now on today in iowa... sick of the cost. many iowans forced to make a very tough choice because they cannot afford health insurance. plus... fights break out during a protest. a man is accused of spitting at officers. and a story that defies all odds. a mother gives birth to quintuplets... that alone is rare. but there's more... they were also born on a very special day. good morning, i'm ally crutcher.

with storm track 7 meteorologist eileen loan. good morning. eileen on camera from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team. see the screen here is additional forecast information from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team: temperatures don't look too bad right now, but this is likely the warmest it will be the rest of the day. we may gain a degree or two with the help of southerly winds right now with not too many gusts, but that changes....by late morning the be gust to 30 mph or higher and will be even stronger this evening as the winds turn to the west.. a wind as eileen mentioned... today... we've gotten the most out of the mild weather - and our run is over. later today -- it's going to

gilbert joins us live in waterloo... you can tell us more it's not to bad right now... but this is actually the warmest it's expected to be today... the weather will likely keep droppinng throughout the day... so... here's five things you need to do to make sure your car's ready for the colder temperatures... make sure to check your tires.... with a guage if you can... check your battery.... get your oil changed if needed... make sure your car's wiper flouidds are up-to-date... stock your car with emergency items in case you get into any "cause none of us are thinking about winter. none of us are ready, and that's just human nature. as soon as it gets cold. it done. and that's ok. that's just life. but we need to get after it, all of us."

been down so far because the warmer weather... they usually see more tire problems in the winter. but he predicts that will change very soon... i've got my hat...gloves... an a warm coat with me to prepare for this evening. live in waterloo... amanda gilbert... news 7 kwwl. some tiems you might want to put in your car's emergency kit: a blanket... a phone charger... pre-packaged food... and a flashlight. continuing coverage -- the man accused of stabbing his girlfriend more than one hundred times -- says he has no memory of it. eddie hicks is facing first degree murder charges. police say he killed kahdyesha lemon at her dubuque home last year.

according to our coverage partners at the telegraph herald -- the defense is trying to claim self defense and intoxication -- after hicks said he had taken p-c-p a few days before the murder. the trial is now delayed until the 28th. fights break out during a protest against the dakota access pipeline. 8 people were arrested. one person allegeldy spit at an officer and tried grabbing a weapon. protesters have targeted several places in north dakota since monday, including the state capitol... "we come here in prayer, to pray, to raise awareness, and ft is inhumane." about 500 people have been arrested since august. as donald trump makes his transition to the white house -- several names are being considered to join his team. tracie potts tells us who's heading to trump tower this weekend. plus... the trump "the president-elect is in full general mike flynn has been

flynn - controversial for his foreign policy - would "donald trump is a phony. a fraud!" "mitt romney is a sad man." a transition source says president elect- trump will possible secretary of state. "mr. romney would be quiet capable of doing a number of things, but he'll be one of those i'm sure that's reviewed." with his transition taking shape, mr. trump turned minister: "i renewed my conviction together with trump i will be able to establish relationship of trust." the vice president-elect is on capitol hill, selling his boss's agenda to democrats "we're beginning to discuss areas that we might move forward on together." "we will try to find our common ground where we can. and of pence, back in familiar territory... setting up the first 100 days. the trump team is planning what they call a thank you tour of blue states turned red... sometime after thanksgiving. tracie potts, nbc news,

iowa voted for president obama in both 2008 and 20-12. no word yet if iowa will be incled the linn county board of supervisors has its first african- american member. stacey walker-- was born and raised in cedar rapids-- he was sworn in yesterday in front of a room full of supporters-- a historic day he and many others won't soon forget. "i've said linn county was that grow up in this neighborhood folks that look like me will be able to see someone who looks like them representing their interest in

poverty in some of the core celebrating getting closer to finishing its renovations. the terminal project is a 55 million dollar endeavor. the second phase of renovation focuses largely on the public areas of the airport. there will be a new lobby waiting area, ticket counters, baggage claim -- and a new heating system... "we're completely tax-empted, or tax-free excuse me. we recieved no local tax dollars whatsoever from the community so we'rer of that. all of this project is being done without the use of local tax dollars." the third phase of renovations includes expanding two more jet ways and security areas. a woman got a rare gift for her birthday last week. the kentucky couple welcomed quintuplets into the world. they share the same birthday as their mom. the couple says they can't

