the gop front-runner donald trump refusing to go on stage and still taking shots at moderator megyn kelly. plus, bernie sanders and his meeting with president obama. breaking overnight, more arrests in the oregon standoff plus a new message from the group's leader to his followers who are still hoholed up o federal land. daring rescue. strangers banding together forming a human chain to save a driver with his truck on the edge of a cliff. and strange surprise for a woman waking up. an animal usually found in the jungle in her bed. aood thursday morning to you, everyone. we begin with high drama in the racece for 201 >> ye, just days before the iowa caucuses donald trump gging in his heels refusing to debate on fox news. it comes as the latest poll shows trump enjoying a wide lead ahead of his closest

rubio. right now abc's ray raimundi joins us, ray, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning to you, reena and kendis. the seventh republican gop debate will happen with swirling controversy. donald trump says he will be absent. his republican rivals seizing the opportunity. this as all candidates are pushing forward for the all-important iowa vote, which is now just four days away. the fox news donald trump debate controversy continues this morning. both sides engaged in a high-stakes game of chicken just hours before tonight's final debate. >> you're not giving them the -- >> i'm not walking away. i was pushed away. i'm not walking away. >> reporter: trump defending his decision to skip out on the republican debate on fox news. >> i was not treated well by fox. i have zero respect for megyn kelly. i don't think she's very good at what she does. i think she's highly overrated. >> reporter: and the gop front-runner's republican counterparts pouncing on his decision to be a no show,

>> if someone did that, didn't show up at the interview, you know what you'd say, you're fired. >> reporter: the texas senator also now challenging trump to a one-on-one debate. trump tweeting his response saying, okay, can we do it in canada? on the democratic side bernie he'd like to replace at the white house. president obama and sanders' long discussed meeting was a way for the president to show neutrality in the close primary race. back in wa, former president bill clinton stumping for his wife ahead of monday's caucuses and donald trump says he will be holding a fund-raiser for veterans in iowa at the same time of the fox news debate which is literally just two miles away. reena, kendis, back to you. >> all right, wow, very close there. ray raimundi, thank you. well, breaking news overnight in that standoff at an oregon wildlife refuge. three more members of the militia have been arrested. the fbi said the three turned themselves in without incident at a checkpoint outside th refuge.

group's leader ammon bundy and seven others were taken into custody yesterday. another member was shot and killed during a confrontation with authorities. buy issued a statement through his attorney asking for an end to the standoff. >> i'm asking the federal government to allow the people at the refuge to go home withohout being prosecuted. to those remaining at the refuge, i love you. let us take this fight from here. pleaease standown. please stand down. go home and hug your families. this fight is ours for now in the courts. please go home. >> reporter: bundy along with six others have been arraigned in federal court. the judge denied bail calling the group a flight risk and a danger to public safety. well, new this morning, what started as a routine traffic stop along a busy atlanta area highway ended in a deadly shooting.

stopping a speeding pickup truck but the driver took off triggering a ten-mile chase and a massive traffic backup. once the truck finally stopped, e driver fired at troo who fired back. the driver later died in surgery. one trooper was injured, but he is expected to make a fullll recovery. to the midwest now and the widow of a chicago area police officer who died in a staged suicide has been indicted by a grand jury. melody gliniewicz faces charges for helping her late husband siphon thousands of dollars from a charity. investigators say they used the money for a trip to hawaii and to dine at restaurants. her lawyer says gliniewicz was a victim of her husband's secret actions. well, more arrested are expected in connection with that high-profile jail break in southern california. the orange county sheriff's office announced yesterday that five people were taken into custody for hehelping inhe cape. it's been nearly a week since three inmates described as armed and dangerous were able to rappel down the side of the ja to freedom. they are still on the run.

authorities in mexico show another foformer esced inmate dr king joaquin "el chapo" guzman shortlyly after his's capture earlier this month. the video shows guzman arriving at that same maximum security prison from which he escaped last july being fingerprinted and processed. it also shows footage showing the moment he robbed a car and escaped with it minutes before his arrest. happening in europe this morning, police in austria investigating the death of a woman from colorado as a possible homicide. -year-old lauren mann had been working in vienna as an au pair, her body found in her apartment. police say no weapons were found at the scene, and deepening this mystery, reports say her body was found in total darkness because all the lights in her apartment had been burned out. well, here at home president obama set to take aim at what vice president joe biden called a moonshot to cure cancer. mr. obama will sign a presidential memorandum today creating a white house task force on cancer appointing biden to lead the panel.

