local economic development, assuring a vibrant cedar valley economy well into the future. hawkeye community college, the university of northern iowa, the greater cedar valley alliance and chamber, the waterloo-cedar