"we're overjoyed. we've never been happier because anything could've gone wrong, but they're so stable and so healthy." doctors say the newborns should be able to go home in about six weeks. it's coming up on today in iowa.... this morning -- we're digging deeper into the problem of affordable health care. many of the cost. plus... a family needs some extra room for thanksgiving all thanks to a texting mix-up. those stories plus the forecast from storm track seven "you're watching kwwl,

"now your storm track 7 forecast on kwwl." let's go to storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan now for your forecast forecast. information. here is additional forecast information from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team: our stormtrack7 live weer of clouds and will likely be dancing even more than yesterday. it will be windy today through tomorrow with the strongest winds late this morning through tonight. winds are now from the south with very few gusts, but will pick up from the west today and the the northwest tonight... and may gust to 50 this afternoon and evening. a wind advisory is posted today for areas from grundy center through waterloo to elkader and northward for the strongest gusts. it is still technically mild, but this is the warmest it will be... as the cold air to the west will are already more than 20 mph in

few showers, but the main show is to our west and north and should stay there as the low tracks to the northwest... we mainly get the wind... gusts to 50 mph today and tonight... winds will gust to 35 mph tonight with lows dropping into the 20s to around 30.. and only climb into the mid 30s to around 40 for saturday with gusts to 25 mph. through sunday before warming back into the mid 40s for monday. a chance of rain tracks in tuesday and wednesday but should track out for thanksgiving day. air to the west will start tracking in on the strongest winds... they are already more than 20 mph in the northwest and gusting higher. we may see a few showers, but the

stay there as the low tracks to the northwest... we mainly get the wind... gusts to 50 mph today and temperatures steady or falling with a few showers today and tonight... winds will gust to 35 mph tonight with lows dropping into the 20s to around 30.. and only climb into the mid 30s to around through sunday before warming back into the mid 40s for thanksgiving day. showers today and tonight... winds will gust to 35 mph tonight with lows dropping into the 20s to around 30.. and only climb into the mid 30s to around evening and we will stay cool through sunday before warming back into the mid 40s for thanksgiving day.

is not like shopping for a snowblower. if you're lying in a hospital bed, it's tough to be a rational thinker about cost. you just want to get better. many families feel powerless -- in some cases, being forced to choose between a mortgage payment or health insurance. president obama tried to address that, but, most believe, it didn't work-- because costs keep going up. going up a lot. we're digging deeper into the problem -- and where go from here -- in sick of the cost. obamacare." that promise from donald trump. he's now on his way to washington, a city already hearing plenty about the problem from iowans. "in our state, we improved rate increases up to 43-percent, impacting 75,000 iowans." that's nick gerhart, the insurance commissioner for the state of iowa, called to testify before congress. "my fear is that it's just going to get worse." a uni grad, gerhart was appointed by governor branstad. his office signs off on rate

me 3 or 4 years ago, that we'd have a 43% increase and the state would've approved it, i would've said 'no way,' but we did because it's justified unfortunately." the insurance companies argue they need you to pay more to cover the high costs of those iowans who were not insured before. think of the cost of health care like a dartboard. you have medical care -- like tests and surgeries -- covering much of the board, prescription but recently, the focus of the conversation on the soaring cost of health care -- the bulls-eye -- "obamacare has 2,700 pages and about 40-50,000 pages "prescription drugs are out of control, especially specialty drugs." "it's really hard for me to sit here and say, 'it's succeeded or failed,' but i'll tell you for the individual health insurance market, it's certainly been a challenge. the rates have gone up considerably in iowa and other states and i don't see it getting any better unfortunately."