ofof the uni address earlier this month to initiate a governmentwide push to cure the disease similar to the efforts in the 1960s to send a man to the moon. parts of south florida cleaning up today. from a series of severe storms that spawned even a tornado. the twister tossed around cars and trucks, knocked down trees and damaged some rooftops there. at least one person was injured. the national weather service says the twister had winds estimated at 100 miles an hour. let's look at the radar, shall we, becacause overouth florida a thick line of storms, once again, continuing to rake across that area. some storms could be severe around west palm beach, ft. myers, as well as miami and might include me damaging winds and even a threat for a few weak tornadoes. > well, crs from the nfl are working hard to spruce u up levi stadium for super bowl 50. >> right now their main focus is that right there, the playing field, which has been known to flood easily, and you know you

close eye on the newly grown sod. they're coddling it like a newborn baby. >> and a break in the rain has allowed crews to spray paint logos for the teams facing off ten days from today, the denver broncos and the carolina panthers. well, still ahead, a super bowl sunday first, amazon will have a commercial. we've got the sneak peek. and banding together, strangers forming a human chain to save a driverer, his trk teetering over a a hillsid plus, out of control on a

cars and even a house.

philadelphia showing a moment a van slammed into a car and a house. both men had been shot. seconds later the veo shows the two men shot running from the scene on foot. both men did survive. police he made at least one arrest in that wild incident there. a three-year investigation by new york's attorney general's office confirms what many americans long suspected. event ticket prices are just out of control. the investigation finds the average fan these days has almost no chance of buying a decent seat at face value. less than half of the tickets for concert,ports and other big events are reserved for the public. most are held by insiders and much of what is released ends up with brokers who resell at a tig markup. well, the lowly cable box may be due for anup grade. cable and satellite customers could purchase the devices they use to watch programming.

provider to the tune of about $230 a year. the proposal comes up for vote next month. facebook's profits continue to soar. the social network's quarterly profits top $1 billion for 9 first time. the resesultsre largely due to their success at selling ads on mobile devices. for the first time more than 90% of monthly and daily active users were on mobile devices. a first for amazon. they areunning an ad on the super bowl this year. >> all right, let's hear it. cheerlrleaders. >> cheerleaders. marino, again, i thought you were the expert at these partie >> it would be the commercial featuring alec baldwin and dan marino, the two are getting help planning a super bowl party with the help of amazon echo, the retailers from virtual assistant. we'llave to see the rest super bowl sunday. when we come back, a plane forced to land after passengers and crew members get sick. what went wrong here? hero of the day, the

during a burglary. if you're looking to save money on your medicare part d prescriptions, walgreens says, carpe med diem. seize the day to get more out of life and medicare part d. just switctch to waleens for savings that'll be the highlight of your day. now preview the cost of your copay before you fill. you can even get one-dollar copapays on sect plans. your body was made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to a biologic, ask if xeljanz is right for you. xeljanz is a small pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can reduce joint pain and swelling in as little as two weeks, and help stop further joint damage.

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okay, for a look at this morning's road conditions driving wilill be slippery acrs the upper midwest and great lakes areas and drivers will be dealing with flooding conditions in the pacific northwest and much of florida. if you're flying delays possible in miami. well, investigators are trying to figure out why passengers and crew on board an american airlines flight suddenly felt so sick. >> the plane was well into its flight from london's heathrow airport to l.a.x. in los angeles when the cockpit called d for help from any doctors or nurses on board. passengers complained of feeling sick and one flight attendant collapsed in the aiaisle. >> she just literally fainted. she just stumbled literally within touchining distance of me. it was crazy. i've never witnessed anything like that. >> well, theilot made an emergency landing. crews found no evidence of hazardous substance on board. aviation experts say the plane's airflow may have been compromised. well, health news and what's being called a game changer when

a new study finds a nmal brain processes -- which process gets kicked into overdrive is a potential factory. the discovery could lead to better treatment and the potential for prevention. almost 1% of the general population will have schizophrenia at some point in their lives. now to a powerful image that is emerging in the wake of that monster norm this past weekend. complete strangers forming a human chain to save a truck driver's life. the big rig driver had lost control and swerved off the pennsylvania turnpike dangling over the edge of a hill. look at that. those good samaritans held the trailer steady until they could pull the injured driver from the cab. >> all i kept hearing were the trees cracking. i didn't want to go down but i started smelling diesel fuel worried about catching on fire and next thing i know i got a guy up there breaking a limb for

>> get these, these random strangers and rescuers ignored the fuel that was gushing everywhere and the smoke that was billowing from that truck. well, three-legged pit bull from wisconsin being called a hero after taking a bullet for his family. levi was home when a man with a gun entered their hohouse. the gunman ordered the homeowners to lie on the floor and demanded money and drugs. that's when levi began to growl eventually scaring the guy off process. he's going to be okay. >> timeeow for sports. golden state warriors ill on the roll. >> here now with the highlights neil and stan at espn. >> he's stan, i'm neil. we do as we're told and we were told to do this. >> warriors looking for their 40th consecutive win at home. not this season, trying to get to 22-0. steph curry look like he was ready knocking down shots much to the delight of draymond green.