"they were." "to this level?" "not even close." insurance premiums are up 213 percent since 1999. it's been a problem for a long time, but rates have skyrocketed in recent years after the president's health care law kicked in. "it addressed insurance, not health care cost." and with more sick consumers in the system, insurance companies are strugglingo what happened in iowa. "one claim is generating $18 million in costs." wait? what? back up a minute. "one claim is generating $18 million in costs." that's one iowa family with an average of three million dollars in claims a month over the last six months of last year. so what does that mean for everyone else? "everyone in that pool is

22-thousand wellmark customers paying 800 dollars more to make up for it. "they've never seen anything like this." we don't know anything about the not enough healthy people are buying in. "small group driving the cost." "obamacare means higher prices, fewer choices, and lower quality." so mr. president- elect, where do we go from here? "i will ask congress to convene a special session so we can but maybe not dump it altogether. "the voters don't need to worry about their 25-year-old or younger staying on their policies or pre-existing conditions." based on interviews with congressional republicans, both of those popular components of obamacare could survive. what could go -- mandates on coverage for individuals,

workers and rules that require women to be offered coverage for contraceptives as a free preventative health benefit. no matter what happens with those pieces, iowa's insurance commissioner says transparency has to improve -- so you know what we're buying and how much you're say, 'my insurance company is paying for it,' but at the end of the day, we're all paying for it." time will tell if a new law drives down the cost. we're learning even more u family you heard about. through the first four months of this year, they turned in claims worth nine million dollars. so that's 27- million in ten months. we asked -- how is that even possible? the insurance commissioner says -- they don't know -- because by law -- they cannot see their records.

in iowa.... providing free food to families in need outdoor food pantries are popping up all around the country now...they're making their way to eastern iowa plus... a phone number mix-up...ends up making a grandma a twitter sensation. covered.

and thanks to an eastern iowa woman--they are coming to the cedar valley. "i know what it is like not to have anything so i don't mind giving and i think that's a majority of our families in need here in the community, just looking out for each organizers are looking for a place to put the final pantry in cedar falls. here's a story you can talk about around the thanksgiving table. it's about a guy who got a mysterious invitation to thanksgiving dinner... from a grandma! here's the problem -- it's not his grandma. kristen dahlgren tells us what happened next. school senior jamal hinton got a text telling him thanksgiving dinner was at 3 this year... i thought its either a wrong number or my grandma learned how to use a phone correctly so jamal asked for a

dench... somebody's grandma ... just not his a second later he texts me back a plate that's where you might expect the story to end... but like a true grandma ... i said sure you can thats what grandmas do and jamal's whole family is now going to wanda's for thanksgiving. ive got to figure out how big a turkey i need for 20 people retweets and 1.7 million views we've noticed that people are seeking these feel good, yo humanizing stories. earlier this year a couple mistakenly sent a group text to strangers about their new baby boy.... the recipients - they had never met- brought gifts to the hospital! and who could forget "sad papaw" who hosted a barbecue for

burgers. for jamal and wanda this year, there is a lot to be joy that two people, two strangers can actually connect leaving the rest of us...thankful for the smile. kristen dahlgren. nbc news, new york. storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan has your storm track 7 forecast next. this is today in iowa on kwwl.

forecast. windy with steady or falling temps today and gusts to 40 or 50 mph at times. windy tonight with gusts to 30 mph and tomorrow (gusts to 25 mph). colder for the weekend with highs back into the mid 40s for monday. few showers today and tonight with a better chance of rain tuesday and wednesday next week but drying out for

got you covered. this is today in iowa." now on today in iowa: an plus -- a sign of peace and comfort that's now in bad shape. a cemetery hoping someone will step forward to fix it. and in case he ever forgets, an iowa man now has a permanent reminder of who won the presidential election... because he lost a bet. good morning, i'm ally crutcher. and storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan is here now with your storm track seven

temperatures don't look too bad right now, but this is likely the warmest it will be the rest of the day. we may gain a degree or two with the help of southerly winds right now with not too many gusts, but that changes....by late morning the winds will be gust to 30 mph or higher and will be even stronger this evening as the winds turn to the west.. a wind advisory is posted for the almost half of our mainly windy and getting colder. sweaters. out with t-shirts, in with the sweaters. the next few days will feel like the seasons are changing. today it's important to be prepared... this morning is the warmest it's expected to be all day storm track seven's amanda gilbert joins us live in waterloo... you can tell us what it's like right now.

but i have my warm coat on.. ready to go.... temperatures are expected to drop so low by tonight that we might even be seeing some snow. you're going to want to have an emergency kit in your car ready to go as temperatures continue to drop... this is eileen's kit.. she has everything from a change of clothes... to jumper cables... to a mini-shovel... i also spoke with the owner of jim lind auto service aw car... "some blankets... some chocolates..some candles. any of those supplies, just in case you happen to get broke down and stranded and someone can't get to you right away. keep yourself safe." jim says it's also important not

but to try and prevent it. he suggests looking at your tires this weekend... check the air pressure and look for cracks or holes. live in waterloo... amanda gilbert... news 7 kwwl. something else you might want to have in your emergency kit: cat litter or sand for traction... the mild weather we've had has kept builders very busy. ahead -- and it's not just the warmer temps helping... also, it's been an exceptionally prepare for projects for next spring, and potentially laying some sod here in the next couple of days." he says he's ahead of schedule on his townhomes on ravenwood circle in waterloo -- which means they'll be available to rent or lease sooner than expected. across the country, builders

-- a very good sign about the economy. developing overnight -- a stabbing in waterloo. police went to randolph street early this morning. a woman said she'd been stabbed -- but they're still trying to figure out where it happened. they were told it did not happen at the home on randolph street. we saw the ambulance pulling away from the home -- the woman is expected to survive. a birthday party for a two-year-old ends in chaos. one person shot and killed -- several ots it happened in tennessee. a six-year-old is among those in the hospital this morning. police say they're looking for involved. a young boy is recovering this morning. he was hit by a car in dubuque. according to our coverage partners at the telegraph herald -- it happened the other night on jackson street. police say a six- year-old ran into a street between two parked cars when he was hit. the driver was not cited. police say she couldn't stop in nine million dollars will go to

being handcuffed by a missouri state trooper. he was arrested on suspicion of drunk boating on the lake of the ozarks. he then fell off the trooper's boat and died. the trooper later admitted the life jacket he put on ellingson was not secured properly... "with him pleading innocent, is know an apology now i think's a little late." involuntary manslaughter charges. in return for the nine million dollar settlement from the state of missouri -- the family must a 100-year prison sentence for an iowa man who murdered two people. travis standlee was convicted in the deaths of raymond ursino and sharon mead. mead's body was found last fall near the coe college campus in cedar rapids. prosecutors say standlee killed mead the day after he was arrested on suspicion of killing ursino in the parking lot of a cedar rapids

because of a lack of evidence. both cases comes with a 50-year sentence to be served -- one right iowa police officers called police heroes just days before it all happened. scott greene apologized for the run-ins he had with the urbandale police department -- and said he loved them for keeping the community safe. he wrote online that his "dark days" were over because he was getting treatment for p-t- s-d. all of that -- just four days before he allegedly s in their patrol cars. urbandale officer justin martin and des moines sergeant tony beminio were killed. in court today -- the minnesota police officer charged with manslaughter. philando castile was shot and killed during a traffic stop in july. his girlfriend streamed the aftermath live on facebook. castile told the officer he was carrying a handgun and had a permit for it. the prosecutor says there's no evidence he ever tried to take the gun out of his pocket. the officer charged will be arraigned today. a federal appeals court blocks

across the country because of the "making a murderer" documentary. brendan dassey was set to go free today. but wisconsin's attorney general filed a motion -- putting his release on hold for now. 11 years ago -- dassey confessed to helping his uncle steven avery murder a woman. his conviction was overturned. the judge ruled that investigators tricked him into confessing. the state is appealing that decision. we want to warn you about this next piece of video. it o by an officer. it happened this week in arizona. the woman had been given an eviction notice -- and there was a warrant out for her arrest. police say the woman was not cooperating and allegedly kicked him when he tried to arrest her. the officer then punched her... "why me? what did i do to deserve anything like that? i'm not a bad person. why would he attack me?" the woman was arrested for