this season. no worries, though. klay thompson, 26 in the first half. third most in a half this seseason. he wound up with 45 for the game. 45, a season high, second mt in his career. he hit shots from all over and then curry helpedd him out in the second half, warriors over the mavs, 127-107. if anyone last any idea what dennis wideman was thinking, the nhl w will lik to talk to you too. they'll be talking to wideman after this. >> he checked the linesman. obviously you can't do that. afteards wideman said it was an accident. videotape tells the truth. that's when the people will be talkin about thursday and friday in the nh lchltl talking about that right now. >> i think the nhl is looking at that videotap >> yeah.

back to you. >> okay, watch the next game to see what happens. >> yeah, i think he'll be suspended. up next in "the pulse," quite the surprisese. a woman wakes up to find this sleeping on her chest. and impressive feat. uatting nearly 900 pounds. you won't believe his age. this is the joy for me. i love bread! i love bread. i now just manage it, so i don't deny myself bread, i have bread everyday. that's the genius of this program.

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light skin, the choice of fiennes has unleashed an uproar chastising producersor not casting a black man. even fiennes was shocked. >> a lot saying there aren't any good roles for black actors. here's a good one at least for half of michael jackson's life. professional golfer from belgium got a haircut in take a look at his head shot there of thomas pieters. how he lks on the right but the one on the left is how his official photo turned out, shorter, not so curly. >> well, pieters postedt with a hashtag, where are my curls. the pga later admitting the photoshop went too far in they have some guidelines they would like to put out there. >> long hair is not a thing.

>> do something. >> let's hope not. also going a bit too far from its native home of the rain forest of south america was this guy. it is a kinkajou and it ended up in south florida, where else. >> yeah, s so a 99ear-old woman woke up to this. finding this actually napping on her chest. >> the lady is soundnd asleep and she feels something on her chest and she slowly wakes up and realizes there is an animal curled up sleepeping on her chest. i don't know. i guess her first impression was that might be a cat but when they both got a look at each other, they both freaked out. the lady screamed. the kinkajou took off and went into her attic. >> she was 99. i'm glad she didn't have a heart attack. >> thank the lord she's still with us. >> that's prett impressive. how did kinkajou get into the country? the little guy turned out to be

he was reunited at a miami veterinarian's office. >> clearly donald trump was right. we have an immigration problem. the kinkajou is a member of the raccoon family. they're usually peaceful but they can be extremely, extremely dangerous and scary in the middle of the night. finally an american teenager is already one of the strongest men in the world. >> yeah, this video, joseph pena is going everywhere this morning. you see him right there, he's squatting 87 pounds. here's the catch. he's just 17 years old. >> wow, this is at a weight lifting competition in san antonio. no shocker, he won. he's already a record holder for squatting 700 pounds. that was when he was 15.

on our checking our top stories, donald trump is digging in his heels refusing to participate in tonight's gop debate on fox.

well, he says s's biased and unfair. three more militia members have been arrested as he left. the leader is now being held without bail and asking those at the refuge to go home. parts of south florida are cleaning up from a series of severe storms that spawned a tornado injuring at least one person. the naonal weather service says the twister packed winds of up to 100 miles per hour. okay, speaking of weather, more severe storms for south florida, lake-effect snow across the great lakes. heavy rain for the pacific northwest but sunnynd clear for most of the nation. well, new york woman had beenaiti for what seemed like forever for a kidney transplant then got a call that a perfect match had become available. soununds like a happy ending. >> except her life-saving surgery was almost derayed by last weekend's blizzard. it virtually shut down all of the east coast. eva pilgrim has details.

down the city after this -- >> she said we have a kidney for you. i almost fell off the bed. >> reporter: she would have to beat the clock and weather to get to stony brook university hospital on long island. she had less than 24 hours tops to get on the operating table. her night in a shining ambulance pete amato. >> the realization was when i said to you one person's tragedy is another person's peeral. >> reporter: amato understood because a decade ago his brother received a life-saving kidney transplant. in whiteout conditions barely missing multiple accidents along the way. >> my fear was somebody was going to crash into us or we were going to get stuck. >> reporter: the pair made it rushing her into the 3 1/2 operation and this morning she and her new kidney are doing well. >> they have to sign the back of their license and really have to donate eecially if you die, what do you need your kidney for. >> reporter: eva pilgrim, abc news, new york. >> i like how she had her sense of human sfler good advice from her.

the big storm. actually some great picture, as well. >> a couple outside philadelphia celebrating the ultimate white wedding. ok at that. joanna a ryan trotman. made the best of the blizzard. so did the bridal party. they refused to cancel their special day. >> beautiful pictures with the winter wonderland. their photographer capturedd the perfect wedding day pictures. only half their guests were able to show up but they got some great pictures to remember their big day. congratulations to them. >> they can get through anything if they can make it through that. >> absolutely. that's what's making news in america this morning. "you're watching good moring iowa in hd. we are iowa's most accurate weather team. good morning iowa starts now " elias: good morning iowa! i'm ???. it's x:00 a-m on thursday

thanks for