the officer is now on leave as he's under investigation. a mystery surrounds the statue inside a waterloo cemetery. the statue of an angel -- and a woman praying over two women -- is in bad shape. loved ones of those buried near the statue have complained about it -- but the volunteer board at the cemetery is in a tough spot. they haven't been able to track "we have to as a board look out for the all the cemetery, all the grave sites and all of the appearances. not just one in the process." the board says it could cost tens of thousands of dollars to fix it -- much more than they can afford. they hope a family member -- or now to the white house transition: a major security job for police in new york. how to protect trump tower. since donald trump won the election -- we've seen extra security

the penthouse. the mayor and police commissioner will talk about their plans later today -- and whether more streets will be closed around the tower. the president- elect is offering the role of national security advisor to retired army lieutenant general michael flynn. we don't know if he's accepted. the retired lieutenant served as director of the defense intelligence agency under president obama... in his book, he claims he was booted for being critical of the administration. but others say he was pushed out because of his contentious management style. flynn has alse information at least twice during his career. he denies he did anything wrong. congressman tim ryan is going to challenge house minority leader nancy pelosi for the democratic leadership in the house. the ohio lawmaker sent a letter to his house colleagues, rallying for more voices at the leadership table. ryan was just elected to his eighth term in the house. the vote will be held on november 30th. an iowa man lost a big bet on the election -- and now donald trump will be

zach cobert supports bernie sanders but it's donald trump whose leaving the biggest zach is settling a bet with a buddy. he promised to get a tattoo of donald trump on his body if trump won the election. "oh snap, today's the day." nats - "you guys wanted this." in the era of social media, zach went to a tattoo artist and posted everymark... and every drawn whisp of donald trump's hair...live on facebook. "i'm thinking about my life, and how it went wrong, and now i'm getting a trump stamp." the picture was picked by his facebook followers. zach's lower back. "this is definitely the stupidest thing i've ever done for views." no argument from his girlfriend. "i'm not too happy about it. no, no. i have to look at it forever." and other people at 3-d skin lab have their doubts. but a bet's a bet. "it's something i would do so i can't call it too stupid, so." you can question the sanity, but not the commitment.

hours as the tattoo took shape. and it's not done yet, he has to return to get it "i just wish i was getting a normal tattoo, something that i wanted." and it may make him re- think future bets. well, maybe. "if i keep losing bets, maybe we'll keep going." the tattoo artist in davenport still needs to add some color to make it complete. still much more to come this morning: in ten minutes -- the spectacular liftoff for a rocket -- which is carrying an iowa native into space once again.

kids are learning a valuable lesson from this goat. that's all coming up. plus -- the storm track seven and meteorologist eileen loan.

"now your storm track 7 forecast on kwwl." let's go to storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan now for your forecast forecast. from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team. see the screen for your complete weather information. here is additional forecast information from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team: network cameras will show lots of clouds and will likely be dancing even more than yesterday. it will be windy today through tomorrow with the strongest winds late this morning through tonight. winds are now from the south with very few gusts, but will pick up from the west today and the the northwest tonight... and may gust to 50 this afternoon and evening. a wind advisory is posted today for areas from grundy center through waterloo to elkader and northward for the strongest gusts. it is still technically mild, but this

the west will start tracking in on the strongest winds... they are already more than 20 mph in the northwest and gusting higher. we may see a few showers, but the main show is to our west and north and should stay there as the low tracks to the northwest... we mainly get the wind... gusts to 50 mph today and temperatures steady or falling with a few showers today and tonight... winds will gust to 35 mph tonight with lows dropping into the 20s to around 30.. and only climb into the mid 30s to around 40 for saturday with gusts to 25 mph. stay cool through sunday before warming back into the mid 40s for monday. a chance of rain tracks in tuesday and wednesday but should track out for thanksgiving day. strongest winds late this morning through tonight. winds are now from the south with very few gusts, but will pick up from the west today and the the northwest tonight... and may gust

advisory is posted today for areas from grundy center through waterloo to elkader and northward for the strongest gusts. it is still technically mild, but this is the warmest it will be... as the cold air to the west will start tracking in on the strongest winds... they are already more than 20 mph in the northwest and gusting higher. we may see a few showers, but the main show is to our west and north and should stay there as the low tracks to the 30.. and only climb into the mid 40s for monday. a chance of rain many of us don't love snow this time of year... the same can't be said for our four- legged friends. check out how excited this dog is to see the snow in colorado. this is a young australian cattle dog -- and it could be her first snow

it's coming up -- the panthers having fun in the land of disney. uni with a terrific start in a big tournament. on iowa's door -- to help celebrate thanksgiving.

denny's knows the holidays should be shared with friends and family. except denny's all-new holiday pancakes. you won't want to share those with anybody. denny's new fluffier, tastier, better pancakes now in holiday flavors. the engines igniting, the launch flight speed... and liftoff. peggy whitson, oleg novitskiy and thomas pesquet rocketing towards the international space

returns to space. peggy whitson joins a crew member from russia and france on a rocket that launched yesterday. they'll now travel for two days before docking at the international space station. whitson -- who's 56 years old -- has now become the oldest woman ever in space -- adding to her long list of records. he in space. this mission covers six months -- which should push her past the u-s record for total time spent in space which is at 534 days right now. back here on earth, the topsy- turvy world of college football takes another turn. three top-five teams lost last weekend -- including michigan upset by iowa. so how would fifth-ranked louisville do last night? the answer -- not very well. houston blew them out. the cougars

iowa has a tough challenge at home in men's basketball. the hawkeyes hosting seton hall -- an nc-double-a tournament team that won 25 games a year ago. iowa senior peter jok carrying the hawks -- hitting a three. he had 30 points on the night. iowa led by two at the break. freshman tyler cook -- a very good night for him. he scored 24. but the hawks had a tough time stopping seton hall in the second half. the pirates win 91- season. u-n-i is in orlando for a tournament right now. the panthers taking on arizona state. jeremy morgan leading the way. he had 20 points and 12 rebounds. klint carlson from waverly also had a terrific game. 19 points for the junior. spencer haldeman -- from

big lift off the bench. 17 points for the freshman. uni rolls 82-63. the panthers play oklahoma tonight. in honor of the guiness world records day -- the harlem globetrotters go out and set several new records on the court. one record -- the longest basketball shot blindfolded. one player hit that shot from 73- feet away. another record -- for the longest all, they set nine new records. an ant-bullying message is coming this morning -- from a billy goat. sid is teaching kids in texas -- it's okay to be different. he's not your average goat. he cannot hear. in fact, he has no ears. hundreds of kids visit him every little bit different -- which teaches the kids a good lesson. "well, it's just nice to be nice even though he's not, even

by sid the anti-bully goat. a giraffe at the blank park zoo proves she can keep a secret. next month she'll give birth. the baby will become the fifth member of the zoo's giraffe herd. a giraffe pregnancy takes up to 15-months...and they really don't show. but that's not why this pregnancy surprised the staff... she was sterilized by birth- control a decade ago. and she had been with the bulf pregnant, but now she did. it's great timing...because a new giraffe barn is set to open next spring. before you know it, thanksgiving will be there. it's next week already -- and this year's presidential celebration will have a bit of an iowa flare. the turkey to be pardoned by

"i could have never imagined it. it's been a wonderful experience getting to do this. i never would've thought in a million years that this would happen." this marks the seventh time the presidential turkey came from iowa. it's you're watching today in iowa on

check of your storm track seven forecast. windy with steady or falling temps today and gusts to 40 or 50 mph at times. windy tonight highs back into the mid 40s for monday. few showers today and

here's a live look outside at , there's another hour of today in iowa coming up right

a bet -- an iowa man gets donald trump's face tattooed on his body. plus... a close call for a truck driver -- a train hits the back and -- the weather is changing -- the temperature set to drop like a rock -- and that means you need to get your cars ready. here's a live look at our good morning it's 6 a-m -- today is . a live look at 218 in waterloo good morning, i'm ally crutcher.